I need constant supervision
Friday morning after I got done with my semi-lame post it was only 6:20am. I guess I coulda headed out the door for some "training", but I looked around the room at all the stuff I was planning on doing over the weekend, and I decided to get a head start on my bike related chores. Since there were some family members sleeping in my house I could only do the quietest of my tasks. First up was trimming a little steer tube off the top of my IF fork. My new position seems to be working out rather well, so I have decided to stick with it. I felt good riding 100+ miles in Pisgah, so it must be good enough for government work.
So anyways, I took off the stem and got out the pipe cutter. I know the saying goes "Measure twice and cut once", but I prefer my method of "casually estimate once, cut once, and regret forever". I looked at the height of the spacer I wanted to remove and kinda/sorta put the pipe cutter in a place that looked good. I'm sure you know where this is going. I needed to remove about 2.5mm, and I ended up taking off about 5mm. Doh. I wasn't too worried since I've been running the stem upside down, so if I cut it way too short I'd still be okay if I flipped it. I feel alright 2.5mm's lower then I intended (I couldn't honestly tell the difference), so I'm calling this a success story.
Saturday morning I woke up at 5:00am to get cracking on my other projects. The Berserker Boredom Killer had to give up its wheels so I could build up the (yet to be named) Zion as a fixed gear machine. I still don't have my Industry Nine prototype fixie wheels, but I imagine the 600 people paying for their wheels might take some priority over my sick non-revenue producing needs. I went to mount up an old Ignitor to the Phil Wood/Arch rear wheel leaving the Stan's rubber rim strip in place (it's necessary for the silly little cyclocross tire that was on the Berserker). My first attempt was a no-go, and one CO2 was wasted in the process. I removed the strip and blew a second CO2 into the tire, and my efforts were rewarded with a plump hunk of inflated rubber. I needed to mount the Rampage up front with a tube as I don't have a high dollar front wheel, and of course I installed it backwards thus causing the loss of a few more brain cells and wasting more precious family-free moments. I took the pedals off the Berserker, and of course they were wobbly and in need of some re-build TLC. Nothing was going as well as planned for sure.
I finished the (yet to be named) Zion build with an assortment of parts I had laying around my bike room. I went out for a test spin, and once again the bike seemed plagued by a loose headset. I analyzed the shit outta the problem, and tried everything from replacing the star nut with an Azonic Headlock to stacking a shit ton of spacers on top in case the pre-load cap was bottomed out on the steerer. As I straddled the bike with the front brake locked I was rocking the bike back and forth while trying to get my brain wrapped around the lub-dub vibe the bike was shooting back at me. I hung my head over the bars in desperation, and when I looked up and back at my fork from that position I noticed something odd. I had a clear view of the sealed bearings in the lower headset cup. I had never installed the crown race when I first built the bike. My mind zoomed along trying to count the miles I had racked up on my poorly assembled machine...
Uwharrie
Wilson's Creek
Maybe a local ride too? I dunno, but the only way to determine if I had done any permanent damage was to install the race and find out. It was easy enough to find the shiny new race as it was still in the box. I put it on and everything felt, unhhhhh, how do you say.... like a headset?? Yeah, it feels like a headset.
So I decided to move on to making an adjustment to the Meatplow. Since going to 29" wheels I have never trusted anything up front smaller than a 2.3. I was washing out the front of my Zion for eight months with a 2.35 Rampage and a 2.3 Resolution, so I could never see going smaller if I wanted to be able to ride aggressively (alright, stupid). I never took into account that maybe it was a geometry thing and not a tire thing. Well anyways... with my next race being the Cowbell 12 Hour Challenge I decided to start getting my shit together. The venue has changed from the USNWC (where I've had good luck) to a much less technical and flatter venue where my skillset has no place to shine. In the quest for speed I needed to analyze my set-up to see if there wasn't something I could do to get faster (other than training). The 2.35 Rampage seemed like overkill so I swapped the front to a 2.1 Crossmark. Of course the first time I mounted the tire up I put it on backwards, so the installation cost me two more CO2's. Who's supposed to be watching over my shoulder?
Saturday afternoon I got to enjoy the fruits of all my labor. I headed to Anne Springs with Stabby and Eric Van Driver with both of my bikes to see how everything worked out. The (yet to be named) Zion felt really good set up as a fixed gear, and riding it WITH a crown race made a world of difference in the handling department. I have to admit that picking some various components from my parts bin without taking proper fit into consideration was not wise. The 50mm Thomson stem combined with the very swept back Titec ti bars made for a cramped front end that had my lower back screaming. Oh well, live/learn/repeat.
Best way to test out a new set-up? The backyard does the trick most times.
Riding the Meatplow with the Crossmark up front kinda made my head hurt. The bike was so much faster all I could think of was all the races I had done since August with a Rampage up front where a 2.3 tire was overkill for the course (too much weight and rolling resistance). Meh. Warwick really nailed the front end geometry on my Thylacine, and the reduction of trail from my original Zion set-up allows me to run a smaller/lighter tire that I can confidently push hard in the corners. I would still want a Rampage for mountain rides, but I'm gonna have to give the Crossmark the nod when it comes to hauling balls for podium positions. This does pretty much wipe out any possibilty of me swapping back to the carbon White Brothers fork in the quest for speed though, as it has a smaller rake and would increase my trail figure to the point that I would not be comfortable on the twisty tight stuff with a little tire. Oh well, I don't want to make my bike so fast that my competition is afraid to even show up, now do I?
I can smell the charred remains of fractured dreams and crushed souls from here. Smells so nice and flowery, doesn't it?
So anyways, I took off the stem and got out the pipe cutter. I know the saying goes "Measure twice and cut once", but I prefer my method of "casually estimate once, cut once, and regret forever". I looked at the height of the spacer I wanted to remove and kinda/sorta put the pipe cutter in a place that looked good. I'm sure you know where this is going. I needed to remove about 2.5mm, and I ended up taking off about 5mm. Doh. I wasn't too worried since I've been running the stem upside down, so if I cut it way too short I'd still be okay if I flipped it. I feel alright 2.5mm's lower then I intended (I couldn't honestly tell the difference), so I'm calling this a success story.
Saturday morning I woke up at 5:00am to get cracking on my other projects. The Berserker Boredom Killer had to give up its wheels so I could build up the (yet to be named) Zion as a fixed gear machine. I still don't have my Industry Nine prototype fixie wheels, but I imagine the 600 people paying for their wheels might take some priority over my sick non-revenue producing needs. I went to mount up an old Ignitor to the Phil Wood/Arch rear wheel leaving the Stan's rubber rim strip in place (it's necessary for the silly little cyclocross tire that was on the Berserker). My first attempt was a no-go, and one CO2 was wasted in the process. I removed the strip and blew a second CO2 into the tire, and my efforts were rewarded with a plump hunk of inflated rubber. I needed to mount the Rampage up front with a tube as I don't have a high dollar front wheel, and of course I installed it backwards thus causing the loss of a few more brain cells and wasting more precious family-free moments. I took the pedals off the Berserker, and of course they were wobbly and in need of some re-build TLC. Nothing was going as well as planned for sure.
I finished the (yet to be named) Zion build with an assortment of parts I had laying around my bike room. I went out for a test spin, and once again the bike seemed plagued by a loose headset. I analyzed the shit outta the problem, and tried everything from replacing the star nut with an Azonic Headlock to stacking a shit ton of spacers on top in case the pre-load cap was bottomed out on the steerer. As I straddled the bike with the front brake locked I was rocking the bike back and forth while trying to get my brain wrapped around the lub-dub vibe the bike was shooting back at me. I hung my head over the bars in desperation, and when I looked up and back at my fork from that position I noticed something odd. I had a clear view of the sealed bearings in the lower headset cup. I had never installed the crown race when I first built the bike. My mind zoomed along trying to count the miles I had racked up on my poorly assembled machine...
Uwharrie
Wilson's Creek
Maybe a local ride too? I dunno, but the only way to determine if I had done any permanent damage was to install the race and find out. It was easy enough to find the shiny new race as it was still in the box. I put it on and everything felt, unhhhhh, how do you say.... like a headset?? Yeah, it feels like a headset.
So I decided to move on to making an adjustment to the Meatplow. Since going to 29" wheels I have never trusted anything up front smaller than a 2.3. I was washing out the front of my Zion for eight months with a 2.35 Rampage and a 2.3 Resolution, so I could never see going smaller if I wanted to be able to ride aggressively (alright, stupid). I never took into account that maybe it was a geometry thing and not a tire thing. Well anyways... with my next race being the Cowbell 12 Hour Challenge I decided to start getting my shit together. The venue has changed from the USNWC (where I've had good luck) to a much less technical and flatter venue where my skillset has no place to shine. In the quest for speed I needed to analyze my set-up to see if there wasn't something I could do to get faster (other than training). The 2.35 Rampage seemed like overkill so I swapped the front to a 2.1 Crossmark. Of course the first time I mounted the tire up I put it on backwards, so the installation cost me two more CO2's. Who's supposed to be watching over my shoulder?
Saturday afternoon I got to enjoy the fruits of all my labor. I headed to Anne Springs with Stabby and Eric Van Driver with both of my bikes to see how everything worked out. The (yet to be named) Zion felt really good set up as a fixed gear, and riding it WITH a crown race made a world of difference in the handling department. I have to admit that picking some various components from my parts bin without taking proper fit into consideration was not wise. The 50mm Thomson stem combined with the very swept back Titec ti bars made for a cramped front end that had my lower back screaming. Oh well, live/learn/repeat.
Best way to test out a new set-up? The backyard does the trick most times.
Riding the Meatplow with the Crossmark up front kinda made my head hurt. The bike was so much faster all I could think of was all the races I had done since August with a Rampage up front where a 2.3 tire was overkill for the course (too much weight and rolling resistance). Meh. Warwick really nailed the front end geometry on my Thylacine, and the reduction of trail from my original Zion set-up allows me to run a smaller/lighter tire that I can confidently push hard in the corners. I would still want a Rampage for mountain rides, but I'm gonna have to give the Crossmark the nod when it comes to hauling balls for podium positions. This does pretty much wipe out any possibilty of me swapping back to the carbon White Brothers fork in the quest for speed though, as it has a smaller rake and would increase my trail figure to the point that I would not be comfortable on the twisty tight stuff with a little tire. Oh well, I don't want to make my bike so fast that my competition is afraid to even show up, now do I?
I can smell the charred remains of fractured dreams and crushed souls from here. Smells so nice and flowery, doesn't it?
Looks like the living room is becoming the bike room! Love it!
I had a bad dream. I dreamt that you invited all of us fellow readers to your place for a "pre-race" party crash over.
Your place was huge. It had a place inside for tricks and such. And this huge washroom.
The joint had indoor condos and such.
Man, it must of been the sweet potatoes I ate before going to bed or something.
But, yah gotta invite us over to this virtual place I had going in my head!
Just a bikers wonder it was. (Comment this)
Looks like the American 'recession' isn't affecting couriers, how many of your offset carbon credits did you use blowing that CO2 into the air?? Pfft, I guess you're forgiven on account of no meat...
Kidding aside, cool site. (Comment this)