Category: acquired things

This rainy Thursday was used for some necessary bike work. I’ve finally resolved my chainring issues by acquiring a new Surly stainless steel chainring, 104mm x 34t. This was fitted with some short alloy chainring bolts, the chainline was tweaked by doing some fancy math and then removing one spacer removed from behind the the cog, and I re-adjusted the chain tension.

I also fitted a Kenda Small Block Eight to the rear of the bike and a beefy 2.4″ wide Schwalbe Racing Ralph to the front. I’ve been liking this exact setup on my Titus so I figure it’ll be good to try here as well. It’s fast rolling but works wonderfully over sand and loose stuff, and should be great until the snow flies. I think I’ll try and test it out tomorrow evening. It’d be nice to try it out at Addison Oaks, but after both working and racing there this past weekend (for which these podiums) I’m not sure I want to ride it so soon.

If you’re interested, here are two photos of me from the race (1, 2) which were taken by Andrea Tucker during the race. I finished 10th out of 14 in my class, which I don’t think was too bad, seeing as I’d never done three solid laps (the length of the race) of this trail before. All of us working the race had also arrived at 7am to set up everything, and then Erik and I set out on a fourth lap afterward to clean up the trail. It was definitely a tiring day.

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I just did one of the things you should never do: change major bicycle components the night before a race. In this case I’ve fitted a new fork (Manitou Drake Super Air 29er) and brakes (Avid Elixir R). Tomorrow morning is the 2010 Tree Farm Relay, so hopefully everything will work out well.

Brakes aren’t completely bedded in yet, but some riding around the neighborhood and parking lot helped that along. The new, taller fork has helped the feel of the bike tremendously, and I suspect the squishyness will make the ride a bit nicer too. I did find a couple small drops of what I believe to be brake fluid on the caliper near the banjo bolt and I’m not certain where they came from, but they have me slightly worried. Hopefully that concern is for naught and none ended up on the pads or rotors.

Now, time for a shower and bed.

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Ever since the Island Lake Bike Demo I’ve found myself wanting a rigid single speed bike for occasional trail rides. After failing to purchase a Redline Monocog Flight 29er I started looking at used bikes on the MMBA Forum and came across a well-equipped VooDoo Dambala in my size for US$600. After driving out to Chelsea to meet the seller and look it over (and eat at Zingerman’s Road House on the way back) I decided to purchase the bike. It’s just what I want, a steel framed bike that fits me with good quality parts at a fair price.

At 34:16 (2.125:1) the gearing is a bit tall for me, but being a standard single speed hub I shouldn’t have a problem fitting a new (and more appropriate) cog. I’ll give it a go as-is first, since my legs are much stronger since my my last single speed experiment, I don’t want to pick a new gearing before really trying it out.

The bike came with the levers set up British-style (front brake on the right) which is common on mountain bikes ridden by motocross folks, but not right for me. Since taking the photos above I switched them around and swapped the Time pedals for Eggbeaters so it’s now ready for a test ride. I still have to get a new saddle and adjust the rear brakes a tad (clean, or perhaps bleed them), and maybe fit some Ergon grips, but it’s otherwise all ready to ride. Hopefully I’ll be able to get out tomorrow to try it out.

The bike came equipped as follows:

Frame: VooDoo Dambala 18″
Stem: Bontrager 90mm
Fork: Bontrager Switch Blade Race X Lite Carbon Fiber
Wheels: Sun Ringle
Seatpost: Thomson
Bar: FSA CarbonPro
Crankset: Bontrager
Tires: Specialized S-Works The Captain
Brakes: Hayes Stroker Trail (Avid Clean Sweep G2 Rotor in Rear)
Saddle: Selle Italia Flight
Cog: Surly 16T
Chainring: 34T
Bash Guard: Salsa
Grips: ODI Ruffian
Pedals: Time

More pictures of this bike can be found here if you are interested: VooDoo Dambala.

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This past Thursday I managed to get a great deal on some Ortleib Back Roller Classic panniers for my bike. I’d wanted some for a while, and the ~$120 sale price for them at REI couldn’t really be beat. Sure, I could have picked up cheaper ones, but these seem like they’ll be quite nice, will keep things dry, and will have a good resale value if I decide that I no longer want them.

Here they are fitted to my bike, along with a small Topeak trunk bag. I intend the trunk bag to hold bike tools, phone, and wallet while the panniers hold whatever else I need, be it work clothes, groceries, packages going to the post office, or whatever. The bike also has a NiteRider MiNewt USB light on the bar and two rear blinky lights and I’ve got a roll of black Scotchlite tape which I’ll be adding to the bike, along with a pack of firefighter’s reflective helmet strips which will be applied later. Between these I should have no difficulty being seen from multiple angles while riding at night.

I’ll probably also fit the bike with some smooth tires (Continental TravelContact?) to make for smoother rolling. However, the nicely worn Specialized The Captain Control tires aren’t terrible, and leaving them on keeps the bike multi-purpose, better for riding both paths and trails with a variety of surfaces.

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Starting last week when up at Big M and the NCT I’ve had a set of Schwalbe Racing Ralph tires on my bike. Thanks to a nice (and fair to all) deal worked out with a MMBA forum member and my friend Bob I ended up with a nice, fat 2.4″ tire on the front and a quite sufficient 2.25″ on the rear for $75. This is quite a good deal, as these tires are normally $70/ea in local shops.

These are definitely different feeling from the 2.0″ Specialized The Captain Control tires that I’d fitted earlier in the year. They both seem to roll faster and grip better when the bike is leaned way over, and their extra volume makes things feel a little bit more comfortable on trails. I’ve found the point at which they let go a few times, but haven’t fallen yet. The super-fat (for me) front tire also means that it floats over sand quite nicely, which was very helpful at Big M and Bald Mountain; both trails known for having unexpected patches of the typical Michigan pine forest sandy soil.

I think I’ll keep these on the bike for a while.

For what it’s worth these tires have plenty of clearance on my bike:

· Here is a photo of the clearance when a 2.4″ Schwalbe Racing Ralph is used on a Fox F29 RLC with a 23.9mm DT Swiss X470 rim.
· Here is the clearance of the 2.25″ Schwalbe Racing Ralph as the rear tire on a medium Titus Racer X 29er.

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Back in December I traded the too-narrow saddle that came on my Titus Racer X 29er for a WTB Laser V. This has seemed okay, but I’ve found that I occasionally get numbness problems when on longer rides where I spend more time in the saddle (and less standing). I’d heard good things about the Specialized Phenom and just when I decided to try one someone posted one on the MMBA Forum at a quite-reasonable price as he’d tried it and it didn’t work out right for him.

It arrived today so I fitted it on the Titus Racer X 29er and took a quick mile-ish ride between puddles and over every curb and rough bit of pavement that I could find to try it out. It’s definitely a firmer saddle than my previous one, but it seems to be more supportive where it should be (under my sit bones) and not where it shouldn’t (under the perineum).

On Saturday I’m supposed to do a six hour bike race at Stony Creek with Bob (we’ll ride as a team, each person riding alternate laps) so I think I’ll give it a try there. I’ll bring the previous saddle just in case this one doesn’t work out so well, but thus far I think it’ll be all right. If not there are a few other people from the aforementioned forum will gladly take it off my hands.

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