Category: cycling

Another Elegant Cadence Sensor Magnet Option

January 24, 2014

I’m apparently on a quest to find ideal neodymium magnets for triggering the cadence side of ANT+ speed/cadence sensors such as the Garmin GSC-10 and Wahoo Cycling Speed/Cadence Sensor. I’d previously tried wide/thin (10mm wide, various thickness) magnets such as the one seen here on the Salsa El Mariachi Ti which sit on the end of the pedal spindle. This works well on the El Mariachi Ti where the crank boot supports it from the side, but on bare cranks it’s not difficult to knock the magnet off. My friend Jeremy has lost at least one magnet this way.

A few days ago I received some 8mm x 10mm (diameter x height) neodymium magnet cylinders via eBay and these seem like an even better solution. On Crank Brothers pedals with 8mm hex sockets in the end of the spindle, these magnets slide snugly into the 8mm hole, with a bit over 2mm poking out. This works great for triggering the reed switch inside the cadence sensor, and unlike other magnets which simply stuck to the end of the spindle, roughly 75% of the magnet is inside of the pedal so it won’t be possible to knock this one off.

Removing the magnet as needed is pretty easy, too. Because there is no flat surface at the bottom of the hex socket the magnet is relatively easy to remove. It can easily be pulled out with another magnet, by sticking a flat piece of steel to the top, or grasped firmly (say, with pliers or some strong finger tips) and slid out. While getting to this fastener outside of a shop isn’t usually needed, it’s good to have the option.

acquired things cycling

New Helmet Pads for Giro Xar

January 21, 2014

After ~2 years (and maybe four months of need) I finally replaced the pads on my daytime helmet†, a Giro Xar. I’ve been quite happy with this helmet, and it’s done well for me, but the soft pads inside were soundly compacted and some parts were starting to delaminate. This meant that there would be large lumps inside the helmet if I didn’t put it on very carefully.

At $4.99/set for the pads I should have done this a while ago. The replacement is as simple as pulling out the old pads and sticking the new ones to the velcro.

† At night I wear my old helmet, a Giro Phase. This one isn’t quite as comfortable as the Xar, so I keep a light mount on top and use it mostly at night. It’s also a backup in case something happens to the Xar.

acquired things cycling

Wahoo Cycling Speed/Candence Sensor for Salsa Vaya

January 8, 2014

The Salsa Vaya (and hopefully the forthcoming Motorless City bike) has the rear disc brake cable run along the top of the chain stay, which means the Garmin GSC-10 (Speed/Cadence Bike Sensor) cannot cleanly fit on the bike (photo). To work around this I picked up the Wahoo Cycling Speed/Cadence Sensor (a compatible ANT+ device) and thus far it seems like it’ll work just fine. I had no problems hanging both sensors below the chainstay, and my Garmin Edge 510 quickly picked up the sensor and was able to get both wheel rotation and cadence data from it.

This setup isn’t as attractive as Garmin’s single unit, and the need to double the cable back on itself looks a bit sloppy, but it does offer more flexibility and overall it should work out fine. I was also a bit disappointed that it doesn’t feature a Garmin unit-like test button/LED which makes setup super easy. It’s a bit higher priced than the Garmin sensor, so it’d be nice if it was at least identical feature-wise. It’s also a bit awkward how the entire sensor body needs to be pivoted in towards the spokes instead of a small/discrete arm, but I do think it’ll work out fine.

Since this was a test mounting I was a bit careless with the cable ties and didn’t peel the adhesive pads off of the cadence sensor, making for sloppy work. I intend to leave this (with its ugly, temporary fittings) in place for a month or so, and then hopefully after that it’ll be in place on the Motorless City bike.

acquired things cycling

New Trail Map of Bald Mountain Recreation Area – North Unit

January 5, 2014

This morning I’d originally planned on going for a ride in the currently-active snowstorm, but I started working on a project that I’d wanted to complete for a while, and this evening I completed it: a CRAMBA-IMBA map of Bald Mountain Recreation Area – North Unit. Home to some gently rolling, old-style trails built with cross country skiing in mind it’s not very challenging, but this is one of my favorite mountain bike trails in the area.

Over the last few slow speed wintertime rides there I’d collected the GPS data I was lacking, put it into OpenStreetMap today, cleaned up the existing data, and followed my mapping workflow to create this map. It has a fair bit more detail than the official park map, showing some of the unofficial but well used connector trails, colloquial names for some areas, and a bit more context. It’s what I personally would want for a mountain bike centric map of the trail.

So, what to map next… I’d like to do a CRAMBA-IMBA map of Pontiac Lake Recreation Area, but I’ll need to spend more time riding and exploring there before that’s feasible. I’m familiar with the trails, but not familiar enough with the park to do a proper map. I also want to update the Bloomer Park map to get something that better matches the style of the other maps. But, for now, I’m glad that this got done. I feel like I’ve accomplished something.

One can see this map overlaid on Google Maps, along everything else in the MMBA Trail Guide here: link.

cycling making things mapping

Brake Lever Insulation for Winter

January 4, 2014

Riding a bicycle in winter is made easier by insulating one’s body from the metal frame, which acts as a heatsink pulling away warmth. Bicycle grips, saddle, and boots do this fairly well, but metal brake levers can quickly chill one’s fingers even with gloves on. I’d looked into some carbon fiber brakes such as the Tektro MT5.0 on the Mukluk (photo gallery retired), but $50+ seemed like a lot to spent for just a bit of extra insulation.

Earlier today I came across this post on MTBR in a thread about insulated brake levers which suggested using some heatshrink tubing to insulate the blade itself, so I’ve decided to give that a go. This was pretty easy to do, and while there are a couple slightly visible high spots and subtle wrinkles the curved part where my finger goes is smooth, and it seems to feel good.

I’ll give this a go tomorrow and see how it works out, but just basic experimentation in the basement is showing it to be warmer than the bare metal lever. Now if I could only find something to do about the metal clamp at the end of the Ergon grips…

UPDATE: After a 2+ hour ride in the snow at Bald Mountain I’m going to declare this a success. The brake lever never once felt cold, I had to consciously try to feel for a differing texture, and things just worked.

cycling making things

RAL K7 Colour Fan Deck

December 26, 2013

So that I may have proper samples for choosing a color for the forthcoming Motorless Bicycle Company frame, Rodney loaned me his RAL K7 Colour Fan Deck, 2012 edition, that contains samples of colors as used by many powder coaters. These are tremendously useful, as they allow one to see the actual color instead of a prone-to-misinterpretation (not to mention emissive vs. reflective) representation.

Thus far I’m not sure what color I want the frame to be, but I’m thinking that RAL 2004 (Pure orange) or RAL 2008 (Bright red orange) may do nicely if I’m sticking with my original desire for orange. If not that, I may consider a brilliant pink, maybe like RAL 4010 (Telemagenta) or RAL 4003 (Heather violet). I could see one of those oranges looking great with a bit of flake/sparkle to it as well.

cycling

Not-Quite-Clean Hydration Pack Zippers

December 26, 2013

I periodically wash my Deuter Race Air Lite hydration pack because riding causes heavy sweat buildup on the straps and zippers, eventually getting to the point where the zippers are hard to actuate. I washed it a few days ago by soaking it in a sink of hot water and sodium percarbonate (powdered OxiClean) by periodically agitating it and letting it sit overnight. This works very well, but I forgot one important step: actuating the zippers. The result is that after drying there are still some sweat deposits where the zippers had been, as seen above.

As a result the zippers are still difficult to move in these positions, so I’ll have to soak it again another day this week. Oh well, at least its winter time and I’m not using the bag on a near daily basis as I had been during the summer.

cycling

34×20 for Ray’s MTB

December 25, 2013

After our trip down to Ray’s MTB in Cleveland on Monday, Rodney loaned me a 20T Niner cog for the El Mariachi. For the riding down there I’d left my typical 34×19 setup on the bike, but a couple of the climbs were a little tough, particularly when I got stuck behind slower riders. Thankfully this was a rare occurrence, as the park was quite empty that day.

Since it didn’t require removing any links from the chain I figured I’d give this 20T a go and see if it works out better on the planned trip this coming Friday; particularly as I suspect there’ll be more people there that day and more chances to get caught in traffic.

cycling

For Sale: Titus Racer X 29er

December 20, 2013

After a lot of consideration I’ve decided to sell my full suspension 29er, the US-made Titus Racer X 29er, in size medium. This is an incredibly nice bike, but I’ve only ridden it three times since last October (2012) when I replaced the headset. Two of these rides were to reassure myself that I still liked it (and I do — it’s a great bike) but I find myself riding my other bikes more often these days. I’ve got enough bikes that this one is now redundant, so I’d like to find it a good home. This is a bad time of the year to list a bike for sale, but I had some time to clean it up so I figured I’d do so anyway.

Photos are available by clicking here (photo gallery retired) or on the image above.

This bike was built out and maintained to be comfortable, rugged, and yet perform extremely well, and did exactly what was intended. It’s also in been well cared for, maintained properly, and is in very good shape, with the only notable mar on the frame being some small scratches on the drive side of the down tube near the letter T, some small scratches acquired when riding at Highland last year and falling over in an uphill rock garden. There’s no cable rub, no chainsuck, and no dents. The fork and rear shock stanchions are free of bushing wear, the frame is really in great shape, and there isn’t even any cable rub due to all the potential rub locations being protected with UHMW polyethylene tape.

When doing a final cleaning for sale I fitted a new chain because the old one was getting near worn; something that nicely matches the super-clean drivetrain. The fork on the bike (a Rock Shox Reba Team) was professionally rebuilt by Rochester Bike Shop a bit over a year ago, and works great. The rear shock, a Fox RP23 had its seals replaced last summer, not long before I stopped riding the bike.

Part of me doesn’t want to get rid of it, but I think it’s time. Along with the bike I’m including the maintenance items that I’d stocked for it, including replacement suspension bushings, WickWerks 32t (middle) chainrings, derailleur hangers, and fork parts. I’ll also toss in a stainless steel bottle cage and swap the Ergon grips for something else matching (Specialized BG Contour, ODI Ruffian, or Salsa Backcountry) if desired.

Please email me at c0nsumer@nuxx.net if you are interested in purchasing this.

Asking price is ~~US$1500~~ SOLD, and the build is as follows:

Frame: Titus Racer X 29er, Black Anodized, Medium (Geometry), FSR Suspension Licensed from Specialized
Suspension Fork: Rock Shox Reba Team (100mm)
Rear Shock: Fox Racing Shox RP23 w/ High Volume Air Canister (80mm)
Wheels: Velocity Blunt SL Rims and SRAM X9 Hubs
Crankset: FSA V-Drive and WickWerks Chainrings (22T / 32T / 44T)
Front Derailleur: Shimano LX
Rear Derailleur: SRAM X9
Shifters: SRAM X9
Cassette: SRAM PG-990 (Red)
Chain: SRAM PC-991 (Brand New)
Brakes: Avid Elixir CR
Brake Rotors: Avid Clean Sweep G3 (160mm Front and Rear)
Cables: Gore Ride-On
Headset: Cane Creek 40 (Nearly New — Only three rides.)
Handlebar: Ragley Carnegie’s Bar
Stem: Ritchey (100mm)
Grips: Ergon GP1 BioKork (Large)
Tires: Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.25″ (Front), Kenda Small Block Eight 2.1″ (Rear)
Tubeless Setup: Stan’s NoTubes Valves, Tape, and Sealant
Saddle: Specialized Targa
Seatpost: Maxm AM 39 (Two Bolt, Thomson-like)
Seatpost Collar: DKG
Maintenance Parts: 2x WickWerks 32T 104BCD chainrings, 2x replacement derailleur hangers, 3x sets igus suspension bushings, fork decals, fork travel spacer.

cycling finances

Forthcoming Motorless City Bicycle Equipment Thoughts

December 14, 2013

Chris from Motorless City Bicycle Company and I have been emailing back and forth about the specifics of the frame that he’s building for me; the unexpected prize from the drawing just before the Detroit Invitational Cyclocross race. This is likely going to end up as a basic 2×10 gravel road bike, and thus I need to start thinking about component selections. While I’ve got some fairly shiny, well-equipped bikes, I tend to prefer equipment that falls on the side of robust and cost effective.

Here’s my working list of how I’ll kit out the bike. Italics are have/already purchased/will be provided:

Frame/Fork: Motorless City Bicycle Company custom frame, for obvious reasons. RAL 2004 / Pure Orange. SM-CS50 adapters on downtube shifter bosses.

Headset: Cane Creek 40, or maybe a 100 if I pull it off of the Vaya.

Crankset: SRAM Rival, 172.5mm, 50/34, QBP CK4435

Bottom Bracket: SRAM Rival (comes with crankset)

Wheels: XT or Formula hubs, Velocity A23, DT Swiss Competition 2.0-1.8-2.0 butted spokes, 32 spoke, 3-cross, all black, brass or alloy nipples (or DT Swiss X370 / X470 wheelset originally from the Titus Racer X 29er).

Tires: Bruce Gordon Rock ‘n Road 700 x 43c (Alternate: Clement X’Plor USH since I already have them.)

Handlebar: Salsa Cowbell 2, 42cm

Stem: Custom Motorless City Stem, Matte Black (RAL 9005 / Jet Black). Measurements TBD. (Alternate: Thomson, 110mm, rise based on head tube and stylistic desires. 0 Degree X4 matches Vaya TT angle. Black.)

Seatpost: Thomson, non-setback, based on bike fit/frame requirements. Likely 27.2mm x 330mm or maybe 250mm. (Alternate: Salsa Pro Moto 2?) Black.

Seatpost Collar: Salsa? Thomson? DKG? Dimension? Something plain? Chris says he’ll provide something. 30.0mm. Black.

Saddle: Specialized Avatar Comp Gel (143mm)

Bar Tape: Generic black gel cork, whatever I find/have. Lizard Skins recommended by Ryan, maybe Specialized Roubaix?

Shifters/Brake Levers: SRAM Rival (Carbon Levers)

Front Derailleur: SRAM Rival, 31.8 clamp, to be shimmed w/ Wheels Manufacturing Delrin Front Derailleur Shim.

Rear Derailleur: SRAM Rival, Short Cage

Cassette: SRAM PG-1050, 12-28

Chain: SRAM PC-1051

Pedals: Crank Brothers Candy 3 (Black)

Brakes: TRP HY/RD, 160mm front, 160mm or 140mm rear. (Likely 160mm.)

Bottle Cages: King Cage Kargo Cage and Stainless Steel Cage (from Vaya)

Other Accessories: Planet Bike Superflash Stealth, UHMW Tape for Cable Rub, Scotch 2228 for Chain Slap, Timbuk2 Bike Seat Pack, Topeak Road Master Blaster Frame Pump, Niner YAWYD, Garmin Edge 510 w/ GSC-10.

(Updated 2014-Jan-08.)

(Notes from Apto fit: “Ended up moving the saddle forward about 5mm and seatpost up about 5mm. It was suggested that I consider moving my left cleat back a few mm to compensate for a slightly longer leg. I’ll probably go to a 2cm narrower bar, and got some great pointers for positioning the controls. I’ll likely go to a 172.5 crank, and I got numbers for it all that I can use on the custom bike.”)

cycling