Category: cycling

For a while now I’ve lamented that, while they do a nice job of illustrating the whole of the park, the park provided maps for Addison Oaks don’t show the mountain bike trail route very well. After a meeting with park management it was decided that a new map of the MTB route would be nice, and over the last week I spent some time gathering GPS data at the park and drawing up the map you see above: CRAMBA‘s Addison Oaks Mountain Bike Route Map.

When drawing this map I was working with the following intentions:

· Make the MTB route easy to find for new users to the park.
· Provide sufficient landmarks (mile markers, water tower, RC plane field, cell tower, lakes, etc) to make it easy for a new user to locate themselves along the route.
· Illustrate where the MTB route interacts with other marked routes, such as equestrian trail crossings and segments shared with marked equestrian and hiking routes.
· Allow the map to be used alongside the park-provided maps by including common reference points.
· Produce a map that is readable when printed in B&W or color.

I think that this map meets these intentions. There will, of course, be versions released after this as stuff changes around and points for improvement are identified, but I’m pretty happy with the result thus far. Hopefully others will find it useful.

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With the acquisition of a fat bike I needed a way to store it standing up in the garage but my favorite rack, Feedback Sports’ RAKK, won’t work with a tire this wide. So, I set out to build my own. The result is what’s seen above, a collapsable stand which holds the rear tire at the bottom in a channel and at the top/sides to keep it from tipping over.

There are some other PVC rack designs floating around online, most similar to this one from Bogley Outdoor Community, but they all seem to have derailleur or brake rotor interference issues to one degree or another; see this photo for one example. By building an L-shaped stand I was able to completely avoid this.

The rack also has a lip extending off the back of it which serves two purposes. First it keeps the rack from tipping backward when pushing the bike into it, and second, by jutting out just a bit further than the rear tire, it keeps the stand just far enough from the wall that the rear tire doesn’t touch. Thus the bike can be inserted into the rack by pushing the whole assembly against the wall (without holding it), and it keeps the rack from inadvertently being unusably close to a wall. This latter point is a problem with the Feedback Sports RAKK, as if it’s sitting too close to the wall the bike cannot push the spring loaded arm backward and the rack must be slid away from the wall before a bike can be inserted; a bit of a hassle when the rack is set close to others in a small garage.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Total parts cost for this project was US$13.08 (after 6% Michigan sales tax), purchased at Lowes, not including incidental supplies or tools:

1″ Schedule 40 PVC Pipe:
· 1x 10′ Pipe
· 4x End Caps
· 2x 90° Elbows
· 8x Tee

Presuming a 7/8″ inset in each fitting the 10′ piece of pipe is then cut into the following size segments:

· 10x 4.25″
· 2x 24″
· 2x 11.25″
· 2x 1.25″

If your pipe fittings have something other than a 7/8″ inset or if your tire size is a fair bit different from mine you’ll want to adjust these lengths as necessary to ensure that you’ve got the appropriate distances between support pieces. The spacing that I found to work for my Salsa Mukluk 2 with a Surly Rolling Darryl rim and either an Endomorph or Larry tire has a base rectangle with inside dimensions of 4.25″ x 11.25″ and an upright with a 4.25″ x 24″ opening. Bikes with narrower (or wider) rims or tires may require this opening to be adjusted.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

I did all of my cutting with a hacksaw or bandsaw, depending on which was more convenient. Once all pieces are cut the ends need to be deburred and slightly beveled with a file or razor blade. Before assembly I also scrubbed the colored labeling off with some acetone and paper towel, but this isn’t a necessary step. If doing so caution must be taken as the acetone dissolves / etches the PVC, so one should be careful not to damage the surface or let it pool. It is also extremely volatile and flammable and thus any cleaning of this sort should be performed outdoors.

Assembly proceeds as pictured here, with all items cemented in place except for the where the upright meets the base. Parts were liberally coated with PVC cement (no primer, as this doesn’t need to hold water), and before this could set the parts were tapped into place with a dead blow hammer, measured with a ruler to ensure appropriate gaps, and aligned by pressing the parts against a flat surface. I found it was easiest to assemble the short cross pieces first, then fit the longer pieces, then the legs, and finally the end caps.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

The resulting stand works out very nicely, solidly holding the bike by either the front or rear wheel. This integrates well with the row of RAKK-supported bikes in the garage, and now I don’t have to lean by bike against a hose holder, garbage can, or wall. I’m quite happy with how it came out.

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This evening when beginning assembly of a friend’s new snow bike I ran into a bit of frustration while fitting the bottom bracket. Due to the design of the Truvativ Howitzer Team BB that he chose it’s not possible to use a Park Tool BBT-19 bottom bracket tool to torque it to spec. Because the spindle has to be inserted before both cups are fitted and the tool itself isn’t very deep, the spindle keeps the tool from fitting on the cups for final torqueing. To finish the job I instead had to use a standard box-type wrench for external BBs. This did the job, but it would be nice to know that I got the torque spot on.

The stuff shown above is the initial assembly of Bob Costello’s new Carver titanium snow bike, and includes an E-Type front derailleur. This is the first time I’ve fitted one of these derailleurs, and it was a pretty easy task. However, as I was warned, the Finish Line Anti-Sieze (Ti-Prep) compound which needs to be applied to all metal fastener surface is quite a pain. It seems to be a fine metallic powder suspended in a grease, and the resulting compound is sticky, staining, and it ends up just about everywhere. Unlike grease it’s not easy to wipe off of anything but metal and solid plastic surfaces; it soaks quickly into skin and is even difficult to remove from nitrile gloves. Thankfully ProGold Lubricants’ Shop Towels do an amazing job of cleaning it up from both frames and hands.

Unfortunately, we ran into a little quirk with the acquired parts which put the build on hold for a bit, but I imagine that’ll be remedied soon.

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