Category: cycling

Broken Crank Puller Cap on Race Face Deus XC Crankset

Published August 13, 2009

Tonight I went to pull the crankset off my bike so I could change the chainring bolts and this happened. That bottom flat piece of metal is supposed to be a taller cap, known as the crank puller cap (see crankset instructions here). It sits on the outside of the crank bolt, and as one undoes the crankset bolt it pushes against the cap, which pulls the drive-side crank off. Instead of doing that it just came apart, breaking off at the first ring of threads. This is not supposed to happen. Not much force was needed to break the part and the splines of the crank were well greased when I reassembled everything a few weeks ago, so I figure the cap simply failed.

While I can get another cap, there is a relatively thin cylindrical threaded piece of aluminum stuck in the crankset. I’m not completely sure how to get it out. I also can’t wholly disassemble the crankset until this piece of metal has been pulled and a new cap acquired. A very large easy out may work, but I might end up having to make something which digs into the remains of the cap and can unscrew it. It’s not very tight, but its not moving.

UPDATE: After a bunch of effort I was able to get the cap out and use a crank puller to remove the crank.

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Bus Pirate v2.go LEDs (and other Moblog Photos)

Published August 7, 2009

Today I finally got to poking around with the Hack A Day Bus Pirate v2.go. It’s a a nice little debugging tool which shows up as a 115.2k serial terminal via USB, and allows one to send and receive a bunch of different serial protocols to devices for testing. However, the LEDs on it are far, far, far brighter than they need to be. At my normally-lit desk in a normally-lit office, they are glaring. I’m going to consider replacing them next time I place an order from Mouser or Digi-Key.

Here’s some other recent moblog photos:

· Toadstools on the mountain bike trails at Bald Mountain South Unit.
· This morning’s coffee is made in a moka.
· Bloody nose pickings wiped on the mounting bracket for a urinal partition in one of the bathrooms at work.
· My sister’s dog Molly laying on the back porch at my parent’s house.
· Joy’s mom’s fruit Extra Easy Fruit Cobbler recipe.

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Tour de Suburbs

Published August 1, 2009

Having to run to the bank and wanting to go for a bike ride, I left my house with the intention of poking around the unmarked single track in River Bends for a while, then likely heading home. Instead I ended up visiting the following places:

· 5/3 Bank at 23 Mile and Schoenherr
· New (to me) single track in River Bends park.
· A car show in Downtown Utica, where I ended up talking with someone who described to me the town’s plans for a non-motorized path through the area. (Note that this is one of the few missing links in a complete regional trail system.)
· Erma’s for mint chocolate chip frozen custard.
· Through Clinton River Park and the (very muddy) single track to Dodge Park and around Sterlingfest.
· Down 16 Mile / Metro Parkway to Metro Beach and back.
· Along Schoenherr and Hayes to Sherwood Brewing Company where I had two pints (Green Rover IPA and Mistress Jades Hemp Ale) and a small pizza. Danielle met me there and we split a very large order of cheese bread.
· Finally, back home.

Total was 55.73 miles, which is definitely a nice jaunt for a Saturday afternoon. There’s also something which feels very civilized about being able to bike to a pub for a pint, or more specifically in this case, stop off at the pub on the way back from a ride for a couple pints and some good food.

Hmm. It seems that I’ve made it back just before some rain is due to hit. I guess it’s time for a shower and a shave, and time to throw the bike clothes in the wash. All of today’s sweat has made them quite stiff.

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New Bridge at Bald Mountain North Unit

Published July 30, 2009

Needing to clear my head and relax a bit after work, I headed out to Bald Mountain North Unit and Addison Oaks for some bike riding. One lap of each, a bit of the connecting dirt road, and a quick jaunt up to Lake Orion to watch the ducks in the park while eating some fruit/nut mix added up to just over 25 miles.

One really nice surprise in Bald Moutain was this brand new bridge over a previously muddy spot, which is located just after the Conklin Road entrance. That image there (and above) is looking back at it, after crossing over. Here is how it looks as you approach it. I’m not sure who did it, but I suspect one of the Team MARVIN (currently unemployed) MMBA members who have been doing loads of wonderful summer trail maintenance all throughout the area.

This ride, and last night at Stony Creek with the usual group, was also a chance to try out the new fork on trails that I know well. Thus far I’m really, really happy with the fork. In short, hard bumps don’t feel as severe, my front wheel sticks more solidly to the ground, and it’s noticeably lighter.

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Fox 32 F100 RLC on 2008 Specialized Rockhopper M4 Frame

Published July 28, 2009

While Danielle was off with two of the other people on her Breast Cancer 3-Day team walking ~16 miles, I spent most of Sunday working on my bike. After the very muddy Tree Farm Relay the day before my bike needed to be washed, and I had a new fork to fit.

For the first time I actually disassembled the entire bike, removing everything except for the bottom bracket, front derailleur, and derailleur hanger. Everything was then thoroughly cleaned, greased as needed, and put back together. At the same time as this a Cane Creek S-3 headset and the new-to-me Fox 32 F100 RLC fork were installed.

The undamaged Avid Clean Sweep G2 rotor (from leftover from the replacement of the brakes post-comically bad ride) was also fitted to the front in place of the roundagon that came with the BB7 and I’d fitted in July of last year. I’ve heard that they tend to stop better than the smoother roundagons, and after some brake clogging problems during the race, I figure it’s worth trying.

The steerer tube on the new fork was just a little bit longer than my old one, but I figured it was best to leave it be and just throw a spacer on top of the stem. As seen here it’s really not too bad looking, even with the particularly tall Niner YAWYD stem cap. I’m not sure I care for the carbon fiber look either, but I don’t think it’s terribly noticeable. Still, I can only hope that in a few years the Asian manufactures will do the world a favor and start using opaque epoxies when working with CF.

The shifter cables were replaced, time was spent adjusting the fork to both factory defaults and a reasonable sag for my weight (100psi, for reference), and a few test rides around the neighborhood were taken. Now to get out and do some single track riding and test it out. Hopefully this will happen tomorrow.

Here’s all of the pictures taken of my bike today, in case you want to see how it now looks:

· My bike, a once-was 2008 Specialized Rockhopper Disc, after being cleaned up and fitted with a 2008 Fox RLC fork and Cane Creek S3 headset. (Note the terrible crank / downtube positioning. This is awful composition.)
· Detail of the Cane Creek S3 headset and carbon fiber spacers. Since the steerer tube is a bit long and I didn’t want to cut it, the top cap sticks up a bit.
· 2008 Fox 32 F100 RLC fork and Cane Creek S3 headset installed on my 2008 Rockhopper Disc.
· Clean rear drivetrain after disassembly and chain replacement. The mud from the Tree Farm Relay required that everything receive particular attention.

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Tree Farm Relay

Published July 26, 2009

Yesterday was the 2009 Tree Farm Relay out at Lakeshore Park in Novi, MI. Our team consisted of Nick, Tak, Bill, and I under the name Snatch and Grab with the excellent team number 23 (Hail Eris). While the results aren’t up yet, I think we came in somewhere around the middle to the latter half of the group.

When we first arrived, there was a steady rain, which soaked everything nicely but (thankfully) stopped just before the start of the sport-class race. The first group encountered the muddiest trails, with the course progressively drying out through the third lap. When I went out for my fourth lap everything should have been nicely dry, but there was a downpour which started just after I entered the more difficult single track. The result of this was that I added a good two pounds of mud to my bike, and finished the race completely soaked and mudspattered. For the most part it was easy to tell who hadn’t ridden yet. Those who were still waiting for their lap were clean, and those who finished were not unlike this photo of Marty. Yes, it was loads of fun.

Up above there is a photo of a tube, blown out the side of a wheel. This is Nick’s bike, right after he ran across the line with his bike on just the back wheel. It turns out that during Nick’s lap he first broke his chain, then fixed it. After that, he slipped on one of the sloppy mud corners, washing his front wheel out. Once he started going, 20′ or so later a floowp floowp flawwp sound was heard from his front wheel, and right as he looked down at it the tire it finished unseating itself from the bead and the tube erupted out the side. The result was deemed unworthy of trail maintenance and the last chunk of trail traversed on foot. This was a good thing, as we all got to look at the wonderfully distended tube. Stuff like this is normally only seen in photos, so this was a nice treat.

This race is basically a party. Loads of people hanging out, talking, eating, and drinking both the beer that they brought or the kegs provided by Liberty Street and Dark Horse. There were even shots being handed out at the crater, a feature which is not unlike riding into (then quickly out of) the collapsed foundation of a house. I’m really glad I was able to go. This was a great way to spend a mid-summer Saturday.

Here’s the handful of photos I took there:

· Walking from my car to the race area in the rain at the 2009 Tree Farm Relay.
· A pouty Mike Moss wearing Erik’s antlers.
· My bike, Bill’s bike, and Nick’s bike all lined up with our team number, 23.
· A very muddy Marty after her starting lap on a rather muddy trail.
· Nick had a slight fall which unseated his tire, causing the tube to pop out one side of the wheel.
· My bike, very muddy, after a fourth lap at the Tree Farm Relay during which it started raining.

Here’s two related videos:

· Detroit Free Press promo video for mountain biking at Novi’s Lakeshore Park and the Tree Farm Relay.
· My video of the Le Mans style start, including a bit of crashing and falling.

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Fox 32 F100 RLC Fork and Tools

Published July 22, 2009

Not long ago I secured purchase of a new fork for my bike, a slightly-used 2008 Fox Racing Shox 32 F100 RLC air spring fork. This should be quite an upgrade from the RockShox Dart 3 coil spring fork that came on my bike. Since I am going to have the steering bits of the bike apart, I also decided to replace the headset at the same time. After some reserach I went with a Cane Creek S-3, which is just one below their very well regarded extra-sealed S-8. The only difference between the two is the bearings, where the S-3 has steel bearings which are slightly harder than the S-8’s stainless bearings. Also acquired (and shown above) are some Price Point-brand carbon fiber headset spacers, purchased just in case they were needed.

In order to install all these parts some rather specialized tool are needed. I’d been contemplating fashioning them out of PVC pipe, threaded rod, nuts, and washers, but a friend offered to loan me his bike tools, so I took him up on the offer. As a result I’ve got a nice selection of American-made Park Tool-brand bicycle tools here. Specifically, I was loaned a HHP-2 Bearing Cup Press, CRS-1 Crown Race Setting System, CRP-1 Universal Crown Race Puller, and RT-1 Head Cup Remover.

With all of these tools I should have no problem removing the old head cups, popping off the old crown race, seating the new race, and seating the new head cups. I’m just going to wait on doing it until after Saturday’s bike race, as it would be unwise to change such a crucial part of a bike around right before needing to depend on it.

If you’re interested, here’s a few more photos of this bike stuff:

· Cane Creek S3 Headset and Price Point-brand carbon fiber headset spacers. (Note the terribly ugly logos.)
· Slight damage to the left leg of the slightly-used F100RLC fork.
· Slight scuff on the right leg of the new fork.

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Stupid Forgetful Self

Published July 14, 2009

After work today I intended to head out to Novi’s Lakeshore Park and ride the Tree Farm. This didn’t happen.

First, I forgot my CamelBak at home this morning, so at lunch I ran home to both get it let Afie out to use the bathroom. However, when at home I got called into some work stuff which required my immediate attention and necessitated not going back to the office before the end of the day. I thought that this would be okay, because I could just leave from there, with all my biking stuff in the trunk of the car, and head out to Novi. So, I did.

However, once I reached the I-696 / I-96 junction, which is basically Novi, I realized that my bike shorts were in my laptop bag, sitting on one of the benches in the lab. Whoops. I’d brought them in this morning to make changing easier in the afternoon, throwing a huge wrench into the trip to Novi. After calling a friend to ask where I might be able to buy another pair in that area and coming up empty, I just turned around and headed back to work. Now, here I am.

I think I’ll end up just going to Stony Creek or something after I leave here, just so I can ride around for a bit and relax. I’m really disappointed, because I was looking forward to riding the Tree Farm, especially as I’m (likely) going to be in a race there a week from Saturday.

Ah well.

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Highland Wore Me Out

Published July 12, 2009

On Kristi’s suggestion, her, Erik, and I headed out to Highland Recreation Area to ride the mountain bike trails there. So, we did, hitting all four loops. (See map here.)

I’m thinking that I really like this trail, although it was mentally draining to ride. Almost the entire route is twisty narrow single track with lots of stair step-like descents over roots, and technical climbs around, over, and between rocks and roots. This is the sort of trail where you have to carefully plan when to wipe sweat or drink from a CamelBak, as there seems to be something new around every corner and absolute attention is crucial.

After riding we went to El Patio on M-59 in Waterford for Mexican food, and it was quite good. As we were just on the outskirts of Pontiac it’s not hard to find good Mexican, but this was a particularly nice mixture of proper Mexican stuff and American-Mexican. Dessert was a Oreo Blizzard.

Upon returning home I’d intended to wash my car, but I kept nodding off while getting ready to do so. I guess Highland wore me out, so the car washing will have to wait a day or three.

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Moblog Photos: Rubble, Pain Enterprises, Spicy Cheese Balls

Published July 8, 2009

I’ve been doing a lot of bike riding lately, and not much else. Here’s some photos taken with my phone which are related:

· Rubble just off of the Paint Creek Trail along the Paint Creek, near the Clarkston Road intersection.
· Reading The Confusion outside of Rochester Mills while waiting for some friends after a bike ride.
· Spicy Cheese Balls from the bar near Novi’s Lakeshore Park, after riding the Tree Farm.

And, here’s a photo that isn’t related to biking:

· Pain Enterprises truck, going down the road.

So, guess what’s happening tonight. Yes, more riding. Tonight is Stony Creek, and if tomorrow goes as intended I’ll be at Bald Mountain and Addison Oaks then. Friday… Likely no biking and getting stuff done around the house.

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