nuxx.net Posts

Today I saw the above post-Christmas sale advertisement on Macomb Bike and Fitness’ website. Even better, unlike many other local shops they are listed as being open on Sundays. Needing a different saddle and stem for my new bike I figured that I would head there and try to pick up some cheap parts, hopefully pulls from bikes or demos. This would both support a local shop and get me the parts quickly. Unfortunately, when I got there a printed sign on the door indicated that they are closed on Sundays.

While I understand that many bike shops are closed on Sundays, it’s really frustrating to waste a bunch of time because a shop can’t get its posted information straight. I think at this point I’ll just order the stem and a likely-fit saddle online from somewhere.

UPDATE: I should note that I contacted Macomb Bike and Fitness after this and they apologized profusely and promptly changed the listed hours. They’d also offered to make it up to me with something reasonable, but in the mean time I was able to trade someone for saddle (which seems to fit) in trade, and acquire appropriate stem from another local shop.

Today a group of us set out for a ride at Stony Creek through the snow, along the usual trails. As pictured above the ride entailed Nick and Marty Shue, Jon Rose, Carlos McIntyre, Bob Costello, Kristi Heuvers, and Erik Silvassy, and I was behind the camera. We rode in from the trail head, did one regular route of the single track (Pines → Snake → Roller Coaster), then a generally-rare in-daylight backwards lap of The Pines.

While there was snow on the ground, none of us (save for Bob) had studded tires on our bikes, and none of us were wanting for them during the ride. Despite a couple icy bits on the two track (including one that I fell on while trying to pass Marty so I could get out front of the pack and take a picture), almost all of the single track was simply snow covered. A few of the climbs resulted in tire spin and loss of traction (leading to walking), but nothing was icy enough to cause problems.

With the bright sun and temperatures hovering around freezing this was an ideal day for a winter ride. Things were warm enough that I rode comfortably in just a long-sleeved shirt and head cover, having stripped off my jacket and balaclava early in the ride. All said, it was a great day for a ride and a nice way to spend it with friends.

If you’re interested, here is one more image from today, showing the bottom bracket area of my bike covered in snow.

A number of months ago I purchased a pair of CrankBrothers Eggbeater MXR pedals. A few weeks ago I let a friend of mine borrow them for his new bike, to use until a set that he ordered arrived. Unfortunately within a few rides they had failed, with the plastic end cap popping out, the body wobbling around the shaft, and the bearings feeling very stiff. While these are the cheapest Eggbeater pedals made I had expected them to last for more than a handful of rides. After all, I’ve been using the second-lowest-end Eggbeater C pedals all year and they continue to work great.

Seeing as the pedals should still be under warranty I filled out a support ticket and submitted it, along with the image above and this one. They had space to upload two images for context, but I only had one image of the pedals. Here’s the text of the support ticket which I hope will result in upgraded replacement pedals:

I purchased some Eggbeater MXR pedals back in May as spares and put them on a bike a couple weeks ago. Within a handful of rides rides on fairly basic Michigan trails the end cap had come out of one pedal while riding and the pedal stopped moving smoothly and began wobbling. Closer inspection showed a ball bearing in the grease behind where the cap was. This is shown in the picture of the pedals below. The other picture is my girlfriend’s dog, wet from a bath.

While I understand that these are your cheapest pedals, I was hoping that they would last for more than a few rides. If you are able to help me out with these under warranty, is there a way which I could upgrade them to the SL model instead, even if for an additional charge? I’ve recently used a friend’s set and found that I prefer them over either the MXRs or the Cs which I use on my other bike.

Thanks very much!

Here’s Bob putting more air in the rear tire of his bike after tonight’s cold weather made it feel particularly soft and uncomfortable to ride on.

For tonight’s ride we started out from my house with the temperature in the low 20s and headed up to River Bends for a quick ride on the trails there. This resulted in 14.31 miles over an hour and a half, making for a rather pokey 10.1 MPH average. With the air as cold as it is anything over 13 MPH or so hurt, and the trails we were on are lumpy and icy enough that one tends to poke along in a relatively low gear. Not long after returning the National Weather Service had my area listed at 18°F.

Cold weather riding is nifty, and I’m glad that I’m appropriately equipped to do so, but it sure is a lot harder than when its nice out.