Bicycles!

[choneofakind]

So I guess my MTB build is less done than I thought it was. I've ordered a 180mm rotor for the front. I'm unhappy with how much force I need at the lever when I'm really trying to slow it down. I'm really liking the 140 on the rear, but the front brake is making my hand tire, especially when it gets hot and firm and expands. There's one section at Mohican where I can get it so hot that it makes noise and feels like a brick. I'm going to correct that. I guess I could just go faster and not use the brake, but I kinda am a wimp.

Here's to easier nose wheelies and non-fatigued pointer fingers. I'll be that guy rocking a 180/140 rotor setup.

[Apex]

Awesome.

I two finger it on my HiFi (hydro's on that bike) when I need some serious braking power, unless it is a really technical decent.

My HRS, I ALWAYS two finger it unless it is reasonably flat, because, well, mechanical. lol

[choneofakind]

I don't like two fingering. Less control. I like 1-finger.

Holy wow this 180 rotor is a freakkng pie plate! It's not fully bedded yet, that will take a couple good rides and one more truing session. But it's already going to be good, I can tell

[Apex]

I prefer a single finger, because two compromise grip on the bars. However, most of the time it isn't an issue around here. There is one trail where it can get a little annoying, but only if I'm doing a short circuit. The long circuit gives plenty of rest between the heavy uses.

You never know, I may upgrade it in the future, just not now.

[choneofakind]

So my job isn't starting for a week and I'm not in classes ATM. I came home. Before my roadie ride, I goofed around and bedded in my pads on the MTB. Woaaaaaaahhh!

I can now nose wheelie while hanging off the back end of the bike. I need much much less finger pressure to get the bike to stop NOW. Chris likes this. Going MTB tomorrow for some mileage at my favorite trail. Will report back with a count; how many times will I go over the bars?!

[Apex]

5-times, or else you aren't braking hard enough!

[choneofakind]

Twice.

I found myself over-braking early. Gonna have to retrain myself on that one so I'm not squeezing it as hard or as early to comp for brakes that I have to sqeeeeze


Once I lifted the rear. Figured out you can still turn the bike in with the rear off the ground.

Second time I was playing with how late I could brake. Ran down a little rut the wrong way, and washed out the front. That was the end of my day. Bashed the derailleur hanger pretty good and broke some derailleur housing. Managed to ride it back to the parking lot. But it kinda ruined my ride. Was planning on 25 miles and only got to do 8.6. Meh.

The front brake is awesome though. My left pointer finger wasn't tired at all and I could relax my grip on the bars. All in all, this is what they should have felt like. Now if only my ninja could go with a giant rotor up front as well for track duty.

[thisisbenji]

180 rotors are amazing, I have one on my bike. It's amazing how late I can brake with it. I pretty much don't even need a back brake as my rear wheel is almost never in constant contact with the ground as I'm entering a corner.

[choneofakind]

lol, I'm having to get used to it. With my standard braking habits, the 180 seems extra grabby, but I started getting the feel for it. My rear has always been mostly for line control and rotating the bike, hence the 140 on my rear for extra modulation-ability. The 180 seems so much better for braking the way I want without having to squeeze the **** out of the lever to the point of tiring my hands and death gripping. I have lady-like hands apparently.

[Apex]

Nah, any hand will get tired with mechanical brakes. My engine is what needs a tune up. I figure my engine will die before my braking hand will, so I'll worry about hydro's once my engine catches up to the rest of me. hahaha

[choneofakind]

My engine wants a more efficient rear suspension design. I'm really looking at the Trek Fuel EX 8 but the 9 comes with Penske tuned shock and 1x11 drivetrain. Ughhh whatever my next bike is, it's gonna be pricey.

My checklist is 1x11, badass brakes, more efficient suspension than my current single pivot frame, and more travel than my 100mm. I'm getting more into the theory of ride it like you're on powder and bomb the line you want, regardless of the junk in the way. Jump it, unweight over it, lift the front and manual it, etc etc. I'm thinking the 120-130 mm range and a trail-oriented geometry is what I want.

[Apex]

Niiiiice!

[choneofakind]

Took the roadie for a wee spin today. Flattened out the seat and my tush doesn't slide any more. It's perfectly flat now. 83 miles later and I'm ready for a nap.

I find it interesting on the MTB how you have to learn good lines and start carrying speed, because you start out riding right over everything and getting caught up in the bumps. But then in your quest to get faster and get your speed rush, you learn to just bomb past everything in your path and float over it all, and suddenly you're faster. But at the same time, you can combine the line choice and the idgaf-about-my-bike-anymore riding style, and you start getting a) faster and b) good at eating dirt. It's a weird progression

[choneofakind]

Time for a couple off days! I just finished up a 200 mile week. I went home because my job isn't starting until Monday so I had nothing better to do.

http://www.strava.com/athletes/3457587

Mon - nice 29 miles of roadie
Tues - short day on the MTB. wrecked, totally fine but cut the day short because I bent my derailleur hanger to heck. It's been bent back a few times, gonna have to replace it.
Wed - 83.8 miles of roadie Gran Fondo
Fri - 40 miles of hitting a bunch of my favorite hilly roads
today - 40 miles of flat, back at school. There was a prison break on Thurs evening, so I decided to ride to Lima to see the Prison (with a buddy, of course). It was all over my local news at home because we aren't far from Chardon and they put the families of the victims in protective custody, etc etc. What a shame, that incident.

Makes for an interesting ride though



I think I can take a couple off days without regret. My legs are pretty beat and today's ride was embarrassingly slow.

[rojoracing53]

200 miles that's twice as much as I normally ride.

[choneofakind]

But you've got hella hills compared to my normal weeks, and a lot of your mileage is on MTB, which is also way harder than roadie. I basically just spin while I'm in the zone and let time pass.

normally I'm at the 100 mile/week marker also. But I had a week off and the weather was decent and I know it's going to be my last truly free week for a long while, so I figured wth, why not!? It's been my goal since I've been keeping track of my mileage on strava to ride 200 miles in a week and I finally did it. I really really wanted to hit 100 on my ride Wednesday, but I got to about 75 and just wasn't feeling it unfortunately. The good thing is I didn't crack like the first longer ride I tried, my legs were just tired and hot and heavy. Some day I'll get a century under the belt.

Good news is my knees are doing great. No worse this week than any other. I think my fit changes to the bike have made a huge improvement. I'm also super comfy on the bike.

[choneofakind]

Double post:

So I've got my wheels figured out. Been talking with my manager while I was home to double check, but I've been in contact with Rob from PSIMET about building me a wheelset. He suggested White Industries Hubs laced 20/24 to Pacenti SL23 rims with Sapim CXray spokes. The whole build comes to 1470 grams with brass nipples; it's a good training set with killer reliable WI hubs (extra bearing, extra large bearings for reliability) and semi aero rims that are wide and light. My old manager said Rob is at least sane and it should be a sick wheelset for me. So I'm thinking I'm going to pull the trigger and blow my first paycheck on them. Woo!! Took long enough for me to decide on something. Premade wheelsets just weren't getting what I wanted, so I FINALLY decided to pony up and get a handbuilt set.

I'm also debating trading my Defy 1 for a TCR SLR2 to get a more sportive geometry instead of an endurance geometry... but that's really just a little thought right now and is going to take a bunch of test riding. Won't happen till spring anyway if it does, because spring Craigslist prices are higher than fall prices.


Gonna do a sprint Tri at Wittenburg in late October, maybe try my hand at Cat5 with a couple guys in the spring. There's a few races the guys are trying to convince me on, one of them is at Mid-Ohio on the track in March. Brrrrrrr.

Also kinda debating going roadie only for a bit until I can get the MTB I actually want. I've loved building up this bike. I love airing it out and floating over roots and rocks. I love riding trails, but I can get so much more consistent workouts with less driving by riding roads. Kind of annoying to have to drive 40 miles to find trail, only to ride 12 miles and either decide it's too muddy to continue, or get injured/break something. Not sure how I feel about going roadie only, but I will toss it around in my head this winter. I know my mtb was cheap to start, but with what I've done to it, someone might want it for $600-700 and I could get rid of a ton of biking junk temporarily, then move on to that EX8 I actually want when/if I'm closer to good trail.

[Hero Danny]

5 summers ago I bought a BMX bike and I biked the whole canal in massachusetts, which is 7 miles each way, making it a total of 14 miles. now THAT was hard, go ahead try it, 14 miles on a BMX bike. Your ass, legs, back, knees, arms, eye balls, everything will be screaming at you. lol

[choneofakind]

Lol, that's cute.

[Apex]

Originally Posted by Hero Danny

5 summers ago I bought a BMX bike and I biked the whole canal in massachusetts, which is 7 miles each way, making it a total of 14 miles. now THAT was hard, go ahead try it, 14 miles on a BMX bike. Your ass, legs, back, knees, arms, eye balls, everything will be screaming at you. lol

Your butt? Who sits on a BMX bike?

[Hero Danny]

Originally Posted by Apex

Your butt? Who sits on a BMX bike?

I was standing for a while but that hurt my back and neck since I was hunched over holding the handlebars.

I was thinking about buying a 10 speed or something like that, so I can get some cardio without having to go to the chiropractor

[choneofakind]

You're funny. Get more flexible through stretching and every bike will be more comfortable. I wouldn't suggest trying more distance on a bmx bike though.

If you want comfy without being hunched over, look at a fitness bike. They have road bike wheels but more MTB frame and ergo's. They're relatively fast, but you're sitting in that sweet sport between upright and tucked so you can commute or do cardio without showing up in a pretzel. You can also take them anywhere. They're the hybrid bicycle you can take anywhere, vs traditional hybrids that are bad at both of their combined intents.

Specialized Sirrus and models like that are where you want to be looking.

[Apex]

My little bro came to me for bike advice a while back. He wanted a versatile bike, so I pointed him in the direction of the Trek DS series. He got the cheapest model they made in the series, then two weeks later, took it back and upgraded models. He has had it since and still rides it (though he has purchased another bike or two since).

[choneofakind]

Yeah, the DS is the same class of bike, but it's geared a liiiiiiittle more towards the mountain side of the spectrum. Crummy forks on those, might as well not even worry about it. IMHO.

There's also a huge recall on the DS series.

[Apex]

Ahh, I don't keep up with those bikes. I figure, if you want a MTB, get a MTB.

[choneofakind]

Yeppppppp. At that price point, the fork isn't worth it anyway.

[subxero]

old vid but awesome for many reasons.

Link to original page on YouTube.

[csmith12]

Secret: The origin of the design of bike helmets.

[choneofakind]

Nailed it!

[choneofakind]

Ordered my new wheels. Glad I waited to buy wheels until I had the money to buy the right set.


White Industry T11 Hubs. black.
Sapim CX Ray spokes. Black, one silver spoke on each side of the valve hole.
Pacenti SL23 rims
good 'ol brass nipples. Because Al ones suck.

Now comes the waiting game while they're built and shipped.



Won't make me any faster, but I'll look damn good doing it.

[salcuta88]

Anyone here using Strava?

[choneofakind]

Duh.

[rojoracing53]

What's that?

[Worldtraveller]

Strava is an app for tracking your rides. I use MapMyRide. On long rides, I have a small solar charger that keeps the phone going for a long time.

[choneofakind]

Jason... Basically murders segments. Ruthlessly.

[Jono]

STRAVA!!!!!

[choneofakind]

Jono, are you a stravasshole on trails too? Haha

[rojoracing53]

Sorry my initial response to all questions are of a sarcastic nature. It isn't until my proper social comunications skills filter cleans up my response that you get what can be called a proper answer. Filter was turned off for a bit

Strava is cool to keep a overall log of all your activities and with a HR device you can check your progress in more detail. If your fast enough it can also be used to inflate your ego from time to time among your friends

I upload all my fun ninja rides on strava under rooler-skiing because its interesting. One time I forgot to change it from cycling to roller and one of my friends honestly asked it I was still tired from the 320 miles I did two days before not sure what kind of impression I'm leaving on people.

[salcuta88]

I've been mountain biking for a while, but I just started using strava. Find me: Vlad Stepanov from Asheville, NC. I'll follow you back.

[rojoracing53]

Originally Posted by salcuta88

I've been mountain biking for a while, but I just started using strava. Find me: Vlad Stepanov from Asheville, NC. I'll follow you back.

you could always post a link to your ride and make yourself easy to find.
http://www.strava.com/activities/200319298