Everybody has a tool kit when they ride. If you don't, you probably deserve to walk the last 5 miles back to civilization, your car, the beer your buddies drank while waiting on you, and that hamburger you wish you'd eaten.
It doesn't require a super mechanic to use a tool kit. Most things are pretty minor. The 'big things' like a broken chain or wrapped derailleur may take some serious bike mechanic skills. Don't fret - one will come along momentarily!
The essentials are pretty obvious
Tire levers
Patch kit
Spare tube(s) - pre-talc'ed
CO2 inflator and spare cartridge - know how to use yours!
Pump
Yes, a pump is 'belt and suspenders', but if that first tube gets caught in the rim, and you blow it, the second one is essential. If it happens again - or you find out you didn't get it caught, but had a cut sidewall that it popped thru... Well, you'll be happy to have the pump.
20 dollar bill
A good multi-tool.
Make sure it's got all the bolts on your bike covered - 4,5,6,7mm, maybe a 2 or 2.5, spoke wrench
Also make sure you can get *to* all the bolts on your bike with your tool. If not, you may need a solo hex wrench or two. And make sure your kit includes the necessary wrench for any random Torx brand bolts as well. Chain ring and disc brakes are both candidates for this special foolishness.
Chain break tool
Master link (or 2)
...Oh, shit!!! What was that? Oh, you mean the fact that your crotch is now on the top tube and your pedals are freewheeling, or the one where your bike. just. died. ...with the rear derailleur wrapped around the dropout. Now is the time to be really thankful you've got a master link.
If you wrap a derailleur, it's pretty unlikely you're going to salvage it (or the hanger) on the side of the road. You can try to straighten it, but in all likelihood, the best you can hope for is getting the derailleur back in the middle position, and maybe use it as a chain tensioner. If that doesn't work, find a gear combination that will give you a snug chain once you put it back together with that master link. Here's a big hint. when you break the chain to remove it from the broken derailleur, find the bent section of chain and break it there! And yes - there almost certainly will be a kinked link. Remember - you'll need to leave an INNER plate on both ends for the repair link to slip onto. Eyeball it, test it, and when you've got it right and think it'll be ok, slip the chain off the chainrings (up front) and slip in the master link. Don't worry about tightening it yet. Put it back on the chain rings. If it's right, the link should 'snik' into place as you get the chain installed on both ends.
unused tie wrap
Multitude of purposes - like tying up that busted rear derailleur.
duct tape -bandage, tire boot, repair busted cable clamp. You name it!
20' braided twine - with a nice stick and some duct tape, you can even bandage up that carbon fiber handlebar I told you not to get. Also good for sewing a jersey back together,
basic first aid kit
And for a spring century -
rain cape (jacket for us Americans)
dry gloves
helmet liner
extra socks (useful as shoe covers in a pinch too)
Extra food (bar&gel)
Coach
Showing posts with label riding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label riding. Show all posts
Friday, March 27, 2015
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Riding gravel - mud...
 |
| Source: CXMagazine.com -- USA Cycling 2015 Nationals |
A lot depends on the geology, geography, and who maintains the road. In parts of the country, gravel roads are no different wet or dry, except that a little more grit gets kicked up when it's wet.
in other regions, 'gravel' is just a code word for clay with a little native rock mixed in. And trying to ride these is, well, interesting. More like trying to ride road slicks on ice, covered in cooking oil, And then there's your average "B" road along the edge of Farmer Brown's bottom 40, where tractors dare not tread in the rainy season. THAT is serious mud in any context.
Most promoters are going to avoid more than a short stretch of this stuff - at least if they want people to come back to their event again. You can't always avoid it, and a little makes for great stories about epic struggles and adventures "There I was. My shoe was at the bottom of a sucking hole, I'm up to my ass in the stuff, and Monica goes riding by like it's just no big deal..." A lot makes for death marches, broken gear, and a plan to find something else to do that weekend next year.
So what do you do to survive the stuff? Three tips -
PAM cooking spray on your bottom bracket, fork crown, pedals and other spots where mud typically clings. This really will help keep it from building up quite as much, and will wash off pretty easily.
Good fenders (and PAM the undersides!). Fenders will make your ride cleaner and drier, and make you much more popular with anyone riding behind you.
If you *know* there's going to be a lot of mud, go with a more aggressive open tread, like a Challenge Grifo. The bigger blocks are slower, but shed mud much better.
The rest of it is experience. In order to be good at riding mud, you need to ride mud. It's all about learning where to be, when you can ride the center between the puddles, and when you should ride through the slop. It's quickly sizing up the mudhole and realizing that it's hub deep, sticky, and there's no way to ride it. When that happens, look for the 'dry line' if it exists - the spots that look a little drier or less trampled, maybe a bit higher, or have a little grass to hold them together. Or check for the wet line - where it may be a deeper hole, but it's wet sand instead of mud. Or look for the sneak path through adjacent field. Not that I condone tromping a farmer's crop, but maybe there's a line up on the grass verve that can be walked without being knee deep in the slime.
And don't forget to have a wash cloth, towel and a gallon of water in your car for cleaning up after the finish. A quick wipe down, towel off and warm, dry clothes can really make the difference between a memorable day and a miserable one. And you can use any leftover water to sluice off the worst from your bike before you put it in/on the car. An appropriate beverage and some good food help a lot as well. Especially if you have those "So there I was..." stories to share!
Savor the mud - just in moderation!
~marsh
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Just a bike
Over the years, I've owned and ridden a bunch of bikes, from ultra tight track and crit bikes to some of the earliest mountain bikes with super slack angles and extra long wheelbases. And I've come to realize that the highest compliment I can pay to a bike is that it is "just a bike".
Regardless of intent, the best bikes all share some common characteristics.
- They do what you expect
- No quirky handling
- Anyone used to riding the type/purpose of bike should be able to ride it
It really doesn't matter if you are riding a cargo bike, crit bike, fat bike or climber, the rules still apply. It should be fit for purpose - a crit bike should be able to sprint and corner; a cargo bike should be able to haul a load around town without popping wheelies or twitching when crossing cracks, a basic hardtail mountain bike should handle most singletrack and jeep roads with reasonable aplomb.
On the other hand, there have been bikes... The Trek 770, which I rode thousands of miles, raced a season or two, eventually converted to a fixie and then gave to my son had toe-clip overlap, and a horrid tendency to go straight ahead in a corner (race car drivers would call it 'push'). I loved/hated that bike. And 30 years later, that monster is back in my garage.
A Colnago track bike that had bottom bracket flex. (not good on the track)
A crit bike of questionable origin that was so twitchy you didn't dare take your hands off the bars to remove a jacket. Darn fast, but no way would I ever want to ride that more than an hour at a time.
But by and large, I've sought out bikes that were fairly neutral, again - just a bike.
There was the 2nd generation mountain bike I had in the mid-80s. The chainstays were a mile long, seatpost and fork rake were probably sub-70 degrees and it weighed about two tons. It creaked, groaned, climbed like a pig, and I rode it for at least two years over every available trail in Seattle and the Cascades before finally trading up to an REI Ponderosa, which weighed significantly less, had a UBrake, and much better handling overall.
But the ultimate 'just a bike' was my long departed Raleigh 531 racing frame. The only bike I ever regret parting with. Fairly light, totally neutral, and trustworthy. I rode 30,000 miles and then some in 3 years on that bike, raced innumerable crits, local road races, a handful of stage races, around Mt Rainier, a State Time Trial Championship. This was a bike I could throw into a crit corner and *know* it would come out the other side like I planned, or rocket down Washington Pass at 50 plus and enjoy the ride. And damn -I was foolish enough to 'factory swap' it for a newer frame when a braze let go on the rear triangle. Stupid. Especially Stupid when I knew some of the best framebuilders in the business who could've fixed it for a couple of beers.
Since then, my wife and I have owned several 'just a bike' bikes. In the late 80s, Huffy (of all people) sponsored the National Team. We are fortunate to have one of the appliance black and white 'Huffy' bikes from that era. It doesn't get ridden a lot and at some point, I'd like to put it back to the de rigueur Suntour Superbe Pro that I think was on it as a team ride. But we had a box of Campy parts, so that's what's on it now. And when my wife would let me ride it (usually after giving it a bath/tune) I'd go do a couple of 'test laps' in the neighborhood. Like the Raleigh above, I felt like the Huffy would do exactly what I expected it to, when I expected it to, and climb or sprint pretty well on command. And yes, if you look under the bottom bracket, it does say 'Serotta', but who cares? When at RAGBRAI, it's a Huffy. Just look - it says so right there on the frame!
When it came time to move to a more current bike, my wife spent weeks test riding all of the bikes in her chosen price range before riding the Scott CR-1. Not the most expensive bike, not the lightest, but when you get on a bike and it goes 'Ommmmm' you should listen. No bad habits, it climbs by itself, corners and descends as hard as you want, and doesn't beat you to death on Iowa and Wisconsin pavement.
It really doesn't matter if your bike costs 1,000 or 10,000. If you don't ride it, it's wall furniture, and until you ride it enough to be completely comfortable with it, you just own it - it's not really yours. And if you don't ride it because it handles badly, dump it. At the end of the day, the best ride you can find is "just a bike".
~marsh
Regardless of intent, the best bikes all share some common characteristics.
- They do what you expect
- No quirky handling
- Anyone used to riding the type/purpose of bike should be able to ride it
It really doesn't matter if you are riding a cargo bike, crit bike, fat bike or climber, the rules still apply. It should be fit for purpose - a crit bike should be able to sprint and corner; a cargo bike should be able to haul a load around town without popping wheelies or twitching when crossing cracks, a basic hardtail mountain bike should handle most singletrack and jeep roads with reasonable aplomb.
On the other hand, there have been bikes... The Trek 770, which I rode thousands of miles, raced a season or two, eventually converted to a fixie and then gave to my son had toe-clip overlap, and a horrid tendency to go straight ahead in a corner (race car drivers would call it 'push'). I loved/hated that bike. And 30 years later, that monster is back in my garage.
A Colnago track bike that had bottom bracket flex. (not good on the track)
A crit bike of questionable origin that was so twitchy you didn't dare take your hands off the bars to remove a jacket. Darn fast, but no way would I ever want to ride that more than an hour at a time.
But by and large, I've sought out bikes that were fairly neutral, again - just a bike.
There was the 2nd generation mountain bike I had in the mid-80s. The chainstays were a mile long, seatpost and fork rake were probably sub-70 degrees and it weighed about two tons. It creaked, groaned, climbed like a pig, and I rode it for at least two years over every available trail in Seattle and the Cascades before finally trading up to an REI Ponderosa, which weighed significantly less, had a UBrake, and much better handling overall.
But the ultimate 'just a bike' was my long departed Raleigh 531 racing frame. The only bike I ever regret parting with. Fairly light, totally neutral, and trustworthy. I rode 30,000 miles and then some in 3 years on that bike, raced innumerable crits, local road races, a handful of stage races, around Mt Rainier, a State Time Trial Championship. This was a bike I could throw into a crit corner and *know* it would come out the other side like I planned, or rocket down Washington Pass at 50 plus and enjoy the ride. And damn -I was foolish enough to 'factory swap' it for a newer frame when a braze let go on the rear triangle. Stupid. Especially Stupid when I knew some of the best framebuilders in the business who could've fixed it for a couple of beers.
Since then, my wife and I have owned several 'just a bike' bikes. In the late 80s, Huffy (of all people) sponsored the National Team. We are fortunate to have one of the appliance black and white 'Huffy' bikes from that era. It doesn't get ridden a lot and at some point, I'd like to put it back to the de rigueur Suntour Superbe Pro that I think was on it as a team ride. But we had a box of Campy parts, so that's what's on it now. And when my wife would let me ride it (usually after giving it a bath/tune) I'd go do a couple of 'test laps' in the neighborhood. Like the Raleigh above, I felt like the Huffy would do exactly what I expected it to, when I expected it to, and climb or sprint pretty well on command. And yes, if you look under the bottom bracket, it does say 'Serotta', but who cares? When at RAGBRAI, it's a Huffy. Just look - it says so right there on the frame!
When it came time to move to a more current bike, my wife spent weeks test riding all of the bikes in her chosen price range before riding the Scott CR-1. Not the most expensive bike, not the lightest, but when you get on a bike and it goes 'Ommmmm' you should listen. No bad habits, it climbs by itself, corners and descends as hard as you want, and doesn't beat you to death on Iowa and Wisconsin pavement.It really doesn't matter if your bike costs 1,000 or 10,000. If you don't ride it, it's wall furniture, and until you ride it enough to be completely comfortable with it, you just own it - it's not really yours. And if you don't ride it because it handles badly, dump it. At the end of the day, the best ride you can find is "just a bike".
~marsh
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)