Brakes: They Save Your LIfe

When I first changed out Betsy's drop downs, I also took the time to replace her brake levers.  I had effectively gone from a long pull brake lever to a standard pull brake lever.  The type of mechanical advantage that is used in long pull brakes is perfect for the center pull cantilever brakes that I have on but the Standard Pull (or Short Pull) do not have the same advantage, therefore, the margin of error on adjusting these brakes is a good deal more slim, in almost every way.  Standard pull brake levers are perfect for the side pull cantilever brakes that are standard on most road cycles.  However, in potential increased load on a touring bike requires a braking system that will have a bit more stopping power, and a brake lever that pull the extra length you need for these center pull and side pull cantilever brakes.   This has been something of a pain for me as I have had to ensure the tension was perfect, particularly after installing new brake lines which will tend to stretch a little.

As I have documented in prior posts, using the barrel screw to adjust brake tension after you have run your new lines is definitely an option.  This, however, becomes increasingly impractical if your brakes are not wearing perfectly even (a result of not setting them properly) or your wheel is even slightly out of true.  Even if these conditions are met, you still have the problem of not having enough lever to really get a good stop on your bike.  It should be said that there are items (called a "Travel Agent") that you can place in line with the cable to take up the additional slack by using a standard pull linear brake lever  I have tried, like a mad man to avoid these issues, and there are many people who are able to make it work, I have not.  So, this weekend, I removed the Shimano 105 levers and replaced them with the levers that came with Betsy.  There is a noticeable difference in braking almost immediately as I am now using the appropriate type of lever for the type of brakes mounted on my bike.

Be cautious of these issues when you are changing out levers to reduce weight or even to something that is more aesthetically pleasing.  At the end of the day, the only thing between you and a car door is those two levers by your hands.

Just for some further reading, take a look at Sheldon Brown's website regarding cantilever brake geometry, very informative.

Where I figure out that saddles matter and that you should eat food.

Time to STP: 143 days

 

 

What a massively productive week! Per Runkeeper, I ended up logging 114.6 miles in the saddle last week.  That is me riding every day except last Wednesday which I used as a recovery day.  I ended up getting up earlier every day and starting to try a recovery regimen.  Basically, this week was just about upping the mileage and trying to not kill myself doing it.

 

My girlfriend, an active runner, has become something of an information resource for me.  She has been exercising consistently for a few years now and as a result is in the best shape of her life and shedded an astonishing amount of weight.  I figured if anyone knew anything about how to really properly take care of yourself after a ride.  She had mentioned that what I really needed was something to help rebuild the muscles after a ride and that something would typically be proteins.  So, for the first couple post ride days this week I tried boiling a few eggs and scarfing those down with my coffee.  A little sea salt and a little cracked pepper and I was good to go.  I happen to love eggs and this wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but these things wen straight to my stomach and sat there in a way that I would necessarily describe as "pleasant".  It didn't give me that full feeling that I was hoping for, but I figured if it was helping my legs do it all over again the next day then it was no big deal.  However, she then suggested that there was a theory that chocolate milk could be a good recovery drink as well.  Evidently there are a number of fats and proteins in chocolate milk that are good for recovery as well as antioxidants (there is a great article here that discusses it).  As an added bonus, I also happened to have a carton of soy milk (hello protein) that I wasn't doing anything with and now, for the last several days, I have given the chocolate milk a good go.  I can say, that though I thought it would feel too thick or sweet after a ride, it has been quite refreshing, and although my legs are still tight during the day, I don't feel as drained as I did when I started training last month.

 

Really, what I have been doing for the last week is also trying to make myself aware of more of the nutritional requirements of what it is that I am trying to do.  I am trying to trim down, improve my cardiovascular and build up so I can take STP head on and not feel wiped Monday after I come back to work after training or after the big ride itself (yes, I am actually coming back to work after STP).  I know myself well enough to know, too, that if I skip too many days, that I will find it harder to get back on the training wagon.  So, as it sits right now, I train for six days a week.  However, I know I need to feed myself properly, so I have been finding some great recipes online, including-but not limited to- a homemade chocolate syrup that isn't infused with high fructose corn syrup (I am making this tonight).  I recently picked up "The Cyclists Food Guide" as well, and so far this is an interesting read with even a good list of the things that you should keep in your house to build up a good set of healthy meals. 

 

Saturday I decided to increase my days mileage some and ride the 20 mile loop that I had put together for the previous Sunday.  I woke up a little late and had a few cups of coffee and headed out.  The first bit of the ride was uneventful, but fun, but as I whipped back for my return trip I encountered a headwind.  From what I understand, most of STP operates with a headwind so this wasn't something I had planned for but it was good training.  What I was not prepared for is the wall (metaphorical) that I hit right around mile 13.  I sort of lost my pep.  I lost the energy I was enjoying for the first half of my ride.  As well, I started having some rather irritating saddle rubbing issues that I also hadn't expected.  Basically, this made the last 7 miles of my ride tiresome and irritating (physically speaking).  I do ride with bib shorts and I spoke with the manufacturer and they had said their material is not necessarily designed to have to use butt butter but that people did.  I was finding, though, that it wasn't the whole of my bum that was hurting, just a section on back end of the saddle itself.  After another 23 mile ride Sunday, I resolved to do some investigation into saddles.

 

While a buddy of mine rides a fi'zi:k and swears by it, I wasn't really prepared to spent upwards of 20 bucks on a saddle just yet (yes, the argument can be made that it is money well spent, but ever since I bought Betsy, I have done nothing but buy something every week...is this normal?).   I ended up with a nice Oval Concepts saddle (can't seem to find the model number) that I picked up from the CCC.  I will give that one a go and see how it works out, but all indications seem to point to something that will be a fair bit more comfortable than what I have been riding up until this point.

 

Minor adjustments

Time to STP:  155 Days

I have registered for STP!  10:03 Tuesday morning I submitted my information. And as of this writing, the event is 80% sold out.  You can register here, if you want to join the fun.

After finally finishing the tweaks on Betsy this week, I was really looking forward to getting her out this week and feeling my handy work all come to fruition.  I have discovered a few things in the process.  First, that center pull cantilever breaks are kind of a pain to adjust in general, but when I put on the 105 break levers that I had laying around, it made things a little more difficult.  Center pulls are one of the better set ups for touring bikes (which Betsy is) because of their sheer stopping power.  However, the levers I installed are not designed to pull to the degree that center pull requires, so it requires some tweaking (after talking with the shop owner of Bad Monkey and to a friend of mine, they said that this is a problem a lot of people come to)..  I am thinking about replacing the actual center pull bracket today with something that will give me more mechanical advantage.  Truthfully, I should just replace the brake levers, but I don't want to effectively lose all the money I just invested in bar wrap.  Who knows, we will see where this goes in the near future..

I also discovered that I suck at adjusting the rear derailleur,  I haven't spent a ton of time dinking with derailleur's before, but I figured the process would be approximately the same as working with brakes (which, up until this point, I had been successful at).  I am going to have to take Betsy down to Bad Monkey today to get them to adjust it for me.  What has effectively happened is I have lost two entire gears on my main cog, which has made tackling the hill on Mill Plain even more problematic.  Since I plan on doing 20+ miles tomorrow, and I really don't want to have to worry about this anymore, the money will be well spent, but I need to spend some time seeing what they are doing.  I figure I am going to be putting the better part of 1K miles on my bike over the next six months and don't want to do that with 8 speeds only. 

Also, while working on my girlfriends bike last weekend, we discovered that a few things have changed in the last 30 years since her bike was manufactured.  Her bike, a cruiser, is heavy.  I mean, nigh on WalMart bike heavy, but there are several ways to reduce the weight and get better performance from it.  One of which, is switching out her steel rims to aluminum.  And since she rives a sedan, I figured she would also want quick release hubs so she could pack her bike in and out of her front seat.  I picked up a aluminum wheel from Bad Monkey last weekend to help this, but when trying to install it on the front, i realized quickly that the spacing was different (as in stock was 100mm while the new hub was spaced at 110mm).  Generally (since this is a steel fork) this would just require bending the fork out.  However, moving from a bolt through hub to a quick release also offered its own special set of issues.  Stock was something on the order of 5/16" while modern is around 7/16".  Whilst talking with the shop owner at Bad Monkey, I was trying to brainstorm ideas, and basically just trying to do what it was I was doing required a single tool: a file.  This is my weekend project (I will post photos).

Who would have known that I would be learning so much while training for this race about bikes?

Total miles for the week is just over 50, which I am happy about.  I have rode three mornings this week plus today.  I am getting there, slowly.  Incidentally, if you want to track my progress for STP or just use a great app, check out Runkeeper.  They just did a new update and are making improvements all the time. 

Betsy Gets a Tuneup

Days to STP: 158

As I said in a previous post, I bought a new set of drop down handlebars for Betsy.  A nice set of bars that were actually meant for a Cyclocross.  They have great length and a bit of a shallower curve on the drop downs that I liked.  I realized quickly, though, that when I put these on, I was going to have to replace all of my brake and shift cables as well as their housings.



New bars mounted




Old bars, removed.



What began as a nice way to add a bit of customization to my otherwise stock T700, became a minor tune up affair.  I also had a set of Shimano 105 brake levers laying around the garage that I wanted to replace the stock levers with, and I figured if I was replacing all the cabling anyway, I might as well switch these out.  Although I didn't take photos of the entire experience, there are a few things that I learned.

• Don't skimp on tools.  Seriously, don't.  I bought this cable puller a year or so ago because it was a bit cheaper than the Park Tools equivalent.   Somehow, they ended up making this thing only suitable for lefties (at least that is how it handles for me) and trying to tension a cable and get a box wrench in to turn a nut is nightmarish.  When/If I ever break this thing, i am going to buy one with a lower overall profile and the ability to be used both right and left handed
• As a sub of this, invest in some long handle hex wrenches.  I spent $15 on a hardened steel set of metric and US wrenches and the added leverage really helped when adjusting the tension on the brakes.
• Measure twice, and then measure again, cut once.  I knew full well that I was moving from 39cm bars to 44cm and that the flare where my bar end shifters were would add some additional length.  However, when it came to running cables for my back brakes, I just seemed to have issues and had to go out and buy more cable housing just to stretch the additional 3"'s that I needed.
• Make sure that your brake levers are placed where they will be comfortable.  I checked, double and triple checked to make sure they were where I naturally wanted them to be.  Doing this kind of thing is pointless unless you are comfortable at the end.
• Create a clean and organized work place.  Just make sure you know where all your tools are.  I suddenly get why shops have that little bucket on the top of their racks.  Just make sure everything is where it needs to be so you aren't searching everywhere when you need to switch from a 9mm to a 10mm wrench in a hurry.
• The ground is not a good place to store parts.  Yes, you may think you'll see it, but you won't.  Even if it is a back part on a white floor.
• Before venturing back to the bike shop, make sure they are open.  The folks at Bad Monkey are awesome, but they do have to close on occasion.

I also discovered wrapping handlebars is not nearly as daunting as I would have suspected.  After I had run all the cables and adjusted the brakes (Betsy is currently running center pull cantilever brakes that really have to be tweaked in order to get good contact), my son and I decided to wrap the bars.  I wanted something that was going to last for a spell and the folks at Bad Monkey recommended the Lizard Skin tape.  It was a little on the pricey side, but I figured if I was only going to have to do this every so often, it wasn't as big of a deal.






While you can't see it very well, there is a thin strip of adhesive here.

After my son and I figured out how to get the adhesive off the back of one of the rolls of bar tape, it was a simple process of wrapping the bars and trying to be mindful of the shifters etc...

As I was doing it, as well, I knew that I was going to want to maintain some naked bar space for my lights and a bike computer later, so I tried to stop things at a point where I had some clearance.

And finally, after about 15 minutes, we were done.  I left myself enough room overall for things I would want on my bars.

I also took a few minutes at the end to adjust my rear derailleur which was not shifting quite the way I would have preferred.  This is done with a couple of screws on the back of the derailleur itself and after a little help from my son, it was done in short order.