Basic Maintenance * Why Climb?
Blog * Mountain Biking * Wide Gearing * Punctures * Stands * Sport Drink *
The farther we get from home, the more important it is to keep our bikes in top shape. I wanted to touch on a few items that are relatively simple and important to check. The more miles you ride, the more often you'll want to start checking these items.
Tires. We normally don't think about them until they go flat, or they're obviously worn out. And with a bit of extra attention, we can keep them from going flat too often, and replace them before they become unsafe.
All that said - you WILL get flats. The more you ride, the more flats you’ll get. And you'll get them at inconvenient times. A small investment in time to learn how to change a tire before you need the skill will go a long way toward keeping you in a good mood when it happens out there on the road. Keep your tires properly inflated to increase tire performance and life, and to decrease the chance of a pinch flat (hitting a rock or lip of pavement that pinches the tire and tube against the rim, resulting in a ruptured tube). Learn to change a flat tire, and carry all the needed tools and supplies on every ride.
Brakes. Are both front and rear brakes working as you expect? Do your brakes engage before you can get a confident, powerful grip on them? Or do your levers hit the handlebar before you can come to a stop? We are going to start some relatively significant descending, and having your brakes working properly is going to give you the confidence and safety you'll need to really enjoy yourself. Going into detail about how to adjust brakes will put everybody to sleep - I only suggest that you at least take a moment to seriously assess how your brakes are working, and if you are confident with them. If they are not working as well as you know they should – get them looked at by somebody who knows what she's doing. Brake adjustment – both cable and pad) is relatively simple for somebody with experience. And it should be obvious that stopping is even more important than going!
Cables (both brake and shift). Most folks don't think ANYTHING about cables until they break or otherwise stop working properly. Folks who ride a lot will replace their cables annually. I typically replace mine every couple of years, or sooner if there is any extra friction noticed (symptoms include poor brake modulation and poor shifting). The bummer about the shift cable is that the place it normally wears out and breaks is totally hidden - inside the shifter (ask Dean for details!). The good news is that just like with brakes – cable inspection/adjustment/replacement is a simple procedure. As a general rule, if you can see rust or oxidation on your cables, or you can't recall if/when your cables were last replaced, or if you regularly ride in the rain - have somebody knowledgeable determine if your cables should be replaced - or at least inspected and lubricated. If your controls don’t feel like they did when the bike was new, it is likely that a few bucks spent on new cables and housings will return your bike to that smooth, “new” feeling.
That’s all I’ve got for this evening! A few moments of inspection and basic maintenance will go a long way toward keeping you happily and safely pedaling. And the more you learn *off* the road, the more confident you’ll be *on* the road.
Why do you want to climb? Jan 15, 2010
I’m going to make you a better climber. And unlike Deb’s homework that actually requires some physical effort, my homework can be done from the comfort of your couch. All you have to do is answer this simple question:
Why do you want to climb?
It seems like a silly question, yet knowing the answer will give you the inspiration to accomplish your goal. Note that the answer IS your goal - so with my homework assignment, you really get a two-fer. Your goal isn’t being able to ride up big hills – your goal is the *reason* you are climbing those hills.
So why do you want to cycle up hills? Do you want to lose weight? Do you want to impress your husband with a new physique? Would you like to be able to count the muscles in your legs? Do you want to experience the views from the top of mountains? Do you want an excuse to drink beer or eat ice-cream at the end of the day? Do you want to ride with friends who are currently stronger than you are? Do you like zooming down the descents? Do you want to participate in a tour that will involve some hills? Are you looking for one more challenging thing to do outside in the fresh air? Are you bored with always riding between Davis and Winters? Do you want an excuse to buy a new bicycle? Do you want to humiliate your riding buddy? There are as many different reasons to be climbing as there are cyclists. Your assignment is to figure out what *your* reason is. There is no right reason, no wrong reason, no moral reason (see the humiliation item above). There is just *your* reason (or reasons). It can change as often as you wish - and you don’t even have to share it with anybody else!
No matter the task, if you wish to do it well and wish to stick with it, you need a *reason* to be doing it. Climbing is hard. It takes both physical and mental effort. And you will enjoy it more if you can quickly recall why you set out to do it in the first place. How often have you found yourself doing something difficult and literally asked yourself, “Why am I doing this?!” Instead of waiting until the climb to ask yourself why you are sweating and panting and wobbling all over the road – answer that question right now. Then keep that answer handy in the front of your mind. If you begin to struggle on the climb, that’s the time to trot out your goal and concentrate on it for a moment. Grab that goal by the throat and shake it a few times. Remind yourself how important that reason was to you back there on your couch. When the going gets tough, it isn’t your body that typically stops the party – it is your mind. You’ve forgotten the reason you were doing this difficult task… or the goal isn’t as important as you thought (Quick! Get a better one!). To get to the top of those climbs, relax your upper body, relax your breathing and keep an image of that goal in your head. You will likely be amazed at how your body will respond.
Wide-range gearing for road bikes. 2011
In late 2010, Shimano refreshed their off-road groups (all of them from top to bottom) to a new system called “Dyna-sys.” The most important change is in the actuation ratio of their derailleurs. The new RD’s need more cable pull to notch them over one gear gap – the idea is that the mechanical advantage of pulling more cable makes the shift feel easier. The new RD’s will only interface properly with the new shifters in the new Dyna-sys group. This means, of course, that the new off-road stuff from Shimano will not work with previous off-road shifters OR any of their on-road shifters. Don’t make that expensive mistake! The RD’s labeled 9sp still work as well as they always did. Just watch for any off-road Shimano goods that claim “10sp”
So as it stands right now, for modern 10sp stuff you can buy and relative to road shifters:
Shimano shifters will not work with Shimano 10sp off-road derailleurs
SRAM shifters will not work with any Shimano derailleurs
Shimano shifters will not work with any SRAM derailleurs
Campy? No clue – but then nobody who runs Campy would ever think of mixing anything anyway. Against some Italian law, I’m certain.
If you have SRAM shifters, there are great SRAM solutions for the rear end – XX everything, and on down the line. You can even do things all in what they call their “road” group with the low-end Apex.
Sugino has recently released a dream crankset for those who are interested in this type of gearing. It can be run as a 110/74mm BCD double, where the outer ring has 110mm BCD (chainrings 34t and up) and the inner can be 110mm or 74mm BCD (24t and up). Soma is selling them, and your bike shop can order them through Merry Cycles
For the full-on geeks (guilty!), I found this info interesting:
SRAM road shifters are not 1:1 and Shimano is not 2:1. (as often claimed)
SRAM road shifters pull 3.1mm of cable per shift, depending on who you want to believe and that cable pull is uniform. To be 1:1, the cable pull would have to be the same 3.95mm as the cog spacing. SRAM's own literature is confusing. Uniform pulls and 1:1 are not the same thing.
Campy 10 shifters pull an average of 2.8mm, but the real pulls are 2.5mm 5 times, 3mm twice and 3.5mm twice.Shimano 10 pulls are also nonuniform and average only 2.3mm per shift.
Bicycle Home
Web hosting by pair Networks.