Curb Destroyer Chronicles

Salvaged

2012-01-24T17:03:00.002-06:00

I think I've got a way to salvage the tubes's I've got brazed together. I've been agonizing over this for weeks, now I have a plan.

I'll explain in more detail later. Now that I've got a plan. I should be updating a lot more. Basically I'm going to make the frame specific for a zero setback post. I'm going to build a frame that has a relaxed 71.5 seat tube angle, with a long top tube. Since a lot of frames are built for seatpost with a 20 or 25mm set back, I can just increase the length of the top tube 20mm to 25mm longer and use a zero degree seat post with a relaxed angle. All that maters is where the saddle's location is relative to the bottom bracket. That postion is 74cm above, with the nose 8cm behind the bottom bracket.

Fun with my new toy

2012-01-08T20:14:00.003-06:00

Rode the Little Blue Trace Trail (Pea Gravel) this morning from Phelps to Blue Mills, and back. 30.14 miles in 1:40:18 with an average heart rate of 173 beats per minute. That's 17,352 heart beats.

Drop Out

2011-12-31T19:15:00.002-06:00

It's been a busy last two months. I've found I can use the old tubes to build myself a road frame. Since I 100% need the practice, and about 34% need a new road frame. That's whats got to happen. Now a look at the drop out assembly.

These are the plug type drop outs. Like the name suggests the plugs on the dropout goes inside the chainstay and seatstay. The rings you see are silver. They will sit inside the tube on top the plug. Then I will heat the plug, melting the silver till I see it run out where the outside of the tube, and plugend mate. I'm not near read to do this yet, but I thought i give anybody interested to preview and maybe something to think about till then.

Festivus This Friday Night

2011-12-18T21:24:00.002-06:00

Just in Case you forgot or don't know. Can't wait for the airing of grievences.
http://gravelgrinders.blogspot.com/2011/12/festivus-of-nights-gravel-grinder-v2.html

Now What

2011-12-05T06:29:00.002-06:00

Since I hacked off the headtube on the Z frame, I've discovered it's too short to do anything with. Well almost. The down tube is 1.5cm too short to build a CX bike with, however I could build a road frame. The only real road frame I have is a 1991 Fuji Roubaix, and since it's got a broken dropout, why not?

Epic Fail?

2011-11-24T11:58:00.003-06:00

Can't tell fron the outside, but I know better. Somehow this joint got contaminated, or something. The brass didn't flow all the way around like it's supposed to when you tin. Tinning is when you going around the joint and flow brass around the joint, sealing/penetrating it and creating the internal fillet. If the brass doesn't flow on the outside, it probably didn't flow in the inside...Probably. But I went ahead and built my fillet in hopes the second pass would correct the problem. There was no direct evidence of this, so what do you do? I mean it could go either way, but just to be safe a sawed it apart. All that work, time and $150+ of tubing and material down the drain.

Well it turns out I was right, it lacks an internal fillet in the place where I suspect I would find one.

To give you a better picture I sawed it in half again to give you a cut away view. The internal fillet doesn't have to be big, it's just got to be there to anchor eveything together.

Cutting it into 1/4s, now gives us a great view. You can clearly see where it stops.

What now? I can't get discouraged. I just got to emulate PhilWood oil...Tenacious.

So Far, So So

2011-11-08T19:49:00.006-06:00

What's the old saying? So far so good so what? I'm really draging this project out. The problem is having 3 or 4 hours of non-interupted time. That seems hard to come by these days. Well I guess I could not just sleep?...mmmMMmmm maybe not. I think I'm still feeling the effects from the last frame from days on end of 3 to 4 hours nap a night. Also I'm going to build a Gravel Frame...Again. But this time not out of straight guage 4130. After feeling how light this frame is building up, and how stiff the heat treated tubes must be, it just must be.

I had a small problem with the block that is supposed to hold the head tube. It's not right, or maybe it's a little left, and when you remove something that's not right, that leaves you this, which is what's left.....Right? What it is, is a big pain in the arse. Sliding an indicating the blocks was no easy task. The first setup I was 0.2 degree off, and had to slide the down tube up, which meant putting the seat tube back in block to make sure everything is coplanar, or is that triplanar?

Just in case your wondering. The seat tube and head tube are in the same plane. Before this picture I put the down tube clamps on when the seat tube was clamped, so the when I moved the down tube down, the seat tube would stay in the same plane or parallel to the Jig/Plate.

This is what the bottom bracket looks like so far, better picures to come.

This is my Henry James, head tube modification. All a jig does is hold the tubes so you can tack them together. The actual brazing is done in the bike stand. So were all good.

Cat Napper

Looking over the railroad yard under Gladstone Blvd Yesterday. I think it was about 55. It won't be long before the high is going to be 22, so I say get the road mile in while you can.

Gunn City Gravel Grinder

2011-10-24T22:04:00.004-05:00

Here are a few of the picture from this weekend's 60 mile Gravel Grinder from Lee's Summit, to Gunn City, to East Lynne, and back.
I like these kind of bike rides. The ride started at 9am and we got back at around 1pm. It was a nice fall day in what they call God's Country. I believe the first settlers to this land called this place (South of Holden)the prairie land. A lot of people don't get the "Bike Thing", and often associate it with racing, and training. Let's first make the distinction between racing, and touring/randonneuring. Where racing has one winner, in touring/randonneuring everybody is a winner. What you win can only be experienced on a bicycle. In my opinon car's move too fast for you to absorb the details of the landscapes, and walking is too slow. First and foremost I like to experience a ride starting in the morning, then viewing the landscapes as the day transitions from morning to afternoon to evening.

I guess it's a form of meditation. I used to ride with music, but then I realized I wasn't really listening, because I was concerned more with my own thoughts. I haven't ridden with music in a very long time.

Mo Practice Mo Better.

2011-10-22T19:54:00.004-05:00

I've been practicing and practicing. Last week was OK, but it wasn't what I wanted. So I made a few adjustments, and now this week I'm getting what I want.

This week's brazes are bigger and more flowing.
-

Last week's braze.

Oh Boy

2011-10-16T19:54:00.002-05:00

When I had the jig down this week for some practice. I think I went through about 5 or 6 practice brazing pieces. I was all ready to go, but I tripped over my jig when I had it down and I moved some of the blocks, so a realignment was nessessary. Only thing is you can't ever get everything back in place. It seems things are just a hair off. Back to tightening things up. I think most people would just go ahead because they are close enough, but it's not what I wanted. No shortcuts here.

Practice makes more work

2011-10-11T22:52:00.002-05:00

After a week of practice I've gotten some consistancy going as far as my fillet brazing is concerned. It's had been a little while, but it still took a couple to get on track. Well on to the real thing.

Tanks, but no Tanks

2011-10-02T20:00:00.002-05:00

Been busys doing family things & stuff, however I did find time to .....

....race last weekend. I was running about 4th or fifth before I cashed it in because of a mechanical problem with my front wheel...Oh well. The Cyclocross season has just started.

...mean while back at the ranch, I tighten up all the miters, and were ready to braze together the front triangle. However I notice I don't have any Gas (Insert Joke Here). So I'm going to have to re-fill the tanks this week.

Once you get a tube mitered pretty tight, it's hard to tell were to hit it with the file. Once I get it down, I color the tubing miter face with a permanent sharpie.

Then I wrap the head tube in 400 grit sand paper, and move the head tube back & forth to see where it removes the ink. Where it removes the ink are the high parts, and where it doesn't, are the low parts.

as you can see the headtube is craddled nicely in the miters of the downtube and toptube.

The front triangle is assembled

2011-09-21T20:42:00.002-05:00

The work bench, it's how things get done. It was a nice cool night to be out in the garage listening to a little Royals baseball.

It's this notch on the down tube that you have to do by hand. You have to miter it to both, the bottom bracket and seat tube.

The miters are a lot tighter than they look. In fact I think they are past the point of diminishing returns. Plus I'll still have to adjust it later for the stringer from tinning the seat tube to the bottom bracket.

The front triangle is all together. All the angles and lengths are good to go. Next I'm going to have to drill the vent holes, get the tubing clinically clean, and start brazing.

Getting it all lined up

2011-09-12T20:49:00.005-05:00

It's one thing to get the tubes cut and mitered, and another to get them setup in the jig. Now it's on to the down tube.

Nothing like getting together with the old gang .Steve Shope, Scott Bilbrey, Doug Prather, George Austin (Holding an orginal 1979 Redline Proline), Norman Jones, Drew Jameson, Dennis McCoy, Dean Berry, George Stewart, Tim Applegate, and Trevor Litton

...and now some pictures from this weeks ride.

Top Tube Miters and Such

2011-09-08T20:59:00.002-05:00

Working to perfect the miters. The head tube outside diameter is 36.5mm, since they don't make a 36.5mm hole saw you have to use either a 1-1/2 (38.1mm), or a 1-3/8 (35mm) hole saw. I chose the 35mm then filed the sides wide so to speak. The seatube end is done, and now I just have to setup my jig for the sloping top tube. I think now I'm going to get some real traction and start moving ahead on this project. About time right?

Top Tube Time

2011-09-01T21:07:00.004-05:00

For some reason this frame is begging to have the top tube done before the down tube. A lot of it has to do with the jig and locating the head tube relative to the seat tube.

Once again painted end, longest butt. If you clean the inside of the tube you can verify which end is longer by looking inside the tube also. The painted end is correct.

All marked up and ready to start sawing tommorow.

Had a little ride to Sibley this weekend. I was hoping to quench my hunger at the orchard, but I guess I made it before they opened.

Also they are fiesty up there. At the city limits I was met by this group of protesters.

The Jigs Up

2011-08-27T20:29:00.005-05:00

One thing is for sure. When I build something I have a reason why I did something.

Since I have to layout the butt placment of the tubes I had to breal out a few books for formulas and such.

For example I wanted to know where to start the butt at the bottom bracket for the downtube. I have to start where the top of the bottom bracket miter is. So I have to figure out how far the bottom bracket miter comes into the downtube. If both the down tube and bottom bracket were both 1-1/2" (38.1mm) in diameter the answer would be easy, 3/4" or 19.05mm. But since the bottom bracket is 1-1/2" and the down tube is 1-1/4", the mitter will be shallower. According to the math I will mark a spot 8.5mm from the end of the tube. That mark will be where the top of the hole saw will go through when I cut the miter.

Seat Tube is spot on at 72.5 degrees.

Bling King!...Saw this down the street at a garage sale today.

Down Time, and Down Tube

2011-08-21T21:10:00.003-05:00

Been catching up on chores and unplanned things, but hopfully once again this project can gain momentum.

With straight guage tubing once you determine how long you need the tube, you just cut and miter. With double butted tubing it's a little different. You are shipped a 680mm tube. I've determined it needs to be cut down to 632mm. If you look at the chart, they give you a 680 that has a thickness of .8mm for 102mm, then tapers 51mm to a thickness of .5mm, then maintains a thickness of .5mm for 324mm, then tapers for 51mm to a thickness of .8mm, then maintains a thickness of .8mm for 152mm (The Painted End). So if I cut it down to 632mm I have to cut off 48mm. If I cut it all off on the painted end. I end up with an almost balanced 102/51/324/51/104. But since the bottom bracket is where all the action is. It would make sense to make that butt a little longer. One the flip side, everytime I see a down tube fail, it's because it's buckled toward the head tube. Hmmmmm we will see tomorrow.

Well...Head Tube is done.

2011-08-07T14:56:00.002-05:00

I've had enough time this week to get the head tube done. There it is in all it's glory. I head tube is going to be 200mm long, and it's going to be fillet brazed, so I chose the 1.2mm thickness over the 1.0mm thickness to make it a little stiffer, and reduce heat distortion. In case your wondering the 1.2mm weights about 40 grams more, but I believe it's worth it.

The Zeat Tube

2011-08-02T21:15:00.002-05:00

Where were we? Oh yea finishing the seat tube.

It's not my engineering square, but it will have to do. If the peaks and valleys are square, the miter is tight, then we're centered and square

After filing it into shape, I like to wrap a piece of 1-1/2" 4130 with Drum Sander sand paper to make it have a nice good contour. Speaking of filing, it's your used to filing 4130, it becomes obvious this tubing is a lot harder. But then it's heat treated.

One more time with a framing square. I did this to both sides are a triple check and everything is square. It should be all ready to fall togther in the jig.

And there you have it.

Lets get the Z party started

2011-07-31T09:14:00.002-05:00

After spending the week getting everything in order, I'm ready to start building

The bottom bracket I got is the CNC machined 4130. It's a little more expensive, but I believe it will be worth it. Material has been machined out between the thread sets, and the threads and face are a more precise than the ones I had been getting.

One thing I like to do is thread in a fixed and adjusting cup to test the threads. The drive side or Right side is Left hand Thread (Lefty Tighty, Righy Loosey), while the non-drive side is regular Right hand thread. (Righty Tighty, Lafety Loosey).

The tubeset I'm using is a butted tubeset. That means the thickneses change. The seat tube is single butted. That mean one end is thicker than the other. The manufacture indictaes which side is thicker by dabbing it with a spot of paint. You can also verify this by balancing it. The painted end is the heavier end. and since it tapers from .9mm to .6mm you can easily see the thicknes difference.

The manufacture in this case sends you the tubing specs. In this case the seat tube is 1-1/4" (28.6mm) in diameter and 680mm long. The painted end thickness is .9mm for 102mm, then transitions for 64mm to .6mm, and then goes .6mm for the rest of the tube (514mm)

The thicker end goes on the bottom bracket. Since this is a big frame, I'm going to leave the most material I can and just nip the end from the seat tube Bottom Bracket miter. Join me later after I find my machinst square.

Saturday Ride Report and the Zeke Ride.

2011-07-20T20:53:00.002-05:00

Zeke's frame is here, some minor assembly required. I suspect I'll get started on this Saturday. He's up at Ragbrai I need to straighten up my garage first. I think my garage got trashed more when I painted the last frame more than it got when I was cutting and welding it.

Saturday morning started with a brisk 3 miles ride to the trail head, then....

...15 miles of this pea gravel trail to Blue Mills. It's just west of Buckner.

Once we got to Blue Mills, we took some roads to Atherton. Atheton is just west of Sibley. I don't remember seeing a car on the roads up thier. Flat and wide open in the heartland.

Then we took some more roads to the Missouri River. For me It wound up being about a 55 mile trip. I know Crusty and G rode to the trailhead from thier houses and it wound up being about 75 for them.

Little Blue Trace "Mixed Terrain" Grinder

2011-07-13T21:08:00.006-05:00

Little Blue Trace "Mixed Terrain" Grinder

When: July, 16th 7:30am

How Long: 40+miles or about 2.5 to 3 hours

Where: Little Blue Trace Trailhead at the bottom of Lee's Summit Road (From 40 Hiway) and Phelps Road Ends. You can probably park at the trailhead, or park up the hill at CVS (40Hiway& Lee's Summit Road) and coast down the hill.

What: It a Mixed Terrain ride. I'm riding my CX bike with treaded 32cc touring tires. Most of the offical 15 mile trail is pea gravel. some of it's paved, some of it's dirt.

What's the purpose of this ride? It basically a Base mile training ride.

Why can't you add, 15 miles out, and 15 miles back equals 30 miles? Once we reach the BlueMills trailhead we are going to ride to some "Bonus miles".

Should I be Scared? Not really. I don't anticipate any repelling.

What if I'm still scared?

Well Maybe playing with balloons is more to your liking?

Here we go with Z Frame

2011-07-03T23:04:00.007-05:00

Looks like after a small break I'm ready to start another frame. This time in Zeke Dimensions.

The demands are simple. Design and build a frame like the 62cm, Surly Pacer with a longer head tube, and more standover height.

When I looked at the geometry I couldn't believe Surly has it spec'd with a 74 degree head tube angle, and a fork with 45mm of rake. The result is a bicycle with a trail of 50.7mm. I like my bicycles with more trail, somewhere in the area of 60mm. However Zeke says it's never been an issue, I didn't want to send him into culture shock, so I'm slacking the head tube angle to 73.5 resulting in a trail of 53.8mm. I'm still thinking about 73.0.

Last October I did some homework on this subject in regards head tube angle, rake and trail and different frame sets.
http://curbdestroyer.blogspot.com/2010/10/wheel-deal-with-trail-and-flop.html

Interestingly enough I have the Surly Pacer in 56cm listed, and they spec that size with a 73 degree head tube angle, looks like they steepen it as the sizes get bigger. I guess they want the bigger bikes to handle quicker or have those characteristics.

He mentioned he likes the look of the straight blade fork. This is a great idea because I could make a straight blade fork with 40mm of rake, resulting in a bike with more trail.

Now in regards to the rear, it seems like manufactures will give a whole line the same length chainstay, for instance they might give evey frame from a 50cm to a 64cm, 415mm chainstays. However as the frame gets bigger, the rider weight is shifter back toward the rear wheel because the seat tube gets longer, or rather the distance from the bottom bracket to the top of the saddle. Some of these larger frames make it look like the riders is sitting on top of the rear wheel. Since I've built a couple road frame with 350mm chainstays I know a little bit about short chainstays. I like the cornering the reduced wheelbase gives you, but over all I miss the longer chainstays. I mean what percentage of your ride do you spend cornering vs. riding in a straight line? So I'm making them 420mm long vs. 415. I could take a couple scales over to zeke, and find out the hard numbers on the weight distribution, but this is geometry he likes. I wonder how much money a big bicycle manufacture saves cutting all chainstays the same length, vs. different lengths for different sizes?

Like the monoliths in the movie, 2001 a space odyssey, in the last 30+ years I've seen and heard a lot of different theories on bicycle geometry that became the new paradigm. I remember when most road race bikes were 72 parallel, then 74 parallel, Now a lot of frames have a 71 degree head tube angle, and a 73 degree seat tube angle. It won't surprise me if they change again. In my experience, there is a basic foundation, but a lot has to do with personal preference.

To add to that, I used to think there was some magic formula that you could enter your body's dimensions in, and it would spit out the perfect bicycle dimensions. and there might be if we were just skeletons. In other words you could have two people with identical dimensions, but different flexibility's. One would be comfortable, while the other might not.

This is the world of custom bicycles. Not the world of cookie cutter bicycles. So follow here, I'm going to try to make bi-weekly updates. As you can imagine Zeke and I have a few more twists that are going to be thrown in the weeks to come.

This week's photos of interest

2011-06-25T11:54:00.002-05:00

I got to see the some of the Mirraco Freestyle team do what they do. Photos can't capture what these guys can do, videos would have been better, but you can't beat being there in person. If you get a chance to go see freestyle contest, or exhibition I recommend going. It get the adrenaline going.

Wednesday Night Ride

2011-06-17T22:31:00.004-05:00

Some pictures of Wednesdays Night ride. It was a near perfect night for a ride. I'm going to have another in 3 weeks. The ride was a little over 10 miles. The route started from Benettis' in Raytown. Then went eastward to George Road, then back west past Wildwood lake, then past The Rice-Tremonti Home, down and around past Funky town and back. . . . and don't forget, Free Parking at Raytown Plaza.

It's Done

2011-06-14T22:52:00.005-05:00

There you have it all built up.

A side view of the chainstays.

. . . and just enough clearance. So far these chainstays have performed beyond my expectations.

Plenty of tire, chainring, and crank clearance . . . your just going to have to trust me on the crank clearance.

The pulley do-dad.

Functionlity I give it an "A". Looks I give it "C". I wasn't very imaginative when a made that cable stop tab. However the cable guide before the stop is something I added to insure the cable leaves the housing straight. Many will say it doesn't need it, but I've noticed many times when you take the housing end off (That silver cap on the end of the black cable) it's notched from the cable rubbing the side of the hole. Also sometimes you will feel the stranded wires rubbing on that stop. This prevents all that. assuming the cable stop and the yoke are parallel.

A shot of the paint brass in the sun's glare. The new brass and flux from Cycles Design USA made for the smoothest joints I've built.

It's a HammerHead. I've found most cyclists don't like it; but everybody at work, who are not cyclist, liked it. What's that tell you? I don't know, might think about it later if I think about it.

Finally it was time to ease on into a bag of Benetti's Silhouette Series #1. I give it a thumbs up.

Here's their description.

"Goal: #1 is the first in our Silhouette Series: a darker coffee experience. In this series, we wil be offering up a few different blends that are targeted toward those who enjoy the attributes of a darker roasted coffee.

What To Expect: Baker's cocoa up front, cranberry sweetness and hints of jasmine, with the deceptively dry, sweet finish of applewood smoke. This blend is also worth trying with just a little cream."

I've been drinking the darker roasts lately, and this did not disappoint.

Getting tired of being tired

2011-06-10T00:30:00.004-05:00

Getting tired of being tired that's what I say. I think I've done just about everything on this frame twice. I think the new paint scheme looks like a wheaties box. I kinda like it though. I like it more than I did the day before. I'm not real big on having Orange and black together . . . errrr I mean Pumpkin and Black. Just FYI Krylon Pumpkin doesn't cover very well, or at least as well as the other color's I've used. It took over 5 coates to cover the primer, while colors like white . . . ? . . . covered it in 2.

If I like it I might have a pro do it. This whole rattle can painting thing is a big mess. I've done all but one frame with rattle cans so I have some experience, and in that experience I've had some experiences that were the same experiences. (That last sentence was purposly paintfully redundant).

You'd think the rattle can process is real easy. I mean the frame is already stripped. so you sand it down with some 80 grit, then primer it, then paint it . . . easy/peasy right? . . . Mmmm not so much.

First off the primer doesn't really stick as well as I'd like. Even if you let it dry for a day. I've tried to paint not using primer. My frame turned out looking more like a melting candle more than anything . . . always use primer . . . . The primer just keeps the paint from running. however the primer is still your foundation. I know that your supposed to prep the frame with a toxic chemical that etches the frame so the primer sticks. but it doesn't mention it on the can, and I'm not real keen on toxic chemicals.

They say the paint will dry in 15 minutes on the can, however it takes more like a day really, and probably more like two months for it to cure. I mean you can let the frame dry for a week, then go to assemble it and find your paint is soft. I don't feel like waiting a week and I got what I deserved while assembling it, so scratchs and things.

Everytime I paint a frame with a spray can I think I'm going to use a great deal of patience and make some masterpiece. It never works. the sheen always seems to change, and the spray will change in volume.

A bike painted with a spray can will always look like a bike painted with a spray can. and once you get into it you discover why I cost what it cost to get it done by a pro. He got the equipment, the environment, . . . oh yes the environment. You can't get this done with precision if your doing this with gusts of wind blowing around you, . . . Like I said I'm not into toxic chemicals, and if i spray paint something it's outside . . . and he/she has the experience.

What's your time worth? I mean once you add up the time you use to prep the frame, sanding it, then going over it it acetone to clean it, then prime it, sand the primer, then sand it, prime it, wet sand it, then paint it, then let it dry, then paint it . . . let alone if you mask off panels . . . . hence the fades this time. I've done successful masking, I just don't want paint on it at this point.

People ask me why after spend 3 months building this frame do you finish it with a $4 can of spray paint. Right now these frame are experiements. I'm not sure the duel chainstay is going to work the way I want it to.

Just my 2 cents.

The Paint That Ain't

2011-06-07T11:50:00.002-05:00

Wouldn't be great if life had a do over button? It seems when you get a kick in the package like this, it's alway worse when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. The new paper I had blocking off over spray bled into the paint, then the letters I had peeled around the edges. Now time for a little damage control. Lucky for me I did just one tube instead of them all like I had planned. It's a learning experience.

Wednesday Night Cruise

2011-06-06T22:47:00.001-05:00

Primed for Primer

2011-06-03T21:50:00.002-05:00

I think 80% of the work on this bike gets done between 10pm and 2am. So instead of Hammerhead I'm contemplating callling it Caffeine Head. It's now primed and ready for paint. I'm still debating what to paint it. I've got a good idea, but you know me, it could be anything.

I saw this sign on my ride back home. I must say I'm even a bit puzzled, I mean I've heard of Pole Dance/Stripper/Aerobics, but Karate/Cheerleading classes?

More Chainstay Madness

2011-05-30T21:18:00.008-05:00

Yes, you've come to the part when you exhale loudly, then say, "Oh Gawd, now what"? It's the simple pleasures in life that makes us laugh, and the complexity that makes us frustrated.

Oh the complexity. This is no.3 . . . filed by hand . . . to failure. How long do you think that took, I don't know, can't count that high.

The idea was to add that chainstay cross piece were all familiar with. However with four chainstays something needs to be reworked. I thought of many ideas as you can well imagine. I thought this might be the simplest plan of attack. I thought wrong.

You would think that plate would be a simple solution. There are a couple problems. From the side the distance between the chainstays gets larger towards the bottom bracket, then from the top the chainstays get closer together towards the bottom bracket. That makes mitering that plate real difficult. It would be a lot easier if that bootom bracket wasn't there.

So this is the solution I decided on . . . none. Doesn't need it. I put some tubing in, and it didn't make a lot of difference. Besides I didn't like the look of the plate, and tubing make it look a little busy plus it made a good place for dirt and mud to get hung up on.

This is what really stiffened up the rear. The seat stays are longer then the chainstays, only makes sense.

Still have to add the H2O bottle Mounts, and the front deraileur pulley jobby. Since I want to ride this bike on the road as well as CX. I need to place the bottle mounts so I can maneuver the front deraileur up and down for 44 as well as 52.

Mustachios Judgment Day Ride

2011-05-23T21:26:00.004-05:00

I present to you Kent's Rock-n-Roll mustache
Rock-n-Roll Grease

Rock-n-Roll Mustache

8 people turned up for the ride. We had a good time. My camera turned out to be less than reliable and I only got a few god (Judgment Day Freudian Slip). . . Good . . . pictures.

Penny Farthings at the enterance to the Lewis & Clack Viaduct/Bridge/overpass.

The West Bottoms has a lot of interesting places to ride.

This is woodsweather leaving River Market. Always a good view.

Wade and Zeke.

On the return to downtown. I highly recommend it for evening cruises.

Seat Stay Beesness

2011-05-18T18:44:00.003-05:00

got bees? . . . One day you come home from work and as I say, "It's just kind'a like that". Now what? I'm not a bee farmer . . .

but Andy & Wendy from Nowachek Apiaries are.

. . . . got bees?

Now that the chainstays are on, it's time to align them. They were not off by much. This is just one of the many tricks I have up my sleeve to make sure they are in good alignment. I have a granite taple top for an alignment table. I just haven't gotten to making that yet. From all my tests, everything is within less than a millimeter. I know some people like the get the alignment to where the thickness of paint can throw it off, but at some point I think we reach the point of diminishing returns considering how much a frame flexes during a ride.

There you have it. Ready to braze.

This Saturday is the Mustache/Judgment day ride.

Grow it, Stick it, Draw it on. You must have a mustache to ride.
Also this date is the same day some people believe is “Judgment Day”.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/04/may-21-2011-judgment-day_n_804166.html

The ride will start from Midwest Cyclery, then go North East towards Knuckleheads, then back West towards Strawberry hill, then back towards Wesport to Buzzard Beach with stops, detours in between. the ride will be between 17 to 20 miles.

Meet at Midwest Cyclery at 4pm

Head Tubes & more chainstays

2011-05-15T10:07:00.006-05:00

The headtube is reamed to spec 33.9mm inside diameter. It's done the same way I did the Swing bike only that was to a 30.1mm Inside diameter because the frame use a fork with a 1" steerer and not 1-1/8" like this frame.

This frame is going to have a 1-1/8" fork steerer. Remember I used a 1-3/8" (34.9mm) O.D. tube with .035" (.9mm) thickness, resulting in a tube with 33.147mm inside diameter that needs to be 33.9mm. So I had to increase the inside diameter by .75mm or take .375mm off the wall.

. . . now the bottom bracket area is cleaned up

Now on the the Seat stays.

Chainstays pt.3

2011-05-13T17:25:00.003-05:00

The Swing Bike made it into the shop (Midwest Cyclery) yesterday. Here is Zeke negotiating the bike shop with it. The report is everybody has had fun on it. So I suspect it will be there to stay.

Chainstays Galore! . . . times Four (x4). Roughing in the fit is one thing, precision miters is another. These took a little longer than I thought they would. The complexity grows exponentially. The good news is they are mitered, sanded, cleaned, and ready for brazing.

Chainstays and Such

2011-05-11T21:44:00.001-05:00

After a brief interuption with the Swing bike.

Some Bottle openers.

I've finally gotten back to the chainstays for the CX frame.

Facing Mustache/Judgment Day

2011-05-06T22:16:00.005-05:00

To face a head tube, or tubes in my case your going to need one of these. It reams the inside of the tube to precisely to 30.1mm, the faces the top perpendicular.

In it goes for this side.

Once the bore is in, then it's face time. Be sure to use cutting oil. There is cuttng oil, you just can't see it in this picture.

Since the bike is based upon it's ability to swing. I thought it was nessessary to make all the tolerances as tight as I can make them . . . Even if it is a RoadMaster.

***Also***

Mustache/Judgment day ride. May 21 …2-n-1. 21

Grow it, Stick it, Draw it on. You must have a mustache to ride.
Also this date is the same day some people believe is “Judgment Day”.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/04/may-21-2011-judgment-day_n_804166.html

let’s do both at once…21…2-n-1…Mustache /Judgment Day …it all seems to fit

The ride will start from Midwest Cyclery, then go North East towards Knuckleheads, then back West towards Strawberry hill, then back towards Wesport to Buzzard Beach with stops, detours in between.

Meet at Midwest Cyclery at 4pm

Tri Colored Bifold

2011-05-05T21:50:00.005-05:00

Looks good from a distance. I suspect it might get a few double takes.

Some fillets looked OK. I didn't sand the primer so it looks kinda rough. Should I have taken the time to polish a RoadMaster?

Since it's was a hatchet Job, I have some accidental hatchet marks. Not to mention a few others that were no fault of mine. I could spend the next 2 days fixing them all, but in the end it would still be a RoadMaster. I've already got 2 more projects on the burner.

Swing Test

2011-05-02T17:06:00.002-05:00

Just anticipating the fun. Death Trap!? I think not.

Why have a front wheel and a rear wheel when you can have side wheels. A little drifting sideways a speed.

I got a few stares. I think people know something is not right, they just don't know what it is.

You can really carve a turn when your frame has two pivots.

Folds up nice. Who needs S&S couplers when you have a Swing Bike?

Swing Bike Frame pt.2

2011-05-01T17:01:00.003-05:00

The swing bike so far . . . sans Headsets

All the tubes are in place. I still have some cable guides and stuff to "modify". That mean the stops will have to be made into guides. Since the frame pivots at the seat tube you have to use housing all the way. Hopefuly after tonight I'll have the frame in position to paint. One modifcation you might notice is that I flipped the down tube around so maybe those water bottle braze-ons will be usable.

Got my MWI team jersey . We race Cyclo-Cross.

Got my MWI Coffee. It's a custom blend made by Benetti's. It a medium roast coffee, so its got a charge; and a flavor you want to sip all day. It's also a coffee that tastes the way it smells. By that I mean for example if you grind a coffee like Indian Monsooned Malabar, that smell doesn't really caputure the slight mustiness that gives Indian Mansooned Malabar it's distinction.

Got my MWI Embrocation. It's a custom mix made by Mad Alchemy.

Swing Bike ADD

2011-04-28T22:50:00.005-05:00

Remember when I was going to make a swing Bike? Well for some reason it seems like a good time to piece one together. Even though I'm in the middle of another project.

I found this old Roadmaster in the basement and decided it might be a good frame to hack apart and use for a swing bike project. Holy Smokes Batman check these welds! They almost seem to defy logic. I know I'm ignorant about some things, maybe even more things than I know, but something is just not right here. It's obvious the bike was though some abuse, and yet has not come apart. Maybe the logic here is, it can't come apart, if it was never together to begin with.

Yes, that's a Wear your helmut safety sticker . . . Gee Why? Is it because the welds are below the surface of the tube? Does the tube even touch the head tube? Did a team of hampsters wel this thing together from the inside out?

What? . . . Why waste time mitering tubes together? This is what was revealed to me when I hacked the downtube off. That hole is the bottom of the seat tube.

Now time for a picture of some quality at Benetti's.

Well here it is so far. That's a fork steerer sweated into a piece of 1-1/8" 4130, brazed to the seat tube. Nothing fancy. Brazing together old tubing is not fun. It's hard enough to clean new tubing, let alone painted, rusted tubing.

ChainStays pt.2 ... Double Vision & Such

2011-04-24T17:06:00.010-05:00

A regular chainstay, and my Chainstay.

Double Vision.

How about Civia Cycles, Loring? This bicycle is really nice. Brooks saddle, Avid DISC brakes, Mavic Rims, Truvative Stem, Post, & cranks, bamboo fenders. It's an internal 3 speed. As you all know, I'm no stranger to the 3 speed. For a Cargo/Commuter I'd have liked it to have a 5+ speed, but a 3 speed will work just fine.

Check it Bleed! Bamboo for the rack panels.

How about this? Combined with the double kickstand, this spring will keep the wheel straight while it's parked, so your bike doesn't tip over and you loose your cargo. Now that's thinking outside the box, before long we are going to see these types of add-ons everywhere. as Banksy says, "Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a f'ing sharp knife to it."
— Banksy

A Banksy picture that pretty much seems up the currect global conciousness.

The Chainstays pt.1

2011-04-21T00:05:00.004-05:00

First off I'd like to take time to acknowledge my new favorite hot sauce at the moment. It's made here local in Grain Valley, and comes from a company called Little Dixie Harbour. It's a thick sauce that has a lot of spice/flavor to it, without being overly hot.

I'm going to use a set of Salsa brand dropouts I've have sitting around.

Jig setup for 430mm ChainStay length.

Jig setup for 65mm bottom Bracket Drop.

What? . . . Conventional . . . I think Not. I'm going to use 2 x 1/2", 4130 tubes for the chainstays. Being Cyclocross my concern is mud and crud getting caught inbetween the tubes. I might add a gusset to prevent that. It's an experiment. My thought is that the 1/2" or 12.7mm will provide plenty of clearance without dimpling the tubes. Then doubling them up with give the needed stiffness . . . nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Ready for the ends to get tacked on.

a Look-See at the tubes on the bottom Bracket.

I look at the seam I'll have to "negotiate" after the ends are brazed in place.

The Head Tube Trick

2011-04-17T14:33:00.007-05:00

I was going to add a head tube gusset...

...with the MWI Jackalope carved out of it. I've managed to consistanly mess up the antlers. This is going to be a project for another time.

Either your going to love it, or dislike it. I called the frame the "HammerHead CX Frame" for a reason.

The Top Tube Trick

2011-04-15T00:06:00.004-05:00

Since I couldn't put the seat tube through the top tube in a sound fashion. I added and short mono stay tube to the back to give it the illusion the seat tube is going through the top tube.

This crap . . . errrr I mean cap was more of a challenge than I thought. It started off as the square piece of 2"x2", .025, 4130 sheet. Then I snipped it down close . . . Then I had to bring in the heavey equipment. As I've said before. That's a rotary file, and it's not exactly anybody's friend. While very effective at shaving something down, it also leaves steel splinters in it's wake. A large magnet works great to pickup most of them, but I'm sure tomorrow I'll find a few more.

The Bottom Bracket Detail

2011-04-13T23:18:00.004-05:00

The Bottom Bracket before. This is the best bottom bracket brazing I've ever performed on all facets. I have to say I'm really liking the Brass and Flux I got from Cycles Design USA. When I say all facets I mean brazing, flow, and clean up.

This is the bottom Bracket after a quick file, and sanding.

Head Tube Detail

2011-04-13T06:55:00.003-05:00

The head tube is cleaned up. I've still got a few details to work out.

Something that might involve this dude.

Front Triangle so far

2011-04-11T20:58:00.002-05:00

My camera is tempermental. Some days it works good, some days not so much. I've still got some modifications to make, but other wise all the angles and lengths are set. Everything is where it needs to be.

2011-04-09T01:43:00.005-05:00

Here we are again. If there was one thing I didn't want to mess up, it was the bottom bracket because there are 3 tubes that come together. First and foremost the notch in particular.

Jigged up again. All angles are ready for action . . . Tommorrow.

As far as hand tools goes, for me this is the point of diminishing returns. If I had a Bridgeport Mill I might be able to get better tolerances, but I doubt it would return any greater benefit. You have to allow room for the brass to flow, and I have heard of people getting it too tight. For TIG these are no doubt ready to go.

The Headtube sits craddled by the down tube at 57.9 degees. What more do you want?

How about time to chill out. If you like ambient music explore Sleepbot. http://www.sleepbot.com/ Here is a band I discovered this week. Stars of the lid. Sit back and relax. Man do I ever need to.

Oh Those Bottom Brackets

2011-04-08T00:00:00.006-05:00

Well Like some people suggested, can you just heat it up and pull it apart. With nothing to loose I said "Lets find out".

The short answer is...Maybe. I cut off the seat tube, then heated up the downtube/bottom bracket joint. I was able to pull it out, only thing is I moved it side to side to detect if was loose ...

...and crimped the bottom of the tube because the heat softened both metals. I think with some patience and two people you might be able to pull the tube straight out, but I would think you would still have to shorten it a wee bit reguardless, no to mention the structural integrity. After doing the math if I wanted to re-use this tube I'd have to shorten the top tube 2cm from 55cm to 53cm ... Nope. It's is just an experiement. The seat ube was 6" longer than I needed, so I can re-use that. The bottom bracket?...For $6 for a new one, I think I'll spare myself the work of cleaning it up, and just use a new one.

For those unfamiliar with a bottom bracket. The left or non-drive side is right hand thread, and the right side or drive side is left hand thread. The left side of the bottom bracket does not have a ridge, while the right side has a ridge. I'm not sure how I got it reversed. What's done is done.

It's deja vu all over again.

SeatTube, DownTube, and Bottom Bracket

2011-04-07T19:17:00.004-05:00

The SeatTube and Bottom Bracket fluxed up and ready to go. This is where I always start. I wish it came last since it's the most challenging. Not only are 3 tubes coming together, but the Bottom Bracket is thicker so it holds the heat a little different. I did some practice earlier this week, so hopfully I hit my stride.

This is the first Time I'm using Cycle Design Flux and brass, and after getting this joint done I have to say it's everything they say it is. It flows at a lower temperature, and it flows better.

It's not perfect, but this is the best I've ever done. I mean that in terms of the file and sanding work that I'll need to do to clean it up.

I needed 56.9 degrees, and I have 56.9 degrees. Now to add the head and down tube.

Oh yea one tiny, tiny tiny, thing. This is the view looking down the seat tube. That orange thing is the fixed cup. Yea it's on the wrong side. OHHHHHHH SO MUCH RAGE! I thought I check it 3 times. I can salvage the seat tube because it's too long and I can just cut it off. The BB is obviously hosed and so is that perfectly mitered down tube. I guess back to the store to get another tube. Lucky for me I have another Bottom Bracket . . . Right "lucky".

Epic Kinkle Cut Rotors

2011-04-03T09:04:00.004-05:00

I saw this rotor when I came in today. At first I thought it was some kind of saw blade.

What normally looks something like this.

Wasn't there first hand. I'd have to Talk to Brother Zeke for more details, but no mater what, this item will have to go into the gallery of Epic WTF.

Talking about epic. How about Kin Lin down at 51st & Brookside. Mighty Tasty as always and yes those are krinkle cut french fries. Lunch was $5 even. They charge something like $4.63 so there isn't any change.

Practice Day 2

2011-04-02T00:04:00.003-05:00

Here are my practice tubes jigged and fluxed up ready to go. After a clinical cleaning of course.

Some call this the stringer or tinning the joint. Here you give the joint a once over sealing it. This insures penetration. I turn up the torch a bit her so the brass runs a little bit faster so it doesn't build up. As you can see though I let it get away from me.

Here's what it looks like after the fillet is layed down.

Here is what it looks like cleaned up. Once I get my glasses Monday I'll be ready to start brazing up the front triangle.

Practice, Practice, Practice

2011-03-31T22:37:00.014-05:00

Ever saw a piece of 1/2" tubing about 8" in length in half ? I've had thought about marketing my own hack saw. The saw would be extra heavy. The trick is to balance the downward motion of the saw again the top of the tube. It's my opinion this feeling would be over exagerated if the saw was made of heavier material so I could relax more while gravity does it's work for me. I've had a lot of ideas going throught my head this last week. Mostly in reguards to internal cable routing. After 2 days of investigation they have turned to be not worth the time. For some reason I call this, "Walk it like you talk it". I should be able to flow brass straight down the line better than this. With a little touch up with my dremil I can get this looking ok. I used to a year ago . . . Mmmm maybe I hit upon my problem. Also I broke my shade 3 glasses and had to work wearing shade 5. I can't see as well, so it's a little different. My new glasses will be in on Monday. I've scoured the KCMO Greater area, and not a set of Shade #3's to be had, so I had to order them. I did manage this. It looks better in person, than in this picture.

I nominate this guy for King of "Run What You Brung". I Don't got a helmut, but I have 3 pretzels and some Saran Wrap, . . . Lets do this!

Happy Birthday . . . C L I N T

Headtube Reinforment Rings

2011-03-28T22:18:00.003-05:00

Oh that extra 1/8" makes all the difference doesn't it when your not using bicycle specific tubing. When the fork steerer was 1", you used a 1-1/4" diameter head tube with a .035", or .9mm wall thickness. This was pretty much the standard. Since they went to 1-1/8" steerer you would think it was as simple as going up to 1-3/8" head tube. It can be, the only problem is once you bore the inside of the tube for the headset cups that leaves you about .5mm wall thinkness, about half what you should have.

So now I have to reinforce the ends of the head tube with 1-1/2" dia tube, with .058" wall thinkness rings about 14mm in length.

Mark downfrom 14mm from the end of the tube in about 12 different places. Then go around the tube connecting the dots with some "Broadway Joe White" electrical tube.

Cutting isn't too bad. I use a fine tooth count, (I think 32 tpi) for control. You don't want to get half way through .058 and find yourself off course. Fine tooth allows me to stay in control and follow the edge of the tape all the way down.

On the other hand if you think it's too slow you might loose patience, and find yourself off course just the same. I about found myself about ready to get into that boat. Next time I'll try 24 tpi. I've cut enough tubing now that I'm pretty good cutting tubing off square.

Rings Glorious Rings!

The Front Triangle Takes Shape

2011-03-26T21:03:00.005-05:00

Got my Brass and Flux in from Cycles Design USA.

It's had some really good reviews, and I doubt I'll be disappointed.

It's starting to take shape, sans head tube fixture.

For some reason my camera isn't working at peak performance today. Might be the cold or something. When my miters are finished. I like them to look like this. I've still got to fine tune them all, I should have that done tommorow, or the next day.

One of the experiments. I got the hole hole lined up top dead center using micro washers and it worked. Only thing was there is too much slop in the hole saw's bearing fixture, and the $7 hole saw are not total precision. So I wound up with some gaps I can't exactly fix.

I guess this is why you pay the extra $150 for a Strawberry Lan 71. Then of course you need a Mill to drive it with equal precision, now we're talking $$,$$$.

In my opinion the hole is a wee bit too big. It's easier to make a small hole bigger, than a big hole smaller. If I did it over again I'd use the same setup with a size small holesaw, then take an adjustable reamer and ream the hole out to the size I need.

I think I could get away with it, but I'm not going to chance it. I'll probably saw it in half, then join the back side on like a mono-stay . . . to kinda fake it.

Yea won't this get interesting.

Curiosities and the Jig

2011-03-24T22:37:00.005-05:00

If your old enough you might remember the The Arsenio Hall Show, he would do this thing called, "Think that make you go Hmmmmm".

Ever wonder why when we see lance Armstrong lately, he's running and/or drinking beer?

How about the new location of HoldFast BMX Bike shop. Holdfast was located just off 350 highway in Raytown across from Ace Hardware. Now they are located in the Raytown industrial park. They specialize in just BMX.

The new location is 6525 Hadley Raytown, Mo. 64133

I like the guys at Holdfast, curious location. If they have Friday night jam sessions in the industrial park this summer, that would be cool.

How about a picture of Lemmy in a pair of shorts . . . I guess.

Here's a picture of the jig setup and the seat tube angle set. I picture is a bit off. Hmmmmm, if you read the scale it looks more like 73.1 or 73.2, but it's set to 73.0.

Oh Yea. . . KC Sprints tomorrow after Critical Mess at Buzzard Beach. . . . better late than never . . . hmmmmmmmm

The Seat Tube and Bottom Bracket

2011-03-21T22:04:00.003-05:00

I'm taking this project one miter at a time. Besides, what's the rush?

What's easier than the 90 degree seat tube to Bottom Bracket miter? Especially with the Joint Jigger. A product proudly made here in Kansas City.

With a little filing there you have it. It's a nice tight 90 degree miter. The Bottom bracket sats craddled on the seat tube, and didn't allow light to pass through. Later I'll wrap the Bottom Bracket in sand paper and polish seat on the seat tube, but besides that we're done.

Next the head tube. It's going to be a bit tricky using straight 4130 for a 1-1/8" head tube. I might have to braze on the head tube end reinforcement rings like I did on the Snow Bike. But that's OK because I have some new Brass and Flux coming my way to try out from Cycle Design Group.

Here's a throw back. It's a 6 speed freewheel where the smallest cog is a 16. This is my old Junior Freewheel from back in the 80's. If you were a junior you couldn't use a freewheel that had a cog smaller than a 16 because they wanted you to develop a spin and were afraid you might blow your knees out or something. The biggest gear you could have was 52x16. It seems to me using 52x16 up a steep hill could blow your knees out. I found a good article about here on Start Bike Racing.

I think it's an attempt to level the playing field If any George Hincapis come up. I remember seeing him when he was 14 on the 7-11 developmental team at the Apple Cup in Columbia, Missouri if memory serves me correctly. I don't think if looked a lot different than he does now. He was definately a man among boys.

Saturday Success

2011-03-20T22:19:00.006-05:00

Some of the usual suspects preping the trailer. No 7'-9" limit on a flatbed. Going from left to right: "The construction guy" a Bull Moose with precision. He owns Reasoner Roofing & Contracting. He was real impressive. Evidently has loads more experience than we did combined. I guess Dennis met him at the Lee's Summit skate park. He's 40 something and just decided one day to pick up freestyle. Dennis, being Dennis and "Chewy", Just like me he likes his coffee, and is one of those take inititive guys.

The view pushing the ramp up the ramp. Well actually it's setting on the ramp right now for a little break. I believe we had 8 or 9 guys there this morning.

Phrase of the day.

Fully loaded and secured

FUUULLLLL PUUULLLLL!!!!!!!

Off and down the road. I was there for 2 of the 3 loads. I didn't get to unload it though at KC Indoor Skatepark.

But on the KC Indoor web site I guess it looked at lot like this.

Where was I . . . I had to make a trip to "Out in the Sticks" as they say. When is the last time you saw a gas pump like this one. I suspect they like it this way to without the debt. card thingy. This way you have to go inside, and while your inside, why not pick up a few snakes . . . errr I mean snakes, . . . Snacks.

The tubing is in the house

2011-03-18T23:43:00.004-05:00

Went to Airparts and picked up my tubing. Straight Guage 4130. Believe it or not the cost was a little more than what I could have gotten a bicycle specific, double Butted 4130 tubset, from Nova Cycle. However I have a case of the "I Want It Nows".

Yea that Double Butted frame may weight a little less, but the thing you have to remember is you have to propel your bicycle + yourself. What precentage is 1lb of the 190Lbs. A little more than 1/2 a percent. I throw weight out the window, it's ride quality that makes the difference. I will say those nice heat treated tubing give a lot better ride quality than 4130. Ever ride a Colnago, Master Light . . Yea that frameset's got it going on.

Plus I get to go rummage though the bins for tool, parts, and other gadgetry. Have you ever need a part that would go like . . . Yea they might have it.

These look interesting.

packed up and ready to go. Funny enough my next stop was Metal by the Foot for hole saws. I could have went there for my tubing, but they don't carry 1-3/8" tubing. They jump from 1-1/4" to 1-1/2" Then Praxair on Holmes for Flux, they used to be Kirk Welding.

Head Tube Details and Such

2011-03-15T00:40:00.004-05:00

Before I build the CX frame. I still have a few ideas I need to run through the mill. In the 80's Voris Dixon Company built frames that looked a lot like this. A clunky, primative, look where the 1-1/4" head tube goes through both a 1-3/8" top tube and a 1-3/8" down tube.

However mine differs in that the 1-1/4"top tube and the 1-1/4" head tube are going to be the same dia. . . . obviously . . . It will sport a 1-3/8" down tube though.

I should be starting this project Friday. I'll be using straight gauge 4130. So I might be . . . will be throwing in a few curves.

So who knows what's going to happen. I like to experiement and usually have a method behind the madness, rather than to do things just to be different and fall into the . . . .

. . . The Hipster Trap of sorts. However I'll partially fail because I do like PBR. I don't mean to bag on the "Hipsters" . . . I like most of them, except maybe some that come off a little too hip

. . . Riiiiight.

Moving Wood and Trouble Comes Bundled in 3's

2011-03-12T22:27:00.012-06:00

Not this wood

This wood.

My fellow BMX Brigaders needed some ramps moved from here to The KC Indoor Skate Park.

The was mission masterminded by Dennis McCoy. Not only did he organize the move, but also decided to test the integrity for the rule; trouble comes in threes.

No.1 smallest dimmension of section of ramp is 8'-0"

Ryder said over the phone the trucks were 8"-6" wide. Taking them for their word Dennis arrived with the truck 7'-10" wide. They said he must have gotten a new truck, and it was the older trucks that were 8"-6" wide. Returned truck only to find out they are all this way. I suspect the 8"-6" is the inside width and not the doorway width.

No.2 At first I thought he fell in a sink hole, but I guess the lid wasn't on square when Dennis stepped on it, and fell into the meter pit up to his knee.

No.3 Since the entire day was dependent on having the truck, instead of getting nothing done we spend the time getting things prepared to make the move more streamlined. This is where no.3 comes in as Dennis gets stung by a bee. . . . and why not? . . . Bee rhymes with Three.

Well now if nothing else we have things in a better position for the potential move . . . . to be continued.

Gas Bikes and Bowling

2011-03-06T21:50:00.007-06:00

Soon we will be saying, "Oh remember the days when gas was only $3.29 a gallon".

Money injection anybody? . . . Naa I'll save it, Uhmm No maybe I'd better spend it while a dollar is still worth a dollar . . . whatever that is . . . Well in 1933 1oz of gold was $20, now 1oz is worth $1400 . . . so the dollar buy 70 times less than it did in 1933 . . . just say'n
-
Ahhhh the day has finally arrived Brews, Bikes, Beers, and Bowling. So how did it turn out?
The first person I saw at Benetti's was Kent, and to my surprise he didn't have his bike. And from here the dominos of ineptitude would fall.

1 No Show, 1 Late Show, 1 lost, 1 No Bike +"Guacamolian". Ye Abandon All Hope of a ride, salvage what you got.

So we drove to Rhienlands to meet the other two. No not "The Other Two" . . . Bob and Boss man. So that made 4-3/8 or 4-1/2 of us.

Now that's a . . . ? . . . "Maß" of beer.

The special was special. Some would have called it Comfort Food. We called it flavor from another dimension.

Across the street is Diamond Bowl.

I can't say our experience turned into The Big Lebowski or anything. However I see the "You Are Entering a World of Pain" in my future.

8 lanes under 4 big screens. That's Bob tearing up the alley. Believe it or not you need reservations on the weekends. The place was packed and jumping.

aaaaaaabs

The scores . . . Ahhh Scores, Schmores; lets talk Mph. What's this finese business of toppling over pins? My strategy was simple, blow the pins out. A good time was had by all. So good infact were thinking about doing it again in the near future and not waiting for another year to go by.

So what's next? . . .

With the Gentlemens race getting canceled. Looks like the 200km (128mile) Brevet is a possibility
http://kcbrevets.blogspot.com/

Also a ride to Rayville (45 Miles NorthEast of Kansas City) to VanTill Farms is a possibility.
http://www.vantillfarms.com/

The Do It Again Ride

2011-03-01T01:54:00.002-06:00

Since it didn't work out last week, we do it again this week.
Notice new time.

Street Cred in the Street Crud

2011-02-26T21:05:00.003-06:00

The Street Cred series for 2011 is over. Too bad it was a good time.

This stage was called the "Riddle Race". We all started off with a clue to where to ride to, to find the next clue to where to ride to . . . I'll spare you the specifics. The ride was about 17.5 miles (from what I can estimate from maps), and had 9 stops if I remember right. I finished 6th and the ride took me about 2 hours. I had a few hicups, for instance 39th does not go through to Mission, and if I knew what "Folfing" was . . . Frisbie Golf . . . But that's Street Cred, Who can navigate the streets the best.
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For those of you with nice equipment . . .

It's probably best that you all stayed home. It was Street Crud. From time to time you got to hear the crunch of road salt and sand between your chain, sprockets and gears. For this ride I chose the CurbDestroyer 1 With a 3 speed wheel. 39x16 worked perfect.

On the schedule for this evening was the ride from Benetti's to Rheinlands for Fasching. Of the 5 people I knew were going to go. Nobody showed up.

So I was left to my coffee and Macchiato by myself. It not so bad. The question was should I go or, cash in my chips for the night? With Fog, 31 degrees, and the prospect of not getting in, because they said they were booked 6 months ago, so I decide to take it as a sign and cash it in.

However 3 of you want to do it next week, and I suspect at least 3 or more of you do to. Which sounds like a good idea, this time we will have the restaraunt to ourselves like we did last time. So lets go back Jack and do it again.

The Punks Are Alright

2011-02-20T19:59:00.013-06:00

The Punks Are Alright . . .

Thinking back about my younger years, I can’t help but think about Punk Rock. I’ve often called a person’s younger years their “Days of Discovery”. Ideas that were once covered, have now become discovered to fuel our imaginations to build our identities.

It used to be every generation had it’s own genre of music that would identify them. If you say 60’s, a person might think of Chuck Berry, Beach Boys. 70’s Led Zeppelin (Rock-n-Roll), Parliament (Funk), Disco. 80’s (Punk, Heavy Metal, New Wave), 90’s (Grunge), then 2000’s ? I’m not sure Hip-Hop? Rap?, but isn't that just a modified version of what was already invented in the 70’s, for example Sugar Hill Gang with "Rapper’s Delight" for example . . . Grand Master Flash anybody? looking at the last generation, I can’t say they developed a musical sound that identifies them.

That’s not to say there is not great music being made today (. . . and there is, you're just going to have to dig for it . . . ) it’s just not distinctive enough to give this generation an identity.

However I don't want to argue what this music genrations identy is. I want to point out a pattern, and make the case that it got hijacked a long time ago.

My days of discovery came during the days of punk rock. What’s a “Punk” anyway? It’s hard to find a clear definition of "Punk". However we can agree that it’s a word that possesses a negative connotation. When people think “Punk Rock” they often have an image of a person with a mohawk, wearing a black leather biker jacket, going around breaking things; or perhaps the word “Anarchy". A word also perverted, but I'm going to argue that now.

So today I find myself in the position to be a iconoclast of sorts for “Punk”, and you just might find out you’re more “Punk” than you thought, and have to redefine what it means to be “Punk”. The 70’s/80’s punk movement was about making people aware of what was going on around them. It was about instigating critical thought. Let’s look at the lyrics of Minor Threat’s, Out of Step or the more popular Straight Edge. It’s a song about how not doing drug gives you the edge . . .The Straight Edge.

“I'm a person just like you
But I've got better things to do
Than sit around and smoke dope
'Cause I know I can cope
Laugh at the thought of eating ludes
Laugh at the thought of sniffing glue
Always gonna keep in touch
Never want to use a crutch
I'VE GOT STRAIGHT EDGE
I'VE GOT STRAIGHT EDGE”

Hence the phrase was coined "Straight Edge".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straight_Edge

Straight Edge was born from Punk Rock, who knew? Who would know with the way Punk Rock is portrayed in the media. How about other Minor threat songs that foster a no excuses attitude like “I don’t want to hear it”, or “In my Eyes”.
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Speaking no excuses What about Black Flag’s “Rise Above”?

“Society's arms of control
Rise above, we're gonna rise above
Think they're smart, can't think for themselves
Rise above, we're gonna rise above
Laugh at us behind our backs
Rise above, we're gonna rise above
I find satisfaction in what they lack
Rise above, we're gonna rise above
We are tired of your abuse
Try to stop us, but it's no use”

Henry Rollins went on to form Rollin’s band

One of my favorite songs of his “Shine”.

“If I'd listened everything that they said to me, I wouldn't be here!
And if I took the time to bleed from all the tiny little arrows shot my way,
I wouldn't be here!
The ones who don't do anything are always the ones who try to put you down
and you could spend your entire life walking around in the nowhere land of self doubt

'coz when you start to doubt yourself the real world will eat you alive!
it's time, it's time to align your body with your mind, it's hero time
it's time, it's time to align your body with your mind, it's hero time
'coz when you start to doubt yourself the real world will eat you alive!
and you know it's true!
I'm talking to you: hero time starts right now! Yeah, hero time, yeah,
time to shine, hey, hero time!

if ya think you've got 100 years to mess around: you're wrong!
this time it's real, y o u r t i m e i s n o w . . . it's hero time!
Yeah, hero time,hey, time to shine, yeah, hero time, yeah!

hard times are gettin' harder, the liars are acting strong
you better get a grip on yourself or you won't be around too long
it's hero time, hey, time to shine, yeah, hero time, yeah, hero time, yeah!
it's hero time, it's hero time, time to shine, shine, shine, shine, shine!
oh yeah! (3x)

no such thing as spare time, no such thing as free time
no such thing as down time
all you got is life time... go! 'coz it's hero time, 'coz it's time to
shine
'coz it's time to go, go, go! yeah, hou!

when you're gone, you're so gone (2x) you've got it now, it's time to go
hero time starts right now! yeah, aha..! ...change it!

I got grace in times of friction, I got truth in times of fiction
I've got no time for the hype... suicide!? I'm not that type...
I got no time for drug addiction, no time for smoke and booze
too strong for a shortened life span, I've got no time to lose!
It's time to shine, yeah, it's hero time, yeah, it's hero time, yeah,
yeah!

when you start to doubt yourself the real world will eat you alive! yeah!
you could spend your entire walking around, coward: or you can get up!
get up, get up, get up, get up! it's time to shine! yeah...”

Sounds like a song that inspires me to go out and do something rather than sit in my parents basement and play video games.

There were/are a lot more bands with songs that posses this attitude and a message. In fact I'll go as far to say these bands make up the majority and are the foundation of "Punk".

Contrast this to the way “Punk” is portrayed. It's that same old tired mechanism in action. Critisize the messenger, not the message.

From example lets look at the Sex Pistols. Instead of focusing on the message of the lyrics, lets focus on the life of Sid Vicious. In fact let’s make a movie called Sid & Nancy that paints the whole punk scene as criminals and drug abusers. . . . Which I just pointed out that this is clearly not the case . . . . This is the stigma that has to be lifted in order for “Punk” to be discovered. What is covered must be discovered.
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So what is “Punk” today? What have the corporations packaged for you as “Punk”? . . . actually they took some of Punk and fractured it, then packaged the fractures and sold it to this generation as new. Including such genres as EMO . . . (Ohhhh I’m so emotional) . . . and Goth.
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Another thing I don't like is how "Punk" has become fashion. When people go out they may decide to look a little . . . "Punky" . . . For example the other day I walked by a corporate coffee shop on my way to an independent coffee shop two store fronts down. Inside was a kid working on his laptop, and was wearing awearing a Rage Against The Machine (RATM) T-Shirt. RATM sings songs about corporate exploitation. This store is owned by one of the biggest corporations on the planet. Guess he didn't hear thier song, "No Shelter here".

"The main attraction, distraction
got ya number than number than numb
Empty ya pockets son, they got you thinkin that
What ya need is what they sellin
Make you think that buyin is rebellin'
From the theaters to malls on every shore
The thin line between entertainment and war
The frontline is everywhere, there be no shelter here
Spielberg the nightmare works so push it far
Amistad was a whip, the truth feather to tar
Memories erased and burned to scar
Trade in ya history for a VCR"

Well if nothing else I hope you understand the distinctions between "Punk", and what the corporate exploited, sensationalized, Punk looks like.

. . . and now Bill Hicks with a message I consider "Punk".

Bike Ride da 26th

2011-02-18T21:58:00.008-06:00

Let the games begin . . .

Crusty made a good itinerary for the up coming bike ride, we'll keep it at that. Come one, Come All, if you seek fun, and posses a love for Bikes, Coffee, Beers, and Tubas.
2:30- ? Street Cred
6:00ish Benetti's
6:30-? Rhineland
????
?????
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Some changes to the Gravel/Cyclocross/Do-All-To-All were made. I guess this is the 5th revision according to the last post I made about this construction.
After riding the first Cyclocross frame I built I decided to make a couple changes. I'm lowering the bars 5mm and moving them out 10mm/1cm. I also increased the seat tube angle 1 degree, this will give the rear tire a little more room to preserve the short chainstays.
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I've also decided to route the derailleur cables under the bottom bracket. I see some frame builder route them on the top tube, but this just adds another piece a cable housing for the rear derailleur . . . Guess I could be tricky and route that internal to. However I also see a lot of builders route them under the bottom bracket. I've heard the pro and Cons and it's 50/50.

Then route the rear brake cable through the top tube. I figure it would be a fun thing to try, and for mounts and dismounts why not eliminate knocking around the brake cable?
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Parts List: - Brake bosses

So without Brass, Flux, Acetone, Sandpaper, Paint, and . . . ? . . . bandaids I'm looking at $175. I see Surly Cross Checks selling for $400. I suspect other froms made from double butted 4130 are around the same price range.
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If your trying to build a frame to save money, believe me the grief you will save yourself will be well worth the $225. I suspect it might take me around 40 hours to build this frame which works out to roughly $5.65/hr . . . minus Brass, Flux, Acetone, Sandpaper, Paint, and . . . ? . . . bandaids; and that's if those price are still good, seen the prices of things lately? . . . now that's another rant for another day.

3 speed revisited

2011-02-14T22:12:00.004-06:00

Ohhhh the three speed. I forgot what putting some miles on a 3 speed is like. Well it's been a 2 speed for the most part. I've noticed I don't use 3rd a lot. Most of the time I use 2nd (40x16), after all it's the gear I've been using lately when I ride fixed. So me being me I decided to investigate.
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I chose 40x16 because I usually ride between a 17Mph and 20Mph pace. At 85RPM I'm around 17Mph, and at 100Rpm I'm around 20Mph . . . I call it close enough.

The hub I'm using is a Sturmey Archer AW. They call it a wide range.
Notice:
1st gear at 100Rpm = 2nd gear at 75Rpm.
2nd gear at 100rpm =3rd at 75 Rpm.
Thats a 25 Rpm drop or rise.
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If you like to ride with a cadence between 75Rpm to 100Rpm this hub work perfect for you. however in my case if I'm riding comfortably at around 18.7 Mph/95Rpm in 2nd gear, then catch a tail-wind or whatever, this forces me out of my comfort zone. So I shift up . . . To What? . . To maintain 95 Rpm I have to increase my speed almost 6Mph, or drop cadence to a 70 to 75Rpm grind?
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I was talking to some people about it the other day and they said they couldn't do with just 3 gears and I joking replied, you actually have 6. 1st gear standing out of the saddle, then 1st, then 2nd standing out of the saddle, then 2nd, . . . and so on. However it's not to far from the truth, and gives us something to consider. It's a fact, with just 3 gears you will stand, but how many times do you stand and pedal out of the saddle in 3rd gear? . . . almost none. A lot in 1st, and 2nd going up hills; but not 3rd so much, if at all.
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So I'm going to try using a gear in the back that has 2 more teeth. I'm going from a 16 tooth cog to 18 teeth.

and this is what the chart will look like. Now in order to maintain 19.7Mph in 3rd gear instead of maintaining a cadence of 75Rpm and can pedal at a comfortable 85Rpm. Hopefully I find myself using 3rd gear some more. We will see.
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In conclusion if you want to change from a single speed to a 3 speed wide range hub, add 1 to 2 teeth in the back.

Donut Dash

2011-02-13T07:40:00.007-06:00

Couldn't Make it to Street Cred Stage 2 yesterday, But I did manage to get out for a while this morning.

Changed the tires on the 3 Speed. Dig the reflective hoops. My Continental 28c Sport Contact tires are noticably faster than my Nokian Hakkapeliitta studded tires. The Nokians are so much slower I was thinking about changing to a lower gear with the Nokians.
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Riding just past the Thuman Library I saw Poppy Donuts. I thought it might be fun to have a Tour de Donuts. It been a while since I've been in a donut shop and the smell did disapoint. Also it was good to see a lot of "Experienced"people. People who know what donuts should taste like. I ordered a glazed and a chocolate. The glazed was outstanding, and the chocolate was good . . . both much better than those corporate donuts. Also if you get the idea to ride to 52 donut shops in 52 weeks and review donuts . . . That idea has already been taken.
52 Donuts BlogSpot
http://52donuts.blogspot.com/
And a review of Poppy's
http://52donuts.blogspot.com/2009/01/week-2-poppy-famous-donuts.html
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Aaaaah The Rheinland Restaraunt. Want some good food, this is the place. Also if you check their event's calender in two weeks (02/26) is the Fasching or german carnival. This sounds like a good destination for a bike ride. Actually it was the destination of a ride two years ago. We all had a good time and vowed to return. However I was informed we could come up, but seriously doubted we could get a table, because they are booked for that day 6 months ago. Just when I thought I was on top of the ball getting there two weeks in advance. I say lets go there anyway, what's the worst that can happen? . . . Will we get thrown out by Techno Viking?

The penciled in plan is to Ride Street Cred Stage four, then ride to Benettis, then ride to Rheinlands. If people don't want to ride Street cred they can ride
meet us at Benetti's about 6pm.

Then past the good Ol RLDS church.
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Then past Pace Bike Haven. Here a bike shop that been around for a long time. Mark is a good guy, and if you get a chance, go inside and check it out.
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Ever wonder why if you go inside a super market, they have a section called "Health Food", or in this case "Health Market"? I mean if the healthy stuff is there, what is the rest? Frankenfood?
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This is why one place I like is "The Store" . . . It 's a little grocery Store in Raytown called "The Store"
http://www.thestoremeatmarket.com/

The smell of there Barbeque is almost criminal. As you can see they have won contests, and I can tell you they are most deserved.
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How About "Rat Shack"? Don't they sponsor some guy that got sick, then only to come back and win the worlds hardest bicycle race 7 times against the other worlds best racers who were all doping except him? . . . anyway "They" got the nickname "RatShack" during the days of the "Blue Box". I don't know if this is the case or not now, but some "Suspected" they would keep a list of what customers bought, and if you bought a combination of items that could build something . . . unsavory . . . you just might get a visit.
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Here's a site Jazzy Pet Spa. Every pet needs a good bath and massage
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I also got a Zum Bar while I was out, and as you might have guessed, Indigo Wild who makes these soaps are local to Kansas City. However today I noticed something different. The Betsy Bar. It smells pretty good, and the price of the soap won't put me out as much as cancer would so I say lets give a little to the cause. Plus the rides over . . . Shower Time

Street Cred with 3 Speed CX

2011-02-06T11:10:00.010-06:00

The StreetCred Series started this Saturday.
http://www.streetcredkc.blogspot.com/
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The race Started at Volker Bicycles at 18th and Wyandotte
http://www.volkerbicycles.com/index.shtml
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In the Cross Roads District.
http://www.kccrossroads.org/
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With the conditions of the streets, and never knowing what to expect, I decided to ride my single/3 speed cross bike setup 3 Speed. Before for 3 speed mode I had STI levers to shift the gears, but now I don't.

What do they say, "Necessity is the mother of invention". This is an old Sutour Retro action MTB friction thumb shifter. If you go friction, you must go Suntour Retro Friction. They work like this.
Suntour Retro Friction Rebuild
My CX bars are over size so I needed a 31.8 clamp. I had a 32mm Gates clamp, but it was about 5mm too short, so I added another.
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There you have it. It took about 10 minutes before I figured out where I needed to be for 2nd gear, but once I knew it worked flawless . . . at least for 3 speed. The problem I find . . . as well as other it turns out . . . with 3 speed hubs is that once you coast, it might take 1/8 turn before it become engaged again. This gives the feeling that it's not going to engage, there by engaging the Panic Reflex. (. . . and yes those are my old 80's wool "Fishnet"tights).
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The solution is to plan ahead and always be engaged. Think of it as a single speed you can change gears on without using tools. Also after you coast, or change gears, re-engage the drive while seated.

We were penalized for each piece of carbon fiber we had. I had a carbon fiber fork. So after the race started I had to eat one beep before I could leave the start. I heard one guy had to stand there eating 5 peeps before he could leave.
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The race consisted of 8 stops. Above is the completed manifest. I also took a picture of all the answers that I photoshoped on the picture of the manifest. In otherwords the manifest didn't have pictures on it.
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OOOOOoooooooooooouuuuu! . . . Upon reaching the first stop, I found . . . or didn't find . . . my manifest. So I had to go back, lucky for me my old buddy, old pal, Bryce showed up 15 minutes late. I don't know, maybe it was written in the stars because he was singing Ice, Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice, and I had just listen to Under Pressure by Queen. If you don't see the relationship between these two songs click here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Ice_Baby
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First Stop: Shuttee Lumber
http://www.schuttelumber.com/
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Second Stop: Union Station
http://www.unionstation.org/index2.php
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Third Stop: Gem Theater in Jazz District
http://18thandvinedistrict.org/
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Forth Stop: Statue of Ilus Winfield Davis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilus_W._Davis
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Stop Five: River Market Pier
http://www.kansascityrivermarket.com/

To find the plaque for the Great Flood of 1844
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Flood_of_1844
The Missouri river was full of these ice lilly pads floating down the river.
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I thought this park had some neat architecture.
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Stop Six: Pacific House (About 4th & Delaware)
http://www.kc-lofts.com/bldgs/pachouse.htm
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Stop Seven: Staute of lewis and Clark. Check it out! I didn't know Lewis and Clack had an I-Phone. I suspect they had the GPS application, and I thought they did the exploration using maps, compass, and the stars. The object here was to find the Dog's name, who is on the back side of this picture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seaman_(dog)
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This has to be one of the highest parts of kansas City looking over the lowest parts of Kansas City.
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Stop Eight: Plaque for Father Donnelly
http://www.kcgolddome.org/page.php?ID=19
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From stop eight it was a coast down hill. We had to go past the new Kauffman Center.
http://www.kauffmancenter.org/

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Then back to the bike shop. The ride went to plan and nothing crazy happened. No I will say that I had an unusual amount of bad drivers to contend with.

There I met this guy. He was a nice guy.
http://www.somethingclassicinkc.blogspot.com/
I also met a few other people there, they were all real nice, if you have never come out to an Alley cat ride you should give it a go. It's all about having fun.

Then I went next door to YJ's for some Red beans & Rice. I like YJ's and eat there ever chance I get. They have lot of snacks and things, and a special. Today was Red Beans and Rice. It was very good as usual.
http://www.pitch.com/locations/yjs-snack-bar-12385/
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Speaking of local. Here is a bakery who's goodies I'm going to check soon in Lee's Summit. They call themselves Be Free Bakery.
http://befreebakers.com/

Inch Pitch in a Pinch

2011-01-30T11:53:00.007-06:00

A vintage (Vintage: Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic.)
Western Flyer bicycle came into the shop this week. From the definition I'd say more than anything it has enduring appeal. Who wouldn't want to get on this bike and go from a ride around the neigborhood?

The frame features a step through design. Today most people would identify this frame as a "Lady's" frame. However "Step-through" is a better description. Ladys who would wear skirts found the diamond frame cumbersome to get on and off of, so they lowered the top tube so then ladys could "Step-Through" the frame to get on the bicycle.

A distinguishing feature of this bicycle is the Inch-Pitch chain and skip tooth gears. As you can see the chain's pins alternate 1/2", 1", 1/2" . . .

. . . and the cog skips every other tooth to permit the 1" chain plates to ride between the teeth. I don't know why they used this protocol for bicycle chains and gears. I can only suspect it was because they borrowed it from machinery from the 2nd industrial revolution.
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Is that a seat or a saddle? I think it's more looks than function. Did you know Brooks still makes saddles like this one?
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Simple . . . yet simple.

Speaking of simple, Ben at Benetti's does it again. I found a new favorite . . . Sulawesi Kalossi . . . and I can simple call this coffee . . . "Dangerous" . . .

. . . I call it dangerous because you can drink this coffee all day. As they say it's very clean. Could this coffee be the Golden Ratio?

The 9 Bar Collective

2011-01-26T20:50:00.005-06:00

Here's my Demitasse for the Benetti's 9 Bar Collective. Not my first choice for a demitasse, but it will have to do till I get one that's more my style. I couldn't find a saucer to go with the Demitasse, so I made one from some copper pipe. I figure it went along with the 9-Bar motif. I've got another design coming soon.

Macciatos are my favorite. They give my mornings a nice bite or what I call . . . Traction.

Heard this song (Born On The Bayou) on the radio today. It's Creedence Clearwater Revival. According to Wiki "Their musical style encompassed rock and roll and swamp rock genres" . . . Swamp Rock? How many different classifications of Rock-n-Roll are there? The funny thing is they look like a lot of bands today

Does it get any better than this?

Now, when I was just a little boy,
Standin' to my Daddy's knee,
My poppa said, "Son, don't let the man get you
Do what he done to me."
'Cause he'll get you,
'Cause he'll get you now, now.
And I can remember the fourth of July,
Runnin' through the backwood, bare.
And I can still hear my old hound dog barkin',
Chasin' down a hoodoo there.
Chasin' down a hoodoo there.

[Chorus:]
Born on the Bayou;
Born on the Bayou;
Born on the Bayou.

Wish I was back on the Bayou.
Rollin' with some Cajun Queen.
Wishin' I were a fast freight train,
Just a chooglin' on down to New Orleans.

[Chorus]

Do it, do it, do it, do it. Oh, Lord.
Oh get back boy.

I can remember the fourth of July,
Runnin' through the backwood bare.
And I can still hear my old hound dog barkin',
Chasin' down a hoodoo there.
Chasin' down a hoodoo there.

[Chorus]

All right! Do, do, do, do.
Mmmmmmm, oh.

Marrzochi 2001 Bomber Z2 Atom Sport Once Over and Snow Ride

2011-01-20T17:58:00.006-06:00

Yes 2001. Maybe I should call this post . . . "2001: A Marrzochi Fork Odyssey"? Because just like the movie, I consider this fork an epic for all time. The fact that it's 10 years old and it works as good as the day it left the factory says something. I'm sure that this fork's success has to do with it's simplicity. I have a saying, "Dazzle me your your overcomplication of the simple".

It's my opinion some forks out are over complicated. To me these features become more of a liability than advantage. For example I had a fork that had
1) positive air pressure,
2)negative air pressure,
3)dampening for positive,
4)dampening for negative,
5)adjustable lockout blowoff valve.
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I look at it as a fork with 5 points of complication. Even with all these features it still doesn't make it perfect for every part of the trail, and this is coming from a hardtail perspective . . . If you have a full suspension MTB now your bring another dynamic into the mix. So nothing is perfect. It's just amatter of how much are you short of perfect. So if your fork with just 1)air pressure and 2)dampening brings you to 8 of 10, is changing to a fork with 3 more adjustments . . . or points of complication . . . that brings you to 8-1/2 of 10 worth it?
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If I was a professional, and I didn't have to buy my own equipment; or I was independenly wealthy, I think I'd go with the more complicated fork. For every point of complication, is a point you have to maintain. In my experience it's always easier than done. To put it another way, Henry Rollins says: "The more you own, the more it owns you".

Ok enough said. My fork has been working fine, but I can't remember when the last time I changed the fluid in my fork. It's always good to give it a once over. Check the oil to see what color it is. The first think I look for is if the old oil has a silver tint to it. If it has a silver tint then that means there is aluminum in the oil. This means something maybe mis-aligned, worn out, or broken. More than likely it's a symptom of something that is about to be worn out.
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Also over time the seals can dry out a bit. It's a good thing to give them a little cleaning, and a wipe down with fork fluid.
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The manufacture suggests the fork fluid to have a viscosity of 7.5. The cycle shop by my house "Mikes", has some Bel-Ray 7wt on hand. . . . btw I like Mike's cycle shop.
*****
Mikes Cycle Center
9615 E 63rd Street
Kansas City, MO 64133
(816) 356-2453
*****
I had a few questions about fork suspension and the questions he couldn't answer he looked up on the internet right there. He had a genuine interest in my needs and wanted to help as well as gain knowlege by finding the answers . . . or as we called them "facts" and not just "here say". Even though he has a "Motorcycle" shop and I was there about a "bicycle", he had the attitude of, Wow that's cool, I'd like to learn more about this. . . . We are more a like, than different.
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In stark contrast I was at another cycle shop earlier that day ( . . . just happened to be passing by . . . ), and the fork fluid they had didn't have the viscocity on the bottle, but they were sure it worked . . . . Mmmmm maybe I'll pass.
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The viscosity of the oil plays a part in the dampening adjustment. When you adjust the dampening, you adjust how fast the fork returns to it's original position after the fork compresses. Too little dampening, and your front wheel with return like a pongo stick, too much dampening and your fork won't return, and you will bottom out the fork. You can adjust the rate by adjusting the dampening valve.
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I don't always run the dampening at the same rate. I adjust it for different trails and trail conditions. Marzzochi suggesst 7.5wt, but you can also use 5wt, 10wt, or I've heard of people mixing their own custom weights. The question you might have is why change the weight of the oil, when you can adjust the dampening rate. If you weight 100lbs, you will not be able to get all the adjustability from your fork as if you weight 165lbs. If you find you have the dampening valve all the way open, and you still want more dampening, you can change the oil in your fork with a heavier weight to achive that for example.

The fluid looked more grey from normal use, than silver. I've taken forks apart where the fluid looked more like liquid metal than oil.

After the oil is out, now I can take the fork legs off, You can get the non dampening side off with a long 15mm and extension, but the dampening side requires a very long 15mm socket to go over the dampening adjustment spindle.

Once the legs are off then you are going to need lockring plyers to take out the internal parts. It's important to lay them out in the order and side they came off. The inspection reveals everything is in perfect condition. The parts all have their anodizing, and the action is precise and smooth. The dampening valve holes are uncloged. Nothing to do here, ready for re-assembly.

Putting the fluid back in. All manufactures have a suggested level range. For example for my body I can fill each fork leg till the fluid comes to within 35mm to 45mm to the top of the fork leg when the fork is compressed. Add the fork fluid til it's about 50mm from the top, then cycle the fork up and down to purge the dampening valves of air. then add fluid till it reaches 35mm to 45mm of the top of the leg when the fork is compressed. This creates the "Air Chamber".
-
The lower the fluid level, the larger the air chamber; the higher the fluid level, the smaller the air chamber. The larger the air chamber, the softer the ride, but alone with a soft ride comes a fork with a lot of dive.
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Dive is the amount of linear movment it takes your fork to stop compressing. For example lets say your fork's initial PSI is 30psi, you ride off a rock and the drop requires fork to stop compressing when the air pressure reaches 90psi. A large air chamber will require the fork to travel further to reach 90psi. than a fork setup with a smaller air chamber.
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I'm going to ride this fork on the soft side. This fork has 80mm of travel. Dive will not be as noticable with 80mm vs. a fork with 120mm of travel. I like a soft ride.

The finally adjustment is the air pressure. I'm going to start with 30 psi. Another adjustment is Sag factor. It's the amount the suspension sags when the riders weight is put on it. For example you might want to have a 20% sag factor. 80 x .8 = 64mm. you want the air pressure set to were your static weight compresses the shocks enough to leave 64mm of compression travel.
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This leaves 16mm of travel for depressions in the trail so your front wheel remains in contact with the trail. Remember this is suspension. You are suspended . . . suspended on a pillow of air.

Yesterday morning I got to ride it a bit. As far as mechanics go, the fork doesn't leak fluid or air, and it didn't fall apart. But it's not the trail. guess I'll have to wait. It handled pretty good on the way home too, as far as I could tell. After a short ride I decided the snow was going to be too much. I had some problems.
1)The snow was a little to deep for the tires.
2)There was Ice under the snow in mystery places.
3)I had rush hour traffic.
When the snow is high like tonight, you have to ride in the road, in the car tracks. People in cars hate this. So what you do is look back, ride as far as you can before the car behind you gets close. When they get close you get off to the side of the road, let all the cars by, and repeat. Stop, Go, Stop, Go, . . . . . . and it's not fun for me as well.

So I hopped on a bus. The bus can get around good in the snow. The bus is a backup plan I have. A $1.50 get me to where I need to go. However my connection was running 35 minutes behind. That wasn't fun. I think I had 3" built up in my ventholes by the time my bus got there.

Like the Bus says . . . Bike!

Nokian Hakkapeliitta Snow Test

2011-01-10T19:53:00.004-06:00

Even though I rode the roller and trainer for 60 minutes this morning with the plan of driving to work because of the snow. The anticipation of trying out the Nokians proved too much.

Yep that's the cross bike. Why ride the cross bike when I have built a snow bike? I have to try out the studded tires. The usual 8 mile commute took about 15 more minutes than usual.

For some reason I had the bike setup 40x17 Fixed Gear. I'm not sure if that was a good idea or bad. Since riding in snow and ice is a game of balance, I found the fixed gear in some situations to provide more precise of control, than the brake. In other words you can feel the contact you have with the road better. I think there were more time I would have rather coasted then pedaled like the several parking lot curbs I had to go over, but it was a learning experience.
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I found 40x17 over geared for the fresh snow and unplowed street this morning. Since I could not take the the busy streets because I would freak out and/or annoy the drivers, I had to plow through the semi-fresh snow in the neighborhoods and on the sidewalks. This is where a nice set of Surly 3.7" wide Endomorphs would come in handy. No tire is perfect for all conditions.
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Another thing I noticed on the new snow is that once I had wide open stretchs and I was able to realize the potential of the 44x17. I was going so fast I couldn't feel the the tires contact with the road no longer. I did this a few time, but slowed down because I didn't feel like going down. Risk vs. Reward . . . Lots of Risk, no Reward. I've heard of this kind of thing before. They say a motorcycle going 100mph weights about 15Lbs. The 15Lbs. is in reguards to the verticle compliance of the motorcycles weight on the road.

However on the ride home after the snow had been plowed and the streets had a light cover, these tires hooked up nice. I had to slow down for cars. The shape of the thickness and shape of the knobs on the tire squeegeed the snow for beneith you, allowing the studs grip the road like a Bearcat or a Binuroug. Talk about riding with confidence.
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I think they are great for conditions like this evening; but for conditions that we had this morning, they were not perfect, they were better than regular cross tires, but exect then to hook up like your on rails.

Stockdale WalnutWoods

2011-01-09T12:11:00.010-06:00

I went to the Stockdale-Walnut Woods trail yesterday.
http://stocksdalewalnutwoods.blogspot.com/

When I hear the name "Stockdale", it always reminds me of Will Stockdale.

At first I wondered if I was in the right spot because there were a lot of cars at the park, but no bike racks. This suggested the trail was full of hikers, but at 8am on a 16 degree morning. I noticed a car bumper stickers that said "VIP, Very Important Pitcher"

and underneith said Horseshoepitiching.com.

There is a building off to the right of the trail entrance with a lot of clanging going on inside. An indoor horseshoe pitching league was going on. I was welcomed and shown around, told the rules, and shown how some people pitch the horse shoes.
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Back to the trail enterance. It is clearly marked with a map from Earthriders.

The board shows the trail is open to Hikers, Trail Runners, and Mountain bikes. This is nice to know because sometime not all the trail is open to mountain bikes, just hikers.
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Trail marker 1. This is one of many markers. This markers shows that section 1 can go either left, or right and both are rated a green skill level. Some are rated Blue.

If you go Straight or East, the trail will bring you to what appears to me, older sections of the trail system. These trails are faster (not much) than the trails to the north.

If you go off to the left or North, this section is the newer sections. These trails are more technical, tighter and twisty.
-

There are a couple of these tress out there. Beware don't get a face full.

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This is about maybe 85% of the trail. In my experience the trail system is a cross between Lawerence River trail and swope park. I never left the middle ring (32). Nothing out there so steep you had to ride the small, and nothing wide open enough to run the big ring . . .

. . . . other that the section outside the woods.

WATCH OUT! . . . Low Bridge!

Planks-O-Joy! . . . Planks-O-Plenty, just one of many of these

Decisions, Decisions . . . Rocks or Log-O-Joy!
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It's a nice little trail. I'll come visit it some more. It's very well maintained.
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Found this lttle guy on my way to work Friday. It's a 12mm Snap-On combination open/12 point box wrench. It's a little scatched up from being run over by cars on the road, but as far as I can tell all, what littel damage there is is just cosmetic. Too bad I can't think of anything that uses a 12mm. I supect this wrench is worth a dollar or two. I noticed the jaws of the wrench. now there is attention to detail. Too bad I don't have anything 12mm to try it out on. Oh yea this will go nice with the Snap-on Standard screw driver I found a year ago, as well as the Snap-On 3/8 drive. . . . Who says riding doesn't pay?

Swope and Elevations

2011-01-03T21:00:00.004-06:00

Blue River Road from Gregory to Blue Ridge is a good place to get your winter fixed gear training on. It's about 8 miles, so that's 16 miles out & back. A couple out backs and you can get a good workout. Sure there are flatter places to ride, but the road is generally tree line and the elevation is low it cuts down on the wind if there is any.

Once again Swope reveals itself. Every now and then you will see brick walls, foundations, or in this case, a case of stairs going no place. The park is full of these curiousities.

However it seems at least once a year section of Blue River is closed because the ground underneither the road gives way. I suspect it has something to do with the road running parallel to the river.

I didn't think the first picture gave you a good look at how much the road actualy gave.

At least the thickness of a couple layers of road.

I love the smell of 8 Pin Alley in the morning

2010-12-28T21:14:00.006-06:00

I say hit the trails while you can. It's almost January and we've had really good weather. I think, and most would have to agree, it probably won't last all winter.

A look at 8 pin alley first thing in the morning. As If 8-Pin isn't challenging enough. Believe it or not I only had to dab (put my foot down) once going through 8-pin
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A look at 8 pin Alley scond thing in the Morning. This time I had to dab 3 times. It's funny a thing. The better my vision, the more I dab. and this is something I've noticed over time. I'm not sure why that is.
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Speaking of bad weather. Look what fell off the truck this afternoon as the say. A pair of Nokian Hakkapeliitta w106 700x35c studded tires...

That's right Hakkapeliita (Finnish light cavalryman)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hakkapeliitta

....On a set of mavic Open Pro 19mm wide rims they measure 33mm wide, but might measure a little wider when they get mounted to my 22mm wide Salsa rims. I would have thought they would have had more studs, but they are made in Finland so it's not like they are strangers to snow. Now that I have them it will be interesting to see if I actually have to use them. They would have worked the other day when a few street had that thin layer of ice on them. or it will just make you feel a little more at ease when you ride home at night and can't tell if the road I wet, or covered with ice.

The Festivus Gravel Night Ride

2010-12-23T21:55:00.005-06:00

. . . or maybe Festivus Eve
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festivus

Trail rides at night are always good. I'm not sure why, I guess it's the way they contrast a day ride. Riding at night always has that sense of sensory deprivation. I've been on a couple of Full Moon night rides at Blue River Park aka BuRP where we ride lights.

Anyway 8 of us made it out last night to the Little Blue River Trail (not to be confused with the before mentioned Blue River Park Trail) . Here's a map
http://www.littleblueriverwc.org/sitebuildercontent/map_rec_tr_lb.pdf

A got a few bad pictures . . .

. . . but it looks like Chris Locke got the best ones.
http://chrislocke.blogspot.com/2010/12/festivus-of-nights.html

. . . and another report
http://gravelgrinders.blogspot.com/2010/12/festivus-of-nights-gravel-grinder.html

Creep'n While You Sleep'n

2010-12-20T21:15:00.003-06:00

5:30am and it's 34 degrees outside. After last week when it was 5 degrees this seems like a summer day. Actually after I started getting a sweat going there seemed to be a humidity to the air, reminiscent of a spring morning before a rain.

This is why we ride. You can be in a place you have been many times, but everytime is a different experience.

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I guess this is the Shoe Tree. Once again Swope Park reveals itself. I wonder if some day it will collapes due to having too many shoes thrown upon it.
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Swope Trails. The trail is dry, and littered with rocks. It was like someone sprinkled these rocks throughout the trail. This trail always challenges me. Finesse is always the key. It would be interesting to have a time trial out here. I suspect Brute Force would not win the day.
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How about an old Suntour 2 speed deraileur. Totally NOS. I've been temped to build up something using it, but it's in pristine condition.

The Suntour, Holeshot BMX derailleur was actuated by a brake lever. On the gate you would hold the break lever in, then after a couple cranks out, you would release the lever putting the bike into high gear. I never used one. I suspect it over complicates things, plus you have to shift under full power.

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I will light the match this mornin', so I won't be alone
Watch as she lies silent, for soon light will be gone
Oh, I will stand arms outstretched, pretend I'm free to roam
Oh, I will make my way, through, one more day in Hell...
How much difference does it make
How much difference does it make, yeah...
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I will hold the candle till it burns up my arm
Oh, I'll keep takin' punches until their will grows tired
Oh, I will stare the sun down until my eyes go blind
Hey, I won't change direction, and I won't change my mind
How much difference does it make
Mmm, how much difference does it make..how much difference...
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I'll swallow poison, until I grow immune
I will scream my lungs out till it fills this room
How much difference (2x)
How much difference does it make (2x)

Warm Feet?

2010-12-13T21:01:00.004-06:00

Looks like it's 5 degrees outside and I'm looking at a 40 minute bike ride. The coldest I've ridden is 5 below zero (-5). Which just happens to be he coldest I can remember it being around here in the past 5 years or so.

It's not a problem, Dress right and I bet when I arrive to work I'm warmer than people who drove to work. like I tell them, "The heat is in the pedals". You want heat? Crank it up, literally.
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Odds are the warmest your feet are going to be is the temperature they are when you leave. After that it's a matter of time till they get cold. Now you have to create a statagy so it takes a long time for this to happen.

This is my new shoe strategy. I put on a pair of Surly wool socks, then I'll put on a pair of Sugoi Resistor Socks. Then I'll slide on that big wool hunting sock, then slide that into those Lake winter riding boots.This is over kill. I could have gone without the hunting socks. If it's 20 degrees I'll ride with wearing the hunting socks inside the boot and I'm ok for 45 minutes.

If you commute everyday to work these shoes by Lake are worth the investment. I've had them for 5 years, and they show little signs of wear. And they are a lot easier than booties to put on, plus they have the BOA system so you can tighten, or loosen you shoe after you start riding, some I hate about wearing booties. Some days it's 20 in the morning, and 50 on the ride home, so you have to wear booties.

It was 20 on the way home this evening so I just wore the surly socks inside the sugoi Resistor socks. They were plenty toasty. This is why I think I could have ditched the hunting socks.

One mistake you can make is to over do the socks and make it tight inside the shoe and cut down on circulation. My shoes were ordered a 1/2 size big to make room for big hunting socks or whatever. I like the big hunting socks because they are thick and they insulate you from the shoe, and the wool breaths and allows heat to circulate.

I've only used the Sugoi Resistor socks for cold races inside my regular racing shoes. They made my feet sweat, and in the cold, sweaty feet are cold feet. So then I got the idea to wear socks inside them. This combination worked really good tonight, and I think my feet would have been warmer this morning with this combination (Minus the hunting socks) because of the added room. I'm not sure why I didn't think of wearing socks inside them, but I'm glad I did. after 40 minutes in 20 degree weather my feet felt perfect, not cold at all.

Run of the mill, or not?

2010-12-12T20:10:00.006-06:00

I guess commuting back and forth everyday by bicycle can be considered run of the mill, but the details always seem to change so I guess it's never run of the mill. I guess that's why we ride. To me morning are alway interesting to the senses. You might ride through a neighborhood and smell bacon cooking, the scent of fabric softner from the exaust of someone's dryer; see how the change of seasons and the way the light dilutes or saturates the things around us; feel the warming enbrace of the summer riding season air around you, and the feel the crispness fall and winter. If you drive a car to work everyday, this is just a small percent of what your missing.

Since I ride to work. It's always a challenge to think of things to bring to eat. Especially since I don't use a microwave, and haven't for probably 5 or more years. That's right folks, I don't own a microwave. Some thing just wrong to me about "Nuked Food". Any who, my wife bought me some of this the other day

My Vega shake and go smoothie. I understand it was developed by the guy Brandon Brazier who is a vegan Triathlete. While I'm not vega, I can appreciate anything that is nutricianal, and fast. While it's basically plant protein, you can add it to your recovery concoction. I think the recovery ratio is 4:1 Carbs to protein. This is a ggod way to find the protein. . . . It'a lot better than a tuna shake.

The other day I got the rollers out to give them a spin. Usually the view of my front tire is obstructed by the down tube, not today. There are many reasons it could be out of alignment. Doesn't matter, I have to fix it. This is my aligment device

Basically slide the Bottom Bracket over this, lock down the rear dropouts to that device (pictured in the first picture), and get to tweaking.

One way to check alignment is to use the string test. One test is where you tie a string to one the the rear dropouts, loop it around the head tube, then back to the other dropout. By doing this you can measure to see how far way the string passes both side of the seat tube. Looks like the left side is at roughly 1-11/16"

This is . . . not so much. about 1". So my rear end is bent over about 3/4" to the left . . . 3/4" is this a joke?

So with a little maniulation. I got both sides to measure 1-1/4".

and the right 1-1/4". another test was to see if the front triangle was twisted. I check to see if the head tube and seat tube both ran parallel, they did.

Rode the rollers this morning. And it worked. I'm very happy. As you can imagine they were a lot easier to ride.

Run of The Mill
"The ordinary, basic article, with no decoration or augmentation".

But for a clearer meaning of the phrase and origin, visit this site.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/run-of-the-mill.html

I think there is a distinction that doesn't get covered. I think using the phrase in the context of, What's going on now, is using the phrase with more precision. for instance you want to get your frame painted, and today at the factory they have the machines setup to paint red. In this case red would be a "run of the mill" color.

The question is . . . Are you "Run of the mill"? Are you going to stive for something we all have deep inside, or let it vanish?

What have you achieved now you're old
Did you fulfill ambition, do as you were told
Or are you still doing the same this year
Should I give sorrow, or turn 'round and sneer

I know that the prospects weren't all that good
But they improved, and I'd have thought that you could
Have strived for that something we all have deep inside
Not let it vanish, along with your pride

Now with the aid of your new walking stick
You hobble along through society thick
And look mesmerized by the face of it all
You keep to the gutter in case you fall

I can't go on
I can't go on
I can't go on
I can't go on

I, I, I, I...

A Great Trio

2010-12-09T21:41:00.004-06:00

A Great Trio

Here's a trio. I can't get enough of this trio. I think it's driven mostly by the Shatta. It's been my experience anything with Shatta is better. I've read a lot of review and it's not only my opinion that it's make everything happy . . . and it's made local KCMO.

1. Annie's Mac & Cheese.
http://www.annies.com/
Yea Annie's costs a little less than x3 what you pay for the Blue Box, but I feel it's a quality product. For .57 cents a box what are the big corps feeding you?

2. Yummy's Shatta. It's basically a Jalapeno relish, and it's basically basic; Jalapenos, Olive Oil, Walnuts, Garlic, Salt, & Herbs. That's it.

3. Wild Planet Tuna. Omega 3's, Less Mercury, and no BPA.
http://www.wildplanetfoods.com/

. . . and there you have it

A day for the MTB

2010-12-06T23:05:00.008-06:00

I commute a lot on my bicycle, so when it gets cold, it's time to break out the fat tires, or aka My Mountain bike. It slows the speed down on the pavement so it's not so cold.

Winter Reveals It. Going up 67th street hill out of Swope Park I saw this cross that used to be covered Green. There are a lot of things in Swope that reveal themselves during winter.

In Raytown it look like there is a new motorcycle shop. I think it's called Mikes. I'm not sure what this is . . . besides a motorcycle . . . well it looks fast.

A picture of Benetti's worthy of a Christmas Postcard

Flaming Lips - Fight Test

THE TEST BEGINS - NOW (spoken)
I thought I was smart - I thought I was right
I thought it better not to fight - I thought there was a
Virtue in always being cool - so when it came time to
Fight I thought I'll just step aside and that the time would
Prove you wrong and that you would be the fool -

I don't know where the sun beams end and the star
Lights begins it's all a mystery

Oh to fight is to defend if it's not
Now than tell me when would be the time that you would stand up
And be a man - for to lose I could accept but to surrender
I just wept and regretted this moment - oh that I - I
Was the fool

I don't know where the sun beams end and the star
Lights begins it's all a mystery
And I don't know how a man decides what right for his
Own life - it's all a mystery

Cause I'm a man not a boy and there are things
You can't avoid you have to face them when you're not prepared
To face them -
If I could I would but you're with him now it'd do no good
I should have fought him but instead I let him - I let
Him take it -

I don't know where the sun beams end and the star
Lights begins it's all a mystery
And I don't know how a man decides what right for his
Own life - it's all a mystery

THE TEST IS OVER - NOW (spoken)

Wendell Gee

2010-12-05T21:57:00.003-06:00

Not sure what this song is about, but I like riding down the road listening to it. From one of my favorite REM CDs, Fables of the Reconstrustion.

Wendell Gee
That's when Wendell Gee takes a tug
Upon the string that held the line of trees
Behind the house he lived in
He was reared to give respect
But somewhere down the line he chose
To whistle as the wind blows
Whistle as the wind blows, with me

He had a dream one night
That the tree had lost its middle
So he built a trunk of chicken wire
To try to hold it up
But the wire, the wire turned to lizard skin
And when he climbed inside
There wasn't even time to say
Goodbye to Wendell Gee
So whistle as the wind blows
Whistle as the wind blows, with me

If the wind were colors
And if the air could speak
Then whistle as the wind blows
Whistle as the wind blows

Yea . . . It's a Good Read

2010-12-01T21:54:00.004-06:00

I guess it's book Report day.

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The Book, "The Best of Bicycling!". Bicycling as in Bicycling the Magazine. This 450 page book was published in 1970 and includes the best articles from 1965 to 1970. This was back when Bicycling Magazine wasn't just a big advertisment. They covered every facet of cycling; touring, competitive cycling, cycling for health, equpiment, and technique. Take for instance the competitive cycling section. They cover the 1968 Tour de france, 68 Olympics (Road & Velodrome), Cyclocross, and Interestinly enough racing in Japan particulary Keirin . . .

This article here was written in 1969. It tells how and why Keirin was started. What it takes to be a Keirin racer. With 4500 racers in Japan you had to work your way up through the ranks. Average rider could expect to make $280/month (1969), top racer could make $445, and one guy (Hirama Deiki) made $52,777 in 1967.

Also check this out. To implement Keirin they built 53 first class velodromes in Japan . . . 53!

The book is full of this kind of information. I think I've had the book for 10 years and never really gave it a serious look . . . Well Surprise . . . What's also another surprise is it's well written. What I mean is, they did use dumbed language, or in other words they sometimes used BIG words, because they were more concise. . . . not something like this

On another note . . . MWI (My Wife Incorporated) is accepting applications for the Gents Race in March

http://mwigentrace.blogspot.com/

The Gent Race is Old School simple. Just some guys getting together for a day at the races.

A Trainer Day

2010-11-22T23:23:00.013-06:00

I'm sure most of us are familiar with the phrase, "If it's not broke, don't fix it". However there is this thing called preventative maintanance, or Winter Cleaning!

I own a Blackburn Trak Stand Ultra.
http://www.trakstandultra.com/

I've owned it since 07, and I have to say this is the best I've owned or ridden. The majority of reviews on this train were nagative, that might explain why it's not made anymore. Maybe I'm just lucky, or I just know how to service and maintain it.

By simply turning this knob . . .

. . . You can set he trainer up for road bikes, or mountain bikes. Also you set it so the tire just misses the floor by 1/4" -3/8"and avoid having to set your front wheel up on something.

Ahhhh . . . The Mechanisim.

The resistance unit works like this. What you see are 3 plates. A roller, a flywheel, and a stationary plate that does not spin with a gasket material on the inside.

When the roller spins, it forces these ball bearings out against the flywheel . . .

. . . then forces the flywheel to rub against the gasket material of the stationary plate. The faster the roller spins, the more resistance you create.

This resistance unit provides more than enough resistance. The stand resistance requires you to output 330 watts to ride at 25mph, you can increase the resistance by moving the 3 ball bearings to the outer ball bearing ramps requiring you to output 351 watts to maintain 25mph, or use all 6 requiring 745 watts to ride 25mph . . . Yep that ought to do it.

and it allows "Spindown". Spindown means when you quit pedaling, it takes some time for the rear wheel to stop spinning. It gives you a little bit of that road feel. I mean when you stop pedaling on the road, your bike doesn't come to a stop.

These are all the parts to it. It's so simple.

If you know me, you know I like to keep it local. If I can't keep it local, I like to keep it independent, or non-corporate. . . . More Mainstreet, and less Wall Street.

So here is the 3/50 project.
http://www.the350project.net/home.html

Basically pick 3 local business, and spend $50 in each on locally produced Items, once a month.

A couple locally owned business I like to visit that feature a lot of locally made products are

Nature's Pantry
http://www.pantry.biz/

The Store
http://thestoremeatmarket.com/

Today I discovered a locally made salsa from Jan's Organic. Pretty tasty.
http://jansorganicworld.com/main.html

TSOL . . . True Sounds Of Liberty

"I'm tired of looking (It's not in my vision)
I'm tired of seeing (Don't wanna see this)
I'm tired of hearing (Don't tell me your sht)
I'm tired of being (So why am I here?)
I'm tired of life (And all of its jokes)
Imaginary lines (To fool the fools)
Imaginary rules (To live your life by)
And all the worlds' fools

Life is so easy when you're told what to do
Where to work and how to be you,
But the jokes wears off and you're still laughing
Caught in your own trap and you're all happy

Too stupid to know it (Just try use your head)
Too stupid to care (You've all been fooled)
Just one voice screaming (Is there really a point)
Just one in a million (A little speck of flesh)
Who's gonna hear it (Scream till you die)
Who's gonna know it (Your conscience your mind)
Who even cares (No one but yourself)
It's hopeless (You're hopeless)

Because of the process, Because of the system,
Because you're still laughing, Because you don't listen,
Because of the process, Because of the system,
Because you're still laughing, Because you don't listen"

Tales of the Purple Paint

2010-11-21T21:11:00.006-06:00

Mmmmmm . . . Donuts. It's my, as well as a lot of others, that Ridgewood has some pretty tasty donuts. Didn't stop today, but I thought I'd just mention it.

Looks like Sugar Creek is ready for the holidays. Since the weather has been so nice, I've almost forgotten it's that time of year. That time of year for being nice and giving thanks, while I guess the rest of the year it's OK to behave like a Yeti. Yes there is some religious aspect the this time of year, but you get my point, It's analogous to there being a health food section in your grocery story . . . Think about it . . . If you not in the "Health Food" section, where are you . . . Think about it.

Talking health food I love Ernies Steakhouse. In Sugar Creek.

This is Cement City Road. It's a flat 3 mile section of road just like this between Sugar Creek and Liberty Bridge running along the Missouri River

Liberty Bridge.

Ahoy! . . .

Hmmmmm . . . Seven Hills Road, bet if you go down Seven Hills Road, you will go up and down seven hill. Gravel hills at that, I wonder what the severity is? . . . It will have to remain a mystery. . . . Beside the Road Closed Sign, See the purple paint on the posts.

According to the Southern Missourian
http://www.semissourian.com/story/1679162.html

"The paint, used on trees or fencing to mark the boundaries of a person's property during deer hunting season, is like a "no trespassing" sign in a court of law. The November portion of deer season begins Saturday and ends Nov. 24 -- 11 days when hunters can take their kill using a firearm. "
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River market on a cold Saturday morning. Still a lot of good . . . errrr do I mean "Health Food" to be had.

From Farm land to Downtown. (Click if you dare)

Ate at Oklahoma Joes BBQ for Lunch, Had the Z-man. BBQ'd Beef Sandwich with Onion-rings and Cheese gluing the works together . . . I highly reccommend it. Sorry No Pic Oppps

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. . . and then to wash it down . . .

. . . Boulevard Sixth Glass. I'd describe it as a Desert Beer. In other words eat something rich before.
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One more Pic as I went home . . . Bridges, Can't get enough Bridges in this town.
Blue River US 40 Bridge
http://bridgehunter.com/mo/jackson/blue-river-40/

Indian Summer Sky Ride

2010-11-17T20:08:00.006-06:00

Indian summer Sky

An expression given to a period of sunny, warm weather in autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, typically in late October or early November, after the leaves have turned following an onset of frost but before the first snowfall. The generally accepted use of the term is when the weather is sunny and clear, and above 70°F, and all of the leaves of the trees have turned but before the first snow has fallen; a period normally associated with mid-October to late-November in the northern states of the U.S. Traditionally, Indian summer can only be a true Indian summer after the first frost, generally a killing frost, of the season.

Sunny Weather... Check
Fallen Leaves... Check
Mid to late November... Check
After First Frost... 1/2 Check, it's been below 32
Temp Above 70...Nope 55 degrees,

However I like riding when it's between 55 and 65 in the fall, so it's the perfect Monday.

Yes Monday, How could I be expected to handle work on a day like this?

As Ferris Buehler said . . . "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

So what's on tap? 4 counties [Jackson, Cass, Johnson, . . . (Yes Missouri was also in line when they were handing out Johnsons) . . . & Henry], and 7 Cities/villages (Lee's Summit, LoneJack, Strasburg, LaTour, Quick City, Blairstown, & Holden).

We . . . Crusty and I . . . started in Lee's Summit then headed to LoneJack. Just outside Lonejack is Cockrell Mercantile. It's a lot like Pryde's in Westport.

If you want kitchenware, or other household gadgets that are quality, you want to visit this place.
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Next Stop Strassburg, and the Pop Stop. Remember the Pop Stop From

http://curbdestroyer.blogspot.com/2008/07/rainy-80-errr-i-mean-90-miles-of.html

It's a little Convenience Store (Not Pictured) . . . That was supposed to be open. Well here a little look at Strasburg. They also have a bar, but they were not open either.

Since this ride is a self supported 80+ mile ride.It was real stategic in the planning of the ride. 20 miles down and the real possibility of not seeing a place to fuel up for another 40 miles.
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Oh the Fun Begins. Bynum becomes CC south of Strasburg, and State maintenance ends on CC just before 215th
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This is where I say . . . "Why does it get dark in the middle of the road like that"?
Crawford Creek 215th Street Bridge
http://www.bridgehunter.com/mo/cass/17782/
They say, Overview:
"Lost pony truss bridge over Crawford Creek on 215th Street" . . . Yea it was lost alright.
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This area of Cass and Johnson county Missouri is called the Praire lands.

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About 35 miles into the adventure we made it to LaTour. I didn't get any pictures for some reason. I did find this one on the "Interwebs".

"Latour, a prosperous village on the St. Louis & San Francisco railroad, was laid out when that road was built in 1885. This town is located on section 3, township 44, range 29. The original site was owned by Howard and Emily Stitt and the town plat was recorded July 21, 1885. Latour is a prosperous village with one bank, good school, church and several stores."
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Yea well that was in 1885. Today there is nothing more than a village of old houses. In fact I believe they unincorporated a couple years ago. I intended on finding that train depot, but we couldn't find the railroad. We didn't even find the usual green sign that would have said LaTour population 65.
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Down the road about 10 Klicks we did find these signs.

Arrrrrrrgh . . . of course. Were supposed to be . . . Darn I've been sworn to secracy about this next part. Guess you'll have to find out on March 19th.

Well, we figured we were some place northeast of Quick City. and with 40+ miles down, we figure we'd just head back. We zig zagged through the gravel roads back to Kingsville for fuel, then to Strasburg, back up to LoneJack . . .

. . . to the Civil War museum.

Then got home just in time to view the sunset.

Probably won't have a nice like that again for a long time.

Gravel Frame Geometry 4

2010-11-09T21:34:00.005-06:00

My Gravel Road Frame Geometry. This is the 4th revision.

There is a lot to consider when developing a frame's geometry for a specifc task. This frame's task is to take me over gravel roads in the most efficient, controlled and comfortable way possible. You can spend a lot of time reading about proper bicycle fit. In the end it comes down to experience and common sense.
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I know some people that agonize over getting their seat set to within a millimeter of where someone told them it should be. However common sense tells me if I hold my bike setup to these tolerances, I must also hold myself to these tolerances. Speaking for myself, I know depending on the situation, I ride on the front of my saddle, the middle as well as the back sometimes.
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The numbers these people, formulas, and computers spit out are not as rigid as we are led to believe. I think in some cases they over complicate the simple so they appear to be smart. So if you like something a certain way then keep it a certain way. You can have two people with identicle measurements, but if they differ in flexability, then they need different bike setups. That fact right there throws rigid out the door. The numbers are just a place to start . . . So lets start.
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I started my research by viewing blogs and reports to find out what kind of bicycles people use to ride gravel roads. People broke down into two camps. Mountain Bike, or Cyclocross Bike. Most people who win these rides, ride cyclocross bikes. So I sought out to modify a cyclocross setup. Then I thought about what the professional road racers use in the spring classic road races on cobble stone roads. (Cobble stones/"Pave" are a lot harsher than gravel), they use road bikes. They modify it a little, but not too much.
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Basiaclly your going to roll with what you know . . . and this is what I came up with.
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The Front end:
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72 degree head tube, Fork with 45mm of rake, and 700x35c tire (696mm Diameter) gives me 66mm of trail. 55 is considered neutral. 60 is considered stable, Dave moulton used to use 2-1/2" or 63.5mm on his road bikes (Considerd very stable), so I wanted to add a little more for gravel. Sometimes you can hit some deep stuff that grabs your front tire. besides who corners hard on gravel. I'm even considering 71 or 71.5, but I don't really like that chopper feel. I could decrease the fork rake to increase trail, but then I'm shortening the fork blades, and I'm wanting them as long as possible for the suspension effect . . . the longer they are the more flexible.
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The front center is for all practical purposes 60 cm, with is still fairly short and I don't have toe over lap (The tip of my shoe doesn't ever over lap my front tire).
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The handlebars are 5 cm below the seat. That's where I like them. Plus I'm going to use bars like Salsa Bell lap that have a really shallow drop. The original thought was wood chipper bars, but call me old school I guess. If this was a road bike. I go down even lower. but since your riding on the top most the time and not the drop.
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The Rear End:
72 Degrees. I set the tip of my saddle 70mm behind the center of my bottom bracket. It allows that. I might change it to 73. Only because I might want to shorten the chainstays, and this would give a little more clearance between the tire and seat tube. Some might think you would long chainstays on a bike your going to ride long distances. I mean i just said I want the longest fork blades I can get for just this purpose, so why not chainstays? It's about Traction Action, in gravel I want weight on the rear wheel so I don't loose traction. This is one thing I noticed riding a single speed up stepp gravel hills. You have to sit.
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Some might think a 54.5cm frame with a 57.0cm top tube is kind long. The dimension I want to preserve is the 55cm from the tip of the saddle to center of handle bars using a 11cm stem. It's the 72 degree seat tube that forces me to use such a long top tube. If I use a 74 degree seat tube angle, I'd have to use a shorter top tube, If I was to use a 70 degree seat tube, it would even be longer.
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Other Things:
The bottom Bracket height:
It's a little higher than a road bike, but not as high as some old school cyclocross bikes. Cyclocross frames used to have a high bottom bracket to give room for toe-clips during dismounts, but since almost everybody uses clipless, it's not really an issue. Most manufactures have brought the bottom bracket down, but there are still a few the left them up. After all not all people race, and a high Bottom Bracket can come in handy and the mountain bike trail sometimes.

Well . . . Time to order a Tube Set . . . Some American made True Temper, OX should fit the bill.

Wednesday Night Gravel Grinder

2010-11-03T22:14:00.007-05:00

If your going to build a bike to race on gravel, I suspect you better do a little research, like actually spend some time on gravel.

Looks like there is going to be weekly Wednesday night Gravel rides according to the Gravel Grinder Blog.

http://gravelgrinders.blogspot.com/2010/10/wednesday-night-gravel-grinders.html

As I say, just so many good days/nights left.

The ride is a loop that starts in Stillwell, Kansas (199th & Metcalf), then goes south of Louisburg and back on gravel roads.

Tonight there was only four of us.

Why ride on a gravel roads? They are not as bad as some might think. Especially with 35c tires. After we made it to 215th I think we saw 4 cars the whole time. The area is very scenic, and I highly recommend riding out there.

I rode my Single Speed. 40x16. I figured with 700 x 35c wheels with that ratio at 70 Rpm=14.25 Mph, and at 100Rpm = 20.5 Mph. Sounds good.

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The distance is about 39.94 miles (Lets call it 40), and the pace is between 16 and 17 average. We covered the distance in 2hr, 15mins. so we averaged 17.75Mph. . . . or a 86rpm average.

However it wasn't really that way. This afternoon we had 9 million mile an hour winds and gusts. We went out with the wind at our back and I was spun out at times. Then on the way back after the sunset, the winds calmed down for the most part. So that was a neat trick, go out with the wind at your back, then not having to return into them.

I did pretty good for the first hour, then I started to fade. Rightly so since the longest ride I had done in months had been 58 minutes . . . yep not even an hour. I made the distance fine, It's the speed that got me.

The Heart Rate Stats:

6min:18sec (under 134 beats per minute) 3%

8:31 (134-143 ) 6%

16:59 (144-152) 11%

1:15:10 (153-171) 56%

29:36 (172 -186) 23%

Yep at some point my heart rate got to 186 beats per minute.

My average Heart Rate was 160 for 2hr:15min

Looks like someone is out of shape

So what did I learn?

1. I need to aim my light to shine further down the road. Some people make the mistake of having it shine in front of there front tire, but if you see something to steer around, chances are you already hit it.

2. Might try handlebar mount, instead of helmut. When a car passes you on gravel and kicks up dust when it's completly dark. you helmut light reflects off the dust and you can't see so good. My thought is it might be good to be above it. Like the way fog lights on a car are mounted on the bottom of the car.

3. I could probably get away with 32c tires instead of 35c

I'll probably do it again in 2 weeks. It was hard, but not being sprayed in the face with a firehouse hard.

The Plan . . . Gravel Bike

2010-10-29T20:54:00.003-05:00

The plan was to build a new road bike, but now I'm going to build a bike to race on gravel roads. Such as the Dirty Kanza
http://www.dirtykanza200.com/
and here is a couple more links, and if your interested might lead you to more links.
http://gravelgrinders.blogspot.com/
http://cornbreadblog.blogspot.com/

Also I'm trying to build it up all made in the USA. Which isn't got to be possible. So I'm oushing made in the USA as far as I can, then going with USA companies. So as far as shifting goes, that kinda narrows it down to SRAM

Shifters/Brake Levers,& Deraileurs
http://www.sram.com/

Stem, Seat post, & Seat Clamp
http://bikethomson.com/

I've also been working on the geometry. A lot of different ideas out there. For instance where you should have your knee in relation to your pedal axle at 3 o'clock. So say optimize for 3 o'clock, and some say opimize for the whole pedal stroke, not just 3 o'clock. Which is the camp I'm in. Bernard Hinault has/had a book that talked a lot about this. Sure the book is 20 years old, but think his argument is valid even though we are in the computer age. I think a lot of people try to dazzle you with over complication of the simple.

Hopefully after this weekend I'll have it all figured out, so you can all follow along.

Saturdee

2010-10-18T18:05:00.008-05:00

The look out the front of Midwest Cyclery at 6:30am . . . Yep A.M. . . . Ante Meridiem . . . Over to KKFI FM . . not A.M.

Who Sleeps in on Saturday.

Heads Up . . . In 2 weeks Those ShiftlessBastards are brings us the Fantastic Four Alley Cat. More info on KansasCityFixed.com. Should be fun.

I get my coffee from 2 places mainly. Benetti's Coffee Experience in Raytown, or Broadway Cafe in Westport.

This day I tried the OCIA certified Organic Peru CAVCRA Coop, not that COOP, this COOP in Apurimac River Valley.
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As you can see it's a light roast. It's makes for a good cup of coffee in the morning. I recommend it.
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As if coffee at Broadway Cafe wasn't enough, I had to go check out Benetti's , Fall Classic Concert Series

I suspect over 30 people were there. I'd have to say I liked it more than I thought I was. pictured is the closing band, "The Sunday Paper". They were pretty good. If you can get out, it's a good time.
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Oh that darn Bike

I tried to install my PowerCam on this bike. I got the lobe dialed in so the cam advanced the gear at the right place, then I find the left crankarm hits the chainstay . . . arrrrgh! . . . a lot of work for nothing.

And here's the finished product. It's been a while since I had ridden it, but I still have to say that extra brace stiffens it up.

Stiffen UP!

2010-10-13T07:12:00.005-05:00

I say why not add a few modifications. I might have to change the name from "Green Machine" to "Battlac".

I would have like to have more angle on that cross bar, but I need H2O bottle Clearance.
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and if your stiffening the front, you might as well stiffen up the back.

On any Sunday, Everyday . . . EVERY . . . DAY

2010-10-11T13:25:00.007-05:00

On Any Sunday is a very good documentary. It's a fact, eveybody should see it. I've seen it many times, and it never gets old. This film will motivate you to go out and experience all the thrills life has to offer. Not like a lot of films today, they just seem to motivate you to go out and consume and buy products.

This is Part one, feel free to find the other parts and finish the movie

This film seems to say, hey this is my experience, why don't you come take a look and maybe you can add something to your human experience and development as a person.

This is in contrast to a lot of documentarys or movies that create a character and then sell the audience this character. What I mean is, It just seems to me there are a lot of people out there, who for whatever reason don't go through life as themselves, but as some character the media has sold them on . . . Jennifer Aniston hair anybody?

Excuse me and watch this service anoucment while I go work on my "Abs". . . . Thank You

So it's Halloween
And you feel like dancin'
And you feel like shinin'
And you feel like letting loose

Whatcha gonna be
Babe, you better know
And you better plan
Better plan all day

Better plan all week
Better plan all month
Better plan all year

You're dressed up like a clown
Putting on your act
It's the only time all year
You'll ever admit that

I can see your eyes
I can see your brain
Baby, nothing's changed
[repeat]

You're still hiding in a mask
You take your fun seriously
No, don't blow this year's chance
Tomorrow your mold goes back on

After Halloween

You go to work today
You'll go to work tomorrow
S faced tonight
You'll brag about it for months

Remember what I did
Remember what I was
Back on Halloween

But what's in between
Where are your ideas?
You sit around and dream
For next Halloween

Why not everyday
Are you so afraid
What will people say
[repeat]

After Halloween

Because your role is planned for you
There's nothing you can do
But stop and think it through
But what will the boss say to you

And what will your girlfriend say to you
And the people out on the street they might glare at you
And whadya know you're pretty self-conscious too

So you run back and stuff yourselves in rigid business costumes
Only at night to score is your leather uniform exhumed
Why don't you take your social regulations
And shove 'em up your A
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While deciding what seatube angle and saddle setback to give my frame, I came up with a few ideas and modifications for an old frame. Well I need the practice.

On the subject of saddle setback. There are as many ideas as there are people.

First and foremost is KOPS . . . Knee Over Pedal Spindle . . . I think this is a good philosophy. Gravity work up & down, so why shouldn't your knee be above your pedal spindle when it's in the 3' Oclock position?

Then there are those that want to put your center of Gravity above your pedal spindle. Why not? When you lifts weights, particularly the squat. your center of gravity is above your feet.

Then there are the . . . This, That, and the other thing. Personaly I used to have my saddle setback 6cm behind the bottom bracket, but now on every bike I have the rails of my saddle centered. As you know every bike I have has a differe geometry. So I have as many setbacks as bikes. However the height is set at 74cm.

The bikes are ride are setup for specifc purposes, so I've designed my bike to optimize a certain position. and that's why people can't come together on what works. You move around on your saddle. Some people gravitate to the front, some the rear.

There is no magic formula. Everybody is different. You can have two people with identicle measurments, but might fit the bike different . . . I mean how do you measure flexibility. And I don't mean that in just the sense of one can touch his toes, and the other doesn't, I mean this in the sense they will bend differently. . . . they have different postures.

I may opinion is, Start with KOPS, then make modifications, everybody gravitates to efficiency. I've witnessed many examples of this.

Which is the whole point to this entry really. Go out and expereience life and don't let anybody else tell you who you should be, go out and find out who you are. Simple reguard everything as information. Not right or wrong, but as information.

I'm done.