Breakdown

Happy Valentines Day. This post is about a breakdown, not a break-up. Just so we are clear. It also is not about the Tom Petty song by the same name. Although that is a great tune. Anyway.....

 I've been trying to do some local training rides on the fixed gear Twin Six Standard Rando v2. (From now on called the Fixed Gravel Bus, or FGB for short) I figure slower, steady fixed rides to help build a base of fitness is a good place to start on top of my walking and some other minor isometric type body weight things I do in the house, (when I'm not injured, that is!)

Anyway, this post isn't about training. This is about what happened to the FGB the other day while training. I was out on my usual graveyard loop which is nearly always carless and quiet when I felt something odd in the left crank or pedal. 

 I pulled over thinking maybe I had a pedal coming out only to find that my crank arm was loose! The little preload screw was missing too. Dang it! 

So, I grabbed my tool kit and tried to shove the crank arm on the spindle best I could, then I tightened the pinch bolts on the crank arm down, and hoped it would get me home. 

It did!

Now I had a problem to solve and I am thinking about this style of crank as well. First, I assumed the little preload screw, in this case a metal one I picked up from N.Y. Roll somewhere along the line, was gone. I didn't even bother trying to find it. I just went into my stash of parts and found one off an Ultegra crank set and tried it out on the 105 crank.

 Hmm.... No go. Seems as though there are different lengths to these screws/preload bits. I think the one from the Ultegra crank is too long. I need to find a shorter one. I dug around in my crank stash to see if I could find this screw. (Or is it a bolt? Whatever....) I did find one which was shorter but it had a smaller diameter for the threaded portion. Oh..... So there are three different preload bolt types. Nice! (Part ordered and on the way)

But perhaps more importantly, I wonder if a two piece pinch-bolt style crank even a good idea on a fixed gear bike? I'm beginning to have doubts about the ability of this design to hold up to the rigors of fixed gear riding. This might require a move to a threaded, square taper crank/bottom bracket set up which I have full confidence in as far as holding up to this sort of fixed gear set up.  

Stay tuned...