Sprucing Up For Spring

Tour Of Duty: Completed

As I have stated before recently here, the ol' Black Mountain Cycles bike was in desperate need of some maintenance. Well, the day finally arrived when I had the time and all the parts, (I thought, we'll find out about that here in a minute), so I got it refreshed and ready for Spring and beyond.

Essentially, I had roached the drive train and the bottom bracket. The cassette and even the chain rings were worn significantly enough that I felt it would be best to just swap it all out rather than take the risk that the chain rings might not shift or worse.

Replacement parts consisted of a new set of Enduro bearings, a new set of Shimano chain rings in the CX series. A 46T and a 36T. Then I bought a new 9 speed Shimano cassette, an 11-34T range, which is from the mid-range of their series. An HG-something or another. Then I got a 9 speed SRAM chain. I still trust these, but no way will I ever buy another 10 speed one! Okay, so with all the stuff I needed arranged and after I grabbed a few tools, I got to wrenching.

Of course, when you pull a two piece crank set, which is relatively easy, you see all the nooks and crannies where gravel dust has been hiding all that time. Well, you may as well clean it up, right? So after disassembly of the chain rings from the crank arms, I spent quite a bit of time poking around the non-series crank set getting all the dirt outta there.

I should get this analyzed!

That done, I swapped out the chain rings. You know, Shimano has a way of machning their parts so that they fit beautifully together, but woe unto you if you use someone elses parts, even though they match the so-called "standard" Shimano might be using. I knew, for instance, that SRAM product just wouldn't fit at all. The old FSA rings were barely useable, but I got them to work, obviously. The taking of them off though was tough. More difficult than it should be for parts that are "supposed to work together".

Anyway, I got the new rings on with no problem, so it was time to move on to the bottom bracket. I have a nice Chris King outboard bottom bracket tool and that thing is so well made it is a joy to use. Fits onto Shimano cups like a hand in glove. Once those got removed, it was time for a bit more cleaning in and around the bottom bracket shell. Like I said, these are places you just cannot get to when the bike is assembled.

A new Shimano ring- Fit was perfect.

Then it was time to peel off the plastic shims from the stock Shimano bottom bracket cups. That was tough to do, but being patient pays off and I got them out. Then to knock out the old bearings. I tried to do it in my Lab, but to no avail. So, a trip to the shop was in order.

We have a bearing puller there that we usually use for such jobs which I got out. The set up looked perfect, so I went for it. Then I went for it........ Okay. One more time.......

What the.....?!!

I tried as I might, but those bearings didn't even move one iota in those cups. I assume they were frozen in there, because I had done some wet weather riding, and last Spring I rode through some low water crossings. Whatever the case might be, I wasn't separating those bearings from those cups without doing some major damage, which would have been time consuming and counter productive to using the Enduro bearings. Bah! Plan B then......

All cleaned up and ready to reinstall

The shop had some stock Shimano bearing cups so I went home with those. Disappointed, but they will be workable, and that's what I used, obviously, before hand. Next time I'm not screwing around and I'm just going to get a Chris King bottom bracket for this bike.

So, I got home and, of course, everything went together beautifully. The ol' Orange Crush is ready to go for the gravel season ahead. I'm still running the HED Ardennes wheels and folding bead Nano 40's on it. This will go toe to toe with my Nano 40 TCS set of wheels to see what, if any differences there are. I suspect that the tubeless Nanos will be smoother, but I'll know shortly.

The weather is about to turn here. 40's are predicted all next week, and that is warm enough now to do some longer miles out in the country. My health is slowly improving, and Daylight Savings Time kicks in this weekend. Yep! Like the GoDaddy commercial says: "It's Go time!"

Sprucing Up For Spring

Tour Of Duty: Completed

As I have stated before recently here, the ol' Black Mountain Cycles bike was in desperate need of some maintenance. Well, the day finally arrived when I had the time and all the parts, (I thought, we'll find out about that here in a minute), so I got it refreshed and ready for Spring and beyond.

Essentially, I had roached the drive train and the bottom bracket. The cassette and even the chain rings were worn significantly enough that I felt it would be best to just swap it all out rather than take the risk that the chain rings might not shift or worse.

Replacement parts consisted of a new set of Enduro bearings, a new set of Shimano chain rings in the CX series. A 46T and a 36T. Then I bought a new 9 speed Shimano cassette, an 11-34T range, which is from the mid-range of their series. An HG-something or another. Then I got a 9 speed SRAM chain. I still trust these, but no way will I ever buy another 10 speed one! Okay, so with all the stuff I needed arranged and after I grabbed a few tools, I got to wrenching.

Of course, when you pull a two piece crank set, which is relatively easy, you see all the nooks and crannies where gravel dust has been hiding all that time. Well, you may as well clean it up, right? So after disassembly of the chain rings from the crank arms, I spent quite a bit of time poking around the non-series crank set getting all the dirt outta there.

I should get this analyzed!

That done, I swapped out the chain rings. You know, Shimano has a way of machning their parts so that they fit beautifully together, but woe unto you if you use someone elses parts, even though they match the so-called "standard" Shimano might be using. I knew, for instance, that SRAM product just wouldn't fit at all. The old FSA rings were barely useable, but I got them to work, obviously. The taking of them off though was tough. More difficult than it should be for parts that are "supposed to work together".

Anyway, I got the new rings on with no problem, so it was time to move on to the bottom bracket. I have a nice Chris King outboard bottom bracket tool and that thing is so well made it is a joy to use. Fits onto Shimano cups like a hand in glove. Once those got removed, it was time for a bit more cleaning in and around the bottom bracket shell. Like I said, these are places you just cannot get to when the bike is assembled.

A new Shimano ring- Fit was perfect.

Then it was time to peel off the plastic shims from the stock Shimano bottom bracket cups. That was tough to do, but being patient pays off and I got them out. Then to knock out the old bearings. I tried to do it in my Lab, but to no avail. So, a trip to the shop was in order.

We have a bearing puller there that we usually use for such jobs which I got out. The set up looked perfect, so I went for it. Then I went for it........ Okay. One more time.......

What the.....?!!

I tried as I might, but those bearings didn't even move one iota in those cups. I assume they were frozen in there, because I had done some wet weather riding, and last Spring I rode through some low water crossings. Whatever the case might be, I wasn't separating those bearings from those cups without doing some major damage, which would have been time consuming and counter productive to using the Enduro bearings. Bah! Plan B then......

All cleaned up and ready to reinstall

The shop had some stock Shimano bearing cups so I went home with those. Disappointed, but they will be workable, and that's what I used, obviously, before hand. Next time I'm not screwing around and I'm just going to get a Chris King bottom bracket for this bike.

So, I got home and, of course, everything went together beautifully. The ol' Orange Crush is ready to go for the gravel season ahead. I'm still running the HED Ardennes wheels and folding bead Nano 40's on it. This will go toe to toe with my Nano 40 TCS set of wheels to see what, if any differences there are. I suspect that the tubeless Nanos will be smoother, but I'll know shortly.

The weather is about to turn here. 40's are predicted all next week, and that is warm enough now to do some longer miles out in the country. My health is slowly improving, and Daylight Savings Time kicks in this weekend. Yep! Like the GoDaddy commercial says: "It's Go time!"

Geared Up: Part 2

A closer look at the crank...

Okay, so if you are following along, yesterday I talked about these FSA rings and how I was going to try out a 2 X 10 set up on the titanium Mukluk. In this post I'm going to follow up after my first ride on the set up happened yesterday during my commute to work and back.

The deal here, to quickly recap, is to make it so you can turn a triple crank into a double, yet have the optimized chain line that dedicated double only crank sets achieve. This is accomplished by offsetting the 36T and 22T rings 1.5mm to the outboard side of the crank. The fact that you have a triple crank is masked by FSA's clever little "ears" that mount on the outboard side of the spider, giving you a clean look.

Okay, so now that I've covered this, here are the conditions I got to ride in yesterday. 

And the full bike view...

Wettish, slushy snow. It was still spitting these little ice balls from the sky. The deeper snow was very wet, if it wasn't packed in, and then it was solid as a rock. I definitely needed to use most of the entire gearing range.

Notes:

• The FSA chain seemed to be a bit grumpy and not very "happy" to be meshing on teeth right away, but this quickly subsided. By the time I was coming back home it was smooth as silk. It shifted very nicely on both ends. 
• The chain rings shifted better as time went on as well. Partly due to a cable that needed adjusting, the up-shift was balky, but after the adjustment it was working acceptably. So far, these are at least as good as Shimano/SRAM stuff. More time needed....
• Gear ratio: The taller front drive ring was a bit of a concern at first, but I think the 36T is acceptable. I really like having the 22T on the bike for the deeper, slower "trundling" necessary to traverse the slush and deep snow. The bigger ring also extends the range on the high side, which I appreciated on the long downhill section coming home. The Snow Dog spins out on this frequently. 

Finally, I almost think that the 3.8 Larrys are actually better in some ways than the bigger Big Fat Larry tires. I've always thought they had more bite in the traction category than the BFL which likes to spin out easier. Still thinking about Nates.....

More on this set up later...

Geared Up: Part 2

A closer look at the crank...

Okay, so if you are following along, yesterday I talked about these FSA rings and how I was going to try out a 2 X 10 set up on the titanium Mukluk. In this post I'm going to follow up after my first ride on the set up happened yesterday during my commute to work and back.

The deal here, to quickly recap, is to make it so you can turn a triple crank into a double, yet have the optimized chain line that dedicated double only crank sets achieve. This is accomplished by offsetting the 36T and 22T rings 1.5mm to the outboard side of the crank. The fact that you have a triple crank is masked by FSA's clever little "ears" that mount on the outboard side of the spider, giving you a clean look.

Okay, so now that I've covered this, here are the conditions I got to ride in yesterday. 

And the full bike view...

Wettish, slushy snow. It was still spitting these little ice balls from the sky. The deeper snow was very wet, if it wasn't packed in, and then it was solid as a rock. I definitely needed to use most of the entire gearing range.

Notes:

• The FSA chain seemed to be a bit grumpy and not very "happy" to be meshing on teeth right away, but this quickly subsided. By the time I was coming back home it was smooth as silk. It shifted very nicely on both ends. 
• The chain rings shifted better as time went on as well. Partly due to a cable that needed adjusting, the up-shift was balky, but after the adjustment it was working acceptably. So far, these are at least as good as Shimano/SRAM stuff. More time needed....
• Gear ratio: The taller front drive ring was a bit of a concern at first, but I think the 36T is acceptable. I really like having the 22T on the bike for the deeper, slower "trundling" necessary to traverse the slush and deep snow. The bigger ring also extends the range on the high side, which I appreciated on the long downhill section coming home. The Snow Dog spins out on this frequently. 

Finally, I almost think that the 3.8 Larrys are actually better in some ways than the bigger Big Fat Larry tires. I've always thought they had more bite in the traction category than the BFL which likes to spin out easier. Still thinking about Nates.....

More on this set up later...

The Gathering

Okay, I have a new plan for the fall/winter involving two wheels. Two huge, big wheels. This plan has been hinted at, but now "The Gathering" has begun.

Well, that should be a dead give away!

The first bit of the plan had to happen because I committed to a certain frame a while back that I have salted some ducats away for. Of course, one might guess by the image here what sort of bicycle that might be.

But rims are one thing. I need to come up with some other stuff as well. What's great about the stuff in this image is that I traded for all of it and so that part has been pretty painless so far.

These are not Surly rims. These are Fatback 70mm wide Uma II rims and are pretty dang nice. The plan is for these to live on the Snow Dog which is going to end up becoming the "Trail Dog" since that bike will eventually be used for trail duty in spring, summer, and fall. 

The current Snow Dog wheels will be going on the new rig, whenever it gets here. The handle bar will likely be on the summer rig, but maybe not......(See next image!)

FSA In The House

I got these FSA components to check out and review. The seat post, stem, and handle bar are all from the "SLK" line of carbon and aluminum components.

The seat post has that flashy outer weave, and so does the handle bar. The stem is aluminum for the most part, and only has the face pate in carbon.

The head set likely won't work in my new frame, but I show it here to add that I think red ano bits are going to be the theme on this frame.

I only need some spokes, a hub set, tires, a fork, a head set, grips, and a new saddle to kit out this frame. The drive train is waiting, I have brakes, and other small bits and pieces.

Stay tuned for more on this as yet un-named project soon......

The Gathering

Okay, I have a new plan for the fall/winter involving two wheels. Two huge, big wheels. This plan has been hinted at, but now "The Gathering" has begun.

Well, that should be a dead give away!

The first bit of the plan had to happen because I committed to a certain frame a while back that I have salted some ducats away for. Of course, one might guess by the image here what sort of bicycle that might be.

But rims are one thing. I need to come up with some other stuff as well. What's great about the stuff in this image is that I traded for all of it and so that part has been pretty painless so far.

These are not Surly rims. These are Fatback 70mm wide Uma II rims and are pretty dang nice. The plan is for these to live on the Snow Dog which is going to end up becoming the "Trail Dog" since that bike will eventually be used for trail duty in spring, summer, and fall. 

The current Snow Dog wheels will be going on the new rig, whenever it gets here. The handle bar will likely be on the summer rig, but maybe not......(See next image!)

FSA In The House

I got these FSA components to check out and review. The seat post, stem, and handle bar are all from the "SLK" line of carbon and aluminum components.

The seat post has that flashy outer weave, and so does the handle bar. The stem is aluminum for the most part, and only has the face pate in carbon.

The head set likely won't work in my new frame, but I show it here to add that I think red ano bits are going to be the theme on this frame.

I only need some spokes, a hub set, tires, a fork, a head set, grips, and a new saddle to kit out this frame. The drive train is waiting, I have brakes, and other small bits and pieces.

Stay tuned for more on this as yet un-named project soon......