Friday News And Views

Low profile lock ring (L) and typical Shimano style (R)

A Close Shave:

I decided it was high time to get a move on and check out some stuff I have in for review and testing for RidingGravel.com . I had been waiting on the wheels I was supposed to be getting, but there are delays, and then shipping, and yada,yada,yada....... Time is getting short in the review world in the Upper Mid-West when it comes to gravel road travel. Soon we will have ice and snow, or one would think, and then that's that for doing anything meaningful with regard to this gig on RidingGravel.com for me.

Anyway.... I digress as usual. The thing is, all this other stuff I had was waiting on those wheels and it's been weeks now. So, an executive decision was made and I swapped out to my Irwin Cycling carbon wheels to stand in for the wheels I was supposed to be getting. That unlocks a dam of accessory stuff I used to set up the tires tubeless and the tires themselves are a review as well.

Everything went well except for when I dumped the entire cassette/free hub assembly right off the hub onto the floor as I was doing the tubeless set up. Doh! Fortunately it fell in such a way that the free hub wasn't damaged, but......a couple of those itty-bitty pawls came out!  Where did they go?!! A full blown freak-out was averted when I almost immediately found the two rascals. Then it took 15 minutes to coax it all back together and finally, I was able to get back to what I had intended on doing. NOTE: The Irwin Cycling Aon GX 35 Carbon Wheels have a free hub that has a tool-less removal. (Got it!)

Next up was to fit the wheels into the test bike, the Noble Bikes GX5. Well, the back wasn't a problem. A little derailleur adjustment and "bingo!". Spot on. I put the front in, screwed in the through axle bolt, and tightened it. The wheel would barely turn. "Ah!", I thought, "Probably needs a caliper adjustment." I loosened the caliper and.....what? The wheel wasn't turning. But the brake pads are not even touching the rotor??

Then it dawned on me. Something is dragging on a stationary part. I've had IS adapter bolts drag on rotors, and similar issues, but this was a new one on me. The lock ring for the center lock rotor was dragging on the "bulge" which accommodated the threaded insert to accept the lower flat mount caliper fixing bolt. (See image above for differences in lock rings.) The original wheels had a low profile lock ring while the Irwin ones used a traditional Shimano style lock ring.

The green arrow points to the minuscule amount of clearance for the lock ring on the rotor.

Okay, so swap lock ring, done, bing,bam,boom! Right? Not so fast....... The low profile lock ring on the Irwin wheel would not engage the Center Lock rotor unless I used a spacer. (By the way, I see now looking at my own picture that the spacer isn't centered. Yeah.... Still works, but I'll likely fix that.)

Once spacer and low-pro lock ring are on there I have a freely spinning wheel. Yay! I look at the clearance. What?! A close shave there, but it worked. All it has to do is clear that part of the fork. I maybe could look for a thinner spacer(s), and I probably will, but at least I got the thing to work now.

So, when your mechanic says that there was an issue swapping wheels on your fancy-pants bike, maybe you might recall this, and then think twice about it before you let him/her have what for. Standards? HA! It's always something, I tell ya........

C.O.G. 100 Course Drawn Up:

So, a little news today on the course for the C.O.G. 100 coming up in March of next year. I got a preliminary course drawn up and now we will see about reconning it. That is, if it ever stops raining around here. 

So, here's the deal. You C.O.G. 100 freaks weren't too pleased when I gave you 11 bonus miles for your single speed pleasure last Spring, so I've cut the bonus miles down to three.  THREE! That means the course, tentatively speaking, will be 103 miles in length. We may be able to shave it closer to 100 after we recon the thing, but I doubt it.

The next thing I recall folks getting all screwed up about was where the resupply point was. So, guess what? It is- again, this is tentative, subject to change without warning, and all that- at about FORTY EIGHT MILES INTO THE COURSE! Can you believe it? Now watch......someone will say that doesn't work for them. Just wait. Someone will complain about this. Anyway.......

So, there is ANOTHER chance to resupply- albeit off course on a hard top road about 3/4's of a mile from the course- at about 67 miles in. How about that? TWO chances to resupply. I don't know, but that sounds pretty good to me. Oh! And if you avail yourself of the second chance at resupply, YOU GET MORE BONUS SINGLE SPEEDING! (No charge, completely free and optional!)

Now, there will be Level B Road sections. Yes, plural. BUT.....the total should be 1 mile. The first section is really pretty short. Maybe a quarter mile. The next one looks to be about , (you guessed it!), 3/4's of a mile. Unlike last Spring, these will be later into the course, within the last third, I'd say now. Again, that could change. We haven't done ANY recon yet, so keep your mind open to possible changes.

Oh yeah.....there will be a few hills. I wouldn't worry much about that part.

That's it for today folks! Get out and ride those bicycles!

Friday News And Views

Low profile lock ring (L) and typical Shimano style (R)

A Close Shave:

I decided it was high time to get a move on and check out some stuff I have in for review and testing for RidingGravel.com . I had been waiting on the wheels I was supposed to be getting, but there are delays, and then shipping, and yada,yada,yada....... Time is getting short in the review world in the Upper Mid-West when it comes to gravel road travel. Soon we will have ice and snow, or one would think, and then that's that for doing anything meaningful with regard to this gig on RidingGravel.com for me.

Anyway.... I digress as usual. The thing is, all this other stuff I had was waiting on those wheels and it's been weeks now. So, an executive decision was made and I swapped out to my Irwin Cycling carbon wheels to stand in for the wheels I was supposed to be getting. That unlocks a dam of accessory stuff I used to set up the tires tubeless and the tires themselves are a review as well.

Everything went well except for when I dumped the entire cassette/free hub assembly right off the hub onto the floor as I was doing the tubeless set up. Doh! Fortunately it fell in such a way that the free hub wasn't damaged, but......a couple of those itty-bitty pawls came out!  Where did they go?!! A full blown freak-out was averted when I almost immediately found the two rascals. Then it took 15 minutes to coax it all back together and finally, I was able to get back to what I had intended on doing. NOTE: The Irwin Cycling Aon GX 35 Carbon Wheels have a free hub that has a tool-less removal. (Got it!)

Next up was to fit the wheels into the test bike, the Noble Bikes GX5. Well, the back wasn't a problem. A little derailleur adjustment and "bingo!". Spot on. I put the front in, screwed in the through axle bolt, and tightened it. The wheel would barely turn. "Ah!", I thought, "Probably needs a caliper adjustment." I loosened the caliper and.....what? The wheel wasn't turning. But the brake pads are not even touching the rotor??

Then it dawned on me. Something is dragging on a stationary part. I've had IS adapter bolts drag on rotors, and similar issues, but this was a new one on me. The lock ring for the center lock rotor was dragging on the "bulge" which accommodated the threaded insert to accept the lower flat mount caliper fixing bolt. (See image above for differences in lock rings.) The original wheels had a low profile lock ring while the Irwin ones used a traditional Shimano style lock ring.

The green arrow points to the minuscule amount of clearance for the lock ring on the rotor.

Okay, so swap lock ring, done, bing,bam,boom! Right? Not so fast....... The low profile lock ring on the Irwin wheel would not engage the Center Lock rotor unless I used a spacer. (By the way, I see now looking at my own picture that the spacer isn't centered. Yeah.... Still works, but I'll likely fix that.)

Once spacer and low-pro lock ring are on there I have a freely spinning wheel. Yay! I look at the clearance. What?! A close shave there, but it worked. All it has to do is clear that part of the fork. I maybe could look for a thinner spacer(s), and I probably will, but at least I got the thing to work now.

So, when your mechanic says that there was an issue swapping wheels on your fancy-pants bike, maybe you might recall this, and then think twice about it before you let him/her have what for. Standards? HA! It's always something, I tell ya........

C.O.G. 100 Course Drawn Up:

So, a little news today on the course for the C.O.G. 100 coming up in March of next year. I got a preliminary course drawn up and now we will see about reconning it. That is, if it ever stops raining around here. 

So, here's the deal. You C.O.G. 100 freaks weren't too pleased when I gave you 11 bonus miles for your single speed pleasure last Spring, so I've cut the bonus miles down to three.  THREE! That means the course, tentatively speaking, will be 103 miles in length. We may be able to shave it closer to 100 after we recon the thing, but I doubt it.

The next thing I recall folks getting all screwed up about was where the resupply point was. So, guess what? It is- again, this is tentative, subject to change without warning, and all that- at about FORTY EIGHT MILES INTO THE COURSE! Can you believe it? Now watch......someone will say that doesn't work for them. Just wait. Someone will complain about this. Anyway.......

So, there is ANOTHER chance to resupply- albeit off course on a hard top road about 3/4's of a mile from the course- at about 67 miles in. How about that? TWO chances to resupply. I don't know, but that sounds pretty good to me. Oh! And if you avail yourself of the second chance at resupply, YOU GET MORE BONUS SINGLE SPEEDING! (No charge, completely free and optional!)

Now, there will be Level B Road sections. Yes, plural. BUT.....the total should be 1 mile. The first section is really pretty short. Maybe a quarter mile. The next one looks to be about , (you guessed it!), 3/4's of a mile. Unlike last Spring, these will be later into the course, within the last third, I'd say now. Again, that could change. We haven't done ANY recon yet, so keep your mind open to possible changes.

Oh yeah.....there will be a few hills. I wouldn't worry much about that part.

That's it for today folks! Get out and ride those bicycles!

Transformation

Velocity rim/hub on lower left- Bontrager rim/Velocity hub upper right

Okay, so back a few years ago I heard that Challenge Tires were going to make a big, fat tubular for gravel riding. In fact, they asked me if I'd try out a pair if they made them. Since I am all about tires, of course, I said "yes".

Trouble was that I did not have a tubular wheel set. That's kind of a problem if you want tubular tires. So, something had to be done!

That "something" was fulfilled by Velocity USA and they set me up with a Major Tom Disc wheel set. Disc because.....oh, I don't know. I figured that would be the coming thing then. I was mostly right about that part!  So, anyway, here I was, all set for some fat tubular gravel tire action. I was told that the ride quality would be amazing, and I still do not doubt that it would be the case. I was also told that there would be a new, pressure sensitive tape which would make gluing up tubulars a thing of the past. I was stoked about it all. So, I waited, and waited.....and waited........

And it never happened. Those wheels hung in the Lab for years.....no tubulars. I looked in to buying some to just give the idea a try out. Gulp! Fat, quality tubulars exist, but my goodness......... No, I wasn't going to pay that price for an experiment that, in all reality, not many people would have benefited from, and I wasn't that curious. So, what the heck! I had these wheels that were no good to me.

I tried selling them, but to no avail. So, I came up with this crazy idea to "spoke over" some compatible rim to this wheel set, freeing me from tubular prison. I looked at the wheels and they were 24 spoke count wheels?!! Uggh! That made finding a good rim candidate a lot harder. As did the ERD for the Major Tom, which is larger than many rims in the 700c category for disc use. 

Finally, I came across some close out Bontrager Scandium rims which would work. So, they were rim brake rims. Ahh.......at this point, I didn't care. I got them and the process of swapping the rims out is complete now. Wheels transformed! Now I can actually make use of them. They are TLR, meaning the rims are designed to use the excellent Bontrager tubeless rim strip, so that will be getting installed soon along with tubeless valve stems. I was pretty happy that the wheels ended up weighing 1600 grams on the dot. Not bad at all.

Now, the wheel with the silver rim pictured above is not the "before", tubular wheel. It is a completely different wheel  from a set I just bought from a co-worker. That wheel set is going to go on the rebuild of my original Inbred 29"er. So, stay tuned for that.....

Transformation

Velocity rim/hub on lower left- Bontrager rim/Velocity hub upper right

Okay, so back a few years ago I heard that Challenge Tires were going to make a big, fat tubular for gravel riding. In fact, they asked me if I'd try out a pair if they made them. Since I am all about tires, of course, I said "yes".

Trouble was that I did not have a tubular wheel set. That's kind of a problem if you want tubular tires. So, something had to be done!

That "something" was fulfilled by Velocity USA and they set me up with a Major Tom Disc wheel set. Disc because.....oh, I don't know. I figured that would be the coming thing then. I was mostly right about that part!  So, anyway, here I was, all set for some fat tubular gravel tire action. I was told that the ride quality would be amazing, and I still do not doubt that it would be the case. I was also told that there would be a new, pressure sensitive tape which would make gluing up tubulars a thing of the past. I was stoked about it all. So, I waited, and waited.....and waited........

And it never happened. Those wheels hung in the Lab for years.....no tubulars. I looked in to buying some to just give the idea a try out. Gulp! Fat, quality tubulars exist, but my goodness......... No, I wasn't going to pay that price for an experiment that, in all reality, not many people would have benefited from, and I wasn't that curious. So, what the heck! I had these wheels that were no good to me.

I tried selling them, but to no avail. So, I came up with this crazy idea to "spoke over" some compatible rim to this wheel set, freeing me from tubular prison. I looked at the wheels and they were 24 spoke count wheels?!! Uggh! That made finding a good rim candidate a lot harder. As did the ERD for the Major Tom, which is larger than many rims in the 700c category for disc use. 

Finally, I came across some close out Bontrager Scandium rims which would work. So, they were rim brake rims. Ahh.......at this point, I didn't care. I got them and the process of swapping the rims out is complete now. Wheels transformed! Now I can actually make use of them. They are TLR, meaning the rims are designed to use the excellent Bontrager tubeless rim strip, so that will be getting installed soon along with tubeless valve stems. I was pretty happy that the wheels ended up weighing 1600 grams on the dot. Not bad at all.

Now, the wheel with the silver rim pictured above is not the "before", tubular wheel. It is a completely different wheel  from a set I just bought from a co-worker. That wheel set is going to go on the rebuild of my original Inbred 29"er. So, stay tuned for that.....

Bike Shop Horrors: Disc Wheel Explosion!

<===These used to be one piece. Not anymore!

Apparently the situation here was that a lady, who was sitting on the bicycle this wheel was mounted to, heard a big explosion, looked down, and saw her front wheel in pieces.






As you can see, the rim blew completely apart in two halves around its entire circumference.












Maybe the spoke tension was too high, maybe the disc brake caused the warping at the nipples, or it may be that the damage occurred at the time of failure. It's really hard to say here.










Oddly enough, it was a front wheel too. I also noted that the rotor bolts were not Torx head fasteners and the Allen heads were coated with something that made it so that my 3mm wrench would not fit into the Allen sockets correctly. I had to remove some of them with a locking pliers. Also, some of the rotor bolts were loose.



I still find it absolutely amazing that one of these low end companies hasn't been sued from here to next Tuesday over one of these bicycle shaped objects.

I think its just a matter of time.

Bike Shop Horrors: Disc Wheel Explosion!

<===These used to be one piece. Not anymore!

Apparently the situation here was that a lady, who was sitting on the bicycle this wheel was mounted to, heard a big explosion, looked down, and saw her front wheel in pieces.






As you can see, the rim blew completely apart in two halves around its entire circumference.












Maybe the spoke tension was too high, maybe the disc brake caused the warping at the nipples, or it may be that the damage occurred at the time of failure. It's really hard to say here.










Oddly enough, it was a front wheel too. I also noted that the rotor bolts were not Torx head fasteners and the Allen heads were coated with something that made it so that my 3mm wrench would not fit into the Allen sockets correctly. I had to remove some of them with a locking pliers. Also, some of the rotor bolts were loose.



I still find it absolutely amazing that one of these low end companies hasn't been sued from here to next Tuesday over one of these bicycle shaped objects.

I think its just a matter of time.