Minus Ten Review- 7

Ten years ago this week on the blog I ran a series on endurance racing, which was a big deal to me then because of my then co-worker, Jeff Kerkove and our involvement with the newly minted Trans Iowa, which, as I have said on numerous occasions, was patterned partially after 24 hour solo endurance mountain bike events. I called the series "The Future Of Endurance Racing", and at that time, I never dreamed that the format would be as small as it is today. That said, in the series, I and others explored what we thought of the 24 hour racing scene then which I find has a lot of parallels to the gravel racing scene of today. In particular, the marketing and potential profiteering from the genre. Check out the following, written this week ten years ago.....

Could it be that many of you are remembering what happened in XC racing? Perhaps many of you just cannot believe that something so cool could last without somebody screwing it all up? I don't know for sure what exactly prompts this sort of reaction. I can say this; if there is money to be made, then the focus will come off of the ride and the riders, and it will instead be on the product. In other words, marketers will get a hold of this sport, legitimize it in the minds of the elite by imposing a governing body on it, and then tweak it so as to attract as many folks as possible to spend their money on it.

And this.....

 At least some of you out there have also commented that the smaller, grassroots events.....are events that you expect will survive. Well, as a promoter myself, I can say that it won't last because of the money! Most of these events are fueled by pure passion for the experience. Once that burns itself out, and inevitably it will, either some other passionate folks must pick up the batons, or these events will fade into history. Perhaps they will be replaced by other, more exciting, challenging, and nutty events, I don't know! All I can say is that I don't mean to sound like an alarmist, just a realist.

So, the first quoted paragraph is what many fear what will, and maybe is happening, to gravel racing. Maybe we are half way there, with only the "governing body" part missing at this stage of the game. Well, there are rumblings that the USA Cycling organization is trying to reach out to gravel event promoters and trying to get their foot in the door to sell insurance to these promoters. USA Cycling has also been reported to have had a dramatic drop in income to the tune of one million dollars. It doesn't take too much to make the leap that USA Cycling sees gravel rides as a source of new income, or a recovery of lost income, depending upon your viewpoint.

The second quoted paragraph is something I have seen happen already with gravel events.  The races and rides come and go depending upon the endurance of those behind the scenes to put the rides and races on. The Almanzo 100 and its related events being maybe the most prominent of those and perhaps the only one to change leadership and retain its feel.......so far. Others have morphed from the grassroots, laid back atmosphere they began with to turn into massive, money making ventures that support livelihoods. While others have just grown beyond the capabilities of the founders to keep them free and have started morphing into more traditional looking events. The point is, just like I said ten years ago, passion takes you only so far, and many do not toe the line of their original visions for very long before they start seeing dollar signs. Maybe others find a way out of the event promoting/organizing game altogether.

Anyway, I found it interesting to see the similarities there.

Minus Ten Review- 7

Ten years ago this week on the blog I ran a series on endurance racing, which was a big deal to me then because of my then co-worker, Jeff Kerkove and our involvement with the newly minted Trans Iowa, which, as I have said on numerous occasions, was patterned partially after 24 hour solo endurance mountain bike events. I called the series "The Future Of Endurance Racing", and at that time, I never dreamed that the format would be as small as it is today. That said, in the series, I and others explored what we thought of the 24 hour racing scene then which I find has a lot of parallels to the gravel racing scene of today. In particular, the marketing and potential profiteering from the genre. Check out the following, written this week ten years ago.....

Could it be that many of you are remembering what happened in XC racing? Perhaps many of you just cannot believe that something so cool could last without somebody screwing it all up? I don't know for sure what exactly prompts this sort of reaction. I can say this; if there is money to be made, then the focus will come off of the ride and the riders, and it will instead be on the product. In other words, marketers will get a hold of this sport, legitimize it in the minds of the elite by imposing a governing body on it, and then tweak it so as to attract as many folks as possible to spend their money on it.

And this.....

 At least some of you out there have also commented that the smaller, grassroots events.....are events that you expect will survive. Well, as a promoter myself, I can say that it won't last because of the money! Most of these events are fueled by pure passion for the experience. Once that burns itself out, and inevitably it will, either some other passionate folks must pick up the batons, or these events will fade into history. Perhaps they will be replaced by other, more exciting, challenging, and nutty events, I don't know! All I can say is that I don't mean to sound like an alarmist, just a realist.

So, the first quoted paragraph is what many fear what will, and maybe is happening, to gravel racing. Maybe we are half way there, with only the "governing body" part missing at this stage of the game. Well, there are rumblings that the USA Cycling organization is trying to reach out to gravel event promoters and trying to get their foot in the door to sell insurance to these promoters. USA Cycling has also been reported to have had a dramatic drop in income to the tune of one million dollars. It doesn't take too much to make the leap that USA Cycling sees gravel rides as a source of new income, or a recovery of lost income, depending upon your viewpoint.

The second quoted paragraph is something I have seen happen already with gravel events.  The races and rides come and go depending upon the endurance of those behind the scenes to put the rides and races on. The Almanzo 100 and its related events being maybe the most prominent of those and perhaps the only one to change leadership and retain its feel.......so far. Others have morphed from the grassroots, laid back atmosphere they began with to turn into massive, money making ventures that support livelihoods. While others have just grown beyond the capabilities of the founders to keep them free and have started morphing into more traditional looking events. The point is, just like I said ten years ago, passion takes you only so far, and many do not toe the line of their original visions for very long before they start seeing dollar signs. Maybe others find a way out of the event promoting/organizing game altogether.

Anyway, I found it interesting to see the similarities there.

Friday News And Views

From December 20th, 2015. Soon this will be happening again.

Changing Seasons- Changing Gears

Okay, look.....I know I've said I thought Winter was about shot already before, but this time! I mean, look at the temperatures. Going up near 50°F and staying above freezing for 48 hours or more with temperatures forecast to be in the upper 30's/low 40's for at least a week. Yeah.....It is time. 

I put the fat bike on standby yesterday and rode my Black Mountain Cycles bike to work. I don't know that I'll be commuting on a fat bike for quite some time now. The chatter locally is that the gravel roads should be firming up real soon, and the season is fixing to turn to Spring anytime now. Sure, we may have a three day blast of cold air here and there, or another snow, but Winter, I believe, is on the run now. It's time to switch over to gravel travel again.

The thing we tend to forget here is that it wasn't all that long ago that I was, at any rate, riding gravel roads. The image I posted for today is from five days before Christmas! It was the last big gravel ride I did before the snow flew just before Christmas, and then it got real cold and snowy, and well, you know! The point is, Winter, while pretty intense and great for fat biking, really wasn't that long of a season this time.

Now watch.......it will go below zero and snow big time because I wrote this! That's okay. If it does, blame me. I can handle it..........

How long, you crazy Californians? How long.....

Still Waiting.....

Maybe you remember that I have been saying that I will be building up some new gravel wheels for my Twin Six Standard Rando. Well, I am going to do that, as soon as White Industries gets my hubs to me. There was an order placed, a phone call to find out what was going on two weeks ago, when we found out that the order was there, but not processed for some strange reason, and now......... Who knows? 

Maybe I'll finally end up getting something different, or maybe these things will finally show up. I only know that this has been dragging on for far too long and I am giving it another week and if nothing happens I have to move on. Sheesh! This process started in January, for cryin' out loud, and pretty soon it is going to be March and gravel riding will be happening. I need that Standard Rando up and running.......now. 

I was kind of hoping to be piloting this rig for the Renegade Gents Race which happens on the first weekend of April, which, ya know, is just a hair over a month away. I'd like to have time to re-calibrate the bike to me after putting the rig on ice back in September last Fall.

Trans Iowa V12:

Oh, and then there is this other little deal I have going on toward the end of April called Trans Iowa. That's going to start ramping up in importance in my life really soon as well. So, here is the latest on that event I can share with you all....

Stickers for your bumper, your tool box, or your pile of other, forgotten memorabilia, are coming. They will be 4" tall by 8" long, so pretty good sized. Every rider that bothers to show up for the ride at the Pre-Race Meat-Up will get one in their swag bag. Volunteers will also get these, and a couple of special accessories to wear as well. Stay tuned on those......

After T.I.v12 I am going to have a "Trans Iowa Rummage Sale" where I am going to clear out the remaining t-shirts, hats, stickers, and maybe a few other oddments that seem to be piling up around here at Guitar Ted Laboratories. So, put that in your files for later. I'll post a full list of the items after Trans Iowa v12 is over!!

Finally: There have been a few drops that have been reported to me. Bummer, but I appreciate the notes since that means I won't be doing extra work for folks that won't be showing up for whatever reasons. Keep that in mind if you are in T.I.v12. If you cannot come, for whatever reason, please let me know as soon as possible. 

Thanks and have a great weekend. Think Spring!!

Friday News And Views

From December 20th, 2015. Soon this will be happening again.

Changing Seasons- Changing Gears

Okay, look.....I know I've said I thought Winter was about shot already before, but this time! I mean, look at the temperatures. Going up near 50°F and staying above freezing for 48 hours or more with temperatures forecast to be in the upper 30's/low 40's for at least a week. Yeah.....It is time. 

I put the fat bike on standby yesterday and rode my Black Mountain Cycles bike to work. I don't know that I'll be commuting on a fat bike for quite some time now. The chatter locally is that the gravel roads should be firming up real soon, and the season is fixing to turn to Spring anytime now. Sure, we may have a three day blast of cold air here and there, or another snow, but Winter, I believe, is on the run now. It's time to switch over to gravel travel again.

The thing we tend to forget here is that it wasn't all that long ago that I was, at any rate, riding gravel roads. The image I posted for today is from five days before Christmas! It was the last big gravel ride I did before the snow flew just before Christmas, and then it got real cold and snowy, and well, you know! The point is, Winter, while pretty intense and great for fat biking, really wasn't that long of a season this time.

Now watch.......it will go below zero and snow big time because I wrote this! That's okay. If it does, blame me. I can handle it..........

How long, you crazy Californians? How long.....

Still Waiting.....

Maybe you remember that I have been saying that I will be building up some new gravel wheels for my Twin Six Standard Rando. Well, I am going to do that, as soon as White Industries gets my hubs to me. There was an order placed, a phone call to find out what was going on two weeks ago, when we found out that the order was there, but not processed for some strange reason, and now......... Who knows? 

Maybe I'll finally end up getting something different, or maybe these things will finally show up. I only know that this has been dragging on for far too long and I am giving it another week and if nothing happens I have to move on. Sheesh! This process started in January, for cryin' out loud, and pretty soon it is going to be March and gravel riding will be happening. I need that Standard Rando up and running.......now. 

I was kind of hoping to be piloting this rig for the Renegade Gents Race which happens on the first weekend of April, which, ya know, is just a hair over a month away. I'd like to have time to re-calibrate the bike to me after putting the rig on ice back in September last Fall.

Trans Iowa V12:

Oh, and then there is this other little deal I have going on toward the end of April called Trans Iowa. That's going to start ramping up in importance in my life really soon as well. So, here is the latest on that event I can share with you all....

Stickers for your bumper, your tool box, or your pile of other, forgotten memorabilia, are coming. They will be 4" tall by 8" long, so pretty good sized. Every rider that bothers to show up for the ride at the Pre-Race Meat-Up will get one in their swag bag. Volunteers will also get these, and a couple of special accessories to wear as well. Stay tuned on those......

After T.I.v12 I am going to have a "Trans Iowa Rummage Sale" where I am going to clear out the remaining t-shirts, hats, stickers, and maybe a few other oddments that seem to be piling up around here at Guitar Ted Laboratories. So, put that in your files for later. I'll post a full list of the items after Trans Iowa v12 is over!!

Finally: There have been a few drops that have been reported to me. Bummer, but I appreciate the notes since that means I won't be doing extra work for folks that won't be showing up for whatever reasons. Keep that in mind if you are in T.I.v12. If you cannot come, for whatever reason, please let me know as soon as possible. 

Thanks and have a great weekend. Think Spring!!

WW4M: Planet Bike Grateful Red

Clever name- Bang for the buck

WW4M stands for "What Works For Me". This is a review of a product I found extremely useful, that lives up to its billing, and provides a good value. Your mileage may vary.

 The cycling world is full of red blinky devices that are designed to warn of your presence on bike paths, roads, and on trails whether it is dark or not. So, when another light hits the market, it gets a "ho-hum" response. I mean.....how many different models of blinky tail lights do we really need? 

The red blinker market has some pretty heavy hitters that have the latest in LED emitters, high Lumen out put, and recharge via USB ports, since, ya know, everybody lives and rides near a computer, right? You'd think so anyway.

The Planet Bike company doesn't seem to think so, and felt that maybe not everybody would pony up for $25.00-$60.00 rear blinkies. So, they introduced the "Grateful Red" tail light. Planet Bike has always had some pretty decent rear blinkies all along, so I had big expectations for this cleverly named light. Here's the spew from their site:

• PB power array™ and reflector provide visibility for up to 1 mile
• Steady, Superflash™ and Courtesy™ flash modes
• Ultra compact case is weatherproof, lightweight, and durable
• Rear rack and seat post mounts included
• Up to 150 hours of run time on 2 AAA batteries (included)
• 85 grams 

Okay, so what are these three trademarked "modes" all about? Steady is self explanatory, and may seem useless, but here's something I've found that may make you think twice about that. I have found that at night, many times if I use a steady light, vehicles coming from behind give you a wider berth, because they don't know if you are a vehicle with a tail light out, a motorcycle, or a cyclist until they get closer to you. By then, they've committed to giving me more room. Try it out....

The Grateful Red comes with a nice mount, or you can clip it on a strap

The "Superflash" mode is a blinkie on meth, crazy pattern, that makes me go nuts just looking at it. Want to tick off your riding buddies? This is your mode. I'm not into it, but it may be just what you are looking for.

The "Courtesy Mode" is what I ended up using almost all the time. It is a mode that melds a steady light with an "on-off", slow, soft glowing that I found pleasant, and resulted in much more courteous passing by motorists during my Winter commutes. It was definitely a noticeable thing, as I found out if I left it off, the cars were passing me much closer, as usual without a light, than if I had the light on Courtesy Mode".

Okay, so what else? It's a replaceable battery powered light, isn't that a bad thing? I don't know.......is it? Get some rechargeable AAA's and go with that then. My take is that if the light goes dim or quits, I probably will not be around a computer, or I won't have time to sit and wait for however many minutes or hours that an LED light that recharges via USB would take to recharge. Batteries? A few minutes or less, swap out two batteries, done for another 150 hours of use. Sounds good to me. Plus, if you ride any all-nighters or do lots of long distance, "out there" type of stuff, packing two triple "A"'s isn't  a big deal, and you don't have to try to find a computer to recharge your "device light".

UPDATE: A friend gently reminded me about rechargeable power packs and that those could be used as a way to extend a USB rechargeable blinky's battery in a pinch. Okay, but that's really not much different than swapping batteries, only batteries work right away. Plus, batteries, and the Grateful Red light, cost a lot less. Still, that's a great point and a viable way to go.

My only quibble is that the clip, like so many LED blinky light clips, isn't very "clampy", and I ended up losing my Grateful Red just yesterday somewhere. The thing is, the MSRP is $19.99, so I'm not out a lot for replacing it.

And trust me, I am replacing this one. It's a good little blinky for not a lot of cabbage.

Planet Bike provided the Grateful Red used in this review at no charge. I was not paid nor bribed for this review, and I really am going to buy another one to replace the one I lost. So there!

WW4M: Planet Bike Grateful Red

Clever name- Bang for the buck

WW4M stands for "What Works For Me". This is a review of a product I found extremely useful, that lives up to its billing, and provides a good value. Your mileage may vary.

 The cycling world is full of red blinky devices that are designed to warn of your presence on bike paths, roads, and on trails whether it is dark or not. So, when another light hits the market, it gets a "ho-hum" response. I mean.....how many different models of blinky tail lights do we really need? 

The red blinker market has some pretty heavy hitters that have the latest in LED emitters, high Lumen out put, and recharge via USB ports, since, ya know, everybody lives and rides near a computer, right? You'd think so anyway.

The Planet Bike company doesn't seem to think so, and felt that maybe not everybody would pony up for $25.00-$60.00 rear blinkies. So, they introduced the "Grateful Red" tail light. Planet Bike has always had some pretty decent rear blinkies all along, so I had big expectations for this cleverly named light. Here's the spew from their site:

• PB power array™ and reflector provide visibility for up to 1 mile
• Steady, Superflash™ and Courtesy™ flash modes
• Ultra compact case is weatherproof, lightweight, and durable
• Rear rack and seat post mounts included
• Up to 150 hours of run time on 2 AAA batteries (included)
• 85 grams 

Okay, so what are these three trademarked "modes" all about? Steady is self explanatory, and may seem useless, but here's something I've found that may make you think twice about that. I have found that at night, many times if I use a steady light, vehicles coming from behind give you a wider berth, because they don't know if you are a vehicle with a tail light out, a motorcycle, or a cyclist until they get closer to you. By then, they've committed to giving me more room. Try it out....

The Grateful Red comes with a nice mount, or you can clip it on a strap

The "Superflash" mode is a blinkie on meth, crazy pattern, that makes me go nuts just looking at it. Want to tick off your riding buddies? This is your mode. I'm not into it, but it may be just what you are looking for.

The "Courtesy Mode" is what I ended up using almost all the time. It is a mode that melds a steady light with an "on-off", slow, soft glowing that I found pleasant, and resulted in much more courteous passing by motorists during my Winter commutes. It was definitely a noticeable thing, as I found out if I left it off, the cars were passing me much closer, as usual without a light, than if I had the light on Courtesy Mode".

Okay, so what else? It's a replaceable battery powered light, isn't that a bad thing? I don't know.......is it? Get some rechargeable AAA's and go with that then. My take is that if the light goes dim or quits, I probably will not be around a computer, or I won't have time to sit and wait for however many minutes or hours that an LED light that recharges via USB would take to recharge. Batteries? A few minutes or less, swap out two batteries, done for another 150 hours of use. Sounds good to me. Plus, if you ride any all-nighters or do lots of long distance, "out there" type of stuff, packing two triple "A"'s isn't  a big deal, and you don't have to try to find a computer to recharge your "device light".

UPDATE: A friend gently reminded me about rechargeable power packs and that those could be used as a way to extend a USB rechargeable blinky's battery in a pinch. Okay, but that's really not much different than swapping batteries, only batteries work right away. Plus, batteries, and the Grateful Red light, cost a lot less. Still, that's a great point and a viable way to go.

My only quibble is that the clip, like so many LED blinky light clips, isn't very "clampy", and I ended up losing my Grateful Red just yesterday somewhere. The thing is, the MSRP is $19.99, so I'm not out a lot for replacing it.

And trust me, I am replacing this one. It's a good little blinky for not a lot of cabbage.

Planet Bike provided the Grateful Red used in this review at no charge. I was not paid nor bribed for this review, and I really am going to buy another one to replace the one I lost. So there!

Processing

Ice on the Cedar River

I don't often get into too much of my personal life on this blog. I am a bit private, maybe, but more than anything, I don't think it is stuff most folks want to, or need to know. That said, things do affect me and sometimes that leaks over to the blog here. The lines are not hard drawn or clearly defined in that regard.

Yesterday I took the long way home. I needed to get into my head, as there are a ton of things swirling around in there due to recent events. Now I know ya'all are wondering at this point what is happening. Well, my immediate family is all okay, but we've had to deal with processing a couple of big events that happened over the last week. We also have had a kind of an"emergency" here that required a big expenditure on the house. It has all been difficult, and I have been stressed out and confused emotionally. So, there. That's all I'm going to say about that here.

The point is that, well.....for me, at any rate, a bicycle ride is absolutely necessary to get myself cleared out in the head. To me, it is such a wonderful way to get things sorted out emotionally and mentally. Spiritually too. Let's not forget that.

So, anyway, I encourage you all to ride to make your world better, in whatever way that makes sense to you. For myself, I had to go the long way home, and it helped me sort some things out, and some things that didn't make sense, well...... Still processing.

Here are some images from my ride I took when I stopped to contemplate things.....

The Cedar froze when the water was high, then the levels dropped, creating this cool "ice fence". 

A view from the dike near Cattle Congress.

Perhaps my favorite image I've captured in a long, long time. 

Well, hope you all enjoyed the little trip I took. Hopefully I will be piling on some more milage today. I still have some things to sort out......

Processing

Ice on the Cedar River

I don't often get into too much of my personal life on this blog. I am a bit private, maybe, but more than anything, I don't think it is stuff most folks want to, or need to know. That said, things do affect me and sometimes that leaks over to the blog here. The lines are not hard drawn or clearly defined in that regard.

Yesterday I took the long way home. I needed to get into my head, as there are a ton of things swirling around in there due to recent events. Now I know ya'all are wondering at this point what is happening. Well, my immediate family is all okay, but we've had to deal with processing a couple of big events that happened over the last week. We also have had a kind of an"emergency" here that required a big expenditure on the house. It has all been difficult, and I have been stressed out and confused emotionally. So, there. That's all I'm going to say about that here.

The point is that, well.....for me, at any rate, a bicycle ride is absolutely necessary to get myself cleared out in the head. To me, it is such a wonderful way to get things sorted out emotionally and mentally. Spiritually too. Let's not forget that.

So, anyway, I encourage you all to ride to make your world better, in whatever way that makes sense to you. For myself, I had to go the long way home, and it helped me sort some things out, and some things that didn't make sense, well...... Still processing.

Here are some images from my ride I took when I stopped to contemplate things.....

The Cedar froze when the water was high, then the levels dropped, creating this cool "ice fence". 

A view from the dike near Cattle Congress.

Perhaps my favorite image I've captured in a long, long time. 

Well, hope you all enjoyed the little trip I took. Hopefully I will be piling on some more milage today. I still have some things to sort out......

Guitar Ted Lube Off: Wet Season Finale

Tri-Flow on the Ti Muk

Okay, I was going to post an update on the Lube Off a while back, but I held off to sneak in another late addition, so I put it off until now. With the imminent end of Winter at hand, and a transitional "slop season" coming, I figured I would put an end to "Wet Season" testing for now. There were some odd entries into this portion of testing, so let's go back and review what I had on chains here during Wet Season.

• Tri Flow
• DuMonde Tech
• WD-40
• Grease over Tri-Flow
• Smooth Operator Lube

Okay, so with wet season I don't ever really expect a lube that is effective to be "clean". If the chain is dry, it usually ends up getting corroded and squeaky real fast. If it is clean, it is weird, and generally, not a good thing. Snow, slush, rain, and cold do weird things to chains, not to mention the chemical deicers they use on roads these days.  Conversely I don't like to see a wet, grimy chain flinging crap all over the bike either. That's generally a lube that's not only causing you more clean up time, but one that is attracting stuff you'd rather not have on your chain. No- something in between is best, in my opinion.

WD-40 was.......meh!

 

WD-40: The funny thing about this was that it actually works, up until a point. I found that I had to re-apply almost daily to keep the chain wet/lubricated. I also found that my chain was almost never dirty or a mess. I'm not 100% comfortable with how it lubricates chains, if in fact it is at all. Especially since it seems to get dry almost every ride and I don't know exactly at what point that is happening. So, I decided it wasn't cutting the mustard. End result- Not a good lubricant for wet season. 

Older pic of the Tri-Flow with grease over it.

Tri-Flow & Tri-Flow with Grease:

Okay, first off, please reference the top image for plain Tri-Flow and the one to the left here for Tri-Flow with an application of grease over the top.

Tri-Flow- whether layered over with grease or not- seemed to react about as equally well in wet snow or in rain. It was dirtier than your dry weather lubes, but it wasn't throwing crap all over, (if applied correctly), and kept the chain wet and lubricated better than most. I saw times where it was gathering sand, for instance, and crunchy noises would sometimes result. I had to periodically clean the chain, because if I did not, the Tri-Flow would go dry and then create a gunky, sticky mess on side plates and on cogs and chain rings. I will note that the grease over Tri-Flow seemed to be a tad bit better in this regard, but I quit riding that bike when conditions started calling out for full on fat bikes, so I cannot give a 100% recommendation on that. There was something to it, as far as a technique for wet weather goes, so I may return to this at some point.

In the end, I give Tri-Flow a "Good" recommendation for wet weather. It has to be maintained at regular intervals or after a particularly wet, snowy ride, but it does clean up well and a reapplication is easy.

Smooth Operator Lube: A messy lube, but it is working.

Smooth Operator Lube: 

Going to this lube's website, you don't get a lot of clues as to "why" this lube works. No technical mumbo-jumbo, no "gee-whiz" marketing spiel, just that it works for wet or dry conditions. So......there ya go. Your guess is as good as mine as to why this should be better than anything else. Oh well......

When I applied it, it looked vaguely familiar, as it was sort of thick, almost "gooey" as it came out of the applicator, (which is fantastic, by the way). I recalled Finish Line "Wet" formula, or maybe like Phil Wood lube, or like most soybean based lubricants I've tried. Anyway, if you've used those, you know what I mean about the Smooth Operator's consistency. It spread really well, and coated everything easily. Everything near it as well!

That's the main complaint so far on this lube- it's messy. Check out the image above of my Blackborow DS's chain. You can see my chain stay on the left there is coated in Smooth Operator lube. Hmm........ maybe I don't need to use as much, eh? 

I have put it on my BMC's chain.....very sparingly, I might add, and we will see how that goes in my next update.

DuMonde Tech.....yeah, that's crazy. Still champ.

 DuMonde Tech:

Okay, so if you've been following this along over the past almost year or so, you know I am a big fan of DuMonde Tech. It has just outdone everything else I've tried, wet or dry. However; that's just me. What about someone else? Okay, so I gave this stuff to my co-worker Andy to put on his Pugs SS. He rides it all the time in Winter. We took a look after about a month and a half of use and the image you see here is what it looked like.

Clean.

That's hard to beat, and with their claims of "plating the chain", I have to say that after seeing no corrosive effects or dirt sticking on it, I would have to say there is definitely something good going on with DuMonde Tech.

So, after a Wet Season of usage with all of these lubricants, DuMonde Tech is still getting my vote as the best out there. We haven't seen the full Smooth Operator Lube test done yet, so I'll hold off saying anything on that as far as a final word just now. We will continue to put others through their paces, so stay tuned as we get into warmer weather and Spring time conditions. 

Guitar Ted Lube Off: Wet Season Finale

Tri-Flow on the Ti Muk

Okay, I was going to post an update on the Lube Off a while back, but I held off to sneak in another late addition, so I put it off until now. With the imminent end of Winter at hand, and a transitional "slop season" coming, I figured I would put an end to "Wet Season" testing for now. There were some odd entries into this portion of testing, so let's go back and review what I had on chains here during Wet Season.

• Tri Flow
• DuMonde Tech
• WD-40
• Grease over Tri-Flow
• Smooth Operator Lube

Okay, so with wet season I don't ever really expect a lube that is effective to be "clean". If the chain is dry, it usually ends up getting corroded and squeaky real fast. If it is clean, it is weird, and generally, not a good thing. Snow, slush, rain, and cold do weird things to chains, not to mention the chemical deicers they use on roads these days.  Conversely I don't like to see a wet, grimy chain flinging crap all over the bike either. That's generally a lube that's not only causing you more clean up time, but one that is attracting stuff you'd rather not have on your chain. No- something in between is best, in my opinion.

WD-40 was.......meh!

 

WD-40: The funny thing about this was that it actually works, up until a point. I found that I had to re-apply almost daily to keep the chain wet/lubricated. I also found that my chain was almost never dirty or a mess. I'm not 100% comfortable with how it lubricates chains, if in fact it is at all. Especially since it seems to get dry almost every ride and I don't know exactly at what point that is happening. So, I decided it wasn't cutting the mustard. End result- Not a good lubricant for wet season. 

Older pic of the Tri-Flow with grease over it.

Tri-Flow & Tri-Flow with Grease:

Okay, first off, please reference the top image for plain Tri-Flow and the one to the left here for Tri-Flow with an application of grease over the top.

Tri-Flow- whether layered over with grease or not- seemed to react about as equally well in wet snow or in rain. It was dirtier than your dry weather lubes, but it wasn't throwing crap all over, (if applied correctly), and kept the chain wet and lubricated better than most. I saw times where it was gathering sand, for instance, and crunchy noises would sometimes result. I had to periodically clean the chain, because if I did not, the Tri-Flow would go dry and then create a gunky, sticky mess on side plates and on cogs and chain rings. I will note that the grease over Tri-Flow seemed to be a tad bit better in this regard, but I quit riding that bike when conditions started calling out for full on fat bikes, so I cannot give a 100% recommendation on that. There was something to it, as far as a technique for wet weather goes, so I may return to this at some point.

In the end, I give Tri-Flow a "Good" recommendation for wet weather. It has to be maintained at regular intervals or after a particularly wet, snowy ride, but it does clean up well and a reapplication is easy.

Smooth Operator Lube: A messy lube, but it is working.

Smooth Operator Lube: 

Going to this lube's website, you don't get a lot of clues as to "why" this lube works. No technical mumbo-jumbo, no "gee-whiz" marketing spiel, just that it works for wet or dry conditions. So......there ya go. Your guess is as good as mine as to why this should be better than anything else. Oh well......

When I applied it, it looked vaguely familiar, as it was sort of thick, almost "gooey" as it came out of the applicator, (which is fantastic, by the way). I recalled Finish Line "Wet" formula, or maybe like Phil Wood lube, or like most soybean based lubricants I've tried. Anyway, if you've used those, you know what I mean about the Smooth Operator's consistency. It spread really well, and coated everything easily. Everything near it as well!

That's the main complaint so far on this lube- it's messy. Check out the image above of my Blackborow DS's chain. You can see my chain stay on the left there is coated in Smooth Operator lube. Hmm........ maybe I don't need to use as much, eh? 

I have put it on my BMC's chain.....very sparingly, I might add, and we will see how that goes in my next update.

DuMonde Tech.....yeah, that's crazy. Still champ.

 DuMonde Tech:

Okay, so if you've been following this along over the past almost year or so, you know I am a big fan of DuMonde Tech. It has just outdone everything else I've tried, wet or dry. However; that's just me. What about someone else? Okay, so I gave this stuff to my co-worker Andy to put on his Pugs SS. He rides it all the time in Winter. We took a look after about a month and a half of use and the image you see here is what it looked like.

Clean.

That's hard to beat, and with their claims of "plating the chain", I have to say that after seeing no corrosive effects or dirt sticking on it, I would have to say there is definitely something good going on with DuMonde Tech.

So, after a Wet Season of usage with all of these lubricants, DuMonde Tech is still getting my vote as the best out there. We haven't seen the full Smooth Operator Lube test done yet, so I'll hold off saying anything on that as far as a final word just now. We will continue to put others through their paces, so stay tuned as we get into warmer weather and Spring time conditions. 

Introducing The Broad Street Growler

Okay, so now I'm going to bare all the secrets about this gravel event that I can for you today. It will be a bit different from many other events, and I hope that it all comes off well. We're going to start small, and try to keep the expectations in check, but anyway- here goes.....

The basics: What: The Broad Street Growler gravel road ride. The main word to remember is "fun" but there will be some challenge and room for a little friendly competition. Two courses- A "metric" and a "double metric. For you metrically challenged folk, that' 63 and 126 miles, or close to that. Expect beer, stuff, entertainment. More soon on all of that.....

Where: Broad Street Brewery will be the starting and ending point for both rides. Located in Reinbeck, Iowa, which is about 22 miles Southwest of Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa, about 90 miles Northeast from Des Moines, Iowa, and about 75 miles Northwest from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The routes will both take in bits of Grundy and Tama Counties. There will be level B roads and some tough hills, but it won't be brutal. We promise!

When: The date is set as September 3rd, 2016, which is the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. Plenty of spare time to get here and to recover afterward, or go do other cool things that weekend on Sunday and Monday.

Why: Again, we were thinking about having a route out in the country that wasn't just about getting first place in your category, but more about having fun, camaraderie, and overcoming a bit of a challenge along the way. We thought a cold draught of beer might be good afterward, and maybe have a bit of music to enjoy as well.

How: To get in on the potential fun, we will have online registration. We expect to cap off the field at 150 and the registration fee should be about $50.00 which will get you an insured event, a marked course with timed segments, some swag, some surprises, and entertainment at the end of the route. Details for registration will be released later.

Fine Details: The element of competition will be handled by having a couple timed segments which we will set up via Strava. Sponsors include Broad Street Brewery, Origin8, RidingGravel.com, and Europa Cycle & Ski.

Stay tuned for updates and links....

Introducing The Broad Street Growler

Okay, so now I'm going to bare all the secrets about this gravel event that I can for you today. It will be a bit different from many other events, and I hope that it all comes off well. We're going to start small, and try to keep the expectations in check, but anyway- here goes.....

The basics: What: The Broad Street Growler gravel road ride. The main word to remember is "fun" but there will be some challenge and room for a little friendly competition. Two courses- A "metric" and a "double metric. For you metrically challenged folk, that' 63 and 126 miles, or close to that. Expect beer, stuff, entertainment. More soon on all of that.....

Where: Broad Street Brewery will be the starting and ending point for both rides. Located in Reinbeck, Iowa, which is about 22 miles Southwest of Waterloo/Cedar Falls, Iowa, about 90 miles Northeast from Des Moines, Iowa, and about 75 miles Northwest from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The routes will both take in bits of Grundy and Tama Counties. There will be level B roads and some tough hills, but it won't be brutal. We promise!

When: The date is set as September 3rd, 2016, which is the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. Plenty of spare time to get here and to recover afterward, or go do other cool things that weekend on Sunday and Monday.

Why: Again, we were thinking about having a route out in the country that wasn't just about getting first place in your category, but more about having fun, camaraderie, and overcoming a bit of a challenge along the way. We thought a cold draught of beer might be good afterward, and maybe have a bit of music to enjoy as well.

How: To get in on the potential fun, we will have online registration. We expect to cap off the field at 150 and the registration fee should be about $50.00 which will get you an insured event, a marked course with timed segments, some swag, some surprises, and entertainment at the end of the route. Details for registration will be released later.

Fine Details: The element of competition will be handled by having a couple timed segments which we will set up via Strava. Sponsors include Broad Street Brewery, Origin8, RidingGravel.com, and Europa Cycle & Ski.

Stay tuned for updates and links....

The Monkey Decade: Plus Three

The operating table

The "Monkey Decade" was a series of posts I did back in 2013 concerning my Campstove Green Karate Monkey single speed. (The last update can be revisited here) The bike was purchased as a frame and fork by me in 2003, March I believe it was, and I rode it pretty religiously up till about 2007-2008 when other bikes and obligations kind of put that old critter on the back burner for quite a while. That series was a way for me to rekindle interest in the bike, and it did. There was one small detail that precluded me from getting back in the saddle with the project, as it were. That one thing was a very stuck bottom bracket that was in need of replacement.

Well, as I posted my Minus Ten Reviews, I was looking for an image, and found one of that old Karate Monkey in its heyday. (See yesterday's post) That pushed me over the edge, as I was not going to ride to work Friday in the sub-zero windchill, and I knew the repair schedule was pretty open. My boss at work is into challenges like stuck bottom brackets, so I knew he would be okay with me doing this in the dead of Winter. So, I hauled in that hulk of a Monkey and fastened it securely into my repair stand. The game was afoot!

There is one image of the process I did not get that I wished that I had. First, a bit of imagery description to help out here. I had purchased a large, 1 1/4" combination wrench which fit the Shimano bottom bracket tool quite nicely. That was all affixed to the non-drive side bottom bracket cup, (the drive side I managed to remove in 2015), and that big ol' wrench was hanging out there quite a ways. More leverage than I thought one may need. I braced myself, grabbed the frame in one hand and the heavy lead mallet with the other, and smacked away as hard as I could. That didn't work, so Andy stepped in to lend a hand, but to no avail.

By now my boss had come out and he decided that three of us could do the job. Two folks bracing the frame, me whacking the wrench with the lead mallet.

Nope.

My boss stood back and said, "Where is the fork straightener?" I knew exactly what he was on about.

The fork straightener comes from a less litigious, a less carbonated time, when forks were steel and people were willing to take the risk that a mechanic's bending a fork back in plane was an okay thing to do. Nowadays it's main usage is for cases that require extreme amounts of leverage. Times like this ......

Todd had wandered in about this time to see what all the fuss was about. Then he was employed into the process. Four grown men, heaving on a four foot long lever of steel on a 1 1/4" tool affixed to a splined interface. We were pulling so hard that the big combination wrench was deflecting about two inches. Finally, it moved! We all stood back in self-congratulatory stances, as only men can do after accomplishing manly tasks. Not that women couldn't have done it, but we men have a special air about us. I think everyone knows what I mean by that........

Anyway, it wasn't loose. We broke off the splined interface!!!

Yeah........that's just awesome. Now what?!!

 Okay, so now what? Well, there was no tool interface left anymore, so a destructive technique was all that was left to me, but how? I looked at the bottom bracket and knew that Shimano had assembled it in some way, but in what way? If I could reverse the process some how, I could maybe break it down to just the threaded part which was stuck in the frame. I began to pick at it with my sharp pick set tools. Eventually, a circlip came out, then a seal. I was making progress, so I was encouraged. I eventually pulled out the bearing cage and revealed the 1/4" ball bearings in their races. Hmm......hammer time! I grabbed a ball peen hammer and whacked the end of the spindle with a few sharp blows.

The BB-UN72 bottom bracket cartridge.

It came flying out of the frame like a missle, just barely missing a bike in the other stand! Whew! That would have sucked if I had hit it. But, I didn't, and now all I had to do was to remove a steel collar which was about an inch and a quarter wide and which was threaded into the bottom bracket shell.

Yeah.....that's all I had to do. 

There was only one way that was coming out. Remember, I had no tool interface, the piece was already missing a bit of its outer dimension which we had sheared off, and getting a chisel in that tiny space was almost impossible. I tried the chisel route, but it was not really very effective. I was going to have to hack saw that bugger out of there, and in doing that, not ruin the frame! We didn't have a jab saw, so I had to disassemble a standard hack saw, pass the blade through the bottom bracket shell, and then reattach the blade to the frame of the hacksaw. Tedious, but not impossible. Now, on to cutting!

I made three, very calculated, careful cuts. Two close together, and one roughly 90° from those two. Then I used a standard blade screw driver that I had sharpened a bit as a chisel to start to split the collar at the cuts I made, and then to drive the blade under the collar, hopefully prying up the smallest bit of the circumference of the collar first. It was a slow, tedious process, but I could see that the edges were working up. Finally, it snapped up off the bottom bracket shell! Then the two larger pieces came right out as well.

The two larger pieces of the collar show how rusted they were into the frame.

Success!

I got the bottom bracket out, and cleaned up the threads of the bottom bracket shell with the bottom bracket thread chaser. Whew!

That was close.

And it took entirely way too long to reach this result, but at least now I have a frame that I can rehabilitate and rebuild into a working bicycle once again. No more hang ups. Nothing to stop forward progress anymore.

Now what.....

You know, back in 2013 I thought maybe I would put the KM back into the (mostly) original configuration that I had it in back 2003. The thing is, that configuration was short lived, and I actually liked it best in the 2005-2008 time frame when I had a Midge drop bar, leather saddle, and a pretty stout gravel grinding gear set up on the bike. I got to thinking, well.........why not do that? 

New KM's are much more capable off road machines than my '03 is.

The old KM was good for its day, but the straight 1 1/8th head tube, non-gusseted frame, and antiquated rear drop out design make for a less than optimal off road bike now compared to the modern day KM which is a better Monkey all around for single speed activities on single track.

Plus, as I looked at the old, worn frame, it occurred to me that I might be able to use a specific, "old school" style wheel set I picked up from Mike, a Trans Iowa/Tour Divide veteran a few years back. It's an XTR hubbed, Salsa Delgado rim brake style wheel set which comes right out of the same time frame that the 2003 Karate Monkey does. You may remember also that '03 Monkeys could run cantilever brakes. Plus, the Shimano SLR levers I have on the bike should pull linear pull brakes well enough, and even if they don't, I have a pair of Tektro long pull levers sitting around that will.

I figure I'll set up a fresh pair of Bruce Gordon Rock and Road skinwalls on that, and my Velo Orange leather saddle. That along with a new handle bar, stem, and a TruVativ, outboard bearing single speed crankset, and Surly cog with a 9 speed chain driving it all, and I should be sitting pretty well and have a great single speed gravel travel rig.

So, no bike project is worth doing without a goal. This bike is being resurrected at the perfect time for me to reprise the first Guitar Ted Death Ride course. The Karate Monkey single speed was the bike I used on that first GTDRI, and as we're doing the same route, why not use the "same" bicycle?

All righty then......its on. 
 

The Monkey Decade: Plus Three

The operating table

The "Monkey Decade" was a series of posts I did back in 2013 concerning my Campstove Green Karate Monkey single speed. (The last update can be revisited here) The bike was purchased as a frame and fork by me in 2003, March I believe it was, and I rode it pretty religiously up till about 2007-2008 when other bikes and obligations kind of put that old critter on the back burner for quite a while. That series was a way for me to rekindle interest in the bike, and it did. There was one small detail that precluded me from getting back in the saddle with the project, as it were. That one thing was a very stuck bottom bracket that was in need of replacement.

Well, as I posted my Minus Ten Reviews, I was looking for an image, and found one of that old Karate Monkey in its heyday. (See yesterday's post) That pushed me over the edge, as I was not going to ride to work Friday in the sub-zero windchill, and I knew the repair schedule was pretty open. My boss at work is into challenges like stuck bottom brackets, so I knew he would be okay with me doing this in the dead of Winter. So, I hauled in that hulk of a Monkey and fastened it securely into my repair stand. The game was afoot!

There is one image of the process I did not get that I wished that I had. First, a bit of imagery description to help out here. I had purchased a large, 1 1/4" combination wrench which fit the Shimano bottom bracket tool quite nicely. That was all affixed to the non-drive side bottom bracket cup, (the drive side I managed to remove in 2015), and that big ol' wrench was hanging out there quite a ways. More leverage than I thought one may need. I braced myself, grabbed the frame in one hand and the heavy lead mallet with the other, and smacked away as hard as I could. That didn't work, so Andy stepped in to lend a hand, but to no avail.

By now my boss had come out and he decided that three of us could do the job. Two folks bracing the frame, me whacking the wrench with the lead mallet.

Nope.

My boss stood back and said, "Where is the fork straightener?" I knew exactly what he was on about.

The fork straightener comes from a less litigious, a less carbonated time, when forks were steel and people were willing to take the risk that a mechanic's bending a fork back in plane was an okay thing to do. Nowadays it's main usage is for cases that require extreme amounts of leverage. Times like this ......

Todd had wandered in about this time to see what all the fuss was about. Then he was employed into the process. Four grown men, heaving on a four foot long lever of steel on a 1 1/4" tool affixed to a splined interface. We were pulling so hard that the big combination wrench was deflecting about two inches. Finally, it moved! We all stood back in self-congratulatory stances, as only men can do after accomplishing manly tasks. Not that women couldn't have done it, but we men have a special air about us. I think everyone knows what I mean by that........

Anyway, it wasn't loose. We broke off the splined interface!!!

Yeah........that's just awesome. Now what?!!

 Okay, so now what? Well, there was no tool interface left anymore, so a destructive technique was all that was left to me, but how? I looked at the bottom bracket and knew that Shimano had assembled it in some way, but in what way? If I could reverse the process some how, I could maybe break it down to just the threaded part which was stuck in the frame. I began to pick at it with my sharp pick set tools. Eventually, a circlip came out, then a seal. I was making progress, so I was encouraged. I eventually pulled out the bearing cage and revealed the 1/4" ball bearings in their races. Hmm......hammer time! I grabbed a ball peen hammer and whacked the end of the spindle with a few sharp blows.

The BB-UN72 bottom bracket cartridge.

It came flying out of the frame like a missle, just barely missing a bike in the other stand! Whew! That would have sucked if I had hit it. But, I didn't, and now all I had to do was to remove a steel collar which was about an inch and a quarter wide and which was threaded into the bottom bracket shell.

Yeah.....that's all I had to do. 

There was only one way that was coming out. Remember, I had no tool interface, the piece was already missing a bit of its outer dimension which we had sheared off, and getting a chisel in that tiny space was almost impossible. I tried the chisel route, but it was not really very effective. I was going to have to hack saw that bugger out of there, and in doing that, not ruin the frame! We didn't have a jab saw, so I had to disassemble a standard hack saw, pass the blade through the bottom bracket shell, and then reattach the blade to the frame of the hacksaw. Tedious, but not impossible. Now, on to cutting!

I made three, very calculated, careful cuts. Two close together, and one roughly 90° from those two. Then I used a standard blade screw driver that I had sharpened a bit as a chisel to start to split the collar at the cuts I made, and then to drive the blade under the collar, hopefully prying up the smallest bit of the circumference of the collar first. It was a slow, tedious process, but I could see that the edges were working up. Finally, it snapped up off the bottom bracket shell! Then the two larger pieces came right out as well.

The two larger pieces of the collar show how rusted they were into the frame.

Success!

I got the bottom bracket out, and cleaned up the threads of the bottom bracket shell with the bottom bracket thread chaser. Whew!

That was close.

And it took entirely way too long to reach this result, but at least now I have a frame that I can rehabilitate and rebuild into a working bicycle once again. No more hang ups. Nothing to stop forward progress anymore.

Now what.....

You know, back in 2013 I thought maybe I would put the KM back into the (mostly) original configuration that I had it in back 2003. The thing is, that configuration was short lived, and I actually liked it best in the 2005-2008 time frame when I had a Midge drop bar, leather saddle, and a pretty stout gravel grinding gear set up on the bike. I got to thinking, well.........why not do that? 

New KM's are much more capable off road machines than my '03 is.

The old KM was good for its day, but the straight 1 1/8th head tube, non-gusseted frame, and antiquated rear drop out design make for a less than optimal off road bike now compared to the modern day KM which is a better Monkey all around for single speed activities on single track.

Plus, as I looked at the old, worn frame, it occurred to me that I might be able to use a specific, "old school" style wheel set I picked up from Mike, a Trans Iowa/Tour Divide veteran a few years back. It's an XTR hubbed, Salsa Delgado rim brake style wheel set which comes right out of the same time frame that the 2003 Karate Monkey does. You may remember also that '03 Monkeys could run cantilever brakes. Plus, the Shimano SLR levers I have on the bike should pull linear pull brakes well enough, and even if they don't, I have a pair of Tektro long pull levers sitting around that will.

I figure I'll set up a fresh pair of Bruce Gordon Rock and Road skinwalls on that, and my Velo Orange leather saddle. That along with a new handle bar, stem, and a TruVativ, outboard bearing single speed crankset, and Surly cog with a 9 speed chain driving it all, and I should be sitting pretty well and have a great single speed gravel travel rig.

So, no bike project is worth doing without a goal. This bike is being resurrected at the perfect time for me to reprise the first Guitar Ted Death Ride course. The Karate Monkey single speed was the bike I used on that first GTDRI, and as we're doing the same route, why not use the "same" bicycle?

All righty then......its on. 
 

Minus Ten Review- 6

Classic Year of the Monkey stuff here.

Ten years ago on the blog here I was having some fun with my local bloggers here. Yeah..... That was a long time ago! In many ways, it was kind of cool to see everyone blogging instead of posting memes on Facecrack like many do now. Blogs were/are a bit more considered, thoughtfully constructed, and more fun, in my opinion. They were/are a lot of work though, and the minute Facecrack made some in-roads, then blogging went by the wayside, I think. Anyway.....I digress. 

Local bloggers......yeah, okay! One of these was Carl, and on his blog he accused me as being a 29"er nutcase. All in good fun, of course. That was most likely in reference to a possibility of a Cannondale 29"er coming down the pike. I also was speculating on a 2007 release of a Specialized 29"er at the time. It seems rather odd now to think that hardly anyone was doing 29"ers, but there was a time when they were rare.

I was asked about my drop bar on my Karate Monkey, so I posted about that bike, which I still need to get the dang bottom bracket out of! One of these ol days, I will.

You'll see!