Hammertoe

Well I missed riding the warmest day of 2007. Yesterday was family...Gymnastics, horseback riding, trash, yard work...

Today my kids have a free ski day at Stratton Mtn (a perk living up here). I have a season pass but have not used it yet (usually I have a good 2 weeks of skiing by now)...

I had a choice ski or bike...Sorry kids I missed the incredible day yesterday I want today. So out I went on my new Frankenclimbingbike...

I just finished building my climbing bike I will use in the hill climbing races this summer. A Leader 735R, double Butted U6 U.A.L. Aluminum, Deore crank set 48-36-26, XT cassette 11-34, XT rear derailluer, 105 brakes and FD, FSA 250 bars, FSA 115 stem, FSA 200 seat post, Ultegra shifters, right now I am using a set of Mike Garcia DT Swiss RR1 rims with SpeedCific hubs but a set of Ascent II are in the works. Total weight with Look Keo CroMo pedals ~18.5 pounds...

The gearing sucked. Too much space between the sprockets made it difficult to find a rhythm at times...

It seemed to be plenty stiff (this coming from a 140 pound weakling) and maybe LESS road buzz than my steel LeMond 853 Maillot Jaune...

45 miles and I was trashed. An 18 MPH effort only got me going 14 MPH. DeLorme says 4675 feet of climbing/Garmin says 3611 feet of climbing (We all know DeLorme is off quite a bit). I think I may be in trouble this summer...

Here is a pic of the new Frankenclimbingbike and the poor snow cover at Stratton Mtn (the people in the back are stupid flatlanders walking there dog on the golf course before they head home. Can't they use the woods on the other side of the road?)...

-=(8)=-

N I C E, Hammertoe !!!

Snuffleupagus

I just put an Ouzo Pro on the Blue, and it really killed some of the road vibration. It's also oddly enough much stuffer, that may 'splain part of why the Leader feels better than the 853 bike.

Either way, nice looking bike, you shouldn't need more gearing than that

jimbud

Fore!!! is that a Titlest?

botto 

don't forget that those dumb flatlanders keep plenty of folk in the stratton area in the black.

kind of shocking sight to see stratton so green in january. makes me think of the week between x-mas and new years 1997/98 when i spent a week learning how to snowboard up there.

btw - that's a great climb up to the lodge, and on towards Crown Point.

Hammertoe

Good point on the Ouzo Pro. I have a LeMond carbon fork on the 853. Can the Ouzo be that much better?....

I have heard some people set up their bikes with only one chainring 22/24 with a 11-32/34 cassette for these rides. And this weakling certainly does not want to walk up Mt. Washington....


Yes they do!! But they check their brains at the State line. If I was to walk my dog on their golf course I'm sure they would have something to say...

Here's a story. My 'neighbor' a CT native with a 2nd house here in VT keeps passing my house on the road with his tractor. I go out to see what he is doing. He is dismantling an old sugar house foundation on my property. I confront him. He wants flat rocks for his wife's flower garden. I explain those rocks are on my property and happen to be historical. He thought that they were just in the woods....

Hello...someone owns the woods...How about I come down and take some bushes from your property...They weren't next to the house so I thought they were public property....NTB (Not To Bright)...

merlinextraligh

are these hill climb races up trees? That is awfully low gearing.

Hammertoe

I hope to do Whiteface, Ascutney, Equinox and Mt. Washington...

My goal is to finish...in the saddle...

bmike

Very strange weather here in VT.
I went out and did a century this Sunday.
It was slow, I felt like your 18 - 14 mph conversion was working for me as well.


I do miss the Brat / Putney area, but have to say Burlington is a pretty hip town.
Scary. I circled Mt. Mansfield. Rode by Smuggs and through Stowe. Not much snow.

Looks like a nice ride you put together there.
I went with a "compact" double that I can put a 30 little ring on, and I'm running a Campy 13-29 rear. I'll swap out my standard compact rings (34,50) for a (32,48) for brevet events, and maybe get that little ring on there for some hill climbs - but I'm still 1 year out from that stuff.

Want to try Six Gaps late this summer?

Hammertoe

You read my mind. I was just going to ask you about Six Gaps. West Hill offered it at some point...

My fitness has really suffered the last few months. I hope it comes back quick. If I can get back to were I was last year, lets give it a go. I know there are plenty of bail out points...

I am putting together a compact Campy bike as well with 13-29 casstte. I did not think about switching out the chain rings. I like that idea...

bmike

Read about my IF here. Its got info on my drive train, which is a Campy rear cassette and TA Carmina cranks with 94 BCD.

I tried to put that ride on through the Putney Bike Club / West Hill (I used to coordinate the club) after reading about it on the web and having 1 of the members push us to do it. A BF'r from Rutland was also going to join us.

It rained all day. No-one showed - cept me and the BF'r from Rutland. I showed late, so he got back in the warm car and enjoyed the day with his wife and a cafe. I tried to ride - then downgraded to 4 gaps, then 2 gaps. I got over Middlebury and needed an hour to warm up (it was in the 40's I think) after descending. When I got moving again I was soaked to the bone and cold. Called the wife and I bailed out. She met me north of Middlebury on Rt. 7.

This year I'm going to organize it earlier, and not affiliate it with any particular club. I think early-mid August will be good - plenty of daylight left, warmer temps. We'll have a rain date as well, and I'm hoping to have someone SAG for us. Should be fun.

platypus

I like the frankenbike. I was planning on putting one of these together this year, speficially for Everest Challenge duty.

-=(8)=-

R0tland BFers = tuff as a 2.00 steak !!
Something tells me that Rutland BFer might have
a problem with 6 gaps

Hammertoe : there is some great flame wars going on between
flatlanders and real Vermonters in the Rutland Herald if you
get that paper there !

bmike

And the BF'r I was mentioning arrives!
We will have to try again next summer.

Was in Penny Cluse in Burlington today for a quiet lunch with the wife, and I had to listen to the hipster ski bums the next table over talk about all the powder they are missing out west, how their friends snowboard bag doesn't fit into the beemer's trunk and they have to drop the center console of the back seat (use some of that money and buy a roof rack), and how cool they were falling and jumping and being yahoos on the slopes.

Normally I encourage people to leave their money in the state, but I wanted these folks to leave so badly, or at least learn to control the volume of their voices in a quiet little restraunt. Then I heard they were from Jersey... that pretty much did me in. They got up to leave without incident, but another 5 minutes and I would have snapped.

Yeah, there is no snow, we know this, its killing the economy here, and yeah, there's not much we can do about it... but thanks for driving all the way up here contributing to that global warming that is threatening the rad way cool winter you so love.

[edit]Note - I'm not a real Vermonter... I moved here 3 years ago from Upstate NY... but I loved it enough here to make job and earnings concessions - instead of mucking up the place by only vacationing here... I'll have to pick up the Rutland paper and check it out!

-=(8)=-

Hey Mike !!
I was slobbering over your blog (Italy) a while ago !!
I was in Burlington a few weeks ago...We ate at Sweetwaters(?) and
ogled stuff I could never afford at a shop called Ski Rack.
You got a taste of Jersey, too.......thats Jersey status quo....In
Penna we got a lot of it...Im used to it. Very 'loud' state !
Anyway...hopefully we'll get a ride in this spring !!

Hammertoe

Last year seemed pretty harsh but sounds good for this year. Mt. Washington Hill Climb is August 18th and Equinox is August 4th. I hope to 'finish' both. I am starting to get a bit worried as I am not a racer and those grades seem crazy...

My family is trying to oranize a big family renunion in August as well. I will know more as the month comes closer...

I will see if I can get my hands on a Herald. The Brattleboro Reformer is what I read and it tends to be a day behind the Herald...

For the record I too am a flatlander. Raised in Maryland. Fear The Turtle...

bmike

Next time up email me...

Hammertoe

Now thats a Challenge. I would like to tackle that someday....

platypus

with Frankenbike gearing, the only challenge is the time limits!

SpongeDad

So 9sp brifters work with TX cassettes? I hope so, I'm planning on converting my trek to a lo-geared climbing bike for similar rides.

Hammertoe

Yes the cassette spacing is the same for the road and mountain cassettes so my 9 speed triple Ulegra shifters work fine with the XT cassette...

Just be aware you need the mountain (Deore/LX/XT/XTR) rear derailleur as well...It has a longer cage...

ggg300

yes....better with bar ends...make sure your XT is the normal rise or the shifting goes backward...and if you have a 50/34 crank go with the mid cage if you can....30/34 is a really low gear...

terrymorse 

Looks like a nice set-up, although you might consider raising the bars a bit. A pure climbing bike has bars pretty close to the height of the saddle. With higher bars, you can sit taller and open up the hip joint, so you can put more force into the pedals. You can also move the bars back a bit with a shorter stem.

Hammertoe

Thanks Terry, I left the steerer slightly longer until I knew the height I wanted...

I put them under the bars and give it a try...

Any advice to get 'more force into the pedals' is appreciated!!!