Mose

Damn, wish I could make this ride, but I'm in the Pan Mass Challenge the weekend of the 4/5th and I'm heading up to Killington for some dirt on teh 10/11th.

Any day in between now and then though, I'm up for riding.



Also as a side note, I ride a 12-27 and a 53/39. I'm not a climber by any stretch of the imagination but I ride Bigelow all the time (to improve my climbing) and I get do either direction sitting down in 39 - 27.

Going through East to West is more challenging in my opinion then going West to East.

Especially since I start at 300 ft elevation in North Woodstock and go from there.

JNorm

Answer: Very very little

GuitarWizard

Just remember, hills are your friend

JNorm

Thats what my mom said about priests when I was a kid too.

blonduathlongrl

You stole my line, except I know how much you really meant it

Ryleeryno

and headwinds are your enemy.

Homebrew01

Sounds like fun, although my wife usually has a nervous breakdown if left alone with the kids for more than an hour or 2. It would be nice to tackle some new hills for a change.

"......You guys should come ride with Pedal Power during the school year...."
Does this refer to the bike shop ?? I worked there a LOOOONG time ago

Homebrew01

Anyone doing the Tokeneke RR on July 29th ?? I rode the course last week and it has a few nice hills in it.

GuitarWizard

There's no Cat 5 category

Homebrew01

Yeah, that's a bummer

Staylor36

If anyone is in the area we do a time trial in Sturbridge, Ma every tuesday that starts around 6:30 or a little before. Nothing crazy, just 5-10 guys but its pretty fun, its a 9.5 or so mile, fairly flat, smooth road with a nice wide shoulder.

RadTechGal

This sounds like a fun ride and I'd love to join you. At the moment, I have tentative plans for 8/4-5 but if they should fall through, I'll be there. The alternate date doesn't work for me though and I can't get out of those plans.

I'll report back to let you know if I'm in or not.

JoeOxfordCT

Hi Guitar,

I'm planning on the the Tour of the Litchfield Hills on the 5th.....

https://www.tourofthelitchfieldhills.com/

Right now I only have time for one day-killing group ride per weekend....

But I will watch this thread in case the date changes.....sounds like we have lots of folks who're at least interested in getting together....

GuitarWizard

Joe.....there's also gonna be a ride the following weekend

Greg180

Going to be a busy month for riding. After you throw in the Tour of the Hilltowns in MA. We will be riding the 5th, 11th and 18th. I was planning, (iff the back is Okay), to preride the course for the hilltowns on the 11th.

JoeOxfordCT

What's the scoop on the ride on the weekend of the 11th ??

So who's doing the Tour of the Litchfield Hills besides me on the 5th ??

Guitar, when I have a little more time to write I have to ask you how you have your 50-36 setup.
I just went to this setup (running an 11-28 cassette) and I'm having some issues shifting from the 50 to the 36......the chain doesn't always come all the way over onto the 36 and ends up sitting on top of the 36 and right up against the 50......brought it back to my LBS (Cycle Fitness, Monroe) and the mechanic says I make sure I'm softpedalling when I do the shift.... Softpedalling is one thing but sometimes I softpedal so hard I'm off the back before the hill's begun to bite....Never had this issue shifting from the 50 to the 39 on my triple....105 Triple FD......

Oh well, I guess I did have time to write huh ??

GuitarWizard

It will basically be a repeat of the one on the 4th, but mayyyyybe a little different route, depending on who's game for what.

My SRAM 50/36 setup hardly ever drops the chain. My Ultegra 50/36 w/ FSA crank seems to drop the chain at least once on a ride. I softpedal when shifting, but it only takes a second.....with the Shimano setup, it's a lot more touchy than the SRAM setup, so I have to pay extra attention it seems. Your chain gets stuck between the 50 and 36 chainrings?

Greg....I think I can sum up Hilltowns....20 miles of crusing, big f'in hill, some more cruising....another big f'in hill and then the finish

JoeOxfordCT

My problem is the opposite of yours....I don't drop the chain to the inside of the 36...the chain doesn't make it all the way over to the 36......I also don't seem to have near as much movement of the FD trim click now as I did when I ran the triple......My crank if the Shimano FC-R700. When I first got the crank and ran it with the 50-34 it shifted nearly flawlessly. Now I just don't trust the front shifting.....it works most of the time but the trust is gone.....I suppose I could bring it to a different bike shop and get another opinion.....Oh, and btw I just put a brand new Dura Ace chain on too and it's made no difference...

As soon as you can please give me the hard details on the ride of the 11th. I can shotgun email it to some folks I ride with from Sound Cyclists to see if there's any interest.

GuitarWizard

Hmm.....how old is the FD cable? Maybe it's stretched and needs to be adjusted/replaced? Just seems kinda weird that it worked fine before, and doesn't work as well now.

The 11th will be the same time/place as the 4th. I will post up details on where to park in the original post shortly.

JoeOxfordCT

Whole bike is only coming up on one year old....I don't know....bike always shifted great as a triple.....don't understand why going to a double would complicate and/or make things worse...I love the ratios I'm running now with the 50-36 and the 11-28....love it !

GuitarWizard

You running the same FD with the double as with the triple?

JoeOxfordCT

Yes..and an Ultegra long cage RD too.

GuitarWizard

Hmm.....I dunno, I might be inclined to swap out the FD. But....chances are your cable has stretched. I'm also not exactly a bike mechanic, so I just throw money at stuff until it works

JoeOxfordCT

Yeah that's been my method too.....I'm just tired of the throwing money part...

GuitarWizard

Ok, just updated where to park/meet.