I just rode my Bianchi Pista up Mt Washington with a 21T cog and a 20T chain ring. I can't get the cog off???? Any tips?

He's a pic of me almost at the 22 percent grade .

https://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...t=IMG_4532.jpg

quite a hill... put triflow on the threads and let it sit for a little. should help a little.

reverse rotafix

Yep, do what they say on the site, only wrap the chain on the bottom of the cog and move the wheel the other way.

when i first read your post i thought you were talking about the mount washington here in oregon!

Mt Washington in New Hampshire! I suppose I should have been more specific. Its a 7.6 mile climb with an average 12% grade with long sections of 18% and that last hundred yards at 22%.There is no downhill sections.

Riding Fixed, I did not have the distraction of shifters. More brain to appreciate the view. I was 3 minutes faster then when i rode up with my lighter geared bike a few weeks back. The weather was better on the gear bike too.

When the road flattened out to a mere 6% grade it felt like I was going down hill spinning at 150 or so RPMs.



Man, that cog is screwed on tight, Thanks, I dripped some triflow in and I'll try the reverse rotafix in the AM

20T chainring w/ a 20T cog = 25.7 gear inches

damn that must be a steep climb !!

no kidding! i used to use a 24 x 24 for deep woods singlespeed riding trhu muck and stuff....

Methods for removing a stuck cog:

Reverse rotafix - can put some pressure on your chain stays so take it easy. Wrap everything with a rag/magazine to prevent scratching.

Bench vice + section of old chain + blocks of wood - wrap the cog in the old chain and then clamp it between the wood blocks. Then grab the wheel and turn it the right way.

Wheel against wall + chain whip - Place wheel against wall. Wrap chain whip so handle is going to turn the right way. Grab wall and step onto whip. Be careful, as its pretty easy to bend cheap whips this way.

Suicide skid - Take off locking, start pulling skids. Occasionally attack cog with chainwhip. Repeat until success. Eventually the cog will break itself free. Not the safest of methods.


Next time you install the cog use a high torque grease (such as a copper grease) or anti-seize. Standard grease just doesn't cut it for cogs.

Thanks for the tips. I locked my chain whip in a vise, then it took two people to break it free. Now its time to get some copper grease! Can I get it at hardware store?

Does a low gear screw the cog on tighter?

Nice job on the climb! I ran up that road, and it was one of the least fun things I've ever done.

For those who are not familiar: There is a bike race and a running race that go up that hill, the same distance. The finishers for both finish with around the same time. That is how steep the road is.

Everything else being equal, yes.

I'm curious what cranks you used to be able to mount a chainring that small. Compact road double?

I found a NOS Suntour Micro Drive XC Comp on Ebay, 170mm it's a 56mm bolt circle. The Specialites TA Carmina has a spider with a 58mm inner ring but to much $$ for one ride up a hill.

Aeroplane

"I ran up that road, and it was one of the least fun things I've ever done."

Now thats INSANE! I entered the lottery for the run once and felt like I won when i didn't get in.
What was your time and did you have any good hallucinations on the way up?

I ran around a 1:27 or so in 2005 (you can look up my results, I'm too lazy); they say most normal folks finish near what their half-marathon time would be, so I was pretty close.

No hallucinations for me, just felt like I couldn't breathe. I think the elevation took as much of a toll as the slope; I trained at 300ft and half the race was above 3000ft. 40 degrees and light rain at the top in the middle of June.

HOLY ****! fixed, up mount washington. congrats, man! i wish that road were open to bikers more often, and closed to cars always. as i understand it, the only time riders are allowed on it is for that race, and reg fills up almost immediately.

mt washington is beautiful. i'm a big fan of the amninoosuc (sp?!) trail to lakes of the clouds. i remember running (more like a light trail job) to the summit from lakes early one morning with my aunt, in high winds blowing clouds across really fast, from clear days to zero visibility in ten seconds. ****ing beautiful!

i adore the white mountains. it's been too long since i've been there.

Due to high demand there's two races a year with each race having a practice ride. There's the Mount Washington Bicycle hill climb August 7 and Newtons Revenge July 8. The August race sold out 600 spots in 30 minutes at 5:00am in February. Newtons Revenge only sold 270 spots. I rode in 1993 on a geared bike in 1:20.59 in 2007 for the Newtons practice ride I was around 1:45 but I'm 20 lbs heavier so I'll take that.

The Newtons race was postponed on the07/07/07 the was 70 MPH winds and 0 visibility above the tree line. The next day the race was canceled as the gravel sections of the road were the constancy of peanut butter from heavy rains.

They opened the road to us on 7/29 for an unsupported informal ride at 5:00am. Just 37 peeps came. I was passed by 2 riders in the first mile and saw no one till I passed someone in the last mile. It was just me and the Mountain........Peace. Fixed I rode 1:42

Some more pics:

https://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...cture007-1.jpg

https://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...Picture009.jpg