New pads and good cables and housing will make a huge difference even to ****e brakes.

I did the wall once a in a charity ride before the Core states Pro race, I think I was 16 got owned bad by the wall I road every day all day then too.

Last TNR of the year at the San Diego velodrome, so naturally I rode my MTB and volunteered to do lap cards. In addition to a (planned) general fitness decline, I took 5 days off the bike recently to visit Zion and Bryce canyon national park so I'm sure I'd get spanked left right and center :). Plus I like doing lap cards! I get to yell at the riders and ring the bell :) :)

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0722403e3c.jpg

You can ring my be-eh-el ring my bell!

That is some purdy nature that you gots right thar!

I am getting steps closer to spending more money than I should to get my new Langster up and running. Sugino 75DD and a nice EAI Gold Medal cog and of course it will have a nice Super Toughness chain (which I already have) and then I might get some more comfortable bars for my Phil Wood frame and some NOS brakes for the Klein (since I have to go V-brake anyway due to the new fork not being compatible with cantis) and this is in addition to the Magura brakes and lights I bought for a Raleigh I am working on. Gotta stop spending so many coins.

Micro sanded / polished shimano crankset for a build I’m dubbing the cheap unicorn and proceeded to purchase some final odds and ends from R-G. Been years since I was back into a build and I’m havin fun with it!

Today I finally have a picture to show of the ride I replaced the front wheel on after a couple of years hiatus.

Getting back in the cycle commuting saddle and I'm felling it... though it's not as bad as I'd expected.

Man, I love riding this thing!https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5e8fba4cd7.jpg

Today I discovered Stadium Super Trucks.

Today I'm thinking about buying a Campy groupset for my road bike...

Campanoglos makes some nice stuff. I really want to get a nice lugged bike with 50th anniversary. a friend of mine has one that he brazed himself. I really wish they made some flat bar shifters in 11 speed for a project I am working on. It would be neat to build the bike with Campy and do something completely crazy.

Yeah I've kinda wanted to switch over from Shimano for a while. Someone on CL semi-local is selling a Record 10 speed group for 500. Doing the math to try to justify it considering I'll also need new wheels (I think).

Excel has a 2014 Pinarello Dogma F65.1 frameset for $1798. That was a $5k+ frameset in its day.

https://www.excelsports.com/main.asp...ajor=1&minor=1

Throw some Boras and a Super Record EPS group on there and boom, crazy.

They have size 54 and the flouro/black frameset has been calling to me for a few days. "Tim, you know you want me. I'm right here, waiting for you." and so forth.

Today I finished (for now) and test rode my first single speed MTB cobbled together out of my all original 1994 Trek 920. I think I need to at least replace the 24 year old brake pads before hitting the trails.

Today I rode 11 miles doing singlespeed gravel. It was my first time, but a LOT of fun. I want to switch the 17t on the fixed side to a 16t cog, but can't decide between going with a Dura Ace, or EAI. Is there any real difference? Looks to me like the EAI has a little bit thicker teeth and might last longer. Should I look as something else?

Dave

I know it's got a great pedigree, but I still think that's one of the ugliest road bike frames ever made.

I got home last night from the Grizzly 100k (10,000+ feet vertical) mtb race in Big Bear, mostly single track. Additionally most of the course is between 6,500 and 8,000 feet, with a low of 4,100 and high of 9,100. The ride took 7:16 elapsed which was a bit longer than I had thought, and about half-way down the standings. I spent about 10-15 minutes stopped for pee breaks, filling up my water or switching around food items in my pockets. I estimate that I ate ~1,200 cal during the ride of cliff bars, stinger waffles and gels.

I'm happy with my ride, and I can't wait to come back next year! I paced the ride very conservatively, knowing that I was in over my head and that I didn't want to blow up. I was able to finish very strong, and didn't get passed (passed 5 more riders) during the finial ~30k after I topped the big Radford climb. I felt good at the end. For some context, I was able to drive home basically right away, when I had planned for laying/sitting down for an hour and drinking spots drinks if necessary :). I wanted to make it home in time after the 3 hour drive to have dinner with my lady!

The course features the dreaded Radford climb, 5 miles of rocky ~9% grades with 4,000+ feet of climbing. It takes the fast guys an hour to climb it, me about 15 minutes more than that. "Fast guys" warrants some explanation here - this is not a USAC categorized race where I would be with other MTB (racing) beginners. It's put on by the National Ultra Endurance (NUE) MTB series, and is mass-start with a start list that featured David "Tinker" Juarez (former MTB olympian), various pro roadies and a bunch of local Cat 1 road riders. Also, there was a TWELVE YEAR old kid that finished the event with his dad, about 10 minutes before me!

Next year I think that 6:45 is doable but I want to target 6:30. With some more focus, experience with the course, and harder, metered efforts up Radford and Skyline I feel I could have finished 20 or so minutes faster this year. This course isn't all about the climbs - the single track and descents are technical enough that there is a lot of time to be gain (or lost in my case) by not riding it smoothly. There is way more skill here than road - the top guys here were faster than me uphill (obviously), downhill and on twisty single track as well, whereas I can keep up with the "fast guys" on the road if it isn't straight up hill.

Overall I am stoked for the event and the kind of effort it demands both physically and mentally. In addition to the physically grueling by nature of the course, it's hard to stay focused for 6+ hrs! It is MTB after all - gotta keep a constant eye on the front wheel and always be thinking about the smoothest way across an obstacle.

Lastly, just to put some perspective into the depth of talent - my finishing time was (again) ~7:16 was about half-way down the start list. The winner this year finished sub-5 at (4:53) :eek:

Of the gruppos out there that aren't Shimango, Campy is probably my top pick. They are the storied brand that has been around cycling for longer than most and certainly has a drive towards quality and practicality.

I would just go for it and either get some new wheels or see if you can get a campy freehub for the old wheel? Me personally I would hold out for 11 speed only because chains and cassettes are generally cross compatible on all three systems at 11 speed which is rare.

Wow. 10,000 ft of climbing on a mtb! What kind of bike did you ride for that, and how did the next day feel?

Dave

Thanks Dave. I rode my Ritchey P-650b hardtail, my only MTB. I run it 1x10 with hydraulic disc brakes, tubeless and a nice Fox fork (see below). Yesterday I was definitely pretty sore, feel it! A ~45 min fixed ride (42/17) in the morning at a super slow pace helped with that though.

Also, there were guys doing the whole 100k yesterday on Single Speeds! Now that's nuts.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b4f376c922.jpg

Nuts is just a point on a spectrum. Depending on your viewpoint:

People riding MTBs are nuts
People riding 100k with 10k feet of climbing on a MTB are really nuts
People who do that on a single speed are really nuts
People who ride that in XYZ gear are really really nuts
etc, etc.

Basically, we're all nuts.

more or less, yes :)

Rode 85 miles up the San Diego Coastline, singlespeed mode, 18t WhiteIndustries freewheel. Mostly flat or rollers, only 3000ft of climbing for the day
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1916/...e7f46ed4_c.jpg
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1931/...a19643c1_c.jpg

Today I swapped my 17t cog with a 16t Dura Ace. Cleaned up the cog real well, and took it for a spin. Super smooth pedalling, and now I'm running 45 x 16 :-D

Dave

Nice bike! Did you lock out the fork? I want to get a different MTB and get back into it, how do you like the Ritchey?

Dave

Naw, I just left it on "trail mode" the whole time. Fox does this CTD (Climb Trail Descend) thing where C is locked out, D is super squishy and the T somewhere in between.

I find myself leaving my shocks in trail/ pedal too. Usually not realizing until the going gets tough and I should be in either open or locked.
With things going they are, there's probably going to be self adjusting shock dampening soon.