Team Lope Tyre Clubbe » brakes

The Fourth Hand

wrongrobot — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 22:27:11 +0000

When my guy at my LBS helped me adjust the derailleur on Villain, I noted he was using a very awesome tool, referred to as the ‘third hand’ in that shop. Obviously that’s a name you’d want to buy the tool for, regardless of what it does.

The industry actually knows it as the ‘Fourth Hand’ because it serves the purpose of two hands… just by the time you subtract a hand holding it, you’re down to three. But you COULD let it hang, back up to—-

– OK, dork out over. Anyway, it clamps the brake or shift cable in place and then locks that position, nice and tight, so you can hold a nut or clamp and allen it with the other hand.

I’ve done 3,000 brake cable adjustments now without it. FINALLY I have the damn thing.

Ironically, I suppose, it’s not needed on center-pull brakes like YBD, which constitute the most recent 2,999 of those adjustments.

But fohwahhhhhd!

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Bike Build Process Log: Ye Blacke Death – Over the Moon

wrongrobot — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:54:19 +0000

So, Ye Blacke Death has been ride-able for 24 hours now. I mean, it goes and it stops, both reliably.

So, while it’s not yet complete, I do have thoughts.

Test Ride 1 was the coffee run last weekend that saw most of my coffee land in and over the front rack, being unsecured, plus was the ride I learned I had both a high-gearing issue AND a baby seat clearance issue. Subsequently, I swapped out the Nitto moustache bars for big-ass moon bars. This provides the necessary clearance to ride with the baby up ON there. I also swapped out the vintage hood lever for a BMX lever and restrung the brake cable 33 more times.

Test Ride 2: Wraps Run

So the bars are on, the brake strung, seemed to be in order, so i headed out. First thing I noticed was that despite cinchin’ it, the bars still moved in the stem clamp. So I was carrying all my tools in me pockets as I do on test rides, so I was able to really muscle it more and get it tighter. Good. Second thing I noticed was that the brakes were still just a bit too soft. It’s hard to finesse center-pulls like this. You under-do it and they slip, and over-do it and the cable get s smashed and frayed. So I stopped and adjusted again. Little better, not perfect.

I also noticed that riding with moon bars is kind of awkward. It’s fun, but when you’re used to the drops or the bulls, pitched forward, this position is kind of strange. You’re pushing pedals differently too, with your body geometry changing in that position. But as far as the first real RAHHHDE of any distance, it worked. It’s smooth, cushy. LAID BACK.

I brought back some wraps and a salad using the front basket, and used my webbing to hold it down. Worked AWESOME.

Test Ride 3: Commute

So after the ride last night, this morning I was able to do some more brake adjustment (still not perfect) and a few other things, and I was good to go.

Lung warned that my gearing was still likely too high. He’s right. I came down from my accidental 300 inchgear or whatever, but my chain was broken too small now, so i couldn’t get it back up to the bigger ‘pie plate cogs’ because I don’t have enough chain. So I installed the biggest I could fit, which was an 18. That’s still a 78 inchgear. Not terribly comfortable int he upright. Doable certainly in drops, but this is different. Add the short hills to get to my house. Add 20+ pounds of Wee Z! So yep, need a new chain.

I also found that man, it’s hard to adjust to those wide hand-positions. I kept instinctively slipping down to the stem to ride more comfortably as I do on Crook, but of course with a baby seat installed that wouldn’t be possible, so I tried to force myself to stay in position. Overall, fun ride, but need to do more adjustments. Possibly a drainpipe post, as I’m feeling a little forward from where I want to be, just like with Fix-e back in the day. I just happen to have Fix-e’s old one, so we’ll see.

I headed over to the stoe to get some groceries, and to Peet’s to get my coffee. Again with the webbing, this time pushing more of the limits of the reach of the net. Worked great. My bag was about 20 pounds too, and the bike handled well. That’s a good sign. Coffee in there too, nice and snug.

Test Ride 4: Afternoon Coffee Run

Yes, that’s a lot of coffee, i know.
Anyway, this time I webbed the coffee cup vertically close to the stem-side of the basket, and it worked like a dream. Even better than my modified gimbal on wrongBike. Narry a drip spilled.
Little more used to the bars now.

Please note the sweet, sweet sticker I through on here, courtesy of TRDL R3 Lieutenant Akua!

All in all, good rides. I’m heading over to get yet another chain tonight and replacement grips. Don’t be fooled by that red wrap. That’s just the under-wrap to the cork grips. I had to break one off to get the moustache bars off, which was crumbling from some cracks anyway. So more to come.

Onward! Next ride, lower gear, proper grips, bell and BABY! If all goes well…

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Bike Build Process Log: Ye Blacke Death – Laid back

wrongrobot — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:28:26 +0000

Last time I mentioned a few logistical details prevented YBD from working as a Z transportation vehicle: brakes, gearing and ride position (you know, little details)…

I’ve been hard at work solving the brake issue, with experiments in alternate brake levers and re-stringing the brakes 33 times.

I changed the gearing. Posts to follow on those efforts.

Today my handlebar alternate arrived. While by no means as FUN as sweet, sweet moustache bars, I think this will let me sit up and out of the way of Z’s seat. Experiment tonight forthcoming!

Look at that pic. wrongbike shown for scale.

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A new Kind of Cargo Bike

wrongrobot — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 21:23:40 +0000

I like this in concept, if not execution.
I personally don’t have much interest in a twin-rod cargo compartment in the front triangle. It’s a windsail, everything you have except for the tool case shown is going to be fatter than needed somewhere in it’s section, and I can think of better places to sandwich a clever cargo compartment. But I DO like that it exists at all, and that they put disc brakes on there, for when you’re mashing away from a bank heist with a case full of gold bars weighing 333 pounds and then have to stop at a crosswalk for a pedestrian.

http://gizmodo.com/5592507/a-bicycle-built-for-tools

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Bike Build Process Log: Villain 3.0 – Completeds

wrongrobot — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:40:34 +0000

Villain 3.0 is done!

I have a few adjustments to make, stem and a frayed cable and a few other things, but it’s ridable and ready to go.

To recap,
I started with a Look KG381 Jalabert Edition built-up with Dura Ace, and a Look KG381 Team bike from the 03 tour, converted to fixed gear. I pulled everything off the converted frame (Villain), pulled everything off the Jalabert Edition (JaJa) and set out to build up my road bike from the black frame.

The black frame was undergoing some issues under the strain of fixed-gear conversion… make that big-gear fixed conversion. i was running an 82 inchgear. It was an experiment. But it led to weaknesses in the design of the Miche Bottom Bracket becoming apparent ( no flange, slides in, cranks scrape the frame) and lots of undue torque on the dropouts, which have a 5mm rotational adjustment in them (which largely allowed for my magic gear in the first place.) Certainly the modern crabon frame can handle the torque of a big inchgear… this wasn’t even the biggest combination you’d get out of a standard 53/39 + 12/23, but while the front end of the drivetrain could handle it, the back end could not. Road dropouts just don’t suffer those forces like that normally. So, anyway, the condition of the frame was some nicks and dings in the finish here and there from the previous owner, some crank scrapery from me, and otherwise good to go.

Final build details:

Frame: Look KG381 Team (2003 Season)
Bottom Bracket: Shimano Dura Ace
Crankset: Shimano Dura Ace (53/39)
Pedals: Shimano A520
Wheels: Easton Vista SL, debadged
Tyres: Conti Gatorskin Hardshells 23c
Cassette: SRAM Force (11/27)
Front/Rear Derailleurs: SRAM Force
Brakes: Shimano Dura Ace
Stem: Thomson X2
Bars: Ritchey Carbon Streem
Brifters: SRAM Force
Tape: Shimano vinyl perf
Seatpost: Thomson Elite
Saddle: Brooks Swallow

ping!

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Bike Build Process Log: Villain 3.0 – Cockpitery!

wrongrobot — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 01:17:02 +0000

Today, the front half of my new SRAM Force group arrived, and since I had to be home waiting for a Comcast technician, I decided to play around a bit. I didn’t actually intend to get as far as I did, but hey, I’m not complaining!

I stripped off the Dura Ace brifters and trade-boxed them and then studied the SRAM Force brifters for awhile. In a general sense, not much has changed. But boy, the details! SRAM’s Double Tap technology uses one inner lever under the brake to control both up and down shifting. You tap once to shift up, twice to shift down. It’s very cool. I’ve had Campy and Shimano but this is my first SRAM and it’s an interesting design. The brifters are adjustable to account for the different reach positions of riders with different hands, and the brifters also allow the shift cable to run along the inside or outside of the housing, depending on your preference.

Note the two tracks for shifter cable routing.

I decided on routing both cables to the inside track (shifter and brake) on each side, but only after I had previously taped them to be inside/outside. I redid it because I wanted to take better advantage of my bars’ cable valley along the underside.

One lever, two taps! It’s rule no. 2…

The Force brifters went on a lot easier than the Dura Ace brifters came off, I have to say. Granted there was a 13 year gap between the manufacture of these two systems, so I’m sure current DA 7900 brifters are much better. But these feel great and were easy to mount, adjust, set up the cabling etc.

Here I’ve routed the cables the way I wanted… in a Lovecraftian space madness of tentacled terror.

I didn’t intend to get very far, as I said, and didn’t really have an objective when I started today, so I was taking my time and going slow, imperative when exploring something you really don’t have much experience with anyway. Counting moving the DA stuff over format he other frame to this one, that makes… well, one pass at road bike component assembly for me so far. Heh. So yeah, I went slow.

I tried a few different ways to route the cables but settled on allowing them to spring out from the bundle under the bar and just find their best, least hassled paths.

I always tape the cables and the gel tightly before wrapping the bar.

Well, in for a penny, in for a pound, I says. I had a bit more time, so I thought I’d gel and tape the bars in preparation for wrapping them with the real tape later. I also noted a few things I wasn’t expecting, such as the fact that SRAM provides cables, housing, ferrules etc but they pre-size the cabling for you. I wasn’t expecting that, as I’m used to this all being bulk stock and in uniform lengths. So, the left and right brake cables were of different lengths, and of course reversed after I had installed them, so I had to switch them. No big deal, still interesting since you still have to cut each down.

Funny how Shimano is now providing the wrap for the brifter clamp to simulate electritole tape. For those that don’t already USE electritole tape. HA

The Comcast guy finally came and we took care of business really quickly, actually. However, not enough time to shoot back to work and my daughter was on her way back home from her Oma’s house, so I decided to work on this a little more. Wrap one side, I thought. Ok. Note that brake clamp wrap int he photo. Hilarious. Why not just provide some real electritole tape! Side note: I LOVE how you can hang your roll of elctritole tape on the bars ( or on top of your bike stand) as you work.

Oh, SWEET AS I says.

Before I knew it, I was done. That was unexpected! I only had to rewrap once, and for me that’s a record. I love this tape, too.. Took me awhile to find one I liked, since I’ve used Fizik black per on like three bikes in a row, and I hate most other tape. This is a black vinyl tape with perf, and it wrapped great. The perf pattern actually helped with spacing.

Anyway, one side is a bar end blinkie (yes, the car side) and the other, a video game upright button, a la 70s arcades. You may have seen me pull this on Crook as well.

Brakes are strung and adjusted, cables are in place for derailleurs. Seat is on. I’m good to go for the next phase.

Next up: derailleurs and cassette!

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LOOK mods and repairs

Cyclomania — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 02:29:00 +0000

So, I originally thought I would just post some pics of my new bar/stem monocoque setup and pedals but I think an explanation and history of my mechanical issues I have been dealing with should be included.

Wrong can attest to the fact that I am extremely lucky and very anal when it comes to upkeep on my bike which has resulted in that I have had very few mechanical issues, knock on wood, but I guess 2 years seems about right. Anyway, everything pretty much started in the past month and a half with an annoying clicking in my right standard carbon/ti look keo pedal that was probably just because the pedal needed a little tlc (actually I know that it just needed some lube). The thing is that I had just read an article about the Keo blades and knew that I had to have them, PERFECT TIMING! I saw the American price of 500 bucks and scoffed but luckily the Europeans have a much more normal pricing structure of more than half that so… here’s the pic of my sweet ass blades.

Next couple things didn’t result in any new purchases but were really annoying. I found that every time I climbed there would be a pinging in my rear Ksyrium ES wheel which I couldn’t figure out what it was for 2 rides (wheel was perfectly true) but I eventually found it was a couple of loose spokes. Fixed. Then I went on nice casual ride with the intention of doing an Alpine until a fellow rider was right aside me when her chain fell off, she swerved, and banged my rear dérailleur. It folded and went banging against my spokes and made some mild scratches… not as bad as I thought it was going to be… but I managed to barely bend the metal hanger back in place. You know when you bend aluminum to the brink of collapse, well that’s where it was. I made it home okay without changing any rear gears, not that big a deal for you fixie folks but difficult when you have muscle memory and the gear shifter right there taunting you to be used. No shops had replacements but I found 1 online and had it shipped to me. This was a weekend I really wanted to ride so I decided to take out my 19 year old race bike, Tesch.

Can I just tell you that it was an awesome ride! I loved it. The fit was perfect and aggressive and made me realize that my Look wasn’t set up right at all. That’s where new bars and stem came into play. I already had carbon bars and stem so I knew I wanted to stick with that and after doing a ton of research I found these FSA integrated bars and knew I had to have them. So here they are…

I didn’t put the tape on the top portion and they are still super comfy and they are incredibly stiff…. LOVE IT! 2nd ride out and I am descending from an Alpine run (again with the Alpine, I gotta stop doing this ride) and my rear wheel squeels and seizes. This is not a particularly good feeling when going as fast as you can down a hill, in fact it was down right terrifying. I thought at first it was the brakes… nope… then I realized it was the freehub and it only did this when not pedaling. So, again I had to descend without stopping pedaling. Anyway, I came home and found out that it is the easiest piece in the world to repair, go Mavic, and my bike is again ready for the road.

So, there you go… More than you would ever want to know. You guys ready for a ride?

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Bike Build Process Log: Villain 3.0 – Hangery

wrongrobot — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:59:12 +0000

So in my last update, I had brought over most of the Dura Ace groupo from the Ja Ja to Villain. I was stalled by discovering that the Look 381 Team from which Villain was comprised did NOT have the braze-on hanger for the front derailleur that the Ja Ja frame had. This stalled my project out for a week. I did manage to bring over the entire cockpit, the brakes (strung), the bottom bracket, the crankset, and the rear derailleur.

I subsequently picked up a hanger from Valencia Cyclery. However, I brought it home and indeed it was too large. They are made in certain diameters, but the shape of the Look’s seat tube is not circular in section. I needed a shim to start with. So I picked one up on eBay and it arrived right before the 4th of July holiday weekend, affording me the opportunity to wrench a bit.

Holee SMOKEES! That’s tight clearance. I used one half of the shim, with some electtritole tape to soften the clamping on the crabon, I mean carbon.

I mean TIGHT.

I strung the derailleur, but not successfully. After a few attempts, and some research, I decided to wait and go through it with the boys at Tam bikes. I’m not entirely clear how to thread the cable properly in order to be in the right position to hold the hanger in tension. There’s a pulley back there, but I’m having difficulty making use of it, and what the hell. I need an EXPERT, and not in a Logjammin kind of way.

Side note: I really regret untaping the bars. As it happens, I may be reusing the same tape, depending on my final gut feeling on it. HA.

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Bike Build Process Log: Villain 3.0 – Swappery

wrongrobot — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:34:46 +0000

My conversion of my previously-converted fixed-gear Look to a road bike is well underway. In fact, thanks to some late night enthusiasms, it’s almost done!

I’ve never built up a road bike before. I’ve done simple maintenance, but frankly, the majority of my road bike riding time I was focused on riding, letting the LBS do the annual tuning, and that was that. As you have seen, I most recently have been riding a KG 381 Jalabert-Edition Look road bike, circa 2003, but got a second frame, the KG 381 Team, a spare from the 2003 season. I converted the latter into a big gear fixed-gear bike, which was awesome. But now I’ve decided to condense a bit. I’m attempting to strip the Dura Ace groupo off of the Ja-Ja build-up and put it on the Team bike, then sell off the former. I love them both, but purgery compels me.

I assembled everything additional I would need, which frankly isn’t much. The one stand-out change was new tyres. The Ja-Ja Look was running bright red tyres, which was cool and all, but the Team bike is a low-key affair. It isn’t murdered out, per se, like Lung’s Tumbler, but it’s mellow. If his bike is the absence of light in the shape of a fixie, mine’s the shadow. From the light that isn’t there. Or something. Anyway, since the Conti Gator Hardshells did so well down to LA, I went for them again here.

I was going pretty slow and being methodical, not only not being particularly familiar with the componentry and their adjustment from the mechanic side, but also because it was late, I had to be quiet, and really, you don’t want to eff up Dura Ace parts by being overzealous. I actually had very few issues. My biggest stalls were pulling the self-extracting cranks and then the BB behind them, and ultimately there was nothing wrong, I’m just gunshy about putting muscle into it, given the propensity of stripped-threads and tweaked parts being a part of muscly-mechanic behavior when you don’t know what to expect and how it should behave. Ultimately no problems. Everything was stripped, degreased, regreased, and reassembled. By the time I was done for the night I had the entire groupo swapped, front and rear brakes strung and set, rear derailleur strung and set, and the bars taken care of. All that remained was stuff that I needed to research or replace.

For one thing, the Ja-Ja had a braze-on front derailleur hanger, and the team bike doesn’t, so I needed to source a derailleur frame clamp. I picked one up yesterday in the city on a ride-around with Lung, but it was the wrong size (of course, the one time I don’t get more than one just to be safe) but I ordered a shim, so that’s fine. I wanted to use a fresh chain, had to pick that up and did. I don’t think I swapped the previous chain in 4 years of riding (shudder) though two of them were almost exclusively dedicated to fixed-gear stuff so it didn’t see many miles.

I’m almost there! Yesterday afternoon I swapped out the tyres, set the wheels, readjusted the brakes, adjusted the wild cable housings in front (I’m so used to Campy from my Bianchis that with Shimano my instinct is to let them fly out, even though they usually get wrapped tight to the bars) and a few other things, and I’m pretty close to completion. I’m going to re-use some bar tape from another ride, swap another saddle on here, and then I can start trying to fine tune the shifting system.

Kind of exciting, working on a road bike for the first time. No major explosions in the pipeline yet!

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Build Your Own Fantasy Whip

wrongrobot — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 23:36:03 +0000

I love these little whip generators. Simple, easy to use, easy to visualize. Plus, maybe some of the kids who would normally be out killing themselves with no breaks I mean brakes might save themselves the deaths if they stuck to the virtual…

http://www.fixiestudio.com/

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