Saturday, September 19, 2009

tinkerin'

There was a thread on MTBR a while back about using a TomiCOG w/ a Centerlock adapter. Wasn't too enthused about it, since I had no need at the time, and I honestly wasn't that familiar with the Centerlock setup. Wellllll, I did a little tour a few weeks ago, and slummed thru a testy achilles issue that arose due to a lot of loaded bike hiking. If only I had a gear that was one step easier than the 32:20 I was spinnin'.....

Well, how to do that? Definitely not a fan derailleurs now a days, mostly due to the zen destroying noise of chainslap clanking and banging. And ripping off a rear mech out in the middle of nowhere would be a bummer. So I picked up one of these, clean ss style chainline and the same stock gearing choices available that I run single, 18 or 20, makes for a super ez switch from geared to single to fixed:


And it uses a centerlock disc mount. Since I have no experience with internal geared hubs, and since Shitmano doesn't exactly rate the Alfine for mtn bike duty, a back up plan is in order.


Pictured is an 18t and it just clears the hump from the pinch bolt, but looks like the ID of the cog needs opened up a smidge. Bit of time w/ the Dremel or a decent round file will take care of that. I think this plan is a go, 95%. Still need to check out the chainline, been reading blurbs here and there that it isn't a direct match to the drive side of the Alfine. But even if it's off by a chain width, ~6mm, should be good enough to at least let me pedal out of the woods and make it home should the IGH eat itself...time will tell.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

racin'

Stoopid 50, qwik recap:

neutral leadout goes beepbeep! Go! sorta,
do take a hard tempo flyer, then latch back
and tempo once more. follow super smooth
locals Matt & Billy across Tussey, caught by
ElkBuckPete on the descent. Crush Thickhead
in a hurtful focused manner, get a gap when
you can.

Flow across Indian with Buck then keep the
tempo rolling on the approach to Beeyootiful
and it grows quiet behind, hmmmmm. neck
gets sore from all of the over the shoulder
glances. Just keep pedaling, all day long.
Beautiful trail was dialed fixy sweetness,
then steady gunning in the woods, walking
the cramp zone tightrope thru the fireroad
transiitons and get into a good back n forth
with Chip on the way to Aid2.

Had a quiet goal of a top five on the fix.
Unknowingly, I was battling for it, didn't
think we were that far up.. Crush Thickhead
again, slum down Detweiler, get caught. Chase
Chip the carrot and hit it one final time up
Gettis, get out of sight, way out of sight.
Couldn't stretch it far enough though, caught
at the bottom of Bear Meadows. Reality of
Laurel Run settled in, Chip got dibs & I was
glad to be done, happy to get down it clean.
Cross the finish line, come down off the edge,
queasiness no longer containable and empty my
stomach once back at the car, neat.

6th single, 17th overall, 4:45/50ish for fifty.

Breck? I ain't skeerd,
the work is all but done.
Breath deep.

Friday, June 5, 2009

writin'

another cut n paste:

so, as ya'll know, or did know,
until the short term got wiped.

I'm going to the BreckEpic to
'race' the fixy. Part of the deal
was that I spam the shit out of all
ya'll, then you vote, then I write
and race for 'free.'

Well, I've been writing, and even a
bit of proof reading, and now these
articles are begining to appear...

First here: My BreckEpic Page

Then they'll move, hopefully soon,
over onto my host site, Bike Magazine.
BikeMag.com, neat, huh?

racin'

man, wow, been awhile, I need to keep on top of this bloggy thingy, lots of goings on....for content, here's a cut n pastes from the other blog, spring Michaux race:



other thoughts on the weekend.
sounds like everybody who dared
themselves to get out in it, found
something, learned something
from the event.

the course, if you ponied for the 40,
and got around that bastard, fkna.
props. props for even toeing the line,
gnarly out there, eh? guessing that
most all that were out there, got a
fresh taste of Meeshow that they
weren't quite expecting. The rain
definitely didn't help, but I'm still
optimistic about what we'll find next
time we get out there. I've seen Abby
in rough shape, and heal pretty well
afterwards. Not the same, ya know,
but has definitely evolved after the
Enduro ran across it. Enjoy those
stashes of Hanzel&Grettal while you
can...I'm guessing Pedro & I got the
final virginal trek from 20 to 30
while out marking....it was sweet.

My ride...yeah, disappointing if focused
on the results sheet. meh, though sorta
bothered that the legs were just, absent.
Theory upon leaving the homestead was
that either a: Good legs are good legs,
no matter what you ride, or B: Legs don't
show, and it turns into a special Sunday ride.
Make sure to bring something home from
the experience. Choice of steed from the
stable was not the wisest for racing, but
made the most sense w/ A & B in mind.
Or, ie that's my excuse for being a dumbass.
Previous mentioned lack of surfiness and
brutal overgeared conditions made for high
output slow going. Never really got on top
of the gear, which makes for a long day,
did try to open it up on Michaux Rd and felt
like I moved fwd in a positive fashion, then
a nice break at Aide two, catching up w/ MikeE,
then a solid push across the clearcut kinda
had me looking further forward. Then reality
and a need for a break from the not-zen like
focus before dropping onto Moss. End of Moss,
brake pads went squirrely. Oooops, guess they
are kinda worn, huh? Contemplate rolling back
to car right then and there when visions of a
failed brake Canyon enter the fore.. But
said fuck that, I'm getting around this
loop, one more time. Bend the spreader
springy dingy out of the way, or at least
not clicky clack into the rotor.

Then slummed, a lot. Cold, queasy
stomach, 24hrBigBear reminiscing,
yay! Out of the muddy leaves, pick
up a PayDay on LowerCanyon that I
probably dropped yesterday, cheers
Jake!. Solid food=yum, sorta. More
semi-conscious social time at Aide 3
w/ Jake& Travis, then Bender snapping
pics. Then found a cozy corner of
the pain cave to excavate and found
that 'just fucking get me home'
mindset, proceeded to block it all
out, put one foot in front of the
other w/ the mantra = "No fucking
way will Breck be this hard. move it."

Lars was a welcome face in the Mudbank
mist. The surprise ending was no surprise
for me, although the total bonkage just
before the right off of Logsled wasn't too
inspiring. Fun challenge though on the fix,
trying to sneak thru clean as can be on
Shake&Bake, being lazy with line choice
and trying to just make it work.

Breck won't be, can't be, nearly that miserable.
I hope.

(pics yanked from Bender!
clicky make biggy)

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Hammer down, Colorado bound!

yes, Yes, YES!!!!

Wanna thank all of ya'll for the support.

I'm going to Breckenridge!!!!

Thanks to everybody who took the time to vote,
this is gonna be an interesting journey for sure.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Monday, February 9, 2009

Breckenridge.

So, been waiting to post this until everything
was running. Well, not everything is running
exactly, profile blurbs still to be posted. But
site functionality is happening.

What am I talking about?

I'm talking about the Breck Epic!
www.breckepic.com

Mike the promoter digs bloggity blogs, so he opened
a contest with the prize being an entry into his little
race. My hat is in the ring.

My hook, how to get ya'll to vote for me?
I'm gonna race this thing fixed....surprise! I know.
Gonna pedal straight thru from the prologue to
the finish of the final stage, there will be no coasting.
200+ miles of high alpine racing in ColoRADo.
Booyahhh!

I've only raced/ridden west of the Mississippi once before,
Tahoe-Sierra 100 last year. I'd like to do it again, expand
my horizons and see what the Rockies have to offer.

Please help me get there.

Vote for MEEEEEEEE!

please

Friday, January 9, 2009

2 steps fwd, 1 step back

WOW!

It's been since Nov since I've updated????  Time flies I guess.

Been in 84% ski mode since the wknd after Unis, chasing the powpow around the Mid-A.  Whitegrass was awesome back around Turkey day, then the thaw that we're all accustomed to happened.  So, it was north bound for some Denton schralpage before settling into the local Roundtop rythmn.  did manage to spin some pedals over the Holidaze, nice to be back on the Jabberfixy, keepin' it fresh.

Have some updates in the works, hence this post title.  Thanks to some help from my dad, the beveling of chainrings is becoming more refined.  Getting away from hand filing each and every tooth.  Results are sweet so far, but another small hurdle has dropped in place.  The new process mars the surface a bit, so now I'm learning all about polishing stainless.  What's this mean?  Well, it means that chainrings will now be shiny and bright.....if I can get the process dialed.  New buffing wheels and different compounds are on the way as I write.  Bling Bling!  Hipsters take notice.

I'm also expanding the offerings for rings, looks like the range will be from 32t up to 48t in various bolt hole patterns.  The plan is to finalize the new process, then I'll update this page over on the side with more buttons for the various offerings.  Pricing will remain the same @ $40 for a standard ring.  Custom options will still be avail; odd tooth counts, special etching....contact me for info on that stuff.  Might also offer a polished options for the cogs, gonna think about that one.

rubber side down, keep 'em spinnin'.