I'm back - sort of.  New idea for pain application in the form of single speed CX this year should be interesting.  I will reinvent my old hardtail into some sort of fat body (me) conveyance.  Dorked up the knee early on in the year with a slip during a trail run.  It had rained so much that it prevented any trail riding for so long that I decided to run; the obvious will be lost on me and I will likely do this again.

Regardless, it has been a slight detour from regular riding as I heal up from patellar tendinitis. So easy riding and swimming have been the go to training.  Swimming? Yes. More on that later

1+1=1

Well, back at it.  A year of no racing, of house selling, of moving, of apartment dwelling, of home building - has taken a toll on personal activities, chiefly bike riding!

http://www.thelightco.us/

The Mellow Johnny's Classic is always a good benchmark of where I am shape-wise.  I see now that the bar is very low but not all is lost.  I can shave off a few pounds and get back in the game with proper planning and commitment.  That's all.  I have completed 2 events so far this year and I am signed up for 2 more before May.  I need to get busier.
 
I will update this post with a plan and some event details... maybe.  50+ is a hell of a group.

Merry Chrimbus!

(late post; I will eventually catch up)

The wheels on the MTB were troopers for a few years.  Then the rear wheel started to complain by popping spokes.  The day before the 2014 Enchilada Buffet I noticed the first broken spoke.  Correction - it was the night before the event.  Ugh!  I scrambled and was able to modify a road wheel spoke to fit as a replacement.  The 2014 EB was very tough.  It was my first so I road conservatively and worked my way through the route.  I broke another spoke at about mile 50 but really could not bail - so, whatever, I finished.

Here is a good write up about the EB - Tony's TIPAR EB Write Up

Alas, the wife heard my complaints and cry-baby whining and surprised me with a call form the bike shop.  She was single handedly attempting to buy me new wheels but had run into a critical information road block.   Pretty damn cool.  

Boom - new wheels.

The Bronson TCS tire was impossible to get on the Stans Arch EX rim (even says so on the Stans website but I don't believe anything that I read on the web).  Went with my lightly used Maxxis Crossmark for the rear and a new Hutchinson Cougar up front.

Now to negotiate ride time.

Parts is parts

*** forgot to publish this post.  the bike has been back in action for awhile.  this blog is not dead - i swear! ***

Everything ordered is finally in so the reassembly has begun.

Bottom bracket installed.  I have a SL K Light cranks and there very specific bottom brackets that go with certain FSA cranks.  Kinda annoying...

 


New pulleys installed in the rear derailleur.

Shifters were a bit funky.  Degreased them and then spayed lithium grease inside the mechanism.  The grease spray seemed to foam up and fill every little space inside the shifter...

I went with a pimp gold Jagwire kit.  Looks good and seems to work really well.  Many miles later - no problems.  I will update with pics later.

Rode hard and put up wet

Time and effort were in in short supply for a long time; too long. I put many miles on the bike without some routine cleaning except for the occasional squirt with the hose.

There are a few places that corrosion has flaked the paint. The two top tube cable guides are probably the worst.

This is my favorite paint remover for all paint-on-metal stripping.  Don't get it on any paint that you like.

Here is one cable guide during stripping and after scraping...

I had this taped off but some stripper got under the tape and faded the logo. The bottom bracket area had similar issues and was stripped and scraped.  Here are the finished cable guides. 

Not really rocket science here.  I used 2 coats of flat white enamel then 2 coats of clear.

Corrosion is usually found under the tape on alloy bars and are ignored.

  Mine was no different.  A scrub was in order.

Business up front-party in the back

Here is a blast from the past. I did this conversion last year...

1X seems to be a viable option these days for most mountain biking.  I like the option of simplifying the setup on the bike and perhaps saving a few grams off the bike so I can gain more beer weight and call it even. Anyhoo - there were two options to go 1X when I decided to do it - replace the front ring with specific BCD or go with a spiderless single ring.  

I have the SRAM s1400 crank...

so I went with the spiderless option MRP Bling Ring (32).  This ring has an offset design to align the chain a bit better...

Installation was straight forward.  Remove crank...

Remove spider with appropriate star wrench...

Slap it all back together.  Reinstall chain minus 2 links and boom - done.  (ignore the temporary homemade chain keeper).

Chain alignment has not been an issue.  Its a little off on the inner most cog but it runs smoothly.  The SRAM X7 derailleur long cage is working OK.

Gearing is 32 up front with 12-36 out back.  Spins out at about 23mph. It is sufficient for all but the steepest climbing where you will suffer like a SS hipster, but for only a short while. Running a Paul's Chain Keeper now.

Next...


Time to clean up the primary road beast.  Its a 2010 Ridley Compact that I really like.  I wouldnt say its the most compliant and comfy ride; its stiff and steady.  I bought it through Competitive Cyclist and they were very helpful with the online process and setup discussions.

Mine looks like this at present...

 

I havent decided if removing the fork is needed just yet.  I have broken it down to address some corrosion, balky cables, and broken items. 

Broken derailleur pulley...

Corrosion under the tape.  A reason to re-wrap annually, yo...

Brake cable ferrules were locked into the guides because of corrosion - ick...

Time to refurb a few things.  I need this bike on the road by March!