New York November NYC Meet-Up

[Calzone]

Pick a Sunday to Meet-Up at the Rochard, Lexington and 97th.

Off Topic: I ordered some more bike parts to build out my Ti IBIS as a 1x11/2x11 using Shimano XTR that will be surplanted with a new twelve speed.

I already have stockpiled an Answer Pinnicle Pro rim in red, Schwable Rocket Ron tires, a front XTR deraileur.

Bought two XTR rear cassettes (one is a spare), XTR trigger shifters, and a rear deraileur.

I have to save some money to have the rear wheel built, but I saved lots of money taking advantage of year-end/season closeouts. For me the 11 speed is enough, and I like the idea of having a double up front to have the wide range gearing of the old days of when they used triple front chain rings.

I expect the Ti IBIS with 2x11 gearing and mountain bike offroad tires to still weigh less than 20 pounds.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Cal,
If the same size cassette is available in XT/ Ultegra, you should go with those atthe expense of a few extra grams of non-rotating weight. The titanium cogs of XTR/Dura Ace both wear down quickly and eat up chains. Especially the new ultra narrow drives. You wind up paying a few hundred extra per year in cassette/chain/chainrings.

Phil Forrest

 

[Calzone]

Cal,
If the same size cassette is available in XT/ Ultegra, you should go with those atthe expense of a few extra grams of non-rotating weight. The titanium cogs of XTR/Dura Ace both wear down quickly and eat up chains. Especially the new ultra narrow drives. You wind up paying a few hundred extra per year in cassette/chain/chainrings.

Phil Forrest

Phil,

Good advice. The XT versions are available at Jenson on sale for about $50.00. I'm speculating that the XTR versions I should just keep in the boxes.

Also could you use a set of Dura-Ace STI brake/shifters. These are the very first version for eight speed. As I have gotten older I installed a straight bar from a mountain bike and I'm using intergrated XTR brake trigger shifters on my road bike.

As I have aged I ride more upright. Riding the hoods makes me lay down too much. The Dura-Ace STI brake/shifters are not likely to get used by me anymore. They are yours if you can use them.

Cal

 

[lamefrog]

Some news .. Travelling in Nov and so won't make it . Missed Oct because Photo Expo and Sept because family visit... So will absolutely try to make it in Dec because I'm moving back to France in Jan for at least 6 months and maybe even permanently... after 30 years in the U.S. yikes .. change is good (i hope) ..

Btw, really thrilled Cal that things seem to be working out for you and "Maggie"

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Cal,
I could definitely use them, thanks! I'm building a heavy long distance touring bike out of a 1996 Specialized Stumpjumper Pro. The second to last year of the Tange Prestige frames with rigid correct geometry forks, that were not team issued. I have pretty much a full XT group with XTR rear derailleur for this long term project. I'm thinking the kind of bike I would feel comfortable riding across the Sonoran desert on or off road.

Phil Forrest

 

[Phil_F_NM]

I've always wanted to talk to a bike specific materials engineer to ask about the feasibility of ceramic cogs. They could be engineered to basically be friction free and not wear chains so the only wear on the chain would be from metal stretch and the internals of the bushings coming out of tolerance. The issue is that a cog would be too brittle.
Maybe a coating...
I remember in the 90s when the Mavic ceramic coatings would flake off of rims on mountain bikes completely eliminating any hope of modulating the brakes. I had a set of very rare Campagnolo Kilimanjaro ceramic braking surface rims on my Stumpjumper FS team in 1996. By about a year, the brake surface had worn down to aluminum from New Mexican soil. I changed brake pads and used that bike until 2013.

Phil Forrest

 

[Calzone]

Cal,
I could definitely use them, thanks! I'm building a heavy long distance touring bike out of a 1996 Specialized Stumpjumper Pro. The second to last year of the Tange Prestige frames with rigid correct geometry forks, that were not team issued. I have pretty much a full XT group with XTR rear derailleur for this long term project. I'm thinking the kind of bike I would feel comfortable riding across the Sonoran desert on or off road.

Phil Forrest

Phil,

I'll put the Dura-Ace 8-speed lever/shifters on the side for you. Sometimes the old 8-9 speed is better, like for Cyclecross racing. Less gears, but a stronger drivetrain and better chainline.

I think you are onto something with going old school and looking into the future. I have found that my old retro gear still holds it own and over the long-long term has retained value.

The Dura-Ace I'm gifting you I got when STI was new. The shifts are so smooth that it seems imaginary, and jumping gears 2-3 steps is mucho rapid. It was costly way back when, but over the decades they held up, are still fresh, and pretty much I got my money's worth.

Glad they are going to a friend. Do you also want the lightweight aluminum drop bars to go with the shifter/levers? I'm a size 38 inch chest so they likely would be narrow for you, but they would be great as single track bars.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Some news .. Travelling in Nov and so won't make it . Missed Oct because Photo Expo and Sept because family visit... So will absolutely try to make it in Dec because I'm moving back to France in Jan for at least 6 months and maybe even permanently... after 30 years in the U.S. yikes .. change is good (i hope) ..

Btw, really thrilled Cal that things seem to be working out for you and "Maggie"

P,

Now I have to get my lazy butt going and get ready for retirement.

It seems remarkably great timing to move forward with my printing now that there is a new K7-HD one-pass monochrome inkset that is ideal for use with my 7800 printer.

I'm at a tipping point of sorts. Next Tuesday I'm going to some A-List event at the new Whitney that involves an Andy Warhol exhibit. "Maggie" got invited, and I'm her "plus-one." Then there is some other A-list event in about two weeks. Might have to use my tux.

Physically I'm also at a tipping point since I have stopped losing weight and now am gaining weight. Less soft flab and more hard dense muscle. Pretty much a reversal of loss of lean body mass of aging. My skin kinda glows from the diet change. I'm also not overdoing things like I did in the past hammering away.

I'm in a really great space. Anything is possible. "Maggie" has a trip to FLA in two weeks for an academic meeting. I want to shoot some film so I can develop some film.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Thanks a bunch, Cal! I'd say pass those bars onto someone in NYC. I ride 44cm drops and love the position once I have everything dialed in.
Last year I was diagnosed with stenosis in my neck between C5-C6. Now I have to raise my bars up about 3cm to ease strain on my neck or I get tingly feeling arms and hands, almost numb. I got that injury in Iraq and years of road cycling didn't help it at all. This is unfortunate since I wanted to participate in team rides and possibly even race again now that I am at Drexel in graduate school. Right now it looks like the team is pretty inactive though. I may have to instigate a grassroots rebirth of the Dragon Cycling team.

Phil Forrest

 

[Calzone]

I would like to announce that Phil's advice blossomed and flowered. I obsessed about loading up on cassettes on sale, but first I crunched the numbers to figure out optimum gearing.

There have been times like in West Virginia we parked at a trail exit and climbed further up on a paved road on a long steep road to get to the trail head. This trail was called "Tea Creek" and pretty much it was a single track trail that was a ridge cut into a side of a mountain.

Pretty much one side of the trail was like a wall being the side of the mountain, and if you fell off the trail pretty much it would be like riding your bike off a cliff. The trail pretty much was all downhill so if you wanted to kill yourself this was it.

So the climb to the trailhead required granny gear which for me was 20 inch gear, which translates into one revolution of the peddles and the bike moves forward 20 inches. So basically my friend Mike and I are inching up a mountain one peddle stroke at a time that kinda is like baby steps.

Towards the end when we crested the climb we were pretty tired and in pain. Mike was cursing, but it would of been a mistake to stop and rest because getting to the top would of meant walking.

So the moral of this story is on a bike you want a granny gear because it beats walking and pushing a bike up a hill or mountain. All this work was well worth it. Tea Creek was one of those peak experiences in a lifetime. A year later when we did this trail again it wasn't the same for me; it wasn't fresh and new.

So today I kinda changed my mind. I'm kinda fickle as well as impulsive, so today I decide that I want to go with a triple chainring up front so I can have the widest spread of gearing. I already have a front derailuer that can handle a triple, but the rear derailuer I ordered yesterday was for a double up front.

So I called Jenson and tried to modify yesterday's order, but it already shipped. Oh-well. They have a free return policy, so I placed another order. In the meantime I figured out that I want to go "Micro-Drive" or "Compact-Drive" on the gearing to save some weight. What you need to know is the chainrings and cassette are slightly smaller and the chain is slightly shorter.

I also see that this Dura-Ace M-9000 12-25 tooth cassette is being blown out for only $79.00 which is a very-very steep discount. Dura-Ace is basically the best offered by Shimano for road bikes, and since my Ti IBIS has only a 24 inch wheel the smaller and tighter gearing works in my favor.

When I inquired about how many were in stock so I could load up the truck, I was offered a blow out price of $65.00 each instead of the $79.99, and they have mucho stock. I ended up buying 8 of them being a greedy *******.

One thing to know and understand is that the new to be released upgraded XTR is really more closely designed for the newer bikes, 29'ers, with 29 inch wheels. This new upgraded XTR is not well suited for my IBIS with 24 inch rear wheel.

Cal

 

[ptpdprinter]

When I inquired about how many were in stock so I could load up the truck, I was offered a blow out price of $65.00 each instead of the $79.99, and they have mucho stock. I ended up buying 8 of them being a greedy ******

Why do you need eight cassettes?

 

[Calzone]

Thanks a bunch, Cal! I'd say pass those bars onto someone in NYC. I ride 44cm drops and love the position once I have everything dialed in.
Last year I was diagnosed with stenosis in my neck between C5-C6. Now I have to raise my bars up about 3cm to ease strain on my neck or I get tingly feeling arms and hands, almost numb. I got that injury in Iraq and years of road cycling didn't help it at all. This is unfortunate since I wanted to participate in team rides and possibly even race again now that I am at Drexel in graduate school. Right now it looks like the team is pretty inactive though. I may have to instigate a grassroots rebirth of the Dragon Cycling team.

Phil Forrest

Phil,

Cycling has kept me young. In fact cycling likely saved my life.

I started smoking when I was 15, and quit for good at age 32. Pretty much I was a mess. PTSD. At the age of 32 I had to learn how to relax, something I never had done before. I was one of those edgy persons who scared people when I entered a room. Pretty much people would leave when I walked in.

Big huge bouncers were afraid of me because how do you fight a kinetic weapon? Pretty much I was pure energy. Part of this also was bad diet of sugar and coffee. Pretty much I looked and moved like someone on speed.

In high school I was voted "Most likely to have his head explode."

It was my friend Mike who introduced me to mountain biking. Mike use to be a fat porker, but when I came back from Los Alamos he was built like a short Arnold Schwarzenager with huge quads like a speed skater.

Cal

 

[Calzone]

Why do you need eight cassettes?

PTP,

They wear out, especially if you ride a lot. Also now is the time to "load up the truck" because of the sale price, and also future availability is not secure.

On the over the phone last minute discount I saved $120.00 alone ($15.00 times eight).

The new Dura-Ace M-9100 (I bought the M-9000) currently is on sale for $139.99, but they regularly sell for $249.99. Next year I would have to pony up and pay either $139.99 or the $249.99 regular price for a Dura-Ace M9100. Effectively the M-9000 and M9100 is the same 12-25 cassette. What makes the M-9100 new is the addition of an 11-30 cassette for wider gearing. Both are 11-speed.

Pretty lucky that they had the 12-25 that gives me my ideal gearing. Spending $65.00 instead of $139.99 or worse $249.99 makes sense to me. Also know that the price I got was a deal of a lifetime for a product that hold a rather stiff premium, in the same way like buying a bar of gold.

I don't believe eight is too much. Perhaps I'm an optimist because I think I can readily wear them out. As Phil said the titanium cogs induce wear and do not have long lifespans. Also as an avid biker I know that cassettes, chains and chain rings are maintenance items that require replacement.

Somewhat related, I once bought $10K worth of paper and ink to multiply my savings.

Call me a CF, but I mostly only buy stuff on sale at great prices. Pretty much I don't like spending money unless I have good reason. In this case if I didn't load up the truck I know that further out I would have remorse that I wasn't a greedy *******.

Cal

 

[jszokoli]

Cal,

To extend the life of chain rings and cogs change your chains...

People will tell you to change everything together, but thats only really true once rings and cogs are toast.

The mechanism that kills cogs and chain rings is chain stretch. Now it's not really that the chain is stretching but wear between pins and bushing in the chain. As the link to link distance increases the number of teeth that are bearing load goes down till your at a point were it's a single tooth at a time. Then the teeth start to wear fast.

So buy lots of chains and those cassettes last forever...

Joe

 

[Calzone]

Cal,

To extend the life of chain rings and cogs change your chains...

People will tell you to change everything together, but thats only really true once rings and cogs are toast.

The mechanism that kills cogs and chain rings is chain stretch. Now it's not really that the chain is stretching but wear between pins and bushing in the chain. As the link to link distance increases the number of teeth that are bearing load goes down till your at a point were it's a single tooth at a time. Then the teeth start to wear fast.

So buy lots of chains and those cassettes last forever...

Joe

Joe,

Thanks for the insight. My friend Chris who owned a bike shop says I have the tendency to stretch chains. Likely because I like being out of the saddle a lot, and partially because I'm not so smooth.

In the Tour de Bronx I had to deal with some lame riders that were like clueless. Heading over to City Island in a single file over a bridge the line of bikes slows down because a girl stops at the apex. What a pileup.

This 94 IBIS is a one off, and pretty much it is my favorite bike. I should replace the chain because I'm sure it's stretched. One thing is to measure a foot of chain. Should be exactly a foot when new because the links are munufactured as half inch links.

Another trick is to pull the chain off a chain ring. A new or fresh chain will hug the chainring.

Eight cassettes is not a lot for the decades ahead. Dura-Ace quality for $65.00 is a no brainer.

Kinda funny how the Ti IBIS from 1994 is my newest bike. My steel IBIS I bought new over 30 years ago. Interesting to own a steel version and a titanium version of the same bike.

I'll change the chain tonight if I have one. I'll have to pick up some Tri-Flow lube. I ran out Tuesday doing some maintenance on my Purple fade Ti Basso road bike.

The guy I talked with over the phone is a big XTR fan. He actually loaded up on spares because of the new upgrade.

Cal

 

[Phil_F_NM]

That is an insane deal on those cassettes. Cheaper than retail of Ultegra or XT!

Phil Forrest

 

[jsrockit]

So, the November 2018 bike meet up? 😉

 

[Calzone]

So, the November 2018 bike meet up? 😉

John,

The bike and shoot Meet-Ups have been limited to you and me, an Joe and me.

Of course I have to mention when you terrorized me heading down the "chute" on the Madhattan side of the 59th Street Bridge at high velocity, heding for that Jersey Barriered hair pin turn.

For those that were not there. There is a steep descent leading to this sharp hairpin turn on the Madhattan sid of the bridge. I see John as he blows past me getting ready to take a shot, instead of paying attention to the peril that lays ahead.

There is this guy sitting on a railing that John is going to shoot, and all I can do is slow down so that when and if John crashes, I have the opportunity not to run him over.

Anyways it was a crazy move. Luckily nothing bad happened.

Cal

 

[jsrockit]

John,

The bike and shoot Meet-Ups have been limited to you and me, an Joe and me.

Of course I have to mention when you terrorized me heading down the "chute" on the Madhattan side of the 59th Street Bridge at high velocity, heding for that Jersey Barriered hair pin turn.

For those that were not there. There is a steep descent leading to this sharp hairpin turn on the Madhattan sid of the bridge. I see John as he blows past me getting ready to take a shot, instead of paying attention to the peril that lays ahead.

There is this guy sitting on a railing that John is going to shoot, and all I can do is slow down so that when and if John crashes, I have the opportunity not to run him over.

Anyways it was a crazy move. Luckily nothing bad happened.

Cal

That was before my two bike crashes... the first ended in stitches in my head and, the next, a broken wrist. I calmed down after that. I got that shot... but ultimately it wasn`t worth it.

 

[Calzone]

So I learned that as defined in the DSM I'm not a sociopath because yesterday I went home and felt guilty about perhaps neglecting my beloved Ti IBIS.

I could not remember the last time I changed my chain, but the forensics indicate that I have a fresh chain on my bike, confirmed with a ruler test to gauge stretching.

Now I remember that I cut down a chain that I used in an experiment when I used the XTR triple front derailuer and a Paul's Components chain tensioner to create a 48 gear inch to 63 gear inch two-speed: one gear for climbing; the other for hammering.

Pretty much a baby-step towards going full blown XTR triple.

Jokingly I think of my two-speed as fast and faster instead of a high gear for speed and a low gear for torque.

I think this is such a great idea that I'm thinking today of buying another XTR front derailuer so I can do this two-speed on my steel IBIS. Pretty much having a limited amount of gearing involves struggling, and this builds not only strength, but character.

My friend Eric who builds swimming pools for a living says, "Pain is like pleasure: its just a feeling." Pretty much anyone who has raced bicycles knows about tasting metal because of deprived oxigen, and having bloodshot eyes after depriving one's body of O-two.

Eric all summer long would crack 50 pound bags of cement over his knee, mix wheelbarrows of cement, and had this body that was totally ripped. The girls in the Hamptons all loved the way Eric looked, but since he was married he was like a tease horse. Eric was a mighty fast biker.

Pretty much its about threshold of pain and how much discomfort one can handle. You really know you went too far into anerobic threshold when you throw up at the finish.

So there are a class of racers that do single speed, but to me in mountain biking it makes more sense to have a two speed: one for climbing; and another for high speed hammering.

In theory doing an 11-speed with triple chain rings I technically speaking have 33 different gears. Some are redundant and overlap, but for rolling terrain/hills I like using chainring shifts because of the wider jumps in gearing. In this type/style of riding it is about doing intervals and exploiting momentium to maintain speed. Pretty much is like just having a high and a low gear, but more selection.


Back on topic: like in photography it is all about control. Physics in real time. Like in photography its about adventure, chaos, the unknown and the challenge. Timing is everything.

Cal