Taco's Bike Thread

[Taco]

I figured I'd make a thread about the bike stuff I do, the bikes I build, routes, all kindsa crap that doesn't fit anywhere else. Some of this is just a reference for me, but maybe you'll find it interesting. Much of this will be written in my usual style, where I just spit out what I'm thinking. I will likely update this first post as time goes by more than just adding a new post. Carry on.



---------

-=Road Race Bike=-

After the Pacific Coast Bike Race, I came to the conclusion that I should build a dedicated race bike. I had thought of whether I should make my current main bike, a Surly Midnight Special, racier and lighter and so on, or just build something new. If I made the MS racier, it wouldn't be as practical, comfortable, and so on, and it would never be as 'fast' as a purpose built machine. I am working as a bike mechanic currently so this is something I can do for a fraction of the cost, plus I build bikes all the time and I love it.

One key point to know is that it's almost more about the parts than the frame and fork (frameset). I often switch frames when something breaks or I get a good deal on something or whatever, so I buy components that will work within a system of swapping them to another frame later on down the road. Many of the parts on my main bike have been on up to 4 previous frames. There are many compromises in building things, so if one cannot get the exact frame they want now, they can perhaps get one later and swap it all.

I had researched what frame to get, and focused on Trek since I work on a lot of Treks and get a discount. Unfortunately they all have some things I really don't like about them, such as Isospeed systems meant to make the ride smoother. The designs change and the parts availability will eventually kill the frame. I also prefer to make the ride less harsh by using other means, such as different and/or wider tires.

The Domane is the ideal frame, as it is a road endurance frame meant for riding long distances. It has a taller stack (the handlebars are higher, more comfy), and it can fit a 700x38-40mm tire. Unfortunately it has Isospeed, and maybe a pressfit bottom bracket, which while alone isn't a deal breaker is a thing I don't care for. That killed that choice. The Emonda is a lightweight climbing bike, and I don't think it has Isospeed (I no longer care since it's out of the running), it has a seatmast instead of a standard seatpost, AND the stack is too low, so it'll be great for riding shorter distances but I cannot ride that low for the distances I not only want to ride, but have to as a matter of my lifestyle. That one's out.

I could go on endlessly and somewhat pointlessly over what I don't like but I'll just skip ahead cause I doubt anyone gives a shit anyway. I bought a used 2005 Trek Madone, which has a threaded bottom bracket shell, external cable routing (huge plus for me), cost $300 instead of four figures, and already had some excellent components on it such as Dura Ace brakes. It has a Guy FIeri firetruck paintjob which I think looks... not my style, shall we say? My plan was to sand it down to carbon and then clearcoat it. It takes 700x28mm tires, rim brakes, and that's it.

Then my buddy Arthur gave me his 2010 Madone, which is very similar to the 2005 but with better wheels and a compact frame geometry, which may give slightly more seatpost flex (comfort), a lil more standover, and maybe some other shit but I'm going off the rails already. Point is it's the new choice. It also lacks the hideous paintjob, but I'm going to paint it anyway cause it says Trek on the frameset 13 times, I think? Why do companies need to put their name all over the frame, and if they don't why does it need to be in massive letters? Criminy.



-=Concept=-

With this being a race bike, the idea is to keep it as simple and light as possible without becoming uncomfortable or impractical, etc. Mikhail Kalashnikov said something along the lines of how perfection is achieved not when there's nothing left to add to a design, but nothing left to remove. It has to run like a top for the duration of the event, plus commuting before and after, and I have to be able to ride it in comfort. For the Pacific Coast route, which I've done sections of many times and am obsessed with, I don't need much. I don't need disc brakes, my tires needn't be very wide, I don't need to carry much equipment as resupplies are pretty close together. Ideally I would like something that takes 32mm tires with really light fenders, but that will have to wait. For now, the above mentioned frames will do.

I would like to use a dynamo hub front wheel, but the wheels I currently have, which would be prohibitively expensive to replace, don't have a high enough spoke count for a dyno that I know of, so I am going back into the world of rechargeable lights. I could probably build a dyno wheelset for $1500 or so, but if I'm spending that much money on a wheelset it's gonna have disc brakes and a SON dyno, something with long service intervals, very high quality, tubeless, and light. Not gonna happen for a long time. I am not real excited to experiment with battery powered lights after using a dyno on a daily basis, but whatever. Battery and LED technology has come a long way. I purchased a Lezyne 1800i or something like that with a bigass spare auxilliary battery pack, only to find out when they arrived that I'm a dumbass who didn't research it enough and the battery doesn't fit with their current generation of lights, probably why it was on sale. Oh well, the light is quite nice and has a long runtime.

I want something that puts out ballpark 400-600 lumens or so for a very, very long time. I don't need a lot of light for this sort of racing. I also purchased a Fenix BC26R, which uses removable 21700 5000mAh Li-Ion battery. The Lezyne lacks a removable battery, which is normal. Having this big removable cell means I can bring multiple cells with me on a race, greatly extending runtime. Runtime is approximately 9.5 hours at 600 lumens, 18 hours at 200 lumens which may be too low, and it can also go up to a maximum of 1600 lumens for 3.5 hours, which is a nice setting for bombing down fast descents. The light was about $90 and spare batteries are about $25. I reckon I could carry this light with a spare battery and be fine for one of my next races, the PCBR 750, which goes 750 miles from Sacramento to San Diego, and likely will not take me more than two nights. I figure I'll end up with 4 batteries, which would probably be the best balance for weight/mass to carry with my other shit for longer races.

I carry a 1lb Anker brick battery to charge my other stuff with, but I'd like to keep that charging my phone and now my GPS. I was given a Garmin Edge 810 (thanks Arthur! Holy crap dude!), which I really feel I need after how badly I handled navigation during the last race. I downloaded the track onto my phone and then wrote tiny notes on sheets of paper as a cue sheet, and used the Ride With GPS app on my phone, but this was quite frustrating. Thankfully the route is easy to follow between cities. Having a GPS with a backlight screen that's just plain old ON right in front of me through areas with complicated navigation will save me not only a little bit of time but a LOT of frustration. I figure I can leave the GPS off when I know I won't have any turns for a long time, to save battery. It's all the little turns here and there in cities that gets me. I already know the majority of the route by heart.


-=Cockpit=-

For comfort, I am going to get another Ritchey Venturemax bar for this build. I have it on my Surly and my Cannondale touring bike. It's got ergonomic bends in the drops, the drops themselves are shallower, and the top has been flattened a bit for comfort. I first wrap the tops up to the hoods with some cheap tape, then apply gel pads on the tops and the drops, and then wrap extra long squishy comfy tape from Curve Cycling of Australia on the bars. It's sorta triple wrapped at this point with the gel pads, and hand fatigue is rarely an issue. I have hand issues, and my right hand has been broken multiple times from fights, getting hit by rockfall while climbing, crashing bikes, and also pushing things when I was a dumb frustrated pre-teen who shoulda known better but couldn't cause you didn't, didja? Gotcha. Anywho.

Of course I'll be using aerobars. I have some Profile Designs bars on my Surly with 70mm risers, bringing the pads to about the same level as the saddle. I don't think I'll need much more rise on the bars since this frameset has an alloy steerer, which is longer than the carbon one on the surly. I like to have my bars level with my saddle, and the aerobars a bit higher than that. This is something I'll have to play with once the bike is built up and not just a box of very nice, lightweight, shiny parts which I covet and protect. I bought some Trek aerobars without spacers, which have a nice design in which the pads clamp to the extensions independant of the main clamp, which holds the aerobars themselves to the regular handlebars. This means I can position the arm pads with more freedom, and use them with other company's setups as well. I spend a lot of time in the aerobars on routes such as the Pacific Coast. Long, relatively flat roads where you don't need to get on the brakes often or climb much. Having the position just right is important. You usually get a few extra miles per hour while using slightly less energy and taking the strain off your hands, arms, and part of your back. It can put strain on your neck if you're looking up too high, or your eyes if you still need to look up just a little too much, so the height above the bars is important. This will be dealt with on training rides and commutes. My ideal height is where I can ride in the aerobars and have my eyes looking 100-150ft or so down the road without straining my neck or my eyes. The pads need to be wide enough apart to not stress my back between my shoulderblades, and forward enough where I'm not scrunched up nor too stretched out.

The ideal position for time trial aerobar setup is much narrower and lower, but they ride the bike for much, much shorter periods of time at much greater speeds, and thus the above issues are not applicable.

I purchased a set of Gevenalle brake levers with Dia Compe friction shifters, the same setup I have on my Surly with the same shifters I've been using on my Cannondale. I use friction shifting on my two main bikes and find it ideal for smooth roads. It is low maintenance, requires nearly zero tuning, works with practically any other drivetrain components I ever use, and if I get hand issues from nerve damage to frostnip, I can use my whole hand or the heel of my palm to shift, which happens from time to time. When your fine motor skills go out the window, you use the gross ones, just like with a fighting rifle or long gun. I went all out with the brake and shifter cables and housings and got Jagwire whatever they're calleds, Elite Link? Some typical name like that. I get em for sorta cheap through work, otherwise they're way too expensive and not really worth it. Well, maybe they are. The housings don't really stretch so they last for years, which saves you work. They are flexible yet don't compress, so they work under bags and tight bends and shit. They are also lighter than other options, AND you can get them in cool colors. So, if you can get them at a good price, it's worth it. I would say they also probably contribute to finer smoother shifting, something really enjoyable with friction shifters which amplify such sensations, but I bet it's probably about the same as any high quality housings and cables.


-=Wheels, Tires, Brakes=-

I will be using Zipp 404's, non tubeless. They're a deep dish aero wheel which apparently feel very fast. I haven't ridden em yet so I'm excited to see. My normal bikes are all heavy and slow so I'm sure it'll be an experience for sure. I don't know which tires I'll race on yet but it seems everyone goes for the Continental Grand Prix 5000, as most endurance road racers are using those currently. In the meantime, I have very very nice cotton open tubular Bontrager Classic 320's, which are a cotton tire that feels like gliding over tarmac. I have ridden the 25mm ones for a few hundred miles with latex tubes and they're very smooth, feeling closer to a 32mm. I assume the 28's will be comfy as well, and honestly I'm really excited for how this bike will probably feel while I'm writing this. Again, more things that I got as a gift or for cheap thanks to my profession. I don't think I'll be riding on latex tubes during any of the races, as they require topping off pressure each day. I could see doing that for one of my solo coastal runs. That might be pretty close to perfection. So smooth and fast.

For brakes, I have some Dura Ace calipers which I've cleaned up and have Swissstop Black Prince carbon pads on em. I haven't ridden in the mountains with carbon rim brake rims yet, and everyone says they suck, so that'll be a learning experience. There are very few big descents on the coast, and I actually enjoy having to put more thought and effort into cornering and braking. I don't know how enthusiastic I would be about it descending Horseshoe Meadows, but I'm sure I'll do that anyway, cause why not? Might not be that bad. Mineral King would probably suck bigtime though. Anyway, I digress...


-=Drivetrain=-

I'm taking the Ultegra 10sp 53/39 off the Surly and putting it on here. I don't know what cassette size will be ideal so I'm probably going with 11-36, or 11-32. Won't need a super low gear for these races but having lower gearing really helps in these events as fatigue sets in and I cycle through various injuries and recoveries. I may switch rings to a 50/34 or whatever I can, once I've done some miles and know what I need. The surly has an 11-46 on it so I have a low enough gear for almost anything I wanna do on that bike.

The front derailleur will be whatever one works from my parts bin, and the rear might be an Ultegra or Dura Ace, not sure yet. Depends on what clears the cassette.


-=Bags=-

My bag setup will be the same as the last race. I used a half frame bag instead of my usual full frame bag, as I felt a difference with airflow and speed, or so I think. I'm pretty sure it was real. Either way it is lighter and allows air to flow through it instead of pushing the bike sideways when you've got a crosswind, which is noticeable in racing, not so much touring. I can also carry two full bottles in the frame this way, and I don't need to carry much at all so having a smaller frame bag isn't a problem. I put my wallet, keys, small important stuff, pump, cleaning and repair kit, snacks, hat, sleeves, and maybe a couple other things in the frame bag. THis will likely be a Restrap bag, as I get a fair price on them and they're well made in the UK.

I may buy a more aerodynamic front bag for this bike, but I'm not sure. I really like my Tribulus Endover front bag, which can carry a ton of stuff such as layers, food, and shelter, but can also smoosh down very small if not. The key thing with the front bags is how convenient they are. I can get in and out of em quickly. Yeah, hell, I'll probably just use the same bag again. I was talking with the man who makes em and I gotta draw up a rough draft of a version of the bag which is longer than it is wide, which in my untrained ape mind is aerodynamic. It would probably mount under the aerobars.

I will use lighter, more abbreviated stem bags, probably Restrap bags again. I have a Restrap top tube bag which I bought months ago for this project. The thing is a mile long, extending from the headtube to the seat tube. I was unsure of how this would work out but it's very convenient and easy to get into. It's easy to live with day to day, which is critical for long rides where you're living off your bike and convenience is key. If it's just enough of a pain in the ass to get to something you need like food, you'll put it off, and then you'll suffer as a result.

The saddlebag will be the Apidura one I've been using, which is excellent.


-=Saddle=-

One of the most important parts! I got a Selle Anatomica leather saddle on sale for $140. Saddles are always a risk, and they make or break your ride. I've heard great things about them, and on paper it should work for my ass, but you never know until you're way out there. This will be mounted to one of the carbon seatposts I have, likely a Bontrager XXX something something.


-=Other=-

Not sure what I missed but I'm sure it's something. I'm going to paint the bike purple with a shitload of metal fleck sparkles from Spray.bike. I've always wanted a purple sparkly bike. I have a couple stickers I'm gonna put on it as well.







Under construction - bare bones data points


-=ONLY BIKE=-

Concept of onlybike.exe is if you could only have one goddamn bike.

-650b x 47 and 700 x 32-40 or whatever that comes out to, obviously tubeless (no shit)
-650 rims are current Velocity Cliffhanger
-700 rims are 40-50mm deep aero carbon rims, 32mm tires ideal
-Carbon fork, steel or titanium frame
-Road geometry, high stack, long headtube for full carbon steerer protection
-Light aluminium and carbon components. AL bars, carbon post
-SON dyno
-Hope RX4 brakes, Gevenalle/TRP levers, 2x10 friction drivetrain, 53/39 with 11-46.Rivendell Silver Shifters? Goodridge brake lines?
-High quality 180mm rotors on Peak Torque adapters, F+R, metal pads
-Aerobars with carbon extensions, as much weight savings as possible (big annoying project considering current designs)
-XTR pedals


-=ALPINE MOUNTAINEERING BIKE=-

-Test platform currently is Trek 1120
-Primarily rackless, but racks can be added to carry extra equipment such as cold weather gear, crampons/axe/helmet/rope
-Made for riding long distances across deserts and rough terrain to high mountains. High elevation, low weight, low climbing gear,
-Pinion gearbox and Gates belt drive. No to 12 speed, would prefer 10sp or less if no IGH
-Dream: titanium frame and fork
-Reality: Titanium or steel frame and carbon fork? Maybe steel fork. Weight is crucial!
-29x3" tire or so clearance, mostly 29 x 2.6

[dima]

Have you tried the Selle Anatomica already? That thing was really painful for me for some reason. Scared me off leather saddles in general.

[Tom Kenney]

RE: tubeless, is it worse on road/gravel bikes? I've only used it for MTB, and just don't have flats anymore (years going). Yearly tire change, I always find a forest of whtethorn and goat heads in there, so the stuff is obviously working. I carry a latex spare 'cause 1/2 the weight and size. I usually end up giving spares away, ironically to e-bikers mostly.

RE: saddle, tall, skinny folk look to the Italians, I see. Selle Italia has narrow v wide sizing, and I'm narrow. Best bet for endurance stuff would be C2: https://www.ebay.com/itm/295840923353?h ... Swc-dkI-2A. It's nearly identical to classic Flite shape, but more give and slightly more pad. For grinding up Horseshoe Mdw, it's posh. Currently I have a Flite SLR, was $130 half-off, and my 'seat interface' told me instantly that it was, indeed, a Flite like the classic I remember from the '90s. It's great for half a day, slightly more, wouldn't wanna do 100km+ on it.


What feller in is right mind doesn't get a little twitchy in the presence of a big pile of parts?

[Taco]

I haven't ridden the SA saddle yet. The bike probably wont be done for a few more weeks. All of my leather saddles took time to break in, which meant butt pain and saddle sores, but eventually they were all comfortable. The synthetics I've used don't break in, and aren't comfy beyond 60 miles, which rules out all rides except occasional commutes. My commute each day is 45mi. If it doesn't work, I'll get another Brooks B17 Ladies short model with cutout, titanium rails/frame, etc. The saddle I have with the most miles is that, but steel. $300 is a lot for a saddle though.

Tom, tubeless has been wonderful. I run tubeless on my MTB (29x3), main bike (650x47), and my light touring commuter (700x36), and it makes a world of a difference. As long as the rim is properly taped and you have enough sealant, it's just down to the tire. Right now on the commuter I've had some trouble learning the WTB Exposures, which need more sealant after the first few days to properly seal up. I think I will go with Gravelkings next time, as they're better made and have fewer issues.

I use Dynaplugs to fix holes the sealant won't fill. It's by far the best system. You just jam a plug in there and pull the applicator out and you're good. You might need two small ones for some punctures, or perhaps one of the big bullet ones if it's bigger, though I've only needed the big one on MTB tires. I use Stan's sealant, and while I set customer bikes up with Orange Seal and Bontrager sealants, I don't have personal experience with them, just Stans. I would try Orange Seal next time. The Bontrager stuff often shows up already coagulated in the bottle. I also carry regular bacon strips in my kits cause they're cheap and easy to fix bigger holes, or give to friends I'm riding with. Dynaplug refills are relatively expensive. Still worth it, but I try to save em.

Yeah once I got the system figured out, I didn't get flats requiring a tube. I carry one of the fancy super light Tubolito tubes in the 29x3 size and the 650x47, cause it saves a buncha space in my kit. Not as much of a difference for 700x36, as that tube isn't that big so the high cost is less appealing.

I don't remember which Selle Anatomica I got. I picked their steel frame non-touring one for riders over 190lbs (I am 195). I am tall and thin but my ass bones are wide so anything narrower than 155mm causes bloodshed. I really like the Brooks womens saddles. Shorter nose helps as well with aerobars, so you're not smashing your balls.

Nice Klein!

I will post a photo of my pile of parts soon. Paint shows up soon... still need stuff. Even when it's cheap, I still spend more than I want to, whatever that means.

[HikeUp]

Brings back memories of when I rode my road bike back in the '80s. I still have the "bible" of bike maintenance...

[Tom Kenney]

@HikeUp: That is amazing! I think I have a guide book by Cuthbertson...the name sounds familiar. The illustration looks like work of Sergio Aragones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergio_Aragon%C3%A9s.

@Taco: Thanks, good info re: tubeless. I may have need to build a pizza cutter in near future. Seat of 155mm makes that a difficult quest, sorry. My boot quest was similar, quite unhappy until I sussed out the issue...and went Italian! That Klein photo was ~25 yrs ago, just prior to this mission:



I used that frame 30 years on-and-off, including several years daily commute rain-or-shine. Just gave it to my brother, who may build it up since he also has a pile of '90s-era parts.

[simonov]

In 2018-2020 I lived up in the hills east of here, and for some reason I decided I wanted to begin commuting to work on my bike.

I bought a Giant Sedona in 2004 and used it intermittently since then. But then in 2018 or so it was reborn as my daily commuter, for the 15 mile roundtrip to work. My office is right on the Truckee River, which is paralleled by a bike trail called the Truckee Pyramid Trail, so it is relatively easy to get to and from work on a bike.

. . . Except for the damn hill I had to climb at the end of every day. Eventually I bought an electric conversion kit for pedal assist (I never even hooked up the throttle), and while I still had to work at pedaling I no longer had to fear hills or the wind. What these pedal assist units do is add power up hills and against wind, and add speed on the flats. They are great. I literally cut my commute time in half.



Since then I try to ride my bike to work as much as possible for the six moths of Daylight Savings.

At the end of 2020 I moved down into the middle of town, and my commute was reduced to only three miles each way, half on streets and half along the river. I also started playing with GoPro's Timewarp feature (combining time lapse with image stabilization). Here is a video of my commute home last May:



It's a beautiful city. It's a beautiful ride.

The day after that video was made someone stole my e-bike, which sadly is the eventual fate of almost all bikes here in Reno. A couple months later I bought a low end Giant Cypress to replace the Sedona.



I also bought a Bafang BBSHD motor that I intend to install on a Specialized Rockhopper I keep in the garage, whenever I find the time. But in the meantime I'm riding the Cypress to work, during Daylight Savings.

Here's the same commute above, but in the opposite direction, early in the morning, and on my Cypress:



For various reasons today is the first day of 2024 I was able to ride my bike to work, after being out of the saddle for literally six months. Whew.

[Taco]

Holy crap, he has risen! How you likin' Nevada? I rode through Reno a year ago. Not bad for a city. The state outside the cities is great, so quiet.

How did the bike get stolen? Also, this means you're riding a regular bike now, yes?

I have completed the race bike build. I will post some stuff up about it soon, after I take it for its first long ride. I've been commuting on it a little so it has a couple hundred miles on it but I haven't ridden it for longer than 50mi at a time.

[simonov]

Holy crap, he has risen! How you likin' Nevada? I rode through Reno a year ago. Not bad for a city. The state outside the cities is great, so quiet.

I love it here, I really do. Wish I came here 20 years ago. I chose Reno because it's right up next to the mountains, but as it turned out I spend almost as much time in the desert as the mountains. The Northern Nevada desert is similar to the Mojave, but there is more vegetation and more crazy weird mineral formations, plus the thirty mile long Black Rock dry lake.

I don't do much mountaineering anymore. Part of that might be age, but it might also because I don't have a lot of mountaineering friends up here like I did in SoCal.

The best thing about Reno is the seasons. We really didn't have distinct seasons in SoCal. About the time you are getting tired of one season in Reno, a different one rolls up. It's great.

The worst thing about Reno is the Californians. I don't know what happened, but about the time I moved up here a shitload of Californians (mostly from the Bay Area) started flooding in, and it hasn't stopped. Aside from driving up the cost of housing, they are making it a pain to drive anywhere. Not as bad as SoCal, nothing like that, but definitely worse than it was back in 2016. So as much as I love Reno, I strongly suspect I will move in the next two or three years out to Elko, a mining town of about 20,000 four hours NE of here at the base of the gorgeous Ruby Mountains.

How did the bike get stolen? Also, this means you're riding a regular bike now, yes?

The Sedona was hanging on a rack on the back of my car and was stolen right off the rack in my office parking lot, during business hours. That's Reno. Gotta keep everything locked down.

The Cypress is not motorized. As I said, I have the BBSHD I will probably install on the Specialized Rockhopper when I make the time. I bought the Rockhopper as a sort of dual use commuter, but these mountain bikes have teeny tiny front crank sprockets, so really aren't appropriate for street use. But it would be far more practical if I installed a motor. And there are a lot of fire trails around here I'd like to explore on an e-mountain bike.

I thought about converting the Cypress, but I'm mostly going to leave it alone. It's a lower end model and one of the places they saved money is with the no-name derailleur, which is far from smooth. I doubt it will last very long with a motor driving it.

However, did you see the size of the front crank sprocket on the Cypress above? It's pretty small too. Right now I only use the top three of the eight gears on the thing, and it's easy to start free pedaling on long flats. I think a larger front sprocket wold be a practical upgrade for the Cypress. It would help me go a little faster on the flats and downhills, and give me more of the full range of gears against the wind and the uphills.