Manky Panky

"Nom De Plume" (unlistedusername) 05/19/2020 at 22:00 • Filed to: wrenching

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This is the story of using something harder than intended. More exactly a steel 1984 Trek road bike I converted to a single speed to amuse myself with during the Winter. Which entails endless salt dunes and massive pothole hiding chemical slurry pools interspersed with every variety of ice in known existence.

All sharing one thing in common. Sand, lots and lots sand. Which is, for those not blatantly aware, nature’s most perfect penetrating abrasive. This is why rust is so prevalent. Nothing escapes cyclical scouring and corrosive washes. Oh, and that minor event which calves off mansion sized chunks of cliffside. In this case an exaggerated freeze / thaw cycle of approximately -40 F outdoor lows to 110 F indoor fireside thaws.

That is a period correct top tier road racing crank that survived frankly too much to detail before being sacrificed to decadent pleasures.

Tire pressures at well below zero temps are quite low and air resistance (not to mention fighting thick clothes to move at all) is very high in static conditions. It is nearly never calm. Arctic cold fronts mean high winds which compact snow into a slightly concrete form everywhere you would wish to ride. On top of ice which allows it a nice place to slide around and collapse nice friendly light snowflakes into a hard packed momentum resisting obstacle.

The sum of all these forces is considerable enough application of torque becomes an art form. How close can you come to actually staying upright by grunting with exertion standing against a pedal while pulling back with all your might. Very rarely. As it turns out riding on a moonscape is pretty bouncy. To say the least, cheap easily rectified cranks snap with regularity during this kind of treatment and I rather like my teeth and knees intact. Dura Ace or nothing. All of this compacted into two easy to digest images.

If you guessed the not pictured drive side is cracked at the pedal you would be correct. If you also guessed that for every ride 3 hours or over an immediate emergency level maintenance session approximately 3 hours long was undertaken. To the frame, to pieces, through multiple debrining and degreasing tanks, to bare clean surfaces meticulously rebuilt in the hopes of resisting irresistible forces as long as possible before grit and liquid intrusion start causing wear on vital parts. That diamond shaped hole should be a perfect square. This chain should not be suspended.

I dare you to try stretching a bike chain out that far. [Cue Farscythe’s abominable reply] When it became clear the entire drivetrain was going in the bin I basically stopped giving a shit one way or the other and went at stuff as balls out as nursing it along until the streets were swept allowed. No cleaning or refreshing of any kind. Now a fresh start with kind thanks to the very generous Highlander- Datsuns are Forever. Who I remounted the old chain for.

dumpsterfire! > Nom De Plume 05/19/2020 at 22:32

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I think it would be easier to just lie and say you were busting out 700 watts and it snapped.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Nom De Plume 05/19/2020 at 22:35

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Old chains on new chain rings are a quick way to earn an involuntary trip over the bars and onto the street. I learned that one the hard way. 

Nom De Plume > dumpsterfire! 05/19/2020 at 22:44

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This was not a brittle snap. It was a hairline crack that eventually grew little by little until every pedal stroke opened it wider. Much time and effort was devoted towards eking out as much time as it had left before becoming utterly unusable.

700w is way low for what it takes to snap metal parts like a track cyclist.  1700w is getting closer.

Nom De Plume > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/19/2020 at 22:46

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I mounted it for the photo.  That ring is 5 years old and was in use the entire time that crank and chain were reaching their current states.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Nom De Plume 05/19/2020 at 22:52

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Glad to hear it was only for a photo op. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Nom De Plume 05/19/2020 at 23:41

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I was riding with a friend one day and the bottom bracket spindle clean snapped off with crank still attached to his foot . It was a square taper Dura-Ace crank and bottom bracket. When shimano released octolink we shed   tears oF joy to this new fangled invention that was a large diameter hollow spindle.

Nom De Plume > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 05/20/2020 at 00:44

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No kidding, I’m sure suspicions flew after that one. Was he OK?

I rode dt shifting 7400 for a long time. 6700 was world changing for me (UCI Pro teams using second tier groups is unheard of) . Good chance I’ll ply the waters between those two groups with threaded BB for another decade or two before considering something new. 978 different proprietary PF BB standards should have been prosecutable in at least the Asian countries all manufacturing is done in.

Time ATAC were an instant love. Everything you sent was fantastic.  

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Nom De Plume 05/20/2020 at 00:53

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My last two bikes have threaded bottom brackets.

Sovande > Nom De Plume 05/20/2020 at 08:37

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700w is twice what is generated by a pro cyclist. An average commuter cyclist puts out about 100-150 watts. 

nerd_racing > Sovande 05/20/2020 at 08:41

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Sovande > nerd_racing 05/20/2020 at 08:59

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Exactly 

ST80MND > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 05/20/2020 at 09:12

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Square Taper, ( and threaded headsets) need to die in a fire. How old was that crank? Its taper was almost round! 

Nom De Plume > Sovande 05/20/2020 at 09:19

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Let me explain a little better.

What you are referring to is the average over a longer ride of say an hour. When you add how hard you can pull to how hard you can push against the pedals for a few seconds. 150w is nowhere near feasible for almost anyone. To be clear, track riders snapping crank arms are putting out well over a few thousand instant on watts at point of failure.

Picture fails to display how large, not just disproportional, his legs are.

Sovande > Nom De Plume 05/20/2020 at 09:33

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Gotcha. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Sovande 05/20/2020 at 09:43

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Sustained watts for Lance on hard climbs were around 400-500 doped watts. Big sprinters will do 1500 or more in a final. I have never ridden with a power meter but it’s common place these days. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Nom De Plume 05/20/2020 at 09:44

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Steroids not even once.

Sovande > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 05/20/2020 at 09:49

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Yep, I did some more reading! 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Sovande 05/20/2020 at 10:39

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Training with power and power output statistics are actually quite fascinating to me. When I was amateur racing we trained with a heart rate monitor and power meters were clunky $2,000 crap set ups that only pros used. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ST80MND 05/20/2020 at 10:42

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I constantly fought square taper cranks. I bet on my mountain bike I would pull the crank, clean the spindle and reattach on a monthly basis if not more often depending on ridding conditions. I pulled the crank on my 2012 trek once in 4 years of use and have yet to pull the crank on any of my newer bikes since purchase.