I gave up. I'm too old...

"VincentMalamute-Kim" (VincentMalamute-Kim) 01/13/2020 at 19:22 • Filed to: None

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and compared to the midwest, the hills around here (Boulder-Fort Collins) are too big for my fitness level and a double crankset. Even after changing the 42 to a 39 and the rear cogs all the way to a 34.

I love the looks of my Shimano 600 EX Arabesque but there’s no triple. I had to jump forward three or four Shimano generations to get to the first 600/Ultegra triple.

The form is too modern for me but at least it’s not black or four arm. My learning curve is shooting up. I had no idea how easy it is to convert a loose bearing bottom bracket to one with cartridge bearings and the axle to this fancy Octalink stuff.

Now I’m running 53/42/30 with 13-30. 34 tooth cog in the back wouldn’t be a bad idea but I don’t think my Suntour Cyclone II has enough chain wrap to handle that with the 53-30 up front.

Out with the old :(

So shiney!

My mind is gradually acclimating to the fact that I’m old and slow. Strava is helping reinforce that.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/13/2020 at 19:45

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I’ve recently started to get back into biking (well....will be again in the Spring, just started back a few weeks before the temps started dropping) to lose a few pounds.....and I can go like...1.5kms and then back before I am pooped.....

So...you may be older than me (I’m 33), but you’re probably doing a DAMN sight better. :P

Used to bike a LOT when I was a teen, really need to get back into shape...

VincentMalamute-Kim > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/13/2020 at 19:56

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and I can go like...1.5kms and then back before I am pooped

haha! oh wait, that was me two years ago when I moved to Colorado and picked up the bike again. And my butt hurt a lot .

Getting back into shape really helps you when you do get old. I rode a LOT too as a teen/college, tapered off through 10 more years of school , then just stopped for 20 years when I got a job. I bet my overall health would be better off if I’d kept up.

One nice thing about Colorado, it’ll be warm enough tomorrow for a 34 mile ride with 3000 ft of climbing.

RPM esq. > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/13/2020 at 20:07

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I too am very far fitness-wise from commuting by bike in college . I went for a casual ride to a brewery with an avid cyclist friend last summer and struggled to keep up on the way there. On the way home after four or five beers, though...that’s when my secret plan to drink a lot and build up my tolerance while he was busy cycling and staying fit really paid off.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/13/2020 at 20:19

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Yeah, that’s what happened to me...biked a lot in Jr. High and into High School...stopped at the end of High School when I went to uni, and never really picked it up again. My bike is in pieces on the rec room floor behind me as all was well back in the fall before my Shimano front derailleur grip- shifter broke....ordered some cheap replacements from Amazon, have the rear derailleur shifter working, but I can’t quite adjust the front one to shift into the highest gear properly...

Bike is an ancient basic 21-speed CCM Ri ptide.

Old shifter ^^^ - the casing literally just split and fell apart. The new cheapies actually seem pretty decent quality, but there is no extra adjustment knob near the shifter, so all the adjustment has to be done on the derailleur, which is a massive PITA...

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > RPM esq. 01/13/2020 at 20:20

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Genius!

Nom De Plume > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/13/2020 at 21:32

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That old crankset looks too nice of condition!

Concerns aside, I would have advised going for an Ultegra 6700 triple groupset in the preferred lighter silver color. That and new set of wheels would have overcome your hesitance once you got a taste of the performance and weight savings.  I’m a stick in the mud too and never looked back (or too hard at the new components :P).

Hope you are having fun out there on your own terms.  

TheRealBicycleBuck > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/13/2020 at 21:39

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I’m in that club too !

With grip-shifts , I always set the grip to the middle gear, adjust the derailleur to the big ring with the stop screws , then pull the slack out of the cable and tighten the set screw on the cable . After that, release the stop screw so the derailleur puts tension on the cable. It will usually move down to the middle ring. Then make adjustments to the cable tension screw as necessary.

Chariotoflove > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/13/2020 at 21:56

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I love the look of the old stuff, but you need what you need. 

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/13/2020 at 22:44

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I’ll admit to doing something similar. My road/gravel bike was originally set up 1x with a 46 tooth chainring. Moving from flat country to hills saw the 52 /39 rings and a front derailleur make a return. However, I couldn’t spend enough time in the big ring to justify it and the little ring was too big. Unfortunately, it was a 130 bolt circle diameter crank not unlike your old one so you can’t go smaller than 36 (?) . Finally found a SRAM compact 110 BCD crank with 50/34 rings on it...now it talks to a 11-32 10spd and I’m a happy camper.

By the by...octalink is far from fancy. I would take a square taper cartridge BB over the octalink anytime... especially if it was from SKF, White Industries or Paul’s Components. Though the Shimano Dura-ace ones are OK too.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/13/2020 at 23:23

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*cycles 30 km to raid mums fridge visit mum and back again an hour later*

flat as a pancake here tho...just windy.... i mostly use the gears to try and get the cogs to wear evenly.... so annoying having to replace a rear cassette coz one gear is worn down to the stubs but all the others are still near pristine

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > farscythe - makin da cawfee! 01/14/2020 at 05:51

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It’s fairly flat here too. The cogs are still in pretty decent shape on my old clunker. I imagine you cycle a LOT more than me. :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/14/2020 at 05:52

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Thanks, I’ll have to try that! By tension screw, do you mean the adjustment AT the shifter? Because unlike my old Shimano gripshifts, the new ones from Amazon have no adjustment there.

TheRealBicycleBuck > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/14/2020 at 07:09

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There should be a barrel tension adjuster somewhere along the line, either at the last cable stop before the derailleur or at the first cable stop on the frame up by the head tube. In some designs, the only adjuster is at the shifter. After doing some digging, I think your derailleur is a bottom-pull design and doesn’t have a barrel adjuster anywhere else.

If that’s the case , then you’ll need to add one. The easiest place to add one is at the first cable stop on the frame, provided that the cable stop is threaded.

If the stop isn’t threaded (and I suspect it isn’t), then you can add an in-line tension adjuster between the shifter and the first cable stop.

Two things to note: first, people use both “cable stop” and “cable housing stop” interchangeably. The latter is more correct, but people are lazy. Second, although you can get the front derailleur adjusted without a tensioner, it’s a lot harder to get right and will fall out of adjustment fairly quickly as the cable beds in.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/14/2020 at 08:20

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Lol probably...no car will have that effect :p

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/14/2020 at 08:26

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Nope, no tension adjust near the shifter or the derailleur. On the old Shimano gripshifts, there was a tension adjust right at the shifter, but none on the new Amazon cheapies.

I didn’t bother disassembling it all again to see if the cable stop on the head tube is threaded or not, but I am 99.99% sure it isn’t from when I put it all back together. It’s a Shimano derailleur as well - I can’t remember the model number, but I had looked it up awhile ago. Luckily I took a pic on my phone - the derailleur is a Shimano FD-TY15-GS, if that gives you any indication. If by ‘bottom-pull’ you mean it pulls the cable up from below, then yes...the shifter cable comes up from below. :)

I played with the adjustment a bit more this morning after I read your last message and managed to get both derailleurs shifting into all gears OK, the only issue now is if the front derailleur is on the largest cog, the chain is rubbing on the front derailleur. I know there are two adjustment screws on the derailleur, but I haven’t looked at the bike in a month or so now (it’s winter, so I can’t easily ride it), so I forget which adjustment screw does what....one moves the derailleur’s default position side to side, and one adjusts...an angle or some such, or am I remembering wrong?

TheRealBicycleBuck > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/14/2020 at 10:35

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If the cable comes from the bottom, it’s a bottom-pull. The adjustment screws on the derailleur are limit stops, so they keep the derailleur from going too far toward the frame or the crank arm and causing problems like a thrown   chain or getting it hit by the crank arm. The rubbing problem is more of a user error. What you are describing is called cross-chaining. Being on the big ring with the big cog puts a lot of side pressure on the chain and it’s bad for it. Modern chains designed for a single chain ring with lots of cogs are more forgiving. Anyway, the old derailleurs aren’t designed to support cross- chaining and the gap is too narrow to allow it. Many indexed shifter designs will have two or three clicks for each of the rings on the front shifter to allow for minor adjust ments to eliminate chain rub while you are riding.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > TheRealBicycleBuck 01/14/2020 at 11:16

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Never used to rub with my old shifters though that I can recall, no matter what gear combo I had it in?

I haven’t adjusted the derailleur’s physical mounting position at all, just replaced the shifters and adjusted the limit stops, as you say, a bit ...?

TheRealBicycleBuck > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/14/2020 at 11:36

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The limit stops really don’t have much to do with the rubbing. The old shifter probably had several index points and you didn’t realize it and the new one, being a cheap Amazon knock-off, doesn’t. Did you buy the Coherny ones? Some of the pictures show a barrel adjuster, but others don’t. Check the tube where the cable exits the shifter. If it’s threaded, there should be a barrel adjuster that goes in there. They may have forgotten to pack it during manufacturing.

With barrel adjuster:

Without:

VincentMalamute-Kim > farscythe - makin da cawfee! 01/14/2020 at 22:34

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I’m using a Suntour freewheel so not a cassette expert . If you were inclined and so annoyed about replacing cassettes instead of single cogs, in some designs, you can drill out the rivets holding the cogs together. They’re just held together for convenience, not structural. If you had one of those cassettes, the problem may then be sourcing single cogs.

VincentMalamute-Kim > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 01/14/2020 at 22:35

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Nice.  If you get it all together and actually start putting on miles, that could be a reason to upgrade the bike.

VincentMalamute-Kim > SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media 01/14/2020 at 22:39

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130 BCD means 39 is the smallest.

Really? on the square taper being better than Octalink? Theoretically, Octalink pushes the right buttons.

The SRAM and everything else newer doesn’t do it for me aesthetically.

My old Shimano crankset was running on a Sugino (remember them? ) square taper bottom bracket. Which implies I must have had a Suntour or Sugino crank at some point. I don’t have them around and don’t remember anymore.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Nom De Plume 01/14/2020 at 22:52

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The 6603 isn’t too bad. Nice even - I like the flat five arms better than the 6503 I got but not a fan of the one piece crank arm appearance. ugh, the 6703 is really starting to get tough to handle. It really would not look right on my 1980 Raleigh with the small dia Reynolds 531 round tubing. I think the 6703's lighter silver is still painted gray? Just light gray? If it’s silver, I haven’t seen one.

Last year I had the wheels rebuilt just convert from tubular rims to clinchers. I’m still running 1980 Campy Record hubs but with new DTSwiss rims. I’d been stuck on the 1970's/80's look but after changing the crank, now redishing the rear triangle for a 130mm 8 speed freehub may be palatable.

re:”lightness” - I just changed the pedals from titanium Eggbeaters to double sided SPDs due my shoes interfering with clicking in. I held both Eggbeaters in my hand and both pedals felt like half the weight of a single SPD. oh well, I’m riding with a rear rack and a pannier full of extra clothes for the changing weather here.

I’m not sure weight reduction would do much given the stuff I’m already carrying. I’d be willing to listen to other arguments though.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Chariotoflove 01/14/2020 at 22:53

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yeah, this new crank is old enough to still be polished aluminum.  So good enough.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Nom De Plume 01/14/2020 at 23:01

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ah, found a silver 6703. I still have a hard time with the styling of the arms and the big chainwheel and not a fan of paint . Opinion could be different in a few years.

Why would you have recommended a 6703 over the 6503 I got? Just looking at the photos, the middle chainring pins and ramp tech look similar.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/14/2020 at 23:33

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i have shimano xtr

they dont seem to be intended to be took apart...tho..i could i guess

but yeah.. sourcing single cogs wouldnt be easy....cassettes galore...hard to argue with the simplicity of just swapping a cassette over i guess..

tbh..i think i just need to get myself a half decent fixie roadbike for my commute and save the 29er for fun rides

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/15/2020 at 02:04

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That’s it...39.

Every Octalink BB I’ve ever been associated with has always snuffed it faster than the equivalent Shimano square taper. And they’ve always been comparatively expensive to replace .

These days, I’m firmly in the 24   mm hollowtech style camp with external cup style BBs on all the bikes . Except for the steel hardtail MTB which runs a White Industries square taper BB and their ENO crankset with their VBC rings in 42/30. And my steel criterion roadie from 1989 which runs a SunTour   52 /39   crank and a Shimano cartridge square taper (it used to have a proper open bearing Sugino BB but wear on the shaft and cups killed it).

Nom De Plume > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/15/2020 at 19:46

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Sorry I took a bit to respond.

Yes, it is anodizing and not polished metal. That alone represents an uglying up from the beauty of vintage cranks. Mind, I’m not disagreeing with anything you said (especially modern groupsets on vintage steel bikes). Your parts selection wa s perfectly fine and I was just making conversation to learn more. As you might guess, it’s hard to make a simple comment on bikes that doesn’t touch on anything important.

To revise my thoughts a bit. Looking at your post and the crank you chose. What I failed to mention was the other side of this coin. Namely re-manufacturing of beautiful older designs with modern materials and design. This got really big for awhile and lead to some really great stuff like new tire development and cranks. Very $$$ as the coffee shop crowd was a prime sales target. Make no doubts this stuff is made to go the distance though. PBP, double centuries, inclement weather... good hard stuff you can keep in tune and not have to fiddle with constantly.

Why would you have recommended a 6703 over the 6503 I got? Just looking at the photos, the middle chainring pins and ramp tech look similar.

It is certainly evolutionary design. So is the BSA version outboard BB. As someone who has, and continues to, put on quite a few miles it does a lot of things right. If it means anything to you, pro’s were ditching DA stuff to use 6700 and some less well funded teams outright using it in UCI races. Especially the shifters were trouble free compared to other modern offerings (they’d switch out the DA internals that ate cables since DA 7800(and continue to) ). The triple was a work of art that got a lot of attention and very subtle improvements otherwise held back in previous designs . This combination of durability, performance, and craftsmanship formed a bridge to what cycling used to be for those with keen eyes and educated legs like you appear to possess. A last hurrah for good triples.

K now more than a few people who stuck this group on their steel frame and never looked back. It does look better on large diameter carbon or aluminum. Mostly everyone just forgot to polish and stare at it like they used to be able to. The line nowadays is drawn at having carbon anything on a steel bike since it has gotten so ubiquitous. Many of these people do unsupported rides in the mountains with the correct amount of supplies plus a safety margin for comfort. The lack of deflection under load if anything helps with carrying extra weight. Not trying to convince you to make another change here, as suggested. Being from somewhere flat you probably won’t catch the stiffness/ light weight bug so bad. Better to be happy and cursing the mountain than mentally not there with figures running through your head.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Nom De Plume 01/17/2020 at 22:42

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Sorry I took a bit to respond.

No prob - real life intrudes sometimes. Thanks for a thought out response. This is probably a pretty niche topic on a car forum, off-topic forum or not. I appreciate the discussion.

Yes, it is anodizing and not polished metal.

I thought the current black, gray, silver ones are painted? Not anodized? I could live with anodizing.

Didn’t know about ReneHerse. Wow. Beautiful. And those prices! Even though I don’t like three arm cranks. Even though TA had them in the 70's. Just saw these on CL:

https://boulder.craigslist.org/bop/d/boulder-middleburn-rs8-type-square/7046384419.html

I did not know that about the 6700 vs DA. I like learning nerdy facts like it has the BSA version of outboard BBs. And 6700 may be a great combination of design factors.

The line nowadays is drawn at having carbon anything on a steel bike since it has gotten so ubiquitous.

Your comments on what people think nowadays are useful since I was out of the cycling world for 20 years. But I’d like to think my though processes are not ossified. For example, I finally got a dual susp mtn bike after riding my buddies down a hill and found out they really do work.

The lack of deflection under load if anything helps with carrying extra weight

My buddy does that - week long unsupported trips through the Rockies. Same Austro-Daimler when we were riding in high school. I’m not sure those rides are for me. I do carry a pannier with emergency clothes on my current day rides with him but I don’t think the deflection is enough to concern me.

My tastes are changing. More functional, less spending purely for high ended stuff. I’m still using downtube friction shifters. So at this point, I’m thinking the equipment works (low enough gears) and the rest really is me.

I have a titanium/carbon Seven road bike that’s 20 years old. I put about a hundred miles on it and then went back to my steel bike. Mainly because of the diff iculty of converting the Campy Record drivetrain to lower gears. Yes, a lot lighter but overall I can’t tell too much difference for the rides I take. Maybe I should post that to see what opinions Oppo (you) might have on what to do with it .

Nom De Plume > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/18/2020 at 12:40

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I assure you of being in a better place, based on what informs your decisions, than most.

L ower end Shimano drivetrain components are still sometimes painted and the nicer stuff is electro-plated/anodized (more wear resistant than any paint) . Compass/Rene Herse is very boutique. A number of Asian brands started filling in the lower price categories when these retro parts got trendy. Some of this stuff is really really good. Scads of it is not and has the added feature of being outrageously priced. Including frames to hang all this shiny stuff on.

Carbon and steel are just too different of materials to be combined in many cases . Then there is something like a bottle cage that looks awful where a Ti King Cage (I’ll stop with the jewelry right here) works as well/better and looks elegant. T he issue is mating carbon and steel such as a seatpost (google carbon seatpost/handlebar/stem breaking!!) that is already a suspect device . Short answer is aluminum everywhere or more steel on a steel bike.

BB more than any other change are a mess. Excepting outboard bearing threaded ones. I’m afraid to ask what is on your fs mtb. Threaded BB are a prime example of carbon rejecting steel inserted into it that was compounded by the CAD designed shaping of outsized tubing (skill required to design and implement this issue would cost more than paying recently graduated kids peanuts so we’ll do it anyways and raise prices to cover the lawsuits/frame warranties/marketing) . Consumers ended up having umpteen proprietary standards coming from two closely related ones that worked extremely well(BSA/ITA ) . These glue in pressure fit BB’s exemplify a number of anything but consumer friendly changes that were adopted. The amount of work required on them might very well be the only thing that saved bike shops from online storefronts. Not joking.

DT shifters are perfect other than the need to take your hands off the bars i n conditions that have changed drastically since their introduction. Only so many contortions to shift with a knee are possible while navigating traffic and staying aware of so many fast moving potentially distracted objects. A very thoughtful parts selection can still get you to a similar reasonable minded place. Especially shifters, wheels, and tires are phenomenal compared to 20-40 years ago. More the last two. Very few truly good brake/shifter combinations have been sold. Trust your experience.

:) Sell the Seven or mount it on your wall. The thoughts on these a mal gama tions of metal and carbon have changed considerably by even the most stalwart promoters in that period. You make your own decision t here, but this got long again providing a reasonable amount of insights   to help make an informed decision. Ask yourself why so few are encountered on the roads. If you do trade up from the steel road bike go full carbon, double diamond frame, and BSA if you can find one . Compact geometry works for nobody except the manufacturers, chiropractors, and sports rehab surgical centers . A void the wares of T and big S like the plague these days. No matter where they are made, European road bikes are still where it’s at for enthusiast level riders looking at off the shelf bikes.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Nom De Plume 01/18/2020 at 19:42

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A number of Asian brands started filling in the lower price categories

Thanks again. You’ve further helped my learning curve getting caught up on the new stuff. When I got back in to cycling 2 years ago, I wondered where Suntour had gone and who the heck people like Origin8 were.

Carbon and steel are just too different of materials to be combined in many cases.

When you say carbon/steel, I assume you mean exactly that? That doesn’t apply to carbon/ti, right?

I’m afraid to ask what is on your fs mtb.

heh, I actually don’t know. I bought a 2017 Scott Spark Plus last year without knowing much about mtn biking. Luckily, it seems to fit what I do well. I’m still on the learning curve with the new tech. I’ll be rebuilding the fork/shock this winter so that’ll be a completely new skill for me.

I was surprised how easy upgrading the loose bearing square taper BB to cartridge bearing Octalink was.

:) Sell the Seven or mount it on your wall. The thoughts on these amalgamations of metal and carbon have changed considerably

Not worth enough to sell anymore. I’d basically thought of it as art piece. It’s nice to have someone agree with that. I do like just staring at the TIG welds on the Seven:

I’d love to be able to reuse the Campy/Zipp303 wheelset on the old bike though. Even at 20 yrs old. oh well.

I’m surprised by your carbon/metal combos thoughts. I looked up Seven’s website. They’re now making a lot more all ti bikes but still some combo carbon/ti. I assumed I never see a Seven on the road because they’re such a small maker?

The amount of work required on them might very well be the only thing that saved bike shops from online storefronts. Not joking.

I figured it was the huge shift to mtn bikes and the need to service all the hydraulics.

I like your opinions since your philosophy is reasonably in tune with mine. My current thought is to stick to my old stuff since I think it’s mainly my fitness that’s the limiting factor. I’d like to avoid spending money on boutique products or new bikes - I used to do that and found it a slippery slope to spending all my money.

Nom De Plume > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/18/2020 at 22:30

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The ti/carbon and why so few of these bi-material bikes are on the road questions are very interesting. Steel or aluminum front triangle + carbon rear triangle + carbon fork and steerer fell apart or fear of falling apart made them wall art. Aluminum steerer carbon forks fared a little better (steerer didn’t get sawed into or cracked) but maintained a lot of the separation concerns of products from that period. Ti is chemically and physically a better match with carbon. Galling is obviously a concern where metal on metal contact exists. Much much more is to be said on this subject. Instead I’ll advise you check out this site . The general consensus is these ride and feel better, more secure. My carbon road bike has a ti RD mount and Stainless S teel (?) BB shell. It is less of an issue today if implemented responsibly. Great great grandchildren will not be riding this bike as I might’ve with a steel bike of a distant relative.

Thankfully, after much R&D on customers, most pressfit BB got more reliable and the maintenance routine streamlined. Them and what happened to headtubes/headsets make much more sense on a carbon mtb. Removal still takes a heat gun and install isn’t always pretty. Bet you are enjoying having a modern mtb with so much innate ability.

Hang those ZIPP on the wall with the rest of the bike. If you can find a mounting place strong enough to hold that much weight! If what’s currently mounted on your steel bike weighs more than 1500 g. I’d consider something like a set of used Campy Eurus (pre-wide and certainly not new enough to be tubeless) with G3 rear and normal front spoke lacing the only advisable change for mountain riding. Then order tires from an internet retailer in Europe just like everyone else with more sense than money. The funny thing is many of these boutique frame and parts makers still follow the “ride up grades, not upgrades” philosophy in their personal time and welcome riding without enduring gear discussion. Don’t be too surprised if some reasonable person you encounter out there is a name.

Thank you for the compliment. I still think you might be underestimating how much trouble these pressfit were. That and running internal cables on some bikes were not for the faint of heart. Borescope charges by the hour to help pass a blockage never sounds fun.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Nom De Plume 01/19/2020 at 21:31

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That Festka site is incredible. The site itself looks expensive. Thanks for pointing me to some of these high end stuff.

Interesting discussion about the bi-metal bikes. Interesting look of the Festka’s. Looks a bit of an inverse of my Seven which has Ti steerer/seat tube/rear stays.

I googled my mtn bike BB; press-fit outboard bearing Shimano. In an alum frame. Didn’t realize it would have a maintenance schedule. I missed out on all this discussion during my two decades out of cycling.

Bet you are enjoying having a modern mtb with so much innate ability.

Yes I am. Pretty cool to learn something brand new last year.

Hang those ZIPP on the wall with the rest of the bike.

Thanks for getting these realizations through to me. Just like the rest of the “I know what I have” crowd, it’s tough realizing how far the value has fallen with so few miles on it.

“ride up grades, not upgrades” philosophy

I was following that until I found out all the latest and boutique stuff (partly your fault !). I have to stick to that .

I still think you might be underestimating how much trouble these pressfit were.

Yes I am.

That and running internal cables on some bikes were not for the faint of heart.

I actually drilled holes in my old steel Raleigh to run the bike computer wires like 40 years ago. I also drilled the handlebar to run the brake cables through the bar. I don’t remember how I got the wires or the cables through . Boroscope use never occurred to me.

Nom De Plume > VincentMalamute-Kim 01/20/2020 at 18:49

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With a larger audience in mind. I stuck to easily linked and admittedly higher end items of known good quality. Luckily nobody I know of is attempting ti/carbon bikes using below state of art manufacturing techniques today . Festka is a success story hearkening back to the pre-war days when their native country was renowned for producing items of exceptionally high quality and conception. May peace and prosperity reign for many years to come.

Find it amusing the weight of those old ZIPP wheels alone failed to dissuade you from using them in the mountains. A good set of modern aluminum wheels would do wonders for your flatland mentality towards equipment. Even when riding slowly for enjoyment with extra gear weight. I t makes a big difference stiffening up and eliminating rotational weight. Not to mention they’ll corner more assuredly. I suspect someone who drilled their bar and frame to clean up cables will come around to this in their own time.

Modern bikes with all the odd shapes and bends they incorporate have routing tubes affixed to the inside of the frame. Many of them have at least one frame size that is impossible to run cables through. Using a shop modified borescope as both camera and persuader proved to be an advancement of the authorized procedures. 24 hours labor for a single cable gets very hard to deliver the service ticket to a customer on.

If you are out in the Winter you are going to run into pro riders and a slough of others connected to cycling at a fairly high level . In time you’ll be able to pick out who in all new kit on a fancy bike is only out there to ride up grades. More than a few of them would rather spend a water stop talking to an old hand than 30 year old children aggressively moving into position to get a selfie or just being fawning morons. Especially the ladies and parents of junior racers.

Anyone introduced you to the term “Sprayorado” yet? This coming from someone that remembers a not so distant time before there was a green cloud over Denver. Much less the   offspring it helped produce over Fort Collins.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Nom De Plume 01/22/2020 at 17:39

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That is interesting about current manufacturing, Festka.

Find it amusing the weight of those old ZIPP wheels alone failed to dissuade you from using them in the mountains.

hmm, didn’t know they were that heavy. They’re on the Seven due to my old Raleigh’s rear dropout width of 126mm.

A good set of modern aluminum wheels would do wonders for your flatland mentality towards equipment.

I had my old Campy Nuovo Record hubs relaced to modern DT Swiss rims of some model. 36 holes! Didn’t want to deal with tubulars anymore despite their comfort. Who knows what my future attitude will be but currently, I’m thinking no major expenditures on bikes unless I get so much

Thanks for the info on the internal routing

In time you’ll be able to pick out who in all new kit on a fancy bike is only out there to ride up grades.

That is tough. Most people are passing me too fast for me to see much of what they’re riding.

I have not hear of the term “Sprayorado”. I have not met the cycling community out here. I’ve been riding with one friend who lives in FtC. I rode with him a lot in high school and he happened to live nearby when I moved here. He’s still riding his 1970's Austro-Daimler with Shimano 600EX so he’s an enabler of my old equipment.

Grindintosecond > VincentMalamute-Kim 03/05/2020 at 00:32

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Nah. Look at a wolfstooth (?) Derailleur hangar. It adds a lot of chain wrap so you can run that big 32-34 in back.

VincentMalamute-Kim > farscythe - makin da cawfee! 03/05/2020 at 13:55

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yes, one needs more bikes.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Grindintosecond 03/05/2020 at 13:56

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Good idea. That reminds me that I have a friend who can machine stuff. He just machined a new derailleur hanger for his 1980 Austro-Daimler with a few mm more drop and a mm more lateral positioning to solve some issues.

Grindintosecond > VincentMalamute-Kim 03/05/2020 at 15:13

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https://www.wolftoothcomponents.com/products/roadlink

i have a compact 105 group, 32t in back. i cant imagine what the balance i would have to have if i ran an equal 34 or even a 36 in ther back at 3 mph up a hill . I think my challege would be just spinning my legs. The goal this year is left hand canyon all the ay up to ward. I dunno if itll happen or not but at least ill loose weight trying to be ready for it.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Grindintosecond 03/05/2020 at 15:48

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That’s really cheap! It’s pretty much what my friend machined.

I running 30/30 as low gear. A few times like at the Rist Canyon summit, I wished I had a 34. Balance is no issue. Only reason I haven’t put on a 34 is that gear spacing gets too wide with only 7 gears.

I did Lyons to Peak to Peak up Hwy 7 and back down via Jamestown last year. Any reason I should do Left Hand Canyon instead this year? Or both?

I’m finding rim brakes insufficient in a few cases. I’m now thinking giving up the vintage look and just get a cheap new modern bike with disc brakes. Solve the gear issue too.

Grindintosecond > VincentMalamute-Kim 03/06/2020 at 08:39

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In shopping , a cAAD   13 is probably the only option now. Given a 105 group and it’s ability to take wi iide 30-32 tires, and in a disc brake. It’s not as laydown racy as it used to be but still has the racing dna. Reviews are in and it’ll be hard to beat for value and it is now comfortable for real long rdes. No longer the hard ass crit monster of the 90s.

I have a low mile caad9 on the trainer I keep going back and forth with regrouping, and a steel Soma smoothie in 11spd I built for centuries (have yet to do one) and the boulder-roubaix. All of which I miss doing due to health or injuries .

If I regroup the c9, the cost won’t be much more to get on a c13. It’s always a question. N+1...or 2.

As I get older I like iPads and iPhones more and more cause I don’t have to fiddle with new configurations and getting it to work. So with that, Get the new bike. The modern 105 group is super slick and feels as good as a 10spd dura ace. Y ou’ll wonder why you never had it before. The range is awesome and they now offer it i n a 34-34.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Grindintosecond 03/06/2020 at 21:40

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I’ve learned that “comfortable for real long rides” is incredibly variable. Especially now that I’m older. The meaning has drastically changed even for me.

The CAAD13 otherwise looks pretty good. I like the wide tires and the discs. I’m suspicious of that “racing DNA”. I read a review agreeing how “comfortable” it is. But that could be a 29 y/o writer’s definition of “comfortable” . The seat stay having a cutout to clear the rear wheel is worrisome - it suggests a very short wheelbase - that race DNA .

I’m at the age that I need long term comfort. I probably need to go for a frame advertised as touring. I can’t imagine test rides doing the trick. It’d have to be for a hundred miles or so, I think.

Decades ago when I was riding, I was doing many centuries every summer. ah, you’re actually young and a racer. I looked up Boulder-Roubaix. yike. Decades ago when I was fit, I found I couldn’t even handle being Category 4 - genetics like you mentioned .

That CAAD13 looks pretty cheap for 105. Usually, I like to keep my old stuff. Actually - if you’re thinking of getting a CAAD13, I think that automatically means it’s too racy and uncomfortable for me.

I’ll keep my eyes open for a new bike. Thanks for that opinion about 105 v DA . 105 is viewed as low end by my old school brain.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Grindintosecond 03/06/2020 at 21:42

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Weird about the Boulder Roubaix course - no hills!

Grindintosecond > VincentMalamute-Kim 03/08/2020 at 10:01

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rollers. There’s some hills on the second half of the course, well, two decent climbs that arent bad if your in shape, but its a fun fast course on 28c tires. Ride don to ride it and ride back. nice big day.