sjh - mountain biking linux geek spice - mtb / linux / canberra / cycling / etc

Steven Hanley hackergotchi picture Steven
Hanley
About

email: sjh@svana.org

web: http://svana.org/sjh

Other online diaries:

Aaron Broughton,
Alison Russell,
Allan Bontjer,
Andrew Pollock,
Anthony Towns,
Chris Yeoh,
Jeremy Kerr,
Martijn van Oosterhout,
Michael Carden,
Michael Davies,
Michael Still,
Rusty Russell,
Tim Potter,
Tony Breeds,

Links:

Linux Weekly News,
XKCD,
Userfriendly,
Questionable Content,
Planet Linux Australia,
Bilbys,
CORC,

Canberra Weather: forecast, radar.

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(online feed aggrgator for all the diaries I read regularly)

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Tue, 11 Nov 2008

My map board - 13:39
Just as an assist so I can google my memory easier, I often need to remember what brand my map board is, rather than have to search through email or similar from when I purchased it a few years ago I should just have a link here telling me I have a Windchill Map Board. I really like these boards (I have two in the garage at home) as they sit a bit higher than Miry and also the screws to attach them are not so fiddly and short (so I am not afraid of them coming out and being lost to such an extent). They are a little heavy, however they are well constructed and have good support. I had to get one of them fixed in 2007 and the replacement part was cheap and sent up to Canberra quickly. Thanks Windchill for a good, functional, well priced product.

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Thu, 11 Sep 2008

Fairly unobservant - 15:26
When I broke my collar bone in April, the road bike (well cyclocross bike) I was riding that day suffered some damage also. The front wheel was scalloped and broken in many places. The Saddle was broken and there was a nasty case of road rash on the STI shifters, everything else appeared fine however.

When I first started riding the road bike again, around 5 weeks after the accident, I thought at the time the right pedal was somehow rotating strangely or off in some way. However I put it down to getting back on the road bike with my collar bone in a state and ignored it. I also obviously got used to the sensation while ignoring it.

A few weeks ago I was doing some commutes on the cross bike with chunky tyres and was using 2 bottles in the cages often. Watching my legs rotate I noticed the right leg was hitting the frame and bottle a bit and yet the left leg was a huge distance out from the frame and anything else. Intrigued I then analysed my riding on some of my other bikes, I happily found the other bikes did not show off this trait also thus I was fairly sure my entire body had not somehow become unbalanced toward one side on the bike.

This did however mean something was obviously wrong with the cyclocross bike. Today I finally bothered taking it in to the bike shop and they measured some stuff, at first they were also flummoxed, until someone thought to measure the distance of the cranks from the frame. It turns out I bent my right crank inwards by 11mm in the crash, it was not hitting the frame and is not obvious unless you know to look at it for it being bent in compared with the other crank.

So I sort of suspected all along something was wrong, however made myself ignore it and get used to it. I am probably fairly lucky I have not been doing much riding this year so I have not changed my pedalling or muscle action or anything to accommodate the problem with the bike. Now I really do have to seriously consider buying a new groupset for this bike with a triple on it in order to enable it to climb in mountainous country more easily.

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Fri, 15 Aug 2008

Oooohhh Shiny! - 16:06

The Ayups wrapped up (fullsize)


All the kit from above (fullsize)

So I am sort of making bad jokes in the title of this post, however I do like my new light setup for riding/running/etc. As previously mentioned I was able to borrow some AYUP lights from my friend Danielle. Her adventure racing team has AYUP sponsorship this year and has been able to loan sets of ayups out to people around Canberra for them to try out. I was lucky enough to use a set for a few weeks.

Running with them is fantastic as you have a lot of light coming out, and due to the multiple angles can have one light pointed near your feet and one light pointed ahead if you need on rough terrain. On the bikes the system is really light and provides far more useable nice light than 20 or 30 W of halogen lights ever seemed to. Also definitely more than my luxeon based Silva L1, though one would kind of expect that with 2 Cree LEDs per light in the AYUP kit.

Anyway I felt the need to get a set, so $650 later I am now the owner of the 2008 Enduro kit, this gives me extra batteries, mounts, and a running head band. I also ordered another mount so I can have three of my bikes ready for them. I think anyone who knows what colour most of my race gear is can guess what colour I chose for the lights without looking at the photos on the left, good to see the shade will match my mountain bike and double kayak so well.

With the 4 3 hour batteries and 2 6 hour batteries I can keep both lights lit for 12 hours non stop, or if on foot and only wanting one light a full 24 hours without recharging. All my use of the loaned set has given me a huge appreciation of having these light weight and bright lights. I look forward to lots of fun out there using this set I now have bought.

Oh and I hear that from time to time when AYUP are out of stock of parts the wait can be horrendous. I was very lucky, I made my order for the lights on Tuesday and they were in my office by Friday. Rock on for quick service.

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Sat, 21 Jun 2008

Serious carrying capacity - 13:06
On my 4 current working bikes I tend not to have a pannier rack mounted. Largely because I use the road bike and main mtb as race/training bikes and the fixie road bike has no rack screws and would not be suited to carrying panniers. The single speed however has rack mounts, and though it seems silly having a rack on my single speed mtb I have not bothered putting together the components and frame I have mostly ready for a touring bike yet. However I decided I wanted to use my panniers a bit once more for my shopping and other stuff.

Until I can get the last few parts and time to build the touring bike up the single speed seemed the obvious choice. Usually when I do my shopping I just take along a 35 litre backpack or similar and hope I can fit everything. I just mounted my pannier rack, both my panniers and a rack top bag onto my single speed, there is some fairly serious carrying capacity on that bike now. (see the photo)

Sure the capacity of this bike even with a ruck sack on my back is dwarfed by a bob trailer style arrangement and is made to seem puny when compared to the Dutch Cargo Bicycles such as those sold by a friend of mine in Victoria (follow the link). However I have yet to purchase either, although the Cargo Bicycles are sort of tempting, possibly due to how rare they are on Australian roads. Still the carrying capacity of two panniers and a rack top bag should enable me to carry a bit more home easily from the markets and shops (meaning I can do both in one trip and not do two trips)

Time now to ride to some shops and buy some items I need, than past uni to visit the co-op bookshop to buy a birthday preswent for Sam and Ben's daughter Max who is celebrating turning 6, also need to grab a projector from work to use at a dinner for BGCC tonight for a paddling slideshow on in the background.


Serious load carrying capacity with 2 panniers and a rack top bag (Full Size)

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Wed, 11 Jun 2008

Lake Safety - 18:47
A lot of my paddling through winter is done on Lake Burley Griffin at night here in Canberra. My AR friends and I want to be safe and visible out on the water for obvious reasons. However there is a rule the water police sometimes enforce that you should not use red flashing (or red constant on) lights to on your body or boat. This is somewhat annoying as flashing LED safety lights for cycling are very cheap and easily available. Many of us resort to using flashing white with our head torches, or simply ignore the rule and wear a few flashing red lights anyway.

Julie sensibly has some proper suction cap attached safety lights she bought for this purpose, last year I used flashing orange road safety beacons sold by jaycar, however these were not easy to mount, not water resistant (and thus obviously not water proof) and seemed a bit cheap. Last year on Dans Data I saw a review for battery powered glow sticks known as Krill lights. Although they do not come in pink at the time I decided they would be really good safety lights for my boats while out paddling.

Today as I am getting back into night paddling again at last I finally received a pair of krill sticks. I got a 180 degree AA stick to put in front of me and face forward so as not to leave the glow in my field of vision directly and a 360 degree stick to sit at the back of the boat. I can tie them on at each end and sit them upright on velcro so they should stay in place reasonably well and still be quick to swap to another boat or remove.

The photos below probably shows fairly well the difference and the nice blue glow.


Blue Glow from Krill Lights (Full Size)

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Sat, 31 May 2008

Another reason cycling through winter is hard for non cyclists - 18:14
On Thursday when I arrived at work I happened to give some thought to the clothing I had been wearing to go out cycling that morning with the temperature around 2 degrees Celsius and stay comfortable. People living in Sydney do not have it so hard as people living in Canberra, however Sydney has other problems, such as horrendous traffic and not much cycling friendly infrastructure.

On Thursday morning I was wearing the following items (with original purchase costs) CORC cycling socks ($10) and Ground Effect wind proof fleece socks ($25), Ground Effect tights with wind proof fleece from knees down ($99), knicks (a cheap pair I got at the Mont sale for $49), a poly propylene thermal (Kathmandu sale item for $19), Short Sleeve cycle jersey (Alpine Classic jersey, $70), arm warmers ($20 back in 2002), long sleeve fleecy lined winter top (A Netti top I bought in 2002 for $90 (or so)), Mont wind proof cycle vest (one of my favourite pieces of kit, $80 at the sale), Ground Effect fleece beanie with wind proof material over the ears ($19), helmet (not counting this in the price as all cyclists in Australia wear one in theory and you do not need one as expensive as mine), Ground Effect winter gloves ($39) over poly propylene glove liners ($8 at Kathmandu).

As it gets colder (down to -7 some mornings) I will also have neoprene booties ($80) over my cycling shoes, an extra poly pro thermal, and a full length sleeve Mont (or similar) wind proof jacket ($130) oh and often fleece gloves under the wind proof gloves. However if we simply add up the costs of what I was wearing this Thursday morning it comes to a rather staggering AUD $528. Considering I was riding in the dark that ignores the cost of lighting and also ignores how much I spend on bikes. Sure you can ride slowly not working up much of a sweat or exposing yourself to the wind as much in cheaper gear and be comfortable enough. However to actively enjoy cycling in cold temperatures and be able to do it a lot it helps having all the warm comfortable gear that protects you from the elements.

Of course clothing gets smelly quickly when you sweat in it a lot so I have more than one item of most of that gear to enable me to get out most days a week even in winter and stay active. Fortunately lots of it lasts a long time, however the cost of getting into cycling in winter is somewhat prohibitive when you first start doing it (such as the Bilbys novice program participants who keep going through the following winter).

I guess to counter balance this you can look at how much many people spend on petrol, when you consider I filled my car up with a tank of petrol for AUD $60 last week, it was the first time I had filled my cars petrol tank since March (I filled it in Sydney to get back to Canberra following the kayak race I did up there). I can comfortably get around by bike all through Canberra in winter, get my groceries often by bike, do other things by bike and can avoid using my car a lot.

However the point I guess I am getting at in the title is, most non Cyclists think $500 is about as much as they could conceivably justify spending on a bicycle. If they then find out to cycle through winter they may need to spend almost as much on clothing it is quite likely to put them off.

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Thu, 29 May 2008

La Muerte, my little black boat - 21:30

La Muerte - Time Bandit (fullsize) 		So I finally got around to naming my Time Bandit Multi Sport Kayak. La Muerte, the Spanish word for death, however as it is a feminine word and I am a fan of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, the goth girl style Death from the series seemed like a good name. I have been told many a time that boats need female names, and though this could be seen as macabre or tempting fate I decided I liked it enough to go ahead and do the naming.

For more photos of La Muerte I have a photo page up now.

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Wed, 14 May 2008

Neat saddle bag feature - 11:00
Another thing that broke in my big road crash was my saddle bag, it broke in the same place as the last time however as this was in a crash I did not think they would repair it again. So I ordered myself a new one from T7. Road bikes are often about clean lines and minimalism, thus having a hulking great big bag filled with tools, tubes, clothing, white goods, etc is not the norm (unlike on the mountain bike, or worse the contents of mountain biker's camel backs after a few years (I knew I would find that air compressor if I looked everywhere...)).

Thus this is a small saddle bag, as was the one that broke on my road bike. There is a problem with such a small saddle bag, I carry two spare tubes and a multi tool on the road bike for flats and repairs. This should be enough, and it was always one heck of a squeeze to fit it all inside. However there have been occasions when I have had more than 2 flats while out riding by myself. Last time it happened was a work day, well before any bike shops opened and I was out past Tuggeranong, I got my mother to come over from Gunghalin and pick me up that day. After that experience I taped or somehow attached a small patch kit to the bottom of the saddle bag so I could fix more than two flats. This did not stay attached easily and was in harms way a lot.

So after this long winded story I can get to the really neat feature of the new bag, it has a small zip up compartment underneath, in which there is a water proof cover, however as I see no need to carry a water proof saddle bag cover it is the perfect location to stash a small patch kit with glue, patches, sand paper and wet wipes. What a fantastic addition, it does not increase the size of the bag too much so you can still look like a roadie, yet it gets me out of the more than two flats problem in a neat manner. Good design T7.

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Mon, 12 May 2008

Replacement Helmet - 13:39

Pink Giro Animas
Pink Giro Animas (Full Size)

For years now I have worn a Giro E2 as my primary bike helmet. When I first started wearing it Bell helmets were rare in Australia (previously I found Bell helmets fit well), after trying out a number of helmets (including cheaper Giro models) the E2 was the only one I found that fit well at the time. Since using it I have also come to love the adjustable height visor and generally found it a really good helmet to wear.

When I broke my helmet last month I sent it off to the Australian Giro importer as they have a crash replacement policy, they will sell you a replacement at 40% of RRP. Once you include postage this would have put my new E2 at around AUD $170 to 180. I had already made use of this policy last year so all seemed fine. However the Giro importers rang back to say they would have no E2 helmets in stock until June sometime. So I started to look around online, a number of friends have bought their helmets that way and it was likely to be cheaper. I could have bought a new E2 for around AUD $160 including postage, however I happened to notice the Giro Animas mountain bike helmet model came in a really good pink flames colour. How could I resist getting more pink race gear, even though it will forever clash with anything red. So I ordered this (a model not available in Australia) and it arrived today.

I and I suspect many other customers love the ability to track packages being shipped, Danielle suggested I had too much time on my hands and am obviously a geek when I mentioned I knew my helmet had arrived in Sydney on Friday morning. However I could not help but look once a day or so and see the progress of the shipment until it arrived here. Anyway though I like my lilac spare helmet, this new helmet is far more comfortable, has an adjustable visor and comes with the added bonus that the flamingos I hide amongst do not even have to be painted lilac. 

Date  	Time  	Location  	Event Details
May 12, 2008  	06:58:00 AM  	CANBERRA AUSTRALIA  	Out for delivery
May 12, 2008 	05:56:00 AM 	CANBERRA AUSTRALIA 	Arrival Scan
May 12, 2008 	04:11:00 AM 	SYDNEY AUSTRALIA 	Departure Scan
May 9, 2008 	08:55:00 AM 	SYDNEY AUSTRALIA 	Completed customs clearance process
May 9, 2008 	08:39:00 AM 	SYDNEY AUSTRALIA 	Arrival Scan
May 7, 2008 	11:10:00 AM 	JAMAICA NY UNITED STATES 	Departure Scan
May 7, 2008 	06:11:00 AM 	JAMAICA NY UNITED STATES 	Arrival Scan
May 7, 2008 	01:04:00 AM 	WILMINGTON OH UNITED STATES 	In transit
May 7, 2008 	12:56:00 AM 	WILMINGTON OH UNITED STATES 	Arrival Scan
May 7, 2008 	12:01:00 AM 	WILMINGTON OH UNITED STATES 	Departure Scan
May 6, 2008 	10:52:00 PM 	LOUISVILLE KY UNITED STATES 	Departure Scan
May 6, 2008 	08:05:00 PM 	LOUISVILLE KY UNITED STATES 	Departure Scan
May 6, 2008 	03:45:00 PM 	--- 	Shipment picked up from seller's facility

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Thu, 08 May 2008

Yet Another Cycling Jersey - feeding the addiction - 16:33
google cycling jersey
My very own google cycling jersey (Full Size) 		Yes I have a Cycle Jersey Addiction (though the number decreased by one when my CORC jersey was cut off me at the hospital. (though I will probably replace it as I like my current CORC clothing, I still have two of the old style jerseys, fortunately the jersey that was damaged was not one of my irreplaceable jerseys (out of print or small print run))

Anyway as can be seen to the left I have acquired another cycle jersey, one that I suspect will be somewhat rare in Canberra, though to some extent this is obviously a corporate looking jersey, I think it is a rather good design and will be rare enough here I will enjoy wearing it. Thanks Mikal.

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Tue, 25 Dec 2007

N+1 applied to kayaks once more - 23:47

The Time Bandit at the Carillion (fullsize) 		Since I bought the Floozy I have become reasonably confident in keeping tippy boats upright. I think it has been good learning to paddle tippy boats on a surf ski, I did not have to worry much about falling off as I could get right back on. However the ski has two major draw backs I find. The most annoying one is that it is too small for me. It really is suited to someone under 5 foot 10 rather than someone over 6 foot so I always had my knees a bit high. The other problem is in the middle of a Canberra winter paddling a surf ski is not my first choice of water vessel.

This winter I paddled my Mirage most of the time, which meant I had to find someone to paddle with all winter, however I did make it out there a lot which was good. Sure I can get a wet suit or some other attire that would make paddling a surf ski in winter bearable however when taken with the fact the ski is a bit small for me it seems a new boat may be a better idea.

Thus when Matt finally decided to go ahead and sell his Time Bandit (which he bought of Ado who had purchased it new last year) I was keen to buy it from him. This of course is the 6.2 metre long new toy I have been referring to the last few days. I have taken it out paddling twice now, and damn it is a nice boat.

First with Danealle on Sunday arvo down to the governor general's place and back from Yarralumla bay. Then today across to the Carillion in rather windy conditions (waves washing over the cockpit a bit coming from three directions as I came under Commonwealth Ave bridge). So apart from knowing I need to buy a spray skirt for the boat I must say I am happy to say it stays up well and can handle pretty nasty conditions well. Sure I was nervous at times today on the water but I kept it upright and never really felt close to falling in.

I did however wuss out of paddling back and went and got a lift with friends I met at the Carillion back to get my car and pick up the boat (thus I also have photos (medium, fullsize) of the new boat on top of the car). I have yet to choose a name for this boat, and as the first name for my Mirage was a failure and it took a while to find the name Matilda for it I am in no rush.

This purchase does increase my kayak collection, as suggested in the title N+1 being applied to kayaks, however I do wish to sell the Floozy as it really is small for me and the primary positive of owning a surf ski (the ability to use it in the surf and play around there) is not something I go and do much (I hardly seem to get to the coast often) I will be better off selling it.

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Mon, 29 Oct 2007

A new name for my Mirage 730 Double Kayak - 14:20
When I purchased my Pink Mirage 730 Double Sea Kayak back in April/May I had thought it should be named Patrick. The name has never stuck, heck even I did not like the name. Many people told me I needed a female name for a boat, I did not feel I could use the name Patricia (partly because one of the coaches at BGCC is named Patricia, and partly because it had no real meaning or background that could be applied).

I have had a few adventures with the boat now, such as Geoquest 2007 and the 2007 Hawkesbury Canoe Classic (this race report is not there yet, I am still writing it) this past weekend. I think there is a new name for it that will stick, my support crew for the weekend (my friend Prue) suggested the name Matilda during the drive back to Canberra.

The name was out of the blue but I liked it, so did Danielle, the back story that I thought works well for it is the Roald Dahl book Matilda. If my kayak is bored or not given interesting trips and events to do it may develop mysterious powers, also if we do not treat it well (or the other kayaks it is close to) it may punish us or whoever mistreats it.

So if you see the pink Mirage Double Sea Kayak out on the lake here or at some event (even though there were well over 200 Mirage kayaks at Hawkesbury this weekend Matilda was the only one with that colour scheme and was quite recognisable), say hello to her and be nice <g>.

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Wed, 10 Oct 2007

N+1 happened again, say hello to Jake - 11:28

Jake The Snake Cyclocross Bike (fullsize) 		So going with the N+1 theory, it happened again to me yesterday. I picked up my brand new 2008 model Jake the Snake.

I have thought for a number of years a cyclocross bike would be nice to own. Something I can go fast on and yet still take off road or for long rides with significant amounts of dirt (such as the rather fun ride to the coast via Araluen). Recently I found my Lemond Zurich road frame had developed another large crack on the head tube area (photos sometime soon). It is unsafe to continue riding it much, so I was wondering what to do about needing a road bike.

It occurred to me a cyclocross bike makes a great road bike (tougher than most, which is good knowing my tendency to break frames) and can be used off road (which I think bikes in general need to be able to be used there if at all possible). Also I can not justify buying a bling road bike as I do not race on the road. Until I can join ACT Vets club in 7 years or so I probably will not, I just can not raise any interest in having anything at all to do with Canberra Cycling Club (CCC).

So Mal said he could get me a 2008 model Jake the Snake in and build it up, I thought why not, should be fun. The photo was taken in my living room last night, I have since changed the tyres to skinny road tyres and took it out on the Wednesday morning road ride I do every week. Fun was had, oh and yes the pink bottle cages are necessary, it makes it go faster or something, I am sure there is a scientific need for them.

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Tue, 31 Jul 2007

Clean bike - 22:47
After almost a month of not cleaning my geared mountain bike, leaving it in the shed and doing all my mountain biking on my single speed, I finally got off my arse this evening, overcame my dislike for working in the shed in the cold and cleaned the thing. Kind of funny when I will be using my single speed in the 8 hour race this weekend. Ahh well I can finally ride it again and take the Friday morning ride up some steep hills. Wheeeeeee.

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Fri, 25 May 2007

Patrick the Pink Boat - 18:34
Last week I happened to drop a hint that I would be getting a new toy that our team would use at Geoquest this year. So here it is, a brand new Mirage 730 Double Sea Kayak. Yay.

Took it out paddling today and it was indeed good fun. I will have to wait until I can paddle with someone I am used to paddling with to gauge if there is much difference in speed compared to the Mirage's I am used to paddling. However I was happy Amanda was able to join in the paddle at lunch today as it meant I got to try out the brand new boat.

As I mentioned, I decided to name it Patrick, fun will be had.

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Tue, 13 Mar 2007

Signs of the decision made - 12:35
So I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a Grafton Paddle Sports Time Bandit from a friend for a week. The primary reason is so we have a rather fast boat Randall is comfortable in for him to paddle in the Jindabyne multi sport race this weekend.

Anyway I took my surf ski out this morning to paddle with Andrew, Andrew was giving the time bandit a go to see how much he liked it. Having recently sold his Horizon Rocket Andrew has been thinking about another boat for a while. As the Time Bandit did so well in the recent Rapid Ascent Kayak Testing he was keen to try one out and see how it went.

I was entertained to hear Andrew, half way through the paddle, say it shows he is well past thinking about it at the point he was starting to wonder what colour he should get for his new Time Bandit....

Update: so a short while after posting this I got an email from Andrew, he has ordered himself a Time Bandit, of course he is a little impatient with having to wait until August (long waiting list) to take delivery of the new toy, ahh well at least he gets a lot of time to choose the colours.

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Tue, 06 Mar 2007

Get a Floozy - 19:10

Get a Floozy (full size)
Rear name (full size)
Front name (full size)
So as I mentioned I got myself a surf ski, I now have the photos of it with the new name transfers on. The name is "Floozy", in honour of Sam jokingly suggesting I need to get a new Floozy while speaking to her on the phone the other day.

Still having fun with it, still room for lots of improvement, I have to make sure I can stay upright before winter at least.

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Mon, 05 Mar 2007

New tippy floating toy - 15:54
So I went and bought a second hand racing surf ski (6.1 metres long) on the weekend. I have taken it out on the lake a few times and tend to be tipping into the water about twice every time I paddle it. Definitely have to work on my balance and skill more. Should be good I will build up my core strength and balance well trying to keep it up right.

Having fun so far with it, though no photos yet as I am waiting until I have the transfers with the name I want to give it on the boat before taking photos to put up here.

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Thu, 11 Jan 2007

I found some kernel hacker wheels - 14:45

Kernel hacker wheels (fullsize) 		This post is probably in the wrong category. My friend Lina is Swedish, her road bike has some wheels on it I always thought to myself I should get a photo of. When the wheels that came with the bike died or something she got some new wheels from a small wheel making company back home run by some friends.

Of course all the Linux geeks reading this realise a certain kernel hacker should have this brand of wheel on his bike if he rides one.

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Tue, 09 Jan 2007

Pink frame back and nicely fixed. - 15:51

The repaired area of the pink frame (fullsize) 		Back in October I put up photos of some cracks developing in my primary steel mtb frame, the pink Bender Bicycles hard tail mtb. Anyway as is the case when I break a steel frame I got Wayne Kotzur to fix it up, however Wayne has been busy as a volunteer firey for a bit and thus it took a bit longer than his last few lightning fast repairs. I got a call yesterday that it was fixed and ready so went and picked it up.

To ensure the frame will not fail similarly again Wayne put a sleeve around with better welds onto it than before on that part of the seat tube. Lovely work as always and all it cost was AUD $60.50.

I think I may indeed go ahead and get this frame repainted though, apart from the black where the fix is looking a bit strange the frame has had some hard use and would look oh so pretty with a new coat of paint and brand new stickers applied.

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Specialized brand cleats and associated hardware are like cheese - 14:26

Specialized cleats top, new Shimano cleats below (fullsize) 		So I know I tend to be tough on bike equipment, and shoes do not seem to stand up to much of my use. When I bought my new Specialized Comp MTB Shoes in September last year I simply left the screw plates that came with them in the shoe and used the cleats and screws that came with them also. I now discover I probably should have simply used one of my many spare pair of Shimano cleats as they last longer.

In the first few weeks of having the shoes I had problems keeping the cleats tight, eventually I swapped the bolts that came with them for some Shimano bolts, though one of them snapped off in the screw plates when I was trying to tighten them. The last few weeks I have had my feet pull out of pedals on my single speed, my road bike and my mountain bike (sometimes causing painful bike meet body moments, sometimes coming close to crashing (starting a sprint)). I was surprised at the possibility of cleats being worn out as I have seen cleats last for more than a year, even with the sort of use I give them.

However when I looked at the cleats the damage visible in the photo was there. They had worn out rather badly around the bottom retention lip and that was the cause of the problems. I have asked a few people about this since and it was pointed out by a few of them (one of whom uses Specialized shoes and sells them in a shop they work in) that the cleats are made of some form of metallic butter or cheese it seems and are not recommended for use. Ahh well.

Of note also is that when I was changing the cleats over last night I noticed the screw holes in the plate in the shoe had split in two places so I had to throw away the Specialized screw plate and use a Shimano plate I had sitting in the shed.

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Mon, 04 Dec 2006

Singlespeed/Fixed Road bike, the new N+1 - 17:36

Single Speed/Fixed Road Bike (fullsize) 		Yet another N+1 happened on the weekend. In this case a single speed/fixed gear road bike. With the option of a freewheel on one side and fixed the other side of the back wheel.

I put a few photos and words about this bike up on a Fixie/Singlespeed Road bike page. I have not yet ridden it in fixed wheel mode, and I am not game to ride it around Cotter/Uriarra tomorrow morning, I will probably take it on the Bilbys Road ride on Wednesday morning though.

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Fri, 01 Dec 2006

Reasons to use quality patches. - 14:05
Generally I purchase tube patches for bicycle inner tubes in strips, the Cure-C-Cure weldtite brand patches that most shops here sell in strips for around AUD $2 or $3 for 6 (in various sizes).

Recently however I wanted to repair a few tubes sitting in my office (though I wonder why I bother these days when I can purchase 10 tubes or around AUD $30 from a number of places) and did not want to ride over to a bike shop, so I purchased a bunch of dodgy round orange and black patches from the on campus bike shop. No name standard looking patches.

Guess what, they really do not bond well, I did everything as I should, scouring the surface of the tube, applying a thin smear of glue to both surfaces, letting it almost dry, applying the patch and waiting for it to dry for over 24 hours (with some pressure on each patch point). I went to use two tubes I had repaired with the dodgy patches yesterday and both were leaking out the side of one of these rather large patches, obviously the patch rubber had not bonded properly with the tube rubber. Ahh well buy new tubes, toss these and remember to get and use quality patches next time.

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Thu, 02 Nov 2006

Apparently Rocky Mountain Element bikes will break if you have low shock pressure. - 16:40
So I have updated my Rocky Mountain Element page with details of what has been happening since the frame broke 2 weeks ago. Anyway due to the pressure in the shock being lower than their recommended pressure Advance Traders have rejected the warranty claim. The rest of this post is simply the stuff I wrote at the start of my page linked to above.

So as stated below my Rocky Mountain Element 50 Dual Suspension frame broke while out riding on Friday morning 2006-10-20. As the frame snapped just below the shock mount I just looked at and though, ahh well something was wrong there, they will replace it under warranty. The warranty says 5 years for dual suspension frames. Of course it also says under what is not covered "B.Consequential damage or any damage caused by accident, misuse or abuse." and "C.Improper assembly and/or lack of proper maintenance," and there is the other clause that the majority of bicycle manufacturers seem to place in their warranty now days under What will void your warranty "A.Competition racing".

Anyway as you may suspect this is leading up to the Australian Importer of Rocky Mountain (Advance Traders) have rejected the warranty claim, Rocky Mountain are standing by the call Advance Traders have made. Their reason for rejecting the warranty claim is that the shock pressure was too low when it was bought into the store. I have been running the shock at 150 psi since I bought the bike. I can not remember exactly why I chose this pressure, though mostly it was from riding it, looking at how much it sagged, checking to ensure the shock was not bottoming out while riding (tie a zip tie around the shock shaft) and setting it to the pressure that seemed to give about 1 inch sag and felt comfortable.

Rocky Mountain have since said the pressure should have been around 190 psi for someone my weight. However I am trying to work out why a low pressure in the shock would cause the frame to break. What Advance had to say on this was somewhat hard to interpret.

You are correct in saying that a standard triangle frame should not break in the middle of the tube, which would probably be a sufficient point if the bike were a hardtail. But, because you have a moving rear end, it's highly likely that excess force (due to heavy impact and / or undersprung shock) through a certain area will cause the problem you have experienced. "The key to it's design is that it doesn't rely on the shock as a structural component of the suspension." (Rocky Mountain 2004 catalogue - Element - Design). If the shock were a structural part of the design I would expect the shaft of the shock to bear the brunt of the force and bend, or the shock bolts to do the same instead of the force being transmitted through the frame.

So they do not even answer my query as to why a low shock pressure will cause the break, it seems they suggest it is highly unlikely to cause the problem I have experienced with a moving rear end. I have asked in my email why the low shock pressure would cause the break. There is nothing in the warranty or owners manual suggesting the frame is in grave danger of breaking with low pressure in the shock. Also the claim made that the warranty guy at rocky mountain has never seen a frame break there before, I think would suggest there must have been something wrong with this specific frame.

The price they have offered a replacement front triangle to me is AUD $750, however I still do not understand why the low shock pressure is being used as a reason for rejecting my warranty claim. Anyway links to parts of this page are at the top to make it easier to see different things I have written about here.

I am not an engineer so I am waiting for some feedback from friends who are to see what someone who knows about this stuff would say on the issue. It is interesting to note that no onw from either the importer or Rocky Mountain have looked at the frame or seen it themselves. They are basing the rejection on photos I took and on asking the bike shop I some questions about it.

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Fri, 20 Oct 2006

Broke my Rocky Mountain Element 50 Dual Suspension mountain bike frame - 11:14

The whole bike with the break visible below the rear shock (full size)

The break on the left hand side. (full size)

The break from the front. (full size)

The break on the right hand side. (full size) 		So the Friday morning ride was in Majura pines this morning, fun and all with around 10 people on the ride, then we returned to the Purple Pickle for breakfast, as we crossed the road into the university (Barry Drive) I bunny hopped up a gutter and heard a crack sound. Odd I thought, the gears on the front shifter went funny at the same time, I looked down and could not see missing gears or bike bits so rolled on the next 200 metres to the cafe and sat down for coffee and breakfast.

When I got back on the bike to ride the 1.5 KM to home I noticed the front shifter was still playing up and I heard an odd grating sound when I stood up out of the saddle. I got off the bike and had a look, this is of course when I notice the seat tube is snapped clean thorough just below the shock mount.

So yeah I have just broken another frame, somewhat inconvenient as I now will be riding an aluminium hardtail until my pink steel HT has been welded up. Lets hope the rocky mountain distributors can get this fixed quickly.

I bought this bike at the beginning of April 2004 so it has lasted around 2.5 years until this break. But yes it is alas true my my rocky mountain element duallie has broken.

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Mon, 16 Oct 2006

A hard pink life - 11:53

The frame stripped of components, has had a hard life (full size)

The crack on the left hand side. (full size)

The crack on the right hand side (full size) 		As I mentioned recently my Bender Bicycles pink steel hard tail mountain bike frame has a few cracks that need fixing. As can be seen on the left here. On the whole the frame marked from a hard year and a half of riding, I guess I have ridden a lot in the past year and a half. I strongly suspect I will need to get the frame sand blasted and resprayed again simply to stop it looking quite so trashed.

I still love the paint job and colour, however the fix will need to be covered with a different colour anyway. And the frame does have chips and scratches and missing paint and the like all over it. Yet another reason to avoid Carbon Fibre mountain bikes I reckon, the majority of this is caused by rocks or other things hitting the frame while riding. Steel (and other metals) fortunately are not known to fail catastrophically after a single impact with a big rock launched at the frame by the front wheel.

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Wed, 11 Oct 2006

Tear some teeth off - 15:47

Some miche sprockets missing teeth (full size) 		So on Saturday Sep 30 during the Bilbys road ride I noticed one of my gears was skipping a bit on the road bike. No idea why I rode on and avoided that gear, the following morning during my ride out to Corin dam I actually had a look at the cluster and noticed I had at some point ripped some teeth off the middle sprocket on the cluster.

I bought this cluster last year, campag fit for use with the new wheels I purchased then. The cassette is a Miche custom sized (11-28 9 speed) which gives me just a little bit of an easier time up hills. One advantage, at least right now, with Miche clusters is each sprocket is separate, thus I was able to pull the above to sprockets off (the totally trashed 17 tooth one and the 19 tooth sprocket missing one tooth).

Obviously I just do not know my own strength <g>

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Tue, 10 Oct 2006

Getting into a bit of a weight weenie project. - 18:51

My new Rock Shox Reba forks (full size) 		For a while I have been thinking my hard tail could use a bit of a diet. The forks on there are bottom of the range Air/Oil Marzocchi MX Comp forks, kind of heavy. The front wheel is definitely heavier than need be, the rear can be made lighter. I have a very heavy rear tyre on currently also. A few other bits could be lightened.

The online store Torpedo7 has for a while been selling Rock Shox Reba SL forks for either AUD $419 or AUD $499 (depending on the week, phase of the moon, etc) either price is damn low compared to the AUST RRP of $749, so I bought a pair which arrived today. The same shop has been selling the top of the line SRAM PG 991 cluster for about half the RRP and the cluster is seriously about half the weight of most other clusters (including the next model down from SRAM) so I bought one of them the other week also.

Soon I should have some hubs arriving which are almost as light as DT Swiss 240's though no where near as expensive so I can build up a pair of light wheels and not spend too much money doing so. I plan to run Stans No Tubes on the wheels to keep weight down (and add a lack of many flats).

Somewhat unfortunately my pink hard tail frame has developed some cracks, one each side of the seat tube/top tube junction. I will need to strip the frame and return it to Wayne Kotzur for a fix (and alas I will thus have some other colour around the fix at that point on the frame). I am planning to throw all the bits back on my Giant Team XtC alloy frame, which though I do not like riding it if I have steel available it is a seriously light frame. It may be a novelty to have a really light mountain bike for once, I plan to use that bike in the triple tri this year, the lack of weight will really help in the hike a bike sections.

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Mon, 25 Sep 2006

Silva L1 and fixing a problem with it - 13:56

My Silva L1 Head Torch (full size)


One of the battery holders, the cut down knobs are visible (full size)

During Geoquest this year, Ian and Michelle were both using a Silva L1 head torch for all night time stuff (bike, foot, etc). This is a 3 W Luxeon Star based LED head torch that is powered by 4 AA cells. It may not be quite bright enough for tight single track as found in endurance mountain biking events, however for adventure racing it appears to be a damn fine light.

I was using a 1w Luxeon LED based head torch on foot and a 5w bar mounted light for bike sections during the race. My head torch was not powerful enough to really navigate with or spot controls and the batteries required for the 5w Nightstick were a pain to lug around. Ian and Michelle on the other hand had strong, focused, adequate light for everything we were doing. Thus I decided to buy myself one of these lights. Alina from AROC gave me a good deal on the (which they stock in the AROCShop) light and hey presto I have one to play with.

I put the Alkaline cells that came with it in and powered it up, rather bright indeed, so I went and purchased a bunch more rechargeable NiMH AA cells to use with it and thought all would be well. During the night rogaine last week I went to change batteries and to my dismay found they did not work (yes I know I should have tested before the event). I was worried that the light required 6v to work and the 4.8v from rechargeables was simply not going to be enough. I could find no details online or with the manuals that came with the light as to voltage requirements. Ian and Sarah who both own one of these lights however claimed they can use rechargeables with the light.

Sitting in my office talking to a colleague about it last week, he looked inside and tried putting the rechargeable batteries in. He noticed they did not appear to touch the contacts in one of the battery holders, looking at the battery, the OEM AA cells had longer nipples than the rechargeable cells. Looking inside the battery case there is a useless plastic knob sitting next to the contacts that juts out and holds the battery nipple away from the contact. So I got out a knife and sliced as much of the knobs away as I could (for some reason only one side of the other battery holder had this problem) and hey presto the rechargeable batteries work perfectly in the light after all.

It would be nice if Silva did not put the little plastic knobs there, however if anyone has a similar problem attempting to use rechargeable NiMH batteries in a Silva L1 have a look and be sure the nipples are touching the contacts.

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Thu, 21 Sep 2006

The shoe saga update, or my Imelda of the mtb shoe world impression - 22:05

new shoes front, Top older to the right (full size) 		The shoe cycling shoe saga continues, I bought myself a new pair of cycling shoes today. In the photo above I have all the cycling shoes I have owned since 1997. On the top right are the Lake brand shoes I bought in January 1997, top middle are the Shimano shoes I bought in September of 2002 when I finally realised the Lake shoes were beyond worn out. Top left are the Shimano M181B, which is effectively the 2006 model of the M180 shoe that I have had replaced under warranty a few times. I bought the M180 shoes in January of 2004 and have had them fail approximately every 4 to 8 months until I got the M181B shoes in November last year.

As I have had the M181B shoes for almost a year now I thought I should probably not claim warranty on them now, though they are failing in two places they probably should not so early in their life. Rather than claim warranty for a 4th time I have finally bought a new pair of shoes, hopefully these will last for a bit longer than the Shimano shoes do. The new pair of shoes pictured in front are the Specialized Comp MTB which have been getting a lot of positive reviews and word of mouth opinions in the last year.

As for the other shoes, I now have a pair of shoes (the M181B) that do not feel awful to wear so I can use them in wet weather or similar and finally do not mind the idea of throwing out my older cycling shoes at long last. The first pair of Shimano shoes (pictured middle) lasted for 15 or 16 months until they really needed replacing, the subsequent Shimano shoes have lasted mostly 4 to 6 months each, until finally this pair (top left) is starting to break down after around 9 or 10 months. I really hope the shoes last for a while, I hear from friends (two in particular who do in fact ride as often as I do) who have mountain bike shoes they purchased in 1996 or so still going strong and am somewhat jealous.

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Wed, 13 Sep 2006

Wheels that are round and brakes that work on the single speed - 22:45
So I had some mountain bike rims sitting around the shed when I built my single speed, I knew there were some problems with them, however I was feeling too cheap at the time to spend money on new rims for a single speed I was trying to build cheaply.

When you hit gutters or other blunt objects with enough force to flatten a tyre (pinch flat) it will sometimes happen that a flat spot forms on the rim. Sometimes these can be hammered out, sometimes not. The problem can be made worse by weak sidewalls in rims, which are caused by wear from rim brakes (v-brakes and similar). Both the rims in the shed had large flat spots and weak sidewalls (splits appearing in places, and pronounced flat spots (one on each rim)).

The flat spots meant I had to have the brakes backed off a lot so they would not hit the rim as the flat spot passed the pads, thus the brakes were set up sort of loose, however once per revolution of the wheel they would be very tight and responsive for a short time. This was not a problem until such a time as you wish to utilise the brakes, at this time the flat really good braking set up on one point on the rim would cause a thunk sort of instant deacceleration which on the whole was rather disconcerting.

Fortunately for me a friend moving to the UK for a while and needing to dispose of some bike bits was happy to exchange a spare pair of wheels for a case of coopers. The hub on the rear wheel was fairly stuffed (pitted cones, bearing surfaces and worn bearings) so could probably use replacement, and the front wheel has radial spoke lacing, however when it fails I can put a sensible spoke pattern in. This pair of wheels have the distinct advantage of not being too worn out on the braking surface and having no flat spots.

I put the front wheel onto the single speed yesterday and hey what do you know, the brakes worked once adjusted, it was almost a revelation. Tonight I rebuilt the back wheel with a hub I had sitting in the shed that is in much better condition and a similar revelationary experience happened with respect to braking on the back when I put the wheel onto the bike.

Three cheers for an improved single speed experience, it will be rather enjoyable being able to stop somewhat predictably.

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Wed, 06 Sep 2006

Printer or Ink sort of purchases. - 10:31
I use those little single LED flashing lights that attach to the front or back of the bike with a bit of elastic on some of my bikes. Today I had to replace the batteries (two small CR 2032s) in the rear flasher on my single speed. The rather cheap LED flashers cost me around AUD $6 (including batteries) from Phantom Cycles. The batteries I bought today at the ANU chemist (Duracell with medical stamped across them, I doubt they are really anything special) cost AUD $4.50 each. Thus it costs $6 for a new light or in this case $9 for two tiny batteries to power it.

Definitely reminiscent of the problems where computer printers (bubblejets) are often sold for less than the cost of the replacement ink cartridges these days. My other bikes all have large rear flashing lights so I do not need the little ones so much, it may be time to buy such a light for the single speed, at least then I can use rechargeable AAA batteries in the lights.

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Fri, 02 Jun 2006

Problems with long sleeve shells - 18:57
So around an hour ago I got back to work after a ride out to Woden to buy some hardware and stuff for setting up tow lines off the back of my bike (to tow team mates in the Geo Half next weekend) and a new pair of trail running shoes I needed (Asics Trabuco).

Because the weather yesterday and this morning was wet (constant soaking rain) I had a light weight waterproof shell jacket, a thermal and a cycle jersey to wear. Normally in this temperature I would wear arm warmers and a shell vest instead, however with rain possible I decided on long sleeves. I probably should have stuck with what I prefer, I was again reminded why I do not like wearing long sleeve shells, you heat up and sweat far more than is sensible, my jersey and thermal are now soaked (admittedly if I had ridden at a sedate pace this would not have happened, however I was in a rush so it did).

I fortunately have some dryer clothing to wear for the short ride home, to which I should head soon as I need to replace a spoke in the back wheel on the hardtail, set up the towing system, do grocery shopping and some other stuff (see I can be boring and mundane in a diary as well as anyone).

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Thu, 04 May 2006

My new single speed mountain bike. - 16:14
No Gears
No Gears (Full Size)
 Well the single speed is going, I have yet to take it off road so no real report on how it rides yet. Photos so far are up. I will swap to more sensible (wide) bars tonight ready for the Friday morning mtb ride tomorrow. I also have a new pair of suspension forks on order for the hardtail which will free up the pair on it for use here if I decide I am soft enough to want suspension (which I probably am)

It is always a good day when N+1 happens.

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Tue, 02 May 2006

Almost need to get the beer hat and tattoo - 16:40
For those who do not know, single speed mountain biking culture appears to have a strong association with drinking beer and with getting tattoos. For example the Single Speed World Championships (unofficial) in Victoria 3 years ago had a "shortcut" each lap that involved sculling a schooner of beer and the prize for the person who won the race was a free tattoo.

I finally have most of my single speed bike put together and almost ready to go, I should be able to ride it (currently fully rigid) by the end of the week. Once it is assembled I will take a few photos and report on what it is like to ride. Though I doubt I will increase my alcohol intake up from about one standard drink a week (on average) I must say I was most impressed with the blacklight ink based tattoos, kind of like a private in joke. If I were not such a big girly man when it came to pain I may even consider getting one.

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Wed, 26 Apr 2006

Jill hands out a can of whup arse to Jack - 19:50
Jack & Jill Jersey front
Jack & Jill Jersey front (Full Size) 		Jack & Jill Jersey back
Jack & Jill Jersey back (Full Size) 		For a few years now Heidi has had a running joke with Mike Burden about how easily she can hand out a can of whup arse to him on a bike. Thus with her birthday this month I thought one of these jerseys would be a brilliant gift, alas they did not arrive in time to send them to her before her birthday but she can now receive a surprise gift in the post soon.

However as I love cool/less common jerseys so much, I thought it would be a shame to not see one in use locally much (Heidi lives in New Zealand of course), so I bought a second one to give to Sam. I really hope I got the right size, they appear really small however I think it should be about right (womens sizing and cut for both jerseys).

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Some shiny new parts - 18:57
Shiny new bike bits
Shiny new bike bits (Full Size) 		The bar ends I use on all my mountain bikes are no longer available in Australia. Profile SOS Bar-Ends or SOS Boxer Bar-Ends, I prefer the slightly longer tipped plain SOS Bar-Ends. The Australian Profile distributor makes some claim about them being old models no loner produced, this is bollocks as many US bike stores still sell the bar end (and I believe the Australian distributor still brings in the stubby version Boxer Brief (no kink on the end)).

For the new single speed I have been slowly putting together I needed a pair of bar ends, being unable to get them here I had to make an order for them from the US, however it seemed excessive to pay US $20-$40 shipping for a US $22 item. Thus I ordered a few more items to fill out the order. 3 Pair of Oury lock on grips with clamps (one pair for each mtb) which will mean the end to grips twisting around during races and when wet otherwise (de to rain or excessive sweat). A pair of Deore V-Brake levers to use on the single speed with the V-Brakes I obtained for it. A Thomson seatpost to put on my hardtail (for a bit of bling) thus freeing up the cheapo seatpost on the hardtail for the single speed. A penguin squeaky horn I intend to attach to the single speed (damn cool piece of kit if you ask me) and of course the Profile boxer bar ends.

Retail prices in Australia are: Thomson Elite seatpost ~ AUD $200, Oury Lock On Grip kit AUD $58 per pair, Deore V-Brake Levers ~ AUD $45. Profile Boxer Bar Ends (unavailable but two years ago was around AUD $40) and Penguin Squeaky horn, no idea if that is available. I ordered this stuff from Universal Cycles as I had the drive train I purchased just before Christmas, this time including shipping I paid around AUD $300 for the lot. Probably a bit excessive, especially the Thomson seatpost but it is as you see a hell of a lot cheaper than the items in Australia.

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Wed, 12 Apr 2006

Damn weak saddle bags. - 22:12
I have yet to find a saddle bag that would last. I had hoped the saddle bag I was using on my road bike would prove me wrong, after all road bikes do not traverse rough ground, the saddle bag on a road bike should not fail. On my mountain bike I tried using saddle bags for around 6 months back in 2002, I purchased three different brands (all with life time warranties) and all the bags I tried failed, on average about once a month. In the end I got sick of going in to get them replaced at the bike shop each time a bag failed and went back to carrying my tools and tubes and such in a camel back.

However on the road bike I tend not to wear backpacks, hence I need a saddle bag. I had a small Topeak wedge bag and was under the impression it may even survive to old age or something. Alas on Tuesday morning I found out otherwise, as I rode onto the road from a bike path in Lyneham the rail on the bag locked into the wedge under the saddle snapped on one side and the bag went flying onto the road. Sure I tend to have things on my bikes break often, however it is likely a function of riding once in a while, I really wish bike components did not fail and break quite so easily sometimes. This bag did last around 3 years so I guess I can put up with waiting for a warranty replacement to come through.

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Thu, 16 Mar 2006

Singlespeed frame modifications done - 15:09
Long Horizontal Dropouts and Disc tabs
Long Horizontal Dropouts and Disc tabs (Full Size) 		The rather nice Diamond Back Ascent Steel Hard Tail frame I got back in January would have been great as a touring bike or plan hard tail (so long as I was happy to use V Brakes) however as I intend to use it as a single speed I needed to get slightly longer dropouts on the frame so as to avoid the need for a chain tensioning device.

Before I left for my recent New Zealand trip I dropped the frame off for Wayne Kotzur to do some modifications. I have previously been most impressed and happy with the work Wayne has done on some of my other frames (he also repaired the broken Apollo Road bike frame, I simply have not photographed the fix).

On the new single speed frame I asked Wayne to add longer horizontal drop outs, and just in case I ever choose to use the bike as a normal mountain bike, or if for some reason I want to try it on the single speed, I asked him to add disc tabs (and a support brace) to the rear triangle so I can use discs if I ever choose to.

It comes as no surprise that Wayne did some lovely work with the modifications, as can be seen in the photo the the left. He even did a great job with the colour matching of the paint with midnight blue paint over the undercoat he applied then gold paint speckled on over that to appear similar to the rest of the frame. Once again the cost was remarkably low, AUD $143 for all of it including labour.

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Tue, 14 Mar 2006

Another cool custom jersey - 14:00
Polaris for Dummies Jersey
Polaris for Dummies Jersey (Full Size) 		As I explained in my 2006 Polaris Challenge report, Marea and I had some custom jerseys made for the event this year. Modelled off the Dummies books, we basically put a whole bunch of in jokes on it, Richard Bontjer, Michael Carden and Jim Trail quotes, a reference to the Fairlight St Boys who Marea always wishes to beat in Polaris and others. I have a png of the book cover artwork online if you wish to be able to read all the text easily.

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