The Surly Road Cycling Thread

[Txzen 498]

I'm a retro grouch, and still don't think that someone your weight should have 24 spokes in the rear (been there, done that), but other than that the Ardennes are hard to pass up. But I would spend a little time building some options with a 28h or 32h rear hub on Excel Sports custom builder. They look cool, but all they did is shift the weight to the rim to beef up the build - sure, less spokes but the rotational weight is pretty equal to a solid unsexy 28-32h set.

The Mavics may lack some sex appeal, but while they have proprietary spokes everyone I know who has them say they're bulletproof. 

[Txzen 498]

3 hours ago, G650 said:

Speaking of this, a buddy had a broken spoke on his 3T's, respoked them, and broke another in the second ride. He is about your weight. So I'd avoid 3T wheels.

HED Belgium, White Industries hubs, standard 14/15 spokes, brass nipples. Never again will I do a flyweight set more tailored to a Spanish climber named Patxi than myself. Some grams in the wheels is not what makes me slow - I have more issues than that!

[Captain Ron 12,873]

So the Ardennes won out.

[G650 14,249]

7 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

So the Ardennes won out.

My man

[Txzen 498]

Can’t go wrong there. Chapeau!

[Captain Ron 12,873]

Started doing the parts move this weekend. The strip down completed:

 

When my old mechanic transferred my 105 groupo, he used an adapter (THIS - https://shop.fullspeedahead.com/en/bb30-english-adapter-68mm-w-loctite-609 ) to fit my old bottom bracket. Pain in the ass to deal with. I ended up making a PVC press to force it out, small PVC pushing it into a larger one. Now that I have everything apart, it HOPEFULLY will be smooth sailing to get this back together.

Edited August 26, 2019 by Captain Ron

[52-80 19,150]

that's because press-fit bottom brackets are stupid inventions by stupid bike companies

threaded bb for life

 

i have that feedback stand.  good stuff

[Captain Ron 12,873]

The whole bottom bracket confusion just flat out sucks.

I will give my feelings on the press fit BB at a later date. After doing some research, the BB i settled on was this Praxis Works one: https://praxiscycles.com/product/m30-conv-bb30-pf30/

It's what that Fuji comes with normally and since I am going with all Shimano, that seems to be a good starting point.

Wheels are scheduled for Friday, I should have the rest of the bike put together by then.

So far: new stem on, new handlebars on, new shifters temp mounted, started running cables.

Next up - finish running the cables, and mount the brakes and rear mech.

Once the cables are mounted, put the new BB in too (I can access the lower internal routing cable holes while the BB is out), cranks and front mech. Then tune it up.

[G650 14,249]

1 hour ago, Captain Ron said:

The whole bottom bracket confusion just flat out sucks.

I will give my feelings on the press fit BB at a later date. After doing some research, the BB i settled on was this Praxis Works one: https://praxiscycles.com/product/m30-conv-bb30-pf30/

It's what that Fuji comes with normally and since I am going with all Shimano, that seems to be a good starting point.

Wheels are scheduled for Friday, I should have the rest of the bike put together by then.

So far: new stem on, new handlebars on, new shifters temp mounted, started running cables.

Next up - finish running the cables, and mount the brakes and rear mech.

Once the cables are mounted, put the new BB in too (I can access the lower internal routing cable holes while the BB is out), cranks and front mech. Then tune it up.

[Captain Ron 12,873]

Annoyed that took longer than I would have liked, but the finished product (almost*):

So I was just talking with my brother in law about this, so I thought I would give the specs what was changed what remained the same.

I mentioned it before, but for completeness: the frame is a 2018 Fuji Roubaix 1.3, it replaced a 2003 Roubaix that I snapped the drive side chain-stay on (probably damaged when I was hit by a car and flipped over).

Drive train: Full swap out, went from an old 105 5500 series (early 2000s) 3x9 (30/42/52 x 12-23) to an Ultegra 2x11 (36/52 x 11-30). Oh my god, night and day. The response of the shifters is SO NICE. The throw is soft, doesn't fight back and not nearly as long as it once was. And going from gear to gear - so smooth. The new mechs are nice too, the front is simple to work with (this guy is right, if you mechanic puts in a barrel adjuster - fire him). I will say putting the rear on was a little tricky, but they always seem to be.

That also included the bottom bracket swap out, which was a English style BB5500 sealed bottom bracket to a new PF30 (I picked a Praxis Works Shimano model). That was certainly fun to deal with. Just alone from learning about bottom brackets was enough to make this venture worth it.

Wheels: we've already talked about them, old - Shimano R500, new - HED Ardennes SL+, thanks for the advice @G650 +1.

Where I did cut some corners - handle bars and stem. After having some luck with an Chinese carbon fiber seat post, I decided to do the same for the handlebars & stem. If you hear about a horrible biker death due to failed handlebars in the Boston area, it's probably me.
Handlebars and Stem.
They've only been out for a short tester ride, but so far so good. I will say - this has been the biggest change of all of them because the handlebars are a lot further out than my old ones and the stem is about 2cm longer, I didn't think it would make a huge difference, but it has, I feel stretched out more, not in a bad way, just different. 
Given the source - 🤞

* So there are a few little things left, put my water bottle cages back on, and tape up the handlebars (Rav-X Carbonwrap - so good) and I think I am done with this thing.

It has been an experience and I will say if you haven't done it, DO IT.

 

EDIT - one last thing, after commuting a ton this year, I added a bell to my commuter bike, it's been a lifesaver. Because of this I added one to my road bike, let me recommend the Knog Oi.

Commuter:

(Retrospec Mantra 7 if you're wondering)

 

Knog Oi:

Not as ugly as the standard bell, not as loud either, great for an alternative to "ON YOUR LEFT!"

Edited September 2, 2019 by Captain Ron

[G650 14,249]

Hell yeah Capn! Looks great man. I actually just read a review on the new Oi bell yesterday or the day before.

[Captain Ron 12,873]

First spin was not bad.

The 2nd almost killed me. 5 N*m for the handlebars my ass!!! Last time I trust my google search results. Clamped down the handlebars with my torque wrench - 5 N*m. Was trying to catch a column of cars, got up to 25 MPH or so, hit a bump. Handlebars drop 20 degrees!!!! Talk about an oh shit moment. Did recover and not die (and tighten the fuckers down to 10 N*m).

I used it for commuting the last 2 days, it's pretty fucking ridiculous. Not really a fair comparison, but if I really wanted, I could torch my Strava commute records with this thing. Just one of my records was bested by 21%

Here it is in all it's fixed up glory:

[Captain Ron 12,873]

So I took that puppy out over the weekend. Just wow.

I took a 36 mile loop that I commonly do, it has a number of Strava segments on it (45 to be exact). And I blew them up.

22 PRs, and a lot of them weren't even close!!!

Some of the cooler ones:

4 mile segment from Arlington to Lexington, there is a bike path along here, it wasn't too crowded yesterday. Prior best time 15:47 - knocked 42 seconds off that. Catch it on a day I don't have to dodge too many peds or slow cyclists, I might do more.

4 1/4 miles down Monument Road, from Carlisle to Concord it goes by the old North Bridge  (yes THAT North Bridge), this is a fun mildly bumpy jaunt, knocked 1:22 off 15:08 best across that guy.

It might be time to tackle some mountains next.

Edited September 9, 2019 by Captain Ron

[G650 14,249]

Nice!

I've found that the mental aspect of fresh gear is almost as important as the actual physical gain.

[ScottS 1,062]

I guess aggy is now in charge of the local MS Society chapter, as the route for the 2020 ride is out and the new finish is in College Station at Kyle Field.  I thought the ride could not get any worse after the last two rides finishing at COTA, but the MS Society has decided to see if they can make the ride even worse.  I am questioning if I even want to continue to do this ride any longer.

[Goofyboy 3,277]

I was told that COTA didn’t respond in time, UT said no and the construction in Downtown Austin prevented a finish there (like the last two years). I’m actually thinking about riding again just for the new route.

[G650 14,249]

Anyone doing Zwift? The actual riding in the game is not really my thing, but I have put it on to have something to look at while doing TR workouts.

[txhorns 2,409]

My wife is wanting to get an indoor trainer for the winter.  She wants a Wahoo trainer that is $1,200.  Are the Wahoo trainers good?  Any reason to get the most expensive one instead of a cheaper one?  Is there another brand we should be looking at?

[G650 14,249]

31 minutes ago, txhorns said:

My wife is wanting to get an indoor trainer for the winter.  She wants a Wahoo trainer that is $1,200.  Are the Wahoo trainers good?  Any reason to get the most expensive one instead of a cheaper one?  Is there another brand we should be looking at?

The Kickr? Its probably the second best after the Tacx Neo which I have. And honestly the functionality is almost identical between the two, the Neo just looks a fuck ton better and is quieter. The other unit in this range is the Cycleops Hammer, which has a lot of devotees too.

 

The reason to get the top end is usually the power capability, both top and bottom end (wattage floors are a problem in cheaper ones) and road feel. I had a lower end Tacx Flux and the wattage floor really turned me off.

[txhorns 2,409]

2 minutes ago, G650 said:

The Kickr? Its probably the second best after the Tacx Neo which I have. And honestly the functionality is almost identical between the two, the Neo just looks a fuck ton better and is quieter. The other unit in this range is the Cycleops Hammer, which has a lot of devotees too.

 

The reason to get the top end is usually the power capability, both top and bottom end (wattage floors are a problem in cheaper ones) and road feel. I had a lower end Tacx Flux and the wattage floor really turned me off.

Excuse me ignorance, wattage floor?  Please explain.

[G650 14,249]

29 minutes ago, txhorns said:

Excuse me ignorance, wattage floor?  Please explain.

There is a minimum resistance that a trainer can do. With electronic trainers it's a function of flywheel speed and the magnets. The real world result is that there is a minimum and maximum wattage the trainer can control at a given speed so you have to use super light bearing (small ring/big cog) at lower wattages. More expensive trainers have a wider range because of better components.

[G650 14,249]

Well, came a little short of my 7500 km goal, just eked over 6800 km for 2019. Hope to hit it this year.

 

Got a 1970 ish Gitane that I'm restoring now, so that's the current project. Hope to do some fondos with it if I can get my fitness up enough

[G650 14,249]

Welp. Found out the Belgian Waffle Ride is expanding to Asheville NC this year so I signed up. 144 miles, 40 of which are offroad.

 

I'm an idiot.

[Knoxtnhorn 5,974]

3 hours ago, G650 said:

Welp. Found out the Belgian Waffle Ride is expanding to Asheville NC this year so I signed up. 144 miles, 40 of which are offroad.

 

I'm an idiot.

That's awesome.

Wife and I are going to Vegas the 2nd week of July.  Since I'm not much of a drinker and don't really find gambling all that appealing, all I can think about is riding Red Rock.  

[Al_4_ISU 12,457]

First road ride of the year came on Sunday.  20 miles of snow-covered gravel.  Pretty fun, actually.

We were supposed to be doing a fat bike ride in the snow on a "groomed" rail trail that went from the trailhead to the first bar down the trail and then back.  The people in charge had no clue what they were doing (it was a committee that fundraises for the trail and community, and none of them actually fat bike), so they had the county conservation department groom classic cross-country ski tracks.  These are two narrow, deep packed grooves in the snow.  Great for skiing, but unrideable on a bike.

With the trail un-rideable, but the bar up the way still open, we rode the snow and slush covered roads to the next town, had a great burger, a few cold ones, and headed back.

[G650 14,249]

58 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

so they had the county conservation department groom classic cross-country ski tracks.

Legit giggling to myself right now.

[Al_4_ISU 12,457]

I'm laughing about it now, but I was pretty torqued on Sunday.

The worst part is the the county to the east (where I live) has a bad ass XC ski groomer that also lays down skate track, which is perfect for riding fatties.  I'm sure they could have borrowed it the day before the race (as I was skiing on our trail system that day and the groomer was parked) and had great conditions.

Edited February 20, 2020 by Al_4_ISU

[txhorns 2,409]

Anyone got a recommendation on a good trunk mounted rack that can hold 2 bikes?

[52-80 19,150]

9 hours ago, txhorns said:

Anyone got a recommendation on a good trunk mounted rack that can hold 2 bikes?

if you dont care about your car, any of them.

if you do care about your car, none of them.

 

ive had some cheapo generic, and a saris bones.  they both scratch up your shit all the same

[txhorns 2,409]

3 hours ago, 52-80 said:

if you dont care about your car, any of them.

if you do care about your car, none of them.

 

ive had some cheapo generic, and a saris bones.  they both scratch up your shit all the same

So what should I use?

[52-80 19,150]

15 minutes ago, txhorns said:

So what should I use?

hitch-mount if you can.  otherwise just remove the wheels and throw your shit in the hatch/trunk

[G650 14,249]

Yeah, or roof rack if you have rails.

 

I've started just putting my shit in the back of my SUV

[Al_4_ISU 12,457]

16 hours ago, txhorns said:

Anyone got a recommendation on a good trunk mounted rack that can hold 2 bikes?

I'm a Saris fan through and through.  It's easy, simple, light, and extremely durable.  It adapts to almost any vehicle to boot.

[Al_4_ISU 12,457]

5 minutes ago, G650 said:

Yeah, or roof rack if you have rails.

 

I've started just putting my shit in the back of my SUV

I always do this when I'm riding solo.

[dingleberryswitzer 2,724]

My brother swears by these.

https://www.seasucker.com

I prefer hitch racks.  But also sometimes have to carry 2 or 3 bikes.

[G650 14,249]

3 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

My brother swears by these.

https://www.seasucker.com

I prefer hitch racks.  But also sometimes have to carry 2 or 3 bikes.

 A friend of a friend actually got those to go on his Porsche GT3 lol.

Edited April 29, 2020 by G650

[Al_4_ISU 12,457]

First road ride of the year was interrupted by a storm. Made it to the brewery though.

[G650 14,249]

Well at least you got to the important part.

[CycleTex87 2,967]

On 5/9/2020 at 6:10 PM, Al_4_ISU said:

First road ride of the year was interrupted by a storm. Made it to the brewery though.

Just had to weather the storm at the brewery, sounds good.  Maybe even after the storm for a while, amirite?

[Al_4_ISU 12,457]

Just had to weather the storm at the brewery, sounds good.  Maybe even after the storm for a while, amirite?

It got unseasonably cold on the back side of the storm and we pussed out.

[CycleTex87 2,967]

1 minute ago, Al_4_ISU said:

It got unseasonably cold on the back side of the storm and we pussed out.

I rode in suburban Houston Saturday morning, it was unseasonably cold and windy out of the NE.  I normally head out SW from my house, then coming home it's into a 10-15 mph cold wind.  And I'm talking COLD, like low 60's.  

[Al_4_ISU 12,457]

I rode in suburban Houston Saturday morning, it was unseasonably cold and windy out of the NE.  I normally head out SW from my house, then coming home it's into a 10-15 mph cold wind.  And I'm talking COLD, like low 60's.  

Yeeaaahhh

[G650 14,249]

9 minutes ago, CycleTex87 said:

And I'm talking COLD, like low 60's.  

Brr...

[Knoxtnhorn 5,974]

Mothereffer.

Finally got my bike out of the shop - 10+ days.  Took it out, and the gears are still slipping.  Both the shop mechanic and I thought the derailleur was bent.  It's not the cogs.  They all look ok and the slippage is occurring with either front gears engaged and multiple back gears.  Any ideas?  Loose chain?  I figure a shop mechanic would have caught something as simple as a loose chain.

[TwiceHorn 31,449]

9 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Mothereffer.

Finally got my bike out of the shop - 10+ days.  Took it out, and the gears are still slipping.  Both the shop mechanic and I thought the derailleur was bent.  It's not the cogs.  They all look ok and the slippage is occurring with either front gears engaged and multiple back gears.  Any ideas?  Loose chain?  I figure a shop mechanic would have caught something as simple as a loose chain.

Slipping?  Meaning not staying on a cog?

It is my observation that you can adjust a derailleur to perfection on a work stand.

Then you mount up and ride and it turns to shit. 

Usually cured with the barrel adjuster(s) if something's not bent and it's properly limit adjusted.  Cruddy cable/housing could cause it if barrel adjusters won't fix it.  Sometimes, more rarely, it can be the b-tension.

Edited May 11, 2020 by TwiceHorn

[CycleTex87 2,967]

The first thing the shop tech needs to check is to make sure the drop-out isn’t bent. Once that’s done and properly aligned, the derailleur stops are set, then it’s fine adjustment to get the correct alignment to the cassette.  After that, cables and shifters are where to look. 

[G650 14,249]

2 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Mothereffer.

Finally got my bike out of the shop - 10+ days.  Took it out, and the gears are still slipping.  Both the shop mechanic and I thought the derailleur was bent.  It's not the cogs.  They all look ok and the slippage is occurring with either front gears engaged and multiple back gears.  Any ideas?  Loose chain?  I figure a shop mechanic would have caught something as simple as a loose chain.

You mean jumping between cogs?

[Knoxtnhorn 5,974]

3 hours ago, G650 said:

You mean jumping between cogs?

Yep.  The problem seems to be in the middle of the back cassette regardless of what gear I'm in up front.  I noticed that the issue occurs with torque (out of saddle) and even a couple of times when I hit a bump.  If that helps.

[CycleTex87 2,967]

11 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Yep.  The problem seems to be in the middle of the back cassette regardless of what gear I'm in up front.  I noticed that the issue occurs with torque (out of saddle) and even a couple of times when I hit a bump.  If that helps.

Is it jumping from a larger gear to a smaller gear (likely)?  Take a look at the cable, make sure it isn’t snagging somewhere in its travel. I mean, it’s a pretty simple system that a competent wrench should be able to solve. 

[G650 14,249]

12 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Yep.  The problem seems to be in the middle of the back cassette regardless of what gear I'm in up front.  I noticed that the issue occurs with torque (out of saddle) and even a couple of times when I hit a bump.  If that helps.

There's several spots to look. Would start by making sure the barrel is adjusted so your indexing is correct, Youtube has plenty of video. Then check hanger and derailleur cage for straightness. Sticky cable can do it, how new are your cables? Also, a chain checker for checking how worn your chain is.