Overdue - Teammates are the best (Reparto Corse #3)

This past Saturday (yes now 6 days ago) I woke up even earlier than I do on a weekday in order to catch the mythical HUP Arlington road ride. Not being a fan of Arlington and more specifically the route I have to take to get there I've shrugged off this ride all spring.

I've missed riding with the HUP originators like Stephen Jablonski and Mike Salvatore so I finally made the effort to get up early and head over to Arlington for what promised to be enjoyable company, long miles, and acceptable weather. In attendance was Stephen "I know every awesome side road in MA" Jablonski, Yasushi "it's sooo cold" Katsumi, Jeff "I swear, I've never ridden a century despite the fact that I am ripping your legs off at mile 125" Bramhall, and Graham "my beard is better than your beard" Dimmock. The plan was to ride casually to Harvard and then decide whether or not to continue to Wachusett Mtn. The overnight rain left the roads wet for the first hour but as the sun went to work, the roads dried and the temperature rose.

We took the normal route to Harvard and everyone (except Graham since he was racing on SUnday) decided to power on to Wachusett. I've only ridden to Wachusett once before and that was following the CRW Climb to the Clouds route so I defered to Stephen who had printed out some options. I also had google maps on my crackberry to supplement the decisions. I don't know how he did it, but Stephen got an absolutely awesome backroads route from mapquest (usually my least favorite direction site) that we only screwed up once. When the four of us arrived to Wachusett, there was no doubt that Stephen, Jeff, and I were going to ride up to the summit. Yash said not to wait for him because he didn't plan on summitting. We waited at the summit anyway and Yash came rolling in just as we were about to head down. I think he impressed himself the most.

We took the same general route back to Harvard and then took the usual (with a few excellent detours compliments of Stephen) route from Harvard. We stopped for a crummy lunch in Sterling and delicious pastries in W.Acton before cruising into Arlington. The final numbers are a bit daunting but surprisingly the spirits were high and the sense of accomplishment from the group was through the roof. I'm really looking foward to the Gentlemen's Race with Stephen and Jeff. If this ride was any indication, we will have a strong, positive team in New Paltz.

On Sunday we were invited to retell the experience at Chip's place while he and his wife Pam put out an impressive food and beverage spread for us. Thanks to Tom's wife Gretchen for the Hupcakes and to Rob for the H1N1 guacamole. Thanks as well to Pam for letting smelly bike people invade her house and use her hot tub.

Reverse the Curse

I originally posted this during the winter when I was fed up with yet another FSA crank failure. Since then, I've accumulated some Campy Ultra Torque cranks to replace the FSA garbage I had on my bikes. The last remaining K Force crank was moved from my sunny day ride to my everyday ride when I bought my first set of Ultra Torque cranks. Even though I have a second set of Ultra Torque cranlks waiting for install on the everyday bike, I've been lazy this spring, not wanting to change the cranks because I need to replace cables, chain, and bar tape and figured I'd do it all at once. But who wants to do that when you could be riding (or surfing the internet on the couch) instead? Well, this morning, after noting last night that the crank arm felt a bit loose I did some closer inspection of the FSA K Force crank. Low and behold, the pedal insert on the drive side is loose. That is now the third pedal insert to fail on two K Force cranks. My father also had an insert fail on his one K Force crankset. At this point it is just comicle. I have the FSA phone number stored in my phone and may even remember their address by memory. No more being lazy, time to overhaul the bike and (finally) rid myself of the FSA curse.

I can no longer hold my tongue about FSA's piece of sh*t cranksets. I've owned 4 FSA MegaExo style cranksets. Three of them have failed and the only reason I think the fourth has yet to fail is because it is babied on my sunny day bike.

Gossamer
I bought my first set of FSA cranks (Gossamer MegaExo) while working in the cycling industry. The non driveside arm used to loosen every 4th or 5th ride so I always had to be attentive. I finally ignored their recommended torque range and just tightened the snot out of them. That seemed to hold things together for a good season or two. Eventually though the torx wrench requiring bolt that helps to snug the non-driveside arm tight against the driveside arm spindle wore down to a round hole. Hey FSA, good idea to use
a. soft aluminum
b. a small hole with a less than standard torx fitting
After two years of use these cranks were removed and relegated to spare/emergency duty. As a side note, if you own FSA cranks, I would suggest having a spare or back up set handy because your cranks will inevitably fail. I recently re-installed the Gossamers when my FSA SLK cranks failed for good (see below). The loosening problem is back and the stripped tightening bolt is not helping things.

SLK
I bought these cranks when I built my sunny day rider. At the time, they were high end for my budget and they were fairly lust worthy (in my eyes at least) since they were new technology and carbon. On my maiden voyage, despite suspecting they may loosen (um, see above...) they stayed tight. I torqued them to factory spec after each of my first 3 or 4 rides and everything seemed good. On my 4th or 5th ride, I was about 20 miles from home when I noticed the non-driveside beginning to loosen. I didn't have an 8mm allen wrench (no stupid torx head needed on these) so I limped them home as best as I could. Ever since then the cranks have acted like powercranks with the non-driveside arm slipping forward and backward on the splined driveside spindle despite not being loose side to side. For a while I thought it was play in my pedals or the crank arm loosening again. It honestly took me most of the season to figure it out. Fortunately, about the same time that I figured it out I also be-friended a very nice FSA employee who got me the hook up on some K-Force cranks. The SLK's were initially shelved for a year and then shifted to the Gossamer bike when I got sick of the Gossamers loosening. Confused yet?

This winter, after a season of 'cross racing with the SLK cranks I finally called FSA to see what can be done. They were very familiar with my problem (because I am willing to bet it happens a lot) and have offered to replace the non-driveside crank arm. Apparently the aluminum insert on that arm is susceptible to greater wear (again, great thinking there) than the steel driveside spindle on which it is mounted. Thankfully I have those POS Gossamer cranks to use in the meantime. Oh, and yes, the Gossamers continue to loosen almost daily.

K-Force
Being the cream of the crop, I expected the K-Force cranks to work without issue. Since they were on my sunny day ride, I never really put them through any tough conditions but I still felt they were the most expensive and therefore the best. When I saw the super dooper close out deal from my FSA employed friend I jumped at the chance to get another set. They were to be used on my 'cross bike as it was reconfigured for a cross country adventure. The compact gearing allowed me to avoid the need for a triple ring and the bonus of being lightweight seemed like a great idea. Luckily they didn't fail until I was in the middle of f'in nowhere Indiana. I noticed some play in my pedal and thought it might be the cleat on my shoe. Nope. Maybe my pedal was unthreading. Nope. In fact, the pedal insert was coming unbonded from the crankarm. When I finally figured this out I called all the area shops to see if any of them might have a similar K-Force that I could purchase. Oh, did I mention I was in the middle of nowhere so I had very limited cell reception? When I finally got to Ft Wayne, IN I found my way to a shop that allowed me to take a new non-driveside arm from their inventory while my FSA friend sent them a warranty replacement. Honestly, if I didn't have that FSA friend, I probably would have been out some serious $. Then again, I never would have bought the K-Craps to begin with...
Thinking the worst was behind me, I continued on my journey. Within shouting distance of home (Hopkinton, MA) the other pedal insert came loose. FUCK! When I got home, I mailed the cranks back and requested a different model (SLK Light). Those went on ebay and I've been slowly working to eliminate all FSA cranks from my fleet.

Although some might say I am failing to accept blame, I think it is pretty clear when a company makes a shitty product. I've used dozens of other brands without ever having problems so I think it is fair to say, FSA CRANKS SUCK. Ask Ryan Kelly, he'd tell you the same thing.

Oh, but did you hear FSA is going to release a new 11 speed drivetrain? Yeah, remind me to rush out and buy that.

Great weather

This week has been full of great weather. Sure it was wicked hawt on Tuesday but I made sure to ride really early in the morning and then, since I was stuck at work until 9pm, it was a mild 65 degrees for my ride home. Last night, after getting in from my ride, I overhauled the mtb. Granted there is not much that needs to be overhauled on a hardtail singlespeed but the thing was filthy and creaking worse than an old lady's arthritic hip when we rode on Saturday. I also had a new front wheel built by Brian at JRA Cycles and I wanted to inspect the condition of it after 2 rides.
The 650b experiment seems to be working out great. It fits my Fox Vanilla fork with room to spare and feels just big enough to give me a little extra rolling momentum over the technical stuff without feeling sluggish or challenging to maneuver when it gets really technical. For those that like 26 inch wheels but are on the taller side of the scale (and thus carrying some body mass up higher than average) I'd recommend the 650b wheel option, at least on the front.

With a cold beverage in one hand and some simple green soaked rags in the other I scrubbed the ti frame clean and then moved on to cleaning the parts. I even pulled out the EBB to clean and properly lube it and I moved the bb to the bottom of the shell instead of the top just like Thom recommends. While I wouldn't call the bike spotless, it is a lot cleaner than when I started and it is (seemingly) creak free which is even more important.

The other big motivator for cleaning the Verve is that tonight I've been invited to an exclusive session at some of the best trails in the greater Boston area and I don't want to disappoint the audience with a dirty, noisy machine. I may not keep up, but it won't be due to mechanical issues.

The right way to start the day

I woke up early, had some breakfast, aired up the tires on the "nice weather bike" and then set out on a long route to work. Man, I love spring!

How is your Monday?

Spotted

I tested my homing beacon this morning and it seems to work. I last used it during my cross country trip and it was fun for my family to map out my daily route and report back to me at the end. Although it was annoying when my dad called and tried to give me directions because he thought I took a wrong turn. I just went into town to get some groceries.

Anyway, my wife and I are heading off to Peru tonight and will be hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu early next week. We're also doing some sightseeing in Cuzco and Lima before returning on April 18th. If you have any interest in seeing where we are you can follow this link to the Spot transmitter. Hopefully it works in South America.

My dad is better than your dad

I remember a "reality" show last year called my dad is better than your dad where the fathers and their child competed against one another in athletic and "intellectual" challenges. Being 28 years old I think I am just a bit too old to take part in such a show with my father but last Thursday night confirmed in my mind that my father is truly better than everyone else's.

After spending a week in Providence helping my sister and brother-in-law welcome their second child into the world, he agreed to spend Thursday night helping me pimp out my basement workshop area with high quality lighting and electrical outlets. Those who have visited my basement workshop know I am quite fond of the space. Being a bit of an afterthought when we bought our condo it has been an absolute savior for a guy with too many bikes and a general addiction to "gear." In fact I think the only way I get away with owning so much stuff is because the stuff is out of sight and out of mind most of the time.

So yeah, my basement is an invaluable space but it needed some upgrading, so with the help of my dad we pulled down the old low wattage track lights and installed blindingly bright flourescent lights. We also rewired the lights to function off of wall mounted switches instead of impossible-to-find-in-the-dark pull strings. Not being satisfied with improved lighting and switches, I also mounted a bunch of outlets (previously had 0) in the workshop area so now my entertainment sources for winter trainer sessions and my power tools can have appropriate homes instead of relying on extension cords run throughout the space. I can't help but brag about the improved functionality of my basement now. I am just a couch and fridge away from moving in full time.

Oh, but back to why my dad is better than your dad. After supplying the majority of the knowledge and tools to conquer this job, he's heading back to Connecticut to perform his real job, saving peoples' lives as a physician. How many people do you know that can cure disease during the day and re-wire a basement lighting and electrical system during the evening.

Wednesday Single Speeding

I rode my single speed 'cross bike to work and conned my buddy into transporting my single speed mountain bike to the trail head. 15 mile morning commute, 14 miles of evening riding, 2 different bikes, and no shifting. Add a few post ride beers at the trailhead and you've got a great Wednesday.

Perfectly dialed

Now that my commute is 15 miles each way I've had more of a challenge getting my attire selection correct each morning. Sure in the warm weather it'll be easy but in late winter and early spring it's a daily struggle between freezing and overheating.

Today, I had it dialed. Knickers, toe covers, thin long sleeve jersey and the wind resistent Rapha coat I inherited last June. I'm not very good at riding a leisurely pace to avoid sweating so it was even more rewarding to arrive to work without being frozen to the core or pealing off sweaty base layers. It almost makes the fact that today is Monday seem tolerable.