Avoidance strategies

Condor, Ron Cooper, Ritchey Swiss Cross, 1995 Benson, Ritchey fixed gear, GT Peace 29r

This weekend I have to assemble road bike from  box of parts so that CTB can ride it next weekend.
A simple enough task that I figured I could swap the Brooks Professional saddle off my '59 Condor onto the Ron Cooper before I got started.

Replacing a worn out Brooks Pro with another, more salubrious, example presented no great challenge; and nor did replacing it on the Condor with a nice 1960s Brooks B17.
The B17 looked a bit grubby, so I gave it a scrub with saddle soap, and when it had dried, a slathering of Proofide.

After lunch, other, similar, tasks seemed to become pressing.
My red road bike appeared unconscionably dirty, as did my Ritchey Swiss Cross. The Ritchey fixed gear bike was streaked with wintry road muck, unused since Gayle decreed she would be riding gears on our next ride and I, bringing only the blunt pocketknife of my athletic ability to that particular gunfight, followed suit.
These cleaned, it was apparent the the 29er singlespeed, neglected since my last visit to Rotorua with CTB, could not remain encrusted with dirt.
My vintage Ritchey missed getting photographed, but got a wash and had its tubular wheels swapped for a pair of nice clinchers.

Eventually I got CTB's Giant into the stand but I needed a beer. Fortunately, tomorrow is another day.

Modern technology disappoints, yet again

PC010414
Originally uploaded by bensondoc

Years ago, I renounced cycle computers, heart rate monitors and other digitalia as bearers of bad news.
Without them, you never have to know that you are slow, in the wrong heart rate zone, or down on power.

So why, when my prehistoric mechanical scales gave such satisfactory readings, did I decide to buy a digital scale?
Whereas in my older and happier analogue world my Ritchey Breakaway was a 19lb featherweight, in the cold light of digital day it weighs 9.54kg, a mere gnats whisker under 21lbs.

It is time to confess that all my earlier bragging was untrue, and that Oli's Hillbrick is the lighter by a sizeable margin.
Some uncharitable readers may opine that we should consider the combined weight of bike and rider, however it is style not weight that counts, but having seen Oli carving through the streets of Wellington on his Bianchi I know when I'm beaten.

Tonsorial finetuning

This morning I shaved off my moustache, not in search of some aerodynamic margin, but because after 150kms of suffering this Saturday such a rampant walrus will contain a disgusting amalgam of snot, sweat and bugs.

Little else of my recent action has been so purposeful.
I wanted to do a long ride in the middle of last week, at the speed of a postman as Raphael Geminiani would say, but tiredness and bad worktime management put paid to that plan, so I contented myself with taking Friday off for an extra long weekend, which was dominated by further sloth:

Friday- didn't go to work. Rode into the city via Pt England, then retired to the shed.

Saturday- chores in the morning.
Nap in the afternoon.
Go to proposed fixie riding/beer drinking function on the bus.

Sunday- ride fixie in the rain with CTB.
Had Il Forno been open, we may have been content with doughnuts, but instead we ended up at the pub.

Monday- rise late.
Procrastinate until PM commitments have reduced possible ride time to about 2 hours.
Ride through the faux-Angeleno canyon subdivision atop Redoubt Rd, showing disapproval for the car dependent lifestyle by singing Neil Young's Revolution Blues on the way down the hill.

Crash Diet

PA190365a
Originally uploaded by bensondoc

When the pressure is on, everyone becomes a weight weenie, and after the savage pasting I got in the Waitakeres yesterday, I'm pleased that I have wisely invested in a pair of fancy wheels to assist me at K2.
Lacking the power to get any advantage from aero wheels, I opted for low weight and minimal rolling resistance.
I horsetraded a set of Campag Record 28 hole hubs from Wellington's Capital Cycles, and loaded my credit card with a pair of IRD Cadence rims. Spokes are Wheelsmith- 1.8mm doublebutted on the front & lefthand rear, 2.0 double butted at the driveside.
With Gran Bois Cerf 700 x 28 tyres, the wheels are 620g lighter than my everyday 36 spoke Mavic MA3/Campag Veloce/Gatorskin 28 wheelset, and reduce the weight of my Breakaway to sub-20lb.
Despite the possibility that my scales may be a few decades past their best, I choose to believe that the Ritchey, with a Brooks saddle and no carbon, is no heavier than Oli's 8.76kg/19.31lb Hillbrick.

Cabin Fever will make you do stupid things

Today's plan was for bi-modal* semi-epic in the Waitakeres with my lawyer**, who wants to test out her new compact crankset.

Yesterday, in view of the forecast for thunderstorms, we downgraded to a ride on our fixies to to eat doughnuts at il Forno, but this morning's weather didn't meet my lawyer's stringent trackie criteria for going out at all.

After a couple of hours of housework and sulking I figured decide that things didn't look as bad as the forecast, and headed for the hills on the fixed gear Ritchey.
I got as far as the Hunua Gorge before I had to don my rainjacket, which stayed on for the subsequent climbs over Sky High Rd and Twilight.

I surprised myself by getting over the first two climbs without imploding, though my plan to knock off Sky High Road in the saddle will have to wait for another day.
Twilight was not in the original plan, but I was still feeling good as I rolled into Clevedon, so I thought 'Why not?'. My body had different ideas though, and I crawled, numb-legged, to the top.
From there onwards, it is flattish, and the wind was less obtrusive than I expected, until just south of Papatoetoe when it was all I could do to maintain forward motion. By the time I got my lunch kebab from Lil Abners it had died down enough for a dignified return to the neighbourhood.

Tomorrow will be interesting. I'm predicting sore legs, but a good mood. Might try for a light spin on a bike with gears.
Monday: legs OK, but irritable.

* featuring trains and bicycles
**you never know when you might need one, especially given that its frowned upon to get about with a handgun or a trained attack dog. And if you do either of those things, you'll definitely be needing one sooner or later.

Fiddling while Rome burns

Part 3 in the Procrastination Trilogy

True to my word, gentle reader, last night I put the Breakaway fixie together, without neglecting my domestic obligations.
Yes, the dishes were washed, dried, and put away, and the dogs got their walk.
I even took a shower.

The finished product already looks a bit dirty.
In my frenzy, I didn't bother to clean the wheels, which last saw duty on the broken Holdsworth, and the early 70's Sugino Mighty 171mm crankarms came from the bottom of one of my less-frequented parts bins when the intended Dura-Ace 7400 arms wouldn't allow a good chainline.
The chain is the first one I found in a mystery pile of chains deemed not awful enough to throw away.

I'm going to use the red Ritchey decal kit that came with the frame, which hopefully will look OK with the red Alex Singer style Cateye cotton bar tape. The white brake cables came from Simon at Multisport Bikes.


Frame_________________Ritchey Breakaway SS/Fixed 60cm
Fork___________________Surly Steamroller, 1"
Headset________________Ritchey WCS 1" in Wheels Mfg adapters
Bottom bracket__________Campagnolo Veloce 111mm
Crankset_______________Sugino Mighty 171mm
Brakes_________________Suntour Superbe
Brake levers____________Campagnolo Athena (early 90s)
Front hub______________Phil Wood tandem
Rear hub_______________Surly
Rims__________________Campagnolo Omicron
Tyres_________________Rivendell Ruffy Tuffy 700 x 27
Gearing________________47 x 20 (63.5")
Saddle_________________San Marco Rolls
Seatpost_______________Suntour XC Pro
Stem__________________Ritchey WCS 4-Axis 12cm
Handlebars_____________Nitto Model 176 Dream bar 44cm
Pedals_________________Crank Brothers Quattro SL

Procrastination is the mother of necessity.

On Friday I took the day off work, and decided to get my Breakaway fixie frame painted.
The plan was to paint it white, like the stock colour scheme, but after pondering the twenty different types of white in the DupliColour stand, I wigged out and went for the fixie-bogan default option of Metallic Black.

By Saturday afternoon the frame was looking pretty decent, so long as you were not strictly sober.
Most of the paint was smooth and sparkly, but there were a few rough, dullish patches. It seems that you need to spray a fairly thick layer of paint to get it to flow out smoothly instead of going orange-peely. Fortunately, the rough bits polished out with White Lightning Metal-Brite, which is not intended for use on paint, but is much gentler than automotive polishes which tend to destroy the gloss on DupliColor.

My masterplan was to leave the frame for a few days, to allow the paint to cure, but last night I fitted few components, in solidarity with CTB who had come round to finish off his Ron Kitching.
Needless to say, neither of us got finished, though Chris managed a test-ride.

Now, the challenge is whether I can get a rideable unit before bedtime.

Procrastination, sport of kings

The recent upsurge in workshop productivity, not to mention bloggage, has been in lieu of more important tasks that require real application, hopefully for real rewards.

Not to worry though.

As well as winterizing the Benson, I got the Ritchey Breakaway back together.
Without the mudguards that I had on it last year, its a fair weather Luxocruiser with Gran Bois Cypres 700 x 30s for a plush but fast ride.
Succumbing to the nagging voice of my inner racer-boy, I cut 2cm off the fork steerer- not totally irrevocable,as flipping the stem will raise the bars by the same amount.

It took a couple of rides to get comfortable.
I seemed to be sitting further to the rear, though the Brooks Swallow saddle was set in the same position as the Swift on the Benson.
After a couple of adjustments, my souplesse, such as it is, seems to be regained.

Frame_________________Ritchey Breakaway Road steel 60cm
Fork___________________Reynolds 531, Pacenti crown, 1"
Headset________________Ritchey WCS 1" in Wheels Mfg adapters
Bottom bracket__________Campagnolo Ultra-Torque
Crankset_______________Campagnolo Veloce CT 175 mm 34/48
Brakes_________________Cane Creek SCR-3L
Brake levers____________Campagnolo Cobalto
Shift levers_____________Campagnolo Record 10speed bar end
Front derailler___________Campagnolo Centaur QS
Rear derailler___________Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed medium cage
Hubs__________________Campagnolo Veloce 36h
Rims__________________Mavic MA3
Tyres_________________Gran Bois Cypres 700 x 30
Cassette_______________Campagnolo Veloce 10s 13-29
Saddle_________________Brooks Swallow Titanium
Seatpost_______________Ritchey WCS V2
Stem__________________Ritchey WCS 4-Axis 11cm
Handlebars_____________Nitto Model 177 Noodle bar, 44cm
Pedals_________________Crank Brothers Quattro SL

Riverhead Mixed Terrain Ride

The plan was simple- a dirt road christening for Adam's Breakaway Cross bike. Since he's a westie, Riverhead Forest looked like the best venue.
Invitations were emailed out, and despite fairly miserable weather, eight of us set out this morning from the Swanson Station Cafe:

Adam Lovell____________Ritchey Breakaway Cross
Hugh Calder ___________Kona Jake
Allister Worrall _________GT cross
Peter Alexander________MTB
Kim Sinclair ___________Bauer MTB
Chris Tennent-Brown ___Ritchey Breakaway fixed gear
Glenn Selwyn __________Nakagawa
DB___________________Cecil Walker

By the time we reached the forest, CTB had peeled off with a sore knee, and Glen called it quits, having forgotten his inhaler.
The rest of us rode into the forest at Browns Road, for the first gravel leg to Ararimu Valley Road via Strip Road.
After turning back into the forest at Campbell Road, we took a wrong turn off Whakatahi Rd that fortuitously took us to the best part of the ride- a muddy four wheel drive track descending to Deacon Road. Thence we guessed our way to Forestry Road, only a couple of kms from our planned lunch stop at Hallertau.

All the photos fit to show your mother

Click on the button for a map

Adam's Breakaway Cross

Adam Lovell's Ritchey Breakaway Cross, hastily snapped on Friday afternoon as he hustled out the door with his just-finished new toy.
Intended as an allround commuter/tourer/cross sled, and built from a mix of new parts and drivetrain from his old BMC Streetfire.

Frame_________________Ritchey Breakaway Cross 56cm
Headset________________Ritchey WCS Logic
Bottom bracket__________Campagnolo AC-H
Crankset_______________Campagnolo Veloce CT 34/50
Brakes_________________Avid Single Digit
Brake levers____________Cane Creek Drop V
Shift levers_____________Campagnolo Record 10 speed bar end
Front derailler__________Campagnolo Veloce CT
Rear derailler___________Campagnolo Veloce
Wheels________________Fulcrum Racing 5
Tyres_________________Continental Contact Reflex 700 x 37
Sprockets______________Campagnolo Veloce 13-26
Saddle_________________Fi'zi:k Pave
Seatpost_______________Ritchey WCS 27.2mm
Stem__________________11cm, something we found
Handlebars_____________Ritchey BioMax 26.0mm

Re-purposing

I thought that I had a done good job of reconfiguring my Ritchey Breakaway (here with a Schmidt Dynohub for the Summer Solstice Ride) from 19lb race-ready travel bike into an all weather commuter and credit card tourer, but CTB has blown me into the weeds with this quick and dirty touring bike conversion of his EMC.

Baggage & mudguards

For the last couple of weeks I've been riding the Breakaway to work, and as far on weekends as motivation will allow.

I've changed saddles a few times, finally stealing the Brooks Pro Titanium from the Cecil Walker, though I'll probably go back to the Brooks Swallow when I have some more time to break it in.
I experimented with a couple of modern saddles, but the lack of mounting loops for my new Carradice Camper Longflap saddlebag was the final clincher. I got a beautifully made Bagman quick release adapter with the Camper, but even half-loaded the Camper nearly drags on the tyre. Attached to the Brooks saddlebag loops, the Camper has a couple of inches clearance.

The recent filthy weather drove me to fit a set of Bluemels B35 mudguards.
Unlike their SKS Chromoplastic stablemates, the 35mm Bluemels guards have a round profile which not only looks better, but ought to be a better fit under dual-pivot brakes than the square-ish SKS.
I used a pair of Sheldon nuts to mount the mudguard brackets to the recessed brake bolts.

I would like these better if they had an external hex for spanner, like the nuts that come with the Berthoud carbon fenders, rather than the 6mm allen hex.

On the positive side, the front nut allows the mudguard to be raised to its maximum height by allowing the mudguard bracket to clear the bottom stack of the headset.
In the past I have removed the bracket entirely and ziptied the guard, in the effective but inelegant Grant Peterson style, to the brake centrebolt .



And finally, today I got to grips with that 12 second delay, self portrait feature on my camera. Here we are, atop Jones Rd, on the way to Hunua.

Breakaway- ready to fly

Last week I took the Breakaway to Invercargill so I would have something to ride between sessions of the NZ Track Cycling Championships.

I took this photo to remind myself how the bike should look when packed in it's case, but astute readers will notice that the crucial seat & seatpost are absent.
Fortunately I found them again before we departed.

Needless to say, I didn't get much riding done- the weather was atrocious and the usual Track Nationals combination of malnutrition and lack of sleep kept me inside most afternoons.

Breakaway- complete, if not finished.

Last night I brought home a saddlebag full of stuff to build up the Breakaway, and today I knuckled down and built it up into a rideable device.
Though I could have built up a decent drivetrain out of shed junque, I went for 2007 Campagnolo Veloce 10 speed, with the new Ultra-Torque crankset.

This is meant to be a credit card tourer, so I went for a medium cage rear derailler so I can use a 13-29 cluster in future.
Instead of the standard Ergopower levers, I fitted Record bar-end shifters.
Brakes are Campagnolo Triomphe, which have better tyre & mudguard clearance than dual pivots, actuated by Campagnolo Cobalto brake levers.

The frame is built for a 1-1/8" headset, so I pressed in a set of Wheels Manufacturing headset adapters to suit the 1" fork and Ritchey WCS Logic headset. I am partial to cartridge bearing headsets on demountables because they are unlikely to spill ball bearings onto the ground while the bike is being assembled.

The bike is a long way from being finished- the wheels in the photo are old Campagnolo Electrons with Conti tubulars, and the rock-hard & slippery Benotto bar tape is coming off on Monday.
Crank Brothers Quattro pedals are not compatible with my MTB shoes, so will be replaced with Eggbeaters with the short Ti axles.



*Disclaimer- I am deeply implicated in the importation and distribution of Crank Brothers, Campagnolo, Ritchey and Continental in New Zealand.
Nothing that I write about them can necessarily be believed.

Paint!

Today I removed the surface rust from the Breakaway frame and started painting it using DupliColor acrylic lacquer from the local Repco.

This won't be the final paintjob, just something to make it presentable enough to ride while I am in Invercargill for Track Nationals in a couple of weeks.
When I get back, I'll get it beadblasted and sent to Walter Thorburn to make it look more or less like this.

Keeping the Breakaway off the backburner

The Auckland Track champs have kept me out of the shed lately, but I have a made a little more progress.
I brazed bidon bosses into the inside of the seatstays (left) for a stealthy Vanilla-style mudguard mount, and cleaned up all my brazing.

I'm still trying to work out how to mount a framefit pump.
My plan was to put a pump peg on the seatstay, but a thumblock head barely clears the Campagnolo Veloce rear hub, so I have to decide whether to put the pump along the top tube or track down something more compact like a Silca Impero.

This afternoon CTB brought around a brand spanking new Brooks Swallow, like this one but in black. The Swallow has longer rails than the rest of the Brooks range so I can get my preferred wayback seat position despite the Breakaway's 73.5 degree seat tube. I could get the same position with a modern plastic saddle, but, naaah, it wouldn't be the same.

Ritchey Breakaway project, part 1

My new project is steel Ritchey Breakaway road frame, that I will build up as a lightweight credit card tourer.

Though Tom Ritchey himself uses a Breakaway for lightweight touring, my requirements are somewhat different, so I made a few changes.

I'm not a fan of carbon fibre, so I built a Reynolds 531 fork with a modified Pacenti crown.

I want to be able to use this bike with fat tyres and/or mudguards, and this fork has plenty of clearance, plus eyelets on the dropouts.

To make the 1" fork fit in the frame, I'll be using a set of Wheels Manufacturing headtube reducers. I considered brazing sleeves into the headtube, but this would prevent a future owner from fitting a 1-1/8" fork.

Clearance between the back tyre and the seatstay bridge is minimal, so I cut the bridge out, and brazed in a new one 6mm higher. These old Campagnolo single pivot brakes are a better fit around mudguards than dual-pivots.

I brazed a bidon boss into the bottom of the bridge to attach the mudguard.

The new bridge is at the maximum reach of a Campagnolo short reach caliper.

Mudguards need a front mount too, so I brazed in a chainstay bridge with a threaded boss.