Look 986 Received

I received at my house an extremely nice mountain bike the other day. I mean, so nice! It isn't the bike for everyone--it fills a pretty specific niche--but it sure is beautiful.

Behold, the Look 986.



Yeah, super nice bike. Okay, right away you'll notice the most striking feature: the integrated seat-mast. Although carbon frames are becoming more common for high-end mountain bikes, not many make this bold statement. What's the statement? "Adjustability? I don't need no stinkin' adjustability"

Other highlights? SRAM X.0 Components. Avid Juicy Ultimate brakes. A super-light FSA OS-99 stem and some even-lighter foam grips. Wheels are Mavic CrossMax SL-Rs. Tires are continental supersonics.

Basically, the niche the 986 fills is the freakishly-light-racing-machine niche. Or, maybe the ideal buyer is the roadie who loves his Look road bike and wants to drop $4-5K on a similar ride for the dirt.

Soon I'll be doing some hacking at the integrated mast--arguably the most nerve-wracking adjustment a person could make to a bike--to get the bike to fit my somewhat average size. After that, I'll hit the trail and let you know how it rides.

Official

I like racing. Particularly I like road racing. Not to participate, mind you, but to follow. Sure, I'm saddened by the doping, et al, but I really don't let that get in the way. But, and I'm being brutally honest here, I could train like a mad man--sacrificing family and career, such as it is--and never bust into the domestic pro ranks. I might, if I worked really hard, race at Cat 2 or 1, heck, maybe even semi-pro, but I'm just not Pro material. So, the question is, how do I participate if I'm not racing?

Why, using a motor, of course. I am currently training to be one of these guys:

Tonight I am heading up to Portland to attend a USA Cycling Motoref clinic. This last weekend I was able--thanks to USA Cycling getting me the material, post haste--to get my Official C license, a prerequisite to attending the Motoref clinic. That's right, I'm offic... er... I'm an official. One of many. I won't let my power go to my head, honest.

Go ahead, try and cross that double yellow.

The idea for this was hatched about a month ago. I was out on the motorcycle and T. was racing in a local road race. The courses aren't closed, so I thought I'd see if I could spot him*. What I discovered was that this was a great way to see the race, to see the tactics and see how it's unfolding. As an official, you have to pay attention to where the racers are--both on the course and in relation to each other--but that is what you pretty much do as an avid spectator, too. That got my wheels turning and when the clinic was announced--and close too!--I contacted USA Cycling to see what I needed to do in order to attend. They sent me the material, I took a test and passed. Oddly, though, I missed some easy ones and got most of the harder questions. Hmmm.

Whether the officiating from the back of motorbike is fun or not, this whole process is interesting. Who knows how it'll play out, but I'm hanging on for the ride.



*I did spot him... on the sidelines. Rough day for T., that one.

Trusty Steed

I used to refer to my bike as my "Trusty Steed". Of course, there were a couple of problems with this.

1) I always did the work. Now, I'm not a horse rider, but I get the impression that between a horse and his rider, the horse is doing most of the work.

2) It wasn't actually trusty. In fact, most of my memories growing up in Oregon and riding in the nearby hills/mountains are also full of the memory of me coaxing the chain from gear to gear. I can't remember it ever actually working the way it was supposed to.

But, with all that--being my only bike at the time--it was the most trusty of my "steeds".

As many of you with multiple bikes will understand, now that I have a few bikes, there are some that are in disrepair more often than others. My road bike almost always needs a little air in one of the tires, but that's the only maintenance I really am forced to do on it. Very trusty. (Of course, for the most part, all road bikes fit into this category if you stay out of bad weather and stick to paved roads.) My full-suspension mountain bike, on the other hand, is in constant disrepair.

This is probably one of the largest factors in my move to riding on the road more and more. I mean, my time is limited and precious to me. If I ride on the road bike, I get more time to actually ride. On my full-squish mountain bike, I'll spend some time both getting angry and getting my hands greasy (somehow I always get my hands greasy--whether I change a tire, or mount a water-bottle cage--always).

Currently, I think I need a little more air in my rear shock. Also, my front brake needs bleeding.

With the fairly recent acquisition of my dad's old Cannondale F4000, I now have a trusty steed for mountain biking again. First off, it has no rear shock. Then there's the fact that it uses rim brakes (nothing to bleed--ever). Also, the front fork is an enclosed HeadShock system--about as maintenance free as any front suspension. It rides well and always shifts when I push or pull on the appropriate levers.

Now, whenever I'm in the mood for a ride--and I don't have time to work on my bikes--I can grab the Trusty Steed and head out. It's always good to have one in your stable.

Similar, But Different

As you may recall, Jon and I have been working on the XT/X.9 comparative review for quite some time now. It hasn't been easy. For one thing, both groups work very, very well out of the box. So, we've been dragging it out, beating up the parts, waiting for something to fail. Nothing has.

For most of this time, Jon has had the X.9 and I have been thrashing the XT. Last month, that all changed, as I pulled the XT and shipped it to him, and he shipped me the X.9. I've now ridden the X.9 a little bit, and while the ends are the same--shifting, braking, getting power to the wheels--the means are different. Here are just a couple of examples.

Shifters:
Both of our review groups use a trigger-type shifter. Shimano does offer their integrated brake/shift levers, but we aren't using that one. SRAM, likewise, offers their Gripshift shifter, but, again, we aren't using that one either. The XT shifter uses a thumb paddle to shift to a lower gear and a trigger that can be operated by either your finger--pull--or thumb--push--to move to a higher gear. SRAM's shifter has two paddles as well, but both are thumb operated.

Brakes:
Both Shimano and SRAM use hydraulic brakes--Juicy 7's from SRAM and XT from Shimano. The Juicy's use brake fluid, while the XT's use mineral oil. There are some performance advantages to using brake fluid--like higher boiling point--but when it comes to maintenance, mineral oil is nicer to work with.

Cranks:
Both the TruVativ Stylo--SRAM--crank and Shimano's XT crank use oversize external bearings. The Shimano bottom bracket (BB) has three spacers, two for the drive side and one for the non-drive side. This allows it to accommodate two sizes of BB shells--68 and 73mm--as well as allowing extra space for an E-type front derailleur. The TruVativ has only two spacers, so it works with a 68mm BB and E-type derailleur or a 73mm BB, but is not compatible with a 73mm BB and an E-type derailleur.

Additionally, both have the BB spindle affixed to the drive-side crank arm, but their method of attaching the non-drive are distinctly different. The Stylo uses a modified ISIS attachment, while Shimano sticks with it's pinch bolt arrangement. Both work, but the Stylo looks a little cleaner.

I'm sure that stepping around patents has led to some of the differences seen here, but some of it has to be due to different schools of thought about how things should be done--how the rider interacts with the equipment and so forth. What this gives us, as consumers, is quite a bit of choice, both within the same company--Gripshift or triggers?--and from company to company. The fact that both systems are holding up to abuse shows that, at this level at least, it's hard to pick the wrong group.

Playing in Traffic

Let me be totally frank, I do not live in a large city. There are about 50,000 people who live here--a little more when school in session, a little less in Summer, it seems--so take what I say here with a grain of salt. Manhattan it is not.

That being said, I love riding traffic. I love dodging cars. I enjoy--odd as it sounds--being very close to the iron beasts that could take me out with their inattentive drivers. Heck, the likely don't know that I'm there until I am past. Maybe not even then. Clearly it's not the safest thing to do, so why do I like it?

I think it's because I don't live in a large city. If this is what it was like every time I got on the bike, I would likely be using this space to decry the having to deal with traffic all the time. As it is, this is only about a mile, or so, of my 12 mile commute. The rest of it is either primary roads with very large shoulders or secondary roads with little traffic. Yeah, I've got it good.

And, if I choose, I can avoid dodging cars downtown altogether. So really, the fact that I get to decide whether or not I race from stoplight to stoplight increases the fun. It makes for great sprinting exercise, besides.

Then, once it's done, I get to settle in and cruise the countryside. Or hills.

It's good to be on a bike.

Clearing Out Cobwebs

There are many reasons why I ride. The first is because I like it. A lot. Really. The second is because, frankly, I like to eat and so this gives me an excuse to burn of those extra calories. Sometimes, though, neither of those reasons are what gets me out pedaling. Sometimes, I just need to clear my head--you know the causes, stress at work and the like getting to you. This is usually when I have so much going on that I can't focus on any one thing well. It's like I have cobwebs in my head.

At times like these, I just head out--usually off road so I don't have to deal with drivers--and just sort of wander*. I also tend to attack all of the hills I can find. There is nothing like suffering on a difficult climb to bring things sharply into focus. Focusing on the climb, that is. All other cares drop away like so much sweat, to be dealt with later.

I also tend to not push myself too hard on the flats, rather I just ride along, soaking in nature. I let my mind wander. Usually, I think about this blog, or a review I am working on for GearReview.com, but occasionally, I think of nothing. I just ride along in a sort of state of bliss, not worrying about anything.

On the downhills I lose myself in the flow. The swooping singletrack, the little rises that turn into jumps at speed. The traction of my tires as I lean over in the corners, intent on nothing but the ride.

When I return to my chaotic world my head is clear and I can be productive once again. I suppose that this is why some people go to therapy, for me, this is all the therapy I need.




*I am using that sweet Edge 705 GPS so while I may be wandering, I am not even remotely lost. I know where I am with pinpoint accuracy.

Road Discs?

Last week I pointed you to Lennard Zinns' Next Big Thing article. Well, he's at it again with round two called More Big Things. This time, he predicts that road discs will become more mainstream, and might even be used in racing. If you've been reading this here blog for any length of time, you know that disc brakes are something I espouse. I've written about them before, including listing the pros and cons.

Lennard makes some interesting points, though. Let's take a look, shall we? One of the arguments that is often used is that the bike has a disc--the rim--that works well for stopping. There are two problems with this. One, you are wearing away at a structural component. Every time you hit the brakes, you remove metal from the rim. If you ride a lot, or know someone that does, chances are that you've seen or experienced a rim failure due to excessive wear of the braking track. Second, as Lennard points out, every time your rim gets wet, you lose braking power. Why is this acceptable? Also, aluminum is a lousy braking surface.

Lennard goes on to say that the biggest drawback is that they are heavy. The calipers are heavy, the rotors are heavy, the hubs weigh more and can't build pretty radially laced wheels and expect them to hold up. All true. However, I think that if they were more widely adopted, there would be a concerted effort to drive the weight down. As it is, road disc brakes are just mountain bike brakes adjusted to work with the leverage ratio of road brake levers. If they were road bike specific many of these arguments could be better addressed.

Lennard suggests that one weigh to reduce the weight is to use a smaller rotor--true--but that, he says, leads to more heat build up--again, true, to a point. One of the nice things about discs is that you can brake later. You don't need to drag your brakes as much, so it is possible that while the heat generated is significant, there is plenty of time to cool them down between uses. He also suggests that using different materials will help. This is true, and it's something that I think we'll see if companies like SRAM and Shimano start making road bike disc brakes, not mountain bike disc brakes adapted for road use. Where Lennard errs, though, is suggesting the use of Carbon-Carbon brakes like those used in Formula 1 racing. While they do work very, very well at elevated temperatures, they don't work well at all at more normal operating temperatures. They need to be heated up to greater than 400 degrees before they start working well. There is no way you'll be able to get a bicycle brake that hot. I've tried. It's really easy to get a car brake that hot, though. That being said, there are ways to dissipate heat--fins on the caliper, different pad materials, different rotor shapes, using MMC (metal matrix composite) rotors to help conduct the heat away from the pads--and if road bikes use smaller rotors this will have to be addressed.

I firmly believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages when it comes to disc brakes. Their overwhelming adoption among the off road crowd highlights this. When a disc brake designed from the ground up for road bike use becomes available, I'll be the first in line.

Eerily Quiet

This morning was... odd.

First, the weather. It's 54 degrees out there. Granted, today the forecast calls for rain and looking to the west, I think that they're going to be right. But, be that as it may, 54 is much warmer than what we've been seeing lately.

Second, it was quiet, too quiet. Normally there is quite a bit of traffic on the roads--everyone seems to go to work at the same time, right? Not today. It was so quiet in fact that I thought it might be Sunday and my schedule was off by one day. Man, I'd hate to think that I got up early and rode into work when I didn't need to... wait, let me rephrase that... I'd hate to think that I stopped in at work on a day I didn't need to and and didn't just keep on riding, since I was up.

Finally, even though I rode hills today, they didn't hurt like they have been. Frankly I think that E. was taking it easy on me, but nevertheless, it felt good. Maybe increasing the regularity of riding the hillier route is helping. Maybe the stars were aligned, everyone overslept and there was a warm mass ahead of a vicious storm that made everything just right. And that's fine with me.

Since this morning was so good, I'm going to push my luck and make one request to the weather gods: I don't mind the rain during the day--heck, I'm stuck inside at work anyway--but can I please have a nice tail wind on the way home? That would make today's oddities complete.

To Remove Excess Weight

I love my full suspension Cannondale Jekyll. I know that Cannondale has since moved on to other designs, but It rides well and, thanks to a Manitou SPV rear shock, pedals pretty well--at least for a 4-year old 5" travel bike.

When I'm on my light-weight hard-tail, though, I keep thinking about how light it is. And when I get back on the Jekyll, it seems like such a beast. A smooth beast, but a beast nonetheless.

Now, I'm not a great mechanic, but I've decided to take matters into my own hands and take some steps towards making it lighter. I'm pleased to say that, after some tweaking and such, I think I've taken my Jekyll to what I consider to be a very nice weight. All told, I think I managed to shave somewhere between 5 and 8 lbs off the bike.

As all of my modifications are not specific to the bike, I'll post my methods here. Remember, if you don't feel comfortable making drastic changes to your bike, take it in to a good local bike shop and pony up for them to do it.

For this, you'll need a 4, 5, 6 mm allen keys. Also, you'll need a chain whip and cassette puller. Depending on your crank type, you'll need one or more of the following: External bearing bottom bracket tool, crank puller/extractor, traditional bottom bracket wrench. Unless you're running a chain (like a SRAM) with a quick-connect link/master link, you'll also need a chain tool.

1. Remove your front and rear shifters.
2. Remove your derailleur cables.
3. Remove your front and rear derailleurs.
4. Take off your rear wheel and remove your cassette.
5. Remove your chain. 
6. Pull your crank and remove your bottom bracket.

At this point, you might want to take the time to clean all those areas of the bike you normally can't really get to with all those extra parts installed.

And that's it! Stand back and admire your work (or the work of a fully qualified bike mechanic). Also, make sure to pick your bike up and feel the difference. The next time you're out on a ride (if you actually get your bike to move forward and somehow keep it that way), you'll really appreciate the difference several pounds can make.

In fact, I'm not sure I even have the heart to put the new parts on.

Seca

Frankly, it seems too early in the year to be posting a press release like this, but, advancements march on and Light and Motion needed to kick things up a notch. It seems like that is what they are doing with the Seca light.

Light and Motion Announces Their Seca Line of LED Light Systems:
Three Models Built Specifically To Outperform HID

April 23, 2008, Monterey, CA— Born from a need for high-performance lighting on the trails behind Laguna Seca, Light & Motion is proud to announce the arrival of Seca. Seca is the first LED bicycle lighting system to make good on the promise of besting the top HID’s on the market. Seca provides the first beam pattern that is custom tailored for the needs of cyclists. One look at Seca and you’ll be convinced; this is the beginning of an entirely new generation of bicycle lighting.

“This light is insanely bright,” said Eric Squires, Sales Manger for Light & Motion. “I have been riding the Seca prototypes for months and it’s the first LED system to convince me that LED can beat HID for output and usable light on the trail.”

Between May 15th and August 15th, Light & Motion will release technical details about the Seca line through the website at http://www.theledrevolution.com. In addition, they’ll be sharing a behind the scenes look at Seca’s engineering and development process. Those who register will have access to the latest technical information on Seca sent to their email inbox every few weeks. Light & Motion will also announce special offers tailored exclusively to those registered.

About Seca:

The Seca (starting at $349) sets a new standard for high-performance bike lights. With output to 700 lumens, Seca delivers higher quantity and quality of light than the top performing HID systems. Seca is designed to address bike specific lighting needs both on the road and on the trail. This means not only more light, but more light where you want it. Seca’s beam pattern offers an abundance of light in front of your wheel, powerful light down the trail (piercing the darkness up to 200 ft in front of you) and plenty of ‘spill’ light for enhanced peripheral vision. To top it all off, Seca is less expensive than most HID systems.

Seca will be released officially on August 15th, 2008. To sign up for periodic information updates, visit the Seca launch site at http://www.theledrevolution.com.

So, anyone who was writing off Light and Motion--or who thought that they would continue to rely on their HID technology for their high end--should be reconsidering. It looks like they are in this game still and the Seca looks, at the moment, to be competitive.

Sea Otter Round Up

Like many of you, I did not make it to Sea Otter this year. It's too bad, too, since Sea Otter is becoming a sort of Interbike Spring, what with all the new product launches. So, since the next best thing to being there is looking at pictures, I've scoured the 'net to find good reports of what to expect in '09. And that's not a typo. Here we are wrapping up our review of '08 components from SRAM and Shimano and they are showing off some '09 stuff. It's getting as bad or worse than the car and computer industry. As some point we need to wear out the stuff we've got, right?


Maybe not.


Anyway, back to Sea Otter. VeloNews does a decent job of showing new products from a myriad of companies HERE. Be sure to click the links at the bottom to see their take on more Sea Otter goodness.

Also, check out Lennard Zinn's thoughts on the Next Big Thing in cycling, wherein he mentions that he's not very good at making predictions, but hey, this time he just might be right.

Once you're done there, head on over to CyclingNews and see James Huang's reports from the Otter, here, here, here and here. As per his MO, James takes a little more in depth look at the products be shown and offers some insight as to their development. It's not all just Bold New Graphics.

There you have it.

OK, one more thing. Be sure to check in tomorrow for some interesting light news. I'd love to have posted it today, but I've been asked to wait until tomorrow when the press release goes live. With that clear as mud teaser, you'll just have to wait and see what coming tomorrow.

Three Ways to Use a GPS

As you know, I've been playing with GPS's lately, and it occurred to me that they make excellent bicycle computers* for a few reasons... well, three reasons, actually.

Display of Information:

Let's face it, most cycling computers are a compromise. They have small screens and can display only a limited amount of information at any one time. Often, there is much button pressing to see various aspects of your ride. The GPS, on the other hand, is not small. Because it's not small it has room for a nice large screen, which may or may not be color. This allows it to display all the information you want right there on the same screen. The Edge 705 can display up to eight items. That's the other thing, most of the GPS's out there let you decide what to display. If you've got a heart rate monitor, show your heart rate, but if not, turn off that display and show something else. Nice.

Logging Information:

The second way that GPS's rock is that they log the ride stats for retrieval later. Most also connect to a PC so you can upload your rides to different websites--like MotionBased, a Garmin-owned site--so you can share your ride with others, or just keep a training log of where your rode and what the ride statistics were--e.g., where you rode, how fast you averaged, how far you rode, etc. Many of these websites allow you to view or download your route in Google Earth format--it'll be a .kml file.

This allows you to review your ride and take a look at the terrain. Frankly, I find it fun to look at the topography after a ride and see what the hills really look like.

Routing:

This is the one feature that to date I have not needed to use on my bicycle, but intend to anyway. The Edge 705, and others, will enable you to select a destination and then it will determine the route, based on select criteria that you input. You decide whether or not to allow routing on primary roads, or limit it's road selection to secondary roads. You also tell it your mode of travel. It calculates the distance and takes a stab at predicting your arrival time. The Garmins that I've used with this feature predict arrival time with an amazing amount of accuracy.

Now, the reason why I have not used this feature much on the bicycle is that when I ride I rarely have a destination. Usually, I'm out for the ride itself, but if I was touring, or riding in a strange city, that might the feature I'd rely on the most. As it is, I tend to use the other two--information display and logging--the most.

But none of it works if you forget to plug it in and charge the battery.



*This assumes that you are using one with either a wheel pick up for speed/distance, or are using a newer GPS with better reception. If you are not, then it'll just be frustrating. Seriously.

Small Parts

I am not a clean man. I mean, not that I'm not clean now. That is, I took a shower this morning, and everything. What I'm trying to say is, I'm unorganized and messy.

Right off the bat, the road cyclists in you are saying things like, "Typical mountain biker." C'mon, though, that's just not fair. I've met quite a few mountain bikers (well, one or two, at least) that clean their bikes from time to time. Moreover, I know a number of road cyclists (well, me, anyway) who like having a road bike because they (I) never need to clean it. No mud = no cleaning.

Anyway, being messy means I have various cardboard boxes in my garage with random assortments of parts. Some parts I'll never use again. Others will be critical to me the next time I decide to change things up in my stable of bikes.

The problem, though, is knowing which is which.

The last time I really cleaned out my garage and decided to get rid of everything I was never going to use again, I got rid of something that was absolutely necessary for me about 6 months later. I cursed my one-time clean ways.

But, I started to notice, the other day, a specific part that seems to be everywhere. EVERYWHERE, I tell you. And, I almost never want it. It's very small. I get new ones all the time, though not by choice. The only time these are even remotely useful is in really muddy rides which, as I believe I've mentioned before, I try to avoid.

The part: Presta Valve Stem Cap

I've found these little buggers:

1. laundry room
2. dresser drawer
3. coin drawer/ash tray of car
4. glove compartment of car
5. door compartment of car
6. trunk of car
7. seat-pack(s)
8. hydration pack(s)
9. together with spare cleat-bolts and other assorted items in an empty 35mm film canister
10. zippered jersey pocket
11. tool box
12. every one of my random cardboard boxes full of parts which fill up my garage.

And yet, I can't seem to bring myself to throw them away when I find them.

A note to inner-tube manufacturers: Thanks, but I'm good with this part. I've had my fill. For life. I don't believe I will ever need any more of these. Ever.

Hydration Packs

There is quite the variety of hydration packs on the market today. Just for fun, I took a screen shot from Bike Nashbar (see link over there --->).

That's not even the entire first page! Under Hydration Systems, they list 52 different packs. And they only carry three companies: Camelbak--by far the biggest contributor to the 52 variations--Hydrapak and Nalgene. They don't even carry Deuter, Ergon, Wingnut, Vaude, Dakine or Fox. What a crowded market!

And yet, every year, there are improvements and, it seems, every year another company wants to make a go at it. This time around it was Ergon. We've been looking at their BD-1 and have wrapped up the review. Check it out HERE, then come on back 'cause I'm not done.

[hold music]

Oh good, you're back.

What I find most interesting is that with all of this variation, all of these different options, so many different approaches to the same problem, there is still room for improvements. The BD-1 is a good example of a "clean slate" design--that is, looking the problem with a fresh mind, not building on any preconceived ideas--and the result is good. But it could be a little better. As I stated in the review, the pack puts the bladder further away from the rider so the hose needs to be quite long. If you are tall, the problem is worse.

That was the biggest issue I had. It made drinking from the pack harder than it should--I mean, it's made for drinking! They, Ergon, are introducing their own bladder any day now, so that problem should go away.

All in all, though, if you aren't able to find a hydration pack to fit your needs, you've got some odd needs. Seriously. There is a pack for every type of ride and every budget--though not necessarily at the same time.

Features

In my post last week about the Edge 705, Where am I, ark commented that he was disappointed that temperature wasn't one of the many things that the Edge could display. So am I.

Here's why.

The other day I was in Bi-Mart--those of you living in the Pacific Northwest might be familiar with that store--and, since I needed to kill some time, I was perusing the bicycle aisle. I do that from time to time to see what accessories are available and what they are selling for. All of the accessories on the pegs were either Bell branded or Slime branded. I looked at the computers--there were two, both Bell branded--and they were approximately $12 for the wired version and approximately $20 for the wireless. And they both had temperature! Seriously, why isn't temperature something that is available on every bike computer?

Now, I'm not saying that these computers are any better that what bike shops have. Frankly, I'd be shocked--shocked !--if they survived a single ride in the rain, but the fact remains that temperature is a very inexpensive feature to add. If you, the manufacturer, are already throwing in the kitchen sink, why not add one more item?