Having a race tomorrow meant that I had to get the rear shifter cable fixed on my bike ASAP. I called up BA this morning and they said it should be a quick repair to fix the cable and to bring the bike on in.
After looking at the 105 shifter, they noticed that the the cable end which had broken off was stuck in the shifter. They offered to swap out the shifter and I told them that I actually had a spare set of dura ace 10 speed shifters, brakes, and bar tape. Since they were doing the work anyways, they slapped the new stuff on there. While I was there a pair of speedplay X-1 pedals caught my eye. I'd been thinking about getting another pair of carbon soled Sidi's and knew it would be more cost effective to get another set of pedals, instead of just buying a 2nd pair of cleats. The Ti speed plays were in last year's packaging and were $25 less than this year's; a deal too good to pass up.
On another positive note, once I took a look at the 105 shifter at home, I was able to poke the old cable end out from being stuck. It helped that the shifter was no longer on the bike and I was really able to fiddle with it. I'll be looking to use the 105's to upgrade my CX bike to 10 speed later this year.
I almost wish I would have taken in the chichi Easton carbon bar that I have in and had them slap that on too. The only problem there is it's 26mm and I would have had to buy a new stem. Stupid Performance Bike really screwed me over by not sending out the stem I attempted to order from them...
Check out this link for about 20 pic's of me sitting on the front of the pack at RATL: http://huskyphoto.homeip.net/events/cycling/070505/RATL/index.php
I'll be working a little smarter tomorrow and will post results.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Mechanical
I've been having a lot of mechanical difficulty lately. After the first Covered Bridge, Rick and I went for a quick ride before 'Roller Girls'. We had to stop when the cable on Rick's Polar power meter looked dangerously close to his spokes. Well, we should have checked mine too, because about 1/2 way through the ride Rick points out that the cable on my power meter is cut. :(
The following week on the way to the 2nd RATL, a cylinder on my car stopped working about 10 miles from home. Rick was kind enough to pick me up, but due to me leaving later than I should have there was no chance to make the CAT 4 race. Seems that I wasn't the only one having difficulty that day after hearing about the botched attempt to blow up the Fulton bridge.
The next day's Covered Bridge race went ok. I pulled out a 3rd place after getting a pretty decent jump during the finish. Unfortunately, leaving a little earlier than I intended to and the slight uphill finish lead to me not winning, but oh well. The other downside is besides not having power and cadence, the speed has started cutting out on my Polar.
Since there were no races last Sunday, the goal was to do a long training ride and complete the Emerald Necklace 100 mile loop. After pulling into the Columbia rd. parking area, I notice that one of the tires on Rick's car is really low. No prob, we've got a bike pump to shoot some air into it once we get done riding. Little did we know how soon we'd be done riding.
Less than 1/2 a mile into the ride, while going up the hill to 82, the quick link on my Whipperman chain breaks. I was able to coast down the hill and Rick gave me a push into the parking lot. We pump up his car tire which was down to about 12psi.
Brecksville Velo is closed on Sun and we needed to wait for BA to open up, so we take the tire to NTB to get fixed. After that 2 trips to BA, only to realize that their quick links won't work with my Whipperman chain. :( We were still able to get in 55 miles during which I got to test ride Rick's newly built up Titus.
Today after picking up my lame car from Conrads, I notice that I have no pads left on my C'dale CX disc. So I ride down to BA and pick up some pads. I decide to stop in and check on Rick's cat and chat with Murray for a while. On the way home, the rear derailleur cable on my bike breaks. I'm able to adjust the limit screw so that I'm not running on my 12 tooth cog. Was able to ride ok @ 19mph in the little ring and 22mph in the big ring.
I'll have to go in to work late tomorrow in order to get my bike into Bike Authority so that the cable can be replaced before RATL on Saturday.
Fun times...
The following week on the way to the 2nd RATL, a cylinder on my car stopped working about 10 miles from home. Rick was kind enough to pick me up, but due to me leaving later than I should have there was no chance to make the CAT 4 race. Seems that I wasn't the only one having difficulty that day after hearing about the botched attempt to blow up the Fulton bridge.
The next day's Covered Bridge race went ok. I pulled out a 3rd place after getting a pretty decent jump during the finish. Unfortunately, leaving a little earlier than I intended to and the slight uphill finish lead to me not winning, but oh well. The other downside is besides not having power and cadence, the speed has started cutting out on my Polar.
Since there were no races last Sunday, the goal was to do a long training ride and complete the Emerald Necklace 100 mile loop. After pulling into the Columbia rd. parking area, I notice that one of the tires on Rick's car is really low. No prob, we've got a bike pump to shoot some air into it once we get done riding. Little did we know how soon we'd be done riding.
Less than 1/2 a mile into the ride, while going up the hill to 82, the quick link on my Whipperman chain breaks. I was able to coast down the hill and Rick gave me a push into the parking lot. We pump up his car tire which was down to about 12psi.
Brecksville Velo is closed on Sun and we needed to wait for BA to open up, so we take the tire to NTB to get fixed. After that 2 trips to BA, only to realize that their quick links won't work with my Whipperman chain. :( We were still able to get in 55 miles during which I got to test ride Rick's newly built up Titus.
Today after picking up my lame car from Conrads, I notice that I have no pads left on my C'dale CX disc. So I ride down to BA and pick up some pads. I decide to stop in and check on Rick's cat and chat with Murray for a while. On the way home, the rear derailleur cable on my bike breaks. I'm able to adjust the limit screw so that I'm not running on my 12 tooth cog. Was able to ride ok @ 19mph in the little ring and 22mph in the big ring.
I'll have to go in to work late tomorrow in order to get my bike into Bike Authority so that the cable can be replaced before RATL on Saturday.
Fun times...
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