Re-De-Constructing the Re-Purposed Bike

The object of this project is to return my Giant Escape 1 to it's original configuration.  This is possibble because I saved and stored all the original bits and pieces.

In Monday's post, you saw the bike on the service stand, wheels off, and ready for the heavy work.  I described the work that was to be done on the wheels.  If you look back at the picture of the bike in that stae, you will see the following

• A Shimano Deore 8-speed rear derailler
• An Origin8 seatpost, supporting a Brooks B-17 saddle
• A replacement stem (which fits the clamp diameter of the bars
• A set of road "drop" bars
• A Shimano 8-speed cassette (to match the heavy loads involved in my commuting)
• Various other accessories

In the picture below, you will see that some work has been done.

Work has begun...

The conversion seatpost, stem, bars, shifters, brake levers, cables, pedals, and accessories have been removed.  Then, without all the stuff attached, the frame was detail cleaned.  Additionally, the chain has been removed for deep cleaning and lubrication.

The Shimano rear derailler has been replaced with the original SRAM X4 unit.  The headset was cleaned and re-lubricated.  The original pedals, seatpost and stem have been installed.

Coming back up...

Here you see the original pedals, saddle, handlebars, and controls installed.  The bike is ready for a complete re-string.  Once that has been done, the wheels will be installed, and the bike will be tuned.

Ready to ride!

Presto!  A clean, shiney bike in the form that Giant originally intended.  Most of the parts have little, or no wear on them.

By now, some may be wondering what my intention is for this bike.  Simple.  I plan to sell it.  I've finished with my need for an "interim commuter," and had all the fun that this project could afford me.  This is a fun bike, in just this form, and this project has demonstrated just how versatile and capable this machine can be.

More on the “De-Re-Purposed Bike Project”

If you have been following lately you will have seen a POST about returning my “RePurposed Bike” to it’s original form and condition.  This has been a fun project, but it’s time to move on.  The is post, and a couple that will follow, will document and detail the process.  Let’s get to it.

Here it is without the bags…

And now without fenders and rack…

The next phase will be to pull the wheels off.

PIX

While the wheels are off, the project tires will be removed.  Then the wheels will get the “full service treatment.  The hubs will be overhauled, wheels trued, and everything cleaned.  service and clean them.  After that the original rubber comes out of storage and goes back on.  Then the wheels will be set aside and we’ll turn attention to the frame.

If you look closely, you will see that the rear derailler is not the original SRAM unit.  That was replaced with a Shimano Deore eight speed.  This was done because I wanted to go with “drop bars.”  The “drops” would not accept the original shifters, and I had a pair of eight speed compatible bar-end types in a parts bin.

Some of you may be wondering about the brake levers on the road-bars.  I did keep the original linear pull brakes, and then upgraded them to a smoother, more high-end set.  This necessitated using a set of levers that are compatible with the linear pull brakes.  Both Origin8 and Cane Creek make “Drop Vee” levers with the requisite and appropriate pull ratio.

I mention the above because it illustrates something.  A bicycle is a system.  It’s very difficult to change one thing, without that change having implications that ripple through the whole system.

I’ll wrap this project up and show the process in future posts.

De-Re-Purposing

Everything has a beginning and an end.  Long time readers will remember my “Re-Purposed Bike” project.  If not, or if you are new to this blog, you can check these posts for the original low down.

First discussion of the “Re-purposed Bike”

I revealed the bike for the project HERE.

Discussed the project in some detail HERE.

The rollout…

All that was well and good.  But that final rollout was almost two years ago.  And yet again things have changed.  Part of the reason that I was looking for a commuter/utility specific bike was that I had given/traded/sold almost all of my means for heavy commuting.  I was doing the commutes, but I was doing them no my road bike, whilst supporting the load in big heavy bags, on my back!  (I am a firm believer that the bike should be the “beast of burden.”  One has to provide the power to move the load.  One should not have to expend energy to support it too!

It’s been a good time with the re-purposed Giant Escape.  I’ve lead roadie rides on it.   I’ve done gravel grinding.  I’ve explored lots of new unpaved routes on that bike.  I’ve hauled groceries.  I’ve also done one heckuva lot of commuting with it.  Now it’s time to restore the bike to it’s original configuration and sell it.

NOTE:  Part of my intent in building that bike was to have ready and available a “walk up and ride it bike.”  That is a bike that would not require any special clothing, shoes, or other preparation.  The original configuration had dual use pedals to go along with a forgiving saddle, and a relaxed riding position.  Turns out, I have so incorporated cycling in my life, I didn’t really need that capability.  I can transition to ride mode in a matter of minutes, and I’m pretty much comfortable riding for short distances in street clothing.  (In fact, I do this regularly, in my every day work.)

Here’s the Re-Purposed Escape in it’s current dress and trim.    

Re-Purposed Giant Escape 1 prior to it's last commute trip.

You may notice that it’s undergone a few changes and since it went into service in November of 2011.  Those minor mods include a different saddle and different panniers.  The antique Brooks saddle never worked well.  I just could not get fcomfortable on it.  The old “original” Schwinn panniers were a bit of a nuisance.  I was constantly dealing with “heel strike,” and they were not good for organizing my commuting loads.  Look closely, and you may notice some odd tabs on the handlebars.  These were part of another project, one that has been shelved for the time being.

In the near future, I’ll show the process of re-deconstrucing this bike back to it’s original configuration.  Stay tuned.

More Project Reports

The mechanical technical aspects of our pastime are, to some of you fascinating.  To others, what follows will be as dull as ditch-water and dry as stale toast.  If you are not one of those who find intriguing the "greasy bits," then please do feel free to skip today's offering.  Tune in tomorrow for fare that is less mechanistic and more lively.  Thank you ~ your most humble etc.

We mentioned recently that we would be doing more follow-up reporting on some of our equipment projects.  We also dropped a few hints about a newer “secret” project.  Today the curtain goes up, with mixed results.

The following bit is a touch technical.  If you want to skip that, feel free to drop on down to “Conclusions” and “Riding Impressions” at the bottom of each of these project reports.

PROJECT X: Modifying Shimano Groups for Super Low Road Gearing

Background:

It seems to us that Shimano have a definite opinion about gearing.  This has been a source of frustration with us for many years.  The wonderful folks at the redoubtable Japanese component maker have very strong feelings about how low a road gear-set should be.  For the longest time the lowest “authorized” Gearing was on a “road double” driveline, with a low gear combination of 39 X 27.  That yields a ratio of just under 1.5:1.  That’s okay if one is riding in the flats, or climbing the occasional hill.  It seems to work well for young racers.  But for those of us who have older knees, or weigh a bit more, or wish to climb much taller things on a regular basis, it’s just not adequate.

Eventually, Shimano (grudgingly, it seemed) introduced road “triples.”  (A lot of us were already adapting mountain triples for use on our road bikes.)  That was a little better.  Now we had a low combination of 30 X 27, yielding a bit over a 1.11:1 final.  Better, but many of us wanted more.  And besides, triples are heavier, more complicated, and less reliable.

During the 9-Speed Era it was possible to do some interesting things.  At that time, components from both road and mountain groups could be mixed and work well together.  This led to some interesting possibilities.  For instance, a road double of the 53-39 type could be paired up with a 34-11 cassette and a mountain rear derailler.  That gave a huge high gear of 4.82:1, and a low of 1.5:1.  That’s a very adequate high.  The low leaves a bit to be desired.

The road triple, combined with the same rear treatment, resulted in 27 possible combinations from a low of 0.88:1 up to a high of 4.73:1.  That’s some serious range!

All that ended with the advent of the 10-Speed Groups.  Mountain gearing was restricted to 9-Speed, and the 10-Speed road groups were completely incompatible.  The advent of the compact cranks helped some, but not enough.  For those of us desiring truly low “digger” climbing gears, or the gearing for hauling heavy loads up hills, the road groups were out of the question.

That Brings us to NOW:

Thanks to some stiff competition from another component maker, Shimano has recently introduced 10-speed mountain groups!  Ah ha!  We thought that it just might be possible to again combine the mountain stuff with the road and yield wonderful results.  Alas, this turns out not to be the case.

Shimano has deliberately engineered the crucial mountain rear derailler to be completely incompatible with the road shifters.  The “pull ratios” needed to activate the deraillers are quite different.  That means road levers just will not operate the new 10-speed mountain deraillers.  There may yet be a way around this, and research is on going, but as of this writing the two are incompatible.

We wouldn’t want to give the impression that Shimano are prosecuting some vendetta against us.  There are sound engineering reasons for the incompatibility.  But the fact remains, the road shifters just do not work with the mountain deraillers, and the road groups do not allow the sub 1:1 low ranges we desire.

Conclusion:
As of this writing, it is just not possible to combine Shimano’s 10-Speed road and mountain equipment to yield super low gearing and usable highs from the same driveline.  This project is on going, and we’ll post more news and results as we have them.

~~//~~

PROJECT SRAM APEX “WiFli”:  Super Wide Road Gearing

Possibly some of you will remember references we made to testing the SRAM Apex component group.  Apex is SRAM’s entry level road group.  For our money it performs right up there with Shimano’s vaunted 105 level of components.  But wait there’s more!

SRAM has, quite deliberately, taken pains to integrate  their products and to actually promote cross-group compatibility.  That means that absolutely anything in any of their road groups will work with the stuff in another road group.  Apex, Rival, Force, and even the top of the line Red group are completely cross-compatible.  Now that’s cool!  (But wait!  There’s still more!)

All of SRAM’s 10-Speed road equipment is completely compatible with their 10-Speed mountain groups.  (Say what?)  Yes, SRAM’s 10-Speed road shifters will operate their 10-Speed mountain deraillers, across any of their 10-Speed cassettes!  Yowza!

We evolved a pretty good setup.  There was a bit of trial and error to match things up so that they would produce exactly the desired result.  Here’s the current state.

Brakes:  SRAM Apex

Shifter/Brake Levers: SRAM Apex

Front Derailler:  SRAM Rival

Rear Derailler: SRAM X7

Crankset:  SRAM Apex Compact 50-34

Cassette:  SRAM PG 1030    11-36

Chain:  SRAM PC 1071

Changes from a complete Apex Group:

First off, we substituted the Rival front derailler for the Apex unit.  This was done to achieve a bit smoother, lower effort front shifting.

We choose the PG 1030 cassette in order to avail ourselves of the widest possible gear range, with the lowest possible low gear.

The Apex WiFli rear derailler was capable of handling the huge low gear, but only just barely.  On some bikes, with shorter stays, or somewhat more aggressive hanger positioning, there are problems with this setup.  The WiFli unit is an SG, or medium long cage derailler.  We found that rear shifting improved dramatically when we substituted the X7 SGS, long cage unit in.

Riding Impressions and Conclusions

Six month riding impressions:

We’ve used the basic Apex set for about two months, and then made the above-mentioned modifications.  Over the entire six month period we have had very little to complain about.  The initial setup of the SRAM driveline is very precise and procedural.  It should be noted that there is a bit more post-installation adjustment required than with Shimano equipment.  However, once this initial dial-in process is complete (usually in a couple of weeks to about a month and a half, depending on volume of use) the equipment performs flawlessly.

The adaptation part is simply getting used to using one lever to operate both up and down shifts.  For users who are new to road bikes this is a non-issue.  For those with experience and habits formed by Shimano or Campy, the adaptation usually takes about a week.  After that it’s as natural as walking. 

NOTE:  We routinely switch between bikes equipped with Campy, Shimano, or SRAM systems, as well as singlespeeds or fixies.  There’s always a moment or two of confusion, and then the brain just goes,  “OH!  Right!” and no further thought is needed or given.  That said, it did require about a week to become fully comfortable with the DoubleTap controls.

Additional note:

The SRAM equipment does work in a very different fashion.  Riders who are accustomed to Shimano or Campagnolo will find that there is a bit of adaptation necessary in switching to SRAM’s Double Tap ™ system.  There is also a bit of different technique required.

Some folks may find that the addition of SRAM’s Chain Spotter ™ is well worth the additional cost of approximately $35.  And for anyone who is operating this equipment on a carbon fiber frame, I’d say this is a must have!

It should be noted; one particular bit of technique is required for good riding.  When upshifting from the small chainring to the large, it is best to make one’s recovery downshift at the rear first, and then effect the upshift while spinning the “unloaded” chainring.

Conclusion:  The SRAM setup (especially with their WiFli™ options) may be for you IF…

·     You are frustrated with a driveline that does not give you a low enough low.

·     If you are a “spinner” and like lower ranges for climbing.

·     If you do a lot of mountain work.

·     If you want to build up a “mountain specific” bike.

·     If you just have some older knees and want to save them a little longer, and you just don’t care how long it takes to get to the top, as long as you are not walking before you get there.

·     If you are building up a utility bike, a commuter, or a tourist, and want to avoid the complexity of a triple while still developing the widest possible gear ranges.

The stuff works, and it works well.  Once dialed and adapted to, it is precise and reliable.  It contains possibilities for amazing performance.

Introducing: A new Ride Route!

We’ve mentioned the idea of riding dirt roads in this area.  We said we’d get back to you with more info soon.  Well, soon has arrived.

How does this sound to you?  A loop of roughly 41 miles, with 15 miles of unpaved road in it.  The unpaved sections are very low traffic, and mostly hardpack with very little gravel.  All are easily negotiable on road bikes.  (I’ve scouted a couple of these sections on a tourist, in the rain. No great difficulties presented themselves.)

Are you interested?  Does this sound like fun?  If so, behold!

Presenting the Road Dragon Dirt Road Route 1

TA-DA!

Obvious questions arise.  Like:

• So where is this route?
• How do I find my way around it?
• What are the conditions like?
• How hard is it to navigate this thing?  Road paint?
• Are you planning to lead rides on this thing?
• What kind of equipment would I need to ride this?

Answers:

Where:  The ride is a loop, and its start/finish point is in front of Bicycles Unlimited, Peachtree City, GA.  The route is located in the southern portion of Fayette County.  I’m including a PDF of the cuesheet below, and I’ll post that on the South Side Cycling Club website.  I’ll attach the PDF to tomorrow’s edition of the Tuesday Tome.

Conditions:  The paved sections are paved, mostly pretty good.  The unpaved sections are mostly “hardpack.”  There are a few bits with some gravel, but it’s not deep or large.  The unpaved sections are entirely rideable on a road bike, with one caution.  (NOTE:  I’d recommend not using 700 X 23 racing tires.  Racing tires are very supple and thin.  This is begging for a pinch flat.)

Navigation:  If one is familiar with the southern part of Fayette County, this thing is a snap.  I do recommend using the cue sheet.  Paint doesn’t make much sense.  It’s not possible to put paint on dirt.  (IMHO there’s already too much road paint down in that end of the county.)  It’s quite possible to shorten this loop.  The thing doubles back on itself several times.  (Remember the purpose of this exercise was to link an appreciable amount of unpaved sections together.)  One happy result is that it is possible to either double up on sections, or to cut the ride short in any number of ways.

Group Rides:  Yes!  I do plan to lead some group rides on this route.  Stay tuned.

Best Equipment:  Of course this could be ridden on a mountain bike, but really, that’s overkill.  The dirt sections are not so demanding as to require a full-on off road bicycle, and it would be somewhat tedious using such a bike on the 25 miles of pavement in this route.  Any rod bike could handle this trip.  I would recommend at least 700 X 25 tires, of a high durability nature.  Better still would be 700 X 30 or larger, on a road bike that could handle such.  Tourist or cyclocross bikes would be just about ideal.

You are invited to go have some fun with this.  Please do let me know what you find and what you think of it.

Link to RD2R2-1

The Repurposed Bike: Ready!

Gentlemen and ladies, here she is.  The "Repurposed Bike is now a new commuter, all fresh from the reworking and ready for the first ride.

Here she is in original form, a stock Giant Escape 1

And here she is now!  Readyand waiting  for that first trip.

Particulars:

Saddle:  An antique Brooks Professional

Driveline:  Shimano 8 speed

Shifters:  Shimano Ultegra 8 speed bar end

Brake Levers:  Cane Creek Drop V

Brakes:  Shimano Deore Vee Brakes

Pedals:  Shimano dual use (flats on one side, SPD on the other)

Cargo Rack:  Tubus

Fenders:  SKS

Frame:  Giant Escape

Wheels:  Giant

Handlebar:  Giant

Stem:  Giant

Tires:  Giant

Panniers:  Old School Schwinn  (Not this new, WalleyWorld crap, but real, honest-to-goodness Schwinn parts!)

The bar end shifters were chosen for their reliability, and because they were not integrated into the brakes.  That choice allowed the use of road bike “drop bar” type brake levers that would function with V-brakes.  Cool, huh?

This bike is a bit of an experiment.  It’s a re-blend of parts, to change the purpose of the bike.  This is no super lightweight racer, nor is it a heavy-duty tourist.  What it is (Hopefully) is a solid, reliable, dependable, commuter.  One that meets my particular needs.

Will it work?  How will it handle?  Will it do the intended job?  I’ll keep you posted.

The (Last Minute!) Spin Class Bike (Yike!)

So, it was a mad dash to get ready for vacation, and to get stuff prepared so that I could have a stand in instructor for the first week of class.  Then came the weekend, the return, the unpacking, the return to work on Saturday, the re-return to work on Monday, and the sudden realization that I was not ready to do Spin Class.

To be ready, I needed:

My lesson plans.  No problem.  Already in the bag, just need to print them out.

My trainer.  Just dig it out.  I’ve used it already this year, so that’s good.

Heart Rate Monitor.  Got it!  Need batteries!

A stop watch.  Yikes!  Where is it!?

A bike.  Oh smoldering sloth dung!  A bike!

You see, in the seven months since last year’s class ended, I’ve pretty well cannibalized the old spin class bike.  Bits and pieces have gone here and there, robbed for other projects, sold, traded.  You get the picture.

Here’s what it looked like yesterday morning.

Looking forlorn and bereft

So, scurry around.  Root in parts bins.  Buy a couple of things, and hastily put it all together.  Needed were, pedals, shifters, a rear derailler, cassette, a front wheel (just enough to keep the front of the bike up), a computer, a chain, cables, housing, tires (barely), and assembly.  I had most of the stuff, but needed to buy the chain, rear derailler, and computer.  Brakes weren't necessary, as this bike will never be ridden anywhere but the trainer.

And here she is!  This year’s incarnation of the Spin Class Bike!

Ready for a season of spinning

(By the way, Spin Class was great!)

The Day advances with Changes, most for the good…

It’s a time of year for this kind of thing.  I’m busy re-editing this year’s Spin Class program.  (That’s an annual task, made necessary by the yearly shifting of the calendar.)

If you’ve been into Bicycles Unlimited lately, you’ve noticed some changes in the layout.  These are good, but they do prompt questions about things like Spin Class.  Not to worry.  We have a plan in place, and we’re on top of it.  Classes will take place, and the space will adapt quite nicely for it.

Local to this blog:  I’m doing a lot of background work.  It’s my fond hope that I’ll be able to roll this out soon.  This blog sort of grew organically.  That isn’t the most logical, or orderly, way to put these things together.  It’s time to take some of that in hand.

Basically, there’s a lot information on these posts.  I’ve been putting them up for over three years.  A lot of that information is extremely useful, but it can be hard to find and access.  That’s what I’m working on.  I want to get things done so that anyone can tap the work that’s buried here, and find what is useful.

Please, while we’re under renovation, excuse the dust and occasional noise.  The result should be a lot better on the other end.

Now go ride your bike.

The Repurposed Bike (discussion)

The Repurposed Bike (discussion)

Why?  (Please refer to last Wednesday’s post )  I know that question is being asked.  The answer is not quite so straightforward.

When a customer is considering a new bike purchase, I often give the following advice.  “Buy the 80% bike.”  That means purchase a bicycle that is a close match to 80% of the customer’s intended usage.  Usually the customer will find that that 80% is closer to 95%.  A lot closer.  Further, there is almost always a bike on the market that exactly matches that usage requirement.

The question could be asked:  Why am I not taking my own advice?  Well…

The overwhelming majority of road bikes on the market are closely inspired by racing machines.  That is not necessarily a bad thing.  But it doesn’t make them good for my purposes.  I want clearance for fenders, and enough braze-on eyelets for racks and fenders.  It’s extremely difficult to find a bike with those characteristics.

“Surely there are tourists on the market that would suit?”  Well, there are tourists available.  They are intended to be loaded tourists.  They come with two problems.  They tend to be heavy and expensive.  (NOTE:  I already have a tourist.  I do use it as a commuter on occasion.  It’s not ideal.)  Tourists are heavy because they are built to carry the rider and a load, and do so while taking a beating.  This is less a problem with a tourist.  In the case of loaded touring, the bike is usually the lightest part of the total load.  (Rider + 80 lbs of gear + bike = total load)  I’m not looking for a super-lightweight here, but I don’t want a “lead sled” either.

Many bike manufacturers have presented commuter/utility bicycles.  That’s good to see.  But they don’t quite fit my commuting style.  Most of these bikes are variations on a flat-bar, comfort bike, or sport-hybrid theme.  They are too upright and too…  Well, too flat-bar.  They are generally ideal for short trips in an urban environment.  That doesn’t quite describe me.  My commute varies from 12 to 18 miles one way.  I may make side trips to pick up groceries or run other errands.  I climb a lot of hills.  I’m out in all kinds of weather.

It has been a very long time since I bought a bike specifically to alter it and make it into something else.  Here’s the bike in question. 

The (soon to be) Repurposed Bike

It’s a Giant Escape 1.  At least it is for now.  I think this is gonna work out.  You’ll see it develop.  Stay tuned.

The Repurposed Bicycle

I don’t know exactly when the word “repurposed” came into the English language.  The first time I encountered it, I understood it at once.  I’ve been doing that with stuff, particularly bicycles, almost all my life.

My first real bicycle, beloved Schwinn of memory, was a sort of Pee Wee Herman special.  It had a big gas tank kind of affair that housed batteries and a horn.  It had a headlight, a bell, fenders, a tail light, a chainguard, and a large basket.  That basket was the first thing to go.  Later, I removed almost everything except the basic bicycle, and used it to invent mountain biking.  Still later I remounted the basket, added a pair of pannier baskets, and entered the world of commerce, throwing newspapers.

One of my treasures is a necklace that my daughter made.  She took the jockey pulley out of worn out antique Campagnolo derailler, used hemp to macramé it to a leather thong, and made it into a necklace.  She wore that thing for several years.  Now it’s mine, and more precious than gold.

Regular readers will be aware of some of my other projects.  There have been numerous fixed gear conversions…

Last year's contest Grand Prize

And of course my FrankenFixed…

The FrankenFixed

These are bikes that started out as one thing, and ended up as something quite different.

I’m currently engaged in another kind of repurposing of a bicycle.  This time I’m starting with a brand new bike, and converting into something the manufacturers never envisioned.  I’m working toward a vision of mine, aiming at fulfilling a purpose and solving a specific problem.  In other words, I’m having fun.

The Problem:  I need/want a more commuter specific bicycle.  Specific to my kind of commuting.  I want to stop beating up my road bike.  It won’t carry fenders.  Currently, if I’m commuting I have two choices for carrying stuff.  One, ride the tourist (heavy!), or two, pack all my stuff on my back.  Here are the criteria:

• Handle a ride of between 11 and 25 miles one way, over varied terrain, and road surfaces (including dirt)
• Be reasonably light
• Capable of mounting a rear rack and panniers
• Capable of mounting fenders
• Comfortable road bike feel
• Fairly simple and economical to maintain.
• Reasonably inexpensive

This just may be the stuff of many future “Friday Follies”!

TOURING DATES!!!

While the following are not, strictly speaking, touring events, they are new dates, and it is fitting to post them here.  There are three new ride events below.  The third one is appearing here first.  There is not yet a date on this last event.  That will come soon.

NEW!!  FUNNEST ROAD RIDE IN GEORGIA:

            This ride is, as the title suggests, an absolute blast!  We leave Helen, and ride some pretty nice rural north Georgia roads.  There’s a good climb as an entrance exam, and then…  We’ll be on the super fun part.  The roads along the lakes are so tight that they are technical on road bikes.  There is very little traffic, and what there is, cannot keep up with a road bike rider most of the time.  The scenery is spectacular.  And (get this) we’ll make a lunch stop at the turnaround point.  The Tiger Market has one of the world’s absolute best grilled cheese sandwiches!  Then we turn around and go back through the cool stuff again!

Where:  Helen, GA.  Municipal Parking lot, on Chattahoochee Strasse

Date: Thursday, 14 July

Time:  0800 A.M. (Sharp!)

Distance/Pace: approx 65 miles  Pace will be fun, but we’ll stop to regroup

periodically.

Requirements/Conditions: Helmets are required, road bikes strongly

recommended.  We’ll go rain or shine.

NEW!!  TRIPLE GAP ROUTE RIDE:

            We’ll ride the traditional “south triple,” with a start/finish in Dahlonega.  We’ll do this one with one bit of a difference.  Find your parking where you will, but ride to the Courthouse Square.  We’ll use the Square as a Rally Point for the start and finish of this ride.  (Please use courtesy and common sense in selecting your parking spot.  Do it legally.)  We’ll do the traditional approach to Neels Gap, up Rockhouse Rd, and Porter Springs.  There’s a possibility of a stop at the top of Neels Gap (mile 22), but I prefer to “roll” this summit.  We have another possible store stop in Suches (mile 37).  After descending Woody Gap, we’ll take the old “back way” into Dahlonega.  It’s a lot nicer, and less traffic.

            Where:  Dahlonega, GA.  Court Square.

            Date:  Thursday, 4 August

            Time:  0900 A.M.  (Sharp!)

            Distance/Pace:  Approx 53 miles, with re-group options

Requirements/Conditions: Helmets are required, road bikes strongly

recommended.  We’ll go rain or shine.

            Suggestion:  Mount your climbing gears

REALLY NEW!!  MOUNTAIN MOUNTAIN BIKE TRIP

There is a reason for the redundancy in the above title.  The idea is to take our mountain bikes and go ride them in the mountains.  We’ve done this before, but it’s been several years since we last took a group up north.

Options and ideas abound.  We could do this as a single day trip, or make a weekend of it.  We’re considering locations and venues.  At the top of the current list are Unicoi State Park, out of Helen, GA, and some sweet trails on Fort Mountain, out of Elijay, GA.

We have no firm date yet, but we’re thinking in terms of early this coming Fall.

What we intend is to invite a group of folks (you!) to come with us.  We’ll take our off-road bicycles and go play and explore in the Southern Smokies.

Who’s in?  Where do you want to go?  What date(s)?

Watch this space for more information, and for advice and updates.

An Invitation

Yesterday was our last Audax Tune Up Ride.  It was a good one.  Of course the perfect weather helped.  The mid-Spring foliage is lush, green and remarkable, the air crisp and clean, the clover blooming.  No Spring ride would be complete without some good buffeting headwinds, and we had that as we climbed back up out of the Chattahootchee River Valley. 

We had a great group, if a bit small.  Five of us went the whole way around the loop.  We all stayed pretty much together, and finished as a unit.  Bravo!

I’m seriously looking forward to the Audax 200K, in just two weeks.  We’ll have lots of detailed info about that.  Look for it in upcoming posts, and of course, in the Tuesday Tome.

Having said all that, here’s the reason for the title of today’s post.  We’re issuing an invitation to any and all of the prominent cycling bloggers, in particular, BikeSnobNYC, FatCyclist, and Lovely Bicycle, but others are welcome too.  The invitation is simple.  Contact me, and then come down here and ride with us.

Here’s what we have on offer:

• You will have to arrange your own travel, and pay for it yourself.  I’ll see to it you are met at the airport.  (Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson is quite nice, and it is served by commuter rail.)
• You will have to pay for your own hotel accommodations.  (We can suggest several convenient and nice ones, or a couple of friendly B&Bs here.)
• I’ll do my level best to publicize your arrival.  I’ll do this in this blog, in my weekly e-zine, on the South Side Cycling Club website Bike Chat page, and by word-of-mouth as I work at Bicycles Unlimited.
• We’ll put together some kind of “event” for you to meet and greet some of our local riders.  (You may feel free to promote any books, t-shirts, or other self- aggrandizing merchandise there.)
• We will go and ride in Georgia!
• For all you northerners and westerners, the Georgia Scene should provide you with enough material for a good week’s worth of posting.

Don’t worry about being mobbed by adulating flocks.  Mostly our local riders are too self-involved to pay too much attention to your celebrity status.

Do look forward to some of the sweetest riding on the planet.  We have the following available:

• Countless miles of rural roads with exceptional vistas.
• Ignorant, but mostly almost tolerant drivers.  (We do have the occasional obnoxious lout, but these really are in a minority.) 
• Oh yes!  Expect to encounter a few unleashed and annoying dogs on every ride.
• Mountain biking on some very sweet, and sometimes quite challenging local trails.
• The Great Smokey Mountains are only a few hours away, and offer exceptional road and off-road opportunities.
• Hospitality, in the best southern tradition.
• Some good rural roads where banjos can actually be heard.
• A fine large city with interesting local customs, and the best in urban cycling challenges, including roads in horrible repair, construction, dense traffic, and maniacal drivers.
• A climate that is likely to entertain, while it provides any (or all) of the following features:  Blistering heat, Freezing cold, torrential downpours, high winds, sultry days, drought, floods, tornadoes, impressive thunderstorms, soft gentle evenings, spectacular sunsets, flash floods, mosquitoes, chiggers, and ticks, and frequently some of the most amazingly good riding weather to be found on the planet.
• We have an abundance of hills, none too large, some good descents, and the (rare) long flat.
• We can even provide miles of happy bouncy fun on our quaint clay-gravel-sand unpaved roads.
• Let us introduce you to “Georgia Pave” while you are here.

And, as an added bonus, if you act quickly, I might even be able to arrange for us to go out on a night time excursion to do some cow tipping.

So what say?  Are you game for an adventure?

A Different Project

Folks, I’ll bring you the next episode in the current series on bike maintenance, but it will be next week.  I’m taking a short “time out” on that project to do some testing on another one.

Of course this new project involves riding, and I’ll let you know what it is, and the results in the very near future.  Just this one hint, I needed the right weather conditions for this test, and this morning’s rain and cold are just about perfect for it.  I have to strike while the iron is hot.

More in the very near future.

Into the Swing of things

Here we go again.  It’s Monday.  It’s mid-October, and just about mid-Autumn.  Halloween is barreling down the road, coming right at us, and chasing the break are the Holidays!  In the meantime, let’s ride every chance we get, and make the most of those rides.  The time is right, the world is waiting.  It’s Autumn in north Georgia, and that’s about as good as it gets.

Holiday Gift Hinting:  For any of you who are working on gifts for the cyclist in your life, or who want some help hinting to others, refer to a previous post on the topic.  Gift hinting    

One week until MidFall Celebration Night Ride!  I’m stoked up about this one.  The route is going to be a blast, and the timing is right.  Expect to need to dress a bit warmer.  We’ll plan to make a stop to allow riders to pull on more clothing, about midway through the route.

Recommended:  Good lights, as always on these rides.  Watch the weather and dress accordingly.  Those of you who have the option, plan to bring your more rugged, more touring oriented bikes.

The New Build is Done!  Keep watching this spot.  I’ll have pictures and discussion up on this one soon.

Watch this space, and watch the Tuesday Tome!  We're adding a lot of seasonal rides.  Plans are in the works to bring back the Dawn Patrols.

Trivia and Updates

Ah the wonders of base ten.  Some may have noted that yesterday was a day of some significance.  That’s because the date (by the purest of arithmetic coincidences) was 10-10-10.  Of course if we only happened to have four digits on each hand it would have been 12-12-2512.  In binary it’s even worse, being 1010-1010-1010.  Given enough time, Shimano will, no doubt, develop that into a driveline, and then Campy will claim they did it first with but theirs will be a 1010-1010-1011 gearset.

MidFall Celebration Night Ride:  It’s coming.  In just two weeks.  Here’s a bit of news on that.  We will meet and depart from the Hollonville Opry House.  It’s at the intersection of GA-362 and Kings Bridge Rd.  Watch the weather.  It could be getting cool that night.  We’ll go rain or shine, warm or cool.

A moon, just a bit past full, will rise for us, just after 8:30.

This ride just might be a bit shorter, but it will be well worth it.  I promise some challenging terrain, and some special rewards.  And just a suggestion here, but those of you with touring type bikes would be well advised to use them.  Don’t worry, the pace will be a bit calmer to allow for that.

Project Update:  The new build project is ne schedule, and maybe just a tad ahead.  I got the driveline completed this past week, and have added a few touches.  For any who are tuning in late, here’s the short and skinny.

I’m building up a Surly Traveler’s Check.  It’s basically a cyclocross frame, with S&S couplers.  So it’s a travel bike too.  I built up a rear wheel around the new SRAM Torpedo hub.  It’s a trick hub that can be used as a single speed or a fixed gear.  It doesn’t shift from one to the other on the fly, but it can be changed with the twist of a screwdriver.  No need to unmount the wheel and flip it.  Expect some pictures along about next week.

Starting tomorrow, we’ll be doing some technical work.  The subject will be brakes.