Bicycling On-the-Road

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jackman

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #340 on: 25 Oct 2010, 07:28 pm »
Levi, great advice as always.  Garminconnect.com is excellent. 

Josh, please see if you can bring back a Colnago C-59 for me if you are in Italy!   :thumb:

You shouldn't have any trouble setting up the Garmin.  I love the way it allows you to track your mileage and performance.  I only have the 500 but I like it a lot.  It's fun to compare rides and track miles.  Travel safe and post your garmin data when you start riding.  It's fun to share data and compare rides.  You can also go to Google Earch to map your rides. 

I just discovered cracks in my rear wheel (drive side) and plan to test Trek's warrantee service later tonight. 

Also, my new car has arrived and I am going to pick it up tonight.  I wound up getting the Maxima in silver (I think that's the color, can't remember).  Not my first choice but I'm not complaining about a free car.  Will post pix later this week.

Cheers,

Jack

Levi

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #341 on: 27 Oct 2010, 02:15 pm »
Congrats on the new FREE car J!

Here is my Garmin data.  Check the average pace for 2:40 hours.  :thumb:.  Total mileage would be a lot more if I recorded the ride from Queens to Bronx and back.  Probably did a Metric century that day.  Nothing new. :)


jackman

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #342 on: 27 Oct 2010, 03:12 pm »
Congrats on the new FREE car J!

Here is my Garmin data.  Check the average pace for 2:40 hours.  :thumb:.  Total mileage would be a lot more if I recorded the ride from Queens to Bronx and back.  Probably did a Metric century that day.  Nothing new. :)



Very cool stuff!  I love my Garmin and can't imagine not having such a powerful and useful device. 

Also, my rear wheel on my Trek (Bontrager Race Lite) developed cracks along the drive side spokes.  Trek is giving me a warranty replacement (5 year warranty on wheels@!) and they gave me a loaner set.  I'm going to get some racing wheels next year but want to wait until I look at some complete bikes over the winter because if I buy a complete bike they will hopefully have nice wheels.

No riding for me until Friday night because I'm traveling.  Keep posting the garmin data, please!  It looks like you are in pretty good shape.  My HR routinely is in the 170's on long rides and often in the 180 range.  I need to drop some weight because I'm the fattest guy in my group (there is one fatter guy but he doesn't ride very often and usually gives up after 10-20 miles so I don't count him in my figures). 

Levi

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #343 on: 27 Oct 2010, 03:30 pm »
Thanks J. 

Go for aero wheelset above 30mm depth, they surely help maintain your average speed @17-21MPH.  Unfortunately, most wheelset are not included when your purchase a bike.  Perhaps wheel choices are personal thing.  Maybe if the price tag on the bike were around $7-12K, then they started adding aero wheelsets from Shimano, Fulcrum, Lightweight and Mavic but not Zipp wheels. :)

I strive to conserve energy on long road rides.  My target is to keep my heart rate zone below 170 BPM Max.

Levi

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #344 on: 29 Oct 2010, 03:59 pm »
My research also ended up buying the Zero model because of its 0-15 degree adjustability/ease of use.  Switching from Crank Bros eggbeater to Speedplay Zero proved seamless for me.  However, the Speedplay Zero is much more stable and comfortable pedaling hard efforts over long distance.  Power transfer is more direct and no more hot spots under the ball of my foot.  Problem solved!

The only downside was walking fast on road cleats.  Even with the Cafe covers which helps.  It is a minor inconvenience specially in the City were riding bikes on walkways or stairs were not allowed.  Other than that, the Speedplay Zero pedals performs.  No looking down or flipping, just step on them.  That is all there is to it. 

May I add that the Ti version has shorter spindles for improved Q-factor.  Trying the stainless steel version then switching to Ti proves even more performance.  It will not make me win races but it surely makes my Road cycling much more fun.   :)

Just make sure that cleats are adjusted properly.  Mine needed an optional fore/aft adjustment plate.  Likely I bought mine from a local bike shop who has the Speedplay fit kit. 

Thanks to everyone here for the input on the Speedplay pedals. 





Russell Dawkins

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #345 on: 29 Oct 2010, 04:17 pm »
In the last photo it looks like the adjustment screw for the "heel in" direction should be snugged up to the adjustment tab - or am I missing something?

Levi

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #346 on: 29 Oct 2010, 04:46 pm »
In the last photo it looks like the adjustment screw for the "heel in" direction should be snugged up to the adjustment tab - or am I missing something?

The heel in/out 0-15 float adjustment is personal so that seems to work for me at the moment.  :)  BTW, that was the factory settings if that helps. 

More pictures.


Lightweight?


Low stack height

baumer

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Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #347 on: 29 Oct 2010, 05:19 pm »
Wow, those cleats look huge!

I use Time ATAC pedals for both my MTB and Road/CX bike and the cleats aren't even noticeable.
I know most road cleats are larger than their MTB counterparts but I never realized by how much.

Has anybody asked you how the air is up there?  :lol:

LadyDog

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Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #348 on: 29 Oct 2010, 10:58 pm »
Good choice Levi.  Very nice pedals.  With the large float, typically work well with those who experience some mild knee pains.

svg1

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Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #349 on: 29 Oct 2010, 11:57 pm »
Not in the pro class but sorry I did not get to meet you guys as I did the 40 miler. Took a nasty fall about almost at the end and sprained my right thumb which was like a baloon for most of this past week. Great ride as always when the weather is good.

jackman

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #350 on: 30 Oct 2010, 07:55 pm »
I was looking around the group during today's ride and approximately 75% of the cyclists in my group have Speedplay pedals...the rest seem to have Look pedals.  I have look but when they wear out, I'm getting Speedplay to get more float.

BikeWNC

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #351 on: 31 Oct 2010, 09:34 pm »
I use Look Keo Carbon pedals with the grey cleat that has about 5º of float.  That is plenty for me.  I tried Speedplay pedals once and just didn't like them. 

Jazzman53

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Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #352 on: 31 Oct 2010, 11:32 pm »
Hi all,
Jazzman here from Savannah, GA.  I'm just a weekend warrior, not very fast, just out to get a little exercise riding behind the ladies.  It's good to see some fellow audiofiles on road bikes---very cool.
I'm riding a 1989 Kestrel I bought for $200 and restored & upgraded 4 years ago.  Before and after pics are attached.  Anyway, just saying hi everybody!
Charlie








                 

jackman

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #353 on: 1 Nov 2010, 12:22 am »
I had a pair of Look pedals for ten years until I replaced them this year with Shimano Dura Ace pedals and another pair of Shimano PD-R670 (identical to Ultegra pedals except for color and lack of "Ultegra" branding"). The old Look pedal design was effectively "sunsetted", so since I wanted to use the same pair of shoes on both my bikes, I was forced to buy new pedals. Otherwise, my 10 year old Look pedals still work as new. I replaced the cleats maybe three times over a ten year period.

BTW, for you Speedplay and Garmin guys, you might be interested to know that Garmin has a new power meter coming out in which the sensor is mounted in a Speedplay pedal spindle. This is ultra cool. You can effectively move the power meter between bikes just by changing the pedals.

The article is here.

I've been following this closely and waiting for it to happen.  As soon as it happens, I'm going to get a pair right away.  That is, as long as they are not outrageously expensive.  Several people in my group have Powertaps and I am sold on the utility of power meter training.  I was hoping the Look/Polar pedal that is in the works was Ant+ compatible but it's not so I'm not interested.  I'm excited about these new power measurement tools coming down the road

jackman

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #354 on: 1 Nov 2010, 12:24 am »
Hi all,
Jazzman here from Savannah, GA.  I'm just a weekend warrior, not very fast, just out to get a little exercise riding behind the ladies.  It's good to see some fellow audiofiles on road bikes---very cool.
I'm riding a 1989 Kestrel I bought for $200 and restored & upgraded 4 years ago.  Before and after pics are attached.  Anyway, just saying hi everybody!
Charlie








               

Charlie, that's a sweet looking ride.  Great paint job also!  Congrats on the very good deal you got on that bike.  Kestrel used to make some very well respected bikes.  They were the pioneers of CF technology.

Jazzman53

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Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #355 on: 1 Nov 2010, 02:06 am »
Charlie, that's a sweet looking ride.  Great paint job also!  Congrats on the very good deal you got on that bike.  Kestrel used to make some very well respected bikes.  They were the pioneers of CF technology.

Yes, the frame is molded of uni-directional (not woven) plies of IM-6 carbon fiber; which is actually stronger but less impact resistant than woven carbon.  I lucked up and found original old-stock new Kestrel decals on Ebay for $50. 

The paint is not original but a General Motors color (polyurethane base-coat) and the decals are under the first stage clear coats.  The first state clear coat was sanded flat with #500 grit to smooth over the decals and then clear coated again.  The second stage clear coat was wet-sanded flat with #2500 grit and the sand scratches were then hand-buffed away using three successive finer grades of polishing compound.  No bike manufacturers that I know of take those final sanding and polishing steps-- so, the paint job is quite exceptional.  It's not hard to do but it is a lot of work!   

Levi

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #356 on: 2 Nov 2010, 02:40 pm »
Great job on the paint.  You don't happen to work for Calfee Design?!?   http://www.calfeedesign.com/index.htm

Definitely, pedals like saddles are personal thing.

Jazzman53

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Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #357 on: 6 Nov 2010, 05:04 pm »
Great job on the paint.  You don't happen to work for Calfee Design?!?   http://www.calfeedesign.com/index.htm

Definitely, pedals like saddles are personal thing.

I work for Gulfstream Aerospace in carbon composites but I learned how to paint in my fist profession-- autobody repair.  These days I'm too old and lazy to paint anything bigger than a bike.  The frame is a relative featherweight but the Brooks saddle weighs 580 grams!!  I'm more concerned about my ass than going fast.   :lol: 

Levi

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #358 on: 6 Nov 2010, 11:11 pm »
Good painting skills surely is a plus.  I tried touching up my bumper one time and it sure was lots of labor work.  You really did a great job with the paint work.  Congrats!

Levi

Re: Bicycling On-the-Road
« Reply #359 on: 8 Nov 2010, 03:43 am »
My group rode to the top of Bear Mountain today.  The climb is @1,300 brutal ft.   :thumb: