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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-24-2014, 03:34 PM
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I *think* the CK in my road bike is about that old. I haven't heard the same longevity about their hubs, though-- the consensus seems to be that they take a long time to break in, and you have to frequently adjust bearing preload fairly frequently to get them rolling smooth.
Psyched to be having Mavics on my road bike now, though, as the set of CrossMaxes on my MTB has been going strong for almost a decade, I've only had to service the rear, and that's been once.
Singlespeeds are too much fun. I've been thinking about getting rid of my Specialized Epic and putting together a nice SS 650b or 29er. Between the Fox fork and rear shock, hydraulic discs, and blowing through a set of tires each season, the maintenance of it is starting to take a big chunk of money out of me. Even now, I think the front brake is due for a bleed, and the F80 up front likely will need to as well.
When I had my old fully rigid SS 29er, I don't think I ever rode my full suspension bike... No maintenance to worry about either, with how BB7s are so easy to maintain and replace pads. Basically, a new organic pad up front, rotate the front pad to the back, make sure the chain was waxed up, and slap on some new tires with fresh sealent.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-24-2014, 01:36 PM
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I think mud is easier to clean... A bucket full of simple green and water, with a set of the Park Tool brushes works wonders. Brake cleaner, WD40, all that stuff should be avoided... a towel works best for drying! As soon as any quicker drying chemicals hit bits of rubber, or get into any greased parts, those are then toast, basically...
Dust is worse, I think. The dryness out here can rot bearing seals in a hurry, and you never know where the dust is going, or what it's getting in to.
I've gone through a couple headsets on my Specialized Epic, but am still on my Chris King one on my road bike. Definitely going to be going the Phil Wood route with the road bike, which I should've done long ago, when stuff was wearing out.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-21-2014, 09:18 PM
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Never clean with water! I learned that about a decade ago. Best way to clean up is to tear down, and clean... massive pain, but it really lengthens the life of a drivetrain.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
03-21-2014, 04:52 PM
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So, quick anecdote on the importance of maintenance/quality components...
Yesterday, took my road bike for a spin. Front hub locked up, went over the bars. I'm OK, but I tore into the hub today. One side had all kinds of debris, was missing one of the bearing's balls (likely in the steel shavings everywhere, heh), and another bearing looked like this:
SMC-M 50mm, reversed
So, after careful examination, the dust seal failed, getting debris in the grease, ruining one whole side of the front bearing. Cups are toast, and not replaceable, cones were in much worse shape. Anyways, for anyone out there, make sure you keep up maintenance with your cup and cone type bearings! Out here, 500 miles is pushing it for a repack on grease, and every other time replace the cones.
After this, going back to cartridge bearing hubs, with a pair of nice Mavics on their way to me now. probably 3,500 miles of off road on my MTB with Mavic bearings, and no issues on those puppies. My father's hubs with Phil Wood bearings, as well as his Phil Wood bottom bracket, got him about 15k miles before they started getting gritty. Next time I do bearing work I'm switching to those!
Anyways, for reference, here's the rig:
Frame I've had just about forever, countless miles... newish carbon fork, Chris King headset, Salsa cockpit and a nice newer Specialized Avatar.
Here's up close with my drivetrain:
Tricolor Ultegra 8 Speed STI shifters and front Derailleur, XT rear derailleur to get the bigger cassette, 12-30 cassette, 160mm BMX crankarms (for ultimate spinning pleasure!) with a psuedo compact double (36-50). Avid Shorty 6 in back, Oryx up front-- which is lighter, stronger, easier to adjust, and much cheaper than the Avids were. TRP Mini-V's are on my list.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
12-20-2013, 11:35 AM
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Maybe! Mountain Biking is definitely a Fall-Spring activity in most of AZ. I'm a little further from Sedona now-- 3 hours vs 40 minutes, but I'm dying to get back. The trails down here are much different. Narrow, windy, and fast. Fun until you go down, as there are more cacti here than anywhere else I've ridden. You basically have to ride with the assumption that you WILL have a flat at some point if you're not tubeless, and that you'll usually have at least a few spines in you at the end of the day.
I spent a lot of time in Utah over the summer, but never made it up to Moab. There was too much to do in GSENM, Bryce, Zion, and the Kodachrome/Cottonwood Canyon area. There are a few areas out here that look similar to that granite field you linked. Granite Dells in Prescott is pretty awesome. The Dragoon Mountains/Cochise Stronghold are similar, too, but being a climber I doubt I'll be out there and not climbing or taking photos.
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
12-20-2013, 08:48 AM
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Nice! I'm down in Southern AZ now--- nearby where they do the 24 Hours of the Old Pueblo. Headed out there to check out the trails as soon as the weather clears! The road biking here has been fantastic... I'm in a rural area out of town, and went 24 miles on mixed hilly terrain one afternoon and saw a total of two cars!
Here's some typical trail for my favorite area, though:
Mix of slickrock, sometimes mud, hard, fast sand, and ridiculous rock gardens. It's a blast up there!
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Forum: Mini-Challenges, Games, and Photo Stories
12-19-2013, 04:35 PM
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If you really have some nerve, try a fixie 29er. I tried it out for a bit on some easy trails, but it was way too rocky in Northern AZ... You can't coast, so there was no aligning pedals to avoid rocks! It was totally a blast, though.
I loved my 29er, but a 650b singlespeed is next on my list... once I get my road bike updated a bit more, of course!
I had some nice shots of some road biking around my new neighborhood the last couple weeks, but, sadly, my darkroom is still partially crippled. Just noticed this thread, but I'll definitely be contributing as soon as I'm up and running again!
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