Riding Bikes

I got a through axle bike specifically to ride through all kinds of weather without a worry. Turns out the cheap hubs that came with the $1,600 bike use open bearings in the free hub. It's sloppy and grumbly after one winter. Luckily the replacement I ordered is a tier above with sealed cartridge bearings. The downside is it uses a locking ring deep inside the hub body which needs a 14 mm extra long allen key to take it off. it's so much cheaper to do the work yourself. I decided to regrease and tighten up my M540 pedals, but unfortunately I'm perpetually confused by the threading and accidentally tightened to the drive side pedal so much I needed to grind flats into the spindle and use a vise to remove it. Ordered a new crank set because I saw a sliver of thread releasing itself from that crank. Better safe than sorry. Now I'm off to ride the rail trail.

Get out there and ride.

lol triangle

 

Anybody build up a frameset? I'm currently on the fence about actually building my own out of mostly Chinese components. There's all sorts of deals with L-Twoo groupsets. You can get an electronic 2x12 groupset for $600 with calipers included. Currently running replacement wheels and brakes I got from Aliexpress on my folder and they've been just fine for cheap.

Steel Touring Bike Frameset - Weapon GC05 - Butted Crom Steel Tube

 

I've been trying my best to ride 3 times a week. My delivery schedule has a few spots where I shut down for the night that makes for good jumping off points. I've got one where I get loaded in Jersey City that takes 2 hours to do so I just let them load and head out. This time instead of just riding to Wendy's 2 miles away I decided I wanted to go on an adventure and rode through Bayonne, over the bridge to Staten Island for lunch. Had a lovely curry ramen dish and even made it back before they were done. That bridge is a hell of a hill, though. 3/4 of a mile at around 5%.


How's everybody else doing with riding? Where I am it's getting chilly in the evenings/mornings. Still in shorts for now though.

 

Good on you Tb0n3. Do you have the same route or loop? I was thinking about adding some cycling into my marathon training, but it would only be on a stationary bike. Where I’m at right now it’s still nice and warm with 95% humidity. I was telling myself during my long run today that I am looking forward to some cooler weather to run in. Sweating through your shirt and shorts is getting old.

 

For the most part I tend to ride to a destination, often lunch/dinner. I kind of started out on regular routes, but as my fitness improved I've been riding all sorts of places as a challenge. I've built up a few regulars from NY/NJ rest areas. Malden, NY rest area is a quick 2.5 miles into town for example. Not only do I get exercise, but I skip out on the overpriced rest area food.

 

Just finished upgrading the truck bike.
1) Re-taped the rims because I think I did a poor job last time, used tubes in the tires to press the tape in nice and tight.
2) Removed the old 3x9 square taper sora/altus drive train.
3) Installed Ultegra BBR60 external BB with AliExpress GXP style cranks and a 42T narrow wide chain ring.
4) Swapped the old 9-speed for an 11-speed 11-50T wide range ZTTO cassette.
5) Changed out to an L-Twoo AX 11 rear derailleur and KMC X11 chain.

Lots of work, but after fixing my derailleur chain routing (I accidentally put the chain over a metal bracket instead of through the cage) It is shifting smooth and limited noise. I know it won't be perfect because of the 1x chain line extremes, but I'm pretty happy with it. I'll report back after a ride.

Aside from that I've continued putting in miles at loading, or 10s. How's everybody else doing? Any exciting news or good rides?

 

Nice work!

I've had some foot pain so I got a few hours ride in yesterday instead of running.

I should've stuck more to the FS roads, but I really enjoy getting off the road. These trails were a bit much for my abilities, but we made it.

I started hearing an odd noise going down some rocks, and found my back axle lever had unlocked. That could've gone bad given the terrain.

Must've ran through a hundred spiders.