Monday, January 22, 2007
SORRY
Sorry about the SuperBowl predictions. My team has been so awful for so long that I guess it's thrown off my sense of reality. Hope you didn't buy into the pool based on that. I couldn't have been any more wrong.
Monday, January 15, 2007
SUPERBOWL
Well I watched most of the SanDiego-New England game and when I turned it off, i thought the Chargers had it sewn up. I was pretty surprised to learn this morning that the Pats won. Friends in Boston must be psyched.
So here it is: New Orleans beats the Patriots in the superbowl,27-23. Gotta give it to the Saints, they've looked pretty solid all year and it seems like the Bears are struggling. on the AFC side, don't bet against the Pats to get to the superbowl, the Colts cant seem to get it done in the playoffs.
Remember, you saw it here first.
Disclaimer: If you loose the office pool, I was nowhere near it at the time.
So here it is: New Orleans beats the Patriots in the superbowl,27-23. Gotta give it to the Saints, they've looked pretty solid all year and it seems like the Bears are struggling. on the AFC side, don't bet against the Pats to get to the superbowl, the Colts cant seem to get it done in the playoffs.
Remember, you saw it here first.
Disclaimer: If you loose the office pool, I was nowhere near it at the time.
Saturday, January 13, 2007
CABLE STRETCH-MYTH VS. REALITY
Ever had your bike worked on, had new derailleur cables installed, and had the mechanic tell you to come back in a week or two so he can adjust for "cable stretch"? It's a myth. Most good bicycle cables today are "Die-Extruded, Pre-Stretched" stainless steel cables. That means they are unlikely to stretch if installed properly.
Assuming the cables have been properly set-up to start, what does happen is that the outer sleeve of the housing tends to pull back from the ends. If you pull the ferrules off the housing ends, you'll see the wires starting to protrude. If you are still useing brass ferrules instead of the plastic supplied on most modern 4mm shift housing, the protruding wires will make a grinding, scratchy noise on the inside of the ferrules. When this happens, it has the same effect as if the cables had actually stretched. You'll need to adjust your derrailleurs to make them shift right again. Or better yet, pull the ferrules off and trim the exposed wires off the end of the housing. Or even better than that, replace the ferrules and housing, it's pretty cheap.
Cable housing doesn't stretch that quickly though. It should be a few thousand miles before it becomes a problem. If the derrailleurs were working well but started to shift poorly after only a few hundred or less miles, the culprit is usually the skill of the mechanic.
When the bike is set up, all cables and housing needs to be given a few good tugs before final adjustment. This is just to make sure that the ferrules are properly seated on the cable housing and in the frame stops, and that all the fixing bolts are tight. Go ahead and give it a good yank, you wont break anything that wasn't already broken. Then readjust the brakes and derrailleurs.
Now everything should run a long time without needing any particular adjustment so long as it's kept reasonably clean. Just don't forget that like most metals, cables will fatigue and should probably be replaced anually.
Any mechanic who tries to fall back on "cable stretch" is really covering for his lack of ability. Dont believe him. It's just an ugly rumor.
Assuming the cables have been properly set-up to start, what does happen is that the outer sleeve of the housing tends to pull back from the ends. If you pull the ferrules off the housing ends, you'll see the wires starting to protrude. If you are still useing brass ferrules instead of the plastic supplied on most modern 4mm shift housing, the protruding wires will make a grinding, scratchy noise on the inside of the ferrules. When this happens, it has the same effect as if the cables had actually stretched. You'll need to adjust your derrailleurs to make them shift right again. Or better yet, pull the ferrules off and trim the exposed wires off the end of the housing. Or even better than that, replace the ferrules and housing, it's pretty cheap.
Cable housing doesn't stretch that quickly though. It should be a few thousand miles before it becomes a problem. If the derrailleurs were working well but started to shift poorly after only a few hundred or less miles, the culprit is usually the skill of the mechanic.
When the bike is set up, all cables and housing needs to be given a few good tugs before final adjustment. This is just to make sure that the ferrules are properly seated on the cable housing and in the frame stops, and that all the fixing bolts are tight. Go ahead and give it a good yank, you wont break anything that wasn't already broken. Then readjust the brakes and derrailleurs.
Now everything should run a long time without needing any particular adjustment so long as it's kept reasonably clean. Just don't forget that like most metals, cables will fatigue and should probably be replaced anually.
Any mechanic who tries to fall back on "cable stretch" is really covering for his lack of ability. Dont believe him. It's just an ugly rumor.
Friday, January 12, 2007
WELCOME
Well, here it is. After thinking about it for what seems forever, i've finally got my blog up and running.
Just so you know, the focus of this discussion will be mostly bicycles and related technology. For the last thirteen years or so, Ive been running a bike shop that mostly concentrates on high-end road and triathlon bikes. In the last four or five years, the sport of triathlon has had incredible growth and now every bike shop considers themselves a tri-shop. I've been doing it since the sport was mostly unheard of and I think I've learned a few things. I'll attempt to share them.
Also, I want to share my hard-earned knowledge of bicycle mechanics. Seems there's alot of people working on their own bikes. I've seen great results and really ugly results too. If my experience can help anyone, then life will be better for all.
By the way, I'm not a tri-geek, I'm a road weenie. The thing I like about triathletes is their willingness to try new technologies in the quest for speed. Road racers tend to be a bit more conservative (or is that cheaper) in their equipment choices. If I didn't hate running, I'ld probably try the triathlon thing myself. As it is, I'll stick to the timetrials and crits. I must say though that a good tri-bike is a thing of beauty. All stealth and purpose.
And while we're on it, this isn't training advice. If i think i know something, i'll try to share it, but good training and fitness has me as confused as everyone else i seem to talk to.
The topics of conversation will probably be broad ranging and not particularly organized; mostly whatever comes to mind will be on for the day. Don't expect all bicycle stuff. There are other sports to be obsessed about as well as the rest of the non-sporting world to look at. Who knows, maybe a good restaurant review or ballet will get mentioned.
One thing you will discover if you're a regular visitor is that my interests are pretty scattered, so hopefully you wont be bored. Keep in touch, it should be interesting.
Jonathan
Just so you know, the focus of this discussion will be mostly bicycles and related technology. For the last thirteen years or so, Ive been running a bike shop that mostly concentrates on high-end road and triathlon bikes. In the last four or five years, the sport of triathlon has had incredible growth and now every bike shop considers themselves a tri-shop. I've been doing it since the sport was mostly unheard of and I think I've learned a few things. I'll attempt to share them.
Also, I want to share my hard-earned knowledge of bicycle mechanics. Seems there's alot of people working on their own bikes. I've seen great results and really ugly results too. If my experience can help anyone, then life will be better for all.
By the way, I'm not a tri-geek, I'm a road weenie. The thing I like about triathletes is their willingness to try new technologies in the quest for speed. Road racers tend to be a bit more conservative (or is that cheaper) in their equipment choices. If I didn't hate running, I'ld probably try the triathlon thing myself. As it is, I'll stick to the timetrials and crits. I must say though that a good tri-bike is a thing of beauty. All stealth and purpose.
And while we're on it, this isn't training advice. If i think i know something, i'll try to share it, but good training and fitness has me as confused as everyone else i seem to talk to.
The topics of conversation will probably be broad ranging and not particularly organized; mostly whatever comes to mind will be on for the day. Don't expect all bicycle stuff. There are other sports to be obsessed about as well as the rest of the non-sporting world to look at. Who knows, maybe a good restaurant review or ballet will get mentioned.
One thing you will discover if you're a regular visitor is that my interests are pretty scattered, so hopefully you wont be bored. Keep in touch, it should be interesting.
Jonathan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)