OT but... Life might not get better than this

[shawn_a]

I just got home from the hell that is my job (yeesh, the place is a zoo) and I had a nice little package from left at my door from the UPS guy. Surprise! It's not speaker parts! So I grab a bottle of suds (Michelob Lager for a change of pace and it's not too bad at all) and started unpacking the latest parts for The Great Mountain Bike Build-up on my Trek ATB. Got the tunes going at a reasonable level for this hour of day and the clanking of tools is singing along. I forgot how much I missed that sound.

So I'm now happily bolting on my new disc brakes and putting the removed pieces on the old GT bike I picked up at a garage sale for $20. This is just like it used to be in my life. Beer, tunes and wrenching on bikes. I have to tell you, my friends. When you feel like you are in a rut and you aren't happy with how things are today, go back and do something you haven't done in a long time. It makes for some nice relaxing around my house. The pups are playing and laying around the yard. Life is pretty sweet right at this moment. Time to stop and smell the roses for once, I guess. What a great way to forget about being stressed out. Highly recommended. Would do again! A+++++++++++++

NP: XTC - Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead

shawn

[bogie]

I think I'm old.

I remember drum brakes that you worked by peddling backwards, and rim brakes that you worked by squeezing...

Argh.

[shawn_a]

http://www.mtnbikehalloffame.com/images/14image1.jpg


> I think I'm old.

> I remember drum brakes that you worked by
> peddling backwards, and rim brakes that you
> worked by squeezing...

> Argh.

Ever since I bought this bike I've not been a great fan of the brakes on it. A bit too tedious to get tuned in correctly and when I finally got them "right" they still haven't given me a great deal of confidence. Of course it doesn't help the brakes considering they have my fat (m)*** to put the whoa to. I tried out a bike with some mechanical disc brakes and it was night and day. I'm going one step further on my set-up and installing an 8" rotor on the front unlike the six incher on the test bike. Should be even better. I could make the move on up to full hydraulic brakes but that's an expense for the next bike that comes along.

As for the days of coaster brakes, Google up Repack Road and there's probably going to be an account of how the trail got it's name. The short version is the coaster brakes on the old balloon tire bikes that were the predecessors to the mountain bikes we know today would get so hot the grease inside the hubs would pretty much go up in smoke. After a good and fast run or two the hubs and brakes were in dire need of some fresh grease if they planned on stopping at the end of the run. Plus there's those rather precarious edge-of-the-cliff turns on the trail to consider as well. Too bad the races aren't held anymore out there. You put all of my mass at the top of a big hill and my middle name is Potential Energy.

shawn

[shawn_a]

I'm not sure if it was the second beer or the feeling of the cool night air in my hair but I am officially relaxed. I took the brakes (and the rest of the bike) out for a test ride on a nearby trail. The rotors need some break-in and the whole system definitely needs tweeks applied but it's way better than before. Time to get the dogs in from the yard and head off to bed.

As an aside, I am so appreciative of the rails-to-trails idea. I have a trail head not more than half a mile from my front door. A few years ago it was an abandoned railroad right-of-way. Now it's a very nice trail for cyclists and walkers. If you like to take a nice walk or ride from time to time and would like to not worry about getting ran over by a motor vehicle, support your local rails-to-trails organization. It's worth it.

shawn

[mikebw]

Agreed. There is a great trail right near my place that used to be a train track. Was abandoned for years, then finally got funding to be paved and used as a public running & biking trail.

I have been looking to buy a new bike for myself here pretty soon, I even test rode a Trek 7.3 FX with the disc brake. Have to say I wasn't super impressed with the braking power though. I mean it was good, but not as good as I had expected for front and back discs. Nice bike though, sort of a hybrid- smaller tires like a road bike but a slightly stronger frame like a mountain or trail bike. No suspension though, I want something fast and light. My 10 year old steel frame Huffy is heavy enough for anyone.

> support
> your local rails-to-trails organization.
> It's worth it.

> shawn

[wg_ski]

> I think I'm old.

> I remember drum brakes that you worked by
> peddling backwards, and rim brakes that you
> worked by squeezing...

> Argh.

Disc brakes usually are only put on mountain bikes or hybrids. They're heavy. It's not for superior braking power in general, but that they still work when they're WET.

[unknownuser]

I have a 06 Trek 7.5 FX disk that I use as my commuter, 18 miles each way. The brakes were not great at first but once the surface oil from manufacturing wore off and the pads seated a bit, I like them! I have a friend, who weighs close to 400 lbs, and he put himself over the handlebars making an emergency stop using his front disk brake. With a bit over 2K miles on my bike, the pads are worn about 40% (Avid BB-5’s) I laced a Shimano Nexus dyno-hub in to the front wheel and use it to power a couple of Luxeon 3 watt LEDs in series with special optics for a DIY headlight. A cut above the previous, highly acclaimed, 3W Halogen job. My only complaints with the disks are that they interfere with the mounting holes in the dropouts, for those of us who want to mount fenders and racks that tie into the dropouts. I had to substitute a heavier seat post mounted rack.

But yeah. I love wrenching on stuff. Especially bicycles. Though I also really enjoyed rebuilding a BMW /2 motorcycle. The Honda motorbike I rebuilt was too tightly packed and working on it was fussy and aggravating at times.



(Originally posted by: Jimbo)

[biff]

> I just got home from the hell that is my job
> (yeesh, the place is a zoo) and I had a nice
> little package from left at my door from the
> UPS guy. Surprise! It's not speaker parts!
> So I grab a bottle of suds (Michelob Lager
> for a change of pace and it's not too bad at
> all) and started unpacking the latest parts
> for The Great Mountain Bike Build-up on my
> Trek ATB. Got the tunes going at a
> reasonable level for this hour of day and
> the clanking of tools is singing along. I
> forgot how much I missed that sound.

> So I'm now happily bolting on my new disc
> brakes and putting the removed pieces on the
> old GT bike I picked up at a garage sale for
> $20. This is just like it used to be in my
> life. Beer, tunes and wrenching on bikes. I
> have to tell you, my friends. When you feel
> like you are in a rut and you aren't happy
> with how things are today, go back and do
> something you haven't done in a long time.
> It makes for some nice relaxing around my
> house. The pups are playing and laying
> around the yard. Life is pretty sweet right
> at this moment. Time to stop and smell the
> roses for once, I guess. What a great way to
> forget about being stressed out. Highly
> recommended. Would do again! A+++++++++++++

> NP: XTC - Ballad Of Peter Pumpkinhead

> shawn

Please be upstanding has been stuck in my head for years, what tunesters!
A few years back I was prowling the day before "large item pickup" trash day and found a Panasonic road bike, paint a little faded, but for free? You bet! Then in order to make some room for it under the house I took an old rusted cruiser I kept for guests and was taking it to the disposal yard for my neighborhood and the attendant said to add it to the pile of bikes behind the dumpsters. Seemed like a plan, backed up the Dakota, jumped in the bed to grab the bike and saw a nice frame deep in the pile. Surprising how badly you can beat up your fingers as wheels spin and turn while untangling the mess. But, for my effort - a beautiful Lotus that needed new cables and a seat. Not for long. To paraphrase George Carlin, it may have been someone elses sh*t, but now it's my stuff. My "smell the roses" is salt water, and sunset rides along the water watching the sailboats come in puts a bad workday in just the right perspective.

[shawn_a]

I wish I could find a Lotus in the trash sometime! I rode one a long time ago when I was first getting into riding and it was so silky smooth compared to my Cannondale criterium bike. Still nothing climbs like those old Cannondale bikes. I just got used to the jackhammer ride quality and learned how to use it to my advantage.

Some of the old Panasonics are pretty good frames. I had on once upon a time that was fully lugged and triple butted tubing. I never got around to fixing it up and sold it to one of the guys in the local bike club back then. Enjoy the beach, Biff.

shawn

[shawn_a]

Yeah, my rotors (Avid BB7 with roundagons) felt a wee bit oily so I took a rag with some alcohol on it and wiped them off before I installed them. I didn't want to have the NO BRAKES!!! feeling when I took it out for the maiden voyage.

It looks like they are exactly what I'm wanting. The stock V-brakes of unknown origin aren't all that bad but they aren't great. My idea of good brakes goes back to my road bike. It came with Shimano 105 SLR brakes and I could bring the rear wheel a foot off the ground when I grabbed the levers hard. So far the Avids are to that specification.

With all the components I'm pulling off the Trek I'm building up an old GT Outpost for a commuter bike. All I'm going to end up buying for the GT will probably be some big, fat messenger bike tires. I won't be taking it off the streets like I plan on doing to the Trek. If the GT gets swiped I won't be as upset as I would be if the Trek were taken. Been there before and it wasn't fun.

I've already spent the same amount of money I paid for the bike in the first place putting the gear on it I want. Next up is a new fork with more travel and better feel than the POS that came on it. Hopefully I'll be fit enough eventually to really ride it the way I used to ride. After I get in a shape better than a circle I'm looking to build up a DH or freeride kind of bike. Lots of trails out there to explore.

shawn

[shawn_a]

> My 10 year old
> steel frame Huffy is heavy enough for
> anyone.

Hehehe. I once considered that to be a good thing. I still have the old CCM 3 speed I used to ride around town back when I raced. That bike has to weigh 50 pounds if it weighs an ounce. After riding that beast and then jumping on my road bike it was like mounting a rocket. My sprints were way better after putting the miles on that green monster. I might have to pull it down and give it a tune up just for old times sake.

As for Huffy bikes in general, I was notoriously hard on them. My first Huffy was doing great until I cracked the head tube weld where it met the downtube. Guess it wasn't rated for jumping off of 4' high dirt piles :D. The last one I had was a road bike my uncle gave to me. It certainly looked bad-*** with those high flange hubs on it and the big wingnut-lookin' wheel mounting nuts. I had it down in the hilly part of the county and it suddenly felt like there was a hinge in the middle of the bike during climbs. Turns out I had broken the seatstays away from the seat tube completely. And this was 10 miles from home and still well in the hills. No fun limping that beast back home. I went out the next day and put the Cannondale I still have in layaway at the local bike shop. That bike has been nearly perfect except for breaking a spoke 30 miles from home..... Holy cow! I just realized that was 19 years ago!!!! Wahhhhhhhhh! I'm getting old!

shawn