It was time for some fresh bar tape and I decided to give fi’zi:k (fizik) Superlight bar tape a go. In this video I review, compare and give some initial ride impressions of this bar tape.
Tag: maintenance
Quick review on my chain lube of choice, Rock “N” Roll Gold.
My Cannondale is the first bike that I have had with press fit bottom bracket bearings. I knew going in that some may develop creaking or clicks but I prayed to the BB gods and hoped it wouldn’t happen to me. Well apparently my token sacrifices didn’t suffice and on a training ride last Sunday my cranks developed a click. Here is a good video showing what I all of a sudden had to deal with. This isn’t my bike, but symptoms are exactly the same.
If you do a little research you’ll find a variety of info and remedies online. From a simple re-greasing of the bearings, to replacing the bearings to installing the bearings with Loctite 609. Interestingly a lot of people complain about the creaking/clicking starting after a rain ride or washing the bike. The day the problem started it was after a rain and the roads had a little water on them but not enough to cause issues I would think, but who knows. I could have taken it to the shop since the bike is under warranty, and although bearings are wear items this shouldn’t be happening within the first 2000 miles, I figured I’d take apart the crank and give everything a good cleaning and re-greasing. I didn’t have anything to loose except maybe 30 mins of my time.
Inspired by this post over at PedalWORKS I decided to do some experimenting with my own tire pressures.
Previously in my 25mm tires I had been running 90psi in the rear and 85psi in the front. Now this clearly goes against the tires minimum recommend pressure of 102psi but it is comfortable and I have never had any ill effects doing so. Interestingly enough the pressure calculator recommends 82psi in the rear and 62psi in the front for my weight on the bike. 62psi seems way too low for me so for the first test I inflated the rear to 82 psi and the front to about 75 as that was as low as I was comfortable going.
To do my testing I picked a loop around my town that could provide me varied testing surfaces (smooth, bumpy, flat, climbs). With the tires inflated to 82r/75f I set out on my course. To be honest I didn’t notice all that much comfort from my usual pressure nor did I feel like I was at a disadvantage either with lower air in the tires – meaning it didn’t seem to give me any additional rolling resistance.
At some point a few weeks ago I noticed, or at least I thought, my handlebars had become ever so slightly askew. Perhaps it was from the one fall I took, the rough roads or maybe I was just staring at them too long but they certainly looked “off”. And when I mean off I’m talking millimeters, but my OCD needs things to be perfect so I just had to make things right. I must have adjusted the bar 3 or 4 times using the old method of just standing over the bike and eyeballing it. No matter how perfect I thought I aligned my handlebars with my wheel in my living room once I got out on the road it was no better than it was before. Oh well, I was just willing to live with it and chalk it up to my eyes playing tricks on me, that is until Art’s Cyclery posted the below video. What a genius way to line up the bars – not with the wheel but with the forks. I had a plastic level that I was able to insert into the dropouts and then used some electrical tape to hold it in place. After that it was very easy to dial in the bars. So now if I notice any weirdness it is probably my wheel needing to be re-dished. At least that I can definitely blame the roads on.
