Category Archives: Shorter cyclists

The Bond Between Bike and Rider

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1976 Centurion Pro Tour

Being a pragmatic person at heart, I generally eschew mystical explanations of purely mechanical matters. However, there’s no doubt that a special relationship between bike and rider exists when the bike in question has carried the rider over many miles and through rough terrain, dangerous intersections, and bad weather.  Much like a shepherd and beloved dog will form a bond through shared hardship, a rider and bike seem to connect in an almost spiritual way.

I experienced this myself with my old 1976 Centurion Pro Tour that I rode for 20 years. The bike got me through some tough situations, and always carried me to my final destination. Even with flat tires, broken shifters, and a headset long overdue for a replacement, the bike soldiered on and I always arrived safely at my destination.

After I crashed my Pro Tour in 1999 I was at loose ends. I searched for a replacement and ended up buying a Cannondale T 2000. What a shocking disappointment that was.  The brifters broke when the bike took a spill while parked, the Avid Shorty brakes were frighteningly unreliable, and the stiff aluminum frame was punishing on long rides.   Not to mention its piggy 28 lb weight unequipped.  I no longer enjoyed exploring new dirt paths, back road short cuts, and long meandering rides.  I wanted to get off this bike as soon as possible.

The search for the ride quality that my old Centurion provided was a long one.  Meanwhile, I modified the Cannondale substantially, replacing the brifters with bar end shifters, upgrading the brakes to IRD cold forged cantilevers, installing an SR Randonneur bar, and adding a custom Burley rear rack originally designed for a recumbent.

2001 Cannodale T2000

After these modifications, I was able to ride the Cannondale in a little more comfort.  Replacing the harsh riding Continental touring tires with Panaracer Paselas helped.  I also tried out some Michelin cyclocross tires, which were also quite a bit more comfortable than the Continentals, and enabled me to ride with confidence on gravel shoulders and hard packed dirt and gravel.  Eventually, I ended up replacing every single original component on the bike except for the reliable Shimano 105 front derailleur.  After that, this bike became my trusted commuter, especially in the winter.

But, I wanted a bike that I could comfortably spend more hours on and was more responsive.  I missed my Centurion tremendously so when I found this Centurion Dave Scott Iron Man in my size, for a reasonable price, I purchased it without hesitation.

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This was a road bike, not a touring bike, at all.  Riding it was eye-opening.  I could ride for miles and miles, never tire out, and the responsive handling made it fun to experiment without fast descents, track stands, quick transitions, and spirited climbing. After a while, though, I realized that without clearance for fenders, rack mounts and a taller stem, I would not be able to take this bike out on the touring adventures that I love.  I realized that I needed the comfort and responsiveness of riding on steel framed bikes, and that I wanted to learn more about the physical and mechanical details of bicycles and their geometry.

That’s when I enrolled in my first bike mechanic class at the UBI facility in Ashland.  Even though I had always done my own bike maintenance, back then I had not really spent any time understanding much beyond annual maintenance needs, which included rebuilding hubs and bottom brackets,  truing wheels, and tuning shifters and derailleurs.

I had a great time in the class and met a lot of interesting people.  The class opened my eyes to the world of mechanical possibilities and experimentation – I highly recommend UBI for mechanic’s training.  Prior to attending the class I had already acquired a 1973 Jack Taylor touring bike and I brought it with me to work on while I was there.

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1973 Jack Taylor Touring – before restoration

While this bike is a wonderful example of the Taylor brother’s work, after riding it for a bit I came to realize that it wasn’t quite right for me.  I did not like the unstable feel of the single sloping downtube mixte frame – I could feel the front end flexing away from the back end of the bike while accelerating. I also did not like the ergonomics of the low head tube and short reach mustache bars.

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I have realized that ergonomics are as important as frame material and components.  And, I  know from personal experience that steel is flexible and responsive on climbs and does not punish your body on long rides, as does aluminum. This is especially important for smaller riders whose frames are much more stiff than those for taller riders, due to their geometry.

2014

It is clear that newer components are designed deliberately to last briefly and to be discarded when they no longer function.  This has led me to go back to cycling’s past to understand and rejuvenate the contribution made by earlier builders and artisans.

 

Riding the ALAN on the Leif Erikson Trail

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2014-04-27 001 001

I have been contemplating a road trip involving both urban and wildlife adventures, and wanted to take the “perfect bike” that would be suitable for both environs.  Could it be the ALAN?

Alan in cross modeALAN in city mode

When I first purchased the ALAN it was set up for Cyclocross.  Because the frame is very small (48×48), it uses 24 inch wheels and has way more standover height than I need.  The Cinelli stem combined with the small frame made the bars far too low for comfort, so I decided to build the ALAN into a city commuter.  Recently I decided to try out some mildly knobby tires to see how the bike performed on dirt and hard packed gravel.  The tires I originally ordered were out of stock so I swapped my order for these Vee Rubber micro knobbies  shown below.

2014-04-27 001 002

These tires come from Thailand, and since I have nothing against tires made there I thought I would give them a try.  I lowered my pressures to 45 in the back and 40 in the front.  In retrospect I could have run them a bit lower for more comfort and control over the wet rocks and muddy surfaces I encountered today.

ALAN on Leif Erikson ALAN on Leif Erikson

Leif Erikson Trail in Forest Park, Portland, Oregon, is just about the most gentle way you could introduce yourself to to off-road riding.  There is an easy climb to about 500 feet, and then for several miles the road flattens out, but it feels like you are coasting…uphill!  Along the way I was treated to mysterious and unknown bird calls, and a few darting chipmunks (rarely seen in Pdx).  The tires performed well.  I had already tried them out for commuting and, with pressures at about 65 in the back and 60 in the front, they worked really well and were very comfortable on the pavement.

ALAN with Dura Ace ALAN in the mud

Today was not the best day to do an off-road ride.  The weather fluctuated dramatically from overcast to sunny to outright downpours.  The trail surface was difficult for me to feel confidence on because I did not have clipless pedals, and with the wet and muddy conditions, my shoes slipped off the pedals disconcertingly on occasion.  I ended up riding slowly, and was worried about the descent and whether my shoes would keep contact with the pedals over the rocky surfaces.

ALAN CyclocrossALAN on Leif Erikson Trail

All turned out well, and I managed to escape the downpour of hail and rain that came a few minutes after I arrived at the Thurman Street gate.

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Leif Erikson Trail is really a runner’s trail, but bikes are allowed and I never felt unwelcome.  In fact, I often ran this trail back in the 1990’s when my offices were located nearby.  Today I encountered many runners and only a handful of cyclists.  What I learned was that the ALAN could handle off-road conditions, and that any climbs more serious than what I experienced today would mean installing a new cassette with some lower gears.  But, other than that I was very happy with its performance.  The flexible frame and perfectly decent tires made up for not having any fork suspension.  It was great to be out in nature – even if the weather did not cooperate.  So, yes, I have decided that the ALAN as equipped is going to be the perfect “do-it-all” bike for the road trip I have in mind.

Extreme Bike Makeover: 1980’s Guerciotti

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rando conversion

I’ve been riding this 1980’s Guerciotti for several years now.  When I first purchased it, as a frame and fork, I converted it to 650c, and turned it in to a city commuter, as shown in the photo below:

When my Nitto city bars were recalled, and the promised replacement bar never arrived, I decided to convert it back to a regular road bike, emphasizing its slightly garish 1980’s color scheme:

1980's Guerciotti

I really enjoy riding this bike – it is fast and a great hill climber.  My theory about its superior performance is that its small diameter seat stays and the short wheelbase make it fly up hills.  I won’t say whether the bike “planes” as I am not convinced of this theory, although I do find it interesting.  Whatever the case, I can ride this bike over hill and dale and not tire out the way I do on my other bikes.  Converting it to 650c made the handling a little more responsive, with more stability a lower speeds due to the lower trail.  It also lowered the bottom bracket which theoretically stabilizes it on descents.  One problem, though was that the bike was built for racing and so it lacks fender and rack mounts.  I was using clip-on fenders, but those really aren’t adequate for riding through Portland’s winter rains.  So, I decided to try installing full coverage fenders, and to take advantage of its relatively low trail by mounting a front rack so that I could use a rando bag.

fender mounts fender zip tie

In order to mount fenders to a frame with no eyelets, p-clamps normally work pretty well.  The fork was fairly slender at the base but I shimmed the clamps and got them to hold.  The rear mounts were more difficult.  The seat stays on this bike are very small diameter, and even with a shim, the p-clamp could not grip the stay.  Instead, I used 3 zip ties and mounted them to the hole in the Gipiemme dropouts,  with one of the ties serving as a block to the open loop of the stays.

Planet Bike fenders

I like these Planet Bike Cascadia fenders.  They have dual stays front and rear which makes for 4 mounting points at the rear and 3 in the front.  Plus, they have nice long mud-flaps which really help keep your feet, drive train, and other riders drafting behind you dry.  Because this bike uses recessed brake nuts, I needed to find a way to mount the fenders to the brake bridge and fork crown.  On the front, I simply mounted the fender in front of the fork crown, but for the rear I needed Sheldon Brown’s “fender nuts“.  I didn’t want to wait around for a shipment, so I made my own by tapping 6 x 1 mm threads into the 5 mm nut head.  I didn’t tap too far down, and used a short bolt, so that I wouldn’t compromise the allen head at the base of the inside of the nut.

made by Wilken inspired by Sheldonfender spacer

Then I needed a pretty big spacer at the chain stays to make the fender line right (the fenders were designed for 700c wheels) and also to allow enough room for the front derailleur to move freely.  This set-up is a bit “spring loaded” with pressure from the rear fender going toward the seat tube.  If it starts to rattle, I’ll try something else.  The chain stay bridge was not drilled so I fashioned a hook to insert from underneath the frame.

Mounting the Nitto front rack was a breeze.  It is fully adjustable and should fit just about any kind of front end.  Good job, Nitto.

cloth bar tapebar end lights

For the rest of the build, I re-taped the bars with more conservative black tape, using the traditional method of starting at the stem and working toward the bar-ends.  In this way, there’s no ugly electrician’s tape, but you need solid bar end plugs to make it work well.  I have these nifty bar end lights, and although they don’t put out a ton of light, they definitely help others see me while riding at night.  Of course I use a head and tail light as well.

Tektro long reach brakes 2013-11-07 001 011 2013-11-07 002 002

I swapped out the white Tektro long reach brakes (Model R556) for some silver ones, but kept the rest of the build the same, including the Campagnolo Record head-set, bottom bracket, and Centaur crankset.  I am using Shimano shifters and derailleurs in friction mode and this bike shifts quicker and more silently than any other bike I own.

700c to 650c conversion

I am pleased with the bike’s new look and new utility.  Being able to use a front bag (Velo-Orange model shown above) will be really nice.  And commuting through the winter on this bike will be much more enjoyable with the full coverage fenders.