Recently I have noticed that all of my cycling buddies are opting for 50/34t compact cranksets for their new road bikes. They claim that it is to give them a more knee-friendly climbing gear, which would make sense since a 34t chainring is certainly a big change from a 39t ring, but couldn't they obtain this "granny" gear my just opting for a more practical cassette than the 12/25t they usually run?  

Personally, I have two crankset combos for my road bike, both standard 135mm BCD (bolt circle diameter) 53/39t and 53/42.  The 42t is really just for riding the trainer and super flat riding, but where I live isn't super hilly.  We have some short and steep climbs (up to 10% grade, but rarely longer than 200m) but nothing crazy long or steep so I have always survived with a 39t.  I also like to ride with an average cadence in the high 70's which I suppose makes me a bit of a masher.  As the forces of time and gravity are taking their toll, I am finding it isn't as easy to mash up the climbs the same way I did 7 years ago.  As I find that the hills are getting harder, I am starting to re-think my gearing.  I do have a 13-26t (campy) cassette for the hillier days, but even that isn't really enough for the steeper/longer climbs.  

Am I candidate for a compact?  If I decided to go compact, would I be ok with my short cage rear derailleur?  Would I lose any town line sprints without my 53t big ring?  Would I hate the big jump in shifting chainrings?  Will I wind up becoming more of a masher because I may hate the tweedle-gear feeling of the 34t and live in the big ring?  Will the PdC members secretly make of me the way we make fun of Drew?

What are you folks using and for those on compact cranks, what have been your thoughts/opinions?

Last week we covered how we clean and service our bikes after a long season on the road.  Of course some of us ride right through the winter which presents plenty of challenges not only to our wardrobe but also to our bikes.  Where I ride (Massachusetts) we average about  4 feet (1.25 Meters) of snow per year temps rarely get more than a few degrees above freezing for Dec-Feb and we get plenty of sleet and freezing rain in the mix too.  The roads get plowed, sanded and salted frequently, but more prevelant are the cracks and potholes that develop with the fridgid ground temps.  No need to subject my nice road bikes to the punishment that this mean season offers.  What do i ride?

Frame:  Aluminum cyclocross frame (Felt F1X).  Long wheelbase, beefy frame and fork, lots of clearance for easy cleaning and more upright geometry for more stable handling (and to give the back a rest for a few months). 

Wheels/tires:  I have a set of Campy Protons as well as some handbuilts.  The Proton's can't be killed, and the handbuits are fairly new, so I will ride another year on the 2004 Proton's.  For those not familiar with Campy wheels, the Proton are a low profile box rim wheelset.  Not super light but bomproof and I like the low profile for riding on windy days.  For tires I use Panaracer 26mm road tires.     On really sloppy days I have some 30mm cross tires, but I'm riding with a road group and it's not easy to keep up with them on knobbies for more than 10-15 miles.  The 26's don't cost me any noticable speed and they take the hits better from the cracks and holes in the road than 23mm tires.  I will likely buy some 28mm tires this winter since the 26's are getting worn.  28mm tires on Proton's could survive a cyclocross race. 

Drivetrain:  I put away the nice stuff for the winter and use an old 12/25 cassette that still has some life and whatever leftover chain I have in the box will work too.  I also use an older crankset.  I don't like to throw away drivetrain parts if I can help it.  An old chain on a new cassette or chainrings is a big no-no.  Of coure if all three drivetrain parts are old, then who cares?  They see so much salt and sand that it would make no sense to trash a $200 Record cassette for a February group ride.  I have a big bottle of Pedros Ice wax.  I prefer Pro-Link Gold for the summer months, but the Wax seems to work fine in the winter.  It doesn't last long, but neither do my winter rides. 

Other:  I enjoy the cyclocross-style bars with the shallow drops and the flare at the end (very stable and comfy).  The 84 deg stem is flipped up for a more upright postion.  I use cantilever brakes since thats what the cross frame requires, but honestly they are easy to clean and the stopping power is adequate.  I normally ride Speedlay pedals on my road bike, but for winter I opt for the more weather friendly Crank Bro Eggbeaters.  I have dabbled with purchasing winter road shoes but so far wool socks and booties seem to work ok.  Winter rides for me are rarely longer than 35 miles, so even on really cold days I can get inside before the toes turn to ice cubes.

With this cross/road combo set up, i can pretty much ride fast enough to enjoy a spirited club ride, but don't spend the whole time trying to avoid sand and holes.  Sometimes I'll even pass folks on the dirt just for kicks. 

What conditions to you face in the winter and what are you riding?

Some of you from North America and Europe may be experiencing the first signs of winter and may have headed for the warmer confines of riding in the woods, or are focusing on 'cross, or maybe just indoor training.  Personally I ride the roads through the winter as long as they are clear of snow and ice (this gets dicey in Massachusetts in Jan and Feb).  I dedicate a bike for this duty (Part 2 forthcoming) so i put my warm-weather road bikes away for the winter.  Before I put them away, they get a thorough cleaning so come April, I'm jumping on a pristine bike to begin the warm weather training.  What's my method?

Frame:  After I rinse it down with a low pressure hose, I use a bucket of warm soapy water and a scrub brush.  I do this on the stand with the wheels off.  After it's been thouroughly washed and rinsed, I remove all hardware like brake bolts, derailleur clamps, cable stops, bottle cages etc.  These areas are absolute dirt magnets and soaking the hardware in a cleaner/degreaser and re-applying some fresh grease/thread compound will help prevent rust as well as ensure nothing freezes up on you.  After everything is cleaned and re-assembled, i wipe it all down with some armour-all wipes. I used to use Pedros Bike Lust, but really it seems to be essentially armour all anyway.  The wipes make it easy too.  At this point I am also checking for paint chips and reparing these as needed. 

Wheels:  Wheels get the same basic treatment as the frame.  I remove the tires and tubes and inspect the rim tape, but also make sure it's dry and clean inside (you'd be surprised at how much water can find it's way in here).  I remove the skewers, lockrings and cassettes to clean the freehub and hubs.  I confess that I haven't planned to repack my bearings on the hubs.  Perhaps next winter, but mileage was light this year and evenly split over a couple pretty new wheelsets.  I don't rplace tires until the spring since the old ones will see roller duty over the winter.  I don't toss them until they are really killed.  Plus spring time doesn't exactly mean perfect road surfaces, so the fresh rubber doesn't come out until the more important rides approach. 

Drivetrain:  I like to start the year off with a fresh chain, so I don't spend a lot of time cleaning the one on there (just a toss it in a tupperware of degreaser and shake it a bit, wipe clean, re-lube).  I do however remove the cassette and soak the cogs in degreaser and wipe until they shine.  While it's apart, I will also clean the deraileurs pretty thoroughly, especially the jockey wheels (some cleaner/degreaser on a brush).  I check to make sure the springs and hardware are rust free as well.  I also like to remove the BB, for cleaning and reapplying thread compound as well as remove all the crankset hardware and rings for a thorough cleaning.  Overkill? Maybe, but again, it's all apart and this hardware is a great collection spot for dirt as well.

Cables: I'm pretty anal about my cables year round, so I don't target winter as a time to strip all cables/housing and replace, however I would certainly suggest that everyone takes the time to inspect cables for rust or fraying, check housing for cracks/splits and make sure the ferrules are free of corrosion.  I like to spread a fine layer of grease on the cables under the housing to keep them smooth.  Grease can be a dirt magnet, so i do not apply to the exposed cables.  I have taken part in more than a few early spring group rides delayed due to neglected cables.  It's particulary alarming when someone loses their rear brake's abilty to stop.  Take a few minutes here please. 

Other, saddle, post, stem, bars, pedals. 

Post: The seatpost hardware as well as clamp is another area that is in the line of fire for road spray.  I treat this hardware just like everything else.  It gets removed, cleaned re-greased and re-applied.  I remove the post from the frame as well and clean the seat tube as well as the post.

Stems: I remove each stem bolt and clean the holes our with a q-tip, and re-apply the grease here.  Fortunately with 4-bolt face plates and 2-bolt steerer clamps this can be done one at a time without having to lose your bar position.  None of my bikes have a compression plug (the C-Dale has a star nut and the Opera has an epoxied insert with a bolt hole).  I remove the top cap and bolt and clean/regrease as well.  2 things here.  1) Carbon and grease don't play well together, so any grease used around my carbon steerers needs to be applied very lightly and just to the threads.  2)  some of you may have a compression plug (or bunge) in here to pack your headset.  If you aren't comfortable with removing it yourself, don't.  I have removed these many times, but not all forks use the same system.  Reynolds and FSA compression caps allow for removal of the top cap without pulling the whole plug out or affecting the postion/torgue.  Again, just wipe it clean inside, and maybe a little grease on the threads.  I really just like to make sure that I can remove the cap, so it isn't frozen in there. 

Pedals:  remove, clean threads, re-grease and re-apply.  I use this time to grease the innards of the speedplays as well. 

Other:  I apply some armour all to the saddle to keep it nice and shiny too. Also, I like to wash the bar tape with some warm soapy water.  i don't replace until it's really worn so this can occur at any point not just  winter.  I use the winter time as well to replace other items like cleats, brake hoods or pads. 

Now when April rolls around your bike will be in great condition even if the rider isn't .

Anything I've missed or your own thoughts would be appreciated. 

Jens' recent post about Colnago had wondering how popular TT rigs are with the cycling public.  Personally, I don't won anything that would be considered a time trial bike.  Just standard road rigs.  But how about everyone else?

Nice one Deignan...

1. Phillip Deignan, Cervelo

2. Roman Kreuziger, Liquigas, at 0.02

3. Jakob Fuglsang, Saxo Bank at 0.20?

Not much change on GC. Guess tomorrow's the day...

I ordered  alloy spring carriers,all the g springs, one teflon-coated washer for the right shifter and did the rebuild on both levers.  I recabled the bike and took it out of a spin.  The rebuild was definitely the ticket since the indexing is back to normal and the shifting feels like it's back to normal.  HOWEVER, on my right shifter when I am shifting to one of my middle cogs (either the 4th to 5th or 5th to 6th, I didn't count it out, but lets just say in the middle), I am getting this ghost click and then I need to push the lever again to get it to shift.  The ghost click does not feel at all metallic but more like a plastic on plastic.  Also this is just with the finger shifter and not the thumb bar.  Any thoughts?  I plan on taking it all apart again until I can get it right. 

When I did the rebuilds I did not remove the brake lever (although the video shows this as part of the process), and I am not 100% sure I have the tension right on coil spring (although it seems ok).  I installed the Nokon cables and housing and I know those can be a little dicey getting all the beads and liner just right, but I ran the derailleurs through quite a workout and don't think the problem is cable related.   I would appreciate any thoughts you guys might have on what could be causing the extra click. 

Thanks

I have a 2005 Felt F1X cyclocross frame (w/ Chorus/Centaur/Protons/Ritchey Pro/Crank Bros, etc).  The original headset (Aheadset by Cane Creek is all it said) with a Cane Creek IS2.  For some reason when fully compressed I am getting a 1-2 mm space between the dust cover and the head tube exposing a bit of the top bearing.   It is just a standard integrated headset, with drop in bearings, bottom race, centering sleeve, cover and cap.  I have no idea why the cap wont sit flush.   Am I overlooking something?.  It seems to sit flush without the center sleeve, but then it's wobbly. 

Any thoughts?  thnx

After 5 years and many miles in all weather, I finally decided that the indexing problem on my right Record shifter was not going to fix itself.  Time to rebuild it.  After consulting some very knowledgeable folks, I was directed as to what parts I needed and to search youtube for the video.  The parts I needed were the G-spring carrier, G-springs and a teflon coated washer.  It was also recommended that I replace the carbon carrier with an alloy one.  Upon inspection the old one showed signs of wear.  Specifically around the holes that the g springs sit in.  

When I first took the lever apart it was a little scary trying to remember where all the springs attached, but the video I watched on Youtube was very helpful.  After about an hour of watching-pausing-rewinding- etc, I had everything cleaned-regreased assembled and back on my bike.  I did a quick eyeball-tension adjustment on the cables and ran the chain up and down the cassette several times.  Nice and crisp.  I haven't road tested it yet, because I decided that it was easy enough to the rear that I ordered the parts from branfordbike to do the front.    

The parts cost a total of about $25 shipped per lever.  Even the biggest campy detractors have to admit this is quite a nice feature.  

Very few events are as exciting to me as the 60km time trial.  There is no where to hide and it's time for the cream to rise.  That being said, tomorrow's ITT will have climbs at 10% grade and some fast descents.  Aerodynamics are important of course, but not if you have to dump your speed at every sharp turn. 

CN has done a couple pieces this week featuring the TT rigs of Ivan Basso (Cannondale) and Lance (Trek of course).  Both pure crono rigs with a premium on aerodynamics.  However, I am hearing talk that there may be a trend toward more modified road bikes tomorrow.    I  can't help but think of the prologue of the '95 TdF when Chris Boardman rode his super aero Lotus TT rig that looked like it was designed for an hour record attempt.  It was pouring rain, and Boardman's Tour ended with a broken ankle after about 2 miles.  Reining champ, Big Mig left the Espade in the team van and hopped on his standard road bike.  He didn't win the stage, but he kept it close and most importantly stayed upright. 

I look forward to seeing what Levi, Menchov, the Killer and the other favorites will be on.  I predict Levi will stick with a TT rig, but more tradional deep section rims.  Killer will need to capitalize on the downhills and will ride a more tradional road bike.  Just a hunch.

Anyone have any insight on tomorrows machines?

Ardennes week is almost here, which means it's time to replace those 46t chain rings with the 39t.  And there's no need for the heavy duty frames, canti's, 27mm tires, box rim 36 spoke wheels and all the other tidbits that made the previous week so much fun (ok fun to tech nerds..).  Now the racers will be back on their 15lb super quick race machines, with carbon everywhere imaginable and skinny tires again.  Durability and comfort over nasty cobbles is no longer a concern.  

What did I learn last weekend?  In the end, despite all the fun talk about modified cross bikes (and there were plenty of those out there), it was a guy (Boonen) on a fairly standard road bike (Ok, the Specialized Roubaix is not exactly your average road bike, but it's no cross bike either) with bigger tires took the prize.  The rest of the podium included Pippo on his fairly standard Ridley with carbon rims and 23mm tires.  I haven't seen third place finisher Thor's bike, but I suspect he was on a Cervelo R3 or maybe the RS with Zipp 303's.  It just goes to show what advances have been made in carbon fiber technology in a relatively short time.

Boonen took chances, handled his 18.3 lb bike brilliantly, stayed out of trouble and eventually won going away.  He IS that good, but the last 2 P-R's were won on the Roubaix and Tommeke seemed to just get stronger as the race progressed.  The last 4 P-R's were won on carbon bikes designed to dampen vibrations (the R3 with it's pencil-thin seat stays and the Roubaix with it's Zertz inserts).  Coincidence?  Perhaps, but it sure was a fun race watching the equipment tested to the extreme.

Now back to those boring old climbers bikes....