Xcal on the trail and a new project.

I have been doing a lot more riding these days and a lot less posting but if you are reading along you know this, The weather has been incredible and what I would call perfect riding weather. The Adams trail a bike has been getting a ton of use with my daughter, I may just make a cyclist out of her yet! I have almost completed that Motobecane that I am working on and took it for a test ride, something unexpected happened while out on the ride in that I don't think that I am a road bike kind of guy. The bike felt uncomfortable to me and I am unsure why but I think that the bars are too narrow for my large frame and I just didn't feel comfy while riding down the street so I am not sure if I will keep the bike which is a shame after all of the work that I put into it.

Took a quick shot while we stopped for a break during Saturday's ride.

The Xcaliber next to my buddies Jamis Exile 1

I did get out this past Saturday with my riding buddy and we did just under 20 miles on the rail trail and I got a chance to take the Xcal out. The trail that I ride goes past the LBS that I use and the front brakes were feeling weak so we did make a pit stop and the mechanic had the brakes all fixed up and we were on our way pretty quick but I always like looking around at the bikes so I didn't mind stopping. I have to say that over all I am very happy with the Trek and my decision to go with this bike, it fits me great and is the smoothest bike that I own as far as function goes.

I mentioned that I was almost finished with the Motobecane and I like having something in the stand getting worked on so I decided that I would oblige my fathers interest in riding and put something together for him. My father has expressed interest in having a bicycle a few times to me "You should find me a bike" he keeps saying so as his birthday approaches I thought it would be nice to get something together for him, enter the Raleigh Rampar. I went into my Pile O bikes and found that I had a large framed Raleigh Rampar back there which was complete minus all of the cables had been cut by someone (before I took possession) so it was a good candidate for a clean up for pops. I am not going to chronicle the build but I will post a photo of the final product when it is done, the only things I needed to buy was a cable set, bar tape and I might need tires but may have a set of tires put away somewhere so this will be a decently cheap bike to get going.

Over all things are going good on the weight loss, I am down about 15 pounds in the last month and I think that the warmer weather with the added riding and walks that I have been doing are contributing a lot to those losses.

Keep on riding!

First ride on the new wheels.

Yesterday was such an awesome day and I couldn't let it go without getting outside for some exercise, early in the day I packed the tiniest kiddo into the stroller and went for a walk around the lake which was awesome! Later in the day I asked my daughter if she would like to try the Adams trail a bike that I picked up last year for the first time and though she was a tad hesitant she agreed so off we went.

A quick stop next to the lake so that my daughter could play on one of the beaches.

Getting out for a ride allowed me to take a spin on the new wheelset too and I must admit that I really liked the way the smoother street tires rolled and they were silent compared to the Kenda Klaws that I had on there last year. I do need to adjust the brakes to the new Avid Clean Sweeps though, I did have brakes but I really had to squeeze down to get the back brake to grab good so this afternoon I will be making adjustments because my daughter asked if we could go for another ride today and I want the bike to be set up correct before we start riding around on a regular basis. I have a new stem and set of bars for the K2 as well that I need to install but I may just wait until I decide on whether I will be doing a rigid fork or not before I make that change and once that is done there will be not much stock on this bike.

That ride ended a great day where I got out for a nice walk with my youngest daughter and a ride with my eldest daughter, the sun was starting to set while we were stopped and above you can see the view across the lake that we had.

I have a feeling this year will be a good one when looking at things from on top of my bicycles.

Until next time...

New shoes for the K2

So Here I am, I have been how do they say? distracted? and frankly very busy so I haven't had a chance to get a post up but since I am just sitting here watching television I figured I would pop up a post. Last time I posted I had the tires mounted on the new wheelset and was waiting on the rotors to arrive and they did! so I installed them with my new torx socket set and inch pound torque wrench and snapped a couple images for the blog.

Avid G2 Clean Sweep mounted on the front Rhyno lite wheel.

Avid G2 Clean Sweep & SRAM PG-850 mounted on the rear Rhyno lite wheel.

The whole wheelset ready to hit the road!

You can see the K2 sitting in the background on trainer duty but it will be the first to get out on a ride this year because I really want to mount the new wheels and take them for a spin. The weather has been decent and I am planning to get out for a quick ride before the weekend gets here, I have been itchin' to get out there but by the time I can its been dark and in the 20's and I just ain't itchin' that hard.

The Motobecane has got some lovin lately too, the Jagwire cable set came in and everything but the rear derailleur is cleaned up and ready to go, I will likely post a couple more photos of the components as they are done but a whole bike shot will have to wait until its complete. I am 90% sure that I will be going with red bar tape on the Moto but still am unsure about saddle color, my initial feeling is to do black but the idea of doing brown hoods and saddle is in my head also so I just don't know at this point.

As far as my eating goes I am on track but not really kicking ass, I am doing my part by staying within my caloric range but I could be eating a bit cleaner meaning more veggies and fruits. Stepping up the exercise has to happen and I have been riding the trainer maybe three times per week so its getting there, now to start pushing it and add some time to the rides and sooner than later I want to get out for some real rides.

Can't wait to get out on the new wheels!

Until next time...

The Rhyno Lite wheelset is almost completed.

The tire mounting saga is done, they now reside on the wheelset where they belong and I am hoping that they loosen up/stretch a bit while mounted so that if I ever get a flat I can actually remove them from the rims. I decided that taking them into the LBS would be my best bet mostly so that the cursing could be to a minimum and so that I didn't have to go through every tire lever in the state so this afternoon off I went.

I enter the bike shop and explain my situation and after I tell him what a PITA the tires are to mount, the guy says "so ya just want us to install some tubes for ya?" so I replied, "yeah we'll see" and smiled. The mechanic takes the wheels and tries to pop them on as I did, no dice, out come the levers and lots of repositioning the wheel but alas, nothing mounted. To get right to it, thirty minutes later the tires are mounted with tubes that are not popped, yep, I punctured both of the brandy new tubes that I had bought with the wheelset so I needed to buy 2 more from the LBS, such is life. Here is a look at the end product mounted on the wheelset, I still need to install the rotors but they have not arrived yet so for now they are brakeless.

PG-850 cassette installed and turning perfectly.

I am digging on the meat these tires have, they look pretty aggressive I think.

When I had first walked in I said to one of the fellas at the shop that I was a bit embarrassed to be bringing in a set of tires to be mounted as its something that I can usually do in 5 minutes. When the job was done, yes I am calling these damned tires a job! the mechanic said to me "Ain't no shame in having to bring THAT set of tires in" and I do pray that I never get a flat! its probably a good thing that these are just a spare set for the K2 but then again a flat can happen anywhere so I will have to be careful, I am just happy that everything is mounted and all I need it to wait on the new rotors.

K2 Zed with a Rhyno lite wheelset & WTB Graffiti SF tires.

Above is a shot of the bike with the wheels mounted on it, I am diggin the look of them on there and I am pretty sure that I will be going with a rigid fork to finish up this bike. I do want to mention that the wheelset seems heavy, this could be because I was handling the trainer wheelset with the slick on it at the same time but I don't think so and I will weigh the set at some point. You can also see the Hybrid style seat that I mounted for trainer use and I used an older seat post that I had so the WTB pure V that I ride with is still mounted and its just a flip of the quick release to swap seats out and pop the new wheels on and I can take it on the road. That K2 has come a long way since the day that I got it and some might say that I've put too much into it but I can't say it enough how well the bike fits me and now its almost exactly how I want it.

Now that I am just waiting on the rotors perhaps I can put a bit more time into the Motobecane and get that all done, I do believe that I have an addiction....

That's all I got.

P.I.T.A tire install! with pictures and a punch in the face!

The big brown truck pulled up and dropped off a box for me, I tore into it like a child on Christmas morning because I knew that my wheelset was suppose to be delivered and bamn! new hoops for the K2! I pulled everything out of the box to look it over and the wheels were pretty wide looking, this is a good thing! Wheels? check! tubes? check! rim tape? check! gear cables? check! headset spacers? uh huh! and into my bike bag I went for my tire levers.

Once I had the levers in hand I ran upstairs and grabbed the WTB Graffiti SF tires and was ready to go, or so I thought. Now normally I can change a tire in about 5 minutes and that's removing the tire, replacing the tube and pumped back up so I am thinking that I will have the wheels ready to go and be installing the cassette in about 15 minutes.... Wrong! I pried, and pushed but to no avail, this is the most stubborn set of tires that I have ever had the displeasure of trying to mount! so onto the net I went looking for solutions to my problem. I came across a thread on a forum saying to use a hair dryer to warm the bead up so I did... I came across another post that said to try baby powder so I did... I worked on the wheels for at least an hour and a half and by the end of that I had the front tire and tube mounted and the rear tire is on completely on one side and about 3/4 of the other. Here is a look at the wheelset as it came out of the box, they seem to spin freely and true and if I can get the tires on I hope to ride on them one day!

By the end of the ordeal my thumb was sore and I had straightened out 4 Park Tool tire levers, the levers did not break but the hooks on the end actually straightened out! worse than that? when the first one straightened out it popped off of the wheel and I punched myself in the face! yay! I did say that I got the front tire and tube mounted right? and that's awesome! well it would have been anyways if I hadn't pinched the tube while mounting the wheel, so when I pumped it up that "Hsssssssssss" sound that was deflating the tire was literally deflating my excitement over the new set of wheels. Here is where I left it, notice the baby powder all over everything including the throw rug... yeah that needed to be cleaned up before the wife got home! hey, I thought this was a 10 minute job when I started!

I haven't decided whether I am going to bring them into the LBS, buy a tube for the front have them install it and ask them if they can pop the bead onto the rear while I'm there, or if I will just but some steel cored levers and have at it myself because I am stubborn like that. I don't want to wait for Kool stop tire bead jack to come from amazon or ebay even though I am pretty sure its probably the best route to take, hey I'm a kid like that! a bit annoyed that the tires are not cooperating I did as I said put them down for the day and if the rotors were here I would be a little bit more annoyed but I suppose I can wait.

The difficulty in mounting these tires does have me thinking about perhaps getting something different to mount because if I flat out on a ride I will need a support vehicle to come and get me because if its this hard at home, imagine how it would go out on a ride.

To be determined I suppose..

and with that the end comes to another post.