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.

A weigh in and some wheel talk.

Friday has come so it shall be that time to step upon the cold weight telling contraption made from glass plastic and Chinese circuitry again. This morning I did not know what to expect because I have stayed off of the scale for a few days, no reason other than the mornings have been hectic lately so it was business as usual and straight to the scale before my date with Joe. The last time that I weighed in for the blog the number was 364.0, then Evacgutpocolypse happened and I was up in weight which was odd because I had done nothing but evacuate my innards so I did not weigh in last Friday. This week I got back on task with the eating and even though I did zero exercise because of letting my back ease back into every day life the scale did show a loss, I came in at 362.6 which is of course a 1.4 pound loss and I am happy with that considering that I was hurt and sick in that time.

Now that we got the Friday weigh in part of this post taken care of lets talk bike for a moment! I mentioned the new wheelset for the K2 in a post yesterday and this morning I was checking the tracking number and thought that I would add up what I paid for the set, i think that its a great price for a good set of wheels.... but of course I don't even have the whole set in my hands yet so we will have to see just how good it turns out. I am into this wheelset for $159, I pieced it together instead of buying wheels that were ready to put on the bike and taking that time to do so saved me some green stuff I think, here is how the set looks as far as components go.

Sun Rhyno lite rims
Shimano Deore disc hub
SRAM PG-850 11-32 cassette
WTB Graffiti SF 2.2 tires
160MM Avid G2 Rotors
Velox rim tape
Two 26 x 2.2 - 2.5 presta valve tubes

Now I don't think that is an end all set of wheels but I do think for the price paid I got a great deal! and you know that once I get them all set up I will post some images. I have not worked on the Motobecane in a while because I get fixated on one thing at a time and since the K2 was getting some love in the way of the wheels I haven't thought about the Moto. This weekend I am going to try and get most of the polishing that still needs to be done on the Moto completed and then I will just need to get the cables done and buy some tires and tubes. I did decide on either a gunmetal or silver cable housing for the bike and as soon as I narrow that down I will put the order in but I am still undecided on the bar tape/saddle color combo, keeping it simple may be the direction that I go with black/black but like I said, I just don't know yet.

Over all things are good now that the stomach bug I had used and abused me and left without even dropping a $20 on the bedside table, as long as its gone it can keep the $20! I have an old Cannondale frame that i will be starting on when I am done with the Motobecane so look for posts on that in the future, its a 1990 Cannondale SM400 and its in my size so painting it up and getting it roadworthy again will be a fun project that leaves me with another bike to add to the lineup.

Thanks for reading along and until next we meet keep those pedals turning!

Parts is parts.... its just some of mine are.. well.. old!

So a severe stomach bug later and here I am, truth is that I have been very busy lately and between my bug and my daughter getting a double ear infection I just haven't had time to post, but enough about that because here I am! The Moto project has gotten no love lately because I have re-aimed my focus onto my K2 for whatever reason, perhaps its because I don't like seeing it with the slicks on it or maybe its just because I like to buy bike stuff.

I wanted to take a ride a few nights ago and the Trek was up stairs, the K2 was sitting in the living room raising its hand while hopping up and down saying "me me me!" but since its set up for the trainer right now it would not be chosen. I decided that I like having options past changing a set of tires out if I wanted to go for a ride so I ordered a set of wheels to have as my "I really want to ride the K2 today" wheelset. The wheelset that I decided on partially because of price and partially on some reviews was some Sun Rhyno lite rims on Shimano Deore hubs, an 11-32 SRAM PG-850 cassette and I will be mounting some WTB Graffiti SF 2.2 tires on the set, it should be a pretty solid set of wheels. I still need to pick up a set of rotors but I am debating that since the stock wheels will be strictly set up for trainer duty I may just steal the rotors off of them to mount on the new wheelset.

You can see in the image that I bought a bit more than just the wheelset stuff, I also have a Sunline XC-1 stem and a set of Bontrager big sweep 12* bars to mount on the K2, I liked the Bontrager bars on my Xcal so much that I figured I would get a set for the K2 as well. With these additions to the K2 there will literally only be a couple things on the bike that are stock (shifters, complete brake set and fork) and with THAT said, I want to install a rigid Surly Instigator fork on the bike as it will be on pulling my daughters in a trailer and Adams trail a bike duty in the warmer months but that will be for another post.

Ok a bit onto the health part of this blog now, I have been within my calorie range but the exercise has been lacking because while I was sick with the bug I also blew my back out so I am recovering from that too. When it comes to my back I don't play around, if it flares up its time to listen to it and relax for a while, old disk injuries are NO JOKE! and missing out on some trainer workouts or some calisthenics just isn't worth the pain. I am waiting patiently for the weather to get just a tad warmer so that I can start running on my 6 mile hilly workout loop on a regular basis, even though it is warmer than usual here in Southern New England I can't get out until after 6PM usually and by then its dark and getting colder so its trainer work for now.

Over all I am still on focus, the bikes are getting played with when I have some free time and I want to get that Motobecane done for some easy spring riding around the neighborhood, Thanks for reading and remember don't be afraid to drop me a comment!

That's all I got.

CycleOps Fluid 2 Video and some tire comparisons

A while back I mentioned that I was going to try and get a compare video up between the Michelin Country Rock tire that my wife bought when she picked up the fluid trainer and the Bontrager SR1 that I replaced it with, I had a chance to set the camera up this morning when I rode so I thought I would pop the video up. The Michelin tire was just too loud for my purposes so it had to be replaced and the difference between that and the slick SR1 is incredible and it allows me to ride while my daughter takes her mid morning nap.

Now you know that you are diggin' on my blue light in the first trainer spot, and you can now see just how loud that Michelin was, I am sure that it would make a great road tire for a mountain bike but for trainer duty it will have to be saved as a back up tire. This trainer is working out good for me, when weather or the baby stop me from getting out for a real ride out comes the trainer and I can get a ride into my day, gotta love it. Here is a shot of the K2 in Trainer gear, it does not differ much from road duty when it wears WTB Graffiti SF 2.2 tires, it loses the bag on the top tube and gains a powerade bottle in the cage.

I hope you enjoyed the video, come spring I am sure that I will be posting up some ride videos as I do bring my Kodak ZX3 camera out with me on most rides. Over all I am on the right path and am hoping to hit my goal of being 305Lbs or less by May 25th, this trainer will certainly help me get there bu I can't wait for the weather to get a little better and days longer so that I can hit the rail trails again.

Soon enough it shall be so...

That's all I got for today.

Nothing mindblowing, just an am post for those interested.

Keeping my calories within range is increasingly easier as the days tick by, I am back into a groove with the intake and now its time to get the exercise back up to par. Riding on my trainer has been sketchy at best as I have had a cold for about 2 weeks, actually its two colds with a 2 day break in between them and riding the trainer is not fun with a stuffed up head so I have been passing on it lately. We got about 5 inches of snow on Sunday and we did make it out for a walk with the kids which was nice and at least it was movement vs hanging out in the house for the day and I'll take that any day of the week!

My weight is doing something odd, what I mean is that I am up in weight from Friday which I can't understand, I mean I know there is fluctuation but there is no reason for it. I am eating perfectly, exercise is lacking but that has been the case since about Christmas with me riding the trainer only a handful of times and I had been dropping since then. I am not too worried about it as I have been here before while losing weight but that doesn't make it any less frustrating to see a plus on the scale in the morning, it is what it is I suppose. Friday will let me know how I did for the week as I don;t usually dwell on the number that I se eon the scale, I try and focus on the over all results because I do have a long way to go and letting fluctuations bother me would prove a losing battle and ultimately hurt the forward momentum.

On bike related news, The hardware for the Pletscher rack that I am going to put on that Motobecane that I am working on came in the mail yesterday so I will do a test fit later tonight with the rack. I did get down stairs for about 30 minutes worth of polishing on the crankset on that bike but its far from done so I didn't take any pictures of what I did for now. I did add some tabe at the top of the page with photos and images of my bicycles, please feel free to take a look and find out more about them if you're interested.

Over all everything is on track and moving right along and I can't ask for more than that, the weather will be warm soon and back out on that trail I will go...... can't wait.

That's all I got for today kids.