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HC Bike/Cycling Thread


boomana

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Had a nice warm ride this morning.  I had to take a pic of something I thought was pretty cool.  A family decided to go out and buy gatorade, water and power bars and hand them out to the riders along the trail to "Pay it Forward".  

 

i-HG928f5-X2.jpg

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Very cool.

 

I got out for a terrific twilight ride last night (left the house at 7:30) and will be trying to do more of that as it gets hotter and more humid over the next two months.  I feel wiped today so I'll probably wait till tomorrow to get in another ride and not push it.

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The 2013 saddle swap-o-roo is slowing down.  I've put the old turbo back on the Kirk after trying several saddles that are good saddles they just aren't right for me.  I have to wonder just how much of the saddle comfort thing has to do with what the cyclist is use to.  To date I've given the following saddles a decent  try on the bike.   Selle Sanmarco Rolls in both ti and steel railed versions, Fizik Alliante, Prologo Nago Evo, Selle Italia Kit Carbonio, Selle Italia Turbo, and a ti railed Selle Sanmarco Concor light knockoff.  

 

There are some saddles that look like they may work and I'll give them a shot as good deals come my way.  

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Enigma you're right to a point about getting use to different saddles.  But there's many designs that won't work depending on the cyclist.  To use your boot analogy is a good one in that once you find a good pair of boots that fit they'll generally get better with time.  The thing is that there's no one boot or in this case saddle that will fit all feet or backsides well.  If there were I don't think we would have the tremendous number of different models and manufacturers.  Just an opinion.

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I have everything decided on my Kirk build except the saddle, and a bit of wavering between silver or black with seat post and stem, but will wait to see how the frame comes out, and I'll know when I see it which way to go with that.  Right now, I have a B17 on my Gunnar and a Fizik Vitesse on my Calfee.  The Vitesse is okay for rides under 50 miles, but not so much beyond.  I kinda want another look than the B17, but am going to start with that and take it from there.  There are a lot of shops around here that demo saddles, but my sit bones are wider than most men's saddles, and I've only seen two women's saddles, neither of which worked for me.  I'd like to try a cutout or one with a pressure relief groove, but spent around $100 for a Selle Italia model recommended to me, and I couldn't get it off my bike fast enough.  Not looking forward to repeating that experience.  

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Vicki I had the same exact experience with the Kit Carbonio pain wise.  I've been doing a bunch of research and that particular saddle "should" have worked out well but it didn't matter how I adjusted the saddle it just hit me wrong.  The funny thing is that my benchmark saddle is made by the same company.  pm incoming

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I've had okay luck with the finish line wax lube and also their dry teflon lube for dry conditions.  It doesn't last forever but it does tend to not collect a ton of gunk.  Believe it or not they now sell the stuff under the DuPont name at Lowes home centers for about half the price that you would pay if it came in a bicycle specific bottle.  Other than that I like Tri Flow for most other stuff.

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Nice ride Mike!

 

I'm confused regarding lube. Why would ceramic be a good idea in a chain lube? Or is it just the typical use of a buzz word; ceramic.. must be good.

 

I'll stick with Chain'l. Marshall, have you tried wiping the chain down lightly with a rag with a solvent (mineral spirits) on it? The lube only needs to be in the rollers, anything else is unnecessary. You are applying a drop to each roller, then wiping it down after it has had time to soak in, aren't you?

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Nice ride Mike!

 

I'm confused regarding lube. Why would ceramic be a good idea in a chain lube? Or is it just the typical use of a buzz word; ceramic.. must be good.

 

I'll stick with Chain'l. Marshall, have you tried wiping the chain down lightly with a rag with a solvent (mineral spirits) on it? The lube only needs to be in the rollers, anything else is unnecessary. You are applying a drop to each roller, then wiping it down after it has had time to soak in, aren't you?

 

From what I can tell most ceramic lubes use hexagonal boron nitride, which has the same molecular structure as graphite and as far as I can tell is a good lubricant. Not sure how it compares, but I don't see why it wouldn't work well. I have to say though, the marketing for ceramic lubricants definitely aims for the ceramic.. must be good idea

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There was a good article on the various types of lubes and their effectiveness in Velo magazine. Here's a link to the preamble to the article but I may still have a copy at home I can scan.

 

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/02/bikes-and-tech/six-watts-from-lube-boulder-lab-separates-fact-from-friction-fiction_264446

 

The finding was though that parrafin wax was best though you do have to take the chain off and soak it in it. Of the ones that wasn't a giant PITA I believe Pedro's Ice Wax was one of the best. I use both Pedros Ice and Pro Gold. I guess I should just switch to only Pedros.

 

Edit: You can also get it free here (though I think you have to make an account):

http://www.friction-facts.com/test-results/free-reports/chain-lube-test

Edited by Dreadhead
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