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Play around with tings in the morning.
Just going to check under the bed for scary clowns, the witching hour of Halloween is nearly over.........
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FFTQRmsK0k
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Nice quiet stealth ride home tonight.
Swapped out post and saddle, gone to inline Thomson.
Looks like the matching stem is a fraction longer than the DMR headstock so will swap stems in the morning and try the handlebar shims out.Aiming for around 50cm bar width, more for handling bike in buildings and storing inside, narrower is better, the old EA50 are becoming hot favourite to chop down, but the old wingbars have more rise and sweep but external butting limits brake lever placement.....
Tried a photo in the park on the way tonight, no one about, it's late, then like magic someone does appear, i didn't hang around in case it's a nutter left over from last night :)
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Playing around with things.
The rad leopard denim saddle is not to my bums liking at the moment, giving it a last go today will most likely try something else.
Got the Thomson stem on today as it's the longest mtb stem i have and the roadie one at 110mm is too long.
As i have been badgered into this wiggle sportive thing on Sunday looking for a comfy set up.Fitted the Clement tyres ready for Sunday, will see if they pop on todays commute.
Bike feels really light.
Jumped on the bathroom scales i am 83kg, with bike i am 91.5kg sooooo the bike with rack and guards and cheapo lights is 8.5kg the old bike was 12.5kg. -
Pics
Cat came to see what was going on and shout "feed me"
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Worth a mention is the broken rear mudguard, which got snapped off on the old bike when a bungee broke.
Rear wheel removal is easy, just need some shock cord to hold it steady but it's not really flapping about much.
I can always add a thin plastic extension later on.
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The tyre swap has dropped 529grams.......
The dual compound is up front and the hard compound at the rear.Must fit barend plugs, might cut down some other bars for Sunday.
Wondering if i can hit 8kg with whats in the parts bin :) reckon 8.2 is doable, must stop lurking on the Hill Climb bikes thread :)
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Get some Nuts :)
On the left, shiny new pair, in the middle a part worn pair, on the right a shagged out pair.
The worn smooth ones have come off the bike, and the nice grippy shiny new ones back on, no chance of wheel slip now......... more from pothole hits than me generating mega watts into the back wheel.
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Cocained the tyres :)
Ok, it's talc, i can't afford coke.
Does anyone else still do this ? talc the tyre inner and tube.As i remember the logic behind it, talcing the tyre means the tube won't stick to it, this is supposed to increase the suppleness of tyre and is rumoured to help reduce pinch flatting.
Had the sticking with 35-45a DH tyres, and 50a.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyIRgWWUpN4
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Sportived it.
Turned out to be more comfy than expected.
The Clement tyres roll well, i dropped to 60psi from the reccomended 80psi minimum, tyres are a bit skittish on dirty gravelly roads, but very happy with them. No slips or flats.
Hit the dizzy heights of 31mph, i think the 58cm frame would suit me better or running a longer stem for that sort of speed, i belive the nervous feel of the bike is down to me not being used to the geo and faster handling when getting around 30mph downhill.
Scoblereccomended brakes are excellent.
Bike was very quiet and rolled well, my 42x16 was a good allrounder, i could cruise between 13-16mph with ease, power up to 20mph (spin to win) and by attacking the hills i made it up them all.
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No pics today as bike hopefully still chained up in works garage, should be able to recover it in a few days. Been a bit unwell and not able to ride home the other night.
Not much has changed since the sportive.
Gone back to the Alpina seatpost, removed the red tape and left the post full length, i still say it's a slack fit but it has been fine.
Swapped to an old Specialized BG saddle as more weather proof than the fabric ones.
Just been faffing around with saddle height and moving saddle on rails, and tweeking bar position.
None of my bar end plugs fit the thick wall handlebar ends.
I dropped a link off the chain to run the wheel further forward as my D-lock didn't quite get round the seat tube and 30mm rim, this has helped, the offset issue was bike handling was a bit twitchy for a few days while i got used to it.May gear up a bit. Now cruising around 18mph on 42x16 with ease, 20 is minimal extra effort, 22-24mph and things get twitchy, so gearing up would drop RPMs. Must be getting slightly fitter or something :)
Clement tyres holding up fine, no flats, trying to miss potholes with them, when they start salting the roads i think the Delta cruisiers will go back on for the rest of winter as a more burly tyre.
Used to Steel frames, but this is turning out allright :) -
Thank you :)
Yes, the stem, it's a 50mm, i think 70-80mm would be nice, but it's working for me at the moment. Will pick one up sometime, i am more used to 35-50mm MTB stems and a more upright mountain bike riding position. I do have some drops and a 110mm stem to play with much later on when my neck muscles get used to the riding position of a racy track biek :)
Only other dramas revolve around the Clement 700x28 tyres being smaller than the Delta Cruiser 700x28.
After trimming the chain down with the Clements on, and now swapping back to more wet shitty weather friendly cruisers i find out the hard way.
Rear tyre jams on the mudguard.
Cut and shut the mudguard to get round it. -
Not much to report on due to lack of actual riding since last post.
Rather keen not to have pnemonia again so wimped out while we have had the shitty weather lately.
However parking cars at work is getting exciting with companies arguing over access and ownership and blocking in cars and HGVs, so riding in means i can sit back and watch the chaos unfold, which as we left last night was angry HGV drivers trying to get the police out.Anyway, today out of boredom i explored tyre fit in the FXE's road carbon fork.
I mounted up a 35mm continental CX race tyre. I was expecting issues.35mm tyre clears the brake fine, and plenty of clearence above the tyre in the fork crown.
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Chunky :)
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Side view of caliper
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The fork is shaped for tyre fit and clearence for mudguards.
While the 35mm fits and spins, the tyre side wall has a few mil's from the fork. I would expect possible tyre rub under hard riding, and expect fork damage if taken anywhere near mud.
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While looking at other fames (Vigs & Condors) it's time to play around with the FXE.
Tried it with drops on, but the 44cm width is just too narrow for me, the 110 stem wasn't too bad.
Reality is drops would only have cross top brake levers as i don't like the riding position on the hoods. Too many years on short stems and risers.Being off the bike for a while, it felt cramped with the red swept back bars on. No issues on a 10 mile ride and soon adjusted back to it, but time to try something else.
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Going with the old style DMR wing bars next.
Externally butted, so limited grip length for standard brake levers and grips.Going to cut right down, grips are as far in as they will go, will add some 26mm cross top brake levers, and stick with the DMR headstock stem, a pretty bombproof set up.
Used the bars about 9 years ago, managed 2 runs down the Fort William world cup track, took them off and been in a box ever since, time to butcher them and give them another go, they where unbeliveably stiff, this might work out well on the FXE as i won't be smashing through rock gardens :)
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Some nik-naks from SJS
Splash of colour from Ortlieb, small parts, track nuts, chain links,rim tapes and some more sprockets.
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Still running 42x16 SS.
Got a budget plated 16t 3/32 sprocket, SJS own brand, seems allright, comparable to the 18t Gusset one i have on the bike already.
I picked up a Cyclo 15t as well, both cost £3.99 and the black Cyclo is no where near as nicely finshed and has a rough edge on one side, i will file this off later.
But cheap enough to experiment with.
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Quick razz round the block and across some fields.
The black Cyclo 15t sprocket then.
removed the burred edge from the teeth, and filed some sharp peaks off in the thread, ran a fine file tip through the actual thread as it's fairly rough.
Was very carefull threading the cog onto the hub, my wheel is getting on and the rim is near the end of life but still don't want to knacker threads. Use caution if trying on a more costly hub.
Used loads of oil/grease and gently worked it on and off a few times, cleaning and regreasing each time.
Tighter fit than my other two sprockets but with care fitted allright.The chrome plated 16t just screwed on freehand with ease (like my Gusset one)
Think i will leave the 15t on for now as going for a little ride on saturday, will whip it off and see what it looks like after that and put the 16t on to balance out the 16 freewheel on the other side of the hub.
Dropped the stem a few spacers, this and less backswept bars has made a very nice difference, still plan on chopping bars down and crosstop levers.
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Bit of a ballache.
Fitting the cross top levers while half cut is maybe not ideal. Was starting to wonder if the cable pull ratio was out of whack for levers-to-calipers.
Seem to have the rear working.
Front next.......Wopped on the new lever and not cutting the bars quite as short as i could just yet.
Trip to Condor was dangerous. All the sale frames are wrong size for me, i was left alone in the basement for several minutes...... started pinging tubes (flick em) Pista has a lovely ping, Tempo is proberly more suitable with more braze on's.
Did ask about colour options, Black or Grey off the peg, anything else is custom extra dorras.
Condors, steel Vigs, the alu Dolan's days may be numbered, more so when comparing weights and there ain't much in it on the frame sets.
Still nice day in the city, saw a matt black fixed Dolan in the wild near Condor, must be a good omen, reminding me i have one :)
What is worrying is i have seen more Foffas in the wild city streets roaming than Dolans....
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Fairies wear boots man :)
Bit of Black Sabbath tonight.
Nigerian Guinness and brake fettling is possibly a bad combo, at worst i can test the Dolans paint against bile/puke attacks or if the brakes don't work i can just park in the canal.
Front brake working well.
Rear a bit slow to return, but working.
Bars down to 610mm, easy another 30 or 40 mm still to lop off, make it more car boot friendly and doorway-carry upstairs friendly. -
Knocked out 13 miles on 42x15 fixed.
El cheapo sprocket was quiet and performed without incident. Slightly uneven wear pattern but it wasn't exactly a 13 mile spin.We went exploring. While i wouldn't class the cycle way as muddy, it was enough and super tacky to clog up the close clearence mudguards and stop my bike rolling several times.
In general 15t gave me a cruising speed around 20mph but was just that bit harder to get rolling from stops and lights. Swapped back to 16t for now.
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f1s
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About
Dolan FXE commutenger
Posted by
@853Superfly
More used to tyres in the +kilo weight range, unsure about lightweight stuff.
Having been coerced into a sportive i thought some nicer tyres might help, as SJS wouldn't let me order a pair of either tyre (low stock warning came up) i just went with one of each, not sure on if they are a good commuter tyre but got them now :)
Clement Strada LGG
The dual compound 120tpi is going up front and is 254g
The standard compound 60tpi is for the rear and is 266g
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