Thursday, March 30, 2006

here is the...

finished product...



the orange is hugger orange. this is a great color for the fact that my dad's sixty six vet is this same color.

headtube, with the king...



front king hub, and avid ball bearing seven...



the advancement of the single speed, the eccentric bottom bracket...



this part of the build up was a problem for me. my mechanic just said to loosen the bolts on the bottom and turn the ebb till it tightens the chain. sounds simple. but if you notice in this pic the little hole in the ebb. so i get home. i build up everything, except the chain. so the next day i go to put the chain on, and i loosen the bolts, but i can't move the freaking ebb. what the hell? so after about an hour of thinking about it (i went off and did other things); i figured it out. because no where could i find out how to do this. but i figured that the hole had something to do with it. so, i took a four mm hex wrench. put it in the hole, and used the crank arm as leverage, and rotated the whole thing. it worked.

drive side, with the white industries eno crank...



and this might be the most important part of the bike...



yes, its a bottle opener welded on the non-drive side. i can't wait to use it.

just took it for a ride around the block, but this sunday it is going to hit the dirt. hopefully i have some pics of its madain voyage.

seat tube, saddle, handlebar, brake levers, grips, bottom bracket, pedals, and fork were taken off of the nzumbi, and ybb. the nzumbi is sitting in the basement. the ybb is taken apart to be cleaned, and put back together. but i am thinking about turning that into a higher geared single speed for the road. but i'll see what happens with that.

reflect the moon of truth...

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

it's here...

Friday, March 17, 2006

king is...

amazing. the precision. the beauty.

i have finished taking care of my king headset, and hubs from the ybb. all i have to say is that chris king makes some wonderful stuff. the way everything was made. put together. poetry in motion.

i had my old race face headset still lying around. so i opened it. the way the ball bearings were placed in there, with some goop, and kept separated by some plastice ring. crap.

i have never opened up my hubs, and these are at least six years old. i have had the rims replaced, but nothing done to the hubs. when i opened them up everything still looked good. nothing wrong with the bearings. the lube looked old, but that's because it was. clean it up. re-lube. good to go.

serviceablity is the key to a great running component. take it apart. re-lube. put it back together. ride. its a wonderful thing.

spend the money. well worth it. i really can't stress this enough. all of my bikes have king headsets. except the fixie. that's because it came that way, but when i need a new one...i'm going king. all of my mountain bikes are riding on king hubs. for good reason. a good part will treat you good, if you treat it good. it's a cycle.

get it...

ride it...

love it...

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

now that...

the wheels are done, i am able to concentrate on other maintance things.

here is the inside of a beautiful king headset...



i have never opened one up, and greased one before. no time like the present. i've had this one for about five years now. and thanks to rogue's advice, i just had to make sure all was well.

now it's cleaned, and re-greased. all is well.

ride on...

my creation...

is complete.

the wheelset is done.

front wheel...



close up of the hub...



rear...



close up...



again...mavic seven seventeen disc rim. chris king hubs. wheelsmith spokes. avid ball bearing seven disc brakes. keeping with the simplicity of it all. do not want to mess with hydraulic on the single speed. plus that adds weight.

i have to admit that i am really proud of these wheels. will i be building up another set any time soon? nope. i loved the experience. the knowledge i gained. but i really don't want to do it again. so these might be my first and last wheel build.

update on the frame...i thought that i would be getting it this week. nope. they are putting the final touches on it this week. so i think i should be looking at another couple of weeks.

if you a fan of kiss, you have to check out hayseed dixie's album kiss my grass. they do kiss songs in a bluegrass style. it is freaking great.

on a side note i hate my new notebook pc. i had to pick one up for school, and it is already giving me problems. my macs never did.

my apologizes about the header. i'm trying to figure some things out, and put my own creation up there. but i'm a blind squirrel looking for a nut. hopefully i'll figure it out soon.

take care...

the front wheel underneath old glory...

Sunday, March 12, 2006

did you ever...

have one of those rides that you thought was going to be a pretty good ride. and then, it turns out to be a freaking great ride?

i had one such today. i got moving late morning. figured i would go out of a little road ride. out the door i go. weather was warm. over cast. clouds coming in. but doesn't look like trouble. down the road from my house, i'm thinking about getting into the valley, and up from there, and back home. good plan for the day. about five miles later i get into the valley. a slight mist begins to hit me. no worries. but i cut the loop a little short, because i'm not sure of the weather. they were talking lighting and stuff.

i head out of the valley, and begin to swing back to come home. it begins to come down. a heavy drizzle. it felt so good. by this time the socks are soaked. all the road grime is on my legs. i'm almost home, but i am dripping wet. i felt like a kid in the rain. splashing through puddles. all the while worrying if the cars are able to see me. they do. good. what a great freaking ride. really happy that i was able to get out and enjoy it.

so the lesson is no matter the weather...get out and ride. except a major head wind. those just suck.

i have also come to another conclusion on my riding. rogue told me how to find my cardo threshold. so i did. one seventy one. now i'm so concerned about getting my heart rate were it should. keep the heart rate up. keep the cadence up. and i'm good. so now i am measuring my riding to those things, and not necessarily my speed. i think this train of thought has changed my whole riding philosophy. as long as i'm around or in my target heart rate...keep that diesel trucking.

oh, bowled a one fifty this weekend. i'm getting better.

life is good. enjoy...

Thursday, March 09, 2006

the proof still...

makes its way out of his mouth. landis is still a jerk. i believe that he is still living in the shadow of armstrong, or at least he believes that he is. in my recent issue of procycling, he is talking about his bikes. he states "...i'm not one of these riders who needs everything millimeter perfect. i'm pretty easily pleased- get my seat height within one centimeter or so and i'm happy." we all know that armstrong is and was very particular about this type of stuff. can you blame him? seven wins in a row says no. shimano's new ads that state "lance is in the detail." great. i love em. but what has landis produced? sit around and crab about being on a team that only supports armstrong. so he leaves to go to an another team, where he believes he could shine. i know team phonak went through some changes, as far as line up goes. so what is he going to do this year? he's a great support rider, so maybe he should just stick to that.

sorry for the rant...

enjoy the moment...

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

over the last...

week, i was in conversation about snack food. and what a great snack food is. you know that kind. you sit on the couch and watch tv, and munch away. my friend's answer was carrots. the small bite size ones that come in a bag. valid. i replied with celery. crunchy. works the jaw. good stuff. these are snacks that you are able to have, and not feel guilty for eating. if you go through a bag of carrots, or a couple of stalks of celery; your health is not in ruin. but i want to change my answer. sure celery is great. you burn more cals. than you take in. what's not to love? anyway, after much consideration i want to change my answer.

olives. yes. olives. preferably spanish olives. their green outside color. their texture. the little red thing in the middle. great snack. now i'm not talking about just popping olives in your mouth as you watch tv. it's all in the preparation. now those little carrots you could just open the bag, and get to 'em. no fun. celery? well you could put some peanut butter on them. that's good too.

but what better way to enjoy olives than in a beautifully made martini? as the gin soaks into the olive. enjoy one. taste the gin mixed with the olive itself. you cannot get any better. i believe that you should stick as many olives on the little swords as you can. i know the rule is one for you, and one for your love. but what if you love doesn't like gin? it's all you. so this weekend enjoy some olives.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

if i may...

permit myself to have a gump moment.

life is like a fixie. as you ride you have no choice of gear. no choice of coasting. just moving. even if you want to slow down, you have to slow your movement. not stop. slow your movement.

in life do you coast? i believe not. you can slow your movement. but you never stop. even if you watch a movie. you are not stopped. your body is still functioning. your mind is still moving. never coasting.

a track stand. if you are able to pull it off. that balance. that twitch in your muscle. staying upright.

as the hill gets harder you push harder. so too in life. as the fixie moves, so does life. never coasting. a state of continual motion. constant awareness. understanding what is going on. now. soon. what will happen if you don't...

move on...