Damn has velosnooze gone like worthwhile again? ANOTHER good article.
Gotta cut and paste quote from cyclocosm:
Beyond the Headline #2: the dual epiphany has finally dawned finally dawned on professional ‘cross racers - old style canti brakes blow, and UCI-legal alternatives are available. With the departure of the squealing, unadjustable menace, tubular gluing is now the sole arcane practice keeping bicycle mechanics employed. Expect a massive oversupply of unskilled labor in Belgium, resulting to civil unrest and open revolution.
"old style canti brakes blow"
So, if you are one of the trendy bastards who thought running frog legs was a good idea, sell em quick before they are monetarily worth their stopping power (meaning nadda).
A 29er making me drool (i was trying to come up with SOMETHING worthwhile over at cyclingnews.com)
And i haven't lost count. There would have been only 11 days until the world cup race, IF it had come to Providence this year. Has Fries and Co progressed any further in securing funding from "Madison Ave" yet? Have they been doing anything? Or they just focusing on current stuff and ignoring the event to the point where it won't even happen next year?
Would have been pretty freaking awesome, lemme tell ya. And moving the Long Island races to the 29th/30th would have been a great move seein as there isn't a race this saturday at all.
I've identified a big problem. routine and regular training. or more specifically the complete and total lack of.
Tuesdays have normally been the get out and run days. Well. I gotta get the car ready to pass inspection. Swap out the almost bald but perfectly serviceable tires (just gotta slow down in the rain) for a set of slightly cupped (didn't get rotated during a long winter in michigan and got over-inflated one -20 degree day) all season rubber with snow tread (Nokian NRWs). And stick a new rear parking brake cable on. Yeah. It has been seized for over a year now, figured i should get it working again. $14 for the part with taxes picked up at the parts place. should be a quick install. Assuming i can take the plastic bits between the seats apart reasonably easily. Cars are a big pain. Yet now with Lucy (our new member of the family, of the canine persuasion) it would be nice to have a vehicle that can fit everyone including our stuff. It is a tight fit in the Golf or the Volvo sedan. But even the old volvo gets close to 30 mpg driven conservatively on the highway. Can't complain... except now i gotta get both cars to the inspection station and see'n as RI has diesel inspection there are only a handful of places that'll do oil burners. Fortunately one is pretty close. Don't even have to go to the city.
BTW - being on hold is boring, i HATE touch tone menus, a blinding maze of hell... i'm on level 5 or 6 right now... oh... now after all that "all representatives are busy please hold" big microscope companies ain't any easier to deal with than the phone company! Sheesh...
Oh Cook book. Just for Feltslave. I scored a 1995 reprint edition of: "The Stonyfield Farm YOGURT COOKBOOK" by Meg Cadoux Hirshberg. Damn cool bit of stuff in there. Some history i didn't know (but i'm sure Yogurt boy knows by heart).
It is an interesting bit of history reading about the status of the company (SF) back over 10 years ago. They've done pretty well for themselves. The recipes are (from looking at the ingredients) pretty damn good. Definitely gonna have to try the waffle recipe in here.
I'm gonna end with a comment from BikeSnobNYC's current entry. Pathletes. Best is taggin em with a trailer!
Jim said...
Steve, that's what I call "Interval Training." I do about 10 miles of bike trail commute (each way) some days. Often, some Pathlete screws with me when I'm trying to do a light spin after a workout or going home. Usually they try to goad me into a race or pull off a dangerous pass, nearly hitting a woman with kids or some rollerblader or another cyclist. That's when I decide to do some operant conditioning.
So I settle in for an easy spin about 15 feet off the pathlete's wheel. Okay, sometimes I have to go to zone 2 against Hinault Jr. Then I start doing intervals.
Um, their intervals, not mine.
They usually pedal along until I get right up on their wheel, then coast. The profoundly loud clacking of a Powertap hub is the signal for them to ride at 200% of Functional Threshold Power for as long as they can. They throw down for all they are worth for about 20 seconds, I let them get a little gap, and then they pop. When they visibly deflate, I adjust speed appropriately and cruise for a couple minutes about 20 feet behind them. They're warmed up and ready to go now. I'm careful to spin quietly, and usually they are sure they've dropped me with that amazing jump. They get in a couple good minutes of rest, which is the most important part of any training plan. During their short rest is where I face the toughest choice of all:
What kind of intervals am I doing today?
If my Pathlete seems to be short on VO2Max ability, I do a Tabata protocol. That means every 20 seconds or so, I coast a little. The Pathlete takes off like a shot (from a very small gun) and pedals hard for 10 seconds, then rests, if by rest you mean "gasping for breath, bouncing around on the bike, looking around nervously." 20 seconds later, 'CLAK CLAK CLAK CLAK" causes him to stand up and do a little 10 second sprint. This is good because in addition to building supra-threshold power, anaerobic endurance, it will also increase aerobic base. Unfortunately, most Pathletes only have it in them to do about 4 or 5 reps before they are done for the day, and to get maximum value you need to do about 10 reps. Yeah, they just don't suffer very well. But I'm working on the local commuter community, so there's hope for them.
On the other hand, if I want to do some subthreshold intervals, I coast, then settle in about 7 feet off the Pathlete's wheel. He typically settles into a hard barely-subthreshold pace, bobbing shoulders and head, rocking side to side and all. After 4 or 5 minutes, depending on how I'm trying to work him out that day, I'll soft pedal and let him get 30 feet, signified by his turning around on the bike, swerving into the oncoming lane, and look of relief. If I think he needs to work on lactate clearance, he gets two minutes rest before CLAK CLAK CLAK CLAK. If he needs to really focus on steady power outpout, I'll let him rest for 4.5 - 5 minutes.
Man, I've never had so much fun doing intervals before. You should try it. At first I couldn't believe how consistently wannabe hammerhead commuters responded to this stimulus, but having seen it, I think I have found a new hobby. Man, they're easier to train than dogs.
Sure, some people might say it's mean. But if they want to race, they need to train right. They should be grateful as hell that I'm willing to help them out this way. Crap, I pay a lot of money every month for coaching, and my coach is *way* tougher on me than that.
September 25, 2007 2:30 PM
Oh and i gave up on holding and left em a message, they promised to Call back as soon as a representative was available. I'm still waiting.
And as i'm waiting i'll really leave with this quote hanging in the air:
The point of philosophy is to start with something so simple as not to seem worth stating, and to end with something so paradoxical that no one will believe it.
- Bertrand Russell
peace
G
12 comments:
um, have you actually tried stopping with froglegs vs regular cantis, or you just taking cosmo-the-roadie's word for it?
*snicker*
nah
but ya see...
i been around since Shimano Canti's had that same geometry (anyone remember, other than Il Bruce, late 80s deore brakes?)... i didn't like em then...
Most of my diss'n of the "frog legs" are from people (yes usually roadies who are used to being able to stop) who put them on then sell em and buy Avids or NOS Shimano M900 or M737 canti brakes.
It ain't isolated and heck maybe they work. Maybe... but... set up is a big pain in the ass... if your wheel goes wonkered slightly they rub... i dunno...
call me stick in the mud but having a brake that has ZERO toe in adjustment and limited leverage and travel just seems stupid.
Why would anyone buy brakes that you can't adjust the Toe in on? (well besides disk and dual pivot roadie stuff).
It is funny seeing all the "new" cantilever bits that are on the market now. All that shit must have been wharehoused after V-Brakes hit the market cause none of that shit is any different than it used to be...
But then... some people run their bars pointing at a rear hub and never touch the drops... and other people are going so slow that they don't need their brakes and cobwebs grow on them.
Hey - take a look at photographic evidence: See any froglegs?
don't look like froglegs on either the leader or the rider about to go one lap down...
my bread and butter for 10 years of wrenching in shops was adjusting canti brakes...
If ya wanna go to school... give Sheldon's stuff a read.
http://sheldonbrown.com/cantilever-geometry.html
i like this:
"Wide profile cantilevers have a cantilever angle much greater than 90 degrees. The best example of this type is the old Mafac cantilevers, in which the anchor arm actually sloped downward from the boss in some installations. This design is now pretty much obsolete. Wide profile cantilevers have rather low mechanical advantage, and work well only with levers with a high mechanical advantage."
Hmmm... anyway more good stuff in there.
I read all that and wonder who the marketing ass hat was that started the whole fuzucked up "mafac" "frogleg" crap anyway...
Like Mud clearance is a problem, horsepoop, no trouble getting enough mechanical advantage on a Mt bike... and a Cross fork has less clearance...
ah nevermind...
it just making me grumpy...
yes...
froglegs are STUPID
mafac designs are STUPID
other stuff WORKS BETTER
(that was just to clarify my OPINION on the matter)
oh and yes - the highest mechanical advantage levers ARE road levers...
just show that some facts do explain the continued use of outdated technology.
I thought bike racers didn't need to stop. That's what Campagnolo used to say.
I have Avid Shorty 4s on my Surly. Boy, they sure suck.
maybe ya cable yoke is all set up wrong...
or maybe ya just need to apply the brakes from the drops ;) to maximize the leverage on the brake lever ;)
or maybe it ain't the brakes at all
maybe it the crappy ass pads ya got on there?
it ain't about the brakes as much as it is about all the stuff around em...
that said...
i ain't tried those there avid 4s...
the number one cause of sucky brakes is old-ass cables and housing. every time i put new cables and housing on i remember this.
and yeah gewilli, you sure proved that froglegs are obsolete with that picture of the two best cx riders in new england....
...paul components neo-retros on the front, touring canti's on the back ta save yer knees & if that don't work for ya, well maybe yer name is sally...just sayin' they WORK !!!...
A few observations just to get Ge more riled up:
1) Ge is among the bigger people racing cross. He probably corners slower too. So he needs better brakes.
1a) A 140 pound pro is much easier to slow down than Ge.
2) Pros ride whatever they get for free. Do you think Matt bought those brakes?
3) Modern carbon cross frames might be different, but until a few years ago cross frames were pretty wimpy and more powerful brakes would just spread the stays anyway.
4) Mud clearance IS better with the old geometry.
4a) MTB races are rarely on turf, which is where the real clearance issues surface.
4b) MTBs (until recently) had smaller diameter wheels, which is a less effective brake rotor, so you needed more pad pressure to get the same braking that you would with a 700 rim.
4c) MTBs all had to have braces to prevent the fork and stay from spreading.
4d) They still didn't have enough mud clearance, one of the reasons they all went to discs now.
5) I forget.
The better alternatives have been showing up on many people's bike in the past 2 years. Froglegs have been around for a while. I have them on my bike; they came on it when I bought it (used). They are great brakes, unless you want to slow down. It could be the pads too, I don't know, I haven't messed with them. They are good enough for cross, but out on the road, like at D2R2, descending steep hills on dirt roads, they were downright dangerous. YMMV.
What about the old Dia-Compe center pulls Ge?
bgw,
hmmm who has that set up, or should i say, who's old (last year) cross bikes were set up like that...
hmmm, someone we both know?
fine unless ya wanna slow down...
hmmm
ain't that what the shit is for?
But yes good points Solo...
best for the next entry heading up...
stay tuned for more back and forth than a long volley at the French Open.
Across the board in cycling, the same issue surfaces. Riders weight can vary by a factor of about 2.5, yet everyone has to choose from the same designs of brakes, cranks, wheels, and especially tires.
Post a Comment