FSA Carbon vs Campagnolo Veloce (Square Taper)

Generally, I'm not much of a weight-centric guy when it comes to bike parts for my steel steeds, but sometimes I still get curious. Both of these cranks were in the running for my Soma Smoothie. Since it has a carbon fork, the FSA gives a better aesthetic balance, but I like the clean simplicity of the Veloces as well. I put them on the scale and let gravity be the deciding factor.

Anyone want some never ridden Campagnolo Veloce cranks?

Camelia transcends training wheels in 5 minutes

Morning Commute

Leaving my neighborhood, the first two miles is easy, smooth and almost no traffic. It's a couple of rolling hills and a 2-lane bike path that switches sides of the road about every half-mile. Though that part is a little annoying, I guess I can't complain about it.

The next mile is around behind some of the major shopping centers and strip malls in the area. Fortunately, the city built an alternate route that sees a little less traffic and maintains a more rural appeal. It has an asphalt sidewalk, or maybe it's a bike lane, but it intersects non-ramped curbs, so I opt for the road.

Eventually, my ride goes from the backroads to the main highway in town, Maryland Hwy 235 or Three Notch Road. Though it's VERY busy at 6AM, the bike lane is plenty wide and because the bike lane is outboard of three other lanes, the next lane over is a turn lane. Fortunately, very few people are turning into strip malls at 6AM.

All things considered and based on the actual population of this town, I feel pretty lucky to have a lane at all. Growing up in the southeast, roads were typically 2-lane "blacktops" with no shoulder, no sidewalk, no emergency lane, nothing of the sort. As I understand it, Charleston (SC) has made great progress with the conversion of railways to bike trails and has added bike lanes to many of their most traveled roads.

Fully Equipped

After having had the Steamroller for less that 36 hours, I had to make another change. The tires previous owner (PO) had on it were Panaracer T-Serv Messenger 700X35s that were fat enough to be 40s or 42s. Though the front had plenty of clearance between the fork crown and brake caliper, the rear had somewhere between very little and NONE. Depending on how you center the rear wheel, you could get at least one or as many as 3 or 4 spots on the tire where it rubbed as it went by the rear brake bridge and caliper. NO GOOD.

Fortunately for me, I still had the 700X32 Panaracer Paselas from the Raleigh Talon and switched the suckers over. Now I have tires that are still chubby and comfortable, but are also rated for 95psi which is CRAZY fast for a big fat road-gripper 32.

A couple more seconds of lining up the rear wheel in the slot, aligning the brake caliper/pads and cranking down the quick-release (yeah, I know, Quick Release?) and I'm back on the road.

FW: GREAT MARKETING!!!

From an article featured on the "Europe Knows Best" enviro-communist website:

http://www.newurbanism.org/transport.html

2. BICYCLES - A major form of daily transportation in many countries.

Bicycles are the most sustainable form of transport, are the least expensive to use, are pollution-free, take up the smallest amount of space for riding and parking, and provide daily exercise for riders.

Towns and cities have to be made bicycle-friendly to encourage their wide use.

I later found that they were using models and bicycles from

www.VELORBIS.com

A German bike company who REALLY knows how to sell the IDEA of cycling to the unassuming schmuck with more money than sense. Take a look at these photos and answer me this... Are you still thinking about going for a bike ride?

The First Commute in Maryland

Got the Surly Steamroller from UPS last night!

http://twowheelkarma.blogspot.com/2009/04/got-it.html

Slapped the White Industries ENO cranks and some Eggbeaters on there at about 2200.

I had originally planned on swapping the stem, bars and brake levers because I just haven't really liked flat bars on 700c bikes, however, I was SO DETERMINED to ride it to work this morning that I just left it alone and took off at 0600.

MAN IT WAS SWEET! My commute is 8.4 miles and it took me 31 minutes (even with stoplights, that's better than 16mph on a single speed). I am LOVING IT!

So here's the details as it is currently rolling:

62cm Surly Steamroller frame and fork (which means it's 60cm C toC, and about a 34" standover with phat tires)
Mavic Open Sport rims with Wheelsmith Stainless straight-gauge spokes, brass nipples
Suzue double-freewheel high flange hubs (2 freewheels, from a Rivendell Quickbeam)
16t Dicta Freewheel and a BMX/Track chain (no ramps)
BIG ASS 700X38 Panaracer Messenger tires at 90psi
Some lame ass Haro stem and steel riser bar, no doubt from the shop floor at Ye Ol' Bike Shop somewhere
175mm White Industries ENO cranks with 42t chainring. They weigh less than my Campy Chorus cranks I originally ordered for it. WEIRD!
Egg Beaters (of course)
Regular old silver alloy seat post and Selle San Marco whatever saddle
Shimano long-reach brakes from the Rivendell site, sold as replacement parts for OLD road bikes that had adequate clearance for bigger tires.
Cheese-box Tektro brake levers (work fine)

I couldn't believe how upright and comfortable it was to have a flat bar, and wow, what an improvement for that over the shoulder "what the hell are you doing" look that you have to exchange with your friendly neighborhood motorist. I had a backpack on with clothes, shoes, lunch, and my Day-Planner thingy and the big ol tires didn't feel squishy or squirrelly at all.

All in all, it's just plain bad ass, and I'm TOTALLY happy with it. Solid, fast, smooth... I honestly can say I have NO CURRENT COMPULSION to upgrade ANYTHING or even swap so much as a sticker...

The tough part is that I have to wait until 1630 to ride it again...

CONCENTRATE!!!

Tribute by a friend to his father, George

At around 11:30 AM today, while riding his bike on the Village Green
neighborhood bicycle path, My father George collapsed suddenly and
died instantly. There is as yet no official explanation of how it
happened, probably a blood clot, heart murmur or stroke. He was 74
years old.

My father was born in the Green Mountains of Northfield Falls,
Vermont, and always wanted to fly airplanes, a hobby he had learned on
the same grass practice strip Amelia Earhart used to train for her ill-
fated transglobal flight. Although he had little love for the water
besides building speedboats to run on the mountain lakes as a
teenager, he became a US Coast Guardsman in 1951, serving for over 30
years. He served aboard search and rescue cutters in his early years,
once fighting a fire aboard the SS General Greene in Boston Harbor. He
next transitioned to duty as a lighthouse keeper, serving at several
famous lights around the Eastern seaboard before attaining the rank of
Chief Petty Officer, attending the Warrant Officer Candidate's Course,
and meeting my mother in 1963.

As a Warrant Officer, my father commanded several buoy tenders and
icebreakers- USCGC White Heath, White Holly, Sumac,and Foxglove, and
was the captain of an experimental program involving an icebreaking
hovercraft barge on the Mississippi River. In 1971 he captained the
USCGC White Heath in a transitory cruise from Ketchikan, Alaska to its
new home at Boston, Mass. This trip was the source of many stories of
harrowing adventure in the Gulf of Mexico and Panama Canal. He retired
from the Coast Guard in 1985 as a Chief Petty Officer-4, and as the
Chief of inspection operations at USCG Base Charleston's Marine Safety
Office.

After retiring from the Coast Guard, my 50-year old father hated doing
nothing, and so became a firefighter for the St. Paul's District in
the Hollywood area. He rose quickly to the position of Fire Chief,
serving in that capacity until 1993.

Finally retired, George pursued canoeing, woodworking and bicycling to
stay busy. He bicycled at least 10 miles per day, sometimes doing
twenty as he tried to maintain a 4,000 mile per year average. He did
all of this not on the latest in high-tech composite road bikes or
even a comfortable cruiser, but on the rust and leather seat of a
steel-framed 1976 Columbia ten-speed that he constantly tinkered to
improve (although he enjoyed the Autobike for a while, while it lasted).

My only consolation today has been that my father died doing something
that he loved, and he did not suffer. I selfishly wish he had
contracted some incurable disease that laid him up for months so I
could have had at least one more chance to give him a hug, tell him a
war story, complain about politics with him or tell him all my long-
lost friends had now said "hi" on Facebook. But what's good for the
living is never the best for the dead, and I thank God I cannot go
back in time and get my wish.

Godspeed Chief Matheson, Chieftain of my Clan, teacher of all I know.

You sail on seas of clouds at last.

I miss you so much.

Fac et Spero.

New Crankset for the Steamroller: White Industries ENO

Whoa, I saw these things on a Mountain Single Speed a few years back.

I had no idea that they made a chainring big enough for a road bike.
It's true that the precision of the drivetrain on a Single Speed is
"all there is", and with the amount of play in chainring bolts
designed for derailers, there is a noticeable tight and slack
portion of the crank rotation. This is eliminated by a solid
chainring, so we'll see how American Craftsmanship stands up to a
road test.

I ordered 175mm cranks with a 42 tooth ring.

This will line up pretty solid with my 18t freewheel on the Suzue
Hubs.

It's gonna be too shiny for words, and I can't wait!