Its been 3 weeks since my last cycling trip and I’m getting anxious for the new wheel to arrive. By the way here are the 2 photos of the wheel as it stands today. The rims are the standard CXP22 that comes with most stock cyclocross bikes and the spokes are probably some DTs but they could be some generic Taiwanese made wheels too.
Now the plan is to get them built at a later stage, surely not here in France. Maybe even to do it myself so that I’ll have the experience of rebuilding my own wheel. got to change the hubs to something easy rolling as well while I’m at it, and a nice set of SAPIM spokes. My new AmClass should have SAPIM Laser, which is a dual butted spoke, should be quite flexible in the ride, if I like it, I might spec this CXP22 with Laser as well, and get it fitted with CX tires so that I can have a set of wheels for the road and another set for offroad!! Next would be the Empella Froggleg CX brakes.
Here’s another event worth thinking about…. The 2007 Paris Half Marathon. Not too sure, but I think its held about the same time as the full Marathon. I might join this one for the freebies and medal for finishing. But I have till December to think about it. The date is sometime in March. Link below:
http://www.parismarathon.com/semi/2007/fr/index.html
After thinking about it for half a week, I’ve settled on a pair of American Classic 420 clincher wheels for my bicycle to replace the broken Mavic CXP22 that was fitted out of the factory.
The wheel I’m rooting for has the following specs:
- Aluminium clinchers (ok, not carbon, but much cheaper)
- 1450g in weight (much lighter than Mavic Ksyriums!)
- Titatium skewers
- SAPIM Laser spokes in 18/24 configuration for the front and rear
There are some reviews on the internet that this wheel is not that durable. But some of them managed to ride for years as a training wheel as well, so I’d say that the reviews are mostly mixed. Then again, even Mavics have bad reviews here and there, so I’m ready to take the plunge.
Continue reading 'American Classic 420 Wheelset'»
For the first time on Sunday, I went out on my bike ride with a few euros in my saddle bag. 45km out of Paris en route to Rambouillet (actually I remember passing the Rambouillet city limits, so I was technically already inside Rambouillet), I heard a twang coming off my rear wheels and had the wheel wobbling. Had to stop by the roadside and wondering whether its better to ride on and catch a train back (which would have been a bad idea in hindsight, since I only had 10Euro with me!) or ride all the way back for 45km, including 2 tough hill climbs with the rear wheel wobbling all the way and without the rear brakes functional.
Continue reading 'Busted spokes and superstition…'»
I’ve had this cyclocross bicycle for what? 8-9 months so far? Logged well in excess of 1100km on it already, and done a major upgrade (mainly going from a flatbar into a road racing drop bar and Ultegra all over except the brakes). I still take it out to the road around Paris once a week on the weekend mostly. spends most of its time on the road.
Continue reading 'Felt F1X so far'»
Not sure how far you’ve done in the last jog? This is an interesting site based on google maps that lets you estimate the distance online…
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/
Had a 65km ride today, up about 400m of hills around Versailles and Velizy in France. Nice scenery though. Might try another route again next week.
After 2 weeks in Paris where its winter, I’ve been going on without exercise, and the when I went for a run on Friday in Langkawi, I could only manage 50% of the distance that I’ve been doign all these while. THen again the course was quite hilly so maybe that’s a good reason. Whatever it is, I think soon I’ll have to learn to run outdoors in the cold.
Brought my bicycle to the shop today to upgrade the parts. Actually I was more going from a flat bar cyclocross to a road bike handle bar, and as a consequence, got to change the brake levers (STI) gear shift, rear derailleur into one that will fit a road bike.
Was thinking of a Shimano 105 group, but finally why not just go to Ultegra all the way. AT the end, the cranks were changed as well.
Took some time to get used to the road position, and then I realised that the original setting was a little wrong, the seat was too low, and too far back etc.
Overall, I’m quite happy with the Shimano Ultegra set, shifts well and you dont feel any lag between paddling and the power getting to the wheels. Unlike my previous SRAM X9+Truvativ combination that’s more suited to mountain bikes.
Did my first 50km bike ride today. Had to think of some creative routes to get that kind of distance without spending too much time on the highway. KL highways are just too notorious to take a chance… A woman driver almost reversed into me in a car park, seems that you dont really need signal indicators or rear view mirrors on cars here in MAlaysia… no one seems to be using it.
Anyways, next… the Century!
Its a muslim holiday today in Malaysia. But still have to come to the office becuase some regional project is due tomorrow. But had problems waking up in the morning so I thought the best solution is to go out for a run.
so for the first time in 15 years, I managed to do a non stop 3km run, and in 20mins (which is not that fast a speed). But felt good after.
Right after that, the breakfast consist of 2 roti canai at the local mamak store, which is surprisingly open on a Muslim holiday!
Woke up to a good day today. Cloudy, and not that hot. So decided to go cycle for at least 30km. Did about 35 at the end of it. Took 1.5 hours, averaging about 20kmph with some stops to recuperate. For the first time I ran out of water in the standard waterbottle. So if I go any further in the future I might need a second bottle rack! Next stop: 50km in one go!
Wanted to go out for a cycle this morning, hoping to clock up 30km at least at a go and check whats wrong with the Polar cadence sensor (measures only >60rev/min) but its raining again! Its been raining since last night, and its one of those irritating rain. Not heavy, not light, but it wets the road anyways. I have slicks on my Felt F1X so its not going to fly. All the wait. Maybe in the evening the sky will open up.
Just got started into biking as part of my fitness revival (from zero to hero). The problem of biking in Malaysia is that there are not that many shops over there. Even in PJ itself Icould only count about 2-3 shops only, ok more if you consider branches. In Singapore I could find just about one everywhere and most of them are well stocked.
Priority here this time is not to replace anythin Ialready have in KL (Basically, the full working bike, my Felt F1X, hand pump, spare tube, saddle bag) but to get the rest of the important accessories.
Continue reading 'Accessories for road biking…'»
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