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.
First, we got to experience the famous nasty frenchie neighbour today. We came back from a dinner last night and saw an urgent post-it note from the owner of the apartment on the door, talking about leaking pipes and the neighbour’s apartment was affected.
We woke up in the morning with a big surprise, when the neighbour came in to turn off the main water supply. He did it in an extremely rude manner, like a bastard and a half that he was. Anyway, called up the plumber, who came in at 6pm in the evening and the problem was a little thing in the pipe that was dripping water slowly, slowly.
Anyways, French laws apparently requires reparation to be carried out and paid by the tenants. There’s insurance for this but it only covers water damage, so if you dont have moulds or something destroyed, its not covered, meaning no labour charges are included in the insurance.
By the way, it seems to be ok now. Lessons learnt:
1. We found out we’ve got bastards for neighbours.
2. Forget becoming a doctor or lawyer if you want to be rich. Be a plumber. I think I could have done the repair (tighten the nut?) and we were charged freaking 98 Euros. That’s for 30min work. Something is wrong with this country…
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
Its probably something particular only to France: I’ve joined the Paris 20km run (almost a half marathon) on 15th October, and to do the actual run, I will need to present a certificate from the doctor saying that I should be fit to do it.
So I took some time off this morning to visit the friendly neighbourhood doctor, and for 10mins, I got my blood pressure checked, and some readings of my heart beats through the stethoscope… and I got my certification to run! Its in the form of a letter from the doctor with your name and the statement that he has no reason to believe that you can’t compete.
Continue reading 'Le Certificat Medicale…'»
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 was checking my main running shoe this morning (bought in april 2006) and the fabric at the heel is starting to fray, actually even torn on the right shoe. The rest of the shoe, especially cushioning, is still quite alright even with a few hundred km use, but I hope that this doesn’t mean that I have to replace it anytime soon. I don’t get blisters or anything from it. At least not yet. Amazing how flimsy things are nowadays.
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