While in Montana recently (no sales tax) we went to REI where they had their Yakima bike racks on sale. We picked up the Yakima Hold-Up rack, the same my son John had purchased earlier. I got the model for the 2 in. receiver since I want to use on our van for future use and plan to use on the Hoodoo 500 this August.

With this new rack the bike is supported from the wheels and a single arm that clamps down on the front tire.  Nothing touches the frame.  It is very easy and quick to make a bike change.  When not in use, the rack folds up, out of the way.  Anne is also pleased that the color matches the color of our van!

With this model you can buy an extension that holds an additional two bikes.  That would allow you to haul four bikes on the back.  I have another so called four bike Yakima rack that hangs the bikes from the top tube but I never could get four bikes on it.  Also the new rack works great with mountain bikes, which have a sloping top tube and wider tires.

Yesterday I wrote about putting a compact crank on my road bike.  Today I changed the gearing on Anne’s road bike so she would also have lower gearing.  She already had a triple crank with a 12-27 cassette so the only way to get lower gearing would be to add a mountain bike type cassette on the rear, which means also the need to change to a mountain bike rear derailleur.  There was one complication because Anne had 10 speed shifters on her bike and all mountain bike components are 9 speed.

You can not just use a 9 speed cassette with 10 speed shifters because the cable pull between gears is different.  When I bought my new compact crank for my bike, I also purchased an XTR rear derailleur because it was also on sale at Performance and there was also a 12 hour period with 20% more off.  Cost for the XTR was only $80, a steal.  From my prior experience I knew that I needed a “top normal” type.  Newer mountain bikes use a “low normal”.  Derailleurs are defined by the normal position of the derailleur (that is the resting position), either the top gear (smallest cog) or the lowest gear.

I checked with the bike club for recommendations.  Most of those responded recommend using an IRD product. They make a 10 speed 11-34 cassette.  I was not too anxious with this approach for a couple of reasons.  First I had tried that cassette, on loan from a friend, on my road bike before last year’s Everest Challenge.  I was not happy with how it shifted so I took it off and did the event last year with my double crank and regular road cassette.  Second the price for this cassette is about $170, which is a lot more than a Shimano XT cassette that would shift better.

When you have a triple crank having 10 speeds is a bit overkill because you get a lot of duplication in gearing.  I feel that most people with a triple who also want mountain bike gearing would have been happy to stay with 9 speeds but Shimano didn’t go that route with their road components.  There is talk that they will come out with a 10 speed mountain bike group, but that is not yet the case.

One club member suggested I look at a product from Jteck Engineering, called the ShiftMate.  I emailed the company and got a reply to my questions within an hour.  After studying the concept, it seemed like a great way to go so I ordered online from them, cost of $35 plus $6 shipping.  They shipped to me by priority mail.

This device is two concentric pulleys that the derailleur cable routes around.  The difference in the diameter of the two pulleys is such that the cable pull from the 10 speed shifters is increased to match what the cable pull from 9 speed shifters would do.  This allows you to use a 9 speed cassette.  The device arrived last Saturday.   I took a look and it seemed to be a clever approach to a common issue.

Today I decided to tackle this project.  I started by removing the cable from the existing Shimano 105 rear derailleur.

Next I removed the chain from the bike.

After I removed the existing 10 speed derailleur, I attached the new XTR derailleur in it’s place.

I cut the cable housing shorter so it would fit better, then threaded the cable back through the housing and then through the ShiftMate.

Next I removed the road cassette from the rear wheel and replaced it with a Shimano 11-34 cassette.  I had purchased a new XT cassette for our tandem during the recent sale but was not planning to use that until later this year.  Since we use our tandem more than Anne uses her single bike, I decided to do a swap and put the new cassette and chain on the tandem and move the tandem’s rear cassette and chain over to Anne’s bike.

The final step was to connect the cable to the rear derailleur and make the final adjustments.  Since the shifter has 10 stops and the cassette has only 9, I used the low stop on the derailleur.

A short test ride on the street showed that things were shifting smoothly, just as you would expect if the bike had 9 speed shifters.  Since I used some components from our tandem, the total cost was only $80 for the XTR and $35 for the Shiftmate, for a total of $115.  If Shimano does come out with a 10 speed 11/34 cassette, I can always switch to that and most of my investment will still be used.

Later in the day, we went for a ride to make sure that it shifted okay while actually climbing.  Anne reported that it worked just fine.

After the experience of cramping going up Snowbird at the end of the 1000 Warriors race, I decided to order a new compact crank.  I had already put a SRAM 11-28 cassette on the rear and that was working, so I would be able to still get a fairly high gear (50/11) with a compact crank.  I was lucky because Performance had it on sale for almost 40% off retail and then there was a 12 hour extra 20% off coupon.  I bought it and a new XTR deraulier for Ann’s bike and had them delivered to our Utah home so no sales tax.

I decided to do the swap today. I first removed the existing Dura-Ace double crank by looseing the two bolts using an allen wrench.  I then removed the cap using a special Park tool.  You then flip up the plastic tab that keeps the crank from coming off, then pull off the fright crank arm.  I could see that I had a press fit bottom bracket that came with the new frame.  Since this was brand new, there was no reason to replace it.  I pulled the crank assemble out of the bottom bracket and reversed the procedure.  I could not get the plastic lock stop to engage properly so I thought maybe my crank arm was no in all the way.  Finally I swapped the plastic tab with the one from my double crank and it worked just fine.

I had to move the front derailuer down a bit but my new frame has a clamp-on type so that was easy enough to do.  My frame that ended up breaking had a brazed on derailleur and I was always worried about the amount of adjustment.

I realized I also need to also shorten the chain.  The prior chrankset was 53/39 and the new compact is 50/34.  So the large chainring has 3 teeth less and the small chainring has 5 teeth less.  The chain goes around slightly more than 50% of the chainring,  So for the large chainring that means 3 * .5 = 1.5 links and with the small chaingring 5*.05= 2.5 links.  You can only remove links in multiple of two so I took out two links and checked the chain when it was cross chained in both directions.

So how much lower gear will I get?  The compact crank with a 11/28 cassette gives you the range of a stock triple since 53/12 is about the same as 50/11 on the high end and 34/28 is about the same as 30/25 on the low end.  Of course it will not be as low a gear as a triple with a 27 or 28 tooth cassette.

My next project is to add mountain bike gearing to Anne’s single bike.  On the same order with the Dura-Ace compact crank, I ordered a Shimano XTR rear derailleur that was also on sale.  But she has 10 speed shifters and most mountain bike cassettes are 9 speed.  I had to either get a special 3rd party 10 speed cassette or try a device that changes the cable pull.  I decided to try the later.  But that is the subject for another blog entry.

Well I didn’t exactly get a new bike. Last week I broke my bike. Heading down American Fork Canyon, after dropping 2,500 feet, we arrived at Mt. Timpanogas Cave National Monument, where we stopped at the snack bar. As soon as I got off the bike, I could tell the rear wheel was not rotating completely free. It was rubbing against the right chainstay. I noticed that the connection between the metal dropout and the carbon fiber chain stay had started to separate, which was forcing the wheel off center. Yikes, what to do?

After making some adjustment, tightening the wheel and opening the rear brake, I was finally able to rotate freely. We then headed down carefully, stopping a few times to make sure the separation was not increasing because if it came apart it would be disastrous. We decided to ride directly to the Trek Bike Store in American Fork. There they confirmed that the frame was broken and advised against riding it even one mile.  They confirmed that the frame was under warranty and that Trek would either replace it or repair it at the factory.   I told them I needed to get my bike fixed as soon as possible because I have the 1000 Warriors race coming up and if they replaced the frame I didn’t care what the color it was.   That turned out to be the right thing to say. A real nice guy at the Trek store said he would do what he could.

I was hoping to get a new frame rather than have the factory try to repair my old one. Well I was lucky because not only did they end up giving me a new frame and fork, they gave me the top of the line Madone 6.9 Red. The local Trek store received the frame only 8 days after I first went to them and today they finished moving my components over.  When I picked up the bike the nice guy there said he never saw Trek do such an upgrade on a frame under warranty.  The new frame has a built in seat post so they could not move mine over and no braze on front derailleur so they had to add some components.  It only cost me $200 for everything.

When I got home with the rig, I did a short ride.  It was not shifting quite as smooth as I was use to so I had to make several adjustments.  I also adjusted the headset angle slightly.  It seems to be working great now.  I can’t wait to get the bike out on a real ride.  It is sure lighter than my old frame.  I just need to make sure I get use to this new bike and that it is working smoothly before I race a week from Saturday.

I spent this morning putting a new tire on the front and moving the front tire to the rear to replace that worn tire. I reattached the speed pickup for my Polar heart rate monitor and I tightened the cassette, which I think was the source of the noise. I had used a torque wrench before but I guess I had the wrong setting.

I weighed both bikes, loaded as I would ride them, sans water bottles. The new Trek Madone is a lighter bike but I have aero bars on it. On my old bike I have put on new wheels and a new Durace crankset so it is lighter than it use to be. I was surprised that both bike weighed nearly the same, within half a pound.

• Trek Madone 5.2 18.65 lbs (with pack with 2 tubes, CO2, mini pump, aero bars
• Trek 5200 19.35 lbs (with pack with 2 tubes, Co2, mini pump)

Part of the difference is the weight of the Syntace C2 aero bars at 358 grams, close to one pound. I could remove those since there is not that much drafting on this event. That would bring the wieght of the new bike down to 17.8 lbs, or 1.5 lbs lighter, both on an equivalent basis.

I set up both bikes next to each other to see if I should make any adjustments to the old bike to match the ride I like on the new one. I ended up moving the saddle forward slightly. I notice the handlebars one the new bike are a bit higher and the 10 speed shifters really do have a better angle, but without getting a new stem for the old bike there is little I can do there.

I just finished 24 mile last ride using the old bike. I fixed the rattle and it seems to be working fine. I calculated that the difference of 1.5 lbs will only mean 4 mintues total time difference for the entire DMD. I recall when I did the Furnace Creek 508 going up Townes Pass with my double and having a difficult time. Later I thought I should have used the older bike with the triple (which was on the support car). I expect the climb up Sierra Road after already doing 140 miles and 15,000 feet of climbing will be similar. But I did the entire Furnace Creek 508 with only a double, even Townes Pass. I used the double on the Death Ride and the Cimb to Kaiser. So I have decided to tough it out and go with the faster and lighter bike.

Forerunner® 405 1st Quarter, 2008 Part Number: 010-00658-10 Suggested Retail Price: $ 318.74 USD

This unit is much smaller than previous Forerunner units and was finally down to the size you would expect for a runner’s watch. It had a most unique user interface. Instead of pushing buttons to move through the menu options, you just run your finger around the watch front, and tap it when you find what you want.

There is no mapping function but it does support heart rate, and has optional bike speed and cadence, and supports a footpod. It automatically transfers your data to a computer.

Edge® 605 1st Quarter, 2008 Part Number: 010-00555-00 Suggested Retail Price: $ 430.75 USD

This unit appears to be a much improved unit over the previous Edge 205, which it appears to be replacing. It now includes a true GPS mapping function in a package no larger that what I recall the 305 to be. Included is only the base map so that means buying mapping software to get other than major highways. It has support for a MicroSD card so you can add your own maps. This unit does not support a bike speed/cadence sensor heart rate and does not include a barometric altimeter, so you may want to opt for the Edge 705.

Edge® 705 1st Quarter, 2008 Part Number: 010-00555-20 Suggested Retail Price: $ 541.65 USD

This unit appears to be a much improved unit over the previous Edge 305, which it appears to be replacing. It now includes a true GPS mapping function. It adds support for heart rate and cadence and will also support Power with third party ANT+Sport-enabled power meters. You can also send your course wirelessly to another Edge 705. The battery life is suppose to be 15 hours, an improvement over the Edge 305, but still a bit on the short side. Even though the price of the 705 is more than $100 more than the Edge 605, I would recommend it because of the added features the serious cyclists would want and if you are not a serious cyclists why would you bother in the first place with one of these expensive units.

I asked about Mac computer support. All of the above units currently will only work with Windows, but Mac support will be coming later in 2008 (as Garmin has been saying).

The light has three power settings, high, medium and stealth. I had them program my light so the stealth mode was at 5% instead of the normal 2% because when I tested it last Friday during the mountain bike ride, I didn’t feel the 2% would be adequate. I am glad I made that change.

Before I get into how the light performed on the road, in the dark, here are some interesting comparisons between my new light and an older 20/10 watt dual light system I have used in the past.

On the left is the new BR Light, which is all self contained in one unit. That means the mount, the light, the battery, the controller switch are all together. Compare that with my old light with a separate battery, a bag for the battery, cables to connect the battery to the light, a light mount, and a control switch I had to attach to the handle bar.

I weighed both setups (san chargers). The BR light weighed 14.2 oz (408 grams) while my old light came in at 2 lbs, 2.5 oz (992 grams) or more than twice the weight. My old light has two lights, a 10 watt and a 20 watt, for a total of 30 watts, but with both lights I can only get a couple hours of run time, even with that heavy battery.

The BR light is small enough and light enough to mount on the handlebar with no need for cords (note I have small hands).

I then did a very unscientific test and shined both lights in a dark room against the wall.

The BR light is on the left, the old light on the right. It should be obvious to even the most casual observer that the BR light is much brighter and the light is whiter, which is easier to use on the road.

The mount for the light is attached to it. It is a clever all metal mounting system that I believe is very solid, even fully adequate for mountain biking. Once mounted, it is easy to move the light left or right as you are riding, to aim the beam. The light does not come off as quick as those lights that have a mount that stays on the bike such as my Cateye HL530, but then those mounts are often flimsy. The BR light is relatively easy to attach and remove and certainly faster and easier than setting up a light that has an external battery that you need to attach to the bike somewhere then wire it to the light on the handlebar.

Now back to my ride in the dark. I rode 13 miles in the dark, part through the city streets and about 10 miles on a road that had no street lights and enough times with no cars to test things out. I found that on high power the BR light has plenty enough light for me to go as fast as I wanted. I took my speed up to 30 mph on a short descent and felt fully comfortable.

On the medium setting the light is adequate for 20 mph, what I would usually do on a flat road. If the route was short enough I would still opt for the higher light setting, but the medium setting was fine, especially if the road has a white line to gauge off and is in reasonably good shape.

I had a short climb where I tested out the stealth mode (my light was set at 5%). I found it adequate, but barely, for climbing at up to 7-8 mph. I am glad I had them change the setting and maybe a slightly higher setting would be useful. In any case it is about as bright in the stealth mode as my Cateye HL530, which has a claim of 1,500 candlepower (a useless measurement in my opinion).

I feel that with this particular light, I could basically go all night on a single charge by using the medium setting for flats, the high power for descents and the stealth mode for climbing. The light has a 6 stage battery indicator. A colored LED goes from green (full power) to blinking green, then to orange, then blinking orange, then red, then blinking red. It is a clever system and very easy to see how much battery life left.

I found using the single control button on the light to work very well. It was very responsive.

If I owned a HID light I would make a direct comparison. When we did the night mountain bike ride last Friday we did an informal comparision with some HID lights on the ride and found the BR Light similar in terms of illumination. The BR light has the big advantage of using the new CRED LEDs which are very reliable and much more shock resistant than a HID light. The LED light turns on immediately and it is no problem to shut it off and back on as you wish.

I have a sophisticated light meter back from the early days of photography that will measure LUX, but I have to find some batteries first. They don’t make the mercury button batteries anymore for this device that is 25 years old. When I get it to work, I can do more testing.

In summary, I am very glad I bought the BR light.

They let me try both the handlebar light (C2.1-H model) as well as the helmet mount light (Jen-H model) with the auxilary battery pack. I got the lights setup quickly due to a clever design for both the handle bar light and the helmet light. Unlike my existing lights that required me to first put an a handlebar bracket, attach the battery, attach the light, connect the light to the battery and finally attach the control buttons to the handle bar; this unit is all self contained so the battery and control switches are all in one unit. It makes the design look a bit boxy but I was pleasantly surprised that in the field when I had mounted the unit on the bike it didn’t look as big as I thought it would after looking only at their website.

The helmet light is a nice looking design, again all self contained. The only downside of this is that it is a bit heavy on the head, but not unreasonably so at only 300 grams.

We took off soon after 7 pm, with plenty of light to make the first climb. Kyle and Jeni, from BR Lights, were out in the front and I struggle to keep up with them even though we were on a fire road. I realized they were great mountain bike riders in addition to knowing a lot about LED light technology.

Kyle and Jeni from BR Lights

Franz with BR helmet light

As we reached the first regroup area it was getting dark and we had a chance to finally try out the lights.

After the rest of the group arrived we had a chance to compare the lights. Jim had a triple shot on his handlebar so we pointed it ahead to the right and I pointed the BR handlebar light to the left. You can see the comparison in this photo.

Comparison of BR Light (left) and Triple Shot (right)

The BR light was clearly brighter, not only over the wide area, but much brighter in the spot area.

Jim also had on one of the BR helmet lights while he hammed it up for the camera.

Jim with BR Helmet Light

We made our way to the tricky single track. Not being a real experienced mountain biker, I normally would have been very nervous doing this single track in the dark but I found the combination of the BR handlebar light and the BR helmet mounted light illuminated up things fully. I usually was running the handlebar light on half power and relying more on the helmet light, which seemed to work fine.

Both lights have a stealth mode, that sas some extremely long battery life. I tired that mode but found it too weak for anything other than maybe climbing on a road bike.

Some of the riders in our group were using HID lights. I didn’t see that they were any brighter than what I was using, which is quite a feat considering the BR Lights use CRED LEDs, are all self contained with a total weight much less than the HIDs and much greater durability.

It was well past 11 pm when we finished about a 20 mile ride.

I was so impressed with the BR Lights that I ordered the handlebar version (C2.1-H model) right away. I would like to buy the helmet light also but that would be a bit much for me right now, but I am tempted. I hope I get my new BR light quickly before the our big night mountain bike adventure in September.

Franz Kelsch

See also:

http://www.swim2bike2run.net

(my personal endurance sports website)

http://www.actc.org
(primary cycling club where you can contact me at webaster@actc.org)

I even added a shelf above the bikes to put things like helmets and shoes. One mountain bike is stored on hooks behnd the tandem. I installed a hoist system for the tandem so it is easy to lift up. The other 4 bikes are mounted into fork mounts. So you see I can make it all fit in only a small corner of the garage, and still have room for my repair stand and pumps.

We first tested to see if we could fit the Trek Tandem in our Odyssey mini-van. It fit just right. Oh, what the heck I thought and we went ahead and bought it.  Some people probably think I only buy Trek bikes but that is not entirely true.  Yes my last two road bikes are Trek models, which I do like, but I also bought a Giant Mountain Bike and an Giant road bike for Ann.

It is not what you would call a real high end tandem, but it is also not low end. Most of the components are the Ultregra class, 9 speed. It has a carbon fork and some nice aero wheels. Some people may not want this tandem because it might not have the beafy wheels they need or the steel frame, but Ann and I together don’t weigh that much so I felt it would meet our needs just fine. While the Comotion came with couplers so you can take it apart for travel, we decided if we go to Europe we would rather take single bikes anyway and for the price difference we could buy one Commotion single bike with couplers.

Here are the features:

Frame
ZR 9000 Alloy
Fork
Bontrager Satellite Plus Carbon Tandem
Wheels
Bontrager Race Lite Tandem
Crank
Ultegra 52/39/30
Rear Derailleur
Shimano Deore XT
Sizes
54/44

I had them change the stem to a 70 mm one since the top tube was a bit long for me. I also bought a drag brake but it was not in stock so it is on order. The drag brake allows you to add drag going down a long hill to save breaking so much.

I worked on it during the evening getting it ready so we can try it tommorow.