Book of Paul H

Went out for a road ride this morning but about 3 or 4 miles into it... SQUEAK!!!!!!. Sounded like cheap brakes... I know...my walgoose sound like this. So naturally, thought it was the brakes. Thinking maybe something got stuck temporarily in the brake pads and I continue on. 30 minutes later... SQUEAK!!!! I pull over and visually inspect and everything looked ok. Get back on the road and sure enough... SQUEAK!!!! This time, instead of pulling over, I goof around with the brakes but the sound is unaffected by the brakes. Then, I noticed that when I start pedaling again, the sound disappears but coast... its back and its starting to get worse. Bottom bracket? rear hub? either way... WTF! Cut the ride short and head back home.

Without thinking... which is usually my problem, load the bike on to the car and off I go to Bicycle Tech.
Get there right at 10AM and sure enough... so I thought, Rich pulls in. I walk into the shop and explain my problem to the tech and without a word, my bikes goes on the stand and he starts diagnosing. Then he tells me that he think its the hub and it probably just needs a lub. Rich comes along and asks if can leave the bike and pick it up tomorrow. This is totally fine with me but aren't they closed tomorrow? Wait a damn second.... TODAY IS SUNDAY!!! Bicycle Tech was actually closed today but it was just mere coincidence that they happened to stop by the shop. Wow... I felt like an ass. I apologized profusely and thanked them over and over again. I felt so bad.... I also ask them to overhaul the bottom bracket as well. It wasn't much but wanted to show my appreciation in my little way.

BIG THUMBS UP to Bicycle Tech and looks like I found my LBS! 🙂
Rich and crew at Bicycle Tech... YOU GUYS ROCK!
:thumbsup:
 
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Last night went into the garage again. Wife and kid went to bed early and I got bored. So what to do... tore apart the kid's bike. Regreased the rear hub... and the bottom bracket. The bike was bought at Target and I was kinda surprised that with the exception of one bolt... I was able to take apart the BB with just my hands. Kinda scarey... anyways... glad I did it and it was fun.
 
Saturday was a slow pace ride at HM. Something is up with either my phone, strava or... the most likely cause... user error. Probably lost about a mile or so mid ride. Knee is getting better but nowhere near 100%. But this time, I tried to climb as much as I could. Tougher than the usual climbs since I didn't have the momentum going into it and the leaves didn't make things easy either. Went up to the summit on this ride which I haven't done in a while. I could definitely tell my fitness has fallen.
https://www.strava.com/activities/432557902

Sunday was another slow pace ride on the road. No squeaks and the bike is riding pretty smooth with the overhaul on the BB and the rear hub. I messed around with the handlebar angle prior which seemed comfy at the time but 5 miles or so into it, proved otherwise. I don't know if it is my imagination but the mavic ksyriums that I have on the bike now seems to handle the rough roads a heck of a lot better than the cxp22 I had before. I always thought that it was the tires that would make that kind of a difference. Either way... cool wheels and looks good on the bike. Bicycle Tech told me that one of the spokes on the rear wheel was frozen and the wheel could not be trued but not to the point where I would feel it. And I certainly could not tell. I guess at this point, only thing that needs to be done is tires. I have the vittoria rubino pro III 700x25 sitting in my cart in amazon. I hope these are the right tires for me. I am looking for good traction dry and wet. Just waiting for the current tires to wear out.
https://www.strava.com/activities/433200587

Went into the garage to return the handlebar angle back to original position on the Defy and goofed around with the stem height on the Talon. I was saw on the web and watching youtube about bike fits and it was mentioned that the handlebars should be about 2-3 inches lower than the saddle. I reversed the stem and took out all the spacers and now it is slightly lower than the saddle. It's the lowest it will go so I guess I have to live with it. I don't why I make these adjustments on a sunday night considering I wouldn't get to ride until the weekend. I get anxious to ride and this makes the weekdays long and slow.

One thing I realized was that if I have a particular destination despite how far it might be, I get there. But if I just set a particular mileage with no destination in mind, it doesn't work out. It just turns out to a leisurely sunday ride and I turn back when I get hungry. I also need to get back to jogging as soon as my knees get better. My fitness suffered quite a bit and this makes biking less fun.
 
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soundz said:
Strava screwed me one too many times. Now I use Wahoo Fitness.
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Oh no... Ive lost a person to stalk on strava... I only had 3 to begin with! lol
I was on mapmyrun in the beginning and for the route and user maps, I moved to strava. It was a pita to move the data over.
 
C8N said:
Oh no... Ive lost a person to stalk on strava... I only had 3 to begin with! lol
I was on mapmyrun in the beginning and for the route and user maps, I moved to strava. It was a pita to move the data over.
Click to expand...

I still upload to Strava.. there is a function in Wahoo to do so. I just don't use the Strava app to record.
 
soundz said:
I still upload to Strava.. there is a function in Wahoo to do so. I just don't use the Strava app to record.
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I read that as yahoo fitness lol
Thought it was another app... didnt know it was a bike computer. Glad I can still stalk you on strava 🙂
 
I got a Wahoo Rflkt+ as a bike computer to protect my iPhone (in pack or pocket now instead of on bars). I used to use Strava without issue and paid for premium to get live speed displayed. Now I HAVE to use Wahoo app and the Rflkt+ displays data (customisable!) from the phone app to my little computer on the bars. So far so good - although the speed update is a little laggy. I also got a Tickr heart rate monitor and RPM cadence meter and they transmit directly to the Rflkt+ in ANT+ (instead of Bluetooth via the phone) so that data displays pretty much instantly. You can make custom screens, change what the button do , etc ... #Thumbwupsofar
 
As I mentioned previously, I had lowered the handlebars. Felt a bit uncomfortable in the beginning but wow... what a difference it made. I also mentioned that I had problems turning while going uphill... lowering the handlebars solved this. What I realized today was that when the handlebars were higher, I guess I was locking out my shoulders and elbows. Now, my shoulders are looser and able to turn better. The ability to turn also helped me stabilize and keep balance while going uphill when the rear wheels slip. Sure I am not going in a straight line but at least I am on the saddle.

My shoulders and my back were tired after the ride... but now, they feel pretty good. Now it's time for me to make and eat some ramen.... @soundz
https://www.strava.com/activities/436687195
 
Got the new tires for the Defy yesterday. With some wetness on the road, figured it was a good day to test them. Slapped them on this morning.... I am probably the only person that takes an hr to do this. I placed the tires on in the wrong direction. Freakin noob!

Anyways... night and day difference. Finally felt like I was riding on rubber with some traction. Prior, it felt like hard plastic. I realized on this ride that the bladed spokes on the ksyriums were pretty sensitive to strong cross winds.
https://www.strava.com/activities/437342581

Last night I was watching some youtube about fixing dented rims. Seemed simple enough and figured I do something with the cxp22. Went into the garage and I was able to bend the rim back into place. I guess I can used them as back ups.

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BTW... I didn't know Old Navy had active wear. Gonna stop by today and pick up some cheap base layers since I have the 50% off friends and family invite. 🙂
 
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soundz said:
Not all road tyres are directional!
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It was a pretty funny situation. The 1st round when I install the wheels back on to the bike, I saw that the thread pattern was different from front to back. I forget why but I assumed that the back was correct and redid the front to match. Then I saw the direction arrow on the tires. I initially had the front right and the back wrong. Off comes the wheels again and had to re-do both tires.
 
What a noob! Got brake fluid all over my front rotor and pads.... sprayed a dose of brake clean... hope it don't squeak too bad tomorrow
 
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