As I mentioned a few days ago, I had graduated from an 18t to a 17t cog on my single speed. Last night’s training ride with the MtnBikeRiders.com Race Team was my first chance to ride with it.
One thing I noticed right away was the speed I picked up on the flats. I wasn’t spinning as much as I did with the other cog. I also felt that I worked way harder on the climbs.
Last night’s training ride was set at a good pace by Priscilla and Joe. In fact they lead the ride and my only goal was to catch up to them. As I trailed behind, I felt the effects of this cog around mile 8 of the ride. My legs and upper body had been working as if I was on over drive.
As I rolled up to the parking lot, Priscilla was sitting on the curb waiting while Joe and Val were chit chatting. I swear…they are fast! What’s funny was, Kim and Tony Finch rode with me and those two didn’t even seem like they broke a sweat. I think they probably could have gone for another lap…aye….these racer people (Priscilla, Joe, Kim and Tony) are totally built differently from people like me… short, pudgy (but good looking) non-racer types.
Though the 17t cog was harder, I do look forward to progressing in my riding and eventually I’ll graduate to the next level, a 16T!
This Sunday is the 2008 Mt. SAC Fall Fat Tire Classic. It will mark my one year anniversary in racing. This time last year I entered my first XC race.
As an avid mountain biker, the Friday before the 2007 Mt. SAC FFTC I decided to enter the race. I was with my age group, Men’s Beginner 35-39 class, which was a pretty big group. Not having prepped for the race, I thought I would fair well against my competitors. Not even close – as a matter of fact I got smoked! One thing that I was pleased with is I finished!
The 2007 Mt. SAC FFTC was a motivation for me. I couldn’t wait for the 2008 season to come so I can enter more races. Competitive by nature, but realistic that the dream has long passed… my goal was simple – to do better than the last race and have fun!
This year I have done that and have done fairly well. Sometimes I placed and sometimes I didn’t. And sometimes I got hurt in the process… most of all I had FUN doing it!
This Sunday I’m looking forward to the Mt. SAC race. Along with the MtnBikeRiders Team, we are going to have fun! It will also be an interesting day as our forecast is predicting rain. Check back next week for race reports and pictures.
WOOdman Components sent us their Axis SL COMP headset. This is a lightweight headset made out of a CNC-machined 6061 T6 aluminum.
The Axis SL COMP is one of WOOdman’s more popular lightweight and light priced headsets. It has WOOdman’s proprietary C45/45 full ball cartridge bearings.
Description:
Size: 1 1/8” Weight: 117 grams Materials: CNC-machined 6061 T6 aluminum Colors: Black, Blue, Gold, Red and Pewter
Includes Capsule Comp
Additional features for the Axis headsets:
- Top Cup with Seal for better fitting - WOOdman’s proprietary full ball cartridge bearing. No retainer for better contact between balls - Fork Crown with Seal (Axis IC/ICR) for better maintenance of the headset - Angled Bearing + Angled Cup for better contact and easier installation
Claimed weight is 117 grams, however on my scale at home it weighed in at 107.5 grams (even better).
I visited the WOOdman booth at Interbike. They certainly have a fine line of components. I’ll be installing this onto my Rigid Single Speed project (details to come). For more information visit their site at www.woodmancomponents.com.
This past Sunday I headed up to the San Gabriel Mtns in Los Angeles County. There are several names for this trail, but it is commonly known/referred to as – JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab). From this main trail you can branch out to many segments of the San Gabriels such as the Ken Burton Trail, El Prieto (technical descent back to the car), Sunset Trail, Millard Camp ground, Lower Merrill and many more…
My riding buddy for the day was my new friend Irmina D. I met Irmina many years ago through a family function; we are somewhat related through my cousin as she is his sister-in-law. Several weeks ago, I saw Irmina again; my cousin tells me that she is an avid rider. To make a long story short, I asked my cousin to get us in contact so I can ride with her group. Through a week of emailing back and forth, we finally decided on a ride – JPL. We met at the parking lot 8AM Sunday morning. After getting our gear together, we made a quick pit stop at the local Jack-in-the-Box closer to the freeway. From here, I reset my computer to ZERO and we started our ride.
Our ride started on asphalt. We stayed on this for less than a mile then it eventually took us onto the dirt for the start of our ascent. It was a gradual climb up to the saddle, some sections steeper than others. Reaching the top of Brown Mtn (bottom of Ken Burton Trail approx 4 miles up) we stopped and rested for a bit. Actually I needed the rest, Irmina wasn’t tired at all.
From here we headed to Sunset Trail via Millard campground. Though a brief descent with roller coast effect we reached the bottom, passing the trailhead for El Prieto. Along the way down I encountered mechanical problems with my rear brake. For some reason, my rotors were now rubbing against the calipers, emitting an awful, annoying sound…ugghhhh! We stopped several times and adjusted my calipers. We could not clear the rotors completely, however it was good enough for the rest of the ride.
Tight turn ahead…
From Millard, we rode onto a singletrack climb. Through this section, we passed many downhillers wearing their armor and full face helmet. Apparently there are many sections on this mountain that is popular to many DH/FR. The singletrack ended into another asphalt climb. From here was another grind up to the top of Sunset Trail, at least 2 ½ miles. This would be brutal as the sun was out beating on us. Stopping several times to replenish on GU and other supplements we continued to the top. Reaching the top of Sunset (10 miles), we rested briefly before starting our way down a fast, loose, singletrack with switchbacks and occasional one-footers. Down the trail I watched Irmina fly through these with her Intense 5.5 and navigate through tight switchbacks with ease… amazing handling skills! Man, all the way down to Millard, I found myself trying keep up with her to no avail. We eventually made our way back down to Millard Campground. As we started our trek upto El Prieto trailhead, I started getting cramps. Again, I needed to rest… El Prieto will be our final descent back to the cars. From here we will ride through more singletrack, water crossings, down mini boulders/rocks… more fun! The ride ended with both of us crash-free. Truly an awesome ride, especially trying to keep up with Irmina. We finished our ride with a total of 18 miles.
A little note on Irmina – she has participated in several endurance and local races. She also frequents places like Mammoth, Whistler, Downieville, Moab… an avid rider indeed and her skill set was very impressive.
Trail Directions: Take 210 West and exit Arroyo Blvd. and turn right. Go straight until you see a parking lot at the bend in the road. Find parking in the lot or locally. The parking lot overlooks Jet Propulsion Lab. There should be a road leading to a swinging gate. Go pass the gate and follow the road. Trail Conditions: Fire road – hardpack; singletrack / switchbacks – loose in many places. Lots of loose rocks.
Below is a video of our ride. My video camera mount came loose therefore a little shaky on some areas. Also I guess YouTube makes low resolution even lower… (It was fine on my PC but looks really low res below)apologize for the poor quality.
At Interbike we met with YESS. Other than the unit RL featured last month, the ETR-B, they also provided us with their new ETR-D tensioner for full suspension bikes.
ETR-D, outside view
February of this year I converted my Intense Tracer into a full suspension single speed bike. A Key part of my conversion was the YESS chain tensioner, model ETR-V. Since then I’ve had many rides and racked up many miles on this unit.
Singlespeed Intense Tracer with ETR-V tensioner.
The ETR-V has worked perfectly (as it’s supposed to) and held up well. One flaw I thought was the ETR-V was not truly compatible with the older Horst-link design. I recall during my conversion having one difficulty with the installation. The arm on the ETR-V was hitting the Horst-link & chainstay of my Tracer. This posed to be a problem until I made several adjustments. I moved the arm down into several holes (of the joint) until it was no longer hitting the chainstay. Although it appeared clearance free, often times under compression I would find that the small nut would get stuck or lodged into the Horst link. This eventually created a dent into the chainstay where it no longer gets stuck.
You can see the dent on the inner arm of the chainstay where the nut would make contact.
This new model, ETR-D, will replace the one that I had installed. Main difference is the original attached through the axle where this new model will attach onto the derailleur hanger. Much better I think, dropping the arm lower where it will have enough clearance to avoid contact into the Horst link.
ETR-D, inside view.
Description from Yess:
Designed for Full Suspension Mountain bikes using various Axle sizes. This tensioner will also allow removal of wheel without interrupting the tensioner mount. Installed onto the derailleur hanger and locked into place with two setscrews, this is all you need to convert your full suspension frame into singlespeed.
I’ll be posting a follow-up report soon after I have installed the new ETR-D. Stay tuned. For more information, log onto www.yesspro.com
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Tight turn ahead… 
ETR-D, outside view
Singlespeed Intense Tracer with ETR-V tensioner.
You can see the dent on the inner arm of the chainstay where the nut would make contact.
ETR-D, i
