Posted by RL Policar On December - 27 - 2012ADD COMMENTS
Here’s the most recent upgrade on Burt, it’s a red chain. In my previous article, I mentioned that I’d go with a gold theme. But I realized, I had plenty of red on the components that it made more sense to go with that color. My previous chain broke, so here’s what I got to replace it with.
It’s a bright color that should pop.
Looks great don’t it!
As handsome as Burt looks, I’m still having some chain skipping issues. I’m going to try a few more things and see if that helps it. I really doubt that it’s the rear cog, but I’m suspecting the culprit might be the tensioner…aye, we’ll find out.
Posted by RL Policar On December - 20 - 2012ADD COMMENTS
If loosening your tension screws on your pedals just isn’t helping. Perhaps trying some lube would help. I used Boeshield on my pedals and they felt great right after. Just make sure you get the lube right where the arrows are showing because that’s where your cleat would be hitting the pedal the most.
Posted by RL Policar On December - 19 - 20122 COMMENTS
Regardless the term, I think you know what I’m talking about. This happened to me recently when I was working on Burt ReynoldSS. After cutting the chain down, I pushed back the rivet to connect the now shorter chain, but all that did was compress the link causing what you see below.
In order to deal with this, I put into practice one of the tricks I learned while working in an LBS. Ya it would have been easier to just get one of those quick link thingies but I didn’t have one so here we go!
If using your chain tool to push the rivet back and forth still doesn’t work, do this. On the link that is tight, use that as a pivot point and flex the chain as if you’re trying to break a pencil or a pretzel. Oh don’t forget to put in a drop of your favorite chain lube on the bad link before you do this.
Do this on both sides of the chain. Keeping doing so until you start seeing and feeling the chink/kink work itself out.
And that’s it! Afterwards, just spin the cranks make sure the chink/kink isn’t causing any problems and go for a ride!
Posted by RL Policar On December - 19 - 2012ADD COMMENTS
Not too long ago, Jeremy Yang reviewed a pair of socks that he really loved. They are called Pearly’s Possum Socks. Right now they are offering a 25% off discount code, courtesy of MtnBikeRiders.com. Here’s your chance to own a pair of the best socks we’ve ever reviewed…without having to pay full price.
Posted by RL Policar On December - 18 - 20124 COMMENTS
Yesterday during my lunch ride I decided to take Burt ReynoldSS out for it’s maiden voyage. I was pretty excited about since it’s been a while since I’ve ridden a single speed.
But during my climbs the chain was skipping. Ugh…I thought I had addressed that issue by placing the rear cog further out and spacing my tensioner with a set of washers. However, if you look at this photo below the tensioner is pushing the chain in and when under load, it will cause it to skip.
With this in mind, I’ve got two choices. 1, I can tray and mess with the chain line by putting the front ring inside of the crank arm and align the rear cog a few spaces back to see if the chain can fall within the roller from the tensioner. The other option would be 2, that’s to get a new tensioner that allows some adjustment on the roller.
Getting a new one seems to be the best option, probably the easiest. But you know me, I’ll find a way to make what I have work and my last resort would be purchasing a new tensioner.
Another issue I found was the stem height. Not a big deal, just have to move it down a bit since it felt really high. It made it difficult to climb when the bars feel like they are up to my chest and it makes it tough to gain leverage.
Posted by RL Policar On December - 15 - 2012ADD COMMENTS
The reason why I came up with the name Burt Reynolds is simply this…the Redline D600 color scheme totally reminded me of the Trans Am in the movie Smokey and the Bandit.
Ya I know we just announced a new tandem bike project on the site, but this one is something I needed to get done to start training for the upcoming Winter Series XC Races.
Here’s what I mean by color scheme. Gold and Black! Here you see the Redline D600 converted to a Single Speed that I’ve dubbed as Burt Reynolds.
Upgraded the cock pit to a Shimano PRO carbon bar and a new Sunline 50mm stem for my short arms.
I used the existing 8 speed chain to save on money. No need to spend more when I can use the stock parts.
Installed a Surly 21t cog and it’s working great with the new 32t chain ring up front.
If you didn’t know, I love pink. But I think I may look for gold grips and possibly a gold chain…you know make it more like Bandit.
Originally the Redline D600 weighed over 33lbs. But after swapping out the fork(the heaviest part of the bike), cock pit and stripping off all the shifters derailleurs and cranks. I got this baby down to 26lbs (with pedals). I still need a few things like chain ring bolts which should be here by Tuesday and probably a new tensioner. I just don’t like how the one I have is working. Besides, I’m missing a bolt on it.
Ya I know that there are full suspension 29ers that weigh this much, but for what I paid in parts to do this conversion, $40, I think I can live with a 26lbs single speed 29er…
Posted by RL Policar On December - 14 - 2012ADD COMMENTS
A few months ago Team Racer Nick D. and I participated in a XC mountain bike race with the TwoFast4U tandem. But after lap 1, we broke it. Nick and I were pretty bummed about what happened because we were having such a great time racing the tandem. Mind you, it’s not easy, but it sure is fun. After the race Nick had this great idea about building our own tandem…yes building our own tandem. All we needed was a pair of donor frames and Nick can fabricate a complete bike out of them. Not sure if you knew this. Nick was a former racer car builder. He was on the cover of various magazines with his creations and we figured if his work is good enough for cars that go fast, it should be good enough for 2 guys riding down a hill at 25mph. Just to keep this compliant and stuff, “do not try this at home and MtnBikeRiders.com and the individuals involved in this project take full responsibility for any damages, injury or death caused by fabricating our own tandem.”
Let’s start off with our first donor frame. This is the Airborne Skyhawk.
These beautiful seat and chain stays will be cut off.
The other half of this project will consist of the now defunct Woodstock 707 Full Suspension Frame.
I’m not really sure how Nick will make all this work, but I totally trust in his craftsmanship and I have confidence that he will make these two frames into a beautiful piece of art. I figured some new tubing will be required and some measurin’ and cutting will happen.
Now let’s get to the name of the project…”Double Banger.” Well don’t immediately take your minds to the gutter. Nope! Have you ever heard of the term 4 banger or 8 banger? People describe how many cylinders their cars have by saying the # of cylinders and the word banger after it. Banger comes from the fact that an internal combustion engine has explosion or a BANG during it’s cycle. When you ride a bicycle, you are the engine of the beautiful machine. Since there’s 2 of us on the tandem, then it made sense to call us Double Banger.
Here’s a mock up of the Double Banger. Rather than grey, we’ve talked about getting it powder coated in hot pink!
The most asked for at InterBike2011. This is a solid mounting system to get those awesome trail photos when used with a GO PRO camera system!
SYSTEM Includes:
-(1) TRUV MOUNT
-(1) HB RING RAIL – (31.8MM STANDARD RING SIZE, OTHER SIZES AVAILABLE, SEE BELOW)
-(1) C Link Adapter
TECHNICAL INFO:
DIAMETER SIZES:
HB RING RAIL ALSO AVAILBLE IN THE FOLLOWING SIZES:
-19mm (.750″)
-25.4mm (1.00″)
-30.1 (1.187″)
-31.8mm (1.252″)
-32.4mm (1.275″)
-IF YOU WOULD LIKE ONE OF THE ABOVE SIZES, RATHER THAN THE 31.8 STANDARD SIZE, PLEASE INDICATE THE DESIRED SIZE ON THE DROP DOWN BOX BELOW.
NEOPRENE ID’s: The above is lined with neoprene for vibration dampening and an enhanced no scratch fit. Please see our FAQ section for more information on diameter sizes, application and use.
RAIL SPECIFICATIONS: Standardized .600” RAIL
MATERIAL: Aluminum 6061-T
FINISH: MIL-STD-8625 Class II, Black & Sealed
The GPc mount has 3 rail mounting settings. What you see is set in the middle. You can also see the other adjustment screws to customize your camera’s angle.
Fully mounted on a 31.8 handle bar. Other sizing is available such as 19mm,25.4mm, 30.1mm and 32.4mm.
One thing I noticed right away was how well built the mount is. It’s made with Aluminum 6061…heck some of my mountain bike frames are made with that same grade!
Let’s get down to the nitty gritty, when I first saw this mount I immediately thought that this was a bad idea just because I’ve seen how the stock GoPro mount(the one that comes with it) works…all it does is vibrate and you can’t really get a great video because the camera is shaking so much from the terrain you’re riding on. With that in mind, I mounted it on my bike to see how it the video will turn out. To my surprise, the Trail Rail GPC Camera Handlebar Mount kept the GoPro steady enough where you don’t see it vibrating! I’ve even compiled a short video to show you how smooth the video comes out.
I was pretty impressed with how well this mount worked. As long as I installed it properly on my bar, it never budged. However, I do have one complaint. During my tests, one of the mounting screws came lose. So I thought, why don’t they make it so it has some sort of nyloc or even a dab of blue Loctite in the threads to prevent the screws from coming out. Other than that, I was extremely happy with the mount and would highly recommend it to people who own GoPros.
Posted by RL Policar On December - 5 - 20121 COMMENT
With a title like that, I bet you’re wondering what I’m talking about. Well, here it is…”how long does it take for you to get OUT OF SHAPE?” I’m not talking about getting IN SHAPE, but OUT.
I ask this question because I’ve had a nagging cough for about a month. I thought that if I kept riding it would get all that mucous out and help me recover faster. Well that whole theory didn’t really work…figures, it’s not like I’m a doctor or anything. So this week I’ve decided to not ride or do anything strenuous that would aggravate my cough. But during this week I’ know I’m going to lose all that progress I made in the last month.
You see, about a month ago, I started riding our local trail, the Fullerton Loop at a much faster rate. My best ever time was about 1 hour and 10 mins. But recently I’ve been averaging 57 mins, may not be much to some of you fast XC folks, but for me that’s amazing. So now that I’m resting, I’m worried that all that work I did to get to 57 mins will go away. It usually takes me about 7 days to lose the progress I made over the last 3 weeks. Ya it’s weird how fast I it all goes away and how long it takes to get back in shape. Aye…viscous cycle if you ask me.
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I ask this question because I’ve had a nagging cough for about a month. I thought that if I kept riding it would get all that mucous out and help me recover faster. Well that whole theory didn’t really work…figures, it’s not like I’m a doctor or anything. So this week I’ve decided to not ride or do anything strenuous that would aggravate my cough. But during this week I’ know I’m going to lose all that progress I made in the last month.
