It's a good idea. Two reasons. one is that the carbon braking compound is typically different than what is used on aluminum. two is that the pads you've been using daily might have shards of aluminum, glass, and rock stuck in them. This isn't too much of a problem for aluminum rims; it could be a problem for carbon.

Switching is easy. There are set screws on sram/shimano-style brake shoes. It takes a tiny allen key. Back it out most of the way and the pads should slide out. If they're hard to get out the first time, put some dry chain lube on the shoes and then insert the new pads.

There is a caveat. The rim widths could be different. If this is the case, you might want to set your brake cable position based on the wider rim and then use the barrel adjuster to move the pads in. You will probably also need to come up with a pad position that works with both rims. I typically like the narrower braking flat rim for setting the pad position.

A second issue is the cassette position. It's a hassle to adjust your rear derailleur every wheel change. So, you'll want to check to make sure the cassette is in the same position. If they aren't, get a super-thin shim to put between the tallest cog and the end of the cassete body on the wheel where the cogs are a bit inward of the other.

A third issue is chain wear. When you're swapping wheels regularly, it's a good idea to replace your chain before it wears out, as a worn chain might work with your daily wheel, but not your race wheel. Get a simple chain checker and check it every month.

I visited Chad on Saturday. First thing: the shell of my saddle had cracked. I felt really really stupid for not noticing this! Because of this damage it was listing to the right therefore throwing my pelvis off center. All kinds of nasty stuff happening.

What I liked about Chad was that he was very attentive to the physical limitations of my body and the issues that I had been having. He definitely took all of that into account during the fitting.

I felt he was very thorough. Everything from measuring my arches, checking how much my arches/feet were able to naturally flex, checking the flexibility of my legs and my back. Can I touch the floor bending over forwards? Not even close. Yes, I am that inflexible. But working on it.

After all of this he had me ride for a while. This was before we figured out the saddle issue. Man, I looked terrible. When I was racing often and showing up in a lot of the nyvelocity photos I looked good: nice flat back, pretty aero. Not anymore! A lot of this was due to me naturally trying to compensate for the knee pains I was having: my pelvis was rolled back forcing the small of my back to point up. Nasty C shaped torso. But again, this was also with the broken saddle.

I tried out the entire line of Prologo saddles. I also tried a Fizik Arionne. I ended up with the Prologo Scratch. I'm really enjoying it (feels great after riding my poor squishy broken Neuvation saddle). I had been riding fixed cleats. He suggested switching to floating cleats and positioned them at a completely neutral position. I had been riding with them really far forward which was really bothering my Popliteal muscle/tendon. I moved those back a few millimeters on my own and found that to be better.

So after riding a bit the past couple days I have to say that things are definitely looking up in terms of knee pain. There is still a little pain occasionally (most likely residual) but I feel lots better. So now, I just need to get my fat butt in shape. Looking forward to weekday mornings in Prospect Park! I'm glad this week is a rest week for you guys, I shouldn't go too hard too fast.

Came across MAD FIBER wheels on my USA Cycling newsletter, and they look awesome. I usually don't read the articles and just curious, does anyone else read it?

Anyway, there was an article about Ric Hjertberg from wheelsmith and then there was a link to his new company, MAD FIBER. If you don't already know about it, check it out.
http://www.madfiber.com/

They only make racing tubulars though:

1085g a set, 60mm Front/66mm Rear = $2599
Also comes with 4 year warranty

Seemed really cheap and light to me and thought I'd share it.

dw

Cheap? do you really mean "inexpensive"?

Fine, inexpensive. It's the least I've ever seen for a pair of wheels that light.

I agree, they're less expensive than others!

most of us could loose the 400 grams that make up the difference between this wheelset and a more run-of-the-mill wheelset from our guts pretty easily. I also am not a fan of the looks - they scream "rich as shit" not "pro as shit", and while neither is true in my case I'd prefer the later.

I prefer the more expensive ones, for by not buying them, I spare more.

BOA laces. I know a lot of us have Lake shoes (or are waiting for some) and this may come in handy.

They have a lifetime warranty! Apparently all you have to do is contact them and they'll ship you a new set and the tool the remove the spindle thing.

Mine broke today on my Specialized shoes so I stopped by Sid's on 19th. Johnny from Teany works there and put some new ones on for me. The old ones (mine) are much more difficult to re-string and it took him about an hour, but he charged me ZERO for labor. Super nice guy as well. Props!

Cycle computer-advice very much appreciated!!!

Hi guys, looking for everyone's two pence worth on cycle computers.

I have got en excellent, bottom of the line cycle computer. I love it, and will put in on my racing bike (IMO, one of the best wireless computers out there. Totally basic, but never let's you down: http://www.cateye.com/en/products/detail/CC-VT100W/.). I'm looking to get a new computer for my training bike with extra features. Unlike my racing bike computer, I want heart rate and cadence measurements. These, along with wireless are a must for me. However, GPS is very dispensable, I'm not sure I will ever really need that so much, and I don't feel the need to invest in power measurement just yet.

So, what to get? Any ideas? I keep going round in circles. Polar stuff is totally over priced for what it is, which leads to Garmin, which is good but I'm not so bothered about GPS. This leaves Cateye I suppose. Anyone got any good advice of feedback with something they own?

Adam

Adam, I've had about 5 cycle computers over the past 3 years. I think the ideal choice for you would be a garmin 500. Limited gps (you can trace back your route/ view it on your computer, but does not provide turn by turn directions nor a map) it's ant+ compatible which means if and when you do decided to add power you can easily do so by just buying a powertap wheel. Has a nice display, and not over the top expensive.

I had a cateye v3 which I hated, maybe just got a bad stock but had many problems with the sensors for HR/ speed. The screen display was incredibly small as well which I hated.

I got a garmin 705 last year. Used It all through out the year. The gps came in handy but I seldom used it on the road due to the bad programming of garmin as well as the awkwardness of finding anything. The maps loaded pretty slowly as well. It didn't really bother me much until I got the 800 with a touch screen just a week ago. It's perfect for me. Maps load fast and the gps is spot on. The screen could be a higher resolution, that's my only demand for the 900 lol. Finding places is a snap now due to the touch screen.

I'm selling my 705 actually. If you want to try it out this week or sometime before I sell it to get a feel for garmin
let me know

Hope that helped

Thanks for your input Wojciech. Thanks for the offer to borrow your 705, but based on your description I think I know pretty much what I need to know at this point! I didn't realise that the 805 was such an improvement, I thought they just basically put a touch screen on it. Sounds like it's much better based on your description.

I agree with you, so far, I think my front runner is an Edge 500...

I'll be mounting a pair of Veloflex Master 22 clinchers to my Hed C2s tomorrow... I've got Michelin latex tubes. Planning on rubbing some talc on the tubes before installing. It all seems straight-forward... but I thought I'd ask if any of you have tips and/or cautions that might be helpful?

thanks,
Norm

Norm,

I take the baby powder and shake it into the tire. Go liberally with the talc. I shake some in, rotate the wheel a bit, shake some more. repeat until I go around. Then I take my fingers and make sure it's covering all of the inside wall. Then I put in the latex tube.

I also try really hard not to use a tire lever. Veloflexes should be pretty easy, they've been easy for me in the past. All the same, if you're worried about having to use a tire lever, mount the tire first, then take it off, mount again, take off one bead and then do the talc'ing.

I also recommend pumping up the wheels every day. If they're for race-only, pump 'em up the night before to make sure they hold air and then top them off in the morning.

Sounds good... thank you!

I don't do this enough, mostly because I could never remember how to do it. (and partially, because my power meter seems to have been remarkably consistent this season). Anyway here's an instructional video that shows how easy it is (also points out that I'm at least 1/3 idiot sometimes).

http://www.cycleops.com/instructional-videos.html?id=20

i am very interested in the pinch flat problem. I have noticed that, as above, a liberal dosing of talk all over the interior of the tire, seems to help a lot. i have also been putting a drop of grease or vaseline on my fingertip and running it around top and inner edge of the aluminum rims on the clincher wheel. my theory is that the bead will slide more easily into place without the levers, and also will seat more properly when the tube in inflated. i am curious to know if this is a common practice, or if not, if there is a reason NOT to do this.

In mounting tubeless tires, where getting the bead to snap into place is the big key to sealing the tire, folks often brush some soapy water along the bead and sidewall. it has an effect similar to using Vaseline but has the advantage of leaving little or no residue.

I've tried Vredestein and Challenge Latex tubes with Vittoria CX 320.
Here are a couple of tips:

#1 Be sure to use 'proper braking' technique on descents. Which is stay off the brakes until close to the curve, brake hard and then off the brakes again. Do not drag your brakes as this will cause the rims to heat up, the latex tube will expand a little with the heat and if it comes into contact with the inside of that hot rim beading it'll pop.
Actually happened to me a few weeks ago, and I wasn't dragging my brakes, but the descent was steep and the switchbacks were so close together that the heat never dissipated between bends.

#2 take a mini pump or frame pump. Latex is more permeable than butyl and CO2 manages to leak out of butyl tubes overnight, so CO2 and latex together is a very poor combination. There is some complex physics at work that I don't pretend to understand, but there are explanations on the web.

Not the topic, but thanks for mentioning 0'ing torque as I forgot to dial-down my torque wrench the other day.

thanks!

I think it a good idea to zero out the torque on every ride. If you're riding indoors, at the end of your warmup. If you're riding outdoors, after you think your hub has reached equilibrium wiht the outdoors (I usually guess around 10-15 minutes).

If you're too lazy for the above, do it on the days when you want the greatest accuracy and consistency, when you're testing yourself, when you're racing and when you're doing specific intervals.

Power Tap recommends once a week.

Yes. I'm aware.

However...1. It can't hurt to do it more often. 2. temperature changes, as well as riding can alter the torque (I think this is particularly important to remember in the winter when people are going from trainer sessions in rooms 60-80 degrees and then going out on rides near freezing). 3. If you really want the data to be accurate on a certain ride, then you should do it on that ride. Sucks to do your Threshold test ride (or your CP test ride or whatever you're really focusing on), go home and look at the data and find out that it was corrupted by the torque reading being off. 4. As much as I like the guys at PT, I think the recommendation helps sell their product as reliable and makes using it seem less intimidating.

I zero the offest on my Quarq at least once a ride, if not more often. Did the same with the SRM. I also started checking the SRM's calibration every other month after I figured out how to do it, and now that Quarq has released a calibration app, I plan of checking it bi-monthly as well.

I want to amplify my earlier comments.

If you've got a power meter, you probably have it because you want greater precision with your training. As such, you probably are going to watch it on many of your rides, carefully trying to modulate your effort based on the numbers you see. And when you get home, you'll check the download to compare to what you wanted to do and what you've done on other rides. If these numbers are off by several percent, the endeavor might not be worthless, but you will be either stressing yourself too hard or not hard enough and you'll be either pleased or pissed that you are exceeding or not reaching numbers that you're expecting. Or you'll be satisfied with your training, because you're hitting the numbers you wanted and it seemed easier than you thought it would be, when in reality you're going less hard.

It's also unwise to imagine that just because you haven't zeroed the torque in days, weeks, months, it will be off by the same amount every day (As in you imagine it will be consistently inaccurate). It may, nor it may not. There's no way to know. Even if it seems it's about right, you could be sensing any number of things--a small tailwind that helps nudge you up the climb gives you the same speed and same power as a previous week, where in reality the power is actually down.

So, for example, getting the numbers as accurate as possible on your test days. This is the most critical, as you'll be basing your training numbers off your test numbers. Definitely check torque once, maybe twice, on this ride.

Then, any time you expect you'll be eyeing your head unit or analyzing the download data, you should check the torque right before you start your efforts. Think of it, if you're doing a sprint effort, there's a difference between hitting 1000w for five seconds and 1050w for five seconds. Not that you'll be able to sprint any harder, but if you're hitting 1000w when you expect 1050w, you'll think your sprint is off. If you're doing VO2 max efforts and the power is off, you'll either go too hard and probably blow up early or not hard enough and not get the training benefit you're looking for.

And you should be able to see the impact of an inconsistent power meter all the way down the line.

Bottom line: if you've invested in a power meter, take the time to make sure it reads consistently. Hopefully, consistently will mean accurately, but take consistent over accurate. With PowerTap hubs, the only thing you can measure it against is zero torque, so zero torque means it is consistent. With SRMs and Quarqs, you should be zeroing the offset at least once a ride and checking the accuracy with a known weight periodically.

***for those without power meters, doing things to reduce variables on test days will help, too. So, if you're doing timed efforts, and hoping to compare them to other timed efforts, make sure your tire pressure is as consistent as you can make it. But even with this, know that temperature, wind, even humidity, can effect speed.

I'm now embarking on training process whereby my dog Penny will get up at random moments throughout at 24-hour cycle and zero the torque. This will ensure that I have proper power readings even when I'm sitting around stuffing my face with Ritter Sport chocolates.

Marc, if you can do that, quit your day job and become the next 'dog whisperer.'

Remember: ignorance is strength, knowledge is bliss.

I recently started using a Powertap hub again. It's a new SL+, which I've ridden for probably 200 miles thus far. I recently started getting an intermittent whining sound from the hub when I pedal hard. There's also a feeling of some additional resistance at the pedals. If I pull over and try to spin the wheel while the whining is happen, it will freewheel for only about 1 revolution.

The guys at Wheelbuilder who built the wheel up for me suggested that I pull off the freehub body and look at the sleeve that goes over the axle. They said that if that sleeve over the axle is not properly installed it could cause problems like the ones I'm having.

Before I go an try to pull the freehub body off I was wondering if anyone else has had these kinds of issues with their Powertap hub and, if so, how they went about remedying the problem?

Thanks,
Neil

Neil,

The solution is not to ride so hard. Who do you think you are, Cancellara?

But seriously, I don't know about the whining (except my kids), but all the new PT hubs are designed so that the freehub body can be removed without tools. Pull on the real good and it will pop right out. Freaked me out first time I did it. I thought it was a defective hub until I did a search online and found out it was designed that way.

Hope this helps

Patrick

Thanks Patrick. i will consider "de-training" as a solution to the whining hub.

All kidding aside, your description arrived at precisely the right time. I had the wheel in my hand and was trying to figure out what esoteric tools I needed for the job and then your timely missive arrived. I gave the thing a little yank and it yielded its tender innards like a .... I don't know what Amazing how that works. The only problem is that I can't find the axle sleeve that the Wheelbuilder guy described. I may have to do telephonic talk-through with him tomorrow.

In the meantime, just in case I'm unable to solve the problem I'm beginning my de-training now -- with a box of cereal, the couch, and Celebrity Rehab.

THANKS AGAIN.

I found a way to shave 15 pounds for Pawling. A haircut and one of these: http://www.hetfairwheelpodium.com/16/spin-light-bike.html