Rear Wheel Overhaul

I've put thousands and thousands of miles on my Cross Check. And during a recent ride when I broke a spoke, I realized that I've done nothing to it. It's had the occasional tune-up of chain maintenance and brake checks. But I've never replaced a part or overhauled a single component.

You can't beat that durability. But it did cause me to look into the bike with a bit more depth. And upon that inspection, I realized the rear wheel would barely spin. One might not notice on the bike. But when I had it in the stand and gave it a spin with my hand, it wouldn't even go a full rotation before it came to a quick stop.

Time to overhaul them bearings.

I had never done anything to a rear wheel (aside from a little cone adjustment). But the internets offered clear instructions. So after about 10 minutes of video tutorials, a trip to the bike shop for some grease & bearings and 20 minutes of sitting at my kitchen table with the wheel... the job was done. It was super simple. And apart from the Phil's bearing grease, I had everything I needed already.

There was really only one bearing that looked bad. But it looked really bad. And there was all kinds of debris and nastiness in the hub. So here's to smoother spinning from here on out.

Get out there.

Cross Check's New Shoes and New Woes

The good news is, I received shipment of some nice Panaracer Paselas for the Cross Check yesterday. This is the first time in a long time that I've bought something for a bike that it didn't really need at all. I had a great set of tires on it. But I've been wanting some tan walls for the Cross Check for a while and I found these for $16 each with free shipping. What?! I know. I couldn't believe it either. I went back to the online shop that I bought them from and they're already $32 each again. I somehow bought them at the perfect time.

Now the bad news...

I did a 32 mile ride today and started hearing a pinging sound about 12 miles from home. I didn't want to look. When I got home I saw this. Boo. So I'll be heading to the shop for a little spoke love tomorrow. Bad luck to get some sweet new tires on the very same day I break a spoke! That's the bad juju I get for buying something I don't need... as soon as I do something I do need breaks on that very bike.

I don't think I torqued the wheel by riding it all the way home. I assumed it was a spoke but I was 20 miles into a ride with a heat index of 90 degrees. So I just wanted to be home. I didn't want to sit on the side of the road and fiddle around with a mechanical.

Get out there.

LHT is Back!

Well, I'm happy to say that the Long Haul Trucker is back in action! New build looks quite different but is gonna be lovely.

• swept back On-One Mary bars wrapped up with some cotton bar tap for grippage.
• front basket (of course)
• front low-rider rack (to be installed soon!)
• Brooks Cambium seat (I wanted to keep a Brooks but this is gonna be a rain bike. Solution? Cambium!)
• SRAM i9 internally geared hub (perfect for all weather commuting)
• a set of crappy, brown cruiser tires that were free (because why not?)

I'm going to use this bike as a loaner MTB and foul weather commuter. I'm super excited about it!

Get out there.

The Old LHT

I am super excited about this. In fact, I may even be nervous. Since the Disc Trucker is in play nowadays, the old LHT is getting a makeover. I'm throwing on the 2.3" Kenda K-Rads, an On-One Mary Bar, a Brooks B17 and most notably, the SRAM i9 internally geared hub. This thing is going to run front and rear racks and throw down on fowl weather commutes, dirt rides and all-around horseplay.

So why am I nervous? This bike has been my favorite bike of all time. I replaced it with the Disc Trucker. Yet I'm afraid that this touring dirt klunker may still climb the charts to be my go-to fave. The way it's coming together sure is getting my attention. It'd be a shame to walk past that purty Disc Trucker to grab this crappy ol' thing. But I think it may happen more often than you'd think!

Get out there.

Surly Disc Trucker

I realize it's been a while since I've posted anything here. There's no other reason outside of the fact that work has been insanely busy and most of my computer time (at work and home) is going to there instead of here. Having said that, there has been some big fun on two wheels.

Most of the fun centers around the Disc Trucker. On a ride a couple weeks back I blew a tube. But beyond the tube I completely shredded the bead on my Schwable Big Apples. No complaints from me, though. I bought those things used and put a couple thousand miles on them. They've certainly paid their dues. So what to do? Go gumwall, of course. 

I went with the Schwalbe Road Cruisers this time around. I learned that gumwalls are more of 700c and 650b thang. It wasn't easy finding one for the 26" wheeled Disc Trucker. But I'm very pleased. These are 1.75" wide and are pretty gull durn close to the tread pattern and puncture resistance of the Big Apples. Pretty fair trade, I think.

And I love the look. What do you think?

And just last week I swung by the bike shop to pick up my Surly Front Rack. After a TON of shopping and reading, I realized I couldn't run panniers and have a platform for my basket without dropping some serious cashola. And much of the pricey options offered less functionality than Surly's rack. So there it is in the photo above. Every bit of my birthday moneys went to this thing. But I can already tell it's worth it. There's some slight adjustments to make and fender tweaking to be done. But outside of that, this bike is finished.

This was the way I intended it to be from Day One. So it's nice to have it the way I've always wanted it for sure. I'll try to keep the blog a priority. But, let's be honest, in the grand scheme of life, this blog is no priority at all. 

Get out there. 

Disc Truckin'

There was a bit more work done on the Disc Trucker this weekend. That fact paired with the temps in the 60's meant that a ride was inevitable. The work on the bike? Just slick tires, fenders and new gray cloth bar tape. This stuff was the eventual intention of the bike to begin with. But with last week's snow adventure, the end result of the bike was delayed.

I thought I would hit up some of my hillier routes to test my new disc brakes. The verdict? UH-mazing. Admittedly, the old brake set up on the LHT was a funky mix of components that should work together. But this new disc thang is awesome. The braking is crazy consistent and powerful. The photo above was taken after I had plummeted down about two miles worth of descent.  And the brakes were responsive the entire way.

That was basically the ride all day. WAAAAAY up a climb.... then ZOOOOOOOMING down the other side. Brakes killing it the entire way.

How do you test the wet-weather abilities of disc brakes on a dry 63 degree day? Ride 'em through the creek! Honestly, that wasn't the purpose at all. This creek is on one of my favorite rides around the house and I just happened to hit it. But it was fun, nonetheless.

I'm loving the Disc Trucker thus far. I've still got to shellac the tape and figure out the front rack situation. I've got no way to mount my basket right now and I'm not really into leaving the front rack on for no reason. It mounts quickly enough that I'll probably only utilize it when I am going camping and actually need it. So the front end cargo situation has to be sorted out. There's still some finagling to be done but I'll enjoy the ride until I figure that out.

Get out there.

The Disc Trucker is Alive

TruckerTL from Derrick Purvis on Vimeo.

Jason shot a timelapse of the Disc Trucker build from the other night. I'm pleased to say that it looks and feels great. I'm also excited that there's a camping trip on the calendar that should give me the opportunity to break it in properly.

Get out there.

Change is Coming

Riding on this iteration of the LHT is about to come to an end. In the trunk of my car is a brand spanking new Disc Truck frame. And the full run of components and parts on the LHT will be moving over to that frame. So what's to come of this LHT? I've got an internally geared hub, some cruiser bars and fatty tires to make this big guy my foul weather bike. Being that this has been my go-to ride for the last couple years, it's strange to change it. Why mess with a good thing, right?

We'll see.

Get out there.

Winter Dirt Riding

In Kentucky, there is no such thing as winter dirt riding. There is only mud in the winter. There is no dirt. Last week's ride was an example of such slop. I did, however, finally get to ride with Pat and his Krampus. Whew, what a bike!

Presley and Jason were there breathing in the 20 degree chill and slopping around in the muck, too.

I would say that the Troll performed more poorly than any of the other bikes, though. Pat on his Krampus and Jason on the 29er 1x10 Kona Honzo may be like comparing apples to oranges. But Presley was on his 26er and he seemed to clear more mud than me. I think this is a case where the super fat rubber caused for some trouble. I had less clearance for mud and had to stop several times to clear it away with a stick.

I'm not second-guessing the 2.5" wide rubber. It's plush bounciness is welcomed on most every ride. But this is example of "fatties-fitting-fine" is more "fine" than "fantastic." With less clearance, I found myself dragging that rear wheel instead of rolling on it.

Perhaps this is the bad trail vibes telling me not to ride when it's wet anyway.

Get out there.

The Klunker is Done

Last night I finished up the Klunker build. At this point, it's ready for just about anything I can throw at it.

New Kenda K-Rad 2.3" tires will make for good street riding and dirt. Plenty of cushion when the pressure is low but at 80 psi they float across pavement really well. I loved them on the ride in this morning.

And the basket took some finagling to get right. With some grinding and filing, the struts are not completely bolted on. No zip ties anymore.

I'm super pleased with this build. In fact, I'm concerned that I may love this bike too much. The commute in today was a blast. It's fun to have a bike that is generalized enough to do just about anything well... and it's value is almost nothing.

Get out there.

Klunker

Wednesday night I spent the evening building up this beauty. I think it's a early 90's Trek 800. It spent some time as an Xtracycle, but I've recently wanted to mix it up a bit. Knobby tires, Nitto North Road bars and a basket make it a good all-around Klunker/Beater bike.

This came about for two reasons; I wanted a loaner MTB and I wanted a bike that could replace the LHT when I wanted something a bit more expendable. There's not a lot of bikes that would do both. But the build on this seems to play both sides of that field pretty well. I'd have no beef with locking this thing up for hours at a time. But I could also push its 1x6 gearing around the MTB park if I loaned the Troll to a friend.

It's comfy, beefy and stout. I'm excited for it to come into it's own.

Get out there.

Fire!

 This was super cool on my commute in this morning. They were burning down an old barn in a field along my route. As far away as I was while taking this photo, I could feel the heat coming off of this blaze. It was nice, too, being that it was 53 degrees on the way in.

On an unrelated note, the LHT got some love during Bike Night the other night. It got a fresh coat of shellac on the tape. The old coat had faded significantly. Now it's back to the more Brooks saddle leathery look.

I love the look of this bike. Browns, greens and blacks. It blends into the outside world oh so well. It is almost as if it was made to reside in nature.

Get out there.

Reunited and it Feels So Good

Summer opened up a hiatus from my regular every-other-Wednesday bike maintenance night. But last night we were back at it and lots was accomplished. I was able to tune up two bikes for a couple buddies, the LHT got some love and, finally, my geared Cross Check was put back into commission.

The Cross Check has been hanging in my garage for every bit of six months. I'm always debating whether or not to sell it. But then, like this morning, I ride it and I absolutely love it. What the LHT does for hauling and stability, the Cross Check does with agility and quickness. It's just so much fun to have those bikes set up in such different ways. They compliment each other so well.

I'm not sure that I'll gravitate towards the Cross Check more than the LHT. But it's so awesome to have the option if I'm feeling a bit more sprightly.

Get out there.

Creak, Creak, Creak, Creak

The LHT, right now, is the bicycle equivalent of an old man with achy knees. Each crank of the pedals emits a high pitched creaking sound that makes my skin crawl. I pull back on the effort and it silences itself... but I know it's there. Tomorrow night is bike maintenance night. Once again, I'll remove pedals, cranks and bottom bracket to try and track it down. But I'm ready to get it fixed. I love this bike too much to pity it. But, up to this point, the culprit has evaded my efforts to pinpoint it.

Get out there.

New Digs

The LHT got it's last installment of new components last night. Often times when I buy a frame, it takes me a long while to finish the build. I've put hundreds of miles on this bike with junk I've had laying around the garage. Slowly, I'd buy a piece here or there and add it to the mix. But, alas, the build is finally done.

Most notable of the additions, perhaps, are the wheels. Black Deore disc hubs with black spokes mated with all black WTB Cross Country rims. I wanted the black on black action to match the bike's old army Jeep aesthetics. I went with disc hubs for future use. I think I'd really like to have a Disc Trucker in the stable one day. And every bit of this build kit could be moved over. But a disc hub and a rim-brake rim seem to be a great way to transition there.

Old Deore derailleur's front and back that I've had in the garage for a while. They're a little beat up, but work perfectly. New cassette is a 34-11. The 34 tooth cog is probably overkill. I had planned on just doing a 32-11 but the shop didn't have 32 in stock. Perhaps I'll be thankful for such a cog on a long tour some day. It was also a jump to 9 speed. I've been running my shifters in friction mode on an 8 speed cassette since I got the bike. This step up to 9 gives me the ability to go indexed (which I'm still unsure about).

Front Deore derailleur and new SRAM 48-38-28 crankset. Higher gearing up front than the previous MTB crankset that was on here.

And, with that, the bike is finished.

Finished. Feels kind of strange. But it's nice to have a project come to an end... especially when it ends exactly where you intended it to when you started. The bike is exactly what I wanted it to be when I bought the frame. That's a big accomplishment.

Now to go get this new stuff dirty.

Get out there.

Shellac'd

The Brooks that was on loan from Jason became a permanent ficture on the LHT a couple weeks ago when I decided it was a worthy throne for my rear end. With the aesthetic that that purchase brought to the bike, I thought it would be appropriate to finally shellac the cotton tape.

I chose the maroon tape because I thought it would look great without shellac, while still offering a close match to a Brooks if I ever decided to upgrade my saddle. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.

After two coats, it's a pretty close match. What do you think? Like it?

Get out there.

Shopping for a Bike Shop

I've been thinking a lot about the bike shop experience recently. For the sake of full disclosure, I've got a lot of loyalty to Bike Green Lexington. One of my good friends and riding buddies works there full time. But my dedication to the shop was pretty strong shortly after it opened. Before BGL hired Jason, it was just a one guy shop. Riley (the owner) was the only person that worked there. Now it's just mostly Jason and a little bit of Riley.

What am I looking for? Obviously two things first... I like a shop where they know what they're talking about and I like a shop that has competitive prices. But for the most part, I think most shops can offer those standards.

Are they knowledgable?

There are shops that employ more "retail" type workers. They ride bikes and know product. But they don't live bikes and know the ins and outs of bike mechanics. Honestly, though, most bike shops employees are fairly knowledgable. And if you're not talking to someone who is knowledgable, chances are you're a few steps away from someone who is. If you don't have a reason to trust their answer, ask someone else who's working for their opinion.

And pricing? 

I've learned that shopping at a local shop means you'll pay a little bit more than you will on the internet, yes. But most local shops are pretty much in line with each other on costs. There are plenty of apples-to-oranges comparisons in price, for sure. But just because one shop only carries $3,000 bikes and the other carries $300 bikes doesn't mean the expensive option is a rip-off. That's probably comparing apples to oranges. Most item-for-item price comparisons come out pretty even at shops.

And it's also worth mentioning what to avoid. Avoid the butthole elitist bike shops. (I haven't seen a ton of this in Lexington, by the way.) If you're not very knowledgable and they treat you like you're stupid, they probably don't have the product you want, anyway. And if you shop there, you'll end up buying a side of beef when all you needed was a cheeseburger. Avoid department store bike shops. Don't go to Dick's Sporting Goods. I shop there for lots of things. It's a great place... just not for bikes. Avoid a shop that has a focus different than yours... They may be all about racing, all about commuting or all about riding dirt. None of those are bad things. But if you're thinking about riding your bike to work and you wander into one of those racing type shops, you have a good chance of being convinced that carbon is a great material for a commuting bike. It's not always their fault. But if they eat, sleep and breathe carbon fiber bikes, sometimes they struggle to think about anything else.

So what do I look for? I've learned that I really like a small shop. The guys at BGL know me. And I'm not just talking about being buddies and hanging out at the shop. They know my type of riding. Loyalty means that they've heard your stories. They've seen how you take care of your bikes (or don't take care of them!). They know your budget. They know you'll be back so they're not just trying to sell you this one thing to make a few extra bucks. When my bikes have a problem that's not easily identified, they listen well, and make every attempt at finding it. It's not a sales tactic. It's a customer satisfaction tactic. Being a small shop helps that customer relationship. I don't have to walk in and explain the whole situation again and again.

A small shop that knows you will say, "You need this [BLANK] because you're hard on [BLANK]'s," or "No, you need this inexpensive [BLANK], because the way you ride, this inexpensive [BLANK] would last you forever. That pricey one is overkill." A small shop will keep an eye out for a solution that's not right in front of them. A small shop that knows how much you love to ride will want you back on your bike when you're not riding it. They won't want cost or what's in stock to determine your riding. They will want you to determine your riding. A small shop needs you as much as you need them. So they'll go that extra mile. And if it's a one-or-two-guys-do-it-all shop, it means they love to ride. If they're willing to work on bikes, talk bikes and ride bikes all day, their passion will work to your benefit. They love bikes, not sales. That's a good thing.

I think it's good to try everything. Go into shops and see how they great you. See if they ask about your riding. See if they're excited to hear your answer. I know there's a lot of non-hardcore riders that read this blog, too. If you have questions let me know. For you other readers, how do you choose a shop? Anything I'm missing?

And here are my disclaimers...
For one, please buy local. There are times that I order off the web. Sometimes it can't be beat and I want to ride, not save. But lots of times its worth a call to the shop. I'm blown away by folks that end up paying a tiny bit less for something they've never seen. A local shop will back you up. A local shop will sell you what you need, not what you think you may need. At least make the call.

Also, Bike Green Lexington doesn't pay me to write this or give me free product or anything. This is purely my opinion. They did give me two schrader valve caps recently but they weren't for me. They were to deliver to another customer (See? I told you they were good.).

Get out there.

New Bar Tape

Back when I built up the LHT, I was on a super tight budget and had to use bits and pieces I had or buy components on major clearance. I couldn't be picky. If the color tape I wanted was $18 but there was something on clearance for $8, I went for the cheaper option. Now, though, I've got the inclination to fix a few of those little things.

So I recently ordered some Newbaums cotton bar tape that tickled my fancy a bit more. I chose the maroon color (which will eventually look quite nice under some shellac, I believe). Cotton tape is something I've wanted to play with for a while. No reason. It's just something different. And there's something about the classic look and feel. 

So far I like it a lot. Looks good. Feels good. I'm looking forward to the look of it as it ages, too. It was a good investment.

Get out there.

Bottom Brackets

I put a new bottom bracket in the single speed Cross Check last night. Truth be told, it wasn't the right size for my crank I've been using anyway. When I bought the frame from Doug, he included a bottom bracket that he'd been using with a single speed crank. My crank is made for a triple, with chainrings removed. So it was a bit too wide for this BB. So when you really tightened the crankarms on there, it wouldn't work. I could get it tight enough... but not as tight as it should be. And recently, it's been giving me a clicking sound, too. Time for a new bottom bracket.

Here's my rant on bottom brackets... I don't ever buy nice ones. For $15, you can buy a cheap one and replace it on the bike within 15 minutes. That's a pretty small investment. Even on my foul weather rain bikes, I've never had one fail in less than three years' time. So I appeal to the general public to ask; What am I missing? Should I be buying a nicer bottom bracket? What does it benefit me?

I see them as somewhat disposable. I don't take care of it. I don't repack bearings or deal with maintenance. I just put a new one in. And in seven years of riding multiple bikes through all sorts of weather, this is only the second one that I've replaced. And technically, it was a used bottom bracket.

So I ask you, what are you using and why? Anyone else have this crude mentality with bottom brackets? I suppose there's power to be gained with a nicer bottom bracket. But I really can't imagine that's much.

And a side note; I'm the same way with chains. I treat them poorly and throw them away when they're done. I replace them with a cheapo chain and go straight to abusing it. Maybe I've got this all wrong :)

Get out there.

Lunch Run

Took a ride to the bike shop with Noah during lunch. Stopped and ate at a nice little pond.

Noah's got a super new, super tall LHT.

Vandals have an ironic sense of humor.

I picked up a new bottom bracket for the single speed Cross Check and a tire for a friend. I'm all like, "Yeah, I got a tire on my back," in this photo.

Get out there.