Bicycle thread

[Scurley]

Originally Posted by pierce

there's a bunch of different ways cranks can be attached nowdays, used to be, all decent bikes used square taper cranks. frankly, I wouldn't pull the cranks for cleaning, if you don't get them back on just right, they can creak and will drive you nuts.

I haven't ridden my fixed gear in about a year, due in part for the reason mentioned above. I never did get my square taper cranks back on just right so, yes, they creaked, but that was the least of my worries. One of the nuts would occasionally become so loose, almost to the point of falling out, that the pedal end of the crank arm had about 2cm of lateral play. I don't carry an allen key big enough with me on rides, so there wasn't much I could do in the middle of a ride except for using my fingers to tighten, which would do the job for only another mile or so. Back at home, I'd tighten the bejeezus out of the thing, but the same scenario would eventually happen again.

So, what's the trick to getting the cranks on 'just right'? (square tapered, specifically)

[pierce]

Originally Posted by Scurley

I haven't ridden my fixed gear in about a year, due in part for the reason mentioned above. I never did get my square taper cranks back on just right so, yes, they creaked, but that was the least of my worries. One of the nuts would occasionally become so loose, almost to the point of falling out, that the pedal end of the crank arm had about 2cm of lateral play. I don't carry an allen key big enough with me on rides, so there wasn't much I could do in the middle of a ride except for using my fingers to tighten, which would do the job for only another mile or so. Back at home, I'd tighten the bejeezus out of the thing, but the same scenario would eventually happen again.

So, what's the trick to getting the cranks on 'just right'? (square tapered, specifically)

take both cranks off, clean everything really(!) good (especially the inside of the cranks), use a thin coating of clean green waterproof bearing grease on the square shaft, and torque the bolt down to 28 ft-lbs.

[zippy]

Originally Posted by Garthe

and 15 more wins...until he turns Expert.

Beyond cool ! How long till we see him racing on TV ? I watched UCI Supercross from Chula Vista a couple weeks back and I believe they raced in the Netherlands on last nights show. Good stuff. Congrats kid keep smiling !!

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by k7

He responded, "I'm done". That ended our ride - we had 325 miles OR 520 km. The goal was 372 miles or 600 km.

As the title states, "close but no cigar".

As usual, my glass is half-full. We did 325 miles - was up well over 35 hours w/o sleep - braved a lot of SoCal drivers who did great for the most part - rode some nice bikeways - saw a few drunks and police playing games at 0200 - and learned a lot of lessons.

It's all good! We'll attempt another 600k next month in southern Utah and if I can't finish that one, the goal of a 1200 is off the table for 2012. Between now and then, I'll attempt to climb South Mt as much as possible to get stronger on the hills.

Sounds like you could've made it if you hadn't stopped for your partner.

There's gotta be a 'if I'm not gonna make it, you go ahead' decision made beforehand. Then stick to it. UNLESS its a medical emergency that is.

Onya for getting 3x as far as I've ever ridden on a bicycle in a day. You rando types are nucking futs!

M

[Gummee!]

Originally Posted by Scurley

I haven't ridden my fixed gear in about a year, due in part for the reason mentioned above. I never did get my square taper cranks back on just right so, yes, they creaked, but that was the least of my worries. One of the nuts would occasionally become so loose, almost to the point of falling out, that the pedal end of the crank arm had about 2cm of lateral play. I don't carry an allen key big enough with me on rides, so there wasn't much I could do in the middle of a ride except for using my fingers to tighten, which would do the job for only another mile or so. Back at home, I'd tighten the bejeezus out of the thing, but the same scenario would eventually happen again.

So, what's the trick to getting the cranks on 'just right'? (square tapered, specifically)

Since you've ridden it loose, you may've screwed the pooch on this one. Riding the crank with that much play may have ruined the taper inside the crankarm.

Clean it, reinstall it (grease vs no grease is a big religious argument, BTW) and hope. If it does it again, new cranks.

M

[Jim Moore]

Originally Posted by Jim Moore

Fuck. 2921 as of this morning. 141 pitiful miles in March. I've been sick, I've been hurt, the weather sucks, blah, blah, blah. Bottom line, I'm not getting the job done. 571 miles in three months ain't cutting it. I may need to rethink my whole strategy. Here's hoping for a good April.

Hey, 3260 as of yesterday morning. 339 miles in April. 910 total for 2012. I should be at 1166, but I made a little progres this month.

[k7]

Originally Posted by Askel

Sounds like you maybe just need a stronger partner.

Although I know how damn hard that can be finding somebody that:
a) is willing to ride crazy distances
and
b) is closely enough matched to your abilities

and well... I haven't gotten that far yet, but I suspect this one's important to:
c) is somebody you're willing to put up with for 24+ hours when neither of you are at your peak of social grace.

Originally Posted by Gummee!

Sounds like you could've made it if you hadn't stopped for your partner.

There's gotta be a 'if I'm not gonna make it, you go ahead' decision made beforehand. Then stick to it. UNLESS its a medical emergency that is.

Onya for getting 3x as far as I've ever ridden on a bicycle in a day. You rando types are nucking futs!

M

We're slow but steady. I need to get a little stronger on the hills and may look at a cycleops rear hub to get a better idea on managing my (what little there is) power output. My partner is probably a little stronger than me - in fact, I suspect he's a lot stronger. He just can't manage w/o sleep.

It may get to the point where we made a decision as you suggested i.e. "you go, I can't go" but this is our first year and we've kind of made a commitment to stay together as we do these rides. I still feel pretty good about the events since we have learned a lot of valuable lessons so we're not quite there yet.

Thanks for the kind words - these are great events.

[Wadester]

Originally Posted by Scurley

I haven't ridden my fixed gear in about a year, due in part for the reason mentioned above. I never did get my square taper cranks back on just right so, yes, they creaked, but that was the least of my worries. One of the nuts would occasionally become so loose, almost to the point of falling out, that the pedal end of the crank arm had about 2cm of lateral play. I don't carry an allen key big enough with me on rides, so there wasn't much I could do in the middle of a ride except for using my fingers to tighten, which would do the job for only another mile or so. Back at home, I'd tighten the bejeezus out of the thing, but the same scenario would eventually happen again.

So, what's the trick to getting the cranks on 'just right'? (square tapered, specifically)

Like Gummee said, if you've wallered it out - time for a new set of cranks. However - and especially on fixed gear - it's hard to keep 'em tight. Mine started doing that, loosening on every ride - and I HAD the wrench with, so If I would snug it any time i noticed or would check during the ride. Granted, every time it loosens damage is done. But I had a wild idea - cleaned the tapers well and reinstalled using blue locktite on the mating surfaces. No more problems. Worth a try.

[slackmeyer]

Originally Posted by Wadester

Like Gummee said, if you've wallered it out - time for a new set of cranks. However - and especially on fixed gear - it's hard to keep 'em tight. Mine started doing that, loosening on every ride - and I HAD the wrench with, so If I would snug it any time i noticed or would check during the ride. Granted, every time it loosens damage is done. But I had a wild idea - cleaned the tapers well and reinstalled using blue locktite on the mating surfaces. No more problems. Worth a try.

I would probably use red loctite or retaining compound on the tapers. But yeah, the only special trick for installing square taper crankarms that I know is to get them nice and snug, and keep them that way- once they start wallowing around, they're essentially done.

[Signal]

The college natl's are here in my backyard (Ogden) this weekend-
Anyone gonna be out here?

[Scurley]

Thanks, gents.

Just to be clear, what am I doing damage to? Is it the cranks, the bottom bracket, or both?

If the BB is involved, I actually have a brand-new spare that's been sitting in a drawer for two years, so that's luck. Either way, I'm dumping my cranks. The current ones are some leftover Shimano Nexus ellipticals that I don't really enjoy, anyway.

I wonder if it would be unethical to resell the cranks on fleabay.

[Wadester]

Originally Posted by Scurley

Thanks, gents.

Just to be clear, what am I doing damage to? Is it the cranks, the bottom bracket, or both?

If the BB is involved, I actually have a brand-new spare that's been sitting in a drawer for two years, so that's luck. Either way, I'm dumping my cranks. The current ones are some leftover Shimano Nexus ellipticals that I don't really enjoy, anyway.

I wonder if it would be unethical to resell the cranks on fleabay.

There is damage to both, but I think the aluminum arm gets the worst.

It's only ethical to sell the cranks if you're upfront about why: "Used. Got loose and may be damaged." Anything less would be unethical in my estimation. I'd just toss'em in the recycle and be done.

[slackmeyer]

I'll just throw this out there: one thing to be aware of if you're having problems getting square taper crank arms to fit is that shimano and Campy have different square tapers, and you shouldn't mix the cranks and BBs.

[mud]

Originally Posted by slackmeyer

I'll just throw this out there: one thing to be aware of if you're having problems getting square taper crank arms to fit is that shimano and Campy have different square tapers, and you shouldn't mix the cranks and BBs.

Yes, Campy is ISO and Shimano is JIS.....

http://sheldonbrown.com/bbtaper.html

[fullmonte]

Yay! We are gonna be the host city for the USA Cycling Championships for 2013-15.

http://www.usacycling.org/chattanoog...-nationals.htm