Day 48...Its Electric

Yep, you guessed it, Im going to put those pics up from earlier today of the Colnago CLX w/Ultegra Di2.  The customer came in for his fit and rolled out one happy man.  Saw a little more spring in his step on the way out than when he came in.  So very happy for him.




 Before that however, we had a visit from Karen of PedalDancer.com.  She was super fun to chat with and is completely supporting her love of cycling, and the blogging about it, through her "real jobs".  Again, awesome to see the dedication she has for cycling.  Check out her blog/website and look for a post on the shop soon...hopefully!  Thanks Karen!

I also got to build up a sweet wheelset for a customer...yes I realize im simply telling you about my day and nothing of any profound meaning.  Mavic Reflex Tubular rims, Chris King CX hubs, Sapim Laser spokes in a 2 cross front and 3 cross rear pattern.  They came together very nicely.  If I can, Ill take a couple pics of them tomorrow and get them up here.

So, as long as Im on a "theme" kick for the week...that being the "lame" b-log posts...Ill leave you with those 3 lil tidbits of info.  Hopefully something a bit more "meaty" comes to the b-log in the very near future.  Hope everyone has a great weekend!

...boots out.

Day 34...#snOMG

Yes we got lots of snow.  No I dont have any pics to show you from the day.  I know, I know, lame.  I have bad luck with using my phone/camera any other time than when inside or outside standing in sunshine.  Ive dropped my phone across 3 lanes of traffic trying to take that "cool riding shot" so many out there seem to manage wonderfully.  There's the inevitable "toilet dunk" which has cost my wife a phone(my fault), and very thankful for the extra $7/mo we spend on insurance for the damn things.  Then there are the numerous "walk-n-drops" Im famous for.  So, when its remotely wet, sandy, snowy...etc, I err on the side of caution.  Now that being said, I think the wife got some video we'll post up on the YouTube acct for family and friends to watch.

The snow was pretty crazy at times, and I did have to shovel the driveway, and sidewalk, 3 times.  When we lived in Charlotte a couple years ago there were a couple of "big" storms that winter.  Big for Charlotte NC is like 3 inches.  The whole place shuts down and people go to the store for bread and milk, kinda like they do when a Hurricane rips through.  Somehow the hashtag for the snow storm of the decade was #snOMG and impressively it stuck around...and in my head.  I think its better than the #snowpocalypse one that Denver has used since the blizzards of 2006(yeah it was pretty bad that year).  Anywho...

Moving on to the Bike Front...anyone like SRAM Red?  Well, if youve been keeping track of it, there are some changes for next year's line.  Here's the YouTube video that followed the press release.  Home wrenches, if you have never done it, and youre going to try...good luck.  Guys like me, with private clients/teams...etc...hope you enjoy and that Im not just sending something out there that everyone has seen before.

Make sure you pay attention to the Front Derailleur setup.  Honestly, thats the only thing that is really new.  Its a pretty cool concept, and Im really interested in setting it up the first time.  It actually does have some Yaw!




...boots out.

This Time Next Week...

...Ill have completed my first 3 days at my new shop gig.  (oh yeah, 2 posts in 1 day is a new record for me!)  When I left the new shop I opened at the beginning of last year, I thought "this might be it for me" as far as working in shops goes.  Being happy in the industry had taken on such a dark overtone for me, and the love of the 2wheeled machine thats kept me sane for years had started to fade.

Long story short, and thanks to my local SRAM/ZIPP/Merckx/Pinarello rep for referring my new shop to me(which is unheard of typically...usually we're referred to shops), Ill be back in "the biz" at a place where I truly have a "glass half full" outlook.

Ill be at Creekside Bikes in Parker CO starting Friday Jan 6th.  The owner is a great guy to date, he even sent the family and I an Xmas card before even starting, and Im stoked to be taking over his service department.  Its a small shop, really small, but well utilized space and definitely aims for a certain niche.  That niche being road and some cross(hopefully more cross as I get settled in tee hee).  He doesnt even touch mtb's, and thats ok, because you cant be everything to everyone these days unless youve got major coin, or work for a chain store.

Anywho, check out the links in the post, come find me and say HI! Ill be there 3 days a week, Fri/Sat/Sun, for the first couple of months until "The Season" starts, then fulltime.

Kool-Stop "Cross Pad"...a "review"

We've all heard the sound, that horrible banshee shrill that comes from a nicely dialed in set of cantilever brakes.  Yes, i said "nicely dialed", cuz no matter what, they always start off super sweet, then after the 1st big race and the 1st big cleaning that sound comes out of no where.

Then there's the "chatter", or "shudder", from those stupid things.  You know, you've taken it to your mechanic 12 times, or you've tried to adjust it on your own 50, and no matter what you've tried, whether its pads or toeing or different brakes...etc...theres still that ever resounding vibration that drives you crazy going into the 1st corner of the next cross race,  you loose focus and BAM, wash out in front of 100 of your newest, closest friends.  

At this point I'm going to pause for a little Disclaimer:  There are always LOTS of variables that go into dialing in canti brakes for a cross bike.  Theres the distance from the hanger to the yoke, widely spaced or narrower spaced brake arms, long pads, short pads, thick pads, thin pads, threaded(adj angle pads), solid post pads(usually can adj the toe on the brake...or not) so on and so forth.  The Only, knock on wood and to date, set up from the factor I've seen that works GREAT with any type of brake and shoe, came on a Stevens frame.  They created a bolt on hanger that attaches to the fork, thus lowering the distance between the hanger and yoke.  Now TRP has come up with their own retrofit version of this, but you have to have a fork that allows for this thing to be bolted on.  Braking with that set up was awesome, and felt as safe and secure as any road caliper does.  So...the following "solution" is one I came across based on my own "philosophy" of how things work.  There are plenty of other ways to do it, and the aim is the same in the end, NO NOISE/CHATTER, so continue to read on with an open mind...and heart.

my new best friend...the pad, not the dude

I run Paul's canti brakes and on one i had the stock "Slim Line" pad, which was long and narrow, on the front, on the rear I ran an Avid Std Mtb threaded post pad.  With the Paul's brakes they come "front and rear", which I switched up, putting the narrower armed rear brake arms in the front and wider spaced ones in the rear.  The reason for this is since the front brake is the one that mostly gets all the bad press with noise and chatter, by putting the "shorter pull" of the 2 up front, you decrease cable length across the yoke which in turn should reduce the amount of flex the cable can have which in turn again can create all the problems of chatter and noise.  

No matter how much I toed the pads, or cleaned them, I either had some noise come from them both wet and dry, and when they got the slightest bit of moisture on them, the shudder was damn near unbearable.  I bought these Kool-Stop Cross Pads at my old shop before I left after looking at lots of pads out there.  I knew what I didn't want, something long and without grooves, or channels, since its like taking a blade of grass in between your hands and blowing hard on it, similar to braking.  You get lots of loud noise from the harmonics produced.  So, I knew i wanted something shorter, i also knew i wanted something with replaceable pads.  Shorter pads mostly cause as a mechanic i HATE working on my own stuff and going through the motions of setting up new shoes every time wasn't fun and took too damn long.

sssshhhh...do you hear that?  Me either!

 I saw these guys in a couple places and thought id give the a whirl.  They matched all my criteria, shorter, replaceable pads and channeled.  They also have a compound that is broken up into, hard-soft-hard, which makes sense in my head due to the fact that it doesn't grab "evenly" at once, meaning that the forces and harmonics wouldn't have a chance to settle in and create the "noise".

Last week Id finally worn thru my old pads to the point where any normal person would've changed them out a while ago.  Like I said, being a mechanic and working on everyone elses' stuff, I rarely wanted to work on mine, and I've got enough tricks up my sleeve to limp stuff along for quite a while.

just so you know you got the right thing, here's the pertinent info

 The pads went on and adjusted just fine in the Paul's brake arms.  Side note, just to let you know what I'm running wheel wise, Campy Eurus Alloy clinchers.  I went out on a ride the other day, the inaugural ride with these new pads.  The first time I went to stop, I was waiting to be let down...again...as most stuff out there doesn't impress me much anymore.  That sounds like a completely elitist statement, and apologies if it does, but Ive seen enough "disco ball" "whiz bang" stuff out there, and then watch it fail after a few rides, that my skepticism is a bit deeper than most.

Thus I digress...

They were AWESOME!  No chatter, no noise, positive and progressive stopping power, and the beauty of it was, it lasted the entire 3 hour ride!  I like the feeling of that "clank" most people want in a brake feel, when the pads are completely in line with the rim...ie...no toe.  This definitely opens one up to the noise and chatter, but there was none of it!  I was so happy, and the whole ride kept saying how much "I love these damn pads!".

they fit just right on my Paul's

Now i know they're not for everyone, and they re not for every brake, and there's LOTS of other options out there.  I'm simply saying, if you've tried almost everything and you are getting close to throwing your bike down a flight of stairs because it wont shut the hell up, go order a set of these and give them a whirl.  Ive put the packaging and the bar code on the back so when you do order them, you know you're getting the same thing.  Both QBP and JB, national distributors, stock these(click HERE to go to the JB page to see stock at their warehouses).  If they don't work for you, then id love to know why, as I truly believe you learn more from "mistakes" than you do from "successes".

On that note, thanks for listening/reading.  Boots out...

Going To USGP Fort Collins CO?

If so and youre looking for some wrench help, pit help, whatever help, feel free to hit me up on twitter, @chandlersnyder.  Ill be in the team area under a CU Tent.  We're paying for the weekend, and all we ask in return are TIPS for "Services Rendered".  Both days should be amazing fun for everyone, whether youre racing or cheering/heckling your favorite racers!