Cut down in it's prime . .

Following on from my post on the Cinelli and it's loose headset I am pleased to report that both my problems have been solved with the cutting down of the fork steerer.

For a very reasonable £12 Peason Cycles Sheen cut off the offending material and not only does the bike look finished now, the headset could be tightened correctly and there is no sign of the previous clicking or moving that I found.  I was so pleased with the price I rode the road bike there to collect the Cinelli and had that done the next day.

Full pictures of the bike to follow when I write it up properly in a long overdue "my bikes" section, but here's a photo of the now neat and cut back steerer.

The weight saving should have a few seconds off my commute right yeah . . 

Cinelli Single Speed - Cut Down Steerer

Where's your headset at . .

Commuting on the single speed cinelli has been a maintenance free experience this summer - partly thanks to the roasting sunshine the UK is currently enjoying, but after a recent downpour I felt that the headset had come a little loose.  After checking and setting the headset several times (instructions from Park Tool can be found in the link below) the problem got slightly better but wouldn't go away.

After some internet and book research a common cause was dirt or grit entering the assembly preventing it from tightening properly, probably during the rain.  Other than a failed or worn bearing there didn't seem to be many other candidates for the cause.  As the bike had been built for about 18 months, and probably covered 7/800km, dirt seemed the most likely candidate, and a strip down, clean and re-grease would remove most possibilities. 

The ever excellent Park Tool website has detailed instructions for removal, re-fitting and setting of thread less headsets, and their article can be found here:

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/threadless-headset-service

I started off by removing the front wheel and the front brake from the fork, slotting the handlebars into the bottle cage to keep them out of the way.

Cinelli Bootleg Mystic with fork and handlebars removed

Next I removed the headset bearings and cleaned all the relevant parts, working over a towel meant if any of the balls from the ball bearings made a break for it they couldn't get far, and they show up well against green.

Fork with front brake removed and both the upper and lower bearing races

Upon inspection the parts were in good condition but dirt was present, and the old grease was very dirty around the outer of the bearing races and where they contacted the frame and the fork.  The bearings themselves had cleaner grease on them and both they and the races were in perfect condition.  I used wet wipes (baby wipes) to clean the relevant parts, ideally I would have preferred to rinse and clean them in a solvent bath but this wasn't possible.  I also gave the bearing cups and the frame a good wipe over to remove any dirt or old grease.

Cleaned upper bearing parts

Cleaned headset cups and steerer tube

I then turned to my trusty tube of Finish Line Dupont Teflon bearing grease - this has been with me for many years and is excellent stuff for bearing services such as this one.  It is now almost done so I will be sourcing a new bottle when I next do some bike bits shopping, a link can be found below for Chainreaction Cycles.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/finish-line-teflon-grease/rp-prod980

This was applied to the internal races and the bearings themselves, with a small flat blade screwdriver used to push the grease into the hard to reach areas.  Once well greased the parts were snapped back together and the bearing assembly was ready to be re-insterted in to the bearing cups and the bike re-assembled.

Greased and re-assembled upper bearing parts

The bike was then put together and the process for tightning the headset from the Park Tools link followed.  The headset itself felt smooth and tight while turning, but here was still some play when locking the front brake and pushing back and forth.  This lead me to the conclusion that there isn't enough of a gap between the top of the fork steerer and the spacers/stem which the top cap presses against.  

This enables me to hit two birds with one stone (has anyone ever actually done that?) as the steerer has needed cutting down for a while.  Much to my good buddy Russ T's disgust I have previously shied away from cutting down fork steerers for two very good reasons; 1 - I might sell the bike, 2 - I might mess it up and cut off too much.  However, aesthetically I do hate that bit of steerer and spacers sticking out the top and now was the time to get rid.  So this is a job for the LBS (Local Bike Shop).  While I now do most jobs myself I've always believed you should support your local shop, and days like these are proof why everyone should.  

My local shop is Pearson Cycles in East Sheen, I ride past there regularly going to Richmond Park or further afield and aside from some very nice machines and tasty coffee, they have very helpful staff and excellent mechanics.  I have previously stopped in to borrow a torque wrench for a slipped saddle, and had an errant wheel trued and their service has been top notch.  

So the bike has been dropped off and I eagerly await her return, both to see if the headset is fixed, and to see what she looks like without that ugly bit of steerer sticking out the top.   

Peasrson Cycles can be found online here, and in addition to being an excellent bike shop, they are also the oldest in the world so well worth a look:

http://www.pearsoncycles.co.uk

More Single Speed Commuting . .

So it's been a while since I posted about life commuting and an office move for my company meant that direct comparison between my first few commutes with gears was not possible.  We are now settled in the new office and I've been doing two or three commutes a day, which I'm really enjoying, particularly as I'm starting to get some reasonable fitness.  The even newer commute is just over 26km over almost the same route, which is pretty flat but largely free flowing and mostly traffic free.  

My previous goal was to get the single speed time down to the original time that I did on the geared road bike, which I aim to do again for this new commute, but I may have made a rod for my own back.  After several rides on the single speed I rode the road bike last Wednesday in preparation for heading up to Yorkshire to watch Le Tour and have a crack at Stage 1.  My best on the single speed on the new route was 58:36 as can be seen in the Strava link below:

http://www.strava.com/activities/163438601

The time recorded on the road bike was 52:53 as can be seen here:

http://www.strava.com/activities/160996301

The single speed is real hard to keep at high speed but I all too often ease off and coast which is probably why a lot of pro riders incorporate some fixed single speed riding into their training, but for safety I run the single speed with a freewheel as London presents a lot of hazards.  So I will really have to push myself to try and get that time down - and then see if I can go quicker again on the geared road bike.

This is going to wreck my legs, but with a twelve week old baby I can't join a club, race or train specifically so this is the best way to get some sport and have a target to focus on.  

I'll check back in on this in a month with my success/failure* . . 

*delete as applicable

Commuting in one gear . .

I changed jobs in November last year resulting in a commute that is a nice 28km from West London to Addlestone in Surrey.  Scything through Twickenham, Little Hampton, Hampton Court and Weybridge the route has a mix of busy main roads and nice quiet lanes.  Getting up to speed on the new job I have spent a lot of time out of the office on site ,but with the summer coming and better weather I'll be in the office more, and leaving the car at home more often.

From my four rides to work in 2014, this is the Strava link for my fastest time this year so far:

http://www.strava.com/activities/147054683

That was done on my Viner road bike with the use of 20 gears.  I have a single speed Cinelli that was originally bought as a winter training bike but, with a round trip of almost 60km, this will now come into service as my commuter to save the wear and tear on the Viner.

Today was my first ride in.  

My legs definitely felt the difference, having to spin at a much higher cadence to keep up a reasonable speed on the flat.  Sadly (for my training ambitions) there aren't any real hills on the route, so there is a lot of time spent around the 30kph mark and the legs get a fast working over.

The time was four/five minutes longer so my goal for this summer is to get that down to the same time as the geared bike.  What will be interesting will be if I do manage that will be to then see if there has been any change in my speed back on the Viner.

I have made some Strava segments on the longest junction free sections to help motivate myself and compare the pure riding elements of the ride, as traffic can change the overall time quite a bit.

The Segments are here:

http://www.strava.com/athlete/segments/created

I'll update with the Strava links for today's efforts and report what's left of the legs after the return journey . .