Monday, August 24, 2009

 

Ritter Classic 2009

The Ritter Classic is a fun cycle race held each year on Sjælland, Denmark. This year it again set off and ended in Taastrup, taking a route up to Ballerup, then east over to the coast and then hugging the shoreline travelled further north before heading back inland again, and just as it got above Taastrup, it headed directly south for the finishing line.

I expected to take between 5 and 6 hours, and quite surprised, not just myself, but supporters who wished to take photos of the team: we'd already passed by the time they arrived at the various photo ops. There were plenty of other photographers and several film crews from TV2 Sport amongst others. So I shall ask for some links when I find them.

My statistics:
118.8km in 4 hours 1 minute and 47 seconds,
Speed: averaged 29.5km/h with a maximum on 78.8km/h
Heart rate: average 140 bpm maximum 175 bpm
Cadence: average 83 rpm with a maximum of 125 rpm.

My route on Garmin Connect

Link to Google Earth kml file.

The Top 50 result list

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Saturday, January 10, 2009

 

Ready for the first ride

So here it is ready for it's first test ride.


Looks great.


Hmm, deserve a beer for that.

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Friday, January 09, 2009

 

Seat, attempt 2

Ah ha! I've missed out a seat. Borrowed one from another bike for now.


Looks the business.

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Thursday, January 08, 2009

 

Pedals

Dug out a couple of XTR pedals. These came with one of my race bikes, but MTB racing in Denmark can be very muddy and as some off-days I fall over quite a lot, such a pedal design can fill with muck such that they become unusable. Hence they were swapped for something 'better'. So they're available and I shall use them on this bike for now, until I get fed up with them again.


Little felt washers to protect the medal / resin interface on the cranks.


A big Allan key to screw it home. Pairs of pedals come in Right-hand-side and Left-hand-side pairs, with opposite thread directions.


And there it is. On.


Nearly ready for a ride now, but I'll check it over, over a can of beer, to make sure I've not missed anything.

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Wednesday, January 07, 2009

 

Adjusting the rear derailleur

The end stops at the back here were spot on too. Just cut off the excess wire and crimped the end closed. Wound the gears back and forth a few times whilst fine tuning on the trigger shifter.


So easy it is probably not worthy of a beer, but I'll have one anyway.

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Tuesday, January 06, 2009

 

Adjusting the front derailleur

Now the chain is on the fine tuning of the front dérailleur can be completed. It normally only needs a little tweak to set these end stops. Here I didn't need to do anything as it was right on the ball.


Just spun the cog and checked the gears changed OK.

As it is otherwise another step completed it is a good enough excuse to have a beer though.

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Monday, January 05, 2009

 

Seat

Here's a seat post clamp. I don't like quick-release seat-post clamps as they're only helpful to thieves who want to steal your seat.


De-bagged! There is a little lip on the inside so it will only go on the seat tube one way up.


A little anti-stick paste wiped on the inside and on the seat-tube it goes.


But now realise I have no seat. Hmm. Have to think about what to do here. Shall have a beer.

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Sunday, January 04, 2009

 

Install the chain

A nice SRAM 9 speed chain - PC981


Just lay it across the front, remembering to feed it through the front dérailleur.


Lay it across the back and feed it through the rear dérailleur.


The magic link. I like magic links as I like to take my chain off quite often and clean it in a wax bath.


The chain is not seated right as the dérailleur needs a little fine adjustment.


And there we have it.


Another beer is called for now.

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Saturday, January 03, 2009

 

Put the tires on

Here's a couple of spare inner tubes that have been laying about for longer than I care to remember. They were part of prizes at races ages ago, and I can't remember why they've not been used.


And a couple of spiked tires will be perfect for riding on the ice.


Oh dear, now I know why the first tube hasn't been used, and hence languishing at the back of the shelf for so long. The valve is some wierdness for a very deep rim and doesn't have a thread for a nut to hold it in place. Oops, that's not good.


Oh dear, now I know why the second tube hasn't been used, and hence languishing at the back of the shelf for so long. It's a schrader valve, and hence way too big for the hole in the rims of any wheels I have.


Right, now I know why they were prizes, they were boobie prizes! I do hope the thought of my reaction on opening the boxes made them happy. So those two tubes have gone to the charity shop, no doubt to entertain someone else in the near future. I've no use for them. Now well, I'll just have to go and get a pair of tubes from the stock I keep for my racing bikes. These Bontrager are sweet tubes. I forget who actually manufactures them.


A little air in them to make sure they fit, and don't already have a puncture. The valve stem looks a little short, but it's just because the tube is sat above the rim. I hope.


Fit the tires.


Pump them up a little harder than what I use for racing.


See the valve comes through now.


And onto the bike go the wheels.


Looks even more like a bicyce now.


Time for a beer.

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Thursday, December 18, 2008

 

Wiring up the rear derailleur

Neatly trim the outer shield leaving approximately 10mm showing


Thread on the sealing bellows


Thread around to the attaching screw. Use the 'third hand' to pull it all taught.


At full pull, set the limit screw.


So easy, I wonder if I even deserve a beer for that. I'll have one whilst I think about it.

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Wednesday, December 17, 2008

 

Handlebar grips

As the brake housings are blue I sourced some blue handlebar grips.
The smallest touch of liquid soap is enough to help slip them on. I like them to twist a little under my hands. Some people hate it, and if you do, you're better using a little alcohol instead of soap. I push them far enough on so there is a little bit of tube showing at the end. I shall be putting bar ends on later, if I can find some nice blue ones.


It's looking so good, I think I'll have a beer.

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

 

Wiring up the front derailleur

Out comes the front dérailleur packing spacer.


Tug the cable taught, measure up and, with a sharp knife, cut off the excess cover.


Remember to have the 'third hand' to hand, so to speak.


On with the shield bellows and thread through the stop screw.


Check, using the trigger-shifter that everything works. Then torque up.


Whilst holding a beer in the other hand of course.

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Monday, December 15, 2008

 

Routing rear derailleur cable

Routing the rear derailleur was a little more complicated than the front.


The end stops were slightly too narrow for either variety of ferule that came with the cables. I could drill out the end-stops to slightly widen them, but I dislike modding a frame unless it is absolutely unavoidable. So it was a case of hunting through spare parts to find some that fitted, and looked correct. Yes, I managed to locate some.


Whilst I was at it, I corrected the orientation of the cable guide for the front derailleur so the text was the correct way up.


Whilst I was at it, I lined the ferules up, so the text was apparent there too. It's all the little finishing touches that go to make a bike feel good.


The ferules were so tight they stay in place all on their own!


Shall I have a beer, or finish off here? Do I absolutely need both hands for the last bit? Well, I'll have a beer and ponder on it.

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Sunday, December 14, 2008

 

Beer

Getting ready for the next step in my bicycle build and what do I spy?


What? Nearly out of beer!


Oh dear, better send out for some more.

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Saturday, December 13, 2008

 

Replacing the wire on a SRAM XO rear trigger shifter

The front trigger shift looks a little different to the rear. That is because the two I have are not really a pair. The design has altered over the years, and they come from different sets. I would like to think the front trigger shifter (that I changed the wire on in an earlier post) is a more modern design. It is easier to work on that one than this design, but I don't know.

Yet, lucky for you if you've surfed in looking for instructions on how to replace this cable, as you can find descriptions for both types here.


As before the little thumb-screw on the back is easy to remove, and you can then take the back off.


This looks like fun, not. I have to unthread the wire without disturbing this spring too much. Definitely do not want to bend the spring. That leads to pain.


A little gentle pressure and pushing the spring out of the way and the cable starts to unthread. Once I've removed this cable I wind it up and throw it in the 'spare parts to be given away' bin. I've mentioned previously I dislike the open system. I much prefered a sealed system.


Now inserting the new cable is fun. It has to thread through a small hole which has little guidance and doesn't line up nicely. A little screwdriver I long since modified for this specific task. Notice the rounded off edges. We do not want anything getting scratched or notched in here. These parts are right on the limit for design and any damage will make itself readily apparent when you're right at a very important part of a race.


Pull the cable through. Now just before the end stop is due to arrive, gently push the spring out of the way and lift the end-stop over the lip and up to the face.


On goes the back and, screwsin with the thumb screw.


Done, and I believe a beer is in order.

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