July 2007

Mid Summer And What That Brings

It is mid summer in Houston, Texas which means that it is incredibly hot and humid. Some folks, myself included, cut back a bit on riding at this time of year. The UBG Cycling Club is still riding three times a week: Wednesday night at 6:30pm, Saturday morning at 8am and Sunday morning at 8am. Sometimes the Sunday ride is supplanted by a special ride like the Katy Flatland or in the case of this upcoming Sunday a mountain bike ride at Rocky Hill. The Hotter than Hell 100 is coming up at the end of August and we are planning some longer out of town rides to prepare for it. If you want to be involved in any of those rides you can e-mail Judy for a schedule.

Normally in the summer I like to ride mountain bikes more because it keeps me in the shade but this summer we have had so much rain most of the trails have been closed for weeks. Two trails that hold up well to heavy rain and are usually still rideable are Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville and Double Lake up north off highway 59 near Cold Spring.

Another bike related thing I do in the summer is work on my bike. If you are someone who is trying to learn how to do your own mechanical work, I think this is a good time to get busy with that. I recommend you purchase the Park Tools Blue Book of Bike Repair, which we stock. It is a very valuable resource for any mechanic.

This is also the time of year to watch The Tour De France. This year is very exciting because there are many contenders so I think there will be some truly inspiring moments as so many riders have a real shot at victory.

In the business of selling bicycles this is the time of year when we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of 2008 models, which for the most part are still a couple weeks away. It is also a time when 2007 models are on sale to make room for the 2008s.

So if you need a bike or some clothing stop by UBG and take advantage of our sales.
All Adidas jerseys are now being sold at 50% discount off the marked price.
There are some very good-looking jerseys for very low prices.

Featured Ride
http://www.boomersrockyhill.com/
All the trails within a 200-mile radius are waterlogged and most of them are closed. Where can you get your mountain bike thing on?

Rocky Hill Ranch! It’s 100 miles west of here in Smithville and yes it is soaked. However a wet Rocky Hill is a kickass good time. You can slash through countless water crossings and just go hog wild on their twenty odd miles of hilly, rocky singletrack. The soil there does not glom onto your ride and keep your wheels from rolling. It remains surprisingly rideable when it’s way wet. I called there after some heavy rain recently and asked one of the guys who runs the place if the trails were closed and he replied, “ we are always open man, this land ain’t sacred. There ain’t no Indian mounds or anything out here.” That is what I’m talking about!

Check out our website to see us riding in Rocky Hill.

Featured Items
This just in: Cool glasses from Germany have invaded UBG. Uvex glasses are now in stock at the store. These are incredibly stylish sunglasses perfectly tailored to the demands of cycling. Check out the Crow Ultra at $100. They feature antifog lenses in 2 different interchangeable shades, super comfortable foam brow pads and headband. These are like a cross between ski goggles and sunglasses but they are super lightweight and the perfect size for cycling. Also take a look at the Crow Pro at $80. They are like the Crow Ultra but without the headband and brow pad.

Merlin Titanium Bikes
http://www.merlinbike.com/
I decided to get on a Merlin and the ride is terrific. It smoothes out rough pavement almost as well as carbon but it has a much springier, livelier feel. I rode it on the Fayetteville Summertime Classic on that rough chip seal pavement and it was extremely comfortable. I have a Cyrene which has a comfortable frame geometry with relatively small diameter frame tubes resulting in a ride that is not overly stiff like some of the more race oriented titanium frames. The Cyrene also has a beautiful polished titanium finish unadorned with paint or decals but featuring ornate etching reminiscent of a custom shotgun.

Avoid an expensive repair
A bad thing that happens a lot to cyclists is a bent derailleur hanger. The derailleur hanger is the piece of metal that the rear derailleur threads into. It is found on the chain side of the bike behind the rear axle and an allen head bolt is threaded into it that holds the rear derailleur on the bike. When a bike falls down on the chain side the rear derailleur often hits the ground and rather than damaging the rear derailleur, the hanger gets bent inward. This happens almost anytime the bike is involved in a crash and ends up with the chain side down. It also happens sometimes when the bike just falls over when no crash has occurred. If the rear derailleur hits the ground just right the hanger will bend inward.

 Oftentimes a rider will simply pick his bike up dust himself off and jump back on and start riding. Big mistake. As the rider pedals he or she might notice that the bike is not shifting properly and the chain now makes more noise than before. The rider continues riding thinking that he will bring the bike in for repair after the ride is over. Little does he know that catastrophe is waiting at the top of the next hill. As the rider begins climbing he shifts into a lower gear and the rear derailleur responds by moving inward to push the chain up to a larger rear cog. He continues to climb and realizes he needs a lower gear so again he shifts and the derailleur once again inches inward to push the chain up to the next largest cog. His pedals suddenly snag and fight him and he responds by bearing down harder on the cranks. Then BOOM, CRASH, CRUNCH, POP and CRUNCH again! It is as if the entire rear end of his $4000 carbon fiber bike explodes. The rear derailleur shears off, four spokes break, the rear wheel assumes the shape of a potato chip and the chain becomes hopelessly jammed up against the frame and crankset. Since the rear wheel locked up suddenly he falls. Fortunately he was rolling very slowly as he was on a steep climb so the fall only gives him bruises and scrapes. He looks at his broken bicycle on the ground and the blood on his skinned knees.

I have seen this occur many many times and in almost every case the rider brings the bike to the shop with a broken derailleur hanger, a chewed up and bent rear derailleur a bent ruined chain, a damaged rear wheel and scratches on the frame. The bike owner almost always says, “I don’t know what happened. The rear wheel just locked up and then all this happened.”

I examine the bike noticing the telltale signs and I reply, “At some point you dropped the bike on the drive side bending the derailleur hanger inward, then the next time you shifted into the inside cog on the rear wheel the rear derailleur which was canted inward hooked on the turning spokes. Then as the rear wheel continued to roll forward it took the rear derailleur with it until it was pulled around to the breaking point where it snapped off jamming the chain and stopping the rear wheel. I am afraid that is going to cost you about a hundred dollars.”

This is not covered under warranty. It is what we call “ rider error”. Here is the lesson: If your bike falls on the drive side, stand it up, crouch down behind it and examine the rear derailleur. The chain wraps over the gear cogs on the rear wheel and around two little wheels on the rear derailleur. Where the chain does this, it should be perfectly vertical. Whatever cog the chain is on should line up directly above both of those little wheels on the derailleur in a straight line. If the derailleur cage appears to be canted inward toward the spokes then you will need to grab the derailleur firmly with both hands and straighten it as best you can, focusing the bending force on the derailleur hanger rather than on the cage. If you can’t mange that, then you have two options:

1. Don’t ride the bike again till a mechanic fixes it or
2. Ride the bike being very careful to avoid shifting into the lower gears, i.e. the cogs closest to the spokes. No matter which option you choose bring the bike to a shop as soon as you can. Do this and it could save your ride and a lot of money.

Good luck and have a nice ride.

Tom Wurth 
Urban Bicycle Gallery