Product Review - Roval Control Carbon 29" Wheels

I just wanted to write a small little ditty about this new wheelset that I've been riding this summer.

The Roval Control 29 Carbon wheelset from Specialized.

My 2012 Specialized Camber Comp was in need of wheels.  The stock alloy rims have been beaten and battered, and have held up quite well considering.  Nonetheless, they have reached a point in their life when the wheel truing becomes a series of approximate rather than precise adjustments and the rear hub is a bit noisier than it ought to be, even after a complete overhaul.

Enter the Control 29 Carbon wheelset from Specialized Bicycle's Roval division.

When they first arrived, I wasn't so sure that the box didn't contain road wheels because it was so lightweight! How light? The pair is 1580g. Not too far off from a high-end road wheelset.

Sure enough, there were mountain bike wheels in there.

I wasted no time in mounting up my Specialized tubeless tires, my Praxis cassette, and Shimano rotors.  The rims come with tubeless tape already installed.  The silky smooth DT Swiss hubs come with end caps to fit just about any non-boost xc or trail mountain bike you can find.  Also provided are some valve stems for tubeless use.  All is pro quality stuff.

When mounting your tires pay close attention to your air pressure.  These rims have a stated max air pressure of 45 psi/3.1bar.  My understanding is that this limit is not imposed due to any durability issue, but rather because of Roval's Zero Bead Hook Design.  Using my home compressor, the tires seated quite easily with an authoritative and reassuring "POP!"  

 The rim width is 27mm external and 22internal. Wide enough to not cramp 29x2.3" tires. Not wide enough to cause interference issues with most xc and trail bikes.

First impressions were stellar.  They really transformed that bicycle's appearance!

But appearances are not all these wheels are packing.

Speeding through fast twisties, these wheels change direction with an agility unmatched by any I have ridden before.  Lively is a great word to describe the way these hoops handle.  Lively, but predictable.  Predictable as in stable.  No unsteady wiggles whatsoever.  Point and shoot!

  I have smashed the Control Carbons into rocks, roots, and ruts of nearly every imaginable size.  They have seen bumbled drop offs and harsh landings.  Met face to face with ledges and even a tree or two.   I might be an old BMX'r, but I'm not always the smoothest guy out there.   Stream crossings, smooth trail, club rides, and races.  

I still have not had to true them once or make any adjustments whatsoever.

At $1200 USD retail, the Control 29 Carbon is in my opinion, the best carbon fiber wheelset value on the market.  

I also believe them to be one of the best, if not the very best carbon wheelset for xc and trail use available at any price.

I will keep these for quite some time.

Product Review: Maxxis Padrone Tubeless Road Tires 700x23c

I have been an avid road cyclist and racer since 1982. I have worked as a professional bicycle mechanic, and fitting specialist since 1980. I have ridden and raced on more makes and models of clincher and tubular tires than I remember. It is remarkable how much the performance level of clincher type bicycle tires has improved since I first became addicted to cycling.

Prior to using the Padrone, my favorite clincher was the Continental GP4000s with Black Chili Compound. It still is my favorite tire for use with inner tubes.

Install the tires carefully using soft edge tire levers. Maxxis provides a pair of nylon levers in the box with your new tires. I found the provided levers a bit too weak for the job of prying the beads of these tires over and onto my Campagnolo Eurus 2-Way rims. It might be easier on some other rims. It could also prove to be an even more challenging. I find that Pedros tire levers are perfect for the job. Install the tires "dry", that is without any sealant. Inflate them to make certain that they are correctly seated to your rims. You might actually need an air compressor in order to seat the tires. I was able to seat mine into some Campy Eurus Two-Way rims using a Pedro's floor pump. Once the tires are fully seated, deflate them, install sealant, then re-inflate. I do not recommend the use of Stans sealant for these particular tires. There is some ingredient of that sealant that I believe can cause some tires to delaminate. That would be bad. I recommend using a less caustic sealant such as Caffelatex, Hutchinson Protect Air Max, Specialized Airlock, or Orange Seal.

Choose one, and use the recommended dosage. In my experience, correct dosing is important no matter what your choice of tire sealant may be.

I used Caffelatex. I purchased it in a bottle, and used syringe type injector to slowly push the prescribed dose of sealant into each tire.

October of 2013, I rode across most of Texas with this tire/sealant/wheel combination. The eight day journey took a small group of us from Brackettville to Crocket, TX. We traversed chipseal, smooth tarmac, and even dirt roads along the way, gained some fitness, and renewed affection for the beauty of the Texas hill country. I experienced no problems whatsoever with the Padrones. No leaks, and no punctures. I am 177.8cm, or 5'10" tall, weigh 73.4 Kg, or 162 lbs, and rode with tire pressure at 5.8 bar or about 85psi.

These tires apparently roll just as fast as my GP4000s do at 6.9 bar or about 100 psi. With the Padrones, I feel no increase or decrease in rolling resistance. Grip is phenomenal on both dry and wet roads. I did get to test this extensively as two days of our Texas ride were ridden in the rain. One day there was a foggy drizzle that soaked everything but washed nothing away from the road surface, the other brought heavy rain for the duration of that day's ride. Ride quality is superb. These tires definitely help to take the edge off when cruising across chip seal pave'. I'm talking about the kind of chip seal that looks and feels as if marbles were used for pavement.

I realize that some users have had issues with the Maxxis Padrone, but based upon my experience working in the bicycle industry, I can safely say here that every tire maker will spit out a dud from time to time. I do not believe that there is such a thing as a tire maker who has never manufactured a defective tire. According to Maxxis, Quality Assurance experts actually x-ray each Padrone prior to packaging in an effort to search for defects, and prevent bad tires from reaching the store shelves. Nonetheless, a defect can still get by once in a while, and a tire can still be damaged during installation by a mechanic with little or no experience in the handling of tubeless tires and rims.  Which brings me to one more point of relevance.  Although many folks have installed tubeless tires onto non-tubeless rims, I do not recommend doing so.  Use tubeless rims for tubeless tires.  If your rim beads are not designed specifically for tubeless tires, and you convert to tubeless, you ought to be prepared to accept the possibility that the tires might fail catastrophically as a result of improper installation or usage.  The same applies to using within your tires any sealant that contains any form of caustic agent.  I do not have a laboratory full of testing equipment at my disposal, yet I believe that these are the finest road clinchers I have used.

A new year, and sort of a resolution.

Well, here we are into a new year.  The Mayans may have run out of time, but we haven't...yet.  For now, we still have the world and all of its' wonderful trails and roads to ride upon.

I didn't ride very much last year, and rode even less the year before, or still less the year before that one, but things are going to be different this year.  So long as my knees hold up anyway.  I have rediscovered my love of bicycling.  I'm not certain what brought about the change, but I'm going with it.  Less time on the motorbike, and more time on the pedals from here on out into the foreseeable future.

I have few new gadgets to tinker with as well. Recently, my Wife and I were visiting a few old friends at their bike shop, and although we had made the journey to Boerne, TX specifically with the purpose of purchasing some new road shoes, I made an impulse purchase while I was at it. So not only am I sporting a new pair of spartacus-white (I just made that up) Giro Apeckx shoes, but I am now feeding data to the Garmin Edge 500 that I already owned via a brand new item from CycleOps called the PowerCal.  The PowerCal is a heart rate monitor that calculates wattage based on heart rate data.  Now before you get all in my face about the time lag of heart rate etc etc, let me say this. I am not a division one pro. Heck, I'm not even an elite amateur.
I am just a guy with a couple of really nice, okay one good steel bike (an old Specialized), and one KICK ASS steel bike from the fine folks at Waterford Precision Cycles. My point is that CycleOps and the University of Colorado have amassed enough exercise files and power data on enough different athletes of all levels using other highly accurate equipment both in the lab, and on the road.  They have the algorithms that work well enough for a regular guy such as myself, and probably for you.

So far, the PowerCal works just fine.  One small anomaly is that when I am using the PowerCal with my bike that doesn't have a cadence sensor, the Garmin reads a constant cadence of 255.  It also does this when I am on my other bike with a cadence sensor and stop pedaling.  Otherwise the data appears to be pretty good, and the 255 cadence is not shown on the exercise file.  A quick googolymoogoly search led me to a Garmin user forum in which a fellow Garmin 500 user brought up the same question.  The answer he received was this:  "It is a bug in the current Garmin firmware release. The Powercal transmits a cadence value of 255 all the time. The value 255 is a special value that informs the head unit that the power meter is not sending a cadence value. This should not be displayed by the head unit. You will notice that though the head unit displays a value of 255 it does not write that value to the FIT file so it a UI bug."  Apparently, it's harmless, and hopefully the next firmware update will remedy the issue.

The other gadget that have to mess with now is Strava.  I really don't care one way or the other about segments, at least not right now while I am so slow, but I wanted a different way to look at the data being provided by my cyclometer.  I think that Strava provides exactly that. A different viewpoint.  So far, so good.  Don't worry. I promise to not become one of those Straviots that you hear about who blast by dangerously close to your shoulder shouting “STRAVA” and then gets run over by a cement mixer truck while running a red traffic signal.  I have no desire to be that guy, but keeping up with my present goal of six cycling hours a week is one positive to have come out of using Strava.  Sure, I could set the goal in my mind, or on a spreadsheet, then just try to keep up.  But there is something more motivational about having it on my page where my friends who follow me (I have no idea why anyone would want to that.) can see whether I am slipping up or not.

Well, until next time, have a great day and a great ride.

To MTB or Not to MTB... not really the question.

A couple of weeks ago, I borrowed a mountain bike from the local shop's huge demo collection of two bikes.  It is a slightly battered 2012 Specialized Camber Comp 29 with Fox fork and rear shock, a nice 2x10 drivetrain, and those wonderful twenty-nine inch wheels and tires.  My wife already has a Fisher 29'er, and she likes the ride.  I set up the sag on the Camber, we loaded the bikes on the car rack, suited up, and then drove to the park.  Although we rode around the woods for only about an hour or so before daylight began to run out, we had a blast.  It was quite nice.  

Over the years, I have owned a few mountain bikes, and although road cycling has always been my primary mode, I have always enjoyed riding around in the woods.

It is a great way to get a ride on a blustery day when the trees can offer a little shelter from the winds, or to get in some pedaling time when I don't feel like being out on the same old roads on a particular day for no particular reason.

Perhaps because of my affection for high end bicycle gear and the way that it just works so well, or perhaps because of the competitive nature I once possessed, the off road bikes that I have owned have always been pretty good bikes.  One thing that my former mountain bikes all have in common is the twenty-six inch wheel size.  Back in the day, I always kept away from the 29'ers because tire selection was limited, and many bicycle shops did not even stock the inner tubes for them.  Today, I find that not only have 29'ers become common on the trails and paths of this country, but that replacement and upgrade tires, tubes, and even wheels are easily found in most bicycle shops.  Awesome!  So I am now considering the purchase of the very demo bike that I had borrowed a couple of weeks ago.  What causes my hesitation?  Well, for one thing, it is still a used bike.  I could purchase the demo bike for a very low price since it is already pre-scratched, and no doubt has already been pre-crashed by at least one person.  There is the possibility for me to purchase an aluminum hard tail 29'er equipped with very similar high end components, brand new for about the same price.  On paper, this appears to be the logical choice.  New, so it doesn't need anything to be replaced, lighter weight, and a factory warranty.  But then again, the Camber Comp is a more expensive bike new.  It is also a full suspension bike, and I simply cannot afford to get a new one of those.  Then it dawned on me.  I really don't think that any of those criteria are all that important to me. What is holding me back from pushing the button, is the rear axle.  The Camber Comp has a proprietary rear axle system known as 142+.  Most mountain bikes currently under production use a 135mm rear wheel dropout width along with a traditional quick-release axle.  The 142+ system uses a 142mm dropout width and a proprietary through axle.

The greater width allows the rear hub flanges to be spaced in a manner that allows the spoke tension to be more even on both sides of the back wheel, resulting in a stronger wheel build. Neat-o.  The thing holding me back is the apparent limited selection of after market wheelsets that are compatible with the 142+ system.  Some other wheel systems exist with a 142mm spacing, but the type of axle and the manner in which they  are affixed to the bicycle frame is slightly different from 142+.  Perhaps, I am over thinking the decision.  Hmmm.... hardtail 29'er with 135mm (not as strong, but more common), or dually with 142+ (stronger, and less common..for the time being)?  Tough call.  I wonder if 142+ will one day be common as the twenty-nine inch mountain bike tire size is today.

 Update: 12/21/2012  I pulled the trigger on it. I purchased the Camber Comp. It is an awesome bike, and now that I have put in some trail time with it, I love everything about it including 142+.  

A visit from an old friend

Yesterday, a good, old friend of mine drove into town and stayed to visit for a day.  We went for a short road ride and passed the miles by talking shop, catching up on what is new in each of our lives, and talking about the old days as well.  It was a good ride, and after refueling with fish n' chips from a nearby bar and grill, we kicked back for Middle Aged Former Bicycle Racer Dude Flick Night.  On the 120ish inch living room HD screen, and in 5.1 sound we watched "Ride the Divide" followed  by "Race Across the Sky 2", and of course the episode of "South Park" where everyone has to stand in line at the pharmacy to have their yellow rubber bracelets safely removed.  Great fun, and even though I have already mentioned South Park, guess what?  I am not even going to discuss it here today. Hah!  For my fellow cyclists who are not familiar with the two films mentioned above, I do recommend that you watch them.

Ride the Divide is a documentary of the Tour Divide which is a fully self supported mountain bike race during which the competitors will ride 2745 miles(yes miles not kilometers, hours, or minutes) over all sorts of terrain, and through all kinds of weather conditions while discovering or reaffirming what they are really made of.  The race routes the competitors from Banf, AB Canada to The U.S./Mexico Border at Antelope Wells, NM, USA.  There are no medals, no prizes, and in fact the last time I checked, the event website was two years behind on posting race results.  Nonetheless, in my opinion, the men and women who have competed in this event are quite possibly the world's toughest mountain bike riders, and most definitely have earned the right to feel as if they have conquered the world.

Race Across the Sky 2 is a documentary that covers the 2010 Leadville 100 MTB race.  The race covers fifty miles and some change across some of the most challenging trail and road in the U.S. peaking at an altitude of 12,424 feet above sea level as riders arrive at the Columbine Mine, then guess what?  They have to turn around, and race the same course backwards to finish at a nudge over 100 total miles.  There are also time cuts, so if you ride too conservatively, officials will stop you at the designated time, and your race is over. The cut off times are for safety reasons.  They can't have people out there in the dark.  The race is already challenging enough without having to worry about missing your turn and riding off a cliff, or having to avoid being mauled or eaten by some predator.  Rad stuff.

What prompted the Ultradistance Mountain Bike Movie Marathon?
During our road bike ride, my friend mentioned that he is considering the logistics of racing the Tour Divide.  I think that he ought to do it. My friend is a great bike rider. The guy has mad mountain biker skills, and I believe that he is in possession of the necessary mental toughness.

My friend also frequents a place that has been known to be a hang out for a fairly large number of beginner(not if you ask them), okay I'll say amateur(ish) triathletes, many of whom pride themselves on their accomplishments of having run in an assortment of small time half marathons and marathons.  So full of pride that they not only feel the need to plaster the front and backs of their rather large SUVs with white, oval shaped stickers featuring the numbers 13.1, and the occasional 26.2, but they also must remind anyone who attempts to socialize with them at any time or place of their latest 13.2 time, how many blocks they do in a week, and his or her "personal best" in the danskhorninnerathlon. Which wouldn't be such a bad thing if they were to only mention it once in a while.  Well, one day my friend got tired of hearing it, and told "the crew" that he was going to run a big thirty miler up in Dallas.  I am told that his statement was met with a few encouraging words and a few arrogant smirks.  Not only did my friend run that race, but he placed quite high.  Some time went by and the same crew of folks happened to be talking long distance, so my friend vowed to run the 50 miler at Leadville.  Once again, his statement was met by skepticism.  Once again, he did it. In fact, he completed both the fifty mile run, and the fifty mile mountain bike race.  Returning home tired, sore and sporting a nifty silver bracelet given only to finishers.

The part of this little story that is difficult to convey here is that my friend has never boasted of his accomplishments.  If you ask him about them, he will be more than happy to tell you about his races, but boastfully?  Never.  He is one of those guys who will take an unpaid day off work, and drive 100 miles to help you move.  He is one heck of a nice guy, and I am proud to be able to call him my friend.  I've given it some thought, and I think that my friend ought to go out there, and do the Tour Divide, if that is what he truly desires.  If he does, I am confident that he will do well and emerge stronger of both body and mind.

Welcome to my blog!

I'm a complete noob to the blogosphere, so please be patient with me as I develop my skills.

I am not new to the world of cycling.  I became addicted to BMX riding and racing during my pre-teen years in the 1970's.  When I was a junior in high school, I began working part-time at a bicycle shop.  Soon after some bad man stole my precious 1978 Redline Pro-Line bicycle, I purchased my first real road bike.  The year was 1980.  It was a sport touring model.  A Raleigh Gran Sport.  I rode that bike to school every day, and most days, I rode it to work right after school, then home from work at night.
A couple of years later while working full-time at another bicycle shop, I became acquainted with a man who to this day I refer to as my road cycling mentor.  Alan taught me how to do cycling right.  I learned how to measure my efforts, and fuel myself so that I can go the distance.  He taught me about the importance of a proper bike fit, and how to determine just that. Alan B. was a cycling guru who was ahead of his time.  Alan helped me to set up my first real racing bike.  A Raleigh RSL (The Professional rebadged for sale by Raleigh USA).  I was in my early twenties, and I spent much of my time cycling the South Texas Hill Country with "old guys". They were REALLY OLD....like 35!
It has been years since I've seen or heard from Alan.  Quite a few years, occupations, jobs, and human relationships have come and gone since then.  Other sports, and fascinations with other types of wheeled mobility have come and gone.  Roller Speed skating, both on inlines and quad skates, and even motorcycles.  But I keep coming back to the bicycle.
As of this writing, I am 48 and rediscovering my love of being up on two wheels and clipped into the pedals.

That's all for today.

Keep the rubber side down, and your mileage up!