Crash & Burn

Fallen behind in my ride reports but I have been riding a great deal these past couple weeks. Sunday I went out with Briz and Chris to the watershed. I wasn’t feeling the rocks that evening so rather than ride irritated I bailed and took the road back. I figured I have enough crappy ride memories from the shed no need to add to it when not in the mood… Took monday off then did some exploring around Patapso with Dad on Tuesday. I dislike the old parking spot we used to use on Landing road so I researched alternatives and we ended up parking at Rockburn and riding over. It took some exploring to get the short route over to landing road down. For a small trail system it’s surprisingly complex to get over there to the Patapsco trails.. We got out just as the storm was coming in despite a number of delays on my part including forgetting my shoes. Wednesday Dad was running late so we ended up at Patapsco again since it’s close to his house. We happened to bump into to Dennis by chance who rode along with us for a portion of our route before splitting off. It was good to catch up with him before his annual bike trip which he was departing for the next day. I snapped the photo above and told him we’d use it on the milk carton should he go missing. A few more misc shots from the past few days here

IMG_0675

Originally uploaded by jcrashmore

Had a great ride with my pal briz today along the hmc / black hills trails. We were originally going to do the full many epic but today was a scorcher of a day hitting around 98 degrees or so. Being the first really hot day of the season it was taking it’s toll on us both. We set an easy pace stopped in the shade from time to time and did our best to stay cool. On the return trip the creek along the connector was just to much to resist. I found a deep spot took my shoes off and hopped in to cool off. That water is so cold it literally takes your breath away we you submerge into it. It was a welcome relief from the days heat. It was so hot that I was completely dried out by the time I got back to the schaefer parking lot. (only a few miles down the trail)

Briz broke his wheels in today and was loving every minute of it. They stood well and seemed spot on at the end of the ride. He’s going to touch them up as needed this evening at home. It was fun seeing a set of wheels I built for someone else actually out on the trail. It was even more fun seeing the big smile on his face as he was enjoying them.

briznwheel4

Originally uploaded by jcrashmore

Finished up the wheels for my buddy Briz tonight. For his build he wanted nice wide rims so he went with the new Mavic EN 521. It’s surprisingly light for such a stout wheel. Mavic markets it for “enduro and light free-riding” If briz breaks one of these he’s done something horribly wrong. He went with King hubs and dt comp 2.0/1.8 spokes. We used the prolock alloy nipples. I really like the pro lock niples as they really seem to hold tight not to mention they eliminate the mess of dealing with spoke prep. Makes the whole process a little faster. They are a little harder to turn when tensioning though so you have to be much more careful not to round them off.As long as you’re not too ham fisted about it they’re work awesome. These took a bit more tension to get them up to my standards of roud and tru. The welds are also really beefy on these which made the really fine nit picky truing a pain in the ass as it would get to the point where the weld was clanking against the calipers. This was the case for both getting it in round and true.

I think brizn is gonna be very pleased with these new wheels. After this set I’ve build 5 wheels in the past few days while sick. At least i was doing something bike related. Now enough building I need to ride. I think I’ll be better for the weekend and I’ll be able to make up for some lost time. Maybe sometime soon I’ll get around to rebuilding the wheel on my poor blur that’s had a hop in it for the past year. I guess it’s the whole shoemakers kids kinda thing

29r Wheels Hopes Pros / Stan ZTR Arch 29er

Originally uploaded by jcrashmore

These are my latest build. These are Hope Pro II hubs laced to ZTR Arch 29er Rims using DT Double Butted Competition 1.8/2.0 spokes and alloy nipples. These came out very light for a 29r wheel set. I suffered through the build process while sick on thesesince they were a rush job for a customer. He really wanted them for big bear. I don’t think that’s it necessarily the best idea to break in a wheel set by racing on them but I’m sure they’ll hold up just fine. Hopefully he’ll bring them by the shop for a touch up after this weekends race.

Alfine 8 Speed Internal Hub Build 2

Originally uploaded by jcrashmore

Since I’m sick and can’t ride this weekend I did the next best thing, I built a wheel. This one was kinda special. It’s an 8 speed internal hub. It’s for a shop employee who plans to use it to commute on. The hub is massive to say the least. The weight alone made it kinda awkward to handle as I was lacing it up. The build turned out very nicely and I look forward to hearing how the hub performs on it’s daily commute.

I have two more sets to build over the next couple weeks so I’m going to be a busy wheel smith