|   12 Hour solo durability report | dirtdad
Aug 12, 2002 7:43 AM | | I just completed a 12 hour solo race using some lightweight stuff, so consider this a stress test report.
This was at Big Bear (Snow Summit) CA. The course featured gravelly fire roads; loose rocky climbs and descents; and powdery, sandy sections. Not a drop of moisture on this course except for the sweat dripping from the riders. Temps got into the 90's. Elevation: 7000' - 8200'. The loop featured 1200 feet of climbing, which I completed 8 times. I completed the entire race with only one mechanical - a flat. Here is how some of my lightweight components held up:
- Conti Explorer SuperSonics - my new favorite race tires. I bought them for this race and put just a few miles on them. They still had some nubs at the start line. No chunking at all at the end of the day. Impressive grip for their 2.1 size and 420-440 gm weight. I dared not run anything smaller in the loose conditions at Summit. I ran them at 45psi (see tubes, next). They excelled in climbing the rocky and gravelly stuff. I had to be careful with my line and braking at speed in the sand and powder, but they did real well for their size.
- Flite TT Saddle - Now that it is broken in, my butt cannot tell the difference between this saddle and a regular Flite. Which is a good thing, in my case.
- USE Alien Carbon Seatpost - New lightweight champion. The Alien clamp seems much more durable than the old Easton CT2 style post (which get loose and "tick"), but the Alien clamp is a pain to set up.
- Formula B4 brakes - My hands did get tired on a couple descents. I used a couple descents to recover my legs, and as I fatigue, I descend more carefully, all of which translates to "use more brakes." Maggies and Hayes both have more braking power for a given effort at the lever, but given how well the B4s performed, they are my choice for a race brake.
- Performance Lunar Lite innertubes - I had only one mechanical the entire race - a single flat. It left no thorn in the tire. I am in the process of switching to Stan's newest rim strip. It was not ready for the race. Bummer. He has a new version without a seam. Very cool. I will run Stan's from now on. I ran 45psi because of the tubes. With Stan's I will drop to 35psi or so.
- Single Track Solutions ST Lite bar ends - Great bar ends. I was in them for all of the flats and non-technical climbing, and much of the technical climbing. For me, a flat bar/bar end combo is better for sprinting, spinning, and getting way forward on the bike, which is a little of my roadie technique coming through. I did endo once and one bar end rotated on the bar, which turned out to be a good thing. Neither were damaged in the crash.
- Cannondale Raven II / Carbon Lefty "fork" - These performed great. Front and rear lockout allowed the long travel combo (100mm front, 120mm rear) to climb/sprint great. Sorry to see Cannondale stop making this frame. Overall bike came in at 23.5 lb in race trim.
- Hugi 240 Hub - No problems, but it was getting a little noisy. I should have re-lubed the engagement mechanism before a long, dry ride like this.
- XTR drivetrain. I don't think I missed a single shift the whole race. My stuff is over a year old. Full XTR except for:
- SRAM 89R chain - Seems more durable than XTR.
- White Lighting lube - Great stuff in the dry. I re-applied every other lap, which does not give the lube time to set up, but all was well.
- Frog TI pedals - I only came out once or twice when I changed shoes to a set with new cleats, and the cleats needed to be broken in. Actually I was not coming out, I was not pressing/twisting enough to get in. Gone after three engagements.
- "Power Bed" shoe liners (shoe rotation) - I put a set of these in my Nike Yuhas. I highly recommend these. I swithed to these at lap 6 from my Sidi Bullets. The two shoes feel very different, and switching shoes gave me legs new life. I recommend rotating between two shoes with very different feel.
Ok, so I went longer than I thought. The race was great! |
| Is it Dennis O.? | Patchito
Aug 12, 2002 7:55 AM | | I agree, that was a fun race, in spite of the fact I was riding a fully rigid singlespeed (first time ever on a singlespeed) running something like a 34X16. Glad you did well, and perhaps our paths will cross one of these days.
www.radless.com |
| It is! | dirtdad
Aug 12, 2002 4:11 PM | | Which Radless rider are you, Patchito? |
| It is! | Patchito
Aug 12, 2002 4:55 PM | | I'm Barrett. Yeah, you mentioned in an earlier post you wrenched for the Radless crew last year at Idylwild, so I asked Al who their mechanic was. I don't even know if we've met, but it's interesting to associate a real person to a chatroom handle. I'll probably make the El Moro SHARE ride tomorrow, maybe I'll see ya there. |
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