Concentration on light weight.

On 10/14/2020 5:59 PM, jbeattie wrote:
On Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 3:32:54 PM UTC-7, AMuzi wrote:
On 10/14/2020 4:10 PM, wrote:
On Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 10:40:43 AM UTC-5, wrote:
This appears to have been pretty stupid. I bought a set of Centaur carbon cranks that are square taper spindle cranks. I bought a Token bottom bracket. The total weight of this setup is 4 ounces more than the weight of a Campy Ultradrive. The spindle BB spins freely like I haven't seen in a long time because most carbon fiber frames are not perfectly aligned side to side. This causes misalignment of the cup or press fit bearings and extra friction even with the very best cranksets. It took me 20 minutes to install the BB and the cranks and they spun completely freely with only the friction of the bearing seals to slow the spin.

I will certainly keep you informed of the finished bike weight as the small additional components come in. I bought a Campy cable set and a Dog Fang which protects the frame from derailing to the inside. I somehow misplaced the bag that contained the brake recessed mounting bolts and had to order one that would fit the rear brake on. I will have to contact Look to obtain a new cable stop since one of them is broken.

I will NEVER again buy a tubeless rim or tire. They are so difficult to mount in the shop that they are impossible to mount on the side of the road. I have broken so many plastic tire levers that I can't begin to count them. The old red plastic holder with three levers in them have ALL been broken and I had enough of those for a half dozen bikes. The heavy duty levers have broken at least four and these are very difficult to use since they are thicker to keep some strength.

The latest Chinese carbon clinchers are extremely nice. And a fifth of the price of expensive American versions. I don't mind paying a premium for Made In America but not THAT much.

Some of the older ways of doing things are better. But they seem to have fallen by the wayside in a blind attempt to save so little weight that it isn't worth it. I suppose if I was willing to pay the price that Token could supply a spindle bottom bracket with a titanium spindle and fully ceramic bearings and there would then be no difference in the weight. The questions arises, "Why"? Bikes are now so light that the weight difference it more than made up for by your coffee stop and sandwich.


20 minutes to install a square taper bottom bracket and crank? Don't move to Madison in your quest to get away from communist California and apply at Andy's shop. I'm sure he won't hire a mechanic that slow. 2-5 minutes to install a sealed square taper bottom bracket. Put teflon tape or grease on the fixed cup threads. Screw it in. Put teflon tape or grease on the adjustable cup and screw it in. Bottom bracket done in 2-5 minutes total. Grease the tapers and screw on the crank arms. 2-5 minutes total for both arms.

https://www.parktool.com/product/hea...e%20%26%20Tire
Strongest tire levers on earth. Never break them. But they are metal, so maybe you might not want to use them on carbon rims.


In fairness, for Tom at home, twenty minutes without any
disasters is pretty respectable. And yes for an actual
mechanic that's very slow.

You have to spend fifteen minutes thinking about whether to grease the tapers. Or not grease the tapers. Or grease the tapers.

-- Jay Beattie.


I'm glad you mentioned it.

Time spent on that sort of unproductive conversation with
customers costs the shop as much or more than actual work.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org/
Open every day since 1 April, 1971