Old Chain vs New Chain

This deal is nothing new, really...

Probably 5 years ago or so, a guy sent me a bunch of data that used an external dynamometer and a bunch of different SRM's and PT's that suggested, statisticaly, that a new chain would save a handful of watts compared to an old, worn-out chain. My memory seems to be fading these days, so don't quote that "handful" of watts or anything, OK? ;-)

Well, I don't ride much these days, and so, I reckon that means I don't go through a bunch of equipment like I did back in the day. So, I've got that going for me! A month ago or so, I busted out my chain length checker and found that the chain was in desperate need of replacement.

I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've needed to swap out the chain on this bike - which I built up in Q2 of 2008 or so? But, I've always wanted to independently check the data that the guy previously mentioned had shared many moons ago. The exercise just never was convenient, as I don't really like to ride around using both the PT/SRM, since the PT I have is 9 spd and all and I'm riding 10spd stuff these days. That kloodged together setup still works, though, suprisingly.

I gathered simultaneous SRM/PT data on the road for a few weeks prior to getting on the rollers yesterday and doing a bit more of a controlled test. And during this process, I finally got a chance to use a new bike tool for me - a master link separator that I got from these guys:

www.skabtoolz.com

the last time I tried to gracefully remove a master link, I tried to use a regular pair of pliers and wound up taking a chunk of flesh out of my hand! Then, I proceeded to break the chain the old fashioned way.

Let me tell you, those master link pliers worked like a charm - stick 'em around the master link, apply a bit of side pressure to the master link...squeeze the pliers shut, and boo-yeah, broken chain.

I didn't wind up spending a whole lot of time taking data on the rollers with the old and new chains, but the little I did does seem to suggest that there are indeed a few watts to be had when going from a worn-out kinda krusty old chain to a brand-spanking new SRAM 10spd chain.

More details and protocol nuggets about this mini-test can be found in this thread over on the BTR Forum.

My Lunch hour ride today...

...bonus points for those that can decipher the 3-d histograms below (they are the same plot, just from different perspectives)!






ooooh - look at the pretty colors! :-)

I haven't fired up this matlab script in awhile, but when I do, I find that it's a pretty descriptive way to discover the "gold" in my srm files.

From the looks of it, it seems that I can do about 13+ minutes @ 6+W/kg in 70-80 second chunks in around 40 minutes.

Turkey Weekend Project

I've had this Cannondale frame/fork and build kit laying around since around March or so - just haven't had the motivation or drive to finally build it up.

I know, I know... Pretty crazy, huh?!

Well, my employer was nice enough to give us a few hours off on Wednesday prior to this long turkey day weekend - so, I took advantage of this early departure...

...and went for a ride!

hah! - but when I got back to "villa de Willett", I set out to get this bike built up!

It's been a long process, ya see, I'm kinda addicted to SRM based power and all, and this bike has/is making that a difficult thing to accomplish! Cannondale loves to do things "their way" so, that made the SRM Pro crank I've been using since '02/'03 obsolete - that Campy square taper crank compatible SRM doesn't work with the proprietary Cannondale BB/Hollowgram crank arms.

So, the quest began - and I've had lots of help along the way. First, Jason Yanota of the bikeage helped me out by selling me a barely used Cdale SRM spider/chainrings that I'd eventually be needing. Then, I picked up an SI crankarm from Craig over at wiredbike.com. I thought I was set at this point back in the April-ish time period...

Well, much to my dismay, it turns out that in order to fit an SRM on a Cdale, you need a slightly wider BB spindle. I could have made some modifications to the crank that came with the frame/fork (that I bought throug the team I raced for this year - JambaJuice/TaylorMade http://www.sd-fogracing.com ). So, it was April/May and the season was in top gear - I didn't really want to dork around with the position/bike I'd been riding for the last 15,000 km's...

Plus, I'm pretty lazy! :-)

Around comes last week, and I was figgerin' I needed to build this sucker up pretty soon in order to not be shamed on the next team ride I showed up for. So, I shot an email over to Craig @ wiredbike.com (make sure that if you are in the power meter market you give him a shot at the sale - he'll give you $50 off with a special BTR code, BTW) and it looks like he'll eventually be helping me buy an SRM compatible Cannondale spindle. Nice!

Also, a couple months ago, I saw an opportunity to pick up used SI Cannondale crank arms/BB spindle while perusing the obra.org mailing list (oooohhh, my disdain at the time for the obra officials was overridden by the need for cheap, used bike parts - LOL! :-) ).

Then, a few months passed...

With all the parts in hand to get this sucker together (albeit sans SRM power capability), I busted out the hacksaw, star nut setter, and some elbow grease/patience and finally built up the cdale on Wednesday afternoon. It went together really easily - the Campy Record 10spd parts are pretty sweet. Total pie to assemble.

I'm no pro when it comes to building bikes, so I'm sure you'll give me plenty of grief if you see me out on the road, but here it is after the first ride I took it on this morning:



Here's a close-up of a saddle I took a chance on - it's a Selle-San Marco Aspide - no padding, just the carbon shell:



I was surprised at how comfortable it appeared to be after the 70 minute jaunt I took it out for today. We'll see how it works out long-term.

You'll notice that I have a PowerTap power meter on the bike whilst I'm waiting to get the SRM on-line.

The trials I've had with that thing will have to wait for another post! ;-)

The PowerTap seems to work OK, but damn, trying to download that sucker (it's an older model with a serial port connector) proved to be quite a challenge!

As for the Cannondale, it didn't seem to make me break any of my previous records I have thrown down while going up Couser Canyon Road near where I live, but dang - new bikes always feel pretty cool!!!

I am having a bit of a hard time getting where I'd like to be position-wise - I reckon I'll need a shorter stem (120mm currently on it) and a seat post with a wee-bit more setback. Hard to get italian seat tube angles these days for us "old skoolers"... ;-)

Hope you all had a great holday weekend here in the U.S., and if you are elsewhere in the world - I hope you just had a great weekend! :-)

peace,
-kraig