Thursday, September 17, 2009
This just in!
I have decided that next year I will do a 24 hour race solo since it is something I've wanted to do for a very long time. Just giv'r.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Why Marzocchi deserves to fail as a company.
Today I had to change the remote lockout cable and housing on a Corsa. If you have ever had to do this you understand. Makes DT Swiss look logical.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Saturday September 19th. Paul's Dirty Enduro
Event info here: http://www.torontocyclist.com/bbc/pauls/
Coming up on the 19th will be my favorite race of the year. Not only do we get to raise a bunch of money for the Canadian Mental Health Association but I also get to ride 100km's of awesome trails. If you have never done this event and are thinking about it I highly recommend you try it out. There are 100km, 60km, 30km, and 15km options. This year I will be gunning for my 5th overall win in a row in the 100km division. Please support the CMHA and me in my ride by clicking on the link and making a donation of any size.
https://www.onlineregistrations.ca/cmha/searchconfirm.php?lname=Dawson&fname=King
Event report to come after the event.
King Ben
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
O-Cup #7. Kelso
I have always enjoyed racing at Kelso. I was a little disappointed with the course last year since it really lacked a good downhill. I headed down to pre-ride on Saturday afternoon with the expectation that the recent rain showers would leave my pristine Anthem mud ridden once again. Well fortunately by the time I had gotten there the course was pretty much all dried out with the exception of some slippery rocks and a couple puddles, I stayed clean.
I was incredibly impressed with the course. The usual long grind up the fire road led into some amazingly fast double and single track. There was the usual twistier stuff up top with some rock overs that was ridden the faster direction. About half way through we got a great rocky drop descent where you could really keep some scary speed if willing. This led you down to the main DH which was more open and also amazingly fast and fun. After that you shot out of the woods, rode down an open patch and hit the brakes late and hard for the last little rocky trail before heading back up to the top once more. There was some fast double track which led pretty quickly into the last descent which was tighter and added nice variety. In short, 2 big climbs, 2 awesome super long descents, and some great lightning fast single track for good measure. It truly was Provincials worthy.
I was pretty casual about the whole weekend. I know I haven't really been training. Been too busy having fun doing other stuff like eating cake. Honestly didn't expect to have a great race. I was relying on residual fitness from earlier in the year. One advantage I had was the whole 135lb body weight thing which comes in handy for a course with tons of climbing. Plus I've been mountain biking so much that my single track riding is the best it has ever been.
Race started out at a fairly reasonable pace. Kept a good spin going and didn't go into my red zone. I really didn't think that I had the fitness to maintain a hard pace and I didn't want to completely blow up having already done that at Mountainview. Was climbing well and the single track was flying by. I started picking up a few spots and was probably around 12th place by the 3rd lap. I had dropped Danny Souter and Haydn Boucher by the start of the 3rd lap and was right up on Ryan Atkins. I passed Ryan at the top of the first climb and he looked tired. I gassed it a little to see if I could get a gap but he was determined to stay with me. He actually managed to drop me by the start of the 5th lap and Danny had caught back up too. Since all of my laps times were so close I attribute this to them changing their pace and not me since I didn't want to put in that extra effort due to the lack of endurance. That is until the last lap. I still had some legs left and decided I better leave them on the hill. I caught and passed Danny back 1/2 way up the first climb on the last lap. He hung with me until the next pitch where I attacked again and decided to try and maintain that pace until the finish. I actually caught another rider, Mark Batty about 1/2 way through the lap and continued to hold a gap on Danny. I could still look back and see that I only had a 100m on him so I had to keep the head down and the drool flowing to not lose some spots. Lets be honest here, it's the last race of the year so you better put in a good effort or you're gonna regret it all winter.
So I held on and finished 10th. I was pleased with that result but more importantly I was glad I could push myself so hard and I was really glad that the course was so much fun. This one will go down as one of my favorite events so far.
Found a couple good pics courtesy of some folks.
Still have Pauls Dirty Enduro to look forward too so until then enjoy the late summer single track.
Ben
Monday, August 24, 2009
How-To: Clean cartridge bearings
Ok so here is a run down of what cartridge bearings are, why you should keep them clean, and how clean them. Cartridge bearings are a complete bearing unit. They are used in many different places on a bike from the bottom bracket to the wheels and headset ect. Some you might not be able to get access to for proper cleaning, this might include cartridge bearings in your bottom bracket or suspension pivots.
Cartridge bearings consist of an inner bearing race, ball bearings (often in their own retainer), an outer race, and seals of some sort.
Today I overhauled the bearings in my XO rear derailleur pulleys. It should be pretty obvious by the photos why it needed to be done. Benefits are much longer bearing life which leads to less rotating resistance and catastrophic failure.
To properly service a cartridge bearing you need to be able to access both rubber seals. If you can't and it is turning rough (or not turning at all) then chances are you just have to replace it since pressing out a bearing usually damages it in some capacity. I may cover cartridge bearing removal and installation in a later post.
So first things first, I removed the derailleur from my bike and removed the pulley wheels from my derailleur.
Step 1: Isolate the bearing you are going to be working on.
Step 2: Remove any dust shrouds or bushings that might be in the way. You can now see the cartridge bearing complete with rubber seal. The rubber seal has a number on it which can be used at a bearing shop or bicycle shop if a new bearing is needed.
Step 3: Remove the rubber dust shields (both sides will have one in some capacity). I use a pin and gently pry under the seal and lift the cover off. Be careful not to do any damage to the seal. Most seals have a brass or metal core that can be easily bent.
Step 4: Inspect the bearing. This is a really good, really dirty example. To think I also did this in June, didn't take long for the dirt to find its way back in. I also clean the rubber/brass dust shields with a rag being careful not to bend them.
Step 5: Flush the bearing out with degreaser. I use Finish Line Speed Degreaser because it blasts out under pressure and doesn't need to be rinsed. You can also use a chain citrus degreaser but be sure to rinse it well. I also blast out the bearing with an air compressor nozzle to ensure thorough dirt/old grease removal.
After cleaning.
Step 6: Pack the bearing with grease. Run a liberal bead all along the ball bearings. Having a grease gun really helps to make this clean and easy. Not rocket science to do it without one just a little bit messier. Make sure you use a good quality bearing grease. Pack both sides equally.
After packing.
Step 7: Spin the bearing in your fingers to work the grease into the balls. If there are any grease voids opened up by this then squirt a little more in to ensure full coverage. Push the dust seals back into place (brass side in) and wipe off excess grease.
You're done! Just that easy. Cartridge bearings can be slightly high maintenance. It's not hard for them to become contaminated. Check areas like your headset, pulleys, and bottom bracket regularly by turning them with your fingers and feeling for roughness. Sometimes even after cleaning they will be rough. If the race or balls are scratched then there is nothing you can do other than replace them.
Cartridge bearings consist of an inner bearing race, ball bearings (often in their own retainer), an outer race, and seals of some sort.
Today I overhauled the bearings in my XO rear derailleur pulleys. It should be pretty obvious by the photos why it needed to be done. Benefits are much longer bearing life which leads to less rotating resistance and catastrophic failure.
To properly service a cartridge bearing you need to be able to access both rubber seals. If you can't and it is turning rough (or not turning at all) then chances are you just have to replace it since pressing out a bearing usually damages it in some capacity. I may cover cartridge bearing removal and installation in a later post.
So first things first, I removed the derailleur from my bike and removed the pulley wheels from my derailleur.
Step 1: Isolate the bearing you are going to be working on.
Step 2: Remove any dust shrouds or bushings that might be in the way. You can now see the cartridge bearing complete with rubber seal. The rubber seal has a number on it which can be used at a bearing shop or bicycle shop if a new bearing is needed.
Step 3: Remove the rubber dust shields (both sides will have one in some capacity). I use a pin and gently pry under the seal and lift the cover off. Be careful not to do any damage to the seal. Most seals have a brass or metal core that can be easily bent.
Step 4: Inspect the bearing. This is a really good, really dirty example. To think I also did this in June, didn't take long for the dirt to find its way back in. I also clean the rubber/brass dust shields with a rag being careful not to bend them.
Step 5: Flush the bearing out with degreaser. I use Finish Line Speed Degreaser because it blasts out under pressure and doesn't need to be rinsed. You can also use a chain citrus degreaser but be sure to rinse it well. I also blast out the bearing with an air compressor nozzle to ensure thorough dirt/old grease removal.
After cleaning.
Step 6: Pack the bearing with grease. Run a liberal bead all along the ball bearings. Having a grease gun really helps to make this clean and easy. Not rocket science to do it without one just a little bit messier. Make sure you use a good quality bearing grease. Pack both sides equally.
After packing.
Step 7: Spin the bearing in your fingers to work the grease into the balls. If there are any grease voids opened up by this then squirt a little more in to ensure full coverage. Push the dust seals back into place (brass side in) and wipe off excess grease.
You're done! Just that easy. Cartridge bearings can be slightly high maintenance. It's not hard for them to become contaminated. Check areas like your headset, pulleys, and bottom bracket regularly by turning them with your fingers and feeling for roughness. Sometimes even after cleaning they will be rough. If the race or balls are scratched then there is nothing you can do other than replace them.
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