[904] Gravel Bike Updates

Yeah, you could say I'm just filling this blog up with stuff so I don't leave it too bare. At the same time I will say that since I'm doing my best to keep my personal stuff off the internet I'll just blog about the things I feel safe to post about. So on with the bike updates.

I've fiddled with the hoods and drop bar yet again. Instead of making the tops parallel to the ground I've lowered them slightly, then moved the hoods upwards, or closer to me. I used a method I saw on Park Tool's youtube video on how to install hoods to make sure both the left and right were the same height. As I did before, I pointed them inwards Remco Evenepoel / Marianne Vos style.

The reason I adjust them again was because I was feeling discomfort on my left palm, sort of like I was putting too much weight on my arms instead of like before. So why did I even bother moving the hoods farther if it caused discomfort? Well for one thing, I'm not sure I was holding the hoods right. Another was that the hoods might have been pointing too far upwards. So I'd rather move them forward a bit so they get a bit lower and I'll try to adjust my pose again while riding the bike.

I did move my saddle a few millimeters forward to hopefully compensate for the longer reach. To be honest I haven't been feeling any discomfort with my lower body. It's all in the hands. 

Speaking of hands, the new adjustments feel much better, but I've only gone on one ride so far. Some slight discomfort on the right hand, and I'm not sure why. Also, I can't seem to get both hoods to point inwards the same amount no matter how hard I try. I can't tell if it's because of the lighting or what but something always seems off.

Moving on, I'll probably be buying new bar tape for my bike and my dad's bike in the province. He's using the old school mountain bike of ours there on a trainer, but he requested for bar tape instead of handlebar grips. Aside from that, I'll be needing a bottle or two of tire sealant for my tubeless setup. I have on bottle left here and I have a feeling I'll need to refill my tires by April or May.

Finally if budget permits I would also love to finally buy myself a new cycling computer. XOSS G+ is my primary choice, I've watched some great reviews and I think it's going to be a bang for the buck. I'm thinking of getting Combo 2, that has the G+ and two sensors I can use as cadence and speed sensors.

I'm also thinking of getting a heart rate monitor, but I'm not sure if I want to get the heart rate sensor from XOSS or saving up for a smart watch. I think I'd rather buy the latter in another day, mostly because I can go anywhere I want wearing a smart watch. Accuracy is my biggest concern though, I've been watching The Quantified Scientist's youtube channel. He has great reviews of not only high end smart watches, but budget smart watches as well. So far it's his review on the Huawei GT3 that seems most promising for me.

Finally I really, really want to get a new rigid fork for my bike. I wouldn't mind having a slightly longer wheelbase, plus better clearance for my 700x38C tires. And I really, really want the black aero looking rigid fork. It would look great with how my bike looks. It's just a shame the forks I'm looking at now don't have mounts on them for bags or bottle cages.

This also gives me more room to get some nice old school looking fenders, something like this Velo Orange 700c noir colored, hammered fenders. My biggest concern with getting fenders is will they fit the rear area. I'm already pushing the clearance with my 38 tires. I'd rather not get narrower tires, but if I have to I'll go as narrow as 35mm tires.

And that's it. I'm glad I can blog again about topics I like and topics I don't mind sharing. It feels good to be able to write again, get my creative juices flowing, and just overall find another outlet. Do I want to vlog? Sure, but I'm not sure if I'm photogenic.

Out.

[903] Coping

It's been pretty stressful these past few weeks, and I'm not sure why. I'd rather not explore it further and post about it online. I just want whoever is reading this to know that I am trying my best to cope and overcome my stress.

Out. 

[902] Stuff I'd Like to Own

I did a post about bike upgrades recently. Now I'm doing a post about stuff I'd like to own that might be useful for things around the house.

1. Mechanical vernier caliper. I'm currently having size doubts about my bike. I was originally planning on getting a quick release seat post clamp. Someone loaned me one that was supposedly for 27.2 seatposts, which is what my bike is supposed to have. The thing is, the clamp was way too big for my seat tube. So either my seat post isn't 27.2 or that clamp isn't for 27.2. Aside from that the vernier caliper would help a lot with accurate measurements of smaller things in the house.
2. Torque wrench with multiple adaptors. I'm thinking the big one that can be used for cars, though I really have no idea if that will work for the hex keys and stuff on my bike. If it doesn't then make it two torque wrenches - a big one for the car and a small one for my bike.
3. A new airbrush for scale models and smaller items. We already have an air compressor, might as well take advantage of it. Where will I use it? I still have a lot of plastic scale models I haven't worked on. I don't know if they're still okay or if the plastic is super brittle already, but they're still all here.
4. A paint spray gun. Again, we already have an air compressor, might as well take advantage of it. Where would I use this? Well the hood of the Rav4 needs a new paint job but I don't know if I'm crazy enough to try it.
5. A hydraulic jack. Having an extra jack in the house to use for all three cars here would be useful. Bonus points if the weight limit is high so it can lift even the Grandia.
6. At least two jack stands. Again, for the cars here. It'll be easier to rotate the wheels with the jack stands rather than grabbing multiple jacks and raising lowering the car multiple times. Also important to get at least a three-ton jack stand or higher. Just to be sure.
7. Cordless power drill. I watched a youtube vid of a DIY guy who said the two major power tools you'll need is a cordless power drill and...
8. A circular saw. Supposedly these two power tools are all I'll need to DIY some cabinets, shelves, beds, or whatever.

So those are some tools I'd like to eventually purchase for the house. I guess you can consider the vernier caliper as the highest priority and the power tools as the least important. The rest in between, well that'll depend on my mood on different days.

Out.

[901] Bike Upgrade Wishlist

I'm noticing some things I'd love to upgrade or replace on my bike. Here's a quick list of the stuff I'd like to change, in possibly no order of priority.

1. New front rigid fork. I'd like it to be black aluminum alloy with the aerodynamic shape. The biggest reason I'd like this is aesthetics. I've been seeing plenty of gravel bikes on social media that have the alloy colored frame with the black fork, though those bikes are usually titanium with a carbon fiber fork. Second reason I'd want a new fork would be to hopefully increase the wheelbase of my bike to hopefully improve the handling. Aside from this I do want to mount some old school fenders on my bike and with the current fork it just doesn't seem possible because with my current 700x38C tire there is probably less than 10mm of clearance already. It would also be nice if the front fork had mounting holes for bottle cages or bags or racks in the event that I actually end up going on bikepacking trips.
2. New tubeless presta valve stems. Hopefully something better than my current valves. My previous post was about my tires losing air and I'm still not sure if it was because of the sealant drying up or the valves or the fact that I actually converted non-tubeless ready rims.
3. Front and rear hubs. A front dynamo hub so I can have a steady power source for bike lights. I've also done a 180 on my opinion and I'd rather have a relatively more quiet rear hub. I used to like noisy freewheels like Chris King hubs but now I'd rather have quieter hubs.
4. Better front and rear lights. Busch + Muller have these nice dynamo front and rear lights that both look good and have great visibility and illumination. Now I may not be brave enough to ride too far right now but I do want to eventually be able to ride long distances. Also I do have a front light and rear light but I'm not that happy with my front light, while it may be bright (200, 400, and 800 lumens) the focus of the beam isn't that great and I'm always concerned they may blind oncoming motorists and pedestrians.
5. Old school fenders. For what? Again, primarily look and secondary function. Besides, the rainy season here in the Philippines nowadays accounts for almost half the year so at least I can still go out riding.
6. A new saddle. The very first saddle I got was around 25cm and I was uncomfortable riding on my bike with it. The new saddle is better because it is longer, but it's just a wee bit too padded for me. Plus it looks dumpy like a marshmallow, yes a very shallow reason.
7. A cyclocomputer with speed, cadence, and heart rate sensors. I want a way to track if I'm improving my performance on my bike. At the moment I'm using the adidas Running app and while it does log my distance, average speed, and average pace I would like to know more data so I know how much more I am improving.
8. Bikepacking gear. Most likely a rear bike rack and panniers. Just enough to hold clothes, toiletries, and gadgets for a few days trip. I already have a handlebar mounted bag that contains tools and an air pump anyway.

And those are some of the upgrades I would like to get for my bike. My current goal is the cyclocomputer. Then maybe either the front fork or presta valves. Anything can change though, so we shall see.

Out.

[900] My Bike's Tubeless Tires

I had to refill the tubeless sealant to both my tires this past January. Now I did my research before and I do know that you will have to do this, but I wasn't expecting it to be this soon.

It started with the rear tire. I inflated it once in preparation for the next day's ride. Luckily for me I used the bike trainer that afternoon because after using the trainer I saw that the rear tire had no air pressure left. So I checked and there were lots of leaks.

Two days ago it happened to my front tire as well. I inflated it for a ride the next day, got around to riding and went home. The next day it had no air left.

When I re-filled it with sealant I decided to use more sealant than before. Just taking precautions. Also with the front tire after applying sealant it was still steadily leaking from somewhere. So I unscrewed the Presta valve core and poured some more sealant through the valve stem. After that the tire held air.

So after this past month's experience I've decided that next time I need to re-fill the tire with sealant my new process will involve:

1. Unseating the tire and pouring the sealant directly into the tire by removing one side of the tire from the rim. Then I'll use lots of sealant, because the sealant I'm using might need more instead of the recommended.
2. Once the sealant fills the gaps and sets I'll fill it with air and do the usual ritual involved with having new sealant in the tire.
3. Remove the air, remove the valve core, then pour some sealant through the valve stem. This is just in case there are gaps near the stem that the sealant didn't get.
4. Refill with air and check if it holds pressure.

Anyway I've gotten suggestions of just switching to tubed tires since it would save me money in the long run. I'll be thinking about that but I already have the tubeless tire repair kit. And I do have two spare inner tubes, one in my bike's bag.

I do like the fact that I was able to upgrade my bike to tubeless tires even if the rims weren't tubeless ready.

Out.