[909] Bike Musings

I've had my gravel bike for a few months now. I can safely say I've learned my lesson riding it, and of course hindsight is 20/20. So with my experiences riding it (unfortunately mostly inside the subdivision because I'm still deathly afraid of riding on public roads here in Metro Manila) I can say what stuff I would have changed from the very beginning when I was buying parts to build it.

1. 11-42 max cassette, maybe as low as 11-34. I currently have an 11-speed 11-50 cassette. I honestly can't remember when I've gone to the biggest gear, because in our area there are no really steep climbs. I only got this because I had "delusions" that I would eventually be riding my bike for long distances to visit friends/family in the province and go trail riding where I would need gear ratios lower than 1:1. In truth I'm still stuck riding around the subdivision where I usually use the 21T or 24T cog paired my with 42T oval chainring. That's why I think the biggest cog I should have gotten was a 42T since that would still give me a 1:1 ratio gearing.
2. Saddle. I've already replaced the saddle with a foam saddle that's longer, but if I just read the details a bit better I probably should have bought the correct one from the very start. The current saddle I use is pretty comfortable but I'm not a fan of how it looks. Yes I still have issues with looking cool despite my age.
3. Fork. The frame came with a front fork but for aesthetics, and a longer wheelbase so it's not purely aesthetic, I should have probably gotten a separate rigid for for the bike. I'm probably going to push through with this soon.
4. Wheelset. I probably should have tried building one from ground up instead of buying the cheaper, pre-made ones from China. The reason for this is because I may have converted the current wheelset I have to tubeless, but having tubeless ready gear would probably have been better to begin with.
5. Tires. I got 700x38 and while I am happy with them and how they look on the bike, part of me is wondering if getting 700x35 would have been enough. I haven't even gone on trails but I'm really hoping I can eventually go somewhere with trails to go biking.

I'm not saying I'm not happy with my bike. I really am happy and proud that I was able to assemble it with lots of help from people. Experience is really a great teacher.

Out.

[889] Cycling Progress Report

Yesterday was the very first time I had ever ridden along the East Service Road. Ever. And today I did it again, going through a loop where I turned somewhere about two kilometers from here and taking a road that led me to the back of our subdivision. I used my gravel bike.

It was pretty thrilling to actually finally ride outside the subdivision. I treat myself as a total beginner in cycling basically because I stopped biking after a crash I had in grade school and only started seriously cycling a few months ago, when I made it a goal to assemble a gravel bike.

It's basically a 3.5km loop that I do, something that takes me around 12 to 15 minutes inside the subdivision. Outside it's much faster since there are almost no humps and almost everyone outside is going way faster than me. I probably average around 15-16kmh inside the subdivision, but outside whenever I get the chance to check my cyclocomputer I ride at around 20kmh or so.

Yesterday when I finished my ride my hands were numb and sore. Today I felt like I cracked on the way home. I've been trying to adjust my bike's setup as well as my own fitness levels to avoid these things, and I'm glad that riding outside gave a reality check of the stuff I need to improve on.

My core strength needs improving so I don't lean too much on the bike. I've seen countless bike videos on youtube of bike fitters and cycling channels saying that engaging the core is important. I've also read a few articles from what I believe are legitimate and trusted sites that do say that one of the most important factors in riding well is the core strength.

My stamina also needs improving. I think the reason why I felt like I cracked in this morning's ride was because I tried pedaling on smaller gears today. Maintaining a high cadence with more effort is of course draining, and since I'm doing intermittent fasting I'm basically running on "empty" whenever I ride in the morning. Lesson learned, at my current fitness level I should go use the bigger gears.

I also need to work on my balance and spatial awareness. Cycling on public roads is very different here in the Philippines. You've got public transportation, motorcycles, other cyclists, and other vehicles sharing the road with you and they're not really bike friendly. So I need to constantly remind myself to ride at a slow but decent pace, stay on the right, keep a cool head, and make sure I'm riding properly.

Overall I'm quite happy and motivated at what I have done. I'm realizing a lot of things I need to improve as a cyclist, and I'm feeling a level of freedom. I do know I need a lot more training to do before I can even ride further than what I'm doing now.

I'll probably ride inside the subdivision again this week and ride outside on Sundays, when there are hopefully less vehicles on the road.

Out.

[887] So I Built A Gravel Bike

My gravel bike is finally done. All I need to do is buy some miscellaneous stuff I will be needing, like chainstay guard, maybe reflective tape, and maybe a clear protective sticker to protect the bike's clear coat from dings, some of which I've already done.

I'm not going to pretend that I did it all myself. The major part of the build I had loads of help from Coven, my mom's long time chauffeur (or known colloquially as 'driver' here in the Philippines). Coven's been riding bikes for the longest time and he does have experience building them. Without tools, even.

Here's the thing though, I don't agree with some of his methods. He did tune the rear derailleur but I want to tune it again since I did see some very good Park Tool videos on youtube. In other words, I really want a "best of both worlds" scenario where I will be fine tuning stuff based on videos I've seen online but I will be doing some things based on what experience, and Coven, has taught me.

I probably would love to say I did 80% of the work, but without that crucial 20% the bike would still not be done. Coven saw that part of the frame where the rear wheel would sit needed filing. He was also crucial in installing the star fangled nut into the steerer tube. I did try to do the install myself but I honestly couldn't hammer the thing in and I did not want to risk breaking anything.

Coven also checked the brake cable installations I did, he tuned the RD, and he adjusted the rotors, that seem misaligned. Aside from that he also gave me some shifter cable end housings because all I bought were for brake cables, which were too big.

The fit is great. I am not experiencing any of the aches I felt riding Coven's (formerly my Dad's but he gave it to Coven) road bike. I do believe geometry wise my bike has a shorter effective top tube, which is probably why I don't feel the aches.

Youtube and the internet is a great source of information for bike fit, bike maintenance, and bike assembly. However experience is still one hell of a teacher.

Out.

[886] Converting to Tubeless, Lessons Learned

One of my goals with my gravel bike build is to go to a tubeless tire setup. This week when I got the wheelset I decided to attempt it. I watched a few videos online about how to do the conversion, specifically for non-tubeless ready rims. Here are two good videos I watched, one from Park Tool and another from Dusty Betty. Also a very useful video from Oz Cycle teaching you how to remove and install a tire without tools.

Now before I continue I have to admit that I struggled a lot. I learned a lot of important things during my attempt to go tubeless. At the moment I have so far succeeded in having one tire hold air. I'm letting the sealant set as I write this. Anyway here are some lessons I learned during my attempts.

1. Minimize the air bubbles on the tubeless tape, but I really don't think it will have zero air bubbles. On my end at least, I checked online and confirmed that other people also had air bubbles on their tubeless tape. Specially over the spoke holes of the bike.
2. Patience is a virtue. I know I was excited but I was always tempering myself and setting expectations that I won't succeed the first time.
3. The method shown by Oz Cycle how to install a tire was very, very useful. Seriously, that's how I managed to mount my tire.
4. The only time I needed to use tire levers was when I wanted to remove the tire from the rim. I chose to remove it to make sure I sealed the tubeless valve properly. And I needed to take stock if what I was doing was correct.
5. No matter how much you inflate the tire if there is no sealant the beads won't seat. This was what frustrated me the first time I tried to inflate the tire. I had this misconception that you needed to inflate the tire to get the bead to seat before adding sealant. Silly me didn't realize that no matter how much air I pump in it will escape from the gaps.
6. Sealant is the key. This morning I decided to throw caution to the wind and add sealant inside the tire. Probably added too much if you ask me, but better safe than sorry. I moved the tire around the same way I saw in the videos. Then when I tried to inflate it for the nth time, it finally did! I heard the popping sounds signifying that the beads were seating.
7. Give it time. Let the sealant seep around, then when you inflate the tire it will naturally have the sealant leak out from the massive air gaps. Just wipe it a bit so it doesn't get the rims dirty and keep moving the wheel around so the sealant has a chance to fill in all the gaps. Let it stand for a few minutes before inflating and the tire will hold air.
8. You have to move the tire occasionally while waiting for the sealant to set. Also make sure you check the air pressure. I'm at this stage with my first wheel.

By tomorrow I will be applying tubeless tape to my second rim, then hopefully I'll be able to add the sealant and have it be ready for use by the weekend. All that's left is to get finish assembly of my bike.

Special thanks to my friend JD who encouraged me to keep at it with the tubeless conversion and who shared his experiences with me doing the same thing. I got him into gravel bikes but he got a gravel bike earlier than me.

Out.