Did urban biking today; a hot day

Wheels of Happiness

This post tried riding to km 10 today at MM.   Surprisingly traffic was light, and not so hot.   I felt stronger as I negotiated the fly over at 36 x 15.   Formerly it was at 36 x 32.   So much better now.  

The only difficulty this post had was with an MC who overtook me from my right near an LTO testing center.  How could they be so unsafe?   And unmindful of traffic laws?

Rode to Pasig this morning; great practice in city biking and heat training

Wheels of Happiness

This post rode to Pasig MM and managed 17Km one way for total of 34 km.  Was to see ftf somebody at The Grove This was a great practice in riding amongst MC, riding in fumes and heavy traffic.   Traffic was heavy and you are always near danger - MC overtaking from your right;   near collision with vehicles head on or from behind.    

Its odd to see traffic at Highway 2000 being managed according to the whim of traffic enforcer.  They turned off the traffic light and waiting can be as long as 5 minutes.    And you inhale all the fumes

At this hour, the bike lanes are occupied by parked vehicles.  They still have not acquired parking areas for their new cars!

You experience3 one great advantage ie being able to overtake at least 60 vehicles in bike lane.  Some MV still respect bike lanes but in Pasig, vehicles:   public and private hog the bike lanes.   There are great practice for riding uphills going up Rizal Provincial Hospital and the flyovers.   Great hill climbs.

Changed biking handling and characteristics due to added weights on the bike

Wheels of Happiness

We spend tens of thousands more for lighter bikes.   Yet we add weights unneccesarily by putting:

     1.  Stickers

     2.  More water bottles

     3.  Bike carriers

     4.  Luggage for bike packing

Yesterday, I bought watermelon at Morong at the Manila East Road. It is rather large maybe selling P200 in our town.  It could have weighed 4 to 5 kgs.   It would not fit into a backpack and so had to be in large plastic bag (illegal now)  slung from the handle bar.   Therefore the handling of the bike was quite different and oscillated when ascending hills.   

So this post read posts on bikepacking and the advice was to load only 5 kg max front and back. It has to be light.  The test was could you comfortably lift the bike if forced to carry your bike.   If you were to walk a hill a ravine or walk up to Roro.  

So travel light.   Light is might.   

Essentials of bike packing

Kapadyak Ka Recyclist Vhen is able to build a 7500 grams bike at cost of only P46,200. Wow

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines
February 28, 2018

I was conversing with Vhen this morning and he showed me his just assembled bike which he claims and weighed at 50kg weighing scale to be only 7.5 kg.  Wow that is 16.5 lbs, a very light bike, lighter than most carbon fiber bike. Some carbon fiber bikes weigh over 8 kg.   An Ridley Orion weighs 8.4 kg (mabigat ang carbon fiber niya.  1.4 kg excluding fork)  But Vhens alum bike frame and carbon fork weigh only 1.8 kg.

So how much did he spend?

                   Ridley Fenix Frameset                           -  P15,000
                   Amcla 350 sprint5 wheelset                           5,500
                   105 Group set                                            15,000
                   Labor                                                           1,000
                   Velo saddle                                                  1,300
                   Ritchey seat post                                             800
                   Carbon fiber drop bar                                  1,500
                   ITM stem                                                    1,400
                    Bar tape                                                        300
                    Tires      Conti                                             4,000
                                  Tubes                                              400
                        Total                                                    46,200

               Cost /gram                                                       6.16      very cost effective

It was a labor of love and he meticulously searched for and studied the parts that will be included. He worked very hard with the mechanics

How about my project:

    I may be able to come up with a Bianchi Oltre with the weight of:

               1.  Frame  set

                           Frame    with direct mount brakes                                            1.900
                           Fork      with direct mount brakes                                              .700                                                    

             2.  Group set  (chop suey:    Durace, SRAM  and Ultegra)                     1.623

             3.  Wheel set                                                                                         1.300

             4.  Tires                                                                                                  .700

             5.  Drop bar                                                                                           .300
                  Bar tape                                                                                             .080
                  Stem                                                                                                  .200

                                                                                Total                                    6.803


       How much did will  it cost me:

              Frameset                                      P32,000
              SRAM       GS                               18,000
              Durace crank                                  10,000
              BB                                                   1,000
              Cable set                                          1,200
              Wheelset                                        25,000
               Stem                                               1.200
              Drop bar                                          1,500
                              Total                              89.900

                                              Cost /gram     13.21            
                                              My bike cost is 2x for only  697 grams difference

                                             Its because of the wheelset that cost him only 5,500 bargain

But if Vhen were to buy an expensive wheelset say 17k, his cost will be

P46,200 +  17,000 - 5,500   = 57,700/7,500 =  7.69  still cheap


           

           
                 

Suggestions on how to manage your upgraditis the sensible effective way (upgraditis weight winnies and costing)

                                               

A lot of inventory sales are going on and many companies are unloading their excess inventories.  The marketing hype  is driving bikers crazy and many may be making unwise investments

The bottom line, the objective  in upgrading is to make you ride faster and better with less efforts and
body ache

Here are some suggestions based on my readings and experience regarding upgrading.

Efficiency  is the key.  You must exert less effort in your ride.  Your equipment must be efficient.  Less friction, less drag in your aerodynamics (the wind resisting your forward motion)

And here LIGHT IS MIGHT.

1.  Thus with regards to the bike and your equipment

          1.  Concentrate on your drive/power train and this includes:

               1.  Shoes.  The only light shoes are carbon fiber soled shoes.  If your shoes are heavy. say by
                     100 grams each vs the carbon fiber soled models, 200 grams x  say 10,000 revs in  a ride
                      translates into 2,000,000 grams additional efforts or  2,000 tons. Wow.  Thats the
                      amount of effort you will exert if you wear a modest carbon fiber soled shoes

                     I have two pairs:   a Shimano and Scott.  The Shimano cost me P3,500 and Scott 5k

                     According to Weigh Weenies, some of the light shoes are:

                     Mavic  Huez                                                      210 grams each

                     Pearl Izumi Tri Fly Carbon                                 521 grams a pair

                     Shimano M221                                                  710 grams

                     SIDI   Genius 3                                                 552 grams

                    Specialized Pro Geometry                                  542 grams

                     Vittoria Racer                                                   240 grams (each)

                     Thus even the lightest shoes are .0.5 kg each. Imagine if you were wearing a 1 kg shoe
           
                 2.  Pedals

                     Invest in high quality light pedals

                     Shimano pedals would be about 200 grams a pair now (a very good development0

                     Speedplay would be about 180 grams a pair;  but Exustar, and I have one carbon fiber                            tips the scale only 88 grams  (176 grams for the pair) with Ti axle (referred to me by
                      Engr. June....  Budget was P7,000+

             3.   Cranksets

                   The Shimano cranks are heavy.   But Red of SRAM is very light and so are FSA line of cranks
                    built from machined alum and carbon fiber. (Both SRAM and FSA are Taiwan producers)

                   Comparison of crankset from Bike Radar

                    SRAM   Red                        594 grams

                    Ultegra                                 699 grams

                    Shimano 105                        759 grams

                    FSA force                            567 grams

                    Durace                                 636 grams

                    Campagnolo Athena             650 grams

       4.   Cogs

             The manufacturers are very  competitive now with cogs weighing  200 grams on the average for
             Shmano SRAM and Campy

Total Cycling   - SRAM claims to have produced the first sub 2 kg group set  (Durace and Super Record
                         are just about even

       5  Wheelsets

                  The name brands are not necessarily the best and the lightest.  Carbon fiber wheelsets are not
                   not necessarily light.  There are plenty of materials needed for the aero design, hence to be bit
                   heavier in the long run. But the aero design is supposed to cut and  slice through the air and thats
                   what matters for speeds beyond 30 kph.

                  So I have an old model wheelset with 36 spokes and my its heavy.  It must weigh 2,000 grams
                   even with Alex 22 rims

                  So some comparison, and I was lured by marketers to buy:

                  Fulcrum   7                                    1,845 grams
         
                 Shimano RS 10 and 11                   1,845 grams

                 Fulcrum Quattro Alum                    1,700 grams

                 Light ones:

                 Am Cla 350                                  1,396 grams    @! P5,500

                 Novatec Jet Fly                             1,435 grams    @  12,500

                                                         Novatec Jetfly only 1,435 grams

Ang gaan ng Bianchi bike mo.!

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines
September 18, 2016

For my bike ride today, I had at least 3 admirers who tried to weigh the Bianchi bike.  One of them was the pan de sal baker at Bo. Kalayaan.  He said it must weigh only 3 kg.  The other admirers were Jess and Jericho.

Truly  I am happy with my Bianchi bike (repainted matte black)  With carbon fiber crank, and XT 11 to 32 cogs, and FSA carbon fiber crank and Campy wheel, it is truly light.

I was able to solve the last two remaining problem:  the bearing of the head set, the allen head screw for the head set, and the flower (which I was able to work better by punching it down through the steerer with a  drift

Bike frame carbon fiber manufacturing process

Wheels of Happiness

Rizal Philippines
December 19, 2015

There are variations in bike making process.  Some bike makers would have tubes stays made of carbon and then join them with special glue to some metal parts like BB or head post.  Others like trek would have integrated manufacturing process done with mold and air pressure or vacuum assist to make the manufacturing stronger and more aerodynamic.

Thus Trek carbon fiber frame can be below 1 kg in weight (2.2 lbs).  The water bottle (with water) weighs more than the fiber.

My evaluation of the new Giro helmet

Wheels of Happiness

January 18, 2014.  

It is not the official Giro light version.  The light version is about 192 grams. It looks to be less than 200 grams.  Most helmets weigh 300 grams or more.  Hefty price, hefty weight.   Mine is light too.  It feels like I am just wearing a baseball cap when I am using this.

It may not look as sturdy and robust as the Spyder helmet which has a carbon fiber frame.  But it is very light.  And is cooler too.  While it has 20 holes just like the Spyder helmet, it has bigger bigger holes which make for more airflow and cooler head

My less than P100 rechargeable LED flashlight on Fuji Bike (Do It Yourself)

Wheels of Happiness

Angono, Rizal  Philippines  December 22, 2013

Merry Christmas to all cyclists around the world, and those who love good health and long life.!

After two rides which saw us arrive late and dark passing through C6, I decided to have my own lamps at the bikes. It is a safety move.  I punctured my tires during the Tagaytay ride.   I was uncomfortable just riding behind the beam of somebody elses flashlight.

I tried to evaluate the available flashlights:

1.  Richard Ang's flashlight cost P450.00 with mount, excluding the AAA batteries which should set you back by Php 100.00++ and this lasts up to 3 hours at most.

2.  The Cat Eye halogen lamp. This cost P1,500, uses halogen lamp and uses 4 AA batteries.  My it is expensive to maintain.   I gave up on the one I bought. I have to own a battery store/factory to keep up with its maintenance.

3.  VMs Led lamp with a rechargeable battery cost P2,000.00.

4.  The Chinese made LED flashlight that are rechargeable.  It does not need battery, and one charge is good for  10 hours of use.   The 4 LED costs P69.00 (what a price) and the one that I just acquired only P45.00 with one LED.  Surprisingly, this brighter.

All you have to do is to mount this as per this You Tube video/post.

And above is the finished product.  All for less than P100.00  (P72.00) to be exact:

P45.00 flashlight
P23.00 stainless steel  pipe clamp
P4.00 for cable tie clamp.

DIY (Do it yourself is cheaper)

Improvised Bike LED lamp

Cheap bike light mounts

Why dont you try doing this?  It is cheap to do and will really light your way at night.