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It just so happens, that the Colorado DA who charged those two chicks with felonies for racing with the other one’s bib# at Leadville, is the same DA who let that money bag douche bag off the hook for hitting a cyclist in CO recently. Damn, that’s a lot of links, and a run on sentence. Sorry. That shit just burned me up. Oh, let’s charge these two girls with felonies, but let the guy that hits a human being, and leaves the scene, off the hook because he makes a lot of money? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG HERE?
Onto other shit that’s cool.
Sean, our Raleigh rep brought this sweet ass SS 9’er with a belt drive into the shop last night. It looks like a fun ass bike to ride. He says the belt drive is just as strong as a chain and oh so quiet. I bet it prrrs. That’s a 4lb fork!
I am getting my anaerobic on this weekend at The Kentucky State Champs in Lexington. I am so stoked to have a noon start time. Usually we have a 10am start time and no one is there except the people working the race and the parents who have juniors racing.
Speaking of CX, you knew it was coming. Here is a sweet video of a race I did a couple weeks back called Gun Club. No ladies in it though. I don’t know who to give cred to because it was one of those videos posted on Facecrack. Note 2:09: Every race goes off with a gun shot.
Went to the Doc. The weight gain is official. 12 pounds. Holy shit that’s a lot of weight in 6 weeks. It has even been determined by Dominic that I have “fat pants”. Those are my warm ups I grab every chance I get, which is just about every day. My red TYR warm ups with the chain ring grease stain. I love them.
So, for the weight gain, Coach OB says to do as much extra tempo riding as I want plus he added in some stair climbing this month.
I decided to go run some trails today and do some climbing in the woods on foot.
I climbed the infamous Stone Steps. Those’ll make your ass burn like a mother fucker.
I fucking love trail running. An XTERRA race is on the schedule this summer. Sounds like something fun to do in the middle of July.
So here’s some Reverend Horton Heat for ya. I had a great run with this shit flowing through my headphones today.
Psychobilly Freakout!
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Not to be a total downer, but do you really have to flip off the wildlife?
and JUST to be a total downer, that belt drive just obsoleted every SS & fixie in the universe. Dayum.
Mikey, belt drive has its own issues and we both know what they are. Until they’re solved there ain’t NOTHIN’ obsolete.
I rode a Spot with a belt drive a couple weeks ago…it is pretty damn sweet, I must say, and tops on my “dream bike” list. However, $3700 for a singlespeed seemed a bit steep…for over a grand less, I bought a Milwaukee Bicycle Co. ss instead. The disconcerting thing about the Gates drive is that the seatstay has to be split to accomodate the belt… If you set your ss up right, it doesn’t make noise either.
Oh…and DEFINATELY do the X-terra Judi. You’ll love it. And you’ll probably do really well since most triathletes totally suck on the bike. I know that’s probably a terrible generalization, but I have been almost dead last coming out of the water and 10 mountain bike miles later I was near the top of my age group.
Belt drive bikes – the Biopace of this decade.
Dirty did wut? No way.He’s such a model citzen.
Yeah Fuck wildlife and everything else that makes nature beautiful.
Ummmmm, I believe that sign is indicating there are rednecks in the woods shooting (at) the wildlife. I saw that and had a mental image of some jackass sitting in a tree stand holding a crossbow, then Judy comes running along and the fight is on….
A good way to lose trail access is to ignore posted signs.
…the original oval bio-pace chainrings were defined as “the epitome of a solution looking for a problem” & while they’re not necessary for the ‘average joe’ (siddown, electric…nothing about you is average) the fact is that the basic concept of ‘other than round’ chainrings is still being utilized (Q-rotor) in pro-tour time trials by certain teams…
…but i guaran-fucking-tee that the belt drive is here to stay…it’s greatest application will undoubtedly be on lower end bikes with geared hubs & the full range of ‘town’ & ‘transport’/i> bicycles but the concept has obviously also hit the higher end single-speed cx & 29er mtb markets strongly…
…what turned the corner for belt drives in this application was the introduction of ‘gates corp carbon drive system’ proprietary low tension belt n’ sprocket setup in 2007…my friend frank scurlock @ ‘spot brand’ is at the vanguard of the movement…
…btw, that’s a written ‘guaran-fucking-tee’ as regards the longevity of the concept…mark my words & see me in 20 years…30, if i’m lucky…
@BGW,
we’ll still be arguing about this in 30 years easily.
“Live forever or die trying”
Take care out there my friend.
…hurben…
…i’ll bet by that time there’ll be a 99.99% rate of agreement about the validity of belt drives for bicycles with a certain lone dissenter…who’ll still assume he’s right & we’re all wrong…
…as far as “live forever or die trying”…i’ll take door #2, please…forever sounds like a long time…
..but i hope we’re ALL good for a long time…
With Sonny on this one. “Wildlife Management” is Gummint-Speak for “hunters in the woods.” Best to give ’em their couple of weeks of fun and seek alternative terrain. Not sure how it works in OH, but here in Pennsyltucky their license fees fund all the so-called Game Lands. A handful of years ago the Game Commission went through a sham they called Public Hearings or Town Meetings or something like that because mountain biking was becoming an issue on a couple of Game Land areas. That’s a very abbreviated explanation of the issue for any who were around when this went down. Anyway, we all went and signed petitions and such, saying we’d help build/maintain trails, yada yada yada. In the end the PA Game Commission (PGC) said mountain biking was verboten and it still is, mostly because they did not want to “manage” another user group. We still ride there, just do it on the DL. Do a little research on the interwebs and you can probably find out when the folks with guns and bows can and can’t be in the woods. Go when they ain’t. The idiots who will ruin it for us here are the ones who show up Saturday AM on the first day of deer season, park in the closest lot they can find–the same one all the hunters use–and ride off into the woods with 3 of their buddies while the Blaze Orange and Camo Crew are in their tree stands hoping for a shot at Bambi.
No opinion on the belt drive, though it seems interesting. At what point do they wear enough to start slipping and driving you nuts as you try to grunt up something really steep. Can’t get the idea of a big rubber band out of my head. That and the split chain/seat stay thing makes me a bit nervous.
Props to 40 Hands for his Troegs mention t’other day. The brothers do brew some fine beers.
I eat wildlife.
BGW, the q rings are also used on XC bikes, I think Burry Stander is the model spokesman these days.
Belt drives may be a superior drive train, but I am guessing path dependence will dictate otherwise. the qwerty is not the fastest/most efficient keyboard set up but it is what we are all using. Same can be said for millions of other “staple” technologies.
A few weeks ago I turned back from entering the woods after seeing a sign that deer culling was taking place, I felt like a passed a Darwinian pop-quiz.
Staying out of the woods during deer season is no different than staying off the trails, whether hiking, running, or on horseback, when a mountain bike race is happening. There is one trail and many user groups. Sharing is something all parties must participate in to make it work.
I rode on the first day of deer season last year at Kettle Moraine in WI. And made DAMN sure I was wearing blaze orange…passed about 6 guys with rifles during the ride…kind of disconcerting…
I should mention the felony charge was plead_down_to_two_misdemeanors. Not “dropped” to nothing at all.
These misdemeanors have serious consequences. Make no mistake about.
So far in his career though, this has been Hurlbert’s finest performance. http://cbs4denver.com/local/snowball.Thistleton.copper.2.562882.html
Belt drives will stick around for the same reason they’ve mostly replaced timing chains on cars. They’re lighter, quieter, they don’t ‘stretch’ as they wear, and they don’t need oil. If you want multiple gears, you get a geared hub, which for many people would be superior to a chain and derailleur setup.
As for the wildlife management, assuming it’s not a hunting thing, there are typically reasons that they close places for wildlife, and it’s not to screw trail users. Just as we have to share wildlands with other trail users, we have to share it with wildlife. The reason that open-space is there, is typically because of that wildlife, be it directly or indirectly. I know mistrust of the gubment is cool and all, but there are a lot of people just trying to do the best job they can from within a slow and bureaucratic system.
fuck horses
@BJ, etc, Mt. Airy is over 5000 acres. When the hunters are actually IN THE WOODS they close the parking lots and don’t allow you to even drive in. There are several entrances to different trails, so they’ll close one side and shoot there for a few weeks, then close the other side and shoot over there for a few weeks. There were plenty of hikers/freaks in the woods there yesterday. Plus I had on a yellow hoodie to match my DC socks.
The best thing about the belt drive in MY opinion? No chain bites.
@Judi, Don’t you mean “rookie marks”?
btw, I’m generally in favor of freaks in the woods…
@el jefe, some people call them cat 6 tattoos. whatever. i always have a chain bite when i ride. always, always, always. doesn’t matter if it’s a ride on the trainer, rollers, whatever. i get a chain bite. it’s my massive calves, i tell ya.
1. Rev. Horton! THANK YOU! Awesome musical goodness to kickstart my day.
2. Belt drives do indeed have their own, ahem, issues. Including breakage. However, they give you many more hints before failure than a chain-based drivetrain will.
Still, I don’t feel an urgent need to rush out and buy one just yet, at least while they’re still this spendy. And I wouldn’t worry about planned obsolescence; it will take longer to supplant steel chains than you think. (It better, as I am notoriously cheap.)
3. It seems several states/regions are holding their state championships this weekend, no doubt because it’s good to have a dry run of The Pressure two weeks before Nats. (So — Are you planning to ride steerage in Joan Hanscomb’s luggage and come to Oregon? Pleeeeeeease? I’ll put you up and cook dinner and everything.)
Oops. Make that THREE weeks before nats, two weeks before the final USGP in Portland.
@beth, i wish! we are livin’ on plastic right now! just cannot do it. maybe next year.
Great post – Exposing blatantly corrupt prosecutors is a must. However, I’m on to the belt drive thread. I think that it would be easy enough to take some old Honda engine parts (if you can find a broken Honda) and make a single speed belt drive bike. Since these Gates belts with teeth work wonderful and last a long time, this would mean that basically the ‘chain’ wouldn’t wear out. However – most people in the real world need bikes that SHIFT. There’s no replacing the chain in that department. Shaft, belt, or wireless neutron drive has not yet figured that out.
@29: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/internal-gears.html#general
…sky yaeger of bianchi usa & swobo fame/notoriety has a tattoo of a “chainring impression” on her right calf…debunks the “fred” myth…
…sorry beth h…you “break” a new ‘gates carbon drive system’ belt & i’ll eat the fucking thing…unless there is a manufacturing flaw or some kind of abuse well beyond anything a cyclist could dole out, that ain’t gonna happen & if it did, unlike a chain, the belt would be warrantied…
…& once again, i guess ‘somebody’ forgot to read numerous other post mentioning geared hubs…they ‘shift’ between the different gears ratios even though it’s done internally…
…mechanical aptitude is honestly a wonderful thing but when a simple ‘no problem’ solution is easily at hand & for a price less than the cost of trying to adapt cobbed together parts, it would seem asinine to not utilize the availability…
…i’m sure i’ll hear all about ‘pride of ability, blah, blah, blah’ but remember “pride goeth before the fall” & we ain’t talking about autumn in the woods…
one of the DC writers disclosed a picture of THEIR chainring tattoo to me today via email, but i’m not gonna mention any names.
…stevil…
…you mean the whole thing wasn’t tossed out of court because the ‘weapon’ in evidence melted into nonexistence ???…
…i’d think the case wouldn’t stand, uh, gosh, ‘a snowball’s chance in hell”…
chain bites, rookie marks, Cat 6 tattoo, fred marks (haven’t heard fred in a long time…) Any others?
are those judi’s man mitts flipping off that sign? probably got some cat 7 tattoos on them, massive!
The belts are based on the same technology as timing belts which last for a reliable 70K mi in cars. The only reports of them breaking have been where people rolled them onto the cogs (that I was able to find in a quick search). This diagonal pressure is hard on them. I’m contemplating having my Spot modified to use the system. Someday, when I’m done with grad school…
The only people that internally geared hubs aren’t likely better for are racers who are concerned about weight. Internal gears and a belt drive have the potential to be substantially more durable than a chain and external gears. When I stared wrenching in the late 80’s we would semi-regularly get old 3 sp hubs from the 60’s in the shop. Even when rode hard and put away wet, most of them were salvageable.
Stupid expensive, but a thing of machining beauty: http://www.rohloff.de/en/products/speedhub/
a few weeks ago I botched a cyclocross mount and tagged my LEFT calf with the 46t, drawing blood. Yeah, I’m smoove like dat.
@el jefe, always called them ‘chain tats’
I’ve got scars on the inside of my right calf from when I got the crap knocked out of me. They are beginning to blur into one big mess, so you can’t really make out the chainring teeth anymore. It is the King of Rookie Marks.
ballers, all of you.
OK…I’m trying to figure this one out, but I give…how in the HELL did you do that, Mikey? Did you jump OVER the bike or something?
sfb, alls I can say is, I can relate. And I gots the scars to prove it. Owies.
I m over Leadville dammit. I would trade bibs too, but I would not have stood for robbing someone of a placing. god damned LA got his pace group in the race then I pay $ for the fucking privilege of “applying”to do LT 100. Fuck that.
CX Video by John Foote of ultraracepics.com.
@SFB— it was at the bottom of a long, narrow metal stairway and I guess I dropped the bike on its right side and (in a moment of hypoxia) tried to mount anyway. Real smoove.