Archiv der Kategorie: Meine Räder

von | 25. Februar 2011 · 00:58

Shaving off weight

What is the most cost-effective way to lower the total weight of your bike? This is a question I asked myself and perhaps some other members would like to contribute as well.


So let’s start with two examples. Two of the components where most of the weight of a racing bike is concentrated is the frame and the wheels. 



A typical Cervelo S1 frameset retails in Germany for 126.000 Yen and weights 1.460g (size 56) without fork, head set and other components. Bare frame. The Cervelo S3 frame retails for the equivalent of 470.000 Yen and weights only 1.080g in the same frame size. Thus one get 380g of weight saving for 344.000 Yen of additional cost. Or one pays 905 Yen for every g lost.

Now let’s take a look at wheels. A good standard wheel set are the Campagnolo Zondas which I have been using for years. In Germany they are sold for 45.000 Yen and they weight about 1.550g without quick release, rim tape and rear cassette. If you have the courage (and the body weight) to use them, Mavic R Sys SL provide a lighter alternative at 1.295g for 172.000 Yen. So 255g for 127.000 Yen. Or 498 Yen for every g less.


I am aware that all calculation depend on the starting point (which frame, wheel etc. is your benchmark) and how far you will go. The first g less will cost much less than the last one as well.


But I wonder, is there any component that would stick out? Quick release? Tires? Tubes?

Michelin Airstop Air 1 tube with 40mm Presta valve. 93g for 569 Yen. Continental Race Supersonic Tube with Presta 36 mm valve. 45g for 1034 Yen. Less than 10 Yen per g reduced. Well, but it is hard to shave off more than 100g from the total weight by using different tubes. Or no tubes?


Any contributions?

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Eingeordnet unter 2011, Bremen, Cervelo Soloist, Mob

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von | 24. Februar 2011 · 21:23

Extreme Altitude Training

Todays training led me again to the town of Ritterhude, which is partly located 48 m above sea level. Three major hills, one of them with cobblestones and one even with 20m elevation difference provide a training mecca for the Transalp 2011 in Northern Germany.


Another cold day in Bremen. To solve my „cold feet“ problem I opted today for one pair of woolen socks and another one on top. Plus one カイロ in each shoe plus Assos shoe cover. It felt much better than the last time, but I was only outside for 2 1/2 hours and in addition it was rather warm: Four degrees plus when I rode in the afternoon. What a bliss to ride the Cervelo again. But wait, what’s coming next…..


Riding along the river Wuemme, the swamps to the right were still frozen.

With a nice tailwind that was not too strong and staying below 145 HRM, I made good progress and reached Ritterhude after 25 km. There is a very nice „hill“ that leads up from the river to the main road on a cobblestone street. This is the Ritterhude version of 

this nice hill, located somewhere in Belgium.

There is even a „Kapel“ in the background as well. Sorry if you can’t see the slope. It is ever so slightly. This nice road lead up to the not so nice main shopping street of Ritterhude that in turn turns into a major road leading to Osterholz-Scharmbek. Basically it is the road version of the life of Leif Garrett. But at least there is another slope which adds perhaps 10m followed by the longest slope around Bremen with about 20m elevation difference. DIY center on the right, car dealers on the left. You get the picture. A smaller version of 246.


Then there is a long straight part, until the road makes right turn goes down for about 20 m elevation and come up again. I did this once and back all the way and then I started to do the Kapelmuur again. This added more than 200m of elevation to my training today, which is the rough equivalent of one Otarumi from the Sagamiko side. All data from my Ciclo bike computer, so please be aware that my statements are grossly exaggerated.


I rode back the same way and was home 2 1/2 hours after I left. 70 km of training. My legs, heart and lungs are OK, but I really feel the lack of long rides recently because my upper body, especially the shoulders, are starting to hurt quite fast. 
I also fell down when I accidentally disengaged from the left pedal, so that the bike leaned to the right side where my shoes were still clipped in. I saw it coming but had no chance to escape. But after all the crashes in winter, this was really nothing.


Will be off to Berlin tomorrow. Another figure skating competition. Probably I will meet Marek as well.

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Eingeordnet unter 2011, Bremen, Cervelo Soloist, Mob, Touren

von | 21. Februar 2011 · 01:14

Cyrogenic 102

After watching my daughter taking second place in the cup of the federal state of Bremen figure skating competition on Saturday I was motivated enough to focus on my own „sport career“ and venture out into the flatlands of Bremen and Lower Saxony on Sunday.


David was so kind to remind me of Toms wonder weapon (V3 Vlamse Vielrennner Dre) against cold feet, the self heating patch from Japan. Actually we have quite a supply at home, even the shoe specific type, but I was just to stupid to ask my wife so far.
So I left at 1 AM on my Cervelo when temperatures reached – 2 degrees, the highlight of the day. The skies were blue and I enjoyed a nice tailwind riding out along the river Wuemme. My orange Assos jacket offered me good protection against the elements, but my feet got cold as usual. I continued along the river until Lessum where I made a right turn in direction Ritterhude. This is the only road I know that offers some degree of climbing training: First 20 meters up, mainly on cobblestones in the old part of the village and later two times 20 m up, but unfortunately on a congested road leading through industrial wasteland. 


I rode further to Osterholz-Scharmbek and made a right turn in direction SOS landscape and Worpswede. And now I ran fully into a very strong headwind, almost similar to what we have seen here lately. Yes, to have a very light bike can have its own disadvantages.


I arrived at Worspwede back on the usual road and continued in direction Quelkorn and Fischerhude. Riding fully against the wind, my speed dropped to 22 or 23 km/hr. Not only that, but I the wind also contributed in getting my feet and hands very cold. I took a 5 minute break to eat a banana and could hardly use my hands to peel it.


But when I made the turn at Fischerhude and ran North again I enjoyed a tailwind and could easily ride at 35 km/hr without making too much effort. After 83 km distance I was back at the river Wuemme so I decided to go 5 km further North, ride back the same distance and then take the usual 7 km ride home, to make it a full hundred. The first time this year and it is already February.


Before riding home I made a small detour and rode over a pedestrian bridge that crosses a semi-highway close to our house. I like this bridge. It’s a little bit tricky to ride up and it offers perhaps 5 m of elevation training. I never cross the street here at street level, I always ride up and down the bridge. With the Cervelo it is easy to do in the big ring (compact) with the biggest cog in the rear. With the Gazelle I have to choose the small ring plus the biggest cog and even then it is hard work.


I was home after 4:10 hrs and covered 102 km, taking less than 10 minutes of break. It was a good training, but it wasn’t any fun at all. I could barely insert the key in the lock and turn it – my hands were ice.

Of course this is nothing against the pain that Azizulhasni Awang experienced when he crashed on the wooden track in Manchester during a world cup track meeting on Saturday.
The obvious thing to do after such crash is, obviously, to HTFU, get on your feet, on your bike and cross the finish line to win the event. As shown on You Tube.

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Eingeordnet unter 2011, Bremen, Cervelo Soloist, Mob, Touren

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von | 18. Februar 2011 · 21:50

Der hohe Berg (high mountain)

The only way to add significant elevation meters in and round Bremen is, when you accidentally ride over a cow. So naturally I was very curious, when a fellow professor (sic!) told me that close to his home town called „Syke“ a substantial bump in the landscape would perhaps provide the ideal training ground for Transalp 2011.


Well of course I was not expecting something of the degree of Odarumi Toge, but I thought that at least some slopes would be present. Another cold winter day in Bremen with temperatures hovering around freezing point was awaiting me outside. I fixed some of the bikes in the morning and got the Cervelo ready for the first time this year. So far I have used only the Gazelle (Rain), Bad boy (Snow) and the Peugeot (to show-off). But today the roads were at least dry, so I pumped up the tires of the Cervelo for the 2011 virginal ride.


I hate cold feet. So I wore some light summer racing socks, over which I put some thick woolen socks. On the outside of the cycling shoes I wore the Assos show covers plus an additional rain/windproof shoe cover. No chance, 30 minutes on the road and my feet were cold as liquid nitrogen.


By the way: Assos. I bought an extremely nice Assos Air Jack 851 limited edition, yes, you guessed correctly, in orange. I even own the matching head gear. I am not a big fan of Assos, but nevertheless some of their products are very good I believe (air jack 851, shoecovers, early winter gloves, robocap….) But they are also very pricey. When Assos pops up in my mind the next thought is always „Rapha“. I don’t even own one piece from Rapha – not that I don’t like their stuff. I think they did a lot good for design in clothing and advertising.


Assos designers have difficulties to design decent zippers with functional sliders. The old shoecovers I owned had a metal slider attachment in the shape of the Assos „A“. Depending on the design and the matching of sizes between the shoes and the shoe covers, to put them on can be a real hassle. It was almost impossible to close the zipper without bloody fingers, as he slider attachment was really hard to grap. After a while they broke off as there are to brittle. Really a poor job, given the fact that otherwise the shoecovers are a) warm and b) very expensive.


I have wore the air jack perhaps 4 or 5 times and then the slider was also broken. Send it back to the seller last week. Will get a brandnew jacket next week – I hope it will hold.
Saturday Update: Got it back just new. A beautiful new jacket. Some type of slider though. Claim processing in Germany is really wonderful. However I wish they would do it right the first time.

Perhaps I could wear my bib shorts over the base layer, extend it towards my neck and fix them there with some safety pins as Carol Ally is showing here.


I left a 1 PM ..wow. the Cervelo felt so great, after riding all this old bikes for the last months. The Cervelo was like a … rocket .. a spaceship …. stellar performance. But as I said, it was cold and the wind was very strong. I rode out of town, then along the river Weser on the West side in direction South. Normally I stay on the East side of the river, very rarely I venture out to the West. Dreye, Kirchwehye, Barrien… I mention these names because perhaps Ludwig got a paramedical training in one or the other village. Cold, windy, cloudy, not too much green, long straight roads, no fun.


Finally I made it into Syke, and yes, there were some hills there. I enjoyed the climbs, although no one got me more than perhaps 15 m elevation difference. And even that is probably grossly overstated. It took a while before I found the road to „der hohe Berg“ but I couldn’t see any rise in elevation. The road was flat as…. as….as any and all roads here are flat in the area.


The I noted that the street on the right side was named „der hohe Berg“ so I made a right turn and followed the road to its end. And there it was the high hill: A whopping 3 meters above average surface level that warranted the construction of an observation tower.



Total elevation above seas level: 63 meter. If you climb the tower, about 20% more.
But be careful, the tower may swing which is , as a warning notice explains, „due to nature“. I personally feel that it is more likely due to „poor engineering“ or „poor construction execution“ or perhaps to the laws of physic. Only after that, one may be allowed to blame nature.



OK, my feet weren’t getting any warmer so I rode home and fiddled around with the Faggin frame. If this bike will ever get ready, it will become a very interesting one. My goal is to built a very light bike for Bremen, actually the lightest bike I ever had – without me. Meaning? Well I am a little bit tired of this theoretical discussions about weights of bikes; like 41 cm frame size as representative. And I never understood why bike weights are always measured without pedals? You need pedals to ride a bike, right? Just as you need a handle bar or wheels. And when you ride out you need a water bottle, a repair kit, a pump, some lights and and and….. So let’s define this as the bike riding weight: Get naked on the scale, then dress up, make yourself ready for the ride and get back on the scale with the bike in your hands. How much is the difference?


Of course I will use some small cheats. For example I will not mount a front derailleur. I have one, but why should I mount it? I never ever used a front derailleur in Bremen. Unless I accidentally ride over cows, of course.

Well, the next months I have to train hard, so that in June David, Juliane and David again don’t have to wait for hours on top of every fricking pass in the alps. Why did I come to this conclusion? Because recently I had an interesting telephone conversation with Hiroshi. He said, that David is training hard and shed a lot of weight, so he became really fast and has tons of stamina. Enough for every single pass in the alps. I, on the other hand was assuming that I was the faster rider per se (although, I have to admit, I have been faster only for a very short period in time: in 2008 my goal for Fuji hill climb was to „tonikaku“ beat David regardless of the result). So my training for Transalp consisted of eating chocolate bars and doing long hours in the university until I finally reach the performance level of David. I wasn’t aware of the very unfortunate fact that his performance level line over time was moving in the opposite direction. Some month ago our lines crossed (so that would have been the perfect week to tackle the Transalp) and now there is a considerable difference to my disadvantage. Shit, I have to buy another bike to compensate.

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Eingeordnet unter 2011, Bremen, Cervelo Soloist, David, Mob, Touren, Transalp

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von | 20. Januar 2011 · 22:51

First Ride Galibier

Finally I could pick up the Peugeot Galibier from the LBS. I must say they did a very good job AND left my bike out on the yard in the rain.

The nice white handlebar, so Euro stylish, is gone as the the brakes needed to be rewired and I had only an orange spare left.  Already in the shop I noticed that the shifting was very smooth when I tried it. The guys gave me some warning, as the rear cogs were already pretty much used and that might result in some problems. And they said nasty things about the brakes, being so much inferior compared to the brakes of today. So I was warned.

After lunch break I dressed up in full cycling gear and took her out for the first longer spin – but still only 30 km. The first things that I noticed was, that the bike is very comfortable, much more so than the unforgiving Cervelo or even the Gazelle. I am not sure why, but I guess it is because of the wheels with 36 spokes that absorb much more vibrations. I built them up myself, and asked the bike shop to check them. Them said I did basically a good job in truing and dishing the wheels but the applied tension was way too low. They told me that they gave every spoke another two turns until the wheels were ready to be ridden.

The whole bike feels very comfortable, also thanks to the wonderful Charge Spoon saddle which really surprised me. I thought plastic or artificial leather saddles would be out of the question for longer rides, but this one is really comfortable – and priced at only the third of the cost of a Arione or Gel Flite saddle.

The disadvantage about a bike being comfortable and „soft“ is, that it is harder to accelerate as some of the power goes into the frame  and spokes and not into driving the bike forward. Compared to the Gazelle and Cervelo the Peugeot is a slower bike. It is still fast enough though to be raced in the flats in the 30 – 33 km/hr bracket which I find most comfortable over long distances (not that I could maintain that range for long time anyway).

I was a little bit scared of braking after what the guys in the shop said so, but no, the brakes are doing well. Sure they don’t have the power of today’s Ultegra brakes and they behave completely differently, but once one is used to them they are doing fine.

Also the drive train behaved nicely. Shifting is so smooth (and silky). Yes, in the world of bicycle riding the words „and silky“ must be added to the word „smooth“ if the topic is shifting. Like nook and cranny: „Books were stuffed into every nook and cranny of his office.“ Isn’t it possible to stuff the bloody books only into the nook?

If only 140 years ago bicycles would have had 44 gears (Campa Super Record with 4 cogs in the front), I am sure the phrase would have made it into le dictionaire des idees recues by Gustave Flaubert.

I continued to ride along the river Wümme while the sun started to set early. The only somewhat negative surprise that I had was, that the bullhorn bar isn’t as comfortable as I thought it would be. Steering is somehow strange when the hands are so far in front of the fork axis.

I have ordered another set of cogs so that I can replace the worn one and a new Golden Arrow rear derailleur. Now I have a Shimano Arabesque derailleur fitted and that is just a gross breach of style which cannot be possibly kept undetected by the knowing eye for much more time.

Summary: Very happy, very proud that I was able to realize somuch of my own bike. I like the look and style and it is also a good ride. Due to its softness it is hard to imagine that I will do longer rides on the Galibier, but for a ride up to 50k it is a good alternative. I can also think of further modifications.

Of course, until the Faggin is ready.

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Eingeordnet unter 2011, Meine Räder, Mob, Peugeot Galibier, Peugeot SB, Touren

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von | 17. Januar 2011 · 12:41

Project Faggin Orange Speed

Three tasks for today:

1. Pick-up the Peugeot Galbier from the bike shop (hopefully)
2. Visit day 4 of the Bremen Six Days Race with my son Henri
3. Start thinking about Project Faggin Orange Speed

Oh yes, and work at the university.
It seems that I missed Boney M. at the race yesterday. Never mind, today there is another great band playing that nobody should miss: Middle of the Road! And this, after I have seen Abba in October in Berlin. What will be next? Perhaps Alvin Stardust? Long Tall Ernie and the Shakers? Or, the best band of all times, the Kursaal Flyers?

The Faggin frame cost less than 8.000 Yen, couldn’t resist.The idea is to set up a cheap speed bike with modern components, 105 range, flat handle. Only one chain ring in the front, 9 or 10 in the rear.Budget 300 Euro, completed. Will built some nice wheel by my own again. This will become another good looking bike.

Little Does She Know



Little does she know that I know that she knows
That I know she’s two-timin‘ me
Little does she know that I know that she knows
That I know she’s cheatin‘ on me


I was outside the one stop
When I saw her in the corner
And I didn’t like what I see


Little does she know that I know that she knows
That I know she’s two-timin‘ me

She was sharing her spin dryer with a guy in a tie-dye
When she saw my reflection in the chrome
I knew that she’d seen me ‚cause she dropped her bikini
The one that I got her in Rome


Little does she know that I know that she knows
That I know she’s two-timin‘ me
Little does she know that I know that she knows
That I know she’s cheatin‘ on me


When she finished her laundry she was all in a quandary
And made it for the street like a hare
Her escape was so urgent, she forgot her detergent
And dropped all her clean underwear


Little does she know that I know that she knows
That I know she’s cheatin‘ on me

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Eingeordnet unter 2011, Bremen, Faggin Toppolino, Meine Räder, Mob

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von | 16. Januar 2011 · 18:57

Bremen Ekiden

When I was still living in Tokyo, the Positivo Espresso Ekiden ride used to be the first ride of the year in the last years. Snow and ice in Bremen made all rides too dangerous so far, but with temperatures well above 0 degrees, blue skies and dry roads I finally wanted to get out in 2011.


When one is working on an old bike, one can forget easily that the purpose of repair is not to have a good looking bike in the garage, but to have a good ride on a well functioning bike.


I woke up late and read the post from David, describing his trip with Froggy  to Wada and Bijotani in cold weather today. That inspired me finally to get out of the warm study and get the bike ready. Thank you David, for getting home and blogging quickly.


The Galibier project is no finished yet. I spend some evenings building the wheels with old hubs and new rims but I wasn’t comfortable if I have applied the right amount of tension on the spokes. The trueing went quite well, lateral trueing and dishing Isn’t so difficult but vertical trueing is. So I decided that the last adjustment should be done by the pros. And a lot of things they found were wrong: Did you know, for example that braking wires and shifting 

Fixed gear? No gear is much cooler.



wires have different diameters and so have there hulls? I never looked that closely at my bike as to notice that the brake cables are 5 mm and that shifter cables are only 4 mm thick. And to mount old school aero shifters on bullhorn handle bars is so difficult, that even the pro shop doesn’t know what to do. I will get surprised on Monday.


The Galibier not ready. The Peugeot too nice to move it on even slightly wet rodes. The Cervelo also too nice. The Pinarello is sold and shipped. Bad Boy too slow. So after long back and forth I opted for the trusted Gazelle. Not so fast but reliable and with mud guards. I felt like a girl in font of a mirror, selected a dress for a night out in town.


Still I needed to do another half an hour of preparation. The chain was rusty, I had no spare tube ready, the air pressure was way too low … all this tiny things one have to take care off today. I relish the times when I just didn’t know and consequently just didn’t care about all these adjustments.

Heading out in direction North Sea a strong headwind met me just from the start. Along the usual roads at the „Siel“ the first cyclists were out and I tried to maintain a pace of 30 km/hr even while exhausting myself quickly. When I arrived in Ritterhude, I made a left turn for Worpswede following my standard loop and suddenly I had the strong wind in my back. That was fun now. So I reached Worpswede in almost an hour with 31.0 km/hr average speed, climbed up the hill and continued in direction Fischerhude. As this was the first longer ride of the year I didn’t want to overdo it, so I stayed in the 150 – 155 HRM range. at Worpshausen I made a short break and Gazelle and me remembered the guys from Worpshausen that were killed in world war I. This is a long and cherished Positivo Espresso Bremen tradition, that the first ride of the new year always stops at a WW I memorial. Even my parents knew about that: They married January 4th, 1962 and their honeymoon led them to, among all possible place, Verdun. Where they visted Fort Douaumont and perhaps met other couples on their honeymoon who had the same splendid idea. Or perhaps not.


Again, I was facing a strong headwind. The part between Worpshausen und Quellkorn is the most boring portion of the standard loop. The headwind was getting even stronger when I took a right turn at Fischerhude and rode on a small road in direction Borgfeld. Borgfeld is located within the federal state of Bremen (while the rest of the tour is mainly in the federal state of Lower Saxony) and for some reasons the family and relatives of the last German emperor, Wilhelm II, are living here. 

There is nothing special about Borgfeld though, one doesn’t feel any wind of history, only the smell of horse shit. Well, this is what you would think of Borgfeld normally. But today it was quite different. As the snow of December has melted and it takes some time for the water to reach rivers and get carried to the sea in the flat lands of Bremen, all the pasture to the left and right of the road was flooded. That looked very nice, finally I had the feeling that I am living close to the sea.


I continue on my way home. Three hours out on the roads. 75 km done. Shabby by Tokyo standards but not too bad for Bremen. The Gazelle was wonderful as usual. It would have been easier to ride the Cervelo, but riding the Gazelle costed more effort and was the better training therefore.


I noted today that the Assos Airjack 951 jacket is too warm for temperatures of 10 degrees and more. I need a long sleeve jersey from TCC, possibly now.




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Eingeordnet unter 2011, Bremen, Gazelle Champion Mondial, Mob, Touren

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von | 30. Dezember 2010 · 22:52

Project Galibier – Status Update

Snow, New Year Holiday Season and the family out for figure skating training in Düsseldorf. The perfect time to work on Project Galibier.

In the meantime some more parts have arrived. To built-up an old bike is a tricky thing and I paid the price. Some of the parts I have ordered will not fit on the frame, others fit but don’t work properly. Sometimes I am a loss what to do, but doing a lot research on the web, asking friends for opinion and sleeping it over helps a lot. One needs a lot of patience.

The upper part is my tribute to Euro-cyclism: New,old stock Shimano AX brake levers with white gums and white handle bar tape. I shall never touch this bike without gloves or dirty hands.

To adjust the brakes is a real nightmare and it brings me back to the time, 35 year ago, when I tried that with my first bike. Technology has come a long way and today it is so easy o adjust, say, a pair of Shimano Ultegra 6700 brakes. But Golden Arrow? One hand hold the calipers in place, another one pulls the wire and the third hand tightens the bolt. The third hand? Yes, that’s the problem.

But the result so far looks good. I don’t know why, but I always wanted to own a bike with a bullhorn handlebar. It seems so logical for my style of riding. I almost never use the lower part of a drop handle, all the weight, so needlessly attached. And of course, I like the design, it looks so much more sportif. Vintage fans will kill me most likely for that, but never mind.

Here we can see thee historically correct setup (except for the wheels). Shimano Golden Arrow front derailleur paired with a Golden Arrow crank set and chain rings. Beautiful – also with the label „12 vitesse“. The bottom bracket which you cannot see is from Shimano as well, but brand new. After I assembled everything I found out that the chainline is not correct. The smaller chain ring is too much on the inside so that the front derailleur position does not match. I will need to de-assemble everything again and buy a new bottom bracket with a longer axle. Paid.

Again beautiful and historically correct. Golden Arrows shifters (although on later Shimano 600 sockets) and Golden Arrow front brake. A nightmare to adjust. Brakes poorly, compared to today’s standards. Still not sure about the correct wire routing. But it looks perfect and nice with the chrome fork and the Peugeot pantograph on the crown.

The Gravity Zero wheels look nice but I am still working on the pair of Maillard 700 hubs. I gave up to remove the cassette and asked the bike shop to do that for me. Then I will order spokes and new rims for clincher tires. Old tubular tires are just to messy.

I couldn’t resist to buy this brand new Charge Spoon saddle. Design-wise it fits perfect and apart from the chain, tires, the spokes and the rims it will be the only new part on the bike. It is also cheap but then it is only artificial leather. Please also note how the seat stem is fixed in the frame: This is a quilted stem and the nut for adjustment is located just below the saddle.

All of this takes a lot of time. I was working in the garage yesterday night and when I looked at the watch it was already past midnight. But it’s fun and I hope that spring arrives soon and the bike will be ready.

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Eingeordnet unter 2010, Bremen, Meine Räder, Mob, Peugeot Galibier, Peugeot SB

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von | 21. Dezember 2010 · 22:24

Minus Fourteen

That was the temperature in Bremen when I checked the weather forecast before I left for work. 


Nevertheless I opted for Bad Boy to take me to the university where I arrived much later than usual because I had to ride slow and carefully over large patches of exposed ice on the road. That is still much better than being left stranded at Frankfurt or Heathrow airport. Winter salt is now much in demand but also useless at this temperatures to unfreeze the ice.


My Assos early winter gloves are also now useless: Being designed for down to six degrees plus, their protective value doesn’t last for the 15 minutes ride to work.


Surprisingly enough the German postal system is still working and another batches of parts for the Galibier project arrived on Sunday and today.


I cheaply bought a set of wheels, consisting of Maillard 700 high flange hubs and Mavic rims with glued-on old tubeless tires. I am not a big fan of tubeless tires, to cumbersome in event of a puncture on the road, so I completely de-assembled the front and rear wheel. Then I de-assembled the front wheel bearings. There were only eight balls instead of nine on one side of the bearing so I will need to look for an replacement. Nevertheless I greased the bearing and started to polish the chrome of the which now looks pretty good. Supported by a red rubber bear.



I will buy some spokes and a new rim and try to built my first wheel. Well at least I will give it a try and complete it as far as I can but most likely the truing needs  to be done by a pro from a bike shop.


The same for the rear hub. The spokes on the side of the cogs couldn’t be removed so I cut them with a cable cutter. Then I went to the local bike shop and asked them to remove the cassette, which is old-style, screwed on cassette with integrated freewheel. They gave me a big laugh and told me that it is impossible to remove the cassette without the complete wheel: Opposed to modern cassettes, where only the last and smallest cog is screwed on to hold all other cogs in place and where you need to counter the against the stripping tool with a chain whip on any other cog, here need to unscrew the complete cassette with the freewheel that is screwed as one piece on the hub. So you need to counter with the lever of the rims. So it could very well be that this hub will never be usable any more at is neither possible to put new spokes in nor to remove the cassette. I should have read the Sheldon Brown advise before starting where all of this is described in detail. So let’s see if I perhaps cannot find another way.



By the way, this thing is pretty heavy, perhaps more than a set of lightweight wheels.


I also have now a almost new Shimano 600 Arabesque front derailleur. Design-wise that was my first choice for the Galibier and I am happy that I could buy one rather cheaply. I still need to de-assemble, grease and polish this baby. These derailleurs are still working friction-based and not indexed so it depends on the rider to adjust it properly while riding. It can be used with index shifters nevertheless, so I will have a wide range of options. I will probably end-up with a strange mix of components, so the re-sale value of the bike will be rather low as real connoisseurs will not be interested. But I would like to use the components I think will look best, regardless of epoch-correct assembly.



During assembly I found out that I am really a poor mechanic. For me, perhaps because of my academic-theoretical background, if a problem is intellectually solved, I am not much interested in the implementation. I guess my marriage may serve as a prime example. I am getting really impatient when the bloody handle bar can be fiddled around the bloody handle. Or the rust cannot be polished away on the hub. So perhaps by doing this kind of mechanical work I can learn to become slightly more modest, patient and thereby by also nicer to my wife.

The question is, will she be nice to me, when in due time even more nice bike that bought will arrive on our door steps. Ah, the temptations are so big in Germany and the winter is so long. So I better start working patiently on this beautiful piece of Shimano 600EX Arabesque rear derailleur. Again, this one was produced between 1978 and 1984, as the FD. The cage is open, so it is possible to remove the chain from the derailleur without opening the chain. I am not sure what this is good for, but I like this small, useless engineering details.


The Galibier, however will need some more time. I will keep posting pictures 
of it’s progress.

3 Kommentare

Eingeordnet unter 2010, Bad Boy, Bremen, Mob, Peugeot SB

von | 17. Dezember 2010 · 11:31

Winter Goals

The morning after another day with heavy snowfall in the Bremen flatlands.

On Monday the sky was blue and the roads were dry so I took my Cervelo out of the garage for a 80 km standard spin. I made it just up to Worpswede, about one hour, when it started to snow again. There must have been some very well blue-camouflaged snow clouds somewhere up there. I had to ride about 25 km back to Bremen against the snow and the roads were slowly becoming white. The snow was rather dry and while there wasn’t sufficient quantity accumulated on the surface, it formed in small hurricane patterns. When I came home it was snowing heavily and when I left for work an hour later on the Gazelle, I was hardly able to steer through the snow.

I rode to work early in the morning the next day on the Gazelle through the snow. It is a little bit tricky to ride on a racing bike with 700 x 23C tires as every little bump below the snow forces a sudden and unexpected change of direction. I thought it as a good exercise to learn how to control a slippery bike. I was probably just thinking that and how great I was handling the steering already and how fast I could go, when I came to a crossing where I had to brake a little bit harder. I did it too hard, so that the rear wheel went to the right and me down hard on the road.

After that I thought what a bloody stupid prick I am. I am not 26 any more when I rode home in the rain on my Motebecane on a bicycle lane than was separated from the pedestrian walk by a line of randomly spaced bollards and I crashed directly with my right knee into one without seeing it. That hurted very much but I survived, nothing was broken and there were no consequences at all. Now I am 48 and every time I fall it takes weeks until all of the pain is gone and I really should consider this when making cycling decisions.

So after spending a day in the office, trying not to move at all and after another night at home, trying not to move as well, I went into the garage and refitted the Bad Boy with the winter Schwalbe tires (700 x 30C). I was reluctant to use Bad Boy in the winter, first it is very messy to clean the bike, second the paint is very sensible to scratches (strange spec for a MTB or urban hybrid) and third it has no mud guards. And forth, the last time I crashed really hard was riding down from Yabistu Toge to Hadano on Bad Boy with winter tires.

But winter in Bremen leaves me no other choices than to ride on fat tires:  The Bad Boy was placed just behind the Cervelo and the Gazelle and the electric shopping bike of my wife and the new green Giant of my son and the Peugeot Galibier frame I am working on. Which stands in front of the old Pinarello frame which I am polishing and the beautiful Peugeot I have bought recently for fun and just leaves enough space for this super cheap Pesacarola racing bike I incidentally bought and the beautiful Gianni Motta I could not resist to buy. If performance really depends on the number of newly acquired bikes, I should be ready for Paris – Roubaix.

In other words, I took me some time to get the bike out, mount a saddle, pedals, tires, saddle bag, speedmeterand lights, which took another half an hour. All of this for 15 minutes of riding to work.

After having done the commute now three times I have to say that it is actually much more fun than on a racing bike. It is also stimulating not to been overtaken by grandmothers on their sturdy Holland-bikes while trying to stay upright on the Gazelle.

On the weekend I will utilize my newly rediscovered cycling courage to ride through the white planes on the Bad Boy.

And after coming home an having enjoyed a cup of hot instant coffee, I will go to work on the Peugeot Galibier frame. I am still waiting for parts to arrive at my home and I am excited how some of the purchases, like the charge saddle, the Maillard 700 high flange hubs will look like. Although I have to admit that assembly of a bike is a tricky business, even if one has most of the tools. I wasn’t able to remove the crankset covers from the Pinarello frame and had to ask for assistance at a bike shop. I am also not able to mount the Shimano 600 rear tube shifters properly. And it was an absolute nightmare to fiddle white handle bar tape around a bullhorn handle bar. Well, this must be the fate of the Euro-cyclist, I guess.

I will post some pictures once the wheels have been mounted.
Meanwhile have fun in the snow, if you have snow.

2 Kommentare

Eingeordnet unter 2010, Bad Boy, Bremen, Cervelo Soloist, Gazelle Champion Mondial, Mob, Peugeot SB