Archiv der Kategorie: 2011

von | 11. Mai 2011 · 21:49

Out with SWB

I had been a while since I have ridden with Bremen’s SWB club.

I started to ride with them last year. Nice guys in principle but not very talkative. Typical North Germans not that fun loving bunch from the lower rhineland to which I belong. But they are fast and always riding in a group with two riders in front and the rest drafting in two lines behind.

Because of the wind direction we rode to Borgfeld and continued to Timmersloh and Wilstedt. Wilstedt has a nice yellow tower in the center that can be seen from far away. First sprint. Then we continued to Vorwerk and took a nice Forest road to Dipshorn and Bucholz before we rode back through Quelkorn and Fischerhude. I didn’t know most of the roads and it is good to know people who can introduce me to roads off the beaten tracks.

I will never figure out all the abbreviations and small roads between Fischerhude and Borgfeld. Today I learned about another one.

These rides are serious. Only two hours long, but without any breaks or any loss in speed, 32 km/hr average. Riding into Vorwerk I was ready to give up, when I had to stay in the draft at 40 km/hr for an extended period of time running at 175 HRM. Only the thought that I need to find my way home alone prevented me from throwing the towel.

At least I had enough power to make the second place at the last hill climb sprint. This is a treacherous slope, leading over the federal highway and adding at least 8 elevation meters. Yes, in Bremen one has to be satisfied with that. Two hours of good training that will keep me fit for the 216 km scheduled for Saturday and the Velothon race in Berlin. I also feel now much more confident to ride in a peloton.

By the way David (L), my uncle told me that we can sleep at his house in Munich the day before the Transalp, no problem. So you stay one night at the hotel and the next with me at my uncles house before we meet Juliane and David and travel to Sonthofen.

It’s getting closer.

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von | 11. Mai 2011 · 17:31

Mob’s big box of small wonders

I have started to buy, repair, restore and sell old bicycles just a few month ago, mainly as a hobby to spend the long cold winter days in Bremen doing something meaningful. But even in a few months quite an assortment of interesting bike parts has gathered.

Shimano’s Golden Arrow series, the predecessor from the Eighties of today’s 105 series is one of my favourites. So is the Shimano 600 Arabesque series, which is slightly older and influenced by arabic design elements, something not that much in vogue today. Generally I prefer Shimano over Camapgnolo: Less model changes, cheaper and easier to get and better functionality. „Cheap“ is important, as I repair the components and assemble them on my frames, making a lot of mistakes. So if something goes wrong, I don’t loose a lot of money on the spot. Today, for example, I learned that a 1“ cone for a headset that is mounted directly on the fork can be different depending on the type of fork. There goes another headset.

I bought also some components from lesser know brands. My Lyotard pedals are a good example, my Maillard and Normandy high flange hubs, a Modolo Stem (with the Mosburger Logo) and a very nice ITM stem.

Before I repair, adjust and clean all of this stuff, I keep it in a box which is the big box of small wonders.

Now one of my recent purchases has been a complete set of Shimano 600 AX components.
Shimano launched the 600AX group in 1981 in response to the aerodynamic craze in cycling. In many respects I feel it is the equivalent to the Japanese bubble economy era: Bold, gaudy, baroque in design, expensive looking and not really useful. Take a look at the bottle cage for example: This one is designed for a special aerodynamic bottle that is much higher than wide (not a circular section) so that it offers less wind resistance.

(By the way, if you own such a bottle, please let me know).

Nice. But basically useless. And of course Shimano wasn’t able to set a new standard. The same is true for the crank set. Shimano tried to set a new standard for a new, bigger pedal thread. They failed to convince the world. Today it is extremely difficult to find matching pedals.

In theory this would allow me to completely retrofit a frame with Shimano 600 AX with the exception of head set, bottom bracket and chain, as there were no 600AX parts developed in their cases. Theoretically, as some of the components are in bad shape (rubber hoods of the shifters for example) or not that practical. Take for example the brakes. These are probably one of the most beautiful bicycle brakes ever designed. Some people say this about the Campagnolo Delta brakes but I would disagree, they look comparatively bulky.

Both, Shimano AX and Campa Delta brakes have two things in common: They are incredibly difficult to mount and to adjust and, even worse, they tend not to brake too much.

Here are some more nice components. Some of them I will use to built up two Olmo frames I have purchased recently. These are replacements for the Moser Leader AX evolution frame I wanted to work on some month ago but that turned out to be too small for me. Yes, Olmo is the brand of choice for the time being.

But today the weather is beautiful an daylight until 9 PM allows me to go riding after work and early dinner.

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von | 9. Mai 2011 · 00:38

Sat: Bremen – Dormund 2:0 Sun: Sunshine and wind

My son Henri and me went to watch the soccer game Bremen vs. Dortmund, the new German champion 2010/11 on Saturday afternoon. After being sick for quite a while and under permanent stress to finalize preparations for the audit of the university on Thursday and Friday, this was the first time on the bike for quite a while.


Saturday was beautiful, almost like a day in summer with temperatures up to 26 degrees Celsius. We watched a good game at the Weser Arena in Bremen with thousands of fans from Dortmund clad in their traditional yellow and black team colors. 

There was even a passenger boat travelling down the river full of Dortmund fans, equipped with flags and a huge replica of the champion trophy (sometimes called the „salad bowl“).


Although I need to add that the most happy moment in the game was, when the arena monitor showed that my hometown club of Moenchengladbach won 2:0 as well.



After the game I had time to work on my new Olmo frames. I bought some other beautiful components that I will show later.


The in Sunday I had time to ride my Faggin bike. For the time being this is the only modern bike left until the „Wet White Dream“ will arrive from the paint shop. Again, the skies were blue and the sun was shining on Sunday as well. And there was a very strong wind blowing from the South West. I decided to ride in direction South West first, so that I would have an easier ride home later. I took the standard road to Borgfeld and Fischerhude, than made a turn to Sottrum and Ottersberg and continued almost to Rotenburg/Wuemme.  From there I rode South again through Hellwege almost to Verden/Aller, but making a left turn at Voelkensen and riding back in direction Bremen through Langenwedel and Achim.

For some reasons I had a very high heart rate, I was almost constantly above 160 HRM so after two hours I had to take a first break and I noticed that this type of an-aerob riding has taken its toll. The second part was nevertheless faster as I enjoyed the strong tailwind. Another older, but strong rider came from behind and took over but over the course of some km I could chase him down and when I was finally ready to battle it out he took a different turn in direction of Bremen.

After 4:25 hrs of total time, thereof 3:59 riding time and 110 km later I was back home, just in time to take a shower, take a nap for 30 minutes and help my daughter with her homework. When I came home I had a tune in my head: „Now that we found love“ from a group called „Third World“. The tune popped up in my mind when Runjoo wrote me that she spend her holidays from the construction site in Sudan in Ethiopia, of all places. And somehow I made the connection between Addis Adeba, capitol of Ethiopia and the second Third World album „Journey to Addis“ which I bought a long time ago. 


And still, I like the song. This new cover version isn’t bad either.


The next two weekends will be much tougher: On Saturday the Bremer Rad Marathon 2011 will be conducted, not a race, perhaps similar to a brevet. Last year I attended as well. I guess I will nevertheless only attend if the weather is good. Another race in the rain as last year is no fun.


And the weekend thereafter I will travel to Berlin to attend the Velothon race 2011. Again, I also attended in 2010. A nice race, not too long (120 km) leading through Berlin and surroundings. Including the Transalp, a lot of goals for the near future.

The Faggin at an old gas stand. Note the containers for the 2-stroke engines 1:25 and 1:50 mix. Haven’t seen them for quite a while.

On the journey to Arco. 

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von | 6. Mai 2011 · 11:24

45.000 HITS


(Almost) 45.000 hits achieved on May 3rd. For the record. For me personally interesting is the fact, that more than half of the hits were made after I have left Japan in April 2010. Good to know that Positivo Espresso is aliving and kicking on the web. And on the road.



– 5.000 hits from 14.11.07, the start of the site to 26.09.2008, 316 days,
– 10.000 hits to 21.05.2009, 228 days
– 15.000 hits to 18.11.2009, 181 days
– 20.000 hits to 21.03.2010, 123 days
– 25.000 hits to 14.06.2010, 85 days.
– 30.000 hits to 24.09.2010, 102 days
– 35.000 hits to 17.12.2010, 84 days
– 40.000 hits to 25.02.2011, 70 days
– 45.000 hits to 03.05.2011, 67 days

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von | 30. April 2011 · 13:33

Why bike shorts should be black

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Eingeordnet unter 2011, Mob, Sex. Lies & Vids

von | 28. April 2011 · 20:16

Runjoo and Ashesh

Runjoo and Asesh are one of the nicest couples I ever met. Originally from Nepal, we met in 1994 when we were working on a dam construction site on the Yellow River in China called Xiaolangdi (Map). Even 17 years later my memory is that of a pretty miserable place, where the best thing one could possible do to spend one’s time was to sleep. Eating, drinking or riding a bike were no real options. Friends like Runjoo and Asesh helped us to survive.

While we continued to move around the world a bit and ended up in Bremen after a long stay in Japan, Runjoo and Asesh stayed in China for some more years before they moved around in the world until today. I cannot even remember all the countries they have lived in, but Runjoo continues to write long letters and emails about their experiences and sends photos. This makes me think about countries or areas I haven’t been thinking about too much and where my knowledge is basically a small, neatly packaged bundle of prejudices: Sawarak (Malaysia), New-Caledonia and lately Sudan.

They have been staying in Sudan for perhaps a year now and as the internet connection to their construction in Damazine (Map) is pretty bad or non-existing, infos have been scare recently. I got a mail today and some nice photos. Like this one, showing the „TV-Rock“.

TV Rock could be the background for a flintstone movie. And of course there are cycles also in this part of the world.

I am already very curious where Runjoo and Ashesh will end up next.

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von | 22. April 2011 · 20:34

Sayonara Cervelo

I just packed my Cervelo and will bring it to the post office tomorrow. A guy in Holland bought it.


The Cervelo was a good bike. I bought the frame in December 2007 and then one by one I also bought all the components to assemble the complete bike. Nagai-San put everything nicely together. In 2009 I made one upgrade from Shimano 6600 to 6700 mainly because I liked the routing of the shifting cables along the handle bar. 


This bike took me to a lot of nice places. We went down together fast and made longish uphill rides. The last one was with Juliane and David on Mallorca. Unfortunately I am too heavy for this bike, or well, after three seasons and perhaps 30.000 km I manged to crack the seatpost tube. Perhaps this is what can be expected from a high performance frame.


And perhaps I could have repaired it. Even Titanium frames can be repaired these days. But I have laid my eyes on something new already. Will blog about the new bike once the frame is here.

Crack on the left side developing from the round „stress-relieve“ cut-out at the end of the slit.
..and a second crack in the same location on the right side.

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von | 16. April 2011 · 15:51

Positivo Espresso Europe (PEE) Training Camp Mallorca

Ups, just noticed that this is the 1.000th post on this blog, so I better write something good.

Juliane, David and me travelled in late March to the island of Mallorca where we hold the traditional PEE spring training camp (since 2011). It is impossible to recount all the things we did there, but basically we slept, drank, ate and rode our bikes. Mainly the last one. We also hat a lot of good food. Within one week we rode 750 km and more than 10.000 elevation meters. We left the island one day before pure exhaustion would have prevented us to travel at all.

I had a lot of prejudices about Mallorca before arriving. In particular I thought that this is a part of Germany, where the elderly and the drunk terrorize the Aborigines. Wrong. This is a wonderful island with mountains, ocean, sun (MOS), perfect roads and friendly people. There were hundreds of cyclists out on the roads, mostly Germans, but also some Austrians, Swiss and Norwegians.

David with 5 litre water bottle.
Rest day (accidentally). On the beach.
Coastline at cape formenta or so.

Most importantly, after Mallorca we felt much more confident about tackling the Transalp in summer.

Picnic somewhere in the mountains,. Please note the red shotgun cartridge.
Juliane in good mood with 1 litre water bottle.
Last ride for my Cervelo. Frame is broken. The perfect spot for bicycle suicide.
Eduourd Manet: Le dejeneuer sur l’herbe. Or perhaps BowWowWow.
David, too fast for the rest of us.

Juliane, climbing.

Close to the Col des Reines, 682m. The road down to the sea on teh otehr side is spectacular.

Deia. Before lunch.

Mountain roads on Mallorca.

Wow.

J

Riding down to the sea. David.

Same. Juliane.
Mob racing with David, a close second.

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von | 17. März 2011 · 01:00

Projekt X Ride 1

Bike Porn 1: KNC aluminium 7075 jockey wheels with ceramic bearings. Matching low weight titanium screws. Powered by Wippermann Connex gold chain. Experiments have shown that you can ride an average Paris – Nice stage 5.17 seconds faster with this set up.

Today was the day when I was asked to collect project X from the big bike dealer at the the other edge of the town. Yes, I was supposed to assemble project X completely on my own but I had to give up on some parts.


Well that is actually also the reason why I like to work with old bikes. It isn’t that costly if you break something. On the other hand, if you put too much torque on the screws connecting the stem with the carbon handle- easily within milliseconds 10.000 Yen are gone forever.


Never mind that nasty thought. Today I learned that:


a) It is better to shift into highest gear before installing shifting wires as otherwise you can do it again.


b) There is actually another spacer between the wheel and the cassette even if you match a Shimano Dura Ace cassette on a Shimano freewheel.


c) You cannot mount a SRAM crank set in a Shimano specific bottom bracket.


As you may have already guessed, there are smaller and bigger Yen signs behind each bullet point.


I had my thought with Japan today and again. So I decided to take one day of holiday in order and do some riding. Before I rode out, I posted a longer post about elevator safety in case of earthquakes on the TCC blog. I hope it can be of help. This is different from writing hilarious stories.


So I rode out along the river Wuemme where the reed harvest was in full swing.



Project X is a very light bike, the lightest bike I ever had and it behaves pretty nervously. This is also the first time I ever use a bike with tubeless tires and I glued them on by myself so I didn’t felt very comfortable on the bike today. But its fast when it goes straight. And climbing trunk road pedestrian overpasses is a piece of cake with this baby.


I thought that I was faster as usual while staying in the lower 140 HRM range. On the way back I also found out why: It was an exceptional windy day and I could hardly ride at 25 km/hr back.


I have a workshop with my students next weekend in a youth hostel about 100 km away from Bremen. Weather permitting I will ride there by bike, but which one?

Bike Porn 2: Syntace 99 stem with titanium screw: less than 100g. Otherwise mostly carbon.

I like the concept of Project X: A cheap, average aluminium frame equipped with nice components. The frame is made by Easton under the name of the Italian brand. Nice orange color. 

Orange Aluminium screws combined with the N of „Faggin“. Of course it never works out like that. Too many standards. Think 31.6 mm seat post diameter.

Bike Porn 3: Full carbon saddle. Less than 100g. Less than 10.000 Yen, so even cheaper than my Selle Italia. 
Bike Porn 4: The power train. Blue valve cap brings luck to the owner. SRAM crank from the original Cervelo setup, later replaced by Ultegra 6700. This bike has nothing that isn’t necessary. Note the missing front derailleur and smaller chain ring. With a 12 – 28 in the rear never mind in Bremen. By the way, stronglight chain rings don’t fit on SRAM cranks. One also need special single speed screws for assembly if only one chain ring is used.


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von | 14. März 2011 · 21:03

Historical Photos

Nagasaki, 1945

Fukushima, 2011

I was hardly able to work today, too many thoughts about what is happening in Japan were going through my head. Every five minutes I checked CNN and Spiegel Online for news, did the atomic reactor blew up? Is there radioactive fall-out in Tokyo? Another earthquake, another Tsunami? Many relatives and friends called over the weekend. There is little I can do from here, but at least I started to put pressure on the German-Japanese associations I am a member of to collect relief funds (DJW, DJG, SP-Alumni).
Even riding 100 km+ yesterday didn’t offered much needed distraction.

Luckily everybody I know better is all right, but I am even more worried about the long-term effects. I don’t mean the effects of radiation on health, but what will happen to a country still knee-deep in the morass of depression after falling down from the heights of the bubble economy in 1990.

Some weeks ago I spoke with one of my few good Japanese friends and he told me, that there are some people in Japan that feel that today’s Japan is similar to the dawn of the the Tokugawa Shogunate in mid 19th century. A political stubborn and ineffective government that couldn’t provide wealth and power to its people and was at the whim of Western foreign powers was replaced in the Meiji revolution by a (by Japanese standards) modern government and a new powerful class of merchants and industrialists.

The comparison targets the political establishment of the LDP and its clones with the late Tokugawa bakufu (administration). I don’t know if this is a common thought in Japan, but the many parallels were interesting for sure.

Another thought came up: There is a historical, philosophical concept in China that justifies the rule by one or the other ruler or dynasty called „Mandate of Heaven“. Wiki has all the details:

„The Mandate of Heaven  is a traditional Chinese philosophical concept concerning the legitimacy of rulers. It is similar to the European concept of the divine right of kings, in that both sought to legitimize rule from divine approval; however, unlike the divine right of kings, the Mandate of Heaven is predicated on the conduct of the ruler in question.“
…..
„The Mandate of Heaven had no time limitations, instead depending on the just and able performance of the ruler. In the past, times of poverty and natural disasters were taken as signs that heaven considered the incumbent ruler unjust and thus in need of replacement.“

I don’t even want to discuss heavenly influence paired with Japanese politics, but just as the first comparison, one can draw parallel lines as well.
I really hope that this disaster will have at least a positive impact on the way Japan is heading into the future.

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