wrenching Archives - Page 3 of 9

Building Your Own Bike – Front Derailleur Installation (Podcast #34)

[dc]B[/dc]uilding your own bike can seem like a daunting task to anyone. Beginners to the sport, long time riders, racers…almost everyone has some hangup about building a bike. When you break it down into easily digestible bites, building a bike is nothing more than a series of simple part installations. From a simple derailleur install to complex drivetrain tuning, this series of video blogs will detail the process of building a bike (in this case my BMC ProMachine SLC01 race bike for this season) from a bare frame into a functioning ride.

Last time, we looked at how to install a bottom bracket and crankset. In this post, my video blog will detail the installation of the front derailleur and front derailleur clamp onto the seat tube, as well as basic positioning of the derailleur. After watching the video, check below to see a few of my tips and tricks, and remember to post any questions to the Tailwind Coaching Facebook Page.

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Tags: components, drivetrain, podcast, video, wrenching|

Building Your Own Bike – Crankset Installation (Podcast #33)

[dc]B[/dc]uilding your own bike can seem like a daunting task to anyone. Beginners to the sport, long time riders, racers…almost everyone has some hangup about building a bike. When you break it down into easily digestible bites, building a bike is nothing more than a series of simple part installations. From a simple derailleur install to complex drivetrain tuning, this series of video blogs will detail the process of building a bike (in this case my BMC ProMachineSLC01 race bike for this season) from a bare frame into a functioning ride.

In this post, my video blog will detail the installation of the bottom bracket cups into the frame and crankset into the bottom bracket After watching the video, check below to see a few of my tips and tricks, and remember to post any questions to the Tailwind Coaching Facebook Page.

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Tags: components, drivetrain, podcast, video, wrenching|

Upgrading Your Bike (Podcast #29)

Black Friday is here, which means the official kick-off of the holiday shopping season. There's no doubt many of you have bike parts, clothing and other upgrades on your holiday wish list. But really, which of those upgrades are going to give you the most performance for your dollar? Which one of those upgrades will actually help increase YOUR performance?

In today's podcast I'll explore all of the above and more, including:

Reasons to upgrade parts
What are most noticeable upgrades you can make
Which upgrades make a difference to your performance
Considerations for upgrading wheels, tires and components
How maintenance “upgrades” can be the biggest bang for the buck available

I'd also like to take a moment to welcome aboard two new sponsors of the Tailwind Coaching Podcast: RoadID and Competitive Cyclist. I've long been a user of RoadID and a proponent of carrying sufficient ID and contact information with you while riding or training. My partnership with RoadID will allow me to further advocate for the peace of mind that carrying ID allows for. Meanwhile, Competitive Cyclist is a leader in the high end online bike retail industry. While I'm always an advocate of shopping locally at your LBS, sometimes shopping online is necessary in order to get exactly what you need or to stretch your dollar further (an important concept in these tough economic times.) Check both links on my pages (off to the right hand side, underneath my contact/”follow Coach Rob” pane) periodically for great deals on all kinds of equipment and help support the Tailwind Coaching Podcast. (Proceeds from affiliate sales go to web hosting space and bandwidth.)

If you like what you hear, go over to the Tailwind Coaching Podcast on iTunes and rate it 5 stars. Don't forget to post any questions to the Tailwind Coaching Facebook page.

And don't forget: Tour of the Battenkill race and fondo are on April 5th and 6th. You can get my new, revised and improved 20 week Battenkill Training Plan in my online store, and be well on your way to the podium. Remember to save 20% with the coupon code in this week's podcast through MONDAY 12/2 ONLY!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 46:20 — 42.4MB)

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Tags: Coaching, components, podcast, wrenching|

SRAM Yaw Front Derailleur Review

It's been well advertised that the SRAM Red Yaw front derailleur has revolutionized mechanical front shifting. Tom Boonen won a pair of monuments on it last year. One could arguably claim that the simple concept of an uneven parallelogram that pivots about the seat tube, negating the need for a trim function and packaged into a lightweight and (importantly) stiff front dérailleur is the crown jewel of the new Red group. But does this seemingly unsung piece of metal really live up to the hype?

After the jump I'll examine my experience with the Yaw unit over the past eight months and figure out if it lives up to the hype.

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Tags: components, reviews, wrenching|

SRAM Red Exogram Quarq Review

After managing to put paid to my third Cinqo power meter, Quarq went above and beyond the call of warranty service and upgraded me to a Red Exogram power meter to replace the problem child Cinqo. I detailed the warranty process in this post, so you can read about it in detail there. Suffice to say, Quarq was wonderful throughout the process and I feel confident recommending them and their power meter units to anyone.

As for the Red Exogram model, while it may look similar, in reality it is a radical departure from the (now discontinued) Cinqo model, both in terms of the power meter spider and the SRAM crank components themselves.

After the jump we'll take a look at the Exogram unit as a whole and as a sum of its parts.

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Tags: components, power, reviews, wrenching|