Over a month ago I trashed my rear wheel (with my leg). The leg healed, the wheel did not. So I had the wheel rebuilt. The old wheel was a DT Swiss XR 4.1 rim with straight gauge DT Swiss spokes, an XT hub and a SRAM 990 cassette. The hub and cassette remain, the rest is new. The rim was replaced with another DT Swiss XR 4.1. The spokes are now double-butted black/silver with black bronze nipples. The pattern on this wheel is different than the cross wheel set. This one has silver spokes on the drive side and black on the other.

Those who are observant, or possibly everyone who bothered to look at the above photo, would notice that the wheel is not mounted on a bike. There is a good reason for this. The M2 still needs a new crankset and chain. So, until I get around to replacing both, the M2 will remain stationary. You would think I’d learn after trashing the last set of wheels, drivetrain and fork. Oh well.

In other biking news: The hitch and Yakima Kingpin 4 rack are now installed on the Accord. Here is a slightly amusing shot of Eric and me dropping the exhaust in preparation to mount the hitch. I ended up with a Hidden Hitch model #60953. This hitch mounted without any drilling* into the body or frame rails and looks as nice as a thirty five pound piece of black steel bolted to the bottom of a sedan can look. The V6 models with dual exhaust require the heat shields over the mufflers to modified (with a hole saw) for the mounting hardware. As you can see in the photo, the bumper cover is already notched for a hitch, which is a nice touch. Another benefit is that the overall weight distribution on the Accord should now be 85/15 instead of 90/10.

It is not really that bad, at least the motor has an aluminum block and heads. Since were on the subject, the rear anti-sway bar is about the same diameter as a toothpick. I’m not sure what Honda was going for here, but I’d imagine it was something along the lines of “who cares”. I don’t think this one will ever see an autocross course. How did I get from a GTI 16v to an Accord V6? I have no idea either, I think there was a Jetta VR6, an Acura CL and a Subaru powered Vanagon involved. Oh well. The Accord is actually very entertaining and does not require frequent cooling system maintenance, a steady supply of window regulators or a bilge pump during rain storms. Running 87 octane gasoline is a nice benefit as well.

Real biking news: Eric and I did a training ride last Sunday. Thirty three miles on gravel, 95-100° heat, 2:10 total ride time. The MS 150 will only be 5.7 times longer, so we should be in good shape. And no, my math skills are not as bad as they appear. If you’ll recall, I am doing the 200 mile option. Sorry, no photos. Just imagine a hot, dusty, sunny and crappy gravel trail.

July Summary
Total distance (July): 171.77 miles
Total distance (Cumulative): 857.55 miles
Total time (Cumulative): 70 hours, 23 minutes

There are quite a few other updates as well. First, Rachel picked up a 700c urban/cyclocross/road/commuter bike. It is a flat black Specialized Sirrus from Klunk. We put on some Michelin knobby tires and it is set to cruise the hardpack trails. This example has a triple front crankset, flat bars and a cushy suspension seatpost (I’m pretty sure these are all original). See for yourself:

Sterance, the commuter bike, is doing well. The tan saddle is holding up well and there are no real problems to speak of. Here is Sterance transporting the shipping carton that Apple sent so I could return my PowerBook for a new optical drive:

Hmmm, oh, we also bought a new car. We needed an automatic to share in once we move, so the Acura found a new home and an ’03 Accord V6 with a slushbox took it’s place. So, why an ’03 Accord? Well, we started looking at the ’07 Fit and ’06 Civic, but they are both hard to find and if you do find one the prices are not that great. I considered a VW for about 30 seconds, but then remembered the last six I’ve owned… Anyway, the Accord gets reasonable mileage, is inexpensive to own, and most importantly not boring to drive. Honda notoriously under specs tires fort their cars, and the 240 HP V6 is a lot of fun with the woefully inadequate OE 205s. Luckily this Accord came with traction control. The Accord will be getting a class I hitch, which is surprisingly rated for a 200 lb. tongue capacity. That means I can run a Yakima Kingpin 4 and carry almost all of the bikes.

I think that is about it for the updates. The repairs to the M2 are progressing slowly and Sterance has remained unmodified since the head badge upgrade. I finally got around to setting up a team for the MS-150. I’ll post more later…

I thought I’d beat the storm today and ride early. I left home about 8:15 AM, planning on riding the same 19.2 mile route I’ve been working on this year. I got to the half way point in 31 minutes, about the same as my last attempt. But, instead of turning around, I continued east. At approximately mile 25 I turned around, a 50 mile ride would be enough. Between mile 40 and 41 I heard a hissing sound. Not a big deal, eh? Well, I thought I’d be clever and ride without a spare tube, patch kit or pump, since it was only going to be a 20 mile ride. The leak was fairly slow, and I made it to the next town, at mile 41.7. Since the storm was coming in (I’m lazy, and didn’t feel like fixing the problem), I caught a ride home from Rachel and Sheltese. (Thanks!) Anyway, the total for today was 41.7 miles, 17.1 MPH average, and 2:26 total time.

Shimano issued a recall on some of their XT, XTR, 105, Ultegra and Dura-Ace skewers. After finding out about the recall, and that my front skewer was recalled, I went to the shop that built my wheels to get the skewer replaced. Shimano would not deal with the shop, since they were not an authorized Shimano dealer. Ok, so I go to another shop in town that is an authorized dealer. This shop was not interested in helping because they didn’t build the wheels. Nice, I should also mention that we have purchased a bike (recently) from this shop, and have been going there for almost 10 years. We’ll, if that’s how they treat their customers then I’m not interested. After calling Shimano directly, which is what they suggested to get me out the door, I was told that I could not get the part replaced because I did not have an “account number”. I suppose only people with “account numbers” need safe equipment. As for the rest of us?

I went back to the shop that built my wheels and scored a set of Salsa flip-offs and trashed the Shimano skewer. I’ve never had to deal with Shimano before, and now that I have, I am not impressed. I am also very disappointed with the other shop in town passing the buck and not helping. Guess where I won’t be going anymore?

Footnote: I finally got the replacement window regulator for the Acura. The dealer that shipped the wrong part shipped the correct part and refunded my return shipping. The $9.02 they refunded for the shipping did not cost them much, but kept a customer. Something a certain bike shop I know of might learn from. Oh, and installing a Accord/CL window regulator is simple and quick. The window works again, and I saved quite a bit on labor. I give the other regulator another year, max.