I wasn’t too kind to my brakes in the last post. Since then, the BB7s have received new Avid sintered pads and some completely unnecessary blue paint. The red pad adjustment knobs on BB7s are bright, bright red, and in my case the only red on the bike. Scroll down to see what one coat of plastic primer and two coats of automotive Mica Blue can do for your BB7s.
Yesterday I raced in the second XC race of the season, and the second race in the rain and mud. While I suppose racing in the mud is “fun” it has been taking a toll on the bike. The cables are less than a month old, but I’m fairly certain they are shot. The chain has definitely looked and felt better, and the chainring is certainly showing its age.
However, the components that have been showing the most wear are the brakes. Up until these two races the BB7s have performed flawlessly and required very little attention. Prior to the first race I put new Avid sintered pads in the front, and checked that the rear (also sintered) pads were in good shape. In the first race the front brake needed a couple of adjustments for worn pads, but nothing extreme considering the race was three hours long. In this last one-and-a-half-hour race both brakes needed adjusting more than six times. After that I stopped counting. The results speak for themselves:
I’m not suggesting that other brakes wouldn’t have faired any better, but self-adjusting brakes (found on just about every hydraulic brake available) would have worked far better in these conditions. Anyway, I’m looking forward to a dry summer.
Until then, here are some more of my photos from the comparatively-dry morning classes at the Prospect Hill XC Race:
I’ve been using the 1×9 drivetrain for about two months, and it’s time for some updates. I finally got around to weighing the Eriksen and the overall weight dropped from a 3×9 10.9kg to the now 1×9 10.3kg.
The new Chain Keeper chain guide was initially jamming and rubbing. I tired realigning the guide with no success, and even resorted to riding with no chain guide. The chain dropped fairly frequently without a guide, so I continued tweaking the Chain Keeper until I finally found a position that worked. That was about a month ago and I haven’t had any issues since.
Last weekend I rode the 1×9 Eriksen io an XC race in very muddy, wet and cold conditions. Despite riding though clay, deep mud and hub-deep “puddles” the chain didn’t suck or jam. The drivetrain worked perfectly throughout my near three-hour race. Three hours in those conditions without a single sucked chain would have been a miracle with the 3×9 or even 2×9 drivetrain. Being very happy with drivetrain, the only change I’m likely to make is to swapping the aluminum XT 32t ring for a stainless steel 32-34t ring. Swapping the 11-32t cassette for a one with a 34t cog is also a possibility, but I’m not convinced it’s necessary.
Based on my experience, I’d definitely recommend giving 1×9 a try, although you may want to consider appropriate gearing for the terrain you ride. The Chain Keeper is the only 1×9-specific component I’ve used, and it seems to be a reasonable, though pricey chain guide. Aside from the touchy setup and alignment, the only other issue I’ve found with the Chain Keeper is the placement of the mounting hardware. The allen bolts on the Chain Keeper are aligned parallel to the downtube, and as a result, they are difficult to access. This wouldn’t necessarily be an issue on a frame with a smaller diameter downtube, but it would likely be an issue with most. I’ve found that neither my trail-friendly multi-tool or T-handled allen wrenches work. A small L-shaped allay key does work, but that means I have to carry one more tool when I ride.
That’s all for now. I have another XC race in a couple weeks –Hopefully this time the trails will be a little drier.