Sole Footbeds

I bought a pair of Sole footbeds last summer after I got painful plantar fasciitis, which lasted about a week and best I can tell was from excessive calf raises (one of my other experiments). I choose the Sole over Superfeet since they can be heat molded to your foot. Sole has a satisfaction guarantee too which is nice. Not sure about Superfeet. The shop where I bought them cut them to for my Sidis and put them in the oven for molding, all at no charge. They screwed them up several times, first cutting them too short, then too long, so they rippled in the shoe. But two pairs later they finally got them right, sort of. The footbeds reduce the volume in the shoe and in my case I almost needed to move up a shoe size. Lately, the left footbed is pushing hard on my arch, such that is uncomfortable. I examined both footbeds and the left has a higher arch. I have no idea why it's just a problem now. Anyway I'm going to try to reheat them (200F for 2 minutes) and get the arch lower. If not I'll try the Superfeet.

Rival Compact Crankset

The road bike I bought used a few years ago came with a 53/39 Rival crankset and a 11-26T cassette. I never had the engine to get up some of the steeper grades (up to 16%) in the front range effectively with this setup. I was always looking to shift into a lower gear. The 53/39 Rival is 130 BCD, so you can't simply put smaller rings on them. I found a compact Rival on ebay for only $85, essentially new. The compact is 50/34T, so it changes the max low gear quite a bit. Previously my low gear ratio was 39/26, or 1.5 and now it's 1.3, so a 13% improvement. I could go up to 28T cassette to reduce the ratio by 7%. That's the maximum cog a short cage will accomodate. A medium cage supports a 32 cog, but that would be a bit ridiculous on a road bike. Now I can get up the steep grades much better and I don't lose too much on the top end.

Cleat Woes

I never pay much attention to my cleats. I always carry a few spare bolts since the time I lost a bolt on a ride and the cleat wouldn't disengage. Recently I started to feel soreness in my left foot and decided to experiment with moving the cleat position. I look at the cleats and realized the cleat bolts appear to be rounded out.

I spends the next 10 minutes digging out sand mud and whatever else out of the bolts. I try to loosen it and the hex key slips. Now I'm starting to sweat, imaging having to drill the bolts out of my Sidis. I sprayed some silicone on the bolts and things got better from here on. The bolts were very tight, at the verge of rounding out, but eventually they gave way. No surprise that they were completely rusted.

I decided this was a good time for new cleats an bolts. I had new Candy and Eggbeater cleats from previous purchases. The Candy cleat is a bit beefier and is what I ride on most so opted to install those.

Candy cleat left, Eggbeater right

I installed the dotted cleat goes on the right shoe for the 15 degree disengagement. About 6 years ago I spent a few hours riding in Moab and falling on my side until it was black and blue as I couldn't get out of the pedals. I later realized the cleats were on the 20 degree setting and my ankles don't like to twist that much.

Oh yeah, and I greased the bolts this time per the instructions. I didn't have a torque wrench that goes as low as 5 NM so I had to guess on tightness.

Update Second ride and both cleats almost came off near the end of a ride. Perhaps a torque wrench is what's need but in lieu of not having one I'm going to try anti-seize on the threads instead of grease. I miss my rusted bolts already.

PowerLink Hell

I love the idea of the SRAM PowerLink but I find removing them to be a nightmare. I've talked to other riders who say the same. I refuse to drop $15 on the park tool, so I started to think about techniques to remove the link. First I started with a wire hangar. This worked once or twice but the last time it just kept bending the wire and the link wouldn't budge. Some time later when replacing my shifter cables, I found myself staring at the old cable. I started to think the cable might work. I threaded it through the PowerLink and pulled the cable ends tight and the PowerLink popped right off. The last time I removed the chain it was a bit more difficult -- it took two vice grips to pop the link. Perhaps there is a better method but this works for now and I'm $15 richer.

Deore XT Hubs are the Redheaded Stepchild of the XT line

For the most part I prefer most SRAM over Shimano. The exceptions being XT cranks and brakes, which I consider top notch. The hubs however are a different story. I'm referring to the M756 model. They don't live up to the quality of the XT line. The hubs are on the hefty side at 411g (rear), 302g (front). They have a steel cassette instead of alloy and they are cup and cone instead of cartridge bearings. I've found that many wheel lovers will contend that cup and cone are superior in many ways, when properly adjusted, but I find them to be an complete headache to adjust, although I didn't spring for a park axle vise which would simplify the job. The last thing missing from the XT hub is a quality pawl system (e.g. DT Swiss' star ratchet). So if you've selected an XT groupo for your new build, skip the hubs.

Creatine and Cramps

I started taking creatine a few months ago as an experiment. It's listed as a safe supplement so I felt ok trying it out. A week or so afterwards I got some bad cramps about an hour into rides. First my quads, then my calfs, and even my triceps. I rarely ever get cramps too. I didn't make the connection immediately and dismissed it as early season riding. BTW, I always have a sports drink before my ride to hydrate and get then necessary salts to prevent cramping. Later on I did a search on creatine and cramps and found there's quite a bit of evidence that they are related. In any case I'm going to stop using it to see what happens. I didn't see much of a benefit to it with weightlifting anyway. Lots of links on the matter here.

Update (6/20): It's been over a month since I stopped taking creatine and I can say 100% it was the cause of the cramps. I did get a few cramps about a week or 2 after I stopped but it takes a few weeks for creatine to leave the body so this is expected. Since then no cramps and I've ridden much farther and haven't changed anything else.

The Chain Lube Dilemma

Update: Finish Line Wet for the MTB all the time. It's super durable and yeah it picks up dirt but it doesn't wear off like on a ride like some weaker lubes. Wipe it clean with a rag after every ride and reapply. Finish Line Dry for the road bike.

I've starting to revaluate my chain lube options. I've been using white lightening for the past several years, but being a waxed based lube, it needs to be reapplied per ride, and sometimes it doesn't even last a single ride. It also needs some time to dry, which can be inconvenient. The best thing about wax lubes is they keep your chain relatively clean, and being in a high desert climate, I don't need to worry much about water and mud.

The reason I'm looking at ditching wax lubes is drivetrain protection and endurance rides. The wax simply can't protect the drivetrain against wear as well as an oil. This is the result of about 1000 miles of mountain riding on an XT crank [note to self post photo]. And these chainrings are expensive to replace. The cassette faired better, but adding up the cost of chainrings, cassette and chain, reducing wear is going to save some bucks. Some people seem to swear by Phil Wood Tenacious Oil. The consensus from these reviews are, yeah it's protects drivetrain but picks up dirt and requires periodic cleanings.

The white lightening I use (clean ride), doesn't last an entire ride. I usually ride 2.5 hours and the drivetrain starts to hiss around 2 hours. There's no chance I'm going to stop and reapply more during a ride. Besides, it requires dry time, so this is just not practical. White lightening makes a a heavier wax lube called "epic", so I may try that. I have a 50 mile race later this year and I want to make sure I find good lube for this race.

There seems to be basically 2 types of lube: wax/Teflon and oil. In general, the trade off is self-cleaning with frequent application (wax/Teflon), vs long lasting/drivetrain protection, but requires cleaning (oil). I'd guess Teflon is similar to wax, but I couldn't find much on Teflon. The highly revered Sheldon Brown has a lot of good things to say about this subject here. Interestingly, he points out that oil, which attracts dirt and grit, can actually accelerate drivetrain wear. I guess the key with oil is frequent cleanings, ugh.

As for the different types of lubes available, here's what I'm finding:

Wax: White Lightening Clean Ride, Pedros Ice Wax (1 hour dry time, what?)

Teflon: Finish Line DRY Teflon

Oil: Pedros Syn Lube,  Finish Line Wet, and many others. Chain-L looks interesting. They have a free offer, however there are about 25 bike shops and Boulder and none carry it. RockNRoll lube sounds the most like an infomerical. I read their web page and learned nothing about their product, except that it's the best on the planet, which makes a lot of sense.

Finish line has a nice chart of different lube types and the tradeoffs

Pinbike talks about the different lube types here, but doesn't mention and brands.

Interestingly, according to Finish Line, you can't mix wax and oil based lubes.

After all this reading I'm still unsure of what to use. I'm torn between drivetrain wear and low maintenance. I will probably continue using clean ride with my road bike.