So Begins the Freezing of Lake Mendota

I snapped a few shots on my ride home from school this afternoon. Temperatures have been dropping lately, as we enter the deep freeze of upper-Midwest winters.

The ice shelf is forming along the lakeshore. 

A few ice-covered rocks.

Geese and various waterfowl. Presumably from the Great White North.

I quite enjoy riding through the winter here in Madison. I suppose soon I will install the studded tires on the Casseroll once the cold is legitimized by the presence of snow and ice. Am I weird to say I look forward to it?

Photos of Fall 2011 Riding in Madison

I share with you a select group of photos taken this fall in Madison. Enjoy.

Sunrise over Lake Mendota. 

Leaves falling in Bob's Woods.

Blanket of leaves inches thick.

Taken no more than a couple weeks after the previous set of leaf shots. 

Velo Orange RAID Wheel Build Complete

The Casseroll has been up and running now for a few weeks due to a successful wheel build project. To review, I was having trouble with spoke pull-through on the stock Salsa Delgado Cross rims, so I needed to make a change. I ended up with the Velo Orange RAID 32h rim & Sapim 1.8/2.0 double-butted spokes & nipples. I paid extra-special attention to tension on this build, and enjoyed fantastic results. I rode the past few days in the 40º rain, so the rim isn't terribly visually appealing, but I snapped a few shots of the hub flanges of the wheel build. I am also including a snapshot of the Excel file I used for my tension strategy.

I like to use Livestrong hub shiners.

A shot of the High/Low flange.

Sorry. The bike is dirty. But so it goes. Here's the Excel file showing individual tension, and average/min/max analysis by wheel side.

The wheel tensioned very evenly on both sides. I am used to a higher tension of the left side in relation to the right side (more in the 70% range). What I'm finding is that the high/low flange design of the White Industries H3 hub affects this relationship, with shorter spokes drive-side vs. longer spokes non-drive side. However, the wheel rides smoothly and has held very true so far. Looking forward to many miles. 

Today's View From the Handlebars

A rainy fall afternoon through Bob's Woods.

Velo Orange Raid Wheel Build; Sapim

My wheel building project is well underway, and I'm about ready to finish up the tension on the rear wheel of the Casseroll. To review, the Salsa Delgado Cross rim had incredible spoke pull through (completely through the rim), and is being replaced by the Velo Orange Raid rim. They have similar width (22mm), but the VO rim has double eyelets. Double awesome.

My rear hub is a White Industries H3 (32h) with the titanium freehub. The high-polish of the VO rim will mate up nicely with this hub.

For spokes, my good friends Travis and Brad surprised me with Sapim double-butted spokes. They are incredibly lovely, and the quality shows right away. I snapped a few pics of the difference between the Wheelsmith spokes I'm used to and the Sapims.


Here is a shot of the Wheelsmith spoke head. You can see a seam in the molding of this spoke. This causes the spoke to not seat completely against the hub flange. Multiply this by 32, and the quality of the wheel build is diminished.

 Contrast this quality to the Sapim spoke below. Hopefully the difference is apparent. Also, notice the distinct 2.0/1.8 butting. The Wheelsmith is a 2.0, but the butted versions aren't as cool-looking as the Sapim.

Here's a shot of the other side of the Wheelsmith spoke head with the trademark "W." 

 Sapim's name stamped longitudinally just before the 2.0/1.8 butting.

Sapim spokes are better quality, and the Sapim nipple profile provides an improved contact area against the rim eyelet. I'll have wheel build progress up shortly (including Excel file of the tension).

Velo Orange Wheel Build Project - VO Raid Rim

I have a new wheelbuilding project in the works. Since my Salsa Delgado Cross rim had serious spoke pull-through, I started looking around for a worthy replacement. A few rando-style rims are out there (here, here,  here, & here), but I eventually went with Velo Orange's RAID rim (700c, 32h, of course). Pros and cons exist with this rim, as with any other rim, but here is my short list:

Pro: It's high-polish finish fits the aesthetic of the Casseroll.

Pro: Simple styling, just one VO sticker. 

BIG Pro: Double eyelets. 

Pro/con? Zero offset spoke holes.

Clean joint

Con: High-polish brake surface. It's nice and tall, but a machined brake track would really set this rim apart.

Now, if only I had spokes . . .

Streetfilms: Minneapolis' Midtown Greenway

I had the opportunity to enjoy the Greenway several times this summer in Minneapolis. I hope to frequent it beginning in the near future. Enjoy.

Minneapolis' Midtown Greenway: Good for Biz, Good for Bikes. from Streetfilms on Vimeo.