OOPS!!

On May 29, 2008 I installed my bar ends as you can see in the first two pictures. I was reviewing past comments on my posts and saw a comment on that post that said I had installed the bar ends backwards. After looking at other bar end pictures on the web, I found that the commenter was right.

The first 2 pictures are the way I installed them. The Nashbar logo is upside down. The hex bolt is facing the rider and the horns point away from the rider.




Before.














After.

The Nashbar logo is oriented correctly. The hex bolt faces down and the horns are turned toward the rider.

They are much more comfortable this way. Thanks commenter!.






After.

Awesome Job Chester County Parks & Recreation !!!

In the last post I wrote about a downed tree on the Bartol Trail at Springton Manor Farm. I emailed the Park Superintendent at 12:33 pm on June 22. The Park Superintendent emailed me back at 8:57 am on June 23 and said he would take care of it. Today when I rode, the tree was moved off of the trail. Great job Chester County Parks & Recreation !

From their website:
Celebrating our 50th year!

The Chester County Parks & Recreation Board was constituted January 1, 1958 for the purpose of "coordinating and promoting park and recreation facilities for Chester County."
In 1962, Nottingham County Park was the first park dedicated within the Chester County Park system. Since then, Hibernia (1963), Warwick (1973), Springton Manor Farm (1988) and Black Rock Sanctuary (2003) have been dedicated.
The Department presently manages over 4,500 acres of public parkland for passive recreation.

The Park system is great and there are several parks nearby. On my rode bike I have ridden to Warwick and Hibernia Parks. I also frequently use the Struble trail to go to Downingtown.

I rode 7.4 miles concentrating on my climbing. It was a good workout with the temperature already near 80 degrees before 9:00 am. Again the Fantom 29 performed flawlessly-- smooth shifting and good traction for the climbing.

I did make some slight adjustment to my brake levers and shifters. I have been feeling some discomfort in my wrists. I think that my wrists are still slightly bent back. I rotated the brake levers and shifters a few degrees toward the ground and it made a huge improvement. I will monitor this more to see if further adjustments are needed.

Installing Bar Ends

After my long Thun Trail ride last Saturday I still noticed that I was putting a lot of weight on my hands. I also thought the ride would be more comfortable if I could have more hand positions. So I ordered some bar ends from Nashbar and they arrived yesterday.

I ordered the NS-MBE-K Black Bar Ends for $8.49 . I also bought a short sleeved cycling shirt at $16.49 and cycling shorts at $21.24. Total was $57.74 with $7.75 shipping plus $3.27 tax.






The Bar Ends are easy to install, First I loosed the brake and shifter and slide them down the handle bar. Then using a screw driver to open up the grip, i sprayed some Endust Polish in the grip to loosen it.


























I then removed the end cap and did the same with the Endust and screw driver on that end of the grip. The grip is open ended and did not need to be cut.

I then installed the bar end on the end of the handlebar at a 45 degree angle. Then I slid the grip back to the bar end. Repositioned the brake and the shifter against the grip.







I then performed the same procedure on the other end of the handlebar.

Below are pictures of the finished product.

I also took the opportunity to top off the tires to 40 psi, lube the chain and adjust the disc brakes.

I can't wait for my next ride to check out the bar ends!!!

Today's Ride Evaluation

The Fantom 29 performed well on my ride today. The 29er easily rolls over obstacles. On the Indian Run Trail, the park service has placed a series of pressure treated 2x4's with a rubber lip sticking out the top to hold up any trail erosion. They are no match for the 29er.

On the hills and asphalt roads, I put on the lockout and can climb well. There is a about a 300' elevation change from the north end of the park to the south end so there are some pretty good, long hills.

I think my height and reach adjustment on the handlebars are good but I will give it a few more rides to make sure.

One problem I did feel was on my wrists. I had the handlebars rotated back so my wrists were actually bent. When you are in the riding position and holding the brake lever your wrist should follow the line of your arm so they are not bent. I adjusted this after the ride as I am riding without a seat bag with tools. I may need to rethink not having a seat bag. I have not installed a seat bag yet because my rides have been too muddy.

One other minor problem developed on the bike. The upper bolt on my vertical bottle cage holder came loose and dropped out on the trail. I replaced it but before doing so I wrapped the threads of the bolts for both bottle cages with Teflon tape to get a good tight fit. I could have used Locktite but I did not have any. (Mileage 31.8)

So far I am completely satisfied with the Fantom 29!.

Tweaking the Fit

Today I received my Adjustable Stem from Nashbar.com. It was easy to replace and fit perfectly. The stack height is 40 mm which is identical to the existing stem so I did not need to change any spacers on the headset.

The existing stem was actually 100 mm with a 30 degree rise. This stem is 95 mm and I set it for the maximum 40 degree rise. This elevated the handlebars about 1/2 inch and brought the handlebars about 3/4 inch closer to the seat. It felt like a comfortable position and I definitely don't have as much weight on my hands. I will see how it feels after a couple of rides.



First I removed the old stem.

Then I removed the sleeve that is used for 1" Heasdsets on the new stem. Then I adjusted the angle to the maximum 40 degrees. I then installed the new stem.





Here is how it looks completed.

Bike Fitting

In order to get a good bike fit you need to ensure you have the proper frame size for your body. I selected the 17" frame and it looks like it fits perfectly. Below is the link for the Motobecane website geometry for the Fantom 29:
http://motobecane.com/29geometry.html


My leg inseam is 33.75". This is measured by placing a 1" thick book up tight between your legs and measuring the distance between the floor an the book spine. The 17" frame has a standover height of 31.7". Therefore I have about 2" of clearance. It is recommended to have 2 to 4" of clearance for mountain biking. The 19" frame would have only given me 1" of clearance so that is why I purchased the 17" frame. Note that you usually need to be one size down for a 29er vs a 26er. I would normally fit a 19 to 20" frame for a 26er.

The next step is to adjust the seat height. You can get a rough idea of where to set the seat height. The distance between the center of the pedal crank and the top of the seat is approximately 0.883 X leg inseam measurement. For me this would be about 29.8". Make sure the seat is level. Now that I have a longer seat post I can make this adjustment. When sitting on the seat the fully extended leg should be slightly bent at the knee.

The next step is to adjust the front to back seat position. The seat should be moved front or back so that the tip of your knee is directly vertical over the center of the pedal when in the horizontal position. This is called the neutral knee position.

Next I check my reach to see if my stem length is proper. When I sit on the bike I do not feel cramped or too far forward. I will see how this feels in future rides. Here are some links on bike fit that found helpful:

http://www.uspn.com/ibc/riding_tips/How_to_Fit_a_Mountain_Bike.htm
http://www.caree.org/bike101bikefit.htm

At this time I also adjusted the front derailleur to fix the problem of not shifting into the large crank sprocket. I also noticed that the end of the cable for the front derailleur was too long so I trimmed it and crimped on a new end. Here are instructions:
http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/SI_6N1FA_002/SI_6N1FA_002_En_v1_m56577569830625524.pdf


I also lubed the chain. I installed a rear fender that I had on my old Mongoose Pro.

Finally I installed the Cateye Enduro 8 Computer. Here are the instructions:
http://www.cateye.com/sites/cateye/upload/manuals/en/ED300v1_E-1.pdf
These instructions do not include the tire setting for the 29x2.1 tire. On the cateye website it says to use 229 cm.