I'm fine, thanks. Just a lot of road rash.
Someone in the fall broke his wrist... it took about 20 minutes for the ambulance to come. I'm hoping he's alright.
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Biking '10 part 2
- Thread starter Ziltoid
- Start date
Someone in the fall broke his wrist... it took about 20 minutes for the ambulance to come. I'm hoping he's alright.
- edit - in the time it took me to type out the stuff below, Jon's post and the responses were put up...OUCH! Ouch on the bike, ouch on the road-rash, ouch on it all! Sprinters' crashes are ugly in just about every way possible. What was the bike, BTW?
So yeah, tennis...try this, and look at the C/dale's bars in the pic above your post as a visual aid to what I'm trying to describe here...
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Taping bars is really one of those things that is hard to describe from a distance and is best learned by doing it (a LOT), and bear in mind that this is also probably gonna be awkward to describe and or read, so I'm suggesting that you read this thru carefully once or twice before actually starting...note also that when I say 'left' or 'right', I'm referring to left or right from the saddle-view, OK? Have scissors and some electrical tape on hand.
- First off, DO NOT UNROLL THE BAR TAPE COMPLETELY...just take the roll out of the package and work with it that way, unrolling the tape as you apply it to the bar (some tapes, like Cinelli cork, have adhesive on the inside/bar-side, and you'll pull the paper cover off as you go also). Start at the end of the bar by fastening the end of the bar-tape to the bottom of the bar itself (some people do this at an angle; me, I just make the end of the tape even with the end of the bar itself); I start the wrapping by going counter-clockwise on the right-side and clockwise on the left (mirror-imaging the wrap). You want to keep a steady, firm tension on the tape (so it won't loosen up later on) as you wrap it around the bar, and overlap the next wrap onto the previous wrap by about 1/4 the width of the tape (still with me here?).
- Obviously, you're approaching the brake/shift levers about now; most tape packages include 2 or 4 small lengths of tape - these are to cover the clamp areas, and you lay these pieces over the actual clamp bands and tuck them up under the rubber hoods (roll the hoods forward a bit so you have more free area to work with and leave them like this until you're totally finished). Put the strips on BEFORE you actually start the wrapping process so you won't have to stop and do this when you get to this point (probably should have mentioned this step first, but I'm gonna keep going from here anyway).
So yeah, you're at the brakes - just keep wrapping in the same manner as before and go around the clamps and on up the bar for a few turns; then stop and look at the clamp area...is it covered nicely? You may have to go back and reposition the small bits or alter your wrap angle as it crosses this area to get it down well.
- After the brakes are done, just keep wrapping the tape on with steady tension until you get to the top, ie; stem-clamp, end; decide just where you want the wrapping to end here and then do another wrap or two PAST that spot; cut the tape at the same angle as your wraps are and fasten it down with the electrical tape - this should make the finish flush with the bar's sleeve or bulge. Do a number of turn with the electrical tape to be sure it well-fastened and in the same direction as the wraps. Some bar tapes come with fancy logo'd tapes in the package for this purpose...IMO, they're junk. Use the electrical tape.
- Rinse and repeat backwards for the other side.
That's about the best I can do to describe this; I've never wrapped a tennis racket before, but I'm guessing that it's pretty much the same thing. Let me know how I did on this, OK?
So yeah, tennis...try this, and look at the C/dale's bars in the pic above your post as a visual aid to what I'm trying to describe here...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taping bars is really one of those things that is hard to describe from a distance and is best learned by doing it (a LOT), and bear in mind that this is also probably gonna be awkward to describe and or read, so I'm suggesting that you read this thru carefully once or twice before actually starting...note also that when I say 'left' or 'right', I'm referring to left or right from the saddle-view, OK? Have scissors and some electrical tape on hand.
- First off, DO NOT UNROLL THE BAR TAPE COMPLETELY...just take the roll out of the package and work with it that way, unrolling the tape as you apply it to the bar (some tapes, like Cinelli cork, have adhesive on the inside/bar-side, and you'll pull the paper cover off as you go also). Start at the end of the bar by fastening the end of the bar-tape to the bottom of the bar itself (some people do this at an angle; me, I just make the end of the tape even with the end of the bar itself); I start the wrapping by going counter-clockwise on the right-side and clockwise on the left (mirror-imaging the wrap). You want to keep a steady, firm tension on the tape (so it won't loosen up later on) as you wrap it around the bar, and overlap the next wrap onto the previous wrap by about 1/4 the width of the tape (still with me here?).
- Obviously, you're approaching the brake/shift levers about now; most tape packages include 2 or 4 small lengths of tape - these are to cover the clamp areas, and you lay these pieces over the actual clamp bands and tuck them up under the rubber hoods (roll the hoods forward a bit so you have more free area to work with and leave them like this until you're totally finished). Put the strips on BEFORE you actually start the wrapping process so you won't have to stop and do this when you get to this point (probably should have mentioned this step first, but I'm gonna keep going from here anyway).
So yeah, you're at the brakes - just keep wrapping in the same manner as before and go around the clamps and on up the bar for a few turns; then stop and look at the clamp area...is it covered nicely? You may have to go back and reposition the small bits or alter your wrap angle as it crosses this area to get it down well.
- After the brakes are done, just keep wrapping the tape on with steady tension until you get to the top, ie; stem-clamp, end; decide just where you want the wrapping to end here and then do another wrap or two PAST that spot; cut the tape at the same angle as your wraps are and fasten it down with the electrical tape - this should make the finish flush with the bar's sleeve or bulge. Do a number of turn with the electrical tape to be sure it well-fastened and in the same direction as the wraps. Some bar tapes come with fancy logo'd tapes in the package for this purpose...IMO, they're junk. Use the electrical tape.
- Rinse and repeat backwards for the other side.
That's about the best I can do to describe this; I've never wrapped a tennis racket before, but I'm guessing that it's pretty much the same thing. Let me know how I did on this, OK?
Agreed pretty much on all that Mudd said- except I've had better luck using the supplied little logo-tape strips for the ends; electrical tape always seems to sweat some of the adhesive out & gets the flats of the bars a bit sticky(maybe I just get cheap elec tape 
).
Another point- when doing curves, overlap a bit more on the inside of the bend so that you still have a good 1/4 overlap on the outside. Also, if you have some of the clothes-pin-looking spring clamps, they can hold the tape in place if needs be(bathroom run, ankle-biting children, etc). Better though is to have everything you need before starting.
).Another point- when doing curves, overlap a bit more on the inside of the bend so that you still have a good 1/4 overlap on the outside. Also, if you have some of the clothes-pin-looking spring clamps, they can hold the tape in place if needs be(bathroom run, ankle-biting children, etc). Better though is to have everything you need before starting.
Good- sorry about the bike, as well as effed-up race results.
STORYTIME
On a local 30-mile *pretending-we're-in-The-Tour* loop, approaching one of several unofficial *sprints*, I sensed it might be a good time to slide back toward the back of the pack. I wasn't strong enough to do any better than be a jam car for the real jackrabbits- I won't say I had any *premonition* or anything.
Anyway, they start winding it up- heading up a slight rise, maybe 1/8 mile from the top. Wide road, a good dozen or more hammerheads, SIZZLING summer day, fully-paved but slightly rough surface. I'm at the very back, trying to hang on & just spectate, when suddenly, a head, then another- disappear.
Next, bikes, wheels & body parts(still attached but flailing)fly up above the pack. Some joker in maybe 5th or so had clipped a wheel & the pack went all domino theory at 25+mph.
When everything stopped moving there were two separated shoulders & a broken collarbone. I looked down and glanced at a loose seat stay...
On your bike, or one of the guys up front?
My crash story (or one of them, anyway) - I still have tiny little bits of asphalt in my left butt cheek thanks to the last crit I ever did - we're at the start line (Cat.3, and the pack's about 50 or so...); the gun goes off and it's a drag race for about 150 yards or so down to turn 1, a 90-left (and the road narrows also); the first two or three get thru the corner fine, but the next guy skips his inside pedal (...dumb-ass...) and high-sides into the guy next to him on the outside; this guy bangs off of the guy next to him; they go down and the rest of us hit them at full speed. I was actually lucky in that I was about 10 or so back and body-surfed off two or three before hitting the street, butt-first and rolling. Broken bikes, broken wrists, broken collarbones for DAYS. They had to stop the race so the EMTs, etc could get in and do their thing...hour and a half later, the remnants of that race goes off again and missing literally half the field. I was just road-rashed up one side and down the other and felt fortunate in that.
I have never done another crit since.
It's an Opus Allegro. There's an opus dealer pretty close to where I live, so I'm going to see if they can do anything about it.
Ken, when I say *loose seat stay* I mean a seat stay that was not attached to any bicycle. I can't remember whose bike it came from. Kind of a funny thing to see lying on the asphalt...
And on your story- it's good to go out w/a bang, eh?
And on your story- it's good to go out w/a bang, eh?
One bang, three or four smacks, a skid, and an expansion of my colorfully inappropriate language skills...but no loose chainstays that belonged to me, at least. My bike came out of it all in rather fine shape, actually - I had to rebuild my front wheel and realign the fork (steel RULZ!), but that's all.
And...oh man, Z - you should NOT have said that. Now, the Gods 'O Gravity are aware that they've, 'til now, overlooked you.
And...oh man, Z - you should NOT have said that. Now, the Gods 'O Gravity are aware that they've, 'til now, overlooked you.
http://www.jimlangley.net/wrench/tapebars.htm
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http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=310600
And this, which I copied from Tom Kellogg's website (but don't remember *where* on his site I got it)
"Over the years many of our customers have asked us how we get our bar taping to look so clean. Well, here it is for everyone. The trick is, you guessed it, "Superglue." I'll do my best with this considering that I don't have pictures to go along with this treatise.
First, we almost always use Cinelli Cork tape. I like the way it feels and works especially well when the sweat gets bad. I am aware that it does not last very long. I just think that the feel is worth it. This taping method will work fine for any of the padded stretchy tapes out there anyway. Second, I should say that the purpose here is not really to have a tape job that works any better than any other. I just like making them look good. It sucks if you deliver a wonderful new bike with a crappy tape job. The basic concept is to end up with what appears to be one continuous tape wrap that looks as though it goes right through the control levers without wrapping around them. Also, we want to eliminate any of that silly Cinelli electricians' tape for the end of the tape at the stem.
Materials and tools needed: Cinelli Cork bar tape, a straight edge razor or Exacto knife, Super Glue'(the Permatex stuff works well) and 3"X 10" piece of cardboard.
Before starting to wrap, peel back your control lever gum hoods. They should remain on the bodies, but you can peel them forward easily from their rear edges. Ergo lever hoods need to be peeled over the release levers as you go. You can hold the bike best if you straddle the
front wheel while facing the rear of the bike. This way, you can grip the front wheel with your knees.
Start your wrap at the end of either side of the bar making sure that your wrap goes over the top towards the outside of the bar, not the inside. This will assure that once you are finishing up at the stem, the tape will be wrapping over the top away from you as you ride. Do not
try to start the wrap exactly at the end of the bar. Start it so that there is at least half of the tape width overhanging the end of the bar. This way you will be able to trim the excess with your razor later for a clean look. The yellow paper strip comes off as you wrap to expose the
double sided tape As you wrap, keep the tape tight enough to prevent any looseness gaps, but not so tight that it tears. Also, as a rule of thumb, you want to overlap the previous wrap by about one third of the width of the tape. Less, and you risk gaps, more, and you risk
running out of tape. Watch out around the bends as you will need to tighten up the wrap width to prevent gaps.
As you approach the bottom of the control lever, try to time your wraps so that the last wrap just barely hits the bottom of the control lever. If you have to make that last wrap with a bit more overlap, no problem. No one will notice. As your wrap goes past the bottom of the
control lever, continue your wrap parallel to the previous one till you run into the control lever body. At this point, you want to use the razor to cut the tape at a point so that it can be glued to the control lever body, but not so long that the body hood can not easily get over it.
Usually, this works out to about 12-15mm onto the body. Apply two small drops to the inside surface of the tape end you have just cut.
WARNING: DO NOT GET THE GLUE ONTO ANY PART OF YOURSELF! Stretch the tape a bit as you stick it to the lever body, locating it so that tape wrap appears even with the previous wraps. You have about two or three seconds to get the location right as
SuperGlue sticks really fast once air can not get to it. Hold the glued end of the tape onto the body tightly for about ten seconds. That is enough.
Your next steps is to take the short extra piece of tape supplied with your kit, and trim the ends of it to fit your control lever. This short piece is one of the "tricks" to this tape job. You are using it to apply a tape wrap, which appears to go right through the control lever body.
So before you remove the paper backing, hold the short piece in place overlapping a third of the last wrap and parallel to it. You will notice that for clean ends of this piece, you will want to trim their ends diagonally so that once the tape is applied, the ends will be cut vertically.
The Shimano levers do not require that you cut with much precision. Campy levers do require it however. With Campy levers the lower cut should be done so that the tape fits onto the short part of the body just behind the ridge. This will give you only about three millimeters to stick it to. It works, just cut accurately so that the cut angle keeps the short piece of tape parallel to the previous one. Your top cut of this short piece just needs to be located so that the piece will have a good sticking area well inside the lever hood. Once you are satisfied with the short piece shape, peal off the paper backing, apply SMALL amounts of glue to the ends and stick the LOWER end to the inside of the control lever. Hold it tight for about ten seconds and then stretch the piece around to the outside while holding the inner end and stick the outer end to the body . Give the short piece a minute or two to set up.
Now for the last piece, start above but still overlapping the inside end of the short piece. Again, trim the end (if necessary) so that the first wrap will be parallel to the short piece. If you have Campy levers, you will need to make a more complex cut to get around the release
lever. Be careful to keep any tape away from that release lever. Apply glue to the end, stick it in place, wait ten seconds or so and start to wrap. At this point, you should be wrapping over the top AWAY from the rider. Keep wrapping, keeping the warps even so that you won't
look like a geek. When you get to the Ferule (Cinelli bars) or bulge (everyone else's), stop. Here is where the final trick comes in. You have already thrown away the end tape, didn't you?
OK. The tape will be coming over the top of the bar towards you but somewhat diagonally. With the paper backing still on, place your piece of cardboard behind the tape, supported by the top of the bar. Decide where you want the tape to end when you are all done
wrapping. On Cinelli bars, this is usually right at the ferule. With most other bars it will be at the start of the bulge. If you use clip-ons, you will probably need to end further out. Use your razor to carefully cut the tape perpendicular to the bars. This will give you a tape end
shaped like a sharp dagger, tapering to a point. The cut itself is usually about 5" long. Peel back the remainder of the paper, apply your glue in that last 5" of tape, right up to the tip. Without gluing yourself to the tape or your bike, finish the wrap so that the tape appears to blend into itself and disappear without any lumps. Pretty Cool. Don't worry; you'll get the hang of it after you do it a couple of times.
Now to finish. Pull the lever cover back in place. With Campy covers you will need to clear the release lever and kind of stretch and wiggle it at the bottom to get it to click into place. Next, take your razor and carefully trim the floppy end of the bar tape where you started at the bar end. You want to cut it so that it is flush with the bar end. If you use Cinelli bars, just stick the end plugs in making sure that the Cinelli logo is upright (not cool otherwise). With most other bars, you need to stick a bit of leftover tape (a 1cm. piece) onto the plug tabs before using the plugs. The inside diameter of those bars is a bit too big for the plugs. DONE - at least for the first side. Now just do the other side. If you get really screwed up doing this, I just hope you had the smarts to try it on your friend's bike first. Then you can do it right on your own bike."
+1. Never say that you haven't crashed or gotten a flat lately. That's why I'm paranoid as hell on riding outdoors before my wedding!
Riis will put as much effort behind Contador as he did with the Schlecks. Saxo bank will probably be able to keep most of their heavy hitters. Contador will bring some of his mountain domestiques from Astana.
Agreed...Astana will be gone from the scene by the '12 season, and Saxo could well be the Next Big Thing.
Double-posting to offer another topic for discussion...
The paper this morning talks about the USADA offering what amounts to immunity deals* to/for riders who will provide testimony regarding other riders, and particularly Lance, and their alleged doping practices - thoughts?
*dare I say...bribes?
The paper this morning talks about the USADA offering what amounts to immunity deals* to/for riders who will provide testimony regarding other riders, and particularly Lance, and their alleged doping practices - thoughts?
*dare I say...bribes?
I got a small question,
I recently did a nasty scratch through the clear coat & paint and onto the frame (aluminium). Stupid bike rack incident...
The spot isn't super visible so I don't care much about the apparence but I would like to ''seal'' this since I heard that the clearcoat could peel off/desintegrate over time.
My friend suggested some sort of epoxy coat and so, before I go out shopping, I'd like to get a few of those enlightened suggestions we can find in this great thread.
Help ?
I recently did a nasty scratch through the clear coat & paint and onto the frame (aluminium). Stupid bike rack incident...
The spot isn't super visible so I don't care much about the apparence but I would like to ''seal'' this since I heard that the clearcoat could peel off/desintegrate over time.
My friend suggested some sort of epoxy coat and so, before I go out shopping, I'd like to get a few of those enlightened suggestions we can find in this great thread.
Help ?
Is that conjecture, or have any of the heavy-hitters (specifically, the heaviest of them all) weighed in on their plans and/or opinions after the Schleck abdication?
