Crazy On Three

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Pic of the Day - Catrike 700 "Black"

Just another nice Sunday ride with a little climbing thrown in.

Catrike 700.
The black container in the boom water bottle holder is where I store my nutrition needs like energy bars. I find that 200 to 300 calories an hour seems to get me through a 3 hour ride. Longer rides require a little extra planning. I take hydration and food seriously. I paid the price more then once for screwing up my calorie and water intake.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Schwalbe One 28/622

Now that I have the Kojak/DT Swiss XR331 wheelset ready to go on my Catrike 700 "Black" when riding rough roads, I decided to try a new tire with the American Classic Aero wheel for the tame roads.

I swapped out the Schwalbe 23/622 Ultremo with a Schwalbe One 28/622 on the light Aero wheel. The trend towards wider racing tires convinced me to give the 28mm tire a try. It seems that larger is not necessarily slower. In racing it's now felt that a 25mm is the fastest tire for both racing and time trials.

The 28/622 Schwalbe One is more comfortable then the old 23/622 Ultremo without any noticeable loss in speed. It also holds a straighter line with less rear end shimmy when riding fast on not so smooth roads.

Having the 28/622 on the Aero opens up more riding situations where I'll want to use it.

As for speed...there is a downhill run close to my home that is nearly a mile long with smooth pavement. I use it to judge speed. At 35 mph I stop spinning and let gravity take over. The front tires are Schwalbe 23/406 Ultremos. This year I have used three different tires on the rear and two different rims and hubs..

Here are the best max speeds for each tire and wheel;

50.0 mph - 23/622 Schwalbe Ultremo with American Classic rim and hub.
50.2 mph - 28/622 Schwalbe One with American Classic rim and hub.
47.2 mph - 35/622 Schwalbe Kojak with DT Swiss rim and hub.

The only way to go a little faster (without a fairing) would be to ditch the baggy wind catching shorts and slip on some Lycra. I'll try it one day.

23/622 Schwalbe Ultremo with American Classic Aero

28/622 Schwalbe One with American Classic Aero

35/622 Kojak with DT Swiss

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Pic of the Day - Catrike 700 "Black"

Today's ride made up for the last two "crappy weather" rides. I got my mojo back today.

Did a little climbing to get a better view of this perfect day.

Sunday, May 17, 2015

FSA SL-K Crank

I've played around with different combos of cranks and cassettes for some time now. I've been using a 10 speed 11/36 cassette with my 52/39/28 SL-K crank for the past few months on my Catrike "Black". It's a good compromise between the need for climbing gears and the need for speed. The chain gets a little sloppy when going small/small (11t cog and 28t chainring) but there's no need to go there.

The 28t after market chainring replaced the SL-K 30t chainring. The Driveline Lightest chain guard is a lighten down version of the FSA chain guards Catrike supplies with their trikes. I use it primarily to avoid the usual "you're going to cut someone with that chainring sticking out like that" comments.

Cycle	Tire	Cassette		Chainrings			Gear Inch Range
	Size
	Actual	Large	Small	Large	Middle	Small
700 Red	27.5	36	11	48			120.0	36.7
10 speed					39		97.5	29.8
Marathon						24	60.0	18.3
Racer
700 Black	26.7	36	11	52			126.2	38.6
10 speed					39		94.7	28.9
Tire-Ultremo						28	68.0	20.8

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Devin Skelton - Video "Catrike commute home - DUDE!"

Devin Skelton's video shows that some motorist encounters can be pretty funny and cool. Although a bit scary at first. Watch.

"A very excited witness to my trike commute hops out of his vehicle while we sat at a traffic light, raps me on my helmet, and tells me all about his excitement." Devin Skelton
Devin's Facebook page