just did my first metric century

[shaq-d]

1. damn the world!
2. my existence... is NOT flawed
3. do i deserve my serotta? silly silly question
4. does god exist? i know i do
5. HUZZAH

(and you thought you had issues ;)

well i suppose most of you have probably done the metric century and probably do it on a regular basis..hehe.. but i left at 430am in the fog and rain and finished at 930am, avg'd 25kmh on the bike, took some breaks, avg 100km/5hrs=20kmh totals. i underestimated the sandwich and fig newtons i'd need and the last 15km was brutal, the last 10km delirious, and when i saw my cyclocomp go from 99.9xxkm click to 3 digits, i suddenly felt elated and had a burst of energy to finish off going home. thank god for my warmers, my balaclava, my long fingered gloves, my rain jacket, my lights, and my camelbak. oh, and my serotta and campag parts, which was literally humming, smooth, and ultra-reliable. even those green axial pros, with all their cuts too. my calves/hamstrings are cramped/achy; i guess those are my weakest parts, quads are fine. course these are probably boring infos for y'all.

sd

[weisan]

Keep up the good work. You will be doing 100 miles in no time. It's all about keeping the body fueled, I guess you found that out. :banana:

[shaq-d]

thanks weis :) well just cleaned the bike too.. i noticed my stem was rusty where it enters the headset so i took it out and it's kinda rusted up, so i greased the heck out of it and inside the head tube.. it's a cinelli quill stem, are there stems that don't rust that i might think about getting? or is this rusty stuff no big deal..

sd

[Saxon]

Congratulations, SD! You'll be feeling that for a few days :)
Sax

[Too Tall]

Right on! That's one for the log book.

[BigMac]

Congratulations Shaq, great effort. :beer:

A rusting Cinelli stem? Aluminum can corrode in salty invironment, but it does not rust or resemble rust. It's possible you are seeing the stem quill bolt rusting, if so, remove it, wipe down and spray with WD-40 or Boeshield T-9, both are fine rust inhibitors. If threads appear damaged from oxidation, replace bolt, coat with WD-40 or Boeshield prior to install. The likely source of said rest is the fork steerer tube. I suspect it's minor surface oxidation (rust), nothing catastrophic. Remove fork from frame. Take a clean cotton rag and push through steerer a few times removing loose oxidation and moisture. With steerer in horizontal plane, spray inside with Boeshield, rotating fork to acheive unifrom coverage. Lightly spray exterior of steerer as well, allow to 'dry' overnight -- it will not dry it will however set to high viscosity waxy film which will provide oxidation barrier. Also check inside frame HT, any oxidation? If so, consider removal of BB and seatpin, applying similar application of Boeshield to interior of frame tubes. If frame is more than 5 years old, I would recommend this regardless of presence of any oxidation in HT, make it 3 years if you live near marine environment.

After Boeshield application as needed, reassemble and you are set for a solid 5years of rust-free riding before another application should be applied.

Ride on! :banana: :banana: :banana:

[M_A_Martin]

I need to start riding in Metrics...it sounds so much better!

[Kevan]

for the Spring ride. The end comes just as you're beginning to mouth, "Get me off of this damn bike!" :D

[shaq-d]

the irony of my ride was that it was done in <12C, i think that's around 50F, in the morning and foggy and rainy, and now it's sunny and around 22/72, lol. but my suffer'n was mine, no? the funky spring weather...

big mac: thanks for the tips; does the cleaning the inside of the frame apply to titanium? (mine is a serotta cti) i think it's the light oxidation you're talking about, and the steerer tube; is the steerer tube part of the fork or part of the headset or part of the frame? i have an F1 fork, record headset, cinelli stem.. i'm a little shy to do a headset/taking out the fork/etc., but chances are i'll be too tired morrow to ride and i guess i'll give it a go, and break the ice.. bike things always seem hard, but after i do them, seem easy..

sd

[BigMac]

Shaq:

No need for ANY frame treatment of that frame, it's Ti thus it's pretty much zero maintainence other than anti-seize on anything non stainless steel or plastic (that includes "carbon fiber" components like seatposts).

Your rust is coming from the F1 fork which uses a steel steerer, that's the pipe that attaches to fork crown (part where front brake attaches) and is fed through frame headtube (part that uppder headset race is pressed into) with threads at top end where upper headset and locknut are attached. If you have no experience setting headset bearing preload, take frame to LBS and have them set preload and locknut -- be sure they use Loctite Blue (NOT Orange version!) on upper locknut only. If you do have the wrenches to loosen and remove the headset locknut and assembly, go ahead and do this. Apply the Boeshield as previously described, let set overnight then take all parts to LBS for them to properly assemble.

That steel steerer is "old school" as the kids say and does add a few extra grams versus the current plethora of plastic steerers but I am convinced its the steel crown and steerer that make the F1 the best feeling and most predictable handling composite fork ever made.

Ride on! :banana: :banana: :banana: