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Comments - Zero Tolerance Descent

May 24, 2010

For those interested in a 52/36 combo, it appears SRAM will be offering 110BCD version chainrings to the US market at some point: http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/photos/new-tech-bits-spotted-at-the-giro-ditalia/120601
- Jeff, Black Mountain, NC

May 12, 2010

Great read! Thank you for your wonderfully descriptive preview of the mountains to be climbed in the Giro d'Italia. It really is tougher than the TdF, isn't it. Please keep your articles coming.... we really enjoy your insights.
- Bobbie, Fort Worth

May 09, 2010

WN = Lame, masturbatory puff writing that is no longer of any interest except to the author.
- Frank, Brookline

May 08, 2010

High Time for a 36x52 compact crankset. Most of the time 34 is too low and 50 is definitely not high enough when push comes to shove. If you stock it (in Campy) I'll buy it. Also the older you get the less your knees can handle the flemish pressure vs the supplese (sp) of spinning slightly quicker in a lower gear
- Felix, Two Rivers, Felix, Two Rivers

May 07, 2010

Can't beat the ride of a Seven Axiom Ti, eh? Sure beats the heck outta Chinese plastic.
- Mike, Reno

May 06, 2010

Great Post! Man, there are some jealous or just really grumpy people here who wouldn't know "tounge in cheek" if it bit them...
- Chris, San Diego

May 05, 2010

When i made the transition from mountain to road, i was a little skittish about descents as well. when you're used to 4" of travel keeping your tires planted and disc brakes that could stop an 18-wheeler, how could you not be? Road components seem so flimsy in comparison. But like anything, your bike will serve you reliably if you are diligent with repairs and maintenance. It also helps to just accept the fact that cycling is a risky sport, and that falling down is just part of the game. Every time I go riding, I pretty much expect that I'm gonna have to bail at some point. At the end of the ride, when I return home unscathed, I feel like I got away with something.
- Zack, NYC

May 04, 2010

When I first started cycling, I asked my 'mentor' for some tips for descending; he stated "Just Go." I asked what to do if I hit a patch of gravel or something... He replied, "Are you one with your maker?" I knodded. His rebuttal was "Well, you're fine, just go."
- Andrew Dasilva, Buckhannon, WV

May 04, 2010

Man you are full of yourself
- Paul, Irwin

May 04, 2010

I'm also irrationally afraid of descents - even short ones. I'm not sure what it is, but I'm convinced that whenever I hit anything approaching 40 mph, a squirrel is going to run out onto the road and get tangled up in my wheel, my front tube is going to explode, my steerer or handlebars will crack and break off, I'm going to pop a spoke that will cause my wheel to go wildly out of true and hit my fork, you name it. Granted though, I don't have any inner pro to channel... If you know of any cure for this, please let us know.
- Chris, Brooklyn

May 04, 2010

If you're looking for sphincter puckering descents in the U.S., you could always check out Maine and New Hampshire. The back roads in ski country are "paved" only in the most primitive sense and markings or signage are rare.
- Chris, Little Rock

May 04, 2010

"PRO" = "Epic" = sounding like a douche. Seriously, let's drop it. BKW is horrid now because the only guys worth a damn split off to form RKP, which rocks for many reasons, one of which is the fact that they don't use the term "PRO" and thus do not sound like 14 year-old assholes.
- Cranky Bastard, LRAR

May 04, 2010

This was a great article!
- Dean, San Francisco

May 04, 2010

Wonderful write up--thanks for bringing back memories of a Dolomite trip where one of our rides was the Morirolo-Gavia loop. Unbelievable. Riding the roads of the Dolomites was the first time I had as much fun on my road bike as I do ripping singletrack on my mountain bike! Organic twisting descents in the woods on narrow roads. As far as descent anxiety goes, try Tre Cime di Lavaredo (an out and back with sections over 20%)! On the way down i was either riding my brakes hard or accelerating to scary fast in a micro second. Do you find the ascent rate readout on your Garmin 500 to be at all consistent or believable? On mine the value jumps around every second by significant amounts making it almost useless. Last night I saw there was a firmware update that includes a 30sec average for ascent rate. We'll see how that works out. I bought the unit primarily for ascent rate after reading analysis of various climbing performances by Dr. Michele Ferrari quantified mostly with VAM. And knowing your system weight its possible to derive some rough power numbers. But right now the ascent rate of the 500 is nearly useless.
- Fred, Salt Lake City

May 04, 2010

Another vote for 36-52-- I happen to know more than a few big pro crits in the US are won on 52T big rings every year, so the number of people who really need a 53 (outside a TT) is minuscule at best. The combination is also the logical choice for Rotor Q ring users, b/c the 39T standard gives up some ovalization--and who wants to run a 40T small ring?--and the 36T is the smallest compact ring that has full ovalization
- Nick, Santa Barbara

May 04, 2010

The 52x36 option is very appealing as an alternative to compact 50x34.
- Martin, Madera

May 04, 2010

I miss brazed-on chain pegs. My old Basso Gap still has one and a pump peg for the Silca frame pump, plastic chrome of course to match the chrome fork and rear seat stays. The bike still looks great.
- Dave, KC MO

May 04, 2010

I had to check that handy "chain peg" out. From Sheldon Brown's Bicycle Glossary: "Some bikes have a small brazed-on peg facing inward near the bottom of the right seat stay. This is intended to support the chain when the rear wheel has been removed for some reason. This is, in practice, a pretty useless feature." LOL
- Lukasz, Gainesville, FL

May 04, 2010

Two things: First, gradient - there will always be a lag on gradient. It's an after the fact calculation - accent gained coupled with speed within a given time give you gradient. It will always lag unless you get one of those little bubble levels on your bars. Two, " And when I tried calming myself by channeling my inner PRO . . . " Hate to tell you, you have no inner pro. You're not a pro, you never were a pro and you never will be a pro. Senior Lewis, by example, is a pro and he might fear a descent and he might remember he's a professional and thus calm himself down and then maybe he can use that sentence. Not you, though. Sorry.
- Tom, DC

May 04, 2010

Your Seven?
- Nof Landrien, London

May 03, 2010

Great post! A sad commentary on the state of cycling journalism when a bike shop dude's blog is the highlight read of the week. Mortirolo. I was able to spend 2.5 weeks in Bellagio (lake como) with wife and friends in June 2008. I spent most of my riding time going in the Bellagio - Como - Lecco triangle and rode the Ghisallo several times. I wanted to get over to the Mortirolo, Gavia, area but its a long way away (~100km) from Bellagio). Finally, the 2nd last day, I thought "eff it, I'm going". Got my map out, hit the 7am ferry and away I went. Rode east down the valley past Sondrio, stopped in Tirano to pack my pockets with food (old guy at the grocery store asked where I was going and shook his head and waved his finger no....) and thenhit the Mortirolo and up, up, up..... We rented inexpensive (but nice enough) Willier bikes at ComoBike and I initially thought I was way better than the triple crankset. Not really. The climb was so steep in places the front wheel would lift up with each pedal stroke. I subsequently noticed every single bike ComoBike sold had a compact crank of some sort - for good reason given the area's terrain. The Pantani memorial is impressive (pic above). The ride, climb, summit area is gorgeous, at least I think so, it was raining and fogged in the whole day. And to top it off, when I was bombing down the backside from Aprica, came to a nice big fence across the middle of the road. By this time, it was late afternoon and I had to be back to Verena (90km + away) to catch the last ferry to Bellagio... so only choice was to hop around and carried on... only to find extensive mud and rock slides burying for the next kilometer or so of road and with heavy equipment hard at work. So I had to scramble over all that. And the Giro had just went thru here less than a week previous. Made it back to the ferry with about 30" to spare. A must do ride if you ever get the chance - experience of a lifetime!
- Kim, Edmonton, Canada

May 03, 2010

I have to agree that a 52x36 combination is of unrecognized merit. It nicely gives you a lower range than a standard crank yet gives up little on the top end. I ran this setup on my previous gen Campy crank and found it to be ideal when riding in both mountainous and flat terrain. The more standard 50x34 combo is great for the mountains, but I find it requires too much cross gearing in the flats. Problem is no manufacture offers the 52x36 combo off the shelf and neither Campy or Shimano even make 52x36 rings for their current model compact cranks.
- Troy, Boulder CO

May 03, 2010

But am I right that a 52x36 chainring combo isn't available with a 130 BCD and that certain combination is only achievable with a 110 BCD (i.e. compact crankset)? Would the PRO's avoid the 110 for the reduced stiffness? Great article
- Brian, Seattle, WA

May 03, 2010

Regarding the Garmin: I've noticed the delay in the gradient calculation on my 305, whether when starting or when the road pitch changes abruptly (it also seems to over-estimate gradient a bit, too.) When the wheel sensor isn't present or isn't working and the speed calculation is driven purely by GPS, there's a tendency for the speed reading to bounce around quite a bit even when holding a steady pace (it is worse when riding under a tree canopy.) I've always assumed this was due to it calculating an average based on the somewhat delayed GPS data. The software to which I upload my data seems to compensate for all of this quite well, so I don't let it worry me. Speaking of data, any of you who are ditching a power meter in the name of the greater purity, please feel free to send it to me - I'd love to add Watts to the list of parameters by which I can measure the meagerness of my ability.
- RB, B'ham, AL

May 03, 2010

Lookin' super slick in those shots, man. The shoes, the bib-height, the jacket flapping casually in the breeze. Very fine composure.
- C.Monaco, Oakland, CA

May 03, 2010

I've been running a 52x36 combination using Rotor's Q-rings. The gearing works really well and I'm surprised more people haven't given this combination a try.
- Todd, San Jose, CA