We all have different perspectives (obviously), but it seems I’m the only one that thinks that a transmission, crank arm length, wheels, and bearings (in that order) on a bike are the most important things. The bike I have right now is limited by having internal pressed bearings. It’s usually not a bad thing, or a limiting thing at all, but in order to satisfy my ‘most important’ list, internal pressed bearings would have to be replaced by external ones to improve the transmission and lengthen the crank arms. The issue that arises, is internal pressed bearings can’t be replaced by external ones. Darn.
I love my new shiny Grey Lightnin’ bike, but in order to go faster (it is a race after all), I have to get a differnt one. I need a bike with the ability to accept external bearings on my longer crank arms (second on the most important list). With the longer crank arms and larger Bolt Center Diameter (BCD) (that’s a new vocab word (explained in a minute)), I can put a larger chainring with more teeth on the bike. Compact crank sets have a BCD of 110 mm and tratidional race bikes have a BCD of 130 mm. The compact crank sets can only accomodate chainrings upto 53 teeth and traditional 130 mm crank sets can accomodate even larger chainrings. My longer crank (arm) set have a BCD of 130 which means I can get a chainring with more teeth than my current compact crank set will allow.
So the only holdup from putting my longer crank arms on my current bike is the ability of my current bike to accept external bearings (which it can’t). So my choices are, stay with the same bike which I feel I am limited on (speed wise) (based on my most important list), or get a new bike that I can change the crank arms and put a larger chainring on. I’m probably no where near topping out on the speed of Grey Lightnin’, but my ideas can’t come to fruition with it either.
The goal is to finish the event in less than 17 hours. The less time I spend on the bike, the more enjoyable my day will ultimately be.
So if anyone is in the market for a lovely Fuji Road Bike, just let me know.
