More impressions of the crank

I had a chance to ride my usual track for a bit over 10 miles yesterday evening. I revisited the same routes and can honestly say that the 155mm crank arms are an improvement over the 170mm stock ones.

The benefit of not having to move my entire leg over such a large stroke is a great benefit not only for my knees, but for the sake of efficiency. I'm still getting the same gear inches, but cycling with less leg movement per stroke seems to give me a bit more endurance.

Looking back after having tried the 155mm crank arms, the 170's seemed to have wasted a lot of energy on the upstroke. Though the cycling shoes provide more efficiency through the entire stroke, the upstroke (when my knees come up towards my chest) still puts less power to the pedals.

If I ever go shorter, it'll be to the 152mm arms that come on the Schlumpf drive as an option. I can't really imagine myself liking anything shorter. 135mm seems ridiculously short. Still curious though.

Shorty crank arm review

WHY 155mm's?
I wasn't sure what to expect with the shorter crank arms. I suspected 165mm's wouldn't be a big enough difference from the 170mm stock ones to be worth the purchase. As a test, I picked the 155mm's in preparation for my future Schlumpf Mountain Drive which has a 152mm option. No 155mm, but that's close enough.

FORM:
My first test run was up and down the block. There was a noticeable difference, but I knew the real test would happen after a few miles. Immediately though, it felt easier to pedal a full stroke. My knees no longer had to come up so high.

PERFORMANCE:
Getting back to my familiar routes, I found that climbing the hills are indeed easier. It felt like getting an extra 1.5 gears. In other words, I can climb one hill at 5th gear as opposed to 3rd gear when I had the stock crank arms. I can't commit to this reasoning until I try it a couple times more. My increased superman powers could easily have come from adrenaline or other unrelated factors.

COMFORT:
I found my triking today similar to my experience up and down the block earlier in the morning. It's more comfortable reaching the same speeds and cadence. I'm sure this translates to better endurance and speed in the long run. For now, I'm just getting used to the stroke.

SPEED:
I can't strongly say that I can reach the same top speeds more quickly. The comfort level is probably the biggest benefit of the shorter crank arms which is good enough for me.

KNEE PAIN:
Gone? After riding 28 miles earlier in the day, I kept going for another 20 miles trying out the new crankset. My knees started hurting a bit towards the end of the day, but it wasn't the same type of pain as I had experienced before with the stock 170mm ones. The pain before was just under my knee cap; it's now mostly around my knee. I'm hoping it's b/c I'm just not used to the setup yet. We'll see.

Trek with Mike

This ride was better than the one at the East Bay! No sun burn, views were tons better and all in good company. Great despite the....err...flat tire. Guess those slime tube's aren't indestructible.

The day started off crossing a pedestrian bridge over a freeway. First time for me. The views were great and the weather was perfect. We hit up about 38 miles that afternoon going through four different trails!

TRAILS:
1. Sunnyvale Baylands Trail going through Alviso
2. Los Gatos Creek Trail
3. Middlefield Trail
4. Shoreland Baylands

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DAY:
- Geese
- Lake with paddle boats for rental
- 1,100 foot long pedestrian bridge

LESSONS LEARNED:
We swapped trikes for a bit and found that the Schwalbe Big Apples on Mike's ride did make a difference in speed. Going down just a short hill, I could already feel the difference. The 20 minute session on his trike sold me on those new tires. I have zero doubts now about the performance of those tires compared to the stock KMX ones on the Tornado.

Mike seemed to love the short 155mm crank arms I had on the trike.

When I came off the street onto a driveway at high speeds, the chain came off the front ring! On a later ride, the same thing happened. After checking the length though, I found that it wasn't too short. The length was fine. I just wish that the stock KMX bash ring was compatible with the new ring. I think this chain ring guard really made a difference in keeping the chain onto the ring during rough rides.

Crank it

ACCESSORY 39: Chainring 14.50 + shipping @ ebikestop.com

Much like the crank arms, my #1 reason for choosing the Sinz brand chainring was price. The second was that it comes in this fancy red color. Normally priced at $16.50, I felt like I got a good deal.


I never planned on getting a new chainring, but I need this one to mount my crank arms. The new crank arms are not compatible with the stock chain ring.

Let's see the difference in crank arm length. It's not that much shorter. 170mm stock one on the bottom and new 155mm one on top. Though 15mm might not seem like a lot, remember that it's 15mm on each side. The total difference will be 30mm or to us Americans, 1.18".


I like the look of the RMP Components one. I'm not a big fan of showing off brand names and would much rather have a cleaner look than having it plastered with "KMX" on it. The shape is also a bit cleaner too - straight edges. It doesn't have that organic look with all the unnecessary curves.

I'm not a big fan of pink. The chain ring is starting to look more pink than it does red. We'll soon see how it looks on the trike. I want to install this ASAP to test the shorter crank arms, so I'll pop it on for a trial run and get a black chain ring if it ends up not looking right. This might've looked better if the bash ring (chain guard) was compatible.


Installation is pretty direct. 4mm bolts are needed for single chain ring setups. Longer ones are available for double or triple setups. The bolts come as a package. The steel ones I'll be using were about $5.99. The more expensive ones sell for $14 or so. The allen head screws right on. A flat head screwdriver is needed to tighten it from the other side.

Fully installed! Finally. Looks pretty good! Except that I was right about the color. It's off. It's pink. It's ugly. Do I want Schwalbe Big Apple tires more or a replacement chain ring? Hmm...

Torque

ACCESSORY 38: Clicker torque wrench $11.99 + shipping @ Harbor Freight Tools

Something came in the mail for me today and boy was that quick. I ordered it a few days ago and later read that some buyers had waited up to 2 weeks for delivery! With the prices though, I went through with the purchase anyway and lucked out when it came in 2 days!

Yes, and it comes with a case! Wicked. I always wanted one of these. It reminds me of my special inspections days where I used to torque bolts all over construction sites. These torque wrenches typically go for $24-50 each! Quite a deal from Harbor Freight. I have yet to test it though. Hope it doesn't break on the first try.

The ones Park Tools sells are all 3/8", so that's the one I went for. 5-80 lb range sounds good. The difference btw this type and the kind that Park Tools sells is that this one can't be calibrated as easily. But this one seems a lot more durable and I can't imagine I would need to calibrate it ever. I won't be using it that often. Again, the justification for buying this is that it's a fraction of the cost of taking it to the shop to complete the work I need to do installing the crankarms and new chain ring. yes, new chain ring! That's next. Review tomorrow.

Fellow bent rider

Arriving at the Polo Field, I saw another bent! I had seen two on the track before. This is the third. Turns out the guy, Eric had seen me on the road before! In fact, I had see him also, except I didn't know it at the time.

I had been riding around when I passed by a black car which I had thought was a Dodge Charger, but later learned was a Chrysler 300. They look the same. The rear hitch had a tadpole bent trike! By the time I realized it, I had passed it. Little did I know that I would have later been granted my wish of being able to exchange a few words with him.

We ended up riding over 10 miles together. Nice meeting a fellow bent rider who's up for chatting (and slowing down so I can keep up). We were cruising at about 17mph average. The 10 miles went by like 15 minutes.

Apples

ACCESSORY 37: Schwalbe Big Apple Rear Tire $0 @ Mike

Thank you Mike for allowing me another accessory w/o having to ride 200 extra miles! Freebee from Mike. I owe you a lunch at the very least! This is a 2" wide Schwalbe Big Apple 20" rear tire. After researching like a mad man, I was still hesitant to buy a set. After trying Mike's ride, I'm sold. He gave me one of his extras and I'll be buying a front pair soon enough.

I guess the people who bought these and reviewed them in various places on the web didn't get them for a KMX kart. I don't notice the tire being thicker and the weight is actually less than the stock ones! The two biggest worries were pretty much non-existant. I'm definitely getting a front set eventually.

As for the tread, the stock tire on the left definitely has more. The BA's (Big Apples) are designed as a road tire so it has less tread as expected.

I have yet to take this on the gravel, but from my 13.5 mile ride today, I can say that these tires do give a bit more cushioned feel to the road. I inflated them to 40lb's. Perhaps a bit less would give me a more comfy ride. I'll have to experiment with the air pressure to see what works the best. It's a bit tough to tell though w/o the front tires to match. Even if the BA's did have less rolling resistance, the front wheels prevent me from noticing the difference.

A lot of people like the reflective grey strip along the edge of the tire. Yes, I said grey. It's not white like people say. It's grey. Grey. Grey. Grey. Like I suspected, I don't like it nearly as much as w/o the strip. It's fighting with the red strip. Not a good look but maybe it'll grow on me. Let's give it a few weeks.