1 hour ago
My Madone developed a skip in the middle ring about a year and a half ago. I ordered a 39 ring on ebay and while waiting a week for it, I dug out my 1997 Cannondale to ride. I started enjoying it so much that I just kept riding it since. I guess part of it was that I got lazy too ha ha ha!
But I started thinking about it last week and knowing that the rubber hoods on one of the shifters had ripped, I tried to find one. 9 speed 105 but almost impossible unless I was willing to buy a used lever off of the net for about $100. Not worth the gamble wondering what I might end up with so I did some searching. Found that Shimano Sora was just about the only thing left that is 9 speed. Reading reviews, I found that many had said that the modern Sora is better than the old 105 of 20 years ago. I was a little worried but it's true.
Installed the Sora levers, all new cables around, shifters and brake cables. The new 39 ring, bar tape and anything else I had to do to get the job done. FTR, searches stated that it was possible to remove the mid ring without removing the crank but NO, IT"S NOT on my bike. So it took me just a bit longer than I expected to get the job done. Funny because I ended up getting more sore doing the repair than riding the bike 40 miles ha ha ha! I guess bending in ways I'm not used to any more. Plus all the little annoying splits and cuts on the hands, and the dirty finger nails. Not used to that anymore.
I did have a new chain in my stash but not the cassette I thought I had so I road tested the new parts and it runs GREAT!!!! I really don't need the new chain and cassette at this point as the one on there is really smooth. Maybe this is why I could not find the new cassette, I probably installed it not long before the ring started acting up. But I did order a new 105 9 speed cassette anyway so that I would have it ready if needed. But having a wife that cycled for 28 years with me, she suggested that I buy a second one just to have in my stash for later. Love this woman! But wanting to know if alternatives existed in the 9 speed world, I found the Sunrace cassette so I orederd ome of those as well just as a test. Good reviews and better pricing than Shimano. Some say it works great, some say not quite as good as the fine Shimano class but hey, I just need it to shift smoothly.
So I got it all set up and IT RAN GREAT!! One section is what cyclists call THE DAMN DAM CLIMB. A 1/3 mile ascent up the Santa Fe Recreation Area trail. hitting 11% grades on the first stretch and 9% on the second section after a short 20 yard 6% section. Testing the 39 ring,, I kept it there and pushed up to make sure the skipping was gone and Yeah baby!!
I waxed the frame and cleaned each spoke one by one with a WD-40 saturated strip of old t-shirt. To my surprise I expected to make more adjustments on the road havign new cables but nope, worked perfectly. Only thing I had to do was loosen the low gear limit screw on the front derailleur. But I found that within the first 20 yards in the parking lot. A minor adjustment of the saddle tils having gotten used to the other bike, my Cannondale.
One thing I really like is that the new set up has the cables and housings mounted under the bar tape so using a GoPro fairly often, no longer need an extension from the GPS mount to that places the recorder in front of the wires. Nice and clear view now and much neater mounting directly under the GPS. I'll replace the chain and cassette when needed and already have new brakes shoes to install.
One thing that made me laugh was the guy at the bike shop. I went in to see if maybe they had some old 9 speed hoods laying around for sale. Nope and he said he never heard of Sora R3030 that is 9 speed. Funny,, came out at least 3 years ago and as a shop owner, he had never heard of it. But he asked, "why are you still messing around with 9 speed?". Uhhhh, I have 2 perfectly fine 9 speed bikes so why would I spend $5,000 for a new bike just to say I have one or two more cogs? Yeeah, I'm going to spend my money to impress him? Maybe he should have asked why I am not interested in supporting his family?
Another thing I will add is the Osmo type mounts for the GoPro are really cool and work well. The best brand I have found are from an ebay store called K&F. Funny as some kid into photography I know said he had heard of the brand before so I guess I'm the one behind the times. The large orange release buttons are SWEET. Much easier than other brands to disconnect while on the fly swapping the GoPro from my hand held tripod mount to the HB mount.
I ordered the Osmo adapter with the aluminum swivel tabs but then found I liked the orange tabs so much that I ordered the fixed nylon adapters as well. They work great on the bike compared to other brands I have like Telesin and a couple others.
So, my carbon baby is back on the road and all polished up running sweetly!
Big orange release buttons on Osmo style GoPro adapters.
BTW, picked up this little charger on ebay, $20. I needed a charger to avoid charging my battery in the camera than can heat it up and cause it to warp. I have the authentic Enduro battery which works good but acts funny charging in the camera. So the new charger comes with 2 batteries that claim to be better than GoPro batteries.
I wasn't worried about the batteries but I tested them on the road and they last much longer than the original GoPro batter than came with the camera. As far as the GoPro Enduro battery, I will have to test it for the numbers but the 2 new aftermarket batteries work very well.
I have been using them to do my usual videos and after al is done, I still have 85% juice left in the battery. Both charge to 100% contrary to what reviews claimed by some users. SO for $20, a charger and 2 good batteries?!?!
Heck, I paid almost $30 for the Enduro battery alone about a year ago.
My ride buddy says who knows, maybe the aftermarket batteries will wear out faster? Never know but for $20???
Another YT buddy says that he uses the same aftermarket batteries and they do well but fade sooner in the snow climate. Here in Cali, we don't deal much with that so I think I'm good. Plus I still have the Enduro.
Smooth as butter on the 9 and 11% grade !
But I started thinking about it last week and knowing that the rubber hoods on one of the shifters had ripped, I tried to find one. 9 speed 105 but almost impossible unless I was willing to buy a used lever off of the net for about $100. Not worth the gamble wondering what I might end up with so I did some searching. Found that Shimano Sora was just about the only thing left that is 9 speed. Reading reviews, I found that many had said that the modern Sora is better than the old 105 of 20 years ago. I was a little worried but it's true.
Installed the Sora levers, all new cables around, shifters and brake cables. The new 39 ring, bar tape and anything else I had to do to get the job done. FTR, searches stated that it was possible to remove the mid ring without removing the crank but NO, IT"S NOT on my bike. So it took me just a bit longer than I expected to get the job done. Funny because I ended up getting more sore doing the repair than riding the bike 40 miles ha ha ha! I guess bending in ways I'm not used to any more. Plus all the little annoying splits and cuts on the hands, and the dirty finger nails. Not used to that anymore.
I did have a new chain in my stash but not the cassette I thought I had so I road tested the new parts and it runs GREAT!!!! I really don't need the new chain and cassette at this point as the one on there is really smooth. Maybe this is why I could not find the new cassette, I probably installed it not long before the ring started acting up. But I did order a new 105 9 speed cassette anyway so that I would have it ready if needed. But having a wife that cycled for 28 years with me, she suggested that I buy a second one just to have in my stash for later. Love this woman! But wanting to know if alternatives existed in the 9 speed world, I found the Sunrace cassette so I orederd ome of those as well just as a test. Good reviews and better pricing than Shimano. Some say it works great, some say not quite as good as the fine Shimano class but hey, I just need it to shift smoothly.
So I got it all set up and IT RAN GREAT!! One section is what cyclists call THE DAMN DAM CLIMB. A 1/3 mile ascent up the Santa Fe Recreation Area trail. hitting 11% grades on the first stretch and 9% on the second section after a short 20 yard 6% section. Testing the 39 ring,, I kept it there and pushed up to make sure the skipping was gone and Yeah baby!!
I waxed the frame and cleaned each spoke one by one with a WD-40 saturated strip of old t-shirt. To my surprise I expected to make more adjustments on the road havign new cables but nope, worked perfectly. Only thing I had to do was loosen the low gear limit screw on the front derailleur. But I found that within the first 20 yards in the parking lot. A minor adjustment of the saddle tils having gotten used to the other bike, my Cannondale.
One thing I really like is that the new set up has the cables and housings mounted under the bar tape so using a GoPro fairly often, no longer need an extension from the GPS mount to that places the recorder in front of the wires. Nice and clear view now and much neater mounting directly under the GPS. I'll replace the chain and cassette when needed and already have new brakes shoes to install.
One thing that made me laugh was the guy at the bike shop. I went in to see if maybe they had some old 9 speed hoods laying around for sale. Nope and he said he never heard of Sora R3030 that is 9 speed. Funny,, came out at least 3 years ago and as a shop owner, he had never heard of it. But he asked, "why are you still messing around with 9 speed?". Uhhhh, I have 2 perfectly fine 9 speed bikes so why would I spend $5,000 for a new bike just to say I have one or two more cogs? Yeeah, I'm going to spend my money to impress him? Maybe he should have asked why I am not interested in supporting his family?
Another thing I will add is the Osmo type mounts for the GoPro are really cool and work well. The best brand I have found are from an ebay store called K&F. Funny as some kid into photography I know said he had heard of the brand before so I guess I'm the one behind the times. The large orange release buttons are SWEET. Much easier than other brands to disconnect while on the fly swapping the GoPro from my hand held tripod mount to the HB mount.
I ordered the Osmo adapter with the aluminum swivel tabs but then found I liked the orange tabs so much that I ordered the fixed nylon adapters as well. They work great on the bike compared to other brands I have like Telesin and a couple others.
So, my carbon baby is back on the road and all polished up running sweetly!
Big orange release buttons on Osmo style GoPro adapters.
BTW, picked up this little charger on ebay, $20. I needed a charger to avoid charging my battery in the camera than can heat it up and cause it to warp. I have the authentic Enduro battery which works good but acts funny charging in the camera. So the new charger comes with 2 batteries that claim to be better than GoPro batteries.
I wasn't worried about the batteries but I tested them on the road and they last much longer than the original GoPro batter than came with the camera. As far as the GoPro Enduro battery, I will have to test it for the numbers but the 2 new aftermarket batteries work very well.
I have been using them to do my usual videos and after al is done, I still have 85% juice left in the battery. Both charge to 100% contrary to what reviews claimed by some users. SO for $20, a charger and 2 good batteries?!?!
Heck, I paid almost $30 for the Enduro battery alone about a year ago.
My ride buddy says who knows, maybe the aftermarket batteries will wear out faster? Never know but for $20???
Another YT buddy says that he uses the same aftermarket batteries and they do well but fade sooner in the snow climate. Here in Cali, we don't deal much with that so I think I'm good. Plus I still have the Enduro.
Smooth as butter on the 9 and 11% grade !
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