RogueMechanic

Blocked by Campagnolo?!?

I found out about this when I tried to view a photo that they posted and subsequently tried to follow on Twitter... After a long day, I have to admit that it kinda made me smile...just a little.  -John

Mavic M40319 8/9 Speed Freehub Body

This just in... After an extensive interweb search, I came to a conclusion that I just might have the ONLY one of these Mavic 8/9 speed Shimano freehub bodies IN THE WORLD!  And it can be yours!!! Don't delay.  Quanities are limited (I only have ONE)!!!

Ok... enough of the dramatics.  If you have a Mavic Cosmos, Classic, or Cosmic rear wheel that has a shot freehub body, here's your one chance to get that wheel back on the road.  If you need one of these M40319 freehub bodies, you know that they are few if any (besides this one) available.  It can be found here.

 

More Mavic Spokes! Plus Campagnolo and Zipp Freehub Bodies

I just streamlined the on-line store and expanded the offerings.  To see what's there, you can use the navigation bar above, click on the yellow box to the right, or just click here to go to the store.  I've been selling quite a few Mavic Zircal spokes lately as well as freehub bodies and pawl kits.  Here's the current list of Mavic wheels that I have replacement spokes for:

• 2000-2003 Mavic Ksyrium SSC SL Zircal, Black (discontinued by Mavic)
• 2004-2005 Mavic Ksyrium SSC SL Zircal, Silver (discontinued by Mavic)
• 2006-2007 Mavic Ksyrium SL Zircal, Silver
• 2008-2010 Mavic SL/ES/Premium Zircal, Black
• 2011  Mavic SL & SLR Zircal, Black
• 2007-2009 Mavic CrossMax SLR Disc Zircal, Black
• 2003 Mavic CrossMax XL Disc Zircal, Black (discontinued by Mavic)
• 2000-2002 Mavic Crossmax Straight Pull Round Black (discontinued by Mavic)
• 2000-2001 Mavic Cosmic Carbone Clincher Bladed Silver (discontinued by Mavic)

I also expanded my offering of freehub bodies...

• Mavic Shimano 9/10 Speed Freehub Body Road - MM40592
• Mavic Shimano/SRAM Freehub Body Mountain - M40580
• Mavic Campagnolo 9/10/11 Speed Freehub Body - M40591
• Campagnolo Freehub Body for OS Cutout Axle 9/10/11 Speed
• Zipp Speed Weaponry 182 Freehub Body for Campagnolo 9/10 Speed

Just a reminder that Mavic doesn't support, translation: no longer produces or stocks parts for wheel from 2006 and older.  This means that when they're gone and you need to replace a broken spoke or one that has a frozen nipple, you are essentially screwed.  I agree that this is sad but that's the way it it.  I just verified with Mavic this week that they are completely out of 2000-2005 Ksyrium Zircal spokes... Fortunately, I have very limited numbers of these spokes left.

A Thought Regarding STI vs Ergopower Levers

I was thinking recently while overhauling and replacing a broken component in a Campagnolo 10 speed Ergolever that proportionally, I don't nearly see the same amount of shiftlever failures with Shimano Ultegra or Dura-Ace as I do with Campagnolo Chorus and Record.  I would say that 75% of the Campy levers that I worked on this season had broken spring carriers and or springs and the rest just needed cleaned, relubricated, and the typical replacement g-springs. 

My question is, did the engineers in Vicenza design these levers to be serviceable because they were aware of the durability/longevity of the internal components with a positive PR spin of being completely rebuildable? I don't know... Maybe the loyal masses don't mind tossing $65+ not including parts per lever to their mechanic every so often.  I'd be the first to say that that's a whole lot cheaper than having to replace the complete lever, but from my perspective, I'm seeing  the equivalent shift controls from Shimano lasting a great deal longer under the same conditions.  But hey... I'm not complaining, it's more work for me.

 

One of My Best Tools

I've been asked numerous questions about the short video of my Crest Ultrasonic cleaner that I posted on YouTube a while back, so I figured that I'd post some info about it and some things that I learned using it.

Efficient

This single piece of equiptment has made probably the biggest difference in my productivity.  It allows for me to essentially "work" on two bikes at once.  I can get a start on one bike by removing the drivetrain components, which typically include the cassette, chain, front and rear derailleurs as well as the crankset, while I continue to work on the bike that's on stand #1.  Gone are the days of taking those said components to the parts cleaner and scrubbing away with a brush.

Does a Dang Good Job.

I'm not going to get into the science behind how ultrasonic cleaners work beyond the fact high frequency sound waves cause "tiny explosions" or cavication bubbles on the surface of the item that's being cleaned.  Bottom line is that it works (better if you use the right solution and temperature).

Solution

I've tried alot of different solutions in my ultrasonic cleaner at different concentrations and at different temps.  Some definitely work better than others.  Temperature certainly makes a difference in the end result as well as the time required to clean the item.  After trying everything from off the shelf Simple Green to even a few products that are ultrasonic cleaner specific, I have come to really like Extreme Simple Green Aircraft & Precision Cleaner.  This stuff really works.  Unfortunately, it's not as easy to obtain than the regular Simple Green product is, and it also costs more.  I get mine from Simple Green Guy.  As far as the concentration, this is powerful stuff.  Don't be fooled.  A little goes a long way.  I typically use a 1:4 or 1:5 concentration and add more solution or water as necessary. 

Bottom Line

If you can afford one, get one.  You're going to wonder why you waited so long...

 

OH: Campagnolo Ultra Torque Discussion

 

My take on the new Campagnolo Power Torque System

After watching the 1:56 minute video of the new Power Torque System that can be found here in their Lab Tech section of the Campagnolo website and looking beyond the stunning video clips and the driving music, I had a handful of questions.  But first, take a look at the video....

 

Initially, these specific things came to mind...

0:55 - Integrated Axle in the Right Crankset  hmmm... where have I seen this before?!?  Oh that's right... Shimano, SRAM, Truvative, FSA...

1:00  - Coupling System that Cancel Any Possible Play  Possible play?!?  Really?!?  you mean like this..

 

Na... it can't be.  All of that axial play is completely normal.  (here, you look thirsty, have some more Kool-Aid...)  Anyway, what I'm getting at is that the folks at Campy with this statement wouldn't be admitting any possible problems with the Ultra-Torque System design... would they?!?

1:05 - Optimized Spacers for an Extremely Light and Stiff Axle  For the life of me, I can't see what optimized spacers have to do with the axle being light and stiff... Maybe I'm missing something... help please?!?

1:10 - Easy and Quick Assembly and Maintanence  Really?!?

Note to video producers: At approx 1:14 you forgot to install the holding clip (fig 9 in the installation manual and at approx 1:19, you forgot to install the spring under the gasket (fig 11 in the installation manual).  Just wanted to bring that to your attention.

1:31 - Without any Additional Dedicated Tool... Well, that's kinda accurate, for assembly, but make sure that you have a 14mm hex handy.

Now when you want to perform maintanence, you will need a good quality gear puller/extractor, a cloth (so that you don't chew up the NDS crankarm), AND the Campagnolo UT-FC090 tool.  Wait a second... I thought that you won't need any "dedicated" tools?!?  I think that kids these days call this a "fail".

In closing, I wonder if or when Power Torque is going to replace Ultra Torque... Why have two different systems when one is supposed to be so much better than everything else out there.  Hmmm...just wondering...

So, these are just my thoughts.  As always, I welcome any comments.  Please tell me where I might be off-base.  Thanks for checking in!  -John

Mavic Ksyrium Freehub Parts and Zicral Spokes

Hello all,

As you probably know, I have a small RogueMechanic Online Shop where I have available some of the more common replacement parts for Mavic Ksyrium wheels.  These parts include freehub bodies for Shimano/SRAM road, MTB, and Campagnolo.  I also have most varities of Zicral spokes for Mavic Ksyrium wheels as well as a few non-Zicral spokes for more obscure older wheels.  In addition, I also have FTS-X Pawl and Spring kits as well as freehub body Seals. 

If you haven't seen it already, here's a link to my Mavic Freehub Body Maintenance video on YouTube.  Mavic Ksyrium wheels are great wheels for the money compaired to others out there in the same price range, you just need to maintain them, just like every other wheelset in the market.  Thanks for checking in.  -John

Ceramic Bearings. Does Size or Quantity Matter?

I want to shed some light on ceramic bearings.  Now that they have been out for a good 2+ years, I'm just now seeing more of them than ever and a disturbing number of them that I've seen already have pitted races.  I'm going to write more on this sometime in the future, but for now, I want to show you something that came thru my shop recently.  The first photo is the bearing from a SRAM Blackbox GXP Ceramic bottom bracket:

The next photo is of a Shimano 7800 bottom bracket with Enduro Zero Ceramic bearings:

Now, everything else being equal, in this application, is it better to have fewer but larger diameter ceramic ball bearings or more but smaller ceramic ball bearings?  Any bearing experts out there?  You thoughts please.  Thanks for checking in.  -John

UPDATE:

Here's some interesting info that I received from JF via e-mail...

 

It seems that there is a magic exponent here, which is 2/3:

1. The maximum stress on a single ball decreases roughly with the 2/3
power of the ball radius.

2. The maximum load capacity grows with the number of balls to the 2/3
power as well, or so they say here:
http://machinedesign.com/article/radial-bearings-1115

This means that all exponents cancel out, and the 11 ball Shimano
bearing will have the same load capacity as the 16 ball SRAM if its
balls are 16/11 = 1.45, so 45% larger in diameter. It's hard to tell
from the pictures, but if the inside diameter of both bearings is the
same, then the photos show something around a 20% larger diameter
only. That would mean that, all other things being equal, SRAM would
have somewhere around 13% more load capacity.

Anybody else out there with thoughts about this? 

-John

NEW Low Profile Campagnolo Ultra-Torque Shim Kits!!!

Just a heads-up that I now have limited quantities of the latest version of RogueMechanic Shim Kits for Campagnolo Ultra-Torque systems.  These shims have a lower profile (O.D) that make them less apparent post installation.  Still available for both English and Italian bottom brackets.  I am holding steady on the price for now, even though there is significantly more machining involved... I'd get your orders in before I change my mind.  This way to the store...