the goat speaks out

had some questions/comments the last few days that i thought was worth mentioning....

regarding wattage:
looks like for us off road disc users, there are not too many options. there is an option for the ergometer system, but the issue with that is their system uses an isis bb to measure wattage. and i guess the bottom brackets are not the best of quality and if they need to be sent back, they are going overseas to get fixed.

and as far as the powertap goes, there are no disc specific hubs, only hubs that are 135mm. the only option i could possibly think of here is running only a front brake and maybe putting a shim on the rear brake so you don't accidentally squeeze your hydrolic brake. and, i probably would only do this during training rides on the local yocal bike path - and i wouldn't be bombing down some crazy downhill.

otherwise, you would need to go super high end with something like the SRM power meters - which, with two bikes, is not really an option.

offhand, though i did not check, sometimes the guys at problem solvers make some products that could be useful - maybe this is one area where they should start looking.

regarding cross crank setup:
the crank i pictured the other day will have both the ring and the gaurd on the outer ring - the gaurd will be spaced out.

this setup is required as my frame runs 135mm rear spacing (normally, moots cross frames run 130mm - this was custom for me) and because of such, the bottom tubes on the rear triangle flare out a little bit more then usual and i could not run the ring in the middle and the gaurd on the outside.

i have two moots cross frames - both have 135mm rear spacing. my original bike can run the ring on the middle and the gaurd on the outside when i run a 135. but - i ran a old ti race face bb and just moved out the bb a little on the drive train side.

other option is to run a little bit bigger bb spindle length to space it out a little more. but, options are really dependent upon the frame, what ring you are going to run and also what crank.

also - other thing to watch on the crank. some cranks run one of the ring bolts on the actual arm of the crank. if this be the case (campy and ritchey cranks) then spacing out the gaurd on the big ring may not work.

best bet - ask dan the man at speedgoat or chris - they worked out all the details for me and actually weighed out everything as well.

with that all that talk - now it's time to ride.

sologoat out.