creaking cranks

[Paul on the Pearson]

Quick technical question. My bottom brackets creaking a bit, do the crank arm bolts tighten up like a normal bolt clockwise ? or are they like pedal bolts? Thought I better check before I wade in with my brand new torque wrench.

[Jon H]

Normal righthand thread for crank bolts.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Don't forget that there are other areas that could be the cause - the bottom bracket and chainring bolts as well.

Give me a call if you need a hand.

[adrian]

Weren't you a bit creaky yourself on Saturday, Paul? I mean your bike, of course

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

That was my knees

[Paul on the Pearson]

A new bottom bracket was fiited at Pearsons a little while ago, so it should be ok,the chain ring bolts seem tight enough. I even cleaned all the winter grit out of the seat clamp. It was a bit creaky after the new bottom bracket was fitted, I tightened it and the noises stopped but propably didnt tighten it enough, hence the fancy new torque wrench but I'd forgotten which way it tightens. I could stop off at Pearsons but its getting a bit embarresing when all thats needed is a nut tightened up a bit.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Simple enough job if you want to drop round sometime.

[Marek]

Paul, it sounds terminal to me, just get a new bike.

Cheers

Marek...

[George]

Yesterday I thought I destroyed another carbon frame

The bottom bracket had similar symnptoms to my last frame that I broke.

Fortunatly the bottom bracket had just come lose

[Marek]

Maybe something to do with your riding style, think this is the Sargeant Major you were on about, have highlighted the bit when he talks about you.

agiskoviner.com Eelmore 07 - Aug 15
By Gary Kristensen MBE


by Gary Kristensen MBE, impartial reporter and (almost) ex-Army loafer!

He's been relatively AWOL (Absent Without Leave for the uneducated) this year due to the arrival of child number two, but when he returns, it is always with a bang, and usually that is the sound of everyone else's legs getting punctures as they go pop!

Who am I talking about? Non other than Mr Pickup, aka Paulo, Mario Vario, Pug and motorbike, with the latter name describing exactly how he's usually going, and tonight was no exception believe me, as I was on the receiving end of it, BIG TIME!!!

Run off as another handicap, the 3/4's were round the bottom bend and had the E/1/2's in their sites as the scratch group were 'released'. Adam Roberts (agiskoviner) and David Jack (Twickenham CC) had batted off the front with the obvious intention of catching the E/1/2's napping, and had that happened, it may have proven difficult to drop them, so it was a pretty good strategy I suppose, until the scratch group put the pedal down and opened up on the speed, making them suffer alone, out front, into a pretty vicious, swirling wind, that seemed relentless on the night both up and down the circuit. Ha ha!

The 3/4's as a group had obviously resigned themselves to doing as little as possible so they could save as much as possible for when they were caught, and for a few it certainly worked. Those stronger 3rd's were able to latch onto the faster boys when it all came together, and then the first concerted attack came from yours truly, much to the disdain of Jamie Newall, who was heard to shout "Where do you think you're going?" as he chased me down and subsequently sat on me! Thanks!

There were a few spurts off the front, but none stuck until Motorbike man launched one up the right hand side of the home straight just before the start/finish line. Stupidly, I decided to jump on his wheel! Not really a good idea with hindsight, which can be a wonderful thing! I'm now left wishing I was blessed with crystal balls.

So, there we were, off the front, with our 'loyal' and 'unselfish' agiskoviner team mates sat on or near the front of the chasing pack trying their best to get a free ride across. Actually, I heard that they were encouraging all and sundry to ride as hard as they could to pull us back to set themselves up for a free ride to the sprint, so glory could be theirs, but that was second hand and could be untrue!

The gap grew very slowly, thanks mainly to motorbike pulling my fat backside round lap after lap. How tortuous was it to see "10 to go" on the lap board? VERY, VERY, VERY! Having legs that had suffered at the hands of Joel Stewart and John McClelland at Hillingdon (for our glorious 3 up TTT win!) the night before, it was all I could do to hang on, coming through for about one fifth of each lap, if I was lucky. I'm sure that everytime he came past, motorbike tutted in contempt of my weak and pathetic attempt to keep the pace around the 55km/h mark, which he seemed to be able to do with effortless ease!

Our precious gap was coming down lap by lap as motorbike kept waiting for me to catch up a bit off the tight bottom corner. Why had I put on that brand new Conti GP 4000 (with the reputation for being not the grippiest tyre in the damp)? Who knows, but it did hold up on the night, unlike my confidence in it. There were a small group of determined riders, led by Jamie Newall and including Pedalon rider Chris minter, non-virgin Dave Creeggan, Tom Kirk (Team Corley Cycles) and George Brent from Addiscombe CC, the man with the unwieldy style! Strong but wrong, if you know what I mean!

Behind them, still, sat our 'loyal' team gaggle of about 6 agiskoviners, all licking their lips and preying on the fact that they were getting an easy ride to potentially overhaul our overworked and sad carcasses. With 2 to go on the board, the bunch were no more than 30 metres behind with Anders Christensen and Dazzler Pembroke 10 metres ahead and just 20 from catching us. Then, a couple of very hard and very painful exertions from the pair of us re-opened the gap to a more comfortable 50 metres at the bell, which we managed to maintain to the tight bottom bend when we relaxed a little bit and made the finish look sporting for the assembled crowd, who'd paid their money and expected a show, not a massacre!!! Who were we to deny them this! In truth, Paul could have easily ditched me throughout the last 8 laps (or more) and was good enough to wait for me, in return for very little help, so I thank him for that. The bunch did work well together to pull us back, and strong finishes from Alex Peterson (AW Cycles.co.uk) and Lee Smith (agiskoviner) saw off the rest for the bunch gallop.

It has to be said that four 3rd/4th category riders made the top 10, which shows it doesn't all go the way of the E/1/2's, with Adam Roberts of agiskoviner the best placed from them in 5th overall.

In the youths event, we had a season's best turn out with 6 riders signing on. Surprise of the night was under 8 rider Joe Jeuwek of Liphook riding away from the rest to win, turning over some talented under 16's in the shape of Elliott Storey and Tommy Garland, who had a bit of a spill but was okay. Scotty Davidson and Sam Gunn, both from Liphook rode tremendously well on their customised mountain bikes, and along with Jordan Allen from the Hillingdon Slipstreamers, finished with a fine flourish of a sprint, strong enough to grace any pro tour gallop! They were amply rewarded with delicious recovery milkshakes from the agiskoviner club sponsors http://www.forgoodnessshakes.com, and all went away with big smiles on their faces, which is what it's all about at the end of the day, isn't it?

Some great racing again, and with only two races remaining this season at Eelmore, there's precious little time to come down and enjoy it. See you next week!

Cheers

Marek.....