Spinning vs. Grinding, real life lesson

Spinning(some say "spinwork") - pedaling high RPM, lower gear at given uphill terrain
Grinding(some say "speedwork") - pedaling in low RPM, high gear at given uphill terrain
I'm a strong advocate of spinning. Recently, I tested out grinding. Grinding gets me faster compare to spinning at a cost... knee pain!

Last Sunday, me and 5 others climbed up Fraser Hill. It was 28km to gap from Kuala Kubu Baru and another 12km up to clock tower. With recently replaced crankset (Shimano 105, 53T & 39T chainring) on my Spesh, the temptation of getting faster was there. Especially "competing" with others riding a road bike with carbon between their legs.

I was grinding my way up to gap before I know, I developed a knee pain. Not a severe kind of pain but more like a pain that I can bear with. Things getting a little uncomfortable until I reached gap. I decided to change the pattern to spinning my way up to clock tower from gap. It came to the point I was using 39/34 gear combo (lowest gear possible for my Spesh) on some steep section.

Alhamdulillah, I made to the clock tower, non-stop in 3 hours despite being the last person to reach there.

Me on the "finishing line". Video by Shuk CIOCC.

To serve as a reminder to myself in the future...

Spin and you save your knee!!

Photo by Shuk CIOCC

The President is coming to town!!

Not just any president.. this is PCC (Nexus) Presidential Ride 2009

My first participation was in 2007 and earned myself a bragging rights :) . The event did not take place in 2008 and has given the organizer an ample time for bigger fun (read: enjoyable suffering) this year!

I was thinking of taking the ride like I did in 2007. Finished the ride within stipulated time, offering help to those in need, and socializing. Yeah.. sounds like a fun ride :)

See you guys there!!

My P1 W1MAX

From time to time I'll post my trial period bandwidth test result for public viewing. FYI, I subscribed 1 Mbps....

Placement: Balcony

Placement: Balcony

Placement: Near window

Placement: Near window

Placement: Near window

Placement: Near window

Placement: Near window

Placement: Near window

Placement: Near window

How did I replaced front hub cartridge bearing?

Where did I get this spoilt hub?
I bought front wheelset from Mr Beskal for a darn cheap price. He warned me that the hub need replacement and I may just end up able to make use of the rim and spokes only. Truth been told, the right side cartridge bearing has some freeplay.

How did I reached "the point of no return"?
I did some reading on the Net to get some idea on how to remove the bearing on this particular WTB Momentum front hub but to no avail. I asked my bike repair guru (Uncle ABC), LBS’s owner of Advance Bicycle Centre in Sri Damansara for some tips, he mentioned that some type can, some can’t be removed. Fair enough, I grabbed plastic mallet on my way home and decided to give a try. After all, I can’t do more harm to a spoilt bearing. If I failed to remove it, get a new hub. Fail or succeed, I’ll learn something. Either learns on how to do it the right way or how to mess it up.

The SOP
Here's the pictorial SOP for my own reference in future.

Step 1

The “OK” side of the hub


Step 2

The ”spoilt“ part of the hub. Notice that rusty sludge? Loosen the nut, hammer tap the spindle with plastic mallet.


Step 3

Bearing on the other side of the hub poked out.


Step 4

Pull the spindle all the way out.


Step 5

The hub anatomy minus the hub body and skewer.


Step 6

Use vernier scale to get the measurement of Outer Diameter (O.D), 26mm.


Step 7

Inner Diameter (I.D), 10mm.


Step 8

Thickness, 8mm.

Step 9

Vital stats for part hunting.

Step 10
At this stage, I need to check if this bearing readily available on the Net. If it is, high chance I can get it from an outlet at Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur.

Keyword search in Google.com .......
cartridge bearing 10 26 8

And here you are!!

Cartridge bearing of this particular dimension is also known as 6000 in it's industrial code.

Where did I found this 6000 cartridge bearing?
I was traversing Jalan Ipoh for SKF and before I stepped into their office, I was courteously stopped by a staff offering helps. According to him, SKF office do not keep stock and he asked me to try the shop next door, Brighton Bearing (M) Sdn Bhd (check out the location on Google Maps here).

The hunt is over :)


A relieving sight of solution

A nice uncle attended me with my Q&A. After exchanging friendly conversation with that nice uncle, I left the shop with a pair of 6000 cartridge bearing.


RM8 per piece.


The old bearing on the left. New NSK bearing on the right side.


The SOP (resume)
Step 11

Tighten the nut to press the bearing into the spindle (not shown here).
To insert the outer bearing into the body hub, I put spoke wrench on the bearing and tap with rubber mallet to give an even pressure.

Step 12

Slip in the "water jacket" until it snap into the groove.

Step 13 (optional)

Truing the wheelset for a perfect roundness