Thor and Aquaman - planning the costumes

First step in my Halloween costume construction is to plan out the elements. I do this to get an idea of the scope of the work as well as supplies I'll need. At this point I have procured most of the supplies with just a few items yet to arrive (ebay purchases). I hope by drawing things out (despite my lack of designer level sketch ability) that I won't discover at the last minute that I overlooked some critical element and be forced to spend too much money, compromise, or even do without.
The basic Aquaman costume, represented on the left, should be pretty simple, except perhaps for the gloves (which I plan to sew rather than purchase). I have a fingerless glove pattern that could be adapted for fingered gloves - alternately I could design a simple pattern by cutting out two (flat) glove shapes - but I will lose the dimension offered by the fabric piece that runs between the fingers (but may be pretty tricky to sew). The most complex element of Aquaman is going to be the seahorse - which I visualize for this costume as a stick horse although I plan to attach a tail at the bottom end of the stick. Again I have a pattern to adapt but it will require reshaping for the head. I will have to draft the tail pattern from scratch myself.
Thor, shown on the right will be more complicated. I expect to make his tunic/jerkin from suede cloth(with silver lame circles) but I haven't decided how best to fit the top. Options include: open in back to fasten with velcro; open in back to fasten with snaps/snap tape; incorporate stretch panels in the sides so the top can be pulled on. The suede cloth is one of the supplies I'm awaiting so I will see how much stretch, if any, it has before making a final decision. I am not going to style the tunic as a bodysuit (fastening under the crotch) due to comfort concerns but I will shape it so that it hangs down in the front coming to a point so the visual image is similar.
I have not yet decided exactly how I will make the two character's belts, but both are yellow and I have some yellow fabric for Thor's boots (which will in fact be spats or gaiters for this costume). I have one thick elastic belt with plastic buckle that I can cover with the yellow, making a sort of applique design for Thor's logo. I''ll likely fashion Aquaman's "A" buckle out of a scrap of plastic or heavy cardboard (milk bottle, etc.) and then cover it with a coating of fabric.
Next - fabric choices; making the tights.

End of the season

Although I didn't blog about it, I had what I consider to be a good racing season with the TT bike I built. I competed in 3 duathlons, 1 medium-short triathlon (shorter than Olympic distance but longer than Sprint) and my first half ironman race.

The Fetish bike became a road bike but now sports Oval Concepts clip on aero bars.
I have ordered an Oval Concepts Jetstream Fork after reading what Zinn had to say about it on Velo News. Other than trying it out when it arrives, I have given that bike some vacation time. The fork sounds impressive and my only qualms are in replacing the fork that has been custom painted to match the frame. My next tentatively planned multisport event will be a duathlon in April.

I've done some more work on the KHS cyclocross bike shown in earlier posts - it now has Easton EA 70 bar and stem (to match the seatpost) and Bike Nashbar cantilever brakes both front and back (lost the squeal that comes for no additional charge with Avid Shorty 6s).

Next on the bike project list will be a replacement of the drivetrain of my KHS road bike. At this point I am leaning toward a Campy Chorus groupset but may use some or all of the parts from Centaur instead due to cost concerns (as well as the fact that Centaur should now have the ultratorque crankset in carbon available). I plan to have the road bike frame repainted in the next couple of months.

Next on my other project list are Halloween costumes and I have decided to try to document this process from start to finish. I sew a lot of my own work out and racing clothing, and since I do a lot of modifications to patterns (or even make my own), I have decided to start keeping track of some of the more interesting things (to me) I've tried. Pictures and plan detail for Halloween stuff to follow over the next couple of days...

What I think about pedals

Although, over time, I have developed a preference for one type of clipless pedal, I do not, by any means, have experience with the variety available. I have not, for instance, ever used Speedplay Zeros or Look pedals so I may be missing out on some pleasurable riding (or performance enhancing) experiences although, for reasons I'll outline shortly, I'm not planning to try out anything different in the foreseeable future.
My first clipless pedal was the Shimano SPD - R (105 version). I put these first on a touring bike I used to own (Schwinn Sierra), then moved them over to the green Schwinn Supersport pictured in an earlier post. I had a lot of problems with these pedals - most notably in unclipping the right one. It took a real jerk and pull of my leg to get it out. I probably have an unevenly developed leg muscle on that side to this day from that. I finally started to adjust the tension with the allen key/hex wrench about every time I rode, which helped minimally although it seemed to 'stiffen up' during the ride. I 'crashed' more than once when I couldn't get unclipped coming up to an intersection. But I was convinced that I could 'learn' to use these since so many other people rode clipless. At this point in my life, I didn't have any close friends or acquaintances who rode bikes and most of what I learned I got off the internet or out of magazines. Thinking back, I had a uniquely independent approach to my entrance into triathlons and racing as it seems like a lot of people are influenced by friends or family members. This may be why I particularly like the sport of triathlon - since it is (in its "pure" non-draft legal form) a truly individual sport. At any rate, when I bought the blue KHS cyclocross bike (also pictured earlier), it came with Shimano standard SPD mountain pedals. I used those for a time and I also began to ride with others on group rides and to notice that a fair number of them used either that pedal, or a slightly modified version with the same clipping mechanism. Compared to the SPD - R, the SPD, a two-sided pedal with smooth action, was a dream to use. The SPD - R, no longer made, was perhaps the Windows ME of pedals (or maybe the Windows Vista of pedals, time will tell....).
At this point in time (late 2002, early 2003), I was becoming more and more interested with cyclocross, a sport (as I mentioned earlier) I have yet to participate in. And it appeared that the pedal du jour, so to speak, for cyclocross was the Crank Brothers Egg Beater. (I briefly considered the Speedplay Frog after reading reviews but it was pricier at the time. (Not sure how they compare now, though as the Cranks keep introducing new models, decreasing weight, and increasing prices.) At around the same time, I finally found, back in the midwest where I used to live, a LBS that was helpful. (One time early in my riding, I walked into a big store, part of a chain, not Performance Bike, during my lunch hour with a credit card prepared to spend whatever to buy clipless pedals AND shoes and I couldn't get anyone to help me, so I went back to my workplace that afternoon, purchased the SPD-R pedals online, bought shoes on ebay and thus began a long tradition for me of buying bike parts online, although not generally while I was at work.) This other LBS, an independent store, was conveniently close to the starting place for some of the weekly or monthly rides in the area. I walked in with the SPD pedals as I was assembling the cyclocross bike because they came with a plastic platform (for regular shoes) that I couldn't get off (I had started dissembling the pedal in the process) and they pried it off for me. It was this same shop that helped me when I couldn't get tires off the original rims. It was also this shop that special ordered a pair of SPD - R compatible shoes for me when I originally bought the wrong type (SPD compatible) on ebay because I didn't know what I was doing, and also explained the difference to me. They also installed the SPD - R pedals when I couldn't figure out how to get the original pedals off (torqued tightly and I had no idea about reverse threading). So when I was complaining about my issues with the SPD - R, one of the guys working at this store recommended the Egg Beater. I was told that it was a very easy 'first' clipless pedal. New models were due out (the triple ti was being introduced that fall), so the current year's model was on sale.
I tried the Egg Beaters out on the cyclocross that fall and winter, riding through some mud and snow, and I found them confidence inspiring. At this point, however, I had three pairs of shoes with three different sets of cleats - SPD - R for the road bike; Egg Beater for the cyclocross; and SPD for spinning class which I was participating in during the cold months at the local YMCA.
I started to lean toward making a change on my road bike, I had a little bit of a mental battle over giving up the SPD - R pedals because the Egg Beaters were technically 'mountain' pedals. At this time, I wasn't interested in trying yet another road pedal (and setting up another pair of shoes). So when I moved to New Mexico and found myself stopping frequently at the foot of a hill (or the base of one), the desire for confidence in clipping/unclipping won out and I swapped the pedals on my road bike to Egg Beaters. Later on, when Crank Brothers started branching into 'road' versions, I replaced these with the Quattro. Only downside with the Quattro is that not all shoes (mountain/walkable) work with them, but I really like the road shoe cleat mounting that came with the Quattro.
Now that I'm used to having a four-sided pedal that I can slide into or out of without even thinking
about it, I cannot imagine a reason to try something different. There are a couple of other advantages for me, as well. Since I alternate among bikes and use bikes for commuting/transportation, it is nice to have all of my (too many) pairs of shoes work, for the most part, with all of the bikes. (Some mountain shoes and the Quattro are the only exception; otherwise all of my road shoes work on road/cyclocross/other road/TT/singlespeed bike, as do any of my mountain/winter boots/walkable shoes.) I've found, especially with the new road cleat, that I can run through triathlon transitions just fine with these shoes (a disadvantage might be that they don't stay well on the pedals if you want to remove your feet; something I have never really learned how to do, and seeing the state of some of the transition areas with pebbles, sand, debris, etc., I'm not certain it is prudent to take them on in socks or bare feet as you prepare for the run portion of the race). I suspect, although I do not know for certain, that you have to leave Speedplays on the pedals as I can't imagine walking/running on that cleat set up. Actually, though, in this area, at least one of the races allows you to bike into transition - a practice that probably should be discontinued and didn't lead for me to much of a time advantage as I had to ride pretty slowly to avoid everyone else.
Where I now live, the pedal of choice appears to be the Speedplay in part because that is what is sold by the LBS. It is, in my mind, the "triathletes' pedal" just as I see Zipps as the "triathletes' wheel." Of course, everyone used to think that 650 cc wheels were better/faster, too. Looking at what the pro (cyclists) ride, one sees a strong relationship between sponsorship deals and products of choice (duh). My red Quattros are the team Lotto model. Shimano's newer road model, the SPD-SL, is, I believe, nearly the same pedal as the Look. (Nashbar and Performance's own pedals are likewise similar.) The only other road pedal that I will confess a temptation to try is the Campy Pro Fit, based in part on Zinn's praise, although it seems to be, again, a variation of the Look (or the other way around, perhaps.) And this would be another big investment, not to mention refitting cleats on many (too many) pair of shoes plus losing my (almost) "every shoe works on every bike" advantage.
Bottom line, to me, is what works for me and what I'm comfortable in. I still recommend the Egg Beater to anyone starting out with clipless. The first question people usually ask is something like "How easily can you get clipped in them?" IMO, based on my own experience, that question isn't nearly as important as "How easily can you get unclipped?"

The "Mighty Schwinn"

Finished (sort of)!

The bike is put together (pictures to follow). I taped only the ends of the cowhorn near the brakes (for grip) but am going to wait until I ride a little before taping the extensions in the event I want to adjust the length. I guessed on seatpost height so all of the adjustments may change.
I can only get into 8 of the 9 cogs - the shifter is only clicking 8 times. (I re-read the packaging; it is in fact a Dura Ace 9 speed bar end shifter.) I will look into that more after I ride assuming that I'll need to do more adjusting on brakes and shifters as the set up was all done on a repair stand.
I'm hoping to get in a little test ride later this afternoon and will update and post photos later on.

Cables and Housing

The worst week of the school semester (so far) was last week, with just one week of classes until spring break. Although I am by not means 'caught up,' I found some time Friday and Saturday to start making some progress.
I mounted the tires on the wheels. It was not easy to get the last couple of inches on and I broke a Crank Brothers Speed Lever (it is not the first time) in the process. Another argument for tubulars! The Vredstein Fortezza tires are rated to 175 psi so I'm anxious to see how they feel.
With the wheels on the bike, I made some tentative adjustments to the aero/base bar (combination of visual and physical assessments) and torqued everything down to recommended levels. I also went back and checked the torque on derailleur fastening bolts, brake lever attachment, and shifter attachment.
The brakes are fully functional. The only tricky thing was getting the housing through the base bar. In the previous post, two badly focused pictures show a portion of this process - what finally worked was using a very small hex wrench to catch and insert in the center of the housing like a hook, then tug downward through the hole. I ran the brake cables through the housing and into the brakes; using a Park Tools 3rd hand brake tool to hold them closed. I finally got the cables tight enough (I don't like sloppy feeling brakes) by sliding the top part of the brake slightly upward on the cable (while pulling it downward and tight), and quickly tightening the bolt with my other hand. Both front and rear will likely need re-tightened after some riding but should be safe for now. I also torqued the brake calipers and brake cable bolts to manufacturer's recommendations. The directions (Shimano) with the brake calipers weren't bad.
Today we've been hit with another blast of cold weather (60s - 70s all of last week up until yesterday). Instead of doing something outside, I started up again on the bike relatively early. I ran the shifter housing (it was easier than the brake housing as the aero extensions are a straight line; the base bar had a major curve that the brake housing had to go around) and have put both cables through. I had purchased an entire set of Jagwire racer cables and housing and I am very pleased with it. I didn't know until I looked at their site that this same kit is available in hot pink (I have standard dark grey; close to the Shimano Dura Ace color) which would have gone pretty well on this bike. I'll keep that in mind for the future. This kit had most of the things I needed (other than bigger brake ferrules for the Cane Creek levers) including little bumper pads (red things in the photo) for the cables to keep them from putting rub marks on your frame.
The housing cut easily and pretty neatly. This is the first time I've ever sized and cut housing and also the first time I worked with brakes that aren't cantilevers. (Dual pivot road brakes appear to be much easier to install and adjust than cantilevers.)
I'm going to need to put the chain on the start adjusting the derailleurs so I will do that this afternoon. I'm dreading working with the shifters because it has been my experience in the past that getting smooth shifting can be time consuming. I'll need to set up my workstand and there really isn't room inside, so working on the shifting may be out of the question for today as it is a little bit on the cold side (40s I think) today. Still, it looks like the first test ride may happen as early as next week.

Progress!