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Monday, November 30, 2020

Photographing A Bike

 I've had some moderate success selling mid- and high-end bikes on Craigslist. Granted this year is a bit unusual; you could sell a tricycle for 4 figures, but even so how you present on Craigslist matters. I'm of the opinion that a well presented bike can easily fetch a significant premium over a poorly presented bike.

On the plus side it turns out that there's not a whole lot of competition. In my market (Portland), here's what you're up against for bikes above $2500:



Not one of those screams "buy me!" or even "click on me!". The pictures are all too cluttered (like that 2014 Santa Cruz), too dark (2020 S-Works Tarmac), or just comical (2016 Specialized Camber). Trust me that changing the filter to $5000+ doesn't help matters. How about this one?

Would You Pay $6000 For This?



Here's some easy ways to improve your pictures. My Litespeed is the model, but don't try to buy it! Not for sale!

Too Much Clutter


The problem here is obvious. Too much crap in the picture. Sure you can see the bike, but it doesn't inspire a buyer. Let's get rid of the clutter.

Crap On The Bike


Almost as bad as crap in the background is crap on the bike. A seatbag, water bottle, and aero-bars interrupt the lines of the bike. Race-ready is not sale-ready.

Bad Angles



Taking a photo from eye level doesn't look good. The geometry looks all goofy. Don't do that. Kneel down and keep the camera at the bike's level.

Wrong Focal Length



OK. Angle is better. But something is still off here. The bike looks wrong. Look at the wheels -- they're ovals. The problem is your typical cell-phone camera is a wide-angle, usually around 24mm. Wide-angle distorts. If at all possible, use a 50mm lens. On an iPhone Pro the telephoto lens is around 52mm, which is very close to what the human eye sees. Digital zoom doesn't work here; you need the right focal length to start.

The bottle cage also doesn't quite work, and seeing both sides of the handlebar is a bad look.

Too Dark


So most of the elements are good here. The picture is nicely composed, very little extra junk on the frame. Handlebars look good. But the whole thing is drab. It's too dark. You can't really see the highlights. This is probably controversial, but I find it helps to go overboard on the "pop" feature in your photo editor. In Google Photos I also use "Metro" which makes the whites whiter and really accentuates any colors.

While you're at it, use this stuff to really bring out the highlights. It gives carbon fiber that "wet carbon" look.

Too Zoomed Out


This is already going to be a small thumbnail on Craigslist. Don't do anything to make it even smaller.

Perfect!



OK it's not perfect. But it's pretty good. I'd buy it.

Friday, November 27, 2020

New Bike Day: 3T Exploro RaceMax... Kinda...

Regular readers of the blog will recall that, shortly after Max picked up his 3T Exploro, I did the same. Our timing was impeccable, as a month later 3T lowered the price of our bikes by $1000 and replaced them with a new version of the frame.

Max and I had a different opinion of the Exploro, with Max arguing:

This is the perfect one-bike quiver.

while I opined:

The 3T Exploro is not, for me, a one-bike quiver. But it does fill out the four-bike road quiver quite nicely.

One of my complaints was an obvious paint flaw. Both Max' and my frame had paint defects, mine most noticeable right around the seatpost.




and Max' around the fork crown. Having paid a premium price for these bikes we decided to pursue a warranty claim. I'm not sure what we expected, I guess realistically I thought 3T would send us some touch-up paint, but instead they generously offered to replace the frames. Max already documented his experience swapping his Exploro Team frame for the lighter Exploro LTD, so now I guess it's my turn.

Exploro RaceMax

I don't remember if 3T offered or if I asked, but one way or another I got the new Exploro RaceMax frame in place of my previous Exploro Team. I did pay the difference in frame price, about $700 plus a few dollars for new brake mounting hardware. I got the new bike built up last week at a local shop.

For a reminder, here's the original 3T Exploro Team



And the RaceMax


In exchange for my $700 I got several benefits.
  • The original Exploro Team came in S/M/L/XL sizing while the RaceMax comes in 6 sizes including a 61cm. The 61cm is in some key dimensions "larger" than the previous XL. You can see the longer head-tube and seat-tube in the picture. But more importantly the top-tube is longer.
  • The Exploro Team hung the derailleur off the rear axle where it would fall off anytime you removed the wheel. The new frame correctly hangs the derailleur from the dropout.
  • Both chain-stays are dropped. Allegedly this allows for a larger 650B tire, though oddly my 700x38 is a much tighter fit on the RaceMax than on the Team.
  • There are some additional aero benefits to the new frame. The seat-tube hugs the rear tire, reminiscent of a Cervelo. The downtube is massive, keeping a water bottle from catching the wind.
Perhaps most importantly, the orange seat-bag that I got to match the old frame actually matches the new frame with its slightly "flatter" orange tint even better.

Not all is perfect: As mentioned above my Barlow Pass 700x38 tires are tigher fit on the new bike. Not as tight as a 700x28 on the Litespeed, but given the purpose of this bike a little extra clearance is important. I just ordered a couple 700x35 Bon Jon Pass tires in the Endurance casing.



Just as important the 44T chainring clears the chainstay by only about 2mm. That's simply not enough. I'm ordering a 40T chainring. Of course this will throw off my gearing by a bit. I'll figure it all out once I get the new chainring installed.

But after a short 15-mile test ride, I much prefer how this bike rides to the Exploro Team. And that's all down to geometry. Some of the niggling issues from the last generation remain, notably the "aero" seatpost which precludes using a dropper, and the annoying top-tube seatpost bolt, though at least they've now hidden that underneath a nice rubber cover

If I were to rate the Exploro Team from 1-10, I'd have given it a 6. A good bike with lots of potential, but with some real problems. In my book the RaceMax merits an 8. They've fixed some of the problems with the original, and improved several aspects. With a set of aero-bars (which I still haven't figured out how to affix) this could be darn close to the one bike quiver for me.

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

New Bike Day: Specialized Turbo Levo SL Comp

Eight years ago I bought a Kawasaki KLR650. At 200kg, that motorcycle was sufficiently beastly that they didn't bother to include pedals. I can only imagine the wattage needed to get over the Alpe d'Huez. The wheels back then were a comically small 21" up front and 17" in back, and the drivetrain had a mere 5 speeds. At least the handlebars were a forward-looking 810mm.


What a difference a decade makes! Today's motorcycles have shed quite a bit of weight and moved to more modern wheel standards. I recently picked up a Specialized Turbo Levo SL, coming in at about 19kg, and with modern touches such as 29" wheels and a 12-speed drivetrain!

After its maiden voyage

Why Now?

Joking aside, why did I finally pick up an e-bike? There are a few reasons.

Honestly, I've always been a little e-bike curious. Depending on where you're riding, a lot of mountain biking can consist of spending an hour pedaling up a forest road, helmet hanging off your backpack, and drenched in sweat by the time you get to the start of the trail. Not for nothing that "shuttle days" are a popular occasion. For these rides, pedaling up isn't the point. It's a necessary evil. On a regular bike you'll be lucky to get 2 runs in before you're ready to quit. On an e-bike? Twice the runs is quite feasible.

But there's a second reason, or perhaps excuse. Since mid-October I've been nursing a couple annoying injuries caused by, of all things, some aggressive pickle-ball playing. First I strained, or partially tore, or something my achilles tendon. That took a couple weeks to get mostly better. Immediately afterward I strained, or partially tore, or something my calf muscle (same leg). That's had me sidelined for nearly a month now, and threatens to get aggravated whenever I walk too aggressively or try jogging. It'll heal, but it's going to take a few months to get better.

Interestingly I feel like road-biking won't bother me much. You seldom have sudden transitions between steady-state and powering up a 35% short muddy climb. But mountain biking and road biking are the same sport in name only; different muscles, different technique, and different failure modes. It's quite common on a muddy slope or switchback to jam a leg to the ground to avoid falling. Or to stand with your weight over the front wheel trying desperately to keep that wheel on the ground while not losing traction on the rear.

There's also a third reason, and I'm a bit embarrassed by this one. I'm just not in as good of shape as my riding buddies. There are a variety of reasons, but they're all excuses. At the end of the day, while they've been going out for 3-4 hour mountain bike rides a couple times every week, I haven't. Right now, I can't keep up.

So I opted to pick up an e-bike. And this is the one I chose is the Specialized Turbo Levo SL Comp.

Why This Bike?

E-bikes have mostly fallen into one camp thus far: Get as much power and battery life as possible, and try to keep the bike under 50 pounds or so. Specialized's other version of this bike, the Turbo Levo, max'es out at 565 Watts and 90 Nm torque of assist. You could literally sit on the seat and do nothing, and the bike has plenty of power to go up a hill briskly. While no KLR650, it's about the closest bike-trail-legal thing.

I really don't want that bike. Let me try again, I don't think I want that bike. Or I don't want to want that bike. OK, fine. I'd love to try one.

But for a bike that I own, I want one that is truly an assist rather than replacement for my output. Even when pedaling up the paved roads of Sandy Ridge to The Good Stuff, I want to be doing something. The Levo SL is a nod to that; it's motor puts out a max of 240W, and 35 Nm of torque. The battery is a commensurately smaller 320 Wh (though a 160 Wh extender can also be used). These changes, along with no doubt a less stout build result in an 8-pound weight savings. Oddly, Specialized doesn't seem to knock much off the price tag for including a lower-power motor and smaller battery, hmm I'm sure it takes a lot of technology to make lighter-weight electrons!

And I'll sheepishly admit; at least part of my preference for the Levo SL over, for example, the Levo is that the Levo looks more like a regular bike. The motor bump is much less pronounced, as is the downtube "battery bulge". Compare:
Turbo Levo

Turbo Levo SL


After I bought this bike I realized it's the first aluminum bike I've bought in quite some time. Among this model, the jump to a carbon frame would have been an extra $1000 for a modest weight savings. Not until you get into the S-Works, nearing or exceeding a 5-figure price tag, do you save an appreciable amount of weight, about 5 pounds. That well exceeds the "dollar per gram" guideline. There are certainly opportunities to save a couple pounds through some moderately priced upgrades. Maybe eventually.

First Thoughts

When I first picked up the bike from the shop I took it for a quick test ride in the parking lot. It's a little surreal, pushing on the pedals a little and suddenly you're moving along quite briskly. I spent some time in my driveway playing around and started to get the hang of it.

Last night I headed out to some local trails for the first real ride. Conditions were, shall we say, muddy.
Winter Riding in the Pacific Northwest

Getting used to the electric assist didn't take too long. I'm definitely a "masher" -- low cadence high torque. This isn't the pedaling style that electric bikes prefer. Or at least not this one. When you find yourself in the wrong gear crawling along at 20RPM, the assist never activated. But manage to shift to get into an easier gear and you'd immediately feel your power multipled 

To its credit, the bike handled itself with aplomb. There were short steep climbs where normally one has to choose between keeping weight over the front wheel and getting more power to the rear, but having an extra hundred watts or so driving the rear wheel helped keep momentum up.

The bike has three assistance modes. Eco, Trail, and Turbo.You can customize each levels assist percent as well as its maximum output. The defaults are

My understanding is that, in ECO mode, the motor will contribute 35% of my power up to a maximum power of 240w * 35% = 84W. So if I am pedaling at 200W, the rider/motor system will put out 270W. If I am pedaling at 300W, the rider/motor system will put out 384W.

Extrapolating from that, on a longer ride at a relatively steady 200W, I could get assist for about 4.5 hours from the 320Wh battery. Or 50% longer if I added the extender. In Trail mode at max output I could only go for about 1.3 hours. Anecdotally I found the eco mode to be more than fine, but on the final climb back to the car I used Turbo just because.

There were a few weird experiences when riding this bike. I don't know if this applies to all. First, the transition from very minor assist to no assist feels a bit abrupt. Partly because you hear the transition as the motor cuts off, but you also feel it. And moreover because it's at least partially dependent on RPM, sometimes it cuts off when you actually still want assist.

Likewise the assist can feel abrupt when it turns on. For the same reasons as above but in reverse. Sometimes if you're in too high/easy of a gear, the motor will cut out during a dead-spot in your pedal stroke when you're not applying much power. Other times the motor will feel like it bogs down because your cadence is too slow. Shift a few gears higher/easier, and with no additional power output from the rider, the motor's power output increases substantially.

None of these are problems; I have every confidence that I'll get accustomed to the power delivery. I've had only one ride so far!

Otherwise the bike rides like a bike. I'll openly acknowledge that I rode like a pansy; I haven't been on a mountain bike in a couple months, my leg is pretty sore still, and the trails were super muddy. Our local trails have a blue/black that has some doubles, a couple off camber, as well as a couple small drops. Only on the last run down did I start to actually try getting both wheel off the ground and even then only on table-tops. No biggie, that wasn't the point. The bike handled it all fine.

With the power off the bike pedals and rides like any other, er, 40 pound bike. My Yeti SB5c is high 20s and does feel snappier. But the bike is not the limiting factor at this point. I did note that the motor lets you be a "sloppier" rider in some situations. Maintaining momentum isn't as critical when you regain speed a bit easier.

Conclusion?

I'm happy with the purchase. Not ecstatic, but that's in part because it's a bitter pill to realize that you're slower than your friends. On the other hand, if it gets me out riding when I wouldn't otherwise, then it's unquestionably a win. I don't plan to retire the Yeti; as an extension of the SB66c before it, that's still my favorite bike ever.

This is probably in the second or third generation of high volume "e-MTBs". There's definitely still a lot of refinement yet to come, but for my money and for how I ride, the "modest assist" is the right compromise. I can definitely see the appeal of the more powerful/heavier models but those bikes would need to supplement another bike while the Levo SL could legitimately be a "single-bike quiver". (So why isn't it for me? I clearly don't believe in single-bike quivers).


Sunday, November 1, 2020

Exploro Team -> Limited

 Sam and I got these matching Exploro Team SRAM eTap builds straight from 3T fairly early in the pandemic lockdown.  You know, do our part for the global economy and all.  I hope it helped.  I sure like the bike.


The paint job was faulty on both of our bikes.  Sam's chipped in a highly visible place on top of the top-tube.  Mine chipped at the fork/headtube interface.  We let 3T know to see what the company might do for us.




This is the kind of thing where you might say "who cares," but two factors favored asking for recompense from 3T:

  1. These bikes were $5900 new.  That's real money.  (And the fact that after 3T's new model came out the price dropped to $4900 doesn't help.)
  2. It happened to both of us, suggesting it is actually a fabrication fault, and 3T might want to know about it to fix it.

Give 3T great credit.  The offer: we will replace the frameset with a brand new Exploro LTD frameset - the lighter-weight, murdered-out black version that used to retail for $4400 for the frameset alone.  (Also reduced, BTW, to $3400 today.)

So here it is:

3T Exploro Limited.  Happy with this resolution.

Can't confirm the weight advantage - I don't weigh my bikes to speak of. There is a nice friction strip on the front of the seatpost, which will hopefully mitigate the slippage issue we encountered on the Team version. But at bottom, it just looks awesome. 

Thanks, 3T!

Friday, September 18, 2020

Settling... For a beautiful custom titanium and carbon di2 bike. And also cutting the steerer.

 I've written about my selling spree, and even about my mixed feelings about listing my custom TiCycles bike. The issue was that I was riding my other bikes, and not the TiCycles. So selling it seemed the right thing to do.

I priced it at a premium, varying the price between $3500 and $5000, and got two very serious buyers. The funny thing was, though, both times as it came close to selling, I felt significant regret followed by relief when the sale fell through.

Several weeks ago I was out for a ride on this wonderful bike, and started thinking about what I'd do when it sold. I'd probably buy a new frame from Habanero, exactly equivalent to my the old Habanero road frame on which my TiCycles frame was based. I'd put on Red eTap, carbon fork and bars.. All in all I was envisioning a sweet build. And then I looked down at my TiCycles and realized it was already a sweet build.

When I got home from my ride I deleted my Craigslist posting, and I've ridden the TiCycles quite a few times since (some of that is because I bent the derailleur hanger on my Litespeed).

So as silly as it sounds, I'm settling. As long as I'm settling, I decided to finish up a project I started 4 years ago. This is the bike as I originally received it:


I quickly swapped out the included generic carbon fork with an Enve. Just for vanity purposes.


Look at the length of that steerer! I actually built up with that initially.


I honestly don't remember trimming that, but apparently I did. But I still left an inch of steerer for later adjustability. This is how I've been riding the bike for the last several years.


After my decision to keep the bike, I decided to finally deal with that ugly chimney. It's always bothered me, but I just didn't see any good reason to cut it off.

Of course you can't cut a steerer without Park Tools. The hacksaw comes with a blade intended for cutting softer material like carbon fiber.

And of course the hacksaw guide. To be honest, I kinda winged it on this cut. Didn't measure especially carefully, which in hindsight was pretty stupid. I also didn't do the obvious step of taping the stem to get a cleaner cut.

But the cut turned out pretty clean anyway. I'm happy with that.


Enough steerer left for the recommended small spacer on top of the stem This is to ensure that the stem's bolts clamp a little further away from the end of the steerer. I'll probably buy a carbon fiber spacer to replace the titanium spacer currently on there.


Not a great picture; no bike looks good with aerobars on. Especially if those aerobars are on 50mm risers. But this looks better than it used to with that massive chimney above the stem.

I rode this bike back-to-back with my old Habanero Rando bike recently.

It was an interesting comparison. The TiCycles rides much "taller". When I don't ride it for a while, I sorta feel like I'm going to fall over the front of the bars on the TiCycles. After a few miles of course it feels great again. Meanwhile my old Habanero feels like the touring bike it is. Like an easy-chair. But then look at that stack on the Habanero! Perhaps I have another steerer to cut in my future!


Sunday, July 26, 2020

Selling

Lots of posts here about selling.  Starting in August we need to agree to post more about riding.

Front was the "Flamme Rouge" setup.

 Just sold my Hed Jet 4/6 wheelset

I had these Hed wheels from many years ago, and like so much in my bike closet they were a functional Ship of Theseus - with all parts replaced, are they the same set I originally bought?  It was a nice riding wheelset that looked good when mounted.  But:
  • I'm not riding any rim brake bikes these days;
  • I had broken a spoke on the rear;
  • They were a 10-speed hub, which doesn't work on anything I'm riding.
Also, I have too much stuff, which is kind of the general point of July 2020 at Huffman Bicycle Club.

I listed them for $250 and sold them for $200 plus a six-pack of Fat Tire.  Joe, who bought them, is a really nice guy.
C2 - Hed went to wider rims before much of the industry.  By "wide" we are talking 19mm internal width.

I disclosed all the flaws

To the extent they weren't obvious, I disclosed the flaws.  The real problem was the broken spoke.  I put a new one in, but it needs tightening and truing.  I personally never continue with wheels when the spokes start to go.  No reason except that the cost of wheel upkeep is greater than the cost of new wheels.  If you look around you can find a set of Heds with basically no use for under $1000.  Starting down the road of taking these into the shop on a regular basis, Joe may find himself at $1000 in a few years time.

So should I have sold to Joe in the first place?  Am I just passing junk on to the next guy?  I'm inclined to think that a full and fair disclosure, which I make in all cases, is all that is required. 

But what gets me is if Sam wanted to buy these, I'd probably tell him "keep looking."  Didn't Joe deserve the same?

e-Thirteen 12-speed cassette

UPDATE with short ride review

Day 1 didn't work because the battery was dead in my Eagle RD.  (Had a nice ride on the road bike, however.)  Yesterday I rode the 3T with new e-Thirteen 12-speed, 9-46 cassette installed.

An aside about tuning (not about the cassette):  A few miles of working out the tuning with Sram's microshift tuning was surprisingly easy.  One question:  isn't this something an electronic derailler can accomplish on its own?  Wouldn't technology permit a new cassette install with auto-tuning?  I am imagining a "tuning mode."  I put bike on stand.  Start tuning mode.  I stand there and rotate pedals.  Derailler auto-shifts through 12 cogs a few times and makes the necessary adjustments. 

Once tuned, the cassette worked quite smoothly.  The shifts feel a touch harsher than a Shimano Ultegra, my ordinary comparator.  But crisp.  The cassette pulls smoothly in 11 of the 12 cogs.  (I never did work out the tuning in the second-to-inside - 39 tooth - cog.  Inside and third both work well, so I think this is a question of fiddling.)

Compared to the PG-1230:
  • PG-1230: 11,13,15,17,19,22,25,28,32,36,42,50
  • e-Thirteen 9-46:  9,10,12,14,16,18,21,24,28,33,39,46
This cassette eats up the small jumps at the very top end (1-tooth difference 9-10.)  That means both this and the PG-1230 are 2-2-2-2-3-3 in the range that is primarily being used for road riding. 

Comparing the Sram 10-50, which is really the like-to-like comparison:
  • XG-1275: 10,12,14,16,18,21,24,28,32,36,42,50
  • e-Thirteen 9-46:  9,10,12,14,16,18,21,24,28,33,39,46
Jumps at 1-2-2-2-2-3-3-4-5-6-7 and 2-2-2-2-3-3-4-4-4-6-8.

The real difference seems to be at the low end, where Sram goes 4-4-6-8 and e-Thirteen goes 4-5-6-7.  I would think that would make moving into lower gears a more natural feel on this cassette, with the range not changing dramatically all at once.

Maybe so.  I did have use for 11 of the 12 cogs, only shifting into 9 teeth once to see how it felt.  How it felt was heavy, because I was on flat ground.  More rides needed!

In short, for the purpose - higher top end, higher bottom end, slightly closer shifts, lighter weight - the e-Thirteen has promise.  I see it is now $195 at Jenson USA (as of 29 July), so that's something.

ORIGINAL POST RESUMES:  Swapping cassettes

The Sram PG-1230 11-50 cassette that came from the factory on the Exploro has not pleased me at all.  It is heavy, gearing is a low 4-1 top end (when matched with the 44-tooth 1x on the bike), and the  bottom end at 50 teeth is lower than I need.  So the PG-1230 will stay for real trail use, until I upgrade this wheelset to a lighter-weight 650b from Hunt and the cassette to a lighter-weight 10-50 or so, but I've been looking for a better option to mount on my Hunt wheelset for general road and dirt.

Sram PG-1230 cassette came stock on the $5900 Force/Eagle e-Tap build.  Hmmm.

(What's wrong with too low at the bottom end?  It is easy to take advantage of this and find yourself climbing at 4 mph a hill you might otherwise stand and climb at 8 mph.  It also creates big jumps, which is annoying if your primary experience is riding 11-25 11 spd cassettes.)

Frustrating thing about Sram's offerings: the Eagle derailler here, which integrates fine with the Force gravel group, is not effective at shifting the Force 10-33 cassette.  Although a 10-36 is apparently out (though not available for purchase as best as I can tell), that also is supposed to be a bad fit with the Eagle RD.  All this means there is *nothing* in the Sram line that bridges the road/mountain gap.  (Shimano has done this better with the GRX group, which shifts 32 tooth and 46-tooth cassettes with equal aplomb.)

Failed experiment

I nonetheless ordered the Sram Force 10-33 cassette, it was wonky with this derailler, I sent it back to Backcountry. To Backcountry's credit they issued the refund.  Backcountry's return policy is ambiguous to say the least.  Used and undamaged gear can come back for store credit.  What about an item, like a cassette, which when used is necessarily damaged?  Backcountry's policy continues, "we will not accept the return of products damaged due to negligence or abuse."  I was not negligent and did not abuse the Force-1270 cassette, so I sent it back, and BC refunded me.


What else?

Back to the drawing board.  There seemed to be two options: 
  • Rotor makes a 12-speed cassette at 10-39 for a mean $385.  I have not yet spent >200 on a cassette - actually, not sure I've gone over $100 before - so this was a really tough pill to swallow.
  • e-Thirteen makes a 12-speed cassette at *9-46 for $299.  Marked down to $199.  With a 11-12 speed conversion kit for Sram.  
I went with e-Thirteen.  The reviews were great, the price was right, and the gearing was pretty good.  After all, 44-9 is a higher top end than 53-11, my prior highest high gear.  My drive-train was already 12-speed, so I didn't need the conversion kit, but the cassette without the kit was $10 more at $209.  (That's a computerized pricing algorithm for you if there ever was one.)

Now to mount on my Hunt 700c wheelset, which I envision serving the "road" function for this all-rounder of a bicycle.  The e-Thirteen technology is a little unsettling at first.  This cassette takes an XD driver.  The cassette is in two pieces.  Piece 1 fits by pressing into place and tightening a 3mm allen bolt to hold it.



You then add the outer section, the remaining 9 sprockets, which tighten to attach using a chain whip.
10-speed chain whip on 12-speed cassette.
That attachment is secured with another allen bolt.

1 nm is a little odd when there is loctite on the bolt.  I am past 1nm just getting the thing to turn!

Bolts came pre-loctite'd, of course.  Given the generally linear forces on a cassette, one shouldn't worry.  But what if one of those allen bolts comes loose in the chain?

Cassette looks good installed and bike looks good with road wheels in place.

With the 9-speed cog I either needed to drop a link or to drive the derailler adjustment screw in a little.  I did the latter.  Shifting is pretty smooth on the stand.  Hope to ride today to get a fuller picture.