Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn: Aero components; mysterious white boxes; and your comments on previous columns

Aren't aero' covers on components a no-no?
Dear Lennard,
Floyd Landis's aerodynamic cranks have been described as both a "fairing" and a "cover." I thought aerodynamic covers on components isn't allowed.
Steve

Dear Steve,
It isn't allowed to have a cover on a component that is strictly for aerodynamics, but a cover can be made that serves an aerodynamic purpose while at the same time increasing the strength or rigidity of the component. That argument could be made with Floyd's crank cover.
Lennard

How do they rig those aero-bar brakes?
Dear Lennard,
I've seen a brake lever on the CSC time trial bikes that is on the aero extension, (where the shifters are.) Do you know how they connect these to the brakes? I'm guessing it's like the bar-top levers in cyclo-cross, but I haven't been able to see a clear enough picture to tell. Thanks for the info, and I love your column!
Jeff

Dear Jeff,
Yes, the lever is connected in-line just like a bar-top lever for cyclo-cross. Last year in my Tour column I ran detail photos and a description of the cable routing. Briefly, cable housing runs from the normal lever and from the brake caliper to the supplementary lever body on one side and to the supplementary lever blade on the other side. The cable then runs straight through the supplementary lever from the main lever to the caliper. When you pull the main lever, it works normally. When you pull the supplementary lever, it pushes the housing away from the other end of the housing, opening up a gap where you see more cable between the supplementary lever body and blade, thus tightening the cable and applying the brake.
Lennard

White box is an SRM transponder
Dear Lennard,
What was the white box-looking thing hanging from Jens Voigt's seatpost today? Never seen that one before.
Jer

Dear Jer,
I answered that one a lot last year, when they were black. It's the transponder for the SRM power meter. It relays the data telemetrically to the team and to SRM, who then post it in real time on various Web sites.
Lennard

Comments on components
Dear Lennard,
First, regarding your item on Thomson stems on carbon steerer tubes, I ran into this issue when looking at a Reynolds Ouzo Pro a couple years ago. I already had the stem and didn't want to waste money on a new one, so I called Reynolds tech support and they expressly endorsed the use of Thomson stems on their steerers. I've been using the combo ever since without problems.

Also, regarding your prior discussions about compact cranks vs. traditional cranks, and the gearing limitations of short-cage derailleurs: I have FSA K-Force cranks, 53/39. My local shop guru set up my short-cage Record rear derailleur with an IRD 12-28 10-speed cassette. Granted, it's not the lightest piece out there, and it's one tooth beyond Campy specs for short-cage D's (27). But it works. Also, I plan to swap into an FSA 38-tooth middle ring, which will give me a fairly decent climbing gear of 38/28, while still having the 53/12 for the downhills and flats. The set-up works great, no complaints so far, and I can even cross-chain 53/28 - not that I do, but there's enough slack in the system to allow it without the cogs hitting the pulley. So I would say it's a functional, alternative approach to the gearing dilemma, provided you have a good wrench who can make it work.
Bill

Riding over fallen riders
Dear Lennard:
I believe there is an additional consideration when addressing the issue of whether to ride over a fallen rider, and that is an ethical one. Two years ago I had a rider fall in front of me while mountain biking at a high rate of speed. There was no question of a collision, but I did have a choice; I could hit the rider on the ground, or I could bunny-hop the rider and at least get my front wheel over the body and improve my chances of remaining upright. I decided hitting the rider was the safest course of action. My front wheel contacted his hydration pack, launching me in a classic superman into a ditch. Had I attempted to bunny-hop the guy I very well may have chain-ringed him and caused grievous injury. As it was, he was badly bruised with multiple lacerations. I suffered a fifth-degree shoulder separation, which required surgery to repair. I think I made the right choice.
Charlie

Anecdotal support for technique
Dear Lennard,
Thanks for the "negative trail" explanation and related advice for riding over people. I've been racing bikes for, oh, like 10 years now and broken my collarbone three times - due to someone falling close in front of me, on both the road and the track, every single time. So I have some experience with this sort of thing and have also laid awake at nights (between Percosets) wondering about how I might successfully ride over dudes.

Anyway, I think I can add some anecdotal backup to your "pointing downhill when you run over someone will make you less likely to fall" conjecture. There is a single, isolated instance where I ran over a dude in mid-race without going down myself. It happened on the track, during a points race, believe it or not.

While racing at T-Town several years ago (it was the first and only time my mother came to see me race on the track), a dude up near the front took a spill three-quarters of the way up the banking between turns one and two. I was following some distance behind, just below the stayers line, so that I started closing on him after he hit the floor and was sliding down the banking. Heavy traffic prevented me from taking any serious evasive action - my only choice was to dive for the infield and hope I beat him there. It didn't work out that way, and I was headed straight for him, thinking, "Oh, crap, I can't let my mom see me break another collarbone." So I closed my eyes, popped the biggest wheelie I could and braced for impact. I heard his disk wheel crack as I rode over it and I heard him holler as I rode over his arm - and then suddenly I found myself on the infield, still upright! (but with soiled pants)

For years, figuring out how I stayed up has been a huge mystery. Well, now I know - I was pointed down the banking when I ran over the dude, so when my rear wheel came back down, the bike's trail was close to "normal" and I made it through. All the other times I ran over dudes and then broke something - sure enough, I was on a flat stretch.
Daniel

Don't stare at the rider
Dear Lennard:
I agree 100 percent on your comments about how to steer around the fallen rider, but one more step can really add to your chance of pulling it off, and that's not staring at the rider as you "press the target" and wind up steering into them. I run a drill on my motorcycle and bicycle whenever safe and possible. While following another vehicle I wait for marks on the road, manhole covers, etc., and I dodge them.
Warren

Counter-steering confusion
Dear Lennard,
I think you misstated the proper technique for counter-steering in a recent Technical Q&A about riding over a fallen rider, where you explained it as follows: ". . . applying a strong counter-steering force on your handlebar. You do this by pushing out on the hand that is toward the falling rider (and better yet by simultaneously pulling back on the hand that is away from the falling rider). This momentarily turns your handlebar toward the falling rider and forces the bike to lean away, and hence to turn away, from said rider . . ."

To counter-steer away from the fallen rider you would actually do the opposite: push hard on the hand opposite the rider, not near him, and by pulling (if need be) on the hand nearest the rider. I assume this was a typo, but think it bears correction in your next column.
Ian

Dear Ian,
Oops. Yes, it was a typo. Thanks for reading carefully. You push out on the hand on the side you want to turn toward. So in this case, push out on the side away from the fallen rider. This turns the wheel momentarily toward the fallen rider and initiates an instantaneous lean away from him.
Lennard

Wippermann pin in a Shimano chain
Dear Lennard,
There has been a lot of talk lately regarding Shimano chain-pin installation. I prefer the SRAM and Wippermann chains for their ease of removal for cleaning. My Shimano 10-speed chain is nearing the end of its useful life so I installed the master link from the Wippermann Shimano-specific 10-speed chain on the Shimano chain as an experiment. It has worked flawlessly for a month (approximately 800 miles) now and I have had none of the skipping on the 11 issues I have heard about, including full sprint finishes.
Jim

Just be sure to remove all the grease first
Dear Lennard,
I wanted to let the readers know that I have been using a Wippermann master link that allows you to remove the chain with no tools and have had zero problems. It costs around $9-10 and allows you to clean the chain quite easily. The only thing I will say is make sure that all of the grease that the chains are packed in is removed before using the link. If you don't, it will stick and cause a kink in the chain, which will cause the rear derailleur to mis-shift.
Alex