Continental Double Fighter III 26" Tire

Just ordered two Continental Double Fighter III 26x1.9 tires for the 184.5 mile C&O ride on the 1998 Porsche Bike S this fall. I've been looking for these tires for months now. With everyone riding bikes during the pandemic, every bike tire outlet has been bought out. When I saw these listed again I jumped on it.

The Continental Double Fighter III has a textured center section for smooth rolling and aggressive shoulder lugs providing the right tracking bite when needed. These tires will be perfect for the generally smooth but gravel/dirt C&O Canal Tow Path. Continental tires were also the stock manufacturer on the 1990s Porsche bicycles.

I'm hoping to install mid August and get some reliable miles on them before the fall big ride.

Ride to the auto parts store

Short early morning ride to the auto parts store to pick up some epoxy to fix the Cayenne’s driver side seat back. Six miles.

Recovery ride

After yesterday’s 51 mile ride in the heat, I decided to pull a process from my old running days. So this morning I did a slow and easy recovery ride just to loosen the muscles up. Also helps me get more seat time.

51 miles in 99°

Rode the 1998 Porsche Bike S on the 51 mile route again this morning. I was able to finish the two loops around BWI and down to Annapolis and back a little faster than last week. Another warm day, started in 80° sun and finished in 90° with a heat index of 99°. Good ride and felt good, even after a few too many adult beverages yesterday. Ate three salty microwaved eggs before the ride and didn't need any fuel for the entire 51 miles. I'm happy I'm getting back to the point where my body burns fat for fuel. Did drink 1.5 of my 2 water bottles though.

My new GT4 livery for PCA Sim Racing Series 5

Based on the John Fitzpatrick JDAVID Porsche livery of the 1980s.

Favorite Porsche bike rides

Here's a list of my favorite Porsche bike rides:

1. Death Ride LINK
2. Truckee "mini death ride" LINK
3. Flume Trail Lake Tahoe LINK
4. Tour De Tahoe LINK
5. Sacramento Century LINK
6. Wildflower Chico LINK
7. Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath LINK
8. Gold Country Challenge LINK
9. Sacramento River bike path LINK
10. BWI to Annapolis LINK
11. Western Maryland Rail Trail LINK
12. Reno River Trail LINK

Hoping for many more to come...

51 miles in the heat

 

51 mile ride around the BWI airport and down to Annapolis. To get 50 miles I had to do the airport loop twice. It was predicted to be a hot day so I got an early start but still got to 90° by the time I wrapped up the ride. Still managed to average 14 miles an hour. Good practice riding in the heat. This is the longest ride in a long time on the Porsche Bike S. 

New cycling jersey

Another Porsche Bike X

My 2004 Porsche Bike X (large frame size)

2004 Porsche Bike X (small frame size) recently sold on Germany eBay

2004 Porsche Bike X brochure.

I ran across another Porsche Bike X that recently sold on the eBay site in Germany. The Porsche Bike X is an ultra rare Porsche bicycle with only 250 produced. The bike sold on Germany eBay was a small frame, mine is large. Interesting to see the subtle differences between the small and large frames. I still have my suspension forks and seat post if I ever want to convert mine back to a hybrid bike. Also attached is the original product brochure.

Getting seat time

More seat time this morning with an easy 9.5 miles.

Easy ride

Another short and easy ride around the house. After I cleaned and lubricated the gears. Looking forward going for 50 miles this weekend. 

Short early ride

 

Another short early morning neighborhood ride to get seat time. 

Another 40-mile personal best

Another 40-mile personal best today on the BWI/Annapolis course. I beat Friday's 40-mile time by a few seconds. I know I can do better since I didn't push the first 10 miles. After Friday's PB and yard work Saturday, I wasn't sure how I'd do today. But after those first easier 10 miles, I felt good and jammed the last 30. There was a lot of people walking, jogging and biking on the trail today. Very congested, hence my choice of photo. The 1998 Bike S is shifting well after recent adjustments. I'll take a couple days off and next weekend try for 50 miles.

UK Bike S rebuild

My new friend Andy from the UK rebuilt his 1996 Porsche Bike S. He completely rebuilt the forks with new elastomers and total clean up and installed new tires. We have been emailing and comparing notes for a few weeks. It's great to see others keeping their Porsche bicycles in top condition!

Racing the rain

Trying to outrun Tropical Storm Fay, I set a new personal best on my 40-mile BWI to Annapolis and back course. That wasn't my original intention, but watching the clouds roll in I thought it best to get a move on. Riding fast worked out well as it poured rain the moment I got home! The newly fixed front derailleur performed well, but I did need to adjust the outside limit on the outer chainring. Other than the incoming rain, the temperature and cloud cover made a perfect morning for a long ride. 

1998 Porsche Bike S front derailleur alignment issue fixed

The chain fell off the outer chainring on the 1998 Porsche Bike S front derailleur during a ride last week. It was a nasty mess with the chain all contorted. Fixing the chain, I continued on my ride. From that point, the front derailleur seemed out of alignment causing the chain to slightly rub on the front derailleur cage in certain gears. The rubbing was a slight inconsistent mechanical grinding sound. I thought maybe the chain-off incident caused the front derailleur to go out of alignment. But after many attempts, I couldn't get it back into alignment.

Poking around I noticed the derailleur cage could pivot out away from the derailleur mechanism from one corner. It shouldn't do that! Then I noticed the pin that holds the cage to the derailleur frame mount had backed out slightly. Lightly tapping the pin back in through the frame mount, the derailleur cage snapped back into place. 

The images below show the derailleur cage and pin.

NOTE: This specific pin mechanism system is only on the 1998 Porsche Bike S with the Sachs Plasma derailleur. The Sachs Neos derailleur mechanism on the pre-1998 Porsche Bike S is completely different.

Front derailleur cage should swivel out evenly and securely. If the right (front) side swivel's out more than the back, the pin has backed out.

I tapped the head of the pin completely back in with a screwdriver and mallet, see image above.

The image above shows the pin through the derailleur frame mount, as it should be positioned.

Neighborly ride

Another early neighborhood ride this morning. I pushed hard this time. This pic shows the water bottle, back tire splash guard and bike bag configuration I’m planning to use on the 185-mile Chesapeake and Ohio Towpath ride later this year.

40 miler

40 miles today from the BWI airport loop to Annapolis and back testing new saddle bag, bike lights and dual water bottle cage placement on the 1998 Porsche Bike S.

Random Porsche pics today

Here’s a couple random Porsche photos from today.