200km and 100km brevet

fthills

Well-Known Member
This weekend an Audax get together was held in Cowra a 4 1/2 drive from Sydney. Apart from strong 40 km/hr westerly to south westerly winds , the weather was perfect.

For some reason I felt better on day2 , the 100km ride , than I did on day 1 for the 200 . It was the first time on both rides that I was able to keep my diamond frame colleagues in sight . Normally within 10 to 15 minutes I'm seeing them as distant dots on the horizon , but not this time . That was quite gratifying especially on day 2 when we climbed 1400 metres over the 100km ride.

One thing I did mess up was the Garmin trace . I forgot to stop the Garmin at the end of both rides , and forgot to start it for the second ride until about 7km into ride 2 . It influences the stats a bit , the first ride I finished about 25 min before the Garmin trace stops , and about 10 minutes for the second . There doesn't seem an easy way to edit the data which is fair enough. The average moving speeds give me a better idea of how things went for these two rides. Anyways here's the data for the two with some pics

Day 1
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/229043200

Day 2
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/228844438

cowradam.jpg


This is roughly at the 30km mark where we stopped to look at the wall of the dam

cowra2.jpg


Funny how the V seems to feature centre stage quite a lot

cowra3.jpg


cowra4.jpg


Some of the countryside around the dam

cowra5.jpg


Old wooden plank bridge crossing the Lachlan River after an hours riding at sustained average speeds above 30km/hr (tailwind assisted )
 

Mark Amey

New Member
Beautiful photos, ft, I was

Beautiful photos, ft, I was oping to see the Vendetta with a Rohloff hub, how's that coming along??
 

fthills

Well-Known Member
Hi Mark ,
Thanks for the


Hi Mark ,

Thanks for the compliment re the photos.

The handle bar parts for the Rohloff assembly have arrived. I spent yesterday modifying and welding those parts and have the gearshifter position sorted out. But I've stalled on how best to position the brake levers , particularly on the right where thre gearshifter is. Ideally I would like to operate the brake lever and still have my hand on the gearshifter , rather like a flatbar arrangement . But its proving a bit tricky.

Left side is no problem.

In the lead for ideas on how to solve the problem is this:

http://www.paulcomp.com/duplexlever.html

In other words left hand operates the brakes, right hand the rohloff. I mentioned in another post that sophisticated as the rohloff is , the gearshifter is last century technology, and the makers have exclusively aimed the gearshifter at the flatbar market , which leaves drop bar fans like us ain a bit of a pickle.
 

Romagjack

Well-Known Member
I too, am eager to see the

I too, am eager to see the V-Rohloff. Having ridden my IGH Quest2 for so long now, I'm spoiled. But having the gear shifter and brake lever usable with my right hand is imperative. So many times shifting and braking become one fluid motion. I will migrate to a Silvio or V with IGH when I don't have to be an engineer to do so. Keep us posted. Love the pics.
 

fthills

Well-Known Member
"But having the gear shifter

"But having the gear shifter and brake lever usable with my right hand is imperative. So many times shifting and braking become one fluid motion."

+1 .

That's it exactly, Connie.

Well, what I might do ,is post some pics of the work in progress ,so if any of you can help with ideas it'll help me a lot,

I'll post in the Rohloff thread towards the end of the week.
 

mickjordan

Well-Known Member
Rohloff vs Alfine

What I am curious about (and I'm sure I could figure it out if I researched the products in detail) is the practical difference (in gear ratios) between the Rohloff and the Alfine. Simplistically the Alfine has ~ 400% ratio and the Rohloff ~ 520%, and 3 more steps, but is more than twice the price. And the Alfine has a standard drop bar shifter option and will be available with electronic shifting next year apparently, which makes it very interesting. I'm more interested in the low gear end, which is where I spend most of my riding.
 

John Tolhurst

Zen MBB Master
The Rohloff (in my opinion)

The Rohloff (in my opinion) is useful when you really must have the wide spread, 520%. For example, as downhill/uphill mtb riding with a large spread of speed involved. As well as the gear system, you can get range from your cadence. Riders often can be comfortable in a range of 70 to 90 cadence, say, or 9/7, or say around 130%. Combined with a rollhoff that would give 5.2*1.3 or 673%


So now, what speed range do you need to support? For my Vendetta, I manage all hills on the rides I take at speeds between 12 kph and 60. So I need 500% which I get by 50/34 crank and 12/27 cassette. And the rest I do with cadence variation. The downhills are fast, but not too long, so I don't mind at all overpedalling for them. The uphills are usually fine, but if I have to drop the cadence (run out of gears) I find I can still manage because the hills around the coast in Perth are not too long.

You need wider gear spread if you

  • are overweight

  • carry loads

  • lack fitness

  • tackle long climbs of more than around 8 minutes
You less spread if you

  • are skinny

  • are young and can manage wider spread

  • are fit

  • live in a undulating country rather than mountainous

  • use the bike for commuting

  • are happy to just roll downhills
The rohloff is robust, and rarely breaks down. Its double cable action never troubles you and its easy to adjust. On the other hand its heavy, clunky and noisy.

Where you spend most of your time is a valid question.

Equal ratios are nice when you are travelling at speeds where aero is no concern, such as long climbs, or just touring or commuting. Equal ratios are not so equal when you are changing gear to pick up speed and push more air. If you ride near your aerobic threashold on the flat, you probably need smaller ratios at the higher speeds, because change ups translate to much more required power output. In that regard, equally spread ratios are not so lovely and a well chosen cassette can serve you better.

Lastly, if keeping your derailleur system in tune is tiresome or frustrating and you just don't want to deal with the mecahnicals that much, then tick another box for the IGHs.
 

mickjordan

Well-Known Member
Re The Rohloff IMO

Excellent analysis John thanks. I'm still pretty nervous about hill climbing on the Silvio so it's too early to tell how things will really work out, but at the present the instant shift of an IGH is appealing! I have a Shimano Nexus 8 on my old commute bike and love being able to shift quickly in any situation.

I'm finding that, at present, my average cadence is about 10 lower than on my DF bike, in order to feel stable on the bike, and I'm more of a masher than a spinner on the DF bike to start with, typically most comfortable at 75. The lower rate on the Silvio may also be related to the different leg muscles being involved. I know my glutes are weak and this is related to thorassic spine problems that are part of the reason for switching to a bent, so hopefully that will improve.

Many of the climbs in the Bay Area are long, e.g., 30 - 60 minutes with grades from 6-12% and hairpin bends with 15-20% in places.

I rarely pedal downhill so rarely go lower than my 14 sprocket on the big ring, but your point about close ratios in the lower part of the cassette is well taken. I've been frustrated in the past with wide ratio cassettes in flattish terrain not being able to find quite the right gear.

I guess this is one of those things you just have to experience to decide whether it is going to work for you.

I am still having problems with my FD getting out of tune; really not sure what is happening. Triples are tricky but as I noted elsewhere I have them on my DF bikes and they are solid once tuned, much more so than the RD typically.
 
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