I never look back, darling. It distracts from the now, A V20c design journal

[Mathew Fy]

The choice of the SRAM Eagle shifters surprised me since it appears SRAM position it for MTB. I've not thought about taking the v20 off road. I still have the S40 and Q45 for something like that. If you'll indulge what's likely a dumb? question....the way the Eagle derailleur is mounted with the wheel thru bolt -- does that mean if I flat the back wheel that I'll end up not just taking the wheel off while I'm on the side of the road but also the derailleur?

The derailleur mounts to a removable hanger that the thru bolt screws into. The hanger is held to the fork by a small screw so when fixing a flat the hanger (and derailleur) remains. To prevent damage to the hanger I remove it whenever I'm transporting the bike with the wheel off.
BTW I think the Eagle works wonderfully as a one-by system having 520% gear range. I don't miss the narrower gear spacing. YMMV

 

[BentAxel004]

On different note: I have completed my quasi copy of your 20c. After way too many starts and stops I have taken it out for a couple test rides.
My first question is without a doubt the most pressing. Try as I might. I could not get a body position where I felt comfortable with my forward vision/eye position in relation to the handle bars. My head/ eyes are to low to safely see over the handlebars. Tried a curved slider without success.
I am 5’ 10” with 32” inseam (pretty standard normal). I have a Thor Sport seat pan I was using on my V20. So, I mounted it on my new V20c. I Jerry rigged a head rest for the Thor and I must say this was about as exciting as anything legal. This set up is unbelievably fast. In my search for perfection I am still trying to perfect the headrest. I have looked at every photo of a V20c I can find and checked out all the headrests.
Some further background, the Thor seat pan I installed was great until it wasn’t. The seat failed on each side where the ribs under the seat were. The carbon fiber failed and I patched with marine resin and fiberglass Today I just had to patch another place where the carbon fiber cracked.
What are the take away questions? First what is the consensus on how high your head has to be to safely see the road ahead? Second: How can I configure the stock seat pan to allow my head to be high enough to see over the handlebars? I have tried the accessory head rest and the headrest pad. Just not enough height to see over the handlebars.
I know someone has a better idea.
I can provide photos if that will help.

Thanks

 

[Frito Bandito]

In my quest for more speed I tried the stock head rest bars (narrow) with the stock head rest, and it worked fine until I lost the pad cover. I then swapped to the performance adjustable bars which are slightly heavier but wider. Then made my own head rest out of some curved plastic, with a 1cm thick adhesive backed foam padding. I cut a think neoprene Koozie to fit over the new headrest, and then connected it to the foam covered vertical bars with Velcro. The Koozie covering is easy to wash, it is easy to adjust with 1 hand mid-ride, and doesn't require any tools.

As for the angle, my head tilt is back far enough to not cause strain on my eyes from looking too far down at all of the DF riders I pass.