Little tweaks

DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
Feeling confident on the bike comes with experience and the know how to fix little things. It's surprising just what a few little changes can do on a bike. Certainly by reducing drag on the front of the bike helps a lot, especially if you can move the offending item to the rear wheel. Such as this...
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It makes me cringe to see how amateurish this looks... It did do what I wanted and taught me how to spin the feet and to keep spinning. However unknowingly the front wheel isn't balanced properly and the aero drag caused by the sensor , the magnet on the rim and magnet on the non drive chain crank all add up to cause instability at speed. So now the sensor has moved to the rear.
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I have balanced both wheels too. Today I have a 170m hill to test it out on. And I beat my top speed and felt comfortable spinning at 58.3kph.

Pretty sure now that if the wind was behind me I could achieve over 60kph.

Oh it also helps also upping the pressure in the tyres. I put them up to 100psi and I didn't have any ejecting drink bottles.

Admittedly I don't have cadence rate shown but still have the heart rate and speed.

Trying to keep my average speed higher than normal makes me think that a power meter could give me cadence rate and improve more power when there is a reduction in effort... Instead of speed slowing ... More effort or less effort if going up hill. Do power meters tell you cadence rate? I am thinking of a pedal version, any ideas?

I passed lots of riders today. They seem amazed. On the map of Cruzbike owners I seem to be the only one in Spain.

So where is all this taking me?

Well I am going to buy some more new drink bottles. And perhaps redesign the back box in a similar way to Larry's tail box. If you can reduce drag ... Believe me.. It's beneficial.
 
LarryOz

LarryOz

Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
DavidCH said:
Do power meters tell you cadence rate? I am thinking of a pedal version, any ideas?
Click to expand...
Yes any pedal based power system will give you cadence. I've got Garmin, and Bob has PT. I think PT is a better choice.
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
I have the standard Cruzbike bottle cage adapter at the back but when the bottles are loaded then there is drag, it would be easier for me to raise the cage so the bottles are more in line with my head. Still not as quite as good as Larry's but quite easy to test.
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Just mounting it up four 3 inches could be very beneficial.
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
LarryOz said:
Great price, but only issue is that the shortest crank length is 165mm, which leaves out a lot of us on recumbents who have found the benefits to shorter crank lengths.
Click to expand...
Yep... But if it's just for a trainer bike it's probably worthwhile. I have been umming and erring about changing over to a shorter crank. The telling factor is how bad do my knees feel after 100km , well they don't feel too bad. But if I was doing a 24 hour... I guess you could times that feeling by 10.

I can assure you, if I was hellbent to do a 24 hour or a RAAM I would have exactly what you have. But I think people's configurations come into it quite a lot. Maria had quite a long crank and recently went shorter.

Then there is the money issue. What's going to happen if DT becomes president? I guess my cash is going into investment opportunities as I think there will be many.

And of course there is the waxing of chains. The Shimano 11 spd chain doesn't have descent snap links like the SRAM one... You can use the SRAM quick release snap link time and time again... But the Shimano chain sucks as you can't. So this has stopped me from waxing my chain.

From what I have read about power meters, once used... You kick yourself that you didn't use it sooner, as Bob mentions... You need a descent power meter if you want to get better. At the beginning of the year I said that I would give myself an annual budget of €800 ... I think that was blown just recently on a new one piece V20 Carbon aeroseat ... Can't wait to put it on and use it.

Next years budget I could blow in five minutes
Shimano Di2 upgrade as brifters are too close to my legs, with Di2 I could lose another 4 cm off the handlebars and thus reduce the drag coefficient even more as the cables could be contained within the aerobars.

This year has been an incredible experience (and for you too)
New carbon soled shoes,
Running with carbon rims
New shorter Shimano ultegra 165 crank
New look keo pedals with 9 degrees of float
Enduro XD-15 BB
New Tubeless tyres
New Motor ... 76kg instead of 84

I should finish this year off with the V20 one piece seat otherwise I will be way over budget.
:rolleyes:
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
So the rear bottle cage has moved up
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So a step in the right direction. Now another look at the front of the bike...

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I have lost so much weight I can comfortably get rid of this spacer, I am amazed that this hasn't been done before.

Now if I can get down that hill faster than 60kph ... I will replace this...
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With the very aero and radical...

TriRig’s Omega X brake
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And then the bike will be well sorted
(But still without a power meter LOL)
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
telephd said:
David, I use KMC Missing Links on my Shimano chains. They work great and are good for multiple installations.

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&k...targid=kwd-39011850297&ref=pd_sl_4x15bvphrn_b
Click to expand...
Telephd,

I looked up the description on Amazon and KMC say the 10spd is reusable but the 11spd not.

So... I will wait until I get the 11 speed SRAM drivechain (probably next year).
The SRAM missing link can just be pressed together and bingo the chain comes apart.

I know some riders have reused the KMC ones and replaced after 3000 miles.

There must be some sort of quality assurance issue. So there has to be a probability of doubt.

David
 
ratz

ratz

Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
DavidCH said:
I looked up the description on Amazon and KMC say the 10spd is reusable but the 11spd not.
Click to expand...

KMC 11sp are fine; because of chain waking; maintenance; transport; I'll remove a link 20-30 times in a 1000 miles; never had a problem yet. (This is the gold ones, they are made of harder metal and can be harder to source)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KMC-Missing...e-Pack-/152070782021?var=&hash=item23681ffc45

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KMC-Missing...k-of-6-GOLD-/152088923758?hash=item236934ce6e
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
"It's in the bag"

The 60kph limit achieved. Bit surprised as there was a lot of side wind and cars so I didn't stick the power down until towards the end.
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In February I thought it impossible to break the 53kph barrier. It just didn't want to budge.

The biggest change for me this year is the diet and then fine tune the bike.
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
I decided to ride today without water. I rode quite fast for 53 minutes and got caught at one traffic light.

I was riding with a tri-suit and wanted to feel what it was like when fully soaked, I was also riding without gloves as I wanted to feel the new bar tape that looks completely out of this world.

I was impressed with both the Tri-suit and bar tape but whenever I ride it will be with gloves. I felt as though I was riding without a helmet. I felt vulnerable. It might stem back to when I learnt how to ride at the age of 6. I was always trying to ride bigger bikes and consequently falling off.

The Tri-suit is a little heavier than my compression shorts. However the Tri-shorts were more comfortable and there is slight padding in the nether regions. It wasn't as tight around the waist either. The fabric is a little more delicate so I wonder how it will fair on the ventisit seat pad. Decathlon only had a one left in my size at a 30% discount so I just had to get it at €40.
It doesn't break the bank. I feel more aero if I were to wear the jersey inside as the trisuit is sleeveless but if I wanted a sleeved Tri-suit you wouldn't get much change out of €150 and you wouldn't know if it would work.

I do feel cooler in the compression shorts but not so fast. In the autumn I am sure to use the trisuit more. Apart from the aero capabilities, the side vents allow heat to dissipate quickly (unless you are wearing a jersey). Perhaps I might try a sleeved vest to go with it???
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The legs are sealed just above the knee so no chance of bees getting up yer legs.

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The bike is calling for rim covers don't you think?

Being in the tribe, one knows that the bike is an extension of yourself.

Enjoy
:D:cool::D
 
John Dorlon

John Dorlon

Guru
DavidCH said:
I have lost so much weight I can comfortably get rid of this spacer, I am amazed that this hasn't been done before.
Click to expand...
If you attempt the spacer removal, let us know how it goes. I could stand to take mine out too but wasn't sure it would be possible without cutting anything. Right now that part of my bike looks exactly like yours - same Yellow V with same spacers.
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
I actually did get rid of the spacer before hitting the big 60kph. I just put the spacer on the other side and it all fits ok inside the boom. Pretty sure it has to improve the aerodynamics. My average if I don't hit a red light or stop is about 35kph. Just need to have a different bottle cage system at the rear.

Mind you the Vendetta V2 frame is hollow. I am sure it could store a litre or more of drinking fluid and then I wouldn't need the cage.
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
Since I lost a large ice bottle I took it as a sign to get creative... So here we go.
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One bottle of gatorade that I am not going to drink in one go. A wonderful blue squishy bottle that contains half a litre with the perfect screw thread to take the gatorade's bottle top.

Now this will hide behind my head just fine and won't look like a chimney stack either.

As I have a metal cage at the rear I can bend it in a bit and secure it better as the neck of the bottle is thin I should be able to yank it straight out.

This works as the summer is over and I am not getting so hot so I don't need to drink so much, pretty sure it's good for 80km.

(Probably 100km with the Gatorade)
 
DavidCH

DavidCH

In thought; expanding the paradigm of traversity
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