Newbie 2W/3W Bent Blog

[Falco Frank]

I think i'm enjoying learning and working on the bike as much as riding it at present...

Back wheel out tonight for Marathon slick to go on there as well.

Surprisingly, solid and robust engineering on the Toxy, box section swing arm legs, renewable dropout and a rear wheel thats bolted into place.

Coming from a motorcycling background, I am SHOCKED at how TINY the pads are on the Magura Julie disc system. The pad material is about the same size as my thumb nail. I bought a set of EBC pads so they have gone in the rear, since I figure the front is easier to access. EBC is another well known brand in motorcycling but these are standard grade pads and I might try something else of the front.

9 speed cassette was filthy, some degreaser took care of that and the disc seemed to appreciate the application of brake cleaner and some elbow grease!

I figured I'd try a 'slime' insert in the back tyre, I'm not sure a 20" presta slime tube is available but the insert is a bit of a mystery. Its super thin, almost see-through so I couldnt work out how the 'slime' is contained/dispensed. Bit of pain getting it in, with about 6" of overlap (which I mounted opposite the valve to try and offset any effect), blew up fine but I think I'll deflate and blow it up again, in the morning, just to make sure.

 

[mjr]

Are you meant to leave the overlap with slime liners? I always cut my old ones to length (taking care not to leave rough edges)

 

[Falco Frank]

Are you meant to leave the overlap with slime liners? I always cut my old ones to length (taking care not to leave rough edges)

http://slime.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/20093_bikeliner-T1526_instructions.pdf

Step 4: Lay 'tyre' on ground and insert Slime liner against 'tyre'. Overlap the liner as needed to fit. Do not trim liner.

There was around a 6" overlap in my 20" wheels.

 

[mjr]

Interesting to know. I'll check instructions carefully if I ever get liners again! Let us know how they go, please.

 

[Falco Frank]

Back end back together and quite pleased with result. A spin up the road showed why I'd lost confidence on my first big ride, the bloody headset has gone all sloppy on me and needs a good seeing to - LoL.

A cheese scone later and I was gagging for a better test ride so gear on and a different set of nearby hilla attacked. Very pleased to of conquered the steepest without stopping and get back home again with the front end wagging all over the place.

Back in the garage I decide to do a quick check of the crankset chain rings, for some random reason - I almost dislocated my jaw in disbelief...

I'm not sure what extra terrestrial the bike was set up for but its running 36 / 48 / 60T , no wonder I was suffering!

The new Toxy TT spec bike is fitted with a much more sensible 30 / 42 / 52

Any recommendation for changing the smallest chainring (Shimano 5 star) or a new crankset - please do.

 

[andytheflyer]

Hi,

I have a 30/42/52 and an 11-34 on my Performer bike I can climb 10% gradients with that, but tend to spin out at around 27mph.

 

[Scoosh]

I'd keep the 60T - you'll love it once you get confident at going fast ...

 

[Falco Frank]

Is a 12 tooth difference between front chainrings a sensible maximum or is shifter capable of more, please?

 

[Ganymede]

Hi @Falco Frank - very interesting to read your posts. Uphill is always hell to start with on a 'bent - I have found the same but it is just a question of keeping on keeping on. Also, if it helps - I have a tiny front wheel (16") which is just silly. I am going to upgrade to something lighter with bigger wheels this year - I drive an old model Spirit from HPvelotechnik which is built to last but which is really quite slow and heavy. However, it is FAB going downhill - like zooming down on a sofa, and you feel so much more solid than if you have your arse in the air and your nose on the bars on a roadie.

I bought mine to get away from neck/shoulder problems, and although I do still have a hybrid I love my 'bent. I've just had a shoulder op and I can really only ride the 'bent at present so I'm glad I've got it. Also, you really can't be a shrinking violet on a 'bent - There's a lot of pointing and "look at the lady on the funny bike" when I go past (as long as it's not "the funny lady on the bike" I don't care!).

Looking forward to hearing more about your progress!

 

[andytheflyer]

Apologies FalcoFrank - not wanting to hijack your thread!

I'd keep the 60T - you'll love it once you get confident at going fast ...

Hi Scoosh - I'd like to go larger on my large chain ring (than 52) but can't see that there's enough spare capacity in the rear mech - and it's already a long cage (I think - 100mm centre to centre on the jockey wheels). On large front and large rear the mech is well stretched out - I can see that large front/small rear there would be spare rotational capacity in the mech to take up the slack, but if I tried to select large/large (silly boy) then the mech would run out of rotational capacity.

Is that just a limitation people accept - or am I missing something. A (say) 56 front would be nice I suspect.

 

[Falco Frank]

Apologies FalcoFrank - not wanting to hijack your thread!.

No problem @andytheflyer, I like to be a catalyst for a learning event

Ive used the 60T obviously when zooming along, without problem, its just a standard setup from what I can see. However, just as with any other bike I ride, on the big ring, I'd be shifting to the middle with much less than half the rear gears remaining to go at.

 

[Scoosh]

DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT A BIKE MECHANIC AND MOST OF THIS INFO IS GLEANED FROM THE NET.

If I read these things correctly, it appears that the maximum difference between the number of teeth on each of the front rings is ~12, mainly due to the length/depth of the the front derailleur cage used for shifting.
See Peter White; Bicycling forum from 2006

Use your favourite search engine and enter "maximum chainring difference" and remember all those little things that can be awkward, like number of bolts, bolt position etc ...

If the cage is all stretched out - can you not just add an extra link of chain ? [hereby showing how little I know about all this stuff ... ]

I think we need @Cunobelin and others with greater knowledge ...

 

[Ganymede]

Just to reiterate the point about not being a shy violet - I was sitting on my bent chatting to a neighbour outside the village shop just now, and a foreign tourist on a bike stopped and asked to take my photo. I smiled and waved!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Just to reiterate the point about not being a shy violet - I was sitting on my bent chatting to a neighbour outside the village shop just now, and a foreign tourist on a bike stopped and asked to take my photo. I smiled and waved!

It could be worse, round here I get old men flagging me down in the lanes to stop and ask me technical questions about it and generally admire my recumbent trike and on my last outing with my husband, 3 DF cyclists stopped me in the middle of a crossroads for a chat about my trike... much to my OH horror we stayed in the middle of the crossroads... He has no idea how often this happens. I also get the passengers photographing me as well!

 

[Ganymede]

It could be worse, round here I get old men flagging me down in the lanes to stop and ask me technical questions about it and generally admire my recumbent trike and on my last outing with my husband, 3 DF cyclists stopped me in the middle of a crossroads for a chat about my trike... much to my OH horror we stayed in the middle of the crossroads... He has no idea how often this happens. I also get the passengers photographing me as well!

Luckily not too many people ask me truly technical questions.... I would just stare dumbly at them like a sad ox.

The nice thing is that I get waves and smiles from all sorts of people including most motorists. I sometimes worry I'm a distraction to traffic!