Woodrup Chimera - first impressions

[vernon]

I have Woodrup's belt drive Rohloff hubbed prototype for the weekend and have pedalled from Leeds to Darlington - 64 miles.

I want one.

I aim to own one before the year is out.

 

[YahudaMoon]

Pics

 

[TVC]

Show off.

I rode the prototype Raleigh Grifter, and that ended up with Mountain Bikes, which are an abomination

 

[vernon]

Pics

Pictures pending. Before the day is our. I promise.

 

[vernon]

Show off.

I rode the prototype Raleigh Grifter, and that ended up with Mountain Bikes, which are an abomination

What's the back story?

 

[TVC]

What's the back story?

The bloke who lived two doors up was the FD of Raleigh at the time, so his kids got to try all the new stuff. I remember we broke the forks within a day doing jumps, so that went back to be redesigned. We all had racer bikes at the time and it looked completely bizarre and felt really heavy to ride with those big fat tyres, I didn't like it.

 

[Theseus]

Pictures pending. Before the day is our. I promise.

I had a look on the Woodrup website and thier Flikr stream.

Looks like a nice bike. No details were shown how the belt gets through the rear triangle though.

Also it looks like the frame they have has those couplings that allow you to split the frame. Do you know if this is a standard feature?

 

[Moodyman]

I have Woodrup's belt drive Rohloff hubbed prototype for the weekend and have pedalled from Leeds to Darlington - 64 miles.

I want one.

I aim to own one before the year is out.

Interesting - you weren't so sure about hub gears when we met on the York to Hull FNRttC. What's changed your mind Vernon? What's to like?

 

[Piemaster]

Looks nice, but my ideal bike would have disc brakes. Or a least a disc front.
I'd be interested to see the rear triangle split too. It's not obvious from pictures so must be very neatly done.

Adoption of belt drives is still in its infancy though. I've never actually seen one being ridden. I think a change of frame design may be the way to go in order to accomodate them better rather than splitting the rear triangle. Attachment of the triangle above the the belt perhaps (the way some full sus mtbs do) or a longe axle/narrower frame so the rear pulley could be on the outside of the frame, though that would mean re-engineering of the hubs.

 

[vernon]

I'll post a review tomorrow. I've got some sort of virus and have only just surfaced from my pit.

Retiring back to bed.

Pics and notes tomorrow.

 

[clarion]

Saw it at the York Rally. Good idea well executed, and not something you'd expect from Woodrup, better known for their high class fast frames.

 

[vernon]

The bloke who lived two doors up was the FD of Raleigh at the time, so his kids got to try all the new stuff. I remember we broke the forks within a day doing jumps, so that went back to be redesigned. We all had racer bikes at the time and it looked completely bizarre and felt really heavy to ride with those big fat tyres, I didn't like it.

Nice one. I've always been surprised by the weight of kids bikes. I'm sure the manufacturers add ballast to them to slow the kids down so that they don't embarrass their unfit parents when out on a family ride.

 

[vernon]

Interesting - you weren't so sure about hub gears when we met on the York to Hull FNRttC. What's changed your mind Vernon? What's to like?

That's a victory for the bike. You know how skeptical I was on the FNRttC ride. I didn't have an open mind when I went to pick up the bike. The first act of conversion to 'the cause' was when I lifted the bike to put it into my car. I was surprise by the lack of weight. I'd always dismissed Thorn's evangelical claims about weight.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I'd be interested to see the rear triangle split too. It's not obvious from pictures so must be very neatly done.

Adoption of belt drives is still in its infancy though. I've never actually seen one being ridden. I think a change of frame design may be the way to go in order to accomodate them better rather than splitting the rear triangle. Attachment of the triangle above the the belt perhaps (the way some full sus mtbs do) or a longe axle/narrower frame so the rear pulley could be on the outside of the frame, though that would mean re-engineering of the hubs.

looks to me like the drive side seat stay is split about 1/4 of the way up from the drop out

 

[GrumpyGregry]

the chimera, with its use of S&S couplings on the mainframe, suggests to me that what the world needs is something like a seatstay (or perhaps chainstay) S&S coupling to standardise belt drive fitment.