Woodrup Chimera

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vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
My first bespoke bike....

A few piccies supplied by Woodrup Cycles

Vernons Chimera 001small.jpg Vernons Chimera 003small.jpg Vernons Chimera 004small.jpg Vernons Chimera 006small.jpg Vernons Chimera 008small.jpg Vernons Chimera 009small.jpg Vernons Chimera 010small.jpg Vernons Chimera 005small.jpg Vernons Chimera 007small.jpg

First ride tomorrow. :hyper:
 

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P.H

Über Member
Quality - as we've discussed before not the choices I'd have made - but the quality certainly shows in the detail and finish.
I could ask how the ride was, but there's no need, I can see how nice that's going to be.
 
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vernon

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
Quality - as we've discussed before not the choices I'd have made - but the quality certainly shows in the detail and finish.
I could ask how the ride was, but there's no need, I can see how nice that's going to be.

Did sixty nine miles. It's a very comfortable bike. The XT v-brakes are the most powerful rim brakes that I've ever had fitted to a bike. They'll haul my ass and camping load to a halt rapidly. The stability on fast descents is superb and I like the even stepped ratios of the hub gears.

The bike exudes quality all round. Kevin Sayles, the frame builder and Steve Woodrup, the driving force behind the Chimera and assembler of my bike have done a magnificent job.

I can't wait to do my first tour.
 
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vernon

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
nice never seen a belt driven push bike before.
cheers dave

I wasn't aware of their existence until March last year when Steve Woodrup invited me up to the frame building workshop in his shop. I saw a naked frame waiting for a test assemble. The next time I saw a belt drive bike was in Germany when I came across a Dutch cycle tourist with a Santos belt drive tourer. I was very curious and the owner extolled the virtues of the bike.

I was totally smitten when Woodrup Cycles lent me their prototype Chimera for a 100km ride which led to me making a firm order in December and my collection of the finished product on Friday.
 

Bodhbh

Guru
I think if it was me I'd have discs and a regular drive on there, but oh well horses for.... Anyhow, really looks a like a nice bike, great colour scheme too.

What's the pros of the belt drive? Was this that sold you, or just the overall ride?
 
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vernon

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
I think if it was me I'd have discs and a regular drive on there, but oh well horses for.... Anyhow, really looks a like a nice bike, great colour scheme too.

What's the pros of the belt drive? Was this that sold you, or just the overall ride?

I'm not a fan of discs. The belt drive was not the feature that sold it to me. It is a standard feature of the bike. It's maintenance free - no lubing or tensioning needed just the odd wash if it gets dirty. It's also silent. I like silence.

The ride is sublime.
 

snorri

Legendary Member
Looks good Vernon!
What is that black plastic bit just below the rear axle in Pics 5&6 for? Some sort of belt keeper on?
 
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vernon

vernon

Harder than Ronnie Pickering
Location
Meanwood, Leeds
Looks good Vernon!
What is that black plastic bit just below the rear axle in Pics 5&6 for? Some sort of belt keeper on?

It's sort of a belt keeper on thingummy jig. The technical name is a snubber and I think that it is there to keep the belt engaged and stop the belt from riding up on the sprocket teeth and ratcheting over the rear sprocket. It is a compulsory fitment for the Gates Carbon Drive system though a Dutch naval architect that I met with a bike with an identical drive system reckons that the snubber can be dispensed with.
 

rich p

ridiculous old lush
Location
Brighton
Looks nice Vern. The bloke who broke the RTW record after Mark Beaumont used a Santos belt-drive which is a pretty good test ride.
The only worry with 'maintenancee-free' drives like this and Rolhoff is that they may be very reliable but when they do go wrong you're f*cked in trouble. Non?

As a matter of interest Vern, did you break the Decathlon bike you extol or just realise you needed a treat?
 

MacB

Lover of things that come in 3's
Like PH it's quality but wouldn't have been my fine detail choices, but then PH and I would both make different fine detail selections anyway.

The belt drive is neither here nor there, as nothing to stop a switch to a chain drive at a future point. Whereas the reverse isn't true, if you don't have the split in the rear triangle, the correct clearances and stiffness in the right places, retrofitting a belt drive would be expensive and risky.

Our choices on core funtionality are similar, rohloff - check, moveable droputs - check, facility for full racks and guards front and rear - check, geometry to work with flat bars - check, big clearances - check. Differences - I've gone chaindrive only, 700c, disc brake only and thrown in the ability to run derailleurs as well as hub gears. But you may have that last bit I can't quite see in the pics.

I look forward to your ride reports - be as geeky as you like about the technical bits, some of us like that stuff :whistle:
 
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