Yangmusa's random updates

2010-01-17T18:47:00.000-08:00

Two posts in one day!!

I wrote a review on Recumbent Journal of my new recumbent. As you can tell, I rather like it ;-) Many bike reviews go into great technical detail, but although quality components matter to me I don't find it particularly interesting to write about. So instead I wrote more about the selection process, what works for me, what it's like living with the bike etc.

It's an ICE B1, a short-wheelbase bike with over seat steering. And it folds! Well, not as small as the Birdy, or the Xootr Swift before that. But smaller than pretty much any recumbent I can think of. And using a few basic tools, the frame will split into 3 pieces and apparently allows the whole bike to fit in a suitcase. That would be really cool for a tour, though I haven't gotten anything planned.

2010-01-17T18:25:00.000-08:00

Yet again, the blog's name proves to be rather apt..

The Stelvio's have turned out to work rather well for touring, and also for more general riding. Summer of 2009, I did 4-5 short tours on the Birdy. Short in time duration - all long weekends - but not necessarily short in terms of distance. The Birdy easily handled 40-60 miles per day with a load, even in hilly northern California with only a 9-speed Capreo.

This past summer I also did a lot of long day rides, unloaded. But I found as the mileage increased, I started getting back-aches. Most likely because the handlebars on the Birdy are just a little too low for me, and I have the older non-adjustable sport stem. Hence I did more of my long rides/tours on my recumbent than the Birdy.

I'd very much like to fit one of the adjustable sport stems to the Birdy, so I can keep riding it. And it should also make packing the bike in a suitcase quicker - no need to remove the handlebars from the stem, when the stem can be separated! Seems like spares are barely available in the US anymore, so this upgrade may have to wait for my next Europe trip.

2009-02-15T12:31:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about getting new tires for the Birdy for a while. The Mrs always rolls away from me downhill on her Moulton TSR with Schwalbe Stelvio tires, and from what I can see most people think these tires are significantly faster than the stock Maxxis Birdy tires.

So, I got a pair of Stelvios, 18x1 1/8 with a wire bead. They are very small - you will want to get matching inner tubes, as the stock 18x1.5 tubes are bigger than the tires and were very hard to fit! I'm sure someone will be curious about weight - my kitchen scale says the Stelvios were 220g, v.s. the Maxxis at 350g. That's a weight reduction of 260g (0.6 lbs) for two tires, which is of course quite trivial in any real sense - though it sounds more impressive as a 37% reduction!

There's been a lot of rain, so I haven't had a chance to go for any long rides yet. My first impression is that ride quality isn't noticably worse, which I had expected with a much narrower tire at 120 psi rather than a wide tire at 90 psi. The Stelvios are much smaller than the Maxxis, and so gearing is definitely affected. I'll have to do a rollout measurement to find how much, but my feeling is that I'll more than ever think the bike is geared a little low. Oh well, if the tour we keep thinking about ever happens I'll be better equiped for hill climbing with a load ;-)

2008-11-04T14:09:00.001-08:00

I'm just about to fly with the Birdy for the first time. A friend of mine has a Bike Friday and kindly lent me the Samsonite F'lite 31" case for this trip.

Packing the case went pretty well. Getting the bike disassembled/folded was the least of my problems - once it was in the case, there was so much room I had to do some head scratching on how to pad/brace it so it won't move around in shipping. Basically the bike took up only the bottom half of the case, and with a fair bit of room around the sides. Cunningly, once the wheels are off, the Birdy can be folded such that the derailleur sits between the fork legs - hence no chance of it getting bent.

Weight-wise, the bike + tools + shoes + helmet + case = 40 lbs on our probably wildly inaccurate home scale. So I put all my clothes in too! Hope that our scale isn't too far off what they find at the airport, or I may have to do some last minute redistribution to my carry-on luggage....

UPDATE: one thing about packing my Birdy - the particular one I have isn't as fast to pack as Birdys are often made out to be. Mine doesn't have the height-adjustable handlebar riser, which means that I can't just slide the handlebars off to pack in the case. I have to unbolt the stem faceplate to take the bars off. Ok, it's just one more step, but it's a little fiddly and adds time.

2008-10-29T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I had intended to post pictures of the Birdy for a long time. Until I recently got the stem extender I ordered 2 months ago, I didn't feel the bike was "finished". The bike shop was absolutely great - the delay lay with either Royal Mail or USPS. Without the stem extender, I could not raise the seat as high as I would like because the bars would have been far too low. So on longer rides, my knees felt tender along with my wrists and neck.

The Acor Aberhallo (made by Satori) has worked out great. Now I can raise the seat high enough, and the bars are still relatively higher than they were before. It seems well made and sturdy, and it was very easy to fit.

I'm still debating whether or not to move the handlebar bag back to the handlebars. I really like using it on the Klickfix extender on the seatpost, except the Klickfix mount stops the seatpost going in all the way - and that means that when folded the bike rests on the chainring instead of on the seatpost. On the other hand - with the stem extender, I'm not sure I want to put any extra weight on the bars...

2008-06-09T22:21:00.000-07:00

The Xootr has gone. Long live the Xootr.. I was no longer commuting by bus and train, and on the potholed roads of San Francisco the ultra stiff frame of the Xootr was making me unhappy. A couple of trips out of the city reminded me what a joy the Xootr can be on good roads, so it was with a somewhat heavy heart that I decided to sell the Swift to my dad around xmas. His job moved to a new location about 10 miles away, and his old bike wasn't up to the distance. I think mostly he plans to bike the distance, but the Swift's ability to fit in a car appealed because of the unpredictable English weather.

Fast forward 6 months, and I've been doing some trips for work. I miss having a bike along! Also, my wife got a Moulton TSR DB, and that magical suspension makes it ride better than any of my big-wheel bikes. So suspension and folding have been mulling around in my mind.. Way back before I bought the Xootr, I test rode a Birdy but ended up not getting it because it was expensive and I was really fixated on drop bars. Now I realize I rarely use the drops, so a flat bar with bar ends works fine for me. Also, I found a really good deal on eBay for a new-old stock Birdy Silver (Capreo).

So far, so good. It rides really well on San Francisco's bumpy roads, and feels fast and responsive. I'm a little annoyed that one of the front brakes rattles like hell, but discovered that it just needs a shim (spacer washer) to take up the slack. I had that on the brakes I bought for the Xootr too - Shimano has a real problem with manufacturing tolerances, it didn't seem like the bike shop was suprised..

Pictures to follow..

2007-06-22T08:42:00.001-07:00

Showing the old quill stem I used to make my "HubBub" adapter to use the Sturmey-Archer SA-8 shifter on drop handlebars.

You will need:

an old quill stem
a hacksaw & file
a tape measure
a new bolt

measure the length of the shifter, then cut the quill stem such that you have about 1" of stem in addition to the wedge inside the handlebar when mounted. Well, 1" was a number taken from the top of my head, but it seemed a reasonable compromise and that's what I used. After all - there's not much load on this (only the twisting action when shifting) so it doesn't need to be super strong!

You'll need to visit your local hardware store and find a new bolt of suitable length. I don't recall what diameter & pitch the thread was, but it was certainly a standard size and I had no problems finding something suitable.

That's it, you're done! Well, almost... The S-A 8 shifter is designed to be wedged up against the handlebar grips, and so there's nothing to keep the black rubber grip onto the shifter. I superglued mine on - it's stayed on for a year now.

[UPDATE] I forgot completely - the quill stem is slightly smaller than the handlebar the shifter is designed to mount on. I made a shim by cutting strips of plastic bottle and wrapping around the stem. I've also heard aluminum drink can suggested, that sounds like it would work fine too.

2007-05-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

This is the cable routing that Peter Reich recommended to me. Initially the shifting was a little "sticky", but after reducing the number of bends in the cable it got noticably better.

The cable goes through the top braze-on on the main tube, then under the main hinge on the inside of the seat stay, over the top of the brake bridge, then over the outside of the opposite seat stay and down to the hub.

2007-05-28T13:14:00.001-07:00

The incomparable "Butt Buddy". Lame name, but it pretty much does what it says on the tin. The elastomers give almost 1 cm of damping - this won't be enough for offroad riding, but it does noticably reduce road vibration and smaller bumps. I can't notice it flexing much when I pedal at high cadence either.

If I were starting from scratch, I might have prefered a sprung Brooks saddle. But that would have been fairly expensive. I got my titanium rail saddle for $20 secondhand, and the Butt Buddy was on sale for $25. If that isn't a bargain, I don't know!

2007-05-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

I did call it "random updates", didn't I? It's been a while ;-)

The Zefal kid fenders/mudguards lasted about 1 month on the bike. The front fender actually worked really well, but must have been knocked hard at some point because when I fetched my bike off the bike rack on the shuttle the fender had snapped off at the mounting point. The rear fender wasn't really long enough, and never prevented me from getting a wet stripe up my back. I had considered adding a little length of PET bottle or something, but when the front snapped off I decided to cut my losses.

In the picture you can see my new fenders, Planet Bike Freddy fenders. So far they've been on for 6 months, still going strong! There's no road spray at all, and they seem extremely sturdy. When I fold the bike, it rests on the back fender. Admittedly, I'm aware of it and put the bike down carefully, but still it is so far resisting this punishment. 2 thumbs up, much recommended!

2006-11-19T18:29:00.000-08:00

This update has been a while coming, but at least I have now thoroughly tested the new additions before writing about them!

First, I got some waterproof Nashbar front panniers - on sale for around $40. How it's possible for them to be so cheap, I don't know.. The only shortcut I can see, is that the panniers don't have the fancy fitting system that more expensive brands like Ortlieb or Jandd do. Instead it's the old-school system of hooks at the top and a bungee at the bottom. I replaced the hook on the bungee with a keyring, and fitted hooks to the forks instead (see pic). I also adjusted the bungee tension to be quite tight. Well, I haven't had them jump off yet, even on the insanely bad roads here in SF. And they really are waterproof too - I have my laptop in there, and it hasn't gotten wet yet.

Another addition is the Zefal kid fenders/mudguards. I got them from a French webstore, xxcycle.com, for only $5!! A real bargain, and I had fair hopes for them since I had some Zefal clip on mudguards on my mtb. I was really impressed by xxcycle.com - I ordered the fenders and some Klikfix spares for my handlebar bag, and they arrived in roughly a week. The Klikfix bits were half the price I could find in any US webstores, and the postage from France was less than I would have been charged in the US. A winner all round! The fenders were pretty easy to fit, though I had to make a front fitting for the rear one, and I also used a heat-gun to reshape the back one. The results? The front works great. The back one is just a little too short. I'll see if a short mud flap will take care of it, otherwise I'll probably get a pair of Planet Bike Freddys.

2006-08-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

This is in response to a question on BikeForums, as to why I didn't choose the SRAM DualDrive. I did come very close to going that route, but here are the reasons I didn't:

I wanted drop bars, but officially SRAM say road shifters won't work with the DualDrive. Most mechanics I spoke to thought it would be hard to adjust the internal gear, because the cable pulled by STi levers would not match. I guess it can't be impossible, since Bike Friday manage it.
I wanted v-brakes to give plenty of clearance for tires and fenders (mudguards), and the only v-brake compatible road levers are not STi. I could have used TravelAgents, but they are quite expensive and not an ideal solution. I suppose I could also have put the DualDrive shifter on the bar end, like I have with the Sturmey-Archer shifter.
I wanted hub gears - both for the simplicity of use and because there wouldn't be any delicate bits sticking out when folded.

I guess I'm just a wimp too! I knew I could make the hub gears work, but was uncertain what would be involved with the DualDrive. I'm a mechanical engineer, I hang my head in shame But I didn't want to wait a long time to use the bike, since it's my only means of transport.

In retrospect I still wonder about this decision. I don't think the derailleur would have been much of a problem, I maintain my things and only ride on the road. I had originally wanted to have the Swift as my one do-all bike, but loaded touring will be more or less out of the question with the limited range of the S-A. I guess I'll just have to start saving for a Schlumpf MountainDrive!

So does this mean I'm unhappy with the hub gears? No, not really. They are very nice to use, and very well suited to biking around town. But I do miss being able to shift gears without moving my hand from the bars. In effect, this often means I have to rely on the ability to shift while standing still, where I otherwise would be able to shift while braking.

So what does the future hold? I think a Schlumpf costs almost as much as a Rohloff.. Though the Schlumpf + Sturmey Archer hub actually give a greater range than the Rohloff, it may be more than necessary and it's a less neat solution. And of course, buying a new wheel with DualDrive and new brake levers is relatively cheap compared to either of the above..

2006-08-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

There isn't a lot of choice for front racks that might conceivably fit a small-wheeled bike. There's the Nitto M-12 that I already tried, at $49.95. There's the Nitto "mini front rack" as sold by Rivendell for $65 +$10 for the fork clamps (non-member prices). Then there's the Nashbar front rack, for $14.99, now sale for $9.99.

I would sorely have loved to try the "mini front rack", as 1) Nitto racks are beautifully made and 2) it clamps to the forks rather than the brake bosses. But I'm sorry, $75 for a tiny front rack is just way beyond the pain-barrier..

So I ended up ordering the Nashbar front rack, wondering what I would get for $10.. As it turns out, I'm quite impressed! Painted black aluminium obviously looks very different from polished stainless, but I don't think it looks too bad on the bike. The fitting hardware supplied with the rack is great - all stainless steel and even included locking nuts. (Nitto couldn't be bothered to include anything at all..) Fitting it was a doddle, and any doubts I had about it's aesthetic appeal have become secondary to how practical it is. I hate having a bike without a rack, since I can't stand riding any distance with a bag on my back. So far I've bungied all kinds of loads on the front, up to and including almost 20 lbs of groceries. The handling is fine, since the load is so low (20" wheels rule!). Obviously noticable, but no worse than panniers on lowriders.

Ironically, the box in the picture contains the Nitto rack, taken as I was delivering the box back to UPS ;-)

2006-08-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

Save yourselves the trouble... I thought the Nitto M-12 front rack would be perfect on my Swift folder. And it is, very nearly. It's beautifully made, honestly. But it juuuust won't fit. The mounting arms are too narrow and come down too far back to mount on the v-brake studs. The rack is also so strong that it doesn't feel like I can bend it to fit either. So, back to the drawing board!

2006-07-31T15:40:00.000-07:00

On Cleverchimp's blog (http://todd.cleverchimp.com/blog/) I saw a good idea for riders of folding bikes:

To acheive consistent seat height after folding, put the seat in your armpit - the seat height will be correct when the fingertip of your index finger touches the bottom bracket bolt.

It's pretty close for me, though I find it's just a little short. I prefer to put my fist on the seat, with the thumb up. When my thumb hits the very top of the hip-bone the seat height is about right. For me, anyway :)

2006-07-31T15:28:00.000-07:00

My new Swift folding bike finally arrived, after months of waiting.. I bought the frame and wheels from Peter Reich, but built everything else up myself. The picture above is from Baker Beach, on the road from the Presidio towards the Legion of Honor.

The feature that might particularly interest fellow bike geeks is the Sturmey-Archer Phoenix 8 speed hub gears (I certainly can't find many mentions of it on the web). It was a snap to set up and adjust the gears, although the supplied cable was really poor quality - I lost count of how many times I had to adjust and compensate for the cable stretching, but it seemed like virtually every time I was out on the bike for the first week. I don't think it's the cable routing (though the cable is bent more when I fold the bike) because now that the cable has finally stopped stretching it doesn't seem to be affected by folding the bike.

Apart from the cable stretch, the hub seems very good. The range is fine, and because 1st gear is the 1:1 ratio this hub works very well with smaller wheels without having to use a very large chainring (my 42/25 combination gives me 31" - 96"). The downshifts are very smooth (the shifter is increasing cable tension). Upshifts are less smooth, they sometimes "hesitate" or hit neutral. Usually it's enough to momentarily stop pedaling, but if it hits neutral I need to back-pedal before it goes into gear. I don't know if this is going to continue to be an issue, or if it will improve as the hub wears in, or if I can lubricate something that will fix the problem?

2006-07-31T15:17:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a very hot Sunday afternoon in Dolores Park last weekend, listening to the San Francisco Symphony playing Falla, Bernstein and Tchaikovsky - ending with the 1812 overture, complete with pyrotechnics that could be heard a very long way.. We came early to claim a space in the shade of a tree, and kept having to move our picnic to stay in the shade as the afternoon went on!

2006-07-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Yerba Buena Gardens to see the Forest exhibition. The exhibition was a little disappointing (very small), but the gardens are nice and it was great to be out. Lots of people were around enjoying the sunshine with their kids too; Yerba Buena is a little breathing space in the center of the city! There's a waterfall, behind which is a speech by Martin Luther King; it's very moving (though it isn't the well-known "I have a dream" speech..

(PS: easy & secure bike parking at Yerba Buena Gardens)

2006-07-03T17:30:00.000-07:00

Testing, testing... the most unoriginal first post ever!