Taking a recumbent trike tandem on the Trans-Pennine Trail?
View Full Version : Taking a recumbent trike tandem on the Trans-Pennine Trail?
We are planning on riding the Sustrans trans-pennine trail from Runcorn to Leeds in a couple of
weeks, and want to take a Greenspeed Touring Tandem. This is a recumbent tricycle tandem, 3.5 metres
long and 1 metre wide. Picture at http://www.wrhpv.com/greenspeed/gtt/pic/index.html
Basic question - is this a sane idea? What are the access controls and paths like? We can get
through wheelchair gates easily, but those A-Frames require lifting over. If the tracks are a meter
wide or less, we'll have problems, especially if we meet anything coming the other way. Also, its a
road bike with road tyres. Are the surfaces reasonably good?
If the GTT can't make it - can an upright tandem?
Thanks
- Richard
--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.
Richard Corfield <rcnews@littondale.dyndns.org> of ntl Cablemodem News Service wrote:
>We are planning on riding the Sustrans trans-pennine trail from Runcorn to Leeds in a couple of
>weeks, and want to take a Greenspeed Touring Tandem. This is a recumbent tricycle tandem, 3.5
>metres long and 1 metre wide. Picture at http://www.wrhpv.com/greenspeed/gtt/pic/index.html
>
>Basic question - is this a sane idea? What are the access controls and paths like? We can get
>through wheelchair gates easily, but those A-Frames require lifting over. If the tracks are a meter
>wide or less, we'll have problems, especially if we meet anything coming the other way. Also, its a
>road bike with road tyres. Are the surfaces reasonably good?
Hi Richard
I live less than 100m off the trail in South Manchester. I cycle some of it most days and am
familiar with the bits between Urmston and Stockport.
The trail is mostly parallelling the River Mersey. Around the Urmston-Sale bit it does some
deviations from the actual river bank path which are generally much less pleasant to ride than the
river bank itself - ruts and smelly puddles. Some bits of the river paths have half bricks sticking
up out of them, so it's not all easy riding. The trail would definitely not be wheelchair
accessible.
After Sale the trail goes past a flooded pit known as Chorlton Water Park. There are some gates here
onto the bank path which have horse stiles that I assume you could carry the tandem over. Then it's
along the Mersey to Northenden. On leaving Northenden the trail goes along one curve of the Mersey
again down a road that is only used by motorised traffic to a golf club. Traffic on this depends on
the time of day. In the mornings on my way to work I meet people who are doing deliveries and going
to work at the golf club, and never have any problems, even though the road isn't wide enough for a
car to pass a normal upright bike. However later in the day beware golfers in cars who think they
own this road. (I do keep hoping to see the stand off when one golfer meets another going in the
other direction, and neither will give way.) The pavement here is much wider than the road, so when
there are no pedestrians I prefer the pavement.
Simon's bridge over the Mersey between Northenden and Didsbury is a footbridge, which is narrow, but
I don't think it's less than a metre. At the far end there is a right angle bend which you are not
going to be able to negotiate - just not enough swing room, but I think you'll be OK if you get off
and walk over the bridge. In fact, don't get back on again, because the trail goes downhill for a
few metres off the river bank into a car park and there's a cubic metre block of stone at the bottom
of the incline that you won't have much room to get past.
The bit of trail in Didsbury nearest to my house goes along an old railway line. This is very
overgrown at the moment, with blackberries and nettles, so I won't cycle down there on a normal
upright bike unless wearing longs. The greenery dies back fairly fast, so you'll be OK in a few
weeks time, but at the moment a small diversion would be needed to avoid a lot of scratches.
After the end of the old railway the stretch from Heaton Mersey runs along the river again. (If you
encounter A frame gates in Heaton Mersey, you are on the wrong track.) This part should be fine,
until almost but not quite at Stockport. The last maybe 400m has been surfaced with really icky
gravel which is horrible to ride on. Turn left down the side of the Parcel Force building instead
and use the quiet road through the industrial estate to the Pyramid.
Tea stop on offer if I'm home - email me privately.
--
The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the combination is locked up in the
safe. Peter De Vries Steph Peters delete invalid from incm@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid Tatting,
lace & stitching page <http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm
Steph Peters <urcy@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid> of Curry and Lace wrote:
>After the end of the old railway the stretch from Heaton Mersey runs along the river again. (If you
>encounter A frame gates in Heaton Mersey, you are on the wrong track.) This part should be fine,
>until almost but not quite at Stockport.
Bad form to follow up to oneself, but I need to. Lying in bed this morning putting off getting up, I
mentally rode this route. When posting last night (memo to self, nothing tricky after midnight) I
forgot an A frame in the section above. There really isn't a sensible diversion to avoid this A
frame without leaving the trail for about 3-4 miles and using a hilly main road instead. If you're
really dedicated, it's by a farm type gate across the trail, so you could stand one either side of
the gate and lift the tandem over.
OTOH, if the rest of the trail is the same as my local section, you would be in for a pretty
hard time.
--
A professional politician is a professionally dishonorable man. In order to get anywhere near high
office he has to make so many compromises and submit to so many humiliations that he becomes
indistinguishable from a streetwalker. Henry Louis Mencken Steph Peters delete invalid from
incm@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid Tatting, lace & stitching page
<http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm
"Steph Peters" <urcy@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid> wrote in message
news:20snkvg32o5eembki561ndt1rbs18oclm9@4ax.com...
> Richard Corfield <rcnews@littondale.dyndns.org> of ntl Cablemodem News Service wrote:
>
> >We are planning on riding the Sustrans trans-pennine trail from Runcorn to Leeds in a couple of
> >weeks, and want to take a Greenspeed Touring Tandem. This is a recumbent tricycle tandem, 3.5
> >metres long and 1 metre wide. Picture at http://www.wrhpv.com/greenspeed/gtt/pic/index.html
> >
> >Basic question - is this a sane idea? What are the access controls and paths like? We can get
> >through wheelchair gates easily, but those A-Frames require lifting over. If the tracks are a
> >meter wide or less, we'll have problems, especially if we meet anything coming the other way.
> >Also, its a road bike with road tyres. Are the surfaces reasonably good?
>
> Hi Richard
>
> I live less than 100m off the trail in South Manchester. I cycle some of
it
> most days and am familiar with the bits between Urmston and Stockport.
>
> The trail is mostly parallelling the River Mersey. Around the
Urmston-Sale
> bit it does some deviations from the actual river bank path which are generally much less pleasant
> to ride than the river bank itself - ruts and smelly puddles. Some bits of the river paths have
> half bricks sticking up out of them, so it's not all easy riding. The trail would definitely not
be
> wheelchair accessible.
>
> After Sale the trail goes past a flooded pit known as Chorlton Water Park. There are some gates
> here onto the bank path which have horse stiles that
I
> assume you could carry the tandem over. Then it's along the Mersey to Northenden. On leaving
> Northenden the trail goes along one curve of the Mersey again down a road that is only used by
> motorised traffic to a golf club. Traffic on this depends on the time of day. In the mornings on
> my way to work I meet people who are doing deliveries and going to work at
the
> golf club, and never have any problems, even though the road isn't wide enough for a car to pass a
> normal upright bike. However later in the day beware golfers in cars who think they own this road.
> (I do keep hoping to see the stand off when one golfer meets another going in the other direction,
> and neither will give way.) The pavement here is much wider
than
> the road, so when there are no pedestrians I prefer the pavement.
>
> Simon's bridge over the Mersey between Northenden and Didsbury is a footbridge, which is narrow,
> but I don't think it's less than a metre. At the far end there is a right angle bend which you are
> not going to be able to negotiate - just not enough swing room, but I think you'll be OK if you
> get off and walk over the bridge. In fact, don't get back on again,
because
> the trail goes downhill for a few metres off the river bank into a car
park
> and there's a cubic metre block of stone at the bottom of the incline that you won't have much
> room to get past.
>
> The bit of trail in Didsbury nearest to my house goes along an old railway line. This is very
> overgrown at the moment, with blackberries and
nettles,
> so I won't cycle down there on a normal upright bike unless wearing longs. The greenery dies back
> fairly fast, so you'll be OK in a few weeks time,
but
> at the moment a small diversion would be needed to avoid a lot of
scratches.
>
> After the end of the old railway the stretch from Heaton Mersey runs along the river again. (If
> you encounter A frame gates in Heaton Mersey, you
are
> on the wrong track.) This part should be fine, until almost but not quite
at
> Stockport. The last maybe 400m has been surfaced with really icky gravel which is horrible to ride
> on. Turn left down the side of the Parcel Force building instead and use the quiet road through
> the industrial estate to
the
> Pyramid.
>
> Tea stop on offer if I'm home - email me privately.
>
> --
> The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination. But the
combination
> is locked up in the safe. Peter De Vries Steph Peters delete invalid from
> incm@sandbenders.demon.co.uk.invalid Tatting, lace & stitching page
<http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm> (http://www.sandbenders.demon.co.uk/index.htm)
The comments about the area around Manchester are, IMHO, fairly accurate BUT do not address the real
issue of suitability for a tandem trike.
We did the whole of the TPT in May this year - we lost count of the number of barriers, narrow bits
of track etc - most of the barriers along the whole length of the route were the A variety which
necessitated standing the bike on the back wheel to wheel it through - and one rather splendid stile
which must be over 5 feet high just near the Humber Bridge where you had to climb 2 or 3 steps on
the stile to lift the bike over. If I recall the stretch just to the east of Barnsley had A frames
every 100 yards or so.
To answer your original question - I would suggest that the machine you are suggesting is a
non-starter - much of the route is poor even for a solo machine.
Having said all that we did enjoy the ride although the part to the west of Manchester - i.e. from
Southport around Liverpool, Widnes etc was pretty bleak - one guy we met suggested that TPT stood
for The Poverty Trail - with a number of areas where there was so much broken glass and other debris
that we had to physically carry the bikes.
We're off to do the new Sustrans Pennine Cycleway next May, we'll see what that's like .... but
that's the training run for the BIG one, LeJoG.
Rob
Thanks for your replies. We did a test run on the canal around Leeds tonight. It worked well enough,
but I can imagine some problems with too many A-frames. We're going to try training on an upright
tandem to see if we can make it on that. Its a tourer with drop handlebars, so should take the
A-frames well.
To fill you in on history - its a charity ride in aid of our local cancer center. I've been a
customer for the past 2.5 years now, though am on the road to recovery, fingers crossed, and just
celebrated 1 year in remission. A group of friends of mine rode Liverpool to Leeds along the canal
last year, though I couldn't ride then due to treatment.
This year I can ride (erm, well, as long as I have backup and am sensible, hmmm). My range is better
on the recumbent, and it is more comfortable for me, especially after the treatment I've had. The
GTT has been kindly loaned for the ride. That said we've come on well practicing on uprights and
there will be the option of stopping if I need to. We still plan to use the GTT on the Cancer
Research "Cycle for Life" the week before.
Thanks
- Richard
--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.
Well, we did it, or mostly did it. We cycled from Runcorn to Leeds in 2 days, and had an excellent
time in the process. We followed the Trans Pennine Trail where it was nice and wide and either shale
or tarmac, which was quite a lot of it. Where it was a bit more narrow we got out the map and chose
another route. Between the long-cuts down minor roads, and the short-cuts down A roads, our final
mileage was pretty close to the 106 miles calculated for the journey along the trail itself. Nice
thing about the tandem, the person on the back can map read!
Unfortunately my camera decided to reject its memory stick half way through. Jessops have managed
to extract the data, but I've lost all the nice exif information which tells my computer which way
up to put the photos on the web page. When I've rotated all the images manually (camera off for a
month to be fixed!) I'll have to write up the event (better sooner than later). For now, I'm
getting some rest.
- Richard
[Rob or Carol, I'm not sure my email is reliable. It may be that my inbox on NTL momentarilly went
over their limit, so I don't know if they started rejecting bits. Thats fixed now.]
--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.
Richard Corfield <rcnews@littondale.dyndns.org> writes:
> Well, we did it, or mostly did it. We cycled from Runcorn to Leeds in 2 days, and had an excellent
> time in the process. We followed the Trans Pennine Trail where it was nice and wide and either
> shale or tarmac, which was quite a lot of it. Where it was a bit more narrow we got out the map
> and chose another route. Between the long-cuts down minor roads, and the short-cuts down A roads,
> our final mileage was pretty close to the 106 miles calculated for the journey along the trail
> itself. Nice thing about the tandem, the person on the back can map read!
This was actually on the trike? Can you give us a brief review of the machine itself, ie how
it handled, how comfortable it was, how manouverable, any particular foibles, good things,
bad things...
Did you, in short, like it?
--
simon@jasmine.org.uk (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ ;; Our modern industrial
economy takes a mountain covered with trees, ;; lakes, running streams and transforms it into a
mountain of junk, ;; garbage, slime pits, and debris. -- Edward Abbey
In article <87ad9fru69.fsf@gododdin.internal.jasmine.org.uk>, Simon Brooke wrote:
>
> This was actually on the trike? Can you give us a brief review of the machine itself, ie how it
> handled, how comfortable it was, how manouverable, any particular foibles, good things, bad
> things...
>
> Did you, in short, like it?
We very much liked it, and I think I can see a writeup coming on. I'll do a proper one with
pictures. Of course, best thing to do is not take my word for it but try for yourself. Carol posts
here, and presumably will want her tandem back.
It takes a little getting used to. The steering is quite sensitive and you get pull if you brake on
one side only. Once used to the steering its no problem at all, just natural, and the tandem has a
nice turning circle for something that long. You can also learn to use the brake steer a little,
though that may be more psychological than real.
Unlike the ICE's, seat angle isn't adjustable, but I think that again is something you just get
used to. Instead, you get S+S couplings, which give a lot of confidence. These things won't
rotate on you.
Its like riding a stretch limo. Riding solo isn't any harder, apart from the weight on hills, than
riding tandem. I was able to train on it even when Lindsay was busy, and probably did well training
solo up hills! Riding with a partner, you can talk quite easily, which helps. Also, the one on the
back can map read if it comes to it. As on any tandem, it helps if you both like working in the same
gear range. We compromised between my lower gear preferance and Lindsay's higher.
It is a road bike. Only limitation was traction at the back climbing on wet shale, though it has
road tyres on. We had to turn it round and pull it up some hills, even on purpose laid cycle track.
The final climb to the high point on the trans-pennine is very steep, so we used the road instead.
Not many cycle tracks cater for something that wide, so you're better on the road. Even if the track
is wide, there are the A gates and similar which can be quite frequent.
Also it is possible to bump the front chain off if not set tight enough - and I'm afraid some roads
round here can achieve that! That is the only design improvement I'd require, some sort of spring
tension or shorter free spans on the front chain. That said, we were fine with this on the charity
ride, having set the front chain tight enough.
On road its an excellent ride. You can travel quite fast once used to riding recumbent, even on
slight climbs, and I expect the definition of "slight" would become steeper as the riders become
fitter. We did not feel problems in traffic with it, and some people who said things like
"Recumbent, will never be visible on the road" changed their minds once they'd seen it on the road.
You can also get very used to having mirrors, something I rapidly noticed missing on my upright.
I like the S+S couplings. They look like a sensible strong coupling that won't rotate. The tandem
goes into a long wheelbase van intact with room to spare, but I expect would need decoupling for
anything smaller. The coupling is someting I think the Greenspeed has better than the ICE, though
ICE achieve their seat angle adjustability with their sliding coupling. I've not looked at ICE's
coupling in detail.
As for me, I think riding the recumbent greatly increased the distance I could travel. We had no
saddle sore at the end of the ride, and in training my legs got tired but not the rest of me. I also
find my pulse rate lower for a given speed when riding recumbent. I wouldn't give up on upright
though. Switching between them brings out the fun in the upright too. Each has its place.
- Richard
--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.
Richard Corfield must be edykated coz e writed:
> In article <87ad9fru69.fsf@gododdin.internal.jasmine.org.uk>, Simon Brooke wrote:
>>
>> This was actually on the trike? Can you give us a brief review of the machine itself, ie how it
>> handled, how comfortable it was, how manouverable, any particular foibles, good things, bad
>> things...
>>
>> Did you, in short, like it?
>
> We very much liked it, and I think I can see a writeup coming on. I'll do a proper one with
> pictures. Of course, best thing to do is not take my word for it but try for yourself. Carol posts
> here, and presumably will want her tandem back.
>
> It takes a little getting used to. The steering is quite sensitive and you get pull if you brake
> on one side only. Once used to the steering its no problem at all, just natural, and the tandem
> has a nice turning circle for something that long. You can also learn to use the brake steer a
> little, though that may be more psychological than real.
>
> Unlike the ICE's, seat angle isn't adjustable, but I think that again is something you just get
> used to. Instead, you get S+S couplings, which give a lot of confidence. These things won't
> rotate on you.
>
> Its like riding a stretch limo. Riding solo isn't any harder, apart from the weight on hills,
> than riding tandem. I was able to train on it even when Lindsay was busy, and probably did
> well training solo up hills! Riding with a partner, you can talk quite easily, which helps.
> Also, the one on the back can map read if it comes to it. As on any tandem, it helps if you
> both like working in the same gear range. We compromised between my lower gear preferance and
> Lindsay's higher.
>
> It is a road bike. Only limitation was traction at the back climbing on wet shale, though it has
> road tyres on. We had to turn it round and pull it up some hills, even on purpose laid cycle
> track. The final climb to the high point on the trans-pennine is very steep, so we used the road
> instead. Not many cycle tracks cater for something that wide, so you're better on the road. Even
> if the track is wide, there are the A gates and similar which can be quite frequent.
>
> Also it is possible to bump the front chain off if not set tight enough - and I'm afraid some
> roads round here can achieve that! That is the only design improvement I'd require, some sort of
> spring tension or shorter free spans on the front chain. That said, we were fine with this on the
> charity ride, having set the front chain tight enough.
>
> On road its an excellent ride. You can travel quite fast once used to riding recumbent, even on
> slight climbs, and I expect the definition of "slight" would become steeper as the riders become
> fitter. We did not feel problems in traffic with it, and some people who said things like
> "Recumbent, will never be visible on the road" changed their minds once they'd seen it on the
> road. You can also get very used to having mirrors, something I rapidly noticed missing on my
> upright.
>
> I like the S+S couplings. They look like a sensible strong coupling that won't rotate. The tandem
> goes into a long wheelbase van intact with room to spare, but I expect would need decoupling for
> anything smaller. The coupling is someting I think the Greenspeed has better than the ICE, though
> ICE achieve their seat angle adjustability with their sliding coupling. I've not looked at ICE's
> coupling in detail.
>
> As for me, I think riding the recumbent greatly increased the distance I could travel. We had no
> saddle sore at the end of the ride, and in training my legs got tired but not the rest of me. I
> also find my pulse rate lower for a given speed when riding recumbent. I wouldn't give up on
> upright though. Switching between them brings out the fun in the upright too. Each has its place.
>
> - Richard
Well done, are you going to convert fully to the dark side now?
--
Ian
http://www.catrike.co.uk (http://www.catrike.co.uk/)
"Richard Corfield" <rcnews@littondale.dyndns.org> wrote in message
news:slrnblsa9v.1sb.rcnews@cobalt.internal.littondale.dyndns.org...
> It takes a little getting used to. The steering is quite sensitive and you get pull if you brake
> on one side only. Once used to the steering its no problem at all, just natural, and the tandem
> has a nice turning circle for something that long. You can also learn to use the brake steer a
> little, though that may be more psychological than real.
Interesting - I didn't find getting used to ours a problem, noticing no problems with either
steering sensitivity or brake pulling. Has he improved the handlebar mountings? Ours suffered from
swivelling if you yanked the bars too hard while playing around.
The best thing about ours was that it was great fun - looning downhill with corners was excellent.
Lifting a front wheel was a good way to scare a passenger!
The S+S is good - we got ours mostly in rucksacks with the seats loose. (I think we had one of the
first S+S ones, if not the first).
I don't think we ever lost the front chain, but it was quite tight. I wonder if this was a factor in
the way the drive train felt like pedalling through treacle.
But eventually it had to go. All the fun in the world didn't help it go up hills - weight and an
inefficient drive train counted against it, and I found visibility an issue when taking it round
somerset lanes (that is, my visibility - I didn't have any worries about people seeing us). The size
was jolly inconvenient sometimes too. We decided to stick with our upright tandem (now plural).
(I'd still consider a solo one though - lots of the disadvantages wouldn't apply).
cheers, clive
Richard Corfield <rcnews@littondale.dyndns.org> writes:
> In article <87ad9fru69.fsf@gododdin.internal.jasmine.org.uk>, Simon Brooke wrote:
> >
> > This was actually on the trike? Can you give us a brief review of the machine itself, ie how it
> > handled, how comfortable it was, how manouverable, any particular foibles, good things, bad
> > things...
> >
> > Did you, in short, like it?
>
> We very much liked it, and I think I can see a writeup coming on.
[snip]
Thank you very much for this review, I look forward to the writeup.
--
simon@jasmine.org.uk (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; I'll have a proper rant later, when I get the time.
In article <bjlc03$urm$1@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk>, Clive George wrote:
>
> Interesting - I didn't find getting used to ours a problem, noticing no problems with either
> steering sensitivity or brake pulling. Has he improved the handlebar mountings? Ours suffered from
> swivelling if you yanked the bars too hard while playing around.
I'd spent some time test driving ICEs, so it was a change from those I suppose. No problem with the
bars on this one, though I'd learned on the ICE that you don't pull on them as their demo trikes
were set quite loose.
>
> The best thing about ours was that it was great fun - looning downhill with corners was excellent.
> Lifting a front wheel was a good way to scare a passenger!
>
We didn't get that fast on the corners.
> I don't think we ever lost the front chain, but it was quite tight. I wonder if this was a factor
> in the way the drive train felt like pedalling through treacle.
I found it was a balance between that, getting it slack enough not to feel like treacle, but tight
enough not to bounce off. On a perfect race track there'd be no problem at all. I also wonder how
older Sturmey Archer or fixed gear bikes handled it, as I don't remember the problem as a child on
that kind of bike. Maybe the chain run was shorter on these. I think some sort of spring tensioner,
even maybe a rubber bush of some kind on the pulleys on the return side, would make it easier to set
up. Once set up, it wasn't a problem.
> But eventually it had to go. All the fun in the world didn't help it go up hills - weight and an
> inefficient drive train counted against it, and I found visibility an issue when taking it round
> somerset lanes (that is, my visibility - I didn't have any worries about people seeing us). The
> size was jolly inconvenient sometimes too. We decided to stick with our upright tandem (now
> plural).
At 15kg per rider I don't think its bad for a trike. We're looking at loading up with camping gear,
which outweighs our upright tandem (old Vango Force 10 tent, Trangia, sleeping bags, even the weight
of modern bike locks), and eating less chocolate will probably make more of a difference for me ;-).
We're going for singletons, though it really is a difficult choice. I wouldn't be surprised if one
day we own a tandem as well, but singletons do give us a lot more flexibility. We both commute in
different directions for example. That said, riding together you can't beat tandem. It really is
great fun! It's between buying the tandem and commuting on our uprights, and selling the upright
tandem which would otherwise collect dust - or singletons for commute, some leisure, and remember to
take out the upright tandem sometimes.
Someone who doesn't already own an upright tandem should consider the recumbent as a going out
together vehicle. It really is great fun! You can talk more easily, and if you're mismatched on
speed then tandem keeps you together. Its also cheaper than two singles, and not everyone's commute
would be best on recumbent.
- Richard
--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.
Richard Corfield <rcnews@littondale.dyndns.org> writes:
> In article <bjlc03$urm$1@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk>, Clive George wrote:
> >
> > I don't think we ever lost the front chain, but it was quite tight. I wonder if this was a
> > factor in the way the drive train felt like pedalling through treacle.
>
> I found it was a balance between that, getting it slack enough not to feel like treacle, but tight
> enough not to bounce off. On a perfect race track there'd be no problem at all. I also wonder how
> older Sturmey Archer or fixed gear bikes handled it, as I don't remember the problem as a child on
> that kind of bike. Maybe the chain run was shorter on these. I think some sort of spring
> tensioner, even maybe a rubber bush of some kind on the pulleys on the return side, would make it
> easier to set up. Once set up, it wasn't a problem.
Would the jockey arm off a rear derailleur, either without the pantograph or with a fixed
pantograph, do the job?
--
simon@jasmine.org.uk (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; Women are from Venus. Men are from Mars. Lusers are from Uranus.
Simon Brooke must be edykated coz e writed:
> Richard Corfield <rcnews@littondale.dyndns.org> writes:
>
>> In article <bjlc03$urm$1@newsg3.svr.pol.co.uk>, Clive George wrote:
>>>
>>> I don't think we ever lost the front chain, but it was quite tight. I wonder if this was a
>>> factor in the way the drive train felt like pedalling through treacle.
>>
>> I found it was a balance between that, getting it slack enough not to feel like treacle, but
>> tight enough not to bounce off. On a perfect race track there'd be no problem at all. I also
>> wonder how older Sturmey Archer or fixed gear bikes handled it, as I don't remember the problem
>> as a child on that kind of bike. Maybe the chain run was shorter on these. I think some sort of
>> spring tensioner, even maybe a rubber bush of some kind on the pulleys on the return side, would
>> make it easier to set up. Once set up, it wasn't a problem.
>
> Would the jockey arm off a rear derailleur, either without the pantograph or with a fixed
> pantograph, do the job?
At some stage I seem to have missed which Trike was used, Greenspeed perhaps?
--
Ian
http://www.catrike.co.uk (http://www.catrike.co.uk/)
Originally posted by Richard Corfiel
Well, we did it, or mostly did it. We cycled from Runcorn to Leeds in 2 days, and had an excellent
time in the process.
I'd be really interested in hearing about the section in Langendale (I think its called) from Crowden to Penistone parralleling the Woodhead Pass road. Did you use this part ? Is it doable on a touring bike ? Where did you break your journey ? Did you follow the TPT all the way back to Leeds ? I am planning on riding sections of the TPT from Leeds towards Barnsley then west towards Manc later this year/early next.
"MSeries" <usenet-forum@cyclingforums.com> wrote in message news:3f5f1a06_4@news.chariot.net.au...
> Richard Corfiel wrote:
> > Well, we did it, or mostly did it. We cycled from Runcorn to Leeds in
2
> > days, and had an excellent time in the process.
>
>
> I'd be really interested in hearing about the section in Langendale (I think its called) from
> Crowden to Penistone parralleling the Woodhead Pass road. Did you use this part ? Is it doable on
> a touring bike ? Where did you break your journey ? Did you follow the TPT all the way back to
> Leeds ? I am planning on riding sections of the TPT from Leeds towards Barnsley then west towards
> Manc later this year/early next.
>
Not sure where Crowden is - but the bit you are thinking of is really from Hadfield Station to
Durnford Bridge(that's going west to east) - the first part is an old railway line with a slow
gradient - good/reasonable surface and no problem on a tourer (assuming something like 700-32C
tyres) - when you get to the Tunnel (closed) there is a steep climb, some of which is steps, that is
semi-rideable (but I walked up!) - there are then a few rough ups and downs over a short distance,
again no real problem for a tourer.
You then reach a road section at what is the highest point on the TPT - the road drops away
deceptively steeply towards Durnford Bridge (it looks like a gentle slope until you see people
grinding up the other way on the granny) - whatever, a great spin down touching 50 mph! Sadly for us
(in May 2003) the pub at Durnford Bridge which was our planned lunch stop was shut for refurbishment
- carried on along the trail for a bit and came to an old station that sold tea and home-made cakes.
Bottom line - IMHO yes you can do that stretch on a tourer but be prepared for some walking
over the top.
A remarkably easy crossing of the Pennines. On a broader note, having done the complete route from
Southport to Hornsea it's all doable on a tourer (in fact one of our group was riding his dad's
ancient machine with 27inch skinny (bald and perished!) tyres with just the one puncture)
RG
In article <BB84BD5B.F9E6%spamandchips@greasy.joes>, Ian wrote:
>>
>> Would the jockey arm off a rear derailleur, either without the pantograph or with a fixed
>> pantograph, do the job?
> At some stage I seem to have missed which Trike was used, Greenspeed perhaps?
Yes it was Greenspeed, and I imagine the jockey arm idea could work well. I wonder if you'd route
the chain over both wheels, or just use one, or if there is a simple solution. I wonder how much
effect chain wear has on it.
- Richard
--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.
In article <3f5f1a06_4@news.chariot.net.au>, MSeries wrote:
>
> I'd be really interested in hearing about the section in Langendale (I think its called) from
> Crowden to Penistone parralleling the Woodhead Pass road. Did you use this part ? Is it doable on
> a touring bike ? Where did you break your journey ? Did you follow the TPT all the way back to
> Leeds ? I am planning on riding sections of the TPT from Leeds towards Barnsley then west towards
> Manc later this year/early next.
I was not always the map reader, so am not sure about all the sections we did. I generally took the
map when we left the trail.
Penistone up to Dunford Bridge is a good wide ex-railway, no problem at all. As said in the
followup, the ride from Dunford Bridge to the high point is a steep road, then it's tracks down to
the mouth of the tunnel (which looks to be full of National Grid, so I can't imagine cycling through
it unless it gets well insulated). We used the A628 for a short section over Woodhead Pass.
We found the track West of here OK, but very sticky in the wet. It sapped the speed. The Longdendale
Trail was quite passable, though I'd recomend taking the diversion to Hadfield Station and then a
short downhill on road to Woolley Bridge if it is wet.
We did Hattersley to Wooley Bridge on the A628 then A57, as one of the teams in front of us reported
difficult going on the TPT around Broadbottom.
Going East. At Ospring we took the Alternate Road Route marked on the trail, having missed the turn
for the off road route. The track descending to Silstone Common was a little rough and had to be
taken with care. From here, along the Dove Valley Trail, I remember it being very smooth and nice
openable gates, right up past the turning at Darfield into Cudworth.
Track was bad for the GTT around Royston, so we took the B6248 and joined the West Yorkshire Cycle
Route instead. The map at Haw Park is deceptive, and those lanes are really paths, but fortunately
just wide enough for us and presumably surfaced to be wheelchair friendly. Sike Lane has a hawthorn
hedge, not nice. We bypassed the Nature Reserve using Okenshaw Lane instead.
The canal was easy, apart from a small section north of Stanley Ferry which was too overgrown for
us, so we bypassed that using Ferry Lane (its only short), then being somewhat behind and somewhat
tired (this only 11 months out of some quite nasty cancer treatment) we took the Aberford Road via
Oulton to Woodesford and rejoined the rest of our group. Thanks to John, Paul and Louis for sticking
with us through these sections.
The canal path from Woodesford to Leeds is nice, though watch for that huge flight of steps at
Stourton. We finished at the Royal Armouries.
A lot of the sections that we decided not doable on the GTT, we could have done on our touring
upright tandem. Width and ingress of weeds were the limitations, rather than surface which was
mostly good. I don't think I'd have made the distance on an upright though. We did the journey West
to East in two days, stopping at Dunford Bridge.
- Richard
--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.
On 10 Sep 2003 20:36:54 GMT, Richard Corfield <rcnews@littondale.dyndns.org> wrote:
>In article <BB84BD5B.F9E6%spamandchips@greasy.joes>, Ian wrote:
>>>
>>> Would the jockey arm off a rear derailleur, either without the pantograph or with a fixed
>>> pantograph, do the job?
>> At some stage I seem to have missed which Trike was used, Greenspeed perhaps?
>
>Yes it was Greenspeed, and I imagine the jockey arm idea could work well. I wonder if you'd route
>the chain over both wheels, or just use one, or if there is a simple solution. I wonder how much
>effect chain wear has on it.
>
My Pino has what sounds like a simliar soltution, used to allow adjustment of the front boom,so
different sized riders can take the front seat. In this case it's just the arm plus a bit of
aluminium profiled to match the curvature of the tube it's attached to. Chain wear doesn't seem to
be a problem.
Tim
--
In space no one can eat ice cream
First set of photos at http://littondale.dyndns.org/CycleRide2003/Photos/ I don't have much
bandwidth though, so be patient with it. Writeups to come, but I may just take a load of text from
my posts to this thread!
- Richard
--
_/_/_/ _/_/_/ _/_/_/ Richard dot Corfield at ntlworld dot com _/ _/ _/ _/ _/_/ _/ _/ Time is a
one way street, _/ _/ _/_/ _/_/_/ Except in the Twighlight Zone.
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