All-weather drop bar commuter based on Nexus 8?



In article <[email protected]>, [email protected]
says...
>
>
>Fri, 20 Jan 2006 17:37:21 -0500, Sheldon Brown:
>
>>That looks very interesting, but it isn't clear how it attaches to the
>>bike...?
>
>It just "floats" on the chain. The plastic is mixed in a way to reduce
>drag and noise. Mounting is done without tools and takes just 2 Minutes.
>Chainring has to be 38 tooth, sprocket 18-22 tooth. So it combines nicely
>with classic 3-/4-/5-/7- and 8-speed hubs but not with Rohloff Speedhub. A
>speedhub-version of the chainglider is planned for spring 2006.

Do you need to pull the cranks off to get chainguard on? I'm really interested
in this since it would be simpler than trying to adapt the chain guard I
currenly have.
----------------
Alex
 
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 11:53:16 -0500, Alex Rodriguez:

[Hebie Chainglider]

>Do you need to pull the cranks off to get chainguard on?

No. There is really no tool needed while installing the chainglider.


Andreas
 
Mon, 23 Jan 2006 03:38:51 -0600, A Muzi:

>
>Other German and Italian designs have a support plate under
>the right cup; the chainguard screws to that at two points.
>Looks like that to me.

No - there is no support from the frame neccessary.

Andreas
 
> Mon, 23 Jan 2006 03:38:51 -0600, A Muzi:
>>Other German and Italian designs have a support plate under
>>the right cup; the chainguard screws to that at two points.
>>Looks like that to me.

Andreas Oehler wrote:
> No - there is no support from the frame neccessary.

Interesting. Neat design.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971
 
> There is a new, very easy retrofittable all-closed chaingard on the
> market: Hebie Chainglider. See: http://www.hebie.de/pdf/0350.pdf .
> Price around 30 Euro.

Does anybody know how I can get one of these in the US? I'd love to try it.

Bruce
 
Do Shimano's roller brakes still **** out when you squeeze hard enough?
I was looking into buying this really great Swedish roadster
(Skeppshult), but couldn't stomach the thought of the bicycle doing
that every time I stopped.
 
Groda wrote:
> Do Shimano's roller brakes still **** out when you squeeze hard enough?
> I was looking into buying this really great Swedish roadster
> (Skeppshult), but couldn't stomach the thought of the bicycle doing
> that every time I stopped.

The problem with them for me is that they fade relatively quickly as
they get hot. Whether they do that for you depends on how much you
weigh and how steep/high the hills are in your area.

I weigh more than 400 lbs. together with my bike, and I ride in Seattle
where grades are commonly steeper than 10%. A 400 foot hill is part of
my daily commute, so roller brakes don't work so well for me. I have a
bike with Sachs drums which are marginal on braking power, but a lot
less fade-prone than Shimano roller brakes.

If you don't think fade will be a problem for you, note that Shimano
roller brakes do have a little bit more initial braking power than most
drum brakes.

Chalo Colina
 
"Chalo" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Groda wrote:
> > Do Shimano's roller brakes still **** out when you squeeze
hard enough?
> > I was looking into buying this really great Swedish roadster
> > (Skeppshult), but couldn't stomach the thought of the bicycle
doing
> > that every time I stopped.
>
> The problem with them for me is that they fade relatively
quickly as
> they get hot. Whether they do that for you depends on how much
you
> weigh and how steep/high the hills are in your area.
>
> I weigh more than 400 lbs. together with my bike, and I ride in
Seattle
> where grades are commonly steeper than 10%. A 400 foot hill is
part of
> my daily commute, so roller brakes don't work so well for me.
I have a
> bike with Sachs drums which are marginal on braking power, but
a lot
> less fade-prone than Shimano roller brakes.
>
> If you don't think fade will be a problem for you, note that
Shimano
> roller brakes do have a little bit more initial braking power
than most
> drum brakes.

Don't you have discs on one of your bikes? I'm liking the Avid
road discs on my cross-bike for all the commuting in the rain.
I've been riding through falling or standing water for more than
a month, and the discs have stopped me really well -- even down
the nasty grades in the West Hills in PDX. -- Jay Beattie.
 
I bought a GT commuter bike with a 4-speed nexus hub and a roller brake
but this setup was just too much trouble because of all of the fiddling
around necessary to take the wheel off compared with a derailer. But if
you really like to work on your bike, the roller brake isn't so bad --
it doesn't work very well, but as a rear brake it doesn't really have
to.
 
Jay Beattie wrote:
>
> Don't you have discs on one of your bikes?

I have one bike with discs at both ends, and two bikes with front
discs. I have two bikes with dual drums, and one with a rear drum.

> I'm liking the Avid
> road discs on my cross-bike for all the commuting in the rain.
> I've been riding through falling or standing water for more than
> a month, and the discs have stopped me really well -- even down
> the nasty grades in the West Hills in PDX.

I do like that about discs-- and they are almost as clean as drum
brakes in the wet. My Avid cable-actuated brakes have excellent
performance in the wet, as do my Hayes cable-actuated brakes now that I
use metallic pads.

On the front of my disc-equipped custom Bohemian, I use a 9" Mountain
Cycle Pro-Stop full-floating disc. Unfortunately, this impressive
looking brake honks loudly and becomes noticeably less powerful when
it's wet!

Chalo Colina
 
Alex Rodriguez wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] says...
>
> The VanDessel SuperFly would have met most of your criteria, unfortunately
> it seems to have been discontinued. I have one and it is a good bike. I'm
> in the (slow) process of making some modifications. I removed the suspension
> seat post and when I get a chance the fork is also going. They both added
> weight and were poor performers. It has an Avid front disc brake that works
> well. The rear roller brake is poor. This frame does not have canti nor disc
> brake mounts, so I'm stuck with it. When I was in China a few years back I
> bought a flying pidgeon chain box. I haven't taken the time to modify it to
> fit, but right after I swap out the fork, it is the next project for the bike.
> I might also upgrad the rear hub from 7 spd to 8spd, not to get one more speed
> but because I understand the 8spd hub has less drag and is generally a nicer
> hub.

I second the Superfly suggestion. I have one that I have converted to
drop bars and swapped the fork for a surly cross check fork,
facilitating switching to a cantilever brake. While Van Dessel doesn't
make the SuperFly anymore, they occasionally pop up on ebay. I have
noticed that a SuperFly frame is currently for sale on ebay (I have no
relationship with the seller). I also ditched the rear roller brake in
favor of a very long reach dual pivot caliper (Shimano made one under
the Nexus name at some time in the past - I picked one up on ebay).
Its OK for a rear brake. Other modifications include a new stem to fit
the new handlebars, and a regular (non-suspension) seat post, and the
addition of some fenders.

Whatever anyone tells you, the Nexus Roller brake doesn't work well
with conventional drop bar brake levers - they simply don't pull enough
cable. The Dia-Compe V-brake levers may do, or "normal" levers with a
travel agent - I haven't tried either of those. Overall, I never liked
the roller brake - yes it is clean, but I don't care for the feel, and
it makes removing the rear wheel that much more complicated.

Later,
Mark Muller
 
Per Chalo:
>Cycle Pro-Stop full-floating disc.

Can you make a (subjective...) comparison between the braking power of your
Sachs Drum and a disk brake? 10%, 20%, 30%......90%?

I've got a utility bike whose front wheel isn't to current MTB tire specs.
Instead of trashing the wheel and rebuilding in a new rim I think I'll take this
opportunity to build a new front wheel around a drum brake.

It's just a utility bike - but I need to be able to stop going down a slope
that's about as steep as somebody can pedal up. It's only about 50 feet long,
but there's traffic at the bottom. Fade is probably a non-issue beyond that
distance.
--
PeteCresswell
 
(PeteCresswell) wrote:
>
> Per Chalo:
> >Cycle Pro-Stop full-floating disc.
>
> Can you make a (subjective...) comparison between the braking power of your
> Sachs Drum and a disk brake? 10%, 20%, 30%......90%?

As good an estimate as I can give (without resorting to taking distance
measurements on the street) is that my drums give between 1/3 and 1/2
the braking torque that I can get from my Avid cable-actuated discs,
and that they take about twice as much hand force at the levers to do
it.

These factors combine to give a subjective impression that feels like
the discs are ten times the brakes that the drums are, but in terms of
stopping distance, the power of my drum brakes is not all that bad. My
Sachs drums have gotten better and better over the course of many
hundreds of miles, and they might still be improving.

> I've got a utility bike whose front wheel isn't to current MTB tire specs.
> Instead of trashing the wheel and rebuilding in a new rim I think I'll take this
> opportunity to build a new front wheel around a drum brake.
>
> It's just a utility bike - but I need to be able to stop going down a slope
> that's about as steep as somebody can pedal up. It's only about 50 feet long,
> but there's traffic at the bottom. Fade is probably a non-issue beyond that
> distance.

It sounds like a front drum might work okay for you. I can stop my
drum-braked bike on a 10-12% downhill grade with a 400 to 420 lbs. GVW.
But that wasn't always the case-- during that bike's long break-in
period, there were a couple of times when I ran out of room and had to
make a hastily planned right turn to keep from entering cross traffic.


Note that you have to be very deilberate about matching a drum brake
with a lever that can put it to best use. The lever that the
manufacturer provides may not be a satisfactory choice-- I have
observed this with both Sturmey Archer drums and Shimano roller brakes.
You also have to route and mount the cables carefully to minimize
squish in the system. I get my best results from 4-finger vintage MTB
levers, but I know others who prefer bell-crank or other rising-rate
levers with their drums. I use full-length cables that I have ground
flat and square on their ends, because the force that I put on my drum
brakes' cables makes frame-mounted cable stops flex visibly.

Chalo Colina
 
6 Feb 2006 14:26:31 -0800, Chalo:

>(PeteCresswell) wrote:
>>
>> Per Chalo:
>> >Cycle Pro-Stop full-floating disc.
>>
>> Can you make a (subjective...) comparison between the braking power of your
>> Sachs Drum and a disk brake? 10%, 20%, 30%......90%?
>
>As good an estimate as I can give (without resorting to taking distance
>measurements on the street) is that my drums give between 1/3 and 1/2
>the braking torque that I can get from my Avid cable-actuated discs,
>and that they take about twice as much hand force at the levers to do
>it.

The SRAM i-brake drum on front of my bike also needs more hand force than
a V-Brake, but allows the same max. deceleration - meaning it is possible
to lift the back wheel of this bike (old converted racing bike) with my 75
kg on it. It is recommended for a max. weight of bike and rider of 120kg.

Andreas
 
Andreas Oehler wrote:
>
> The SRAM i-brake drum on front of my bike also needs more hand force than
> a V-Brake, but allows the same max. deceleration - meaning it is possible
> to lift the back wheel of this bike (old converted racing bike) with my 75
> kg on it. It is recommended for a max. weight of bike and rider of 120kg.

The stipulation of a weight limit on the SRAM i-brake is because the
manufacturer significantly narrowed the width of the drum from previous
designs, while increasing braking power. It is therefore especially
vulnerable to thermal conditions leading to failure of the brake. A
friend of mine who works for a major national bicycle parts distributor
(that stocks the SRAM i-brake) recommends against anybody using it for
this reason.

Chalo Colina
 
7 Feb 2006 14:57:06 -0800, Chalo:

>The stipulation of a weight limit on the SRAM i-brake is because the
>manufacturer significantly narrowed the width of the drum from previous
>designs, while increasing braking power. It is therefore especially
>vulnerable to thermal conditions leading to failure of the brake. A
>friend of mine who works for a major national bicycle parts distributor
>(that stocks the SRAM i-brake) recommends against anybody using it for
>this reason.

How did he do the tests?

A friend tested the i-brake for a whole year and >10.000km now on his
long-wheelbase recumbent. The whole vehicle often reaches 120kg (together
with clothes for work, shopping stuff,...) and the terrain here is hilly.
He found thermal problems (reduced deceleration when hot) not worse than
with the 160mm hydraulic discs he used before.

On my testhill (80m height difference, 10% descent) braking constantly
with the i-brake to keep speed at 15 kmph and in parallel push hard into
the pedals i can feel a little fading. But for a town bike and my weight
(sometimes I tow a trailer with 60kg...) I find it appropriate. I would
not recommend it for loaded touring in the Alps - put I would also advice
against 160mm brake discs for this use.

Andreas
 
Andreas Oehler wrote:
>
> Chalo:
> >
> >
> >The stipulation of a weight limit on the SRAM i-brake is because the
> >manufacturer significantly narrowed the width of the drum from previous
> >designs, while increasing braking power...
> >A friend of mine who works for a major national bicycle parts distributor
> >(that stocks the SRAM i-brake) recommends against anybody using it for
> >this reason.
>
> How did he do the tests?

I have no idea how he tested the brake or even whether he tested it.
He rides heavy carrier bikes and had anticipated the i-brake for a long
time. When the weight limit was announced, he contacted the
manufacturer to find out why-- and based on what he learned, he
recommends against it. I'm glad it works for you; I understand from
your explanation why you have faith in it. But SRAM evidently do not
have so much faith in it, because it is the only brake I have ever seen
for which a weight limit is specified.

Chalo Colina
 
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