I took my racing chair over to The Great Bicycle Shop yesterday - and was given a great price to have the two chainrings installed, the SRAM DD3 hub laced into the drive wheel, the shifter for the SRAM hub installed and all the shifters adjusted.
Unfortunately, after checking dimensions, they don't have the right sized spokes in stock ... so it will be "maybe Wednesday but probably Thursday" of next week before my ride is ready to pick up.
They already have the chainrings on ... but said that without the fancy Shimano ramps and pins, it was problematic to get a shift to the big 52 tooth chainring. I have some thoughts on that, but I don't see that being a real problem.
I mentioned some of my concerns about the crank arms and braking - they are going to check around to see what they can come up with for better fitting crank arms and the best choice of brakes for the rear wheels. They agreed that only having the one front caliper brake was "less than idea" - especially in the wet. Adding independent real wheel brakes would allow two things - MUCH better braking in an emergency stop situation and possibly better turning by braking just one wheel on the rear. Recumbent bikes use independent brakes on the dual front wheels to turn, and I'm hoping I can achieve a similar effect.
I've been doing some more looking into things, and decided that disc brakes on the rear would be problematic because of the lack of good mounting choices for the brake calipers. Another options I've came across - Sturmey Archer drum brakes. There are four basic choices - with or without a dynamo (powers lights, etc) and 70mm or 90mm brakes. Given the speed I can potentially reach going down steep inclines, I'm leaning toward a pair of the large brakes. They are only about $9.00 more per hub and provide a good deal of extra security. Yes, they do have the disadvantage of being a little heavy, but these brakes work in the wet, may give me better turning ... and the thoughts of the extra safety from better brakes overcomes any weight disadvantage. If I had had a pair of these on the rear on my leased handcycle, I would not have had my crash!
Another advantage to going this route - the higher flanges on the hub will make for stronger wheels on the rear.
Unfortunately, after checking dimensions, they don't have the right sized spokes in stock ... so it will be "maybe Wednesday but probably Thursday" of next week before my ride is ready to pick up.
They already have the chainrings on ... but said that without the fancy Shimano ramps and pins, it was problematic to get a shift to the big 52 tooth chainring. I have some thoughts on that, but I don't see that being a real problem.
I mentioned some of my concerns about the crank arms and braking - they are going to check around to see what they can come up with for better fitting crank arms and the best choice of brakes for the rear wheels. They agreed that only having the one front caliper brake was "less than idea" - especially in the wet. Adding independent real wheel brakes would allow two things - MUCH better braking in an emergency stop situation and possibly better turning by braking just one wheel on the rear. Recumbent bikes use independent brakes on the dual front wheels to turn, and I'm hoping I can achieve a similar effect.
I've been doing some more looking into things, and decided that disc brakes on the rear would be problematic because of the lack of good mounting choices for the brake calipers. Another options I've came across - Sturmey Archer drum brakes. There are four basic choices - with or without a dynamo (powers lights, etc) and 70mm or 90mm brakes. Given the speed I can potentially reach going down steep inclines, I'm leaning toward a pair of the large brakes. They are only about $9.00 more per hub and provide a good deal of extra security. Yes, they do have the disadvantage of being a little heavy, but these brakes work in the wet, may give me better turning ... and the thoughts of the extra safety from better brakes overcomes any weight disadvantage. If I had had a pair of these on the rear on my leased handcycle, I would not have had my crash!
Another advantage to going this route - the higher flanges on the hub will make for stronger wheels on the rear.
No comments:
Post a Comment