Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

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RonK
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby RonK » Mon Feb 06, 2012 12:13 pm

il padrone wrote:I'm pretty sure that the E3 standlight is just as bright as the normal light in use. I don't have any concerns about it.
Is it? - I can't see for myself how bright it is while riding. The front light is much dimmer while stationary, so I assumed the rear dimmed also. Perhaps it was my angle of view, but when I got off the bike and checked the rear light I was unimpressed by its brightness. Maybe I need to be looking from further behind - have you actually observed your tailight from a drivers persective? Both moving and stationary?
il padrone wrote:I ran mine along the underside of the down tube, next to and cable-tied to, the Rohloff gear cables; under the BB; following the gear cables along the underside of the chainstay; then along (cable-tied to) the Cargo rack's rear-most stay leading it up to the light's rack mount. Overall it is pretty inconspicuous to most views.
I considered that route you used, but chose the more direct path along the rear brake cable (which is fastened to three custom retainers under the top tube) and along the rack stay. I don't want to cable tie the wiring onto the rack, as it's likely I'll have to remove the rack to pack the bike for air travel.

It is quite inconspicuous, but I know it's there and as I've said before vis-a-vis the charging system wiring, I'm very particular about these things, and that is one reason why I hadn't fitted the lights sooner.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby Baalzamon » Mon Feb 06, 2012 3:09 pm

RonK wrote:
il padrone wrote:I'm pretty sure that the E3 standlight is just as bright as the normal light in use. I don't have any concerns about it.
Is it? - I can't see for myself how bright it is while riding. The front light is much dimmer while stationary, so I assumed the rear dimmed also. Perhaps it was my angle of view, but when I got off the bike and checked the rear light I was unimpressed by its brightness. Maybe I need to be looking from further behind - have you actually observed your tailight from a drivers persective? Both moving and stationary?


I considered that route you used, but chose the more direct path along the rear brake cable (which is fastened to three custom retainers under the top tube) and along the rack stay. I don't want to cable tie the wiring onto the rack, as it's likely I'll have to remove the rack to pack the bike for air travel.
Well I've had 2 ppl comment on mine when asked how bright it was and got back 'bright' and 'those 3 little LED's are amazing, they are soo bright' But I'm damn curious myself, but now there are a few people in Perth with/getting them a photo may be coming eventually with an in use shot.

You have missed a step in your setup then. I can pull my rear rack off and still have my taillight cables zip tied to the frame with the use of Image
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby RonK » Mon Feb 06, 2012 4:18 pm

Baalzamon wrote:
RonK wrote:
il padrone wrote:I'm pretty sure that the E3 standlight is just as bright as the normal light in use. I don't have any concerns about it.
Is it? - I can't see for myself how bright it is while riding. The front light is much dimmer while stationary, so I assumed the rear dimmed also. Perhaps it was my angle of view, but when I got off the bike and checked the rear light I was unimpressed by its brightness. Maybe I need to be looking from further behind - have you actually observed your tailight from a drivers persective? Both moving and stationary?


I considered that route you used, but chose the more direct path along the rear brake cable (which is fastened to three custom retainers under the top tube) and along the rack stay. I don't want to cable tie the wiring onto the rack, as it's likely I'll have to remove the rack to pack the bike for air travel.
Well I've had 2 ppl comment on mine when asked how bright it was and got back 'bright' and 'those 3 little LED's are amazing, they are soo bright' But I'm damn curious myself, but now there are a few people in Perth with/getting them a photo may be coming eventually with an in use shot.

You have missed a step in your setup then. I can pull my rear rack off and still have my taillight cables zip tied to the frame with the use of Image
Supernova Gold Connectors Set
It would be interesting to see how bright they actually are - the Cateye TL-LD1000 tailight I've been using has 10 led's and they are also very bright, so maybe to my jaded (dazzled) eyes the E3 tailight doesn't look extra bright. But I didn't step back and look directly from behind either so that might make a difference. A picture would be interesting, but I'm going for overkill and will mount the TL-LD1000 as well.

The Supernova gold connectors would have been a good idea. At first I didn't associate them with the fixed light as they are mentioned in the context of the seat post mounted version, but I realised too late that they would have been very handy and I kicked myself for not getting them with my order. I will have to wait for another opportunity to bundle them with something else.

BTW, I noticed you mentioned NZ as a possibility as well as Tassie - I am planning a return tour of either the northern or souther part of the South Island (I've done the central bit) for a month in October-November. And if you go to Tassie you may find useful information in my Giro tour journal.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby rifraf » Sat Feb 11, 2012 8:36 pm

RonK wrote: BTW, I noticed you mentioned NZ as a possibility as well as Tassie - I am planning a return tour of either the northern or souther part of the South Island (I've done the central bit) for a month in October-November. And if you go to Tassie you may find useful information in my Giro tour journal.
I'm convinced that all these people touring Tassie and NZ are getting through customs without bag checks.
They get home and open their luggage and Viola! Unnatural rainfall across the Eastern states.
They are bringing the weather with them and some should be done about it. :wink:

On a side note Ron, and you may have covered this in another post......
I've been reading back through earlier threads in the Touring Australia section and came across:
http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewt ... 7&start=25
where you express interest in having a Gates belt drive for the Van Nicholas.
What made you decide in the end to stick with a chain?
Cheers
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby RonK » Sat Feb 11, 2012 11:03 pm

rifraf wrote:I've been reading back through earlier threads in the Touring Australia section and came across:
http://www.bicycles.net.au/forums/viewt ... 7&start=25
where you express interest in having a Gates belt drive for the Van Nicholas.
What made you decide in the end to stick with a chain?
Well, I've heard no reports of a drought in NZ so they didn't bring too much rain over.

The choice between belt and chain drive was an easy one - for a marginal gain, belt drive would have added at least another $600 to the cost of an already expensive bike. More in fact, because I bought my chain drive frame from a VN dealer at a significant discount, but would have had to pay full retail for a belt drive frame from Van Nicholas. And actually, that would have made the project nonviable.

Now, after more than 1000 kms on the road, my observation is that a Rohloff Speedhub delivers nothing tangible to the rider - the much vaunted even spread between the gears is no real benefit because there are not enough of them - the difference between gears is too wide to maintain a comfortable cadence. This means quite frequent shifting - something Rohloff tries to sell as a virtue, but actually there is no choice as I'm very often on the verge of either spinning out or mashing. And given the need to shift frequently I don't find the Rohloff twist shifter particularly ergonomic, and I don't find the direction of its rotation intuitive. Shifting performance is not as good as a modern ramped and pinned derailleur transmission, and in the lower gears it is quite noisy.

So ultimately all you get is the promise of low maintenance and reliability - but even that is uncertain given there are more and more failures being reported.

While I have no regrets about my experiment with Rohloff - I can live with it and there will be a payoff long-term I expect (if my touring career lasts long enough), but I'm not impressed with it either, and won't be joining the Rohloff fan club...
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby Baalzamon » Sat Feb 11, 2012 11:28 pm

RonK wrote: Now, after more than 1000 kms on the road, my observation is that a Rohloff Speedhub delivers nothing tangible to the rider - the much vaunted even spread between the gears is no real benefit because there are not enough of them - the difference between gears is too wide to maintain a comfortable cadence. This means quite frequent shifting - something Rohloff tries to sell as a virtue, but actually there is no choice as I'm very often on the verge of either spinning out or mashing. And given the need to shift frequently I don't find the Rohloff twist shifter particularly ergonomic, and I don't find the direction of its rotation intuitive. Shifting performance is not as good as a modern ramped and pinned derailleur transmission, and in the lower gears it is quite noisy.

So ultimately all you get is the promise of low maintenance and reliability - but even that is uncertain given there are more and more failures being reported.

While I have no regrets about my experiment with Rohloff - I can live with it and there will be a payoff long-term I expect (if my touring career lasts long enough), but I'm not impressed with it either, and won't be joining the Rohloff fan club...
From my Perth - Esperance tour
Day 1 77 cadence average, 11.1kph average
Day 2 79 cadence average, 13.6kph average
Day 3 84 cadence average, 20.6kph average
Day 4 82 cadence average, 20kph average
Day 5 85 cadence average, 17.6kph average
Day 6 83 cadence average, 18.6kph average
Day 7 86 cadence average, 22.1kph average
Day 8 86 cadence average, 19.2kph average
Day 9 85 cadence average, 21kph average
Day 10 87 cadence average, 21.1kph average
Day 11 86 cadence average, 21.1kph average
Day 12 86 cadence average, 17kph average
Day 13 86 cadence average, 19.7kph average
Day 14 86 cadence average, 18.5kph average

I'm not too sure what you are referring to with maintaining a comfortable cadence as you can see in my above stats taken on tour I was quite able to hold a steady cadence. It is quite interesting infact that after the tour I found I preferred to have a high cadence of 90+ mainly around 94rpm, when before I would be seeing 86rpm. Infact I loved being able to shift multiple gears if required and stopping and OOPs I'm in 9th, gotta get down to 4th is a no brainer. Try that on a derailleur going from cruising speed to stopping and not downshifting 1st. Then having to start again, not nice on a fully loaded touring bike and would be quite painful if you have to lift the rear of the bike and attempt gear shifting.

Will I buy another Rohloff again, you bet I would.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby il padrone » Sat Feb 11, 2012 11:57 pm

RonK wrote:Now, after more than 1000 kms on the road, my observation is that a Rohloff Speedhub delivers nothing tangible to the rider - the much vaunted even spread between the gears is no real benefit because there are not enough of them - the difference between gears is too wide to maintain a comfortable cadence. This means quite frequent shifting - something Rohloff tries to sell as a virtue, but actually there is no choice as I'm very often on the verge of either spinning out or mashing.....

.....Shifting performance is not as good as a modern ramped and pinned derailleur transmission
I don't know why, but I cannot relate to these comments at all :?

My experience has been rather different. I find the shifts between the gears both easy to manage (as quick as a derailleur set-up, except for 8-7) and the gear difference is quite OK. I have come from using a wide range (11-32, 44-32-22) gear set, not a narrower road touring bike... although I do have a narrower range roadie. I don't understand how wider spaced gears leads to more frequent shifting. Generally it's the closer sets that lead to more shifting to cover the range needed for a particular terrain.
RonK wrote:So ultimately all you get is the promise of low maintenance and reliability - but even that is uncertain given there are more and more failures being reported.
Negligble maintenace required to mine in one year. One oil change, wiping some oil sweating off the hub and drop-outs, greased the external box once (should be doing this more often apparently). No gear cable adjustments, no build up of crud on a cassette or jockey wheels.

There will always be the potential for some failures and need for repairs. The big thing is have you got support from the manufacturer. Overall, world travellers do seem to be able to get any problems with Rohloffs dealt with on the few occasions they need it.
RonK wrote:but I'm not impressed with it either, and won't be joining the Rohloff fan club...
A shame this has transpired. As I have said, I am more than happy, for me it was such a great thing to ride in Tasmania.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby rifraf » Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:03 am

I look forward to Rons next post on this matter. :)

Baalzamon, I suspect the issue might be Rons riding is a little more performance orientated considering his desire for
lightweight cycling gear and minimalist (probably too strong a term) camping gear. :idea:

Ron, dont lose heart yet.
Tis a vastly different set up to what you are used to and I hope with more use you find more acceptance as well as comfort
with the system.
I initially cursed my IGH/Cassette combo gear unit due to its clockwork noise (a little harsh when new), different way of gearchange (- it had gripshift, which after XT push push rapidfire felt like a comedown) and inability to change under load (you had to back off significantly your
effort on the pedals and in fact occasionally had to pedal backward).
It felt vastly foreign compared to my 531 Magnum framed and XT equiped Peugeot mountain bike.
Over time the Peugoet gathered more and more dust due to my getting used to the Moulton and appreciating its comfort qualities, it gravel road handling at speed which was vastly enhanced by the suspension compared to the Peugoet. Finally my gear changes became intuitive and required
no thought.
I finally came to my move back over here and being only able to bring over one bike due to financial constraints it was a no brainer to bring
the Moulton as much as I like to explore off road.
My new rear hub is an updated version which changes under load but even if I hadnt gotten this improvement I'd be happy after I'd
had the break in period for my mind to adjust to the newness.
The Moulton bare of fenders, racks and lights etc was also a few kg heavier than the mountain bike so that took the edge off some initial
pride of ownership I can tell you.
Now, I wouldnt be happy owning anything else if I could only own one bike.
I'm not throwing a sales pitch at you for Moultons but merely suggesting that with a bit more time you and your bike will grow into each other.
Cheers
Aidan :)
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby RonK » Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:11 am

Hehe, well it was predictable that my comments would provoke a defensive response, in fact I expected it. :roll:
Baalzamon wrote:I'm not too sure what you are referring to with maintaining a comfortable cadence as you can see in my above stats taken on tour I was quite able to hold a steady cadence.
I don't see how your stats demonstrate anything. Average cadence is average cadence. I did explain that I'm very often on the verge of either spinning out or mashing. And btw, my average cadence is around 90 rpm on the flatlands, but on my close-ratio derailleur bike I don't need to make as many shifts.
Baalzamon wrote:Infact I loved being able to shift multiple gears if required and stopping and OOPs I'm in 9th, gotta get down to 4th is a no brainer. Try that on a derailleur going from cruising speed to stopping and not downshifting 1st. Then having to start again, not nice on a fully loaded touring bike and would be quite painful if you have to lift the rear of the bike and attempt gear shifting.
Convenient, but not essential. Having toured both Tasmania and NZ I've never found myself in that situation.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby Baalzamon » Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:16 am

Just what size sprocket & chainring are you running?
I was 42 x 16t
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby il padrone » Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:21 am

RonK wrote:but on my close-ratio derailleur bike I don't need to make as many shifts.
Methinks you may be comparing apples and bananas :idea: . Light roadie, unladen, versus heavier tourer (with gear aboard ??)
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby Baalzamon » Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:35 am

il padrone wrote:
RonK wrote:but on my close-ratio derailleur bike I don't need to make as many shifts.
Methinks you may be comparing apples and bananas :idea: . Light roadie, unladen, versus heavier tourer (with gear aboard ??)
That is my suspicion as well. Given my thorn in touring mode was 20kg and then another 25kg in gear makes for a nice weight on the bike.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby RonK » Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:37 am

Baalzamon wrote:Just what size sprocket & chainring are you running?
I was 42 x 16t
I'm running 39x17, but that makes no difference to the steps between the gears, it just gives a lower overall gear. And BTW I would recommend you get rid of the 16t before you go to Tassie - there are no flatlands there.

As I mentioned, I try to maintain 90 rpm. By the time I get over 95 rpm I'm beginning to feel the need for another gear, but have to reach 100 rpm so that when I shift up my cadence drops back to 90 rpm. A slight rise in the road and suddenly I'm back to 85 rpm and on the verge of mashing, so have to change down again.

The alternative of course is to just stay in the lower gear and coast when I start to spin out, but that means I'm riding at a lower speed than I am comfortably capably of pushing.

As I said, I can live with it, but I'm not impressed by it. For a long time I thought that derailleur gears would be better if the steps were even, but now I see that having close ratios at the high end of the range and wider steps at the low end actually works well.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby RonK » Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:42 am

Baalzamon wrote:
il padrone wrote:
RonK wrote:but on my close-ratio derailleur bike I don't need to make as many shifts.
Methinks you may be comparing apples and bananas :idea: . Light roadie, unladen, versus heavier tourer (with gear aboard ??)
That is my suspicion as well. Given my thorn in touring mode was 20kg and then another 25kg in gear makes for a nice weight on the bike.
Well no, you would both be wrong. I'm comparing my Sabbath Silk Route derailleur geared touring bike with my VN Pioneer Rohloff touring bike, both unladen.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby Baalzamon » Sun Feb 12, 2012 12:54 am

Given that I'm currently over 100kg I won't be undercutting the min requirements
32x13 looks the goods. Given that I found 10% grade hill hard going on dirt. I did get some wheelspin for a bit as well as it was loose pea gravel :roll: I'd be generally carrying less on a Tassie giro given that I'd be (AT) most 2-3 days with no food stops.
But Tassie is not confirmed at the moment, it's an idea and one that is in the planning but other things this year could upset it.
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Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby RonK » Sun Feb 12, 2012 9:04 am

Baalzamon wrote:32x13 looks the goods. Given that I found 10% grade hill hard going on dirt.
You will get better chain and sprocket life with a larger sprocket. My preference is 40x17 but I haven't been able to source a 40t Stronglight or Sugino chain ring yet.

There a plenty of 10% + grades in Tassie and many are several kms long, so it pays to be low geared and to keep your load as light as possible. The thing I found most difficult about these climbs was overheating, and I needed frequent stop to cool down.

Depending on your route it is possible to do the Giro without carrying any food or camping gear as there is backpacker accommodation most places.


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Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby RonK » Sun Feb 12, 2012 9:16 am

rifraf wrote:I suspect the issue might be Rons riding is a little more performance orientated considering his desire for
lightweight cycling gear and minimalist (probably too strong a term) camping gear. :idea:
Hehe, no Aidan, no performance orientation at all - my preference for a lightweight bike and gear, and my desire to maintain a constant and comfortable cadence that avoids mashing, is entirely driven by the need to protect my knees, which are worn out from years of hard use.

And naturally I want to be able to progress at the best possible rate comfort allows in order to have a reasonable touring range.


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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby rifraf » Sun Feb 12, 2012 3:49 pm

Before I forget, :idea:
I spotted yet another Rohloff shifter option that may not have come up before here
http://hubstripping.wordpress.com/2011/ ... r-rohloff/
You saw it here first :!: (?)
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby il padrone » Sun Feb 12, 2012 6:26 pm

Baalzamon wrote:Given that I'm currently over 100kg I won't be undercutting the min requirements
32x13 looks the goods.
Typo? I've not checked but I thought the smallest Rohloff sprocket was 16t. I've put a 17 on mine to reduce the gear range and because a 17t will markedly reduce your chain wear I believe :?: So I've read somewhere.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby Baalzamon » Sun Feb 12, 2012 6:45 pm

il padrone wrote:
Baalzamon wrote:Given that I'm currently over 100kg I won't be undercutting the min requirements
32x13 looks the goods.
Typo? I've not checked but I thought the smallest Rohloff sprocket was 16t. I've put a 17 on mine to reduce the gear range and because a 17t will markedly reduce your chain wear I believe :?: So I've read somewhere.
That is what I thought, then I was at Bike24 last night and spotted this Cassette options of 13, 15, 16, 17 teeth...
And this is taken from the same page
If mounted on a tandem or if the rider weighs over 100kg, the following sprocket ratios must not be undercut: 32/13, 38/15, 40/16, 42/17.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby il padrone » Sun Feb 12, 2012 8:14 pm

However 32/13 gives you the same overall drive ratio as the 40/17. The larger ring and sprocket gives you the benefit of slower wear rates, at the small cost of a slight weight increase (though why this would bother you on a loaded touring bike I have no idea ??).

Did Tassie happily fully-loaded with the 42/17 combination.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby RonK » Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:56 pm

il padrone wrote:Did Tassie happily fully-loaded with the 42/17 combination.
And if I recall correctly - you said somewhere that you weight 60kg. Did I get that right?
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby RonK » Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:00 pm

Baalzamon wrote:That is what I thought, then I was at Bike24 last night and spotted this Cassette options of 13, 15, 16, 17 teeth...
And this is taken from the same page
The 13 tooth sprocket is only for bikes with 20" wheels, according to Rohloff. Do not buy it - it uses a different chainline and is not reversable.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby RonK » Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:15 pm

il padrone wrote:
RonK wrote:but I'm not impressed with it either, and won't be joining the Rohloff fan club...
A shame this has transpired. As I have said, I am more than happy, for me it was such a great thing to ride in Tasmania.
It's not the end of the world you know - I've made a couple of small criticisms and said I'm not impressed and won't be joining the fan club. That simply means I won't be running about about raving to everyone about how wonderful it is.

The price of the Rohloff is not a particularly big deal to me and I don't feel pressured to justify my purchase. The Pioneer is a beautiful bike and a pleasure to ride, but I believe I've made some fairly objective observations - which may change with further use, particularly on a loaded tour. But for now my comments stand.
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Re: Van Nicholas Pioneer project...

Postby il padrone » Sun Feb 12, 2012 11:29 pm

RonK wrote:
il padrone wrote:Did Tassie happily fully-loaded with the 42/17 combination.
And if I recall correctly - you said somewhere that you weight 60kg. Did I get that right?
Ah, don't worry, I managed to use the 17.9" gear on a few occasions :wink:

Beware, if you ever plan to ride over The Dazzler Range (between Beauty Point and Port Sorell). You shall in all likelihood be doing some walking :!:
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