First Tour of 2011

This is the moment I have been waiting and training for. All preparations are complete - bike, gear, route, time. I am almost ready to hit the road!

I plan on rolling from San Francisco to Los Angeles on PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) or Highway 1.

I have been studying "Bicycling the Pacific Coast" by Vicky Spring and Tom Kirkendall. This is how my itinerary looks so far:

1st day: From Montara to New Brighton State Beach 2nd - Vets Memorial Park 3rd - Kirk Creek campground 4th - San Simeon State Beach 5th - Oceano campground 6th - Gaviota sate park 7th - Carpenteria state beach 8th - Leo Carrillio state beach 9th - Home Stretch! I have been packing and there is the list of things I am taking: Clothes: Lycra recumbent pants Synthetic jersey Long sleeve jersey Keen cycling sandals Socks (for evening campsite use with sandals)

Long sleeve shirt for campsite

Pants for campsite

Hat

Bicycle HP Velotechnik Streetmachine GTe Arkel T52 panniers Fastback Double Century with 3L bladder Bicycle maintenance: Pump 2 spare tubes (different sizes) Patch kit Tire levers Multitool Kevlar spoke kit Chain links Dry lube (2oz) Camping & Food Tent Sleeping bag Silk liner Inflatable pad White gas stove with .5l bottle worth of fuel Lighter One pot with lid One lexan cup One spoon Swiss army knife Paracord (to dry wet clothes) Multi use liquid soap (dr bronner's) Tea bags Instant oatmeal First aid kit Liquid bandaid Band aids

Smaller Chainring Problems

I have received Surly stainless steel 34T 110mm.

Although on Surly website it proudly displays "made in Canada", my ring was clearly made in Taiwan. Globalization in action, I hoped to support our North American neighbors. Duped again, but I am at least glad it is not made in Chiñå.

All looked good, I replaced the old chainring with the new one.

Then the problems began - although I only rode the bike for less than 100 miles, the chain and new ring would not mesh and my chain would skip terribly.

Could the chain wear out that quickly? I doubt it. Is it designed for a different kind of chain? What went wrong?

I have put back the original 46T chain ring, and went for a ride.

Update 3-18-11 evening:

I have emailed my bicycle guru (and dealer extraordinaire) Zach Kaplan, here is his response:

Interesting about the Surly chainring being shown on their website as being made in Canada but the ring you received was made in Taiwan. I agree made in Taiwan is better than made in China but their website is deceptive to people like us who try to support North American manufacturing (in my case I'm also trying to support EU manufacturing). I would recommend you contact Surly to complain. AFAIK, Surly doesn't actually make anything, they are the high end brand name of Quality Bicycle Products, a major US wholesale bike parts distributor based in Minnesota. They probably made a running supplier change from a Canadian supplier to a Taiwanese supplier. I'm only aware of 2 manufacturers of aluminium chainrings in Canada, Blackspirehttp://www.blackspire.com/qs/category/83/5948/0/0 and Race Face and I recently read Race Face suddenly announced they are going out of business and liquidating all their assets. Perhaps QBP had been getting their rings made by Race Face and were having trouble getting them so switched to a Taiwanese supplier. 

I know Vuelta chainrings are made in the US. Vuelta USA is based in Southern California. http://www.vueltausa.com/components/chainrings.html

In any case the problem isn't with the chainring. The chain is hanging up near each bolt because the inner chainring guard was designed for a 46T chainring and is of the type that is directly mounted to the chainring and curves out from the base to provide chain clearance. A 34T chainring places the chain down low next to the part of the guard that is too close to clear the chain, thus preventing the chain from properly engaging with the chainring.

Several things you could do. For now you could remove the inner guard ring. That will completely eliminate the interference problem but the chain will fall off to the inside from time to time when hitting certain types of bumps. You could install thin chainring spacers to space the inner guard ring away from the chain. Very thin spacers won't require longer bolts but you may need thick enough spacers to require longer bolts. You could also go to a different type of inner guard ring which is flat like the outer guard ring but with this type you have to use thick spacers which will definitely require going to longer chainring bolts.

I am running a 40T Q-Ring on the same model crankset with same guard rings and it works fine. Due to its elliptical shape, the 40T Q-Ring is probably like a 37 or 38T ring on its short axis so that might be the lower limit of what will work without adding spacers or using a different guard. Feel free to post this reply on your blog.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Zach Kaplan Cycles

510-522-BENT (2368)

zach@zachkaplancycles.com

http://zachkaplancycles.com

Update: 3-19-11 morning:

I emailed Surly with complain about country of origin of the ring shown on their website and the ring sold, let's see how they deal with it.

Update: 3-21-11 afternoon:

This is the reply I got from Surly:

Agnius,

Our first batch of chainrings was made by a Canadian firm, but they could never quite get what we wanted done like we wanted it. We’ve had them made in Taiwan ever since then.

I’m sorry that you feel swindled. That was not our intent. We just have never changed the photo (we are changing it now.) Feel free to take your chainring back to the bikeshop where you purchased it. We’ll take it back from them no problem.

Thanks,

Eric Sovern

Surly Bikes

877-743-3191

esovern@surlybikes.com

Surly has also updated their website with a new image - it does not say "Made in Canada" anymore. That is more likely how my received ring looks.

Baja Dreams

This year I want to ride my bent through Baja Mexico.

Years ago I met a cyclist who was crossing Baja on his bike (I was on a Green Tortoise Baja Beach Daze, we have stopped to see the cave paintings near Catavina). I had a short chat with the fellow cyclists. I asked him what was the hardest thing, and he told me that the supply of water was dictating where he could travel.

Lower back pain has stopped me from bicycling a few years back, but I have been fighting back with a recumbent. Suddenly, the dream is back and I have ways of achieving it!

I did not feel that my Cannondale Bent 1 was adequate - I had unresolved issues with midrive that would cause the chain jump chainrings and would sometimes jam, so I was looking for the "ultimate" touring bent.

I came to the conclusion of HP Velotechnik's StreetMachine GTe. I had some money set aside for the traveling, which I dipped into and placed an order for an orange Street Machine. I ended up placing an order with Zach Kaplan in Alameda, as my almost local dealer (BentUp Cycles) did not have a Street Machine in stock to try. My local dealer Victor from Bicycle Workshop in Santa Monica doesn't carry HP Velotechnik at all, but I see him doing most of the work I can not do for the bike.

After going to India and coming back I eagerly awaited my new "dream machine".

Looking for a new bent

From research stage I am moving into a locating stage for my next bent.

I am set on a Streetmachine by HP Velotechnik. Recent GT or GTe would do nicely.

The problem is that I have champagne taste and beer budget.

Nicely equipped brand new SMGTe tips scales at $6000 - that is more than my several cars worth combined.  I am more thinking $2000 and couple years of gentle use.

I think the bikes are out there - in peoples garages and sheds collecting dust and slowly rusting away.

I can promise to give them a good home and ride the hell out of them.

Another option is to buy a base model and over time to upgrade it.

However, most of the times when I got a bike, bike stayed the way it was purchased.

So best is to find as close to the desired bike used and ride ride ride!

Cycle progression

I have noticed that a lot of people start with a DF bike, then a recumbent bike, and then comes a trike. After that a fast high/low racer might come. I was trying figure out why such succession is popular?

I look at trikes as a very specialized vehicles - not popular for city commuting duties (I have seen no trikes on the streets of Santa Monica for past 20 years), but more of weekend/bicycle path/outside town riding. You could take it on the tour as well, but with our busy lives that is a very small of our total riding time. I did try Scorpion FS & FX, they were fine on an empty streets, but I would not want to be doored or cut off by the car driver with "I did not see you".

CLWB (I have Cannondale bent 1) does make a decent city commuter, and I ride it pretty much every day. Lately I have tried several SWB bents, and liked the way Streetmachine felt the best, so that might be my next commuter. I plan to do touring on Streetmachine as well, but realistically it will be 90% commuter, and 10% tourer. I could justify that.

So my conclusion is that the trikes are mostly a recreational vehicles, while bikes could be more utilitarian.

And then there is a need for speed.

I wish I could go faster when I am cruising on the bicycle path - both trikes with skinny high pressure tires and high racers leave me in the dust. I do like an idea of being able to go faster, but not at the expense of the utility.

I did have a drastic idea of using a trike for commuting, but I think I will come back to this idea after velomobile market matures a little more or oil price jumps to $300 a barrel. Right now there is a flood of innovation on suspended trikes, but that's just a first wave. I am willing to wait it out and buy a more mature product.

In conclusion, when my commuting needs are met, I might experiment with trikes or racier bents, but SWB seems to be the best bent for busy city streets.

To trike or not to trike?

On BentRiderOnline there was a post for a HP Velo Scorpion for sale.

The trike offered was a base model Scorpion with some options - airflow seat cushions, 50 tooth rotor Q-Ring, Crankbrothers Eggbeater pedals, four sets of various tires. Although SRAM DualDrive is not my favorite, I was intrigued. I exchanged quite a few emails with the owner, and made an offer. I figured if I did not like the trike, I could sell it later, meanwhile I could have some fun on a beach path. If the trike grew on me, I might consider upgrading it to a full touring trike, but then again I might not, especially after I liked testriding Streetmachine so much.

Well, it seems that the trike deal is not going through - somebody else local offered little more money than I felt comfortable with. I didn't want to overextend myself financially and I feel very comfortable with or without a trike.

This is working out to my advantage - if I can not get the trike at the price I am comfortable, I could use the money towards a bike that I really liked - Streetmachine GTe. Now all I need is to find one in good condition. New price still makes me cringe, but next year is my 40th birthday, so maybe I will splurge...

Which bent is right for me?

My current Cannondale Bent I is a smooth gliding bent. I just took it out for a 20 mile ride this morning, and that dual suspension soaks up road bumps with aplomb. I love the "cushy" ride. I am only wishing for something a little faster - I am cruising with Cannondale at average of 10 mph on a fairly flat bicycle path. Also, stability won't hurt it either - on a sandy patches on the beach bike path I had that "slipping" feeling couple times, it is quite unnerving.

I started thinking about Grasshopper FX - on paper it makes good sense. The 'hopper FX folds for transportation, should be fairly comfy and reasonably stable. Also, I hope it would be little quicker than my Cannondale.

My first attempt to try Grasshopper FX in SoCal turned out fruitless.

I went into Bentup Cycles wanting to try a Grasshopper FX, but they no longer carry that model. Hence I took couple trikes for a spin. I have tried Scorpion FX and Scorpion FS by HP Velotechnik, and they both felt smooth and nice,  FS even more so plush, especially when I was riding over the uneven ground.

This could turn out to be very dangerous to my valet.  But there were downsides as well.

What I did not like was inability to lean in while turning - that's what makes 2 wheelers so special.

This weekend I am going to Oakland to see Zach Kaplan who has Grasshopper FX and other SWB bents in stock to ride.

I'll be trying out Grasshopper FX, Streetmachine GTe and Speedmachine and see if any of them "talk" to me. If not, I might start saving for Scorpion FS.

Am I setting myself for a trike? Sure looks like that to me. If I go the trike route, there is a whole bunch more to try - Ice has a fully sprung machine (I got spoiled by a smooth ride, I don't even want to try non suspended bents anymore). Also there are deltas for Hase and Greenspeed - Kettwiesel and Anura. From looking at Deltas are kind of ugly, but I have to look beyond looks. It is all about what feels right.

Also, there are fully suspended Velomobile - one from Greenspeed looks interesting, but I think it is an overkill for SoCal "weather".

Most important is to try as many bikes, trikes and quads as possible.

So I am thinking with my brain, but going with my gut.

Dream machine?

Lately I have been investigating different bents. I am seem to be on the mission for an "ultimate" bike. I want to take it on a world tour, I want to commute on it. I want it to be reliable. Hp velotechnik grasshopper fx? Maybe.

Also, I am writing this from my iPhone, just to see how blogging from the road would work. I do no see a way to add images, that link seems to be gone. It would be cool to be able to add camera photos to the blog.

Day at the BentUpCycles

Today I went back to the BentUpCycles and spent couple hours test riding bents.

I rode HP Velo Scorpion FX and FS. There is my take on them:

Both are good trikes, but as I pedal they seem very sensitive to steering. I had to constantly work on keeping them going straight. That was not fun. On a smooth surface, FX is just fine until you tried the FS version. It is very smooth on the any suface. Pretty amazing stuff once you compare it to a non-suspension trike.

I also rode SWB steel frame Barcroft - owned and manufactured by BentUpCycles.

Barcroft is a fun bike, but I am spoiled by my rear suspension on Cannondale. I would not own a bike without a rear suspension on a recumbent. Barcroft, as zippy and fun, was hard on my tush riding over the hard stuff. Also, I was not in love with the handlebars - they were way too close and just after 10 minute test ride my hands were already little tired. There is an aero bar option for the Barcroft, but I still would want a rear shock on my bent.

Dana (guy in a red shirt) and Kate were super helpful and informative, too bad they did not have a HP Velo Grasshopper FX on display to try. And, according to Dana, they will not carry it anymore. The Grasshopper just did not sell well. He said that many dealers are not carrying the Grasshopper FX anymore because of that. And, even with the wheels off Grasshopper does not fit into a suitcase. It is just too bulky. So much for my "suitcase bent".

BentUp folks were building up a HP Velo Streetmachine GTe for a customer, but they did not have one to ride. So I could see it, but I could not experience the ride. Hence, I played with the Barcroft.

The Keen cycle shoes work well in cool weather. They keep feet a little warm, but while riding there is enough ventilation through the slats. My feet were comfortable. To put them on and off is also a cinch - thanks to the stretchable construction. Thumbs up so far, but let's see how long they will last.

So I am starting to lean towards a Streetmachine, especially if I could figure out how to transport in my car. Grasshopper folded should fit in a trunk. Again, more testing is required.