n-1: Crack of Doom strikes again

[Auntie Helen]

[Insert Brexit-related swearing noises inspired by the HPVelotechnik and AZUB websites]

If there’s any way I can help as a delivery address in DE let me know. I’m visiting England again mid-October.

[rogerzilla]

Guess at mileage?

[T42]

Bugrit. Sympathies, Kim.

[Paul]

I’m sorry for your loss.

Was that cable tie too tight?

[Peter]

Cheers, Kim!

[Kim]

Was that cable tie too tight?

I'm reasonably sure the cable tie is coincidental (it's only holding a bundle of dynamo cables, and didn't appear to be concealing any abrasive/corrosive grit).  The crack runs between the end of the seat bracket and the bottle cage braze-on, at the point where the frame is presumably under the greatest stress.  I always thought that if it were going to fail it would be around the headset, but this makes more sense.

[alfapete]

Was that cable tie too tight?

No, it was holding the bike together from the last time this happened.

[Kim]

Was that cable tie too tight?

No, it was holding the bike together from the last time this happened.

I thought the bottle cage was holding the bike together on the way home, but sadly that wasn't the case (both braze-ons are the same side of the crack).

[Cudzoziemiec]

You should always carry half a dozen cable ties for events like this. Commiserations Kim. Any thoughts what you'll do with the cracked frame? Some sort of mechanical art project?

[Kim]

I've spent much of the afternoon reducing the bike to its components parts, vis:
a) likely to be used on the replacement
b) unlikely to be used on the replacement, but useful spares for other bikes in the fleet
c) might be useful to someone else one day, perhaps in a somewhat bizarre set of circumstances
d) scrap

This was a great deal more depressing that I expected it to be.  I'm not particularly attached to the bike as a physical object - my current frustration coming from the effort and expense inherent in replacing it - but nearly everything I removed was either an original part that had served admirably well and will now be retired, or something I'd tweaked and changed and adapted in some way and had its own story.

The other thing that struck me was the sheer number of cable-ties I ended up removing, though rather uninterestingly the vast majority of them had been tying cables.

[cycleman]

Commiserations kim.  Hoping that you can find a suitable replacement ASAP 

[T42]

Once saw a bloke on a 200k turn up at a control with a broken seat tube.  They shoved a bit of tree down it and he finished. Different force vectors on a recumbent, though.

[mrcharly-YHT]

That is sad.

Two things I remember about that machine on that Tan Hill ride; the awkwardness of fixing a puncture, and you 'gravel tracking' on a recumbent.

[zigzag]

that's a bummer. it is however repairable, at the right workshop. it would also cost a fraction of the new/replacement one.

[Canardly]

Commiserations.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

This does give the opportunity to try a different recumbent, which can be fun in itself and gets rid of the worn difficult-to-replace components that are par for the course with old dual-suspension machines.

[Kim]

Yes, I'm giving serious consideration to the AZUB Six, which is an equally competent touring machine that has actually seen some innovation in the last decade.  (I get the distinct impression that HPVelotechnik would rather be making trikes and Grasshoppers, and keep the Streetmachine and Speedmachine going purely because people keep wanting to buy them.)  Last time I met one I decided I preferred HPVelotechnik's handlebar ergonomics, which trumps most other considerations.

[mzjo]

Once saw a bloke on a 200k turn up at a control with a broken seat tube.  They shoved a bit of tree down it and he finished. Different force vectors on a recumbent, though.

You should always carry half a dozen cable ties for events like this. Commiserations Kim. Any thoughts what you'll do with the cracked frame? Some sort of mechanical art project?

If it had been an e-recumbent you could have used the battery to weld a repair by the side of the road. My ex-boss, who once specialised in forestry tractors, said that two norwegian brothers in the Landes after the great tempest had a tractor much welded together that they did on site with the welding cables directly connected to the battery. OTOH a lead acid battery is probably better suited to being short-circuited like that. A lithium battery (or accumalator as I suppose people will tell that is wot I mean) would probably do a good impression of a firework show!

[cycleman]

Going by the design and quality of build of my azub tricon gr a two wheel recumbent built by them seems a good option 

[Kim]

Going by the design and quality of build of my azub tricon gr a two wheel recumbent built by them seems a good option 

Indeed.  Though I'm sure a Scorpion would fare equally well on build quality, you'd go about half the speed on one on account of HPVelotchnik's general inability to keep the weight down.

IIRC Woollypigs OTP has a Six, and is very happy with it.  What puts me off (apart from the handlebar position and general familiarity with the foibles of Streetmachines) is that none of the UK AZUB dealers seem to carry demo models of the bikes, and my ability to get a foot down is marginal enough that I'm disinclined to buy one without having had a proper fiddle with the seat/bars adjustment and test ride.

I also think the HPVelotechnik luggage racks are substantially less fugly (I'm unlikely to ever need the ability to carry six panniers), I prefer the simplicity of direct steering and - until someone^[1] works out how to drive an E-14 actuator without an electric assist system - their custom Rohloff shifter seems to be the least worst option^[2] (though I could probably obtain it as a spare part if necessary).


_{[1] Preferably not me, unless someone wants to donate a suitably equipped e-bike for reverse-engineering purposes
[2] I detest grip shifters, but you can't drive a Roholff with a bar-end, and trigger shifters via a widget aren't ideal with USS.}

[andrewc]

https://www.nextstopwhere.com/2017/04/17/azub-vs-streetmachine/


A comparison of the 2 bikes here.  You've probably seen it, but it may be useful to others.

[Kim]

https://www.nextstopwhere.com/2017/04/17/azub-vs-streetmachine/


A comparison of the 2 bikes here.  You've probably seen it, but it may be useful to others.

Yep.  Worth noting the age of the article, and that both bikes are being equipped with different components now.  Also the lowrider-mounted kickstand has always worked well for me (soft ground and sandals notwithstanding), so I suspect they got one that was the wrong length.

[Pingu]

A couple of cable ties and other bits of plastic is what you need.


IMG_4272 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[Kim]

After several earth months^[1], I have news that a SMGTe with my name on it has arrived in Glasgow.  Just to give the smug Ribble customers some perspective 


_{[1] A wise man once said that if we do things by the book, hours would seem like days.  It appears that HPVelotechnik do things by the book.}

[cycleman]