Yet Another Cycling Forum

General Category => Freewheeling => The Dark Side => Topic started by: Maverick on 07 September, 2012, 01:13:48 pm

Title: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Maverick on 07 September, 2012, 01:13:48 pm: Tim turned up at the house this morning with a lovely new carbon race recumbent. I'm very impressed with how light it is - about the same as my carbon upright. The craftsmanship and finish on the frame is superb - all the joints where the metal bits are bonded to the carbon fibre are invisible and cosmetically it is really nicely done with a wide weave on the black bits and a solid metallic finish on the blue. I don't know much about recumbents but it looks good and Tim says it is fast :thumbsup:

(http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww37/martinbe/Bikes/file-5.jpg)

One very proud owner ....
(http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww37/martinbe/Bikes/file-3.jpg)

(http://i703.photobucket.com/albums/ww37/martinbe/Bikes/file-4.jpg)

I'm sure he'll be along soon to tell you all about it ;D
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: tom_e on 07 September, 2012, 02:08:54 pm: Mmmm, very nice looking.

How well does that foam stuff on the seat work? It looks a bit like a random bit of foam someone slapped on, but I'm guessing it works!
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Kim on 07 September, 2012, 03:21:03 pm: Looks like the now legendary pond filter foam, which occupies the sweet spot of price:performance.
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 07 September, 2012, 03:30:58 pm: Very clean lines

Needs some mudguards and a saddlebag adding; then it will look like a proper bike.
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: zoxed on 07 September, 2012, 06:16:57 pm: Nice looking bike: just wondering what the gearing is: looks like a single, v. small front ring ?
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Maverick on 07 September, 2012, 06:55:08 pm: Quote from: zoxed on 07 September, 2012, 06:16:57 pm
Nice looking bike: just wondering what the gearing is: looks like a single, v. small front ring ?

1 x 9 with Capreo rear hub and XT changer I believe - something like 11 - 36 on the rear.
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Kim on 07 September, 2012, 09:20:51 pm: Surely the whole point in Capreo is to allow for a 9t sprocket on the back? With a customised wide-ratio cassette it makes for a pretty good 1x9.
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Maverick on 07 September, 2012, 09:48:14 pm: Quote from: Kim on 07 September, 2012, 09:20:51 pm
Surely the whole point in Capreo is to allow for a 9t sprocket on the back? With a customised wide-ratio cassette it makes for a pretty good 1x9.

I told you I knew nothing about his recumbent :-[ I'll shut up and wait for Tim himself to come along :facepalm: So no doubt 9 - 36??
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Kim on 07 September, 2012, 10:06:21 pm: Don't see why not. ICE use 9-32, but with a triple chainset. Works surprisingly well. Sensible top end, but you can still have some nice low bail-out gears (essential on a trike). It's like a smoother version of those MegaRange freewheels.

Actually, I find I ride my Streetmachine as a 1x9 the majority of the time, with the granny ring only needed for chevron-worthy climbs and when loaded touring. The big ring only usually puts in an appearance in Flat Places, or when I want to go flat-out downhill.
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: recumbentim on 07 September, 2012, 10:20:04 pm: As I said on E fixed review site this bike is fast compared with the touring bikes I have had previously.
The 2" foam on the carbon seat is magic and Bacchetta have mastered this over the years , I have a cover which helps with the longevity and comfort.

I have built H Plus Son 23 mm rims so I can run 28mm tyres.

The gearing on the rear is a capreo and Xt 9 speed cassette mix .

So I may run 9,10,11,13,15 17,20, 24, 32.----- or 9,10,11,13,15,18,21,26,or28,36.

On the front I run usually a 32 but will varry it from 28 to 34 depending on route and hills.

So If you are still with me that gives me a 9 speed range of 21" to 102" depending on which combination I use.

Not trying to change the world just love the simplicity of this gearing system.

By the way I have had a 29er MTB on a 1x10 for 3 years , thats a 28 front on an 11-36. now everybody wants that?
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Tigerrr on 17 September, 2012, 05:54:07 pm: Why have you drawn arrows pointing to his tummy?
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: recumbentim on 17 September, 2012, 11:26:23 pm: No it was me I hacked into his post to draw them. What's the point of a carbon bike if you need to loose the weight of the bike ?
It is fast though 18.7 mph for 100 miles on Sat ?
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Tigerrr on 18 September, 2012, 03:35:09 pm: Seriously - nice looking bike and the gearing solution is neat.
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Wothill on 20 September, 2012, 11:06:48 pm: Quote from: xrtim on 17 September, 2012, 11:26:23 pm
No it was me I hacked into his post to draw them. What's the point of a carbon bike if you need to loose the weight of the bike ?
It is fast though 18.7 mph for 100 miles on Sat ?
Wow - even more impressed now! Did you buy it as frame-only and build it up yourself?

Alf
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: recumbentim on 22 September, 2012, 09:12:33 am: Yes just a frame kit Alf . Had the bike 2 weeks now and done about 600 miles . My first Audax was a bit hilly and I spent a bit of time faffing about with the bars and seat positions. Thats sorted now but it is tighter in the cockpit and i am just getting used to that---part of the aero thing I suppose.
The main striking factor is the comfort with the carbon , it is true about the shock or bump absorbtion form the road and it feels as if there is more flex.
It is faster and I am now not happy unless I can push out the odd 20mph hour on the flat of course. My averages have gone from16,s and 17,s to 18,s and 19,s. So will manage to hold my overall average up to about 16.3 for my 10,000miles this year?
Therefore I would boldly say 8 to10% faster on this bike compared with Touring bikes I have had . It is classed as a "racing" bike though and this is the Aero work they have done on it over the years.
So now I have a real incentive to loose more weight and train for the hills , that,s where I a LAZY and slow?
Might be able to keep up with you in a few years then Alf?
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Wothill on 23 September, 2012, 07:48:40 pm: Can't wait to see it in the flesh, sounds Brilliant, Tim. More likely you will be leaving me in the dust - 600 miles in two weeks is some training!

Your comfort comparison with the Giro is very interesting because the Giro ATT is pretty much the same geometry as I understand it so the differences must all be down to the carbon vs aluminium. I think frame geometry is also significant, though because I don't find my Giro ATT with 700 wheels and 28mm tyres any more comfortable than my Seiran SL with 650 wheels and 23mm tyres. Both are more or less single AL tubes front to back but one difference is that the Seiran wheelbase is 126cm whereas the Giro ATT is 118. Of course it could just be that Challenge use bendier tubes than Bacchetta.

Alf
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: nashd on 23 October, 2012, 08:50:01 pm: It looks fantastic, Tim. As an ex-fixie rider, I like the idea of the single chainring, and it’s something I’ve thought about before. Does it need a front mech or anything like that to keep the chain on the front chainring?

I’m still getting to grips with my Giro 26 ATT. You may see in another thread that I’m having some wobbly problems on the climbs. Do you have any difficulty climbing with a fairly reclined seat?
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: recumbentim on 24 October, 2012, 10:37:08 pm: No nothing needed on these bikes to hold chain on . Just tension up the spings on your rear mech. It works great with the Capreo cassette and the long chain. Not too much wear on the small cogs either with 4 chain changes and 2 cassettes for 10,000 miles?
As for wobbles on hills not too much of a problem if you gear down and spin . Mind you less than 4 mph is tricky and on really steep rides I usally put my seat up a bit or walk ???
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Arellcat on 25 October, 2012, 08:39:33 am: Quote from: xrtim on 24 October, 2012, 10:37:08 pm
Just tension up the spings on your rear mech.

A return side that's a bit slack is a common theme on recumbents. How do you perform this retensioning? Is it a feature of some mechs but not others?
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: nashd on 25 October, 2012, 11:49:18 am: Thanks, Tim. That's very helpful. Regarding the wobbles it sounds like things should improve a bit with some more miles, but I should expect to have to walk at times (as I did on a recent 200k). Hopefully I'll see you on the road next year. At least our bikes won't be the same colour now!

I was going to ask you how to retension the springs, but thought it might be a daft question, so I'm glad Becky has asked!
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: recumbentim on 26 October, 2012, 02:08:41 pm: I usually have the b tension adjuster screwed in. It's the screw next to the mounting bolt. Also the middle spring on most good shimano mechs will have 2 settings.this is the spring that pulls the bottom part back. So have to dismantle it and make sure it is on the strong setting. Sorry no diagrams but you can look it up you tube?
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: henshaw11 on 26 October, 2012, 03:27:01 pm: On Shimano mechs the B tension screw's intended for setting the proximity of the upper jocket wheel to the cassette, not the tension of the chain as such, tho' it'll have that effect.
If you're setting it such that the effect is to give more chain tension, then that may actually be moving the upper jocket away from the cassette which may slow down shifting - if you're having problems with chain tension then it may be you're running too much chain if using a single chainring

http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html

It's the spring inside the lower (parallelogram<>cage) pivot which maintains the chain tension,
there's a piccie here about 1/3 of the way down where it shows 'increased tension hole' and 'lower tension hole'
http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/tech/fix/?id=howfix_deroh
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Kim on 26 October, 2012, 03:42:12 pm: Interesting.

I suppose whether a slightly slack chain causes problems depends on the chainline and how much chain tube etc is involved. It's not something I've found to be a problem on the ICE Sprint or the SMGT, where I've deliberately exceeded the rear mech capacity in favour of a wider gear range and ~3 cm of boom adjustment respectively. They're both tourers with very enclosed chainlines, though. I can see it might be more of an issue if the chain could bounce off an idler or something.
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: recumbentim on 26 October, 2012, 11:00:08 pm: Yes thats what I meant thanks Henshaw was trying to answer on my mobile today.
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: recumbentim on 27 October, 2012, 10:25:24 am: Next winter project for the bike is a small aero tail box in blue carbon. My introduction to carbon moulding, where will this lead to?
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: Efrogwr on 27 October, 2012, 12:18:36 pm: Your gears seem to be rather lower than is currently fashionable. I think that most bikes are over-geared, so I am interested in your approach.

How long are your cranks? How fast do you pedal?
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: bikenrrd on 27 October, 2012, 12:46:56 pm: More recent Shimano MTB mechs (XTR, XT and SLX) are available with a "clutch" mechanism that are designed to work with single rings and prevent the chain dropping. They are called Shadow Plus.
I haven't used one, though. My MTBs have a triple on one, and a single speed with track dropouts on the other.
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: recumbentim on 27 October, 2012, 05:37:16 pm: Quote from: Efrogwr on 27 October, 2012, 12:18:36 pm
Your gears seem to be rather lower than is currently fashionable. I think that most bikes are over-geared, so I am interested in your approach.

How long are your cranks? How fast do you pedal?
As I said above if I have 34 front and 9 tooth rear that is 102 inches. That will take me pedalling up to 36 , 38 MPH , after that I usually just tuck if going down hill . This year I have tried to extend the time I can sustain at 30 MPH without my legs and lungs exploding . I am talking about only a few mins mind you and unless you have miles of long gradual down hills I see no point in high gearing .
If you can sustain 30 on the flat for ages then by all means go for big gears but I wont be racing you for money?
Right just been out for 35 miles and at 100 cadence I am doing about 29 MPH with that 34 x 9 , so you may be right with that bike I may , if I get fitter , up the gearing a bit .

When I ran a double in the past I had a 28 - 46 on the front this would give about 113 inches with an 11 32 cassette.

I have always used 170 cranks but another thing I like , thank you Mr Obree , which is no problem with the singe is a low Q factor, ie cranks and BB as narrow as possible.
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: recumbentim on 06 November, 2013, 08:45:28 pm: Think I might be heading for a Sram XX1 set up next year. Thats a 10- 42 cassette 11 speed .
Yes its expensive and there are some big gear jumps at the top end but I just like the idea of the big range on 11 gears.
What I have found out so far is the TT road thumb shifters dont work with it so it will need to be gripshift . Also you can fit the freehub driver , which is specially made for the cassette , to Hope road hubs ie 130mm.
I will use my stronglight chainset up front with a 39 or 39 chainring .
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: recumbentim on 09 April, 2022, 08:07:39 am: I now have this Bacchetta CA2 for sale . Its a large size , had a lot of use but none in the past 5 years . Set up for speed with fast wheels and a one by 10 gearing , single front disc and large seat . Loads of spares including original seat , pads , wheels , brakes , chainrings etc . Message me and I will WhatsApp lots photos .Must be seen , £500 cash on uplift.
Title: Re: Xrtim has a new bike
Post by: recumbentim on 06 May, 2022, 07:24:31 am: It is now on Ebay if you wuold like to see more photos.