Author Topic: Ready the flashing lights, party poppers, dancing girls and brass band... (Read 87485 times)

Kim · « **Reply #425 on:** 21 November, 2011, 12:39:49 pm »

We're chalking that one up to user error. Having never ridden anything with a front mech before, let alone a non-indexed one, barakta made the rookie mistake of being gentle with the shifter and overly assertive with the pedals while changing up. She seems to have got the hang of it now (if not actually knowing when to do it). I've also re-fitted the chainring guard in a position that should hopefully be less chain-jammy.

I don't rate the ICE positioning of their factory-fitted bar-end shifters, it seems arsebackwards given the natural rotation of wrists, and I reckon the cable routing is nicer on the far side. Not that it's really that critical, unless you have a barakta-style disability, or are used to a different configuration.

Auntie Helen · « **Reply #426 on:** 21 November, 2011, 04:47:37 pm »

I like cable routing on the near side as I don't feel the cable there (because of where I grip) but if it were routed on the far side I'd feel it under my fingers.

Kim · « **Reply #427 on:** 21 November, 2011, 05:10:34 pm »

There's a wedgy thing supplied with the shifters that smooths out the lump of the cable to give a cam-like profile rather than a lump. No idea if ICE use it. It makes the bar fit the crook of my fingers on the far side, but would cause a lump under the thumb/palm of hand on the nearside. I find that my hands spend most of their time resting forward onto the bar. Of course, the bar position on my Streetmachine isn't quite the same as on a Trice (not that I've played with an optimal seat/bar configuration for myself yet).

Regardless, it's a non-descision for barakta - she can only reasonably work the lever with it pointing away from her.

cycleman · « **Reply #428 on:** 21 November, 2011, 10:13:10 pm »

i found i had to gently adjust the angle of the lower chain tube at the roller with a pair of pipe grips to stop the chain derailing when back peddling.it would get jammed between the inner chain ring and the chain guard .like you i have moved the chain guard as close to the chain rings as i can and it seems ok at the moment .just to clarify a little , when i back peddled when reversing the the chain tube angle would pull the chain off the middle chain ring then off the inner and jam

Tigerbiten · « **Reply #429 on:** 22 November, 2011, 12:22:05 am »

Quote from: cycleman on 21 November, 2011, 10:13:10 pm

i found i had to gently adjust the angle of the lower chain tube at the roller with a pair of pipe grips to stop the chain derailing when back peddling.it would get jammed between the inner chain ring and the chain guard .like you i have moved the chain guard as close to the chain rings as i can and it seems ok at the moment .just to clarify a little , when i back peddled when reversing the the chain tube angle would pull the chain off the middle chain ring then off the inner and jam

That used to happen to me on the old trike.
I fixed the problem/glitch by moving the chaintube to the outside on the jocky wheel.

I have a similar problem on the new trike.
If the sidepods full and pressing on the chaintube, when I backpedal the chain jumps of the back hub sprocket.
Hopefully the mod to hold the ends of bags further out has solved the problem.

yrmail@blueyonder.co.uk · « **Reply #430 on:** 22 November, 2011, 07:32:25 am »

Thanks Cycleman, Tigerbiten, I hadn't thought about the lower chain angle (Duh!

) Hasn't happened to me pedaling backwards (yet) just on changing from granny to middle chainring - but it certainly seems more likely cause than user error in my case. I guess how likely it is to happen could depend on rider height (I'm on the short side). Also the easy adjust chain kit on their demo trikes might explain why I didn't have the issue there despite being on and off the granny like nobody's business.

Time for me to learn to truly fettle rather than just doing normal bike maintenance...

Kim · « **Reply #431 on:** 20 December, 2011, 03:23:24 pm »

Because I forgot to take photos at the time...

The finished right hand controls, with the bar-end shifter cable routed through the middle of the bar. This required some precision filing to make a cable-friendly hole, and copious self-amalgamating tape to prevent the foam grip rotating^[1] (potentially causing wear on the cable outer) when the grip shifter is operated:

Flag with 1/2-wave colour-coordinated wire aerial for FMGenie receiver, which ICE have conveniently provided a waterproof pocket for in the back of the seat. This gives greatly enhanced radio range compared to using the hearing aid direct input cable as an aerial:

More boringly, moved the cycle computer to make room for a battery light on the SpaceGrip. The Axa dynamo is no SON, and running out of light to see by is an issue at current barakta-climbing speeds:

_{[1] It also does a pretty good job of preventing the foam from being installed without copious swearing, no matter how much lube you apply. Fortunately it's short enough that a condom-style unrolling technique can be used.}

cycleman · « **Reply #432 on:** 20 December, 2011, 05:54:15 pm »

it is looking great

. is barakta getting a few rides in despite the weather ?

Kim · « **Reply #433 on:** 20 December, 2011, 06:26:16 pm »

Quote from: cycleman on 20 December, 2011, 05:54:15 pm

it is looking great . is barakta getting a few rides in despite the weather ?

Sadly her enthusiasm for either a) dodging stealth dogs and bike-ninjas on the local Sustrans route or b) crawling up what feel like mountains (ie. pretty much anywhere from here by road) in the freezing cold is fairly low. She has however been twiddling on the turbo trainer when her energy levels permit.

While the turbo is boring, it has allowed us to fine tune her riding position, which is undoubtedly a good thing. Current state of play appears to have eliminated all hand/arm/shoulder issues, which I wasn't expecting. She's also got the hang of the front shifter, if not when to use it in the real world. Less fortunately, her hip seems to be a sticking point. It naturally bends the wrong way, which is causing knee stability issues (it flaps about all over the place during the pedal stroke, unless she pays attention), and riding for more than about half an hour (or pushing too hard) seems to result in pain in her hip joint. It (along with most of her other joints) gets much worse at the wrong time of the month, which limits when she can ride.

We know the joint is anatomically normal from a CT scan (though that doesn't eliminate soft tissue weirdness), and serious physioterrorists at the RNOH checked for leg-length issues while investigating her shoulder problems a few years ago, so we know it's not that. Beyond that, not a clue. She walks strangely and has poor balance, but we've no idea whether they're directly related. One-footed pedalling shows a massive strength difference between her legs, with the dodgy hip being on the weaker side. My gut instinct says that developing quads through cycling will help stabilise the knee, but I've no idea about the hip. Current thinking is to keep going with the turbo and short rides for the time being, and if the hip doesn't show signs of improvement on its own, go and see what the friendly local sports physios have to say about it.

$:-\$

Bodies: they make dérailleurs and Windows boxes look simple and deterministic.

cycleman · « **Reply #434 on:** 20 December, 2011, 06:49:02 pm »

i will be happy to come up your way for a slow potter in the spring . speed distance uninportent . i have got my adventure pretty sorted now . i am not riding much at the moment as i am saving to go the the early birds camping meet in jan.i might do my 50 mile christmas card run tomorrow

. i must not leave it till the new year like last year

barakta · « **Reply #435 on:** 20 December, 2011, 07:20:08 pm »

ObCorrection: I have confirmed normal x-rays not a CT scan, they've not CTed me below the spine and I don't think they CTed me as a baby.

mrcharly-YHT · « **Reply #436 on:** 22 December, 2011, 11:55:00 am »

Lower spine strength?

barakta · « **Reply #437 on:** 22 December, 2011, 06:31:33 pm »

Dunno... I probably ought to see the private physio nr work for a proper assessment and so on, my GP would refer me to hospital if the physio recommended it as the GP and physio have a decent professional relationship.

Half the issue is that 'spine issues' are part of my syndrome but I don't officially have them but... And no one ever looks at more than 1 square centimetre of you at once to join the dots even tho the leg bones connect to the spine bones and if my vestibular system is as intermittent (it would be better if it didn't work at all) I could be having balance related musculoskeletal issues mainly...

Kim · « **Reply #438 on:** 15 January, 2012, 06:12:47 pm »

During the train journey back from yesterday's ride, barakta found some difficulty performing the standard Trice user pick-up-by-the-rear-rack-and-pull-it manoeuvre. She reckoned an easily gripped handle a few inches higher than the current rack height would help. (For obvious physics reasons, it's quite heavy if you pull it by the back of the seat.)

Shouldn't be too tricky, so I looked for a U-shaped piece of tubing that wouldn't add too much weight to the trike, and came up with this:

That's the lock's standard mounting bracket cut down to share a mounting bolt with the slightly offset Excellent Infini Rear Light™, and some old innertube and self-amalgamating tape technology to provide something for the lock to rest against on the other side to reduce vibration and stress on the bracket when used as a handle. By fitting the lock's side of the bracket mount thingy at an angle, it doesn't foul the rack bag.

It passes the handle test, I just hope the lock bracket doesn't turn out to be made of cheese. The net weight is tiny, assuming you'd be carrying the lock anyway, and it gives somewhere sensible to mount the lock.

TimO · « **Reply #439 on:** 15 January, 2012, 06:21:41 pm »

That's a neat solution.

Are you relying on the old mounting bit on the U section of the lock to stop the lock rotating? I'd be worried that this is mostly reliant on friction to stop it rotating around and eventually hitting the mudguard, but I can't remember exactly how things are fitted, so that may not occur. If it did, I'm not sure what an easy solution would be.

Kim · « **Reply #440 on:** 15 January, 2012, 06:24:21 pm »

Unfortunately yes. It's held in place by a grub screw, and seems reasonably secure at the moment. I suspect I may have to come back to it with a load of epoxy at some point, though...

TimO · « **Reply #441 on:** 15 January, 2012, 06:34:31 pm »

Ah right, I had a vague memory of a grub screw (the mount was removed from my lock about 30 seconds after I got it home), but that's really just increasing friction.

Possibly a couple of long bolts on the side of the carrier could hold the lock in place (or more specifically stop rotation), although you'd have to make sure the lock was fitted otherwise they'd make a lovely thing to catch your hand/leg/other vulnerable part on them.

arvid · « **Reply #442 on:** 15 January, 2012, 07:19:18 pm »

Assuming you'll be carrying the Carradice anyway, I see a nice eye above the rear pocket and suggest some velcro to connect that eye with the D-lock.

Kim · « **Reply #443 on:** 15 January, 2012, 07:28:33 pm »

Simple and (hopefully) effective!

ETA: pair of Mk 1 velcro straps installed.

TimO · « **Reply #444 on:** 15 January, 2012, 07:32:02 pm »

Quote from: arvid on 15 January, 2012, 07:19:18 pm

Assuming you'll be carrying the Carradice anyway, I see a nice eye above the rear pocket and suggest some velcro to connect that eye with the D-lock.

Indeed, that makes sense. If the Carradice wasn't being used, the same velcro strap could probably just hold it against the carrier (although it would probably need to be released to be used as a handle).

Tewdric · « **Reply #445 on:** 15 January, 2012, 07:46:48 pm »

Quote from: barakta on 22 December, 2011, 06:31:33 pm

Dunno... I probably ought to see the private physio nr work for a proper assessment and so on, my GP would refer me to hospital if the physio recommended it as the GP and physio have a decent professional relationship.

Half the issue is that 'spine issues' are part of my syndrome but I don't officially have them but... And no one ever looks at more than 1 square centimetre of you at once to join the dots even tho the leg bones connect to the spine bones and if my vestibular system is as intermittent (it would be better if it didn't work at all) I could be having balance related musculoskeletal issues mainly...

IANOPhysio but some careful work on the turbo, concentraing on keeping good posture and everything aligned as you would like it should target the muscles that you need to be doing it for you. If your body remembers how to do it on the turbo it will probably remember it on the road when your mind is occupied with other things.

Is there any mileage in considering a wrist support just aft of the left handgrip? I'm thinking tribar forearm rest like this:

http://winor-xlc.elfriede.eikona-server.de/bild.php?src=portal/artikeldatenbank/pics/lenker/2501520100_1.jpg&new_max_width=476&new_max_height=320

It might allow a better range of options for gripping the grip without forcing your hand to do something it's going to get bored with over longer distances?

Kim · « **Reply #446 on:** 15 January, 2012, 08:18:22 pm »

Quote from: Tewdric on 15 January, 2012, 07:46:48 pm

IANOPhysio but some careful work on the turbo, concentraing on keeping good posture and everything aligned as you would like it should target the muscles that you need to be doing it for you. If your body remembers how to do it on the turbo it will probably remember it on the road when your mind is occupied with other things.

Yesterday's ride suggested that this may well be the case. As far as I could tell (and I did specifically look on a number of ocasions) her pedalling technique was identical to that on the turbo, except when she started to bonk on the last couple of km, where her cadence dropped and the knee started to wiggle around a bit.

Quote

Is there any mileage in considering a wrist support just aft of the left handgrip? I'm thinking tribar forearm rest like this:

We did think about that, but it's probably unnecessary, as the combination of fused wrist bones and retracted tendons in her 'middle' (technically ring) finger mean that her left forearm can effectively be thought of as a rigid hook - unlike you or I, no muscle tension is needed for her to hold her left hand on the bar at all. The Ergon bar-end provides something for the 'hook' to rest on comfortably.

Barakta managed three hours riding in the cold^[1] yesterday with the only complaints being a hacking cough and a minor arm injury and wrenched hip from manhandling the trike out of a lift, so I think we're winning on ergonomics for now. Just need to put some more miles (and turbo hours) in.

_{[1] At one point barakta pointed out that the fingers on her left hand weren't swollen. Something they're extremely prone to do in the cold, especially if they're being made to do things they don't like doing. So it looks like we got the gloves right, too.}

Tewdric · « **Reply #447 on:** 15 January, 2012, 08:56:22 pm »

Fair enough - I was thinking more of variety and support surface area, IYSWIM. You've both done a quite amazing job so far.

A 3 hour ride is not to be sniffed at and more than an awful lot of cyclists ever do.

If you continue to keep focussed on what is possible, as you clearly are, then I'm looking forward to the way this thread is going to develop into the summer...

TimO · « **Reply #448 on:** 15 January, 2012, 09:00:28 pm »

Quote from: Tewdric on 15 January, 2012, 08:56:22 pm

A 3 hour ride is not to be sniffed at and more than an awful lot of cyclists ever do.

Definitely. I know plenty of people who whilst probably capable of it, wouldn't dream of trying to do that sort of duration of time on a bike. Barakta is definitely to be congratulated on pushing herself to do that, I'm sure it's been a lot of effort to get this far, and far that matter, a not inconsequential amount of cash as well.

Kim · « **Reply #449 on:** 15 January, 2012, 09:38:54 pm »

Quote from: TimO on 15 January, 2012, 09:00:28 pm

a not inconsequential amount of cash as well.

Sssh! We're not supposed to think about that.