With some new, non-knackered idlers, a Ventisit seat pad and a re-molished headrest mount, the Red Baron is now fit for proper riding:
(And yes, the tide is still out at Earlswood.)
Very nice, I like the twin idlers, much better for steering.
AIUI the Baron can work with the chain dropped, but that complicates matters, for the sort of efficiency/weight gain that only makes sense if you're racing. There's also a mutant configuration some people run which gives a straighter return chainline in exchange for an extra deflection of the drive-side (bringing the first return idler further outboard and anchoring the drive side chain tube above it), which is how it was set up when I received it. But that didn't seem to play nicely with my chainrings/boom length, so I went back to basics with the standard two-idler configuration and tweaked until it worked properly (or as properly as anything can reasonably be expected to work with 22-36-50 chainrings). The secret, for anyone playing along at home, is to tilt that first return idler *just so*.
Do you manage to drink from those bottles on the move? I expect that has similarly twitchy steering to the M5?
I need to take a photo of that, don't I?
On the Streetmachine, I use a Camelback valve linked to an Ortlieb 5litre
[1] water bag on the rear rack (under the rack bag, if I'm using it) via a homebrew arrangement of connectors and PVC tube (Ortlieb do a kit, but it's rubbish). I have a cunning arrangement of bastard-strong magnets to hold the free end of the tube to the underside of the seat when not in use. There isn't really room for this on the Baron, due to the lack of space between the rack and the wheel for the plumbing.
So what I did, after getting bored with only being able to drink after getting off the bike, was hack the valve off an old leaky water bottle, and attach an appropriate set of connectors, tubing and pressure-relief valve (you can just see a hint of blue at the base of the headrest mount). So my existing tube screws to the connector on the bottle, does a loop-the-loop of the bottle cage to take up some slack
[2], and the free end magnetically attaches to the underside of the seat on the left, around about the position of the second return idler. While riding along I can reach down, pull the tube free, drink from it, and when finished offer it back to the magnet which will snatch it back and hold it in place. Sorted.
A bidon only holds 750ml, so there's a normal one on the right hand side which you can see in this picture. I can swap lids when the first one empties, or drink from this directly when off the bike. (That's a spare HPVelotechnik seat
[3] that happened to have already been drilled for bottle cages, so I thought I'd attach some and see how well they worked - the cage positions weren't chosen with that bike in mind, but it is probably the most aerodynamic and skog-free place to put them.)
I've not ridden an M5 (would be interesting to try, but the only ones I've met in the flesh have been set up for tall people) but the Baron's certainly a lot twitchier than the SMGT tourer that I'm used to (something which applies to about 90% of bicycles, thobut). That said, it's also a *lot* better at cornering, less well equipped for carrying luggage and comedy off-roading, and a fair bit faster
After about 350km, I'd say I'm now at the point where I'm not feeling unsafe on it, though I still make embarrassing mistakes like trying to set off in too high a gear, and I'm still not 100% sure about the headrest position - am currently leaving it where it is and seeing if my shoulder muscles get used to it.
[1] Enough for overnight camping. I don't normally put more than 1.5 litres in it at a time for riding.
[2] The tube is long enough to drink from while sitting upright on a stationary Streetmachine.
[3] The Baron's seat turned out to be too big for me.
