Brucey wrote:ah, I see. Am I right in thinking you have Marathons there? Other tyres (of the same size) are a lot less wide at the edge of the tread, because they have less tread at the edges.
Some ideas;
- modify the mudguard profile (to make it wider) - modify the mudguard edge (it is rolled, right?) - shave the tyre shoulders (that bit never wears out, so you won't miss it, right...? ) - fit narrower tyres - fit tyres with less tread (dare I suggest Hypers?) - fit a wider rear mudguard
cheers
Tyres are 32mm Hypers (the camera flash picked up the reflective strip which is probably why they look like Marathons to you), which actually measure 33m on the LX17 rims. I did wonder about opening up the bolt hole at the seatstay bridge slightly so that it swallows/moves up the threaded boss and making a different arrangement to attach the guard there, this would gain a couple of mm more clearance, which may translate to as much as 5mm more space to the front.
mig wrote:i like the bike. the frames are good value i think.
were you aiming at specific gears with the small chainring? or was it one you had already?
I picked the chainring specifically as it means I can vary the gearing right down to a very low bottom ratio if I want to (the lowest would be with a SRAM 24T sprocket which i have in stock and would give me a gearing range of 20"-84", with the current 21T sprocket it is 23"-94", and if I find I want to go a bit higher there is plenty of lee-way with smaller sprockets available.
Further update: I have ordered a Tektro 926AL 80mm v-brake for the rear so I can return the Tiagra to the touring bike, and have decided I want the bars 2cm nearer so have ordered a nice 70mm Ritchey Classic silver stem (glad of the excuse to get rid of the ugly On One Hotbox!).
As for the general ride of the thing I find the sterring quite sedate and the ride surprisingly good- the fork has a decent amount of flex which is a relief as the fork on the Kaffenback I had previously was somewhat stiffer, though not that bad for a disc brake fork.
it must be a bit frustrating if you are playing odd millimetres to get the clearance at the rear. Mind you a tight mudguard at the rear is nothing like so much of a worry as one at the front.
Oddly enough I considered buying one of those frames to do something similar with; however one of my mad ideas was to leave the frame width at the rear alone, to chop off most of the dropouts, and then use bolt-on ones instead. I figured this could give 135mm OLN for a modern IGH and a versatile setup.
Although it wasn't a priority in my mind at the time, this would also have allowed me to control the mudguard clearance at the rear (within the limits of the brake adjustment).
Did a 50 mile ride on Sunday with local club 'Intermediate' group: hilly but not too fast. The bike is a lovely comfy ride with the Voyager Hyper 32mm tyres and the shifting was fine except when I forgot and tried to shift with load on the pedals- it really does not like any load at all, at least not yet, maybe it will get better when run in a bit.
Shifting up is great from the hoods but not easy in the drops- I have to lift my hand up to hit the short lever with my index finger; shifting down is OK from either but takes a bit of forward planning as it is a relatively slow process due to the long lever throw- should get better with practice. Mind you if you stop suddenly on a hill or at a junction it is no drama to shift down as much as you want whilst stationary.
I was very pleasantly surprised with the efficiency of the hub, nothing like the drag of my old Nexus 8spd.
The rear brake is rather fierce and I locked the back wheel a couple of times on wet tarmac, but the shorter Tektro mini v arrived yesterday, which I hope will help.
I am in two/three minds about the stem length- at 90mm it seemed fine to start with, but by the time of the cafe stop I was thinking maybe 80mm would be best, and then near home maybe 70mm after all. However I am a bit down on fitness this month having not done much but commute since November, so that may be part of the issue. The new 70mm will be with me today but I think possibly I should send it back to exchange for an 80mm???
niggle wrote:Did a 50 mile ride on Sunday with local club 'Intermediate' group: hilly but not too fast. The bike is a lovely comfy ride with the Voyager Hyper 32mm tyres and the shifting was fine except when I forgot and tried to shift with load on the pedals- it really does not like any load at all, at least not yet, maybe it will get better when run in a bit.
Shifting up is great from the hoods but not easy in the drops- I have to lift my hand up to hit the short lever with my index finger; shifting down is OK from either but takes a bit of forward planning as it is a relatively slow process due to the long lever throw- should get better with practice. Mind you if you stop suddenly on a hill or at a junction it is no drama to shift down as much as you want whilst stationary.
I was very pleasantly surprised with the efficiency of the hub, nothing like the drag of my old Nexus 8spd.
The rear brake is rather fierce and I locked the back wheel a couple of times on wet tarmac, but the shorter Tektro mini v arrived yesterday, which I hope will help.
I am in two/three minds about the stem length- at 90mm it seemed fine to start with, but by the time of the cafe stop I was thinking maybe 80mm would be best, and then near home maybe 70mm after all. However I am a bit down on fitness this month having not done much but commute since November, so that may be part of the issue. The new 70mm will be with me today but I think possibly I should send it back to exchange for an 80mm???
I went through a phase of buying stems of different length and ended up with several spares in a box in the garage. But they have been used on other projects for myself and other family members, so don't feel too bad about having spare stems left over.
pwa wrote:I went through a phase of buying stems of different length and ended up with several spares in a box in the garage. But they have been used on other projects for myself and other family members, so don't feel too bad about having spare stems left over.
Just fitted the stem and and had a ride round the village: seems spot on and looks a lot nicer as well.
Also fitted the diminutive Tektro 926AL 80mm mini v-brake on the back: it clears the mudguard by a couple of mm and is much better- still quite powerful but firmer and much easier to modulate.
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