Changes to my Nazca Paseo

[UpWrong]

In keeping with the touring theme, I've ordered a Conti Contact Urban for the rear. The existing 32mm Pasela is a little on the narrow side and probably not the most durable. The narrowest Contact Urban in 559 is 47mm, a bit wider than I'd like but it should match with a Big Apple on the front which comes up as 45mm when mounted.

I do have a Marathon Greenguard in 47-559 but it weighs 985g, the Conti is 565g in comparison. Also the latter proved to have the best wet weather grip in a Bicycle RR test of 5 touring tyres.

[UpWrong]

When I looked in my tyre box I couldn't find the 50-406 Big Apple. I think it got sold with my AZUB trike. So I've installed a folding 49-406 Maxxis DTH which is actually larger than the BA.

The 47-559 Contact Urban has arrived so that should get installed this p.m. It's curious that Conit give it such a high anti puncture rating for what appears to be a thin, flexible nylon belt. Contrast this with a Kojak which has a stiff double nylon belt.

[yostumpy]

When I looked in my tyre box

Haha, some box.

[UpWrong]

When I looked in my tyre box

Haha, some box.

It's a bit like a TARDIS. It has narrow tyres inside wider tyres. I lose track of what I have. I also discovered both my 26" Racers have vanished, then realised they went with an eBike conversion I sold. I was going to sell all my 700c wheels and tyres, but I've squeezed a 700 on the rear of my RANS and I have thoughts of a Spa D'Tour frameset.

[yostumpy]

Are you racing at Bettshanger and Gravesend in September?

[UpWrong]

Are you racing at Bettshanger and Gravesend in September?

I'm not sure I can make that weekend at this stage. Sunday is more likely. If not, definitely Hillingdon. I'd probably bring the Paseo because it's my only bent with a chainguard on it.

EDIT: Betteshanger looks the better circuit though. Would be nice to do it . But Gravesend is closer!

[UpWrong]

It was easy enough to fit the Contact Urban on a wheel with a 19mm Mavic A719 rim. It was also straightforward to transplant the 13-42 cassette to the wheel. From there on it became difficult. First the Schraeder inner tubes I had wouldn't fit. The Mavic rim valve hole happily accepts a Schwalbe AV tube metal valve stem but not a Chinese one with a rubberised valve stem holder. I managed to find a Schwalbe SV presta tube and an adapter to use until I get some Schwalbe AV tubes.

The Urban tyre measures 45mm across on the Mavic rim. The existing mudguard was only 45mm . I tried fitting longer stays but wasn't happy with it. Rummaging in my mudguards box I found an SKS 50mm rear mudguard so tried that and again clearance was poor even with the longer stays I tried.

So I've stolen the 60mm Tortec guard from my step-son's MTB bike I bought him, which meant sorting something else out for that. The Tortec has the clearance I need but I got in a tangle with the fittings. It's on now but I need to trim the stays.

So that was pretty much my weekend! Photos to follow in a bit. I need to loosen off the rear brake for the wider rim and trim those long stays. But it looks good.

[UpWrong]

As promised. I've realigned the brakes but still need to trim the rear mudguard stays. What do you think?

EDIT: It's amazing to have the biggest sprocket the same size has the big chainring!

[[XAP]Bob]

EDIT: It's amazing to have the biggest sprocket the same size has the big chainring!

Certainly makes calculation of the lowest gear available very easy

[UpWrong]

I did a few miles yesterday. Had the front tyre at 40psi and the rear at 45psi. The tyre widths are 48mm and 45mm respectively. The front was more comfortable than with the 37mm tyre previously, the rear not noticeably better than the previous 32mm Pasela. I might try softening the rear suspension.

The new seat is a hit - no back ache and no sliding off the front. The super compact double works well, FD gear changes were slick.

The steering felt on the quck side. Maybe I've got used to the massive trail and fork flop of my Stratus. Even the P-38 in its 20/26 configuration has signifiicant fork flop.

[[XAP]Bob]

The new seat is a hit - no back ache and no sliding off the front.

Yay - always nice for a relatively expensive experiment to pay off.

[UpWrong]

Wow, I mean wow. What a difference! I softened the suspension coil by about 2.5 turns and not only did it improve the comfort but improved the steering too, not so light anymore. That extra inch of rotation when seated must be increasing the trail. The whole ergonomics was transformed. I felt confident in traffic and really enjoyed the ride.

I trimmed the stays, zip-tied the mudguard seat stay bridge and replaced the wheel QRs with Halo allen key skewers. I must try fitting the Ortlieb recumbent bags next.

[UpWrong]

Link to the current gearing, http://ritzelrechner.de/?GR=DERS&KB=28, ... H&DV=teeth
It's about 17"-83".

The 160mm cranks felt right, better than 150mm. Longer than that and I can get aches around my knees.

[a.twiddler]

Coincidentally, the gearing/crank combination is about the same on my Spirit, thanks to the previous owner living near a short sharp climb. 16" -82" with 160mm cranks. He just happened to prefer that length, which is what he has on his other recumbents. According to on line information, the original gearing was low 40s to about 100" which I would definitely have had to do something about.

In comparison, my Linear, after some twiddling and fiddling, has come to have a range of about 17.5" -110". I've never spun out, and seldom use the really high gears, but just rarely on a long downhill it's pleasant to slowly windmill along with just enough effort not to actually freewheel. It originally came with the potential to have a high gear of 150" which is way out of my riding range. It had a triple on the front but I removed the large ring and fitted a smaller small ring. In my universe at least, it's much more useful to have lower gears available than higher ones. The Linear still has its original 170mm cranks which I don't have a problem with despite the short legs.

With the Spirit there is absolutely no heel strike with 160mm cranks. I suspect that there wouldn't be with 170s either and I just might be tempted to try some at some future date. Historically, I had 165mm Stronglight cranks when I geared up my first upright tourer because (a) I didn't know there were alternatives and (b) I didn't have the choice anyway, and they were fine for quite a few years of intense riding. Hence when I bought this bike I didn't see any issues in the crank length and so far they too have been fine. I tried some 150mm ones last year while trying to get the Dawes Low rider to fit me but they didn't quite suit somehow and that one's gone to a new home now anyway.

I did wonder if I'd miss not having a high gear just a little higher but up to now it's been fine. I enjoy freewheeling too much, even if on a recumbent you can benefit from pedalling a bit more downhill to get the gain going up the other side.

In some circumstances even having a teeny weeny bottom gear won't get you up everything, as after a draining ride you might not have the energy to keep up the spinning to maintain balancing speed, but it's still nice to know it's there.

Maybe if my legs were long enough not to be on tippy toes on a HP Velotechnik Streetmachine I might be pondering the gearing on one of those. At the moment the Spirit suits me literally "down to the ground" and the previous owner's choices have saved me messing about with the gearing.

[UpWrong]

Crank Lengths:
Uprights 170 & 172.5, I get mild knee aches with the latter
Rans LWB: 165, occasional mild knee ache. I've had Catrikes with this length too.
Nazca SWB: 160, so far so good
P-38 SWB: 150, to open out the otherwise closed hip angle

I sometimes feel 150mm makes starting on hills more difficult since you can't get a long push. I am getting some heel strike with the Nazca (longer crank and wider tyre than before) but only if I try to pedal through tight turns. I usually coast with an outstetched leg on the turning side.