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Not that I like change.....


onbike1939

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When I bought my Moulton Esprit it came with Drops and Down-tube shifters even though the bike was relatively new. The buyer insisted upon these despite it costing him more from the Moulton people as they had to modify the frame. I kept the Drops and added some Shimano Sora shifters but could never come to terms with them as they are pretty clunky and I find the wrist action needed unnatural and especially of the LH one. So I'm now intending to go for Bullhorns bars and will fit Bar-end shifters and reversed Drop brake levers (with the levers pointing forward this will allow the cables to be hidden under the Bar-tape). I intend to run the shifters in Friction mode which demands less finicky adjustment than in the index mode. I'm hoping that after all the messing around I'll find the new arrangement to my liking as far as comfort is concerned and I calculate it will add another 10 mph to my average speed........probably....

I'll try to post a picture or two as obviously this project is going to cause some huge interest in this forum........especially so as Max's project has turned out to be such an anti-climax.........what?....what? :huh:

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On 24/08/2016 at 0:09 AM, maddmaxx said:

I like this build.  I did something like this years ago using Interrupter brake levers as a "sort of" time trial style break lever with the bar ends on a bull horn.  It worked well but It can put some strain on the brake cables.

I did the same thing to a friend's bike but I can't see where the strain to the cables comes in.

Hoping to finish it today if I can just get out of this dressing-gown and have a shower.

Did around an hour's climb yesterday up the side of the hill but using the e-assist bike on it's lowest level of assist. It was certainly much easier than when on my normal bike which was good but I miss the effort and the feeling of accomplishment. The sun shone all day, even able to sit outside for lunch with the gang..........it's not natural and nothing good can come of this I'm sure.

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Somehow operating the interrupter levers in the backward direction as stand alone levers put quite an angle on the cable as the levers were moved through their range.?????  I was informed by a forum mechanic that I risked fraying a cable and breaking it under max breaking.  I do know that flat bar brake levers have a pivoting mechanical cage to hold the brake cable without any angle at full pull.

I never had a problem though.  Maybe I'm just a bad bike builder.  :mellow:

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3 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Somehow operating the interrupter levers in the backward direction as stand alone levers put quite an angle on the cable as the levers were moved through their range.?????  I was informed by a forum mechanic that I risked fraying a cable and breaking it under max breaking.  I do know that flat bar brake levers have a pivoting mechanical cage to hold the brake cable without any angle at full pull.

I never had a problem though.  Maybe I'm just a bad bike builder.  :mellow:

Interesting........ the problem is with the cable leaving the body of the lever as the exit usually the wrong way when the levers are mounted on Bull-bars which means it can't be covered by the bar-tape. As I'm using Drop levers I have the same problem but have solved this by mounting these upside down with the levers pointing forward. I should have finished the job today but had to give up as my back is killing me. It was just amazing to rediscover just how easy it is to work with friction levers.....all the finicky, ball-aching business of getting the gears just right disappears....heaven.

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I love setting up cables and gear trains.  It's the one thing I do really well on bikes.  I like to get the bike up on the stand and get really close to the gears to watch the chain move up and down as I shift.  IMO there is a bit of art as well as science to setting things up right.  I do not like triples though.  There is something about all the bumps and notches in the triple derailleur cage to accommodate the different gears that makes my teeth itch.

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Ah.....setting up triples with front indexing is indeed problematic and certainly needs patience if one is to get it exactly right.

I've toured with a triple for many, many years and have been in many situations with a loaded bike where I've blessed them. In fact now I haven't any and find it really strange after so long. The Double on my Esprit (52/39) is mated with a 10/28 cassette and gives me  a 23/86 inch range. I fiddled with the cassette and had it at 10/32t but chain wrap became a problem with the short RD so I was forced to make it 10/28 (this all with 17" wheels of course).

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4 hours ago, onbike1939 said:

Ah.....setting up triples with front indexing is indeed problematic and certainly needs patience if one is to get it exactly right.

I've toured with a triple for many, many years and have been in many situations with a loaded bike where I've blessed them. In fact now I haven't any and find it really strange after so long. The Double on my Esprit (52/39) is mated with a 10/28 cassette and gives me  a 23/86 inch range. I fiddled with the cassette and had it at 10/32t but chain wrap became a problem with the short RD so I was forced to make it 10/28 (this all with 17" wheels of course).

My favorite setup is the 50/34 with an 11/34.  It seems to have all the gears I can use although some would say at the expense of fairly wide ratio's.  Given that I also don't ride in pelotons I don't really care about the wide ratios. Using the 8 speed setup that I like results in an almost bulletproof and easy shifting bike that simply doesn't need much tuning during the season, at most a quick twist of the barrel adjuster to account for cable length stretch or temperature changes.

Oh, thats the road/hybrid gearing.  The dirt bike ran a 38/26 with the 11/34

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I started cycling with a 5 speed and see the move towards more and more sprockets as a retrograde step which sacrifices durability. I ran a Rohloff for a time and was mightily impressed but didn't like the weight it brought to the back of the bike. Great for touring though as is the present arrangement on my Moulton TSR27 which mates a Sram DualDrive  with a 9 speed der. giving a huge range and the ability to change gear while stationary. I can't imagine anything better for loaded touring and especially when used on the Moulton which has a low centre of gravity and full suspension. As far as cost for this set-up it compares very favourably with the Rohloff and is used a great deal by recumbent builders. I only wish that I had the Moulton when I was still touring and think that I would have preferred it over my custom-built Mercian Vincetori.

 

Regrets....regrets.....

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Many of you have been pressing me to make good my promise to show you my modification on my Esprit with a few threatening self-harm if I did not make good on my promise........so here you are.

I'm afraid the mirror doesn't quite chime with my image as a lean, mean, fast rider but as I'm almost stone deaf it's an essential aid to survival.

 

 

 

IMAG0030.jpg

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2 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

I for one am thrilled that you have color coordinated the bottle rack.  Sadly, it's a feature badly neglected by most.

I wouldn't want you to think that it was easy....oh dear me no.

Very much worth the effort as it is these small touches that defines the owner as a person of taste and discrimination and sets them apart from the herd. To neglect the small things can set you on a path to all sorts of tasteless blunders........external BB bearings for example.

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8 hours ago, onbike1939 said:

...it is these small touches that defines the owner as a person of taste and discrimination and sets them apart from the herd. 

...whenever I go out to the garage and look at all those swell bikes, there's always a moment where I think, "Why you, and not @onbike1939 ?  He is a person of taste, discrimination and class; and you are a declasse boob who just happens to live in the right place at the right moment in time.  You don't really deserve to have all these wonderful cycling machines.:("

Then I pull one out, air up the tyres, and hit the road.:)

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On 8/29/2016 at 0:38 PM, onbike1939 said:

Many of you have been pressing me to make good my promise to show you my modification on my Esprit with a few threatening self-harm if I did not make good on my promise........so here you are.

I'm afraid the mirror doesn't quite chime with my image as a lean, mean, fast rider but as I'm almost stone deaf it's an essential aid to survival.

 

 

 

IMAG0030.jpg

I have an early 90's TT bike - a Kestrel KM40.  It was my first bike bought used.  It had aerobars with bar end shifter on the areobars and bar end brakes on the bullhorn bars.  The bike was in great shape when I got it but the areobars were trash so I took them off, bought some brake levers and I have the same setup on it that you have.  After letting it be borrowed out for a couple years, it's now my backup bike.  I like running the RD in Index mode and the FD in friction mode.

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1 hour ago, Page Turner said:

...whenever I go out to the garage and look at all those swell bikes, there's always a moment where I think, "Why you, and not @onbike1939 ?  He is a person of taste, discrimination and class; and you are a declasse boob who just happens to live in the right place at the right moment in time.  You don't really deserve to have all these wonderful cycling machines.:("

Then I pull one out, air up the tyres, and hit the road.:)

I've thought about this and you're right.....it's is unfair but I have to be philosophical about it. Just another brickbat that I have to endure. That said....I look at the gearing of your bikes and I know that I wouldn't be able to push them given my decrepit state.

I'm worried about max as it's clear that he's being consumed by jealousy having seen my bike and it worries me. Somebody should really keep an eye on him and it would be wise to lock away any sharp implements for a while. I'm not going to post any more images....too risky.

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7 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

I have an early 90's TT bike - a Kestrel KM40.  It was my first bike bought used.  It had aerobars with bar end shifter on the areobars and bar end brakes on the bullhorn bars.  The bike was in great shape when I got it but the areobars were trash so I took them off, bought some brake levers and I have the same setup on it that you have.  After letting it be borrowed out for a couple years, it's now my backup bike.  I like running the RD in Index mode and the FD in friction mode.

I'm running both front and back on friction....I got so tired of STI's and of indexing in general. Up to now I'm liking the position the bars  offer but time will tell.

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