Toshi's thread
- Thread starter Toshi
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Hmph. Wasn't approved for 2.39% x 60 months for my refinance (although Jessica was with me as a co-signer). They did 3.16% x 60 months. Still better than 4.25%.
3.16% is my highest effective rate debt now. (Also have a small 2.875% Jessica loan chunk, the big mortgage at 2.6% effective, the brunt of Jessica's loans at 2.39%, the projected minivan note that'll likely be at 1.99%, and the RAV4 EV note at 1.24%.)
This makes it an easy decision: after keeping enough in reserve to buffer the inevitable red months the first half of the year due to how I get paid and socking some away for a planned Japan trip next year I'll put all extra month to month money toward this 3.16% chain around my neck. Debt, be gone! Well, eventually...
3.16% is my highest effective rate debt now. (Also have a small 2.875% Jessica loan chunk, the big mortgage at 2.6% effective, the brunt of Jessica's loans at 2.39%, the projected minivan note that'll likely be at 1.99%, and the RAV4 EV note at 1.24%.)
This makes it an easy decision: after keeping enough in reserve to buffer the inevitable red months the first half of the year due to how I get paid and socking some away for a planned Japan trip next year I'll put all extra month to month money toward this 3.16% chain around my neck. Debt, be gone! Well, eventually...
I just ordered parts to go from stock 46 x 18t gearing to 53 x 16t on the Taga. Mind you, the rear tire is a 20 x 1.75" so this is going from 11.x mph to 14.x mph at an 80 rpm cadence. Doing 15 mph will make it much more useful, both in terms of getting anywhere in a reasonable amount of time and in making the assist levels/speeds 4-6 actually useable. (Recall that it only has one gear, as the electric hub displaces the Shimano Alfine 3 otherwise specced.)
I went with a 130 mm bcd track crankset (using the stock square taper BB since the cadence sensor is integrated with it), Shimano 53t ring off of a double crankset because cheap, ACS freewheel, and a KMC chain. Should be an easy enough swap of components. The stock crankset has a direct mount ring but who knows what standard it is running…
Took the RAV4 EV to just outside Idaho Springs and back for a wedding. Short version is that it did great and range anxiety was misplaced.
Long version:
- 44 miles each way and about a half mile net elevation difference
- started out with an extended charge, 41.8 kWh in theory per the range chart
- was 5 bars down from indicated "full" (full being 35 kWh), so about 17.8 kWh used for the leg out: 2.5 miles/kWh
- used just four more bars on the way back, or rather used five and regenerated one, so about 8.8 kWh used: 5.0 miles/kWh. The car reported 6.2 miles/kWh for this leg, go figure.
- there are 16 bars total so 16-5-4 implies it was just one bar below half of a normal 35 kWh charge when I pulled into my garage
The net result is that the battery still had about 40 realistic level terrain miles left after the 88 mile round trip.
Long version:
- 44 miles each way and about a half mile net elevation difference
- started out with an extended charge, 41.8 kWh in theory per the range chart
- was 5 bars down from indicated "full" (full being 35 kWh), so about 17.8 kWh used for the leg out: 2.5 miles/kWh
- used just four more bars on the way back, or rather used five and regenerated one, so about 8.8 kWh used: 5.0 miles/kWh. The car reported 6.2 miles/kWh for this leg, go figure.
- there are 16 bars total so 16-5-4 implies it was just one bar below half of a normal 35 kWh charge when I pulled into my garage
The net result is that the battery still had about 40 realistic level terrain miles left after the 88 mile round trip.
The logical question that'd follow from this is what (summertime: AC and no inefficient resistive heater) range I could push the RAV4 EV to with those 2.5 miles/kWh uphill and 5.0 miles/kWh efficiency figures:
Start out at 41.8 kWh. Pull into home at the third from last charge state bar of 16, so 8.6 kWh or about 25 miles of realistic remaining range to avert anxiety.
41.8 - n/2.5 - n/5.0 == 8.6
33.2 == 0.2n + 0.4n == 0.6n
n == 33.2/0.6 == 55 miles each way
What does 55 miles from where I live get me? Not the summit of Mt Evans, not Winter Park, not A Basin. Welp, that's that, I guess. It's a Tesla under its hood, sure, but a 40 kWh Tesla battery isn't that useful, especially without DC fast charging.
Start out at 41.8 kWh. Pull into home at the third from last charge state bar of 16, so 8.6 kWh or about 25 miles of realistic remaining range to avert anxiety.
41.8 - n/2.5 - n/5.0 == 8.6
33.2 == 0.2n + 0.4n == 0.6n
n == 33.2/0.6 == 55 miles each way
What does 55 miles from where I live get me? Not the summit of Mt Evans, not Winter Park, not A Basin. Welp, that's that, I guess. It's a Tesla under its hood, sure, but a 40 kWh Tesla battery isn't that useful, especially without DC fast charging.
Hammerhead Eagle i-Thrust conversion required to extend your range with a diesel generator in the back.
http://topgear.wikia.com/wiki/Hammerhead_Eagle_i-Thrust
… or a Pentastar V6 as with the supposedly built and shipping soon PHEV minivan. Or 85+ kWh and 135 kW DC fast chargers in Silverthorne a la expensive Teslas. (Or any gasoline vehicle plus a few dollars in Carbonfund offsets.)
I give it even odds that the above will happen to the Pacifica Hybrid. If it does and can't be fixed immediately then I'll get the wife a 2018 Sienna assuming she still likes minivans and will pursue a lemon law buyback with Chrysler. This would be a pain but then again we have been gambling successfully with our Toyota/Tesla Frankenstein machine, technically only supported in California…
53 x 16t in the flesh. Proved to be a pain in the ass:
- I'd thrown away my square taper crank puller long ago, so spent a very long time prying at the original right crankarm to get it loose
- had to join new chain with extra links from old chain since the chain line is so long: 100 was about 20 links short
- working with horizontal dropouts with axle tensioners is painful by itself but doubly so when one of the axles has phase wires coming out of it
- extra fun/oddness as the rear disc mount is mounted to the axle yet slides in and then secures to the dropout, too
It appears to work now, though. I think I set the chain a little too tight but I'm going to ignore that since fixing that would require realigning the brake, two axle and two tensioner bolts, etc.
I will test it more thoroughly tomorrow morning and take Mariko to school in it if it checks out.
Still no build sheet that'd imply it was fully built, but apparently its past paint and now in the trim assembly status. Odds are looking very good for receiving it this year.
Still trying to grok how that move was even possible...Reminds me of Lenawee:
Only no one did this, because we can ride over 4" rocks.
Still trying to grok how that move was even possible...
Weight was too far forward.
He just "pulled up" when getting his front over so when the rear wheel hit he went ass over tea-kettle.
Coulda used moar speed.
Who is it? They have a redbull helmet on...
As we were climbing chimney we had someone do similar descending towards us last week (a running shoes wearing rider on a simple bit of trail). The rider took a couple of tumbles down the slope too, we were glad we didn't need to rescue him...
As we were climbing chimney we had someone do similar descending towards us last week (a running shoes wearing rider on a simple bit of trail). The rider took a couple of tumbles down the slope too, we were glad we didn't need to rescue him...
No bueno... there is a SHITLOAD of poison ivy on Chimney.
I had to point out a couple of people a few weeks back the fact that the bottom of Longhorn is teeming with poison ivy. They had no idea what it looked like. I wish I could have such a blase attitude about it, but I'm quite susceptible to getting it bad.
I'm getting the itch to change out my commuter bike for something with better aero positioning. Maybe that godforsaken recumbent idea again (but those long chain runs are so ugly!) or maybe just a "gravel grinder" to be all hip and such.
Things I'd like:
- 1 x 11 or 12, maybe Alfine 11?
- belt drive?
- drop bars if an upright bike
- hydro discs
- room for at least a 30 mm tire + fenders
- rack eyelets for my fancy Tubus rack
The commuter has a few thousand miles on it and like I said I feel that itch... hmm
Things I'd like:
- 1 x 11 or 12, maybe Alfine 11?
- belt drive?
- drop bars if an upright bike
- hydro discs
- room for at least a 30 mm tire + fenders
- rack eyelets for my fancy Tubus rack
The commuter has a few thousand miles on it and like I said I feel that itch... hmm
In moving west i seem to have traded poison Ivy for stinging nettles.
I'll take it, nettles may hurt but there is a pleasing endorphin response.
Toughen up, buttercup. We were practically rolling in stinging nettles as kids as they were everywhere. Plus we had to pick their leaves for herbal tea and other obscure uses with just bare hands.
Reading comprehension snapdragon.Toughen up, buttercup. We were practically rolling in stinging nettles as kids as they were everywhere. Plus we had to pick their leaves for herbal tea and other obscure uses with just bare hands.
I pretty much just said I liked them.
Maybe this?
http://cruzbike.com/t50#!/
+/- electric kit, which would mean I'd have to stick to roads, but that'd be ok... hmm
Here's an available electric setup for the Cruzbike T50:
That setup has a Bafang hub motor. 250W, same as on the Taga trike, actually. That doesn't sound too interesting.
It does demonstrate that the now-ubiquitous Hailong downtube enclosure works with the T50. Not quite sure how they affixed it since I didn't see water bottle bosses at first glance, but that can be solved. Controller would go behind the seat as they did, and a "front" hub motor would slot in the physically rear location. (The spacing is 135 mm up front, 100 mm in rear--normal but reversed a la the drivetrain.)
What does sound interesting would be this:
I'm thinking 52V 13Ah battery, Crystalyte H3548 front hub motor, 40A sine-wave controller, square-taper torque-sensing bottom bracket to match the crap stock cranks, and a v3 CycleAnalyst to control things as the major components.
I could swap over some things from the current commuter, like the XT hydraulic discs (probably should re-bleed them at some point anyway, heh)...
That setup has a Bafang hub motor. 250W, same as on the Taga trike, actually. That doesn't sound too interesting.
It does demonstrate that the now-ubiquitous Hailong downtube enclosure works with the T50. Not quite sure how they affixed it since I didn't see water bottle bosses at first glance, but that can be solved. Controller would go behind the seat as they did, and a "front" hub motor would slot in the physically rear location. (The spacing is 135 mm up front, 100 mm in rear--normal but reversed a la the drivetrain.)
What does sound interesting would be this:
I'm thinking 52V 13Ah battery, Crystalyte H3548 front hub motor, 40A sine-wave controller, square-taper torque-sensing bottom bracket to match the crap stock cranks, and a v3 CycleAnalyst to control things as the major components.
I could swap over some things from the current commuter, like the XT hydraulic discs (probably should re-bleed them at some point anyway, heh)...
Counterpoint is that a Honda Grom would be faster, with many of the same limitations, and would have a warranty.
Going electric would mean giving up my greenway commute route. Although the roads in question have bike lanes for most of the route it'd be giving up a lot. Hmm.
Going electric would mean giving up my greenway commute route. Although the roads in question have bike lanes for most of the route it'd be giving up a lot. Hmm.
Yeah, I don't think I'm going to go electric after all. But I might try a 'bent to get a burst of extra solely-powered-by-me speed on the greenway bike commute route.
(not the one in question, but other than the discs and the paint job pretty damn similar, as stick + ridiculous chain line styling hasn't changed in a decade)
I found a Bacchetta Giro 20 with V-brakes on Craigslist in Colorado Springs listed at $500. I low-balled the buyer over text messages at $300 (citing a 2009 Giro 20 with discs that sold on eBay last month for $400 + $90 shipping). He balked at that price but I have the luxury of not being in any hurry at all, headed down to CSprings this weekend anyway for a work conference. I figure at $300 I could probably sell it on eBay or Craigslist and at least come close to breaking even if it didn't agree with me for whatever reason.
I also emailed two other Craigslist 'bent bike sellers, one with a very similar Bacchetta Giro 20 in Fort Collins, and another with a Burley Django in Longmont. I'll similarly offer $300 for the Fort Collins Giro 20 if the seller replies, and $200 for the Burley. The Burley would be harder to flip if I didn't like it as it lacks any name recognition, and the newest it can possibly be is 2006, as that's the year when Burley pulled out of the recumbent market. (Apparently the recumbent bike division (who knew of them?! certainly not me) of Burley was profitable but the division was axed in a time of overall red ink at the cooperative. After that they concentrated on trailers, as they are known for today.)
(not the one in question, but other than the discs and the paint job pretty damn similar, as stick + ridiculous chain line styling hasn't changed in a decade)
I found a Bacchetta Giro 20 with V-brakes on Craigslist in Colorado Springs listed at $500. I low-balled the buyer over text messages at $300 (citing a 2009 Giro 20 with discs that sold on eBay last month for $400 + $90 shipping). He balked at that price but I have the luxury of not being in any hurry at all, headed down to CSprings this weekend anyway for a work conference. I figure at $300 I could probably sell it on eBay or Craigslist and at least come close to breaking even if it didn't agree with me for whatever reason.
I also emailed two other Craigslist 'bent bike sellers, one with a very similar Bacchetta Giro 20 in Fort Collins, and another with a Burley Django in Longmont. I'll similarly offer $300 for the Fort Collins Giro 20 if the seller replies, and $200 for the Burley. The Burley would be harder to flip if I didn't like it as it lacks any name recognition, and the newest it can possibly be is 2006, as that's the year when Burley pulled out of the recumbent market. (Apparently the recumbent bike division (who knew of them?! certainly not me) of Burley was profitable but the division was axed in a time of overall red ink at the cooperative. After that they concentrated on trailers, as they are known for today.)
No dice with the Craigslist peoples. Just as well since those bikes look tired. Similarly no dice with negotiating with my uncle, who is selling his ActionBent (ugly, nope) and a Bacchetta Corsa much like this one but yellow:
I cited Bicycle Blue Book but he thinks the Corsa is worth more. Just as well since 23 mm tires wouldn't cut it for my mixed-surface commute anyway.
All this has been a good exercise in clarifying what I would like, though:
- a me + bike combination that's faster than me + my 29er commuter, which has Jones swept bars and a low front end but is still fundamentally an upright bike
- no electricity involved: the Sand Creek Greenway crosses Commerce City, Denver, and Aurora, and the only part that allows e-bikes is the paved, Denver part (as opposed to the ~50% remainder of it unpaved, let alone parts not in Denver)
- ability for at least 35 mm tires, and ideally my 700 x 47 mm meats, because of the mixed surfaces
- fenders and ability to carry my current panniers
- not hideous, although I understand that my views on this are more lenient than most
One might ask, "why not something like this with drop bars?"
I don't think that'd be very comfortable, and I'm not sure if I'd gain much speed since I tend to ride road bikes on the hoods instead of the drops anyway, again going back to the comfort bit. My current 29er already has the bars a few inches lower than the seat, thanks to a short fork, a negative rise (flipped) stem, and non-riser swept bars.
So I'm thinking this puts me back in recumbent-land, unless there's something other than SIUPing and pedaling harder that I'm missing. The Cruzbike that I posted above with the electric idea has less ugliness due to the backwards-drivetrain bit but I'm worried that handling would be weird. Traction might also be an issue with a front wheel drive bike: one of the short climbs on my commute is dirt and gravel.
Therefore time to peruse the recumbent world to see if my requirements (big tires in particular) can be met.
I cited Bicycle Blue Book but he thinks the Corsa is worth more. Just as well since 23 mm tires wouldn't cut it for my mixed-surface commute anyway.
All this has been a good exercise in clarifying what I would like, though:
- a me + bike combination that's faster than me + my 29er commuter, which has Jones swept bars and a low front end but is still fundamentally an upright bike
- no electricity involved: the Sand Creek Greenway crosses Commerce City, Denver, and Aurora, and the only part that allows e-bikes is the paved, Denver part (as opposed to the ~50% remainder of it unpaved, let alone parts not in Denver)
- ability for at least 35 mm tires, and ideally my 700 x 47 mm meats, because of the mixed surfaces
- fenders and ability to carry my current panniers
- not hideous, although I understand that my views on this are more lenient than most
One might ask, "why not something like this with drop bars?"
I don't think that'd be very comfortable, and I'm not sure if I'd gain much speed since I tend to ride road bikes on the hoods instead of the drops anyway, again going back to the comfort bit. My current 29er already has the bars a few inches lower than the seat, thanks to a short fork, a negative rise (flipped) stem, and non-riser swept bars.
So I'm thinking this puts me back in recumbent-land, unless there's something other than SIUPing and pedaling harder that I'm missing.
The Cruzbike that I posted above with the electric idea has less ugliness due to the backwards-drivetrain bit but I'm worried that handling would be weird. Traction might also be an issue with a front wheel drive bike: one of the short climbs on my commute is dirt and gravel.Therefore time to peruse the recumbent world to see if my requirements (big tires in particular) can be met.
I found some resources:
Big list: http://www.recumbents.com/recumbents.asp (put no criteria in and click View the bikes! to see all)
Somewhat outdated but rich article on picking a touring recumbent: https://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/how-to-department/touring-bicycles-selection/how-to-buy-a-recumbent-bike-for-touring/
From that second list I'd google manufacturer names, to see if they were still in business as many such niche companies don't last. The bit about an MIT Professor (now Emeritus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gordon_Wilson) inventing a bike caught my fancy, so I looked up the company making the current iteration of the born-at-MIT design, Longbikes.
Here's the Longbikes Slipstream, the evolution of David Gordon Wilson's Avatar 2000:
There's also a SWB version that I'm going to not post here since it's pretty ugly. It is interesting because it has a jackshaft, and because it, like the Slipstream, looks very well constructed. Turns out the company's other line of business is in making wheelchair accessories for people with cerebral palsy, so they actually engineer their shit.
In reading this, I was thinking that I like this company's work so far: maybe I should take a vacation and fly out to wherever they are to sample their wares and see if this 'bent thing might be for me... so I checked their location, which turns out to be Englewood, CO!
The bikes can be set up with 2" tires, fenders, racks, you name it. I am very intrigued, in particular by the long wheelbase one as it's less ugly and has the cool back-story.
Related: in looking for a photo of the right side of the SWB bike with jackshaft, I found this jackshaft thread that features a semi-recumbent monstrosity with a jackshaft:
Kill it with fire!
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No Longbikes Slipstream for me: crisis averted yet again.
I test rode one today for about half an hour, in an industrial complex's parking lots and on a road. It didn't feel as fast as I thought it should, mainly because one's upper body contributes nothing and one can't stand up. I also didn't like feeling stuck to the pavement: not being able to bunnyhop up or over a curb or other things in the trail would be distressing. Add in slight weirdness on handling (probably the feedback loop between me and the controls, with a ~1 Hz slight oscillation when riding along), lack of steering lock for low speed maneuvering, and it just doesn't seem worth it.
On the upside the construction was good, they moved frame production back in house about a decade ago after a few years fighting Taiwanese suppliers 2002-2004 or so, and both the creator and the machine shop were cool. They do 97% of their business on the wheelchair accessory side of things, so the bikes are basically a hobby. The ergonomics were also good for a 'bent: comfortable seat and BB height, and no interaction of feet and the front wheel thanks to the LWB + steering linkage setup.
I test rode one today for about half an hour, in an industrial complex's parking lots and on a road. It didn't feel as fast as I thought it should, mainly because one's upper body contributes nothing and one can't stand up. I also didn't like feeling stuck to the pavement: not being able to bunnyhop up or over a curb or other things in the trail would be distressing. Add in slight weirdness on handling (probably the feedback loop between me and the controls, with a ~1 Hz slight oscillation when riding along), lack of steering lock for low speed maneuvering, and it just doesn't seem worth it.
On the upside the construction was good, they moved frame production back in house about a decade ago after a few years fighting Taiwanese suppliers 2002-2004 or so, and both the creator and the machine shop were cool. They do 97% of their business on the wheelchair accessory side of things, so the bikes are basically a hobby. The ergonomics were also good for a 'bent: comfortable seat and BB height, and no interaction of feet and the front wheel thanks to the LWB + steering linkage setup.
Current bike I'm interested in as a commuter:
That'd be a Spot Denver Zephyr. Stainless frame, 40 mm front and 35 mm tire clearance, rack and fender eyelets, Ultegra Di2, and Shimano hydraulic discs.
I thought having a Rohloff or Pinion bike, especially with a belt drive, would be cool, but those are rare and expensive. I'm hoping that Di2 would make for a very low maintenance drivetrain: I find that the 1x10 setup I currently have on the non-drop bar and thus mtb shifter-equipped commuter (Race Face 40t narrow-wide ring, Ultegra? or similar chain, 12-25 cassette shifted by a long-cage XT derailleur since road cable pull per gear is different, I think) has been more finicky than I had hoped.
The Denver Zephyr actually seems like it'd be a sweet commuter bike with some 35 mm meats underfoot, maybe Schwalbe Marathon Racers as opposed to my 47 mm, heavy Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. Some nice metal fenders would cover up 35 mm tires handily:
Only downside is price, really, and that is less of a concern to me than deciding whether I really want it.
With regard to sizing, my old 2002ish Klein Quantum Race in 52 cm was 28.8"/732 mm standover and 21.5"/547 mm effective top tube length. A 50 cm Spot has a 20.1"/510 effective top tube length whereas a 52 cm has 20.5"/520 mm. As long as I can cope with 29.5"/749 mm standover on the 52 cm Spot I think that I should go with it, as the 50 cm would probably feel cramped based off of what I used to have... The reach on the 55 cm would be better yet but with my short legs standover probably wouldn't work.
I think I should demo some sizes of the Denver Zephyr, plus maybe a Rallye (single speed belt drive cross bike!) at Spot's Golden headquarters.
Edit: Upon further reflection I don't think 35 mm rear tire clearance would cut it. I want at least 35 mm plus fenders. There are many gravel bikes out there with the tire clearance, but many of them stupidly shave 10 grams in order to cut out rack and fender eyelets.
That'd be a Spot Denver Zephyr. Stainless frame, 40 mm front and 35 mm tire clearance, rack and fender eyelets, Ultegra Di2, and Shimano hydraulic discs.
I thought having a Rohloff or Pinion bike, especially with a belt drive, would be cool, but those are rare and expensive. I'm hoping that Di2 would make for a very low maintenance drivetrain: I find that the 1x10 setup I currently have on the non-drop bar and thus mtb shifter-equipped commuter (Race Face 40t narrow-wide ring, Ultegra? or similar chain, 12-25 cassette shifted by a long-cage XT derailleur since road cable pull per gear is different, I think) has been more finicky than I had hoped.
The Denver Zephyr actually seems like it'd be a sweet commuter bike with some 35 mm meats underfoot, maybe Schwalbe Marathon Racers as opposed to my 47 mm, heavy Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. Some nice metal fenders would cover up 35 mm tires handily:
Only downside is price, really, and that is less of a concern to me than deciding whether I really want it.
With regard to sizing, my old 2002ish Klein Quantum Race in 52 cm was 28.8"/732 mm standover and 21.5"/547 mm effective top tube length. A 50 cm Spot has a 20.1"/510 effective top tube length whereas a 52 cm has 20.5"/520 mm. As long as I can cope with 29.5"/749 mm standover on the 52 cm Spot I think that I should go with it, as the 50 cm would probably feel cramped based off of what I used to have... The reach on the 55 cm would be better yet but with my short legs standover probably wouldn't work.
I think I should demo some sizes of the Denver Zephyr, plus maybe a Rallye (single speed belt drive cross bike!) at Spot's Golden headquarters.
Edit: Upon further reflection I don't think 35 mm rear tire clearance would cut it. I want at least 35 mm plus fenders. There are many gravel bikes out there with the tire clearance, but many of them stupidly shave 10 grams in order to cut out rack and fender eyelets.
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Another idea, quite possibly more sane:
That's a Kona Sutra LTD. Its stock build is SRAM 1x with 50 mm tires (!) and flat mount hydros for $2099. It has my beloved eyelets for a front fender (and rack) and rear fender and rack.
More interesting to me is that one can get it as a frameset for $599. While I probably wouldn't come out much ahead of the stock build were I to replicate it, I like this idea because I could use my current nice wheelset from the commuter (DT 350 hubs convert to through axle for a few bucks worth of endcaps) and I could set it up as I wanted, maybe 1x with a short cage Shimano 105 or Ultegra rear derailleur since the gear range that I actually need is odd and narrow enough that no bike out there would be set up that way from the factory: ~44 x 11-25 or 11-28 would work since I get by with 40 x 12-25 now but run out of gear inches on the top end.
I wonder how hard it would be to set up Ultegra Di2 on a bike not built with it initially. Cable/wire routing can always be solved, I guess.
Edit: building it up would be a pain in the ass. Best to put sunk cost bias (current nice wheelset) behind me and alter from complete build. What I could do to fit it to my wants: 44t Easton Cinch ring, 11-25 or 11-26 cassette on my current wheelset (Shimano driver), short cage Force 22 rear derailleur, fenders, my existing rack, my seat.
That's a Kona Sutra LTD. Its stock build is SRAM 1x with 50 mm tires (!) and flat mount hydros for $2099. It has my beloved eyelets for a front fender (and rack) and rear fender and rack.
More interesting to me is that one can get it as a frameset for $599. While I probably wouldn't come out much ahead of the stock build were I to replicate it, I like this idea because I could use my current nice wheelset from the commuter (DT 350 hubs convert to through axle for a few bucks worth of endcaps) and I could set it up as I wanted, maybe 1x with a short cage Shimano 105 or Ultegra rear derailleur since the gear range that I actually need is odd and narrow enough that no bike out there would be set up that way from the factory: ~44 x 11-25 or 11-28 would work since I get by with 40 x 12-25 now but run out of gear inches on the top end.
I wonder how hard it would be to set up Ultegra Di2 on a bike not built with it initially. Cable/wire routing can always be solved, I guess.
Edit: building it up would be a pain in the ass. Best to put sunk cost bias (current nice wheelset) behind me and alter from complete build. What I could do to fit it to my wants: 44t Easton Cinch ring, 11-25 or 11-26 cassette on my current wheelset (Shimano driver), short cage Force 22 rear derailleur, fenders, my existing rack, my seat.
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Then the question is whether a nicely set up Sutra LTD is worth over twice as much as a lowly Rove DL:
Sutra pluses:
- 1x Rival/Force
- hydro discs
- nicer wheelset, either stock or mine
- oodles of tire clearance
Rove pluses:
- would work for me right out of the box, replete with 35 mm tires and fenders stock
- $1099 retail
On the other hand, it only has cable discs, can't fit my 47 mm tires, and is 2x9 Sora. Hmph. What price vanity?
Sutra pluses:
- 1x Rival/Force
- hydro discs
- nicer wheelset, either stock or mine
- oodles of tire clearance
Rove pluses:
- would work for me right out of the box, replete with 35 mm tires and fenders stock
- $1099 retail
On the other hand, it only has cable discs, can't fit my 47 mm tires, and is 2x9 Sora. Hmph. What price vanity?
We've got a medium Specialized Sirrus that wifey used to commute on that I've kept meaning to put on Craigslist - would that be of any interest?
It was too small for her - the shop who sold it before we met hadn't done a good job. Seat way too low and I think I put an old 120mm stem on it as the 90mm didn't give her enough room.
Probably ~3-4 years old
anti-theft pinlocks on wheels and seatpost.
3x9 gearing
Currently 28mm Vittoria Randonneur RFX tyres
V-brakes
Has eyelets for stuff on the frame and fork
Flatbar, not drops though.
It was too small for her - the shop who sold it before we met hadn't done a good job. Seat way too low and I think I put an old 120mm stem on it as the 90mm didn't give her enough room.
Probably ~3-4 years old
anti-theft pinlocks on wheels and seatpost.
3x9 gearing
Currently 28mm Vittoria Randonneur RFX tyres
V-brakes
Has eyelets for stuff on the frame and fork
Flatbar, not drops though.
Thanks, John, but my current commuter already has the flat bar angle covered (swept back flat bars, 1x10 XT, 47 mm semi-slicks, just no fenders and generally old and beat feeling at this point). I'm looking for something... different, as evidenced by my wild flailing toward the recumbent idea initially.
Sutra LTD idea out the window:
36 x 10-42t just doesn't sound that pleasant on the road, because the top 4 gear-inch choices are 104, 87, 75, and 65. Those are some big jumps.Kona Tech said:
In comparison, the middle-top few gears on a 50(-34) 11-28 11 speed Shimano road setup would be good for 111, 103, 97, 85, 76, 69 gear-inches. My current 1x10 40 x 12-25 10 speed setup is good for 97, 89, 83, 77, and 72 gear-inches. I spend most of the time in 77 and 83 gear-inch-land with my current aerodynamics.
Edit: I guess 87 and 75 versus 85 and 76 isn't that big.
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Related to the above, latest crazy idea:
Soma Wolverine v2.0/2.1. Tange Prestige. Sliding dropouts with a split for belt drive compatibility (!). All the requisite eyelets, assuming my Tubus rack will clear the disc caliper (as it does on my current setup). Clearance for 45 mm tires with fenders...
I could get behind this. 50 cm looks like it'd fit a lot like my old 52 cm Klein. It even has two fork options, one 15 mm and butch yet still with fender eyelets:
Through the magic of Gates' Carbon Drive calculator I find that I could duplicate my favorite 40/14t gear ratio (I use 40/15t more often but let's assume I'll be a bit faster
) with 60/21t with a 120 tooth belt and a 431.84 mm chainstay length. This is good, as the Wolverine can adjust between 425-443 mm. All good so far, and the rest of the parts spec would be pretty standard (68 mm BB, 1 1/8" headtube, 27.2 mm seat post)...
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1) 40 x 14t is kind of annoying to be in all the time. There's a woman with a custom road frame with a single speed belt drive setup who works on the same campus as me (maybe at Children's Hospital? not sure), and she seemed to have a much shorter gear than I'd expect and just made up with it in cadence.
90 rpm works out to 21.3 mph for 40 x 14t, 19.9 mph for 15t, 18.6 mph for 16t, 17.6 mph for 17t. I should probably go with a 40 x 15t equivalent, or maybe splitting the difference between 15 and 16t if that's possible with the belt. Edit: 40/16 is 2.5, and I could get 2.5 with 55/22, 118 tooth belt, 433 mm chainstay.
2) Also related to this belt drive business is that my current 1x10 drivetrain is driving me nuts. I have a clicking type noise with every crank rotation. Same place in the rotation. Doesn't occur with no chain so not the BB, crank-BB interface, or pedals. As far as I can tell I have simply worn down my Race Face narrow-wide ring. I bought it 11 months ago and have about 1200 miles on the commuter since then per Strava, so perhaps that's its lifespan in these conditions.
90 rpm works out to 21.3 mph for 40 x 14t, 19.9 mph for 15t, 18.6 mph for 16t, 17.6 mph for 17t. I should probably go with a 40 x 15t equivalent, or maybe splitting the difference between 15 and 16t if that's possible with the belt. Edit: 40/16 is 2.5, and I could get 2.5 with 55/22, 118 tooth belt, 433 mm chainstay.
2) Also related to this belt drive business is that my current 1x10 drivetrain is driving me nuts. I have a clicking type noise with every crank rotation. Same place in the rotation. Doesn't occur with no chain so not the BB, crank-BB interface, or pedals. As far as I can tell I have simply worn down my Race Face narrow-wide ring. I bought it 11 months ago and have about 1200 miles on the commuter since then per Strava, so perhaps that's its lifespan in these conditions.
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