Current Projects chat and miscellany

Shame, was hawt.

anyone parting with a black 1 1/8 headset for cheaps and is willing to post EU.

Need one for my Pompino as the one that is on now is straight up rubbish bin material.

Also in search of good wide bars with some rise and sweep for cheap. Silver or black.

Any recommendations?

I have a brand new FSA something or another. Send me a PM if interested.

PM sent

Took a few photos of the Rotta. I need other bars, better tyres, vintage Keo's and a wax.

Right click open in new tab for bigger size.

I need other bars, better tyres and a wax.

Looks like you need pedals first ;)

Beautiful bike!

Caught before edit ;)

good wide bars with some rise

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/brand-x-trekking-high-rise-bar/rp-prod119535

@spotter looking mean with the 650b wheelset, got a soft spot for white bikes with black components.

Thanks mate, its not actually white though, its light blue grey 😎

Put mudguards on the city hack. all black ja.

Damn these weary eyes of mine, looks really nice

Would it be possible to buy or modify a road hub to disable the freehub?

I am thinking about a 11 speed winter trainer... but fixed? I can't see a conceptual problem with it, but I wouldn't really know where to start actually making it happen?

I guess the rear mech would slam into the casette when you 'skid' or exert force against the pedal rotation. Afaik, the only way to combine gears and fixed is with hub gears. Sturmey archer offers a 3 speed fixed hub.

I am thinking about a 11 speed winter trainer... but fixed?

It will be fixed until you ride it, then it will be broken. As @Sig_Arlecchino suggests, consider what will happen when the bottom run of the chain goes tight when you reverse torque.

Wouldn't be trying to skid, just want the general forward-going benefits of riding fixed but with a variable ratio.

you inevitably apply reverse torque on a fixed drivetrain, before cornering etc.
fixed hub gear as sig suggested is the way to go.

The 'forward going benefits' wouldn't apply I think. On a normal fixed, when the cranks are at the deadpoint at 12 and 6 o'clock it's the 'lower' part of the chain which pulls the cranks through the deadspot. You wouldn't have this 'pull-effect' with a derailleur. The sturmey archer would be the easiest solution: http://www.sturmey-archer.com/en/products/detail/s3x-silver Alternatively, you could develop a new system on the basis of the old campagnolo paris-roubaix system which 'works' without a 'derailleur' (technically, it still has a derailleur but not in the sense of a modern derailleur which adjusts the chain slack):

:(

well then, that's my christmas project crushed under the heel of reality.

On a normal fixed, when the cranks are at the deadpoint at 12 and 6 o'clock it's the 'lower' part of the chain which pulls the cranks through the deadspot.

If that's true, how do you ever make any forward progress on a freewheel bike? Think about it for a few seconds and you'll see why that old wives' tale about fixed is a steaming pile of shite. Anybody in any doubt about the matter from simple logic can go and check their polar curve on a Wattbike or such like to prove that nearly all cyclists with two more or less functional legs can generate forward torque through the whole 360°

If you can collect together a super cheap hub and derailleur I'd say give it a go, worst that'll happen is you break the derailleur and I guess use one of those conversion kits to turn the wheel into a proper fixed wheel. I'm sure some people in here will have useless derailleurs/shifters/cassettes that they can give you.

Make sure you take a video when you try to ride it though so we can see why exactly it fails

If you can collect together a super cheap hub and derailleur and wheel and frame

ftfy, just in case. There's a decent chance that the dérailleur goes into the spokes, and they have been known to come round and snap (crabon) or bend (steel) the seatstay.

Obviously you can generate forward torque through the whole turn but you can still apply the most power when the cranks are vertical. If it's not true that the cranks carry more power through the deadspots on a fixed, then what are the benefits of a fixed gear drive train when compared to a single speed? Do you reckon a track cyclist would be exactly as fast on the same bike with a freewheel? So the only reason for a fixed drive train in track cycling is the tradition?

If it's not true that the cranks carry more power through the deadspots on a fixed, then what are the benefits of a fixed gear drive train when compared to a single speed?

No pawls to wear out or break, opportunity to ride on the road with only one brake caliper, which is good for TTs and hill climbs due to lower weight and less drag.

Do you reckon a track cyclist would be exactly as fast on the same bike with a freewheel?

Yes

So the only reason for a fixed drive train in track cycling is the tradition?

No, the reason is that it's hard to slow down on a freewheel bike with no other brake. It would take three laps to get the riders off the track after a sprint :)

Well, you're the expert so I won't argue with it. From a subjective pov, I steel feel like the cranks carry more force through the 12 and 6 o'clock position on a fixed gear bike. When switching to a freewheeled bike after riding a fixed, the pedal stroke feels less evenly than on a fixed bike. Then again, after a while you adjust your pedalling and it feels evenly on a freewheeled bike, too.

From a subjective pov, I steel feel like the cranks carry more force through the 12 and 6 o'clock position on a fixed gear bike

They don't. What you might be feeling, if you're pedalling really incompetently, is the cranks sucking power from the back wheel and slowing you down. That should feel like a sharp clip round the ear for pedalling like such a dork, because there is inevitably enough backlash in a chain drive to make the point where you forget to pedal until the wheel tells you to a bang not a click. If you're not either useless or an invalid, the top run of chain will be tight all the time you're trying to make forward progress, and under those circumstances there is no way for a fixed wheel to be distinguishable from a freewheel.