Light(ish)weight Pompetamine

And I thought I was starting to get a bit anal about my spec.

I think I'll leave you guys to continue the debate on chain connectors - I'm way out of my depth. Just want a chain that doesn't break, looks ok and doesn't weight a ton. 808 looks like a good balance.

I could pretend I take my chain off to clean it, but in reality I use a chain cleaner and only break a chain if there's a mechanical need to do so.

I'm looking forward to the discussion on spoke nipples ...!

Wippermann chain testing

Brass ftw!

12mm brass allways. get them cheap from germany. as with most other cycling related stuff these days.

I could pretend I take my chain off to clean it, but in reality I use a chain cleaner and only break a chain if there's a mechanical need to do so.

Noooooooo

You need

http://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

On the subject of spoke nipples (which I'm sure we should be discussing elsewhere but what the hell) has anyone tried/got any thoughts on these?

They have addressed the small problem with aluminium nipples (although if you have a decent spoke key and are not completely ham-fisted, it really is a tiny problem) but not the big one - seizing and stress corrosion cracking when used in wet conditions. $30 for 50 nipples and a key doesn't seem like much of a bargain either.

Noooooooo

You need

http://sheldonbrown.com/chainclean.html

The day I have about 4 extra spare hours a week, I'll give that a go! :-)

Seriously though - I barely get enough time to ride my damned bikes, never mind fettle them. If I get three rides in a week, that's roughly 4.5 hours riding, plus 45 minutes (3x15) cleaning and re-lube'ing. Any more time in the garage than that and I'll be disowned by my family.

Then again, I have had 3 chains snap on me, so I'm not a great case study for lazy maintenance.

Can I ask about gearing?

I was thinking of going 48 / 18, based on the fact I spend most of my time on the big ring of a compact (50t) on my road bike, and around the middle of the cassette. Does this make sense, or should I ease off a little and go for something lighter (46 /18), given that I'll be running bigger tyres (32-35c)?

I realise it's a largely personal choice, and depends on your typical cadence and speed, but wondered if there was a conventional choice for SS newbies.

Thanks as ever for any pointers.

What terrain will you be riding? I use 44x18 on 23mm tyres, works out about 66 gear inches. Good cadence on the flat and I can get over hills.

48/17 is the best gearing there is, you can get go over 99% of hills and still maintain a decent speed on the flat

Can I ask about gearing?

I was thinking of going 48 / 18, based on the fact I spend most of my time on the big ring of a compact (50t) on my road bike, and around the middle of the cassette. Does this make sense, or should I ease off a little and go for something lighter (46 /18), given that I'll be running bigger tyres (32-35c)?

I realise it's a largely personal choice, and depends on your typical cadence and speed, but wondered if there was a conventional choice for SS newbies.

Thanks as ever for any pointers.

48/17 is a good starting point by anyone's standards, but like you said, it's largely down to personal preference and style of riding."

I'll second 8bits 100%... also check out "what's your favourite gear ratio?" thread.

http://www.bikecalc.com/fixed

Enter target speed and cadence at that speed, get ideal gear and list of speeds at various cadences...

What Emyr said, depends on terrain. 48/18 with 35s is 72.7 which is probably bit big for hills / off road-y bits.

Plus only 3 skid patches. (is this fixed or SS?)

48/19 will give you 69. Better.

Terrain is Cheshire lanes with periodic forays into the hills - ie. flatish to undulating on mediocre to poor road surfaces.

Assuming 32s, gear calculator seems to indicate around 48 / 20 but I'm guessing a bit at cadence. 48 / 19 might be a good starting point.

Thanks y'all - another one ticked off the list.

I use 72" on my Pompetamine, but that's very road biased. 66" is the classic winter gear. 63XC didn't choose their domain name at random. You'll just have to experiment for yourself, which is one of the reasons why I was suggesting an expensive cassette hub rather than a cheap screw on hub. You may well find you go through all the sprockets from 17 to 21 before finding out which one suits you best.

^^^^ 48 / 19 is 68.3" which sounds around the right ballpark.

Hope Pro 2 Evo hub is the current choice (as per your recommendation). Just waiting for confirmation from my LBS what they'll charge for a wheel build. I don't have the skills.

Thanks tester.

The day I have about 4 extra spare hours a week, I'll give that a go! :-)

Did you get to the bottom of the page? There's a link to the real Sheldon Brown chain maintenance page. I use the Coke bottle method he talks about but with a couple of old cycle bottles. One with the degreaser (I just leave it in there) and one to rinse with hot water. Sooooo much better than using a chain cleaner and if you have a chain with a connex link it's just as quick!

[embarrassed] Sorry mate - hook line and sinker I'm afraid.

I use the Park Tool on-the-bike system, and get brushes onto the sprocket and rear mech, but I accept that if you have a good joining pin, then removing the chain and doing the job properly is not a big deal.

And there's me thinking some people have far too much time on their hands .... [chuckles]

Thanks tester - request submitted.

Cool. I'll look out for 1/8" sprockets. Didn't realize they existed. I presume that's the 'proper' way to do things ...

Fair points. I'm open to suggestions for something better ...? Sugino cranks a better option? I can't really stretch to the Campag'/Shimano alternatives. I think Primato weight may be for cranks and ring, but not BB.

I already recommended FC-6600 in your other thread, I'm sticking to that. FC-5600 would do just as well, just get whichever is on offer at the best price. Difference between them is mostly in the outer ring which you'll be ditching anyway.

make sure you get a crankset/bb combo that accomodates the range of chainlines af the hope hub. the hub is made for mtbing so about between 46-52mm.

http://imageshack.us/a/img703/4117/img18141280x934.jpg

Road outer ring position works fine on my Pompetamine with the Hope hub.

I don't see any problem with you posting what you have here. Think most of it has been pretty relevant to other people with pomps, especially the whole fork discussion.

So the one thing we can probably rule out is a Miche track set on the normal 107mm axle. There are so many reasons not to touch Miche with a ten foot pole, but it's always good to add another application-specific one.

Agreed, wouldn't have thought it would sit that far in.

Road hubs put the cassette 2.5mm further inboard, a road outer lines up with about the 4th sprocket, and the Hope hub supposed takes 6 sprockets at 10-speed spacing, so it's not that surprising that the sprocket needs to be pretty close to the flange if you use a road crank.

Dron, tester - Thanks for the advice on chainlines.

Just checking we're talking about the Hope EVO SP2 Trials/Single Speed hub. I think the SS hub has a different cassette to the standard SP2.

I'm going to look further into crank/BB combinations today. Sounds like the Miche may not be best option, and as I'm hoping to get the remaining parts ordered tomorrow, I should get this sorted out.

Reposted from Pompino Owners thread for continuity

Tester, if I go the route of a road crankset with one chainwheel removed (which is an idea I'm coming round to), what's the situation with chain widths if I can only get a 10 or 11 speed chainring. Does that mess my chainline up if I'm using 3/32 cogs on the back?

Also, I'll have to use a ring size that's either much bigger or smaller than I'd intended (was looking at 46 or 47t). Is it easy enough to get the range of cog sizes that are going to deliver the right gearing (was looking at 47:19)?

Thanks for your help, and sorry if these are questions borne entirely out of ignorance.

Chain-line will not be messed up by using a 3/32 chain, you could even use a 1/8 with no ill effect on chain line (although not suggesting it!)
And yes it is easy to get cogs from 15 up to 22 teeth and I would recommend cogs with a nice wide base (i.e. Gusset double 6 who make a 19t) so they don't cut into the cassette body.

To start with, use the 39t inner ring in the outer position, you might want to get a bigger ring later but for now you can save your money.

48/19 falls about halfway between 39/15 and 39/16, so I'd start with both those sprockets and see how you get on. Using 8/9-speed chain on 10/11-speed chainrings is no problem, but 10-speed chain probably won't work on single sprockets, unless you've broken them out from a 10-speed cassette.

The wide-base comment is valid, but as the Hope Trials hub has a steel cassette rotor it's less of an issue than it would be if you chose a weight-weenie hub with an aluminium rotor.

^ Thanks Kerley, tester - all clear for now.

Looks like the road crankset option may cost me a few extra quid, but I've been having slight doubts about running a track setup on a wet-weather bike anyway. I just couldn't see the bearings in the bottom bracket lasting as long as a road BB. Cue lots of people who've been running Sugino and Miche on the road for many years without issue...

If you run Miche cranks, you'll need a longer BB anyway to work with the Hope hub, and nobody in their right mind would use the Miche BB even if it were the right length. So, you'd be using a 110-113mm Shimano UN55, which is perfectly fine for all weather use. Square taper cranks are shit, but the BB bearings aren't the problem.