andyfb78, is the floating Hope Rohloff disc only available to special order from Hope then ?
I'd like one, but nothing turns up with a Google search.
Are they made to order ? The centre part looks like it's machined from flat, not cast, so it would be simple enough to put the numbers in the CNC machine and knock one out as a one off if they don't keep them in stock.

I ran one with a Rohloff and Hope Mini Mono brakes.
The pads didn't always line up exactly as they should with the disc, but it didn't seem to make any difference.

"All my bikes have zero travel each end … a single 200 lumen LED. Personally, I find its more than adequate."

There you are see. If you had suspension you'd be going faster and would need better lights. :wink:

No disrespect to Troutie, but isn't he just buying in components and connecting them up with some fancy circuitry and nice CNC machining.
I would expect any future big improvements to come from the LED manufacturers, not the light manufacturers.

Stuey, what do you mean "When the market is right…"
If 85% efficient Quantum dot micro-LEDs are available now, why are they not being sold ?

Interesting replies here.
I've had the tests and I'm waiting for the results.
I reckon I could be having the op soon.

Former Mrs MTG "Whereabouts in Birmingham did you used to live ?"
MTG "By the docks"
Former Mrs MTG "Oh, I see"

Useful money saving tip here if the code's still valid. :wink:
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/solar-charger-for-gpspda-recommendations-please

I thought they didn't work so well behind glass.
How will the clear plastic of a map case affect it ?

210mm x 72mm x 15mm

I think I ordered a load of stuff from CRC once and they gave me a partial refund for what was out of stock. They then asked for payment later when it was in stock.
Sounds a better way of doing it to me, but then, there's a difference between ordering something that is out of stock and reserving something.

"if cycling is so cool why cant i get laid?"

Try wearing lycra.
Works for me.

"Also can you advise on the adjustable bottom bracket, useful of a waste of time?"

Depends on whether you are running singlespeed or hub gear.
But then,if you were, you wouldn't have asked the question. :wink:

"…50mpg car might not save the world, but a 500mpg car might…"
I get your point, but I'm not convinced.
Either way, all the carbon that is currently under the ground as hydrocarbons ends up in the atmosphere as CO2. It's just the timescale that differs.

There was a newspaper article a while ago about how the local tip would be full within 9 years.
Reducing household waste to 10% of its current level was put forward as the only solution.
Postponing a problem for 81 years doesn't sound like a solution to me.

Doesn't the muck resistability depend on whether you've got a tensioner or not ?
Having used a Rohloff on a full sus and various hardtails, I'd go for an EBB or sliding dropouts every time for simplicity and reliability.

I did try to drag it back on topic. :(

"Bit like being in the the top third of a race at 51st of 53 isn't it?"

See what I mean about people responding to what they would like to imagine I said ?
I regularly cycle to work. I regularly eat at least three meals a day.
Citing isolated instances where I didn't doesn't disprove my claims.
Anyway, I could have won the race, but I was offered £150 000 by a shady far Eastern gambling syndicate to lose.
150 grand buys a lot of pies.

Back on topic, maybe it's just the way the English language is changing.
"Sustainable " no longer means sustainable, it seems to mean "A bit less unsustainable than the alternatives".
Drive a car that does 20mpg and you are personally responsible for drowning Polar Bears.
Drive a car that does 50mpg and we all live happily ever after.

When I had some tests in hospital recently for what appears to be carpal tunnel syndrome.
The doctor was typing in the "Other relevant details" box and alongside "Bus mechanic" wrote "Serious mountain biker".

Being described as a "Serious mountain biker" on an official document is probably the coolest thing that's ever happened to me in my life. 8)

This survey doesn't appear to differentiate between people who cycle simply to avoid traffic jams or save money and those who cycle because they want to.
There's a big difference between how both groups see themselves or are seen by others.

Not a Land Rover = Girl's car

I've got 2485km logged on my Garmin.
Adding in commuting and other rides where I didn't use my Garmin, probably about 7500km altogether.

I've got nothing meaningful to add to this discussion, it's just that whenever I look down the list of topics on the forum and see one has been locked, for some reason I always feel disappointed that the thread appeared and then got locked before I had chance to post on it.
I'm not going to miss posting on this one.

"It'd be like singlespeeding…"
No, it'd be like twospeeding with a more complicated alternative to a two speed derailleur. :wink:
I like the idea, but I don't see how it could be made to work.
All gear systems need the power to be reduced while the gear shift takes place.
Easy enough on a manually controlled derailleur or hub gear for the rider to back of a bit while they make the shift.
Not so easy on an automatic where the rider may not be expecting a shift.

If you shift from 7th to 8th slowly on a Rohloff while pedalling lightly, it will momentarily engage 14th.
This is intentional. The gears are effectively in two ranges, 1st to 7th and 8th to 14th. Going from top gear in the low range to bottom gear in the high range, it's safer to have the hub engage high range first so that the rider hits a sudden resistance to pedalling in 14th rather than engage the low gear first and suddenly hit almost no resistance at all in 1st.

A centrifugal gearbox would need to do something similar, especially as the rider may not be aware that it is about to shift gear. Catching the rider unawares with a neutral between gears, however brief, wouldn't be acceptable.
It would also need to be designed so that it shifts down at a slower speed than it shifts up.
Supposing you wanted it to change gear at 15km/h.
If the rider is riding at about 15km/h, it will be constantly shifting up and down.
Somehow, you would need to make it shift up at 16km/h and down at 14km/h.

By the time you've added up the weight of the centrifugal clutch and the two chainrings, chains, sprockets and tensioner, you might as well run 1×9.

So, compared to a Rohloff with its 13% steps, that's roughly equivalent to 4th, 7th and 9th.
A bit better than a singlespeed and probably a bit lighter than a Rohloff, but I can't see it catching on for mountain bikes.

I live on the banks of the River Severn as it meanders its way through the sun dappled leafy glades of the Wyre forest.

The view from my front window…

I don't think I could put up with working in a place with no windows.

What's the gear range though ? That's more important than the number of gears.
What most people seem to be looking for here is a hub gear equivalent of three chainrings and one rear sprocket, or 3rd, 7th and 10th on a Rohloff.
One chainring and three adjacent rear sprockets or 6th, 7th and 8th on a Rohloff isn't much use.

I think Rohloff use three epicyclic gear units inside the hub.
By combining the way they step up or step down the gearing, they give 14 different gears.

To get the same range of gears with less ratios would not simply be a matter of leaving some of the cogs out to save weight. It would take a complete redesign.

As thepodge says, the number of people who would want to buy it would never cover the development cost.

"Dunno, just couldn't really be arsed."

What was the scenery like ?
Did you see any wildlife ?

I get your point, tron. It's impossible not to have an image.
I can't be bothered to shave or brush my hair in the mornings, so I've got a beard and crew cut for entirely practical reasons. Other people will probably see it as me choosing the beard and crew cut image.

Your blank canvas suit analogy doesn't work in all situations. Maybe in an office, but not in most leisure activities.

Yes, my choice is still a choice, it's the reasons for making that choice that differ. I don't make my choice because I want to publicly and conspicuously declare myself to be part of the Tesco T shirt crowd. It wouldn't bother me if other people thought I was wearing a Matalan T shirt.

Seatposts, 'bars, cranks and stems are frequently bare aluminium and don't suffer from excessive corrosion.
Or are they not really bare ? Is there some sort of laquer or other coating on them ?
Couldn't a frame be coated the same way ?

Don't go for a bike ride.
Go for a day out in the countryside and use the bike to get there.

"If you're not wearing a label, you're making the choice not to."
No, I'm making a choice to wear the cheapest T shirts I can find of reasonable quality.

"Eh? Is the shifting slow or something?…"

No, the twist shifter used on a Rohloff is very quick, especially if you want to shift several gears at once, even when stationary.

More gears will always be better, all other things being equal. They're not equal though, it's a compromise between number of gears and complexity and weight.
Most bike manufacturers have settled on 3×9, although many individuals go for 2×9, 1×9 or singlespeed because they think simplicity and weight are more important than range of gears.

As far as I can tell, all these "designer" T shirts are exactly the same as the ones I buy at two for £5 from Tesco, except that they have got the label on the outside and they cost ten times as much.

Monday, about 72km round the local lanes and bridleways.
A bit too much tarmac really, but I was trying to link up as many bridleways as I could.

Similar discussion here.
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/rohloff-or-alfine-11

I think a lighter Rohloff with less gears would be ideal.
Rohloffs seem to be aimed at touring cyclists. I guess if you're riding a heavily laden bike up a mountain pass it's nice to be able to pick exactly the right gear for the gradient with 13% steps between gears.
On a mountain bike where the terrain changes a lot more quickly and there's only a few seconds between steep down and steep up, I'd be happy with half the gears and twice the step between gears, as long as there was the same overall range and it weighed less.

So where do beer hating fat people fit in ?

"…that's 2 whole mountain bikes extra on his weight…"
I always think of it as lard.
3 stone is 42lbs, so picture 84 1/2lb blocks of lard in your shopping trolley, then imagine that inside you. 8O

I like the way a simple comment on an observation, with no judgement about whether being "a bit tubby" is a good or bad thing, has to turn in to another argument with phrases like "What a KNOB…" and "Society has better targets for your contempt…" aimed at the person who made the observation.

Nobody's denying that it's true, so should he just have pretended he didn't see it ?

"Only because she was down in the drops & dragging her brakes a lot. Obviously a nervy beginner, would never catch let alone pass a roadie on that hill otherwise."

As long as she had a higher Food Chain Number than you, it still counts.