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Muppets Threads! (And Anything Else) / Merry Christmas
« Last post by Andre Jute on December 24, 2025, 12:10:40 AM »Merry Christmas, all. May the wind always be behind you.
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52
Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Re: Changing gear during heavy rain
« Last post by Andre Jute on December 23, 2025, 11:53:34 PM »Would wrapping an elastic band (a big one) around the grip a few times give a softer rubber surface to hold?
Wrap a strip of double sided Velcro around the grip and lock it onto itself.
BTW there are at least 2 different Rohloff grips - maybe one is better than the other when wet?
I like the triangular grip, in part because summer and winter I cycle with thin leather dress gloves, which can get slippery when wet.
Before I changed to the Rohloff and its original triangular grip, I used yellow knitted glassfibre workmen's gloves which came with little black spots of some rubbery, grippy stuff on the palms. I bought them at the local hunting, shooting and fishing store. Bit hot in summer but I live in Ireland where the rain didn't get the memo about taking a break in the summer...
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Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Re: Changing gear during heavy rain
« Last post by Andyb1 on December 23, 2025, 08:13:59 PM »Would wrapping an elastic band (a big one) around the grip a few times give a softer rubber surface to hold?
BTW there are at least 2 different Rohloff grips - maybe one is better than the other when wet?
BTW there are at least 2 different Rohloff grips - maybe one is better than the other when wet?
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Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Changing gear during heavy rain
« Last post by DGR on December 23, 2025, 08:03:00 PM »During heavy rain, instead of turning my twist-shifter, my fingers can just slip over it, even if I tighten my grip. So it’s difficult (or impossible) to change gear. I assume that a film of water gets between my fingers and the twist-shifter, and acts as an unwelcome lubricant.
I’d be grateful for any advice that anyone can provide about anything I can do to ensure that I’ll be able to change gear reliably even during heavy rain.
I’d be grateful for any advice that anyone can provide about anything I can do to ensure that I’ll be able to change gear reliably even during heavy rain.
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Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Re: Rohloff Gravel bike recommendations?
« Last post by Andre Jute on December 23, 2025, 12:24:06 PM »Obviously just me, but I can still not understand why drop bars are used when riding off road. But then I have never tried.I don't get it either, though I'm usually of the opinion that things I don't get are probably not aimed at me.
Oh, they're aimed at both of you, in the hope that you will accepting, compliant fashion victims. Bike marketers are not keen on rational analysis of what you'll use the bike for, nor on informed consideration of a detailed optimized specification. Instead they want you to consider first and foremost and only how you'll look on the bike.
It's just another example of how high-level road-racing bikes have perverted common commuter and other bikes with non-racing functions.
I have an outrageous example. You'd think a firm as big as Trek, which operates in virtually all the bicycle market segments, would get the pretty uncomplicated match between consumer, function and outfitting spot-on every time. Not so. Posit an upmarket bike for rich executives to commute on in societies where bicycling is expected. Trek designed and built it for the Benelux: automatic gears, active electrical suspension, and of course luxurious full outfitting. (In real life it was such a thief magnet it was more often saved as a holiday bike, a vakansiefiets.) Then their designer, who obviously had no idea of who the bike was aimed at, set the handlebars for a flat back rather than a middle-aged paunch, cut all the cables, including the computer controls for the electronic gearbox and the electronic active suspension short to preserve the sporting profile, and topped it all off a saddle that so much resembled an ax that I felt violated after riding the ten pace I went on it before throwing it off. Check the photo of the bike on the showroom floor in Belgium. Trek Benelux went the extra mile in supplying me with longer cables and other parts to reengineer the bike to be fit for purpose, and for me. http://coolmainpress.com/BICYCLINGsmover.html
It's part of what sets Thorn bikes apart: they'll give you whichever boutique parts you've fallen in love with, but their default spec is usually well suited to the bike's declared purpose and the rider's comfort -- and very pleasingly economical besides. I can't imagine a Benthamite designer like Andy Blance making the dumb mistakes that Trek designer made.
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Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Re: Rohloff Gravel bike recommendations?
« Last post by Moronic on December 23, 2025, 06:15:14 AM »Late entry to this one and mainly to say that 650B versions of the Thorn Mercury Mk 3 or Mercury 40 will do excellent duty as gravel bikes for certain purposes, and possibly for most purposes, and have the advantage that the frames are Rohloff specific (but maybe cost more than the OP wants to spend).
I've no personal experience of the 40 but the Merc Mk 3 650B can be a very comfortable ride on gravel, with a compliant steel frame and optionally a compliant steel fork (for those happy to use a rim brake up front). It handles 48mm tyres very comfortably and the specs say it can mount 54s.
It's what I'd pick for a mixed-surface multi-day tourer, which I would say since that's what I got it for. It's also superb on the mix of sealed and gravel cycle paths I do day trips on. I run straight handlebars.
But I ride mainly by myself and at a pace that despite my best efforts remains leisurely. Here in Oz anyway, quite a few people seem to participate in a quicker, more competitive form of gravel riding that's usually undertaken in small groups or as part of organised competitions.
Essentially it undertakes the sort of day trip you might do in a group with a road bike, but on gravel roads. A part of the point is to maximise pace.
I suspect a good rider could do pretty well in such a group on a Mercury, but the preferred steed seems to be a a few pounds lighter, rolling on wide 700C tyres and with drop bars that help you maximise speeds (and draft your friends) on descents. Part of the point of having such a bike is that you know you're not giving up anything to your mates on equipment, because theirs is the same. The gear set-up is always derailleur.
IMO once you go to Rohloff you may as well go all the way and get a Mercury. You could still use drop "gravel" bars if you think that's important, and the Rohloff shifter will be no harder to manage on a drop-bar Merc than on anything else with drop 'bars. You could fit an 853 fork, if you could find one in the right offset, which would shave weight and maximise comfort. And for the sake of 600g you could emphasise your non-conformity and run mudguards.
There would be a fair bit of satisfaction in staying with the gravel-bike pack on a Merc set up light, IMO, and I doubt you'd be giving away much.
I've no personal experience of the 40 but the Merc Mk 3 650B can be a very comfortable ride on gravel, with a compliant steel frame and optionally a compliant steel fork (for those happy to use a rim brake up front). It handles 48mm tyres very comfortably and the specs say it can mount 54s.
It's what I'd pick for a mixed-surface multi-day tourer, which I would say since that's what I got it for. It's also superb on the mix of sealed and gravel cycle paths I do day trips on. I run straight handlebars.
But I ride mainly by myself and at a pace that despite my best efforts remains leisurely. Here in Oz anyway, quite a few people seem to participate in a quicker, more competitive form of gravel riding that's usually undertaken in small groups or as part of organised competitions.
Essentially it undertakes the sort of day trip you might do in a group with a road bike, but on gravel roads. A part of the point is to maximise pace.
I suspect a good rider could do pretty well in such a group on a Mercury, but the preferred steed seems to be a a few pounds lighter, rolling on wide 700C tyres and with drop bars that help you maximise speeds (and draft your friends) on descents. Part of the point of having such a bike is that you know you're not giving up anything to your mates on equipment, because theirs is the same. The gear set-up is always derailleur.
IMO once you go to Rohloff you may as well go all the way and get a Mercury. You could still use drop "gravel" bars if you think that's important, and the Rohloff shifter will be no harder to manage on a drop-bar Merc than on anything else with drop 'bars. You could fit an 853 fork, if you could find one in the right offset, which would shave weight and maximise comfort. And for the sake of 600g you could emphasise your non-conformity and run mudguards.
There would be a fair bit of satisfaction in staying with the gravel-bike pack on a Merc set up light, IMO, and I doubt you'd be giving away much.
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Cycle Tours / Re: Hokkaido, Japan
« Last post by Andre Jute on December 22, 2025, 01:27:14 PM »I love the tunnel art, especially in the Sapporo cycle path tunnel; so much superior to the brutalist Stakhanovite "art" in the Moscow underground train stations, which is of the same scale.
Who knows, the other decorated tunnel with the small square panels in Ron's set may be equally good or better, but their small individual scale is not conducive to judging on a photograph. You'd probably want to be in that particular tunnel for a few hours to take it all in.
A great pleasure touring vicariously with you, Ron.
Who knows, the other decorated tunnel with the small square panels in Ron's set may be equally good or better, but their small individual scale is not conducive to judging on a photograph. You'd probably want to be in that particular tunnel for a few hours to take it all in.
A great pleasure touring vicariously with you, Ron.
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Muppets Threads! (And Anything Else) / Re: Groin pain
« Last post by Andyb1 on December 21, 2025, 09:30:06 PM »Merry Christmas Matt.
Things always improve as Springtime approaches, and we are just past the winter equinox so longer days and better weather ahead.
Things always improve as Springtime approaches, and we are just past the winter equinox so longer days and better weather ahead.
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Cycle Tours / Re: Hokkaido, Japan
« Last post by RonS on December 21, 2025, 08:09:55 PM »Thanks for that Ian. Near the end of the video there is an old coal fired steam locomotive in front of what looks to me to be the cooling tower for a nuclear power plant. Would they have existed at the same time?
And that list of songs brought me back to my childhood. There was an American folk trio in the early 1960s called the Limeliters. I was but a pup then, but they were popular with my older siblings. One of the songs I remember was a rendition of Madeira, M’Dear.
Since we’re on the subject of abandoned rail lines, the pictures for today are from my last day on the road, along the Shiroishi cycling road, created from a rail line decommissioned in 1973, near Sapporo. (I’ll jump back in time with more photos later) It’s a 20 km cycle and pedestrian path between the suburb of Kitahiroshima and the heart of Sapporo. One of the great things about it is that, despite going being in a city of nearly two million people, there are almost no road crossing. It goes over or under every major road, and I think I had only three stop signs, crossing minor streets. It's apparently very well used on the weekends and before and after school, but, on the drizzly midweek morning that I rode it I was almost by myself. It was cycling bliss.
And that list of songs brought me back to my childhood. There was an American folk trio in the early 1960s called the Limeliters. I was but a pup then, but they were popular with my older siblings. One of the songs I remember was a rendition of Madeira, M’Dear.
Since we’re on the subject of abandoned rail lines, the pictures for today are from my last day on the road, along the Shiroishi cycling road, created from a rail line decommissioned in 1973, near Sapporo. (I’ll jump back in time with more photos later) It’s a 20 km cycle and pedestrian path between the suburb of Kitahiroshima and the heart of Sapporo. One of the great things about it is that, despite going being in a city of nearly two million people, there are almost no road crossing. It goes over or under every major road, and I think I had only three stop signs, crossing minor streets. It's apparently very well used on the weekends and before and after school, but, on the drizzly midweek morning that I rode it I was almost by myself. It was cycling bliss.
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