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91
Cycle Tours / Re: Hokkaido, Japan
« Last post by Andre Jute on December 11, 2025, 11:59:26 AM »
That "avalanche shed" photo is amazing as a composition, architecturally and as a mystery to be solved.

Architecturally the avalanche shed is "merely" a regular repetition of massive pillars with a featureless wall and roof enclosing a floor and an emptiness, but there is a certain brutal charm in such spectacular simplicity, and of course there are the shadows to define the shapes and provide movement, hinting in the momentary snapshot at the passage of time. But then there is the inversion of shadows across the roof, which raises questions.

The mystery: Surely the sun can't be so much lower than this covered road. What, to the left, is so reflective that it lights up the inner wall and the ceiling of the avalanche shed?* It's the sea, of course, of which the tiniest sliver is seen at the far left of the photo, used by the architect as a player in the spectacle.

You've outdone yourself, Ron.

* Yes, I know, Ron provides the answer. I read it before I enlarged the photograph.
92
Cycle Tours / Re: Hokkaido, Japan
« Last post by Andre Jute on December 11, 2025, 11:55:29 AM »
Quote from: PH on December 05, 2025, 04:15:12 PM
Quote from: Andre Jute on December 05, 2025, 12:26:58 AM
Give the sky the upper two thirds or three quarters of the painting's height, and  viewers will be emotionally satisfied.
That's quite similar to the two thirds rule of photography, that is the horizon should be at a third or two, depending on which side of it the story is.

True. But it doesn't always work even in the fine arts, and in tourist photos I want to see what attracted the photographer's interest at maximum possible size.
93
Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Re: ?oil leak
« Last post by Andre Jute on December 11, 2025, 10:53:59 AM »
Quote from: swayzak on December 10, 2025, 08:44:07 AM
However whilst investigating this I stupidly put the shifter in gear 1 (not 14) before detaching the ex-box and cleaning it a bit

Now it won't reattach properly - how do I realign things to gear 14 so I can attach it back correctly?

You need an 8mm box spanner or a socket that fits whatever driver you carry in your toolkit. Take the EXT box off and let it hang on the cables. Identify a nut, brass if I recollect correctly, in the centre of the hub. Turn the nut on the hub in either direction with the socket until it will turn no more. Turn the rotary gear control on the handlebars to gear 14. Pack grease into the cavity on the EXT box. Try to fit the EXT box back on the hub while wriggling the rotary control on the handlebars a very little way, not enough to change gear. If it is difficult to match them, or if you can get it on and discover the rotary control offers you only one gear, take the EXT box off again, turn the nut on the hub in the other direction until it stops, and try to fit the EXT box again and test it. A successful match has 13 clicks over the full 14 gear set.

In theory you can also do the matching at gear 1 but it is so much more difficult that I prefer to do it at gear 14, as just described. Still in theory, you can also perform the matching at any other gear, but the math is another confusing factor. I prefer simplifying tasks to their easiest, fastest execution.

You may want to carry the 8mm socket in your traveling kit because it permits you to change gears if you should break a gear cable and not want to refit it beside the road. My entire traveling toolkit weighs 68gr including this 8mm socket with an integral stud on the back to fit my titanium driver, so it isn't a hardship to include it.

"At the bottom of the mountain, choose your gear wisely." -- The Buddha
94
Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Re: ?oil leak
« Last post by JohnR on December 11, 2025, 08:38:40 AM »
I would be tempted to draw off a few ccs of oil to (i) lower the oil level inside the hub (and thus less propensity to leak through the seals) and (ii) enable visual inspection of the colour. If the oil is already very dirty then another oil change may be appropriate.
95
Lighting and Electronics / Re: likely water damage in Son 28 on tour any advice
« Last post by pandanroll on December 10, 2025, 11:52:47 PM »
Hi,

Perhaps the Son 28 was not at fault, we will never know as they didn't mention anything when the hub was returned fixed under warranty.

What I can say is that there was no chemical sprayed on the hub. The only thing I did, which I shouldn't have, was lightly grease the QR.

A friend also had their SON 28 fail after about 15,000KM, currently under repair.

Glad you managed to repair your unit.
96
Cycle Tours / Re: Hokkaido, Japan
« Last post by RonS on December 10, 2025, 10:48:19 PM »
Quote from: John Saxby on December 02, 2025, 02:30:30 PM

No cycling here right now: Winter, she has arrived.  10-15 cms of snow on Sunday, some of it later melted.  -11 this morning, windchill of -18.

Bikes are all in my basement workshop, awaiting their winter service.

 John, I was going to make a crack about how “There’s no bad weather, just bad clothing”, or my favourite Dutch expression “You're not made of sugar”, but I just finished watching an episode of Not Just Bikes called “Why Canadians can't bike in the winter, but Finnish people can”. I think I can understand why the bikes are in the basement awaiting more favourable cycling conditions. For those unfamiliar, Not Just Bikes is a great YouTube channel about cycling culture and urban planning.

 All four pictures in today's installment are from a particularly spectacular 30km stretch of coastline between Hiroo and Cape Erimo. The road is squeezed between the water and nearly sheer cliffs. A lot of the ride was through avalanche sheds, covered but open on the water side, allowing a great view, and 12km of tunnels, the longest of which was 59m short of 5km, (most tunnels in Japan have the length shown at the entrance) with 2 more at 2km each.

 Here's a little story about my previous evening in Hiroo. After my daily ritual of a scrub and soak at the local sento (public bath, like an onsen only with tap water instead of mineral water), I checked Google for a nearby restaurant. It showed a taishoku (set meal; rice, soup, pickles, main, for one set price) place right around the corner, although it showed “busier than normal”. Hiroo is not a large town, so I thought busier than normal probably still isn't too bad, so off I went. I arrived to a totally empty parking lot, but I did see movement inside so I thought I'd check it out. Going through the door I was met by the proprietors, a husband and wife, 80 years if they were a day.  “Aitemasu ka?” (Are you open?) The wife apologetically says that they are closed and leads me out the door. Then she sees the bike. “Oh my! You've been riding a bicycle? Surely you can't go away hungry!" (Actually, I had no idea what she was saying. She was speaking far too quickly for me to understand, but that's what I'm going to say she said). She then ushered me back inside, and opened the restaurant just for me! It was one of the trip’s highlights.
97
Cycle Tours / Re: Sri Lanka 2026
« Last post by RonS on December 10, 2025, 10:39:27 PM »
Great stuff, Andy. Here's hoping that some sort of normalcy has returned by the time of your trip. That cyclone has certainly done a number on them.
98
Rohloff Internal Hub Gears / Re: ?oil leak
« Last post by swayzak on December 10, 2025, 09:34:32 PM »
Quote from: Andyb1 on December 10, 2025, 05:25:54 PM
Just a thought……the OP had a problem with gear slippage in the lower ratios and then changed the oil (and adjusted the chain) which sorted the problem……then found the oil leak.

Could an oil leak have been there all the time (and emptied the hub of oil) which has now become more obvious with new (more) oil in the hub?

Did much oil come out when the hub was drained or was it dry?

Aaargh! I hope not..

Have reattached ex box successfully now and will hold off on another oil change and keep a close eye on things
99
Lighting and Electronics / Re: likely water damage in Son 28 on tour any advice
« Last post by Jornw on December 10, 2025, 08:54:01 PM »
Hi,
I have an alternative theory, based on personal experience with my Edellux front light and SON 28. My light went out during a very wet bike trip in Norway. Back home, I opened the light and found much moisture inside, partly covering the electronics. Further forensics showed the the elastomer O-ring, normally sealing the front glass to the housing, had become brittle and broken at several locations. (I suspect that the O-ring material was chemically incompatible with cosmetics carried out by previous owner. This could include applying a polishing wax or even worse, spraying frame with a chemical). I dried the light internals and installed a new O-ring. My Edellux has worked flawlessly since. More details can be found elsewhere on this forum.

To elaborate my theory;  it would not come as a surprise if the moisture in the light also affected the current supplied to the "Sinewave". Perhaps the SON 28 was perfectly innocent after all.
100
Cycle Tours / Sri Lanka 2026
« Last post by Andyb1 on December 10, 2025, 08:14:33 PM »
Airline tickets bought.   Railway tickets to LHR bought.   Raven sorted.  Leaving UK in early Feb 2026.
Horrible flooding in SL so I wondered about cancelling but as I go in 2 months time I am continuing.
Details in my CycleBlaze Journal

https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/srilanka26/
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