Beverley to Milton Keynes

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Arrived to Luton 2 hours ago. There's a long train trip to Beverley, where I will get my Nomad in about 6 hours and finally be a proper member in the forum

[PH]

Enjoy your adventure, I'm sure you will.
Don't forget the English love to talk about the weather, it's going to be a hot this week, in contrast to the quite miserable last couple of weeks 

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Ok, I've got a way to post pictures: I download them from Facebook.

So here's my new Nomad, with all the stuff.
On the way out from Beverley I saw this nice gate and I remembered that I saw it on the forum. I think Hoot was standing below the gate.

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My tent in the 1st sunset.
The place I entered the Trans Pennine Trail.
Nice riverbank on the way.
Nice viaduct.

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Some stories after 2 days:
On the 1st day after 45 minutes I stopped to double check that I am on the right way. I was not. Looks like I accidentally clicked on another course I also prepared. So I started from Beverley to the north instead of west (I noticed that I am climbing hills and remembered that I was supposed to reach the sea shore soon)

My 1st experience with the Rohloff gear: needs some time to get used to it: the strangest thing is that it's more like driving a manual car than a bike with derealleaur. I knew I am not supposed to push hard when changing gears, but I can't even push easy? I really need to stop pedalling for a second. This is even annoying when changing to higher gear. I need to think and plan ahead of time when I'm going to change, and stop pushing (much like releasing my foot from the gas pedal in a car)

There is also something that bothers me with the numbers on the gear shifter. They don't align with the raven. I would be ok with that, if all the gears were the same amount higher than the raven, but no, they are moving.

And there is a strange thing, I don't know if it's normal and happens when I don't still push to hard when changing: sometimes it feels like instead of changing 1 gear it changes like 3 or 4. I only turn it on (let's say from 11 to 12) but it feels much harder, not the usual, hardly feelable change. Let me know if this is normal and I should practice holding back even more on the pedal while changing or it's something I should be concerned about.

And one more question: I feel like the frame is the right size (even Thorn would give me similar sized bike - though not Nomad - when I asked about the 2nd hand bikes) but I also feel too much pressure on my arms and even on my back.

So I am thinking about 3 options, 2 that I could even try during the tour and one that needs a new stem:

1. Change the angle of the horns so they will be closer and higher. This maybe decreases their effectiveness on uphills, but could give me a more relaxed posture which hopefully would put less pressure on my arm and back,
2. Turn around the stem. Currently it's going down, so if I turn it around then it should go up. If my intuition is right it would even shorten the reach a little bit (because the steerer's angle is 70 something, not 90) and also make the handlebar higher
3. Maybe only buying a shorter stem will help?

[in4]

Looks a lovely Nomad. Congratulations!
I ended up buying a 590L Nomad. I’m 1.78M and after a few adjustments including fitting a new, shorter stem I’m very comfortable on it. That said I’m trialing an alternative saddle to my B17. The Selle SMP TRK with its dropped nose and cut out seems to offer ‘extra comfort’
I guess the whole fitting process is a bit trial and error but, for me, quite enjoyable.
All good wishes for your future tours and welcome..

[JohnR]

I would try raising the handlebars as a temporary measure. Once you get home you can start fine-tuning the configuration, which is much easier if you've got another bike which you know is comfortable and can measure the pertinent dimensions.

Yes, Rohloff gears shift better if you aren't applying any load on the pedals but, with practice, you can shift one gear by briefly reducing pedal pressure when the cranks are approaching the vertical position. Changing several gears requires a more definite pause in pedalling. Personally, I find the Rohloff easier to shift than derailleur gears, particular when needing to change down while climbing a hill. It's also possible that the Rohloff system on your bike would benefit from a bit of maintenance including checking if the ex-box is packed with grease and that the cables move freely. Unless you know that the hub oil was changed recently then also do an oil change.

You can fine-tune the indicated position on the Rohloff shifter by using the adjusters where the cables go into the ex-box. However, note that it's recommended to keep some slack in the cables such that you can turn the shifter by about 1/2 gear without it having any effect.

PS: The weather isn't usually this hot in September. It's been warmer than either July or August but you currently have the benefit that it's not wind and rain.

[PH]

Looks like you're having a good time and the bike looks great.
It always takes me a while to get a bike just right, did you bring all the measurements from your other bike?  It doesn't always work out identical, but it's a good starting point.  Generally, good bike fit starts with the relationship between saddle and BB and counterintuitively moving the saddle back takes weight off the hands. It's impossible to really offer helpful fit advice on a forum, but what I can say is a lot of people put a lot of effort into changing bars and stems when that wasn't the issue.  There's a decent guide that's been linked here many times, I'll see if I can find it.

The Rohloff does take a little getting used to, as John says you might have a bit too much slack in the cables, there's no right amount, I know what suits me.  The shifting pause takes practice, I couldn't even tell you how I do it, it's become instinctive.  I find it quicker and smoother than a derailleur shift, but I have a vague memory that wasn't always the case. The only time I noticeably lose momentum is on a stiff climb, the sort of situation where I wouldn't have attempted a derailleur shift.
Have fun!
 

[UKTony]

2. Turn around the stem. Currently it's going down, so if I turn it around then it should go up. If my intuition is right it would even shorten the reach a little bit (because the steerer's angle is 70 something, not 90) and also make the handlebar higher

I did exactly this a few years after buying my Mk2 Nomad 565L and I found it gave the adjustment I needed for a slightly more upright and comfortable riding position and looks better IMO 🙂. So, yes, worth a try before buying a new stem but are all the cables long enough to accommodate a rise in the handlebar height. The front brake cable looks quite tight already.

Enjoy the tour!

This is my Nomad.

[Andre Jute]

I'm enjoying coming along vicariously on your tour. The photo of the viaduct is absolutely perfect.

You'll soon get used to the Rohloff. I suspect that yours requires considerable running-in still. A first-class Rohloff expert, Chalo Colina, told me, "A Rohloff starts being run in about the time a Shimano hub gearbox lies itself down to die." Since Chalo weighed 350 pounds and owned several Rohloff bikes, I was inclined to pay attention. It proved to be true, as I wrecked two Shimano Nexus Premium boxes in not much over 5000km between the two of them, and my Rohloff clearly feels no pain. You need to post (go light on the pedals) momentarily as you change gear. You'll soon get used to it, and eventually the necessity will disappear.

Also, eventually, you'll unlearn what you learned on derailleurs, and no longer care about which gear you're in, just roll around, one gear or several at once, to the right gear without looking at the index on the rubber grip.

Looking at the bike, it looks like you bought a near-new topclass bike at a hefty discount. You're one lucky cyclist. Congratulations.

That ripe yellow will make you the envy of the entire group, except me -- I'm calmly mature and no longer lust after after yellow bikes.

Enjoy!

[JohnR]

You'll soon get used to the Rohloff. I suspect that yours requires considerable running-in still.

The sale listing http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=14884.0 suggests that the bike had done no more than 1500 miles prior to the recent purchase. The hub might still contain the original oil as there's no mention of oil changes (don't worry - it still works but perhaps not optimally). You'll find that the oil from the hub when you change it has a good metallic glint. Again, don't worry as this demonstrates that the running-in process is working and the corners of the gear teeth are becoming smoother.

The Rohloff hub on the bike I'm using is now approaching 10k miles and both shifting nicely and getting quieter in low range (gears 7 and below).

[martinf]

My 1st experience with the Rohloff gear: needs some time to get used to it: the strangest thing is that it's more like driving a manual car than a bike with derealleur. I knew I am not supposed to push hard when changing gears, but I can't even push easy? I really need to stop pedalling for a second. This is even annoying when changing to higher gear. I need to think and plan ahead of time when I'm going to change, and stop pushing (much like releasing my foot from the gas pedal in a car)

I find the Rohloff and most other manual change hub gears quicker and easier to change than derailleur gears. I don't stop pedalling, but I do ease off the pressure, without having to think about it. This seems to work reasonably well for derailleur gears as well. For a long time (about 40 years) I used both types of bicyle gear and had no trouble switching between the two.

The hub gear exception I have used is the old SRAM Spectro 7, which uses a rather complicated system of a click box and two concentric spring-loaded push rods. With this I had to ease off for a noticeable amount of time (probably one or two seconds) to allow the mechanism enough time to change smoothly.

In vehicles, rather than a manual gearbox with clutch, I would compare the Rohloff and other hub gears to the old semi-automatic clutchless gear box used in most of the urban buses I drove in the early 1980's. With this type of gearbox, it was necessary to take the pressure off the accelerator pedal when changing the gears in order to allow the semi-automatic system time to do the change smoothly. The Spectro 7 needed about the same time as a bus, all the other bicycle hub gears I have tried need far less time.

If you have only used derailleur gears on bicycle it might just be the transition, in which case it should get better as you get used to the Rohloff until you don't have to think about it.

If not, an oil change might help if your bike's Rohloff wasn't used much in the period before you bought it. Or maybe the cables have got a bit sticky with age?

There is also something that bothers me with the numbers on the gear shifter. They don't align with the raven. I would be ok with that, if all the gears were the same amount higher than the raven, but no, they are moving.

The indexing takes place in the hub and the shifter uses a double cable system which needs a bit of slack. So the gear engaged doesn't always correspond exactly to the number on the shifter. This doesn't bother me, because I don't usually look at the shifter.

If I want a lower gear I just twist in one direction, if I want a higher gear I twist in the other direction. I know when I am in lowest gear or highest gear because I can't twist any more, otherwise it doesn't matter to me which gear I am in. If the current gear doesn't suit me I just twist to change.

And there is a strange thing, I don't know if it's normal and happens when I don't still push to hard when changing: sometimes it feels like instead of changing 1 gear it changes like 3 or 4. I only turn it on (let's say from 11 to 12) but it feels much harder, not the usual, hardly feelable change. Let me know if this is normal and I should practice holding back even more on the pedal while changing or it's something I should be concerned about.

When you shift between gear 8 and 7 the Rohloff hub can go briefly into gear 14 if you don't ease off a little. I have only experienced this when trying to induce it on purpose by pushing hard on the pedals when doing the change. I think it is mentioned in some descriptions of the Rohloff hub gear.

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3rd and 4th day pictures

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cont.

BTW I get it that I am lucky with the weather, but in 4 days I passed by maybe 100 benches, and this was the 1st one "in shadow" (well for the bike at least, 'cause when I sat down my head was in the sun)

I really like the cycleways that are on old railroads and next to canals (though those are a bit scary sometimes, when the right side is water, about 30cm beyond the path, the left side is bush, not well trimmed with thorns, and my S&S bike case (66cm "wide") is on the rear rack. Sometimes even alone hasitated, but when had to pass someone...)

I also like very much all the remaining buildings from hundreds of years ago. Old churches, bridges and so much buildings from the industrial revolution. I saw a long stone ramp on the side of the cycle path, it took me a minute until I realized that I am on the old railroad and the stone is an old station's platform

While passing by old buildings on the riverside I saw some old doors (already blocked decades ago) and I can imagine that the other side of the door was the storeroom of a family manufacture and they sold some of the goods to barges on the river. It's really a time travel.

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About the bike:
Hoot changed the Rohloff oil (I guess it was a good idea, as the bike stood in a garage 6 years) so I'm ok 'till next summer. Don't know about the cables, but...

After 4 days I can add one more thing I don't like about the grip shifter (compared to my 30 year old Shimano Altus shifter): with the Shimano it's positioned such that I can shift when I hold the grip, so I feel safe to shift any time, I can grip as hard as I like it. With the Rohloff I grip the handlebar at the outside side, so when I need to shift it means I let my right (stronger) hand off the grip to slip it inwards to the gear shifter. This is not a great feeling, especially with heavy front panniers and narrow paths. I think I read somewhere that some company produces thumb shifters for Rohloff. Does anyone have experience with it?

Ah, and here's a hint that might give you some info about the state of my shifter cables: I really need to grip the shifter "hard". I don't have to grip with my whole palm, only the thumb and pointer finger, but I have to squeeze it hard and the 2 fingers have to go around the shifter and touch each other, I couldn't do it only by holding the two fingertips to the shifter and turn that way. Is this normal or sign of cable problem? If cable, then any chance to lubricate it or need to swap to new cables+housing?

Ah, and that phenomenon that when I turn the shifter one it sometimes feels like it shifted many more gears: I can do it in any gear I think. Certainly around 10-11-12 that I use the most.

Ah, and after 2 days trying out the easiest option: setting the horns to higher angle. Well it didn't work out. The profil of the horns of Ergon are elliptical. Very nice feeling when set up in the usual angle, but not at all when turned upwards more. And I also lost an additional hand position (the side position) so I'll undo the change.

The saddle was originally in the rear-most position, so I pushed it forward. I think it helped, though I'll probably need to try these settings changes one at a time, especially after what PH wrote. BTW this is unfortunately not a Brooks saddle, just the default one. I don't like it, probably would've suffered not more on a new Brooks, and after 400km maybe it would've been much better. I bought a 2nd hand on ebay, which is waiting for the bike at home. I didn't want to bring it with me, 'cause I have enough (maybe even too much) to carry with me both on the bike and on the flight home, and I didn't want to throw away a saddle - though maybe my butt would disagree now