My new baby has arrived!

[Team Triplet]

Conceived 29th May 2004 during a visit to St John St.

Labour started Thursday 5th August when recieved at home by Senior Management but I was cycle camping in Nederland with Junior Managament and her cousin.  It was a hard labour as all the kids and our friends got was "my baby's at home" during our last days camping and on the journey home.

Birth - 23:00 Saturday 7th August after we got back from the Nederlands, and she was extarteds from the large carboard box that formed her transport womb.

First ride this afternoon 18.5 miles through a nice range of terrain to give my baby a good test of her character.  Shepshed - Breedon on the hill, up the 1 in 6 to the top, and the bridleway and ford from Belton to Shepshed.

For a first ride she was brilliant!  

The spec is Exp drop bar Rolhoff hub with 44/16 transmission, in maroon and cream full retro livery with S&S.

I have taken lots of photos for posting up on the team-triplet web site, www.team-triplet.com later. The sad thing is that in order get my new baby our triplet was sadly scarificed at St John St as a trade in.  

For a photo of baby see:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/team-triplet/TTimages/2004/P8088447.jpg

Note the addition of the standard Dutch elastic!

[LowFlyingHawk]

Maroon and cream is a good choice.  It looks great []

For the uneducated (me!!) - what is the standard Dutch elastic?

[Team Triplet]

For the uneducated (me!!) - what is the standard Dutch elastic?
[/quote]

Its the elastic strap found on virtually every rear rack on a Dutch bike.  For a close up photo see

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/team-triplet/TTimages/2004/P8088462.jpg

The strap is very Dutch.  In our recent cycle tour of the Nederlands we crossed over into Germany.  We stopped by in a German supermarket about 5 miles from the Dutch border in an area where cycling is as common as in Nedlerland ( so much so that when a work collegae went to our Borken site close by for 5 weeks they were give a bike to get around!), no bike had an elastic strap!

I brought enough in the Nederlands to fit our tandems and half bikes.  I fitted one to the tandem whilst there and it proved invaulable for carrying odd items on the rack.

The thing to watch out for when buying one is the fitting at each end and your pannier fitting (presumming you want to use panniers).  Many of the straps come with a bulky fitting which is NBG.  

The straps come with 3 or 4 straps.  I brought a 4 strap one for my baby.  For my tandems I was limited to a 3 strap version as it was the only one I could get that fitted the pannier fitting at the rear ends.

[LowFlyingHawk]

Thanks for that.

I am waiting for the arrival of my new Raven Adventure Tour. [:p]  In the interim, I can work on the loosening crank on my hybrid.[!]

[Chris Land]

Looks great, but can I ask what prompted the eXp over Raven tour decision, given the whole Rohloff thing?

Paint job is really lovely...

Also, does this mean cheap triplets on sale at SJSC???

[Team Triplet]

quote:Originally posted by Chris Land

Looks great, but can I ask what prompted the eXp over Raven tour decision, given the whole Rohloff thing?

S&S coupling option cheaper as frame is built on site, more choice in frame size, colour, greater choice in componentary etc.  Apparently Robin does quite a few Rohloff hub versions of the Exp these days.

Also, does this mean cheap triplets on sale at SJSC???

Sadly not - he has already sold it on - it has gone to a bike hire place in Cornwall.

[Robin Thorn]

Chris, take another look @ the picture, it's a Raven EXP ie it's a EXP but with a Rohloff hub!
.......I know, where on our website is this listed? Nowhere, we just get lots of requests for them so we build them!
we will update our literature etc later to reflect this option, but currently we couldn't produce more than we allready are!

[LowFlyingHawk]

I am anxiously waiting for the Raven Lunatic......

[Team Triplet]

I have now completed my "new baby page" on my website, see:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/team-triplet/TTSite/exp1.htm

I haven't yet decided on a name.  

Having now had her for about a month my experiences so far are:

1. Hub gears work well but still noisy in the lower range - the worst noise is for gears 7 and 6 which have a scraping plus clicking sound.  I gather it will be a while before the noise gets better.
2. I have occasionally changed gear based upon noise rather then cadence/effort - its something I am doing less now as I get used to it.
3. RT did say that the gear indexing can be less precise then a derailleur system due to the "pull /push" of the dual cable system.  However I have found that it is better to "set back" the changer after changing the gear to ensure you are correctly aligned, as on occasions I found I was between two gears and the gear would jump to one or the other.
4. I have had a gear slip a couple of times.
5.  The dual LED light on the back are vulnerable due to their position - I have knocked of the covers so many times that I have wired them on!  It’s only because they are positioned side by side they are aligned with the rack side so they catch when you lean the bike against a wall for example.
6. Because of the advice not to lie the bike down for too long, I have added a prop stand.
7.  I don't notice the dynamo hub when it is on or off.

[LowFlyingHawk]

Looks even better in closeup.  Although I would need a 19in wide screen to get the webpage on the screen of my computer.  There really is nothing like a shiny new toy.

I forgot to ask RT about a stand for my (currently in transit)Raven. Simple yet obvious oversight on my part [Doh!]

[Team Triplet]

Originally posted by LowFlyingHawk

Looks even better in closeup. snip     There really is nothing like a shiny new toy.

She doesn't look so shiny now she been over a few rough stuff routes!

[Team Triplet]

quote:Originally posted by Team Triplet

I have now completed my "new baby page" on my website, see:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/team-triplet/TTSite/exp1.htm

I have made some changes to the page - corrected a few details.  

I have also added another page "Ceri-Siān's new baby".  Whilst on holiday last week we took delivery of a Thorn xTc in French blue for Ceri-Siān.  The rationale for getting a xTc for her is that it gives her a light bike that should encourage her to keep cycling and cycle camping - if she doesn't  I will have a second bike that complements my Raven eXp.

See http://homepage.ntlworld.com/team-triplet/TTSite/xtc1.htm

[luceberg]

Team Triplet, if I may say so, those carriers are on the heavy duty side for such a light bike as the XTC. In particular, the front 531C forks are rated to 10kg max so far as I know, maybe less. Myself, I would fit Tubus Cargo and Duo.

[Motty]

Team Triplet

The dropped bar Rolhoff Exp looks ideal, what brakes are you using on it?

Cheers
Richard

[Team Triplet]

quote:Originally posted by luceberg

Team Triplet, if I may say so, those carriers are on the heavy duty side for such a light bike as the XTC. In particular, the front 531C forks are rated to 10kg max so far as I know, maybe less. Myself, I would fit Tubus Cargo and Duo.

Having both Cargo and Duo on the tandems - they seem to be of the same capacity as the Thorn Carriers, they are made in the same size steel tubing.  

The intention is that the XTC would be used for light front bags and muggins would take the heavy bags.  The Thorn lo loaders I have got does allow use of the Ortlieb Classic bags.

I wanted the same carriers on the velo-demi's for ease of swaping bags around between cycles without having to adjust the fittings etc. I can swap bewteen my Tubus and Thorn carriers without changing the fittings.

In terms of recommendation in the Thorn Brochure our front rack choice is OK and the rear rack is not recomended.  However the key differance between the "Highly Recomended std£ std rack and  the reinforced rack is 110g wt and he additional support that prevents bags from "bulging" onto the wheel, which give a similar rear shape to the cargo, with the advantage of a mudguard fitting location. We were not steered away from our choice.

Reading through the Forum it would seem that people have succesfuuly cycle camped etc on the xTc, so providing one does not overload I don't see it as a problem.  On a routine basis though I can see the front rack being taken off and only put on for the odd camping trip.