Snippets and bits from earlier posts on The Question of A 'Glider Mated to a 36T Ring:
you can see why I am such a devotee of the 36x17 combo, and why I pine for a Chainglider suitably sized to fit a 36T 'ring
I'm still interested to see if a modified 'glider can be used effectively with the smaller ring.
I'll be watching eagerly, John. To Noble Experiments!
Well, we have some visual record of the early stages of my experiment. You can judge, gentle readers, whether or not it's "Noble"; the faint of heart, or purist 'glideristas, may want to avert their eyes.
Midweek last week, I made a 60-km ride of about 3 1/2 hours through some steep hill country about 150 kms northwest of Ottawa. I have ridden most of the route before, but I tweaked it a bit this time. I drove to the starting-point with my Raven on the bike rack at the rear of our station wagon, and my ride was pretty much all hills, with very few flat bits. Here's the link to the route, with the altitude profile:
http://tinyurl.com/qdndq8k The route began with a steep climb, 14% for 2.5 kms, and ended with a rapid descent down the same hill.
I'll write about the ride, with some photos, in the "Rides of 2015" thread. The issue for this thread was testing my new 36 x 17 Rohloff ratios on some demanding hills,
and to do so with a 'glider fitted to the 36T 'ring.
First things first: how did it work? Pretty well. The bike wasn't loaded, but I've planned past rides along this route to ensure that I only
descended the really big steep suckers, like the 14% hill between Foymount at the top of the escarpment and the Bonnechere Valley. This time I was starting at the bottom...
So, the big 'un I did in 3rd gear. It's really two hills with a short plateau in between, and the lower hill is the steeper of the two; since I was still fresh, I probably could have managed the upper half in 4th, but why bother?--especially as I didn't really know what was to come on the back half of the ride. It turned out that there was an even steeper hill on the back half, a short-but-savage ungraded climb out of a valley with a pretty lake. I had to use 2nd on that, so I guess it was steeper than, say, 15%. I think I'd have been able to manage both hills on a loaded bike, in 1st gear or possibly second.
I couldn't pick up any difference between the Raven
with 'glider on this ride, and the Raven sans 'glider in my earlier tests on easier hills with the smaller front 'ring.
So, how did I fit my 'glider onto the 36T ring? When it was mounted on the 38T ring I have just replaced, I had noticed evidence of some friction on the portion of the front half of the 'glider which covers the rear section of the chainring. So, I cut that section away with a sharp blade, with the results you'll see in the photos attached below.
I used the two wraps of tape you see aft of the ring to reduce the length of the gap in coverage of the chain in the upper and lower arms of the 'glider which had resulted from my cutting off the plastic covering the rear portion of the 'ring. Of course not all of the chainring is protected in this setup, but 99% of the chain run itself
is protected; and importantly for me, the front part of the chain remains reasonably well-shielded from rain, spray and grit. We'll see how it works in practice. If I have to clean the chain once or twice a season, I can tolerate that.
Adjusting a 38T 'glider to its new life embracing a 36T ring required only a little fiddling with the teeth and notches at the rear. Surprisingly, I found the changed appearance quite OK. I don't know if The Spirit of the 'Glider felt itself diminished and exposed and all, but I tend to be utilitarian about such matters.
In sum: so far it looks OK (to me), seems not have created any undue friction (maybe even did away with some), and offers better weather protection than no 'glider at all. Maybe I should ride to Nova Scotia to check it out? More reports if & as the evidence creeps/trickles/pours in.
