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How Do These Airborne Specs Look?



 
 
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  #141  
Old July 25th 05, 09:28 PM
Gooserider
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Default How Do These Airborne Specs Look?


"Tim McNamara" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Gooserider" wrote:

To be fair, Airborne does appear to have a pretty detailed online fit
program. Whether a buyer will end up with a racer-type fit or a real
world comfortable fit is unclear, but they do measure inseam, torso
length, and arm extension.


One of my most comfortable bikes is a "racer type fit." I've ridden up
to 125 miles in a day on it perfectly happily. Another really
comfortable bike is a Rivendell set up for brevets. Also really
comfortable.

IME there is not one perfect fit.


I'm very sensitive to bearing too much weight on my hands, so I need a more
Rivendellish fit. The higher the bars the better for me. :-)


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  #142  
Old July 26th 05, 01:10 AM
Tom Keats
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Default How Do These Airborne Specs Look?

In article ,
"Gooserider" writes:

"Tim McNamara" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Gooserider" wrote:

To be fair, Airborne does appear to have a pretty detailed online fit
program. Whether a buyer will end up with a racer-type fit or a real
world comfortable fit is unclear, but they do measure inseam, torso
length, and arm extension.


One of my most comfortable bikes is a "racer type fit." I've ridden up
to 125 miles in a day on it perfectly happily. Another really
comfortable bike is a Rivendell set up for brevets. Also really
comfortable.

IME there is not one perfect fit.


I'm very sensitive to bearing too much weight on my hands, so I need a more
Rivendellish fit. The higher the bars the better for me. :-)


I was just gawking at the picture of Sheldon Brown's Thorn Raven,
c/w *two* (not one, but *two*) handlebars. Interesting ...

I don't have the link handy (I'm offline as I write this) but
if you'd like to take a look, just Google on:
Sheldon Brown Thorn Raven
and the URL should be there.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca
  #143  
Old July 26th 05, 04:54 AM
Mark Hickey
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Default How Do These Airborne Specs Look?

David Damerell wrote:

Quoting Mark Hickey :
David Damerell wrote:
You cannot have more braking than that, so the theoretical brake "power"
(which tandems find out, with surprising results) is quite irrelevant.

An interesting (to me, at least...) data point is that I designed my
new tandem around regular road caliper brakes, never having been
really happy with the performance of canti brakes on my previous
tandem.


Certainly plain ordinary calipers can work just fine, but did you try
fiddling with the straddle cable? I've got it as high as will just permit
me to bottom out the lever (higher, and you're just getting lower
mechanical advantage; lower, and the input force is lower, as I'm sure you
know) with maximum grip, and the front brake is certainly good enough to
produce an alarming DOING sensation from the front fork...


I've set up the rear canti brake on my old Santana many times, looking
for adequate braking. As you mention, the "sweet spot" is with the
straddle low enough to produce good mechanical advantage, but not TOO
low. Going to the DiaCompe 287 T (?) lever (slightly longer pull)
helped a bit, but the real improvement came with a set of solid
straddles. There's just not enough extra pull in a typical road brake
lever to overcome even a little straddle "give".

But even so, the caliper brakes I'm running now (Campy Centaur dual
pivots) are head and shoulders better than I ever got the cantis...

[The back brake's a Suntour self-energiser, so I've no idea how well a
conventional canti works on a tandem.]


That's probably the one place that self-energizing brake makes sense
(since the back end of a tandem never gets TOO light under braking -
I've yet to see anyone do a nose wheelie on one). ;-)

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame
  #144  
Old July 26th 05, 02:05 PM
Qui si parla Campagnolo
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Default How Do These Airborne Specs Look?



NYC XYZ wrote:
Gooserider wrote:


Ah, the wonders of free trade. How many American Ti fabricators could be
employed if those bikes were made here?


I imagine the American companies do high-end Ti work -- M1 Abrams Main
Battle Tanks, for example.


Some of the best ti welding is from the former Sovietr Union. They were
the only welders skilled enough to do a double walled titanium hulled
sub, The Alpha, for instance.

  #145  
Old July 27th 05, 11:39 PM
Jasper Janssen
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Default How Do These Airborne Specs Look?

On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 20:54:10 -0700, Mark Hickey rote:
David Damerell wrote:


[The back brake's a Suntour self-energiser, so I've no idea how well a
conventional canti works on a tandem.]


That's probably the one place that self-energizing brake makes sense
(since the back end of a tandem never gets TOO light under braking -
I've yet to see anyone do a nose wheelie on one). ;-)


You still don't want to *lock* the wheel, though. Especially as recovering
from a slide might be harder with two people acting on instinct. And you
definitely don't want to lock the front wheel of a tandem.

Jasper
  #146  
Old July 28th 05, 02:35 AM
Mark Hickey
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Default How Do These Airborne Specs Look?

Jasper Janssen wrote:

On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 20:54:10 -0700, Mark Hickey rote:
David Damerell wrote:


[The back brake's a Suntour self-energiser, so I've no idea how well a
conventional canti works on a tandem.]


That's probably the one place that self-energizing brake makes sense
(since the back end of a tandem never gets TOO light under braking -
I've yet to see anyone do a nose wheelie on one). ;-)


You still don't want to *lock* the wheel, though. Especially as recovering
from a slide might be harder with two people acting on instinct. And you
definitely don't want to lock the front wheel of a tandem.


It took a lot of tinkering with my Santana's rear brake before I had
to worry about locking it up (or it doing much to actually stop the
bike for that matter...). FWIW, I've found the tandem to be very
controllable under a rear wheel skid, probably because of the
humongous wheelbase. That said, I didn't lock up the rear wheel very
often because it (obviously) is REALLY hard on rear tires. ;-)

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame
  #147  
Old July 28th 05, 01:53 PM
David Damerell
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Default How Do These Airborne Specs Look?

Quoting Jasper Janssen :
[Tandem rear brakes and self-energisers]
You still don't want to *lock* the wheel, though. Especially as recovering
from a slide might be harder with two people acting on instinct.


Actually, it's not a big deal, provided your stoker is level-headed enough
not to scream and wave their arms around. I'm not saying it's a problem if
they do; I don't know, because mine doesn't. The bike's pretty stable in a
rear wheel skid - of course if you were cornering sharply you'd be a bit
boned, but that's just as true on a single.

Also it is quite difficult to get wheel-locking performance out of any
tandem rear brake - just as well, given the effect on tyres when you do.
--
David Damerell flcl?
Today is Second Oneiros, July.
 




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