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Rans Rocket vs Rans Screamer in "time trial"
Just for our own amusement, my son (6 yrs. old) and I, riding our Rans
Screamer the other evening, did a 2.5 mile time trial on the circle drive around the nearby sports stadiums. The route is best described as "rolling hills"--low speed about 10MPH, high speed about 28MPH. We did it in 8:04 (18.6 MPH). (OK, neither of us is exactly Lance Armstrong.) So yesterday I decided if I ditched the kid & the 50 lb. bike I could probably do better. So I stripped all the excess junk off my Rans Rocket & rode the exact same course. Result? EXACTLY 8:04, again. (Well, within 1 second, anyway.) Coincidence, or what? I guess the moral is that I can lug around an extra 75 lbs at all times, and have it make no difference! (Well, the 6-yr-old DOES pedal, so that makes up for at least some part of the extra 75 lbs . . .. ) Or that the old saw is true--it's the engine, stupid. The only spoiler is, that when I got home I found that my Rocket tires were both at 60 lbs. Usually I keep them at 100 lbs, and that does make a noticeable difference. The Screamer tires were at 95 lbs, just where I usually keep them. I guess I must go for try #3, to see if it's a tie-breaker. --Brent bhugh [at] mwsc.edu |
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Rans Rocket vs Rans Screamer in "time trial"
98GTW wrote in message news:
Brent, Your message caught my eye mostly because I'm curious how your six- year-old manages to pedal the Screamer. My 8-y-o daughter doesn't fit at all yet. Have you modified the bike to fit (or does your son sleep in a special s-t- r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g rack at night?)? Naturally, it's the stretching rack . . . Alternatively: 1. Seat moved all the way up until the bolt on the seat clamp hits a frame brace & won't move up a millimeter more. 2. Self-inflating mattress (doubled over) + pillow behind him. We use one of those buckwheat hull pillows so it's pretty stable. This moves him forward quite a bit, though he still has more seat per square inch of rear end than adults do . . . 3. Pedal reducers (cuts crank length about in half). 4. Pedal clip & strap to hold his feet in place. He claims that he loves going on the tandem far better than going on his upright trailerbike. --Brent bhugh [at] mwsc.edu |
#4
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Rans Rocket vs Rans Screamer in "time trial"
(Brent Hugh) wrote in message . com...
Just for our own amusement, my son (6 yrs. old) and I, riding our Rans Screamer the other evening, did a 2.5 mile time trial on the circle drive around the nearby sports stadiums. We did it in 8:04 (18.6 MPH). (OK, neither of us is exactly Lance Armstrong.) So I stripped all the excess junk off my Rans Rocket & rode the exact same course. Result? EXACTLY 8:04, again. So a couple of nights ago I figured if I tried it on the Rocket again, pumping up the tires to 100 lbs, it would certainly make a difference. Result? 8:06. I did have one pannier on, with 5 or 6 lbs worth of stuff. Supposedly a pannier increases aerodynamic drag by about 6%; see http://damonrinard.com/aero/aerodynamics.htm On a cheerier note, I continued and completed a 6-mile time trial around the track. Time was 19:57 (just a hair over 18 MPH). Last summer, almost exactly a year ago, on a similar machine (Trek R200) I did the same route in 23:57 (a hair over 15 MPH). Considering that my training routine is "go for a ride whenever you feel like it and go as far as you want and as fast or as slow as you want" that seems to me to be pretty decent progress for a year. --Brent |
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Rans Rocket vs Rans Screamer in "time trial"
(Brent Hugh) wrote in
om: 98GTW wrote in message news: Brent, Your message caught my eye mostly because I'm curious how your Alternatively: 1. Seat moved all the way up 2. Self-inflating mattress (doubled over) + pillow behind him. 3. Pedal reducers (cuts crank length about in half). 4. Pedal clip & strap to hold his feet in place. He claims that he loves going on the tandem far better than going on his upright trailerbike. --Brent bhugh [at] mwsc.edu Brent, Thanks for the detailed information. I'll have to try my daughter on the Screamer again. Knowing how much she's liked the trailerbike, I'm fairly certain she'll like real tandeming even better. Does the Screamer hvae IPS? If not, what compromises are there to keep cadence reasonable? -- Dave 98GTW (remove nospam to reply directly) Presto, Presto II, Screamer |
#6
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Rans Rocket vs Rans Screamer in "time trial"
(Brent Hugh) wrote in
om: 98GTW wrote in message news: Brent, Which crank reducers are you using? Do you know a source? Look at http://aebike.com/site/page.cfm?PageID=30&Category=133 This lists two "crank arm shorteners" made by Prism Design. Also: http://www.ride2online.com/cintro.htm These aren't the exact type I have, but the same basic idea. --Brent bhugh [at] mwsc.edu Thanks, Brent. Now I've got to figure out if the shorteners will be enough. -- Dave 98GTW (remove nospam to reply directly) Presto, Presto II, Screamer |
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Rans Rocket vs Rans Screamer in "time trial"
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