No special meet or ride this month, but an update on how my Rohloff equipped bike is behaving. In all, it´s great, save the noise most Speedhubs make in the “lower case”. I have a belly feeling that in those lower seven speeds the resistance one feels also is greater than in the silent, top eight gears. The bottom bracket makes clunking noises now, and also the chain needs replacing soon, so I´ll try to change the ratios by getting a larger sprocket and a smaller chainwheel, thereby avoiding the lower case gears as much as possible. Also, I´ve not used gears 13 and 14 a lot, but 1 and 2 on every ride really, and by effecting the changes to the drive system that will be improved, I hope.
The next oil change is due too now, and the bike has deserved it as I´ve used it a lot this year. I don´t have an odometer, but a conservative estimate is at about 2.500 kms so far this calender year, and a lot more since the last oil change. Gear changes are still 100 per cent precise and instantaneous, there´s no play in any bearings and no oxidation on the shell or any other periphery parts, so the oil change will be all the attention the hub needs, I hope.
The bike as such needs a good clean, though, but all that oily dirt can be said to be a rust and theft inhibitor, meaning, I just don´t care 🙂 I see to it that the chain is lubed, the tires are inflated and the brakes are adjusted, and that´s about it. I do have to clean it soon though to check for any possible cracks in the frame, I know.
Major repairs: The front fork had to be replaced after a slight accident last year, and the Shimano 71 front hub gave up its ghost quite spectacularly in May, replaced with a SON now which runs appreciatively lighter, and that´s not a belly feeling. I bought a reduced price overstock wheel with the SON in it, so I have two different rims and spoke sets in the bike now, shiny and black, but again, I don´t care as long as it works and it does that perfectly.
My commute? It´s an about 32 kms long ride over four slight hills in the Teutoburger Wald area in Northern Germany. It takes me roughly 1:30 to 1:45 hours, which is not fast, I know, and while I´ve never been a fast rider, I´m still not fully back to even that form, after all the lack of time and the illnesses over the last 10 months or so, also the bike is really heavy and carries a lot of load too.
The route crosses no famous terrain at all, there´s no historical interest in that anyone famous was born in any of the villages and towns I cross, no battle has taken place, no famous buildings, nothing. At least, I´m not aware of anything, save maybe the part of the road that doubles as a hillclimb car race track once a year, explaining the heavy duty guard rails:
There´s loads of youtube videos on that race, it´s the Osnabrück or Holter Berg hillclimb, depending on how well the makers of the videos know the area 🙂
So for want of anything more interesting, one has to concentrate on making new friends on the way,
and on the few buildings that are nice.
Noted the colour red in some pics? Here we go for a sugar shock:
And no, the Schwalbe is not the company vehicle of the strawberry sellers´, it´s just in the colour its owner chose when doing up the moped.
Setting out early in the morning, there sometimes are spectacular sunrises, but they occur only when one has forgotten the camera at home. On the days the camera is at hand, one has to be content with simpler things like this:
Some 30 minutes later, the countryside begins to look familiar.
There´s more hills
and more decends
and some flats leading to more hills.
In all, I won´t say anything new in that when one cycles a route that one has partially driven so many times, there´s many things to be discovered, even tiny ones, which one is able to stop for and savour when on the bike.
So that´s the commute and the comment on the speedhub.
But why not more posts? I´ve been sidetracked by some issues with the heating in our house which didn´t render any sexy pics, by the car which did,
Photo courtesy Yannik
and a new love which rendered some spectacular snaps,
Photo courtesy Gideon
but which has put my affection to the test by taking up a lot of patience, even though I´m not new to the hobby of old motorbikes.
Also a lot of fleamarkets have been in the way of blogging.
Editing courtesy Nikki
Plus the century runs I usually do have been bedevilled this spring by adverse weather conditions, be it rain, thunderstorms or heat I couldn´t stand.
But I hope next month my post will be more interesting again.
starostneradost 