Another CF holiday

Yesterday, my wife and I just got back from spending anohter week in Kronenburg in Germany. This time, instead of taking the Z Pro with me, I took the 700X because I did not want my riding limited to road riding only. The day before we left home, I switched the regular handlebars of the 700X for the butterfly bars I tried on the Z Pro a while ago. To make sure I could keep riding, I put the regular handlebars in the car, just in case ....

We were very lucky with the weather again : although autumn had already started, we had mild late summer days. All of my riding was done with my new bike-sandals and short sleeved bike shirts, just to give you an idea. I did a total of almost 220 miles in 4 days, this was the first time I spent so many hours on a CF bike. More on that later.

Since I rode almost the complete Kylltal radweg earlier last week on my Z Pro, I did the other part between Lissendorf and Losheim ( I tried to find the source of the river Kyll, but couldn't find it). I was very glad that I had the 700X with me, for most part of this route is on gravel roads through the woods where it is impossible to ride a road bike. And a bit more challenging too since it's more uphill. On other trips, I rode the most part of the
Ahrtal Radweg and the Prümtall radweg. I really enjoyed these marked bicycle routes, for they take you to such beautiful places that you would miss if you stay on the main road. The 700X turned out to be the perfect bike to do so, since parts of the routes are on gravel and/or small dirt roads. This turned out to be no problem for the 700X, I even managed to leave another full suspended mountain biker in the dust on one of my trips (the fellow asked me to stop when I was waiting to cross the road to ask me all about my bike).

Somewhere near Alendorf

I learned a couple of things : the butterfly bars are staying on the 700X. I finally found out why they did not work earlier: I put them upside down on my Z Pro ! It's only when I put the bars on my 700X the day before we left that I payed attention to the prints on the handlebar, that I realized that I had them upside down on my Z Pro. On the 700X it provides plenty of hand positions, especially when you ride up and down all the time. The butterfly bars did not feel more comfortable (or less uncomfortable) than the straight bars, so I'm gonna leave them on the 700X for now.

The other thing I found out was that you can get a sore butt on a CF bike. Although I've ridden both my CF bikes for a couple of hours before (meaning 3 hours + riding), halfway during my ride on the 3rd day, I noticed that my butt began to feel uncomfortable. I always ride my CF bikes with spandex running shorts and never felt the need for padded bike shorts before, but this time I did. I can't quiet explain what caused it, but both my sitting bones did hurt after that 3rd day of riding. Is it the 2 bolts that keep the carbon pan in place that I'm starting to feel through the after a while ? Could be .... I'm considering to put a small piece of foam between the pans cover and the carbon pan to see whether this will eliminate the feel of the two bolts. And maybe try a bib short again. Only time will tell.

Another thing I learnt on my last rides is that front suspension is not a bad idea for a CF bike at all. I was convinced that since less weight is put on the handlebars of a CF bike compared to a regular bike, there is no need for suspension. Boy, was I wrong ! On several downhills I had to work very hard to keep the front of the 700X steady and keep the bike in line. In fact, I'm considering switching the carbon fork for a suspension fork (although I really like the carbon fork !). I'll have some homework to do now ;-)

Anyway, I really enjoyed my last bike holiday in Germany. It's not that far away from home (only a 2,5 hour car drive away from where I live), you have miles and miles of bike lanes and bike friendly roads to discover (this was probably the 13th time we spent around Kronenburg and I still managed to find new roads and trails) and, maybe most important of all : you are treated like an equal sharer of the road when riding in traffic (meaning that German drivers do not cut you off or put you in any kind of danger like they normally do elsewhere). You should really try to ride your bike in the Rheinland Pfalz region of Germany !

Panorama near Birgel

Riding the Kylltal-radweg

Yesterday, 2 friends and I drove all the way to Germany to ride the Kylltal-radweg. This is a 115km long route which follows the river Kyll between Hallschlag and Trier. Since I don't have a compact recumbent and to be able to keep up with my friends who ride recumbents, I took the Z Pro. We loaded our bikes in my friends' van and drove to Lissendorf, where we started our ride.
The route is easy to follow, since it is signaled in both directions. The conditions were excellent : very nice weather for this time of year and very few bikers (this route is usually very crowded in July and August).
I had no problem keeping up with my friends, who did this route together a couple of years ago. When we had to go up, the Z Pro was easier to ride uphill and I always ended on top first. But my friends were always going down faster, keeping everything in balance ;-) Some of the climbs were pretty tough, but I managed to ride up all of them.

Having a picknick near Willsecker ...

The route is very bike-friendly : high quality bikelanes for the most part, only a few miles of gravel and only when you approach Trier, you have to ride between motorized traffic (the route enters Trier via the industrial zone). Needless to say we had a blast !
In Trier, we rode our bikes to the railway station. After checking the hour table, we bought tickets and waited for the train.

Checking the hour table at the railway station...

After 20 minutes the train arrived and we put ourselves and our bikes on board (you can take them by train for free !) and headed back to Lissenburg. The German trains have special wagons with a big bicycle logo on them where you can put your bikes. We were very suprised when at one of the stations, another biker stept on board and the railway controller summoned three passengers to sit elsewhere in order to park the bike inside. Amazing !!!

Riding back the easy way ....

A day at the races ....

Although I do not race myself with any of my bikes, I do like to attend recumbent races once in a while. Yesterday there was a race in Peer and since the weather was nice, I decided to ride my Z Pro to the sports track. Since it is only 40 miles from where I live and the first race would start at 6 pm, I left home halfway the afternoon. My wife would be coming by car, bringing my camera and the bike rack. Although there was a mild head wind, I ended up in the charming centre of Peer around 5 pm, with plenty of time to make a stop at the local Leonidas to taste their icecream (which turned out to be excellent!). I arrived at the sports centre a little later and met some of my friends who were preparing their bikes to race.

Most of them already knew that I own 2 CF bikes but had never actually seen one before. So the Z Pro attracked some attention and those who rode it where suprised how well it handled. I couldn't resist riding trying the Z Pro on the track, but just when I was getting up to speed, it started to rain (and you know how I feel about riding in the rain). Ah well, better luck next time. Fortunately, it did not rain for long and the races could go on as planned. I took some pictures of the races, which you can find here

Jonathan in his Quest on the track ....

The tire experiment part II

This morning I picked up my Z Pro at my bike shop (Harry, the shop owner being very busy and me having no time was the reason the bike stayed at the shop for such a long period). He took the Z Pro out of the back and proudly showed me his solution : a front brake calliper in combination with a adjusted pivot nut (hand filed oblique). According to Harry, it would be no use to hand file one of the calliper arms. It looked butt ugly, but I took the Z Pro home anyway.

Harry's solution : yuck !

Once I got home, I took everything off and attacked the old rear brake calliper with a hand file. It took me almost an hour to get rid of enough metal (had to file off a lot more than just 1mm) and when I put the brake back, the tire was still rubbing the center of the arms, at a point where you simply cannot remove anything without damaging the brakes. So, was Harry right after all ? No, he was not ! I took the adjusted pivot nut and placed it between the frame and the brake and voilà ! The oblique pivot nut lifts the brake arms just a little bit upward, enough to let the tire run free underneath.

This looks better !

Hardly but just enough space ....

Of course I had to take it for a spin after the modifications so I left for a 40 mile ride. I really was curious about the tires and it did not take long to feel the difference. The wider tires are way more comfortable ! Speed is the same, but comfortwise, it is a big improvement. They are staying on, that's for sure ! I only noticed that the rear brake has a little less power compared to before the switch, but I'm confident that I'm going to get that fixed to !

That's how I like it : beefy comfortable tires !

The tire experiment

After reading a posting on the C.F. Forum about how comfortable riding on 28mm wide tires is compared to 23mm I ordered myself some wider tires from my local bike shop. Since I'm very satisfied with my Continental Grand Prix's, I ordered these in 28mm. I picked them up from my bike shop yesterday and swapped tires this afternoon.
There was absolutely no problem in the front : the front fork is wide enough to go with even wider tires. The back was another story .... Since 28mm tires are wider, they do not fit between the brake pads when fully inflated. That's no problem, just inflate the tires when the wheels are back in place. So far, so good. After inflating the tires properly, I put the bike back on it wheels and wanted to take it to the front of our house. It sure looked nice, those beefy tires on a road bike ( I do like beefy tires !) But the rear wheel did not move, it was blocked ! No, it wasn't the brake shoes, the rim was free. When I looked a bit closer, I noticed that the rear tire got stuck underneath the rear brake caliper, preventing it from moving at all ! Damn !!!

Plenty of space with the 23mm tire ...

but not so with the 28mm tire !

It is only a matter of maybe 1mm, but as you can see on the second picture, the tire really touches the inner rear brake caliper. I called my local bike shop and explained my problem. They told me that I could try the new Shimano 105 rear brake caliper, which is slightly different in shape and might just be different enough to have the wheel fit. Another solution was to try another brand of 28mm tire, or change them into 25mm tires. I'm gonna take my Z Pro to my bike shop to try out that new 105 brake caliper and let's hope that it will fit !!!

Weekend by the Sea

Last Friday my wife and I left for Nieuwpoort, where a collegue of mine owns an appartment which is available for rent. Since I did not want to limit my bicycle riding to tarmac roads, I took the 700X with me this time.
As usual it was pretty windy near the beach, but that did not stop me from riding my bike. Since it was also my wife's birthday on Monday, I promised her not to leave her alone for more than 2,5 hours a day, which left both of us happy ;-)

The 700X turned out to be the perfect holiday bike, since you can ride it on pretty much every surface. There are several local bike routes on gravel going in all directions, so I always started with a head wind, fighting and struggling to keep my speed not too low and then turning around with a back wind, giving me speeds over 25 mph. Nice !

For the 3rd year in a row there's an art exhibit on the Belgian shore, called beaufort 03. Spread across the seaside cities, several pieces of art are exhibited on or nearby the beach. Now I don't consider myself an art-lover, but I don't mind seeing something nice now and then. I got myself a 03 Beaufort Bicycle Route flyer and went looking for some of the artistic constructions. Some of them really looked like crap to me, others were pretty nice. Anyway, it made it easier for me to decide where to ride my 700X to, since I planned everything in advance.

Some of them in plain wood ....

Others were pretty colorful ....

I even mangaged to ride my bike to France on Friday (Nieuwpoort is not that far from the French border). One thing I noticed immediately is that French car drivers are way more cautious then Belgian drivers ! Although there were no real bike lanes on the French roads, I never felt unsave. Vive la France !

Memorial near the church of Bray-les-Dunes

When returing from my bike ride on Saturday, I noticed that my headset had loosened. I do not carry large size wrenches with me, so I could only tighten the headset by hand. Since bike shops are closed on Sunday and Monday, there was no way to have the headset properly tightened before returning home. And I did not want to stay off the bike for another 2 days .... Luckily for me though, my local bike shop back home is open on Sunday from 10 'til 12 a.m. so I called them and explained my problem. They told me that I could keep riding my bike without a problem as long as I rode my bike on smooth surfaces and avoid riding over cobblestones etc. So thankfully I could keep riding my 700X for another 2 days without any problems. Tomorrow I'll ride my 700X to the bike shop to have the headset fixed.

New brake levers

Although I still like the looks of the XT brake levers I originally put on my Z Pro, braking was never quite crisp. I could slow the bike down, but that was about it. Until now I never had to make an emergency stop during my rides, but still ..... So to have some more safety into my rides, I replaced them XT-levers with flat road bar levers. While surfing the internet I discovered that Shimano has the BL-R 550 specially designed for flat road bars and they do have them in black, so the choice was easily made !

Yesterday I rode the Z Pro to my bike shop (I do not have a compressor at home to remove the rubber grips) where I switched the brake levers -and I got called stupid by the bike shop owner for mixing V-brake levers with road calipers. When riding back home I immediately noticed the difference in brake power when I needed to stop. Now it is possible to lock up the rear wheel, something that could not be done with the XT-levers. And to be honest : I kinda like the simple looks of the new levers.

Simple but effective

At last .... alive again !

I know, I know : I should be ashamed ! It's been almost a year since I last posted something on this blog .... And what's even worse : only today I took my Z Pro for a ride since almost a year too ! I can't explain why, but I did not ride my CF-bikes much last year. Most of my cycling has been done either with my Stratus XP or my velomobile. Don't know exactly why, but I just didn't feel like taking either the Z Pro or the 700X for a ride. And even then .... In the last three months, I did not even bother to ride the XP or my velomobile. Only used one of them for commuting and that was it. Could not bring myself to grab a bike and take it for a ride ... Of course, I did ride my old Beemer, but that's something completely different .... So anyway, today was THE day. It was a nice spring day with mild temperatures and since the forecast predicted a drop in temps and rain for tomorrow, I took the Z Pro out of its storage. Inflated the tires, checked the brakes and the chain and off I went. There was a mild breeze, so it was pretty tough to keep the speedometer above 19m/h but anyway, I really enjoyed myself ! Of all the bikes I own, the Z Pro is defenitely the most responsive one. This makes perfect sence, since it's the only bike that has a regular rear derailleur and cogs instead of an internal gear hub. And it's also the lightest, which is also nice to ride !

It took some time to get adjusted to the seat again, but that's only acceptable after not riding a CF seat for such a long period. So yes, I did feel my sitbones after I completed todays' 40 mile ride, but not that it hurt or felt uncomfortable in any way. And yes, I really did enjoy the ride and kept wondering why I didn't spent more time on the Z Pro before. Oh well ....

When I got home, I noticed that the rear tire needs to be replaced, for it has several worn spots as you can see in the picture below. Since it'll be raining all day tomorrow, I'll have plenty of time to replace the rear tire.

Time for replacement ....