Category: rSogn

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of dyno-powered lights on a bike.  What does that mean?  That means instead of batteries, there’s a generator on the bike to power the headlight, and sometimes a tail light also.

You may remember the old “bottle generators” that would rub against the tire.  Those work, but tend to slip in wet weather.  They also produce a fair amount of drag.

I ride in all weather.  I like to have lights on day or night.  So, a dyno-hub is the answer.  The front wheel is the generator.  Nothing needs to rub on the tire.

My rSogn came with a low-end Novatech dynohub.  I already had a nice SON hub, but it was laced to the wrong size rim.  The rSogn really needed the fancy SON hub.  I had Tom (the guy who usually builds wheels for me) basically use the existing rims and hubs, but switch them around, and use new spokes.

The Novatech wheel will go on my daughter’s bike, once I buy a headlight for her.  The SON is now mounted on the rSogn.

I still need to get money together to have new wheels built for the recumbent and the Big Dummy.

I had floated the idea of a 75-mile ride to the usual suspects, but everybody else had commitments.  I wasn’t going to let that stop me, so I headed out on the rSogn just after 5:00 am this morning.

I hadn’t pitched this ride as a Festivus ride.  I didn’t think of that until already riding.  I was ready for my “Airing of Grievances” pretty early on.

Let me back up to last night’s preparations.  I replaced the broken shifter.  Shifting is good.  I wanted to travel light, so I removed the rear rack and put on a small saddlebag on the saddle, and a tiny “wedge” bag on the front rack.  Any items that wouldn’t fit there would have to be carried in my pockets.

Due to this, and a weather forecast that showed the temperatures starting out just above freezing and heading to 50, I figured I’d underdress a bit and be cold in the beginning.  This way, as it warmed up, I wouldn’t have to figure out where to stash extra clothing items.

Rolling through the urban landscape before the sun comes up on a Sunday morning is quite peaceful.  Traffic was nearly non-existent.  I made my way north and crossed the Second Street Bridge over the Ohio River and into the State of Indiana.

My 5:00 am start time was ideal for traffic, but not ideal for temperature. It was 31, just below freezing in the metro, and a bit cooler as you moved out.  I was a bit chilled at first.  I worked harder to generate heat.

Passing through New Albany Indiana, I stopped at a gas station for Combos and a candy bar.  I ate the candy bar immediately.  The Combos were shoved in a pocket.

West of Louisville is an escarpment, locally known as The Knobs.  This is mostly within Indiana.  My route would take me through one big climb, and later allow me to descend back to the plain.

Timothy had mentioned yesterday that a mountain biking group he rides with was riding to New Albany for The New Albanian Brewing Company, to hang out and drink beer.  They’d be arriving around 1:00pm today.  I wasn’t sure if could make it on the return trip.

Heading out of New Albany I turn on Budd Rd.  It was still quite dark, and there was no traffic.  There was a bit of a climb before it leveled out.  I spotted a new small park, and I stopped for a picture.

I eventually come to Blunk Knob Rd.  This road is often closed in the winter.  There’s a sign at the intersection saying so.  We haven’t had much snow and no ice yet, so the road is open.  I climbed this a couple of years ago with Tim.  I’ve climbed steeper locally, but this is still steep, and goes on for two miles.  The first mile probably averages 8 or 9%.  The second half isn’t so bad.

While stopped for this picture, I managed to drop my spare AAA batteries in the grass.  I used my headlamp (I had that in my pocket) to find them.  I was only able to find five of the six.

My feet were getting quite cold.  There was an angry dog barking at me across the street. It was still quite dark.

I continued on.  During my slow ascent up the first half of Blunk Knob Rd the sky got lighter.  I could see the road without my headlight, though I left it on to be visible to cars.  Once the worst of the climbing was past, I stopped for a picture.

Once done with the climb, the rest of the terrain is rolling hills.  I expected to feel strong than I did.  Being cold didn’t help.

As the sun rose, I expected it to warm up.  Instead it got windier.  My feet were painfully cold.  I suffered through it and continued on.  I passed through the tiny town of New Middletown where Tim, Patrick, Dominic and I rode through in March 2010.

I started to find familiar roads as I approached Corydon.  I quickly found a little breakfast cafe and went in for coffee and an omelette.

When I was done eating and headed back east, the temperature had risen about 10 degrees.  That was a welcome change.  The cloud cover had begun to dissipate.  The only precipitation on the radar was passing safely to the south.

I realized the even with my painfully slow riding, I would be able to make the New Albanian meet-up, even going the intended, longer route.

So, instead of continuing on Corydon Ridge Rd, I turned north on Yenowine Ln and wound my way around, skirting the town of Galena.  I eventually turned south-east on Old Vincennes Rd, which was rather busy.  I went by Floyd Central High School and eventually went by my boss’s neighborhood before making my way to Paoli Pike in Floyd’s Knobs.

Ever since I started riding a bike in 2008, I’ve wanted to ride down Paoli Pike.  I did ride it with Tim and Ian some time ago.  It’s a high-traffic road, but interesting in it’s own way.

Riding it today, on the rSogn, without a care in the world was sublime.  I rode to the right, until I gained enough speed to merge with traffic.  Then I rode with the cars, at car speeds.  I gently squeezed the brakes whenever I saw brake lights ahead.

It was over too quickly.  I still had plenty of speed when the road widened to multi-lane and I cruised through a green light and a freeway overpass.  I’m back in New Albany, Indiana, a de-facto suburb of Louisville.

I cruise over to the New Albanian, which is hopping busy.  There are already several dozen bikes parked there, but I don’t see Timothy’s.  After a few minutes, Asher shows up, which was a complete surprise.

After a bit, Timothy does show, we find a table and have beer and food.  I did limit myself to one beer and a glass of water.  I was dehydrated, and would not want to over-do the beer.

Rather than following my planned route back to Louisville, I followed Asher and Timothy.  They had rode over with a mountain bike group (KYMBA).  They had an interesting route, that involved paths through the woods, old railroad grades, and two unused bridges.  It was interesting to ride on the rSogn set up as a brevet bike, but nothing bad came out of it.

Download file: 2012-12-23.gpx

I have some thoughts about it all.

I need bigger luggage for a brevet bike.  I’ve been intending to get some kind of a front bag.  True brevet bags require more hardware to attach, and may have interference issues with my v-brakes.  If I would have had a proper bag, I could have dressed appropriately and not been so uncomfortable.

The rSogn fits.  This is my longest ride on this bike.  It fits well.  The reach is right.  I never felt too crunched up or stretched our, and I have a pretty normal length stem.  My LHT was a great bike, but even with a short stem, it seemed the bars were just a tad too far away.

I’m still going to have stiff neck issues.  I have a physical problem.  It won’t just magically go away.  My neck is stiff from today’s ride, but it’s tolerable.  I’ll be on the ‘bent for what little commuting I need to do in the next week.

I’m still slow.  On flat ground, I was perfectly happy with my speed.  I expect to go slow up 8+% grades.  I did notice I spent a lot of time on 3% grades going 7mph or less when I was tired.  This isn’t acceptable.  I used to push harder.  I had the same issue during Gravel Grovel.  I need to work on that.

The dyno-hub on the rSogn doesn’t put out as much power as a SON28.  On slow climbs (or stop and go traffic) the hub can’t keep the standlight capacitor charged.  This leads to low-speed pulsing.  I’ve been planning to switch the SON on there anyway, once I get a wheel built with it, but this just cemented that decision.

The rSogn carves a great line on a fast descent.  This is still a bit dangerous in the dark, when the road surface isn’t visible due to the curve.  The decreasing radius curves in the dark this morning were great for white-knuckle, think-you’re-gonna-die riding.

Anyway, I suffered a bit.  As usual, once it’s over, I’m glad I did it, and I’ll begin planning the next adventure.

I was supposed to go camping last night with two other guys.  We were all going to ride our bikes to Jefferson Memorial Forest, which came out to a mere 16 miles for me, a bit more for Asher, and Timothy was planning 50 miles to get there.

I spent Thursday evening packing the gear.  The new sleeping bag and pad pack quite a bit smaller than what I had before.  I found I could put the pad and bag on the small front rack of the rSogn.  Everything else would fit in a single Arkel pannier.

I woke up yesterday morning not feeling well.  Well enough to ride to work, but it was cold and windy, and the whole camping thing just didn’t appeal to me.  I figured I would fee better later, and just tough it out.

I decided to ride the rSogn to work, with the camping load.  I squeezed the laptop in, and headed out.

I didn’t make it far.  The defective shifter gave up the ghost and wouldn’t stay in gear.  I turned around, and headed home.  I swapped out pedals on the Fargo so I could use my normal shoes, and moved my laptop over to that bike, and went to work.

Throughout the day it remained cold and windy .  It didn’t take much to convince the other two to save the camping trip for another time.  We’re tentatively planning on January now, which will hopefully allow Tim and Patrick to attend.

Oddly enough, the wind had died down by evening, and the camping trip probably would have been tolerable.  Probably.

The Woodchipper bars that came on the Fargo just weren’t cutting it for me.  Riding in the drops would hurt my wrists.  Patrick gave me a set of bars that he had tried on his Fargo. They were too narrow for his huge size.  He had also hit his knees on the bar-end shifters, so he cut the bars a bit shorter.

I installed them on my Fargo a few days ago.

My short test ride was fine.  I liked them.

Riding a bit farther to work and back yesterday, well, they’re too narrow for me also.  I also don’t like the odd shape of the tubing at the tops.  That’s a feature that’s supposed to make them more comfortable, but it wasn’t for me.  I’ll need to buy a different set of bars.

On the way home from work, I stopped and bought another shift cable, so I can swap out the shifter on the rSogn.  That’s on my to-do list for today.

It’s warm and cozy here at home.  I’m drinking good coffee (a gift – more on that later).  Going outside in the cold, even on a nice-looking day like today, for a bike ride just isn’t appealing to me.  I know I need to ride.  I need to get some miles is, lose some weight, and train for longer and faster riding.  Maybe tomorrow, maybe.

I’ll leave you with a picture of the new sticker on the Big Dummy.

 

On Saturday I met Tim at Breadworks.  I had a cup of coffee and a snack before we headed out into the hills of Cherokee park, Indian Hills, and Mockingbird Valley.  I’ve ridden these areas before, but it had been a while.

I was on the rSogn, of course.  Tim followed suit, and rode his somewhat new (to him) Sogn.  It was interesting to compare the two Rawland bicycles.

I hadn’t wrapped the bars yet, and forgot my gloves.  My hands were uncomfortable, but this was more than made up for by the liveliness of the bike.  It felt wonderful.  I sprinted up hills.  I bombed down descents.  It’s just a great bike.

Tim and I went our separate ways.  I stopped at Cumberland Brewery and had one beer and some sweet potato fries.  Not diet healthy, but it just seemed right.

I ended the day with a somewhat hilly 31.6 miles, at a decent pace even.

I went to bed early Saturday night and slept a blissful 12 hours.

Sunday morning I tinkered with the bike.  I ended up installing the small rear rack from the single-speed.  I also put on the white bar tape that was included with the bike.

I’m not a fan of white bar tape.  It gets dirty too easily.  It supposed to look “pro”, so in other words, makes me look like a “poser”.  Then again, when have I ever cared what others’ thought?  This is free bar tape!

The bar tape is temporary.  Saturday’s ride showed me that the bars are now at the right angle.  I may need to change the cable housing once I have a new handlebar bag.  Until then, white bar tape is where it’s at.

In the evening I went out for a spin.  It wasn’t long, and I stopped for more beer and food, not helping my weight loss any.

I added a measly 10.4 miles for the day.  I did spin at 22 mph in traffic on Bardstown Rd for a while.  That felt good.  I hit the traffic lights green for the entire stretch.  Then I pulled over panting, feeling like I was going to lose my lungs.

It’ll take time to get my lungs and heart where they were.  This is the right bike to do it.

I didn’t go far, but I took the rSogn out for it’s first ride… well, my first ride on it.  I did buy most of it used.

I spent all evening getting it put together.  I installed the fenders before heading out.  I’m glad I did, it was pretty wet outside.

The maiden voyage was only about a mile.  I just wanted to make sure everything was rideable.

Before I ride it again, I want to adjust the saddle and handlebars.  I still have other plans for it (bar tape would be nice), but those will have to wait.

I hauled a load of parts home from On Your Left Cycles on the Big Dummy.  Here’s what I bought:

A Brooks B-17 Special saddle in the Honey color.

The B-17 is the most popular Brooks saddle.  I find them quite comfortable.  The Special version costs a little more, but has hammered copper rivets instead of the machine-pressed steel ones.  I’ve owned two of the standard B-17s, but I’ve wanted a special for a while.

Shimano Deore V-Brakes and rear Derailleur.

The Deore line is nothing fancy, but this isn’t a race bike.  If it stops and shifts, these will do.  Why V-brakes on a road bike?  The frame is really meant for cantilever brakes.  V-brakes are easier to set up and are pretty powerful.  It did require long-pull brake levers, but those were provided with the bike purchase.

Cheap stem, spacers, chain,  12-36 9-speed cassette, two King Cage water bottle cages.

It may take me some time to get the bike set up where it’s comfortable.  I may have to try various stems.  I chose a cheap one that does the job.  I’ll switch to a different one if necessary.  The spacers were just to make sure I had enough to get everything put together.

The 12-36 cassette is quite a wide range, and working in tandem with the Sugino 34/48 compact double purchased with the bike will give me plenty of gear for the hills.

The King Cage bottle cages are a bit pricey, but they’re hand-made in Colorado.  They also fit the aesthetic I’m shooting for with this bike.

I also bought cable and housing for this build, but that’s not worth taking a picture of.

I will initially be using the existing wheels.  I cleaned them up, including scrubbing the gumwall tires clean.  I got the saddle and bars mounted.  I installed and cabled the front brake.  I installed the derailleur and cassette.  It really looks like a bike now!

There may be a small issue with the front rack and clearance with the front brake cable.  I’ll have to ride it to find out if it’ll be a problem.

It might be hard to see in the picture, but the middle section of cable is just barely touching the rack mount.

I still have more to do to the bike, but I’m done for tonight.  I may get to take it around the neighborhood by tomorrow night.

I have most of the tools I need for this job, and make do without the ones I don’t.  I really wish I had a workstand though.

My second shipment of bike parts came in today.  This shipment was from Rivendell.  Both items are manufactured by Nitto.  The first is the Noodle handlebar.  It’s a popular drop-bar.  I’ve ridden a borrowed bike with the Noodle bar before, but never owned one.  The other thing in this shipment is the Nitto Mini front rack.  It’s a small rack, mostly to help support a handlebar bag.

I attached the brake levers that were included with the bike purchase to the bars with no issues.  I then installed the bar-end shifters that arrived from Velo-Orange yesterday.  VO has a reputation for pretty stuff with some quality control issues.  One of my shifters has an issue.  The hole for the cable does not go all the way through the lever.  I’ll need to drill it out.

I can’t actually put the bars on the bike yet, as I don’t have a stem.  I was able to attach the new Nitto rack.  I also took the pedals off of the unrideable single-speed and put them on the rSogn.

I’ll be picking up a large load of stuff tomorrow from On Your Left Cycles that I ordered last week.  This should give me everything I need to make the bike rideable.  It won’t be quite done, but at least I’ll be able to ride it and get things adjusted.

This week will be busy with new parts for the rSogn.  I got a small shipment today.

This order came from Velo-Orange.  This is the VO Grand Cru Seat Post and the Dia-Compe ENE Bar-End Shifters.  The aesthetic of these parts is what I want – shiny and slightly retro.

I mentioned a few weeks ago, that I had an idea for another bike.  I took a big step and bought most of a bike.

A guy who’s blog I follow, and I interact with him on Google+, had an appropriate bike for sale.  I mailed a check, he shipped a large box.

I had it shipped to my local bike shop so I wouldn’t have to be home when it arrived.  That left the problem of getting it home.  Well, the Big Dummy came through again.

After a slow, careful ride home, I was itching to open the box.  It was well packed and took a while with a knife and cutters to get everything free.

It’s not a complete bike.  It’s frame, fork, crank, derailleurs, wheelset (dyno front wheel), seatpost, seatpost clamp, and tires.  Also included, but not in the picture are fenders, tail light, misc hardware, bar tape, spare tubes, brake levers, and a few other bits and pieces.

It does not have a full drivetrain.  It doesn’t have brakes, stem, handlebars, saddle, or headlight.

My first planned ride for this bike won’t be until Spring, so I have the time to do it right.

So what is it?

It’s a Rawland rSogn.  It’s a low-trail, 650b wheel-sized, road bike with clearance for fat tires.  I’ll set it up like a brevet bike.  Dyno-powered lights, fenders, handlebar bag, and maybe a saddlebag.

It’ll be for long rides without carrying much.  I’ll stick with lightweight tires and minimal luggage.

I intend to really ramp up my mileage in 2013.  I hope this bike can be a large percentage of my riding.