An interesting gear problem

This is quite an interesting but somewhat annoying problem!



When the drive chain is running on either of the two large front chain rings and the rear shifter is operated, the chain glides smoothly from one cog to another without a problem. However if the front shifter is then set to use the smallest inner (22T) chain ring, the top jockey wheel on the rear derailleur fouls the block when the chain reaches the largest 34T inner cog. I've checked all possible gear combinations and as far as I'm aware, this only occurs when I'm using the exact gear combination mentioned above!

On the road again

My nearly 7-year old ICE QNT

A recent check of my bicycle computer revealed that since I replaced both the tyres and drive chain back in May of 2010, my trike has actually covered a little over 400 miles. I know that very few of those miles were done last year and if pressed, I'm reasonably confident that I could dream up a number of plausible excuses for not using the thing. However the simple truth is, I've not been in the best of health and I really haven't felt well enough to ride. Throughout this time my fairly expensive toy has sat forlornly in our garden shed doing nothing more adventurous than gathering cobwebs and dust! But all that changed last week when I decided to try cycling again.

What surprised me most is the strength that remains in my legs. Even though I've not ridden for such a long time, my legs are still strong enough to cope with the many uphill climbs that are so much a feature of the Shropshire countryside in which I live and ride. For me the great thing about riding recumbent is the almost total absence of pain, even when I'm pedalling uphill for prolonged periods. I do get occasional discomfort but this is mostly limited to my knees. Because my legs are different lengths, I have learnt to adjust the boom to suit my shorter right leg. Unfortunately doing this can and sometimes does cause pain in my left knee. So far any pain I've experienced has been fleeting and certainly not enough to stop me riding or force me rethink my current setup. According to my old but trusty Garmin GPS, in 3 separate trips the trike covered exactly 43.6 miles (about 70 Km) and I have to say I enjoyed travelling every single mile!

The attached picture shows what my nearly 7-year old ICE QNT looks like today - I think it still looks pretty good, don't you?
(to view a much larger image, please click the picture)

Recumbent Veltop For Sale

The actual recumbent Veltop featured in Velovision issue 39 is now for sale. It has only been used for my review and was brand new when supplied by Veltop earlier this year. Comes boxed complete with a Trice fixing kit. If the mounting kit cannot be adapted for use with your machine, Veltop provide a range of fixing kits to suit other recumbent trikes. If you are interested, please let me know...I will forward all offers to the owner.

Santa came early this year

Just over a week ago, I got an early gift from Santa!  That gift was a brand new Panasonic DMC-GF1 camera + Lumix 14-42mm lens.  Amazingly Santa also provided a genuine Panasonic leather case to put it in - Lucky me!  Well not really, at 55 I am probably a little old to believe in lovely ideas like Santa Claus.  The truth is I funded the camera by selling most my existing camera equipment and my wife and daughter paid for the remainder.  Perhaps there is a Santa after all?  In addition to still images, my new camera also records 720p video, so you may even see movies posted on this blog.  My plan is to ride with this kit in my bicycle panniers throughout 2011.

ICE Vortex 2 Road Test...An Update

The owner of this lovely and much modified machine has decided he does not want to see it used during the coming winter months.  Therefore my planned road test will be in warm and dry conditions sometime next year.  I have to say that if I owned a Trice of this specification, I would feel exactly the same!

Recumbent Veltop Review

Velovision Issue 39

My Recumbent Veltop Review has been published in Velo Vision.  A version in .pdf format can be found here - Both the cover image shown on the left and the .pdf version of my review are courtesy of the editor Peter Eland...For those of you who don't know this excellent cycling magazine, Velo Vision can be found by clicking this link.

ICE Vortex 2 Road Test

I will shortly be doing a road test on a modified ICE Vortex 2.  Unlike the standard version of the Vortex, the machine I will test is fitted with front and rear suspension...watch this space!

Veltop...What's it really like? Recumbent Veltop Review

I have now completed my Recumbent Veltop Review and it has been submitted for possible publication to a national cycle magazine.  If they do not wish to publish, I will definitely post links to the review from this blog...

Prees Trice Weekend Pictures

Images from this event can now be found here - If you would like copies of any of these pictures, please contact me by using the comments feature below this item.  My sincere thanks go to Pat Douglass at Xpanding Horizons for allowing me to use many of the pictures she took over that weekend.

Prees Trice Weekend by Mike Hessey

What a great event! Congratulations and thanks to all those involved in organising the event, and also to Abigail who managed more than twice her previous highest mileage, and on a heavy KMX while the rest of us were on Trices - and at 10 she is only 1/6 of my age, which is depressing, and I would never have even considered such a ride when I was her age!  I really enjoyed the ride, and it was particularly satisfying to see a younger rider take part, and complete the ride. I think Abigail did really well - congratulations to her.  I thought Abigail did very well towards the end; the time I was getting quite concerned was at around 40% of the distance - she obviously picked up later, while I was suffering from heatstroke by then (my excuse)! I was horrendously sunburnt on the legs when I got back (I forgot to take any cream with me), but I was sufficiently tired that it did not affect my sleeping, and although it still looks horribly red, it is not all that uncomfortable.

Note added by Tricerider:  On the left is a GPS generated map of the Saturday Prees route.  For Mike, Abigail (my daughter) and myself the ride was a total of 37 miles (60 Km).  On our return journey, we unfortunately missed a turning that would have taken us directly to the campsite at Green Lane.  However, I doubt that more than a mile was added by our unplanned detour.

(please click the map for a larger image)