Tires - Continental Contact

Tire Speed Page here

When I bought my first trike in 2009 it came with Schwalbe tires. I stayed with Schwalbe up until recently only because I just got used to buying Schwalbe. That changed recently when I decided I wanted a better looking tire without the reflective stripe (I don't ride at night). The Continental Contact was one of the few if not the only name brand touring style tire that comes without the reflective stripe. 

I've been riding with the Continental Contact tires for over 500 miles and they have become my favorite tire. They satisfy my want for a cool looking tire but more important they are fast, comfortable and hold the road beautifully. My very unscientific measure of tire speed can be seen on my Tire Speed page. So far they seem as tough as any Schwalbe tire other than the heavy Schwalbe flat resistant tires like the Plus and Marathon. 

As Fall and Winter come around and the tree debris accumulates in the street I'll probably change over to Schwalbe Marathon Plus for awhile.

Continental Contact 37/406 (20"x1.45")

Continental Contact 47/559 (26"x1.75")

 

MicroShift Bar End Shifter

Updated September 2022

I'm now using an SRAM 1190 bar end shifter. Post Here

I installed a new MicroShift indexed bar end shifter after putting 2,150 miles on the old MicroShift. Good enough for a $50 shifter.

After replacing my worn out chain and adding a new cassette (post here) I couldn't get the gearing tuned. Either the top few gears were tuned or the bottom gears. But never the whole gear range. The problem had to be with the old MicroShift shifter. And it was. All gears are now perfectly tuned with the new MicroShift indexed bar end shifter. 

For $50 I have no problem replacing the 11 speed shifter at around 2,000 miles. I would prefer a Sram indexed shifter but I can only find them sold in sets for front and rear derailleurs and they are expensive. My experience with them is that they last longer. But unlike my Catrike 700 and Expedition days I don't need a front shifter. I don't want to pay the added expense for a front shifter I don't need.

The original MicroShift was added September of last year replacing the Di2 electronic shifter (that post here).

September 2021.
A new MicroShift indexed bar end shifter
and cable actuated derailleur replaced
the Di2 system.

.

For those who just have to know more here is the shifter broken down.

Metal shavings seen after removing the end piece.

Where the indexing magic takes place.

One ball bearing is missing. Did it escape 

while I was taking the unit apart or...?

All the parts.

 Other than the metal shavings and a missing 

ball bearing all the other parts seem good. 

But it doesn't take much to mess up the 

required precision of an indexed shifter.

Chain Wear with E-Assist

Are e-assists chain eaters? Hard for me to say but it seems like my current 11 speed YBN chain suffered wear and stretch faster than usual. I can be a bit manic when it comes to maintaining my trike but this one got away from me. 

I checked the chain at 7,700 miles thinking that I might be getting close to 50% wear. Wow... it's easily at .75% wear. The chain wear tool slipped right in at 75%. I should have checked my chain wear when shifting started to get sloppy. Maybe the e-assist and all the climbing I do put more stress on the chain then I realized.

The point is, check for chain wear/stretch a little sooner if using e-assist.

I tried to order 14 feet (168 links or 336 links depending on what you consider a link) of chain. It seems like 11 speed chain sold by the foot is out of stock everywhere. However as of the date of this post Dana at Bent Up Cycles has 11 speed FSA sold by the foot in stock.

With no 11 speed recumbent length to be found at the time I bought three standard chain lengths of KMC 11 speed and linked them together with KMC Missing Links. Not my preferred chain replacement method but it works all the same.

Because the chain was easily at .75% wear I also replaced the 11/46 cassette and the 44t chainring. 

I've been wanting to change over to a 11/42 cassette from the 11/46. So all is good. With the e-assist the large 46t cog is not needed for riding roads. With a 11/42 cassette the gearing will be a little more closely spaced which I prefer. 

I bought my ICE Sprint FS E8000 in May of 2019. So it's just over three years old.

Total miles 7,700.

Total gain 547,000 feet (all that climbing tests by gimpy legs but I sure do love going downhill).

Me a Road Hog? Lets Get Real

Occasionally, but rarely, an upright cyclist somehow will show their discontent with having to share the road with what they see as an outrageously oversized obstacle (me) in the road that impedes their Strava record attempt. The overwhelming majority of cyclists are totally cool although curious at times. But non the less let's get real about size.

Some facts

The handle bar width on a traditional road bike is 15" to 18" (380mm to 460mm). 

On a mountain bike or a bike with straight bars the width is 27" to 31" (680mm to 800mm). 

Note: the average adult male is 16.1" (409 mm) from shoulder to shoulder. For a female it's 14.4" (366mm).

The width of my trike and most trikes for that matter at the front wheels is 32" (812mm).

Now my not so serious opinionated thoughts 

So why do handful of people in the cycling community complain about trikes taking up too much room? Maybe some are just prejudiced against anything that is not two wheels and upright (thanks UCI). Others probably mean well but still think we take up more space than we actually do. 

Yes a trike is heavier, bulkier and a few inches or millimeters wider but how much of the road do we actually require?

Now let's get real, the casual traditional cyclist is not going to be able to maintain a straight line for any significant amount of time, especially on a rough road. They "wobble". So when figuring out how much space they actually need consider how the rider is going to wobble around (the "wobble factor" for lack of a better term). 

With my e-assist I can easily pass the average cyclist going up a hill and also going down because I'm pushing less air. So I'm doing a of lot passing. By the time I'm up to passing an upright cyclist I've already made a judgment about how much room I need to allow for a rider and their wobble. It's pretty easy to make out an experienced rider who is not going to wobble into you. If they're fit and wearing the proper "I want to be in the Tour de France" couture and maintaining reasonable control of their ride then I can pretty much be confident in their anti-wobble skills. For the less than experienced wobbly rider I'll give up to three feet of extra space when passing. 

Now for my anti-wobble skills (other trikes as well) I know I present a straight and smooth track to riders, traditional or whatever, coming up from behind. If you're wobbling on three wheels you're probably drunk and should get off the road but otherwise three wheels on the ground is a no brainer for not wobbling. It's common for experienced riders (the ones with the well developed tanned calves) to pass close, very close, to me. They obviously see that I can maintain a straight line and it doesn't hurt that I acknowledge their intention to pass with a wave.

Again...the overwhelming majority of cyclists on the road are totally cool and we wave to each other while riding and usually start up a conversation while taking a break. There are a lot cyclists on my regular routes so I have the opportunity to know them in passing. But it's that 1/100 traditional cyclist who gives me a "get out of my way glare or gesture" that makes you want to scratch your head and say "what the hey". But I don't let it cloud my positive attitude to cyclists in general no matter what they ride or wear.

................................

Now I know there are other factors that determine how much room is needed on a recumbent trike vs a traditional bike. I've heard "a real bike can ride closer to the curb". No experienced two wheeler is going to ride the curb but a trike can dip an inside wheel towards the curb with no harm to self when the situation calls for it and so on and so forth. 

Riding on Multi Use Paths (MUPs) is a whole topic onto itself. And sense I do very little trail riding I'll leave that topic alone.

That's all for my little light hearted treatise on the subject. Just stay save, wave and be aware.

ACA Pacific Route Ventura to SF

Updating this post as of July 27th.

Change in plan. After looking more closely at the ACA Pacific Route between Ventura and San Fransisco it is not all beautiful scenery. There are a lot of segments of this route which give me no reason to ride them. Some roads are less than safe but I know how to navigate unsafe roads. It's the scenery that is for shit. I can be goal oriented but it doesn't make sense for me to ride routes I don't enjoy just for the sake of riding them. I want to make good use of the riding years I have left. Hopefully a lot of years are left but us boomers are not getting younger. So I'll ride all the worth while segments of the Pacific Route and focus on other cool rides. In September I'll be taking a road trip to Oregon to Ride the Rim at Crater Lake. It will be followed by a ride on the Sacramento River Trail in Redding Ca. starting at the Sundial Bridge. And maybe I'll add in the Covered Bridges in Oregon before heading South to Redding and then home.

___________________________________

After 13 years and thousands of miles of riding trikes on the same routes and climbing a few hundred thousand feet on those routes I've been itching for a change of scenery. Besides taking some road trips with my beautiful wife Carrie to checkout some new roads and trails (which we've been doing) I also want to ride the Adventure Cycling Association Pacific Route between Ventura and San Fransisco. I'm not planning some epic tour. The days when I would consider a long multi day tour are behind me. I'm just going to ride at my own pace and mostly do day rides and meet Carrie at the end of a ride. Maybe I'll continue riding another segment of the Pacific Route the next day or not. Eventually I want to take in the entire coast between Ventura and San Fransisco by the end of next year or sooner. My entire purpose is to experience Highway1 and the ACA Pacific Route from the seat of my trike. 

Why do it this way? Simple, it makes it possible to travel with Carrie who prefers not to be riding a trike or any kind of bicycle. We like to travel together and she can do her thing for a good part of day and I can do mine. At the end of day we're back together for dinner and drink. We end the day together in the comfort of a hotel room and I can rest my gimpy legs in the comfort of a real bed, no more camping and sleeping on the ground for me.

Having e-assist makes the rides a no brainer. Before e-assist the thought of handling the climbs held me back from rides that would involve significant climbing or distance. I have plenty of battery range with three batteries. Info on my battery range here.

I can't do a traditional tour but I can adapt and tour my way.

Highway 1 at San Simeon CA.

The route from Ventura to San Fransisco. It's my intention to make the entire route turn blue by riding it in segments. The red is currently the section I have not been on. The blue part of the route I've been on many many times and I decided to check out the rest of the route one segment at time. Most of the rides will be from North to South for a better Ocean view,

The numbers

My support team.

Roadside Tire Removal

After denting my helmet while supporting the rear end of my trike to repair a flat rear tire I realized I needed  something better to raise the rear end off the ground. DIY time.

For the rear tire I made a lift from an old trekking pole that I cut and topped it off with a with a couple of retrofitted clamps. I lock the front wheels and support the rear fork with the DIY lift. It's light and small and tucks away easily in my pannier.