Dyno Hub Roll-Off

Shimano 3N80 Hub on test bike

Years ago, there wasn't much choice in Dyno Hubs for my randonneuring. Schmidt or Shimano. Schmidt SON was the standard for dynos. If should be, it cost 3x what the Shimanos did. John Mestemacher and I put together a super deal for several Shimano PH-3N80 hubs along with the excellent Mavic Open Pro 32H rims, laced with Swiss spokes & topped off with the efficient Supernova E3 light. This made a strong, fairly light and affordable set up. We used that for many years on the longer rides.
Fast Forward.

Today there are many good dynamo hubs on the market:
Biologic Joule 3
Sanyo
Schmidt
Shimano
Sutter Precision
SRAM
Supernova (based on SP hubs)

Shutter Precision SV-8 on test bike

All the different manufactures have their own tests to show how great there products are. Our buddy Mac Imacseng got a Shutter Precision SV-8 hub and took it over to this year's PBP. All was well (except his wiring connector & bent rim). Mac lent me his SP hub for this test vs my old Shimano PH-3N80!
Here we go.

Shimano PH-3N80 vs Shutter Precision SV-8
These hubs each cost about the same today. I did several tests to see which would have the least drag and work the best for my riding style. Mac's SP SV-8 hub was mounted on a Belgium 32H black rim. Somewhere along the line it took a hit and had a ding and was out of true. I managed to work it some to bring it back to somewhat usable condition (brake still grabs but it rolls fine).

Test was done from a standing marked start. Bike was allowed to roll downhill till it stopped. I assumed the same position each run. Air pressure was the same and the same tire brand  & size was used on the front wheel.



Roll Test - Regular Wheel:
Test bike had a 32mm aero 18H Velocity rim, with ultra smooth cartridge bearing VeloMax hubs wheel laced with flat blade spokes. This wheel ran a long long distance.





Free Roll Test:
This test used the Shimano Hub first, then quickly followed by the SP Hub. (Same wind conditions). The Supernova light was hooked up to each hub, but not turned on.
Shimano Hub wheel was built with Mavic Open Pro 32H rim,laced with Swiss Revolution spokes.
SP Hub was laced to Belgium black 32H wheel with black spokes.
They seemed to weigh about the same.





Free Roll With Light On Test:
Same as Free Roll Test but the Supernova light was turned on, thus the maximum amount of drag.





Overnight Road Test:

Test bike with Supernova E-3 light

I rode a night ride, following the same route as we rode last month when Albany Sam was here (Sandia Creek Century). I rode the full route using my Shimano Hub set-up that night. Today, I would use Macs SP Hub set up. I would generally compare the difference, if any.

Overall the SP hub performed well and seemed to offer less resistance, especially during free rolling and when the light wasn't turned on. I ended up making several beam adjustments during the ride, finally getting a perfect "egg" shaped pattern. Around 6 mph on climbing, the light entered a flickering stage.. denoting a declining output due to wheel speed. The Shimano had performed the same, only at a slightly lower speed. The beam strength at full speed was similar, but for some reason, I think the Shimano was a little brighter.


Conclusions:
These test and conclusions are not really very scientific, but based more on actual use. Overall, I thought the SP offered less free-rolling and under-power resistance. Not much, but it was noticeable to me during the night ride. SP Hub is lighter by 100gm, but a good wheel build will make that up. The Shimano 3N80 has a superior electrical connector to the hub. It also works with the SP Hub. The brake grabbing on Macs SP wheel was a little irritating at times, but I don't think it affected the overall performance. Maybe a good wheel rebuild would offer real smooth wheel rolling?

Shutter Precision now offers a smaller, lighter and more efficient (they claim) newer model, SV-9. This is designed for racers and has the same hi-speed output as other dyno hubs, is fully rated for 20" wheels, but lacks full output at low speeds on 700 wheels (German Standards). I guess racers don't go that slow anyway!

 - randorides

Camels To Yaqui Pass

Garmin stats from today's ride

Every year, the Thursday OFR Gruppo does their PIE RIDE ( initially based on the Camels To Yaqui Pass Permanent Route). So it was natural to post up a week in advance for the rando version & send out a few info email to riders. Had a good response on this for the short time notice.

Rando Bill Stevenson was nice enough to invite me for the drive out to the Ramona start. I left home after 0500 and rode over to Escondido Transit Station. Met Bill at 0600 in the lot. Surprise...his buddy Mac Imacseng was with him! Bill had a top rack on his SUV, requiring a shortie step ladder to load up my Fuji. Looked secure to me. Off we went, with Mac in the jump seat, chatting away. Just back from PBP in August, he had lots of stories to tell. I added my two-cents worth every time we passed a dirt trail on the way up to Ramona.

Randos leaving Ramona

Parking near the 7-Eleven , Keith Olsen was there unloading his bike, as well as new guy Ken Hartman and John Fry (who drove out together). After taking a few snapshots and getting start receipts, we were off at 0700. Start temp was 53F, so arm warmers and one under-layer was good for the day. I also changed my seat bag to a slightly larger one to carry a sandwich and some go-powder!

Nice group riding up old Julian Hwy where the traffic was nil. New guy Ken was riding his Long Haul Trucker with a large HB bag. I'm sure later he would rethink his bike choice (leaving his much lighter Soulcraft at home). I did chat with him about this and he said it was a gear choice for all the climbing today. Once onto Hwy. 78 we did encounter a few more cars and trucks, mostly clumped together. Several horn honking incidents, which I assumed were the OFR riders on their way to Santa Ysabel. Rolled into Santa Ysabel at 0825.

OFR & Randos in Santa Ysabel

First up was refuel and bathroom break. Then time to chit-chat with the OFR riders there. They would be riding the same route over to S-22 (road to Ranchita & Borrego Springs). After waiting around for a bit, they said their ride leader Troy Buss was feeling ill and his back-up, Bruce Tipton was running late. I took a few snaps for the planned ride video, while we milled around. Several other group riders were there, including Randy, Jimbo, Wayne & John Bruce. I noticed Jim Wisener sneaking out onto Hwy. 79, so we soon followed with the randos and a few others. Bruce T. hadn't shown up yet.

Hwy. 79 has been resurfaced of late and it was smooth sailing to Mesa Grande Road. The group broke up a bit on the pleasant climb with time for some picture taking of lo-cloud covered Lake Henshaw on the way down to a regroup at the fav. Harley hangout: Hideout Saloon. 5 minutes later we were on our way down Hwy. 76.

Cloud covered Lake Henshaw

More calm Hwy. 79 riding with the addition of a tailwind. This road was near empty today, unlike the weekends where it's packed with motor homes and trucks heading for the desert below. The turn onto S-2 brought wider shoulders and no traffic today. Keith dropped his glasses so I waited around and we rode back to the group before the S-22 regroup. Mac pulled off to the other side of the road to re-engage his dropped chain (several more later). Mac was riding a new E-Bay Ibis CX carbon. Looks like it needs some new cables, chain and a tune up!  At the regroup, I got into some fire ants and was soon followed by John Fry doing the same. Those suckers BITE! Looking back, I noticed 3 more OFR riders coming to the curve, then stop. ( I later discovered that Hilda had a flat tire.)

Soon Keith, Mac, Bill, John, Ken and I were climbing to Ranchita. Once there. I wanted to check out another source of water, since the store had closed up due to landlord dispute. The Fire Station offered 24/7 water from the outside front spigot. Good for future reference. Meanwhile, Keith was push-riding on the soft-gravel Skyway Dr. to a house just behind. Seems it's a family friend named Ross Radford who also offered his water for randos! Keith spent some time there checking out the solar set up, aquaponics and dogs in the yard! We regrouped for the desert plunge.

Power food in Borrego Springs

 Several grade and speed warnings as we approached the "glass elevator" to Borrego Springs. It's 12 miles of pure downhill speed! The good thing today was the lack of wind. We were all speeding down as I was trying to hold John Fry's wheel and take pictures... interesting and not recommended! Bill, Mac, John & I made the customary stop at the overlook for a few pics. View past the Salton Sea almost to AZ land. Welcome relief from the instant temp change as we sat in the shade at the Borrego Springs station store. Mac wanted to go further and get some burritos down the street! Ice, water and bathrooms behind were the key for this stop. Long way to go with lots of climbing ahead.

Once again the lack of wind was a blessing as we traversed Borrego Springs and started the climb up Yaqui Pass. Nice gentle grade increase as I rode with Mac. Temps were in the lo-90's now, but felt cooler than that. Refreshing regroup at the top while posing around the sign for a photo-op. Bill & Mac took off on the twisty downhill to Tamerisk Campgroud in a clump of trees at the bottom. They were open and last chance for outside water. We kept rolling past, anxious for the climbing ahead!

Yaqui Pass regroup

All we got was some headwind at the Hwy. 78 turn. Mac, Bill & Keith were pace-lining ahead as I was hinting at the others for us to do the same. Not to happen, as John & Ken opted to ride side by side. Narrows was coming up and good thing the traffic was almost nil today or it would really get "iffy". Scissor Crossing brought relief from the wind and a passing of the Pacific Crest Trail. (Sorry, no bikes on that one... bummer!)

More side-wind pushed us into Stagecoach Trails Campground, where the guys were already "shoes off" mode and sucking liquid. Hey, they remodeled the inside of the store. Nicer now with a cola machine. In the front they had a special barrel of iced Vitamin Water for 99 cents! That's a deal even at Wallie-Mart prices. I grabbed 2 and iced up! 15 minutes later we were ready to head up the last climb of the day: Banner Grade into a slight headwind to start.

Halloween in Wynola

After Scissor Crossing it's almost all uphill to Julian. I informed the guys of our regroup at Cozens Station in Julian town. Ken and John were riding together and Keith soloed up. Mac dropped his greasy chain again as Bill went ahead to make a cell call home. I joined up with Mac for the climb. We kept seeing Bill far ahead in his whitish jersey. Hardly any traffic to contend with as we finally joined Bill near Wynola Road. Mac and I made a pit stop before hi-speeding the last few miles up to Julian. Bill was on his cell with the Ms.

Mac wanted a wager on when Keith and the others would roll into Julian. Then he offered a hot chocolate for the palette and ear plugs for the leaf blower guys noise and dust! Gee-wiz, what a dink. We finally shut the door to the station after moving our bikes. Time to put the arm warmers back on for the hi-speed run back to Ramona. Sun was getting lower behind the pine trees now. I added my paper vest under the RUSA jersey.

Back to Ramona at dusk

Temps were nice, but as we picked up speed on the downhill, I got a slight case of "shakes". Time to knee the top-tube  and start pedaling!  About a mile of that was enough and things calmed down again. Ken had the same thing behind, so we regrouped with John Fry for the ride down. Lite traffic and failing light were perfect for a speedy return via Old Julian Hwy. Used my little Dorcey spot headlamp and it was OK, but next time the Cygolite would be safer.  Took "D" Street into the back alley and that was it. Grabbed a receipt and took a few shots in the dim sunset. Keith offered his usual Chocolate Ensure for recovery, which I grabbed some 7-Eleven ice and sucked it down on the drive back. Thanx to Bill for the ride!

Interesting day on the road, with the OFR leaderless start, info stop in Ranchita, lite headwind thru the narrows and "shaky-bake" leaving Julian. Looks like all riders were dialed in learning today... Mac will get his IBIS CX tuned up, Ken knows what to bring next rando ride, Keith will get his glasses strapped on & I'll bring knee warmers!

Camels To Yaqui Pass Video

Clear skies
Hi: 93   Lo: 53 (Garmin)
Wind: W-7
124 miles



-randorides

7226 Miles & Still Rollin'

A couple of new Conti GatorHARDSHELL for the distance.

Not me, ding dong, the tires!
John Mestemacher & I had often discussed how many miles we get off a set of Conti Gatorskin tires. We didn't know for  sure as we would often change tires and not pay attention much to mileage.. just running them till you see the cord!

Yes, I finally managed to keep an accurate log of the exact mileage on a 700x28mm G'skin HARDSHELL set from early in the year. For certain rides, I would take my best tires and put them on a different bike. This entailed keeping a written log of the exact mileage on that set of tires. I had several pages of details. The last few months, I just left them on the Fuji carbon bike. 7226 miles on rando routes only. Didn't count the other run-around stuff.

I did have a few flats as the tires wore down, especially the I Got Screwed episode early in the morning on the way to a route start. I rotated tires about every 1000 miles to keep the wear even. After riding the San Marcos Century yesterday, I noticed a flat rear tire today. Looks like a piece of glass. Still some mileage left of those boys, but now the small thorns and glass bits do their work easily.

Doing the Camels To Yaqui Pass in a few days, so time to change over to some new foldable HARDSHELLS. I did notice a difference in Conti's latest rendition. They now have "wear indicators"! You know the2 little holes in the tread area. When they are gone, you're supposed to replace the tires. Ya, right. I'll still run them to the cords!

This time I read the multi-language paper that comes with the tires too. Tells you about inflation and how to change a tire. Good stuff and just reinforces how I now do it.

I've been using HARDSHELL for several years and I think they are better than the regular G'skins.. in strength and longevity. They do weigh a few grams more, but if you get the foldable that negates that. Also, I run 5 lbs of air pressure less than on the regular G'skins to make up for the slightly "stiffer" carcass. HARDSHELLS have a full Duraskin mesh across the full time width as do the regulars. Looks like the real difference is the contact area has a different material under the rubber. Box says "extra rubber"!  And all Gatorskins are sort of expensive. If I didn't get a super deal on them, I would be back using Forte rubber!

Boy, they wear a long time & handle great.
Sizes from 23mm to 32mm for road tires.

more next time,
randorides

Resurrecting The SIDI Sole

Repair stuff for SIDI's. Left shoe sole has to be stripped, right is already cleaned.

What a great cycling shoe. SIDI's ROCK!~

They should for what they cost. I came across my SIDI's long ago on the discount table at Performance Bike in Oceanside. Some hi-end cyclists ordered them in and never picked them up or they didn't work out or fit him. Don't know. I do know that they really fit me well. Dominator Mega 47. These had the MTB Competition Soles (no screws to replace the soles like many of their carbon soles have). No one wore that size except me, so I haggled the price over a period of several months.

Fast forward to my worn sole nubs. I used these shoes for MTB rides and road cycling. I guess I could send them to SIDI somewhere for a real pro job but that would take several months and cost a whole lot. The soles were worn down so I glued on some die-cut pieces of leather. That would last for a few months. I used GOOP Glue and finally waterproof Contact Cement. This time I searched around for some composite sole material like what was on the SIDI's. Several local shoe shops had the material, but wouldn't sell it to me due to "shop use only". I researched the internet, but sheet material is difficult to ascertain unless you can see and feel it.

I hooked up with DOART Shoe Repair in Escondido on Saturday and picked up some material they had. Nice people there even gave me a little of the adhesive they use called SuperGlue 787. Ten dollars for a 12" x 8" x 1/8" piece. Enough to do a least 3 "resoles". I'll check this material out and see how it works.

SIDI resole job complete. Polished up with a coat of Kiwi Heel & Edge Polish

The sheet material was sort of rubber like with a rough side. I used my paper pattern to cut out the pieces. Right shoe I would use the 787 SuperGlue and on the left Contact Cement. The prep work took the longest. Cleaning off the existing leather add-ons was tough. I finally used a sharp knife and a file. After cleaning, I filed the contact area and wiped down every thing with alcohol.

SG-787 is bad stuff for special use on leather, rubber and more open pore material. I put it on the pieces and stuck them on the sole nubs. Once you touched the nubs, you had 1-second to move it and press it on. DONE.  Left shoe was much easier using Contact Cement. Apply to both parts, let dry for 30 minutes and press in place. You'll have more slide time with this.

After drying for a day, I cleaned them up a bit by polishing them off with KIWI Heel & Edge Polish. I tried the shoes out on the San Marcos Century. All was well.

-randorides