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I have got a report that these two types of rear deraileurs have the same mechanical advantage:
- Shimano Dyna-Sys (which are marketed only as “10-speed”)
- SRAM E.S.P (which are marketed only as “9-speed”
Both take 35mm of cable to go over the whole cassette. Picture shows SRAM X.9 and Shimano XT, but any other derailleurs of the mentioned types would be interchangeable.
This means that either one can be replaced with another (provided that it can handle your biggest cog). I have not verified this myself. Remember that “SRAM 10-speed” deraileurs have different mechanical advantage, as do “Shimano 9-speed” ones, and there are no other pairs which are not designed for each other but work.
Maybe not a really useful finding in practice, but certainly an interesting one.
In August 2010, I made a fast 4-day cycling and bike-carrying trip over northeast Norway. Varanger peninsula, one of real “ends of the world”, is almost encircled by roads, the gap is “just” some 20 km. Here is the map, with the blue track following the roads where I was riding on my bike, and the red track showing the part where the bike was riding on me:
Report with photos here. I’m wondering how is it possible that I’ve been to that region already three times and I’m ready to select it for my vacation trip once again.
In Finland, most trains allow transportation of bicycles, but the fastest “Pendolino” trains do not.
Recently I traveled with my MTB, and Pendolino was the only feasible option (it was the first morning train, the next one arrived already too late). The only way was to partially disassemble and pack the bike so that it becomes normal luggage.
Packed bike in the room
This is my DIY ultralight water bag. The bag itself, without the bladder, weighs 20 grams.
§ Read the rest of this entry…
Previously, I have tried to find “theoretically” the tooth counts of the Nexus-7 internal gear hub. Some nice numbers were obtained, but there were some suspects (you may think yourself what can be wrong with the numbers given in the link). Soon after, I disassembled the real hub and counted the teeth of all rings. Here are the real numbers. § Read the rest of this entry…
Vendors of internal gear bicycle hubs naturally give the transmission ratios of own products. But I was always curious how exactly these ratios are obtained, i.e. which planet gears are engaged in which combination and how many teeth each gear has. This information was surprisingly hard to find – in fact, the only vendor who discloses this is Rohloff! It is certainly possible to just disassemble the hub, but, you know, sitting half-day at the computer screen is more attractive nowadays 
I have Nexus-7 hub on one of my bikes, and I have “reverse engineered” the exact tooth counts. § Read the rest of this entry…
Bicycle mudguards are frequently made shorter than they should have been. I was not able to find a front mudguard which would protect front chainrings from water jets pouring from the front wheel.
So I made my own from a 2mm thick rubber sheet. It is heavy and non-aerodynamic. It is heavy-duty! It makes difference when riding in the rain. It is tested. Highly recommended for bike commuters.
Living in Helsinki region, looking for a company for evening sporty road rides? Come to Vantaankoski (the home mark on the map below) on Tuesdays and Thursdays by 18:00.
What to expect there? § Read the rest of this entry…
I’ve started writing about my last year bike trip in the Indian Himalayas. Before I had not forced myself to more than one blog post and an unsorted pile of photos. Now I’ve started with a short illustrated text about practical issues, answering questions which I had at the planning stage:
Cycling in Himachal Pradesh: practical issues
My next plan is to publish the daybook with facts and impressions. Stay tuned.
We’ve done a great sunny full-day ride on our tandem with a kidback plus two other bikes. The target was Vanhankaupungin koski (stream and a waterfall), one of the city attractions we had not visited before.
This made 56 km and 10 hours door-to-door. I think it was the first day of the year when it was possible to cycle in shorts – not morning and evening though.
Map of the ride: § Read the rest of this entry…
Here is a map of my 8 March ride with IK-32 club.
View Larger Map
§ Read the rest of this entry…
Are you sometimes getting a thought that the life feels a bit too routine? That you’ve done nothing really crazy for a long time?
Even if so, the good news is that there is always an escape from such dead end! That is, unicycling!
§ Read the rest of this entry…
The winter – meaning, snow and ice – is not yet coming to our region, but I somehow feel that the roadbike season is over. With this thought in mind, I rebuilt my road (or cross) bike with flat bars.
§ Read the rest of this entry…
It has been a month since I have returned from solo cycling trip in Indian Himalayas.
Impressions clearly overloaded my brain. This was first time I’ve been to Real Mountains – the highest pass, Kunzum, was at 4500m. And this was my first time I’ve been to a non-Western country (not counting my home Russia, which I’d put “on the border”).
The route was easy: start at Shimla, and follow the National Highway 22 (with some variations in the beginning) until Manali. Oh the highway… Never have seen anything like this before.
Numbers, mostly of interest to cyclists only:
- 9 ride days
- 750km covered
- Total altitude gain is still not counted, although three biggest gains were 1600, 1300 and 1000 meters
What else:
In fact the impressions of India as a country overweigh the “mountain-cycling” impressions. It deserves much more than one blog post – even much more than one book. All my perception of the surrounding world is now a little bit different than it was before. Probably such thing is called “cultural shock”. I’m so happy that this happened; now I see how terribly narrow view I previously had.
Of the real India, I have seen only Chandigarh, which is described in all guides as most comfortable city in the country. Still it is, of course, Indian city (just like my home Saint Petersburg is the most European of the Russian cities, but still fully Russian).
I’m feeling own deficiency of not being a good writer to describe my thoughts about these two weeks. I will certainly do what I know I can – produce a technical report, with details for cyclists such as what tires to put on your bike and how much food to carry.
All pictures (unprocessed) piled here.
Today evening I was catching last weekend of the school vacation. Starting from tomorrow, my time limits for the outdoor activities again become much more strict. And there was a great chance to use it: in a company of Antero and Matti (thanks for calling me in!), we made 100km at average speed a bit over 30 km/h.
View Larger Map
Now I have 2000km on my roadbike’s computer during this season. Quite an achievement for me, taking into account that I was not cycling during 3 weeks when we went out for family trips, and that I do most of my everyday commuting on the other bicycle. Now intensive collection of kilometers slows down; I have a positive feeling that the time available to collect them was used at full extent.
We have fantastically good cycling weather now in southern Finland. And I’m happy to report the fact that I’m using this chance at full speed! Specifically, last Saturday I participated in a group ride in Hamina region. § Read the rest of this entry…
I cycled Helsinki-Tampere route to hang out with my former colleagues already many times. This became almost a tradition; I ride about 200km, and at some place meet my friends who rode maybe 20km from their homes. Each time I naturally try to choose a new route to explore small roads in between. This is how it went today:
Bigger map
The first span, Espoo-Karkkila, was nothing too interesting; I rode main roads to cover the distance faster. Early Sunday morning even roads like Valtatie 2 are almost empty. Then the nice part came. 2832 was a really great road: excellent pavement, very low traffic, spectacle outlooks. On road 283, in a small village Teuro, an exhibition of old machinery could be viewed at “Teuro old technique day”:
Old machines at Teuro day
Old bicycles at Teuro exhibition
40 km along road 2846 were another pleasant experience. The headwind, which I was fighting against all the route, became stronger; but I had enough time before our meeting and did not care about riding at too low speed. In the end, the average was (disgraceful for me) 24.6 km/h; well I have an excuse of that headwind.
It made altogether 230 km door-to-door – I did not cycle back but took a train. Great ride!
I have a number of favorite ride routes. Most of them are to the west from Helsinki area, as I live almost on the western border of Espoo. Recently I’ve refreshed two especially beautiful, probably “classic” treks: Hanko and Lohjanjärvi.
First was Hanko. Espoo-Hanko distance is 110 km by an arrow-straight, relatively flat, moderately loaded road. Last 35 kilometers are especially flat and especially nice; the path is cut through very clear and dry pine forest. The area was a battlefield two times in the history. About 20 km to Hanko you can turn for a cup of coffee into a military museum. § Read the rest of this entry…
I’m writing this from Helsinki cyclist’s viewpoint.
Do you know the Finnish traffic regulations applicable to bicycles? When you are obliged to yield to a car by the rules, and when to do this only if you see that you’d be ridden over otherwise?
The best thing is to read the source, but to get the feeling, you may answer 9 test questions for car drivers. Only a beginning knowledge of Finnish is required.
Answer 9 questions § Read the rest of this entry…
4 May, the first Sunday of the month, Helsinki bicycle clubs traditionally go out for a joint ride.
This time the ride was more than just enjoyable. It was fantastic! At the starting point, Vantaankosken grillikioski, there were about 25 bright-color roadbikers. § Read the rest of this entry…
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