Sunday, November 9, 2008

Brisbane Forest Park Cruise

5am start with OMO yesterday for a cruise through Brisbane Forest Park. We headed up South Boundary Road, dropped down Auggies, up Lightline, and returned along South Boundary. There are some great hills on this ride which are very much needed for conditioning ATM. I think it was about 65km but not 100% sure since my trip computer is R.S.






OMO was making the most of his 29er wheels today with some bloody big rocks and several water crossings. Meanwhile I had to tough it out on my conventional 26" wheels -lol.

It was terrific to see some rain fall in the catchment area.

OMO has a Rohloff internally geared hub fitted to his new 29er rig. It was my first look at this hub, and I must say I was impressed. I think I can see one of these being fitted to a touring bike in the not too distant future. There are several great design features of this hub:

1. Equal gear spacings
2. No derailleur
3. The mechanism is pratically totally enclosed
4. Able to do a full gear dump at once
5. Able to change gears whilst stationary

I believe it's about 300g heavier than a conventional XTR drive train (TBC). It's not cheap, but given my regular use and abuse of drive-trains, I could make my money back in quick time.


Sexy modelling legs there OMO;-/

6 comments:

OutdoorGaz said...

Roloffs are starting to appear all over the place ... must be something in it? Its good to see water in the creeks.

Anonymous said...

I saw one when I was up the coast on this 6inch dually. He loved it. But at around $2k not cheap. They still also aren't quite as efficient as conventional gears but on a tourer or non-race bike they would be great. IMO
Cheers
Aaron

Russell Worthington said...

I know they're not cheap, but the reliability and gear changing benefits could be of value for my touring application on sand.

rach edwards said...

surprised we didnt pass you russ, we went to lake manchester .. though we went down creek road, and up lightline probably 2 hours or so behind you...

some good creek crossings down there at the moment huh!

Anonymous said...

Owning and riding regularly on a Niner with a Rolhoff hub fitted is most excellent... The efficiency Aaron improves with age. With a recommended service every 12 months (which means undoing a allan key and draining oil and replacing said oil, and about 100,000 before any major service is required. I say go for it!

Nick Westwood said...

Owning and riding regularly on a Niner with a Rolhoff hub fitted is most excellent... The efficiency Aaron improves with age. With a recommended service every 12 months (which means undoing a allan key and draining oil and replacing said oil, and about 100,000 before any major service is required. I say go for it!