VSF FAHRRADMANUFAKTUR - TX-1000 Rohloff. Thoughts please?

[Brucey]

gadgets aside, I think that batteries are of limited use for 'see where you are going' type lights, should you actually intend to use them much. Not all touring is anywhere near USB ports, powerpoints, etc, and not all of that which is involves being stopped near them anyway.

IME front wheel problems mostly fall into two categories;

- the sort you can fix by the side of the road well enough and then repair at your leisure and

- the sort that send you to hospital, at which point repairing the wheel is the least of your worries.

Having or not having a hub generator is usually not an issue in these circumstances.

cheers

[pete75]

[ My own LED lights stay on when I stop the Dynohub ones on the VSF-50s go off leaving you in the dark - personally (again) I think that this should be a more fruitful avenue for lawmakers...

On the other hand if

Modern dynamo lights have capacitors which keep them on when you stop.

[bretonbikes]

[ My own LED lights stay on when I stop the Dynohub ones on the VSF-50s go off leaving you in the dark - personally (again) I think that this should be a more fruitful avenue for lawmakers...

On the other hand if

Modern dynamo lights have capacitors which keep them on when you stop.

Yes I know, but it isn't the law and the VSF's don't.

[pete75]

They do on my VSF. What make and model of lights are fitted to yours?

[bretonbikes]

gadgets aside, I think that batteries are of limited use for 'see where you are going' type lights, should you actually intend to use them much. Not all touring is anywhere near USB ports, powerpoints, etc, and not all of that which is involves being stopped near them anyway.

IME front wheel problems mostly fall into two categories;

- the sort you can fix by the side of the road well enough and then repair at your leisure and

- the sort that send you to hospital, at which point repairing the wheel is the least of your worries.

Having or not having a hub generator is usually not an issue in these circumstances.

cheers

My wife has LED lights that charge with USB and does just fine - car drivers 'dip' from a loooong way away - granted she's not off-road at 20mph;-)

I don't want to be argumentative (but it's my nature;-) but I'd guess 99.9%+ of people tour where they will stop near a power point every couple of weeks. I guess it's conceivable to find an area without such facilities for 2 weeks, but few of us will ever go there. For those that do, or who need motorbike strength lights then by all means use Dynamos and good luck to you, but it doesn't justify them being standard fit on all models VSF bike. If I was advising someone about to go cyclecamping in Europe it would be a battery every time.

I'm actually a recent convert (the worse sort) as when I'm leading groups I'm obviously quite occupied even in the evenings and forget to charge my phone (essential for back-up) or MP3 player (helps me sleep) and a simple £15 battery has made my life considerably less stressful;-)

[bretonbikes]

They do on my VSF. What make and model of lights are fitted to yours?

Actually now you mention it it's not something I've investigated (can't see the rear when riding) but the front goes off... Maybe they need to be ridden for some time before the capacitor works (I've not ridden it at night). If so not an ideal solution - pull out from a stop and if you stop immediately (junction etc) you have no lights? You can see a pic of the light here - http://www.bretonbikes.com/homepage/cyc ... e-vsf-t50s

As an aside I used one of those rubber Decathlon LED rear lights as an emergency light to be carried in my toolkit. The other day I put it on and it refused to switch off. it flashed for three days - 72 hours+! Pretty amazing for a coin sized battery...

[LollyKat]

For those that do, or who need motorbike strength lights then by all means use Dynamos and good luck to you, but it doesn't justify them being standard fit on all models VSF bike.

But Germany and the Netherlands have a long tradition of using dynamos - I think until fairly recently there weren't any battery lamps that met German regulations. CJ regularly used to praise the Germans for selling bikes fully equipped with carriers and dynamo lights - ready to go straight from the shop.

[bretonbikes]

For those that do, or who need motorbike strength lights then by all means use Dynamos and good luck to you, but it doesn't justify them being standard fit on all models VSF bike.

But Germany and the Netherlands have a long tradition of using dynamos - I think until fairly recently there weren't any battery lamps that met German regulations. CJ regularly used to praise the Germans for selling bikes fully equipped with carriers and dynamo lights - ready to go straight from the shop.

Oh I quite agree that it 'was' a great idea - but now with powerful LED's and Lithium batteries times have changed but the law is a little slow. I'm old enough to remember that LED lamps (rears at the time) were deemed not to be 'lights' in the UK because they flashed even though the flashing was too fast to see.

[reohn2]

For many types of cycling the old arrangement of 40h rear/32h front is much more sensible than most alternatives, and similarly if (say) a 32h wheel is strong enough at the back, most (unladen) riders would be OK with a 28h or 24h wheel at the front, (apart from when spokes break).

cheers

What makes better sense IMO is 36/36,these days a 36 spoke 135OLN dished wheel is a pretty robust bit of kit,if sensible specced and properly built.
But the beauty of having equal spoking per wheel is that if the rear wheel goes crock,the front rim can be rebuilt into the rear and any cheap front wheel can fitted to carry on.
Try sourcing 40hole rims from stock in a bike shop and you're in trouble.

[Brucey]

if people routinely used (say) 40/32 instead of 36/36 two things would happen;

a) rear wheels wouldn't break so often and

b) bike shops would have the rims in stock....

You may think a 36h rim in the rear wheel is OK but let me put it this way; -it is almost certainly weaker and/or heavier (because you had to up-rim it to make it strong enough) vs how it could be. If the front wheel has the same rim on then (unless you are carrying all your load on the front wheel) it is similarly a fair bit stronger than it needs to be.

If you use 36/36 wheels, the evidence suggests that in most bikes the rear wheel is about three times more likely to fail than the rear.

cheers

[reohn2]

if people routinely used (say) 40/32 instead of 36/36 two things would happen;

a) rear wheels wouldn't break so often and

They don't now,as most people tour on 36's

b) bike shops would have the rims in stock....

They don't now,because most people tour on 36's and that's what matters .

You may think a 36h rim in the rear wheel is OK but let me put it this way; -it is almost certainly weaker and/or heavier (because you had to up-rim it to make it strong enough) vs how it could be. If the front wheel has the same rim on then (unless you are carrying all your load on the front wheel) it is similarly a fair bit stronger than it needs to be.

We are touring so it doesn't matter that much if the front rim is a leettle heavier than needs be,if you want 'rim up' it's Sputniks,if you want a reasonably light rim it's Mavic 719 or similar.Either way you're a covering your options with that spare front rim,though chances are you won't need it .

If you use 36/36 wheels, the evidence suggests that in most bikes the rear wheel is about three times more likely to fail than the rear.

cheers

You've a choice,take the chance of a 36 rear breaking(unlikely)but with a spare is being carried up front and a cheap wheel available almost anywhere will keep you moving,keep hold of the front hub and spokes for when you can get a new rim.
Or run a 40 rear with even less chance of breakage,but if it does,yer goosed,unless you can get a cheap rear which will be iffy.

I'm up for 36/36 and taking my chances

[Des49]

I have always run 36/36, fully accept the logic of going 32 for the front, but I often tried to have a spare rim around and having the same drilling makes this much easier.

For those running disc brakes 36/36 might be the best choice nowadays.

[Brucey]

....You've a choice,take the chance of a 36 rear breaking(unlikely)but with a spare is being carried up front and a cheap wheel available almost anywhere will keep you moving,keep hold of the front hub and spokes for when you can get a new rim.
Or run a 40 rear with even less chance of breakage,but if it does,yer goosed,unless you can get a cheap rear which will be iffy.

I'm up for 36/36 and taking my chances

well I'm just saying bikes can always be better, the World could be a better place, etc. If there is no aspiration, there is no motivation to think of ways forward either. How about this for an idea;

Use a 40h rim built x3 or x4 onto a (special) large flange hub. If you prang your rim, plan B comes into effect which is that you rebuild the wheel (x2 or x3) using a (readily available/your front) 36h rim. The trick here would be that the hub has a second (smaller diameter) row of drillings in the flanges so that you can use for this purpose, such that with one less crossing on 36h, the spokes are the correct length.

That way you have the benefits of the 40h rim but not the disadvantage that concerns you....?

cheers

[reohn2]

I stick with 36/36.

YVMV

[pwa]

I may be alone in this, but when I tour I don't use the bike lights much. And when I do it is more likely to be in the tent, using a small battery lamp to light the book I am reading. The only time I need them on the bike is in very gloomy weather or when the are tunnels on a mountain road. Similarly, I see my tour as an opportunity to get away from the electronic gizmos that dominate so much of life. And that includes phones and GPS. So the dynohub would, for me, be a luxury that I don't need on a tour. I would find it much more use if I used the same bike for commuting.