Cycling fever is rising

Just the other day my nephew and I were discussing what we might have done different with our current bicycles, whether or not it is time to look for a new ride or will upgrading a few parts be enough to keep us satisfied for another season.

There are a lot of new offerings in the pipe for cyclist, especially when it comes to parts selection. For us tandem riders there is the Gates Belt Drive System. This system replaces the greasy, messy, noisy timing chain with a quiet and efficient belt. It is very similar to a belt you would have on a car engine. The ideas behind the belt is supposed to be quieter operation; less maintenance since the belt doesn’t wear like a chain does; cleaner since there is no lubricant needed. One of the problems is that the belts are not available in a myriad of sizes and that means that us custom tandem riders with longer than usual boom tubes are left with our greasy, messy, noisy chains.

Of course there was last years successful launch of Shimano’s DI2 (electronic Dura-Ace). If only they would make it available in a triple I would find a way to beg, borrow or steal the money to put it on our tandem. This year SRAM has a new low end group, That will cost somewhere around $100-150 less than Rival, with all the benefits of several years of on road knowledge SRAM has acquired. It is called the Apex and appears to be primarily designed for the recreational (sometimes fast) rider wanting a real road group with wide range gearing to ease up those hills. Using Double-Tap shifters, if you haven’t had an opportunity to use any of SRAM’s road groups do yourself a favor and try it out, and 1:1 rear derailleur actuation it should have fast and a accurate shifting.

Shimano is refreshing their 105 group with new finishes and lighter parts, look for it soon.

That is it for now have to go back to my real job and get some work done.