Now that I’ve knocked down the big sources of noise, I can hear the smaller ones. Given the unexplained offset in the derailleur adjustment, it should come as no surprise that I was now contending with derailleur noise.
Yeah, I’ve had a few. With a few hundred miles on the new trike, it’s becoming clear that I and the ICE design team have made some poor choices. Nothing too serious, but annoying nonetheless.
According to the postal service my Alfine hub has been received by Shimano. According to Shimano they’ll look at it within three to five days. So I should have some sort of resolution soon. Meanwhile I’m back using my old drivetrain, and it sucks.
Now that I’ve seen belt drive in action on a couple of “city bikes” in town, I can’t seem to let this one go. On an upright bike, belt drive is smooth, reliable, light, and silent. On a recumbent it has the potential to solve what for many is their bane: a long, greasy, noisy, unwieldy chain. This post is my attempt at taking a closer look to see what might be preventing the adoption of belt drive for recumbents and, specifically, ‘bent trikes. I’ll discuss the issues I see, many unique to ‘bents. Then I’ll see if I can figure out what it would take to adapt my current trike to belt drive. Continue reading
A Seasonal Commute 