4th February 2016 Wolftooth Roadlink fitting.

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Thursday 4th 33-34F, +1C, white frost, sunny, very light wind. I started early on the trike after lifting it onto the Lidl workstand. Removal of the Camper saddlebag complete with Abus U-link [boat anchor] eased the lift with my recent back problems in mind.

Swapping the Goatlink for the Shimano B-link went easily.  Sadly it resulted in an even worse cable blockage problem by the trike's axle reinforcement loop. My earlier optimism was obviously misplaced. It wasn't the Goatlink's fault since it was never design for this unique purpose. No doubt I could have filed away the projecting stop to tip the M8000 anticlockwise but thought it best to move swiftly onto the Roadlink.

So off came the XTM8000 rear derailleur with the Goatlink attached. I undid the pulley cage bolts to save breaking the chain. Removing the pull ratio changing, swinging lever and clamps took a couple of minutes more. Then I was ready to hang the Roadlink and Campagnolo 11 speed Athena rear derailleur. Again I dropped the lower pulley and slacked off the top one to save breaking the chain. I threaded the chain through the cage and then refitted the lower [tension] pulley.

The image shows the Roadlink in place on the brazed-on, Trykit rear hanger. The Roadlink lowers the Athena rear derailleur by 23mm to cope with the abnormally large, 36tooth sprocket. The Athena 11sp. can cope with a 32t but collides straight into a 36 tooth sprocket without the Roadlink's help. The Athena mechanism folds up automatically under its spring tension to ensure that the smaller sprockets aren't left behind. The arrows are supposed to indicate the importance of pushing the Roadlink and rear derailleur fully forwards to their stops before the twin hanger screws are tightened fully. 

It should be noted that Wolftooth do not suggest that Campagnolo equipment and their rear derailleurs are supported. They were obviously not able to examine every possible combination of equipment while developing the Roadlink. It's stated purpose is to allow Shimano, road, rear derailleurs to use much wider range cassettes. They also suggest that medium cage road mechs are optimum and the Roadlink is not intended for triple chainsets. 

The gear cable had been badly bent by my earlier pull ratio experiments. So needed a lot of slack taking up after fitting the cable to the Athena and clamping it up. I had to replace the rear outer loop with a much longer one to replace that used on the M8000. Fortunately the cable began to recover its straightness once the tension was put on it by the rear derailleur. Never cut off the gear cable until the job is completely finished and you have checked everything at least twice.

Indexing was still hesitant at first as I waited for the cable to relax its unwanted bends. I fiddled with the various screws and cable tension to see if it would help but was just being too impatient. Indexing relies critically on the cable tension. Though tension is not really the correct term because it changes little. It is the precise length of the cable which matters.  Indexing takes up and releases fixed lengths of cable in precise steps. This all takes place at the lever but the rear derailleur must move laterally to match the steps in cable length.  

The Athena B-screw still needed to be fully tightened to draw the top pulley closer to the cassette. Running large chainwheel to largest sprocket still had some chain slack. So I removed two links and that really helped to bring the pulley up to the cassette as the mechanism rotated under the increased chain tension. The only 11speed joining link I had was a Sram and the chain was a Shimano. The link seems reluctant to reach its correct position in the slots but may improve when ridden. 

I still wasn't happy but couldn't see how to bring the top pulley really close to the 36t sprocket teeth. Low, blinding sunshine didn't help which ever way I turned the trike around the stand. Finally I slackened off the Roadlink and Athena hanger screws and the mech instantly folded up nicely. I remembered reading about this on the Wolftooth Roadlink instructions. Though typically I had not bothered to read them properly before starting work. Nor had I remembered to check the Roadlink was pushed fully forwards against the stop when fitting it without any chain tension.

REMEMBER: The Roadlink and rear derailleur must be rotated forwards as far as possible before tightening both hanger screws! Only then should you attempt to check chain length, tension, B-screw adjustment and indexing! Remember also to grease the screws before assembly. Stainless steel may not rust but threads have a nasty habit of  sticking fast over time.

Though still not very warm outside I am keen to have a ride to see how the Roadlink has helped the indexing on the 11 speed, 11-36tooth cassette. The sun is still shining with light winds so it is still a great day for a ride. I did a four mile ride to test it out. Much improved over the M8000. Though still lagging occasionally. No phantom changes on the largest sprockets any more. Rode 12 miles to a bike shop only to find it had closed down. Bit of a headwind on the middle leg for a total of 27 miles.

 

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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3rd February 2016 Wolftooth Links arrive.

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Wednesday 3rd 39F, 4C, heavy overcast, raining steadily and very windy. Early rain with falling winds are forecast with yet more [probably empty] promises of brightening to sunshine after lunch. The WolfTooth Roadlink and Goatlink from Bike24 have arrived. I thought I'd better order an example of both in case one of them was unsuccessful.

Fitting a clamp to the chainstay allowed the introduction of a cable adjuster. Something which was missing from the XTM8000 rear derailleur. Most road derailleurs have a cable adjuster. But not, apparently, MTB rear changers. The extra degree of adjustment is handy with my hybrid cable runs.

I spent some time today tuning the XTM8000 RD indexing with the trike up on the workstand. It was much better today than last time. Showers, heavy at times all day. Afternoon ride for 15 miles. It stayed dry for my ride but the roads were saturated with loads of puddles. The weather forecast is better for tomorrow.

My favourite option with the Wolftooth  links is to try and use the Campagnolo Athena 11speed rear derailleur with the Roadlink. The Athena can already manage a 32t sprocket so the 23mm extra drop will allow the cage to clear the much larger 36t sprocket. Such an option removes the need for any pull ratio change. So I can remove the horribly amateur swinging arm behind the bottom bracket and return the trike to a "normal" Campagnolo 11 gear indexed set up.

This image shows the dimensioned WT links in comparison with the Shimano MTB XT B-Link. I used a vernier caliper to measure the distance between the mounting holes and then added the 10mm bolt diameter. It was not easy to measure accurately but the figures are close enough.

The finish on the WT products is superb but unlikely to be seen without grovelling on one's knees with magnifying glass. What do you mean you do that all the time? Those with work stands can admire their WT links in relative comfort, of course. 

Both sides of the links are shown but they have not been organized into their proper orientation. Note how I have had to file off the cast stop on the B-Link to allow the XTM8000 to fit on my trike. Withe unmodified B-link the M8000 jammed up against the underside of the axle reinforcing loops. Removing the cast tab did not cause the rear derailleur to misbehave. Nor did anything unscrew when the fixing bolts were fastened sufficiently tightly.   

The cranked, WT Roadlink is designed to extend the range of normal road rear mechs [with mid-length cages] to allow sprockets up to 36teeth. Offering a really low gear with almost any normal road chainset. Single and double chain-rings are supported but not triples because most road mechs won't have the total chain wrap capacity. The extra large sprocket has to be accounted for in calculating the RD's capacity. The mechanism has to be able to run large chainring with largest sprocket and still maintain chain tension when on small-small. The image is borrowed from the Wolftooth-Lindarets Roadlink webpage.


Meanwhile the Goatlink is designed for MTB changers like the XTM8000 providing sprocket capacity up to 42 teeth or more. It also pushes the RD further back. So that the rear wheel on a bike can be dropped out and changed much more readily. Normally the axle would get in the way as th wheel dropped. WolfTooth also claim that chain wrap on the cassette is also improved over the B-link.


Ideally I would really have preferred a shorter link than the Shimano B-link, but it might just work with the M8000 to push the cable behind the reinforcing loops.  

The image shows how the cable entry is pushed back by the Goatlink's 12mm extra  length compared to the Shimano B-Link. This will hopefully free the cable from bending on the rear reinforcement loop. Though the Goatlink option does not remove the need for a pull ratio change to be able to use the M8000 with the 11 speed Ergo levers. 

 Click on any image for an enlargement.

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Monday 1st February 2016 Gales!

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Monday 1st 36-45F, 2-7C, light winds, overcast and raining. 45+mph gales and rain/wintry showers forecast for later today and the next three! The WT Roadlink is on its way according to my newly re-established email service. I have just lost 3 days and 350+ mails despite having IMAP settings. The mail service provider blames me and claims I had Pop3! He almost convinced me until I checked.

The image shows the north side of an exposed and solitary Ash tree. Which goes to show that not all Hollywood legends are false. You can always find north when the sun isn't out by examining the trees. The southerly sides of tree trunks don't show the same lichen growth.

I have been using home computers for years. [Sinclair ZX81/BBCB early adopter and keen programmer] Then moved onto a series of Windup boxes. I even worked with punched cards and sports hall sized mainframes in my first two jobs as a teenager back in the early 60s. Somebody keeps making up new rules without consulting the end user! Why do computers and software keep breaking when they have had so much experience and claim such expertise? Billions wasted every single year, right around the globe, for literally decades, as new government/business/service software projects crash and burn! For the billions wasted they could lower taxes, lower fares, increase benefits and employ more people!

Yet again the promised clearing to brightness has gone the other way. Gales, wintry showers and a grey-brown sky? Do you suppose me a triking hero? Or mere fool? Don't answer that!

Tuesday 2nd 42-43F, 6C, gales, heavy overcast with rain promised and stronger winds to 50mph forecast. Gravely Blighted has sent storm Henry over to rattle our windows. I thought it better to do a 3 mile loop around the village rather than venture into the forest in such winds. Hearing the pitch rise from a roar is a bit worrying when passing under large trees. It's bad enough being hit by a small twig let alone a falling branch!

The mature hedges offered amazing protection. With the wind dropping from my literally leaning onto the wind to hardly a ruffle in my hair had I not been wearing a fleece cap. Mild enough not to need gloves most of the time. Though I did  put on my yellow glasses to avoid windblown debris or the gales making my eyes water. The birds were struggling but showed their usual ability to duck and dive to make forward progress. A heron was doing the most amazing acrobatics to reach its goal. Hurling itself around the sky and even following a hedge for cover. The gusts are far too serious to risk a ride and it hasn't even peaked yet.

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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