| Greetings from New Mexico!
I just changed my chain for the third time (to the new Teflon coated one). Each chain had lasted me just around 5000 miles of hammerfest riding...Just to give you an example, I just finished the Enchanted Circle Century (100 miles) ride two weeks ago that gains about 5500 feet cresting Bobcat pass at over 9800 feet in 4 hours and 54 minutes...44 minutes faster than last year! Anyway, the second chain had only about a quarter link of stretch over the whole length of chain. A lot better that what has previously been reported. I also decided to treat every link bearing on the new teflon coated chain with a drop of white teflon oil before riding it. The result is that it is the quietest and best shifting chain I have ever ridden. Try it, you'll like it! A few more chain comments: 1) the new chain (the one with the teflon coating) comes with a much more clearly recognizable (locatable) master link (it is all black on the back side) and2) one glitch I always encounter every time I put on a new 10-speed chain. I re-read the instructions that come with the chain regarding determining the best chain length...but the directions don't seem to make any sense to me (so I just use the same number of links as the previous chain which seems to work just fine...I take out about 6 links for a 53/39 with a 12-23 cluster). The instructions state (page 8, figure 3 "Installing the chain"): ...check the dimension H (fig. 3) does not exceed 10 ./. 15 mm." (a division symbol is used between the numbers?) Also Fig 3 just shows "H" as effectively just the height of the lower pulley! These instructions could be a lot more clear. I hope the folks at Campagnolo in Vicenza are reading this. (Note from the webmaster: Branford Bike suggests this easy way to set chain length: 1) put the derailleurs in the small chainring/small cog combination, 2) adjust the chain length so that a line drawn between the pulleys is at a 45-degree angle from horizontal. Having the chain a little too long is better than too short. We've tried this, and it works great.)
I really like the Ergo Brain computer and all the comments anyone could possibly write have already been written by other Campy only testers (please check those pages for more info). I often ride early in the morning (pre-dawn) and I really like the orange back-light. I would like to see a wireless version as well...something to work on...particularly if they could work in the cadence feature wireless as well. I would imagine that eventually all possible features including power, altitude, heart rate, etc. will be in some future version, but right now it still has plenty of features to keep even a geek happy. One last comment... I was fixing a flat once in a real hurry and somehow ripped out a wire from the computer so I had to buy a new pick-up unit. That was a bit of a nuisance, so be careful with those tiny wires. I've also gotten used to the single pivot rear brake... but on long, steep, winding descents I rely more than before on the front brake. I'm going to try to get one of the new Campy carbon seatpost clamps to see what difference it makes compared to the standard one on my Trek. I haven't had any problems with my carbon seatpost so far. That's it for now. Ciao, |