Vendetta V20 Build diary 2016
- Thread starter ratz
- Start date
super slim
Zen MBB Master
VERY effective!!!
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
A little rear brake porn to get everyones' weekend started off correctly.
Added the Omega X to the rear break mount. Only challenge was getting the right length brake nut The two smallest bolts that come with the brake fall into the two short for comfort and a tad to long to work category with the stock nut.
Turn out you can't do that unless you mod the frame the break mounting hole is counter sunk; which could be over come; but the cross beam is weld in both cases with a 5-10mm bias to the upper side of the stays. So to do an invert install you would need to fab some sort of bracer bar to sit between the frame and the brake. You could in theory use a lot of brake washes I'm just not sure I would trust it. Since the mounting hole is backwards I didn't pursue the fit with washers any further. (Actually I didn't think of it until now, but still would have had to mode frame to try it).
So mount the brake. in the upper position. (lower is dead trivial to do, this is a little harder)
There is about 1-2mm of clearance between the cable and the frame. It was easier to put the housing on the brake and then mount the break on the bike.
Clipping the cable takes a normal bike wire cutter but then putting the crimp on requires a needle nose pliers because you can't get get in there with the regular tools. (front was the same problem)
Put the cover on. Note the brake arms actually clear the frame about 5mm, these picture just are at the wrong angle to see
Rear view before I aligned the pads
Modulation and feedback is great and so is braking power.
Added the Omega X to the rear break mount. Only challenge was getting the right length brake nut The two smallest bolts that come with the brake fall into the two short for comfort and a tad to long to work category with the stock nut.
Turn out you can't do that unless you mod the frame the break mounting hole is counter sunk; which could be over come; but the cross beam is weld in both cases with a 5-10mm bias to the upper side of the stays. So to do an invert install you would need to fab some sort of bracer bar to sit between the frame and the brake. You could in theory use a lot of brake washes I'm just not sure I would trust it. Since the mounting hole is backwards I didn't pursue the fit with washers any further. (Actually I didn't think of it until now, but still would have had to mode frame to try it).
So mount the brake. in the upper position. (lower is dead trivial to do, this is a little harder)
There is about 1-2mm of clearance between the cable and the frame. It was easier to put the housing on the brake and then mount the break on the bike.
Clipping the cable takes a normal bike wire cutter but then putting the crimp on requires a needle nose pliers because you can't get get in there with the regular tools. (front was the same problem)
Put the cover on. Note the brake arms actually clear the frame about 5mm, these picture just are at the wrong angle to see
Rear view before I aligned the pads
Modulation and feedback is great and so is braking power.
marshall2389
Guru
An aerodynamic caliper brake seems a bit unnecessary when nested behind the seat.
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Maybe; Would have have to run an Aerolab to see for sure.... but it definitely was More to do with the braking power of the unique center pull design. I really don't like SRAM rival brakes and it's hard to fit a Force or Red up in there. On the lower mount it's really easy but I use that area for cargo on the solo 80-150 rides in the middle of no where. The The Ultegra is a good brake and fits up there better than the rest, but the 6800 is 4:1 and the SRAM lever is 3:1 and that make the Rear brake more aggressive than I like; (on Di2 it's sublime with the 4:1 levers) it was workable with the SRAM, but this is much much better. With carbon wheels we don't get to scrub speed we have to "pulse" it off on our big down hills; pulse can lead to "over pulling and grabbing too much brake." So this while a splurge really feels that much better; I did some speed runs down the street and the control was much better than the ultegra. Advantage for having two identical bikes was I got to test them side by side ride one ride the other repeat and compare. Now if it wasn't so cold out; I can test it on a longer ride.
Steve Short
Member
I doubt it does much in the front either with the spinning crank in the way, but it does look good. I'm definitely getting one for my fixed gear.
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Yes these really were about (a) braking power; (b) keeping wires out of my legs (c ) looks....
so far all 3 are a success; if there is a fractional aero benefit that's pure gravy.
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Marteau did pretty good on her first outdoor test ride. I probably would have too if I hadn't got my water levels wrong.
http://www.strava.com/activities/547377897
http://www.strava.com/activities/547377897
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
Eventually you have to take your children out into the light of day.
But it occurs to me that I might have more aptly named her "Lithium Flower"
Fortunately only the blue ones have to be charged before each < 6 hour ride.
As configured with a full load of water; spare tire, crash supplies etc. 33lbs
But she still goes up hill pretty good just need to get 15lbs off the engine.
Not Rojo hills but was fine for me today. 15% no problem with 39T/28T
But it occurs to me that I might have more aptly named her "Lithium Flower"
Fortunately only the blue ones have to be charged before each < 6 hour ride.
As configured with a full load of water; spare tire, crash supplies etc. 33lbs
But she still goes up hill pretty good just need to get 15lbs off the engine.
Not Rojo hills but was fine for me today. 15% no problem with 39T/28T
super slim
Zen MBB Master
with 25,800 mA.H of battery power have you got a Contador Electric motor drive to assist on hills?
Mathew Fy
GRU
I don't see many RIDEYEs on the road. Video recording is useful for legal defense and entertainment. I bought a pair from the Kickstarter campaign for my DF. I have another pair to put on my Vendetta when it arrives. (Soon, I hope).
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
They have held up pretty good. We have 2 of them and this will be the second full season using them. Definitely had better luck using the GoPro Mount. Haven't found a better option for something that has that battery life. Most everything else the battery is shot after 2 hours; and we routinely need 2.5 - 5.5 hours of runtime. These don't get the advertised 10 hours but they get 6-7 hours as long as they are fully charged. Running 720p versus 1080p doesn't seem to affect battery life; but with the vibration on the nose of the V20 tend to trigger the accident detection which at 1080p means cleaning off the locked videos every ride or two. Hopefully the Fly12 will be a better option in the future. I do wish they'd make one without a light the fly6 and fly12 get the battery life right if you run without the light; and frankly their lights are not really bright nough to accomplish what I want from be-seen, light.
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
And that's a low estimate by at least 489.....I'm guessing the e-tap are pretty strong, and I forgot the C2032 in the speed sensors. Garmin Remote, and the Remote for the head lights. So it's probably closing in on 29000mAH.... Fortunately there are a few bikes in the garage with Zero mAH hours on them so when the Apocalypse arrives we will still have transportation.
What I should do is weigh all of that and see how many lbs I get to strip off for race day at the track.
Oddly the boombottle is one of the best additions. No head phones; I find that can't really hear the music when I'm in traffic; the cars etc drowned it out and it's easy to focus on the threat sounds I need to. Then when I'm on the country roads I can hear it if I listen for it and I can ignore it if I want to listen to the surroundings. Only time it's a problem is when I go slow in the neighboorhoods with kids and the iphone decides that would be a great time to play "bucky cherry crazy bitch" in the presence of 6 year olds. At that time the bottle sounds deafeningly loud.
SamP
Guru
I used my Mobius for about a year of riding. The built-in ~750 mAH battery is only good for about 70-80 minutes, but it's trivial to power it from any USB power bank. I've got a 6" right angle mini USB to right angle USB cable and a roughly 6000 mAH power bank that fits in a Topeak bag intended for flip-phone sized objects, so that's probably good for 8+ hours. Unfortunately, my Mobius got lost when I inadvertently left it on my car roof. My replacement camera (a Sony AS100V a better but bigger camera) is a little tougher to power from that USB power bank due to the location of the micro USB jack on it. With my preferred camera mount, I can't find a right angle micro USB plug that will fit. I'll probably have to go back to the old ball-head mount which will work.
RojoRacing
Donut Powered Wise-guy
Any reason you didn't use a SRAM BB after the whole rotor debacle?
ratz
Wielder of the Rubber Mallet
That's a good question. The XD-15 just simply out performs anything I've tried including SRAM, Shimano, Rotor, and Hope. The hopes came is a close second. I originally was looking for weather proof when I found RWC. The Cheap SRAM's that come with only last about 1 season and then I have broken bearings; from either making the clamps too tight before I knew better; or the extra demands of the MBB on the BB. The angular bearings on the XD-15 seem to take the load better and spin more freely that anything I've tried. Basically "dam that is expensive, but it works"; I'm on year 3 on two of them and it's hard to argue with how well they work. Here's the spin down we did with a 1 week old SRAM BB ($30) that ships with the force cranks and a 1 year old XD-15
If asked for the order of speed improvement on the bike I go:
1) Wheels
2) XD-15
I've convinced a few people here to invest in the XD-15 and nobody has come back to say they regretted the upgrade yet. Of course now would be the time to hear from the those people + or -.
Great way for people to make the LBS mechanic hate you if you can't install your own. After he does one; he'll want one too.
Rick Youngblood
CarbonCraft Master
I can acknowledge the RWC bb's are worth the money. I bought the second tier down from their top of the line and can't be happier. Once they are broken in these baby's really spin. The ball bearings are bigger with more surface area making them stronger, if I remember correctly.
LarryOz
Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
What Ratz and Rick said - yes $200 seems like a lot - but man, the are so good, they almost spin the cranks by themselves!
Rick Youngblood
CarbonCraft Master
