Strokes for folks maybe. It could be I'm simply very used to ≤5° of engagement going back to around 2002 and not fully open to relearning the timing of a 1°-to-20° engagement system. It could be because I stand a lot when I'm riding and that makes the float in the crankset much more noticeable. Could be I'm just not that great a technical rider and I need all the help I can get.
I mean, when I bought my first fast hub it made perfect sense to me. All the trials riders I knew were obsessed with fast-engaging hubs and I've felt that up-and-down the janky Shore trails require a lot of similar moves, albeit usually with momentum.
I was thinking about this quite a bit on my ride today. Yes, Cooper, Pipeline & Lower Crippler. I lightly ratchet and preload my cranks all the time. Every hump on the Lower Crippler roller coaster for example. Or controlling speed into rock rolls. It was really pronounced today because many of the ladders were icy so there was a great deal of crawling in, surfing down them, and then hard braking when back on a surface with some friction. In other words, I think a high POE really helps me with speed control.
I load and unload my pedals all the time searching for traction up greasy roots too. Much more so on the hardtail of course and I think much more so with the smaller wheels which is why I've gotten by with, for example, DT 18t (20°) hubs with those bikes.
Anyways, on the Chameleon having a higher (and again, any ≤5° would have been suitable) absolutely made the biggest difference between really enjoying riding the bike and not, so that's what I wrote.
Dec. 14, 2021, 1:57 p.m. - Andrew Major
Strokes for folks maybe. It could be I'm simply very used to ≤5° of engagement going back to around 2002 and not fully open to relearning the timing of a 1°-to-20° engagement system. It could be because I stand a lot when I'm riding and that makes the float in the crankset much more noticeable. Could be I'm just not that great a technical rider and I need all the help I can get. I mean, when I bought my first fast hub it made perfect sense to me. All the trials riders I knew were obsessed with fast-engaging hubs and I've felt that up-and-down the janky Shore trails require a lot of similar moves, albeit usually with momentum. I was thinking about this quite a bit on my ride today. Yes, Cooper, Pipeline & Lower Crippler. I lightly ratchet and preload my cranks all the time. Every hump on the Lower Crippler roller coaster for example. Or controlling speed into rock rolls. It was really pronounced today because many of the ladders were icy so there was a great deal of crawling in, surfing down them, and then hard braking when back on a surface with some friction. In other words, I think a high POE really helps me with speed control. I load and unload my pedals all the time searching for traction up greasy roots too. Much more so on the hardtail of course and I think much more so with the smaller wheels which is why I've gotten by with, for example, DT 18t (20°) hubs with those bikes. Anyways, on the Chameleon having a higher (and again, any ≤5° would have been suitable) absolutely made the biggest difference between really enjoying riding the bike and not, so that's what I wrote.