After having another look at where your bikes were, we certainly didn’t have the ‘bike car’ in October. As you can see though there was no problem getting our bikes in the ‘normal’ car. If I recall, there were only a handful of other people in the passenger car and no issues at all with the bikes.

It is soooo tempting! Great to see that you and Rachael loved this spot too.

This is such an amazing spot. You should go back and ride it downhill.

Oh! It looks like the bicycle car must not have been there that October either. I wondered if you could just take the bikes in the passenger car.

Hey, I think we saw this same little herd, along the Gail west of Villach.

Too right! Both Kirsten and I vividly remember this day. When we took a well deserved rest day in Opatija the next day, we stumbled upon the CARR route and decided to take that rather than ride to Ljubljana (this gives away how much forward planning we do!). This turned out to be one of the best stumble upon’s ever! Just read about your day going into Dorfgastein. Such stunning country. A few steep sections in front of you to get to Bad Gastein but the payback is more stunning terrain … and the run down the other side of the Tauren tunnel towards Villach will be great. Then you have the even more amazing ride from Tarvisio to Udine to look forward too. We’re living vicariously through your ride now 😃

Too far! You should’ve stayed in Delnice.

I had to google "superleggera" and discovered it's the frame-and-panel construction used in this BMW and just a few other high-end cars. Very interesting!

You must have more of a cyclist appetite than even we do! We stayed in Sonderheim the night before we passed through Donauworth and really did order more food than we could eat--and it was presented as a "dinner for two" on the menu.

https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/radwegs/altenstadt-to-sonderheim/#21677_p036k3knge9k223v0slyu22ti66

This is Germany and English is a second language for them. No excuses for native English speakers!

I'm a retired engineer, but my last job included marking reports written, often badly, by engineering students...

Lyle
Thanks for the information about too much belt/chain tension not damaging the Rohloff. Good to know.
Now to start reading your next journal!

Mike

Thats a njce clean bike!

Hi Mike,
Don't know for sure why they chose a French name. The couple that started the company are Swiss, that might have something to do with it. At a minimum I'm sure the name sounds better in French than German!

As for the belt tension impact on the Rohloff internals, through this whole episode I exchanged quite a few e-mails and phone calls with the Rholloff and Gates folks, and they assured me that excess belt tension (in any practical application) would do no damage to the hub. The folks at Toute Terrain said the same thing.

I'll be more blunt about the advice I got initially from the bike shop where I bought the bikes. They were arrogant. Their attitude was "They were right and I didn't know jack shite".

Anyway, that was a long time ago now and the bikes and the belt drive works great. I would highly recommend a belt to any tourer. Last longer, cleaner, less maintenance, and a spare belt weighs less than 100g! And if you are in North America, deal with Cycle Monkey in Oakland Ca. for Rholoff and Toute Terrain issues! They are great.
Rgds,
Lyle
PS, the latest journal i posted is from a short 900 km trip down the Rhone on EV17 from the fall of 2018. Great ride!

Thanks Lyle
As I am over seventy I am staying home a lot and binge reading your journal so I have reached the episode at Tout Terraine HQ.
Incidently if it a German company why did they choose a French name for the bikes?
Belt/chain tension - too tight may cause some damage to the internals of the Rohloff which is why the bike shop that sold you the bikes told you not to alter the belt tension.
At 9,000 km you would be close to if not actually on your third chain so another plus for the belt.
I see you have posted another journal to entertain those of us who are staying close to home. Thank you again.

Mike

Hi Mike, nice to see you reading along on this (new to Cycle Blaze) journal.
Kirsten's belt and cog had about 9,000 km on it, exactly the same as mine. The bikes had been ridden virtually side by side with nearly identical loads over those miles (classic Canadiana - mixing km's and miles!).
My belt and cog had no wear (cog tooth width ~3 mm, same as new) while Kirsten's cogs were worn down to ~2 mm with sharp edges that were noticiably damaging the belt. I noticed this when I was getting the bikes ready for this trip.
It seemed like Kirsten's belt had more tension than mine, and I mentioned this to the bike shop we got the bikes from when I contacted them to get a new cog and belt. I was told in no uncertain terms that the tension on both bikes was fine and that I should not touch the eccentrics to adjust the tension.
I assume you've read day 21 in this journal, where we took the bikes into the Toute Terrain factory in Freiburg, had a complimentary overhaul and they showed us that Kirsten's belt was in fact over tensioned!

It turns out that Rholoff changed over completely from threaded to splined carriers a few months after we got our bikes. After this trip I ordered the new splined carriers (with the circlip) and cogs from Cycle Monkey (the main NA Rohloff authorized dealer - highly recommended).
I changed the carrier and cog on my bike prior to heading off on a short EV17 Rhone river tour in the fall of 2018 (I didn't change Kirsten's over as her cog as it was still virtually brand new with no wear (and proper belt tension I might add!).

We continued to be a month or so ahead of Rholoff changes though ... turns out that the splined carrier / clip set up is prone to some small movement causing clicking / clattering on belt drive set ups. About the time we set off on our trip Rholoff came out with a new splined carrier but with a threaded lock ring for belt drive systems.

Sure enough I experienced the click/ clatter (quite pronounced) when we hit Lyon and were climbing a very steep hill to our hotel. It persisted for the rest of the trip! Very annoying but no impact on the performace of the bike.

Once back home, I contacted Cycle Monkey about the clattering problem. They told me about the new design (lock ring) and sent me two new lock ring equiped carriers.

I put these on both of our bikes and we've had zero issues since (3000 + km's, some of it on the steepest most guelling climbs we've ever encountered, on our last 2019 tour).

A bit of a long story but both or bikes have the 'latest' Rholoff technology and are working as they should - perfect and trouble free!

I should add that you do need a special lock ring tool to install/remove the ring, but it's small enough to carry along in your tool kit should you need to replace a cog. A little more complicated than the retaining clip, but no annoying clattering sound.
Rgds,
Lyle