Driven product will be our flagship line of components. With two levels of product in both the Mountain and Road catagories, Z and X. There is sure to be something to fulfill your inner bike geek.
Starting things off will be the Driven X line of mountain components.
RDMX - 9 Speed Mountain rear derailleur, All alloy construction, CNC alloy pulleys with sealed bearings, Alloy hangar bolt, Shimano compatible, Weight: 227g
FCMX - Mountain Crankset, 2 Piece External Bearing System BB, Sealed Bearing BB, Patented Fluid Drive shifting ramps, Shimano Compatible, Weight: 771g including BB
Moving on to the Road side of things, here are some of the upcoming Driven Z level components. (Note - Product does not fully represent final production)
RDRZ - 10 Speed Road Rear Derailleur, Carbon wrapped center link plate and pulley cage, CNC alloy pulleys with ceramic bearings, Alloy hangar bolt, Available in double or triple, Weight: 181g (Double)
CSRZ - 10 Speed Road Cassette, One piece alloy construction, Ceramic coated, Alloy lockring, patented Super Fluid Drive shifting ramps, Shimano and Campy Splines available, Weight: 114g (12-25 Shown)
STRZ - 10 Speed Road Shift / Brake Lever Set, Carbon wrapped brake lever, Push Push shift mechanism, Shimano Compatible, Weight: 386g
FCRZ - 10 Speed Road Crankset, 2 Piece External Bearing System BB, Carbon wrapped arms, Sealed Bearing BB, Patented Fluid Drive shifting ramps, Shimano Compatible, Weight: 771g including BB
Please keep posted as I will be updating often. Any questions just leave a comment or e-mail me at info at sunraceusa.com
(All images courtesy of http://www.babageik.com/)
18 comments:
Re. backlash on new ASC hub:
I'm used to about 30 degrees of backlash on all my coaster hubs. I wouldn't want to change my habit for the one or more bikes with ASC hubs.
Otherwords: I currently ride 5 bikes with coaster brakes (2 Bendix, 2 New Departure, 1 Morrow, no current ASC, AWC or S3C in my current built stock) all seem to have the same backlash. I want the same feel in the new ASC - don't want to change the feel of braking on the new ASC.
HTH,
Forrest
love the look of the road group those brifters are gorgeous
I prefer to keep chain slack to a minimum on my fixed gear bikes, therefore no backlash would be perfect, but I realize this is just a dream given the tolerances that have to exist.
So I guess I vote for less than the original ASC and as little as possible.
Marcus
I have an ASC, and yes, there is a lot of backlash, though you get accustomed to it. I would like less, but if the choice were a strong hub with lots of backlash or a hub prone to blowing up and no backlash I vote for the former. Be aware that I use two brakes and do not use the hub for braking. This may be an issue for those expecting direct drive performance from a hubgear. The simpler, and I believe, stronger TF gives closer to direct drive performance. You might want to consider this two speed model also. In either case you should send a prototype and let me go touring on it. But if you don't, I understand. Craig
new ASC and backlash...
I vote for as little as possible. Five degrees?
A two-speed fixed hub would suit me as well, as long as the two gears were widely spaced, such that you could get something like 72 and 54 inches. Which, looking at Sheldon's S/A page seems exactly like a TF.
Since this is all about the ASC, I'm perfectly happy to have that 65" gear in the middle.
And if that's the Craig I think it is, you probably should have him test a prototype for you!
Philip
ASC backlash:
As little as possible w/o compromising durability.
RE: Forrest's reply, the item in question is a fixed gear hub, not a coaster brake hub. Technically there is no "braking" action with a fixed gear hub.
In a perfect world there would be as little backlash as possible, but without some advertising, the ASC will likely be a niche-market hub, just like the classic ASC is now. If this is the case, I would prefer the new ASC be exactally like the old one for the sake of parts compatability, especially for years down the road. I'm just glad to see this wonderful hub returning to market. The original was marketed as great for training, but I think there may also be some potential for sales from marketing the ASC as a way of making a fixed-gear bicycle easier to live with, and more practical for regular use, like commuting. This may be a way to get more people into fixed-gear cycling who have thought of it as too hard.
I voted "other" in the ASC poll.
I haven't had the opportunity to ride the original ASC hub so I have no reference to its feel.
I would be happy with an acceptable amount of backlash. Meaning, make a few prototypes and pass them out to a few Sheldon Brown types and I'll be good with what they like.
--Allen
Posted today -- don't know how we missed you at Interbike.
http://bikehugger.com/2007/10/new_component_group_sunrace_dr.htm
Please contact us, or your PR peoples, to get more info.
Thanks,
Bike Hugger
With respect to backlash on a new ASC hub. I've never ridden anything other than a conventional fixed set up. I guess I'd ask for a similar amount of backlash to what you'd find on a well set-up fixed gear set up!
Alex
I've had and used an ASC for over 20 years, and am very happy that S-S-A plans to reintroduce a multi-speed fixed gear. I think you can do a better job in two or three ways: (1) reduce backlash. The right comparision is a fixed gear, not a coaster, particularly for urban braking and trackstands. (2) Consider different gear ratios. The ASC has a 25% total ratio difference, being based on the 4-speed FM (?). A bit wider would be useful in many, many areas with actual hills, I think. But, I'm 62 years old. (3) Over time, the ASC has not been the most durable unit, and I hope that the redesign will address some issues (excess trigger effort for low gear?, wear on some internal parts.
Finally, I hope you will be able to sell millions of them, thereby decreasing the absurd prices the ASC goes for on eBay now. Yeah, I've got mine, but I have lots of friends who want 'em.
harvey sachs
Cool to see a viable option to Shimano out there. I'm not a huge fan of the Gold/Black combo, but they look like they're really well made and the overall design looks really good too.
I would love to see a multi speed (even two-speed is great)that can withstand the reversal force that comes with a riding a bike without brakes. I love controlling the bikes momentum with only my legs, but more and more I'm seeing that gears and different speeds can be real useful. My dream bike would be a multi-speed brakeless fixed gear bicycle. Right now I use a fix/fix hub (49x16/17) with a 75 and 80 ratio. The 80, is to sluggish to accelerate and deccelerate in the city and with the 75 ratio, when going down the hills my roadie friends make me bite their dust. I just can't spin that fast. Theres my dilemma I could get a road bike, but I'll have to deal with all those components on my handlebar, but I'll be faster on the downhills and straights, or stick to my fixed gear and spin like crazy.
As to the amount of slack, it should be really minimal like about a 1 or 2 degrees that you usually get when the chain is not super-tight.
If Sunrace really does plan to reintroduce a fixed-gear multi-speed hub, the + 14% ratios on the old AM should be used. That 13-15% jump between gears is the standard for the Rohloff 14 and the Shimano Nexus 7. Although I have not used the Rohloff, I find the gaps between the gears on the Nexus to be just right. Much narrower makes it hardly seem worthwhile having multiple gears, and much wider makes the jump from direct drive too big for anything but really steep hills.
If Sunrace does put out a fixed gear multi-speed hub, they can use the venerable ASC's name, but steps between gears of 15% or more would be more useful than the close steps on the ASC. I am a veteran fixed gar rider, and I bet most of the customers would be too. For a fixed gear rider, if the jump from direct drive is less than 10%, it hardly seems worth having multiple speeds at all. Even a jump greater than 20% might appeal because fixed gear riders habitually ride over anything but really steep hills using their standard (anywhere from 65-75 inch) fixed gear. For the sort of hill where I now have to stop and flip my wheel around to the larger fixed cog, I would shift a fixed gear 3 speed hub to low or high gear.
If Sunrace really does plan to reintroduce a fixed-gear multi-speed hub, the + 14% ratios on the old AM should be used. That 13-15% jump between gears is the standard for the Rohloff 14 and the Shimano Nexus 7. Although I have not used the Rohloff, I find the gaps between the gears on the Nexus to be just right. Much narrower makes it hardly seem worthwhile having multiple gears, and much wider makes the jump from direct drive too big for anything but really steep hills.
Hi guys
Is there any way you could post suggested price and information regarding availability of these?
Just curious.
RE: ASC Hub
Less than 5 degrees of backlash would make the hub more comfortable to ride. Any slack between powering and resisting the pedals makes me want to stop and fix my chain tension. Experience fixed gear riders will feel any backlash immediately and excessive backlash will give the feeling of a poorly set up bike, or a poorly built hub.
I would like to see as wide a ratio as possible. For bike polo (possible marketing slant) I like something like 65 gear inches, but for general riding or commuting I ride nearer to 80 gear inches. There aren’t many huge hills here in Michigan so I really wouldn’t need a third ratio, but I’m sure it would be very useful for riders in the mountain states.
As far as ratios are concerned, what happens if you shift from 65 gear inches to 75 gear inches at 20 mph? I imagine this would be pretty exciting, and also terrifying.
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