Optim Baron - sluggish and slow

howard james

I picked up an Optim Baron recently (I was looking for just a frame to build up but picked up one already configured) and it seems very slow and sluggish. My young son riding the Vision R40 easily runs away from me. There seems to be considerable drag in the drivetrain and the disk brakes so I am trying to adjust and lubricate things. It has magura julie brakes, shimano 105 rear derailer, remerex wheels and Vredestein tires. I think it will be best to strip it and configure with better components. Any thoughts????

lowracervk2

Work on the engine. There is no way on earth that the baron is a slow bike. I've done a 4 hour 13 minute solo century on mine.

http://groups.msn.com/BicyclingForu...to&PhotoID=5009


I still use the baron for training but have moved on to something just a bit lighter and a tad bit faster. The baron my no stretch of the imagination is a sluggish bike though.

http://groups.msn.com/BicyclingForu...to&PhotoID=7408

http://groups.msn.com/BicyclingForu...to&PhotoID=6996

lowracervk2

also go to bentrider online for all the tricks and tips on making a baron more efficient.

http://www.bentrideronline.com/

lowracervk2

Oh sure, a Nocom is just great if you can find a century that has no turns. I rode the Nocom and sure it is super fast in a straight line. Turning sucks though. Right hand turns and the front wheel runs over the chain. left hand turns arent much better. Even regular turns at a 90 deg, you need to take it way wide. The nocom is a track bike............not a century bike.

blazingpedals

Johnny, I will agree that the NoCom is a very cool bike. Calling it the next generation of lowracers is a bit of a stretch though. It's not very refined yet; it seems that every new ONE that Kamil turns out has updates as he learns how to make them. You can call it a stock-class bike, but it's hardly a 'production' model. As such I'd call it the bleeding-edge in racing technology. Perhaps when the dust settles we'll all want one. But for now, I'll follow the story with interest and keep riding what I've got. They're all better than DFs.

On to the original question...
A Baron should be able to coast away from an R-40. Of course the engine could be your culprit, but it it was, you'd already have a clue. So, my first guess is that either the brakes or wheel bearings are dragging. Julies did not get high marks for ease of maintenance or dependability, so if brakes are the problem, maybe replacing them with Avid mechs would be a good move. There's also an outside chance that the chain tube was cinched too tight, which would make the chain bind, or (now I'm really reaching) the bb could be bad. Spinning various parts and listening closely should tell you where the problem is.

blazingpedals

You didn't, except by proxy, calling the Baron and others of its ilk "old school." I look forward to seeing more cool CF lowracers on the roads and tracks. Perhaps when we can order them from our LBS like other bents, they and their progeny will become more popular.

lowracervk2

Nocom.... refined already? Whatever........... Somebodys been breathing too much epoxy here.

I could make a pretty good sized list of what needs to be refined.

hydration storage? where you going to keep your hydration and keep it out of the wind. That one thing right there wrecks the slipstream.

Chainline isn't so good. I know the owners of the nocoms in the US. 2 lane turns are not acceptable for road racing applications.

front wheel drive may have been a better choice for the chain issues.

front derailleur? I hear that kamil now has the front derailleur worked out.

You aren't going to do a course like Hilly Hundred on a single front ring nocom.
Any course with any kind of grade and you don't have the gearing.

A tailfaired aluminium frame lowracer will still be faster than the nocom.
A nocom may be faster than a stock vk or baron or jester or m5.......most likely the cobra also. If you have to make a lot of turns however, you just lost the race.

Where you going to attach your pump on the bike?

tools? patches, tubes?

Any type of distance race you want to do on a NOCOM which stands for no-compromise...................and guess what, you are going to have to compromise something.

If you say you don't need to carry any of this stuff, in a 100 mile race, you just lost if you can't repair a tire quickly or fix the chain or any other possible problems that can arise.

It is difficult enough solving these issues on a vk2. The tailbox solves all the storage problems however.

lowracervk2

Both splitter design are faster than old school racing antiques like the ones with mismatched tail fairings.


hahahhhhha you are really killing me here. You better start your winter training early buddy.

raffiman

Johnny,

CK "SLOWDIO" had his ass handed to him as 22 ass hatchet wedgie riders dropped him on a BOAT event!

http://www.doitsports.com/newresult..._76374_2004.txt

Raffi