Today I rode the 52 monarch Tanker in great weather to tip off the AMPS project. This is the bike that started my interest in old ballooners in 1975. I found this at a farm auction in Minnesota without its wheels but with all the other pieces intact for $5. I do have the correct seat and sprocket but lost the fork crown cover over the years. It sports the lightest wheelset in the shootout with a 28-H 515 Sachs coaster-3 mated with a Sun Ringle cartridge bearing, bolt on front using 410 gram DT Swiss eyeletted rims, butted spokes and alloy nips. It weighs around 48 pounds total with pedals and inner tubes-
), sports a 44.25" wheelbase, 11" BB height, 70 degree seat angle and 65 head tube angle. Running about 50lbs tire pressure.
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Rider Fit. This bike fits me the best of all of the 7 bikes by far. The exception is the tight bar width (21.5"), that forces my arms and hands down and in, limiting it's turning radius. The bars could be turned up to get them out of the way, but I like the flat tops that allow multiple more natural hand positions. Fairly easy to adapt to really so not a huge issue. The long nose Troxel is by far the best 3-spring saddle I own. It's minimalist spring weights and long, curved pan is simply sweetness. Never once did I want to get up off of it during the ride unless I was standing up on the short climbs. The big Tanker, being fully sprung so to speak, ups the comfort factor quite a bit on a long ride like today at pace. Every little bump gets eaten up by the front end and seat when flying along. The high volume Electra tires are somewhat weighty, but the wheelset makes up for them. I give the big tanker a 4.75 for rider fit.
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Moving out. At the start in the flats, the Monarch feels quick and accelerated up through the gears quickly, encouraging a higher gear until settling into a sold 19mph pace all the way out to the coast 5 miles away with little effort. Dead calm conditions allowed for an easily held higher speed. The tight bars bothered me at first, but moved forward on the saddle with the hands falling on the front of the bars in a natural position. Did not hurt to have platform pedals so I could move my feet around a bit. There are many combos of butt, hand and foot position options on this machine. I give a 4.0 on moving out.
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Mechanical Highlights. The obvious wheelset, which is very quick and lightweight: Light wheels transform all bicycles. These low mass wheels simply want to ramp up and go faster. The 52/20 ring sprocket combo provides a perfect nuetral gear that spins out at around 20mph, but the bike consistantly and noticibly wanted to be shifted into the biggest gear (33% higher) whenever the road straighted out. No question the bombproof, internally geared 515 hub and super light wheels stand out, and the 1" pitch drivetrain is simply cool, but offers no performance advantage. I give a 4.25 on this simply based on the wheels alone.
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Performance. Ok, this is what really interests me the most. How much better can you get them to perrform? On my radar all the time. I want them to go faster, smoother with less effort on long rides. Long live long rides. This is what flips my switch and keeps me riding them. Unfortunately, the braking is lacking on this bike. I wrecked at 20mph on this very bike, bailing into the curb and sidewalk on one memorable occation when a car pulled in front of me and the brakes were inadequate. At speed, this is a dangerouse bike with the mass it carries, so you hope nothing surprises you that demands a quick stop. Ain't happnin with this beast. Besides the braking. it cruises, climbs, accelerates and holds speed very well as long as the wind is not working against it, and not too much climbing is involved on the ride. In calm conditions, the bike simply feels like it wants to accelerate and it takes little input really to get it back up to speed from a stop or from a hole it was climbing out of, standing or sitting. This bike will respond when you put the power down. The 3-spd was used all the time on the ride, and without it in the wind would have been discouraging. Any headwind I did run into today forced a shift down, requiring more power in order to keep pace. A smaller rider would certainly be bummed in the wind on this parachute. I give the big tanker a 3.75, dinged because of the affects from wind and weight.
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Stealth Factor. Let's be fair here, the Monarch is at a disadvantage with the linkage fork and underated springs that bottom out when standing and climbing every pedal stroke. The road surface, if not smooth, made for a noisy ride that had to be tuned out. If the bike was up to speed cruising the smooth pavement at 19mph, it was dead quiet, so I welcomed long smooth sections today where I could keep a fast, quiet pace going on. 2.5 on the stealth factor.
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A great ride today at a solid pace in excellent weather! Oh, on a final note, there was a lot of standing water puddles on both the SA riverbed trail and Newport Back Bay today after the significant storm that passed through. I aimed for the middle of all of them. Oh the joy of plowing through the wet spots with the unafraid fendered Monarch Tanker. Keep riding!
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