I have built a simple inclinometer
<www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/inclinometer.htm>.
If it inspires you to build your own, feel free to copy whatever you
find useful. The page describes the construction, and a high
resolution tiff file of the dial (in % and degrees) is downloadable
for your convenience.
Until recently I could only say that the steepest trail in my park I
can ride up on my 24 x 3" with 170 mm cranks is “steep (for me)”. Now
I know it is 27%, maybe not very much but I am (slowly) improving.
So now I’m curious: what is other people’s riding up capability?
A 27% grade? You’re an ANIMAL, Klaas. How long is the climb? I go up a couple of 15% grades that are 100 meters long or so on my Coker every day. That’s on 150mm cranks with a 36" wheel.
That’s a cool, simple, and elegant inclinometer and if it has precision of 1/2 degree it’s fine. Your scale looks like it does. How accurate is it?
This is a great tool; it’s pedesterian, and you can make it out of whatever you can imagine. It’s also something I’v been wanting. Thanx Klaas! Maybe I’ll put some hooks on the top of mine, so that it can be hung off of twine for longer slope readings.
>A 27% grade? You’re an ANIMAL, Klaas. How long is the climb? I go up a
>couple of 15% grades that are 100 meters long or so on my Coker every
>day. That’s on 150mm cranks with a 36" wheel.
From a simple leverage calculation, I conclude that Cokering a 15%
grade should be about as difficult as what I did. However, my 27%
section is just a few metres :-(. The whole climb is about 100 m but
averages no more than 15%. I have no long climbs nearby, as you can
see from the bottom picture and caption on
<www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/beest_photos.htm>.
>That’s a cool, simple, and elegant inclinometer and if it has precision
>of 1/2 degree it’s fine. Your scale looks like it does. How accurate is
>it?
With careful reading you could get to about 1/2 degree. Also there is
a small difference between measuring both ways - about 1/4 degree, due
to misplacement of dial related to push-pin. But as I explain at the
bottom of the inclinometer page, positioning is key with the device
being so small. Measurements of the same slope can easily differ a
couple of degrees, even when eyeballing that the inclinometer is
parallel to the slope at large. Also, what length scale do you look at
for something to be defined as slope, as opposed to bump?
> Maybe I’ll put some hooks on the top of mine, so that it
>can be hung off of twine for longer slope readings.
That’s an elegant idea Rhysling, I’ll consider to incorporate it as
well. (Although hooks might catch in a shorts’ pocket.) Twine is more
portable than a ruler yet can be as straight.
But to what would you fix the far ends of the twine? Bring two tent
pegs? Or just hold in your two hands? Or bring a friend - or two
friends, since the little box would be biased when not near the middle
of the twine?
Hey, you’ve nicked Klaas’s calculator! Either that or there’s some sort of fetish amongst unicyclists for fancy calculators with indecipherable Reverse Polish Notation.
I think I’ll stick to what I’ve already got. Perfect for measuring 45 degree slopes (which I rarely cycle) and horizontal planes (which I regularly cycle). The calculator isn’t very portable, but it does have the added bonus that it can browse this forum:p
I carved this out of a bar of soap. The features that I included are a split bubble level (the long black tube) and a locking indicator. The scale is in % grade (45 degrees equals 100%). The scale goes to 150% grade.
