The 1.5 with JB Weld is where its at, higher top speed, though I have to pedal more... There is significantly less low end on this thing than the 1 inch, but I like the higher top end, it's safer in this area, if I were cruising around the farm I'd go 1 inch but for safety here, I need to keep up more with traffic.
I had to tune the tension to find the sweet spot. Which changes a lot when I sit my fat a$$ on the bike. Reminder to self: every time I change a spindle adjust the tension.
When I first went out I was riding with the dregs of what was in my can, engine was acting funny. I blamed it on all kinds of thing and then was reading through here and read a post by Pablo about oil settling out of the mix. This was as good a time as any to go get fresh gas.
I got fresh gas and mixed it to the proper ratio for this Ryobi= 32:1 drained out the old and filled it with fresh. Results- better running engine. Seems the bogging down wasn't my engine's fault or my fat butt, but the mix. Probably the oil settled out and though I shake it before every use it had probably just sat for too long.
So I took it out for a little test spin. The results:
The JB Weld and sand wins again. There is more oomph than the faux knurled spindle alone and less slipping. Though I will say more slipping than the 1 inch roller. This might have something to do with the size or how I put it on, the first application was sloppy this one is smoother and more precise. I'd say that rough is better, it has more grab, even if it is uneven. Also I used less sand, more sand is better.
The numbers: Top speed of 24mph, downhill with pedaling. More pedaling on flats, more ability to keep up higher speeds. I averaged 12 mph before tweaking the tension and 14 after. On McPherson drive I was able to keep the bike at 17mph easily and get there quickly. This was also not at WOT, more like 1/2 to 2/3. WOT got me the 24mph down hill and the engine wasn't racing. Up hill if I didn't pedal the engine would bog a bit and the spindle would slip, so pedaling up hill was necessary.
I'll have to test it out again when the roads are dry there were still a lot of puddles at the cummin's center where I did my test runs and speed runs, I suspect that speeds will be higher when everything is dry.
Verdict: This is my every day driving spindle. It will keep my up with traffic, force me to pedal a little more in the start but over all it's a winner. IF I know I'm going to a place that's really hilly I'll switch out to the 1 inch spindle and sacrifice speed for hill climbing.