Are all those red stretches places where you fell off the bike?
Haha, no one fell this ride, but it has been known to happen. The colors are speed of travel, red is faster, descending, and the blue is slower, climbing.
Bueno.
That’s me beside the trail. GAP and C&O canal ride from Pittsburgh to DC. I’m lying about 20 feet from the Potomac, just south of Leesburg, VA..... $#!+ happens.
@Michael McKelvey posted:I've dropped over 60 pounds from my high weight - 158 lbs.
Holy crap you weigh 98??
@Eric N- To get back to the original topic-
The problem with a 4 speed is you just can't "have it all", especially with an aircooled VW engine. Yes, you'll be able to cruise at 75 mph and you'll think those gears really do work in the canyons until you try keeping up to another Speedster (or Spyder) with closer gears and you find he (or she) can pull away from you any time he wants, and with the proposed gearing you'll also find (as people have already mentioned) the 3-4 split is a little long with there being a 3-4 mph "hole" where 4th rpms is too low for the engine to cool properly with a load on the engine (think long hill) and 3rd seems to be screaming too high to keep it there for any length of time. Shorten up 4th (and maybe 3rd a wee bit as well) and now ripping through those canyon roads feels more like it should but you've lost 5-10 mph cruising speed. I have lived with close ratio gears in a Cal Look Beetle- it was my main transportation (I was young- early to mid 20's) and we drove that thing everywhere (California, Oregon, Washington and all over British Columbia, where I live), but with a 4.375 r& p and 1.12 4th, 52 or 55 mph at 3500 rpm was it (unless it was raining- we could sometimes push it to 4500 rpm for hours in the rain) and it took forever to get anywhere! But man, it was quick through the gears...
There are 2 options- first- decide which is more important and live with it, 'cause you can't have both with a 4 speed. Or- save the bucks on that transaxle and put the $2,000 (and another 3 grand) toward a 5th gear. Between myself, the several people I know (locally as well as on here) and have read about on other VW forums I can tell you that no one (and I do mean no one!) with a Berg 5 will tell you it's not worth every penny. It's like going from a stock 1600 to your first dual carbed, 5500 rpm 1776/1835/1915 or going from that stock stroke <2 liter half pint to a 2100, 2200 or ??? stroked beast! It transforms the car that much.
Hope this helps. Al
PS- and if you are interested in how to gear a Berg 5, I know a little bit about this and can make some suggestions...
@edsnova, no 158 is my current weight. I realized after I posted it that it might be misinterpreted.
The weight loss seems to have left me with extra skin. I seem to have more wrinkles and crepey skin.
My experience with a 3:44 R&P and the 3-4 gap I could never find a place to sit, so you drove faster or slower to accommodate. The crusing speed was nice though.
So you will need to add A fifth gear but still turning at 3K when cruising to keep the engine cool and I experienced that with a 901 tranny with a 2332 engine in an IM speedster. It was a nice combo.
With the need to be at 3K RPM just to keep the car cooled, this makes even a 5th gear difficult if you are trying to get an old car to behave like a new car and that is more quietly or with less engine noise. It won't happen.
I was seriously thinking of a Berg-5 with my 2110cc IM, that was before I built new with full subie. Hope this helps.
@Michael McKelvey posted:@edsnova, no 158 is my current weight. I realized after I posted it that it might be misinterpreted.
The weight loss seems to have left me with extra skin. I seem to have more wrinkles and crepey skin.
OOooo, Creepy 
Just kidding. welcome to older age, but Congrats on the weight loss.!