Cycling 2018 (incorporating your own bike chat)

[gilbertharding]

If I am brutally honest, I am a Johnny-come-lately to cYcLiNg, especially as a participant - but if this scandal (or 'scandal') makes a few fat rich wankers fuck off back to their golf clubs, it can't be all bad.

[gilbertharding]

Anyone watch any of the World Track Champs? Boardman's good on these things. Dry humour.

[jobotic]

They're like tax avoiders, they didn't break any rules. Fuck 'em.

[Brian Freeze]

Me, with Spawn of Canes 2. Went for two nights, had a brilliant day on the Dalbeattie course - managed the entire red route, though we had to dismount for some of the red obstacles (me more than my son). The black obstacles were far too fearsome. Also 25km was a long slog in the hot weather (Hot weather! Did such a thing exist?) especially as we ran out of water half way. Can recommend Gorsebank camp site if you're up there, it's just down the road and has everything from open pitches to glamping pods and hot tubs.

Magic innit? We love the area so have been a few times but the black stuff is way too fierce for me.
I'd still aim the bike at them but bottle most of them or damage something before getting very far. Not sure I ever had the skills for it but I certainly havent the cojones nowadays. I was pretty chuffed for getting my hardtail down The Qualifier before the Slab though. It looks like a certain air ambulance visit from the top to me.
The last time we went I stopped for a leak and looked down to make sure I wasnt splashing my shoes and there was an adder curled up near my feet.
Shouting "Hey mate - check this out" while I had my knob out took a little bit of explaining.

Did you know of the World Flattie Tramping chamionship at Palnackie? Make spears and time it right for your next visit.
Its a bit of a hard push in places but the coastal path is mostly rideable from Sandyhills to Kipford and is an excelllent little ride with stunning views - having the right to roam took a bit of getting used to.

[jobotic]

I'm doing this tomorrow. Shitting it. I haven't ridden any distance at all this year, just the small round trip to work.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/26731397

[Norton Canes]

Ah, you'll be OK. Just keep ploughing on and don't worry about keeping up with anyone.

[doppelkorn]

I've done an Audax round there. Nice part of the world. Just plod it out!

[jobotic]

Cheers both. Yeah I know most of it. Have done Vigo Hill a few times, no problem, but not after 45 miles and being massively out of practice. It's going to be pissing down and cold too!

[jobotic]

It was fucking awful! Rubbish signage and we got lost. And I'm only just warmed up. And getting a puncture and changing tubes with numb hands is rubbish.

Still, we did it.

[doppelkorn]

Ah gash man. And you spend a fair whack for those sportives as well. I've never done one but I recommend audax, because at least you expect to have to find your way and it costs about £6 incl. a flapjack and a cup of tea at the end.

[Bobtoo]

I bought this 1982ish Dawes Super Galaxy four years ago



It was in decent enough condition and all working, but the previous owner, who had it from new, had replaced worn out parts with whatever was current at the time. I've been watching eBay for original spec components and it's mostly there now. It would have been cheaper to buy a better example in the first place but I've quite enjoyed collecting all the bits and building it up.

[doppelkorn]

Does it have 27" wheels? I'd be tempted to build that up with more modern bits. Someone on a bike forum I go on did an amazing job of rebuilding a Faggin tourer with modern bits and it was stunning. They also got it repainted really nicely.



Meanwhile, I've had to pause this build because I've lost my chain breaker.

[paruses]

Looks like a few on here build there own bikes or at least do some mechanical maintenance on them.

I have a question about V-Brakes:

On my very cheap old hard tail that I tool back and forth to work on I have cantilever brakes that I want to change. I bought some cheap V brakes and handles off ebay and replaced the back ones as a test. As I work away from home I'm limited in terms of having a decent work area and tools so have managed with a few hex keys and a small Eurogiant socket set. It was all fine getting the stuff off and the replacements on but I can't for the life of me set them well - I find that if I pull the levers up so the pad touches the rim then they are so tight that the dust boot is compressed already and there's no real power in them anyway. If I loosen them off then they don't get anywhere near the rim.

The lever pins are in the middle hole of the bracket. Is it worth moving them to the top / bottom hole?

I'm going to take it up to the bike man to strip stuff off and make it SS anyway but just wanted to do the brakes so I feel I've accomplished something.

Any thoughts (outside of an opinion on my competence)? Is brake setting an art or am I just a valve?

[doppelkorn]

Have you definitely got V-brake levers? It sounds like you might have bought canti ones. They have different "travel" lengths. I.e., V-brake levers pull more cable than canti ones.

[paruses]

Thanks - sorry I am probably being confusing with the word lever -

What I meant was when I squeeze the arms up to pull the cable through the pinch nut they are so close that the dust boot is touching the opposite arm - which is obvs too tight even with the barrel loosened off a few turns. The levers then have no travel before the pads (weakly)  engage.

They came as a set (clearly fresh from a pressing in some Chinese factory) - alloy V brake + brake levers - so I am fairly sure that the brake levers are suitable for V brakes - and they have that short BMX look to them unlike the longer ones that are currently on for the cantilever brakes.

I just wondered if there was some magic tip or it's worth trying the arms in one of the other holes.

I never have any luck setting brakes.

[Bobtoo]

You need to move the pads out, so they are on the rim with the arm approximately vertical I think. Have you tried looking for a YouTube video? There's bound to be one.

[paruses]

Yes to YouTube Park Tools and a semi-pro guy who replaced cantilever with v-brake - perfect, I thought, that will make this job easy. And as usual it fit in with what I thought the process was along with a few tips I wouldn't have known.

Am away the weekend but might disassemble them next week and try a different position for the pin on the arm. Will also investigate the load position but think I have that pretty right

Thing is I don't see how the arms, although cheap, can be "wrong" - I haven't got a super thin rim (fnarr), not can the cable not be pulled through, not the travel on the levers affect the initial set.

Must be fucking something up but am at the usual frustrated loss.

[doppelkorn]

I binned off the dust boot - it was doing the same on my V-brakes. If you ignore that then what happens?

[paruses]

Good to know - that would give me more play. I may have had an initial go and it was acceptable but I thought I should be able and therefore must do it "properly" with the boot.

Will do that Monday I think. Thanks

[Bobtoo]

Does it have 27" wheels? I'd be tempted to build that up with more modern bits. Someone on a bike forum I go on did an amazing job of rebuilding a Faggin tourer with modern bits and it was stunning. They also got it repainted really nicely.



Meanwhile, I've had to pause this build because I've lost my chain breaker.

27" wheels, the heaviest ones known to man- Weinmann concave rims. I'm not really a fan of modern bits, although I might get a set of dual pivot brakes for my hipster fixed gear bike one day.

[Dex Sawash]

Nicked this motherfucker out the junk pile at the bike shop next door. It's a Rollfast.



goddamn I love it

[Dex Sawash]

I hate this motherfucker already

[Dex Sawash]

Chucked it back in the junk pile. Going to buy an Electra.

[buzby]

My scandium MTB frame bought the farm today. I've been hearing a clicking noise on each pedal stroke over the past couple of weeks but assumed it was the bottom bracket or pedal bearings on the way out. Today I was out of the saddle uphill on the way out of Sefton Park and the clicking got louder. I assumed it was something stuck in the spokes or tyre hitting the frame so stopped to have a look but couldn't see anything. I got back on an rode another 20 metres and it turned into sound of a cracking coke can and everything going very wobbly.

I got off again for a closer look, wondering if a QR had come undone. It was then I noticed a crack, 50% around the circumference of the downtube about 2 inches from the headtube. There is a gusset plate welded on there, and the fracture starts at the weld on the corner of the plate, so it was presumably not heat treated properly after the welding operation. There is a  long, fast downhill road after where I was with speedbumps on it, so I was pretty fortunate it went when it did or I would be getting my face reconstructed (though that might not be a bad thing). I was also lucky that I was only about a mile from a station, and I live about a mile from a station as I had my hard sole XC SPD shoes on

Anyway, I need to look for another hardtail XC frame, preferably carbon and for 26" wheels (I'm a shortarse and small frames with 29" wheels look ridiculous). One thing I have noticed is that modern frames look really ugly, with the top tube and seat stay being a straight line from the rear axle to top headset bearing so you end up with a mile of spindly seatpost sticking out:

[poo]

Happy to report that after 5 months of intensive physio on my knee, I'm back on the bike. Can't go full pelt just yet, but the simple joy of pedalling and being out in the saddle is just great.

[gilbertharding]

What about Froomey, eh? Amazing stuff!

Obviously my least favourite cyclist on my least favourite team. And the tedium of listening to the bores go on about 'the drugs' and 'he's Kenyan'. Zzzz.

Yes, it's 'bad for cycling', but not in the way YOU think.

[sevendaughters]

This is PAT BEVAN aka my 1982 Motobecane Grand Record



Bought it in 2016 after a second lig tweak put me off running again. Been a bit of a job keeping it on the road. Prev owner says he used it for a triathlon and left it in his garage. Replaced wheels, crank, bottom bracket, derailleur, put clip pedals on, and the forks have had to be corrected. Can tell the local mechanics hate working on it. They'd rather be on something newer.

Thinking of making this my short-distance whip and getting something modern. They're not as sexy to me but maybe it's time I joined the party.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Been cycling to work on one of these:



Do like riding a single speed, but the frame is either a 50 or a 52 centimetre and I'm all hunched up on it being about 6'3 so I'm scouring gumtree for something a bit bigger. There seem to be some nice 70's bits going about eg:



They look simple enough that second hand seems wise. I replaced the freewheel on the create after it spent a year outside because it started slipping when it should've engaged and it was a piece of piss. Had to take it to the garage across the road and ask them nicely to slacken the old one off as I didn't have a vice to clamp it in, mind.

[buzby]

What about Froomey, eh? Amazing stuff!

Obviously my least favourite cyclist on my least favourite team. And the tedium of listening to the bores go on about 'the drugs' and 'he's Kenyan'. Zzzz.

Yes, it's 'bad for cycling', but not in the way YOU think.

Fucking Hell! was my response on seeing the attack on the Finestre  It was like a stage from the 1950s or 60s - nobody races like that anymore, a 'Hail Mary' attack with an 80km solo over a HC and 3rd category MTF, and take that much time out of his rivals (aided by Simon Yates' climactic implosion - a classic example of burning your matches too early in the race). It was all planned too, with all of Sky's staff distributed along the route to act as soigneurs in branded hi-viz vests, handing out bottles and gels so Froome and his domestiques didn't have to wait for the team cars to get to them.

Froome did seem to come into the race a bit undercooked, form-wise, but it seems to be one of the greatest acts of planning and strategy in sports history to time coming into form for the second half of the third week, just in time for the toughest stages. We will see how much it's taken out of him on tomorrow's equally hard stage, but he still looked pretty fresh at the finish and in the post-stage interviews, whereas Dumoulin looked totally done. I'm sure some of that was psychological too - the World TT Champion getting turned over for nearly 4 minutes on what was effectively an 80km mountain TT.

Regarding the 'drugs lol' crowd- Froome's climb up Finestre was the slowest of the 3 times the climb has been used (2005, 2011 and 2015 were all climbed faster than today, even with Sky's domestiques burying themselves on the front at the lower part of the climb). The largest part of Froome's advantage came from the descent, where he gained 1m 15s on the Dumoulin group. Richard Carapaz ascended the Jafferau fastest, but was almost 3 minutes slower than Santambrogio & Nibali in 2014 (which was in appalling conditions too). Both Dumoulin and Froome were 20-odd seconds slower than Carapaz (mostly from his sprint to hoover up the time bonus in the last couple of hundred metres)

[buzby]

This is PAT BEVAN aka my 1982 Motobecane Grand Record



Bought it in 2016 after a second lig tweak put me off running again. Been a bit of a job keeping it on the road. Prev owner says he used it for a triathlon and left it in his garage. Replaced wheels, crank, bottom bracket, derailleur, put clip pedals on, and the forks have had to be corrected.

Not that surprising, triantelopes are notorious for abusing their bikes (a lot of them are primarily runners or swimmers and endure the cycling part). Mechanics dread working on their bikes, especially the Ironman types as it's not unusual for them to piss themselves on the go rather than pull over for a slash.

I've begun collecting bits to replace my XC bike with the cracked frame. I'm going for a proper lightweight this time with a carbion frame (the best thing about my road bike, it's a revelation comfort-wise compared to an aluminium frame). I'm staying with 26" wheels (high-spec 26" XC stuff can be had very cheap now everone is going 650b and 29"). I might finally upgrade from 7 to 8 speeds, and possibly a single ring upfront as I can't remember the last time I used anything but the big ring (grinding out of the saddle in the big ring might be what cracked the frame...)