The biking thread

Picked up the bike \o/. Its a 25"/ 63.5cm frame, which is much better then the 22,5" I tried last week.

Sorry for the ropey pics taken after the morning's events :indiff:

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After getting a combination lock, helmet and 'secure' quick release axles (the stock ones are just quick release, which is a bit pointless if you lock it up on a street - your wheels can grow legs!) I had added another $125 on top of the bike price, not including the riding gloves fleabaying their way to me this week....

Proudly, I didn't come to grief. For at least 4 blocks!

I decided to stick to the pavement whilst it all came flooding back to me, forgoing the road and its traffic. This worked well until a family of 4 decided to break formation coming in the opposite direction at the last second. I missed the kid and clipped the wife at low speed (read, punched her in the ribs with the handlebars) :D.

I am pretty well chuffed with it. Gears technology seems to have advanced since I was a young lad - before i had a lever. Swivel it forward, you change up, swivel it back, you change down. Now its this fancy trigger business which takes some getting used to.

I find my biggest issue at the moment is steady'ness going in a straight line. If there is a gap I have to take, for some reason, I tend to start weaving for no reason and overcorrecting and it all snowballing. I think i need to a) not squeeze the life out of the grips and b) aim further ahead, not fixate on 3 m ahead of me.

Also, curiously as if I am scared of too much lean angle when cornering, I find myself understeering and ending up flirting with walls and chairs when rounding corners. I need to believe the wheels will stick and lean a bit more!

I am still a bit scared (big baby) of riding in amongst traffic as I can't yet take one arm off the bar to signal without fear of getting into the weaving business of above and also the onus is really on the cyclist to be aware of what cars are doing behind, to the side and ahead of oneself - I'm not 100% there yet.

I can see a sore arse in the near future (fnarr), but otherwise, well stoked :)

Also shem, you are one slim chap. :P
 
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Here's my bike after my crash today:
100_1247.jpg


I was in the driveway, still accelerating. I usually accelerate on this bike pretty hard. Then the chain came off, and when my foot went down, I ate the gravel 👎


I'd take a couple pictures of my scratches, but I'd get banned because they're so ugly LOL
 
Mike Rotch
Picked up the bike \o/. Its a 25"/ 63.5cm frame, which is much better then the 22,5" I tried last week.

A family of 4 decided to break formation coming in the opposite direction at the last second. I missed the kid and clipped the wife at low speed (read, punched her in the ribs with the handlebars) :D.
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:lol: Classic. :lol:

Mike Rotch
I am pretty well chuffed with it. Gears technology seems to have advanced since I was a young lad - before i had a lever. Swivel it forward, you change up, swivel it back, you change down. Now its this fancy trigger business which takes some getting used to.
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They rock!

I've been wanting to upgrade to them trigger type shifters for some time now after seeing the 'all the gear, no idea' guys riding with them. I have the lever shifters which are a pain in the bottom.

Mike Rotch
Also shem, you are one slim chap. :P
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Er....Aerodynamic, thanks. :sly:

I eat tons of bacon, eggs, cheese, red meat, chicken and everything else in an effort to gain pounds but never put on weight. Been that way since I was 15 years old. :( (My body's way of telling me I was engineered for cycling.)

I haven't ridden for the last few days as storms have been rolling through. I'm usually an all weather rider but since the sun burn incident I've decided the missus does know best.

I've been thinking of the most effective clothing set up for the colder months and have not a lot of ideas. I need breathable gear but also need to keep warm. Shorts with Lycras underneath are fine as my lower legs never freeze but I find I always sweat into a winter shirt which then turns cold and makes me freeze. A T-shirt is out of the question as the winters here can get a bit chilly. Any suggestions? (Pro road riding gear is a no-no because it's too expensive for what it is I don't want to look like a prat :lol:)
 
That is a tall bike, Brad. I'd hit my precious' on that top rail. :scared:

And I'm sure you'll get more used to the bike in no time. 👍
Camaroyenko
I'd take a couple pictures of my scratches, but I'd get banned because they're so ugly LOL
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It's virtually impossible for it to be worse than Pako's meatflap.
 
Just went on a 6km ride around Centennial Park - definitely feel more comfortable on the move already. Still lacking confidence in an around traffic though, but that will come with time.

The riding position feels comfortable, I dont feel any back or shoulder ache, albeit was a short ride. A future gel seat one the other hand.....

I am also one unfit bastid 👍
 
Mike Rotch
Picked up the bike \o/. Its a 25"/ 63.5cm frame, which is much better then the 22,5" I tried last week.
Click to expand...

Nice looking bike Brad 👍 ....I have got an image of a giraffe trying to ride it though ;)

Mike Rotch
I am pretty well chuffed with it. Gears technology seems to have advanced since I was a young lad - before i had a lever. Swivel it forward, you change up, swivel it back, you change down. Now its this fancy trigger business which takes some getting used to.

I find my biggest issue at the moment is steady'ness going in a straight line. If there is a gap I have to take, for some reason, I tend to start weaving for no reason and overcorrecting and it all snowballing. I think i need to a) not squeeze the life out of the grips and b) aim further ahead, not fixate on 3 m ahead of me.

Also, curiously as if I am scared of too much lean angle when cornering, I find myself understeering and ending up flirting with walls and chairs when rounding corners. I need to believe the wheels will stick and lean a bit more!

I am still a bit scared (big baby) of riding in amongst traffic as I can't yet take one arm off the bar to signal without fear of getting into the weaving business of above and also the onus is really on the cyclist to be aware of what cars are doing behind, to the side and ahead of oneself - I'm not 100% there yet.

I can see a sore arse in the near future (fnarr), but otherwise, well stoked :)
Click to expand...

You'll get used to the gears eventually and your confidence will grow, getting the bike set up right helps too so I'll link this again which makes the most sense out of all the riding position stuff I've read. I can't help with your arse though...
 
shem
I've been thinking of the most effective clothing set up for the colder months and have not a lot of ideas. I need breathable gear but also need to keep warm. Shorts with Lycras underneath are fine as my lower legs never freeze but I find I always sweat into a winter shirt which then turns cold and makes me freeze. A T-shirt is out of the question as the winters here can get a bit chilly. Any suggestions? (Pro road riding gear is a no-no because it's too expensive for what it is I don't want to look like a prat :lol:)
Click to expand...

Might as well get the pro riding gear stuff as they actually do work well for what you need in the winter months. I have a cyclist road jacket and that is INSANELY warm, even though its really light and quite breathable. Would be very useful against wind as well as its somehow relatively breathable but seems to protect against the wind really quite well.

Also the cyclist tops that the pros wear (not with sponsorship logos, the top manufacturers like Endura, etc) are extremely useful as well as they do wick the sweat away and does keep you warm in the colder months as well (if you have two, one in your size and one in a slightly larger size and wear them at the same time).

And the tops are zippable. Those are a real god-send when you get quite warm but not too warm and can just zip it down to cool down a bit more.

They do last some time so you do pay for the useage of them.

For leggings when the cold winds are biting, you can get running leggings instead that are relatively tight and just wear the padded shorts underneath. That will keep you relatively warm when you have extreme winds due to downhills and the temperature drops to below 10 degrees or more.

In Shanghai, I picked up two cyclist tops for a much cheaper price (I think something like 40RMB or something like that, against 10-15 quid here) than here and they are actually better quality than the one I brought in England before I went to Shanghai.... go figure!

Would you rather be cold and freezing your ass off because you don't want to wear something which you think makes you look stupid, or wear the stuff and be warmer and have a happier time? Its what works for you, not what other people think of you. I used to do a ton of swimming, 8 times a week for 2 hours each session. I used to wear lime green dragshorts, mainly because I could see it easily in my bag. Additionally, other swimmers would kinda be a bit more alert to me being the water.... (Its amazing how inattentive you can be in the water when you're in there at 5am and don't finish till 7am)
 
Just man up...
I was out on my bike in the snow in January for a whole day just in shorts and a normal tshirt with a hoody over the top. ;)
 
Floats
I went dirt jumping last winter in a santa suit.
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LMAO! Pics please!

If some of you didn't see the latest purchases thread, I just copied Neal and bought an Avid Elixir R for the front. :D
Can't wait for it to arrive!

Any idea of any cranks that don't have the tab for the small ring? That pisses me off on the rare occasion that my chain gets wedged under if it comes off...
 
shem
I've been thinking of the most effective clothing set up for the colder months and have not a lot of ideas. I need breathable gear but also need to keep warm. Shorts with Lycras underneath are fine as my lower legs never freeze but I find I always sweat into a winter shirt which then turns cold and makes me freeze. A T-shirt is out of the question as the winters here can get a bit chilly. Any suggestions? (Pro road riding gear is a no-no because it's too expensive for what it is I don't want to look like a prat :lol:)
Click to expand...

Slightly delayed reply but a soft shell jacket is probably what you're looking for. They're warm, windproof, stretchy, many are shower proof and they're all extremely breathable, much more so than a normal hard shell waterproof. I haven't got one but it's on my wish list for this winter although I may be able to blag one from work if I don't mind having the company name written across my chest.

Also I've been looking into getting a proper front light for riding locally at night (obviously) and possibly some off road riding in deepest darkest winter when there's about 2 hours or daylight each day. They are horrendously expensive in the shops here (£150 - £250 for something good enough for off road trails) but I've just discovered that you can get Chinese copies delivered to the UK for a fraction of the cost. There is a huge selection but it appears that the one using the most up to date LED is this 1200 lumen light which is only £31ish with delivery! It does sound like the build quality may not be quite as good as the expensive branded lights and you'll probably need to apply some silicone grease on the threads to fully waterproof them but at £30 you can just buy another one when it gives up the ghost.

Shem, what's your opinion on Chinese kit?
 
Neal
Slightly delayed reply but a soft shell jacket is probably what you're looking for.
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Funny you should mention that as I did my weekly shop today at Metro, equivalent of Costco, and the shell jackets were the first things I looked at. They've got some very lightweight ones which I think are more for summer and not waterproof, and some heavier ones that are still quite light but seem both breathable and waterproof-ish. They aren't branded but for a tenna I might pick one up in a month or two when things get a little chilly.

Neal
Shem, what's your opinion on Chinese kit?
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Most of the gear I've bought here is on par with gear I used in the UK.

The lights I use aren't exactly full beams but they get me noticed by cars and are useful when the power cuts strike. :lol:

I use the same light for front and back which has 3 LEDs in it and takes 4 pencil batteries. They're enough to light up the 15m of road ahead on a dimly lit street (Looking for a pic now)

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I bought these over a year ago and use them several times a week through all kinds of weather. The on/off switch is a little sensitive so I unscrew the LED part on top to save the batteries when they're in my bag.

They are made generically by many companies, I picked mine up branded 'Xing Cheng' but they're the same as in the picture, albeit with different logos. £8 I paid for each light. Very robust and very efficient on battery life. The options are: on, blink, triple flash and off.

Lots of the other stuff I've bought here is western branded stuff e.g. riding gloves (Spakct), tyres (Maxxis Detonators), mini tool kit and pump (Giant). The difference in quality between these products is non-existent because they are the same items that get shipped to the west, only the price is different because they don't include charges for export, they're made right here.

The Chinese brands now are almost at the stage where the kits is as good as the western counterparts but they fall down on materials. The design and engineering involved is the same but the Chinese cut costs on metals and plastics using slightly inferior quality materials to undercut the brands we recognise in the west.

As for the lights, the Chinese ones should be as good as any other for the price you mentioned, in fact, they should be slightly better for that price compared to non Chinese products.

Sorry about the full essay, I'm in a chatty mood today. :)

Hope this helps. 👍
 
Thanks Shem, that is very helpful so don't don't apologise about the essay :lol:👍

The front light I've just bought is very similar to the one you've pictured and sounds like it does a similar job. It was £11 instead of £25 so not a bad price and was almost certainly made in China but branded as RSP (Raleigh). Most bike components are made out there now and the bike companies seem fairly open about it, they still use "made in *insert western country*" as a selling point for their high end stuff though.

I've done some reading on other forums about the Chinese uberpowerful bike lights and the general consensus seems to be they're just as reliable (or unreliable) as the branded lights but are only a 10th of the cost. Also is sounds like the braded lights are a year or two behind in terms of LED technology compared to the far east ones!

A tenner for a soft shell is pretty damn cheap, I'd be looking at £50ish for one here :grumpy:
 
Got the Avid Elixir R in sexy sexy white on the front of the bike now.... Holy bejesus! I can do instant endos. Gradual endos. Over the handlebar endos (if I ever wanted to). And no endo. Although when there is no endo, I stop within like 2mm anyway.
Been blasting up and down the street for a while breaking them in. Great fun! :D
Other features that are amazingly wonderful, the ability to change lever reach on the fly without an allen key and did I mention that it is white...? Like the inside of my pants when the postie delivered it... :dopey:
 
Aldo
Got the Avid Elixir R in sexy sexy white on the front of the bike now.... Holy bejesus! I can do instant endos. Gradual endos. Over the handlebar endos (if I ever wanted to). And no endo. Although when there is no endo, I stop within like 2mm anyway.
Been blasting up and down the street for a while breaking them in. Great fun! :D
Other features that are amazingly wonderful, the ability to change lever reach on the fly without an allen key
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Good stuff mate 👍 I'll be bedding in the new Superstars organic pads on mine tonight so I'll let you know if they're any good for when you need new ones after doing rolling stoppies everywhere :P I'll be a bit more careful spraying lube anywhere near the bike in future so I don't contaminate the brake pads :dunce:

Also are yours noisy? Mine sound like a flock of geese when they're cold :boggled:

and did I mention that it is white...? Like the inside of my pants when the postie delivered it... :dopey:
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Neal
Also are yours noisy? Mine sound like a flock of geese when they're cold :boggled:
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I can't imagine how bad that must be! I run normal 'V's, regular pads. Even they sound like a pig at a slaughter house until I've done a few hundred meters half locked.
 
Neal
Good stuff mate 👍 I'll be bedding in the new Superstars organic pads on mine tonight so I'll let you know if they're any good for when you need new ones after doing rolling stoppies everywhere :P I'll be a bit more careful spraying lube anywhere near the bike in future so I don't contaminate the brake pads :dunce:

Also are yours noisy? Mine sound like a flock of geese when they're cold :boggled:
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Ahh nice one, I've used superstar pads before and they seemed fine. Not the organic ones, but I presume the other ones are similar. :P
Lol! Which lube was it btw? Did you say it was special fork lube or something from Halfrauds? I went in the other day but couldn't find any.
Mine were a wee bit noisy for the first few big stops but nothing outrageous. Maybe yours are a bit noisier cause you've got a brand new disc on brand new (well not any more) pads whereas I've already used this disc quite a bit. Also spraying it with lube doesn't help. :D :lol:

Also just ordered some new grips from superstar, to replace the well worn ones I have just now. Keeping the lime green lockrings but went with orange grips this time... :drool: or :yuck: depending on your sexual preference.

Will need to spend half an hour indexing my gears soon as well. Shifting isn't as smooth as it was a few months ago. :(

I really need to get a ride in sometime soon! Even if its just riding about the town causing mayhem and going down steps or something. Tempted to take my bike into Edinburgh tonight just for a wee ride about before the first meeting of the biking society. Should be getting a few trips down to Glentress and Inners with that crew though and there's talks of going to Morzine in the summer (may have already told you this Neal). :dopey:
 
shem
I can't imagine how bad that must be! I run normal 'V's, regular pads. Even they sound like a pig at a slaughter house until I've done a few hundred meters half locked.
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It's only the front one and only when I'm braking hard so it's not too annoying but it has got me a few funny looks :lol: Apparently it's quite common with this specific brake due to the disc pattern but should be fixable with some copper grease on the back of the pads and realigning the calliper.

Also I've ordered this torch with a handlebar mount instead of a bike specific light. Apparently the batteries with the bike light I was looking at are rubbish plus there's more that can go wrong with them.

sku_55241_1.jpg


It seems bright enough!



Aldo
Ahh nice one, I've used superstar pads before and they seemed fine. Not the organic ones, but I presume the other ones are similar. :P
Lol! Which lube was it btw? Did you say it was special fork lube or something from Halfrauds? I went in the other day but couldn't find any.
Mine were a wee bit noisy for the first few big stops but nothing outrageous. Maybe yours are a bit noisier cause you've got a brand new disc on brand new (well not any more) pads whereas I've already used this disc quite a bit. Also spraying it with lube doesn't help. :D :lol:

Also just ordered some new grips from superstar, to replace the well worn ones I have just now. Keeping the lime green lockrings but went with orange grips this time... :drool: or :yuck: depending on your sexual preference.

Will need to spend half an hour indexing my gears soon as well. Shifting isn't as smooth as it was a few months ago. :(

I really need to get a ride in sometime soon! Even if its just riding about the town causing mayhem and going down steps or something. Tempted to take my bike into Edinburgh tonight just for a wee ride about before the first meeting of the biking society. Should be getting a few trips down to Glentress and Inners with that crew though and there's talks of going to Morzine in the summer (may have already told you this Neal). :dopey:
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Just this silicone spray and this is the same for a quid more, they're with the WD40.

You're probably right about new disc plus new pads plus cackhanded application of fork lube :ouch: I'm sure they'll calm down eventually.

The Superstar grips have been tempting me but my Lizardskin Charger grips are still way too comfy. Green and orange, niiiice :lol: As I'm a scally I'd have to go for gold and white :D

Make sure the "B" screw is adjusted right before trying to index the rear mech.

You did mention possible Morzine adventure and local trips, very jealous!
 
Neal
Also I've ordered this torch with a handlebar mount instead of a bike specific light. Apparently the batteries with the bike light I was looking at are rubbish plus there's more that can go wrong with them.

sku_55241_1.jpg


It seems bright enough!

Just this silicone spray and this is the same for a quid more, they're with the WD40.

You're probably right about new disc plus new pads plus cackhanded application of fork lube :ouch: I'm sure they'll calm down eventually.

The Superstar grips have been tempting me but my Lizardskin Charger grips are still way too comfy. Green and orange, niiiice :lol: As I'm a scally I'd have to go for gold and white :D

Make sure the "B" screw is adjusted right before trying to index the rear mech.

You did mention possible Morzine adventure and local trips, very jealous!
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The light looks quality!

I did like my LizardSkin grips too! Had the Peatys on a while back. Looked mint (to use scouser terminology)! Gold and white? Calm down Tim Westwood. :dopey:

I'll try to remember to do that...

Any idea if the seals on RS forks just pop up if you take the little metal band off? Want to clean under them but I fear I'll cock it up and not get the band back on or whatever... :lol:
 
If I remember correctly those metal bands are just springs to hold the shape of the seal, to actually get a seal off you would need to get a flathead screwdriver between them and the lowers. The lowers should have a small indentation in them were you can start. Pulling the metal band up won't do anything, although you will be able to just roll it back on if you do pull the band off.
 
Floats
If I remember correctly those metal bands are just springs to hold the shape of the seal, to actually get a seal off you would need to get a flathead screwdriver between them and the lowers. The lowers should have a small indentation in them were you can start. Pulling the metal band up won't do anything, although you will be able to just roll it back on if you do pull the band off.
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Ahh cool, cheers. Will give it a go sometime. 👍
Are the seals easy to just pop back in? Don't want to be left with the seals stuck in the middle of the stanchion or something ridiculous. :dunce:
 
Aldo
Will need to spend half an hour indexing my gears soon as well. Shifting isn't as smooth as it was a few months ago. :(
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Do you use a guide? I've been messing with mine and made slight improvements but some individual gears still shift a little clumsily.

It's a basic Shimano SIS dérailleur they run on so not exactly pro gear but the smoothness has slowly deteriorated over the last 500k. It's a lever system not triggers (bring on the upgrade!).

I have a Bike Doctor app on my phone that I use as a guide but really have nowhere to take the bike for a spin after adjusting the screws so most of it is done by eye, not feel.

Any suggestions other than taking it to a professional bike mechanic?

FYI, the whole gear system is over 10'000k old so I know there will be some wear and tear but I've maintained it well, cleaning once a month and greasing like its a kebab!

Any tips would be much appreciated, and yeah, I know I need a replacement gear system. :lol:
 
Aldo
Ahh cool, cheers. Will give it a go sometime. 👍
Are the seals easy to just pop back in? Don't want to be left with the seals stuck in the middle of the stanchion or something ridiculous. :dunce:
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If they are anything like the ones on my Foxs they will be tricky but not impossible. The most difficult side I found was making sure they were seated correctly around where the bridge joins the legs.
 
Shem, never done it myself before... lol!
Try parktools.com - the guides on there for other things are generally excellent. :)

Floats: Hmmmm, might just get a cotton bud or something similar under the rim and have a scrape around. Can't be bothered doing it wrong and making an arse of it. :lol:
 
New brake pads have completely stoped the flock of geese being raped noise and increased the power to ridiculously easy one finger stoppies levels even with my fat ass hanging off the back of the bike. Today's lesson is to put plastic bags over the discs and callipers whenever you're spraying lube anywhere near the bike! The old pads have been scorched on the gas hob to get rid of as much oil as possible and can go in my camelbak for backups.

Shem - I'd oil the gear cables, shifters and derailleurs then check the bolts securing the derailleurs to the frame are tight plus any on the derailleurs then try indexing them again. It could just be the drivetrain and chain are worn out though.

Aldo - I'd be reluctant to prise the seals out of the lowers, if you can't get them back in you'll have to strip the forks which isn't too tricky but requires tools you might not have plus new suspension fluid. Cotton bud and plenty of silicone spray (mind the brakes :lol:) will probably do a good enough job and if you let all the air out of the forks so you can compress them easily it might help degunging the seals.
 

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