For once I put in proper effort and it certainly paid off!
The entire bike is slowly becoming an example of what happens when one doesn't quite have the money for the properly specced bike and builds an entry level version to match - and to exceed. At this point mine still represents the lowly Comp "trim level" (they go from base through Comp, Elite and Expert to Pro) but sports, for example, better brakes and tyres than the Pro off the showroom floor. By the time I upgrade the drivetrain (3x9 Alivio to 2x9 XT) and the fork (Recon Silver to Reba) it'll be more than a match for an unmodified Pro while probably still costing less.
It's a very nice bike now. Tyres and drive train bits wear out and need replacing fairly regularly so it's no big deal buying a bike with lower range stuff there and there are very few bikes with my preferred brakes and contact points so it starts to make sense to buy a lower spec bike with a decent frame (or frame only) and build it up how you want. Frame, wheels and forks are the most important (and expensive) bits, everything else is much of a muchness really and down to personal choice.
Ooo some good bikes on those websites, thanks.
And my budget is pretty limited, £500 at most really. But it looks like I can get some decent bikes for that, so all is good.
Edit: But after an extensive look I'm struggling to find one in my size.
This is good value and they have a store in Southampton which might not be too far from you
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-5-road-bike-id_8167039.html
Pagey, nice to see another road rider here
instead of playing in the mud.
Oi!
One thing I'm going to do though is put my second bottle cage back on and have a bottle of frozen water also. It was 32c when I headed out today and by around the 20km mark my water was pretty much undrinkable due to the temperature of it. Last ten odd km's I was pretty much just swishing it in my mouth and spitting it out.
Camelbak Big Chill Bottle 👍
http://shop.camelbak.com/podium-big-chill-25-oz/d/50084_c_2020_cl_2073
I will only use Camelbak bottle as I like the squeezy bottle and valve and I've got the Big Chill one which at the moment stops the drink getting too cold
Question for the roadies.
How often do you guys service your bike?
Mines up to around 700km now. There's no creaks or odd noises and I oil the chain weekly, it's never ridden in the rain either. Well I think it's only rained once here in the last Month.
Cheers Shaun.
The links MD posted are excellent but to add to them it is very important to keep check of chain and cog wear as once the chain is worn it very quickly wears the cogs resulting in an expensive trip to the shops. Invest in a
chain wear checker and replace the chain at 0.75%, you should then get much more life from the cassette and chain rings.
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I needed new tyres so thought I'd have a try at going tubeless....
1 x On One Smorgasbord 2.25 trail extreme
1 x On One Chunky Monkey 2.4 trail extreme
1 x roll of Gorilla tape
1 x Superstars tubeless valves
1 x Stans sealant
1 x Tesco Value lemo bottle to make ghetto inflater
Only getting covered in latex **** and swearing a little bit...priceless.
Took a bit of working out to get the first tyre done but second one was a piece of piss, quite chuffed with myself getting both done on my first tubeless attempt. The clearance on the fork bridge with the 2.4 is a bit tight though...as in the bender Fender is going to need a bit of modding or I'll be going very slow and you'll hear me coming with the tyre rubbing on it.
Ive wanted to tubeless for a while even though I dont seem to get too many punctures but I wanted to be able to run lower pressures without worrying about pinch flatting plus theyre meant to roll better and be grippier and I like the idea of hearing the hiss of a puncture fix itself as you ride along
win win.
Reading up on going tubeless it seems the best way is to use proper tubeless UST rims with proper tubeless UST tyres then next best is tubeless ready rims (e.g Stans) with tubeless ready tyres but both of these options cost a lot or quite a bit of cash so I opted for the pikey ghetto method using my existing Superstar AM-490 rims (which really arent tubeless ready, friendly or even acquainted) and a new set of On One Smorgasbord and Chunky Monkey tyres. Ive heard good things about using a 20 BMX Schwalbe inner tube stretched over the rim and cut down the middle to provide the seal between the tyre and the rim but I dont like the idea of having to remove the BMX tube if/when you get a big hole in the tyre and need to stick an inner tube in it to continue the ride so I thought Id first try to do it just using tape on the rim to seal the spoke holes with Superstar tubeless valves. To make sure it was as pikey as possible rather than use Stans or Superstar rim tape I bought a roll of
Gorilla Tape from Amazon for £3 and
followed these instructions to apply it to the rim although I went round the rim twice to build up the rim bed and you dont need to cut it with a Stanley knife as once its got a cut started it tears very easily and neatly. With the rim strip done and tubeless valves in I tried to seat the tyres just using a track pump but there was zero chance this was going to work, even after leaving a tube in it over night at 60psi to try and get the tyre bead shaped to the rim and then taking the core out of the tubeless valves, so I made a pikey ghetto tubeless inflator using a cheap lemonade bottle
as described here. I was using
this as a rough guide for seating the tyres, which recommends running some Stans sealant around the rim bead to get it to seat and stick better, and trying the soapy bubbles trick around the tyre plus removing the valve cores and although I was getting the tyre to seat on the rim bead and putting a bit of pressure in it as soon I disconnected the lemo bottle inflator from the valve the tyre deflated (as the core had been removed) and the tyre bead popped off the rim putting me back at square one and it wouldnt seat with the valve core in as it stops the air filling the tyre fast enough. The solution, which is probably well known, was to pour a cup of Stans sealant in the tyre first then get it seated and inflated with the valve core out using the lemo bottle inflator then as quickly as possible remove the tube from the valve, stick my finger over the valve then screw the valve core back in before too much air escaped from the tyre. Result! I got the second tyre to seat straight away on the first attempt just using sealant on the tyre bead and no soapy bubbles so this will be the way I do it in future. Both tyres have been inflated to 40psi (max recommend with tubeless) and given a good shake to ensure the sealant in spread all over the inside of the tyre to seal any small holes and so far theyve stayed up and not lost any pressure although Im yet to go for a ride with them.
Im quite cuffed I managed to get them sorted as I was ready to sack it off and stick inner tubes back in when I was struggling but once youve cracked it its quite easy, I imagine with a proper compressor it would be easier again. Also because Im sad I weighed everything and if youre using the same tyres then by this method you should save approx 120g per wheel although my new tyres are heavier which has almost completely offset the weight loss.
