Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

those look terrifyingly slick ¬_¬
weight isnt really an issue, its for training so tbh heavier and more rolling resistance is actually a good thing. i just want something that wont wear out in 6 months

this (new/front/rear) is what happened to the stock ignitors after about 1100km when the sidewalls finally gave in and i replaced them

saw these, 2.4" folding and not too expensive
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=3244

 

I guess there is a question I should have asked first: are you ever going to be using the bike off a paved surface?

If yes, then a tyre like the DMR or a Kenda K-Rad (same tire, just cheaper) would work well.

If no, then the slicker the better (trust me on this one - I'm a professional!). Just keep in mind that just because a tyre looks slick, doesn't mean that it won't hold on corners. With my road bike I can hit upwards of eighty kilometres an hour, and corner at those speeds on a completely slick tyre without any issues at all. So I seriously doubt you're going to have any issues doing training on a mountain bike with slicks.

Keep in mind that any sort of tread pattern will have a detrimental effect to the rolling efficiency of the tyre. Even the Moto RT and K-Rad have a lot of rolling resistance compared to a good slick.

 

Just to add to that my old Nimbus 2(3) have a deep water throwing tread pattern they still lock up like the roady in the wet, all that happens is when i'm moving at speed i get my own personal rain shower to go along with the normal rain.

 

yeah its around my local park so i cut across grassy bits and the odd patch of gravel

im sure the slick would be fine on tarmac but its more a mental thing, i dont think i could trust it

found the k-rad's for <£14 so i think ill go with them, cheers
edit: actually those are the wirebead ones, cant find folding version so DMR it is

 

Long day at work , get home , go for a thrash in the woods

me by the way

 

Been working on my new bmx bike lately. riding when ever i get a chance. Won't post specs unless requested since it seems mostly a mountian biking thread still. Want to get around to building a nice hard tail mountain bike at some point.

 

Apologies for complete clueless question ^^

Had my bike for 1.5-2years, has suddenly got major use the past week, which has included chucking it over multiple chest-high fences on my way to work (walker-only-stile-gates are now my personal enemy )

Anyways, as since the gear cables are unshielded on the lowest frame-pipe/i've been using said frame to rest the bike on while manoeuvring the bike over fences and the rear gearing going out of sync in the same period as being related ^^, how do i fix this?

Back wheel gearing has 'hi' and 'low' screws, which i assume are to set the max and min gear change setting, plus the terminator for the gear cable (adjustable roughly via the screw holding the gear cable down) the gear change on the handlebars has only one obvious setting screw (not sure what this does, no noticeable difference.)

problem is, via adjusting the screw attaching the main wire i can adjust the tension which leads to lo or high gears working (roughly 1-5 or 4-9 set of rear wheel gears working properly), but i can't get both working at the same time, if i sync one the other doesn't work... It's as if the gear shift is shifting too much cable each click, but nothing seems to affect this?

Before: (new tyres ^^ )
[/IMG]

After a week:

Close up 1

Close up 2

Yep, i *really* needed hybrids, mix of road and bridleway-quality muddy paths ^^


Was much worse than this mid week

HAH! @ those people who said i'd never use any non-road features of the bike

 

Sounds like your derailleur hanger is bent, mate

If you feel adventurous you could always try and bend it back yourself (sort of by just manhandling the thing and trying to bend it back straight), or take it to a qualified shop to get it done, which should take all of about five minutes with a DAG (Derailleur Alignment Gauge), and about a tenner. However, before you do that, take a look below at one of my bikes:



That is a close up of the drop-out for the rear wheel, looking forward from behind the axle. Notice how the frame comes straight down, right to where the derailleur bolts into the hanger? This line needs to be as absolutely straight as it can. The slightest bend in any direction will cause shifting issues, much like you've described. A proper tool, like a DAG, will align the hanger to three to four points of reference on the rear wheel, which ensures that the hanger is perfectly aligned to your cassette. If you're doing this by hand, you may or may not be able to get it right, but more than likely you'll just end up stuffing the entire thing up, and end up having to get a new derailleur hanger (ten to twenty quid, dependant upon shop, and the specific hanger you require).

Aside from that though, you've got the intent of the little adjustment screws correct (the two main screws on the rear derailleur control the limits of the derailleur; both high and low). Beyond setting the limits, the only thing you should have to worry about is cable tension. Easiest way to do this is to have the derailleur sitting in it's default position, as though there was no cable pulling it at all. Then, with the cable unattached to the derailleur itself, shift down so as to release as much cable from the shifter-pod as you can, and turn the barrel adjuster all the way in (where the cable exists the shifter-pod there is a thing you can turn which encompasses the cable exit; screw this bit into the shifter-pod until it bottoms out). Once at this point go back to the derailleur in question, pull the cable as hard as you can, and fasten it down to the pinch-bolt on the derailleur (paying close mind to proper orientation and routing through the pinch-bolt).

Nine times out of ten this will work on a new, properly aligned setup. However, you will most likely find that a bit of finesse is required, which is where the barrel adjuster comes in. Take the bike out for a ride on a long, smooth, quiet patch of road or grass where you can clearly hear and feel what is going on with your bike and begin doing "loser laps" (riding back and forth, shifting through the entire gear range one by one). Pay close attention to your up-shift (where the shifter-pod takes up slack) and your down-shift (releasing tension on the cable), comparing the two. If the derailleur doesn't shift correctly on the up-shift, then you've too little tension on the cable. Turn the barrel adjuster out a few detents (notches, or quarter turns). If the derailleur has issues on the down-shift, then you've got too much cable-tension and need to take some off. Shift down into the gear with the least cable tension, loosen the pinch-bolt just enough to let out some cable, and tighten it back down. Repeat your "loser laps" until perfect.


If you (or anybody, for that matter) require some clarification to any of the above instructions, feel more than free to ask and I'll go even more in-depth, and can provide pictures as required.

Best of luck!

 

Thought I would share my rides with you guys.

For general xc riding and playing about in the woods.


And thats the best one I could find of my downhill bike.

 

Just back from a weekend touring round near Pitlochry, only had about 15kg of stuff on the bike but it felt like a tank trying to lift it, manoeuvred fine and the disks were singularly impressive on some of the descents but trying to climb my fat ass 12kg of bike and 15kg of stuff hurts really bad!

 

im taking my bike up to pitlochry in a couple weeks, know any decent routes around there?

 

We were mostly on the road, we only did one off road pass between two glens but it was hard work with out tarmac.

What you looking to do? If your mtbing i'm not sure there are loads of nice trails but its been years since I was up there off roading. On road there are also loads of nice empty back roads where you'll see a car only a couple of times an hour, riding along two abreast makes it so much more relaxing.

 

oh, yeah off-road definitely
i've already got a few ideas anyway

 

First post ITT - haven't cycled in years properly but a few friends invited me to cycle round Arran.

Here's our route (which FYI includes some awesome names like Brodick and Thundergay)

http://bit.ly/bO3iH3

We came over on the monday night and camped out, had what was certainly an unwise amount of rum.

The route itself isn't too bad, like 55 miles. It's the terrain that killed me though. You might notice that there is about 17 miles of flat - that was my 'promised land' - I thought it'd be easy. The thing is, although there was a nice flat road, there was a mentally strong winds blowing right down my throat, which meant that most of my endeavour was for nothing. After that, we went up the hill on the north side of the island - goes from sea level to 200m fairly sharpish. Very fun coming down the other side though

The guys I was with are reasonably regular cyclers, and handled it a lot better than I did. They had some pretty nice racer bikes. My bike is long term broken atm, so one of the guys lent me a spare bike. Unfortunately it was £5000 worth of this -



Not ideal to say the least.

Still, home and showered now and feeling fine, with the exception of some very sore buttocks. Did the last 10 miles standing up

 

That is not just a very nice route you have there, but also an exquisite 'dale. Proper jealous.

As is the usual with me, new bike time!





Surly Long Haul Trucker. Dry weight with my saddle bags and four empty water bottles comes in at a hefty thirty five pounds. Fully loaded up with kit to do two full days out in the bush, including food and water, it is a scant eighty pounds. Which, really, isn't too bad for a proper touring bike (most weigh over one hundred pounds).

I'm proper excited about it, and cannot wait to start putting the miles on it (I'm planning quite a few tours for next year in the couple hundred kilometre range, with many, many there-and-back over-night trips). Lots of stuff will be replaced as money gets freed up, but the ancient XTR stuff will most likely be staying (rear derailleur, front derailleur, and crankset).

 

I'm knackered!!!!

Just been out for my fifth ride of the year after not riding a bike for about 2 years.

12.48 miles at an average of 16.3mph, on a bike that my dad pulled out of a skip, must be at least as old as me,

 

I've just started riding to work again after a couple of weeks driving, to my surprise my legs feel fine but my arms have been aching all day. Hopefully I'll be back into the swing of it by the end of the week!

 

Its nice, i've just spent the weekend touring but had the off road for a couple of the fireroad/forest passes, but tbh i quite fancy getting a proper road tourer. Is it a sign that your getting old when you lust after a high end dawes rather than a full bouncer?

my overloaded mtb


and my buddies in the bracken going through one of really nice off road bits

 

No, it just means you need to get out riding more.

Looks like you had a rather fun time there! What kind of distance did you end up doing? Were you staying at "official" camp sites, or just pitching up a tent wherever you ended up at night? I keep getting told to just not bother with proper camp sites, as it's easy enough to just pull off the road and throw a tent into some trees, but I'm rather leery about private property laws, and just the very idea of not being in an official camping area.

 

Good fun, got a bit of a taste for touring trying to work out if i can justify another bike.

Did over 70km on the first day, then 50 and only about 35 on the third (pishing rain and tired legs).

We initially intended to wild camp, one of the great things about doing touring in Scotland is that wild camping is actually enshrined in law as long as you don't cause distress to the land owner or his property and leave no mess. It would be easy enough to just pull into some trees but it does require some more route planning here so you don't end up with nothing but moorlands or a farmers field, i doubt that would be as big a problem in Canada though.

In the end though the first night we stayed on a forestry commission site that was very basic only toilets and running water barely seen a soul and the second night the call of a long hot shower and trip to the pub was too hard for us to ignore so we stayed on a fairly busy site just out side Aberfeldy (small town in perthshire).