Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

Thanks Malv.

I was planning to try and get similar group names going on, but presumably Shimano model-numbers are OK to mix within Deore etc?

I've had a look at the various videos of removing cranks, and I really can't see how a decent gear/bearing puller (this is the kind of thing I'm on about btw, comfortably strong enough to pull gearbox bearings apart from a car) couldn't do that easily.

Thanks for the tip on the brakes, I thought it might be something like that. I'll have a look at the rear bearings, maybe just slap a load more grease in them just to help protect it from dirt and moisture.

 

Urgh! To be honest I felt pretty queasy when I tried eating a SIS isotonic gel 35k into a 45k ride. That thing was so digusting... =\
Also the "chocolate flavour" power bars. Grim as. I'll stick to cherry from now on

 

The crank puller works from the inside, same principle but it screws inside the crank then a threaded pin is screwed though it and it pushes on the bottom bracket axle.

If you used the gear puller you pictured it would probably pull chunks out of the back of your cranks where the 3 arms hooked on, also not all cranks have a square profile to them, so the hooks on the gear puller may not get a grip.

Stop being tight and buy a crank puller, depending on the type of crank fitting they are like £5.99 @ CRC.

 

Anyone know of a place that sells turbo trainers that fit directly to the cassette rather than rubbing on the wheel?

Fed up of wasting tires.

 

i try to steer clear of those things really dont agree with me, usually have a camel pack with water and some high5 tabs sees me through most things, if i need something to eat Kendal cakes work very well.

 

No worries, it's what I do

Yes and no. As long as it's 9 speed you're fine, as the new Deore stuff is all 10 speed kit and isn't backwards compatible. Beyond that though it's fine.

You're not the first to think that those silly things would work, trust me. Either the threading on the central pin fails, or it deforms the crank, but I have never ever seen one work at pulling a crank off. Trust me, these things are on well tighter than you might think! Just last week I had a customer bring in their bike to have me remove the cranks because they tried using one of those pullers, messed the crank up, went out and bought a cheap extractor tool, further messed the crank up (partially pulled the extractor threads out), and got fed up with it and themselves. I quite simply threaded in my Park puller, torqued it down, and spun the crank out easy as can be without hassle. Result was that the customer had to replace the entire crankset rather than just the chain rings like they had originally planned on doing, all because they didn't want to use the right tool for the job.

So go right on ahead and use one of those pullers, see for yourself just how badly they work, but don't say I didn't warn you when tool and crank come out worse than expected!

 

No idea where to start. Looking for a bike good on dirt/rocky roads and such. Mostly used for distance riding to get my daily dose of cardio in. I currently run on trails and want to bike instead as my knees are killing me. I don't really know what kind of bikes there are besides the racing bikes I see on tv and the "mountain" bikes I see at wal mart. Ideas??

 

You can get special tyres for turbo training.

 

Look for a decent hardtail as it will be better over distance. You also want something with lots of teeth on the front chain ring if you want to go fast.

If you're after cardio you want to make sure you get some feet cages/clip on shoes, I've found that to make a crazy difference.

The others on here can probs give you lots of advice.

Also budget?

 

Gel's are ****ing disgusting. I bought a power bar mango and passion fruit gel and I doubled over and almost vomited on the first taste. It was like the Jolly Green Giants jizz. The flavour is bad enough but its the thick cloying consistency which really turns my stomach.

 

For any one who feels they must eat these gels, not me, but I got some free samples of the various "performance" food from ZipVit, quite palatable. I still prefer something more substantial but its worth a try.

 

True, but you can't expect everyone to give advice out without thanks.

That's what I meant really - M660 and M558 for example etc, all 9-speed gear (and the same tooth count as my current setup, it works well).

Haha, I'm listening, I'm just not convinced until I've knackered it myself!

 

Thanks for the reply!

What are the more preferred rugged brands? If it helps, these are basically the exact roads I would be biking on 90% of the time. Most likely 80-100 miles at a time . The other 10% will be normal paved roads to get to the trails.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a1/Rrgrade.jpg/250px-Rrgrade.jpg
http://www.leaderprotects.com/images/GravelRoad_1.jpg

My budget is topping out at $800 - $1000 for the time being. I want to start with a great bike and upgrade it only if necessary (even though I have no idea if it will even need upgrades. I see people buying special frames and forks and what not) I have no problem buying the parts separate either if it gets me a more superior bike.

I just don't know what brands, websites, materials, etc to look for.

There is a big ski resort that has biking in off season, would the hardtail work for that too?

 

Search LeMond, hope you have deep pockets.

 

I know one should normally change the casette and chain at the same time, but I have been running with this pair for less than six months and having realised I need a new front gear derailleur I would have to remove the chain. The chain I have is one of those without a locking joint, so I am not sure whether I could put it back together after pulling it off. Would I be okay to buy a new chain for my bike? It has not done more than a couple of hundred miles.

 

You can try joining the chain again, or just replace the link you remove with something like this.

 

Ah yes that might be one to try. I have to order some new pedals from CRC anyways. It would not be a problem to shorten the chain at the same time, right? It could do with loosing a link or five.

 

I've used them before on a chain that snapped, I also have the little tool that pushes the rivets out of the chain to remove links, got them from halfords.

 

Selling a Charge Blender in the Marketplace section if anyone's interested

 

Hi Krazykid. I'm very new to the sport but I think the best advice is to go to some of your local bike stores and speak to them and see what bikes they stock. They will know the local trails and what bikes are best suited for them. Once you've been around a few come back here with the bikes you like and see what people have to say about them. I found in my budget most of the bikes had a very similar specification so it came down to which one fitted me the best and which bike store I preferred. The store I bought my bike from give free brake and gear services for life if you buy the bike from them and have lent me a bike while mine was away for repair so I am really happy I went with them and didn't buy a cheap bike off the net.