Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

14kg seems pretty good for the price, claud butler do a model below mine which is almost 20kg - not great.

Switch the wheels and get a carbon and fork you'll be well on your way to a lighter bike I'd imagine.

Gotta take mine back to the shop tonight as my left hand shifter is sticking a bit

 

Pieface you might want to roll with it for a while and just replace and repair parts as they break. Cheaper bikes tend to have less durable bearings and other components. They also tend to have really soggy cables, so if they start to slack or get sticky replace them with higher quality cables (both inner and outer) for a much more responsive bike.

I bought a £200 hybrid bike and the front tyre and wheel lasted me ~2000miles. It's still usable but I decided to replace it when I did up the rest of the bike. Bottom bracket and cassette/chain needed replacing before that.

Also check the headset every now and then, as it may need adjusting periodically.

Nought wrong with steel. I rode 110miles in less than 6hrs with someone on a steel framed bike, downtube shifters and all. If you are just using the bike for commuting you can stick with the steel forks, they will be softer than carbon and you won't have to worry about them shattering if you hit a pot-hole.

 

Apologies, thought you were talking to me. Also wasn't aware carbon forks were prone to shattering, will watch out for that.

 

I'm riding an old steel tourer at the moment, lovely smooth ride. Downtube friction shifters and 27" rims
It was a bit rusty when I got it but a wire brush sorted that out. I'm going to get it sandblasted at some point as what paint is left has all but faded, thinking of polishing it up and then just doing a clear-coat over the steel.

 

Pieface, have you considered something used instead of buying cheap? Its been my experience that by the time you replace all the bits made of cheese your half way to very good bike with a good frame and fork. Steel is an excellent material for bikes but the hi-tensile scaffolding pole they use at this end of the market tends to be heavy and weak.

 

As my bike appears to be heading to the scrap pile (it's needs a new rear wheel and a bottom bracket which appears to be welded to the frame, as well as a service and a few new cables) it looks like I'm in the market for a new bike.

The cycle to work scheme seems to work in my favour, but what should I be looking for. The voodoo hoodoo from halfords for £500 seems to get good reviews, but I'm not sure if I really need suspension for what I'm cycling at the mo.

I'm mainly cycling on cycle routes and around town, so a few kerb hops and a bit of loose stuff is as bad as its getting at the mo, and I don't really see myself as someone barreling down some downhill routes unless I seriously get a bug for biking!

Would a hybrid offer me better value for money, or is a front suspension mountain bike a better all rounder?

If it makes any odds to the choice, I'm 5'7", 17 stone, and am trying to lose some weight and get fit!

 

They're not. On the cheaper side of things carbon forks will be rather well reinforced with various metal bits (aluminium mainly), with a very sturdy joint between. What does this mean? Strength where you need it (dropouts, steerer, brake mount), but flex and an increase in weight reduction where it counts (the length of the fork itself). However, cheap carbon forks will have strange flex patterns, or just non-existent flex patterns making them feel dead and harsh owing to the manufacturer just not putting the time into the layup of the weave or the money into professionals experienced with bicycle forks.

Long story short: carbon forks are no more prone to failure than any other type, fatigue life notwithstanding.

What?! No! The only part of a Shimano HollowTech II bottom bracket that is currently or has ever been plastic is the dust cover and spacers regardless of groupo. The cups themselves are metal and more than able to destroy your frameset through improper or negligent installation. Given the nature of these bottom brackets it would be suicidal to produce the main shell in plastic, as the material just wouldn't physically be able to manage with the torque since the bearings themselves are cantilevered out from the frameset - which is the inherent advantage of an "external" bottom bracket: larger bearings! No frame in the way means that you can use much bigger balls down there (figuratively speaking), making the crankset to frameset interface much stronger and stiffer without sacrificing much of any weight (actually, there is usually a reduction in weight between comparable cranksets and bottom bracket combinations). No manufacturer to date (that I am aware of) who has made an external bottom bracket in this style has ever done the main shell of the bearings in plastic. Kind of makes my point for me, that does.

However, I would encourage you to seek out a shop for something as delicate (and occasionally infuriating) as a bottom bracket replacement, as it is exceptionally easy to destroy a frameset permanently through inexperience. It is the single most delicate part of your bike and quite easy to muck up - trust you me on this one, as it is something I see far too commonly.

 

Hhhhmmm, I could've sworn the bit that you actually engage the tool with was plastic but I'll bow to your far superior knowledge.

 

Oh, sorry mate, I was originally but then I saw there were a bunch of new posts and it sounded confusing.

I knew someone would correct me on that! Well that's reassuring, since I have carbon forks and a couple of weekends ago I saw a set of shattered forks on the side of the road. So you'd say that carbon is just as durable? I've heard things about delamination/microcracks etc that can result from knocks and go unnoticed.

Righto, thanks for the advice, the bikeshop has agreed to replace my chainring so thankfully it's not something I'll have to worry about yet anyway - I'll just have to ride a bit more gently

 

Durability is entirely dependant upon manufacturer's competence and quality control. Insofar as fatigue life goes, carbon is near the bottom of the pile (just above scandium - which is considered "race only" for a reason!), but for Joe Average the material is well more than strong enough to handle it. Will things go wrong from time to time? Absolutely, but the same can be said of any other material (you don't want to know about the number of broken/compromised steel and aluminium forks I've worked on over the years...) so it is unfair to pick on the single most common material for road forks as being objectively "worse" than other material types when they have predominant market share. You're going to see and hear about more broken carbon forks than any other material because there are more carbon forks on the market, simples

Good to hear! I've done much the same thing as you in the past (several times), and every time I do it I laugh to myself that I'm "too powerful for the bike"; makes me smile. Generally when I mash and hack about now it's on a bike that can handle it (single speed stuff), so I've not done it in a while now, but I still love the idea of having enough power to absolutely destroy a chain ring just by pedalling!

 

Haha, yeah I was planning on going to the Manchester velodrome next week to have a crack on a bike designed to handle some abuse but I dislocated my shoulder on Friday so it's probably not a good idea

 

OK thanks for the info, very interesting. You obviously know when going for entry level stuff that costs will be cut somewhere, always good to know where they're saving the pennies but also reasuring to know its not going to break up because I hit a speed bump a bit too fast!

In other news I now walk with my knees at least 2ft apart. Came back from about 4 miles last night and found I couldn't walk down stairs without my thighs giving way. Practice needed methinks......

 

Any recommendations for a folding bike? I'm looking at taking advantage of the bike to work scheme so looking at spending about 500. Was trying to decide whether to go for a full size mountain bike type over the normal "for work" bike. However, there's a nice Dawes called Metropolis that has 24" wheels and seems quite spiffy. Any thoughts?

I have an existing Viking Safari but I just fancy something a bit less "Made in China" according to the local cycle merchant. My main issue is the chain just comes off a couple of times a day - a quick hook of the foot gets it back on in a hurry but I've had enough of it. The merchant said that it's a cheap Chinese make and he also says that the bike was made to a price. I have had the chain looked at, the gears looked at, a service or two and it still comes off apart from 2nd and sixth gear. Saying that, he did offer to give me £60 on a trade in! But the bike for work thing won't allow for that.

Anyways, let me know!

 

Moar pics needed in this thread! Need bike porn until I can afford my own. I recommend watching the Redbull Rampage video that's on youtube also, extreme downhill and really shows what the top end bikes can take.

 

Brompton. I'm not a bike expert, but my Dad bought himself one for commuting etc, and it's a fantastic design and build. You can tell they've thought very hard about every detail, making everything pretty high quality. He bought his second-hand, having been used for about 5 years, and it's still in great condition.

 

+1 For the Bromton, I've had a go on one and they're very good pieces of kit the the fold up rear wheel for parking is very clever. Alternatively a Moutlon, but they're more bicycles that can fold as opposed to a folding bicycle.

 

Damien Hirst does bikes?

Also me after the London Brighton



My bikes not that sexy, but its been powering up my legs ready for a big xmas present from the parents.

 

As much as I would love the Brompton, they are out of my price range for the time being but thank you for giving me something else to fawn over!

Any others?

Are the Dawes a good bike or am I being told this by someone who wants to sell me something they get a decent return on?

 

Not new, but you should be able to get a good one 2nd hand. They hold their values very well too, so if you look after it you shouldn't see too much loss.