Education We Like to Ride Bicycles

If it's Atomlab it will either be a 10mm bolt up axle, or a 10mm thru-bolt (like a fat quick release lever), both will fit any model/year of 456 frame just fine.

 

http://home.bt.com/lifestyle/motori...-air-by-hitandrun-driver-video-11363917741281

This guy had a bad time.

 

Note to self: Get an action cam!

That guy was lucky not to have more serious injuries, Shame the plates were stolen though I would have loved to have seen a follow up with an explanation etc.

 

Holy feck.. Thankfully the guy made it without major injuries..

I agree with 13eightyfour, it's a good idea to get an action cam.. or 2!

 

Deores feel a bit better now. Started off with small distances did just under 3 miles last night then 4 miles today. Going to get my ass measured and get a saddle that fits.

 

Did you bed them in after fitting?

 

To an extent yeah.

Anybody know where I can get a womens MTB frame from. It would seem merlin are more road focused now. Mrs bike is too small and again unpractical, she needs 16". Only want to spend about £150 max though. I saw evans had some but they are hybrid frames :/

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/cobalt-2-2012-womens-hybrid-bike-frame-ec046839

 

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FROO456E2/on-one-456-evo2-frame

edit now I have 2 minutes:

Basically thats an awesome frame in a 16 that could be a good option. Its going to be a TINY bit heavier but a brilliantly responsive frame, and they have a good resale value if you later want to upgrade to something fancier.

 

Dammit. I don't need a hardtail..

Do I?

 

yeah you sure do

 

Still need to get my roadbike roadworthy again, and buy a new chain for my MTB as that snapped the day, which was nice.

So another bike will have to wait sadly!

 

My roadbike is doing my head in. To the point I am thinking of getting rid. It's a lovely retro bike, but I am no good at riding with non-indexed gears, and I'm also no good apparently at doing the mechanics on older stuff - though my boss who is a retro bike nut is absolutely convinced it easier, but I can't seem to get that bike to ride nicely, and my modern mountain bikes all run sweet.

 

2008 Specialized Allez for me, it's been sat in a garage unridden and unloved for 3 years. Pretty sure all the rubber is gone on the tyres. Will also need a good degrease on the drive train. Summer project it is!

As for shifting a bike, I've tried, no one wants my Orange Five

 

Wait, wha?

About to have some fun with Parcel Force, not only have they not sent me a notice when my shock got caught in customs on it's way back from Avalanche, leading to a two week paper chase. They've decided to charge me more than the entire value of the shock as VAT, despite it re-entering the country having left to be serviced (and customs declarations no-longer show repair/servicing as an option, how convenient).

Yay HMRC, not so yay my credit card.

 

Yep, brand new 2014 bike, no real interest in it. Granted it's an XL frame, but no one wants one :/

I wouldn't mind transplanting all the kit from the G-150 onto the Five frame (gotta love neon green), I just don't have the time, the know how and I also don't want to try and sell a butchered G-150 frame plus parts.

 

That's the frame I'm getting in 20" for myself .

Just put some air in the forks, man that feels SO much better, they were at roughly 15psi, needed to be 52-65, got them at 50 now and they feel much stiffer finally.

 

Sorry for butting in all noob-stylee but I'd like the collective's thoughts.

I like riding (road mostly, but I have a cross bike), don't do it often enough though. As such, one thing I've never learnt is maintenance. I can fix a puncture and oil the chain, but that's as far as it goes.

The main issue my bikes always seem to suffer is that over time the brakes and gears need attention, but because I don't know what I'm doing I don't want to sink time into it and cock the bike up to the point it's not ridable. Brakes I could probably work from a tutorial to sort out, but gears I'm more nervous about.

Considering I'm not a heavy user of my bike, do you think an occasional (once every 1-2 years) service at LBS would be a better option than putting the time into learning to do it properly. How fiddly are gears - do most tech-savvy (not that I'd quite grade myself as tech-savvy) people self-service?

For what it's worth, my bike has Shimano 105 gear (2 front, 9 rear) set with flight deck shifters, and the gears are jumping around a fair bit when just cycling along.

Thanks.

 

you might just need a new chain if the gears are jumping - check cable tension and chain hasn't stretched too far. if it is the chain, you would be wise replacing the rear cassette as well as the old one might make your new chain upset.

To learn you also have to invest in the tools that will allow you to carry out maintenance. I read a whole heap and then tasked myself with taking my first mountain bike to pieces and putting it back together a number of times to get to grips with how everything worked, then since then I've built all my bikes from parts much like I build computers. So I guess you have to decide if you want to make that investment - both financially and with your time.

 

Sounds like you might need a new chain/new cassette if as using an old one too long can cause it to stretch and then destroy the cassette/chainset.

I would say that even moderately good home mechanics could do with sending their bikes in for a tune up once every two years isn't a bad call.

Fixing a bike isn't that different from fixing a computer. You put the parts in the right place, tighten them to the right level and adjust them to the right spot. If you're any good at doing that you're on the right foot. Basically with rear mechanical gears they should index themselves once you've got them lined up at the right starting point. The front is similar except that you can adjust it so that it pushes a bit further on the top or not so much on the smaller front ring.

Look at some of the Global Cycling Network guides.





Quickly grabbed those two but there is one, might be bike radar on how to index your gears.

 

Thanks guys, I'll get a new chain. Two quickies to follow up:

- Can you tell a cassette needs replacing just by visual inspection?
- Any recommendations for the budget-conscious buyer looking for an 'everything I'll likely need for my bike' tool set?