Search found 927 matches
- 24 Jan 2021, 10:50am
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: Beyond confused now smh
- Replies: 16
- Views: 738
Re: Beyond confused now smh
Hi guys Today, I tried two Merida bikes, the Big Nine 60 & Big Nine 20. Both felt very comfortable, but this is where its gets confusing - both were medium sized frames.. Thanks guys Buying a bicycle or even bike frame is alot like buying a good waistcoat or suit jacket... you can walk into a h...
- 24 Jan 2021, 9:16am
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: Hub gear, front derailleur
- Replies: 17
- Views: 652
Re: Hub gear, front derailleur
The great (but sadly late) bicycle engineer Chris Bell successfully toured on a 8 speed alpine hub with a double chain ring and a very wide gear range. You can see details of his bike following this link http://www.cornant.uk/touring/mybike/index.html Speaking as someone who has moved away from dera...
- 21 Jan 2021, 10:21pm
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: Which rust inhibitors are people using?
- Replies: 21
- Views: 855
Re: Which rust inhibitors are people using?
I never understood why people used rust inhibitors if the bike was good enough to be looked after, what aspect of use allows water to ingress to such a degree that rust is going to present a problem? I rode a Raleigh Record Sprint as a commuter, utility, touring plus weekend bike for 11 years in al...
- 21 Jan 2021, 5:54pm
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: Which rust inhibitors are people using?
- Replies: 21
- Views: 855
Re: Which rust inhibitors are people using?
20210109_092428.jpg I bought a new front rack a few weeks ago (surly 'nice rack') and whilst it is a thing of... er...usefulness, I was surprised at the number of vent holes. Luckily they were the same size as the nozzle of a small plastic syringe... ...so after squirting a bit of wd40 in each hole...
- 19 Jan 2021, 9:58pm
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: 5, 6, 7 or 8 speed freewheel?
- Replies: 11
- Views: 479
Re: 5, 6, 7 or 8 speed freewheel?
The intention is to fit the rear wheel to my Raleigh Record Ace frame which is currently fixed gear at around 68 inches. Any suggestions welcome. Sometime ago when I was revising my the gearing on my own 5 speed, I made the judgement call to use the smallest sprocket on my 5 speed cluster as my tap...
- 16 Jan 2021, 9:28pm
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: 5, 6, 7 or 8 speed freewheel?
- Replies: 11
- Views: 479
Re: 5, 6, 7 or 8 speed freewheel?
Being busy at work my only project for this coming year is to build up a Sturmey Archer rear hub braked wheel (for use with multiple freewheel). Would anyone have any comments on whether this would be a reasonable plan; or would 6, 7, or even 8 speed be more optimal? I am looking from the perspecti...
- 16 Jan 2021, 2:59pm
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: Updating an old bike
- Replies: 25
- Views: 848
Re: Updating an old bike
...suppose you just kept everything as it was and just changed the single chainring to a double?
- 16 Jan 2021, 9:40am
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: Tyre rotation
- Replies: 24
- Views: 841
Re: Tyre rotation
Brucey wrote:sprinting and climbing tend to wear rear tyres quickly.
cheers
In my case the former ain't never gonna happen:-)
- 14 Jan 2021, 9:42pm
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: Tyre rotation
- Replies: 24
- Views: 841
Tyre rotation
Having fitted a new pair of tyres to my bike, should I rotate (swapping the tyres from front to rear and vice versa) every so often, to get the maximum wear from the tyre, or doesn't anyone do that now?
- 14 Jan 2021, 6:47pm
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: Schwalbe Big Apple 26in tyres.
- Replies: 24
- Views: 2832
Re: Schwalbe Big Apple 26in tyres.
These tyres have done 5880 miles with no puncture and I reckon I'll get up to 10,000 miles on them, certainly 9,000. I've never had longevity like this out of a pair of tyres, I reckon. or do many of you get that? 20210109_141155.jpg Last weekend I retired my marathon plus tyre, which I purchased i...
- 12 Jan 2021, 6:27pm
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: Winterproofing my bike.
- Replies: 24
- Views: 1466
Re: Winterproofing my bike.
mikeymo wrote:
Thanks. And is there a front derailleur?
Nope... just single chainring. It means that the whole transmission is disposable.... for 25 pounds I can replace the freewheel and chain, for a further 10 to 15 pounds replace the chainring and a further 15 pounds replace the deraileur

- 10 Jan 2021, 3:29pm
- Forum: Wanted
- Topic: Old union headlamps
- Replies: 0
- Views: 389
Old union headlamps
Hello There, I'm looking for some old union headlamps, the ones that used to take the screw in type of bulb for the next part of my led/headlamp experiment - ideally the black and white type with the square headlamp but would also be interested in the big old round one as well. If anyone has any ple...
- 10 Jan 2021, 3:22pm
- Forum: Wanted
- Topic: stem clamp type friction double shifters
- Replies: 2
- Views: 191
Re: stem clamp type friction double shifters
Yes - I purchased a set, secondhand last year - however I'm more than happy to pass them on as i can't see me even starting the bicycle build this year. I've taken the liberty of sending you a private message 

- 10 Jan 2021, 2:28pm
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: Saddle choice/strange numbness
- Replies: 15
- Views: 740
Re: Saddle choice/strange numbness
Been there and tried all sorts. Harder seat with cutout, lowered and nose down is the answer. Just bought a selle SMP but it's en-route in the post so can't confirm. However that saddle is the one that comes up as the answer in a lot of internet searches....under £50 delivered from Halfords. Selle ...
- 10 Jan 2021, 1:44pm
- Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
- Topic: Winterproofing my bike.
- Replies: 24
- Views: 1466
Re: Winterproofing my bike.
+1 for long front mud flap and drum brakes (I still use deraileur gears after several attempts at finding a hub gear I liked) So are you using drum brakes with derailleur gears? https://www.sturmey-archer.com/en/products/detail/x-rdc Apologies for the delay in my reply - Well, a bit like that. I've...