Search found 170 matches

by robinlh
21 Oct 2015, 6:39pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Bob Jackson World Tour Tyres?
Replies: 5
Views: 1217

Re: Bob Jackson World Tour Tyres?

Much as I dislike weak wheels caused by over lightening I also dislike overweight tyres.
Kevlar beads,which make your spare foldable,are the way to go,and if you are riding on tarmac you don't need tread,or much tread.
Marathon sports in 30 width are good,as are gatorskin,32s.
If you get punctures on them its your fault not theirs.
I am unconvinced that great butch tread patterns minimise punctures,all they do is make a noise and slow you down.
If you really must subject yourself and your bike to riding on anything but tarmac or hardpack then you may need more of a tread pattern.
It's a high price to pay however if most of your cycling is on tarmac,like driving a proper ,4wd on proper tyres for any distance on the road its a very tedious experience.
There is no such thing as crossover!
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by robinlh
21 Oct 2015, 6:12pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: WHICH WHEELS
Replies: 11
Views: 1796

Re: WHICH WHEELS

The only things to worry about when you choose touring wheels,and this is a CTC forum,are durability,durability,and durability.
In practise,as Spa will tell you a pair of Exall LX17s properly built on LX 36 spoke hubs are as butch as you need to go.
I do have lighter wheels,mostly built by me for fun,but they would be a pain in the posterior on a tour.
Further,when I swap for the light ones on Betty the Audax all I actually notice is the pain in the posterior because they don't ride as well.
This is not a racing forum,why does anyone wish to make their pleasure riding uncomfortably unpleasant?
Fashion.
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by robinlh
21 Oct 2015, 6:00pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Painting frames - some thoughts......
Replies: 3
Views: 682

Re: Painting frames - some thoughts......

No metal has an indefinite fatigue life!
But if metals are kept well within their elastic yield zones at all times then fatigue can be ignored unless the designer,/fabricated produced a bike with stress raisers.
If you kW what to look for there are many out there,but fillet brazing or welding reduces most of them,by and large leaving braze one as the main trouble source.
Corrosion is oxidation,and for this you need oxygen.
In a closed tube corrosion will ocurr until the oxygen is exhausted,then stop.
This is why I like bottom bracket shells in the form of a closed tube.
In practise I have here frames of truly venerable age,big frames too,and as far as I can ascertain,mainly from inspection of the seat tubes,they still have a future,even if I don't like many of them much.
It's fashion that's the problem,it always causes silliness.
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by robinlh
21 Oct 2015, 5:42pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: dhb V Ortlieb waterproof backpack
Replies: 5
Views: 1159

Re: dhb V Ortlieb waterproof backpack

Backpack?
I thought this was a cycling forum.
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by robinlh
21 Oct 2015, 5:40pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: I need a new pair of fine nosed pliers
Replies: 23
Views: 1757

Re: I need a new pair of fine nosed pliers

I was going to say that there is nothing wrong with my drapers.
And there certainly wasn't,until I cruelly abused them.
Sometimes you just have to get the job done and if that means wrecking something,then its a shame.
But they are all still out there and useful,albeit ground to different profiles for different jobs.
This does at least ensure that the present incumbents have,so far,not been subject to abuse.
But their time will come.
What I am trying to say is that if the tips are fine enough then they are an expendable tool,so you just replace them,after all they are not exactly costly.
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by robinlh
19 Oct 2015, 10:52pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Salvage and Refurbishment of Lepper Leather Saddle
Replies: 9
Views: 837

Re: Salvage and Refurbishment of Lepper Leather Saddle

Neatsfoot oil can oversoften a saddle so don't actually soak the thing in it by inverting it and plastering the underside!
If its cracked it will stay that way.
Try just bulling it up with boot polish like a squaddies boots,but wear black shorts!
Or brown,of course,but neatsfoot oil will darken it badly if its brown.
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by robinlh
18 Oct 2015, 10:05pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Still levers XT double chainset
Replies: 2
Views: 425

Still levers XT double chainset

I am building a new Audax and have a paair of useable ten speed Shimano brifters and a current 38/24XT double chainset.
My memory tells me that I may have front mech problems.
Any observations gratefully received.
Robin
by robinlh
2 Sep 2015, 11:25pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Frame back from framebuilders with wrong rear spacing
Replies: 37
Views: 3856

Re: Frame back from framebuilders with wrong rear spacing

It is the amount of dish in the wheel that matters.
He who taught me the rudiments of wheel building over half a century ago just could not really accept dishing,although,like me,he had to accept it.
A dishless seven speed wheel should be possible,but such hardware as is available is ether expensive or of poor quality.
Were I building a truly expedition ear wheel,a forty spoke 140/145mm tandem hub might be the way to go,but then three the rim problem..........
But to build a ten speed rear wheel up on a 130mm hub when you can just as easily use a 135 is just technical illiteracy.
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by robinlh
2 Sep 2015, 11:14pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: The Disc Brake Naughty Corner Thread
Replies: 538
Views: 36676

Re: The Disc Brake Naughty Corner Thread

The only simple safety procedure that reohn2 could be referring to is abstaining from using the front brake whilst going downhill!
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by robinlh
2 Sep 2015, 11:06pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Frame back from framebuilders with wrong rear spacing
Replies: 37
Views: 3856

Re: Frame back from framebuilders with wrong rear spacing

There must be a better plaice for all this carping on.
by robinlh
2 Sep 2015, 11:03am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: The Disc Brake Naughty Corner Thread
Replies: 538
Views: 36676

Re: The Disc Brake Naughty Corner Thread

In spite of the warnings from the late Jobst Brandt front discs are still fitted to the wrong side of the fork.
This means they will eject the front wheel from the dropouts in certain conditions.
Lawyers lips and tight sqewers do not stop this.
This s really quite scandalous,you can source the proof via Sheldon Browne's website.

Cars have disc brakes for control purposes,they are more quickly turned off and onable!
You cannot run abs systems with drums,so if you have a car with drum brakes you have no choice in the matter of that which you hit.
Abs doesn't stop you any quicker,it just gives you some ability to steer away from that rapidly approaching concrete bridge pier........

On road bikes disc brakes are relatively harmless on the back and rather pointless,as well as currently dangerous,on the front.
The conventional rim brake is a disc brake anyway,and it doesn't rip your fork off the front wheel.
Disc brakes were adopted by the mud puppies to save wearing out poor innocent rims every week,and for that they work.
They cannot possibly work better in the wet unless,after one turn,more wet gets on the rim than on the disc,which seems unlikely.
I have them on the back of a touring trike for the same reason people have them on the front of tandems,they provide an additional heat sink that cannot cook the front rim,tyre,tube.
If your rakes are unsatisfactory with Koo-stop salmon pads then you need to adress the condition of the calipers,pads,rims,and check lever compatibility.
When you have sorted all that put you won't need discs.
As fashion fads go though,they do have their very specific,uses,as outlined above.
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by robinlh
2 Sep 2015, 10:29am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Frame back from framebuilders with wrong rear spacing
Replies: 37
Views: 3856

Re: Frame back from framebuilders with wrong rear spacing

As the tubing is apparently Cod settable and the cracked chain stay was replaced I can see no reason at all why you should not reset them.
The amount of bending is very minor and steel is not exactly aluminium in its level of fatigue tolerance.
You do need what are known as egg cups,these are used to ensure that the dropouts end up reasonably parallel.
My dropout spreader is simply a piece of threaded rod,buyable from DIY stores and four bolts and flat washers.Use carefully and gradually and keep the outer bolts reasonably tight,expand by about one turn on each side sequentially.
Ideally leave very marginally tight and then check that the dropouts are parallel and correct.otherwise you may have axle problems,they split but do not bend.
My egg cups are older than most people on this forum and so am I,you can deduce therefore that this system is tried and tested.
All rear hubs should be 135,unless they are even wider.130s are a silly pointy headed fashion victim racer idea.
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by robinlh
23 Feb 2012, 3:34pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: On which there is "religious" disagreement
Replies: 99
Views: 4413

Re: On which there is "religious" disagreement

I would,really I would,have thought that the answers to all these things had been more than adequately aired in this forum.
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by robinlh
8 Feb 2012, 6:34pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Colt saddle
Replies: 11
Views: 906

Re: Colt saddle

One of my brooks saddle covers has spent in excess of 60 nights in the open on tour without leaking.
Can I repeat that it is width that is the most critical factor in saddle comfort?
Too wide is as bad as too narrow,but there is a largish window.
It depends also on your sex,how wide yer ischial protruberances are anyway,how fat yer buttock is and how upright you like to sit.
Soft is as uncomfortable in saddles as it is in chairs and beds,because it mitigates against support.
Smooth tops without joins are best and whilst I prefer leather its only because nobody has put their mind to creating a synthetic substitute that works.
For touring,real cycling,that is.
If you are a lycra clad anorexic,and compettitive with it,then apart from offering my sincere sympathies I cannot help you,such activities are beyond my experience or comprehension.
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by robinlh
6 Jan 2012, 3:28pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Mercian 1970's rear brake reach possible issue
Replies: 15
Views: 1362

Re: Mercian 1970's rear brake reach possible issue

Having made sure that the mechanical bits of the brakes,including pivot bearings,are as good as they should be (which may mean better than new..........) then go and buy a pair of every sort of premium brake block you can and keep changing them over on the front until you find the best for the rims in question.The difference is surprising.
With any straddle cable the angle between the line between the pivot and the centre of the cable clamp and the actuating cable should be as great as feasibly possible.
Also,when feasible,use the heaviest cable possible for the straddle wire.
I'm coming to the view slowly that old bikes should be kept period,especially English ones.
Trouble is,upgrading and general bike bodging is such fun.............
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