Cycling UK Forum

I am considering DT Swiss TK540 700c rims. The manufacturer recommends 19mm rimtape, which I haven´t been able to find at dealers.

Does anyone here know where to get this?

Graham O wrote:Trying to decide on some new brake blocks, but the recommendations of Koolstop or Swissstop all come in different colours. I'm looking for blocks which will fit 57 deep drop calipers and on Open Pro rims. Can anyone suggest any suitable ones please? Currently using 1 piece, non replaceable items, so will need carriers if choosing replaceable block designs. Are replaceable blocks better than integrated units? I'm looking for best braking, rather than lowest cost or cost over lifetime.
And what is the difference between them when you get "Dura Ace/Ultegra/105" compared to generic models? Particularly when there are such big differences in price.

Judging from the discussions in previous threads here and elsewhere, I would say that you have to try the different pads yourself. For instance, I read several negative comments about the pads I use, in threads in these fora. Nevertheless, they are still the best I have tried with the rims I ride with, the tension I have in my brake system, and the road conditions I have where I live.

Thank you for all your answers. Both the Islabike and the Airnimal brands look very interesting. I´ll ask her to have a look at those.

We need to find a new bicycle for my better half who, so far, has been using children´s bicycles because of her height. These usually don´t last more than a few years because of the poor quality of the components.

Can anyone here point me to a manufacturer who makes frames for a person with a height of 150cm, who builds bicycles with quality components and whose products are available here in Denmark?

I hope someone can help me out. Thank you in advance.

BrianEugene wrote:I just purchased a Brooks imperial online and there are more wrinkles near the rivets than I was expecting.
.....

Lately, I have been seeing a few new Brooks saddles - including the two B17s I bought half a year ago. I recognize the small wrinkles you mention from several of those saddles. They are also present on one of my two newest B17s, and they have so far not presented any problems. I treat any Brooks saddle in daily use with Brooks´ own leather grease once a week.

As other posters mention, the rivets on your saddle seem to have been punched deeper in the leather than they usually are on Brooks saddles. I agree with others here that you ought to return the saddle to the dealer because of that alone, since it is uncertain whether or not it well give you problems with the saddle later on.

wirral_cyclist wrote:The only problem I can forsee is that since it hasn't been repaired since you reported it then the council must deem it below the threshold for repair and that's probably the same threshold for a claim to be considered.

Could a tarmac damage actually be deemed below the threshold for repair, when a crashed bicyclist has been picked up by ambulance at the site? I understand from the OP that this was what happened.

aprildavy wrote:I went over to cleats about 9 months ago and haven't fallen over - until today!
Just as I was setting off, right foot in, my wife asked - "Do you want me to go to Tescos to get you some beer".
.....

That sounded like a moment in one of those Interflora commercials, where the ending text is: "Flowers can do a lot....." (okay, so I don´t know exactly how it goes in the English-language versions).

EndlessWandering wrote:.....
I started noticing an intermittent, metallic "clicking" sound - like a car engine cooling - whenever I applied even the slightest pressure on the cranks. Like a lot of poor souls who start down the long road of, "hunt the noise on the bike", it has taken me up until today to find the culprit.
.....

You are not the first bicyclist who has been plagued by the famous "clicking" from where a screw or bolt has been mounted with an incorrect amount of torque. Very often the problem occurs with aluminium parts. Brass can also behave this way. I once had to help a friend disassemble and reassemble his bed made of brass, because of a problem like this.

Mick F wrote:

zerobuttons wrote:This is not necessarily the authoritative answer to your question, but a fact:
Several manufacturers are phasing out the use of Kevlar, since it presents problems environmentally - both manufacturing-wise and waste-wise.

Any chance of a reference/link?

Actually, at this point, I only have that as hear-say, but from two independent sources:
1) I am a procurer of technical materials in a pharmaceutical production company, and I have been told this by one of our suppliers, who supposedly had been told so by manufacturers.
2) My bicycle dealer told me the same thing when I talked with him about Schwalbe Marathon tires.

I looked into to this now, and it seems that the most pressing problem is at the point of the Kevlar fibres becoming waste, because of some amount of danger to a person handling the fibres, and maybe inhaling them. I believe that this alone could be the reason for manufacturers to avoid the use of Kevlar, when they have so many other compounds to choose from today, that did not exist when Kevlar was introduced - and which are probably also cheaper.

zoxed wrote:IIRC Torx were designed with mechanised assembly in mind, without much thought for the end user

I believe that is correct - hence the name, probably. There is a reason why they are used in places where you often have to mount and dismount them with a electrical tools. They are almost impossible to ruin the way other types of screwheads are often destroyed when used with electrical tools.

The version with the pin in the middle is probably made with tamper-proofing in mind, though.

The use of Torx screws and bolts on a bicycle is somewhat meaningless in my mind, unless you use the version with the pin in the middle, and it´s for parts that you are afraid people will steal. There are, however, other, far better, solutions for this problem.

beneix wrote:.....
However, the Schwalbe UK web site still mentions Kevlar. The global Schwalbe site doesn't. Forgive me for being confused...does anyone here have an authoritative answer? Should I pick up the Kevlar version now while some retailers still has it in stock?

This is not necessarily the authoritative answer to your question, but a fact:
Several manufacturers are phasing out the use of Kevlar, since it presents problems environmentally - both manufacturing-wise and waste-wise. Other compounds have been developed in later years, which can fill out the same functions as Kevlar.

PeterBL wrote:.....
You can buy reflectors separately here http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/a14092 ... html?lg=en and also see, how they mount.

Great. Thank you.

ersakus wrote:

zerobuttons wrote:

ersakus wrote:A530 on two bikes. Just too versatile really. Light and functional. Both set have reflectors as well making them legal to ride in dark in UK.

How did you mount reflectors on the A530s?

Came with them.. Easy to install, custom design

I have bought two pairs of A530. None of the Shimano boxes contained reflectors. Just to make sure: We are talking about these pedals, right?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/shi ... query=A530
Besides feeling cheated, if you got reflectors with yours, I have a hard time imagining how to mount them on the pedals......

ersakus wrote:A530 on two bikes. Just too versatile really. Light and functional. Both set have reflectors as well making them legal to ride in dark in UK.

How did you mount reflectors on the A530s?

david. h wrote:has anyone worked out a way of sealing brake and gear cable ends so they dont unravell and become impossible to thread through the outer. i know you can get alloy end caps that crimp onto the cable to stop this happening but they have to be snipped off to dismantle during maintainance. i am thinking solder or some kind of adesive to seal the ends together so it can still be threaded through the outer. has anyone done this and what is the technique

I bought these:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/shimano-anti ... -prod3039/
Squeezing them in three places with a pair of regular side cutter pliers ensures that they don´t come off again.