Cycling UK Forum

I run exclusively 8 speed (plus one fixed gear bike), bar end shifters, rim brakes, flat pedals with traditonal bearings,square taper BB's. alloy rims and stainless spokes. Cheap as chips!!

My longest serving component is the triple front mech on my Specialized hybrid, about 14 yr old and just over 30,000 miles, still going strong.

Don't buy bling!!

When I was about 14 yrs old I bought my first bike - a bright yellow Puch Toledo - with savings from my morning and evening paper rounds. My Mother told me to coat the wheel rims with a thin layer of vaseline to prevent corrosion. I obviously kept the vaseline away from the braking surfaces, and every few months I'd remove the old vaseline and apply a fresh coating. The rims always sparkled and were like new during these transitions so I'd imagine it would work well on your cargo bike rims. A decent coating of vaseline around the spokeholes and valve would inhibit ingress of salt water i'd say.

A quick eBay search gives :https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224909198717 ... R67_5qDOYw

doubtless there are many more sources. Quite cheap so go for a range of sizes maybe!

natmat wrote: ↑22 Mar 2024, 6:06pm
Or should I return and hope for the best... and risk them having the shoes by not refunding my money?

From their 'holding' webpage:

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Returns Process
Return Form

Orders before 22 February 2024 can be returned within 60 days of your order date. Orders after this date can only be returned within 28 days of your order date. No returns will be considered after 22 April 2024.

Please do not return goods outside of these windows as we can not guarantee they will be returned to you.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Going by what it says in my bold above, I would not send them back, try and sell them here / eBay / gumtree etc......
Pretty clear really!

Does it have the synthetic backing material on the underside which tends to prevent the saddle 'breaking in', or is it one of the newer models where this backing material is omitted?

I have an ageing Esk model which is still rock hard after 25000 miles more or less........fairly comfortable though!

gbnz wrote: ↑16 Mar 2024, 9:13am Have had to bin the part ............

You chucked away a brand new derailleur? That's a bit cruel!

Rob D wrote: ↑15 Mar 2024, 2:45pm Thanks both. I'm inclined to do a bit of investigative surgery, just to have an idea of what's there.

Good idea, I reckon your upper headset bearing arrangement is not fitted correctly, it doesn't look quite right. Maybe one of the bearing 'shields' (for want of a better word) is upside down.

Vetus Ossa wrote: ↑6 Mar 2024, 4:53pm Continental Contact plus with slime inner tubes, can't be bettered.

Yes, I've had good service from the Continenetal Contact Plus (with normal tubes) for the past year. Getting on for 3000 commuting miles and have always stayed inflated. Can't really say if they're more comfortable than Schwalbe Marathon Plus as I tend to keep my tyres at firm pressures and neither brand provides a particularly plush ride!

Jezrant wrote: ↑11 Mar 2024, 6:01pm
One of the last times I 'won' an auction on fleabay, I made an educated guess about what the item was worth and then put in a maximum bid much lower with the sniping software. I was actually testing the sniping software as it was still fairly new to me at the time (this was a few years ago). There were a few other bidders and a little flurry of activity in the last few seconds, and then I 'won'. £200 less than what I would have wanted if I was selling that item.

Yes, but surely you would still have 'won' it without the sniping software if you had just entered your maximum bid at the outset??

Ebay bids automatically for you, up to your maximum bid doesn't it.

If still available I'll have a go with the 'Grab-On foam touring grips' - I'll send you a PM shortly.

brianleach wrote: ↑5 Mar 2024, 9:58am

the right time to cash out a chunk of money

Don't forget to consider the possible capital gains tax liability!

Yes, and try and get any decent appreciating stock investments within an ISA quick. You were allowed to make £12000 last year, 6 grand this year and a paltry £3000 next year. Although I doubt much sympathy would be garnered if this were your topic of winge down the local boozer!!

Good to hear a happy punter.

I use a similar set up on my tandem, the only niggle I have is that during daylight hours the bottle dynamo tends to 'spring' into action when I go over bumps, necessitating reaching down to pull it back off the tyre and into the stowed position. One day I'm going to grab a handful of moving spokes by mistake!!

It also seems impossible to open it up (without wrecking something). I'd like to take a look inside and maybe give it some maintenance every now and then but cannot see an easy way of doing this.

But yes, on the whole, cheap, reliable and a good light source.

gbnz wrote: ↑17 Feb 2024, 8:46am
On becoming partially disabled in 2018, I was illegally banned from using public sector gyms in Northumberland, for being "disabled". Have a 36 mile round bicycle ride / or bus journey on my disabled bus pass to my current private gym. A ride can be preferable

When I started my career at sea, a wizened old Bosun said to me, 'Son, if you're looking for sympathy, you'll find it between sh*t and syphilis in the dictionary'.....

All the best, hope you regain your joie de vivre!!

Gumwall wrote: ↑14 Feb 2024, 1:18am
Also...there was a washer. I took care to stack the nuts etc in the order they came off the axle, then I reached for something and the stack fell over. Where does the washer belong? Surely not between the cone nut and locking nut? It looks like it can only belong outside the locknut, but I'd like that confirmed.

I think it's quite common on an axle to have a washer or spacer between the cone and locknut, especially on the non drive side. Here's a stock photo from eBay showing just that, (random sample of one!!)::

mig wrote: ↑13 Feb 2024, 12:18pm do you use two brake calipers?

No, when running fixed gear I just use a front caliper. I've become reasonably proficient at ambidextrous 'skidding', or more usually just slowing down using the pedals and straps. This bike is mainly for summer commuting use, and the occasional 40 or 50 miler. I don't tend to seek out big hills on it, or go for multi day tours.