Cycling UK Forum

I bought these Exustar Stelvio SP-705 shoes (EU size 44, UK size 9.5) from Spa Cycles last year and used them for a ride or possibly two in dry winter weather. They smell like new shoes from a shop. Complete with box (that I might tape up for shipping unless you object) and a pair of barely used (bu...

If Santa needs a pointer, the torque wrench kit that Wiggle is selling for just 25 quid is surprisingly good. The bits are hard and the wrench is convenient to use – a lot more convenient than the discontinued Park Tool beam-type torque wrenches that I now have instead.

Both bolts were still on the crank but I can't recall seeing the stopper plate and plate pin. Are these parts plastic? The plate is plastic with a steel pin. Brucey’s point (a), above, is why I grease the spindle splines before fitting the left crank. Shimano recommends this in cases where the join...

[…] I put the crank on and gave it some extra welly but nice and evenly on the two bolts. These two bolts: was at least one of them lying on the ground after the crank fell off? There is a “stopper plate” with a “plate pin” that, when fitted right, prevents the crank falling off even if the bolts g...

You’d be surprised how tight 5Nm is. You say that, but when I got a torque wrench I was surprised how light 5 Nm is. I was going far tighter than that with finger and thumb on an Allen key. Pwa had a similar experience: 5Nm isn't much and doing it with an allen key is risky. I broke a stem where it...

Torque wrenches may be faulty, can one easily get them calibrated? Sure, not that careful calibration is needed to beat gut feeling. Feeling by hand is quite accurate I think It’s not remotely accurate. Even the best mechanics are all over the place. That works for a Massey Ferguson, but lightweigh...

You end up with a force of 5Nm spread equally across the plate […] You’re using torque units to describe force, like Manc33 did earlier. If the clamp is the same size, there’s about twice the clamping force if it has four screws rather than two at the same torque. Of course there are a few gotchas ...

Darkman wrote:(assuming there are 4 [screws], one of our bikes only has 2).

Which in itself renders the concept of a torque value printed on the handlebar a bit daft, doesn’t it.

I recall trying to explain this a while ago. Where did this persistent notion of torque as clamping force come from, Manc33? As for the Chinese bar with the 5 Nm symbol, the number was probably pulled out of thin air or copied from a brand name’s installation instructions. Still, it’s probably about...

I’ve ridden a shaft-drive bicycle, possibly even one of those Arcades (Arcade is a French brand). It felt not only draggy but springy. Removing the springiness would likely come with an intolerable weight penalty.

There’s a lot to be said for chains on sprockets.

Thanks for the answers, all. It’s a shame they’re not all the same, but they give me a clearer idea of what’s possible. The car lives a couple of floors underground with no real light. There’s no mains power but I don’t think we need it. We typically use it every couple of weeks for a decent drive (...

mjr wrote:Rear light failures seem less common now that LED lights are widespread.

Yes, but, at least here in Paris, too often they’re not on because the car has daytime running lamps and the driver is too ditzy to turn on the night lamps. Shows how often they look at the speedometer!

From past experience I'd say get a new battery. yes likely one or more cells have had it. In the long run best get a new battery. You might be able to revive it temporarily but it then let you down some where out in the sticks ( has happened to me). lead acid batterys dont like being run down. Will...

Unless there is actually another problem, like the battery is near the end of its life, or the alternator was failing to charge it properly before this incident, or current is "leaking away" when the car is stopped not just because of the interior light being left on....... No other probl...

Sorry to bring cars into this fine cycling forum, but I don’t know anyone else to ask. My girlfriend left the interior lamp on in our car while it was parked … for about two weeks. A few attempts at bump-starting didn’t work, perhaps because I couldn’t get enough momentum in the space available in t...