Search found 1539 matches

by iandusud
28 Nov 2023, 5:46pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: E-bike front wheel self-disassembly
Replies: 48
Views: 3642

Re: E-bike front wheel self-disassembly

531colin wrote: 27 Nov 2023, 5:57pm
iandusud wrote: 27 Nov 2023, 3:27pm …………For this reason where I feel a stronger spoke is warranted (tandem for example) I prefer to use single butted spokes to get the extra strength at the hub, which is the weak point. …….
That’s one of those things which sound right………
However, spokes fail at the elbow due to fatigue.
3stages of fatigue;
Crack initiation
Crack propagation
Failure
The long phase is crack initiation. More metal to go at will make crack propagation take longer, but (as far as I know) won’t delay initiation.
In fact, it’s probably more difficult to get the spoke line just right with the thicker spokes.
I take your point Colin. I would however counter (for sake of debate rather than argument) that the elbow may be better supported on a thicker spoke. I've have built a good number of tandem wheels using 13-14g single butted spokes without suffering any spoke failures (that I know of, certainly not on my tandems). Having said that I've probably built thousands of wheels for solos using 14-16-14 DB spokes which haven't suffered from spoke failure either.
by iandusud
27 Nov 2023, 3:27pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: E-bike front wheel self-disassembly
Replies: 48
Views: 3642

Re: E-bike front wheel self-disassembly

plancashire wrote: 25 Nov 2023, 10:21am Someone came into our volunteer bike workshop recently with an e-bike with front wheel drive. Many of the spokes had loosened to such an extent that the nipples were almost off the ends. It was not running true! I have never seen such a dangerous wheel.

I tightened it up and trued it. It was built with 13g plain spokes built 2-cross. The thick plain spokes limit the elasticity so although I tensioned it as much as I dared, I'm not sure it will hold. I warned the owner to check frequently. Is this wheel construction usual for e-bikes?
As you say 13g spokes don't have as much elasticity as 14g or 14 16 14 DB so they do require more tension to prevent loosening off. For this reason where I feel a stronger spoke is warranted (tandem for example) I prefer to use single butted spokes to get the extra strength at the hub, which is the weak point. Having said all that I have built a few motorcycle wheels which use much heavier and shorter spokes and it is possible to build them so that they don't go loose. It is a matter of giving them plenty of tension using a good well fitting spoke key.

I have had two brand new e-bike wheels through my hands both of which were built with 12g spokes and both of which desperately needed tensioning before fitting.
by iandusud
14 Nov 2023, 11:17am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: EuroVelo route 12 between Calais and Hoek van Holland
Replies: 29
Views: 2969

Re: EuroVelo route 12 between Calais and Hoek van Holland

pal wrote: 13 Nov 2023, 3:28pm I travelled both ways and somehow managed to get a tailwind in both directions
Can I come cycling with you please? :D
by iandusud
14 Nov 2023, 11:12am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Suspension corrected 26" rigid fork
Replies: 22
Views: 2431

Re: Suspension corrected 26" rigid fork

Halx00 wrote: 14 Nov 2023, 7:52am hi

I've just done this with a very cheap £40 Marin Muirwoods eBay purchase, came with a stuck seat post that I managed to remove by filling the inverted seat tube with Coke and waiting an hour.

The forks that were on it were cheap, heavy and seized so replaced them with some lovely carbon one purchased for £60 secondhand.

Rides really nice.
That;s nice. Do you know what forks those are?
by iandusud
14 Nov 2023, 10:19am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Suspension seat posts. USE version
Replies: 11
Views: 929

Re: Suspension seat posts. USE version

I have a USE suspension seat post on a mountain bike. I bought and fitted it in the late 90s. It made a huge difference in comfort on the hard packed rocky trails I was riding at the time. It's had a lot of use and is still on that bike but it doesn't get used much these days as my back is no longer up to off roading. So I thought it was very good but be aware that it has no set back, which may be an issue in getting the right position on your bike. I have fitted a parallelogram type suspension seatpost (suntour) on the rear of our tandem, and I think that this design (as per the Thudbuster) is a much better one than the telescopic ones.
by iandusud
14 Nov 2023, 10:10am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Gore-Tex: is it really this bad?
Replies: 112
Views: 11021

Re: Gore-Tex: is it really this bad?

PH wrote: 13 Nov 2023, 10:05am
iandusud wrote: 13 Nov 2023, 9:38am It is a story about the importance of keeping on top of the DWR treatment on beathable waterproof jackets. I had offered to retreat my wife's jacket but she said not to bother. Needless to say I have since treated it and it has restored its waterproofing.
That isn't the way it works. These fabrics are constructed of layers, typically three though the inner can be replaced by a semi-layer, the waterproof layer is sandwiched in the middle, there's plenty of technical detail online to investigate further. Once that's understood, you'll see that a surface treatment isn't going to effect it. If you have any doubt, it isn't difficult to devise a way of testing it yourself. I'm not questioning that a wearer might get wet, but it can't be attributed to water coming through the fabric.
I wouldn't argue with you on that but what I can tell you is that on the ride I referred to every layer my wife was wearing was soaked. Now that may well be due to condensation, as one inevitably perspires when cycling and if the jacket can't breath it will just build up on the inside. However my understanding is that if the DWR coating isn't working then the outer layer gets saturated and the garment can no longer breath. Hence my assertion that keeping on top of the DWR coating is essential to keeping Gortex and other similar fabrics working as they should.
by iandusud
13 Nov 2023, 9:49am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Anyone still using this stuff?
Replies: 21
Views: 2771

Re: Anyone still using this stuff?

I always thought most Campag stuff was over-priced and over-rated with the exception of the their hubs and headsets. The quality of the bearings was such that they merited the premium. I still have a Campag headset I fitted 35 years ago on the bike I use most frequently (several times per week) and I don't think I touched the adjustment in all that time. I certainly haven't serviced the bearings.
by iandusud
13 Nov 2023, 9:38am
Forum: Does anyone know … ?
Topic: Gore-Tex: is it really this bad?
Replies: 112
Views: 11021

Re: Gore-Tex: is it really this bad?

I replaced my 30 year old Gortex cycling jacket two years ago as the old one was in a poor way. The new one performed well at first but it did start to let water in. Before going to France last summer I washed it and reapplied a DWR treatment. Whilst in France we had some horrendous weather and I can say, hand on heart, that in 50 years of regular cycling I have never ridden in such hard and persistent rain. I can report that my jacket kept me perfectly dry. On the other hand my wife's Shower Pass jacket that was considerably more expensive was useless. Now I don't think this is a story about Showers Pass jackets being inferior. It is a story about the importance of keeping on top of the DWR treatment on beathable waterproof jackets. I had offered to retreat my wife's jacket but she said not to bother. Needless to say I have since treated it and it has restored its waterproofing.

So to sum up I found Gortex to be a game changer over 30 years ago when we bought our first jackets but it does require understanding how it works and how to care for it.
by iandusud
9 Nov 2023, 9:21pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: S&S Couplings with Hydraulic Brakes ?
Replies: 9
Views: 2239

Re: S&S Couplings with Hydraulic Brakes ?

Hydraulic couplings for this purpose are available although I don't know from whom but I have seen them for this purpose on a tandem. However I would be wary as IME hydraulic brake systems on bikes are very sensitive to the slightest amount of air in the system and using a coupling I suspect is likely to allow some ingress of air. We have a tandem with S&S couplings and use a cable operated disc brake on the rear.
by iandusud
28 Oct 2023, 4:03pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: This is a stupid question sorry, gearing
Replies: 16
Views: 1726

Re: This is a stupid question sorry, gearing

The purpose of a triple chainset is generally to give a wider range of gears than with a single or double (although it does depend on the sizes of chainrings and sprockets used). However most bikes are over geared at the top end and, as already pointed out, an ebike doesn't need the very low gears that multiple chainrings facilitate. The question that really needs to be asked is, is the highest gear high enough and is the lowest gear low enough. If so all is rosey. I built a cargo bike four years ago and equipped it with a triple chainset (as this was what the donor MTB had) in order to give low enough gears for hauling loads up hills. I then later fitted an electric conversion ever since which I've only ever used the middle chainring, effectively making it a 1 x 8 system. Prior to the conversion I would use the middle and small chainrings making the large chainring redundant.
by iandusud
21 Oct 2023, 4:02pm
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Mudflaps. What do you use?
Replies: 72
Views: 8639

Re: Mudflaps. What do you use?

I use sections that I cut out from large plastic plant pots - the sort that plants from garden centres come in. They can be softened with a heat gun to shape the thin end to the radius of the mudguard. I use these because I have them to hand. Other suggestions above would be good also.

P.S. Great to have you back and posting again Brucey
by iandusud
16 Oct 2023, 4:25pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: The war on motorists.
Replies: 293
Views: 62652

Re: The war on motorists.

Biospace wrote: 16 Oct 2023, 3:56pm Not taxing vehicles by weight encourages ever heavier and more powerful vehicles, with all the environmental damage which follows both in production and use. This is especially the case when they're powered by a battery since more performance requires a bigger battery.
I totally agree with you about the need to tax by weight, but only once EVs are the norm. I feel that in the meantime ICE vehicles need to pay a lot more, both to reflect the damage they do the planet and to speed up the transition to EVs. As I said this all needs to happen in conjunction with better and cheaper public transport and active travel infra. The sort of joined up thinking that our government seems incapable of.
by iandusud
16 Oct 2023, 12:23pm
Forum: Campaigning & Public Policy
Topic: The war on motorists.
Replies: 293
Views: 62652

Re: The war on motorists.

Whilst I totally accept that electric vehicles have their own significant carbon footprint, nonetheless it is unquestionable that the burning of fossil fuels is the biggest contributor of CO2 emissions. Therefore taxing vehicles on weight would not incentivise the adoption of electric vehicles in the place of ICE vehicles. Also a one off annual tax does nothing to discourage the use of the vehicle, in fact it has the opposite effect, as once one has paid for all the fixed costs (tax, insurance, cost of purchase, depreciation..) the incentive is to make use of the vehicle as much as possible to get "value for money". When I still ran a car I was advocating for the scrapping of VED and in its place a huge increase in duty on fuel, with the money being used for public transport and active travel. Most of my cycling friends, who also ran cars and are much better off than me, thought I was mad. They could only think of how much it would cost them (financially). My wife and decided to abandon car usage over three years ago. We're not spring chickens but we do all our local journeys by bike. We go on holiday by bike and train. We do longer journeys by train. It is not a perfect solution and the failings of our public transport systems and active travel infrastructure are often glaring. I also appreciate that going carless is not a solution for everyone, particularly those living in isolated rural communities. BUT I do believe that those who pollute should pay for it and that we need to make fewer journeys.
by iandusud
16 Oct 2023, 11:42am
Forum: Bikes & Bits – Technical section
Topic: Best wishes for Brucey
Replies: 613
Views: 73386

Re: Best wishes for Brucey

This is quite amazing. I've been away for a week so have not looked here during that time. But last week when I was away and walking in the hills, for some reason I thought of Brucey for no apparent reason and offered up good word for him. I return to find this wonderful news.