Cycling UK Forum

Belt drives are the lie that is true. Theoretically better, yes, but not really. Chains are simple, efficient, and cheap. Blast of oil after every ride. They are so cheap you can just wait till they go bad, then bin them. I agree with Brucey. If I was bike commuting, still, I'd want a Sturmey front ...

I lived on a boat for years. While I am not massively familiar with that bit of the network (I always preferred blasting through cities and living where there was no-one nearby), I would be careful of riding on a towpath at night. There isn't the money to maintain the towpaths properly since British...

I had to Google that.I haven’t seen a Raleigh,either old or modern,on the road for years! Depends where you ride, I suppose. I think Raleigh made those around 1990ish, and I still see them locked up at train stations and the like. Of course, they built many identical bikes without the Team Banana l...

I used to ride with someone who was a bike messenger. Riding with him was like being tied to a post. I do remember, though, once going for a ride with him on our way to the pub, when some lycra clad muppet geezer shot past us going up a hill. We decided to catch up. I was keen and strong, and I had ...

I suspect it will be a very expensive upgrade. If you've got a computer with Internet, there are lots of VOIP services like Skype, and even Facebook Messenger. You can have video or audio calls for free. Have you thought about a Giffgaff sim, and another dumb phone? It works out costing me about £3 ...

There are no cartridge bearing hubs in Shimanoland. plenty in bottom brackets, headsets, RD pulleys, etc etc etc ... All well and good, but we're talking about hubs. :D I used to commute 20 miles a day on my Galaxy. The hubs lasted for quite a few years. Certainly enough to rebuild them onto three ...

There are no cartridge bearing hubs in Shimanoland.

Exage hubs are good, middle quality. Original equipment on my Dawes Galaxy in about 1992. There is no reason that it won't work perfectly well as a hub, with a bit of grease.

ibbo68 wrote:So are you implying that the only people who buy modern bikes wear Replica Team kit or buy the bike their “hero” rides?

Not at all. But I see that team replica bikes and uniforms are very popular.

Each to their own.

"Your hero rides" .......Really? :roll: The mindset of people who would buy team replica kit is beyond me. It looks like a mix of cycling and cosplay. :D Certainly, if you are good enough to go appreciably faster using a top of the range bike against a "normal" enthusiast's bike...

You're missing my point. Perhaps they are repairable, but they are designed to be disposable . Look at MTBs. In the last ten years, there have been three new sizes for wheels. And road bikes have now got disc brakes and a completely new design of axle, making previous frames obsolete. Those are not ...

Well done for riding your steep trails on a road bike!

Actually, I'm agnostic about frame materials; I certainly don't think steel is always the best. My point is it is repairable in a way carbon isn't.

Carbon is disposable. Most of the frames people ride are not expected to last.

No harm done.It’s not really that different to a Carbon CX bike except it has thinner tyres. I hope you never find out whether that statement is true or not. And yes, they are disposable. They are not like a steel frame, where you can braze in new tubes. They are not designed that way. I would be p...

Littgull wrote:You could try buying and fitting one of these. As referred to on another thread a few weeks ago.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B073VKMJDH

If that goes off by accident, you will not be popular at the campsite.

Think of it as a price per mile. £1700 is not actually that much.

Use it, enjoy it. Accept that the nature of carbon bikes is to be disposable.

Of course, if you really can't live with that, sell it and buy another bike.

Good service on everything, then a blast of WD40 after each ride.

WD40 is much maligned. I buy gallon containers of it, and do my campervan as well. Surprisingly capable product.