Cycling UK Forum

What you describe is a very common problem in older bikes that are well used, but the rider has a preference for the bigger ring(s). As Brucey says, almost certainly bunged up with road dirt & corrosion.

Brucey's suggestion is bang on. Lubricate and work the lubricant in by manually pushing and pulling on the derailleur. Give it a good brushing and cleaning too.

Sometimes, if very seized, it's easier to remove the derailleur and hold it in vice while pushing & pulling.

To keep it sweet in future, shift into your small ring reasonably often use mudguards.

Great, more moving parts to break.

Thanks everyone for your useful answers. I've made the local active travel group aware of your thoughts.

Cheers

Hi Folks,

I am asking on behalf of a local active travel group. They are musing on the possibility of installing an eBike charging point(s). They are wondering about a system where people don't need to carry a separate transformer but can plug their cable in directly to the unit.

Does anyone know if such things exist or would people need to carry the extra weight of the transformer and then just plug into a standard socket? If the former, are there differing connector types?

Thanks in advance for any information you can give.

Cheers

PH wrote: ↑16 Jun 2024, 11:46am

Paulatic wrote: ↑16 Jun 2024, 10:05am Lack of servicing a Bosch can be costly.

Mapdec. https://youtube.com/watch?v=2As4Lqqh7KQ ... PRw56rzsOO

Excellent video, 5 min in and he explains if they'd taken it to a service centre when they were told the bearing had worn the refurb kit would have been £140.

I agree, an excellent video that emphasises the need for preventive maintenance. However, the video also discusses limited parts availability from the manufacturers resulting in a complete motor replacement rather than a repair. The lack of spares availability seems to be choice by the manufacturers, continuing my original sceptical questioning of long term ebike maintenance.

Also, at the end of the expensive repair the mechanic indicates that the repair cost (£750) is more than the bike is worth and discusses that a main driver of doing it was to keep the bike out of the scrap heap, which is a very worthwhile reason. However, if it were my bike I would then worry about what will go wrong next, the battery? These seem to cost around £350 to £500+!

The repair costs are all a bit ouch, but maybe this particular bike is an outlier. More data needed!

I love the essential simplicity of a bicycle, the fact that anyone who wants to do their own repairs can without too much difficulty encompass most aspects of repair, maintenance and replacement of parts. With user TLC a traditional bike can be kept going for years for reasonable cost

And then we had the eBike. These are brilliant inventions but I always worried that the complexity had more in common with a modern car and it's electronic engine management system than a traditional bicycle: not something the user can easily service and maintain. I also worried that the complexity of the electronics and motor would be unreliable, especially in our damp climate.

This article suggests there is indeed such an issue https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... ing-motors

I'm getting to the stage when an eBike is starting to seem attractive, but I'm not rushing. Perhaps a bolt on kit so I can remove it when it fails? What is the answer?

Brucey wrote: ↑13 Jun 2024, 4:15pm

deejayen wrote: ↑13 Jun 2024, 3:06pm Thanks!

Unfortunately, making something like that is beyond my capabilities!......

you don't know unless you try, and you might surprise yourself.

Here's one I made from a few bolts, an old toe clip and a bit of scrap aluminium bar. Does the job fine.

Some codes are set by default to something simple like 0000, 1111 or 1234. Worth trying.

mcshroom wrote: ↑3 Jun 2024, 4:50pm Shimano have a new Essa 8sp group set that includes a 1x derailleur with a clutch and 45t max sprocket. It's compatible with old 8sp road/mtb pull so should be the same as old 10sp Shimano road.

Otherwise there's another 8sp derailleur, the Acera RD-M3020, which has a 40t max sprocket, and isn't 1x specific, but doesn't have the clutch.

Thanks, could be an option.

colin54 wrote: ↑2 Jun 2024, 11:16am They've got some good offers on at Banana Industries at the moment on 10 speed MTB mechs, Deore of various sorts .

https://www.bananaindustries.co.uk/coll ... drivetrain

Thanks for that. One of those long cage derailleurs at those reduced prices will be perfect.

Hi Folks,

Your suggestions are gratefully received. After having thought deeper about this, I think I might just use the Gevenalle shifter in friction mode. Comparability issues are then greatly reduced. I run friction on other bikes so I am very used to using this mode.

If I run friction, then as I understand most long cage MTB derailleurs should work. Any suggestions for something suitable at a reasonable price? Shimano GRX RD-RX400 perhaps?
https://spacycles.co.uk/m8b0s107p4865/S ... 0-Speed%29

Something that accommodated a 40 or 42 tooth rear cassette might be preferable though.

Cyclothesist wrote: ↑1 Jun 2024, 6:35pm Tricky - is that Shimano old 10 speed road (105 5700 series) or new 10 speed road (Tiagra 4700) compatible?

Old 10 speed as I understand.

Hi

I have acquired a set of 1x10 Gevenalle CX shifters which are said to be compatible with 10 speed road shifters. https://www.gevenalle.com/product/cx2/

I want to use them on a hack gavel type bike but I want to get reasonably low gearing. My question is as follows; what 10 speed road compatible derailleur will allow me to use the biggest possible cassette?

In the past I have used a 9 speed Deore XT m772 derailleur which needs the same pull as 10 speed road, but these are no longer easy to find. I can get the 9 speed Deore RD-M592-SGS which goes down to 36 tooth, but I'm not sure if the pull is correct (though I assume it is). Does anyone know for sure?

Does anyone have any other suggestions for a suitable derailleur?

Thanks for your thoughts.

JerseyJoe wrote: ↑23 May 2024, 10:31am Sorry to hear that Yates has retired. He repaired a frame for me many years ago and did a great job of it, and we shared a pot of tea and a biscuit and some stories too. It seems like all the 'characters' from the age are either packed up or dead. You don't get a cup of tea in Halfords!

I assume he is retired as he has dissolved his limited company and has taken down his website, but maybe in his shed he brazes on? I have the pleasure of owning what is likely one of his last frames, built to measure for me in 2018.

As has been said above in this thread, I was never going to be a repeat customer. This was a one-off for me and at 6 years old I still consider it my "new" bike. Likely when it is 16 years old I will still consider this my new bike. Bespoke frames are special and the builders will always be having to find new customers.

And yes, when I met Dave at his Lincolnshire workshop he was indeed a lovely man with so many interests, not just bikes.

jimlews wrote: ↑22 May 2024, 5:11pm If I recall, when Bob Jackson ceased trading, one reason given was that there was no one who was prepared to take on the business.
This suggests to me that youngsters today do not see this sort of artisanal engineering as a career path.
If so, that is a great shame. At one time (1940s, 1950s) almost every London Borough had one or more bicycle frame builders. Sometimes
several on the same street.
It is tempting to think that the demise of Mercian (if proven), Bob Jackson, Roberts etc., is symptomatic of an inexorable decline of indigenous manufacturing. As an aside, I do wonder how Reynolds 725 cycle tubing (assuming that it is still made in this country) can be exported to the Far East, made into bicycles and re-imported into this country to be sold at a cheaper price than a bike made here.

There is also the recent loss of Dave Yates, as I understand through retirement rather than lack of business. The options for getting a steel frame custom built in the UK are diminishing.