Cycling UK Forum

I was in my shed earlier ........

I have three aerosol cans:
WD 40
AC 90
GT 85

I know they're all just about the same thing, and so do the manufacturers!

Could there be any more?

Mick F. Cornwall

Has anyone got one of those clip thingies, that fits on the cross bar, so you can keep warm inside your cape?

Or are am I being a little flippant?

Mick F. Cornwall

Does anyone have an older one?




Mick F. Cornwall

I like Wiggle.

(I just wanted to be first on this board!)

Mick F. Cornwall

Who made the frame? Get it back to them for inspection. That's my advice.

I own a Mercian Vincitore, custom built for me in 1986. Appart from scratches and chips, it's as good as new. I love it.

I would hate to have anything happen to it. If and when I can bear to part with it, it will to be refurbished at the place of it's birth. My Vincitore cannot be replaced. It is my cycling life.

Get your frame checked out. It deserves it, I'm sure.

Mick F. Cornwall

If I, actually aged 54, kept clicking on 90+ each time I logged on, would that alter any result?

Mick F. Cornwall

Thanks Hubgearfreak.

(It's in German!)

Anyway, I would like a Roller Brake for the rear, to match the front.

Don't you think that the CTC Forum is great for airing ideas? And it's adictive!

Mick F. Cornwall

If anyone offered ma a Rohloff, I'd bite their hands off too!

Someone said in a previous post, on a very similar thread not many moons ago, that the Rohloff is brill for a 'multi-user/multi-use' bike.

That's what I'm building (slowly) with my Bright Red, Powder-coated, Mixte.

Mrs Mick F says that if we had £650 spare for a Rohloff, it'd be better spent on a new computer! (This laptop is getting poorly - maybe hard drive, maybe logic board, maybe it's just for the scrap heap!)(That's her being generous. What she actually wants is to go on holiday!)

But seriously, £650 is a bit steep. I emailed Rohloff late last year, and asked them if they had any plans to bring out a system that would be more suited to use on the road, ie closer ratios and a changer that would fit on dropped 'bars. They said "NO".

'Nuff said.

Rohloff won't get a look-in at £650 and 500% ratios.

Pity.

Mick F. Cornwall

Oh dear.

I've had to instigate a full product recall of my Bicyle Clutch.

There's quite a few people taking me me to court and sueing for damages after falling off. It was quite plain in the instuction manual, that you had to hold onto something at traffic lights when dis-engaging.

Oh well.

The sales of the Automatic Umberella are suffering too.

Mick F. Cornwall (soon to be debters' prison)

I 'learnt' how to build wheels by a little practice and Sheldon Brown's excellent website. See: http://sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

I have a pair of old wheels up in the loft, so I pulled one apart and re-built it. It took me a while, I had the other wheel as a pattern piece, and I studdied the instructions. Once you get the knack, it's a fairly simple proceedure.

I've always been handy with tools and stuff, I took my time, and I was SO pleased with the results.

So I bit the bullet, and made a wheel from scratch. I started with the front coz I thought it'd be easier - no dishing, and I could use the front forks of the bike as a wheel jig. I bought the hub from SJS http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Shim ... ke-731.htm They told me the dimensions of the hub so I could calculate the spoke lengths http://www.dtswiss.com/index.asp?fuseac ... popup=true But it wasn't easy, as when you use a roller brake, the front wheel is dished! The left-hand spokes are only a mm shorter, but very tight in order to get the wheel central in the forks. (Hub brakes, on the other hand, don't require a dished wheel I believe.)

The Spokey is great. See http://www.wiggle.co.uk/

My next task is to save the money up to buy the rear hub. Wiggle do an 8sp for £98.99 with no fittings, but Bonthronebikes do a 7sp complete with all fittings for £87.35. I'm undecided as yet.

Watch this space!

Mick F. Cornwall

We live in DE-FLATIONARY times.

Food, clothes, transport, air travel, cars, petrol, booze, mortgages, income tax, music, electrical goods. ALL cheaper in real terms than 20-30 years ago. If you go back further, say to the 30s or 40s, shoes would cost a weeks wages!

However, housing, council tax, indirect taxation and utilities, cost much more.

Bikes and components fit into the first para.

Mick F. Cornwall

It's not the wind in your hair, Jac, that I noticed about your picture thingy.

Who the heck is your wheelbuilder?

Mick F. Cornwall

Graham,

A light-hearted question:

How come your joining date is 14 Dec and everybody else's is early January?

How did you join a forum that wasn't up and running? And isn't 14 Dec before the Old Forum died?

Regards, and I'm sure I speak for all us members, the New Forum is wonderful. Thank you.

Mick F. Cornwall

thirdcrank wrote:Finally, on the old board, it was possible by clicking the back arrow, to go back to the thread while posting, to read it again to try to remain on topic. While writing this, I found to my cost that it does not seem to be possible - press the back arrow and you seem to lose the lot.

Hi TC!

What I do to get round looking at the whole thread, or even looking at another, is to open a new browser window. One window to construct your reply, the other to view the Forum.

With my AppleMac, you do 'Command/N'. Dunno 'bout PCs.

When you log out, you may have to log out of both windows.

That way, you can do two things at once! Or more, if you want!

Mick F. Cornwall

I'm building a couple of wheels for my Mixte, bright red powder-coated, not-a-very-good-steel-with-no-stickers-on-it frame.

I have a couple of 27 inch alu rims and I'm equipping them with Shimano Nexus hubs and Roller brakes.
(Imagine me with Shimano! And me, a Campag fanatic!) (AND I'd going to use a rear hub-gear!)

Not sure yet if it'd going to be 7sp or 8sp, but wheelbuilding is fun!

Front wheel done, rear will be done when I can afford the hub.

I bought a Spokey Pro from Wiggle the other day. WOW!

I have used a old spoke key for many years, but modern technology certainly takes over the old stuff. The Spokey is light, easy to use, accurate, secure and a delight to operate. Mrs Mick F said "that it looks like something I've got out of a cracker", but I think you have to pay for a good tool. £4 odd is ok.......

Mick F. Cornwall