Cycling UK Forum

Yay, its another year and the new models and equipement is all ready rolling out. Designed by an industry of which many aren't actual touring cyclists themselves, who are not thinking engineers,and will only respond to population demographics and studies from their marketing departments. Components, designed by people who care more about what their pay masters will say, rather than what would actually benefit the lives of touring cyclists.

Well, its about time, we the cyclists, actually got a chance to say what we want for 2014 (because 2013 is already lost). The below is my demands, if you, gentle reader want to add anything to it, feel free and then once this post goes static, i'll email the link to every manufacturer out there. If the ctc itself wishes to champion any of the ideas, then thats cool and dandy, too.
Anyway, my demands;

- All hub gears to feature index shifting at the hub, rather than the speed controller so that exact cable tension is not required for a beautifully shifting hub. Rohloff has done this, so what's stopping the other guys?

- All hub gears, to feature oil ports, so noone has to take the hub apart to keep it lubed. Still don't understand why there is an oil port for the Alfine 11 speed, but not the 8 speed. That's got to be marketing thing, surely.

- All pedals, (non internally geared) hubs, and even sealed bottom brackets to feature oil/ grease ports. That way any over zealous use of the pressure hose, or even riding the bike through flood water, can be quickly put right by injecting the pedals and hubs, with either fresh grease or oil can be injected into the bearings and moving parts, easily and quickly.

- All derailleur equipement, sprockets, shifters, rear mechs, front mechs, chain rings, etc whether road, or mountain bike to be fully compatiable with each (except of course, regarding front and rear mech capcity) allowing cyclists to freely experiment with their own touring gear set up. (i.e. mountain bike chainset and road sprockets/ cluster, and road gear controls) and a return to high quality seven speed sprockets/ gear clusters, and even the re-introduction of the 6 speed free hub gear cluster ~ for a stronger back wheel with less dishing. And more spoke holes!

One more thing. I will continue not to purchase any of the above items, new, if my demands are not met, but will continue to modify (where possible) second hand items, and older technology using grease nipples and grub screws to meet my demands. This is my hobby, my passion and you, the manufacturers, will not diminish my joy of it, by the current crop of ill desgined components.

cycle tramp

Is there enough length on the thread to place a washer between the cone nut and the lock nut? If there is, then you can rebuild the pedals, but keep the cone nut lose and place the washer between the cone nut and the lock nut. Then tighten the lock nut against the washer. The cone nut will tighten as the lock nut tightens against the washer, through fricition. However as the cone nut is (hopefully) making slower revolutions due to the washer compared with the lock nut, the lock nut should still tighten itself against the cone nut. Ideally, before the cone nut drives itself fully on to the ball bearings! Unless you're gifted its going to take more than one attempt to get it right! That said, i've done it, and i've got both pedals to the stage of 'almost spot on, can't get it any better' in under fifteen minutes. You just have to make a mental note of the position of the cone nut before you start doing up the lock nut..

NOTE TO PEDAL MANUFACTURERS: And pedal designers out there? Good i want a word! Ages ago, i was restoring a ladies roadster from the 1950's and was completely surprised when i took the pedals apart! Yes, there was the normal spindle, cone nut, ball bearings, washer, and lock nut. Yes, the pedal spindle had to flats to it, which corrisponded with the flats in the washer. But what suprised me was that these washers had little teeth all around the outside, like very small chain rings, and cone nuts had two raised pins on the backs. Thus when assembled and the pedals lock nuts were being tightened, the cone nuts would still be held in near perfect position, by the interface of their pins and the teeth of the washers. It took a matter of minutes to get the pair assmbled with near perfect bearing tension. So why don't my pedals that i purchase from you, made now in 2013, use the same system? Answers on a postcard, less than one hundred words starting with the words, 'i apologise on behalf of my company for making pedals that are inferior to the ones produced in the 1950's...'

rjb wrote:Here's one for you to drool over http://translate.google.co.uk/translate ... CDQQ7gEwAA

Hey, very classy
(unlike me. i drooled so much my beard dissolved. if anyone wishes to purchase my dignity, i believe i have it advertised in the bike bits section. its completely unused )

hexhome wrote:

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Just wondering what acid will do to steel especially chrome

Promote corrosion.

Er... chrome doesn't rust. its sort of hard to believe, but it doesn't. What alot of people don't understand about chrome is that it has pores. If left outside these pores fill with molecules of water which react with the iron in the steel, and the oxygen in the air to produce rust. This rust then moves up the pores in the chrome and spreads across the surface. If left unchecked rust will begin to form between the steel and chrome and actually lift the chrome (which has been electroplated to the surface of the steel), and the chrome will then flake off. Hence if you regularly wipe chrome with an oily or greasy rag, oil then fills these pores, even if the surface feels dry to the touch. The oil blocks both the air and the water from the surface of the steel and thus the steel under the chrome electroplating doesn't rust.

Whilst engine oil may have some weak acid in it, let us not forget that the engine oil is used for lubricating metal parts, so it would be unlikely that any acid would be in such a presence as to damage those metal parts that it was designed to protect. For a start no one would buy it.

A wipe with an oily rag, or even painting metal surfaces with oil and or grease to avoid corrosion, has been used by classic motorcycle riders, 2cv owners, landrover owners, and various mechanics up and down europe for a great number of years. Indeed my own father still paints oil on the underside of the car's wheel arches to prevent rust.

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:

cycle tramp wrote: If you are going to store bicycles for a great length of time, i would recommend getting a really cheap paint brush and painting the bike with a 50% used engine oil 50% grease mixture,

Hi,
Used engine oil has sulphuric acid in it, albiet less than new oil though.
Other horrible stuff too........................

Oh gosh, yes. Probably lots of really bad chemicals, the sort of stuff that will cause you to grow buttock holes all down your back if you were to get any on your skin. So decent pair of rubber gloves when doing this and perhaps goggles for when the brush flicks oil into your eye! Also worth pointing out that if you are painting grease or oil over your bike, keep it well away from your ahead set. You don't want any oil creeping between your stem and your steerer post, no siree.. Don't forget to wipe the oil/ grease mixture from the bike when you next ride it either....

old engine oil, does anyone know a good way to deal with it?

Apparently you can chemically kill the rust by dipping it in coca-cola. Its something to do with the acid in the drink (and you can also use coke for unblocking sinks, and removing limescale too). Its also really cheap. i got 2 litres for 18 pence last time. If you are going to store bicycles for a great length of time, i would recommend getting a really cheap paint brush and painting the bike with a 50% used engine oil 50% grease mixture, but not the saddle. Because you might want to sit on that in the future. Or the tyres. The tyres don't like that. Personally, i wouldn't worry about any surface rust. Where i come from, that's a security feature.

..base layers from Dickies. The long sleeved top (65% bamboo, 30% tencel (no idea what that is) 5% spandex) was £15 and the long johns (same make up) was a futher £15. That's £30 for a complete set.
The bright yellow thermal gloves with rubberised palms which came from Screw Fix for £4.00 are holding up well, with no signs of wear for the second year. And after speaking to a friend who has rabbits, i've now got a supply of large clean, dry, clear strong plastic bags with which to wrap my spare clothes in, for 2013 touring (the bags used to contain straw, so all you have to do is shake any loose stuff out). Brilliant!

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Firstly, i'd like to apologise to everyone for talking this thread away from its subject topic. It wasn't intended, i just wanted to make an observation... Secondly, i'd like to express my thanks to Brucey for the maths that proved beyond reasonable doubt just how ineffeiciently i was using the previous hub with stepped gears. i tended not to push the gears, as a result, i probably settled down into 'easy sloth' mode. Keeping at the same speed without even realising that i could change up, and it probably happened more times than i care to remember Its the only way i can explain the sudden 1 - 3 mph increase when i switched hubs. Because its easier to change speeds with the nuvinci hub, (you just roll the controller backwards or forwards) i tend to do it more.
Of course hubs aren't everything. There's a lady fixed wheel rider out on the somerset levels who regularly whips my buttock whenever shes on the lanes. i have no idea who she is, but i owe her a drink, just for that two minutes work out every time i try and match her speed. Gears are no substitue for training, fittness and dedication.
(and in answer to the question, the hub i made my comparisions with, was my mate's rolhoff speed hub! Lovely bit of kit which i used to complete my Holyhead to Chepstow tour, but then gave back. In many ways it is too much kit for everyday, leave your bike outside the shops/pub/cinema/resturant type of riding. Especially here in flat somerset. And its the same bike, i just switched hubs. i'm not blind to the nu-vinci's failings.. and may switch to an alfine 8 speed for long, loaded or hilly touring if i can find a good second had one. Especially as the drive ratio for the alfine 8 can be lower than 1.9. That has to be one of the great things about hub geared bikes ~ If you don't thread the control cables through frame mounts, you can have more than one choice of wheel (5 speed hub for town/ 11 speed alfine hub for touring, fixed wheel for icy conditions, and each wheel can have its own tyre )

'The greenpower racing certainly underlined efficiency concerns, in a way that a cyclist on the street could never "feel" - the best example of this was the nuvinci gear hub: if that had been 20% less inefficient it would have swept the board in greenpower races. Instead of which several teams became successful only when they stopped using it. Yet, talk to users on bikes - they LOVE it. I guess it comes down to - if you're not racing, you don't mind a journey taking a little longer.'

Steady there, old chap. Speaking as a nu-vinci hub owner myself, not everything is as it appears. Indeed, it is the heaviest hub gear system that I have ever ridden. And yes, as to mechanical efficiency, it does appear that I’m using smaller gears, sooner when I’m tackling a long hill (although, this may also be due to a decline in my fitness level).
So naturally, a heavier hub and less mechanical efficiency means that I’m slower? Not that simple. On Unloaded, and along flat or undulating ground (sadly, no time this year for cycle camping, or hilly touring) I found that my average speed actually increased, when I used the nu-vinci hub. Indeed over a fifteen mile, flat-ish ride, I was able to shave five to ten minutes from my average time, on a bike with a borrowed hub gear ~ I’m a lazy cyclist; I dislike too much resistance on my legs when cycling, and I find it bothersome if I spin my legs at over 100 rpm… so when I’m using a stepped gear system (either hub or derailleur) and the road or trail conditions mean that I can’t find the most comfortable gear, I chose a lower one, but because I don’t spin any faster, my speed drops. However because the nu-vinci uses a variable gear system, it can always offer me a gear that maintains the same level resistance, at my favourite leg rpm speed. Hence my average speed increases.

Although if you are in the majority of cyclists, who don’t mind spinning their legs at 120 rpm or less than 65, then it would be foolish of me to claim that the nu-vinci hubs would offer the same performance benefits. Although there are other non-performance benefits; Because it’s always in gear, there is no slippage and careful cable adjustment is not required. Simply pull the gear wires tight and bolt them down. I like that sort of technology.

Have you ever wondered about making your own? There's just loads of stuff on the net about it. This is the latest i've found;

http://gypsybytrade.wordpress.com/2012/ ... e-fenders/

Hey, that's a great idea... because it also means that i can use the same idea to turn a fairly underused bar bag into a saddle bag. All i need is a stem long enough to clear the rear of my saddle, a shim, and length of old handlebar, and the bag itself. Even better if i cut the handlebar so that it slightly projects beyond the edges of the bag, i've now got some space to mount some additional rear blinkers.... brilliant

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