Cycling UK Forum

1. Agree that the cheapest option is probably to buy a bike in the US - even a new one may be cheaper - especially if you can sell it at the end of your trip.
2. If you are only doing 30 miles a day then you don't need to worry about fafing with your bike much, if some of the gears work and the brakes work you should be fine.
3. Luggage: Read the CTC article on lightweiht touring and do it with a Carradice saddlebag.
4. Gearing: Could you not change the front derailler to a triple? In the short term would this not be the simplest solution (if not the cheapest). Long term (after your trip) I would think that changing to 622 wheelsize would reduce your gearing and make it generally easier to get parts. Sheldon reckoned that you can go from 126 to 130 rear spacing with a bit of elbow grease and no need to properly cold set, I would agree with that (Cotic are currently designing bikes with 132.5 rear spacing so that they can take 130s and 135s, same difference, though a bit less %age wise). Obviously a nice new wheelset, new gear levers and new tyres/tubes would come out at about £200(?), so with freight costs you are back to point 1.

I've had some problem with the rear tracknuts on my track bike, I tighten and then it starts to slip, my first guess was that I had damaged the axle thread, but it's been pointed out to me that the axels will have a pith, 3/8 or some other, which will mean that the track nuts will not necessarily fit.
How can I tell what size tracknuts I need? Does "pitch" mean the diameter/radius of the axle, or is it the distance between threads of the axle?
grumble.

I bought my track pump from EBC, their own-brand one. I'm still happy with it, automatically adapts to presta and shraeder and never caused any worries.

I have three spare wheels and a couple more spare tyres. At the moment I just leave the wheels standing on the floor of my shed, the two folding tyres are folded up inside and the three wire rim tyres are hanging from a handlebar in the shed (probably gathering dust and debris).

How should I store these?

When pedestrians jump red lights and act silly there is no uproar. I don't RLJ myself but I think it's pointless to get into that argument, esp with the media. The media is there to sell a prouct, not relay the truth, so I'd just ignore them and they will go away.

I have a good few lovely wool garments, have started to notice moth holes on a couple. What do you do to keep them out?

I am (very slowly) doing up my wife's grandfather's bike which originally had 26*1 1/4s on it. They spaced frames to be able to have good clearance for mudguards in those days and yes I can fit 700cs on it, though prolly not uber wide ones.
I would have loved to be able to replace ith new 26* 1 1/4 wheels, but they are no longer readily available. An alternative is the 26* 1 3/8s which were not as professional in the day but are still used in cycle speedway.

I heard that 32 spokes was less likely to pop a spoke, thoguh less likely to cope with a spoke missing. Then again Rear and Front can't be compared fairly since a dished rear sees most of the weight carried by only half the spokes...

The general view is that calipers are not as good as cantis - not sure I agree. TDF (e.g.) riders will do speeds in excess of 20mph and need to brake sharply, their caliper brakes work just fine thankyou. The trade-off is prolly in the cost of good road brakes.

I love my old Nitto Randonneurs, but they bent in a crash - not sure they are sturdy enough. I like my old 70s sports racer bars which have a flare and more bar after the drop, not sure what they are properly called. Any ideas for a source of flared drop bars in Steel?

V brakes (direct pull) pull a different amount of brake wire and have a flat pull at the top. Left arm pulls left or vice-versa.
On cantis there is a wire that pulls up on the cross wire, in fact they look more like a V than V brakes. Cantis have the same pull as caliper brakes.

Good V brakes are better than good cantis, but well set up vs poorly set up and cost of good vs good and how well they are maintained ... it evens it out quite a bit. I find Cantis harder to upkeep because of the extra wire, V brakes are rather idiot proof, hence why they are used more now. From their construction I'd guess Cantis could give more clearance, hence better for Cross/some tourers.

You can run either on carbon forks, planet x do one, though not the only ones.

Sure, I'm happy to admit that - then again the steel Raleigh from the 70s and the steel Carlton track bike I have tried also are more comfortable than the revolution, so maybe there is something to the steel thing. The only way to be sure would be to get two frames custom built for the same purpose and then built up with the ame components to compare... crazy stuff.

For me the bottom line is Al-Steel, cost is about the same, weight about the same, quality about the same. So it's up to the gut to decide.

On my commuter/tourer I run 28/25-600 front/back, mostly for historic reasons. 100psi makes for a brisk ride and I don't need to check pressure until the end of the week when commuting. Fine for riding with work and the like.
On my on-road track bike I don't carry all the stuff I do with my other bike, my weight wil soar to 80kg at most. Yes I do use this bike for some commute, but it's a fair weather cycle. I can run some more fragile rims and expect the wheels to stay true because of low weight. That said I don't expect to ride 28 radial wheels on that anyway.
I generally err in your direction, but I am starting to find that there is too much of this backlash and that some 70kg riders are being told not to ride 23/25-622s for no good reason other than some 200lbs fools try to ride poorly constructed racers.

@Peter White and others - I am growing more and more annoyed that us cyclists are being catagorised as 100kg fat blokes on racer bikes. I am NOT a racer but I fall under Peter's 160lbs cut-off. I choose to ride "bomb-proof" 36 spoke wheels that allow me to carry 40/60kg of groceries with me and should not bend come hell or high water (sunday crash saw the h'bars bend but the wheels stay true), but don't call me a stupid fat bloke if I decide that my sunday best fixed bike should be ultra-light with 28 radial spokes front and back.

Interruptor brake levers are simple to install, here is an example you can buy for £18. You remove the wires from your brake cables, cut the brake cables at the right point on the handlebar and then fit the new levers then re-inset the wire cables.

If you have ever replaced brake cables then it should be a synch. If not, then ask at work. Since you have a cycle to work scheme you prolly have a bicycle user group, or at least a dedicated cyclist on payroll who will be able to help you out.