Cycling UK Forum

Mick F wrote:Is it viable to buy a modern cassette hub and me build it into the existing wheel and then buy a modern cassette say 14-32 6sp or 7sp?

Unless your daughter is having trouble with snapped axles, why not stick with freewheels? Much cheaper and easier than rebuilding the wheel surely?

Mega-range 7 speed freewheels are cheap. 14-34 teeth. Maybe as a starting point, and then look into smaller chainrings if the gearing is still not low enough?

It strikes me that in general there are two assumptions which are behind a lot of these types of discussions: 1. We need high-density housing so that the distances people have to travel are short and they are more likely to walk or cycle. 2. The way to get more density is to build taller buildings. ...

Other options: Folding baskets that attach to the sides of the rear rack. side basket.jpg "Shopping" panniers that always stay on the bike. They are £20ish and can be attached on with some kind of lock. pannier.jpg Steco Bag Mee (£15ish) Steco_Bag_Mee-1.jpg Steco folding crate (£15). Could...

I think baskets or crates are a very good idea for everyday use! A rear basket will make it slightly more awkward to mount and dismount the bike. This may not be a problem for you. If you have a laterally stiff rack, I don't think you will mind the effect of a rear basket on handling. It's perhaps n...

You could buy one of the Steco racks (they are both about £25 I think) and no basket. Then you could strap just your rucksack on to it using a bungee.

Beats having a sweaty back !

The rack which mounts to the axle and handlebars, and the one which mounts to the head tube, are both designed to be permanently attached to the bike. It would be a faff to remove and reattach them regularly. They also both come with a bracket for mounting your light. If you wanted to remove the bas...

There's nothing to stop you putting a wicker basket on the Steco rack! Since the basket will be very well supported, it probably doesn't need to be particularly strong. The rack which attaches to the axle and handlebars also comes in a small version. If you didn't want the rack to be so visible, tha...

I have the Steco rack which mounts to the head tube, and doesn't turn with the steering. If have enough space between the top of the wheel and the bottom of the handlebars, I'd recommend it. It's much nicer to load up a basket that isn't flopping about with the steering, and with heavy loads it has ...

I don't see why a powered two-wheeler limited to 30 mph should be treated differently depending on whether it is powered by an electric motor or a petrol engine. (At least from the point of view of road safety). It could be that the laws on 30 mph mopeds/motor-scooters are too strict. I'm open to be...

Hi Recumbent Panda

I have hung my recumbent by the rear wheel on Crosscountry Voyagers. It just fits. Perhaps if you use the rear wheel then you don't need the strap?

An old french cycling guide recommends tying a branch behind the bike to keep the speed down on downhills. If a forester asks where you got it from, you should say that you brought it with you from Paris. Anyway... The Sturmey Archer dynamo is a bit inefficient according to lab tests. This will be e...

The only way I could see it as a viable option is if you modded the rear derailleur cage so the overall range is somewhere around 65 teeth, then would you get a simple sistem with all the gears usable Perhaps you could have a sprung return idler that helps to take up the slack in addition to the re...

Hi MickF I know what you're getting at, but I don't think the position of the dropouts matters much. What matters is the position of the contact patch. In both of the cases you describe, the contact patch will move to the right when you steer left. With the forks reversed it will move further right ...

Some boffins have produced a mathematical model of bike stability called jbike6. It runs in Matlab and can be downloaded for free. Two important outputs which it gives are the weave speed and the capsize speed. The weave speed is the speed at which the oscillations become smaller and smaller when th...