Cycling UK Forum

Hello All,

I have a friend who rides nine miles into, & then back from work on a reasonably flat commute on pretty good road surfaces. He is currently riding a Trek hybrid (fairly basic, reasonably heavy & strong, 24 speed). He can manage the whole commute using just one highish gear & he has asked my advice on what would be the best single speed bike to go for....??

I do not have much idea on single speeds & would find it difficult to give a sound judgement. I'm OK on tandems, tourers, hybrids etc.

Basically, he's a normal size fellow, mid forties, reasonably fit & is looking for something light, & faster than his current steed. Preferably with drops (although not too important) & I think he would prefer steel. Budget upto £800 (but that would be something really special). Not too worried about mudguards/water bottle holders etc - I think speed is the main criteria.

I have trawled myself through various sites but would appreciate any recommendations from forum members who have ridden or own something which may seem suitable.

Thanks, Simon

Hello Pubrunner, I have been running a tandem for taking the kids to school for a couple of years now ( & the occasional longer jaunt) & from my experience if the kid stoker gets tired they can just rest their feet on the 'crossbar' (assuming the bike geometry allows this) without any problem & just let the stoker pedals/cranks go around on their own (obviously!)

My middle daughter (aged has only recently started pedalling after acquiring a set of crank shorteners but her effort is pretty negligible.
EDIT: the geezer with the sunglasses is actually a number 'eight', dunno why my number 8 turns into him!
I believe you can obtain some type of stoker freewheeling arrangement, but have found with any tandem related components the prices can be very high & you would need a phD in mechanical engineering to suss out the fitting of certain items.

Anyhow, probably not much help but there you go!

Hotels/Guesthouses??? What are they?? I only moved here from the South of England (London then Weymouth) to be amongst similar minded, tight fisted sassenachs & thus, although hating trees I find them good to kip under!!!

But seriously, obviously living here I don't use hotels or B & B's much but with 3 kids I tend to use the bland but cheap Premier Inns (if they let you take 3 kids into one room - many don't, they want you to rent 2 rooms believe it or not) or family rooms at Youth Hostels. Inverness has many cheap & central places & ditto Fort William if that's your next stop. If you are camping, then just stick your tent up somewhere (freedom to roam still applies within reason up here).

Sorry not much help but you'll never have any problems finding somewhere to stay. If you get really stuck send me a PM & you can use my front garden! (city centre - although Inverness is still really more of a town), I'd offer you a room but the house is full now the wife & kids have returned from their holidays.

Simon

I agree fully with PH here. The track (i.e Great Glen way) is not the best way to get from Inverness to Fort Augustus & I must admit I found it a tad tedious, views obscured by trees in the mainpart, un-necessarily undulating (ie you are following a loch so the route should really be flat!) & I went over the handlebars on one section when hitting the front brake a bit hard on an unexpected short steep descent. I was on a hybrid, 700 x 32 tyres & generally OK but you might struggle somewhat on a road bike. I think I abandoned this track near Invermoriston for the forementioned reasons & carried on the A82 for the rest of the route.

As PH said, use the Southern Loch Ness road to Dores / Foyers when en-route to Fort Augustus, there's a bit of a climb (the one from Dores took me & the daughter 30mins on a tandem today) but the route is scenic, quiet & very well surfaced.

I hate cycling in trees!!!

All the best, Simon

Smith 873, I think I'm a fairly patient person, & always give the benefit of the doubt but I don't think I'd wait that long for my goods without growing extremely agitated.

I think Wiggle have some good deals, but I do not have the patience to use their site. Maybe it's my computer but their site is so slow, & on the couple of occasions I have tried to order something, I've ended up going elsewhere for pure expedience.

Best of luck with the delivery, Christmas is coming!!!!

Simon

Thanks for the comments, I will send her on her way to Colin shortly for some expert analysis.

I sent you a PM Colin but not sure if I followed the correct routings. Anyhow, hopefully you'll receive it shortly & would be grateful for a quick check, will cover postage etc & will buy you a beer if our paths ever cross, small World at times,

All the best, Simon

With a Vauxhall Zafira - put the tandem inside.

Our cheap Viking Tarantino goes in OK upside down, however you have to first remove the wheels & mudguards & lash back the rear derailleur.

I recall myself, the wife, 3 kids, tandem, eldest daughters bike, youngest daughters bike & a kiddies seat (in the roofbox) fitted OK for a recent day out cycling. I think I managed to puncture a hole through the car roof fabric lining with the front forks but it's only a flesh wound!!

I would imagine the time faffing with a roof rack & putting your back out of kilter is the same hassle as taking off wheels etc.

Simon

Following on from the original posting:

I contacted the supplier, Petra Cycles of Surrey, and explained that the spoke tension meter appeared to be giving false high readings. An exchange was agreed so I duly packaged the 'faulty' item & return posted.

Today I received...........the same one back again!!!!!! I know it was the same one as I put a little back dot on the spring holder post. It is still giving exactly the same readings as before so basically the instrument has enjoyed a little jaunt through the postal system for a few days.

Either I am using it wrong (doubtful as it quite a simple bit of kit), or my wheels (& the wheels obtained through SPA) are built to the tightest spec possible!!!

What to do? Think I'll just live with it & use it as a 'relative' gauge until such time I garner enough wheelbuilding experience to be able to state confidently & without doubt that it is in fact faulty. Ho Hum.

I have recently (within the last month) cycled from Inverness to halfway down Loch Lochy & back to Inverness. Sounds daft but I was just seeing what a 100 mile ride entailed & thus set off for 50 miles outward & then turned back.

As you will be Kayaking Loch Ness to Fort Augustus then you will, in my opinion only, be avoiding the worst part of the ride. The trail around Loch Ness isn't bad per se, it's just extremely annoying going up & down through a screen of giant trees when you know there's a perfectly good (although relatively busy A82) flattish road just below you. I always take the Southern hillier B roads now on my sojourns to FA.

Anyhow, you'll miss this section. From Fort Augustus to the head of Loch Oich is a pretty good track, flat & well maintained following the canal, with a maybe 20 mtr stretch where you would have to get off & push if you were on a road bike (giant cobbles).

From Loch Oich Southwards for about 30 mins the track is not so good but passable, the first bit is a grassy single footpath which then opens out a bit into a lochside tree root strewn track. I fell off twice here, my fault as I was clipped in when banging into sinuous routes & couldn't unclip in time.

From thence onwards to halfway down Loch Lochy the track opened out into more of a forestry road, a little rough & potholed but OK on a MTB or something running pretty good tyres. No great ascents from what I recall. Some nice scenery as well but if you live up here it all gets a bit monotonous at times. Heathen I know, will have to move back to the Smoke to appreciate things more!

Anyhow, from halfway down Loch Lochy to FW I would imagine is pretty much the same forestry route so I can say the whole route is pretty well do-able, although I wouldn't do it on an expensive roadbike. I was on a Hybrid with front SUS & 32mm tyres, pretty comfy except whilst falling off.

Simon

What about the Shimano mt42-nv.

I obtained a pair of these for £35 from a friend who bought the wrong size. I am a size 9 (43) but the 44 is a good fit.

Not bad shoes, OK to walk on, bit scrunchy on concrete. The only bugbear is they squeak sometimes when pedalling & I think most bystanders assume it's my knees. A quick squirt of the cleats with WD-40 each week resolves this slight issue.

Oh, also, they seem to take ages to dry after a soaking. Good for mountain bikes & not too expensive new I believe.

Does atmospheric pressure deserve a mention here regarding opposing forces during cycling??

Example; cycling in a period of anticyclonic high pressure of say 1040mb; the following week doing the same in a low pressure trough of say 960mb.

From a previous post, allow for skin surface area of 2 sq. mtrs, let's say 1 sq. mtr being presented for 'pushing' through the atmosphere, then the theoretical thrust required for both scenarios would be:

High pressure 100cm x 100cm x 1.060505 (kg/cm2 equivalent of 1040mb) = 10,605 kg

Low pressure 100cm x 100cm x 0.9789276 (kg/cm2 equivalent of 960mb) = 9,789 kg

Therefore, in my esteemed wisdom it would seem that you would require an extra 816 kg (ie nearly a ton of thrust) to propel yourself on those balmy sunny days!!!

I quite often used to get told: 'Ward, you are a fool, go stand in the bin' during school science lessons thus I may have missed something here. I can't imagine what having a kid stand in a bin for upto 30 minutes would do to a teachers career nowadays!! Although I don't think it has psychologically damaged me too much.......

Anyhow, I know the above is probably a little simplistic but atmospheric pressure, & the daily relative differences, must have some bearing. Any thoughts??

I've had a standard Brooks B17 for about 2500 miles now & can only assume it is still in the breaking in phase. It feels at times like I'm sitting on a plank of wood!!

The most comfort I have thus far obtained is when I was caught in a torrential downpour about 40 miles from home. The thing got soaked but then felt like a cushion.

It subsequently dried out well & I gave it a buff with some Kiwi black although I think it may have sagged somewhat. I'm going to give the stretching screw a good tweak soon & probably ruin it for life....it will end up about 2 foot long.

Admittedly, with padded shorts it is a lot more comfy & I think most of the problem is with my butt. I cycle a lot for 3 months, then spend 3 months on ship whrere I never see a saddle. Perhaps I should strap it to my a$$e with a couple of bungee cords whilst strolling round the deck?

Simon

I've just ripped out my 2 front teeth whilst suspended from a spoke checking the tenison meter calibration!! Thus I think that a test of 'Petra' cycles return/exchange department is shortly forthcoming. Oh to the joys of internet shopping. Your advise is correct Colin, I think I'll go for an exchange.

Thanks, Simon

Yes hello Colin. I'm pretty positive the correct part of the supplied table is being used. The 'steel round spokes' (yellow section on mine).

I'm getting between 27 - 28 deflection on the meter - I know the graduations go upto 48 but the tabulated tensions stop at 28 (on my sheet anyhow).

I suppose the relative tension of each spoke is the most important factor so I will use the SPA front wheel as a 'model' & recalibrate to that - sounds like a resonable idea. As you say, it would be pretty unusual for the spokes to have tightened themselves in the period between obtaining the wheel new, & now.

thanks for your help, Simon

Thanks for that Colin,

so it would seem that my newly acquired tension meter is not quite calibrated properly.

Still thinking of practical ways to re-calibrate it myself. I Have bathroom scales, 2 spare spokes, a ball of string, pencil & my body weight. Might not be able to sleep tonight with the various permutations.

Cheers, Simon