Cycling UK Forum

r2

I have the Shimano Nexus Seven spd with coaster brake on my shopping bike. Big issue as mentioned on here before is difficulty of removing/ replacing wheel. I had problems from the start with 5th gear. (Also reported by CK in reveiews 8/8 years ago) I now instinctively avoid 5th so I don't know if it was cured when it went back.

I have the Sachs Spectro 7 spd, older model slightly closer gearing with drum brake on my winter bike. Much easier to remove from frame but still all the faff of unscrewing the reaction arm etc. Also several fiddly widgets which could be lost at roadside. IMHO gears are still too wide ratio. I know closeness of ratios vs. width of overall range has to be a compromise, but I always seem to find myself riding into a headwind unable to find the 'right' gear. (I knw there is a self-imposed gap on the Shimano but I rarely go more than 6-7 miles on the shopper.

It's a generic term.

Forgot to mention, the leg length alteration service used to be provided by Procrustes. I do not think he is still in business

pigman

I speak as an IT nonentity.

When you are looking at all the thread titles, if you click on the little white rectangle with the corner missing, on the extreme right, you get the last post (without bugler).

I hope I am right - this is a first for me advising on IT. I'll put a little blush in.

b93

No bike tyre has any 'stretch on the circumference'. If it did, being inflated to 80 + psi would tend to blow it off the rim. I think it is fair to say that the smaller a tyre of a given make/type, the less slack you have compared with its larger counterparts, but manipulation of the tyre and tube down into the rim well is the answer, not force.

Try fitting your tyre without an innertube. It will almost certainly slip on and off. (If it doesn't then it does't fit.) Assuming it does, then you know the problem is with the inner tube preventing you getting the bead right down in the well of the rim, opposite where you are fitting it.

Whatever the formula and whatever the answer it gives, the fact is that you either settle for 170-175 mm or dig deep in your pockets for TA or similar. Stronglight have introduced an adjustable crank with a reversible pedal hole in a slot but the variation provided is 170-175 mm so no help here. If you are very strong and famous like Big Mig, Campag will make long cranks 'just for you'. Highpath will shorten standard ones for you, and there is always StJSC. Altering your legs to fit the cranks is probably nearly as easy as trying the other way round.

In my earlier posting I was not trying to claim any expertise, rather to highlight some of the folklore / communal knowledge ( or lack of it) that I have accumulated.

In my far off commuting days, when I did regularly ride round the year on rotating shifts, I used a hierarchy of hacks, except in the fine weather. Even my best bike then was only six-speed so I could use Sedis, later Sachs, even later SRAM, bog standard chains and chuck them away rather than mess about too much. Since I retired, I have inevitably become more of a fair weather man. I now have a couple of bikes with hub gears, one specifically for winter, where cheap 5/6/7spd chains are still OK. My more recently acquired decent bikes with STI see less rain and no salt/grit. The White Lightning type of dry lube seems nearest to what comes on a new chain. I never intentionally ride off-road. That's where chains really seem to get the hammering.

I must admit I have never had problems with worn cleats myself but I knew I had read it somewhere. I have dug out the Shimano pedal instructions (PDM747/535/515) from my vast archives (AKA wardrobe):

"Cleats wear out over time and must be replaced. Replace your cleats when you find it difficult to engage or release the cleats from the pedals."

Jac

Looking at your bike in that little pic, you should note that r2 is selling some excellent rims at a reasonable price - made round to go round

I think there are several points about cycling and heart disease.

There are various types of heart disease and various causes, not all well understood.

Being a cyclist does not grant immunity, although the regular excercise and resulting basic fitness help prevent some types of heart disease, or mitigate the worst effects. However, cycling can be very demanding, especially uphill and in cold weather. This can expose problems, by pushing things near to the limit or beyond, in a way which might not be a feature of a sedentary lifestyle.

As one of the main participants in the Primus clip madness I say 'don't let's pump that one up again'. (Excuse me sticking my oar in but I regret I was also responsible for a lot of ripples in the folding kayak saga.)

At the risk of telling you what you know already, I think the reason for not using degreaser is that afterwards you cannot be certain that you are getting lubricant back inside the bearing surfaces, or that there is no residual degreaser which will degrease it. The traditional answer to this was cleaning with a mixture of petrol and thin oil such as diesel which cleaned and relubricated in one go. One of the Park degreasers used to say it relubricated (and may still do so.)

I discovered donkeys' years ago that the quickest way to shorten the life of a chain was to rinse it in paraffin or similar (this was pre-modern degreaser.) I have even heard it said that paraffin corrodes metal but I take that to be an old wive's tale (probably thought up when they were discussing sucking eggs)

a-k

You know that. I know that. Unfortunately, any public official who gives anything that sounds like a firm ruling, runs the risk of their words being quoted as a defence, possibly to a different set of circumstances than that contemplated. Check any UK official website and you will see a similar escape clause.

Fatboy

The ability to get your feet out, at least with SPD's, is not governed by the pedal, but the cleat. I believe the SPD's which are traditional on the other side come with the multidirectional release (M ?? type) which are the easiest to get out of. (Worn cleats become harder to release.)

Reflectors on pedals are a legal requirement in the dark.

I speak (as I have said often before) as someone who has no faith whatsoever in helmets, but do not want the hassle for me or my survivors with the victim-blamers.

However, let us suppose that even your maximum estimates for lives saved are a big exaggeration and reduce the figure to 15. I imagine there are many who would wear a helmet just to avoid those odds.