Cycling UK Forum

I've a couple of opinions about gearing - Not having any experience of Rolhoff, I'd use indexed thumbshifters (shimano dx - the steel mounts last longer than the alu xt ones which can crack) with 8sp cassette - possibly slightly longer lasting than 9sp. 7sp needs less wheel dish but I like the extra range of 8sp. Thumbshifters are very simple, last for a v. long time, and friction mode lets you mix and match any setup of drivetrain components. Non indexed freewheels last much longer due to having much thicker teeth, but this is offset by the inferior axle load bearing design resulting in greater susceptibility to bent/broken axles. Personally I'd have a steel alloy frame - properly treated against corrosion I'd expect it to last almost indefinitely.

I'd do it on the Galaxy. You won't wear the drivetrain much over that distance. Even if you trained with it the cost of replacing drivetrain, brake blocks etc will come to less than the cost of buying a cheap bike which won't be as nice to ride either (as long as you can do the work yourself or have a friend who can do it.) Otherwise Decathlon have amazing value bikes at most levels in my opinion, although they aren't the loveliest looking. I did C2C a couple of months ago. Very hilly, pretty steep and long some of them so you will need low gears - although a decent bike I think that the 1x8 setup mentioned earlier won't be low enough - 44t - 32t might be a push. We had 22t - 34t as bottom gear and used it at least a couple of times as well as using second lowest gear quite a lot to grind up the biggest hills. That was with full camping gear though with quite a heavy old chromo framed mountain bike. We did it in 3 days and that was about right.

I use: Cheap adjustable spanner and scaffolding pipe! Plus something to hold the bb tool in place

Here are a few links on ebay - in my opinion it's not worth spending too much money on a replacement for a fork that was probably not terribly expensive in the first place, and even a cheap steel fork will be a significant weight reduction over the suspension forks that are on the bike now.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHROME-MOUNTA ... _790wt_801

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHROME-MOUNTA ... 500wt_1048

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MOUNTAIN-BIKE ... _854wt_801

I'd post a wanted ad over on retrobike.co.uk, asking for a 1" rigid fork, and also keep an eye out in the mtb for sale section there for 1" rigid forks. You need to measure the axle to crown dimension and get something fairly similar for it not to alter the handling characterisitcs of the bike too much. If you get a threadless fork you will need to buy a threadless headset and an ahead stem which will bump the price up. If you get a threaded fork you will have to get one with the same steerer length or a bit longer. If it's a bit longer you can either use some stem spacers to take up the extra length, or cut the steerer down to the required length. If you do the latter you would need to ensure that there is still enough thread left on the steerer to fit the headset.

I've got the mk 3. version of this - http://www.bikebuddy.co.uk/index.asp
It's been really good - very secure over rough terrain and easily holds a 2 litre water bottle. Made of stainless steel. The only disadantages are that you can't easily use it while riding as it's a bit fiddly locating the holes on the underside to hook it back on the frame, and the steel bands that go round the bottle can wear through the bottle (if it's a 2l coke/mineral water bottle, for example) some tape or inner tube could sort the latter out though. I also wouldn't want to put something like a tent in it without padding round the metal too.

Thanks for the advice, people - In the end my sister and I did the C2C route, with an extra bit tacked on to the beginning as we wanted to have a go at Wrynose and Hardknott. So we arrived in Windermere early afternoon and cycled west over those two to Whitehaven, Then 3 days to do the c2c route ending at Tynemouth.

Doing the 2 passes without foot down became very important, and I managed it with camping gear! Very pleased with myself! Definitely needed my lowest gear though, and front panniers with bar bag. My sister only had rear panniers so her front wheel wouldn't stay on the ground. Hard Knott is a lot steeper than Wrynose at points.

It's the first time I've done an official route for a tour, and I actually really liked the fact that a quiet route with much of it away from traffic had been put together. Normally on tours I spend quite a lot of miles on busy roads, so this was a real breath of fresh air. This route has loads of variety, and lots of hills too. and I enjoyed the off road sections a lot, although we only did one vaguely 'proper' off road bit. 3 days was about right with full gear. I think I would have found 2 a bit uncomfortable. Overall it was absolutely great, so thanks again everybody.

How about this if the size is right?

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic ... t-deck-250

Is it a quite alarmingly loud clunking 'crack' sound when you put quite alot of weight on the driveside pedal? I had this and came to the conclusion that it was the result of using a new chain with slightly worn sprockets and chainrings, and was the chain settling into the worn teeth profile when mashing the pedal down rather than actually skipping over the teeth as happens with greater mis-match. It lessened in frequency and eventually stopped as my chain got as knackered as the rest of the drivetrain! It's quite a horrible sound.

Handlebar padding from a bmx that goes on my top tube so it doesn't get scraped up when I lean it on lamp posts etc. Zip ties. And these arno straps- http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/gelert-60-i ... ps-p142007
way more secure than bungee cords, incredibly strong and easy to tighten and release. Can use as an extra large zip tie too. I second dental floss too - it's incredibly strong, and smells nice. Apparently Inuit people use it to repair things.

I'd really consider getting a cheap second hand bike, (or even free if possible from freecycle etc )with cantilever brake bosses on the frame rather than put any money into a mountain bike that has sidepull brakes. You will never get decent braking as the brake drop has to be long to reach the rims over the big tyres which means that there will be poor leverage and a lot of flex. The only sidepull brakes with really long drops are terrible quality anyway. If you're anywhere near Sheffield I've some frames and bits you could have for nowt. If you do want to keep this bike then v brake levers would definitely not be suitable, you'd need cantilever levers. You could post a wanted ad for cheap second hand bits on retrobike maybe.

I'd get this -

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... 0s109p2000

easily high enough gear if used with 11 at the back.

As above - does anyone have any reccommendations of hardest wearing cassette and chainrings based on personal experience, or any that are noticably worse? I would especially like to know if more expensive cassettes use any higher grade steel etc, or if you are just paying for weight reduction. Also the same for chains - are some noticibly harder wearing? Please no discussion about the importance of conditions of usage and cleaning etc, I'm interested purely in the longevity of components when stacked up with equal conditions and maintenance etc.

You could use HS33s, or 700c version if you need them - less mainenance than cantis, and completely sealed, decent power without the necessity of uncomfortably stiff forks (not great in the wet though as all rim brakes).
EDIT - Ah, you'll be using them with drop levers - there is this: http://www.bikerumor.com/2012/04/19/mag ... ted-forks/
Expensive, I guess.

I'd definitely check for hairline cracks in the frame, especially around the bottom bracket area before buying a new chainset.