Cycling UK Forum

WrightsW5 wrote:650a tyres are common, you can get black, whitewall and all-cream, and cycle speedway tyres for off road as they are just like typical cyclo cross tyres, brakes are normal calipers.

Yes, but 26" stuff is much more common. Even supermarkets will have stuff that's useable if need be.

WrightsW5 wrote:If it was me i'd fit 650a wheels and caliper brakes - which I have done to a 26in wheel bike, and I like it a lot.

From the spares POV, I think I'd rather stay with the more common standard.

Nettled Shin wrote:
Does it take a cassette? In which case it would just require a new freehub body? The cheapest way to get one of these might be to buy a discounted 8-speed Shimano hub from the Internet (a few pounds) to act as a donor.

I'm assuming it takes a cassette. It never did the kind of distance that would have needed a change. I need to get a hose on it before investigating further.

FWIW, the drop-out spacing is 130mm.

Thanks for the opinions and advice, guys. And right enough she is a 7-spd, I had another bike in mind.

I have a flat 44cm bar on the way from Evans which, together with a set of long Decathlon bar ends, will give me a sort of square-ended bullhorn. I'll try the idea on my current MTB, which is a bit too long to be a comfortable tourer but will serve as a test-bed. The current shifters no longer click at the stops, so I'd replace them and all the cables as well. I might try putting the shifters out on the horns... I think a new set of wheels is in order, too - if I *do* decide to go ahead, I'll want a dynamo in there. For tyres, I have a set of Schwalbe Silento knocking around that would do for starters.

It'd be fun to effect a resurrection. Need to budget it first, though...

Hum. OK, they're more likely not Vs but cantis. U-brakes is/was a designation given to early brakes developed for forks with shocks. Obviously got lost back in the mists. To be honest, I never paid that much attention to MTBs, I just had one because sometimes the club went off-road (intentionally).

FWIW, here are a few pics of the relic:








The frame is CrMo with a little MBK blah-blah.

One of the things I would like to do is fit a Decathlon plunger-to-aheadset converter and fit a shorter stem. The current monster is 15 cm long, which is about 5 more than I need.

I recently retrieved my old MTB from my son's place in Strasbourg. It's in a parlous state, having been neglected for the last few years. Brief overview:

- steel frame & fork, 1" steerer. Didn't notice the tubing manufacturer, think it's MBK proprietary, prolly bog standard cromo.
- Shimano Altus 3x6-speed transmission
- V-brakes, with the front cable taken through a hole in the stem. (I now find this rather shocking.)

I'm thinking of doing this over for touring. Knowing next to nothing about the idiosyncrasies of MTB tech, I have a few beginner's questions:

- Can I toss the transmission and fit one that gives me a few more cogs in the cassette - i.e. will an 8- or 9-speed fit where a 6 used to run?
- Will a U-brake fit on V-brake pylons. Seems to me it should since they're opposite the rim.

Any other advice will be most welcome. Ta!

You could always try a split saddle such as a Selle SMP. BTW, I've read of one case of numb William lasting six months and almost causing a divorce.

I would doubt that it's the prostate - you'd likely have widdling problems first. Given the length of time it's lasting I'd suspect compression or bruising of the pubic nerve. How long it lasts depends on the degree. Seeing the doc is the best course.

Round here we've got knobbly roads

Put a SON dynamo in the front one.

I just wish the buggers would remove the nasty hard little domes of mud they leave all over the road. Sometimes round here it's like cycling over kilometres of catseyes.

I'm more than somewhat interested in the reply too.

nappy501 wrote:

Audax67 wrote:
...
I think I mean this one at £20 more:
http://www.btwincycle.com/EN/riverside- ... techniques

Hum. Don't want to do down your choice, but I really do think you'd do better going up a notch to the Riverside 5. You'd get LED lighting and a possibly better crankset. The one on the 3 is pressed steel, and looks to be rivetted rather than having chainrings (gears) you can replace - although replacing the whole unit wouldn't cost much. Halogens burn out, LEDs don't - and they give you much more light.

If you can get some advice locally, you'd probably do better to buy a second-hand bike of better quality.

I can sympathize with your daughter to some extent - MTBs are a lot cooler than tourers. The BTwin Riverside models as recommended look like an excellent compromise, and look lik a lot of bike for the money.

You asked what you're getting for the extra money. Comparing the Riverside 5 and 7 models, differences leap out: Magura hydraulic brakes instead of cable, Schwalbe tyres instead of no-name, better handlebars, better lighting, higher-quality aluminium frame, etc. The #3 comes without mudguards or dynamo. Mudguards save you an awful lot of discomfort in the wet, and dynamo-driven lighting is a lot better than most of the battery lights you'll find at Decathlon. No batteries to go flat, either.

thirdcrank wrote:

Audax67 wrote:I'd rather cycle 600k in a well-ventilated helmet than wear a sweaty plastic collar all the way.

I don't think I've ever heard it suggested that a helmet - or any other protective gear for that matter - protects the neck.

Part of the airbag lives in a collar round the cyclist's neck. Wonderful on a hot, sticky day.

Paul A wrote:07/09/2011
...
Eventually at 10.30, three hours after setting off I arrived, shattered, at the summit that has views quite literally to die for.
My actual riding time sans stops was 2 hrs and 27 minutes. My legs felt fine but to paraphrase a work colleague of mine when he’d ridden Alpe D’uez “ If I’d had any surplus body fluid left I’d have cried” That’s how elated I felt after tackling my first Hors category... No, actually, my first mountain of any description, regardless of category.
Thanks to everyone for their help and advice.

Another Item ticked off on the list of things to do for a slightly overweight 53 and ¾ year old. The extra ¾ s matter by the way… as most women will testify...

Paul A
http://www.franccoast2coast.co.uk

Well done! The Ventoux gets its name from the wind, and riding it with the mistral blowing full blast is extremely hard and even dangerous. The day before my first climb a Belgian rider was blown over the side and had to be got out by helicopter. Good thing that sod in the horrible little car didn't accost you up there.

But please don't tick it off without doing the Malaucène route: it's beautiful.