Cycling UK Forum

I suspect tyre pressure is too high for the trike in combination with a stiff carcus tyre.
Marathons are terribly unforgiving when ridden fast around corners , particularly in the wet/damp.
The trike probably is worse because the tyre is perpendicular to the road when cornering instead of rolling around towards the sidewall when leaning over on a conventional bicycle and digging in.
Perhaps a recumbent trike forum may glean some information re tyre choices via cyclists experience with their recumbents.

Cycleruk
Re Guzzi Cali special, I always wanted a white special. Hens teeth to find!
Yours looks great!
My stone is looking tired,it was rough when I bought it. Done 50k now.
As an engineer,I love it's simplicity,so easy to work on and service.
Yes they have a few niggles,but nearly always have a grin riding it,they handle surprisingly well.
The new models of Guzzi have lost their simplicity and got taller and heavier.
The old v50 was a good simple light bike. I think Guzzi have forgotten to make smaller bikes to introduce new, younger owners.
Just like a lot of you guys, probably time to sell all three bikes,barely get used now , especially the 900ss and V11.

Lots of interesting bikes and memories on here. Had only a few bikes. Best one was a MK1 Ducati pantah 500sl. Had it from new,owned it12yrs and over 120,000 miles. Regret selling it now. Cagiva elefant replaced it, currently still have 1994 Ducati 900ss. Moto Guzzi Cali stone and a Moto Guzzi V11. Always wanted a 180° Laverda Jota triple. ( Love that engine noise!) I know it's heavy etc. Not a patch on a modern bike ,but as a mechanical engineer....the older air cooled bikes just stir the soul and make you grin

I can't help. However,my alfine11 started to slip in 2nd,4th and 6th and progressively got worse, fitted new cable and shifter. No difference. I haven't got round to dismantling it. It was a week before I was due to ride in the lake District.
As I was having issues with 4 of my bikes with Shimano hydraulic brake calipers also,I replaced the front brake with a new Shimano caliper on this bike and went out and bought a rohloff hub for it instead. (I have been becoming unhappy with several Shimano components quality lately)
I too couldn't find anyone online with same problem also.
I would be interested to find what was the problem with yours.
I will keep you posted if I discover my z hub issue.

Just an addition to previous posts. Shimano hydraulic brake calipers suffer from minute weeps of hydraulic oil,causing contamination of pads and discs.
This has happened on three of my new bikes.
One had only been ridden for 4 miles from new!
After replacing discs and pads several times I became suspicious.
Having checked various forums it turns out to be a common Shimano caliper problem.
Try a higher end Shimano caliper,it appears to be lower end calipers that suffer from this problem.

Disc truing is much easier than wheel truing. In an emergency, use a lobster claw type adjustable spanner. You have to over bend the disc as they are quite springy!
Discs can last a long time.
Depends on brake pad material and what becomes imbedded in them,just like rubber brake blocks on rim brakes. Grit can turn them into an abrasive material, add water during rain,puddles etc and the pads and blocks become like wet and dry paper!
Generally , commuter cycles will wear out components faster than leisure, touring and racing on the road.
This is due to constantly acceleration and braking onto a stop start journey. Racing, touring and leisure tends to have longer periods of riding inbetween braking applications.

Again, am with Brucey on this. grease that is too thick will cause the pawls to stick in the freewheel position, overcoming the strength of the pawl spring. Diluting the grease with a gl4 gear oil will help alleviate sticky pawls. This was a common problem with some DT Swiss cassette freehubs a few years ago. It may be best to return the wheel to the lbs that serviced it and ask them to look at the hub internals again, suggesting a sticky pawl problem. Internal hub gears generally, are reliable, and do last many years in my experience.

The decathlon crossbar bag is £12.99 in black £8.99 in colours.. Don't ask why,couldn't see any difference. Phone goes in top section, screen works through top transparent vinyl material. I connect a generic "lipstick" 3k size powerbank (but larger capacity ones are easily carried) in a side pocket to phone should it be required for longer rides. I have taken sheen off vinyl with wire wool which helps in sunlight. There isn't a specific hole to pass cable through, but a neat one can easily be cut.

Having broken a few trailers over 30+ year's,I bought a carryfreedom large as soon as they came to market. No issues with it apart from when loaded and hitting a pothole, the hitch bolted to the nearside axle would rotate and start to undo the axle bolt on the nexus hubs.
Made a small mod to the hitch cured this by welding a hook to the hitch,over the chain stay. Something they now do with a safety tether. Otherwise it has carried loads close to its weight limits many times., BL A SERIES engine /gearbox units, various engines,gearboxs from vans,regular trips to waste disposal site, (avoiding queuing for upto 1/2hr in the car!) shopping, carrying lawnmower, rotovators, furniture,collected four bags of compost for my father last week from local wickes end of season clearout!
It truly is a versatile trailer. Paid for itself many times over.
Tyres are beginning to perish,but not replaced a thing.
Bought the ortelieb bag for touring, but use 80ltr plastic tubs with lids on top of each other and a couple of ratchet straps to hold them in place. As a basic utility trailer it's great!

Phew! Made me suck my cheeks in!!
Thats almost the Costs the price of a hub,and I have two!!
Thanks Brucey.

Having used a garmin edge 705 with umpteen issues. I now use an android phone ( z3c) with ipbike app (free) combined with a external battery pack in a crossbar bag (btwin) it works much better even for mapping and directions. Connects with ant+ and Bluetooth sensors. It's all you need for less than 1/2 price of the garmin product! strava compatible , not my cup of tea, and loads of mapping systems. Very customizable. Sony z3c is waterproof too! No issues in the rain. Highly recommended. Cheaper phones can be used to save more money............!

Does anybody know who sells this hydraulic shifter? Can't find it for sale on the net. Or Google can't! is there a quoted price for it? Seems an interesting piece of kit!

I agree with Bruce. Cables are the commonest problem with all gears in my experience,derailleur and hub.
I recommend replacement of inner AND outer.
The problem is that the indexing is in the shifter not the hub. So cable friction is critical, white or black powder (electrolytic corrosion) happens when moisture/water becomes trapped between inner and outer.
Also in sub zero temperature this moisture freezes,expands and causes the extra friction or even total seizure of the cable, hence feeling of jammed gears in the morning which miraculously cures itself on your ride home in the afternoon when it warms Up! (this happens to brake cables too...with scary consequences!)
It's always best to replace both cables every 12-24months to ensure smooth gear changes.
Always check /replacethe cheapest components first.
For the record, pinion and rohloff have the indexing within the gearbox /hub thereby not relying on cable friction and shifter to engage the gears into the correct position.
Good engineering practice!!!

Unfortunately Raleigh of no help at all. After several emails I gave up! No point returning bike to shop, it's a design error or tolerance problem when manufacturered. Sram igh are of poor quality from my experience, importers of no help too re. My 2sp auto hub. I have scrapped it and fitted an alfine 8sp hub and a new belt obtained from Germany (3 day delivery!) UK official importer quote 2 weeks! (non stocked, order only!) I am running it at a lower frequency than gates quote for belt tension. Runs well,haven't experienced any belt slippage on steep climbs of 14%.
I would be interested to know of other belt drive owners and their experiences of belt drive bikes.

Had this problem too when converting my raleigh strada 4 from sram 2sp auto hub to alfine 8sp hub. I found that the cable location bracket attached to the hub needs to be very slightly tweeked /bent away from the sprocket, otherwise it will fray the inner cable.
The gates phone app makes it very easy to achieve the correct belt tension. Cheaper than the "special " gates tools!!