Cycling UK Forum

Hi everyone, I am really grateful for all of your helpful and informative replies.

Sorry I haven't replied before now, I'm not on my laptop very often and seem to have disabled email notifications on this forum.

I realise my lack of response looks rude so I am sorry about that.

Re. where I'm based - in mid Cheshire, so Leicester isn't too far away.

I did have an MRI scan and no issues were found, but that's as much as I know as the docs are so busy I maybe made the mistake of assuming the "no issues" note on the NHS App meant all was okay on that front.

The point about milk intolerance was very interesting and is definitely something I can easily test.

>> Who did your Epley maneuve? Had they actually diagnosed BPPV?

A doctor I saw thought it was worth me doing the Epley myself since it would be a long wait to get it done by ENT. The process I followed was as per these instructions:

https://www.uhs.nhs.uk/Media/UHS-websit ... 82-PIL.pdf

The dizzy feelings I have are very fleeting but happen a lot when I move my eyes from side to side, but have only had an impact on walking very rarely (maybe once or twice over the past few years) and then it felt more like proper vertigo when things were spinning, a bit like when I used to drink and had a hangover and the room seemed to be spinning.

I've never had any dizzy episodes while cycling - since this new spell of feeling dizzy started in late October I've not been on the bike at all as I have felt too .... bleugh! I think that's not a technical term

>> Have only had several 19-31 mile walks home in past 14 months.

I'm sorry to hear that - those must have been very very long walks indeed!

Thanks again everyone, you are all very kind!

Jim

Thank you for your replies.

The dizziness takes the form of feeling dizzy when I move my eyes from side to side and lasts a short while but comes and goes many times a day.

Once or twice it has been really bad so I can’t drive but that has only happened a couple of times and last time was about 18 months ago.

I can walk and ride normally when it’s happening it leaves me feeling queasy and feeling a bit can’t be bothered with things.

Now sitting at a computer it doesn’t happen unless I move my eyes to the side. When the dizziness comes the tinnitus volumes shifts up and down rapidly in sync with the dizziness coming and going.

I did go to the doc and am waiting to see ENT but there is a nine to ten month wait. I had an MRI scan on my bonce but no issues found.

Thanks again

Jim

Hi,

I am a 51 year old male... in case relevant. I have had an issue with intermittent dizziness for years, have been to docs, tried prochlorperazine for it and the Epley maneuver but they don't shift it.

I've always enjoyed cycling, but am not doing as many miles as I get older. I used to do about 3000 miles a year in my 20s and 30s but these days I use an exercise bike and outdoors, a gravel bike.

In case relevant, I also have tinnitus, have had it since I was 15 and as I get older, it is getting louder.

I'd been having the dizziness (combined with loud hissing tinnitus which seems louder when the dizziness is worse) a lot this year, then between early September this year and the end of October, I didn't use the gravel bike. Over that time, the dizziness reduced a lot and pretty much went away on its own.

At the end of October I went for a 30 mile ride, of which about half was on rough forestry tracks. I also got very tired as I didn't take any food with me, but did take and use 2 water bottles on the ride.

After that, the dizziness came back again and has been back since then.

I will also try not riding to see if the dizziness goes, then go for a ride but on the road, and see if it comes back, and then maybe do another test and see if the offroad riding on forestry tracks with lots of bumps and vibrations might cause the dizziness to come back.

I realise the cause could be due to 101 things, and I know people on this forum aren't medical professionals, but I am asking here, in case anyone else has experienced anything similar / has a magical fix!

I'm being silly with that last bit - but anyway, just wanted to ask and see...

Thanks

Jim

Thanks both for your reply.

There's no carbon anywhere on the bars / stem etc.

There was a good gap between the top of the spacers and the top of the steerer tube - I bought some new spacers to make sure that was the case.

I did tighten the top bolt quite tight, as I only have regular allen keys.

Hopefully I've not done any damage, all feels solid and secure. I suppose I was seeking long distance online reassurance which when dealing with a bike is quite tricky!

Thanks again

Jim

Hi,

As I said on this post:

Loose forks on Ridley Kanzo

I am a clueless eejit - because I realise I have been tightening the stem before tightening the top bolt on my bike.

As per this video:

Don't Touch This Bolt, Before You Release The Stem! How Not To Adjust Headset Bearings On Your Bike.

That is definitely the wrong thing to do.

I have sorted the issue now and there is no play in the headset, the steering is smooth and all seems okay.

However, I am concerned that by doing things wrong, I might have damaged something - though as I say, all seems to be okay.

I am being paranoid I suppose - is there a risk I might have caused damage, or is the fact the handlebar stem now has no play in it, and the steering is smooth, a sign that I haven't caused damage?

Sorry, I realise this is a vague question.

Thanks

Jim

Hi,

Being a clueless eejit, I tried to fit this handlebar stem to my Ridley Kanzo (I know it is upside down on the photo, but I didn't try and fit it the way round that is shown on the photo):



However, when I was finished, and I put on the front brake and gently rocked back and forth, there was some play in the forks.

I therefore replaced the original stem, thinking, I must undo my foolish mistake,

Sadly, the loose forks issue remains now I have put the original stem back in place.

Side views of original stem back in place:





Front view:



I made sure that the bearing races at the top and bottom are securely bedded in, left the bolts on the stem loose and tightened the top cap bolt then tightened the side bolts again on the stem.

However, whatever I do, on either the old or new stem, there is still play in the forks when I do the brake test.

I have watched this video:

How To Tighten Your Headset | Road Bike Maintenance

But unfortunately it didn't answer my question.

I wondered if anyone might be able to advise please?

Thanks

Jim

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for your reply.

This is how I normally hold the handlebars:



Or sometimes like this:



This is where the wrist pain is - in yellow:



The pain normally lasts for about a day and then wears off.

Thanks

Jim

Sorry I know this gets asked a lot.

I'm 49 at the moment, and have been into cycling since I was about 15.

The amounts of cycled over the years has varied a lot, probably peaked in my mid to late 30s when I was doing a few thousand miles a year on old racing bikes with drop bars.

Back then my wrists weren't too painful, but for the past few years I have been getting more and more pain with my wrists, doing all sorts of things, like:

- Riding bikes with flat bars (these two viewtopic.php?p=1756765#p1756765), though I have adjusted the position on the bike in the top photo to be less upright since the photo was taken). These days I am prob only riding every couple of weeks or so.

- Exercising on an exercise bike with flat bars but also with opton to lean forwards an rest hands on bar ends pointing forwards a bike in a sort of time trial position). At the moment I'm doing maybe 30 mins every 2 days on this.

- Using a rowing machine. I no longer do this, as we got rid of the machine as it hurt my wrists too much, that was a few years ago.

- Doing press ups or pull ups

- Using light dumbells (e.g. 5kg in each hand)

- I probably have weak wrists - when I was 21 I had a job in a factory. One day I had to take long square metal bars about 1 or 2 inch square and about 4 ot 5 feet long which had been cut, and I had to position each of the cut sides against a wall mounted angle grinder to smooth off the rough edges of the cut sides - after a day of doing this I had v. painful and stiff wrists

The pain is quite sharp doing any of the above, and feels to me like it is getting worse and I feel like it's getting quite restrictive re. the number of acitvities which cause the pain. I realise there are many many worse things in the world and people have to put up with a lot worse - but due to the increasing restrictions I get a bit down about it sometimes.

I know I coud go to the doctors, but feel like there's no point as I'm not dying and would feel like I'm wasting their time.

So I thought I'd ask here - does anyone know of any exercises which can be done to strengthen wrists?

I could look on google but thought I'd ask here first as I have had lots of great advice from this forum over the years.

Thanks

Jim

Wow - thank you to all for your very comprehensive replies, I do appreciate it.

Don't laugh - this is my current bike:



I think it's so upright I can see why I get a sore bum riding it - I set it up in such an upright position to try and take the weight off my wrists, but having read the replies on this post, I need to reassess what to do.

I used to do a lot of cycling (for me that is), doing about 3,000 miles a year between maybe 1998 and 2011. Partly that was because about twice a week I'd do a 45 mile round trip commute to work. Then I'd go for rides in the hills, and managed a few longer rides too (100, 135, 150, 175 and 200 milers over the years). Previously I've done some cycle touring too, but that was a very long time ago (1989 with school, and 1994 with a friend from university).

However, in 2011 I found I wasn't get fitter from cycling, I was just exhausted instead so bought a cheap old car and started driving to work when my wife needed the other car.

I did short rides with my kids while they were growing up and went on the odd 15 mile ride but nothing much more than that until last year.

At the I stopped riding a lot I was riding a nice old Reynolds 501 Raleigh Criterium https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165866294421 ... N_EALw_wcB.

When I stopped riding a lot I had recently been diagnosed with bursitis in my left hip and had painful elbows and wrists.

Since then, probably in a rather silly self-denial phase, I have been riding bikes that aren't probably very well set up hence new round of aches and pains. However, I am spending a lot of time in Dumfries and Galloway these days, my kids have left home, and so I feel like the time is right to rekindle my love of cycling, because on a good day, when I did it a lot, I had many wonderful bike rides.

Last summer I did maybe 10 rides of about 15 to 20 miles on this Decathlon folding bike, which were great:



Also did a 50 miler on the Raleigh photographed above, however, I still got the aches and pains on both bikes, though more so with the Raleigh.

I suppose I just feel a bit bewildered with all of the options, plus, as with most things these days, there are literally hundreds if not thousands of things available to choose from, so it can feel a bit tricky to know where to start.

Maybe if I had a bike fitting, that'd be a good place to start, but that means going to a fancy bike shop run by blokes with big bushy beards, where there is the obligatory swanky coffee shop bolted on populated by super swanky cyclists on bikes that cost as much as our family car

EDIT - sorry for lazy stereotype there about bike fitting and trendy bike shops.

As you can see, I am over thinking this.

Thanks again to everyone.

Jim

Hi,

I currently ride an old Raleigh bike I bought for £40 via the For Sale forum on this site in 2018 and it still works okay. I get painful wrists and bum cycling it, and have tried many different variations to try and avoid that.

Apart from the many different routes it's possible to go down when addressing the pain issue mentioned above, I would like to get more into cycling now as my kids have left home and I have more time on my hands. I'm now 49 years old, and don't really cycle at all in the winter, but did used to do a lot of cycling up until about 2011. I used to ride nice old steel framed racers like Peugeots, Raleighs etc.

I could only ever manage about 12 to 18 mph on my regular 22 mile commute from mid Cheshire to Chester. Sometimes I'd be passed by super fast cyclists. Best one was when I was riding home with a good tailwind and was going fast (for me). A man in his 60s easily passed me riding an old tandem on his own. Ha ha...

Anyway, I am waffling.

I'd like to buy a new bike - and am in a position to be able to spend maybe £1 or £2,000 on a bike. Previously all my bikes have been used bikes and I've cobbled together parts rather than spend much on decent wheels / frame / groupset etc..

Finally my question, sorry - when I go to a posh bike shop, I get overwhelmed with all of the choices - e.g. local bike shop here:

https://www.cdbikes.co.uk/bikes/gravel- ... ike-stock/

I went in the other day, and the bikes were really beautiful... but then I wondered - what difference would it make to ride one of these top-spec bikes compared to the old run around I'm using now? Is it a case of them being more comfortable, or faster, or lighter, or all 3? I can't imagine spending that much on a bike, I think I'd be scared to use it.

But, it might help with aches and pains.

Or is a lot of it just about fashion and so on?

Also, when buying a bike that is so expensive, how does anyone know they will fit, as you can't exactly take it out for a 20 mile ride and see if it's a good fit / doesn't cause pain etc?

Sorry for the essay.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

gaz wrote:Campagnolo Triomphe/Victory? If so the B-pivot is unsprung.

Hi Gary.

Thanks for your reply.

Do you mean by design that type of rear mech does not have a spring?

Thanks

Jim

Hi,

I have recently been given an old British Eagle racer which has this Campagnolo rear mech on it:



I removed the rear mech to clean it but I think I lost a spring because when I have put it back on the frame as on the photo above, the mech hangs loose instead of the way a rear mech normally hangs, where you can move it left and right and it moves back to the same resting position as there is tension created by a spring located somewhere around the part of the mech with the big screw that screws the mech onto the frame.

There are other photos of the mech and a small insert that fits into the back of the mech. I have probably lost the spring section but I don't know what type the rear mech is, or whether it'd be possible to find / buy the spring I have lost.

Here are the other photos:

Another view of the front:



View of the back with the insert removed:



View of the back of the rear mech with fixing bolt and insert removed:



View of the insert:



I removed the rear mech about 2 weeks ago and have since swept up in the shed so if a spring unit did fall out of the rear mech I have since lost it.

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

I have been given a nice old British Eagle with Reynolds 531 tubing which I'd like to get back up and running.

The frame has a lot of bits on it like this:





Apart from stripping all of the paint off and respraying it, I wondered if anyone has any advice about how to deal with such speckled rusty bits?

I suppose I could get it resprayed, but I like the blue to yellow fade on the existing paint job plus I'd like to avoid the cost of a respray.

The paint finish is solid rather than flaking off so it's not like it's coming away from the frame, and in a lo of places the finish is completely smooth and free from any blemishes.

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks

Jim

Hi. I have an old wheel with a freewheel on it which I would like to remove.



It is one inch across as in the hole in the middle is one inch across and each of the four raised sections is a quarter of an inch across.

I wondered if anyone knows which tool I might need to remove the freewheel please?

Thanks

Jim

Hi,

I have an old 700c rear wheel with an old fashioned threaded shimano freewheel on it, much like this:

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/cassettes/1 ... -cassette/

I'd like to remove it and put a single speed freewheel on it - like this:

https://www.evanscycles.com/sturmey-arc ... l-EV222318

I wondered two things:

1. Would that type of thread be the same as on the Shimano freewheel?
2. Would I need to get a different chain, and presumably, might that different chain not fit the chainset?

The chainset is much the same as is on this bike:
https://usercontent.village.co/54297130 ... -image.jpg

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks

Jim