Cycling UK Forum

Similar builds,particularly bar layout .

My "gravel" builds.Having got it into my head of the need for 35mm +tyres for increased comfort / increased age /minor arthritic elbow pain and being reluctant to just fork out a grand at least ,I,ve gone down the used cyclo cross frame route.Two frames bought.....Kinesis Crosslight and a Planet X-Uncle John ,£95-00 and £150-00,the latter coming with some very nice Avid shorty cantilevers.Both now built up from my existing bikes.So the Kinesis has been out a few times and I,m quietly very happy with the ride and extra comfort.I think the Planet X,finished this morning may prove to be even better....a touch lighter,a tidier build(I needed to extend thehandlebar stem on the Kinesis),a touch more solid downhill ?rHoping for good things this summer.

gbnz wrote: ↑5 May 2024, 9:25pm Flat bar road bikes are great (Nb. Have used them since 2002), but ensure that the fork isn't cut too low, c/w low handlebars. Just as with a road bike, if the handlebars are mounted a good 3-4" below the height of the saddle, it can give crippling neck pain, the neck having to be twisted upwards/backwards throughout a ride.

+1.Going down the "gravel" route generally means bars are higher by design.

Hybrid or gravel will be the most versatile,both able to accomodate 35mm + tyres which ,on most roads nowadays you,ll find you may need.Some nice bikes out there for £600 plus.The law of diminishing returns kicks in around 1500 ?I guess for which you,d could get a full carbon bike with an ok groupset.Flat bars or drops is an important choice from the start.I run two flat bar bikes,converted from drops .A bit of a faff so probably your first thing to decide.Hope this is some help.P.S. some great bargains 2nd hand ,take a cycling friend .

pwa wrote: ↑4 May 2024, 7:09am I can imagine how shoving a thin tyre under a larger tyre might work as a puncture protection layer. If I were trying it I might consider cutting off the bead of the older tyre so that it fits better. But surely it is going to ruin the ride quality of nice tyres to double up layers in this way. Millar would have been accepting it as resistance training, riding a terrible draggy bike so that the bike used on race days would feel fast in comparison.

Isn't this product
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/inner-tubes ... rotection/
doing the same job as that extra tyre layer, in a neater way?

It,s a bike for trailer/tip /local shopping duties so ride quality is not a consideration.

rareposter wrote: ↑2 May 2024, 10:18am

mig wrote: ↑2 May 2024, 10:09am two tyre beads fitting under the same rim lip?

Glad I'm not the only person thinking it's a catastrophically stupid idea!
Strong risk of a tyre bead blowing off because it's not hooking into the rim properly.

Lets suck it and see.I agree,sounds like a bad idea......on paper.I,ve got a brilliant idea How about a paper thin inner tube inside a thin rubber skin which you sew up and then stick on a rim with glue,a catastrophically bad idea if ever there was one

As this bike is never more than a mile from home ,I,m not bothered about any blowouts.

Can I ask what the nature of your ongoing physical problem is that may affect your choice ?

If this is the explanation,I would strongly suggest a used or new gravel.2000 is a large chunk of money on a bike that may not work for you.Decathlon do some nice bikes under a grand.

If you want to sell a bike ,it needs to go into the for sale section although the advert isn,t clear.Frame size,model,age,how much use etc .Datails are crucial in selling a bike .

Robert Millar was one best cyclists Britain ever produced .He,allegedly,was so careful with money that he would re-use old tyres by doubling them up on his training bike.I thought I would test this theory on my town/tip run bike in order to re-use the 25mm tyres which have become surplus after reverting to 35mm.After faffing around,I got them onto some wider section rims and,to my surprise,they,ve seated ok and I,m running about on them.Is this a 1st?(Apart from Robert Millar)

I agree,totally frustrating.Cut your losses,just shell out and fix it yourself.A few more details about what parts failed might help.

I,ve zip tied bottle cages onto my mtb toptube with similar issues.

simonineaston wrote: ↑21 Apr 2024, 1:18pm Thanks, rp - I’ll try it without.
EDIT - now ferruleless at the brake end, the cables line up nicely. It seems somehow unlikely that I could of got through well over half a century of cycle maintenance without this useful snippet of info having dawned on me but there you go… you live & learn, apparently!

+1 !!

Brucey wrote: ↑17 Apr 2024, 3:33pm

cyclop wrote: ↑17 Apr 2024, 12:28pm It would be helpful to know the diameter of your downtube.Although matching the curve is the ideal,it,s not that crucial.Your main problem may be the lowest point of derraileur cage fouling the downtube .

don't you mean 'chainstay' rather than 'downtube'?

Chainstay