Cycling UK Forum

On my system the text on the forums is not as clear and also text is smaller than before. Not good and doesn't encourage me to use the site. When I select a thread to read posts it looks the same as before, i.e. a larger and more readable font. I'd guess someone in control thinks it is better!?

KTHSullivan wrote:Q1) Has anyone made such a transition and how did you get on? (if you are embarrassed about revealing so in public please PM )

Q2) What are flat bars like in hills?

Q3) Looking possibly at a pair off "Cube" trekking bikes, anybody out there got one? Are they any good?

K

I ride both, after a few miles no problems either way with my flat bar bike a bit more comfortable - perhaps as I do more miles on it and the position has been optimised (body and bike)! The flat bar I have has a very slight sweep back, basically a very shallow ^.

Hills no problem, a flat bar is fine. I'm not sure if the mtb trend of wide flat bars would be ok for you.

As others have said converting your bike may be the best initial way forward, perhaps convert one first rather than both? If you get a shop to do the conversion make sure they give you all the old bits back in case you want to swap back!

I have forward bar end extensions on the flat bar bike but a revelation (for me) was to fit them 'inside' the grips, i.e. between the inside of the grip and the mount for the brake/changer. This means that riding on the extensions is more like riding on the hoods of drop bars (but obviously without the brake levers being at your finger tips). I found I had to be careful with the angle of the extensions and brake/gear levers to ensure everything worked ok and is comfortable.

ymmv

I do wish they would stop putting tiny holes in everything. It may shave fractions off the weight of the part when new. However after instalation the holes fill with crud which is heavier than the plastic they removed in the first place! In jockey wheels (and chains with holes in the side plates) the oily grity grinding paste gathers in such places and does its worst on the drive train. Oh, and if you want to do the right thing and clean things the tiny holes means it takes much longer too. Overall: All pain, no gain. Rant over.

PS post written in parallel with last one.

The Burley flatbed looks to be a good option, with a 45kg max load. Obviously a heavy trailer changes the dynamics of riding a bike and AFAIK (for cars) any trailer over half the weight of the car needs to be braked, so around 40kg seems a rough equivalent for a bike. Perhaps the limits for motorcycle trailers may point to suitable safe limits that could be applied to bikes?

Also found the following with a 65kg limit, lots of other trailers on the same site. For that kind of capacity I'd probably want to take it very easy, gradually increase the weight and have plenty of practice away from traffic.

https://www.manomano.co.uk/p/bike-cargo ... g-11997881

Brucey wrote:...shimano may bust their balls making every fancier equipment but they are poor relations when it comes to tyres; AIUI, the tyre manufacturers make more money than any other part of the industry...

A-haaa! That's why the durability of the latest components match that of the fancier tyres then!

Brucey wrote:Yesterday I was speaking to the owner of a LBS and he was bemoaning the state of supply of stuff; he'd been trying to buy 7s freewheels from any of his usual wholesalers and none of them had any. I check one wholesaler who normally carries eight different 7s freewheels and they were showing zero stock on any of them.

Today I visited a local bike charity and their usual wholesaler had just 'delivered ' their order. Only they hadn't; the only part of the order which was delivered in full was cans of GT85; everything else was only part-filled or absent altogether.

Not that I wish to encourage panic buying or anything, but if you are planning on buying bike stuff (any bike stuff, pretty much) it is probably a good idea to get on with it rather than dilly-dally; I think supply problems in the cycle trade may take a while yet to resolve themselves.

cheers

As of just now Rutland, Tweeks and Evans still seem to have 7 speed freewheels listed as in stock. For how much longer who knows, especially after being told they may be in short supply

My experiences similar to others of being IN a sidecar rather than having it on the tandem was riding. My older brother and sisters used it before me from a wee baby to perhaps 3? I fortunately did not have a sick dog to contend with As soon as I was big enough I graduated to a child seat and I think that tells a story of it being heavy and awkward to ride with.

I think the side car came from my grandfather who was a very keen Sheffield cyclist. One story I was told was that a passer by commented "See I told thou I saw 4 on a bike" (my mother being on a child seat, uncle in the sidecar and grand parents on the tandem). This apparently was when Sheffield residents went out on to the moors to avoid the WW2 bombings, families took the bus as far as they could then walked. Those with bikes were more 'fortunate'. Terrible times...

agent4125 wrote:Thanks - contentious how?

Ooer - you may have disturbed a hornets nest there! Some swear by them, some swear at them

AFAIK you can use a 7-9 speed MTB or 7-10 speed road rear mech as long as the shifters match the cassette (Tiagra 4700 shifters excepted) So could you use an 8 speed rear mech, perhaps with narrower jocky wheels to suit 9 or 10 speed chains? OTOH you may baulk at using lower spec mechs.

PS Or (as I have read on this site) swap the bar end shifters over so the indexed does the front changer and the non-indexed controls the rear. Going friction you can then mix and match on the rear, however on a tandem you may not be able to hear well enough to set the rear mech (over the grumbling of the stoker

pedalsheep wrote:I've long suspected that it's your backside that moulds to the shape of the saddle rather than the other way round!

I tend to agree, the first few rides of a different saddle can lead me to being a bit uncomfotable but after a couple of rides I'm fortunate enough to be comfortable on most saddles. I think I may have a B17 shaped rear end (or rather the inverse shape) as I'm ok from the off with one of those. It may help I'm on the light side and put some weight on my arms when riding (saddle higher than the bars). I virtually grew up on bikes with Brooks saddles so may have a soft(!) spot for them.

Some issues you may need to look into:

Capacity of the rear derailleur to take up all the slack in the chain.
Ability to mount the front changer.
Clearance for the front changer to the frame.
Cable run for the front changer.
Bottom bracket for compatibility and chain line.

It is far easier to unbolt unwanted items to go from a double to single setup than add new items to a bike that was not designed to take them.

You may be better off just buying a bike with a double chainring set up in the first place, although these are not the types of bike being peddled(!) at the moment by the bike industry.

AFAIK Tiagra 4603 chainset has 130mm pcd for middle and outer chainrings and 92mm for the inner chainring. I think the inner 30 is as low as you can go?

simonhill wrote:Wasn't this discussed ad nauseam when we had the first lockdown.

No conclusions reached and everyone doing their own thing, oops I mean working within their interpretation of the rules.

Thanks for the reply, sounds like 'local' is a politician's word to mean whatever they want it too.

Just had a look at:

gov.uk/guidance/tier-4-stay-at-home

It says you can exercise outside but must stay local. Wondering what would constitute as 'local' to make my exercise legitimate?

I'm not trying to push the bondaries to breaking point but wonder if being more than X miles from home will be considered outside the rules. There are plenty of varied road and tracks within 3 miles of me (ymmv) so perhaps that is one definition? On the other hand perhaps 'out for an hour' (wherever that takes you) could be another definition for 'local'?

I fear if bicycles are fitted with safety critical parts that are nigh-on impossible for the average user to check if they are safe, yet could fail with little or no warning, could lead to the dreaded 'MOT for bikes' being more likely.
If there is a noticable trend in deaths or injuries relating to such parts, or a high profile incident, the clammor to fix the problem with legislation could become unstoppable