Cycling UK Forum

I've got some Karrimor Iberian panniers that are nearly twenty years old. They are still serviceable, but I'm worried about the durability of the elastic hooks and the plastic hangers.

Is it still possible to get replacements for them? If so where?

If they are no longer available, which panniers are best value.

Ortlieb, Carradice? has anyone tried Arkel?

Thanks Peter

I do have another triple chainset with 53, 39, 30 rings. I think I'll swap them over and just try it out. Its a band on front mech so I have the flexibility to swap things around if the gearing is just too tall.

The only way to test it out is in the real world. Gear charts only tell half the picture. A 30 x 34 should get me up most things. When I was a student I rode over several alpine cols on a 39 x 34 with front and rear panniers. My legs aren't as strong now though!

Thanks for your input

MC

I hear what you are saying re the front mech.

Its a 9 speed triple so it should be able to cope with a 23 tooth difference.

So it looks like I should try and find a 28t inner ring. I'll need to look at a gear chart to see if a 30t (which I already have) would alter the gear enough to justify the purchase of a new ring.

The step between say a 36 to a 50 shouldnt be to bad. I'd imagine the granny ring would only for emergencies with a 34 largest sprocket at the rear.

I'm nearly finished building up an Audax/touring bike.

I intend to use it for some cycle sportive events and a bit of lightish weight camping trips.

I have an old 80's XT chainset with a selection on rings. I have a 52, 50, 42, 30 and 24 tooth rings. The chainset has 110 BCD spacing.

I thought I'd try something like a 50 (36 which I'd need to buy) 24 with an 11 - 34 cassette. I live in Scotland where there are loads of hills and I find that the 53, 39, 30 (11-27) that I have on my road bike would be just to tall for an all round audax bike.

I intend to use an XT rear mech and an Ultegra triple front mech.

I'd be keen to hear your thoughts.

MC

I think I'm there now.

The BB came without bolts. A NOS ebay part. I used old bolts whose threads may have slightly stretched. I only tried to screw the two together by hand and felt some resistance. So as not to damage either the bolt or the axle, I stopped.

I figured the bolt would be made of softer material than the axle, so tried it with a crank bolt spanner and they came together well puling the crank onto the axle onto its taper.

For future information the thread is an M8 fine.

The frame braze on lever boss thread, was slightly choked with primer after a respray, where it hadnt been properly masked off. I ran an m5 tap down it and the STI adjusters are now in place.

Thanks for your help. I've always been cautious of damaging threads. Bike is coming together now. I just need a middle ring and I think I have everything.

MC

Two quick questions.

I recently bought a NOS square taper Shimano XT square taper BB. Its a type with a nylon adjustable cup. I thought the crank bolt would be a standard size. I tried an old Campag Record bolt and an old Suntour XC pro bolt. Neither fitted.

Does anyone have any idea what the thread should be. Or could the axle thread have been damaged?

I also bought a Roberts frame and tried to fit a pair of STI cable adjusters to the braze on frame mounts. Were there variations on the threads they used too? Any ideas would be a help,

Thanks MC

It seems that the 7800 is a ten speed only with an alloy freehub body. The 7850 has a Ti freehub body which is 8 9 10 speed.

Question is, can you buy the Ti freehub body as a spare, where and at what cost?

Knowing Shimano, it might be cheaper building a new wheel.

My post was a bit ambiguous. I have two bikes, one with 10 speed shifters the other with 9 speed ones. What I hoped to do was simply swap the cassette if I ever swaped the same wheel to fit both bikes.

Does anyone know if I can fit a 9 speed cassette to a Dura Ace FH 7800 series hub.

At the moment I have a 10 speed cassette on it. Is the spacing the same for 9 and 10 speed?

A yes answer would save me buying a new rear wheel. Fingers crossed.

I considered a Tricross for a do it all tourer/crossbike. The £1200 version isn't quite so do it all. There is next to no provision to mount a rack at the back. ie no braze on. Racks need to be mounted to the 'Horst Link' which allows the rear movement of the seatstays relative to the chainstays. Specialized make a dedicated rack, but it kind of defeats the point of the carbon stays and zertz inserts.

Pity as it looks like a nice bike. I have heard from a Specialized dealer that the forks suffer from flutter on the larger frames when braking. Might make handling sketchy with a low rider loaded pannier

MC

I realize that my last post was ambiguous. I wasnt suggesting 32 spoke wheels on a tandem but on the rear wheel of a solo.

Hope that clears any confusion. MC

I used to work in a bike shop in Edinburgh in the eighties, I remember touring Tandems with 40 spoked rear wheels. When you consider the weight of a second rider and their combined camping equipment, a well built 32 spoked rear wheel should be up to the job.

MC

After a bit of a lay off I intend to go on a longish tour next year.

Back in the day I used 36 hole rim/hubs. I've been mountainbiking on 32hole rim/hubs for the last 6 years with no spoke failures. Rims are stronger now than they were then. So, the million dollar question is...could I use 32h rims without fearing spoke/wheel failure?

Thanks in anticipation of any reply

MC