Cycling UK Forum

Ref. Bruceys answer:

lockwasher part HMW526 is not symmetric, and if it is misplaced (eg inverted) the derailleur will sit at a strange angle and may indeed not shift correctly.

My problem wasn't that this anti-rotation washer was inverted. I'm not sure what it was, something to do with the gearchange mechanism and washer outside of it.
It was a few years back. As I recall, there is a nut that locks the wheel that the plastic gear mech. sits over, with a washer and nut/toggle guide to hold the mech. in place. Somehow, the mech. wasn't clamped in the correct position. It was either canted slightly or not seated. I removed the toggle, loosened the guide, repositioned the mech. a tiny amount. All was fine after that.

I find that Ozzo gloves by Inmotion products are ok for all but the coldest weather.
They come in yellow or red, with pail grey leather palms
which are ideal for indications being seen. They are also available in black.the colours do show up dirt, though.
If really cold, I go for golfing mitts from Sports Direct. No colours or leather palms, though.

I found an old vernier caliper in my toolbox and ground away part of the measuring surface so it has almost 'ball' measuring faces that get in behind any lip.
I have checked all my rims and set 1mm as my limit. One set of MTB rims are down to 1.1mm and weinmann concaves down to 1.2mm.

I found a dumped wheel which had split. It measured 0.8mm and was a cheap 'road' rim.
Road wheels run at higher pressure than MTBs, but MTBs tyres have larger tyres so larger area. As force equals pressure times area, I would treat all rims the same and suggest 1mm limit in all cases where there are no wear indicators.

I had something similar on mine after taking the wheel out. I can't recall exactly what it was, but it was something to do with the plastic part that goes between the frame and 'hollow' nut. It might have been a spacer misplaced or something and the plastic housing wasn't sitting correctly. It was obvious when I took the wheel nut off and checked everything was correctly placed.
The other possibility is the cable routing or lubrication?

Low power, as in 'not one of the ultra bright LED lights that dazzle other cyclists, but one adequate for purpose.

I run a low power basic LED light on my wife's bike as a standlight and just in case the dynamo wire, etc., fails without her noticing. A fail-safe.

Strictly speaking, it is also bad electrical practice to run an electrical current through a rolling element bearing (e.g. headset) although the erosion caused by an LED current will be absolutely negligible.

Chromoplastic mudguards? Yes, the aluminium strip is conductive, 2 years, ok. 5 years with regular wet use and a telltale white fog appears creeping along under the plastic. Corrosion. The circuit will be found to have broken in the dark, probably wet, hopefully without an impatient car driver up your a**e.
I would still use copper wires cable-tied securely, coiled to minimise stresses at any pivot point (headset and dynamo pivot if a 'bottle' type), blob of grease over the terminal/wire junctions to keep water out.

Ok. Could be One of several. Sort of predates the now popular sloping top tube.
I will see if I can see a frame number but, as I have recorded all our other frame numbers, it is either well-hidden or full of paint.
Thanks.

Ok. It is my son's. I will get more information when Boris next deems it safe to do so.
Thanks.

Can anyone help in identifying this frame from the upstand on the head tube?
We have owned it for 10 to 15 years. We took it to Argos racing cycles for checking for truth, they thought it would be a renown maker but didn't know who. It has vertical rear drop-outs, so can't be that old?
There are no markings on it that we can find.
Thanks for looking.

Never had a post NIG hub.
I have had 5 or 6 'AW's' and maintained several others for friends. I have never been shy of standing on the pedals up a steep hill.
Never had a problem with false neutrals, in fact, I have only ever had one fail. On a tandem, the cruciform distorted and engaged two gears at once, the drive chain locked solid and we coasted to a halt up the moderate gradient.
My secret, other than checking the internals are in good condition, is to make sure the toggle chain and cable move freely. Pull the lever in from top to get a neutral, then in to second, adjusting so the neutral is midway.
I also never changed gear while standing

In my experience, the usual failure mode was either corroded terminals or wire fatigue.
The former is best avoided with plenty of grease.
The second is to loop the wire round several turns as a coiled spring so bending occurs over quite a length, not just at one point. This is mainly at the headset where steering flexes the wire.
Other than that, keep the wire safely tucked away.

I have found two good bikes dumped. Both were probably stolen and hidden for later retrieval.
I contacted the police, the first I took to a station. They said that if unclaimed within 7 weeks, I could collect it.
The second I told them the details but kept it at home for 7 weeks.
I recently found an MTB that was missing bits and a bit tatty. I phoned 101. Report lost property. Option 2, etc.etc.... the options just lead back in a loop so I gave up. I tried their website. Try the council. Phoned the council. Automated options.... if a new bike then register it here. If not, phone XYZ extension to have it collected by waste services. I gave up and kept it.

Wow, and I thought I had to be the only person weird enough to try and remove that huge gap in the otherwise useful 'megarange' ratios !!

One last possibility:

I have Rolls saddles on about 56 bikes (commonality for the Andrew Haig QR saddlebag clip!).

On two, one of the rails snapped just aft of the seat pin clamp. Obviously long-term fatigue.
Check for cracks....

If it has mudguard clearance, I suggest Crud roadracer 2 or 3. These are fairly long and do a good job on two of my bikes.

The roadracer 3 velcro on to the inside of the rear seat stays and the front forks BUT:
I would peel off and throw away ordinary velcro. Use 3M Dual Lock strip (ebay). It is a moulded plastic strip that gives far more rigid attachment so the guards don't flutter or move.

Clean everything well first, ideally with white spirit and dry.

An alternative would be the older Crud roadracer 2 that don't use velcro. They have stay attachments that attach by o-ring straps and the main part with cable ties, but only fit with a rim brake mount or similar to put the cable-tie round. they are a close fit, so only on very narrow tyres.

The only problem I have had is with the roadracer 2 twice is them shattering when a stick is hooked up by the spokes, but sticks happen.......