Cycling UK Forum

Thanks everyone for the excellent advice and the link to reasonably priced chainrings. Dumb question though....what did you mean by 'as long as you put the chain on according to the nw links'?

I recently bought a Boardman CX Team which came with the SRAM Rival 1x11 groupset and their excellent hydraulic disc brakes. So good they make your nose bleed! Chainring is a single 44, cassette is 11 to 42. 110 BCD. Sales literature makes much of the special wide/narrow tooth profile on the chainring but I want to swap out the 44 for a 40.....can anyone think of a reason why a standard Stronglight 10 speed ring wouldn't work? SRAM want £70+ for one of their chainrings!!

This is more of an observation really. I was in a bike shop today and paused to look at an entry level road bike from a good brand. £400 bought an ALU frame, carbon forks, very acceptable kit - at least from appearance - and Shimano/Mavic 36 spoke wheels. The group set was 8 speed Shimano Claris which I think is near the bottom of the Shimano range. I couldn't resist a quick play (as you do) and was amazed that shifter performance felt as good or better than my 10 yr old Dura Ace 7900 series! Good progress I think! Or am I missing something?

Brucey wrote:I'd also ask the question 'what will cause you to retire the frame'...?
cheers

Now that is the $64000 question! I will try to answer it simply by saying that when the risk of it breaking under me is more than the risk of a new, equivalent frame breaking under me. As much as I like the C40 for lots of reasons, I am not a sentimentalist. But I imagine that, as a Colnago, it was well engineered in the first place and it has been well looked after since. But am I misguided to put my faith in unsubstantiated stories of Colnago longevity and durability? Saving money is not the issue or my wish to continue enjoying it. Perhaps I am just looking for confidence that all things being equal, there are no obvious reasons why it should fail in normal use.

Thanks everyone for these well considered replies. The links were very interesting and give confidence that the frame will be fine. It's just that people tell me I am mad to ride a 21 yr old carbon bike albeit with new forks. Of course they dont have evidence, just prejudice! So it looks like I may get another season out of it.

I have a dilemma.....my Colnago C40 is 20 years old. It has never been dropped or crashed. I replaced the forks two years ago with genuine Colnago forks because I was concerned about safety although there were no specific issues. It looks stunning having been renovated by Atlantic Boulevard and is in the lovely art decor finish so popular amongst Colnago fans. It continues to ride well, fits me perfectly, and draws admiring glances wherever it is parked. So my dilemma is should I be riding it hard still? Or should I hang it on the wall as a piece of art and buy something new to replace it? Fundamentally I am just concerned that few carbon frames are as old as mine even if it is built by real craftsmen.

Mine does.....my roof bars are oval section.

Possibly a dumb question, but while you can get adaptors to convert BB30 frames to accept standard BBs, what about the other way round? I have a standard frame with 68mm BB and a BB30 chainset.....can they ever get married?

Any reason why a 9-speed LX rear mech would not work with 10-speed 105 shifters, cassette, and chain?

De Sisti wrote:

foxyrider wrote:You've asked the question - you know the answer! Italian bikes should only ever use
What the buy prefers and can afford.

FTFY.

My Colnago C40 with Dura Ace would appear to contradict that!!

A tongue-in-cheek contribution, but there used to be a saying that Campag looked good and worked bad, and Shimano worked good and looked bad.

There is a load of alternative ways using quiet roads if the canal doesn't appeal (and I agree with the comments above). My suggestion would be Trent riverside via Holme Pierpont to Ratcliffe, then to Newton and East Bridgford,and wind your way through the lanes to Long Bennington, then to Marston and Barkston and enter Grantham from the north. No more than 2 to 3 miles of main road.

What's the verdict? Are there any drop levers to operate them? Do they offer better braking than cantis?

I have a 4-year old Kinesis Gran Fondo frame which is alloy with carbon seatstays. A very nice and comfortable frame. Recently I noticed that my rear wheel was loose and, assuming bearings needed adjusting, I temporarily replaced it only to find that the new wheel was also loose. Eventually I discovered a failure in the bond of the top alloy to carbon joint on the rhs seat stay (see pic, the paint loss on the alloy was from unpicking the tape that covered and protected the joint). Basically, the alloy (uppermost) part was free to slide up and down the insert which I assume is sleeved. Obviously there are four of these joints on the frame and the other three seem OK. The week before I was descending at 35+mph and throwing the bike around some tight corners so perhaps I had a lucky escape. I don't see how it can be fixed without breaking the other joints first to faciltate access. So to the wise and clever people here, a question.......is it fixable or do I hacksaw the frame and throw it away. I'm really not sure how much confidence I have in it now so that could temper my decision anyway. Kinesis say it is out of warranty although in fairness they gave me a good offer on a replacement.

Valbrona, thanks for confirming my concerns. Colin, a good steer, thanks.