Cycling UK Forum

pedalsheep wrote:It works fine when the bike is on a stand but when actually ridden the chain scrapes on the bottom of the FD when using the big ring and the 4 largest sprockets. If set up so it doesn't scrape it then throws the chain off when changing up to the big ring from anything smaller than the 4 largest sprockets. No amount of fiddling by my friendly LBS can prevent it doing one or the other, although it always behaves fine in the stand. Easiest answer seems to be to just accept that when it starts to scrape its time to change down to the middle ring! ( I know running big ring and biggest sprockets is not good practice)

If this is a 10 speed Veloce ergo lever then there is no "obvious" trim function to stop it rubbing the inner cage when using the larger cogs. These are pretty basic levers and have a limited amount of clicks. However, I discovered that if you simultaneously hold both the thumb shifter and the finger paddle (taking up the slack) and then gently press the thumb shifter while still holding the slack with the paddle, then release the paddle, the cable will release enough to effect a trim position which should move the inner cage ever so slightly inboard (sorry if I'm not explaining this very clear).

I eventually ditched the Veloce 10 speed levers and upgraded the lever with parts Centaur EC-CE200 and EC-CE201 - which has far better internal parts and easy to use trim clicks. https://thecycleclinic.co.uk/products/campagnolo-10-speed-ergo-ultra-shift-shift-shifter-body-centaur-ec-ce200-and-ec-ce201 My earlier post on this here https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=112357&p=1154011#p1153729

Thanks for posting this. Dementia is a terrible thing. Perhaps more so for people close to the sufferer. But maybe you should take some comfort from the fact that he is still active, doing something he enjoys, and he seems to continue his social life that is possible with a bike. Some very helpful suggestions above. I hope one of them works out.

+1 for Duranos. I have 32 mm Schwalbe Durano Raceguard with a wire bead and they roll well on a variety of surfaces. Lots of places selling them for around 16 quid at the moment.

That chain is way too slack and in danger of coming off. I have a similar single-speed/fixed gear bike with almost identical dropouts. I'm pretty sure you can take out one link and adjust it so that it has the correct tension (about 6mm up and down in the middle). One word of caution: you said you tightened the qr. You shouldn't really use a quick release if you run it fixed. But it should be ok with a freewheel.

A friend of mine put brand new Michelin Pro4 Service Course tyres on his new Open Pro wheels and took the bike out for a ride only to have a front wheel blow out at high speed while descending a hill. An experienced rider he managed to come to a controlled stop but had a bit of a walk to get home again.

Today he showed me the tyre and asked my opinion on what happened. In my view this is a very serious manufacturing fault where the tyre has not been "joined together" properly leaving a weak sidewall all the way around the circumference.

If you look at the middle photo you will see that near the left of the tyre is a line running parallel to the bead all the way around. The inside of the tyre shows no sign of poor manufacture.

While the retailer is responsible for a refund the manufacturer should be concerned about this in case there is a whole batch of poorly produced tyres.

Has anyone seen this before?

Vladimir wrote:I can definitely see how it does work - the plate that holds the cable in place moves closer to the cable outer and you can get more cable through.
For some reason - despite this I still can't get the FD to shift onto the big ring.
I think I'm going to give in and take it to the LBS.
Its possible that the shifter itself is "wonky"...

It is quite a fiddly job, and the outer cage on the mech does need to be perfectly parallel to the chainrings. Have you tried pushing the mech with your hand to shift to the big ring? If you can get it to work like that, then it is just a matter of sorting out the cable. Again you need to have the bike in a stand and both hands free.

What model bike is it? And what year?

The other thing is to make sure you have downshifted the lever the whole way. You have to pull the cable tight with pliers while operating the small (paddle) lever to make sure all the cable is pulled tight out of the lever. You need three hands

Vladimir wrote:In fact if I slacken off the lower limit screw completely, the cable fouls the derailleur, and almost seems to contribute to the problem.

Ah, my bad. I told you the opposite of what you should do. Screw the lower limit screw in too far and then attach the cable. Then unscrew it to the proper position. Sorry.

[edit] it should work perfectly by the way. There are some "trim" set ups to do to stop it rubbing the chain. See the manual page I posted before for instruction.

You could try backing off the lower limit screw to give you more room to get the cable tight. Then adjust the limit screw back to the proper position. Usually grabbing the cable with a pair of pliers, puling it tight, and with the cable adjustment slackened right off, then re-tension the cable.

Count the number of teeth on the big cog on the current cassette and get the same. I'm assuming the new chainset has the same number of teeth on the chainrings as the old one and you are happy with the gear ratios (ie they are low enough to get you up the hills). Any 8 speed shimano cassette should do as long as it has the same number of teeth as the existing.

I have a 2016 CAADX (with Tiagra shifters and mechs). I changed the rear mech for a longer arm and installed a 34 inner chainring and run a 34 rear cog. You can even fit a 33 tooth inner ring (I've done this on another 110 BCD crankset). But 34 on the front and 34 on the rear gives you a pretty low gear, though I doubt it will do for heavy touring. A saddle bag will be ok.

You might even be able to run a 36 - but this might only work with Tiagra. I'm sure someone else will tell us. [edit] sorry didn't read the above with regard to the Ultegra mech suggestion.

[edit] A post above suggests changing to a square bottom bracket. Won't work. The CAADX uses the BB30 bottom bracket standard, not a threaded BB.

[edit again] whoops, apparently there's a converter http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/fsa-bb30-threaded-adapter-b3119-/rp-prod129935

Wiggygee wrote:Hi There, I know this is years later than the original post but Charlie was my uncle and lived with us in Grangetown. sadly I don't remember the shop in James St but I do remember the one in Court Rd especially as I had to help clear it out after he passed away in true Charlie style.

On the corner with Clare Road? That's the one I recall in the 1980s.

ipcookson wrote:would you keep that as your "winter" bike, and replace the cheap components regularly as I've been doing, or buy something more durable/suitable for winter commuting and keep the lighter cannondale for summer? My commute is 13 miles, usually on roads although if the beelines project comes off, there may be more cycle paths involved.

I would suggest a winter bike with cable disc brakes but a basic groupset like the new Shimano Claris (8 speed) and with fittings for full mudguards. Beware that some of the cheaper disc brake calipers (like the Promax Render that came on my Cannondale CAADX) don't perform very well, but Avid BB7s or Sram TRP Spyres work very well in all conditions and are far better than rim brakes in the wet. Save your money for decent tyres with comfort, grip and puncture resistance.

Between the plate and over the top of the pin (position 1 in your pic). See http://si.shimano.com/pdfs/dm/DM-RBFD001-01-ENG.pdf page 18. I've not come across this "converter" referred to in the manual before.

Several thousand I imagine. Good luck if you are taking part https://www.bhf.org.uk/get-involved/events/bike-rides/south-downs-way-off-road-bike-ride If you are not part of the event it is best to avoid Saturday. I'm still only halfway through my four separate day rides riding from station-to-station along the route.