Cycling UK Forum

Current Shimano road shifters pull more cable than your older model, so that may be the cause of your problem - the calipers are made to be used with the more modern levers. Paul Klamper calipers have a choice of which cable pull you want, but they're very expensive.

I've been using cyclone chain cleaners for at least 20 years - I think I'm on my third one. Based on the fact that our chains last a long time, they seem to do a good job of cleaning. I use either white spirit or mineral turps in them, and pour the used fluid into a couple of old four litre containers. By alternating between the two containers, and cleaning maybe every two weeks, I find that after a month or so of sitting, the used cleaning fluid is pretty clear as the contaminants have settled to the bottom, and the mostly clear fluid above can be re-used. After a couple of decades of use, my two containers each have over an inch of black gunk that has settled at the bottom of them...

I don't bother with the silly clips to hold the two parts together while running the chain through - I wear a pair of heavy duty kitchen washing-up gloves, and hold the two parts together with one hand while rotating the crank with the other hand.

If the black is anodising, you could remove the anodising. A good article on the process of doing that is here: http://www.lixbmx.com/de-anodising.

keyboardmonkey wrote:*** Thread drift alert ***
Anyone else still running Deore DX on their main touring bike?

304241A4-D3B7-45B5-A0B3-A3046DBFE565.jpeg

Yep, I'm still using a pair of wheels I built about 20 years ago using those hubs, purchased as NOS off fleabay. They're still going strong, and the bearings still feel fine (with a couple of services over the years). I also have a Deore DX 1" threaded headset on the same bike, and it's lasting without any problems as well.

I can verify that a Shimano 9-speed RD changes almost perfectly across a Shimano 9-speed cassette when used with older Campagnolo 11-speed Ergos, as I have that setup working on one bike: 2011 Chorus 11s Ultra-shift Ergos with a Deore XT 9s RD and cassette. However, Campagnolo changed the cable pull of their 11s shifters in 2015, so you can't pull the same trick with a recent pair of shifters.

garygkn wrote:I'm confused if you find a frame with a 65mm drop and convert this to 650b wouldn't.the drop be even lower? 650b is smaller than 700c.

You're confusing BB height with BB drop. Some manufacturers give BB height (ie distance from ground to BB centre), which is a pretty useless measurement because it changes with different tyre sizes. Others give BB drop (how much lower the BB is than the wheel axle centres). As BB drop reduces the BB rises (with the same tyre size).

@OP - I converted a Litespeed frame with 76mm BB drop to 650b and rode it that way for several years - I was using Michelin Megamium 650Bx32 tyres. It was possible to ground a pedal if I continued pedalling through a high speed corner, but that's not something I do, so I didn't have any problem. As to why I bothered to convert it, with 700c wheels the frame and fork clearances limited me to 25mm tyres, whereas with 650B I could at least fit 32mm, which gave an appreciable increase in comfort.

The best spoke tools grip three sides of the nipple. I use the VAR spoke key when building wheels with conventional nipples - mine is decades old and will easily outlast me. A good thing as I don't think VAR any longer make this particular tool:



When I'm off touring I have a Spokey as part of my toolkit.

When building wheels using blade spokes, DT Squorx nipples are good because they allow you to hold the blade of the spoke just below the nipple to prevent wind-up while you turn the nipple via its head using the Squorx driver through the spoke hole in the rim bed. The nipples can also be turned with a normal spoke key if you need to re-true an existing wheel without removing the tyre and rim tape.

tommydog wrote:

NickJP wrote:From your photos it looks like a standard 1-1/8" headset with cups that press into the headtube. You can buy complete replacement headsets for just over a tenner - eg https://www.wiggle.co.uk/ritchey-logic-v2-headset/. If you want to do the replacement yourself, you'll need some means of banging the existing cups out and pressing the new ones in.

Thanks for your reply. I am aware of those kits, but is there anything that will fit my existing cups? If possible I don't want to have to press new ones onto the frame?

I believe Modus were made by VP Components, but they don't appear to make that model any longer, so you're probably out of luck unless you can find something used or NOS on fleabay: http://www.vpcomponents.com/product_categories/headsets/.

The rear triangle on the drive side has to be able to be split so that the belt can be fitted, and you also need the frame to have some way of increasing/decreasing the distance between the crank and rear wheel to set the tension on the drive belt, either sliding rear dropouts and/or eccentric bottom bracket. Cyclingabout has some articles on belt drive bikes:

https://www.cyclingabout.com/carbon-belt-drive-everything-you-ever-need-to-know/

https://www.cyclingabout.com/belt-drive-touring-bike-manufacturers/

From your photos it looks like a standard 1-1/8" headset with cups that press into the headtube. You can buy complete replacement headsets for just over a tenner - eg https://www.wiggle.co.uk/ritchey-logic-v2-headset/. If you want to do the replacement yourself, you'll need some means of banging the existing cups out and pressing the new ones in.

pwa wrote:I would never trust anything that has aluminium alloy in an application that is meant to flex. It seems like a recipe for disaster.

You should watch the winds flexing up and down in turbulent conditions on the next passenger jet you fly on...

One of my riding friends whose son is a Trek dealer turned up a few weeks ago on a brand new Trek Domane SLR 7 disc machine. On our last ride but one the whole saddle/seatmast section started waggling around in a fairly alarming manner - something seemed to have broken in the IsoSpeed suspension stuff - and he had to exercise his mobile phone to call his wife for a lift home. He said he'd only ridden about 1000km on the bike at the time it failed. It's presently back at his son's bike shop awaiting a replacement frame from Trek.

Bertieboy wrote:It is a genuine Campag Veloce sealed unit cartridge BB. What I cannot understand is that with the Italian thread it is done up clockwise and that is the direction the chaninrings / cranks are turning so logically, it seems to me, this should keep it from coming undone.

Not the case. Look up "precession" for an explanation of the reason why: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession_(mechanical).

David9694 wrote:To contrast with cycling dead ends...

A simple on-board way to immobilise / make unrideable a bike, eg that locks-up the bottom bracket.

Go to Amsterdam, and you will see most of the bikes have a "nurse" lock permanently attached to the frame at the seatstays for locking the rear wheel. Doesn't stop someone carrying the bike away, but they won't be able to ride off with it.

On the PC, I use the RideWithGPS website. It will plot the route for you, show an elevation profile of the route, and as you move your mouse along the profile, it indicates the gradient at that particular point.

When I'm touring and don't have access to a desktop machine, I use Locus on my Android phone. It can plot bicycle-friendly routes, and show you the elevation profile and total elevation gain/loss. Screenshot below from the app on the phone. It can also navigate you on the route, with the navigation directions either being shown on the phone or on a GPS that is Bluetooth connected - or you can just export the route as a GPX and use that directly on a GPS unit: