Cycling UK Forum

Some DOT grades are hydrophobic and some aren't.

Which is a reason not to avoid them. Do they have an advantage to counter problems such as the mess they can make of your paintwork if you spill them?

This is a genuine question - I don’t work for Shimano’s marketing department.

This fits with my experience of the Shimano brakes on my MTB which I haven't used for years - checking it over the other week the levers pulled to the bars so I topped up the reservoir with the previously opened and part used bottle of oil that I had, and now they seem fine. Which begs the question - why do any bikes use DOT fluid?

Mikeymo - I recently went round this loop with my Croix de Fer. Ignorance of the problem had led me to match 10 speed NSSLR levers (105 STIs) with road BB7s. Once I understood what was going on from Brucey’s descriptions I tried the easier option of new Jagwire compressionless cables and they made no difference compared with the DuraAce ones that were there. If you have poor quality spiral bound outers they might make a difference, but if you already have Shimano or similar then I doubt it.

In my case I was lucky enough to find a mate had some almost unused Ultegra (Exposed gear cable) STIs available. Now I have proper functioning BB7s and better gears. And as white outers match the frame I don’t even care about the exposed cables.

It’s depressing that the Uk cycle industry continues to produce BSOs as they must put so many potential cyclists off. Most stuff that you buy at any available price point fundamentally works - but not so bikes.

Well done for doing the best that can be done with that one Mick. And don’t worry about the forks - the less they compress the less likely they are to throw the rider off on the rebound.

Thanks for that forum link Hoogerbooger - just had a good read reminding me of Beta Bikes and the hours spent reading the ‘Freewheel’ catalogue, lapping up the marketing BS that it was full of.

Glad your cold setting seems to be improving the frame. Now I’ve also learnt Colin’s tricks for checking a frame.

I had a Revell bike in the 80s and it’s one of the few bikes I’ve sold that I’ve subsequently regretted parting with. Now that I learn it might have been made by Mercian, even more so. Who were the other builders?

Is this one made from 531? Can you tell if it was originally built for 700c wheels, or 27”? I also once had a different bike straightened by Chas Roberts (‘a collection of 531 tubes assembled in a rough bicycle shape’) and it wasn’t that expensive. What I’m getting at is that this could be quite a nice bike that would be worth getting fixed by a frame builder properly.

I used to use them in 27 x 1”1/4 flavour on a utility and touring bike back in the early 2000s. The bike was a cheap ‘high tensile steel’ frame that had a harsh dead feel but those tyres transformed it into something quite usable. I mainly used them on tarmac but had no hesitation heading off on a gravel road if required by the tour. They weren’t immune to punctures but they were rare. Only criticism was they felt a little sluggish - but all tyres are a compromise. Give them a go.

There's nothing unusual about swapping wheels around between bikes - but I've never heard of also swapping the chain at the same time. I was going to say that Brucey's suggestion there is in the 'gold standard' category - but maybe it's not even that, as it's not recommended that you reuse a quick link that often:

https://www.kmcchain.com/en/series/chain-connector-12s-11s-10s-9s-8s-7s-6s-speed

[Que postings of 'I've reused them hundreds of times with no problems']

Better off accepting that chain/cassette may need to be replaced slightly more often - but that's still cheaper than running 2 bikes right?

All said I'm with PH and Cyclop on this one - it will soon feel like a faff and you probably won't bother.

Another piece of interesting analysis - thanks for that.

I've long been a fan of Finish Line 'Green top' and as, for various reasons, I do keep my chain clean I see why it's a good fit for me now. One of those reasons is because I use a Park chain cleaner which makes the process easy and a standard part of a bike clean. What has always intrigued me about that cleaner is the amount of crud that the magnet at the bottom sucks out of the solution. I would have guessed that most chain gunk is grit and dirt but it seems that a fair amount is metallic - presumably the now departed parts of my chain and sprockets.

Having just experienced something similar myself (also with a Schwalbe tyre, though a quite different model): hold something like a pen against the fork blade and up to the rim to check whether the problem is wheel or tyre related.

Assuming it's the tyre, then it may not be seated properly. Tricks to seat it better:
- simply try again
- check the rim tape is even (as noted above)
- use a generous quantity of talc round the inside of the tyre and on its bead. This acts as a 'lubricant' for the tyre and tube, allowing them to move into their correct positions evenly round the rim
- temporarily over inflate the tyre, which again encourages everything to move into place
- wait for some more clever tricks to appear in this posting (I'll be watching too)

If it still doesn't improve then return the tyre to where you bought it, as it's faulty.

Here's our's:

[img][/img]

We call it 'Trig' after 'Trigger's broom' as I've changed so many parts on it since we bought it second hand. I believe this shot was taken on its first tour since I ignored the naysayers, listened to Reohn2 of this parish, and installed disc brakes.

What is it with tandems and 30 year old Karrimor panniers?

Colin - thanks for that. I should have been able to work that out too. I don't expect she was planning to slalom the cats' eyes but she might wonder why her feet kept hitting the front wheel.

Simon - now that is quite something. Puts in perspective my ability to ride a figure of 8 in the garage

I'm sure we've all seen a few bikes out recently that haven't seen the light of day for a few years. Yesterday I saw one which had been assembled with the forks in backwards. The rider seemed to be coping and had just turned off a bridleway so presumably it worked on lumpy surfaces too. I'm fairly sure it had V brakes which were now between fork and downtube so presumably there was a fair bit of clearance available. As it was quite shiny I'm guessing it was a recent online purchase that required some home assembly. Hopefully there are no bike shops in the country that would send it out like that.

Hello

First thing - does the bike already have a (fixed length) quill stem? If it has a stem that clamps around the outside of the fork's steerer tube (a 'threadless stem') then you won't be able to fit a quill.

Your best bet is probably to have a look at this site:
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_st-z.html#stem. Also worth bookmarking that site as it contains a wealth of data and advice that could be useful when maintaining or modifying bikes.

I would have expected your 'steerer outside diameter' to be 1" meaning the 'wedge bolt" (quill) stem size would be 22.2mm, not the 20mm you have measured. If you're sure about that maybe someone else can advise whether smaller sizes appear on children's bikes? The other critical dimension is the attachment to the handlebars - the outside diameter of the bars where they are clamped by the stem is most likely to be 25.4mm

Anyone else seen a surprising cost saving measure?

At some point during the 2000s Campag stopped putting any grease in their hubs.