Cycling UK Forum

28" is a Continental term for 700c on a road bike - a kind of faux-Anglicisation that went wrong.

29" is the MTB term for 700c, probably because a 2" tyre gives 29-30" on a 700c rim.

Marketing schmarketing.

A 700 x 23c road tyre is about 26.4" in rolling diameter, a 700 x 20c tyre can be a mere 26".

I use NOS Specialized Turbo S tyres which are marked 700 x 25c but measure up as 20mm.

Yes. Going down a steep hill, a flock of chickens ran out into the road. The chickens survived, but the rear tyre tread tore right through and I had a big bulge of inner tube poking out, too big to fit a boot.

Tyres were not so good in the early 1980s.

This was all fixed a couple of decades ago, around the same time as "aero" brake levers became popular. The pivot was relocated to give more mpower when used from the tops.

Flat bars are OK for touring, but I wouldn't use them without bar ends - the ability to change hand position is essential. Unfortunately the fashion is for riser bars, and riser bars with bar ends are a bit like sandals with socks.

Which bracket do you mean? Avoid the pressed steel B&M ones, as they fatigue to death after about 100 miles when used with a heavy lamp. The SJSC one is good, if overpriced at £20.

On my latest bike (with caliper brakes) I have a bracket from a B&M IQ Fly with an extension piece made from square-section aluminium (found in B&Q). This is long enough and strong enough for a Supernova E3, which is a really heavy lamp.

Make sure you have your ideal flat road gear in there somewhere. I ride in 42 x 18 (26" wheels - stupid Thorn) 90% of the time, and when I had a cassette with 17T and 19T sprockets I was constantly fiddling with the gears and never quite happy. Sod's Law dictates that the only 8-speed cassette with an 18T is XTR but it was worth it in the end.

I run both sizes, and I'd say the Halfords man has a point. The choice of fast road tyres in 26" is very poor, and they don't roll half as well.

From what I've seen, an Edelux doesn't beat a Supernova E3 (the 3-LED Supernova isn't actually as penetrating as the single one, according to Supernova themselves, although it puts out more light).

The Edelux is basically an IQ Fly with better casing and heatsinking.

I can feel the lights-on drag and also measure it - 0.5mph off my normal average commuting speed of about 17mph. However, this shouldn't be 5 minutes in an hour.

The new Shimano DH-3N80 is lighter in weight than a SON28 and apparently has lower drag with the lights off. Madison don't import it, but you can get it from the EU.

If you have an old AW hub (the current Taiwanese one doesn't have this problem), there is a "neutral" between normal and top and also, if you really overtighten the cable, below bottom.

Your cable is too loose and normal is dropping down into the neutral zone. Top is fine, because the clutch engages fully with the planet cage when the cable is totally slack (or even cut).

If you have the correct length indicator spindle, the end of the solid rod should be exactly level with the end of the axle (when viewed through the porthole in the RH wheel nut) when the shifter is set to normal/2nd gear. Sometimes the wrong spindle is fitted, in which case just ensure the neutral position is halfway between normal and top and the cable is either slack, or barely tight, in top.

Never stand on the pedals in top gear on an old Sturmey! The clutch can squirm off the planet pins and make the gears suddenly slip. You can stand in low and normal gears, assuming the cable is correctly adjusted. Also replace the cable if there are any kinks in it.

The main problem I have with Oryx is that they're a loose fit on the posts and therefore squeal horribly when the rims are damp due to vibration.

Jobst Brandt uses the term "taco" to describe the shape taken by an overtensioned wheel when it deforms to try and get out of the way of the load (probably a form of Euler failure). "Pringle" is my favourite description.

If you look really, really, hard, you can find leather-faced brake blocks for use with chromed steel rims, which work a bit better than rubber ones. They mustn't be used on alloy rims. However, a set of cheap alloy wheels from Halfords may only be £25 or so, and if the special brake blocks are £20, I know what I'd do.

Try setting the front mech as low as possible and altering the azimuth so the front is slightly "toed in". This usually improves downshifting.

The old joke used to be that Shimano wore out, but Campag would shift badly for ever

Campag probably has a little more cachet among older riders, but it doesn't look half as good as it used to and the freehubs are amazingly noisy. In the end, it probably comes down to whose shifters you like best, because they're very different.