Cycling UK Forum

Just got round to cleaning up the bike shed, so took the opportunity to weigh them all:

Brompton 13.64 Kg - 5-speed hub gear, dynamo, normally lives in motor caravan.
Koga Myata 13.87 Kg - Audax/day rides, triple+six speed
Revell Romany 13.92 Kg - Hybrid, triple+seven speed
Dawes Lady Galaxy 14.67 Kg - light touring, triple+six speed
CB Dalesman 15.69 Kg - Heavy touring, triple+nine speed
Longstaff trike 16.48 Kg - General duties, triple+seven speed
Raleigh Shopper 18.80 Kg - Sturmey 3-speed & Dynohub. The wife's (though she hasn't ridden it since 1974 )

All the bikes are fitted with mudguards, racks, and lights. The Brompton also had a small bag with waterproofs which I'd forgotten to take off. The Dalesman has a heavy duty rack and propstand.

The surprises were the Brompton being the lightest - I would have expected the Koga to be at the top - and the trike not being the heaviest. Oh. and the bag (with contents) I took off the trike weighed in at 4 Kg. Now I know where the missing hammer and stilson wrench went.

Thanks, guys, for all the input.

When I couldn't make Dave's original suggestion to work, I emailed Garmin via the website, and have now got the follwing reply from product.support@garmin.com:

"I will be happy to assist you with your enquiry. Can you please first try performing a boot block on the device to get the computer to recognise this?
Turn the device off and ensure all cables are disconnected from the GPS
Press and hold the power button , and press the Toggle switch up
Continue holding power and the toggle switch while also plugging the mini-USB into the device
The computer should now recognize a device is plugged in within about 30 seconds. You will then see the Found New Hardware Wizard appear and be prompted how to install the necessary USB drivers. Choose No, not at this time, and select the option to install USB drivers automatically. When the USB driver installation is completed, choose Finish and the device should now be seen by the computer as a separate drive.
As long as you can get this recognised by the computer then you should be able to transfer your data correctly.
If there is anything else I can help you with then please let me know. Alternatively you can search for a solution here: http://www.garmin.co.uk/support"

Unfortunately, this doesn't work for me. However, although everything seemed to work OK on my desk top, the device is recognised and I can still upload data to Training Centre, when I tried today to load a new map using MapInstall, I got a message that "There was a problem communicating with the Garmin Device. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable"

That being so, I've decided I have the perfect excuse to invest in a lovely shiny new Edge 800 - whoopee, a new toy to play with.

DaveP wrote:The Garmin!

Do that to a pc and your looking at real delays

Thanks for the prompt reply, Dave. I thought that was what you meant, but I couldn't make it work. I'll give it another go (or ten - or twenty - or what it takes)

Redvee wrote:Have you installed the Communicator browser plug in?

http://www8.garmin.com/products/communicator/

Thanks for the reply Redvee. Yes, plug installed and is present. Have also downloaded latest drivers and installed them, but still the Garmin is not being seen.

[quote="DaveP"]I've ended up plugging it in then quickly pressing and holding the power key until it is recognised. Its a real pain. Its a bore, and it really (euphemism warning) "annoys" me to have paid so much for this equipment and be left with such a basic gremlin...

Thanks for this, Dave. Is that the garmin power key, or the computer?

nez dans le guidon wrote:

Mick F wrote:My average cadence, measured over years with a speed/cadence unit for my Garmin705 shows 65rpm.

I'm happy. I can ride all day, I can ride the length and breadth of the country, and my average cadence is the same. Anything much over 80rpm and I'm unhappy, so I will change up a gear.

I don't think 65 is excessively low. If you watch TdF the range seems enormous. I think 90 is probably the higher end.

Me neither Especially as, unless Mick has turned fixie, his garmin will be averaging in all his freewheeling (or does he pedal steadily in very high gears down all those steep hills he tells us about? )

I've just tried to connect my Garmin Edge 705 to my new laptop running Windows 7 and Garmin training centre, and it is not recognised on Windows as a USB device, and therefore not recognised on training centre. Windows 7's diagnostic and trouble shooting tools can't find it, but everything works OK when I connect it to my desktop computer running XP 2 and training centre.

Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what's the cure? I'm no computer buff, so I'd be grateful for any pointers to a solution.

BigG wrote:The DX and XT models, which I am pretty sure have the same geometry, will take a 32 tooth rear sprocket comfortably. They will probably take a 34 tooth sprocket particularly if the 6 speed is a wide spaced one,

Thanks for the response, BigG. I think I'll go for a 34 set-up, as I rarely use the big front ring these days. When the budget allows, I'll probably change the front end to something similar to yours.

I'm refurbishing a 1980s Revell Romany fitted with a worn out 14 to 28 six block and a good 52/42/32 triple. I have a spare Deore LX stamped 'Integrated 8 SIS (no other identification). Does anyone know if this would cope with a replacement 14-32 block, or possibly even a 14-34?

Thanks for the replies, guys. I've been busy, and just got round to reading them. Will now follow up your suggestions. Thanks again.

What I've got:

Raleigh shoppers - bought when twins were too heavy for stability high up on a baby seat on 27" wheel bikes - that was just over 40 years ago, still in shed.
Romany Revel - bought cheap as bankrupt stock with my redundancy money in 1986 - now with flat bars for utility/light off-road use.
Koga Myata - almost new second hand, bought circa 1988, at £150 quite a bargain, and still my favourite lightweight ride.
Dawes Lady Galaxy - bought off the 'for sale' list when my arthritic hip was troublesome.
Claude Butler Dalesman - Christmas present 2010 - new old stock, updates me to the 21st century, but with quill stem - instant height adjustment I couldn't be without.
Brompton folder - lives mainly in a locker in the camper-van.
Longstaff trike - another off the 'for sale' list - bought anticipating 'the diminishments of age', but found ideal for round town (traffic gives you a wider berth).

What more could I want?

A recumbent trike - if I can find one that I can get up from (and can afford )
A fully sprung slick-tyred off-roader (for the potholed roads) with power assist (for the hills).

Well, it is my birthday the week after next

Thanks both for the responses. I'd forgotten about the non-standard section . I'll certainly try there. I've already got a Longstaff conventional trike, used mainly around town (It get much more respect from motorists) but can be quite unstable, especially on left hand bends, on the heavily cambered roads round here. Out of town I still use bikes but with age I'm finding mounting and dismounting increasingly hard to manage, so I was considering a recumbent as a possible future substitute for both, provided I can find one that I can get up from without a block and tackle. Hopefully I've got a few two-wheel years left, meanwhile I'll keep looking.

Does anyone know which of the recumbent trikes on the UK market has the highest seat height? (At my age, for ease of getting off (out?), the higher the better )

Ribblehead wrote "The torsional strength of the twin-lats is very poor and will give a very spongy, energy-sapping ride."

I am a small (5'6") fairly light (146 lbs) male with an arthritic hip, and (among other bikes) a second hand lady galaxy, age unknown, but with the original 5 speed block.
It is comfortable, I can ride it all day, and it certainly ain't "very spongy, energy-sapping". I accept that if I was a fifteen stone racer trying for a 100 in 4 I might prefer something more responsive, but as a leisurely tourer it's good, stable - and only cost £150.

The OP wrote

If I bought a 20 year old bike with a mixte frame could it be re-equipped with STI to replace the down tube shifters etc, modern gears etc

Of course, but why? All I did to mine was change the double for a triple to get granpa-gears. The rest is all original and works as well as my Dalesman's 27 speed STI set-up, and permits faster multiple downshifts when the hill gets suddenly steeper.

Does anyone wear plus fours anymore? I have a friend who wears walking breeches when rambling, but he looks unusual these days.

When I have to be conventionally dressed on arrival somewhere I often wear Faux plusses, i.e. trousers carefully folded tight at the ankle, knee-length socks rolled up over them and held up with elastics, and the trousers bagged over them just below the knee a la plusses. On arrival pull trousers out of socks and look respectable - and any grease only on socks. Marks' polycotton trousers work well for this.

I have a lightweight Endura long sleeve jersey which is just right for summer days. I can't remember where I bought it - it's at least 3 or 4 years ago - But I note that Rutland Cycling are advertising one that looks similar:-
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/40259/Endura-Rapido-Long-Sleeve-Jersey.html.
It seems worth a try. The only complaint I have about mine is that none of the three pockets has a zip.