Cycling UK Forum

As I wrote upthread, when I see as many broken front wheels as rear coming into the shop is the time I will believe rear wheel strength is not a problem.

If you are specifying a touring bike starting with a blank sheet of paper, what, exactly, is the point of specifying 130mm OLN ?

maybe to save a couple of grams? or to use Campag, who don't do touring stuff these days?

I took the bike out today for a more serious examination of changing from the existing 40 tooth middle chainring down to the new 24 tooth inner ring. The 1st two times I did it the chain overrode the small ring and came off, I did a couple more change downs much slower and it was ok.Changing up was ok . I go straight through the chainrings when approaching an ascent and was wondering if the chain needed shortening to compensate for the smaller chainring. The mech is Campag and you shift down with your thumb.
The difference the new cog made was quite considerable, I think it is now 21.5" and I went up a short hill with a gradient similar to some of the French climbs and thought I could keep that cadence going for long enough so I will keep the set up as is.
Any advice on the changing down problem would be appreciated. Thanks

Looks foolproof Colin, thanks.I would like to think of it as a last resort and it may come to that, I don't want to put any additions on the bike if poss. although that gadget does look unobtrusive and pretty bombproof.

There is also the odd device that's smaller, with the same general purpose. You can probably set the front mech. to do it right 95% of the time if you work at it.....this is something that comes up regularly, be worth searching the forum...."jump stop" is a good search term, I think!

Bogawski wrote:Looks foolproof Colin, thanks.I would like to think of it as a last resort and it may come to that, I don't want to put any additions on the bike if poss. although that gadget does look unobtrusive and pretty bombproof.

The N-gear Jumpstop is good kit,I've had them fitted to all my bikes for years,they do the job without fuss and are hardly noticeable.
£10 well spent IMHO,and save cursing/oily hands by the roadside and paint chips around the BB

Thanks everyone, a Jumpstop duly purchased from Billys.co.uk. The bloke who fitted the ring reckons he might be able to do something on adjustment but after reading previous threads on chain derailment I thought it would be worth fitting anyway.
Thanks again.

Ok, last one on this, the guy did the adjustment, 1/8th of a turn, and I've been out on it a few times now with no problems. So why did all the bikeshops including the "specialist campag" one at the top of Box Hill say it couldn't be done?
It has made so much difference to my climbing I'm almost tempted to finish the last half of my Manche to Med which I aborted last year after a week with knee and saddle problems.
Thanks all. BB