Cycling UK Forum

My 1993(ish) Ridgeback Adventure 502GS has had a new chain and gear service recently.

Notes from the bike shop were that I should get some new brake blocks because they are probably the originals that came with the bike and have degraded over the years. Any suggestions as to some replacements.

Also, the guy mentioned that there has been some corrosion to the shifters and they're not going to last forever. Been quoted about £40 for replacing them. How hard a job would this be if I wished to do it myself or is this something best left to the professionals?

if you still have the original shimano brake blocks they may well seem very hard. If so, and this is the only thing which is of concern about them, i.e. they are not cracked, overly worn etc, then don't worry too much; they were hard when they were new, that is the way they were meant to be. Whilst you can probably get better/different performing brake blocks, don't assume that your old ones are dangerous simply because they are old.

Re the shifters; if there is some superficial corrosion (say, on the levers) this won't stop them from working. IIRC the shifters you have are a simple, reliable design. The most common fault is that they occasionally gum up inside through lack of use and dried lube. The internal parts of the shifter are not designed to be especially corrosion resistant; the lubricant inside is enough to protect them. I have never seen one fail through corrosion. Unless the springs inside are already badly corroded, I would say that they are extremly unlikely to stop working through corrosion, and they are more likely to outlast the rest of the bike, if anything.

If your budget is limited, look carefully at what you buy for your bike; there is a cost/risk/benefit thing going on. Other stuff like decent tyres, lights (using a hub generator) decent mudguards, pannier racks etc. arguably make real, worthwhile improvements to your bike, where replacing shifters because they are (say) a little scruffy-looking, might not.

cheers

I'm with Brucey on the shifters....give 'em a squirt of WD40 and they'll love you for ever.

You might get real improvement in the shifting by fitting new gear cables (inner and/or outer) or even just lubricating the ones you have got. **

I would fit KoolStop (salmon) brake pads, because they work and they are kind to rims.

Reading......http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/categories/derailleur-systems

**Or was this done by the shop?

531colin wrote:I would fit KoolStop (salmon) brake pads, because they work and they are kind to rims.

+1

As Colin says Koolstops are very good.
What type of gear levers are they?

Sorry, I could have sworn I replied to this thread. In short:

I'll leave the shifters for now, the cables were replaced and have had no problems since.

As for the brakes, they do work but one has not so much a crack but it looks like it is beginning to split down the centre and one of them has some uneven wear. Also, they make one hell of a squeal, tried toeing them in at a few angles but not making much difference.