Forum Replies Created
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Replies
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Argos Cycles in Bristol, full
Argos Cycles in Bristol, full stop. They fixed up my Mercian after a similar incident and did a cracking job. The only downsides are lead time and the fact that you might buy one of their lovely bikes whilst there!
Haha. I checked the FD and
Aha (possibly!). I checked the FD and the cable entry has always puzzled me as the pin shown above seems to have very little function if one follows the cable entry guidance. Have I got the cable entry wrong, which explains the issue I have (FD shown shifted into the big ring, bike is upside down):
Great idea and well worth a
Great idea and well worth a go. I didn’t think anything else worked with 4700 and that FD completely passed me by, although it is now discontinued. I get the feeling that without ebay we would all be forced to buy into manufacturers’ upgrade plans whether we like it or not…and whether there are any tangible benefits or not.
Hi there IanMSpencer, thanks
Hi there IanMSpencer, thanks for that. I should clarify that the FD and shifters are both 4700, it is just the crankset that is 5800 and I have had this combo running before (and I did check online and it seems many others have got a non-4700 crankset working with it). An extra mm/s spacing between the chainrings would explain the symptoms though.
Yawn, get over it
Yawn, get over it
I’ve been running exactly
I’ve been running exactly that setup for a few years now and think it is about the best combo for me. No noticeable drop off in performance (or increase, I should add), but I think there is a slight increase in comfort and grip from using the 28mm at the back. I also run relatively low pressures (70f and 80r) on clinchers but my weight of 65kg helps with that.
Personally, I work around the
Personally, I work around the travelling insurance aspect by keeping my expensive summer bike at home locked and secured and then, when travelling, take my winter bike which is still lovely to ride. A ‘winter’ bike is always subjective but these can be built up for ~£1k and, if chosen correctly, can be great all year around (specially if fitted with nice tyres and minus the mudguards for a summer break).
On my hols, I take a decent D lock and secure cable, and lock the bike when on the car or at the accommodation. If it gets nicked, it’s not a great outcome but at least I will feel I have done my bit and take the theft on the chin. I figure that life is always a risk to some degree and I won’t worry myself out of doing something that I want.
Have you thought of leg
Have you thought of leg warmers? There is a huge range out there and it means that getting the right fit/weight is much easier, and buying replacements is much more cost effective…just match with the right shorts and off you go.
fyi…when getting dressed, leg warmers first then shorts (with hem rolled back), always best done solo as wearing just leg warmers and nothing is not a good look!!
It’s a good tip that one. I
It’s a good tip that one. I learned it a while ago as I don’t wear tights so getting shorts over leg warmers for 3/4 of the year can be quite tricky unless you roll the leg gripper over first.
The one area to be careful of with most bib shorts are the straps as yanking them hard to pull shorts up or into place can often leave them damaged in some way, and they can be difficult to repair (ask my wife, she’s a seamstress and gets all my wardrobe faults and modifications).
How long consummables last on
How long consummables last on a bike are a bit like the ‘how long is a piece of string’ question. There are a lot of factors that come into play like how you might clean your bike (jet wash, etc.) and the weather you ride your bike in…and the dust/sand around on the roads. I haven’t any belt drive experience but get through an Ultegra threaded BB on a normal road bike every ~18 months…but that is on the winter bike after ~8,000km.
Is your bike an e-bike? I am not sure how that affects things.
If you haven’t done so
If you haven’t done so already, getting the TdF mag is a very good start to the process as it helps with location planning (big map included) as well as getting all the predicted timings (caravan, fast time/slow time, etc):
https://magsdirect.co.uk/magazine/tdf22/
It is also available in most outlets and even M&S.
If you have carbon brake
If you have carbon brake tracks then don’t use the standard Swissstop Flash Pro or the Evos as they are for Alu, IIRC. The choice from that range is the yellow or black prince. I haven’t used the yellow but the black prince are very good…albeit they are expensive and wear out very quickly.
Cyclingoo is a good app for
Cyclingoo is a good app for tracking WT level road races but you will probably need to clarify what level of race you mean before you get any meaningful answers here…Female, male, Senior, Junior, World Tour Level, 1 day, multi-stage, road, MTB, track…the list of parameters goes on and on…
25mm for the summer (they are faster), 28mm for the wet winter commutes (bit more grip).[…]
If you’re not worried about speed so much then 100% go for wider tyres though
Not sure that’s right if Conti are to be believed:
https://conti-tyres.co.uk/latest-news/165-wider-tyres-go-faster
Yepp, agree with this. A
Yepp, agree with this. A decent set of carbon rim wheels will be fine in the winter…but why ride them when the weather is crap, the rims are getting destroyed with a perfect grinding paste and you won’t feel any benefit anyway. Let’s face it, winter miles are usually about getting some base endurance in and keeping the breeze flowing through your locks (to blow away the blues). So forget about average speed or PBs, get the winter bike out (aka, the cheap hack) with mudguards and handbuilts…and ride. When the sun is out, ride the nice bike/wheels and you will feel like you are flying.
Some nice handbuilts can ride really well in any case, and £400 will get a decent set that can get regularly rebuilt when the rims are shot (as they will be).
As an aside, don’t forget to change the pads, embedded alu will destroy your carbon hoops if you swap one without the other.