[gonedownhill]

huntswheelers wrote:

Daily issue here in the workshop for Road Bikes on Discs….. not going to say Told you So….lol. We are fairly flat in these parts so disc brakes never get used hard and the way they were designed to so the contaminents from the bike, other roads users and weather never get “burned” off. For me it’s new pads all the time and keerrrchiiing in the till….    I guess it depends where you live, hilly areas will be best for disc brakes as they will be used the way they should be but for commuting and in traffic… then you will get contaminated…  Clean the pad material as much as you like with any of the suggested methods… but in the end you will be fitting new pads

Are you convinced contamination from the road is a real world problem? Anecdotally I’ve never had that problem in 2 years of city centre commuting on my disc bike, only time I contaminated them was after lubing sticky pistons with mineral oil on my hy-rds*. Would have thought it was that sort of thing and getting GT85 everywhere that is the issue.

*Themselves a bit of a bastard and I was only stopped from taking them into a shop to address lever travel issues by pure stubourness!

[gonedownhill]

A mechanic told me to put the
A mechanic told me to put the pads face up in a small puddle of isopropyl, set it alight, rub down with Emery paper and then repeat the fire bit and they should be good. I bought a new pair due to being time short before an event so can’t testify as to whether this works.

Only contaminated when I had to lube the sides of the pistons as they were sticky

[gonedownhill]

Kinesis 4S disc maybe a good

Kinesis 4S disc maybe a good option if you fancy building your own up.

 

Also:

 

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/is-there-a-bike-better-at-being-a-defy-than-a-defy

[gonedownhill]

kevvjj wrote:

risoto wrote:

I was appaled by how primitive and low tech the Garmin flagship Edge 1000 was. Sold it after 5 months – navigation utterly useless (not to say ridiculous), super low resolution screen, no proper maps (they use free maps)  etc. They have put in a super slow processor,  the cheapest screen they could find, smallest amount of memory and they charge a fortune. The ride data are good, so are the menues, but navigation! From the company that leads/invented car navigation, incredible:).

Got the Lezyne super gps, turns out that arrow based turn-by-turn navigation works really well. It still can’t guide me back to my route (which the Garmin can’t either) but it works better than the Garmin which broke down more than it stayed awake.

I also got a very cheap waterproof Moto G3 phone. Without SIM card – i use OSM maps=free. Works very well. Screen set to night mode, only turns on when I need to make a turn. Lasts all day. Back to the Lezyne, if you change your mind, grab your smartphone, open the Lezyne app, point to a new destination on the Google based map, hit go and directions are transferred in an instant to the Lezyne. Brilliant – has never failed me. The Lezyne battery lasts for ages. Charge it about every 2-3 weeks.

The world is still waiting though, for a cycle gps that has smartphone tech at smartphone prices. So far the producers have gotten away with their over-priced products because their audience/target group will pay what it takes for anything to make them go faster – real or imagined. Used by all the pros, but then again, they don’t need navigation do they – just follow the car!!!

Did you bother to read the manual? I have the 810 and have never had an issue with navigation, either following a turn-by-turn course or having the unit take me home via a rout of its own. You shouldn’t really need the device to guide you back to the course – my 810 tells me within a hundred metres or so when I am off course – pretty simple to then stop and go back to the turn I missed. The screen resolution is all you need for navigation – I certainly (with my old eyes) have no issues reading it. I use open street maps for free and have had no issues with them.

When you say ‘OSM maps=free’ do you mean Ordinance Survey Maps or open street maps? If the former I am keen to know where you get OSM maps for your Lezyne free of cost. Can you post a link?

 

 

I think but am not sure that OSM they are referring to is this app: http://osmand.net/

 

I use the same thing on a moto G3 with a cheap stem mount for my phone and load .gpx routes created in strava into it.

[gonedownhill]

Thanks for help everyone!

Thanks for help everyone!

I should have made it clear that leaving stuff at the childminder’s house isn’t an option, especially a trailer, as I am only doing the drop off in the morning and not picking her up in the afternoon. My partner will be walking home with my daughter so I am not sure she would be thrilled with the prospect of dragging a trailer home without a bike to pull it. 

My daughter is going to be 11 months when I start this routine so is small enough to go up front, however I don’t think the top tube mounted ones are an option for two reasons – one is that I am 6’6″ and have quite a bit of seatpost showing even on my 63cm frame so there is quite a lot of knee action above the top tube. The other is that the top tube is shaped so that it is flat on the underside for shouldering so not sure it would take the clamp. There are also cables routed along it which may be an issue. I know there are stem options but again think those are mostly incompatible with A-headsets.

 

So sounds like Hamax owners leave it mounted.

 

rdmp2 – do you put your child into the seat and then click it into the frame? And what tyres are you running? I run 32mm at the moment with pressure ranging from 30-80psi, dependent on how much time elapses between me being bothered to reinflate them.

[gonedownhill]

“Regular cyclists can opt to

“Regular cyclists can opt to buy an annual commuter pass for just £39, which entitles them to two, one-hour long rides per day.”

 

Wow that is cheap. Think that has to be about on par the absolute minimum you can spend on annual maintenance of your own bike, probably cheaper. Which, although I guess annual passes will be the least part of the journeys used, makes me think the business model can’t possibly be sustainable. Might have to get a pass and park one legally in my back garden!

However, as long as the GPS transponder is waterproof I suspect the location of most of these bikes is going to be in the harbour or the new cut by the end of the month.

[gonedownhill]

Bummer! Not sure why Merlin

Bummer! Not sure why Merlin has them so cheap tbh. They had tonnes of stock in M/L when I got mine in January.

[gonedownhill]

I got spiuk’s top of range
I got spiuk’s top of range road helmet for 55 quid, well vented, 250 grams and comes with a clip on cover you can use for aero/rain (never bothered with it myself). Comes in quite a few colour schemes too.

https://www.merlincycles.com/spiuk-dharma-road-helmet-95914.html

[gonedownhill]

beezus fufoon wrote:

Woldsman wrote:

Erm, hoping this a manufacturer-specific thing…

 

is there a reason you’ve done that – like having a bit of a backache occasionally and switching the spacers and stem for a more relaxed position?

 

It is also a good idea to not cut the steerer short in case of resale. I’m about as flexible as a breadstick and would never buy a bike where the steerer was cut such that I had to ride slammed.

[gonedownhill]

You can book bike

You can book bike reservations when buying tickets online through the GWR website for some services.

[gonedownhill]

Daveyraveygravey wrote:

Jamin78 wrote:

Daveyraveygravey wrote:

Have you got an Evans near you? If so, go and try a Cannondale Super Six and a Synapse, and maybe a CAAD. All great bikes, good value, and you’ve got one of the best “race” bikes and one of the best “sportive” bikes, and a one of the best ally bikes if you try the CAAD. Then do some research and see if there’s anything else out there that will give you more of a buzz, whether it’s slightly better wheels, or kit, or 50 quid less, or a nicer paint job, or some frame detail you prefer. I had about 2k to spend two years ago, did 6 months of research, and bought a Giant Propel because spec wise it was bang on the money, and to me it looked WAY better than anything else I could afford. Haven’t ridden it since Thursday and I’m itching to get back on it.

Are you following me? I was down at Evans at the NCC today, getting them to request a synapse and supersix in my size, to help me decide whether I want racy or endurance. I was knocked over by how helpful they were, and knowledge, even with me being pretty blunt about just doing some initial research. Top advice, Evans is a great place to start.

I’m really not convinced this sportive/racy geometry has any meaning, at least for most of us.  If you’re an unusual size or shape or have a back problem it might make sense, but I doubt any of us can tell the difference between half a degree angle here, 5 mm longer there, even half a kilo more or less.  The Propel is meant to be an aero bike so you probably wouldn’t want to go on a long ride on it, but I did a 27 hour Everesting on mine.

 

I think you’ve maybe disqualified yourself from being in the majority by viture of having done an Everesting in 27 hours! That makes you an above average cyclist for certain, even if you don’t think so.

Well done by the way!

 

[gonedownhill]

Was gonna suggest the Rose

Was gonna suggest the Rose Xeon CDX – £2400 for ultegra with hydraulic discs and sportive geometry, but the same size trek is both shorter reach and bigger stack so I reckon go with the Trek. 

https://www.rosebikes.com/bike/rose-xeon-cdx-3000-disc-820921/aid:820952

 

I have 105 and Ultegra on different bikes and think I would struggle to tell the difference in a blind test. Unless I was ungloved and it was cold as the metal levers on 105 are a bit chilly in winter!

[gonedownhill]

I have them on my commuter

I have them on my commuter which I built up just over a year ago. They have had absolutely no reliability problems so far.

I have the rim version on my other bike and the disc ones feel sluggish by comparison however I do have some pretty heavy 32mm tyres on them and the bike is generally heavier  so that is probably why.

[gonedownhill]

Nothing like a bit of
Nothing like a bit of sympathy for a naïve young lad, Jesus.

[gonedownhill]

Another A530 user here.

Another A530 user here.

I’ve had two sets of these pedals (first set were on my bike when it got nicked ) – no problems with either and I never serviced them.

They definitely work better when wearing SPDs than normal shoes. With both pairs of mine I’ve found that they don’t really rotate much when your foot is off them, so you quickly learn a technique to get them to be the correct way up when you come to re-clip – ie I clip out with my foot at the top of the pedal stroke, then bring the other foot up to the top when I’m waiting at the lights and once I’ve pulled off by the time my free leg engages with the pedal again the SPD bit of the pedal is more or less where I want it. Even if the pedal is the wrong way around  you can just do a pedal stroke on the flat side and take your foot off part way through the cycle so that it comes back around in the correct orientation.

The same is true when you’re wearing flats, you can still push on the cleat side, although not as efficiently. The flat side is definitely a bit slippy and as such I end up with the pedal in my arches when in flats, especially in the rain.

[Author]

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