[hawkinspeter]

I had a re-stock notification

I had a re-stock notification from Wiggle the other day on their Prime 160mm rotors, so quickly checked their site to see that they already had low stock. I put one in my basket and they’d sold out before I could buy it.

[hawkinspeter]

It only took about 10 minutes

It only took about 10 minutes or so to swap the caliper (I’d trashed the piston on the old one) and give the system a quick bleed. I’ve been using it for over a year so I would have found out if there was any issue by now.

To be sure that it’s all connected correctly, give the lever some good hard squeezes to make sure that the system doesn’t have any weak points. I did that once and discovered that I hadn’t tightened up the Shimano hose joining thingamijig enough as it suddenly separated. Much better to discover that whilst working on your bike rather than when you’re trying to slow down.

[hawkinspeter]

I’ve replaced a BR-RS805

I’ve replaced a BR-RS805 caliper with a newer Ultegra caliper (R8070?) and didn’t change the hose and haven’t had any issues with it.

[hawkinspeter]

Can’t say that I’ve needed

Can’t say that I’ve needed chain pliers out on the road either, but I’ve used them when putting a chain on as it saves removing the bike from the bike stand and more importantly justifies having chain pliers.

I think most of the stuff I carry is insurance against needing to use it – if I carry it, then I won’t even need it. There’s also the option of helping out a fellow cyclist, but to date I’ve only ever donated an inner tube. I’m just waiting for the opportunity to help a cyclist with a stuck quick link now.

[hawkinspeter]

Pilot Pete wrote:

You realise the clam is not designed to be waterproof? If you need something to stay dry put it in a dry bag. It also was designed as minimalist, so never suitable for a pump, however small!

I thought it might be waterproof enough, but some of my previous tools (I can’t resist buying well designed multi-tools) got a bit rusty. My new Wolf-tooth 8-bit pack pliers are too long for the aeroclam so I thought I’d go for a dry-bag instead as the aeroclam doesn’t quite fit my needs (not meant as a criticism of it though).

I’ve also got a cheap super-reflective waist-bag (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Reflective-Around-The-Waist-Pouch-Bag/133638698588?hash=item1f1d7cb65c:g:ycAAAOSwfFBgAdOs) that I use to carry a first-aid kit and sometimes a rain jacket. I don’t always bother wearing it though – I only bothered getting it after I came off my MTB going around Ashton Court and grazed my knee a bit.

[hawkinspeter]

With my SPDs, they seem to
With my SPDs, they seem to last as long as the shoes so I don’t mind if the bolts seize as long as I don’t want to tweak their position.

[hawkinspeter]

I’ve considered taking a
I’ve considered carrying a space blanket – maybe you should get one to play up to the joke.

[hawkinspeter]

Luckily I was able to free
Luckily I was able to free the trapped shoe by forcing it round to undo the remaining bolt so replacing the cleat and bolts was the only cost. I check my cleats every so often now so I can avoid it happening again. If it was my left foot, I’m sure I’d’ve done the comedy sideways fall.

[hawkinspeter]

Spare cleats? That’s

Spare cleats? That’s impressive.

I had a SPD screw fall out whilst cycling and the first I knew about it was that my right foot seemed to have a lot of float. I stopped to check it out and realised that I couldn’t get my foot free without taking my foot out of my shoe and even then I couldn’t get the shoe free. I had to cycle the rest of the way home without putting my right foot down (which was fine – I rarely unclip that side).

[hawkinspeter]

46 years is impressive. Not

46 years is impressive. Not that I condone driving without a license, but the fact that he wasn’t caught sooner implies that he drove carefully or at least was lucky.

[hawkinspeter]

I’ve stopped using my large

I’ve stopped using my large aeroclam now as it wasn’t wide enough for some of my tools (e.g. pump and Wolf Tooth multitool) and it was also letting in a bit of moisture which to be fair is probably due to me not using mudguards. Dangly saddle dry-bag for me.

[hawkinspeter]

Duncann wrote:

I deduce from this and other posts that you’re a fan of replacing cables!

I’d offer that poorly-shifting gears are much more likely just to need adjusting, rather than a new cable. Certainly I wouldn’t assume at first that replacement is needed and my experience is generally that cables last a long time and can happily be cleaned-up and re-lubed every so often.

Sort of – replacing the cable fixes several issues at once (it’s almost the bike equivalent of turn it off and on again). It’s also a cheap part to replace and teaches you how to adjust the derailleur. Similarly, replacing a brake cable will often help diagnose any braking issues as you soon discover if the caliper is sticking, loose etc.

I’ve had a gear cable break inside a brifter housing when the cable was only a couple of years old, so I think of the cables as being a consumable and if it’s 10 years old, then it’s not going to do any harm to fit a new inner.

[hawkinspeter]

Could be any number of things

Could be any number of things really.

I’d double check that the chain is compatible with the cassette (e.g. 9 speed, 10 speed?), then check that the rear derailleur is shifting nicely between all the gears – if not, replace the rear derailleur inner cable which involves re-adjusting the derailleur. Also check the jockey wheels still have some life left in them.

The best bet is to take it to a bike shop, but there’s plenty of youtube instructions if you want to spend some time to do it yourself and you shouldn’t need too many tools (a good cable cutter is recommended for replacing the gear inner – ordinary pliers will leave frayed ends).

[hawkinspeter]

Just thought, why don’t I

Just thought, why don’t I just measure mine?

Front wheel 28mm GP5000TL on Prime Black Edition 60 which is listed as 27.5mm external width gives 28.9mm width of tyre.

Rear wheel 28mm GP5000TL on Prime RP50 which is listed as 25mm external width gives 26.7mm tyre width.

However, my digital caliper is a cheap rubbish one, so those measurements are approximations.

[hawkinspeter]

Never measured them but my

Never measured them but my uninformed opinion is that they’re probably the same size as I can’t see any reason for them to be different.

[Author]

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