[Miller]

I was on a group ride once
I was on a group ride once when about half a dozen of us came off simultaneously. It was May, the road was under trees, we think a huge amount of aphids on the new leaves had dripped slimy tree sap onto the road surface.
Got a dislocated shoulder out of that one.

[Miller]

Well, there’s lifetime bans
Well, there’s lifetime bans and there’s lifetime bans. Banning an 88 year old don’t impress me much.

[Miller]

Drunk driver crashes through

Drunk driver crashes through concrete wall to drop his car through the overhead power lines onto the track, blocking the Manchester – Liverpool railway. Apart from the Just Wow aspect, my reading of the layout is that car must have been on the ped/cycle walkway under the roundabout?

Ah, BBC live feed explains it; he took a motorway exit where there wasn’t actually an exit. Till then.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/c0k5214vn6pt

 

[Miller]

Campagnolo chains are

Campagnolo chains are excellent and so is the pin joining system although it does require careful installation. I’ve got by in recent years with a BBB Proficonnect chain tool, £30, which has a peening function. This tool works fine with 11s and 12s Campag chains. My Ekar 13s chain wouldn’t fit… until I filed the chaintool prong to be slightly thinner, then an Ekar chain fitted fine and pin installation was straightforward. The full fat Campag chain tool is a beautiful thing however, for those who appreciate quality tools.

UT chainsets are excellent, I have over a decade with them. The bearings are a little bit exposed I think, my experience is if you hear a creak it’s probably the LH crank bearing being rusty on its outside face. When swapped all is silent again.

Campag packaging instructions are scant but their assembly videos on YouTube are very good.

 

[Miller]

That’s a shame. He seemed
That’s a shame. He seemed like a decent guy and he had a good no-fuss website. Bought a few things from him over the years and he was contactable if you needed guidance.

[Miller]

You’re obviously a tall guy,

You’re obviously a tall guy, unless you’re built like a blade of grass you’re going to have some weight. I see plenty of cyclists who would probably be glad to be 85kg. 

Gravel frames tend to be designed with shorter reach than pure road frames so I think you’ll be fine there.

Fwiw I have built a few bikes based on direct-buy Chinese frames and enjoyed all of them.

[Miller]

Seat tube length is not a
Seat tube length is not a good guide to frame sizing as top tubes slope so differently between models and there is so much height latitude via the seat post. Admittedly you might be at the upper edge of what Chinese companies consider worth manufacturing.

This is why sizing has mostly settled upon stack and reach being key metrics. Stack defines the lowest height of the handlebar, essentially, and reach is important in how far forward the bars will be. I suggest you research what would be a suitable stack and reach for a gravel frame for you then see what’s available with those measurements.

[Miller]

Ekar works really well for
Ekar works really well for road riding, I’ve done thousands of km on mine.

[Miller]

Heavy rain is grim. Ice rules

Heavy rain is grim. Ice rules out road cycling. Having said that, back in January there were some hard frosts and I had some lovely gravel rides on frozen tracks and trails.

[Miller]

Wanting a smaller camera is a

Wanting a smaller camera is a natural desire but unless your DSLR is pro level I don’t think that a modern interchangeable lens mirrorless camera is going to save you much weight. They’ve all got bigger than they used to be, even the M43 cameras. Of course mirrorless cams have many other virtues.

Also, this desire: “I’d like to have the option of not just having a fixed lens so I can do some out of the saddle shots too”. If by that you mean shooting while riding – I wouldn’t advise it with a proper camera. You’ll be trying to frame a shot with a £x000 cam while riding along one-handed – there is so much potential for disaster.

I do take pics on the move but I use a tiny camera, Sony Rx0 ii, just guessing on the framing, then make corrections in the edit. 

RX0 is tiny, light, weatherproof, shockproof

RX0 photo taken on the move last year. If you open this image in a separate tab you’ll see the full resolution. It’s not bad.

[Miller]

Both your devices have GPS so
Both your devices have GPS so you don’t actually need that speed sensor at all. Maybe do a ride without it and see what you get? Pure GPS measurement is very accurate (wait for the pedants to chime in).

[Miller]

The Stelvio is very long, and

The Stelvio is very long, and it goes to very high altitude. That altitude will knock a chunk off your power output which will only get more pronounced the higher you go. This is not the moment to be thinking of how your bike will look. This is instead the moment to be thinking how to get the lowest gear possible because you will absolutely use it.

[Miller]

It’s no big deal without a

It’s no big deal without a grommet under the valve locknut although that’s a nice touch. The airtight seal is the one at the base of the valve against the inside of the rim. If that’s good you only need finger tight on the locknut, indeed if you remove the locknut entirely the valve will remain sealed because air pressure is pushing it against the rim bed. The trouble with locknuts is they get done up a bit tight, and sealant seeps into them, and they get ignored for ages (I’ve done all this) and then you find they’re an absolute b@stard to remove when you need to. 

[Miller]

I’ve used a wide selection of

I’ve used a wide selection of Schwalbe TLR tyres over the years, road and gravel, and got on very well with all of them. If you’re losing pressure on yours I would be looking at the rim taping and also at the internal seal of the valve. Both are critical. I think many (complaining) TLR users blame their tyres when it’s the tape and the valve seal that is the root cause of their issues.

Nothing against Conti tyres. I have a pair of the original GP5K TLR and they are fast and seem to be indestructible. 

[Miller]

Secret_squirrel wrote:

You’re over egging the standards bit.

Perhaps, perhaps not. Anyway, looking at the state of that frame the components might not be in such good shape either. Sometimes you just have to let go?

[Author]

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