The Bicycle / Biking Gear Thread

[nuke_diver]

Old dogs can forget old tricks edition:
For the last few weeks I've been struggling with my power during rides. I haven't been able to ride as fast without it killing me. My legs get sore quickly and my LT feels like it shows up at a lower heart rate. Some of this is because I've been riding more and maybe adding too much too soon.

Then I discovered a few problems with the bike that were definitely slowing me down/requiring more power from me. A few weeks ago I replaced my disc brake pads and recently found one of the front pads was rubbing. I'd spin the wheel by hand and it would stop in half a rotation! I tweeked the caliper alignment and all was well, or so I thought.

I've been wanting to replace the heavy 32mm Gatorskin tires with some lighter and more aero 28mm Continental Grand Prix 4000 S II's. They have most of the flat protection, plus they have 330 TPI instead of the not so compliant Gatorskin's 180 TPI. The wheels have now lost a total of .4 pounds or rotating weight.

During the tire swap at home, I felt the rear wheel's hubs were very tight and binding. The bearings were still fine so I adjusted the cones and now they feel smooth and free of friction. Between the brake rub and the bound up hub bearings, I was wasting a lot of energy. I tested my solo average speed on a cross wind road and gained 1.5 to 2 MPH with the same perceived output.

Lesson learned.

So that front pad rubbing should be good for training , resistance training (my "commute bike has a slightly warped rim which does something similar...I keep threatening to fix it but never seem to find the time...:P)

I have some Cont GP 4000 and I am quite pleased with them, over 3000 miles and 0 flats (knock on wood) so far

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Brass nipples turn me on!

But seriously, I always advise brass spoke nipples over aluminum. I've seen aluminum nipples fail even under lightweight women riders.

Pulled the trigger on some 35/30 carbon rims. Will order DT 350 hubs and Sapim spokes, with the aforementioned brass nipples.

The bike is in the shop that is selling it to me, waiting for April to get here so they can change gears from ski stuff and get into bike building mode. My buddy at the shop was able to get me one of the last 3 2015s in my size. So score!

 

[sunvalleylaw]

My "vintage" Shimano 600 shifter for the rear cassette was not working well on my ride yesterday. Would not shift to the smaller cogs. I adjusted the barrels, but no go. Thinking either the cable is binding, or more likely, based on how it is acting, that the old shifters are gummed up inside. Going to have to do something like this. Hopefully it works.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Well, that did not work, though I only tried it with it still on the bike, and used the WD40 method. Will probably drop it off at the shop tomorrow as it will take me a while to take it all apart to try and fix it.

 

[Johnny N.]

I have none of those things.

As mentioned, get some tire levers (little plastic things that help pry the tire off and back on) a patch kit, and a floor pump for home for sure. Optionally, get a pump you can carry with you when you ride so if you get a flat when you are riding, you don't have to walk home. Unless you don't ride far from home like laps around a neighborhood where you are never too far from home. When I was riding I had a CO2 pump. It is small so it can go in the bag under your seat ............... not that bag! Buy the CO2 cartridges from wally world or somewhere so they are cheap and carry a couple with you. So when you get a flat you just shoot it full of air and go. Maybe it's not as big a deal with the bigger tires but I always hated trying to pump up road tires with a small hand pump.

Don't be at the mercy of the bike shop to ride. Fixing flats and thrown chains are easy enough to learn. Even some minor adjusting is easier than it sounds.

 

[nuke_diver]

Big job tomorrow for me, a spoke replacement on my old steel. No big deal you say, well I'm a basic maintenance guy and that bike has not had the freewheel removed...ever. It's 33 years old. I have a feeling it's going to be a very difficult job and I don't have a proper cheater bar. We'll see how well my jury rigged ones works out.

 

[nuke_diver]

And the spoke replacement has become a big deal. First the freewheel tool that I was told I would need is the wrong one. Turns out I have a Suntour type FW rather than a Shimano. But that was the easy part. The hard part is that the axle broke (probably was broken for a while though how long is anyone's guess). So the bike will either be out of commission until I can replace the axle (which means I have to figure out without calipers what size it is), buy a new wheel set and freewheel (not sure if they will fit the other components) or spend a bit more and buy a new bike (most expensive but probably gets me back on the road faster). I can use my new bike in the interim but riding to the gym with bike shoes then changing to running shoes isn't something I would want to do for a long time

 

[Kerouac]

This reminds me I need to take pics of my bike so I can figure out what I need to do with it.

 

[el diablo]

And the spoke replacement has become a big deal. First the freewheel tool that I was told I would need is the wrong one. Turns out I have a Suntour type FW rather than a Shimano. But that was the easy part. The hard part is that the axle broke (probably was broken for a while though how long is anyone's guess). So the bike will either be out of commission until I can replace the axle (which means I have to figure out without calipers what size it is), buy a new wheel set and freewheel (not sure if they will fit the other components) or spend a bit more and buy a new bike (most expensive but probably gets me back on the road faster). I can use my new bike in the interim but riding to the gym with bike shoes then changing to running shoes isn't something I would want to do for a long time

If you don't have Shimano guts you might be better off buying new. I pimped a Fuji with top end Shimano upgrades, but if you aren't starting with Shimano...that's trickier.

 

[nuke_diver]

So the long ordeal appears to have been resolved. Yesterday I found a new wheel cheap that would fit and found the right tool to remove the freewheel (Park FR-2). FW came off surprisingly easy since it has been on for 33+ years. Cleaned it all up and put it on the new wheel. Road it about 2 miles and all seems well. Brakes may still need some adjustment though the back brake needs replacing so I need to go look for one now that I found a place that has old parts and I don't have a truing stand so I just put the wheel on as is and it seems at least as good as the old one.

Tomorrow's ride to the gym and back (18 miles) will tell the true tail

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Been teaching on the mountain all week. My road bike is in the shop to see if we can revive that shifter. An old Shimano 600 (ultegra level) 8 speed shifter will be expensive if I cannot revive this one.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Rims arrived today. Now, after proper as built measurements will get the spokes and brass nipples (@Tig you calm down!) ordered along with hubs. After looking into it further, going to swap out the front ring for an oval 30T (smallest that will go on the stock crankarms) and build the rear wheel with a Shimano style cassette with a one up ring, so that the rear will go from 11-45, rather than 11-42 as SRAM does it. It will still work in the derailleur and shifter that way, and I like Shimano's gear spacing a little better.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

Been teaching on the mountain all week. My road bike is in the shop to see if we can revive that shifter. An old Shimano 600 (ultegra level) 8 speed shifter will be expensive if I cannot revive this one.

No dice on reviving the shifter. Will probably just buy some Microswitch shifters for less than the cost of a used Shimano 600 8 speed.

 

[Tig]

No dice on reviving the shifter. Will probably just buy some Microswitch shifters for less than the cost of a used Shimano 600 8 speed.

I can ship you a set of 9-speed DuraAce shifters (about 2003 or 2004 era) from my old Giant that I'll never use again. They are a little tarnished and pitted, but function perfectly. The cable movement between 8 and 9 Shimano should be the same, but you might want to make sure. You'll just have 1 extra click that doesn't do anything.
I just thought of something... I'll throw in a few 9 speed cassettes (one new in box 12-21 and one 12-25 with less than 200 miles on it) since they should fit an 8 speed hub, but I might be wrong. That kind of info is use-it-or-lose-it stuff.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

I can ship you a set of 9-speed DuraAce shifters (about 2003 or 2004 era) from my old Giant that I'll never use again. They are a little tarnished and pitted, but function perfectly. The cable movement between 8 and 9 Shimano should be the same, but you might want to make sure. You'll just have 1 extra click that doesn't do anything.
I just thought of something... I'll throw in a few 9 speed cassettes (one new in box 12-21 and one 12-25 with less than 200 miles on it) since they should fit an 8 speed hub, but I might be wrong. That kind of info is use-it-or-lose-it stuff.

wow thanks!! Would love that!

 

[Tig]

wow thanks!! Would love that!

@sunvalleylaw Well, crap.
When I started removing the shifter cables, I first needed to shift to the smallest cog to relieve tension. It didn't feel right so I tried shifting up and down. It wouldn't shift up. I removed both shift cables in case they were stuck in the housing, but the rear still didn't click. Toast. I sprayed a little lube in the mechanism, but no change. I've seen this before and it required replacement shifters since these weren't designed to be serviced that deep into the internals. 13 years of corrosion finally caught up.

I can still send you a few 9 speed cassettes and even the 9 speed DuraAce rear derailleur if you want. It might be cheaper and easier to find 9 speed shifters, but I haven't checked myself.

 

[sunvalleylaw]

@sunvalleylaw Well, crap.
When I started removing the shifter cables, I first needed to shift to the smallest cog to relieve tension. It didn't feel right so I tried shifting up and down. It wouldn't shift up. I removed both shift cables in case they were stuck in the housing, but the rear still didn't click. Toast. I sprayed a little lube in the mechanism, but no change. I've seen this before and it required replacement shifters since these weren't designed to be serviced that deep into the internals. 13 years of corrosion finally caught up.

I can still send you a few 9 speed cassettes and even the 9 speed DuraAce rear derailleur if you want. It might be cheaper and easier to find 9 speed shifters, but I haven't checked myself.

Nah. I think to go 9 speed, I would have to get a new rear derailleur and pretty much the whole thing. I will either find a replacement 600, or just get the microshift one. Spud had one and liked it well enough. Thanks anyhow! I need to get this thing up and running so I can ride it! Tis the season!

 

[sunvalleylaw]

HNBD!!!

Some slight mods to follow. Those stock wheels are coming off, along with the front ring, and the rear cassette. Selling those. A shimano rear cassette with a OneUp 45t ring will go on the rear with a 30t oval on the front in there stead, with my Chinese carbon wheels replacing the WTBs. [emoji2]

 

[Tig]

A worthy advice video

 

[sunvalleylaw]

A worthy advice video

Good stuff. I have been watching a LOT of their sister "station's" channel, GlobalMountainBikeNetwork, GMBN, for a lot of handling and skills tips to better use the modern mountain bike geometry and features such as dropper posts, etc. It feels a little bit like adjusting my techniques from the old straight ski days to the modern shaped skis.

Here is a good one on cornering.


General singletrack techniques:


And one on updating your bike.


There are lots of others regarding using "manuals", riding dropsoffs, using your suspension, etc.