Cycles

[Audio Al]

I dragged my bike out of the shed yesterday as I fancied a bike ride
Spent 1 hour lubing up / inflating tires / removing cobwebs etc

Out onto the road , rode to the supermarket only to find it closed ( Sunday hours )

I now remember why I stopped using it , It is too big for me ( crushed nuts :eek: ) when I dismount and nearly fall off it when I come to a stop

If I lower the seat so I can reach the ground then my leg reach on the pedals is wrong :rolleyes:

May go and seek out a new bike , must be some good deals now the season is nearing the end

:)

[Puffin]

Get a bike that fits properly and get out on the road! You won't regret it. They are great for keeping fit and you get places real quick. You just have to be a bit assertive on the road unless you want to be mown down, assertive - not aggressive or confrontational :)

[pjdowns]

assertive - not aggressive or confrontational :)

:lol: that sounds boring Rob, you need a bit of aggression and confrontation now and again :lol:

[Puffin]

Funny you should say that. I cycle to work as well as being a Postie (yea, sucker for punishment) a couple of weeks ago the RM lorry that collects the stuff we have collected was behind me as I left the depot, a narrow road with cars parked on one side. There is an uphill bit for a 1/8 mile and I could hear he was getting impatient (throttle on and off - you know) I need to turn right just when it starts to level out. Matey couldn't wait for me to turn RT in front of him, so as I have my arm out, he swings out to the wrong side of the road (my hand brushing the lorry) and overtakes. If he had stopped he would have been dead. As it is he has no legitimate parents and the fleas of a thousand Camels should have infested his very smelly arse!. I haven't seen him in the depot since....but when I do....

[pjdowns]

Funny you should say that. I cycle to work as well as being a Postie (yea, sucker for punishment) a couple of weeks ago the RM lorry that collects the stuff we have collected was behind me as I left the depot, a narrow road with cars parked on one side. There is an uphill bit for a 1/8 mile and I could hear he was getting impatient (throttle on and off - you know) I need to turn right just when it starts to level out. Matey couldn't wait for me to turn RT in front of him, so as I have my arm out, he swings out to the wrong side of the road (my hand brushing the lorry) and overtakes. If he had stopped he would have been dead. As it is he has no legitimate parents and the fleas of a thousand Camels should have infested his very smelly arse!. I haven't seen him in the depot since....but when I do....

Uho, it sounds like Rob's gonna be on the war path!... seriously though, some drivers really don't get it do they!!!!!

[MikeMusic]

Get a bike that fits properly and get out on the road! You won't regret it. They are great for keeping fit and you get places real quick. You just have to be a bit assertive on the road unless you want to be mown down, assertive - not aggressive or confrontational :)
+1

[MikeMusic]

Funny you should say that. I cycle to work as well as being a Postie (yea, sucker for punishment) a couple of weeks ago the RM lorry that collects the stuff we have collected was behind me as I left the depot, a narrow road with cars parked on one side. There is an uphill bit for a 1/8 mile and I could hear he was getting impatient (throttle on and off - you know) I need to turn right just when it starts to level out. Matey couldn't wait for me to turn RT in front of him, so as I have my arm out, he swings out to the wrong side of the road (my hand brushing the lorry) and overtakes. If he had stopped he would have been dead. As it is he has no legitimate parents and the fleas of a thousand Camels should have infested his very smelly arse!. I haven't seen him in the depot since....but when I do....

Surprising a fellow RM employee saw you fir for running over. Makes him a double git

Aren't you having to give up your bike soon ?
I was told they all had to go by our sorting office in Shepperton

[Reffc]

Some fantastic deals available at the minute on 2013 bikes as some of the new range of 2014 bikes from the major manufacturers (Specialised, treck, Giant etc) is due out in a month or so.

I've just ordered a new 2013 full carbon roadbike for training for next year's Sportive racing calendar as I needed a change of frame due to injury issues. Frame and fit is more important than what groupset a bike uses. Everything else (gears, cranks, wheelsets) wears out and can be changed. In other words, the frame matters most.

Having said that, there's a consideration if buying new: Many bikes from 2011 to 2013 may have come down in price, but look closely and you'll see that most brands have slashed the quality of groupsets and wheelsets to compensate for the exchange rate changes. If you could pick up say a 2008 or 2009 new old stock bike it'd likely have a far better quality groupset than the 2013 version. Not all have followed this route but a surprising number have!

[wiicrackpot]

Some fantastic deals available at the minute on 2013 bikes as some of the new range of 2014 bikes from the major manufacturers (Specialised, treck, Giant etc) is due out in a month or so.

Having said that, there's a consideration if buying new: Many bikes from 2011 to 2013 may have come down in price, but look closely and you'll see that most brands have slashed the quality of groupsets and wheelsets to compensate for the exchange rate changes. If you could pick up say a 2008 or 2009 new old stock bike it'd likely have a far better quality groupset than the 2013 version. Not all have followed this route but a surprising number have!
Enjoy your new steed Paul, true about knock down prices for impending obsolete bikes with downgraded finishing kit,
a colleague bought a Giant Defy 1 under the bike to work scheme, 2 weeks down the line the wheel was knackered,
pallaver went on for next month or so, eventually the bikeshop got so fed up of him turning up with the same wheels going out of true problem
they gave him a pair of replacement higher spec handbuilt Mavics,
still think you can do better going self build with carefully selected parts from the likes Ebay and on-line deals from likes of Probikekit.

[MikeMusic]

Enjoy your new steed Paul, true about knock down prices for impending obsolete bikes with downgraded finishing kit,
a colleague bought a Giant Defy 1 under the bike to work scheme, 2 weeks down the line the wheel was knackered,
pallaver went on for next month or so, eventually the bikeshop got so fed up of him turning up with the same wheels going out of true problem
they gave him a pair of replacement higher spec handbuilt Mavics,
still think you can do better going self build with carefully selected parts from the likes Ebay and on-line deals from likes of Probikekit.
Glad to say my Giant TCR is still solid, now on 3rd set of tyres. The supplied Michelins took a puncture on day 1 so switched to Continental 4 seasons as my country roads are great for punctures.
Around 27% discount on the previous model year and very happy with the deal and the bike.
Much easier for me to buy a package as I don't know the parts well enough
Found the 2nd hand prices on Ebay for complete bikes were more than for new !

[Trumpton_Rioter]

I hope that you are not one of these bike "Nazis" that complain about car drivers and then proceed to go through red lights, ride on the pavement and generally think that the highway code DOES NOT apply to cyclists.

I used to work at Adastral Park in Ipswich and there was a big cycle community there who thought that they didnt have to obey the rules of the road - just one of my many pet hates

............. and breathe :lol:

I wouldnt want to ride a bike on the roads around here because of the looney cars, busses, wagons etc which is why I have an excercise bike :ner:

[Tarzan]

Alright Al, that Rockhopper , you saw round mine, is very comfortable, and they are doing deals on the 2013 versions now.:)

[MikeMusic]

I hope that you are not one of these bike "Nazis" that complain about car drivers and then proceed to go through red lights, ride on the pavement and generally think that the highway code DOES NOT apply to cyclists.

I used to work at Adastral Park in Ipswich and there was a big cycle community there who thought that they didnt have to obey the rules of the road - just one of my many pet hates

I shake his head and mutters at idiots on bike and idiots in cars.
I chose where I live for the bike journey to work.
I leave well before rush hour and go home just

............. and breathe :lol:

I wouldnt want to ride a bike on the roads around here because of the looney cars, busses, wagons etc which is why I have an excercise bike :ner:
I shake my head at idiots on bikes and idiots in cars. The ones in cars are more dangerous as they have a ton of metal around them.
Chose where we live for the bike ride to work, leave well before the rush and go home just before it
Assertive and positioning helps. Being aggressive or bloody minded isn't good for my karma and likely not my body or length of life

[wiicrackpot]

+1 Mike, i love to wring their necks when i see that happen, :steam: light jumping, bumping onto pavements and down again etc..etc..
generally doing all the prat things that give us cyclists a bad name, there again,some car drivers shouldn't be on the road with their attitude towards us,
i'd seriously fail them if they sat their test with me in charge, twats.

Nice bike them TCR's BTW, good choice.

[MikeMusic]

+1 Mike, i love to wring their necks when i see that happen, :steam: light jumping, bumping onto pavements and down again etc..etc..
generally doing all the prat things that give us cyclists a bad name, there again,some car drivers shouldn't be on the road with their attitude towards us,
i'd seriously fail them if they sat their test with me in charge, twats.

Nice bike them TCR's BTW, good choice.
Interesting quote from Cycling Weekly - seriously good read BTW - one of the journos tweeted when he heard some cyclists were stranded out on a pier/sand bar or similar and the water came in, had to be rescued
He tweeted "cyclist caught out at sea" or similar
A rescuer tweeted back
"not cyclists, just a couple of of guys on bikes"
:)

[wiicrackpot]

:D....is there a online version?, i remember back in the day i used to buy it religiously, have to go to work now will catch up later when i get home.

[MikeMusic]

:D....is there a online version?, i remember back in the day i used to buy it religiously, have to go to work now will catch up later when i get home.
Think so
I'm mostly reading for the great tips and catching up with things I don't know (quite a lot !)
I'm 'careful with money' I picked up half of 2007 through to July 2013 on Ebay for about £7
:D

Read 3 last night.
Works well with listening to music

[sq225917]

There's an awful lot of minty 12 month old bikes on eBay. You can build summit serious for under 1500..

[Audio Al]

If I do replace my current cycle it will be with a old boy road bike

Mudguards / chain guard / front and rear racks ( for shopping and getting out with my camera )

upright riding position ( no drop handlebars ) remember I AM getting old :)

[wiicrackpot]

Think so
I'm mostly reading for the great tips and catching up with things I don't know (quite a lot !)
I'm 'careful with money' I picked up half of 2007 through to July 2013 on Ebay for about £7
:D

Read 3 last night.
Works well with listening to music
Thanks :), good buy for 7 quid but wouldn't be for me, i'd have them strewn all over the house, it's bad enough as it is. :doh:


There's an awful lot of minty 12 month old bikes on eBay. You can build summit serious for under 1500..
Absolutely, having sold my flea weight racer last year, found myself missing the liveliness of a racer,
so bought a minter Surly Crosscheck, been buying wisely over the last 6months, as it stands, it has cost me:
Frame + Thomson seatpost & stem & Shimano BB - £160.00 (Gumtree)
Sram 971 9speed chain - £6.00 (Ebay)
Shimano FCX 70 cyclocross chainset - £47.00 (Ebay)
Shimano Tiagra rear mech - £23.00 (probikekit)
Bontarger VR-S handle bars - £20.00 (JE James)
Campag Veloce front mech - £9.00 NOS (Ebay)
Campag Veloce 10 speed brifters - £55.00 (Ebay)....last piece of my jigsaw bought this week.

pedals, cassette,saddle,wheels & tires i have already so all in with my minimum standard solid quality parts, it comes in at £315.00 and i've got myslef a seriously good go anywhere bike.


If I do replace my current cycle it will be with a old boy road bike

Mudguards / chain guard / front and rear racks ( for shopping and getting out with my camera )

upright riding position ( no drop handlebars ) remember I AM getting old :)
Al, i thought along the same lines as you when i sold up but found flat bars a bit limited for hand positions on even canal rides,
it's not about riding on the drops, the drops gives you one more hand position to ease your muscles from same position riding even for a short while,
i have looked into bars for this build and these Bontrager have the shortest reach and shortage drop of any bars i've looked at,
much as i like to have bought 3T Ergonova or FSA K-Wing Compacts etc.. to name but a few, i really want to see how little i could cut it to get a no nonsense last bike build to take me to my old age, think i've succeeded, only to put it together now, so don't give up on drops. :)

[Jonboy]

thought this might be more up your street Al to go with the Harley

http://ridelow.co.uk/complete-bicycles/cruiser-bikes

I havn't been on my mountain bike for a while because my knees are a bit shot, we are lucky as the South downs way is practically only at the end of the road and used to go for early Sunday morning burns,

10 years on i'm a lot less fitter the sea front looks a better option nice and flat and a lot less harsh on my knees :D

[Audio Al]

thought this might be more up your street Al to go with the Harley

http://ridelow.co.uk/complete-bicycles/cruiser-bikes

I havn't been on my mountain bike for a while because my knees are a bit shot, we are lucky as the South downs way is practically only at the end of the road and used to go for early Sunday morning burns,

10 years on i'm a lot less fitter the sea front looks a better option nice and flat and a lot less harsh on my knees :D


No not for me Jon

[MikeMusic]

There's an awful lot of minty 12 month old bikes on eBay. You can build summit serious for under 1500..

When I was looking for a bargain I found that brand new, last seasons were less than Ebay 2nd hand. Sometimes by a lot of money. Early last year

[MikeMusic]

Thanks :), good buy for 7 quid but wouldn't be for me, i'd have them strewn all over the house, it's bad enough as it is. :doh:

it comes in at £315.00 and i've got myslef a seriously good go anywhere bike.



I have them in order now.
Starting on Jan 2013 then back to 2007 and back up to date in order with some skimming
Assume it will be good reading about promising guys back then who we know now

If I knew a lot more about bikes I could go shopping
With the price of the Shimano gear I have I must go looking for replacements at a nice price
I confess I don't have system pedals. So much to organise to sort it right

[wiicrackpot]

If I knew a lot more about bikes I could go shopping
With the price of the Shimano gear I have I must go looking for replacements at a nice price
I confess I don't have system pedals. So much to organise to sort it right
Mike,

What i done with Ebay is look for auctions that ends in unsociablen hours,early afternoon when peeps are at work or small hours of the morning,
take note of nights that has big sporting events (champions league matches for example), mis-spelling etc..etc.., the usual tricks,
i regret selling my steed so cheap as i hadn't realise how much prices of parts has increased, :(
brake and shifters for example, i was gonna go brake levers and bar end shifters to save money,
after bidding on a few, the prices were much the same as integrated brake/shifter combo's (brifters),
hence went for the latter having experienced the utterly brilliant Campy Centaur's.

I am glad i still have bits of finishing kit laying about and competence to build/adjust a bike together,
more so than i can tune a turntable. :rolleyes:

p.s. i am doing something i've never done before with this build, mixing Campy shifters with Shimano gear mechs,
i've gone 10 speed shifter to 9 speed block, seemingly Campy stuff has higher cable up take ratio so should maybe work out,
some Cyclocross racers has reported success, we'll see. :hmm:

[MikeMusic]

Mike,

What i done with Ebay is look for auctions that ends in unsociablen hours,early afternoon when peeps are at work or small hours of the morning,
take note of nights that has big sporting events (champions league matches for example), mis-spelling etc..etc.., the usual tricks,
i regret selling my steed so cheap as i hadn't realise how much prices of parts has increased, :(
brake and shifters for example, i was gonna go brake levers and bar end shifters to save money,
after bidding on a few, the prices were much the same as integrated brake/shifter combo's (brifters),
hence went for the latter having experienced the utterly brilliant Campy Centaur's.

I am glad i still have bits of finishing kit laying about and competence to build/adjust a bike together,
more so than i can tune a turntable. :rolleyes:

p.s. i am doing something i've never done before with this build, mixing Campy shifters with Shimano gear mechs,
i've gone 10 speed shifter to 9 speed block, seemingly Campy stuff has higher cable up take ratio so should maybe work out,
some Cyclocross racers has reported success, we'll see. :hmm:
Do you have advanced search with emails ?
Collect only is also a classic - if close to you or a mate
Every now and again a busy time gives a bargain too.
Campag shifters and Shimano mechs - let me know how you get on !
I'm learning a lot with this Giant. My style has changed and I think the advice from some to get a Medium/Large instead of a Large was likely right, but I needed a few months of revised style to appreciate it. Almost bought an XL !

[wiicrackpot]

Do you have advanced search with emails ?
Collect only is also a classic - if close to you or a mate
Every now and again a busy time gives a bargain too.
Campag shifters and Shimano mechs - let me know how you get on !
I'm learning a lot with this Giant. My style has changed and I think the advice from some to get a Medium/Large instead of a Large was likely right, but I needed a few months of revised style to appreciate it. Almost bought an XL !
Don't know if i do have ''advance search'' in Emails, i just set things i want in 'saved search' and generally troll through stuff and set a roof price,
yes, collect only is good to get complete bike (or anything) at a great price, but a couple of local sellers refused local pick up so they can make a wee bit on postage.

I hope it works out, at least i know i've got an extra click to ramp up to the large cog if it's troublesome,
either way i won't lose much if i was to move the Tiagra mech on, definitely staying with Campy levers as they are more comfortable with my tiny hands,
for some reason they are cheaper than Shimano's like for like plus they are a teeny wee bit lighter, :rolleyes::whistle:
yeah will let you know once i complete the build, probably piggy backing on Mika's bike thread with a pic or two.

Frame size i don't have the luxury of long legs to play with various frame sizes/stem/setback seatpost..etc combination to play with,
at 5'6 it's small frames all the way. :doh:

[MikeMusic]

Don't know if i do have ''advance search'' in Emails, i just set things i want in 'saved search' and generally troll through stuff and set a roof price,
yes, collect only is good to get complete bike (or anything) at a great price, but a couple of local sellers refused local pick up so they can make a wee bit on postage.

I hope it works out, at least i know i've got an extra click to ramp up to the large cog if it's troublesome,
either way i won't lose much if i was to move the Tiagra mech on, definitely staying with Campy levers as they are more comfortable with my tiny hands,
for some reason they are cheaper than Shimano's like for like plus they are a teeny wee bit lighter, :rolleyes::whistle:
yeah will let you know once i complete the build, probably piggy backing on Mika's bike thread with a pic or two.

Frame size i don't have the luxury of long legs to play with various frame sizes/stem/setback seatpost..etc combination to play with,
at 5'6 it's small frames all the way. :doh:
That's Ebay emailing you every day with search matches
I could do with working out how to change gears and get a gear each click. Assume it's quite simple, prob on youtube.
Midrange I have to click twice, sometime 3 times