Pedal Power Thread

neil_g said:
Pop some extra grease on the hope ratchet, quietens them down but doesn't effect operation.

They are good anti pedestrian devices through :D
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TheBigYin said:
I was thinking of going either 28/32 or 32/32 bearing in mind they have a) me to put up with bouncing around off-road on 'em and b) they've disk brakes to contend with...

The Hope freehub is a pain, I admit, but it might encourage me to pedal a little more. Plus, the freehub in my old Fulcrums wasn't exactly the quietest...
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I do appreciate the noise, especially having commuted in on them ths morning. People look round!

For off road and discs I would go 28/32 at the very least, although a lot of factory wheels are 24/28 28/28 for discs at present I am not sure I would want a 24 do be dealing with the forces applied in disc breaking- especially at the front.
 
menthel said:
I do appreciate the noise, especially having commuted in on them ths morning. People look round!

For off road and discs I would go 28/32 at the very least, although a lot of factory wheels are 24/28 28/28 for discs at present I am not sure I would want a 24 do be dealing with the forces applied in disc breaking- especially at the front.
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Same, I do like the noise of my hope hubs. Got them on all three bikes and it's nice to hear that they work. The last thing you want when doing trials is to have a dodgy ratchet in the hubs. I've broken many free hub bodies and had many sack taps on the the top tubes when they've broken lol ouch.
 
menthel said:
I do appreciate the noise, especially having commuted in on them ths morning. People look round!

For off road and discs I would go 28/32 at the very least, although a lot of factory wheels are 24/28 28/28 for discs at present I am not sure I would want a 24 do be dealing with the forces applied in disc breaking- especially at the front.
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Current wheels on the CaadX are 36/36 3 cross and frankly are gash. Well - that's not STRICTLY true - since I rebuilt them with DT Swiss spokes instead of the standard no-name monkey-metal ones they've been much better, but the originals... well - lets just say I was breaking a spoke (always at the nipple/thread interface) every 60-70km... which, as you know from Strava, pretty much meant every other ride. I actually just got fed up, and bought a full pack of spokes, then swapped them one at a time and re-trued/stress relieved them, and they've been fine for over 1,000km. Thing was, they'd been badly built IMO - 5 of the rear spokes actually snapped (at the same point as the "just riding along" ones went) when I un-wound them in the wheel-jig o_O - My money is on them being dry-assembled by machine and not properly stress relieved and hand trued afterwards. Plus the no-name monkey-metal problem of course.
 
TheBigYin said:
Current wheels on the CaadX are 36/36 3 cross and frankly are gash. Well - that's not STRICTLY true - since I rebuilt them with DT Swiss spokes instead of the standard no-name monkey-metal ones they've been much better, but the originals... well - lets just say I was breaking a spoke (always at the nipple/thread interface) every 60-70km... which, as you know from Strava, pretty much meant every other ride. I actually just got fed up, and bought a full pack of spokes, then swapped them one at a time and re-trued/stress relieved them, and they've been fine for over 1,000km. Thing was, they'd been badly built IMO - 5 of the rear spokes actually snapped (at the same point as the "just riding along" ones went) when I un-wound them in the wheel-jig o_O - My money is on them being dry-assembled by machine and not properly stress relieved and hand trued afterwards. Plus the no-name monkey-metal problem of course.
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This is the problem you have with wheels that come with bikes- its not so much that they weigh a ton but that they are often badly constructed! The ones I had for my 00 were not too bad but still had a couple of spokes go at the back for no real reason. I keep having bent spoke problems with the handbuilts on them at the moment but the only cause of that is someone whacking them in the bike lockup at work. Its annoying as it happens every few weeks. The wheels have only done about 1100km.
 
neil_g said:
something a little different from mr madskills


(wtf with the fence toward the end :eek: )
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it appears it took him a few goes....
1501721_10152401767078225_7397346130000971694_n.jpg
 
It's been a while but managed to get out on the bike today. Around 20ish km ' s. One hill was almost a killer - was close to walk it....and am glad that last hill was only going down ;) if i would go other way around, I wouldn't make it ;)
 
Well after 20+ years of not riding a bike and the addition of a few stone as well I have now got back on the bike. I got a Merida Crossway 20MD through the C2W scheme earlier this year and have been pushing myself to do more and more. I'm now up to 35 mile rides on road with an av speed of about 14mph and try and get out at least once a week :). To give me some incentive and to keep me on track I have signed up for the Prudential Ride London 100 on Aug 2 2015 - doing it for GOSH as they have kept my boy alive for the past 15 years so about time I put myself through the ringer and gave something back to them. Once I lose a bit more weight I am hoping to get a decent road bike as well but thats a few months off!!!!!
 
has everyone gone into hibernation?

i need a new coat, was a mix of wet, sweaty, hot and cold yesterday. might grab one of the madison ones they seem to get good reviews.

went for a quick burn around the NF yesterday, pretty boring really as expected for 10' wide gravel but nice just to get out and not to get covered in mud for a change. but it quickly turned into a morning of double backing because of closed tracks, "no cycling" tracks (good old forestry commission) or impassable fords. still managed a reasonable amount of miles.

new osprey escapist pack is excellent though, although fairly pricey id recommend it over camelbak stuff.

Fletchers Thorns Inclosure nr Brockenhurst 09/11/14 by neilgates, on Flickr

this was the first ford i hit, some people tried it in wellies and it was overflowing on those. the second one was about the same, i considered taking my shoes and socks off and wading through but the thought of cold wet feet made it a non starter :D

e: pano makes the trek look slack lol
 
Not QUITE hibernating - i've had a couple of weeks off the bike "under doctors orders" because I picked up a rather nasty lung infection in the aftermath of a stinking cold. Gradually getting back to riding again, but I'm supposed to be keeping the HR in z3 or below (comes out at 148bpm for me) and limiting my rides to under 3 hours at a time. Fitness and Form have taken a complete nosedive and I'm seriously fed up :-(
 
Only just back on the bike after getting a new frame under warranty (bottom bracket was cross threaded). Also had to wait on my new cree lights arriving before the 6am cycles could start. Safe to say i am back on the road
 
I have an old road frame set up on the turbo trainer, and I keep meaning to get on and see how I go. I will try to take it easy, but you know what it is like. I may just concentrate on keeping the cadence up in a low gear (though not so low that I start bouncing around).
My worst fear is the inevitable saddle soreness, which will rule out riding for a few days after.
 
TheBigYin said:
Not QUITE hibernating - i've had a couple of weeks off the bike "under doctors orders" because I picked up a rather nasty lung infection in the aftermath of a stinking cold. Gradually getting back to riding again, but I'm supposed to be keeping the HR in z3 or below (comes out at 148bpm for me) and limiting my rides to under 3 hours at a time. Fitness and Form have taken a complete nosedive and I'm seriously fed up :-(
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My form is also shot- back on the bike this morning after nearly 3 weeks off because of holiday, a nasty ear infection and a very rich meal last night. I found myself checking that my brakes and mudguards were not rubbing- sadly it was just that I have gained a couple of kg and am rather out of shape!
 
Audi recommend their own carrier of course, but it comes with the rear towbar and costs about £1300 all in...

there's a thread on the Audi forum about this, with a Saris Bones Fitted...

http://www.a1-forum.co.uk/a1forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3619

big issue appears to be "disabling the rear wiper" to stop the blade and the support struts clashing...

eta: apparently Saris don't recommend the use of any tailgate mounts either (same as Thule) - personally I'd be going for a roof-mount solution if I'd a few bikes to carry, but as I'm usually only carrying one bike, and there's only me in the car, I knock the wheels off, drop the rear seat and put the bike in the back.

the Audi solution is ridiculous though - as someone said in the thread I linked to, for £1300 you could buy an old smoker of a Volvo estate and just throw the bikes in the back for that price...
 
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Onboard Footage from Sven Nys bike at this saturdays UCI Cyclocross Event at Milton Keynes - looks like a proper UK cyclocross slop-fest...

 
nice.. i had a gloopy one at the weekend.

damn stuff was like grinding paste, i could feel it destroying my drive train through the cranks/pedals. worn all the anodizing off my chain ring and jockey wheel teeth :meh: :indifferent:

10809722_1576337885920445_8480400_n.jpg
 
neil_g said:
nice.. i had a gloopy one at the weekend.

damn stuff was like grinding paste, i could feel it destroying my drive train through the cranks/pedals. worn all the anodizing off my chain ring and jockey wheel teeth :meh: :indifferent:
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Sounds like pretty much every ride in the Peak District... they don't call it "millstone grit" for nothing, I've seen people go through 3 sets of brake pads in one ride...
 
Hello all you wonderful peeps

Very happy to see pedalling stuff on here...I have recently done my very first race with a little Scott 26 hardtail...also got me a Merida 29 softtail which I am enjoying very much.

Looking forward to chatting gear ratios with interested parties.

Have a wonderful day everyone!
 
Has anyone done any of the Evans Ride IT events?? I'm doing the Thetford road one on the 14th Dec - if anyone else is going it would be good to meet up :).
 
Hello Everyone

I am simply curious...my 26" hardtail Scott Aspect 2010 is a TANK at 14.5kg (bare) but the gearing seems to be potentially faster than my Merida 29" soft tail kitted out with repair kit and spare tube at 13.5kg.

Problem is, I am running a 38-26 chainring set with 11-36 cassette on the Merida...nicely upgraded XT crankset but it feels like it needs some top end by comparison with the 26 Scott's 44 big chainring.

Your thoughts?

Did my very first race in September...see youtube linky:

 
I am told that 38-26 chainrings are better suited to XC marathon rides for 29ers...which is more my thing anyway but I would like to have a bigger chainring up front without having to change the whole crank assembly, derailleur and what not...
 
well -

with a 11-35 and 26.38 on a 29er, assuming you're using 2.1" tyres, you've got a range of gears from 20.7" to 99"

on the scott (checking "factory" spec of 22/32/44 and 11-30) and again 2.1" tyres your range is from 19.1" to 104.8" - so yes, in theory, the scott has a slightly wider spread of gearing, at both ends of the spectrum.

BUT assuming you're riding at a cadence of around 90 rpm, you're top gear on the scott will give you 29.26mph, whereas the 29er would be doing at the same pedalling revs, a 38/11 combo will see you happily doing 26.5mph. In short, unless you're regularly "spinning out" at well over 28mph in your top gear on the 29er there's very little point in swapping gearing too much...

Oh - and it's only in the extreme smallest cog at the back that theres ANY gearing advantage on the scott... 44/12 is a 96.2" gear - lower than "top" on the 29er.

All data from bikecalc. Plug the figures in yourself and do the comparisons...
 
I did it a bit old school...calculated wheel circumferences and calculated distances per crank and wheel revolutions...

I am currently running 2.1 throughout on both but will fit 2.25 Michelins
 
Was about to say on the Merida...quite enjoy the Michelins as they are marginally fatter than advertised spec.

Not quite sure about what to do with the Scott...will probably fit the fattest mean knobblies for trail playing and prep gymming...
 
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TheBigYin said:
well -

with a 11-35 and 26.38 on a 29er, assuming you're using 2.1" tyres, you've got a range of gears from 20.7" to 99"

on the scott (checking "factory" spec of 22/32/44 and 11-30) and again 2.1" tyres your range is from 19.1" to 104.8" - so yes, in theory, the scott has a slightly wider spread of gearing, at both ends of the spectrum.

BUT assuming you're riding at a cadence of around 90 rpm, you're top gear on the scott will give you 29.26mph, whereas the 29er would be doing at the same pedalling revs, a 38/11 combo will see you happily doing 26.5mph. In short, unless you're regularly "spinning out" at well over 28mph in your top gear on the 29er there's very little point in swapping gearing too much...

Oh - and it's only in the extreme smallest cog at the back that theres ANY gearing advantage on the scott... 44/12 is a 96.2" gear - lower than "top" on the 29er.

All data from bikecalc. Plug the figures in yourself and do the comparisons...
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As a matter of interest, how many riders actually manage to maintain 29MPH on 2.1" tyres on the flat?

On the Olympic velodrome yesterday, some of the World's best track cyclists were doing 29MPH in the points/scratch/madison races at that speed on less than 1" tyres, with all the best carbon/aero kit.

I very much doubt that mountain bikers on the flat can maintain more than 20MPH for a very short time.
 
All fair but on long downhills like in that one race there is a lovely long open twisty downhill approaching 10 miles long...to make up time on a 100km XC race it is grand fun to do in excess of 60km/h...without working too hard because one has to rest too...
 
neil_g said:
really? even the OH smart roadster would support a rack and thats mostly plastic..

it was supported mostly by the bumper and top straps:

IMG_0364_zps76ac41cd.jpg


(saris bones rack btw)
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TheBigYin said:
Audi recommend their own carrier of course, but it comes with the rear towbar and costs about £1300 all in...

there's a thread on the Audi forum about this, with a Saris Bones Fitted...

http://www.a1-forum.co.uk/a1forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3619

big issue appears to be "disabling the rear wiper" to stop the blade and the support struts clashing...

eta: apparently Saris don't recommend the use of any tailgate mounts either (same as Thule) - personally I'd be going for a roof-mount solution if I'd a few bikes to carry, but as I'm usually only carrying one bike, and there's only me in the car, I knock the wheels off, drop the rear seat and put the bike in the back.

the Audi solution is ridiculous though - as someone said in the thread I linked to, for £1300 you could buy an old smoker of a Volvo estate and just throw the bikes in the back for that price...
Click to expand...

Thanks. And sorry for the late reply - I wasn't quoted so never saw your messages.

Before the A1 we had a BMW 1 series and that apparently works with the Saris. Others say they use a Saris without a problem, but not sure I want to risk it as reviews on compatibility are mixed.

Think I may just opt for a roof rack. The tow bar option seems like hassle.
 
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