all purpose gear thread

ingenious carradice quick release solution
http://www.cyclofiend.com/working/2009/wbph001-andreball0909.html

the gear system (shimno positron!) on my gf's bike is pretty shonky - if I wanted to change it for something cheap and reliable (5 spd) what would be my best option? i.e what am I looking to score off of ebay?

Even hardened stainless steel wears down after a few thousand miles:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/4827369721_08b0329c7b.jpg

http://www.rouleur.cc/uploads/gallery/101_01.jpg

http://www.rouleur.cc/the-laurent-tshirt

Spent some time today fettling up the old neglected 1998 marin muirwoods, put lovely new jagwire cables in, looked bang on, except the front shifter will only find 2 positions (of three) and the rear will find 5 of 7. None of them are particularly sound either, feels well wrong, have a horrible feeling the springs etc in the trigger shifters are gone, which will only incur more cost, may as well have just got a new bloody bike. Am well pissed off with it.

so, im not riding slack but i keep dropping my chain off the cog. i've retensioned twice but the prob keeps coming back in a few rides. the alignmnent is perfect and has not changed. is this just what happens with ss drivetrains/cogs when they get worn out? cog looks to be ok to me, but does have pretty high mileage.

Probably not the problem but is the chain clean/lubed? Frequent problem with dirty rusty chains.

thx. could probly be more lubey, but is def clean. worth trying tho. i'm dreading tryna pull the snapring out of that nexus hub in order to replace cog. snapring is diabolical to put ON, can't be easier to get off, im guessing.

so, im not riding slack but i keep dropping my chain off the cog. i've retensioned twice but the prob keeps coming back in a few rides. the alignmnent is perfect and has not changed. is this just what happens with ss drivetrains/cogs when they get worn out? cog looks to be ok to me, but does have pretty high mileage.

vertical, horizontal, or track ends?

track ends

Chain in good condition? No stiff links or anything? Post a pic of the teeth on your cogs maybe?

looks ok, but now as i think about it, i can't remember how old it is for sure. it could be as old as 16 months, which would be ~ 6000+ miles on it.

friend at work said he thought his bottom bracket bearings were worn out on his 6" travel MTB due to a creaking/grinding noise when he turned the cranks - he has external bearings, so i thought this was unlikely, especially given that he never rides in rain/mud. took a look at his bike and told him that on a bike like that, especially when you have a chainguide, grinding is pretty hard to diagnose. took a closer look and realized the chain was bone dry - turns out he had never lubed it one time since buying the bike a year ago. he felt dumb.

replaced cog at 5:00 a.m.-- the old 18 really didn't seem bad, considering it has about 12k on it. anyway, i thought i had a spare 8spd chain lying around, only to find i had only a 9 spd. not really compatible, but rode it anyway-- chain is binding a bit on cog.

I just got some of these with prescription inserts for biking/skiing whilst being blind and they are turning out great for the former.

http://www.sportler.com/sportlerShop/produkt/katalog/adidas-elevation-clima-cool_5408157

being able to see whilst going fast has emboldened my descending a little.

http://cdn.rackspeed.de/bergfuchs/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/A/D/AD-Elevation09_L_5/Adidas-Elevation-Climacool.jpg

raver

They are huge by the standards of glasses.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/bike-blog/2011/jan/26/hoy-scalextric-olympic-cycling-set

took 1.6 lbs off mtb at well under $.40/g. ~value~ bitches!

imagine if i just shut my piehole and lost 10 lbs for free! it was -7 deg F this morning, so i may just have time to do that.

i just had a drivetrain overhaul and new cables = close my eyes and feels like new bike.

arent you getting a new bike anyways?

i wish i could close my damn eyes and feel like a new me, because 2011 is the year i feel rather old for the first time (weird lower back issues). i need a new lumbar and shit.

I am on the fence about new bike. I am kinda hoping to get a hand me down from one of the P1s tbqh. A boy can dream....

mpls bike swap

went this morning to dodge homework and walked out with:

specialized A1 FS rockhopper frame -- $25
26" wheelset (white ind laced to salsa delgados, free qr skewers and wheelbag!) --- $80
specialized saddle with carbon somewhere in it --- $25 and surprisingly comfortable
wool cycling hat -- $15

Congratulations, you have a velocipede!

http://www.capecodbiketrails.com/Velocipede%20gifs/Robinson-drawing.gif

aaaaaaand a buddy of mine scored an unused carbon cx fork for $50 and a thompson seatpost (w/shitty saddle) for $25

sorry, scored ~for me~

I have put a garmin 500 on lay-by

its a fun thing. still wish garminconnect would return to google mapping, bingmaps is awful.

i heard my road frame is coming back to me this week all coupled up, it's been gone since thanksgiving!

Is there any sort of bike rack that would work for storing a bulky cruiser type bike in an apartment? The one's I see online seem designed to work with light 10 speeds.

anyone got a link to a list of SRAM apex equipped bikes?

anyone got a link to a list of SRAM apex equipped bikes?

Not sure of a list but road.cc reviewed the specialised Allez Apex and rather liked it.

i have a specialized w/apex and am quite happy with it

Is there any sort of bike rack that would work for storing a bulky cruiser type bike in an apartment? The one's I see online seem designed to work with light 10 speeds.

The pulley system I had in London* was rated to 20kg (45lbs) which would probably be ok, however that needs a high ceiling and being able to screw it into joists.

*not sure if I was here when you were.

I = it

so this is more of an MTB thing, since their road components never really took off... but race face is closing down? i'm kind of o_O about it - they never seemed like a company that would be hurting for cash, although i guess with sram just getting better and better, 10 speed, etc, they just couldn't sustain their business anymore.

My gf is very keen to sort out bike storage solutions - even if I get rid of two of mine we'll still have four between us. Do people have any experience of the metal shed type bike storage units you keep outdoors?

i have a shed

I am envious of men with sheds.

looking for a commuter/pub bike. I should just get a pompino right?

those are just english steamrollers, right?

pretty much

not according to GIS

no, the on one is way better for a utility bike imo. it has cantilevers and rack brazeons to make racks and fenders easy. i very nearly bought one but ended up getting a better deal on the since discontinued robroy.

not according to GIS

― jaxon, Thursday, March 17, 2011 10:17 AM (30 minutes ago) [IP: 24.5.84.161] Bookmark

lol!!!

i guess pompino means blowjob in italian

my current fork is a 300g profile ac that is 10 years old and has seen many hard miles and even a couple lay downs. as i was descending deer creek in a tuck at about 50 mph, i thought, is this fork really safe at 10 years old?

light 1" all carbon forks are really hard to find now, and expensive, if you can find one at all (you can still get _beautiful_ woundups, but they are sorta heavy). anyway, i should have bought an easton they were blowing them out in november at half the going rate. now they are all gone afaict.

after much searching and soul searching, i just bought an easton ec90sl straight leg.

straight leg forks, c/d? i say dud, but it's all i could find.

"very nearly all gone"- obv, i found one.

Thank you for your recent order. This is to inform you that your order (#140687) has been cancelled. It was cancelled due to our being out of stock of this item.

guess not. fuck.

to get a fork, im now tryna order a columbus minimal from uk. this is crazy. nice looking non-integrated curved blade fork, except im not loving gloss finish. my seatpin is matte, this could be aesthetic crisis.