The Cycling Thread

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Get a better lock, they can go through them in 15 seconds with bolt cutters. Got a Abus Steel o Flex, when I go into rougher area use couple of smaller cable locks through front whee/frame and Saddle rails/frame. Looking into a D lock as well.

Remove the plastic round piece behind cassette looks ugly.

Just replaced mudguards, that rubber flap does help with spray.
 
You must have to be frugal kayaking and biking, the last boat I bought was £600 (ex demo Eskimo Zwo). I couldn't afford to do both any more.
Well I bought a FatYak2 brand new off eBay, but it didn't arrive for ages. Then I saw a 2nd hand Perception Scooter Gemini which was well priced so went and picked that up last night - the missus moaned when I bought the 1st one as she wanted me to get a 2 man one so she could come too.

Then this morning the 1st one I ordered finally turned up, so I then had a surplus! Would love to have kept them both but couldn't really justify spending all that money.... Luckily my boss said he'd buy it off me for what I paid so worked out well. :thumbsup:
 
If you're looking at side panniers recommend the SJS ones, although I'd fit some rubber around the metal rods on the pannier as metal/metal contact makes a bit of a noise. Also use a couple click tie wraps on the lower half to pannier fittings to stop them bouncing upwards and off.
 
Ha ha, I love having 2 because commuting and MTBing on one bike is always a compromise.
I would have kept my road bike if commuting was worth while to be honest.

I'm currently living a 6 to 8 min walk from work so would take longer to get bike out and lock it away. :laugh:
 
Yeah it's the team, I went for the team over the comp due to the hydraulic rather than cable discs, carbon fork and er, the colour.:blush:

She's a beauty Dave :thumbsup:

The rack and bag came to around £92 IIRC. You could fit a few DSLR's in with the panniers folded out.
Ooh, that sounds rather clever, do you mean you have side panniers that fold up out of the way when not in use? If so, that's brilliant :thumbsup:

Get a better lock
As a Policeman I'm sure Dave knows what locks are suitable for where he parks it. :D

Remove the plastic round piece behind cassette looks ugly.
I think it looks beautiful :p Perfectly functional just as it is, although a carbon fibre one would look well cool :devil:
 
Get a better lock, they can go through them in 15 seconds with bolt cutters. Got a Abus Steel o Flex, when I go into rougher area use couple of smaller cable locks through front whee/frame and Saddle rails/frame. Looking into a D lock as well.

Remove the plastic round piece behind cassette looks ugly.

Just replaced mudguards, that rubber flap does help with spray.

Yeah I know the lock's crap but I don't even lock the bike up at work anyway (it's parked in the rear yard of a police station with bobbies coming and going 24/7).

The locks only in case I need to pop in the shop on the way home.

As for the piece of plastic, is there a functional reason for it's being because removing it for aesthetics doesn't sound right or it wouldn't be there in the first place.:confused:
 
Ooh, that sounds rather clever, do you mean you have side panniers that fold up out of the way when not in use? If so, that's brilliant :thumbsup

Cheers Dave, yeah the bag has panniers that fold out if you need extra space. They just drop down and you can fit tons of stuff in them. Great design and the bags last years.

Linky.
 
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It's there to protect the chain popping off the largest sprocket and jamming in between the spokes. A well set up rear derailler should never allow that to happen.

Check end stops yourself, although my Carrera came pretty much perfect out of the box I'd double check. Do the same for the front derailler.

Halfords are bit useless.
 
It's there to protect the chain popping off the largest sprocket and jamming in between the spokes.

So it's a very useful bit of insurance, Dave; because in the unlikely event your chain bounces off and jams between the spokes and sprocket it will most likely completely trash them :thumbsup:
 
Cheers Dave, yeah the bag has panniers that fold out if you need extra space. They just drop down and you can fit tons of stuff in them. Great design and the bags last years.

Linky.

Fantastic, for those features that sounds like a good price :smashin:
 
Tried one of those drop down panniers problem is toughness of material, more of a thin plastic than tough canvas or nylon.

So it's a very useful bit of insurance, Dave; because in the unlikely event your chain bounces off and jams between the spokes and sprocket it will most likely completely trash them

And likely to lock up the rear wheel.

None of my bikes have the plastic cassette protector.
 
Tried one of those drop down panniers problem is toughness of material, more of a thin plastic than tough canvas or nylon.

If I was using the panniers every day then they wouldn't be as good as tough canvas or nylon but I couldn't fold them up either or remove them as easily. As it is I only use them for 2 journeys out of 12 to carry my towel and trousers at the start and finish of each shift run so for that they are perfectly adequate.

Just because you found something no good for you doesn't mean it's no good for anyone else.

As for the plastic, it's staying put.
 
Nah. That's what the end stop screws are for.
 
Well, after 3 weeks my letter of collection came through.:clap:

Nice work, well worth the wait! :thumbsup:

Any chance of a close-up of the front mudguard attachment(s) at the bottom of the fork? Looks like you've got the same carbon forks as on my Pro, so interested to see how they're fitted.
 
Extend the cassette to more than 28 teeth on a Shimano Tiagra rear mech? Or can you get a small compact - say 50/30 so nearly 1:1?

Are these my only options and what would the cheapest option be as i would just switch it back out after the ride as i have no need for such low ratio's on the roads around where i live - unless i can get a 50/30 or less than 30 compact?

Had the bike at my LBS for the past few days and looking at options. We thought a 32 cassette would fit but the rear mech only just catches. He said i could change to an MTB rear mech but road shifters and MTB shifters are indexed differently so would be a no go on the cheap.
I might look at changing the front cog down to below 36 and maybe go with 50/34 or try to do lower if possible - this would be permanent as i sometimes find the 46 a bit too low - especially now the tyres have been swapped out.

Firstly however i am going to try some hills around here in Derbyshire as we have a few steep ones now that I have changed my tyres from cyclocross to road tyres which has made a difference on the flats (only tried flats so far). I kept the cyclocross tyres on as they were good for winter with the lower miles but higher resistance but for this 'adventure' i need them to run smoother :)
 
Nice work, well worth the wait! :thumbsup:

Any chance of a close-up of the front mudguard attachment(s) at the bottom of the fork? Looks like you've got the same carbon forks as on my Pro, so interested to see how they're fitted.

Here you go. Let me know if you need any more pics, they're a bit fiddly to fit as the metal rods need trimming to the required length but once they're on they're great.

dcb8bb0d.jpg
 
That bike looks very smart Dave, if i was to get aonther bike then it would be something like this :)
 
Nice bike Dave, I went out on my bike a couple of times with my DSLR in my backpack.

Unfortunately it became a hassle to take it off, open it, get dslr out etc.. also since I was in my cycling shoes I didn't want to walk around in them too much.

I cycled to work for the first time in weeks this morning, I spent all morning trying to think of a reason not to cycle - but nothing could match the guilt of not cycling.

I forgot how hard it can be out on the road, I don't like to hold up traffic so if someone's having difficulty overtaking I either.

i) Sprint to the next wide section of road
ii) Pull over

This morning, I made an sprint of over 30mph which took me up hill whilst trying not to hold up a lorry... at which point we went our separate ways at the roundabout.

Knackering!
 
I forgot how hard it can be out on the road, I don't like to hold up traffic so if someone's having difficulty overtaking I either.

i) Sprint to the next wide section of road
ii) Pull over

This morning, I made an sprint of over 30mph which took me up hill whilst trying not to hold up a lorry... at which point we went our separate ways at the roundabout.

Knackering!

I never pull over, they can bloody wait until it's safe to overtake. I always find that with most car drivers if you give them an inch they take a mile.

There are loads of pedestrian refuges on my commuting route and if I go too close to the kerb the cars go charging past inches away from me as they squeeze through the gap. If you dominate the space they can't get too close and it's safer. It's amazing how many people charge up then realise they can't get through and slam the brakes on.:rolleyes:

They have an engine to do the work for them, they can afford to wait.
 
yeah I don't pull over. I only do when there is large tailback, usually a HGV behind me and on country roads.

And if you ride too close to the kerb they try and over take, even when there's oncoming traffic and the road is only just wider than two cars. You want to ride a bit out, if you're on the yellow line you're too far to the left.

Worst drivers for overtaking are BMW drivers, always give a couple of inches room.
 
yeah I don't pull over. I only do when there is large tailback, usually a HGV behind me and on country roads.

Yes this is more like how it is, I've never pulled over for a car - but occasionally a Lorry.

All my cycling is country roads, from village to village - the road between my workplace and Guildford can get quite busy with a long stretch of road where there will be few chances for cars to overtake because of oncoming traffic.

No chance for a HGV.
 
Just a reminder that Lidl have their cycling offers on today.

The workstand for £30 is incredible value. I've also had some trousers and a tool kit.
 
i was going to head down to lidl tonight, good job you reminded me as i had forgotten.
 
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