Just swanning around

Flippin glorious outside. Anyone else been out today?

that's a very strange gear to be in, riding along on the flat.

Chainline FAIL!

Not been out and don't recognise those skies!

Yesterday it looked like this from my ride though:

cr@p iPhone photo sorry

Theflatboy

Ay? How the heck can you critique my choice of gear when clearly I am someone using my self timer and only had 10 seconds to run, pick the bike up, do a near trackstand then peddle when the flash really sped up to signal it was about to take a photo 😀 You clearly do not understand the concept of extreme pootling! It's the new DH don't you know 🙂

And CFH – I couldnt give a hoot about my chain – I was trying to get the swans in the middle of the wheel – that was all 😀

Sheesh what do people of STW want? The moon on a stick?

here you go

edit: damn you!

Gear choice fail, trousers tucked into white socks with tennis trainers? You really are riding it like you stole it eh?

Nowt wrong with trousers in socks – its an post moderne antifashion statement dontchano

Still dont understand why my choice of gears should be critiqued, in all honesty.

And my socks are tucked into my trousers in oder not to get them caught up in my obviously wrong choice of gears. They are ADDIDAS actually and not tennis shoes so there!

Crumbs – you lot will be criticising the swans next for the wrong choice of feather!

To be honest, it's the Evans sticker near the bottom of the downtube that causes me most concern. Keep running your chain like that and sooner or later you'll need to go back there, and that's just a guarantee of disappointment!

BTW, in answer to the original post. Yes, Spring does appear to have sprung although nobody seems have told the temperature yet! Blue skies, nice and sunny but bleedin' cold.

They're Adidas not ADDIDAS. And they look like Superstars? Maybe Gazelles, can't quite mak the toe out. Get some scouring powder on them and they'll be white again.

simonralli2 – Member

Still dont understand why my choice of gears should be critiqued, in all honesty.

This is STW FFS of course it will be critiqued unless you are in the latest expensive cycle kit and everything on your bike is in this weeks niche

Oooh, touchy Jeremy. It's not the choice of gears in terms of LX vs XTR. It's the choice of small front/small rear taboo.

Well yes, I did buy my bike from Evans, and was very happy as it was in a sale, but that was before I was to discover, a year or two later, the collective "wisdom" that is Single Track World. This is my first and only mountain bike, and I have had the forks replaced, but since I love the frame, all I have really done is replace parts as they have worn out. I love my bike and it's perfect for my kind of extreme DH flat towpath pootling 😀

All I wanted to do really was post what I thought was quite an arty bike pic with some swans and blue sky and look at what happens!

Solarrider, in terms of gears, I tend to keep my front one in the easy ring, and the back moves up and down as needed. It is in the middle I think from memory, and seeing as I put it in the big one for going up, and the small one for going down, I fail to see how people can criticise my choice of gear, as it is ion the middle and in the world of simonralli that makes perfect sense for being on the flat. 😀 I mean, I have never made out I am some sort of marathon uber fast XC god or anything, so obviously my choice of gear is perfect as it was right for me! Sorry, not worked up or anything, I just fail to see what the issue is, or is it something technical of which I am not aware?

Your swans need a tidy up. 😆

Solarider – that was not meant to be touchy. I did understand it looks like small / small on the gearing.

Just wait they'll be along soon saying that you shouldn't have more than one gear and your wheels are too small….. 🙄 😀 I thought the picture was very nice!

Your choice of gears is your own choice, but your photo clearly shows small front/small rear. When you snap the chain or break the derailleur or get horrendous chainsuck, you'll be sorry when you have to take your bike back to Evans!

The gear choice thing isn't about fashion, its about the usable range of gears. You could achieve the same ratio with a larger gear at the back and the middle ring. This would put less strain on your equipment and make that inevtiable trip back to the land of disappointment (AKA Evans) less likely. The advice given is meant for your own good. In that gear, your chain is not supported and more likely to flap around and damage your stays as the rear derailleur can't cope. The angle between the front and rear cogs is also too great, meaning that you are stressing your chain sideways beyond what you should. Nobody would criticise using the middle ring as your main 'pootling' choice. Most of us do, and it makes most of the rear cluster accessible.

This isn't meant to be a newby bashing post. Evans is an obvious choice for a first timer, and the Konas they sell (if that is what it is – looks like it) are the same as the Konas from any decent bike shop. Your choice of bike is a good one. Your choice of gear ratios is not, and your choice of retailer is not, but that comes with age, experience and the friendly, well-meaning jibing from STW forum members!

Great picture Simon. 😀

😆 @ the Evans comments!

Yeah.. Give over people!!

At least his tyre label is lined up with the valve.

Some people.. 🙄

Edit.. I am however, unimpressed with the front brake hose going up the back of the fork leg. It goes round the inside of the fork leg and is zip-tied to the front of the left side of the brace. I'll let you off this time though.

Well thank you Solarrider – that comment is actually quite helpful as I have never heard anyone explain that before. It does help to at least explain what the issue was. i thought you were trying to say i was unfit (which I am) and should have had it in a much harder gear.

As for Evans, well I bought my bike in Leeds in 2005 and it has since been with me to Gibraltar, Scotland and is now down in Devon, and is spending the night at Hot Wheels getting the bearings replaced on the front wheel. Obviously I am all for saving things and not wasting things so I will experiment and try and find a new gear in the very unused middle ring 😀

It's a Kona Caldera and I bought after hiring one for a ride around Mabie Forest and it got a good score in What Mountain Bike too.

while this lot were learning their skills as bike nerds they were missing out on diggs and whoosh! a life of chainlines or just lines?

quite apart from the bent chain issues you're on your way to, the noise made by such a gear selection with the chain rattling on the top jockey wheel/cage is most unbecoming, it's just not the done thing old chap. 😆

you could do with some disc rims as well, get rid of that nasty silver braking surface.

No worries. The granny ring has its uses, but just not in combination with a small rear cog. See how close your 2 rear derailleur jockey wheels are horizontally? They are almost in line and your rear mech cage is horizontal. They can't take up any more slack in the chain, which means when you hit a bump the chain will flap around. It will then look for other places around your drive chain to 'relieve itself'. It might damage your chain stays by slapping into them. It might cause chain suck (where it gets trapped between your chainstays and the inside of the smallest front chainring). It might wrap around your rear mech and cause it to break, or rip off your frame. It might also just snap your chain. They are only meant to flex sideways so much.

Achieveing the same ratio with the middle ring and a larger rear cog will achieve a number of things. The chain will be stressed sideways less. The chain will be wrapped less tightly at the front because it is a bigger ring, making chain such less likely. The rear derailleur will have more spare tension in it to take up any chain slap. All-in-all a much better choice.

Bad gear choice doesn't impact on your enjoyment or ability to 'just get out and ride'. It just means a quieter chain, less maintenance and less expense in the long run. That's got to be a good thing.

All part of the service!

BTW – I did mention in a previous thread that I thought it was quite a nice photo!

Well today was the start of the rest of my biking life and I have been discovering a whole new world of middle ring riding thanks to the riding gods of STW. I hope this photo meets with everyone's approval. 8)

rusty bottle cage bolts and your laces are going to snag on your chainrings if you leave them loose like that.

Full marks on the whites laundry though. Mrs tyred could learn a thing or two there. Not that I'd wear white socks of course.