If there is enough head exposed you could try a hacksaw blade to cut a slot in the head and then use a screw driver.

If not drill and use a ezy out.

I know someone who rides 42:18T and he smokes and is still faster than me. Somethings in life are just not fair.

I never ride in baggies on or off road. Don’t care how it looks I just want to be comfortable when I ride and padded shorts give me that. I wear the cannondale ones, not cheap but durable and comfy.

Once I worked 12 miles from home and I stopped driving and rode everyday. No shower and I was fine – no smells. Breathable cloths and a good anti persiant for the armpits solves all hygine issues. I worked in school as teacher and used to ride 33 miles (each way for kicks) to work some days. Again no shower. I can assure you that BO was not a problem if you have the correct clothing and dry yourself of before you put your work cloths on.

Electric bikes make sense if you have a disability and simply cannot pedal at a cadance to allow 15 mph. However many people by them to make the ride easier as they think they are not fit enough. This is solved by getting fitter which does you good in the long run. I am passinate about cycling and more people should do it but please pedal unassisted if you can. Cycling to work reduces our personal environmental impact but if you buy an electric bike then the energy used and pollution created to make the motor and batteries as well as the recharing makes a less sound choice than a convential 100% human powered bike.

It simply doesnot bother me how good modern electric bikes are as I really fail to see the point in them.

Where’s the pic, although I am just imagining it and it a sexy bike also expensive I would imagine.

^^ Exactly

I run both. The external BB;s never last as long as a similarly priced square taper. If it was not for the expensive cranks that take external BB’s I would switch over to square taper. Like many many things bike modern solutions are often not a dura as the tried and tested retro solutions.

I would stick with square taper and the Shimano UN54 or Un55 is a very cheap and relaible BB.

As for the Alvio cranks they only thing in favour of them is they are £40 cheap (don’t pay more than that, I sell them for that) and they have seperate chain rings. I would if you have the coin pick up an old set of XT cranks or Race face turbines from ebay or retrobike.

I don’t like SRAM soley because pricing through Fishers is so pricey that on line retailers sell cheaper than trade. Which is the only thing stopping me buying it.

Well I already have and am happy with it – the facial hair and 1 speed.

Sunrace make decent 9 speed cassettes and will do for some time to come. Jockey wheels will remain available and the chains will always be available. So the only things to no be available are Shimano XT/XTR shifter and mechs. But since microshift and Sunrace make there own version they may plug the gap in the market and start making there own high end nine speed kit. Although some say there is nothing wrong with the microshift 9 speed kit.

I would agree. The £600 ish electric bikes that have come in the shop for fixing have all had issues with the electric part of the bike which I cannot attend to. All of them have been warranty issues. For £700 I sell the Tifosi CK7 it has rack mounts and mudguards. Perfect for commuting. Ribble do there version two.

For £600 you can buy a reasonable commutor. Then buy some racks, panniers, a travel towel. Washing is really not necessary. Sweat only smells if baceria get to grow in it before it dries. So breathable clothing solves this problem.

15 miles each way is a short ride really. The only problem is in heavy rain as then you will need good waerproofs but tha again is no biigy. You will spend less getting a pedal powered bike.

Park tools hex head, socket and torx set SBS1 is a good buy. Use with a 3/8″ rachet or torque wrench.

Park’s PHT torx drivers are also good. Cyclus also make some good tools. I would stick with those. It what I use in my shop.

I would always keep a bike a simple as you can get away with. Some folk ride full sussers around thetford I cannot see why. I ride a rigid around there qucik quickly too.

As some said define decent. £1000 full susser will be a bit comprimised in the rim, hub, and spoke department. I like wheels that stand up to the abuse which a full susser should recieve.

42:16 on the road bike
34:16 on one MTB
36:18 on another MTB
Have tried 38:18 as well.

I ride in Suffolk/Essex/Norfolk mostly.

Rode 32:16T around he trails at Cannock and that was hard work but I got round allt he trails. If I did that again I would use 32:18.

Why buy electric. I used to commute 33 miles sometimes each way to work. Get up at 5:00 am eat breakfast, leave at 05:30 pedal my single for 2 hours and eat a second breakfast at work. Then do it all again at the end of the day. I worked as a teacher and if you pick the right clothing and the right anti perperant body order is not an issue. Beieve the kids I used to teach would have told me if I smelled. In fact I got in so early that most of the time noone even realised I had cycled in as you simply could not tell. A rack and big panniers help here as tha reduces the sweat on your back. Also wear proper base layers and padded shorts help to as they breathe and do not hold on to any sweat.

15 miles is an hours ride very doable every day without the need for an electric bike – also most electic bikes are heavy and you only get assitance up to 15 mph. I like to move at 20 mph+ where I can.

The reason for the lock ring is to stop the sprocket unwinding when you try and do a rear wheel skid. As that is impossible on a freewheel it should be fine but the thread is narrower so there will be less thread enagement. Probably not an issue.

I use a set of 721 rims and they can take a proper battering.

Mavic and hope Hubs is wha hope use with good reason. Mavic rims is what I mostly use for wheel builds for customers as well.

Pipedream Scion can be built up for ~£1000. Damm nice frame.

For racing this year I will be running Continental X-King Supersonic. As already said all the supersonic range are good.

The other tyre I am using for racing this year is the Geax Barromud 1.7″ light and fast but little stetchy over wet rock/wet roots e.t.c. Fine in mud as it does not stick to the tyre and on hard parked or damp surface. Not very good on very loose surfaces. They feel fast around Thetford forest which is where I ride.

RJ Chickens are not getting any more of these but they have 29 left in stock. I think they weight 430g as well.

Here’s a review. http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/components/tyres/product/barro-mud-17in-9219

I quite like them.

What about the Knog ones?

While 10 speed setups give a better range of ratio e.t.c, chains are more expensive and so are the cogs.

If you live in a really hilly area then you there is probably an advantage. If you you in the flatlands then the benefits are less noticeable. I only ride SS MTB though so my opinions are biased.

Don’t bother getting a bit lost is half the fun of riding. You find new things that way.

If the brakes feel awful you are leaving the braking to late or have crap pads. Decent pads sort the braking out. The steering is fine for me but I have been riding road for years now.

Well I bought the Race Face X type bearing removal tool for the shop from Silverfish. The plastic covers are avaialable from silverfish as are the new bearings but 6805 bearings are avaialable from any bearing shop. E-mail if you are stuck. If you want the bearing removal tool then it is about £60 I think. I can source them if you want. The plastic covers will probably break so its best to order spares.

e-mail at workshop@thecycleclinic.co.uk

Best
Shimano UN series BB’s
Thomson Elite seat posts
SDG Bel air saddles
The hope brake (mono’s) that I have – 7 years and only one caliper rebuilt and still going stong.
Hope hubs (are there any bad ones)?
Shimano XT hubs, cranks, mechs, shifters….
Marzocchi Forks – Marathon’s years of loyal service.
SPD’s -they are all good
Continental Gator Skin Tyres
Campag’s Ergo shifters
Miche Racing Box hubs – smooth and cheap
Sapim Race spokes
R853 tubing
TA specialities chain rings

Worst
BBB skyscraper seatpost – lasted a few rides and bent
Race face seatposts – the binder bolt kept on breaking
ISIS BB were there any good ones, I hate them.
CB pedals pre 2012 – EB2’s and EB3’s are decent but the previously they fell apart.
Old CNC machined cranks – they cracked like my wife’s gold middleburns

90% of your braking is done by your front wheel so bigger on the front. However if you decend alot then bigger on the back is useful as using the front brake on a decent can be a bit awkward.

So it depends. I run 180/160mm on my disc bike but ride in East Anglia. No big hill to come down here.

There are pullies avalible so you can run ergo with shimano mech “shimergo”. I believe it might be possible on some 8 speed systems. Do a serach on Shimergo and there is info about it on the CTC website and may Sheldon brown’s site amongst others.

Its a good idea and as people tend to obey the rules of the road it would work. With extra mirrors the driver has to be 1) check them and I just don’t think that will always happen and 2) the cyclist will have to be a position to be seen.

It will not help those cyclist who after a lorry has come to halt they slot in on the left and get stuck. It will not help those cyclist who have lorries pull up to the right of them or those who have a lorry overtake and come to a halt as the cyclist is coming to a halt. All three of these situations happen alot and those bad road practices have to stop. cyclist have to wait in a traffic queue and other automotive traffic have to respect the order of traffic even if a cyclist is on the left hand part of lane. Just sit behind them till they have cleared the lights, it’s not hard.

This light solution would work.

To stevewhyte I think you need to brush up on your Physics. G.P.E is energy and is measured in joules not Newtons. The only way to solve the problem presented by a pevious poster of equivelent crash speed is to use the conservation of energy.

The force imparted to head tube by the weight is dependent on the change in momentum (calulable from the height of fall, gravitational field strength of the earth and the mass) and the impact time (unknown) so it impossible to determine impact force. F = (mv-mu)/t

Hense conseravtion of energy is the only to work anythg out. Working out the force on the head tube does not help you work out the equivelent impact speed.

Also the rider normally comes of in a crash so 441J equates to the bike alone (10.9 kg) travelling at 9 m/s or ~20 mph assuming no energy absorption by the tyres, tube, rims, spokes, hub, forks and the assuming the bike does not rotate. All of which are not ture so you would have to ride into a wall about 25 mph or more to crack that carbon frame upon which cracking the frame is the least of worries.

Don’t know what this one involves but I run a 3 hour course for free that includes basic bike setup and maintenence. Designed for begineer to cycling or those who bike but know nothing about it. It covers replaceing tubes, refitting tyres, how to set up your brakes, indexing of gears, how to use your chain tool and other general stuff you need to know before you set off and when you out miles from home or help.
I run it for free because people alway end up buying stuff they need.

It think this knowledge should be inparted for free anyway as you just have to know if you ride.

Disc brakes are a solution, brake less or move to the countryside where riding is not stop start.

2000 miles of stop start riding sounds reasonable to wear a rim out particulaly if the a wet griding paste on the pads.

The carbon frame survived 110lb at 800mm drop which equates to a G.P.E = 441J

A rider of 95 kg (kited out (that’s me) on a 10.9 kg bike would have to travelling at 2.9 m/s to be carring 441J of energy. That’s only 6.5 mph but that assumes no energy dissapation by the tyres, rims, forks and non of the K.E being transfered into rotating the bike which would happen in reality.

That test is simply not real world but it does show the toughness of the material quite well.

I would echo the above. I once tried joining a 9 speed chain in my ignorance got to Thetford, parked up got on the bike and did not even get out of the carpark before it snapped. Started using missing links from that day on.

Have you taken the bike on a demo ride yet? Thats what I would do. Personally I like hope brakes, the mini’s I have had for years are still giving me faithfull service. As for stopping power I have never had any issue with them even when decending something steep. I am sure there newer efforts are at least just as good.

As for hope hubs, they are a bit noisey but I don’t here when I’m riding, having to much fun.

I think the overtaking clearance depends on the situation. 2ft can be sufficent in some (slow moving traffic where you are sure of the cyclist inensions e.t.c) circumstances but not all hense why I wrote at least 2ft clearance when overtaking.

I often ride about 1m (~3ft) from the kerb, single track roads I am in the middle but this agains depends on the road, lane width and traffic conditions. So I agree with you entirely of positioning. It how I ride.

Maybe IAM’s advise has changed since I did my driver training a few years back.

Standard bike grease should not be used on cables as already said. A light oil is suitable here.

If a cable is sticking I would just replace the cable and outer as you have to disassemble anyway to lube. My view on cable is run full length outers if you can bu if you can’t use stainless steel wires like Transfils that are cheap and chearful and replace as often as needed. They should last a decent length of time. If riden in sloppy wet conditions all the time then they will not last as long but transfil gear cable set would cost any customer here about £6 or £7 depending on how much outer is needed and how many ferrules are needed. So it it will never break the bank.

Lithium grease should not be used everywhere.
Bearings/moving parts use a grease with my favourite being Rock N roll Super web.
Anti size should be used in static metal to metal parts e.g. press fit headset cup, BB threads. Manufacturers recomend (mostly) that non grease or anti zize should be used of BB axle splines (there may be some expections).

WD40 has no place on a bike anywhere, it is hopeless. If I wan to free a siezed part plus gas is the pentrating fluid of choice.

I would not even let GT85 anywhere near a bike either.

I use and EBC pads and have had no issues with them on my hopes.

So the OP could take his Bell air and try it on his road bike it may work for him or not. If it does then problem solved.

Very few cycles lanes are actually useable if painted on the road as the roads are not simply wide enough in many towns.

Being an IAM driver you overtake giving as much space as necessary. If you cannot give sufficent space then wait. As for cyclists, they should cycle at a distance fromt the edge of the road that allows them to ride safely. I.e in cross winds a greater diastnace to the edge of the road is reasonable. Also concideration needs to given the state of the edge of the road regarding pot holes e.t.c and the width of the lane. It is resoanable to cyle 2-3ft out on narrow to encourage drivers to slow down and pass in the other lane. A driver should leave at least 2 ft between them and the bike as bike do wobble particularly in cross winds and will serve to avoid road debris.

Greater driver training with respect to bikes is needed as part of IAM driver training (where there is none) and on the driving test where there is effectively none.

The IAM is very reasonable and the rules are guidance for best practice and are not fixed. They are more a toolkit to enable you to drive safely, concideratley and with pace.

I use a the SDG Bellair on my MTB too. Damm nice saddle, why not use one on your road bike as well. There is nothing to say that you can’t. If its comftable that’s what I would do. I did for a long while and it was great but bought a Sella Italia C2 Gel when I started using the MTB again and now I wish I had just got another Bel air. I will not bother buying other saddles now as everything else is simply to uncomfortable in comparrision.

Why change what works?

Damm I would have had that but that puts me on 5th dibs.