This often happens by mistake when wheels are removed and you manhandle the bike, accidentally grabbing brake levers

try using an old credit card to spread the pads a little, then a plastic cake spatula (anything thin and plastic is ideal)

failing that carefully use a kitchen knife (the traditional type which is flat and non serrated), you may cause some edge damage to the disc brake pads, but should be able to push the pads apart and the pistons home

in future, its good practise to install disc brake pad spacers (you can often get them from local bike shop for biscuits!), or failing that, just some thick card and a zip tie or toe strap to stop it falling out in transit.

I like this one.

Eventually we got the truth of her, she was not just riding along, that she had ridden into the back of a parked car, and no it was not covered under warranty!

@extremenik

I’d always advise using a good torque wrench on a carbon bar, or seatpost (and in general, especially for lighter weight aluminium alloy components)

the problem with carbon fibre is that its not ‘locally elastic’ meaning you don’t get the same feedback that you get when tightening against an aluminium alloy product using an allen key

the elasticity in the aluminium alloy is what allows you to “feel” the fitting being tightened, as experienced mechanics know you can get a good “feel” for how tight things should be even using a hand tool like a Park P-handle

with the carbon, this feedback does not exist, until the point the carbon fails with a sudden “crack” and you have a damaged or broken component. I’ve sold too many carbon components to customers who have come back the next day with it broken, and then admitted they did not use a torque wrench

if you are talking a ‘like for like’ comparison of the same product in carbon or aluminium alloy, then carbon should be stronger.

Easton have always claimed their carbon DH bar is substantially stronger than their best aluminium alloy DH bar, I have no reason to doubt their claims bearing in mind their heritage in aluminium alloy and carbon fibre. They also claimed their carbon fibre bar will not fatigue like aluminium alloys does.

Bearing in mind that not all carbon fibre is by any means equal, so we have to be talking about quality carbon fibre

Aluminium however, does not exhibit ‘notch sensitivity’ like carbon fibre does, and is also locally elastic meaning over tightening a shifter clamp or stem clamp will not cause the same problems you can experience with carbon fibre bars (i.e. fracture damage leading to catastrophic failure). I have seen bikes come into the shop with the carbon bar snapped exactly along the edge of the brake or shifter clamp

Aluminium alloy bars in the real world will take knocks, scrapes and even gouges without much complaint, so ideal if you crash regularly or like transporting your bike in the bar of a car with other bikes on top of it!

Carbon fibre bars are also poor value, but can have a very good ride quality, probably more noticeable on a road bike.

But I have them on both my bikes (road and mountain) because I got them for free, and use torque wrenches whenever working on the bikes, and try to stay rubber side up.

@hora

Yup. Pain killers mask problems, don’t deal with causes.

@cross hair

Disc braked road bike with quality tires and mudguard(s) = pleasurable riding in the cold / wet winter months.

@op. Get your new bike fitted properly, by an experienced bike fitter. You can quickly rack up long mile/km on a road bike and do some nasty damage very quickly. Road bikes have a much less dynamic position than mtb, good fitting is very important for comfortable road miles…

I sold my devinci Dixon fs in 2012 and bought a 29’er hardtail because the fs was making my riding in the flat lands of south east England too easy, and I wanted something with minimal maintenance.

Can’t say I’ve ever missed fs since. The hard tail has been easy to own, and the carbon fibre frame means its light and surprisingly comfortable combined with the big wheels and 25 psi in the tires.

I am on my 4th frame since 2012, but that is another matter and the brand has always resolved issues within a few days of contact, so not a problem from my POV.

Pm600 military grease. Recommended to me by SRAM factory technicians, works very well in our wet and muddy climate.

Out for an hour and half on the road bike with my missus in tow.

Would be rude not to ride, you rarely see central London looking this quiet.

She seemed happy too!

Happy Christmas to everyone.

Fox = 1 year warranty

Rockshox = 2 year warranty

personally? prefer my Manitou forks, but have owned many Fox and RS some with problems, some without.

We turn away bikes that are dangerous, or bikes that are brought in filthy and the customer does not want to pay £20 for cleaning.

We won’t fix a puncture when the tire has a torn sidewall, or a large hole in the tread, or work on a bike with bent/cracked frames or rims worn past safety limits.

We can only offer a measured, professional opinion and reasonable quote to fix. If the customer is not happy there is no cost for our initial time, but we won’t entertain doing a half assed job.

@2002

Here’s mine. Defy advanced pro 1

@stumpym4

Send me a pm with your postal address, I’ll send you some carbon assembly paste for free, we have loads of sachets at giant docklands

Trp spyre are the best mechanical road disc I’ve ridden but like all mechanical discs will require some adjustment as pads wear, can be tinkly from rotor/pad contact, and cables prone to corrosion over a wet winter.

If you have budget for shimano hydros they are worth the extra money, no doubt; self adjusting as pads wear, great modulation, minimal maintenance, pistons have long throw so little if any rotor/pad contact when sprinting or climbing.

I’ve been very impressed with my shimano hydros and the sti shape is fantastic on the rs 685, only negative is lever rattle on rough roads but easily cured with a sliver of bar tape up in the hood top.

I am riding this (have had it a few weeks) and the brakes are absolutely amazing on 2 points:

1. they stop consistently in all weathers
2. you don’t wear out your rims as you ride (which makes carbon rims a worthwhile investment)

I found the stock front rotor (140mm) had great modulation but perhaps lacked sheer stopping power, which is at odds with my experience of Shimano’s MTB hydro discs, so since the photo was taken I put in a +20mm adapter and Shimano XT 160mm rotor.

Big improvement, especially for commuting in heavy traffic, where sometimes you need immediate stopping power!

Can’t complain about the 11 speed Ultegra shifting, its slick and accurate, especially the front derailleur upshift. Ergonomically, the Shimano hydro STI (mechanical) has a great shape, although the hoods are long so the stem length was reduced by 10mm to compensate

this is what I ride, setup with 1 x 10 (34t front for summer, 32t front for winter). very fast and great handling

it makes huge sense for everyday utility bike (i.e. about town) and its something european visitors to bike shops I’ve worked in have always expressed surprise about?

when you suddenly add £100+ to their quote / bill for mudguards, lock, lights, panier rack

from what I have read and heard over the years, many hybrids and utility bikes for the European market come ‘equipped’ whereas for the UK they are produced ‘naked’.

We do see some equipped bikes from time to time (Giant did some ‘city’ models and Ridgeback?), but the exception rather than the norm?

whenever I use the site on my Android tablet, both of the side advertising bars massively expand shrinking the forum listing to 1/2″ wide, before going back to normal.

Happens every time I go back to the forum listing after viewing a thread

its the only site it happens on with my tablet

I am liking short link virtual pivots from banshee and giant, and also split pivot / abp from devinci and trek

sell both bikes

get a hydraulic disc-brake road bike that will take at least 25c tires, and get some mudguards

consistent stopping power in all conditions and no wear / tear to wheels from braking

11 speed Shimano 105 or even Ultegra are not expensive to replace as things wear, as long as you clean and lube it should not be an issue

problem solved 😉

Open pro will be fine for your needs?

Tough, cheap enough, eyeletted and good trueness out of the box so a competent wheel builder can provide you with well built, durable wheels.

Will accept a wide enough range of tire sizes to provide functionality.

Canyon UK based in Kingston, Surrey?

wrap masking tape around spoke / nipples

remove stickers

degrease Mavic rims

spray with black paint, i’d recommend Hammerite Smoothrite rattle cans 😉

@boblo and @brakes

you got it right there 😉

the third bike down (Venge with Cosmics) belongs to Chris Buncombe who is part of Jensen Button’s triathlon team.

This is what Mr. Buncombe does for his day job, so subtlety is not required 🙂

I service all of my own bikes, and those of Mrs. Esher Shore.

It helps that I work as a professional bike mechanic, because I have access to a comprehensive workshop, which just makes life easier.

This is the best thing I installed in the workshop to make bike cleaning super easy and quick.

Its a Park wall clamp mounted above the Rozone parts washer, and a QR rear hub where the freehub body has been packed with cassette spacers so the chain runs over it, allowing you to backpedal whilst washing the drivetrain. Custom plastic shroud around the Rozone to minimize splashback. You can rotate the bike up and down to wash the crankset or rear derailleur, and easily unclamp and flip bike around to access driveside / non driveside.

I have a comprehensive toolset at home, but rarely use it because I don’t have a proper workshop set up, which is near impossible in a London flat.

I find doing regular ongoing maintenance means my bikes are in tip-top condition with very few, if any, mechanical issues on rides (puncture on road bike?), and much longer component life = less pain to wallet.

I’ve always loved the look of Specialized S-Works road bikes, here are some I built for customers

Manitou tower pro forks here. Cheap off CRC, when my fox were out of warranty and cost more to replace creaking CSU and service, than tower pro cost.

Very impressed with manitou, structurally much stiffer, better damper, much more controlled, worth the small weight penalty.

Edinburgh in Byker

Guess that used to be Hardisty Cycles? (I worked there in the early 90s)

Had Praxxis on my road bike (BB30 running Shimano HT2 cranks) and mountain bike (PF30 running Shimano HT2 cranks)

both have been a big improvement on the original BB30 bearings and PF30 SRAM BB, although I had to change cranks which was not cheap

and from time to time remove the crankset on each bike, and regrease the crank axle as its “metal on metal” contact between the Praxxis’s Enduro bearing and Shimano crank axle, which can lead to occasional creaking.

I’d also recommend popping the shields off the bearings when new, and packing some waterproof bike grease or PM600 in there.

@thisisnotaspoon

not sure about your claims of fibreglass being used in quality carbon fibre frames?

I’ve spent a considerable amount of time talking to a global brand manager (1 of 6) for the World’s largest bicycle company, who spends much of the year in Taiwan overseeing production processes. This company manufactures for many other “brands” in addition to their own products.

This guy knows every small detail about their frame manufacturing, its a real experience talking to him about bicycle frames whether carbon fibre or aluminium.

I was told their frames use 100% torayca carbon fibre and they actually manufacture their own cloth in their C-Tech facility using torayca filament and their own proprietary resins in a 60/40 cloth/resin balance.

He said that other smaller manufacturers will often mix brands of carbon fibre and use more resin to save money, which ends up being a heavier and / or weaker frame.

I have no reason to doubt this information.

@thisisnotaspoon

you don’t expect to see big globs of actual epoxy glue (not resin impregnated into carbon fibre cloth) inside a frame, or bladders left in place, nor the other items I mentioned.

If you look inside a quality frame the carbon fibre should be very well finished internally, not very rough / lumpy / random pieces of torn cloth everywhere (i.e. off-cuts)

I’ve not seen quality carbon fibre cycle frame manufacturers using fibreglass as there would be no point, just adds weight and reduces strength. Its used by knock-off manufacturers because its cheap.

I’ve seen a good number of ‘fake’ bike frames and parts come through my workshops, some new but out of alignment, some broken after failures or crashes, including some fake “big name” branded frames.

When we’ve inspected them internally using torches and dental mirrors the insides of the frames have been absolutely shocking with bits of ??? composites, string, paper, bladder, filler, epoxy glue, even straw and fibreglass in there

certain wheels can be quite flexible when side loaded i.e. going up a big climb standing up and moving side to side, and heavier or more aggressive riders will experience this more often?

my Fulcrum Racing 5s do this, I can get the back wheel to swish against the brake blocks on a steep climb, especially noticeable in the wet

Last week I borrowed an aero bike with full carbon wheels and was blown away by the speed on the flat, but could get the rear wheel to swish against the brake blocks by just wiggling my bum hard sat down in the saddle.

My handbuilts in contrast are rock solid with 32 spoke x 3 cross lacing and I have never been able to get any brake block contact out of those wheels no matter what I have tried!

@bikebuoy

the stock wedge item you described is designed to allow you to determine your front end height setup prior to cutting the steerer, by allowing easy removal.

Its a variation on a standard item used on pretty much all carbon steerer bikes as the SFN would damage the carbon construction and could cause the steerer tube to fail. Carbon forks with aluminium alloy steerers often use the SFN

If you wish, you can then bond a much simpler and lighter fixed Giant supplied piece (15g vs. 45g) into place – for Overdrive 2 steerer bikes this should have been supplied with the bike, along with an Iso Alcohol wipe, piece of emery cloth and Superglue gel tube.

I’ve just done this on my new Defy after cutting the steerer shorter.

@Jason

my rear brake was squealing yesterday in the rain which surprised me as all the reviews I’ve read about the Shimano road discs is that they were noise free, but I’m not sure if this included wet ride testing?

My mountain bike with Avid hydro discs squeals like a pig in the rain!

My Giant has Tektro rotors as apparently Shimano don’t make a 140mm 6-bolt model yet, so not sure if a genuine Shimano rotor would remove this noise?

@normal man

Thanks – the stump jumper carbon hardtail 29’er is a lovely frame to ride with very quick handling and crisp under power but perhaps a little fragile as the frame has gone back for warranty inspection. My third frame in 2 years.

To be fair to the nice people at Specialized, they redesigned the frame to eliminate the issues, but I am on the older design so not a surprise!

@juan

however shops and distributors see it (and many mechanics and technical consumers understand the issues) the problem is that short bearing life runs smack up against the Sales of Goods Act and what a consumer can expect as a reasonable timeframe for durability.

If you took another consumer product, and told a customer they’d expect the product (i.e. electric drill or washing machine) to have bearing failure within 3 months of intended use, they’d be within their rights to seek replacement at no cost, or refund of purchase

yet, because its a bicycle, its somehow different? I am playing devil’s advocate here 😉

Perhaps, what this really tells us is that the bicycle industry expects to get away with offering a piss poor product, and the consumer should bear the brunt of the cost of that.

Yesterday at work? I had a guy bring a road bike back he purchased the month before. The freehub was making loud crackling noises when turning the cranks on the workstand. I stripped the rear wheel hub and found the freehub moving up and down on its mounting spline. This was on a £2,000 bike, and the bike was in good condition.

I know its a “cheap” wheelset in terms of quality, but the customer has spent £2,000 on a bicycle, and the freehub has failed within a month. Its been forwarded to the distributor as a warranty claim.

run tools through there (to cut threads and face) with cutting fluid, degrease and then install the BB with a smear of grease on the threads

@turbo

its the 2015 Defy Advanced Pro 1

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bikes/model/defy.advanced.pro.1/19189/77288/%5B/url%5D

@therevokid

fair point

the ergonomics on the Shimano RS685 shifter / brakes are a little different to previous Shimano road STI I’ve owned. I had to reduce my stem length by 10mm to compensate for the longer flat of the hood which pulls you further forward.

Today I did a long climb out of the saddle, and discovered to my pleasure that this longer flat has an opposite face underneath that allows two fingers to locate a very comfortable climbing position, which has always felt too cramped on the older road STI.

I’ve ridden mechanical 11 speed Shimano STI (105 and Ultegra) with caliper brakes, and can report those also have much improved ergonomics on the older 10 speed STI which felt very bulky in the hand.

@jacob46

my other road bike is a Tarmac SL4 with Ultegra caliper brakes and aluminium alloy rimmed wheels – I had always considered this “enough” stopping power, but perhaps denying the occasional sketchy moments in the rain, and the constant filth of brake dust / muck all over the fork legs and stays in wet weather, and rims that wear through the more you ride?