equally enjoying road and mountain biking

came from BMX background in early 80’s:- racing then freestyle

got seriously into mountain biking in late 80’s:- racing XC, racing DH during 90’s and FR during 2000’s including stint as sponsored rider for 2 Canadian brands and many trips to Canada i.e. Vancouver and Whistler.

never really got much into road during this period?

in past year since working as mechanic at a road orientated bike shop, found myself really getting into road. thoroughly enjoying learning a whole new aspect of riding.

very accessible, great for fitness and power. certain “purity” to a road bike, very simple and stripped down. nowhere to hide when trying to go fast on the flat or up a big hill. much more ‘hardcore’ than I was led to believe

still enjoying both mountain biking and road. own a high end carbon fibre road bike, and a high end carbon fibre mountain bike. tend to alternate between road and mountain biking every other day.

big bonus of road is my missus can ride with me (she has a nice carbon fibre women’s road bike). mountain biking scared the sh*t out of her (she did try many times)

in my opinion based on years of working on both as a professional mechanic, Shimano manufacturing quality is another level of quality and prowess beyond SRAM.

which means long term durability is superior, and this is something I see every day on bikes going through my workshop, we work on alot of high end road bikes with Dura Ace and Ultegra of mech and electronic flavours, SRAM Red, Campag Super Record.

Dura-Ace warranty=3 years, SRAM warranty=2 years

what this means in real world is Dura Ace / Ultegra have the edge on durability of shifter mechanisms, rear mech / front mech and brake calipers, especially in our wet climate where degradation due to wet / road salt is common

Shimano’s cranks / chainrings and front shifting are unrivalled in terms of performance under load, and ease of fitment for regular maintenance.

I really like SRAM on my MTB (run 10 speed X-0) but on my road bike its 10 speed Ultegra for me (poor man’s Dura Ace)

Double Tap has its appeal, but it feels odd when used to Shimano STI, you do get used to it in time.

its one of those things that you will only know by trying out on long test rides. SRAM RED is lighter if that is important…

@neilt

if the seals have failed in the master cylinder (brake lever) its normally problematic of a wider degradation of rubber parts across the entire brake; this is especially true of pre-2012 Avid brakes

DOT fluid is corrosive and attacks rubber parts in the brake system.

Avid switched to using Nalgene for the MC diaphragm for 2012 brakes onwards as they had such high warranty return numbers from pin-hole leaks developing in the older diaphragm material.

I would not waste any money attempting to fix with parts and your time, but find some cheap Shimano SLX brakes and adapters on-line, clean your Avid rotors up with disc brake cleaner and then enjoy a much more durable brake system with great modulation

I work as a bike mechanic in case you are wondering, and have used SRAM’s warranty department way too much for customers…

KMC make 2 million chains a DAY

they make chains for many “other brands” in the bike industry

they also make many chains for heavy industry and machinery

its safe to say they ‘know something’ about making chains

just bought a KMC X10-SL for £25 for rebuilding my 29’er, last one lasted since Jan 2012 so no complaints here..

Specialized Tarmac Comp (USA edition), cracked my Allez, Specialized UK could not source a replacement frame for months and offered me this unusual frame as a “goodwill upgrade” free of charge :)

custom build, photo is outdated now running Ultegra HT2 cranks, S-Works stem and CF bar, S-Works turbo tires, etc.

love this bike, rides easily but very quick and responsive, no nasty handling surprises. Easy to maintain. Climbs very efficiently and feels solid when descending on bad roads.

disc brakes on road bikes?

avoid cable discs :(

speaking from painful experience

wait for hydraulic discs ;)

they are coming, but currently high spec. like SRAM RED 22 and Shimano Ultegra

currently running a Specialized Control Fast Trak LK 29’er tire on the rear (replacing a Captain)

very quick and surprisingly grippy off-road

will switch back to the Captain when the wet weather returns and the Fast Trak can get overwhelmed by deep mud

Rival brake levers / shifters not cheap (retail price £325)

Tiagra STI brake / shifters more affordable (retail price £209)

=disparity in groupset comparison, Rival closer to 105 across the groupset

Rival very nice for riders with smaller hands (or ladies)

Shimano can feel too bulky for bikers with smaller hands, even when using the rubber shims on the STI units

did too much fork and shock servicing in one of my old jobs, typically 6-8 “lowers service” every week, upgrading forks to SKF seals and lots of fork conversions like Talas to Float

owned lots of RS, Marz and Fox forks (32,36 and 40 models). Found Fox forks worked well but required more looking after.

Only problem really with Fox is their tendency to develop annoying clicking / creaking noises after a season or two of regular use in wet climates where regular bike washing causes the stanchion assembly grease to leache out of the stanchion / crown fitment.

it won’t cause any safety issues, but its damn annoying and is often mistaken for steerer tube or headset issues

Mojo will replace the CSU free of charge, if this occurs within 1 year of purchase, but after the 1 year warranty runs out, nothing you can do but buy a new CSU which is kinda expensive even for a cheaper 32 model

contract of sale is with retailer and customer, nothing to do with the supplier to Evans. If the bike has quickly broken, its up to Evans to sort it out with their supplier. Telling customers “its going back to supplier or manufacturer for assessment is typical B.S. the bike industry likes to tell to clueless customers

I would quote “goods not fit for purpose” and ask for a new bike, or a full refund, well within your rights under consumer law

I used to work for Evans btw, and have heard all kinds of B.S. told to customers with such problems on newish bikes

cracked both the Stan’s Flows on my pump track / play bike after about a year.

lots of small cracks around the spoke drillings. Built them myself and kept the spoke tension within the recommended limits (using Park spoke tension meter).

have not touched Stans rims since, found eyeletted rims (currently using Roval) a better bet, can put a higher tension into them making for a stronger and more zippy feeling wheel

I work at a Specialized dealer and we don’t have either the FSR tool kit or any bearing pullers (and the management refuse to buy them..)

shame the amount of customers with FSR bikes I’ve had to turn away, its just not worth risking damage to customer bikes using “traditional” methods (i.e. flat blade, hammer, socket set, lumps of wood)

Stan’s tape is just repackaged 3M packing tape ;)

try Specialized’s “Roval” tape, much better value, a single roll will do about 8 wheels and it seems much sticker than the Stan’s / 3M tape

661 Kyle Strait (or whatever they are now called?)

I also have 661 d30 and hardly wear them because they rub my knee caps, whereas the Kyle Straits are comfy enough for 5 hour trail rides

we are on the cusp of a “tipping point” with cycling in London

the mayor thinks that getting more cyclists onto the roads will take care of safety as there is “safety in numbers”

unfortunately not, when cycling on dangerous roads, its just more ‘meat for the grinder’…

we all need to take responsibility. motorists, lorry drivers, taxi drivers, pedestrians and cyclists

I cycle every day in central London. I apply a good sense of paranoia to the highway code when I use the roads. I assume everyone is trying to kill me. I do not take any risks. If its too dangerous I will get off and walk. I am a very experienced cyclist who has ridden bikes all over the World.

every day, I see different road users doing very stupid things, especially cyclists, that put their lives in serious danger. How more cyclists are not killed is something I am still trying to work out?

we all need to get along and take responsibility for our own actions. I regularly see shocking examples of bad driving from motorists jumping red lights, turning without indicating, pulling off the kerb without indicating.

but a huge amount of pressure needs to be applied to politicians to implement a safer (segregated) cycling network on our highways as cyclists cannot be trusted to take responsibility for their own safety (its probably not their own fault, as there is no evidence of highway competency required when purchasing a bicycle?)

its always concerned me that a 12 year child can receive a bicycle and go straight onto the highway with no training

running carbon fibre bar on my rigid fork commuting hybrid with road wheels and road tires set at 100psi

previously had an aluminium alloy bar on the same bike with same components, same grips, etc. (CF and Alloy bars from same brand both for MTB riding)

only item that has changed is the bar, it definitely more comfortable with the CF bar and takes away the road buzz and better deadens the impact of hitting all those lovely potholes littering the roads of ‘London town ;)

@iainc

it can be caused by a number of problems on the bike, not perhaps the fork itself ;)

if you can pull the S.F.N. easily up the steerer tube, its not doing its job. Make sure you have a 2-3mm gap between the top of the steerer tube and the headset cap to allow headset compression.

start by getting a torque wrench, the headset cap bolt loading the S.F.N. should never be set beyond 5nm as this just overloads the headset bearings

typically, this in itself will not cause noise, just premature damage/wear to the bearings, and more importantly stiff steering which can make the bike dangerous to ride

if the S.F.N. has not been inserted correctly (its sitting at an angle) this can cause the headset to be unequally loaded and will affect ability to load headset even when using torque wrench, and can cause noises

take your bike to a competent mechanic who should know enough to get this sorted ;)

@mboy

PF30 and BB30 bearings are the same. You can easily press the damaged bearings out of the nylon PF30 cups and fit new bearings (unless you left it so long that seized bearings have started spinning in the nylon and chewed deep grooves)

we always use a small amount of gap-fill (bearing retaining) red Loctite between bearing and cup when doing this, and also some gap-fill Loctite between nylon cup and BB shell (Specialized now supply their S-Works frames with this procedure as standard)

I’ve been riding my Stumpy Expert Carbon (PF30) for 18 months and only replaced BB30 bearings once? (kept same nylon cups)

@ b r

^^ that’s about it really

there is a reason the saddle rail has exited the saddle hull

you don’t want to be trying to re-introduce the 2 really?

@globalti

poor setup?

anything from 105 upwards when setup properly with good cabling should be butter smooth..

..however, some frames with poor cable routing will ruin any attempts at a good setup

any 6XXX frame will typically require T6 heat treatment post welding (heating / water bath quenching, alignment check and manipulation and then artificial ageing)

can be very expensive as its a time consuming process with the heat treatment in 2 stages in temp. controlled oven, as well as alignment checks on an alignment table

to clarify my earlier post

I got hold of a 56cm Allez from a friend that had left it locked up on the street, and the front end was stolen. I paid him a fair price and rebuilt the bike. It was a little too large for my size (5’10”) but I wanted a road bike at a low price, the 1st BG Fit I had managed to make this oversized bike work as well as possible, but it always felt a little too long (they mentioned this would be an issue)

some months later, I managed to get a Tarmac in a smaller size (54cm) and wanted another bike fitting session to get it to fit properly

considering my workshop charges £50 a hour for servicing, I would not consider £200 for a 3 hour fitting session with 1 hour follow up a few weeks later, an unreasonable price?

considering the BG Fitting guy emailed all the fitting information to me, including videos showing all the setup adjustments. This information can be applied to any bike I buy in the future.

I’ve seen people spend silly money to save grammes on bike weight, but continue to suffer with a poor bike fit because they cannot see the benefit from a good fit

had 2 bike fits at Specialized Concept Store (for my 56cm Allez which was a little too large, then the 54cm Tarmac which was correct size fo me)

very, very skeptical until the 1st fitting, then no hesitation in doing the 2nd as it made a big difference to my setup, especially considering I’ve had shoulder injuries (dislocations) and one leg / foot are different sizes to the other leg / foot

@bash

always buy complete – you get much better value as the bike company is buying 1000’s of groupsets, wheels and finishing kits at heavily discounted “OE” pricing

when you buy a frameset and then try to put together a “custom build” you will always pay more, even when buying discounted parts off on-line resellers like CRC, Wiggle, Merlin, etc. and then having someone put it all together for you

we are soon to move into 2014 model year, if you can wait a month or two, you will soon start seeing heavy discounting on 2013 road models to clear, with full warranty and backup (free 1st service, etc.) from local and national dealers selling quality brands

deform the tabs on the SFN using several, well-placed taps with a flat blade screwdriver and hammer and then thin nose pliers if needed, which will cause it to lose grip on the I.D. of the steerer tube, and it will easily come out with minimal force

don’t ever want to “bash it up” because the wings of the SFN will remove a substantial amount of aluminium alloy from the wall thickness of the steerer tube

That tube has that wall thickness for a reason ;)

@gonetothehills

bigyinn speaks the truth

Shimano SP41

would not bother with anything else…

@bigyinn

its often grease / oil where spray lubricants have been used on forks stanchions and chains..and have drifted onto the rotors and contaminated the rotors and brake pads

or contaminants left by use of aggressive bike cleaning products (e.g. Muc Off)

in addition to a build up of disc pad material

@sturmey

remove the pads and pad spring

try gently bending the spring outwards

then re-install pads and spring

some of my previous workshop setups for your perusal

disclaimer: I am a workshop manager, so these are professional setups and not expected for a home mechanic

have you regularly cleaned your disc brakes with a quality (bicycle specific) disc brake cleaner?

most noises and vibrations, or power loss, are caused by not cleaning disc brake rotors and pads, especially after washing the bike with aggressive cleaning products

once the bike is clean, give both faces (driveside and non-driveside)of each rotor a good spray

then spray the caliper bay (this blasts the pads and pistons) and wipe the rotors clean with a lint-free rag, you will be surprised how much oil or dirt comes onto the rag.

The trick then is to ride up and down your street doing increasingly aggressive emergency stops, until the horrible squealing noises vanish and suddenly you have very effective and quiet disc brakes ;)

was skeptical but have tested during post-build test rides on custom road builds for my customers

its actually very effective in use over rough ground (cobbles or most UK roads if we are being honest…the government does not want to repair our broken roads!)

I own CF seatposts and high end aluminium alloy posts in comparison

not reason why it would not work on a mountain bike hardtail, but no idea about the “warranty” of using a road product on a mountain bike?

@iainc @fatsimon mk2

try the advise, you would be surprised at the reality of the outcome

for years and years as a rider and then as a professional bike mechanic, I was taught that “shiny clean = good”

especially when talking about drivetrains, and specifically the bike chain

but, what looks clean is not ideal because when you put a chain through a parts washer, or use aggressive cleaning products on that chain, all you are doing is stripping the lubricant from inside the chain’s roller pins (bushing / bearings if you like)

this lubricant is installed during the manufacturing process in the factory. Its very hard / almost impossible to put back once its stripped out by over zealous cleaning.

The dirt you see on the outside of the chain, is just that, external dirt. It might sound noisy or a bit crunchy after gentle cleaning, lubing and wiping down, but it soon disappears (normally after 1-2km) and does not accelerate wear and tear to the drivetrain

the only moving part of your drivetrain’s toothed engagement is the chain:- the rear cassette (cogs), chainrings and derailleur pulley teeth do not contain moving parts in themselves.

The freehub body allows the cassette to spin, the bottom bracket allows the cranks and chainrings to spin, the bearings / bushings allow the derailleur pulley wheels to spin.

Try using the method I mentioned next time you change your drivetrain?

I was very dubious (bearing in mind the previous education / information I’d had that that spotlessly clean was better), but pleasantly surprised it has worked.

I did this on my Jan 2012 purchased mountain bike, which has been ridden in snow, rain and mud for too many miles. Still running the same chain, cassette, chainring, pulley wheels. Still working just fine.

experiments of putting brand new chains put through parts washing machines and then measuring chain tolerances, show disappointing results which indicate that over zealous cleaning actually damages your drivetrain

but of course there is a huge $$$ industry based on cleaning your bike with special products, compared to using some mild detergent with warm water, an old rag and basic chain lube ;)

chain cleaners?

quickest way to ruin a good chain…

from the KMC website (hint, they make 2 million chains a day) :

– Never use acidic or alkali based detergents (such as rust cleaners), these agents can damage the
chain and may cause breakage.

– NEVER EVER use a so-called ‘chain washing machine’ in combination with solvent. This is the one and only sure way to instantly ruin your chain.

– Avoid the use of solvents, not only are these bad for the environment, they remove lubricant from the chain’s bearing.

personally? I would just wipe down a dirty chain with a rag (at the most extreme, for mountain bike used in mud, use soapy warm water and a brush)

lube the chain applying quality lube to each chain link, I prefer a dry lube at its much more penetrating, although if you ride in lots of mud / snow you will benefit from wet lubes

then apply pressure to the chain using the rag (pull down hard) whilst backpedalling in middle gear to avoid deraillment

change the face of the rag several times during this procedure, you can apply more lube if needed, and you will end up with a very clean chain that is well lubricated and will not wear out before its time ;)

use these ones from KF about £15 each

they fold up flat against wall when not in use

have used 5-10 Sam Hill V1 and V2 shoes for years, mainly for trail riding in the UK in all weathers including snow and mud, some absolutely filthy weather really?

never any issues with water absorption? Actually very surprised at the performance in foul weather, normally wearing just merino wool socks and never had cold or wet feet?

have not owned / tried 5-10 High Impact models so cannot speak about those models with authority.

my Sam Hill V2 are worn out (sole and shoe starting to split across toe box 3 + years old, no hesitance in replacing with another pair of 5-10 shoes

@andyhbikes

thanks for your input, and I agree don’t judge all stores the same; this is true of Halfords, Evans, Cycle Surgery and other chain stores.

You will get a number of passionate and experienced staff in some stores, in other stores its just hopeless as they cannot attract and retain good staff. This is primarily caused by the attitude of the bicycle industry towards staffing, which is that staff are disposable assets and there will always be “someone” else out there looking for a job.

Where you have good staff in store, these are at times people who don’t want / require a salary increase, or have enough passion to overlook the problems within the company because these people simply want to do a professional job.

The people that actually own these large chains are venture capitalists like CVC Capital Partners (Halfords), Active LPP (Evans) and Legal and General Ventures (Snow & Rock / Cycle Surgery)

With senior board management brought in from outside the industry to oversee the “investment” with no understanding of the quirks and vagaries of the cycle industry, staffing is seen as a cost but not understood in terms of the immediate impact that deskilling your workforce has on customer experience and business profitability.

As I mentioned in a previous post you cannot operate a bicycle business (whether 1 store or a chain store) like you operate other retail businesses like rag trade or white goods. The nearest equivalent would be Maplin Electronics, who are due to be “poached” by a new Venture Capitalist, as Montagu Private Equity’s investment has run its course, due to the reduced profits from competition combined with detrimental deskilling of their workforce (they used to have very experienced long term staffers)

this problem really surfaces as the inconsistency of staff quality across different stores of the same company, which leaves the consumer in a situation where they cannot expect the same level of expertise and service when visiting different stores of the same company

when I left Evans last year, they were interviewing sales staff using a diagram of a bicycle with various components numbered 1 through 10. e.g. saddle was #4.

I believe scoring 6/10 was enough to secure a job, as long as you were prepared to accept the terms of the contract

mechanics were no longer receiving Cytech training, because it gave them a sellable qualification, now they get “Evans Training Academy” which is worthless outside of the company, allows the company to boast that their workshop staff are “qualified”, but more importantly places a barrier for competent staff to make an easy jump to a competitor

Mavic Open Pro on your hub of choice, cannot go wrong really?

also get a Mavic rim rubber and clean / wipe the rims down regularly, and you will enjoy excellent braking performance and long durability of rim and pads

I personally run the Open Pro on Hope Pro III hubs with Sapim D/B spokes and brass nipples.

Found this wheelset to be light enough for fast recreational riding, very efficient under power and gives a sure braking response on fast downhills

but also shrugs off the everyday effects of our “wonderful” roads which are festooned with potholes and cracks!

@mattjg

I understand your point of view, its generally not a big problem for the educated consumer, and you get better pricing on your bike parts

It’s simply the way the bike industry is changing, and that retail in general in changing, which is why I posted that link to the article on the BBC website

However, it can lead to problems for uneducated consumers that benefit from experienced advise, the internet can be overwhelming and misleading in those instances!

For educated consumers its all good, until they need a specific tool or service, and finding a bike shop that can undertake that work; this can be more problematic when all the LBS have closed their doors.

But perhaps that LBS did not offer those services anyhow, its a very complex discussion that cannot be easily reduced to simple answers through typing on a keyboard

I would be the first to admit many LBS do not deserve your business, or mine, with the extremely poor service I have received in them myself!

From my own experiences as a sales assistant, mechanic, business owner (bike industry), shop manager and currently workshop manager for a leading concept store, its all changing very rapidly, and outdated supply chains are falling away as the transparency of the internet reveals more than some feel comfortably having revealed

If I owned a quality bike shop at the moment?

I would be concentrating on selling “protected” brands who do not sell their bikes or parts on-line, no point in price discounting against common brands happy to ship grey stock to huge on-line resellers.

I would be servicing high-end customers who are happy to pay for timely service and expert advice, and offer in-store bike fitting in a proper studio and quality bike servicing from expert staff

I have found in the past 10 years that money rich / time poor customers have no problem in paying for quality work when they are informed and engaged

@jam bo

Mythic (now back to Banshee)

thankfully, Ison Distribution have worked hard with Banshee’s new owners and the factory in Tw to get things sorted in terms of new designs and proper QC. I am hearing good things about that brand now!

here’s the thing about the bike industry in the UK:

the mass market for BSO is dominated by Halfords (356 stores)

the quality market for entry level and above is dominated by Evans (50 stores) and Cycle Surgery (29 stores)

then its Cycles UK (14 stores),Leisure Lakes (7 stores), etc.

then you have small operators like Tredz (2 stores) and many other small chains or the LBS which are independant operators

a huge problem for the bike industry in the UK is the growth of internet retailers which has decimated bricks and mortar retail, rising operating costs from landlords/business rates/utilities and cycle / parts suppliers like Madison, Fisher, Raleigh (who are being undercut by the “brands” they distribute, these brands are more than happy selling grey stock into the on-line resale market i.e. CRC, Wiggle, Merlin)

all of which means reduced margins as consumers demands price discounting and increased value for money. Price gouging is becoming a real problem in the industry

as some have mentioned; facing these rising fixed costs, the only controllable cost is staffing, and its the easiest cost to slash, but ignore the long term impact on your business!

without good staff, you have no business! As the bike industry has grown in recent years with the boom in cycling, some people have gained serious wealth through smart business acumen, but have certainly not taken their staff with them.

The old saying goes, “Don’t worry about the people leaving (because they are so employable that other employers snap them up) but worry about those staying behind” (because they are not employable…) you end up with lots of dead wood in your company

if you don’t pay your staff a living wage, offer a good contract of employment, or professional career training, why are you surprised when they leave?

It’s a real problem in the bike industry because experienced staff are very short in supply; cycle retailing is not the same as the rag trade (Top Shop), stacking shelves at Tesco or selling I-Pads at PC World

cycle retailing is a complex beast, and it takes years for an employee to know what they are actually talking about to give a customer confidence in the interaction, especially for senior sales staff and mechanics

I have interviewed mechanics with Cytech II who could not even build a Specialized Allez road bike out of a box, tells you everything really?

When consumers are empowered by the huge wealth of information on the internet, and new business are being launched like mobile mechanics and indepandant bike fitters, etc.

suddenly the traditional bricks and mortar business is in a serious struggle to survive, let alone actually survive and grow.

Using traditional trade suppliers to place an item under your counter, when your customer (or your own staff) can buy it on-line for 20% less than your trade pricing, cannot mean anything less than the slow death of a business, unless it is smart enough to evolve and survive

read this: BBC One in Five shops to close by 2018