Well I’m not sure how it fixed it, but I got a cheapo Alfine chainset (been meaning to replace the square taper bb for ages anyway), and after a few tests with spacers in different positions managed to get the chainline perfect! The weird thing is I don’t understand how that fixed it, as the front sprocket looks to be just as close to the chainstay as previously so I don’t think it’s moved any further inwards :?

Read in a few places that people have used spacers on the non drive side to move the hub outwards a wee bit. Probably a stupid question but I can’t see how that works though as there’s a finite amount of space between the dropouts, so wouldn’t adding spacers just make it too tight to go in? Especially as nothing can be removed from the drive side?

Great thanks…will check that tonight It’s pretty tight back there as the sprocket is so damn wide too!

Edit- this doesnt bode well though if its talking about the same thing:

http://forums.mtbr.com/internal-gear-hubs/alfine-11-chain-line-637630.html#post7292259

Thanks guys for the advice.. it’s on a turn so definitely needs to be ramped for H&S (and to pass the risk assessment!). Two options most commonly suggested by people are:

1.Large sheet of wood going right over the kerb and over the other side (creating a ‘curve’ up and down), painted with grippy paint (not sure what exactly though..is there a product, or do I just mix sand and paint?), then nailgunned into the tarmac. Removal via crowbar

2.QUick dry cement made on lining paper, made into a small ramp a few hours before.

Both have their positives/negatives. Just need to test both I guess! At least I could re-use the wood the following year, and prepare it in advance.

Thanks guys, have put it up on my local club’s message board for £600, with expectation of getting haggled down :)

Took some photos here if it makes valuing it easier!

Cotic Soul

Cheers fellas. Normally I would just tell them to MTFU, but we’ve got youth races as well, plus it’s a crit and not sure I’d want people hitting it at 30mph, especially as they are turning into it (it’s at a junction).

Just catching up after finding out it was Ally Speed that tragically got killed. Spoke to him and had a good laugh at a few Fife CA TTs last year. Such a character, thoughts with Mhairi and his family.

Deeply sad news :-( . Has it been confirmed as one of the DCC boys? Made me feel really sick when i heard as its relatively local. My wife has to commute right along that road daily (Dollar->St Andrews), and says the drivers are mental on that road, for both speed an impatience (she gets beeped/flashed constantly for waiting till its safe to overtake cyclists). Thoughts are with the victims family.

I’ve got one this coming Monday. Have had the nerve removed and root cleaned in first sitting last week (with temp filling over the top), which wasn’t too bad at all, tiny bit of hot pain near the end, and stinks of burning, plus infection smell if its bad 8O. Then the actual root filling/treatment to come on Monday I presume It’s not really been explained very well to me, all i really know it’s costing £98!

Just quite relieved as have been feeling under the weather the last few months(haven’t been able to train/race really due to lethargy) , and looks like it turns out it’s been the tooth infection causing me the probs. Will be happy to get it finished.

I don’t think it will be a problem for them, I think I’ve just built it up in my head that it would be! I’m hardly a decent rider for them anyway! Commute is 10 miles each way and is flat, so probably ok if i just pootle along at 15mph or something.

Thanks for the input guys :) , got a docs appointment on 10th May (have to wait to see the ‘nice’ GP who won’t just dismiss me outright!).

Molgrips: sounds very similar to what’s happening to me :( Did manage 60miles on Saturday, but that was after 4 days rest, and I was last up the hills! Guess I’ve got two problems if I do bin the next few months: The bus is £7 return to work every day, don’t think I can afford that, so would need to cycle probably still :? , and I started racing for a shop race team this year who kinda expect you to do races to advertise the shop. Bit worried they won’t be very happy if I turn round and tell them I can’t do anything.

It’s a really strange feeling at the moment, I’m pretty upset that I can’t cycle properly, but also finding that cycling isn’t the be all and end all, and have had time to do loads of different things, and spend more time with my wife doing stuff. Probably just need to maybe adjust my diet somewhat to account for not burning off an extra 1000 calories every day!

Hey everyone, been having some problems recently and think it might be PVF having read up on it (this thread is great btw!). What’s the general consensus on my situation below:

Keen roadie (don’t hold it against me though, I used to mtb loads when I was ahem…heavier :D), training ready for new race season, great winter (well over 15hrs per week base training every week without illness). About 6 weeks ago started feeling a bit ‘odd’, just a bit spaced out, dizzy and tired, plus my legs were just in pieces. Every time I’d try to ride hard, even for a few mins, fatigue would set in straight away into my legs. Resting HR was around 63-65 (usually 53-55).

Went to docs, said its probably a low level virus, and to rest. So I rested for about 10 days, thought I felt a bit better (although hard to tell, as exercise is what brings on the main symptoms), but thought I’d try riding. Stupidly rode hard for 5 mins without warming up on way home from work, and managed to get a chest infection. Took antibiotics, and rested for another 10 days and infection went away.

RHR went back down too during that time too, thought I was fine, but then tried to cycle again, and same thing happens with my legs, it also increases my RHR for a couple of days after attempting to cycle. It leaves me completely exhausted, totally drained. I’m sat here at work after an easy 10 mile cycle in, and can barely focus on work at home I’m so tired. My legs are aching with twitching muscles! I can pedal at a certain level without the leg fatigue, it’s just as soon as I ‘push’at all that causes the leg fatigue/tiredness. I’m sleeping fine at night, but don’t feel refreshed in the morning either.

Pretty gutted after having to pull out of 5 races so far, such a waste of a good winter! Also have put on 4KG in the last 6 weeks which is annoying :? Was thinking it could be PVF? Sound similar to what you guys had?

Although I guess it could be overtraining too, although I only slowly increased my efforts, and duration actually dropped after winter so I don’t think it would be that.

Any advice would be greatly received! The whole thing is started to get to me now, and it sounds stupid in the grand scheme of things, but it’s quite upsetting after being so active :oops:

Brilliant, thanks guys, will just get some BB7 calipers and 200mm rotors instead then. Save me having to replace the entire drivechain!

Think I’ll start to organise the CTW paperwork this afternoon!

Cheers guys, really good information. Will probably ride it a few times before making any changes anyway just to see how we get on.

So if we did go for new disc brakes, would have to factor in new standalone shifters (plus poss 10 or 9 speed cassette and mech if can’t get 24speed shifters easily, will check my parts bin). Don’t mind paying a few hundred to get it to a spec we are happy with, especially if it’s only costing £40 pm rather than an initial outlay of a grand!

So possibly:
New bars/stems
Set of hydraulic brakes (if fork can cope)
New shifters/cassette/mech (if upgrade brakes to hydraulic, or keep same and use BB7s)
Rack
Saddles of our choice

That’s not too bad I suppose!

Sounds similar to what happened to me. Except I rear ended a brand new (1 day old) Bentley :(

I had BC silver. IIRC, process was like this:

1.Gave driver my BC number and contact details at the scene of accident
2.Rang BC insurance hotline on the Monday morning. They were really nice and friendly. They took details, passed it on to their underwriters, and sent me a statement form.
3.Received statement form, filled in as much detail as I could, I kinda accepted liability on the statement (car stopped quickly, I was at end of a 100+miler wet ride, with crappy cantis on my winter bike, no chance of stopping).
4.Details passed to underwriters, who sent me a letter telling me it is with them.
5.Emailed underwriters after a month or two asking what has happened. They were quite stroppy and told me it’s now nothing to do with me and it’s not their business to chase an ‘at fault’ claim. They did say they had asked for 3 quotes for repairs.
6.Didn’t hear anything for about 9 months until I got a letter from BC saying they had settled for £3000-ish. Was only a couple of small scratches on the boot 8O
7.Thanked BC for saving my ass (I don’t have £3K!), ended up being quoted on their website(although they did miss out the ass-saving bit). :D http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership/article/memst-Third-Party-Liability-Insurance-0

Hope that helps.

Think the first session is ok for most as the riders are allowed to ride at the level they are comfortable with (i.e thru&off near the bottom of the track if you aren’t as confident etc). As the sessions progress however you all have to do exercises together (weaving between riders in a line etc) which increases the problems when you have a mix of confidences and fitness. Think the long gaps between sessions due to busyness isn’t helping either as people are forgetting things or just losing confidence when you are waiting 3-4 weeks for the next session.

A mate was at the 2nd accred session last night and said 3 or 4 people fell off, sounds like it was the same one as you. I think fitness was a problem then as you mentioned. There was an accred 1 session just before and most people stayed on from that, so I imagine there were some tired legs.

Only a few days to go! Was reallly close at the top but some American dude just joined and kicked all our asses :lol:

That’s Mike Hall in Ankara. He’s a bleedin machine!Almost 5000KM ridden so far. Enjoying the live tracking & twitter, although wish there was a bit more of that going on (blogs/photos etc), but no time for pics with a race to win 8)

Congratulations to:

Adam Taylor for winning the MTB challenge with 503 miles

&

Andrew Wilson for winning the Road challenge with 773 miles.

If you drop me a line with your details I can send your Haribo out to you

Cheers stayhigh, but a diet combined with vegetarianism means no haribo for me.

Was good fun this month, was aiming for over 1000miles but having 9 days off due to an injury put heed to that. No commuting miles from me either, just early morning and weekend winter miles.

Come on Goat! Despite falling off and almost dieing you still couldn’t resist getting to top spot

No matter how much i’d like to win, i’m not extending my commute home to 66 miles

lol, I thought I’d give knee a workout last night, but it seems a bit sore again(plus the other one does now too!), so won’t be heading out tonight to make sure of a win. I think ‘trio 25’ (someone off here?) normally does some at night, so expecting to not finish first :D

Last day. Big push everyone!

Was leading the road one, but took a tumble and fecked my knee last Saturday so 9 days off the bike now. Just noticed I got overtaken this morning with someone doing 330K in a single ride 8O

Edit-the 330K ride seems to have disappeared now but the leaderboard hasn’t updated.

Crashed into the back of a brand new £220k Bentley on Saturday whilst on a ride. Will let you know how the 3rd party stuff goes when I contact BC tomorrow…

cheers luclen, hopefully will be ok then. Have given the BC details to the driver, and will ring them monday.

If the transfer goes swimmingly, I’m very happy with Sky unlimited as long as you have LLU. Never had any probs with it, and super-fast. Most importantly though, TRUELY UNLIMITED!

Think I’ll probably be on the way down from the top of the road one judging by the icy weather up here next week. Zone 2 on the rollers/spinning for me over the next few days :(

cheers guys, will check them out :-)

Live here for anyone stuck at work:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cycling/14975894.stm

thems good odds on Grabsch. Course really suits him.

Hire a road bike and ride straight out of Mogan up the GC-605 to the reservoir and beyond. Awesome climbing if that’s your thing. Bit hot at first though until you start to get up high.

cheers guys, I’m avoiding most of the A82 and definitely the A9!

I’m going out of Stirling on the A84, which isn’t too bad until the A82 joins it at Crianlarich. Would probably not bother with the sustrans route there though as it is a bit slow and meandering(and puncture-tastic if I use the road bike)! Then have 5 miles of the A82 to Tyndrum(only bit I’m worried about), and then along the A85 to Oban, Connell Bridge, Corran Ferry, Mallaig. Did most of that bit last year when touring and found it fine.

Wider tyres on the road bike seems a sensible option so far..

If anyone missed out, Triton have decent prices on the standard Jawbones. Got some Lemon peel ones a few months ago, and got great service with them.

http://www.tritoncycles.co.uk/m6b258s182p8631/OAKLEY_Jawbone/RS_GB

1250 roadie miles(2003KM) for me last month. 8th out of 10500 people on endomondo. First ever sports massage tomorrow as legs still feel terrible from it :-)

Recommend the dunes behind Luskentyre beach on Harris for wild camping (perhaps a bit further away than I did here, was a bit windy!):
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Dont know if you are cyling on the mainland once you get to Mallaig ( I do recommend cycling down through the Ardnamurchan area), but recommend Moidart for camping. There’s a no camping sign, but that’s to keep away the Giro Bayers.

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Arisaig has some decent spots, but it’s a bit more populated so wild camping is a bit more annoying.
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Loch Awe is ok to wild camp on if near Oban, avoid the side with the main road, again due to the park/camp/drink beer brigade. The other side is much quieter:
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The main road through Skye sucks, especially if you have to cycle from Uig all the way to Aardvasar for the ferry.

Harris>Lewis. Stornaway is a dump. Dont underestimate the hills between Tarbert and Stornaway either..some are a PITA and it seems to drag on forever.

For food, there’s enough pubs/shops around, although the food up there is bloody awful in pubs. Just the standard deep fried frozen meals (scampi/chips,fish/chips etc).

Enjoy it! Dead jealous. The islands are a stunning place to cycle.

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Pentax K1000. The standard 35mm camera used by most colleges for teaching for the last 30 years!

This was mine last year on a highland/island tour:

Waiting for ferry at Uig:

Luskentyre, Harris:

The frame,that I got off a mate, had already done 65000+ miles when I got hold of it, so I’ve just ordered one of these along with a new drivetrain from Flying Fox Bikes[/url]:

Can’t wait!

The ones in that link are £66.37 so your maths is even further out

They wouldn’t cost £66 though as my lbs have a spare set they can let me have cheaply.

Cheers for the tip re:9sp availability, will have a think.

oops the link to the BS77 shifters was wrong in option 2. Meant to be http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/9-spd-shimano-dura-ace-sl-bs77-bar-end-gear-levers-prod386/

and should have used a calculator. Better go and get some more coffee.

Ah ok then here are my three options I guess then (going on a long haul trucker):

1.Dura Ace 7900 shifters+10sp XT cassette+9sp XT Mech (cost:£68+£52+£55=£175)
2.BS77 shifters (spare from shop so probably cheap)[/url]+9sp XT cassette+9sp XT Mech(£20+£52+£55=£77)
3.Ultegra STIs(cheap at CRC)+10sp XT cassette+9sp XT mech(£140+£52+£55=£247)

Looking at the prices it seems to me the best option is probably the second one and just buy a 9speed xt cassette and mech and avoid 10speed completely!

Great, thanks!

Anyone know if the Dura Ace 10 speed ones compatible with a XT 10 speed mech? I.e is the cable pull correct?

Edit-ah, according to here: http://www.planet-x-bikes.co.uk/i/q/GLSHDA7900BE-10-DB/shimano-dura-ace-7900-bar-end-shifters—10-speed—double they fit all 10 speed mechs but the diameter of the fitting is for the end of tri bars (22.2), although not sure if 22.2 is the standard diameter for the end of normal handlebars too?