@Mattbee

You’re not supposed to put the Race sealant through the valve; it’s too thick and tends to clog up.

Thanks. My bad. I didn’t know. But it is so clogged I couldn’t even pour it out of the bottle without a gloopy lump stopping the flow. Back to Stans ordinary shite for me and it’s cheaper.

@BlakeC

Somethings are more important than money.

Spot on. Don’t waste too much time with them. Thanks again for taking the time to alert us.

I used to use Evans a lot – order online and pick stuff up in my local store. But after the OP’s experience and other equally damning reports I would not use them again unless I was absolutely desperate. The Guardian’s consumer column took up a customer complaint and had this to say:

“I would not buy anything from this company unless I could pick it up, there and then, in person. When a company the size of Evans – it has 50 stores – can’t be bothered to get its press office to investigate letters like this, it says to me that it doesn’t place any value in talking to its customers.” https://www.theguardian.com/money/2020/jul/20/i-feel-ive-been-taken-for-a-ride-by-evans-cycles

They blamed the takeover of Evans by Sports Direct for the poor service. It is a pretty scathing comment but it seems you can’t even rely on getting proper service there and then in the shop.

I don’t blame the shop staff, this is company policy to take people’s money and then don’t give a ****.

Thank you @BlakeC for alerting us to this shitshow. I hope you get your money back.

@CheddarChallenged

A nationwide reduction in speed limits would also help to reduce the number of accidents and the severity of them when they do occur. Something like 30
> 20, 60 > 40 and 70 > 50 might work.

Too right. By far the greatest and unnecessary burden on ambulance and A&E services is caused by collisions involving motor vehicles. Riding our bikes we may put ourselves at risk but we are certainly not going to put others at risk.

There were 27,820 people killed or seriously injured (KSI)
reported to the police in the year ending June 2019. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/848485/road-casualties-year-ending-june-2019.pdf

I don’t have the stats for Singletrack forum users, but I don’t think we can compete with drivers for risky behaviour.

Meetoo, ads, “P” missing, denied access to pdf of mag – “critical error” on account page. https://singletrackworld.com/account/

Was working fine until just now. And I like the new theme.

I used to ride mostly on road, with a few trips on rough tracks with my touring bike. But a few years ago I bought a cyclocross bike and I suddenly realised how much nicer it is riding on the bridleways – no cars! A year later I bought a cheap hardtail mountain bike and ventured onto rougher tracks. Cycling UK has also being working on getting better access to the rights of way network for cyclists – the North Downs Way riders route for example. A Cycling UK survey found that there is a huge desire to ride off-road along bridleways and byways. I’ve got no interest in spending sh*tloads of dosh on bike kit, but I’m enjoying cycling more than ever — both on- and off-road — and love exploring the countryside on my doorstep.

I have a Voodoo Bizango – the older version with double chainset and Shimano Deore shifters, with very basic Shimano hydraulic brakes. Wonderful bike for the money (I paid £500). Rode the South Downs Way on it. It’s the first mountain bike I ever bought – though I’ve been cycling since I was a kid in the 1960s. I don’t do trail centres, just day rides on bridleways.

Any helmet that has the certificate EN1078 (sticker on the inside of the helmet) should perform to a minimum standard. For children it is EN1080. Bear in mind this is not much protection for your noggin – roughly about 12mph impact speed. The vast majority of helmets only conform to this minimum impact standard. And most riders I see don’t have them on properly. If you want better protection you need to seek out and try on a helmet that is certified to a higher standard such as Snell B95 (the inside of the helmet would have a sticker for both the EN1078 and Snell B95). Make sure it fits and wear it properly. They are difficult to find as they are bulkier, less attractive, and heavier. Better still, risk assess and avoid a high speed crash ;-)

@Nealglover You nailed me there! Maybe I look thirty years younger than I am ;-)

A 1:100,000 scale cycle maps of the island is available in almost every bike shop. http://mallorcabike.info/mbenglish.htm

Lots of quiet roads in the triangle between Porta Pollenca, Pollenca and Alcudia. You could head south to the town of Muro where you can have a very nice buffet lunch (1pm to 3pm) with all the locals in a cafe/restaurant called Sa Fonda (closed Tuesday). Lovely old photos of the town inside.

Also some off-road tracks through the nature reserve south of Alcudia. You’re supposed to pick up a free cycle day pass from the visitor centre.

The Times article is BS.

Many of the new joiners are in their 20s and 30s, Pat Langley, the club’s secretary, said.

For new members the RSF does not take any personal details apart from name, address, email and telephone; and whether they heard about the RSF through social media, advert in a the press, or word of mouth. No other information is collected from new members. So how can they possibly know the age of new members and why they joined? I joined last year and have been out on several club rides with them.

@DT78 taken on Wednesday this week just south of the Canadian memorial on the west half of the National Park. Not bone dry but well drained fire roads of The Forestry Commission. Don’t expect any singletrack. All the trails are like this. I wish I’d taken my CX/gravel bike instead.

New Forest official trails looking good this week.

Physiotherapy and strength training. Don’t give up on riding just yet. Just take it easy on the long road to recovery.

@Coatesy

Cleaning and lubing the pistons will make your problem worse, the pistons will slide through the seals and run closer to the disc. Leave them covered in shite like most people do, and the pistons will stick to the seals, the seals will flex and then return, and thus retract the pistons (The downside is more lever travel before anything happens, something I detest in a brake, so am happy to keep them clean & free running.)

That’s a good observation. I was tempted to clean and lube my at the last pad change and bleed. Glad I didn’t now.

Just to be clear – yes, my rotors are perfectly straight, and are of good quality, and yes, I have cleaned and lubed the piston seals.

And you have thru-axles front and rear?

Remove old pads. Insert bleeding block into calipers. Bleed the brakes. Remove block. Insert new pads. (As noted above, be gentle with the pistons.)

Are there ANY road disc brake systems that don’t rub?

I doubt it. From time to time any disc brakes are gonna rub because in normal use the pads are very close to the disc. I have cheapo Shimano hydros on my MTB, and BB7 and TRP Spyres on my winter/CX road bike. These bikes rattle and tyres thrump so much I cannot hear the occasional rubbing of the discs and they work great in the wet and off-road. I have rim calipers on my lightweight (steel Pinarello) road bike. I’m not tempted to get a summer road bike with discs. Get a pair of ear plugs.

@Colin74 I go over the handlebars, too. But I always land on my right side. And always on my hip – which has two titanium pins in it from a, erm… previous fall on my right side. At least the pins aren’t plastic, otherwise I’d worry…

@colin74 that’s interesting. I wonder if the RX Ultegra – can’t remember exact model number, but it has the same faux MTB look about it and I think large cog capacity. I’ve always managed to bash my rear mechs and bend the hangers on my bikes. I seem to have a habit of only falling on the right side.

@colin74 please report back on progress with the new mech!

@Colin74 thanks for the photo of the plastic bit on the mech. I share your concerns about plastic.

MTB 11 speed mechs are not compatible with road/gravel shifters. But it appears that 11 speed road mechs will work with road/gravel 10 speed shifters. This video uses Tiagra 10 speed with a road 11 speed mech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGQ63yiYIIE No idea if the road mechs used feature plastic bits, tho ;-)

You can use a 4700 Tiagra rear mech. Largest cog size is 34. No clutch on the Tiagra. https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/tiagra-4700/RD-4700-GS.html

“Compatible with current 10s road DUAL CONTROL LEVER” https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/grx-10-speed/RD-RX400.html

So you can mix and match between Tiagra 4700 and GRX 400.

I’m a bit disappointed to hear that the GRX is a bit plasticy. I was thinking of swapping the Tiagra for the GRX 400 has it has a clutch.

“Dr, I can’t feel my willy after sitting in the same position for 90 minutes!”

“Go home and stop sitting in the same position for 90 minutes.”

This is not rocket science, it’s common sense. You need to change your position every 5 minutes or so, using the drops much more, standing, moving about.

^^^ This. Unless you are trying to break the hour record, do the above.

@jaminb you have one link too many. In the small to small combination you have used up all the swing of the rear mech – the two jockey wheels are horizontal. In the big to big combination you have just enough swing to take out one link. The “b” screw only positions the top jockey wheel nearer or farther from the cassette cogs. It should be adjusted in the small front ring to big rear cog by back peddling until it rotates without fouling (usually heard as a rubbing or knocking sound). You bike looks like my old Dawes Galaxy – 531 ST frame.

Get a new chain and cassette and fit it ahead of racing. Rotate the chains on the new cassette and get a chain checker (as advised above). Keep the old chain and cassette and put it back on next winter and ride it until it is unusable.

A sunny day and some easy riding across Thursley Common, with coffee and cake in Elstead.

P1030177 by linusrees[/url], on Flickr

P1030172 by linusrees[/url], on Flickr

My route from Godalming Station to Elstead (for lunch at Little Barn Cafe). https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31668769

Then Elstead back to Godalming https://ridewithgps.com/routes/31668796

A handful of routes with GPS here https://www.surreyhills.org/discover-route/cycle-surrey-hills-elstead/

Thanks for the info guys. @Snooze I haven’t tried it from Milford Station. There’s a bridleway (Fox Way) from outside Godalming Station that takes me most of the way and I cross over the A3 onto the common just west of Milford. I couldn’t work out a route avoiding busy roads from Milford Station.

It’s the cable outers and where they connect to the lever under the bar tape and hoods. Fitting cables takes time and patience and often the levers descend down the bars over time creating a gap between lever stop and cable housing (outers). I have Campag and Shimano stuff from that era – both equally good on a road bike.

You could just try something different. Go to some nice countryside and do some easy riding with him. No jumps, just some rides to challenge his level of fitness. Nothing serious, just enjoyment of riding. Stop at a cafe, have some good food and then ride back. He’s at an age where he’ll be making his own decisions about what he likes doing and how he’s gonna do it.

M520 SPDs with Sidi or Spesh MTB shoes on road and gravel bikes. Flats on MTB.

I do it in the summer or if we’ve had a dry spring. Gravel, hardpack on 25mm tyres no problem. No way in any mud across roots and rocks.

Shimano Tiagra 4700 work fine with Spyre and BB7s.

Either sell (or swap for wider rim wheels) or keep them as a spare set with light tyres. It may be a false economy to re-build them with new rims as the hubs may be shagged. I’m not familiar with them but looking at the spec they seem like decent wheels.

I have a pair of Specialized Defroster. Warm and waterproof, as long as water doesn’t run down your shins and ankles into them. Mine are nearly ten years old and I have worn them every winter. You won’t need overshoes with them for temperatures above freezing. Not cheap, but they keep my feet warm and I am very susceptible to cold feet. They are very similar to the Lake and Shimano shoes mentioned above. I wear DeFeet Woolie Boolie socks with them which are quite thick so you need to make sure the fit is not too tight.

There might be something of interest on the gpx tracks here https://cycleclassics.co.uk/cardiff-roubaix/ Also search for Cardiff Roubaix on Ridewithgps (It includes routes near Newport).

It didn’t seal the tube when I ran over a nail. Haven’t bothered since.

All air forks have a lock out. My Suntour Raidon on my Voodoo Bizango has a lock out and it won’t budge more than a couple of mm when its locked.