Over a foot long I’d say…

That’s a Secret Santa gift right there that is

I had to take my mtb to a shop in New Zealand after the bearings in the rear hope hub failed. I specifically told the spanner bloke to apply copper grease to the thread when putting the cassette back on to the new freehub. Got back home to England and tried to replace the cassette. It was so tight no cranking would remove it even whilst in a vice. I knew then and there no grease had been applied.

In the end I popped off the largest aluminium ring which is pretty easy to do. The rest of the machined cogs are then free to slide off the hub. I then used a dremel tool to cut (not too deep or I’d have cut into the freehub) the remaining section of freehub (the screw on bit) to create a 1cm long but shallow slit into which I inserted a screw driver, twisted it which then forced the remaining part of the cassette to loosen it’s grip and easily screw off by hand. Desperate measures but it worked without damage to the freehub. If you do it this way it’s not overly detrimental to the freehub if you do cut into it a little bit but obviously you want to avoid this so you’ll need a very steady hand and good eye.

Prior to this I’d tried heat, freezing and loads of Plus Gas all to no avail.

I’m running 28s tubeless on my newer road bike. I used to run 23s on my steel racer. I seem to be getting more KOMs now than I did before but I don’t really care to be honest

Well at least Wales are still in.

Oh my God this is laughable, toe curlingly laughable. Do these guys get paid to play and if so why?

They’re very easy and can become quite routine. Especially if you’re into audaxing. I can knock a 200km ride out in less than 7 hours quite easily so starting at 7 in the morning still means there’s time and light, during the summer, to mow the lawn afterwards.

I have to confess to being a Strava bully using this tool http://labs.strava.com/achievement-map

Last year whilst out for a sunny mtb ride I got a Kom without trying. The segment was one of those which is a boggy mire 360 days of the year. I just got it on one of the 5 days it’s dry. The following day the original Kom holder nabbed it back off me. Well a few months ago when I discovered that tool I realised how useful it could be and entered this chap’s user id into it, saw all his koms and created a route incorporating as many of them as possible whilst trying to keep a nice flowing circuitous route. I took 7 of them in one ride and absolutely killed his times. I suspect he doesn’t like strava so much now.

C’mon MIKE sort your tracker out!

I really want him to win this in the fastest time ever

If it’s a carbon frame then it’s pressfit. I have to say that I sold the original Praxis Works cranks and bottom bracket that came with the bike before I’d even used it. Reason being one bearing was a different size from the other. The cranks didn’t appeal to me both in appearance, weight and length. I got a Praxis BB30 to shimano Bottom Bracket and a Shimano crank set. The bearings are the same both sides which would facilitate replacement. When replacing coat the bearings in grease. I use marine grade grease. I haven’t had to replace the bearings in the bottom bracket with over 8000 miles all year riding and they still feel smooth.

Similarly, my T5’s insurance cost is nearly as much as my BMW i8.

I had this after I did a multi day bicycle race last year. The shingles didn’t last long though. Sweated profusely in bed a couple of nights I thought that was my body just recovering from the race and getting back into regular sleep patterns. Then the rash appeared which I thought was an allergy initially. I thought the rash would go away with some savlon but it didn’t. Did some research on the net and found out it was shingles which the doctor confirmed and he gave me some pills. I finished the whole course although the rash had disappeared within about a week of appearing.

My advice go to the doctor, get him to verify what it is you think you have and prescribe you the pills and don’t scratch the rash or you may be left with scarring. No sign of them on my back at all.

Hope you get well soon.

I girl I slept with got up in the middle of the night and pissed in the corner of my bedroom. I wasn’t happy when I realised what the patter patter noise was. Brand new carpet too.

Don’t you need the ProTection version to set up tubeless? I have a pair of these for when my Racing Ralphs wear down and I’ll be setting them up tubeless.

Hi everyone. I’m a camera novice and owner of one of these. When sticking up pictures could you advise on what settings you’re using too please. It’ll help me hopefully. Cheers

I find the hydraulic disc brakes have been great this winter especially with all this rain. They work so effectively and that’s what it’s all about isn’t it? But like others have said they’re first gen and I think the calipers and the levers look ugly.

The hoods are really annoying. I think they should have more rubber padding where the hands rest as I’ve resorted to putting gel beneath them plus they slide about sometimes preventing me from changing gear. This is a really irritating flaw.

I’m still waiting for 14 speed to be released

I don’t have a multimeter but I’ll probably get one.

Where’s Scotroutes when you need him? He has an Oregon and a dynamo. I’m using a Sinewave regulator which I believe can handle over 50V so it’s pretty robust. I’ve ridden in excess of 40mph and that would be generating near to if not more than 50v unregulated voltage. The phone’s still charging fine but I’m not certain at this point if it’s charging as quickly as it used to. Maybe there’s less current from the regulator than there used to be but it would be handy if someone with a similar set up conducted a quick experiment on my behalf

I have a device to regulate the dynamo voltage. This is just a question of how the Garmin Oregon handles the power from the regulator without any power bank. If there is a powerbank between the regulator and my Garmin the charge symbol appears, which is good as it means the Garmins batteries are charging. However, without the powerbank I just get the external power symbol. The batteries presumably aren’t charging, are they discharging? I’m basically trying to ascertain if my regulator is functioning correctly. It could just be a characteristic of the Garmin Oregon.

Selle SMP Dynamic Carbon on road bike and Selle SMP Lite 209 steel on mtb

I got 100/100 on my mate’s karaoke machine to La Bamba so yeah I can sing! :D

12.5 miles each way 5 days a week. I wash the clothes once a week. The only thing I change midweek is the base layer. I never linger on arrival at work. I rush past reception and hope noone’s caught in my slipstream. I always have a thorough shower after. There is an office down the corridor from the changing rooms where my clothes hang to dry. Don’t think anyone’s complained yet and been doing it for almost 7 years. I think people are far too sensitive about wearing stinky dirty clothes. I wear clean clothes in the office but it’s impractical, wasteful and generally worse for the environment washing every day. Hope you don’t dream of riding the TCR or any other endurance event if you’re a prude.

Bit slow to respond here but thanks guys. I’ve decided to give the Race Kings a whirl. There’s a lot of good suggestions but I must buy only two.

Bit of a thread revival here.

Scotroutes or anyone with similar setup, when charging your Garmin straight from the dynamo regulator without a battery pack do you get the external power symbol or the charge symbol appearing on the Garmin? With my Oregon it shows the external power symbol but when I plug it into the battery pack it’ll show the charge symbol. I’m using rechargeable eneloops with a plastic tab over the internal button.

Trying to figure out if there’s anything wrong with my regulator or not although it seems to charge my phone fine.

Could be that your battery needs re-calibrating?

Diverge / Hydro users, do I want flat mount or post mount callipers?

Post mount

You remind me of the babe. What babe? babe with the power. What power? power of voodoo. Who do? you do

New Zealand in February. I’m on the Tour Aotearoa reserve list but if I don’t get in I’ll ride the route anyway. Flight’s booked, can’t wait!

Got over 900km this year. Quite pleased really considering I was working most days and I still managed to have a day off to celebrate Christmas with the rest of the family, albeit not on Christmas day. Quite pleased it’s over with though. The ride out on Christmas day was gruesome in typically Festive 500 fashion. The extended commutes I could have best done without but they helped pump up the mileage a bit. In general though for this time of year in England I think the weather conditions have been pretty kind to us cyclists. I wouldn’t have completed the 500km if the roads had been covered in ice. Off road it’s really difficult to cover that type of distance with all the gloopy mud. I’m now gonna begin fattening up for the cold snap that’s to come :-)

I can stand on my cross bar whilst singing Auld Lang Syne at the top of my voice and shall be doing so tonight….howzaaat!?

I’ve been noticing a lot of mum’s doing this lately, in their Nissan Qashqais with a boot load of kids in the back. The Milflick.

For the government to ban diesel engined vehicles

If I had the money I’d love to try this gear out

Hi Vis Cycling Gear

Cycled home tonight and only realised after about 10 miles that I hadn’t plugged in my rear light. I use the exposure revo dyno connected to the flare. There’s no switch so I have to unplug it at work to turn it off. Not one car hooted or honked and everyone still gave me the same amount of space. I ride down a busy A road too. I can only put it down to the large reflective patches on the end of my Pactimo tights so it just shows how effective reflective patches are when they move up and down. Felt very guilty though when I discovered my mistake.

I’ve got one for my off road rides. It uses less power than a phone so is quicker to keep charged off the dynamo at slower speeds. It has two modes for screen sensitivity. I’ve turned it to the least sensitive mode and don’t get any problems with rain or sweat changing the screen without a finger press. One problem I’ve found with another device I used was that the screen wouldn’t dim enough when riding at night. This however dims pretty well and doesn’t cause too much glare. Night mode helps too.

It’s pretty good and if you’re not charging on the go then these batteries..

as well as being very light last for ages, even with the screen on all the time.

For balance I’ve got a Sony Z3 Compact and have had it for over almost a year now. I’ve used it mounted on my handlebars, in a case within a case, on my bicycle for navigating to Turkey aswell as 1000’s of audax miles. Very first thing I did before the first charge was to buy a suitable case and screen protector. Didn’t touch the phone before buying and fitting those two items. The phone’s been fantastic….seriously. It’d have to be to rely on it as an only means of navigation through Europe.

This case…

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00NP2WMP6

and this screen protector for anyone that’s interested

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OFVQN24

Bike mechanic?! What’s one of those then? When I snap a spoke I just buy a new bike.

I’m paranoid of having my bikes nicked. Went for a pee in the toilets at Glentress and came out to find a lad astride my bike adjusting the saddle height. He pretended he thought it was his bike. He was with another guy and both of them had some tatty looking bikes. Can only assume they regularly try and steal bikes up there. Anyway sometimes, no matter how careful we are, we do need reminding how easy bikes are to be nicked. Most thefts, like this, are brazen and that Glentress incident made me reassess where and how I would leave my bikes out of site. I had a bike nicked from a “secure” spot at work many years ago so know how it feels but it’s easy to become complacent. Sorry for you Eilidh, it’s shit and these turds don’t care for the victims feelings but don’t worry you’ll get another bike. Maybe an upgrade?

Haha I love those “good pair of gloves for less than a tenner”

Cheers that was awesome

Gambia

Oarsum. Takes me back :D