Aren't Bicycles Great.

Johnmcl7

brat wrote: »

Just returned from a family holiday in Pollensa, Majorca. I hired a bike for 5 days but because it was a family break, I only ventured out in the mornings when the family was getting uo. Still managed Formentor and Sa Calobra. What a beautiful island for cycling and touring. We'll have to get back to do more.

Sounds great, I'm getting an access denied symbol on your picture though

John

Lord_Baltimore

brat wrote: »

Quick video of my descent to Sa Calobra, a memorable descent of 2,200 feet in about 15 minutes. The climb back up took 35 minutes, which I'm quite pleased with. Every cyclist should give this a go!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YA7WtqyZzY

Epic descent and beautiful, laconic violin. I bet you slept well and with a little smile on your face

esuhl

With this beautiful weather, I've been doing 20 to 30 miles a day! (Don't laugh -- it's a lot for me on my pannier-laden mountain bike! :-P)

But... I've been consistently spending money on my bike for years now! There's always something wrong with it! It's starting to drive me up the wall!

I keep buying new stems of completely inapproproate dimensions! It's hard to know until you try them out (and spend ages wiggling the saddle up/down and to/fro. And I have ergonomic grips on my flat bars, so I need to adjust them by about 0.1 mm each time... which is tricky.

My freehub has suddenly started sticking, and I've no idea how to fix that. And my gears (which were running fine) suddenly needed the B-screw screwed in by about a centimetre(!) to take up the slack which didn't exist before!? And after spending the last two days tweaking my gears, I can't quite get them right.

There's no way I'd spend so much time and money on cycling if it wasn't so damned amazing! Aren't bicycles great! :-D

So... just wondering... Brat, your bike is much nicer than mine (which cost £450 new). And everyone else... Do you guys have to spend so much time fixing/tweaking/repairing/upgrading your bikes...?

brat

esuhl wrote: »

With this beautiful weather, I've been doing 20 to 30 miles a day! (Don't laugh -- it's a lot for me on my pannier-laden mountain bike! :-P)

But... I've been consistently spending money on my bike for years now! There's always something wrong with it! It's starting to drive me up the wall!

I keep buying new stems of completely inapproproate dimensions! It's hard to know until you try them out (and spend ages wiggling the saddle up/down and to/fro. And I have ergonomic grips on my flat bars, so I need to adjust them by about 0.1 mm each time... which is tricky.

My freehub has suddenly started sticking, and I've no idea how to fix that. And my gears (which were running fine) suddenly needed the B-screw screwed in by about a centimetre(!) to take up the slack which didn't exist before!? And after spending the last two days tweaking my gears, I can't quite get them right.

There's no way I'd spend so much time and money on cycling if it wasn't so damned amazing! Aren't bicycles great! :-D

So... just wondering... Brat, your bike is much nicer than mine (which cost £450 new). And everyone else... Do you guys have to spend so much time fixing/tweaking/repairing/upgrading your bikes...?

20 to 30 miles per day is a decent distance for anyone. On a heavy bike, that deserves respect!

I'm not the best person to talk to about maintenance, my work colleague who is much more bike savvy than me is always going on at me about my poor bike maintenance.

But I have learned a little, and learned to mitigate the damage caused by the elements. The single best purchase I've made to reduce bike wear and tear is my turbo trainer. Of the 5,500 miles I've done this year so far, 2,400 miles have been on the turbo. I use the turbo when the weather is poor, so I'm not submitting my bikes to the worst weather. I've put mudguards on my cyclocross commuter bike too, which prevents a lot of the dirt and grime getting into the chain and bottom bracket.
I also clean, oil and grease the bike much more than I used to. I do that as a matter of routine now, rather than wait until parts fail or stiffen. So the chain gets oiled for every decent ride, and at least once a week. The headset and BB bearings get checked cleaned and greased every couple of months. The freehub is removed and pawls cleaned and regreased regularly. I tried to bleed my disc brakes recently, but failed miserably, so that had to go to the LBS.

My total bike budget is not cheap. I reckon I spend over £3,000 a year on bikes, kit and maintenance. Not much of that is maintenance, it's mostly for improvement and new gear.
So in that respect, the maintenance costs are low as a percentage of total costs.

But the primary lessons I've learned are

1) Keep your bike spotlessly clean
2) Keep it well, but not over lubricated
3) Check and service parts regularly. Don't wait for them to fail
4) Regrease routinely where needed.
5) Protect your bike against dirt and grime either by not going out in horrible weather, or use mudguards
6) Don't damage any part of your groupset by dropping the bike, or leaving it carelessly against something. Don't force it against other bikes on a bike rack on your car.
7) Buy a chain gauge to check for chain wear and replace before worn
8) Keep your weight down. More weight on the bike= more maintenance
9) Clean rim brakes regularly. Replace pads often, so that the pads wear more quickly than the rim.
10) Don't sprint like Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, wrenching your bike from side to side each pedal stroke, putting loads of pressure on the rims, spokes and bearings.
11) Cultivate a good friend who is also a wizz with bike maintenance and repair.
12) Ride lots of miles for pleasure, so that you feel the cost is always worth it.

Emily_Blunt

Wanting to do an across the nation ride with my brother by marriage and some of his companions in April and anticipating driving by bicycle several days seven days once the climate moves forward.

brat

Lord_Baltimore wrote: »

Epic descent and beautiful, laconic violin. I bet you slept well and with a little smile on your face

It was a very special ride. A serene descent followed by a lung bursting ascent. I have to go back there for more of that!

I love that piece of music, It's The Protecting Veil by John Tavener, played by Steven Isserlis, believe it or not, on the cello. I think the greater resonance of the cello gives it that almost impossible dual quality of being melancholic and uplifting at the same time. It raises the hairs on the back of my neck every time I hear it. :-)

Lord_Baltimore

Great list of "lessons learned" above brat.

One of my bikes is an old, steel-framed classic (its a stiff, uncomfortable ride but I have it simply for the pleasure of owning it). Despite its age, it had unpitted chrome front and rear forks etc and no mudguards (because I like it original).

Notice I said 'had unpitted chrome'. Last winter I took it out and picked up something that virtually destroyed the bike. Chrome has come off in chunks; the paintwork is shot and now the cables routed down low are coming apart. I failed to clean it after use and thought a little 'mud' would do no real harm. Gutted is all I can say.

Cello, yes. Now, not only is my bike knackered, I'm revealed as uncultured. Woe is me .

Johnmcl7

I've dabbled with cameras on the bikes for a while experimenting with helmet, bar and chest mounting opting for the latter as a good balance although it's still a little bumpy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmFPOXInjYc

After spending a while looking at gimbals, I finally bought one and gave it a go and I'm amazed at how smooth it is. The bike is a short travel hardtail so it's not a smooth ride and the camera still seemed to be bouncing up and down with the shocks so I was bracing myself for the footage being not much good. However it seems to smooth everything out incredibly well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjUJ-KhSpwQ

Wind noise is clearly an issue although the audio isn't great on action cameras anyway.

Lord_Baltimore

Nice. Just be careful not to let the camera 'encourage' you to push the envelope. Great ride; stay safe.

Johnmcl7

As odd as it sounds, with mountain biking you need to push the envelope - riding slower and with more caution is much more likely to cause the bike to crash as the lack of forward momentum makes it easier for the bike to go over. Then of course you want to ride slower and more cautious the next time so you crash again etc. so it's a vicious circle.

I've been working on trying to get my speed up and more comfortable with the bike at speed but it's hard to convince yourself even though logically I know it's correct. Particularly on steep downhill sections where you can creep down on the brakes and be constantly on the verge of falling off or let go of the brakes, the let bike speed up to the point you can no longer stop it and let it roll smoothly. I was doing a steep bit last night I rarely ride as it scares the crap out of me this time let the bike go and carry some speed and it was far easier.

Of course if you're at speed the crash is much bigger particularly if the front wheel doesn't roll and you're chucked over the handlebars.

John