Road Cycling Essentials

Status
Not open for further replies.
Streeteh said:
Will have a look into some threadlock, cheers guys.

Am i in any major danger of doing in the frame if i ride on it when it's working loose?
Click to expand...

I'd avoid it if possible. You'd certainly be damaging the headset. You can get thread lock from Halfords and loads of other places so you might be able to get hold of some today.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;21159393 said:
I'd avoid it if possible. You'd certainly be damaging the headset. You can get thread lock from Halfords and loads of other places so you might be able to get hold of some today.
Click to expand...

I've got to ride it home sadly so i've got no choice about that. I'll try and get down there tonight and buy some. I might also take the bike down and have a word with them as they sold it to me!

God knows how long i've been riding on it before i realized the problem. I don't mind nackering the headset, it's an expense i can live with, i'm more worried about it damaging the frame in some way. If that happens i'll be distraught.
 
Nip the bolts up before and during your ride. When you get to halfords, loosen them to how they were at their worst before showing them.
 
Too far away for me dude, it's the wrong side of London for me.

Streety, I don't think it will damage the frame because the slack you can feel is in the bearings and they pretty much all use sealed bearings now. There are cups pressed into the headstock tube and the bearings sit on them. What you can probably feel is the bearing sliding about on the cups. However... If the cups weren't pressed all the way home when the bike was built, they might be settling in and this might be what's making your headset feel like it's working loose. What you might want to do is make a couple of marks with a Sharpie marker and see if they move, which will tell you if it's actually working loose. If they aren't then it's the cups moving, and it's a matter of keep nipping them up. It's a pain, because they only have to settle a fraction of a millimetre and the whole front end goes slack - I know, because it did it on my Bob Jackson when I built it.
 
Thanks for all the help guys.

I've tried to nip it up again for the ride home, but the top bolt has 'gone all of the way' as it were. I can't tighten it up any further and the fork is still wobbling. Am i right in thinking this means i need a spacer?

I can't make it to the shop today as i've realized i'm stuck working late. I think i've got to nip it up as best i can, ride it home and take it to the shop tomorrow. Not an ideal solution but i figure an extra 8 miles won't wipe it out.
 
Sounds like the star nut (or equivalent) might be slipping?

If you take the top cap off you should be able to see how far up the star nut is. Thread the bolt in at least 4-5 turns (without the top cap) and give it a bash with a mallet to force the star nut down further (dont go too far, remember that the bolt has to reach it with the top cap on). Mark where it is and check it again if things get loose again.
 
Robbie G said:
Hi, I live in Studley and did a ride through Wootten Wawen / Henely-in-Arden at the weekend. Can you recommend any nice scenic routes, 30 miles or so? What's the nicest way to get to Stratford for example?
Click to expand...

Many routes around our area which you can do, I'll PM you a link to my Endomondo page.
If you have a look at my workouts there are plenty on there which cover the area.

** EDIT **

Ok, guess I won't PM you it, as I've just found out PM's are disabled




.
 
Last edited:
[STATUS UPDATE]

I got out of work early so bombed it down to my LBS (Specialized in Ruislip). The guy took my headset apart and found that the carbon steerer had come loose. He said it looked fine but if it comes loose again i may need a replacement. He put it all back together and i cycled the 5.5miles home and the fork is still solid as a rock.

Best part was he didn't charge me a penny. Lovely chaps.

Thanks as always for your helpful guidance and suggestions guys. Upon reading the horror stories online i had become certain my head-tube had become ovalised and would need replacing, you lot put me at ease just before an important meeting.

Jeeze though, how cold is it out there? My toes are stinging, i think i may have frostbite.
 
Last edited:
Streeteh said:
Jeeze though, how cold is it out there, my toes are stinging, i think i may have frostbite.
Click to expand...

Very! Took my girlfriends car in for its MOT this morning and cycled back to work, the route for which was all a gradual decline for about 3 miles. I was putting in as much effort as I could to try and warm up (albeit going downhill in traffic) but my toes and fingers were really suffering, especially with the chill @ 35mph odd. Not nice!
 
Streeteh said:
[STATUS UPDATE]

I got out of work early so bombed it down to my LBS (Specialized in Ruislip). The guy took my headset apart and found that the carbon steerer had come loose. He said it looked fine but if it comes loose again i may need a replacement. He put it all back together and i cycled the 5.5miles home and the fork is still solid as a rock.

Best part was he didn't charge me a penny. Lovely chaps.

Thanks as always for your helpful guidance and suggestions guys. Upon reading the horror stories online i had become certain my head-tube had become ovalised and would need replacing, you lot put me at ease just before an important meeting.

Jeeze though, how cold is it out there? My toes are stinging, i think i may have frostbite.
Click to expand...

It says full carbon so I'd assume carbon steerer aswell. You can't use star nuts on carbon for obvious reasons so they use an expanding bung. You can tighten it yourself by taking the top cap off and using a 4 or 6mm allen key usually. Anti-clockwise to tighten it usually.
 
bike.jpg


Red or white walled tyres guys?
 
I quite like the black tyres tbh, go well with the fork, tape, seatpost and stem!

If i had to choose though, red, would be too much white for me with white tyres. Annoyingly i don't have my work laptop with me today, i'd photoshop them for you to give you an idea if i did. Wait until tomorrow and i'll hopefully have it.
 
Streeteh said:
[STATUS UPDATE]

I got out of work early so bombed it down to my LBS (Specialized in Ruislip). The guy took my headset apart and found that the carbon steerer had come loose. He said it looked fine but if it comes loose again i may need a replacement. He put it all back together and i cycled the 5.5miles home and the fork is still solid as a rock.

Best part was he didn't charge me a penny. Lovely chaps.

Thanks as always for your helpful guidance and suggestions guys. Upon reading the horror stories online i had become certain my head-tube had become ovalised and would need replacing, you lot put me at ease just before an important meeting.

Jeeze though, how cold is it out there? My toes are stinging, i think i may have frostbite.
Click to expand...

Take them some beers to say thanks!
 
Robzere31 said:
** EDIT **

Ok, guess I won't PM you it, as I've just found out PM's are disabled
Click to expand...

Click on the 'Trust' box after any one of my posts. That's the equivalent of PMs on this forum, it just sends me an email.

****

Heads up for Wiggle customers...might help someone, but you get £5 off orders over £50 just for signing up to the e-newsletter (with your favoured spam-focused email account).
 
Robbie G said:
Hi, I live in Studley and did a ride through Wootten Wawen / Henely-in-Arden at the weekend. Can you recommend any nice scenic routes, 30 miles or so? What's the nicest way to get to Stratford for example?
Click to expand...

I used to work in Studley so I know some of the roads round there. If I'm heading in that direction I tend to go around Lickey and hook up around Clent, it might be a little bit more than 30 miles, but the roads are quiet, most of the time. Have a look at this http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Lickeys-Clent-Hilly-Loop it's a route that starts in Birmingham but goes through Portway, so you could adjust it. Quite hilly in a few places though....

For Stratford, I have a route that goes near to Alcester and ends up going across to the M40 through the country roads just north of Stratford, it ends up going through Wilmcote and Snitterfield, if that helps.
 
Streeteh said:
I quite like the black tyres tbh, go well with the fork, tape, seatpost and stem!

If i had to choose though, red, would be too much white for me with white tyres. Annoyingly i don't have my work laptop with me today, i'd photoshop them for you to give you an idea if i did. Wait until tomorrow and i'll hopefully have it.
Click to expand...

Cool, cheers!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom