Road Cycling

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FrenchTart said:
They can be a pain in the arse.
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Seconded.
PermaBanned said:
Rub is almost always an indexing issue.
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Or dodgy setup limit screws - remember they're only there to try and stop chain drop, the outer 'limits' of it's possible movement, not to exactly measure where the chain should be on the chainring. I see multiple people setting them up for 'exact' shifting to chainrings and then complaining when (after a few rides and cable stretch) they're getting rubbing. Your indexing and cable tension is what should determine derailleur location, not totally the limit screws.
physichull said:
Switched the wheel over to fixie mode full on hipster style this afternoon.
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What has happened to you?! :p:o
lordrobs said:
A chap I know who is just getting into cycling and worried about getting his first puncture on the road was told that what he needed was an old tyre and to run that inside the other one :confused:
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Maybe in the 70/80's this was a 'thing'. These days tyres have more layers dedicated to puncture protection. He's better to spend decent money on a tyre known for good puncture resistance rather than the time and hassle of cutting tyres up to then probably cause punctures on a tube from rough cut edges! :rolleyes:
FrenchTart said:
Rest day today..boo. My legs are ruined though. I'm not sure why as I've not really done that many miles/that much pace riding.
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Rest day here too with similar feeling legs, it's been 5 days since my last rest day and I was on catchup earlier in the week after a fast ride sunday. The last 2 nights (weds & thurs) I've done fairly fast loops after work - solo weds 20 miles @ 18mph avg and last night with a friend 32 miles @ 17.7mph avg. Every single one of these rides has had headwinds, every one of them a loop without feeling a tailwind anywhere! Nature is broken, but my power levels are doing well! Tempted to test them on sunday as I set a segment goal on Dorstone hill... ;)
 
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Roady said:
Your indexing and cable tension is what should determine derailleur location, not totally the limit screws.
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The limit screws are end points. If they're set correctly, and the cable tension is correct it'll shift properly.

The limit screw should always be the determinant of the "rest" position of a derailleur - if you're using cable tension to haul it off the limit screw when in the slackest-cabled gear, the limit screw is set wrong
 
The limit screws are essential. Before you worry about cable tension you should be leaving the derailleur in its natural state, sprung all the way out at the rear it in at the front, and adjusting the limit screw to get that position right. Then you attach the cable and get the tension right. Then pull the cable taut by hand and see where the mech moves to at the other end of the scale and adjust the othe limit screw accordingly. Once that's done you can worry about subtleties in tension to get the indexing right.
 
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Vonhelmet said:
Our cycle racks are a wasteland of old locks. I'm hoping that a decent warm day doesn't result in an influx of noobs wanting to lock their rusty one-day-a-year special next to my beautiful year round bike.
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I always leave my locks on the cycle racks overnight, saves bringing it with me every day and I use the racks near the Hub café.
 
Vonhelmet said:
The limit screws are essential. Before you worry about cable tension you should be leaving the derailleur in its natural state, sprung all the way out at the rear it in at the front, and adjusting the limit screw to get that position right. Then you attach the cable and get the tension right. Then pull the cable taut by hand and see where the mech moves to at the other end of the scale and adjust the othe limit screw accordingly. Once that's done you can worry about subtleties in tension to get the indexing right.
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Saytan said:
if you're using cable tension to haul it off the limit screw when in the slackest-cabled gear, the limit screw is set wrong
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Yeah, sorry I was talking about maximum/taught cable/derailleur reach, you don't want the tension of the cable pulling the derailleur against the max screw (on the front) at the top index. You'll increase cable stretch almost immediately (well within 100 miles), then you find more chainrub as the stretched cable puts out the trim (or making it useless)... As the conversation was asked regarding a front derailleur that's what I was talking about! ;)
physichull said:
I always leave my locks on the cycle racks overnight, saves bringing it with me every day and I use the racks near the Hub café.
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Same, but mostly because my Kryptonite weighs a metric ton and I wouldn't want to carry it everywhere. :eek:;)
Vonhelmet said:
It's just some of them look like Caesar might have locked his chariot up with them.
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You could say *ah-hem*, they're very ceased?! Or would they be 'caesed'? :D:p

I'll get my coat!
 
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I've been wrestling with an indexing issue of my own for the last couple of days

I went all the way back to first principles this morning and found the root cause

Ribble sent me a 9 speed cassette when I ordered an 8 for my 8 speed "third" bike with its 8 speed shifters....

And I didn't notice.

The cassette they've sent me was a £25 one when I ordered a £10 one so I might just put it aside for another bike I have which has 9 speed.
 
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Made a noob mistake. Last night when I decided to do a 72 miler (Strava Gran Fondo distance :o ) I quickly plotted a route using the auto route function of Plot-a-Route but must have had it set to bike rather than road. This isn't normally an issue but it picked up a National Cycle Network route that was an absolute joke. Fine sand several inches deep plus 25C slicks is not a good combo. I pushed for a bit but then decided to just ride slowly with one foot unclipped. All was going well (but slowly) until I stacked it :p I stayed on my feet but the bike went drive side down into the sand so that was nice and crunchy for the next few miles :rolleyes: Finally got out of the sand and found myself on a forest fire road. No choice but to push on sections of that as it was ruts so deep that the pedals hit the deck on every revolution. Finally got back to tarmac and the route was trying to take me up the Peddars way (more off road...) so I ignored it and just carried on up the road with the hope of re joining the route at a town I knew it went through. What a carry on!

Still, I did it 123km at a slow average speed not helped by the off road excursions!
 
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Dunks said:
So after relentlessly trying to thread shifting cables through my SRAM double tap shifters it turns out the cables I was using from Jagwire were 1.2mm which I've always used with Shimano, whereas SRAM needs 1.1mm?!

Annoying!
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The Jagwire cables will work, it's the shifter routing that is awkward. Sometimes a bit of prebend in the cable does the trick but there is a knack to it.
 
lordrobs said:
Made a noob mistake. Last night when I decided to do a 72 miler (Strava Gran Fondo distance :o ) I quickly plotted a route using the auto route function of Plot-a-Route but must have had it set to bike rather than road. This isn't normally an issue but it picked up a National Cycle Network route that was an absolute joke. Fine sand several inches deep plus 25C slicks is not a good combo. I pushed for a bit but then decided to just ride slowly with one foot unclipped. All was going well (but slowly) until I stacked it :p I stayed on my feet but the bike went drive side down into the sand so that was nice and crunchy for the next few miles :rolleyes: Finally got out of the sand and found myself on a forest fire road. No choice but to push on sections of that as it was ruts so deep that the pedals hit the deck on every revolution. Finally got back to tarmac and the route was trying to take me up the Peddars way (more off road...) so I ignored it and just carried on up the road with the hope of re joining the route at a town I knew it went through. What a carry on!

Still, I did it 123km at a slow average speed not helped by the off road excursions!
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Aye, it's easily done. I've planned epic routes that have gone boobs up 20 miles in when I've found that the "road" I chose is in fact a dirt track through a field because I didn't check on Google streetview. Cue rapid rethinking to get home in time before I get in trouble...
 
Vonhelmet said:
Aye, it's easily done. I've planned epic routes that have gone boobs up 20 miles in when I've found that the "road" I chose is in fact a dirt track through a field because I didn't check on Google streetview. Cue rapid rethinking to get home in time before I get in trouble...
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Glad its not just me! I got sucked into it a bit as it got progressively worse and I was committed by that point. I was also thrown by the fact it was part of the national cycle network as I'd have really struggled through sections of that on my MTB.

At least I didn't get a puncture. On the road if I so much as look at a tiny stone it'll end up through my tyre yet 4 miles of off road riding, no problemo!
 
lordrobs said:
Glad its not just me! I got sucked into it a bit as it got progressively worse and I was committed by that point. I was also thrown by the fact it was part of the national cycle network as I'd have really struggled through sections of that on my MTB.

At least I didn't get a puncture. On the road if I so much as look at a tiny stone it'll end up through my tyre yet 4 miles of off road riding, no problemo!
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Do it to myself most weekends if I've planned a new route on RideWithGPS. Came to a junction last weekend and figured my planned route which went down a track signed "Not Suitable for Motor Vehicles" was best avoided, so went the long way round. Having the full 1:50k OS maps on my Edge comes to rescue as you can quickly find an alternative way round.
 
Some parts of the NCN are nice... though majority to be avoided for road bikes. I used to do the 5 mile stretch from Canterbury to Whitstable in Kent on my hybrid. It was once an old railway line so really quite nice through one of the forests but certainly nice tyres required!
 
Urgh, so tired on the commute home this evening. I've not been sleeping nearly enough lately, and I had my panniers on with a week's worth of clothes in which is surprisingly heavy, and it was windy. I averaged under 14mph. Still faster than the commute I used to do into Manchester, mind you!
 
Vonhelmet said:
Urgh, so tired on the commute home this evening. I've not been sleeping nearly enough lately, and I had my panniers on with a week's worth of clothes in which is surprisingly heavy, and it was windy. I averaged under 14mph. Still faster than the commute I used to do into Manchester, mind you!
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Tbh... how often were you doing 20+ miles per day every day until the new job? I think it's fair enough to be a bit tired :)
 
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