Road Cycling

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Nah definitely not that sort of sound. It's a proper dry cracking sound.

I'm thinking freehub body bearings once they heat up, will try a different cassette for tomorrow night to rule that out.

I hate that chat too, in stock should mean in stock. Good bearings are worth it in my experience.
Does it only happen when you put a lot of power through the crank or all the time ?
 
Soldato
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Can anyone recommend a low/med end GPS unit?

I've been looking at the Garmin 130 plus or 530. My requirements are easy connectivity (ability to upload gpx's), basic sensors, hill climbing feature (climbPro seems ideal) and a good battery life (10hrs+) with decent maps.
 

fez

fez

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Can anyone recommend a low/med end GPS unit?

I've been looking at the Garmin 130 plus or 530. My requirements are easy connectivity (ability to upload gpx's), basic sensors, hill climbing feature (climbPro seems ideal) and a good battery life (10hrs+) with decent maps.

How desperate are you for it? The 1040 has just been released so perhaps the lower tier will be refreshed soon which would knock the prices of older models down. Other option is to look secondhand at the 1030 where people have upgraded.
 
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How desperate are you for it? The 1040 has just been released so perhaps the lower tier will be refreshed soon which would knock the prices of older models down. Other option is to look secondhand at the 1030 where people have upgraded.
It would be quite useful for the summer. I had a look at the second hand market and the 1030 still seems very expensive and way above my requirements. I'm looking to spend approx £100 but open to a 1030 if a decent deal pops up.
 

fez

fez

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It would be quite useful for the summer. I had a look at the second hand market and the 1030 still seems very expensive and way above my requirements. I'm looking to spend approx £100 but open to a 1030 if a decent deal pops up.

As far as I know the 530 is very capable but £100 is a low budget unfortunately. I'm sure others will be able to offer more advice on other brands that might be a bit cheaper. I only have limited knowledge in this area.
 
Soldato
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As far as I know the 530 is very capable but £100 is a low budget unfortunately. I'm sure others will be able to offer more advice on other brands that might be a bit cheaper. I only have limited knowledge in this area.
I've seen 130s go between £60-80 and a few 530s between £100-140 on marketplace so I thought it should be within reach. Feel the 130 may be sufficient for my (basic) needs.
 
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Out of interest, how much difference do pedals make and how do you tell if they're knackered?

With my new bike the guy had a set of road style clipless pedals. He did mention they weren't great and that it might be worth replacing them. When i got home i stuck on my Shimano M324 hybrid pedals and just used my mtb style trainers. However i fancied getting a pair of proper road shoes and so ordered the Boardman ones from Halfords which came today and seem to fit pretty well. I also bought a paid of road cleats which were ~£15

The ones i've removed look a bit grubby and the springs look rusty on one of them, along with a cap missing from one bit.

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I'm just wondering if i'm better returning those cleats and then using the money towards something like the Shimano RS500 pedals which include cleats anyway?
 
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Check for play up and down on the axles to see how worn the bearings are and also when clipped in how much play there is in the cleat/pedal interface forward and back. The pointy part of the cleat wears the pedal out through time and the fitment becomes slack.

Side to side float is normal for yellow cleats.

Had a good ride tonight after feeling a bit blunt yesterday, got boxed in the gutter as a split was happening but I managed to tap a lad on the hip to let me out and got across to the front group. Once up there I was 4th wheel basically being sick in my mouth :D local boy rides for caja rural and was sticking it to us a bit. 317w for 13 minutes at 55kg. I think he was barely out of breath too.
 
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Tyres arrived. Now just waiting for everything else.
Went with a shop based in the Netherlands called Mantel. Impressed with how quickly they arrived. Only draw back of the site is we can only spend up to £135 due to Brexit. Decent prices on there though
 
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Soldato
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Weekly catch-up for me ! Weird how I seem to only get time to reply here once a week...! Werk werk werk. ;)

After some endurance last weekend (due to the weather saturday) I picked up a couple of saddle sores. But then still 'returning' from my 20 days off was kinda expected (I suffer regularly enough with them). Weather was so good this week actually blagged the other half to be allowed out midweek with the club on a social (tuesday). Good fun ride, but so many riders out it got messy early on and we lost 3 of them

This exactly. I use mine instead of a bell when I'm rolling up behind a pedestrian.
Haha, same! All the talk about hubs and engagements, when think the OP was just about how noisy the freehub is? If you want to make it near silent just put some grease in.

Generally if you've ridden 'off the shelf' type standard wheels, or more traditionally OEM branded they're usually not that loud. If you ride more expensive wheels, or more 'branded' hubs they tend to be a bit noisier. Even if the internals are generally pretty similar the cheaper wheels will have come with a thicker grease in them to make them last longer abused by someone not putting a bunch of miles in and leaving them stood, or just ridden all weathers with. Grease made to 'stay' in there, rather than be as smooth as possible to reduce friction... Think more a sticky grease than a thinner and lighter one. The other wheels the opposite, especially if made with something like DT Swiss or Hope hubs, they could be made to tighter tolerances so there is less 'dead area' in the hub to pack out and a lighter grease makes just them smoother, but as it's lighter there is more of a click. Could even be the spring(s) are stronger, or the pawls bigger that cause it. Hope especially known as a 'loud' hub.

In my case my Zipp hubs come with a very light grease, plus a rubber seal around the freehub/hub body interface. I've actually taken to use a motor oil (Mobil1 10w-40), rather than a grease in mine and it works very well. Although noisy, they spin superbly. I'd do a 'spin test video' but it would literally be several minutes long before they stopped spinning... BUT during the winter, they do need additional oil adding a few times. When things get more grim it doesn't stay in there. The costs of the crazy Zipp grease means I've never bought any and that's why I went the engine oil route. Some wetter winters I even put a wet chain lube in there (Finish Line Green) as it's slightly thicker so has more staying power.

One for our resident bike mechanic.

Are the Chinese copy pullers fine to use, I see no reason why not. I want to remove BBRight press fit from cervelo, measures 50mm OD at the cup. Well firstly I want to pull the bearing from the cup then either press new bearing in, or remove the cup from the frame totally and replace both.

Bicycle Bearing Press Tool Bottom Bracket Shell Fast Install Removal Kit - as described, Professional https://amzn.eu/d/4Lrw03N
Was that aimed at me?! Wouldn't say I was a resident mechanic - although it might seem like it. Just an opinion on and an answer for everything! ;) :rolleyes:

Would think they'd be fine to use, bike bearings are tight for us, but they're nothing compared to them in machines and engineering type situations where tolerances are far tighter.

'Only' gained 3.5kg while away (down to just over 2kg yesterday - water retention from flight?)
Back down to 'only' 1kg gained, but I was never quite down to below 79kg very often previously anyway. So now 80kg and happy with it - less happy with the 20-30W FTP loss I seem to have! The increase in top end HR and hitting 190bpm last week (and close to it last night) is not balancing it out either! :eek: :o :cry:

I've decided I don't think I could go back to rim brakes. As you say, it might be large guys feel it more, but to me there's a pretty drastic difference in performance. Tbh, I can tell the difference to my commuter too, which has disc, but I guess they're not as a good. Not as big a difference, but I think it's noticable.
Same. Certainly not while I'm '1 bike for everything'. Then if I where to get a summer bike I'd never ride in poor weather so not have braking problems, keeping it as hydraulic disc just keeps compability across wheels and equipment I already have.

I used a PRO tool before to remove mine and a lifeline press however it required hitting very hard with a metal hammer to remove. I was very scared to miss and write off the frame :D
I have a tool like that, but the couple of times I've used it in anger I've never been able to remove a bearing with it. A press always ends up my go-to, so that's what I start with...

I tried using this hammer at first: https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-bumping-hammer

No chance. I had to move to a standard metal Stanley thing.
I have the same one, works well for me. Have not needed to use a 'real' hammer.

i don't think it's a huge problem if you do it right but i think they say a rubber mallet in case you miss the bb remover then hit the frame. Might not be pretty if its with a standard hammer :D
If you're planning on smacking your frame regularly with any hammer I'd say you should stop immediately and be using a shop instead for your repairs! ;)

I wouldn’t be able to get the DS bearing out without being a bit rougher, the C Bear BB has a flange on the inside which is larger on the drive side and would prevent the tool being used. A deep sided socket on an extension bar would work perhaps.
These type of things work well. I've 2 of them now, one originally designed for headset removal was the same size as the one for my PF30 (not the one linked). Although they can knacker/wreck the seals smashing one out, that's not a concern. I don't remove them until replacing.

If you want to know why your press fit BB is awful go and watch some of Hambinis videos. The quality control on a lot of frames is quite frankly unacceptable especially considering the price of many of them.
All Hambini will tell you (in far more words) is that tolerances and QC is the issue, not pressfit itself.

The industry just needs higher manufacturing standards, not more standards.

The theory/mechanics behind press fit are excellent just the manufacturing needs to match.
Spot on! The reasons pressfit gets such a bad rap, is it's a much cheaper for frame manufacturers to fit it so it's found all the way through their ranges - also why it became so much of a norm and standard. Cheaper and lighter BB's too (made of plastic), so again benefits OEM's and manufacturing. Cost savings. But that also lead to it being used on those frames with poorer QC, sloppy engineering and manufacturing to save costs.

I grabbed my pressure gauge to see what I'd stuck in and was surprised to see just 23 PSI - yikes!
Haha yeah, quite funny sometimes. Especially when you're more used to riding low pressures and tubeless. When things get so slack they 'feel' squishy, just how low that can be!

It is interesting. When I got my tyre pressure monitors, people in this thread claimed they would tell the difference between 75psi and 90psi by squeezing the tyre.
Yup I still could. But it's all down to the tyre, rims and what you're riding. A 23/25mm tyre run at 90-100psi feels firm. They have to be hard at those usually (<19mm) narrow widths to ride on. A drop in 10+ psi you can 'feel'. It's far more noticable. The tyre deforms a huge amount with the drop and easily bottoms out hitting any edge. Ultra 'sensitive' tyres and leads to the riders on them being the same, as it'll mean a pinch flat very likely to happen!

When riding wider and lower tubeless tyres at lower pressures, you can barely tell the difference. They're not firm at the top end, the wider rims and squishy tyres hold their shape more when they drop pressure. The tyres designed to deform, not needing as much pressure to hold it's shape and still roll smoothly. My winter wheels at 40 psi, a drop down to 30 psi will barely be noticeable, only when really dropping below. My current summer ones at 50/60 psi can drop down probably to 40 before I'll really start to notice. They'll also happily ride at that, just start to feel a little more 'draggy' on the perfectly smooth and fast roads of the summer where I want them higher so I can zipp along faster...!

They're from Tredz but now I check I think i bloody ordered the wrong ones!
Gutted, but glad you resolved.

I went boring and basic and ended up getting some Schwallbe Pro One TLE tyres. I've seen they play well with Zipp wheels and it was only £88 for the pair delivered.
Very good price for a pair of tubeless tyres! Always heard such a mixture of reviews and riders opinions on the Pro One so I was never that sure about ordering (so never did). Some people love them, some don't.

With the Tour starting in a couple of weeks and me off to the Alps this coming weekend, I got a couple of new jerseys :cry:

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KoM just because I'll be climbing a lot, and the Sprinters for any day we might do some flats... and the green jersey is probably more likely than the yellow for me :cry:
Good choice and nice jerseys, enjoy!

Finally just swapped wheels with him and went to a local chainy. It took 10 miles to start but my god what a noise.

Loose spoke nipple(s)? Crack/internal deformation in the rim? When ridden harder wheel is flexing more.

That's very generous of you. Will open a conversation now. Thanks
Agreed, props @AndyCr15 - you're a gentleman!

Can anyone recommend a low/med end GPS unit?

I've been looking at the Garmin 130 plus or 530. My requirements are easy connectivity (ability to upload gpx's), basic sensors, hill climbing feature (climbPro seems ideal) and a good battery life (10hrs+) with decent maps.
Was going to suggest the BOLT but how in the holy h*ll are they £260! Crazy money. Barely paid over £200 for my original ELEMNT and I'm sure when the BOLT came out it was a similar price, so expected them to drop in price and be significantly below the ROAM now. Although I guess they do a BOLT2 now and that's the pricing we're seeing?

Would still recommend the BOLT if considering spending towards 200 on a Garmin unit. But I'm biased - owned 3 Garmin head units, all of them more expensive than this ELEMNT, none of them lasted more than a few years. Garbage hardware and flaky OS. Wahoo nailed the 'just works' principle with their head units within the first couple of years. Garmin have had over a decade. This ELEMNT is nearing 6 years old, will replace it with a BOLT when the time comes. Zero consideration of going back to Garmin. YMMV!
 
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If you're planning on smacking your frame regularly with any hammer I'd say you should stop immediately and be using a shop instead for your repairs! ;)
How on earth do you think bike shops remove bb bearings, Will power ?

It’s how you take them out, it’s not a big deal it’s just not a nice feeling doing it.

Stuck in some ceramic bb90 bearings then took the bike out for a 330k ride Wednesday just gone, seriously smooth.
 
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Sold my ****** steel frame tourier (Fairlight Secan) and replaced with a ****** carbon di2 (Ribble endurance SL disc pro with Firecrest wheels)... Through cycle to work it only comes to £800 above the Secan's sale price.
 
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