First Ride in Ages

Damn Dark Dyce wrote: With a subject thread such as this; things were always going to sleazy, were they

Don't forget to get a good quality lube, Biggy

LeggyD wrote:

Damn Dark Dyce wrote: With a subject thread such as this; things were always going to sleazy, were they

LeggyD wrote: Don't forget to get a good quality lube, Biggy

What's that for?

Tell you what, it's a while before I achieve my ambition of riding to the Web.

I thought I'd be meeting Royser there last night, but there's no way I'd have made it!

I got wet on the way to work this morning as well.

No one said it was going to be easy

EDIT: It's only 3.4 miles to GH if you go over the secret bridge.

Right. Next week

Over 5 miles to the Web though

Biggest Thing on Two Wheels wrote:

LeggyD wrote: Don't forget to get a good quality lube, Biggy

What's that for?

Should always give your equipment some lubrication before a hard ride

Biggest Thing on Two Wheels wrote: The main purpose of the exercise (see what I did there) is to get a little fitter. So a slightly less efficient bike isn't really a problem as it delivers a bit more of a workout on my ride to work (which is only 2 miles so hardly the Tour de France).

This next bit is disgusting. Don't read it if you're eating and don't say you weren't warned...

My office is surrounded by cobbled streets I pass several fish factories on my route through this area. So the cobbles are covered with a lovely greasy fishy paste. I sometimes tail slide my car around in this solution when it's late and there's no parked cars around. So I imagine my knobbles and suspension (front only) will come in handy there.

The front forks have adjustable tension but, honestly, I'm sure I'm some way off needing to optimise my bike in this way. It's just a way of getting some exercise, beating the traffic and never having to worry about parking.

...and it gives me an excuse to ram a large piece of chamois down the front of my kecks, obviously

that post has made my night! made me feel a bit sick at some point,but its shear talent

i miss having a bike. i had one that was too huge for me.lol.

Biggest Thing on Two Wheels wrote: The front forks have adjustable tension but, honestly, I'm sure I'm some way off needing to optimise my bike in this way.

To adjust yer forks properly, when you are riding the bike, stand up and push down on the handlebars. The shocks should retract somewhere between an inch to 3/4 inch. Tighten or loosen to get it just right.... its worth the effort.

LeggyD wrote:

Biggest Thing on Two Wheels wrote:

LeggyD wrote: Don't forget to get a good quality lube, Biggy

What's that for?

Should always give your equipment some lubrication before a hard ride

I've asked colin to supply me with his rim specs.

Here's mine;

RIMS Specialized/Alex RHD 26, double wall, eyelets,

fitted new tyres to mine, gone from 700x20 to 700x23 for comfort then realised i don't have a pump any more, so just ordered a floor pump off tinternet

will be back in the saddle soon.

There's me thinking a rider is 4 bottles of JACK DANIELS,4 bottles of VODKA 132 cans of STELLA,13 cheese on biscuits and a DUSTER!

I've got a puncture :(

Does this mean that I have to start dicking around with spoons while my Mum shouts "where's my washing up bowl" at me, or has technology come up with something better than all that?

Do I win 40psi?

I told yer , Colin ! , some weeks back when you got yer bike , you HAVE to get some SLIME .Puncture prevention stuff that you put in your inner tubes.Bit late now but get yerself a new tube and put Slime in it.And in your other good tube too.I swear by the stuff.I never get punctures.Of course , i'll go and get one tomorrow now i've said that.

Aha I wish I'd read back now.

Of course you did.

In fact, that was what I was asking. I knew someone had mentioned something that might help.

COLIN you are FULL of HOT air..... And i ain't got no money and i ain't got no HAIR....oh no don't say it's TRUE. The RETURN OF THE Thin WHite DRUNK.

Biginmikitchen wrote: Aha I wish I'd read back now.

Of course you did.

In fact, that was what I was asking. I knew someone had mentioned something that might help.

He's talking about a product you purchase...

...not jizzing in yer innertubes there mate!

Did about 12 miles on Wednesday, 1st outing of the 'summer'. I was in bits, me buttocks are still killing.

Should've got the train home. Though I would have missed seeing a Chinook take off from abar 100 yards, if I had.

This last day or two i fitted a new block and chain , a new front chainwheel , a new front chainwheel gear changer , a new front chainwheel gear change cable, new brake blocks on front and rear , regreased the bracket and bearings on the rear wheel and pumped the tyres up.Goes like a rocket now! wheh hey!

Life on the edge eh?

I used to work in a bycycle shop when i first left school actually.The bosses daughter was well fit.And she used to fancy me

The smell of chain oil does it for you then?

The smell of WD40 does it for me.What a high that stuff gives me whooooohhhh eeehhh.I use it as air freshener around the house you know.But it settles on the laminate floor and things get WHOOPS a daisy!! slippery slidy.er , not reallyGreat stuff though.Polishes anything.Although i heard a story recently where the spirit measures in a pub were all squeaky every time the barmaids pressed the glasses to them to fill up.So this dumb twat decides to spray WD40 on them to loosen them up.You can imagine what happened to the taste of the drinks after that Loads of people ended up in hospital

that's it, i'm getting me a new bike through the cycle to werk scheme any suggestions for which brand/ model? in an ideal world i'd prefer campag to shimano, but realise that's getting harder these days

was looking at cyclocross bike as opposed to an mtb or an out & out road bike cos of pot holes etc

have some michelin booted mavic 700c open4c rims can swap in for road rides

Rural Country Boy wrote: I told yer , Colin ! , some weeks back when you got yer bike , you HAVE to get some SLIME .Puncture prevention stuff that you put in your inner tubes.Bit late now but get yerself a new tube and put Slime in it.And in your other good tube too.I swear by the stuff.I never get punctures.Of course , i'll go and get one tomorrow now i've said that.

Slime is bloody awful. Really messy and adds about 3 tons to your rolling weight.

For an MTB/Commuter get some tyres with a light Kevlar band. Like Schwalbe Marathon Racer

And get a floor pump to get them up to maximum pressure. That's 60-80psi for 26" MTB tyres, 100-120 for 700c Road bike tyres.

It's still spoons to get the tyre off but don't dick around with bowls of water and glue patches - ditch the tube for a new one. And don't pinch it putting the tyre back on!!

hibster wrote: that's it, i'm getting me a new bike through the cycle to werk scheme any suggestions for which brand/ model? in an ideal world i'd prefer campag to shimano, but realise that's getting harder these days

was looking at cyclocross bike as opposed to an mtb or an out & out road bike cos of pot holes etc

have some michelin booted mavic 700c open4c rims can swap in for road rides

If Bristol fashion is anything like London you'll have to get a Fixed. Everyone here is a Fakenger.

Bonus is you don't have to put up with that noisy Campag freewheel and daft shifters

Royser wrote:

I've asked colin to supply me with his rim specs.

Here's mine;

RIMS Specialized/Alex RHD 26, double wall, eyelets,

Bontrager Race X Lite

I noticed with some interest that slime is not featured on the website of my local cycle shop, and I don't recall seeing it in the shop. This did make me suspect that it may be something that pwopah bike-heads sneer at. I was also wondering whether the introduction of high-viscosity liquid into the inner tube would affect the dynamics of the wheel at all.

I’ve bought the repair kit now. Chucking the inner tube out seems incredibly wasteful. I’m a bit shocked by that suggestion.

They use nitrogen for aircraft tyres you know

Biginmikitchen wrote:

I’ve bought the repair kit now. Chucking the inner tube out seems incredibly wasteful. I’m a bit shocked by that suggestion.

Yeah, a bit wasteful. But driving to work is more so. And with decent tyres well pumped and often checked for cuts and debris I expect at least 3000 miles between p*nct*res

They use nitrogen for aircraft tyres you know

I'm waiting for them to invent Helium tubes. Should make the bike lighter and if you get a p*nct*re it'll make you sound like Joe Pasquale

Did you see the pics of my epic ride on Facefuck?

I look like a right fanny in that hat

I was upset it wasn't purple

I've never noticed the Slime stuff affecting the dynamics of the wheels or adding extra rolling weight etc although i'm sure it probably does.I'm not really a bike head , only use the cycle to get to work.Not big on long cycle rides in my spare time although i'm thinking about doing a bit one of these weekends if the weather's good.Can understand proper bike heads turning their noses up at Slime but each to their own.I started using it some years back when i had a succession of punctures.I rarely get punctures now , if ever.

Put these on and you'll never have to worry about punctures ever again Colin...