Tag: tips

March 26th – There’s times when you just have to give in. For several reasons I’ve recently converted from 28mm Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres to 25mm. the ostensibly small, 3mm change has made a big difference to fitting the tyres, which has led to a couple of tubes being pinched on reassembly – notoriously during my ride around the Roaches a couple of weeks ago.

I’ve been looking for solutions. These tyres won’t be fitted by hand, the combination of Mavic rims and Schwalbe rubber is notoriously tough, so I’ve opted to try a new tool – this plastic hook device made by BBB and costing about £7 pivots like scissors, and you rest one arm on the opposite rim, and hook the tyre on with the other.

I’ve not tried it yet, but it has to be worth a shot. Never known tyres this tight before.

May 16th – I had to make a train journey mid day, and I spotted this horror, travelling on the same train.

This is why I’m opposed to seat post mounted rear lights.

The danger of overhanging clothing obscuring them is bad enough, but how is anyone to see your light if it’s obscured by your own saddlebag?

March 18th – A bit of a tip for the Brooks saddle owners with a sheared tension bolt, as I suffered last week.

If your saddle hasn’t stretched much, it can be particularly hard to get the replacement bolt in – in the factory, the saddles are stretched on a hydraulic jig, so fitting a replacement can be a struggle to the home mechanic.

The problem is made worse because the pin isn’t threaded all the way up – and an extra 2mm of thread could make all the difference, and did on my saddle.

To make fitting a replacement easier, I took the adjusting nut from the new pin, and turned 2mm off the head on the lathe at work. It’s a steel nut, so there’s plenty of material left, and that 2mm allows the nut to be wound back clear enough to fit the pin with minimum leverage.

If you have this problem and don’t have access to a lathe, just find a handy local engineering company where someone will probably do this very quick task for a pint.

It could make the difference between doing the job yourself and having to return the saddle to Brooks.

March 14th – Brooks Saddles. Made and broken in the Midlands.

I love a Brooks leather saddle – made in Smethwick for a century or more from real leather, they’re a marmite thing amongst cyclists – you ether love them or hate them. I adore them; I’ve ridden on a Brooks for tens of thousands of miles and I’ve never found anything that fits my ample arse better. 

However, some aspects of them are not great. the ‘Brooks creak’, where at an indeterminate point after breaking in, the thing squeaks noisily for 400 miles or so no matter what you do to relieve it; the sometimes middling build quality can be disappointing; but both of these pale compared to the real annoyance – poor quality tension pins.

The two metal objects above should be one piece. This bolt sits in a yoke from the saddle rails to the nose, the nut adjusting the tension of the whole thing. It rarely needs adjusting, but it takes the entire weight of my resplendent girth.

Until it fatigue-snaps on the way home. 

They are a bugger to replace, and cost a fiver a time. To snap like this (and it’s a common, longstanding moan with Brooks customers) the component is poor quality. It would be easier to fit were it threaded to the boss. The whole thing is weak and shoddy. That’s very poor for a £60 saddle.

It left me with an uncomfortable, rattly ride home and a horrid workshop job to do. 

But I still wouldn’t entrust my posterior to any other brand. 

Brooks you muppets, sort it the hell out. Please.

March 11th – A nasty graunching from the rear brake on the way home was severe enough to have me check it out as soon as I got home. Much to my shock, I found the stock, soft resin-organic brake pads in my rear calliper were just a bit worn.

Ahem.

The new sintered metal ones are at the rear, the ones I took out in front. That’s bad. Should have spotted it sooner – luckily I don’t seem to have damaged the disc.

Never take your eyes of those essential maintenance tasks, people!

January 25th – There’s been a bit of a running debate lately amongst friends and family about just how much one should clean a bike in winter. I must admit, I’m from the ‘Only clean when the crud is ~25% of the total weight of the bike’ school, but others differ.

Visiting a client this afternoon, I checked out the bikes parked in their bike rack. This clearly well-used semi-hybrid has a fairly clean, well-lubed chain, but oh – the caked mud on that front mech is crossing a line.

That thing really needs some mudguards – all the mud from the back wheel that isn’t doing a skunk-strip on the rider’s jacket is being dumped on the chain and front mech.

November 25th – Another good one for Bob’s big book of bizarre mechanical failures. A few weeks ago I bought new cycling shoes and fitted new SPD cleats – the small pieces of metal that lock into the pedals for better engagement in place of toe clips – as is normal. I nipped up the screws, and gradually adjusted them for best cleat position.

Riding to work this morning, it felt like my left side cleat was clogged with mud or debris, and I had difficulty engaging and disengaging. As I went on it became more and more tricky. Arriving, I inspected the leat and found it had come loose and was rattling freely.

I have never had this happen before and am very surprised.Potentially very dangerous, I’m glad I found it trying to clip in and not out.

If you use lipless pedals, check your cleats for tightness today.

November 22nd – Time for a warning to local cyclists again.

The hedges hat (at last!) been flailed again from Anchor Bridge to Chasewater along the canal. The towpath is littered with sharp hawthorns and will puncture thinner tyres.

Probably a route best avoided for a week or two until the weather washes them away.

November 17th – This new Hope R2i light I’m testing is rather good. This is on a middle setting on the canal in total darkness near Aldridge (obviously, no camera flash was used). Battery life seems good, and the optics give a decent beam. I’d say this is better than the R4 I was using last season, but actually has two less led elements.

A real discovery. It’s no lightweight, but it’s a very good light.