What did you do with your bike(s) today?

[g-boaf]

I walked past my bikes multiple times today.

Is that enough to count? Unfortunately the weather is rubbish.

[CmdrBiggles]

Rode all of, and just 2.6km, return, to Koko Black Chocolates to buy a bag of freckles. Not cheap, but the cheer easily compensated for the crap grey and cold...

[DavidS]

I walked past my bikes multiple times today.

Is that enough to count? Unfortunately the weather is rubbish.

Yep, same, too bloody cold. I used to ride to work in any weather, but not a recreational ride. It sure has been cold of late, not used to very cold mornings any more, too many years of not so cold weather.

DS

[g-boaf]

The cold is not so bad, it’s just that it won’t stop raining. On off heavy rainfalls.

It doesn’t stop.

[CmdrBiggles]

Completed my first century-plus ride in 13 years of 140.22km in surprisingly near-perfect weather (cold early on, then cool but beautifully sunny) on the TCR — Geelong to Lorne return, via the Great Ocean Road, 8hr 33min (lunch approx. 40 minutes — chicken wings and hot chips!).

OK traffic on the Great Ocean Road, roadside speed cameras noticed, but somebody should remind the showy Lambo drivers beyond the speed camera zone that they are not at Bathurst!!

Bike and rider doing well...

[CmdrBiggles]

The cold is not so bad, it’s just that it won’t stop raining. On off heavy rainfalls.

It doesn’t stop.

You can ride inside (?)
Weather-wise, NSW is scheduled to get a month's worth-plus rain this coming week!
We'll get some of that, but we need a fair bit more down here in Victoria though!!

[g-boaf]

The cold is not so bad, it’s just that it won’t stop raining. On off heavy rainfalls.

It doesn’t stop.

You can ride inside (?)

Well yes of course but I'd still prefer to be outside if possible. Normally this time of year I'd be riding overseas but other commitments so that didn't happen.

[warthog1]

Ztto 11-34 12s cassette onto my WR50 wheel and the wheelset on the Reacto.





Had to tune the gears as per this short video as the hub offset is different between wheelsets;



Remarkably easy to do so. Pretty happy with that.
Tubeless tyres at 28f and 30r running about 65psi.
Hopefully I can give it a test ride tomoz.
Woeful weather here today.

Edit; looking at that photo I reckon the larger cassette is aluminium which pisses me off. Bloody AliExpress. Could have sworn it said steel when I ordered. Yeah the bottom part of the cassette is. Not the top. Don't expect that to last too long.

[Retrobyte]

Looked at my bike and said "I'll ride you Wednesday when it's finally not raining"

[foo on patrol]

I'll need too look at mounting options for the GoPro Hero 12 that I scored on the weekend. I wasn't expecting that from the other hlaf.

Foo

[grt046]

Looked at my bike and said "I'll ride you Wednesday when it's finally not raining"

Looked at mine too but didn't make any promises although Thursday looks a better chance being a wimp who only likes dry rides

[warthog1]

Looked at my bike and said "I'll ride you Wednesday when it's finally not raining"

Looked at mine too but didn't make any promises although Thursday looks a better chance being a wimp who only likes dry rides

I hate rain too. Uncomfortable, cold and rough on the gear. All that cleaning

[elantra]

Ztto 11-34 12s cassette onto my WR50 wheel and the wheelset on the Reacto.





…….

Edit; looking at that photo I reckon the larger cassette is aluminium which pisses me off. Bloody AliExpress. Could have sworn it said steel when I ordered. Yeah the bottom part of the cassette is. Not the top. Don't expect that to last too long.

Needs a protective layer of mud from the Aussie bush.
Besides, when you’ve got that many cogs the to share the load, each cog is going to take more time to wear out

Lousy weather again in the most easterly parts of Oz. Looks like it will be a good day to clean bikes

[warthog1]

Needs a protective layer of mud from the Aussie bush.
Besides, when you’ve got that many cogs the to share the load, each cog is going to take more time to wear out

Lousy weather again in the most easterly parts of Oz. Looks like it will be a good day to clean bikes

It is on the new roadie. No mud going on that. Sacrilege!
I haven't used aluminium teeth before.
This fella has used them in 11s. He wears cassettes out a lot faster than I do but he reckons it will last less than half the distance of steel.

[warthog1]

Well I did 110k on that new cassette today. Shifted pretty well. Not quite as good as a genuine shimano cassette, but not too far off. Good enough for me. Perhaps it is the di2 helpinng also. As Duck! states, it shifts slightly past the next gear and then comes back to the finished position on each change. Happy with that.
Remains to be seen how it lasts.
Chainrings last for ages and they are aluminium, so hopefully that bloke in the video is just wrong over their durability.
Possibly so, I have never worn out a cassette as rapidly as he states.

[Mr Purple]

Chainrings last for ages and they are aluminium, so hopefully that bloke in the video is just wrong over their durability.
Possibly so, I have never worn out a cassette as rapidly as he states.

This sent me down a little bit of an interesting thought experiment. Why do chainrings last longer than cassettes?

Presumably it's because there's (generally) more teeth on a chainring so they therefore turn around fewer times in the same distance than the cassette. But when you think about that, it doesn't really make sense either because you generally only have one or two chainrings versus 11-12 sprockets in a cassette.

Probably presumably also because cassettes change gear more often than chainrings, and I'd imagine a lot of wear occurs in the gear change process. It'd be interesting to see how many times your RD moves compared to the FD. Does Di2 log this?

I know personally on my standard 43km/800m Friday Cootha ride I change chainrings 4 times. Down on the botanic gardens climb at the base of Cootha, up again for the short descent, and then down for Cootha Back and up again at the top. I probably change gears on the RD four times per kilometre!

[am50em]

I expect since chain rings are bigger the driving force is spread over many more teeth so force per tooth is less and the release angle of chain off the top means less wear.

[warthog1]

Chainrings last for ages and they are aluminium, so hopefully that bloke in the video is just wrong over their durability.
Possibly so, I have never worn out a cassette as rapidly as he states.

This sent me down a little bit of an interesting thought experiment. Why do chainrings last longer than cassettes?

Presumably it's because there's (generally) more teeth on a chainring so they therefore turn around fewer times in the same distance than the cassette. But when you think about that, it doesn't really make sense either because you generally only have one or two chainrings versus 11-12 sprockets in a cassette.

Probably presumably also because cassettes change gear more often than chainrings, and I'd imagine a lot of wear occurs in the gear change process. It'd be interesting to see how many times your RD moves compared to the FD. Does Di2 log this?

I know personally on my standard 43km/800m Friday Cootha ride I change chainrings 4 times. Down on the botanic gardens climb at the base of Cootha, up again for the short descent, and then down for Cootha Back and up again at the top. I probably change gears on the RD four times per kilometre!

Yes chainrings last me 10s of thousands of ks.
The gear changes cant be too good for cassettes as you say. I do back off the power briefly when I go up to an easier gear though.
Elantra probably is onto something there with the aluminium part of the cassette having the gear with more teeth. It will be interesting to see how it lasts.
I am going to leave the WR50s on for a while. They ride nicely with the wider tyres and being so wide themselves. 28f and 30r both at 65psi. Bellissimo

[g-boaf]

I do the same when changing gears, I ease off the power a bit and don't slam through gear shifts under 500w+. Chainrings give no troubles and cassettes tend to be fine as well, though I'm on SRAM XG-1190 and the 12 speed equivalent whatever it is called, they seem to last a long time.

And as always I cannot believe the SRAM 12 speed chains how long they last. I changed one at 12,000km - only because I didn't trust leaving it longer. But in terms of stretch it was still fine.

[warthog1]

I do the same when changing gears, I ease off the power a bit and don't slam through gear shifts under 500w+. Chainrings give no troubles and cassettes tend to be fine as well, though I'm on SRAM XG-1190 and the 12 speed equivalent whatever it is called, they seem to last a long time.

And as always I cannot believe the SRAM 12 speed chains how long they last. I changed one at 12,000km - only because I didn't trust leaving it longer. But in terms of stretch it was still fine.

You need to have a look at https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/
If you start waxing them you will well and truly extend their life even further.
It is actually less cleaning and less work than drip lube.

[g-boaf]

You need to have a look at https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/
If you start waxing them you will well and truly extend their life even further.
It is actually less cleaning and less work than drip lube.

You wouldn't believe how little I clean the 12 speed chains - hard any cleaning at all. Maybe it's because they are so narrow and don't collect muck. And it's not for lack of riding in dirty conditions.

The most I do is wipe the chain clean with a bit of soapy water then use compressed air to dry it off, then a little bit chain oil (Morgan Blue Race Oil) if it sounds a bit dry. I'm not interested in wax, sorry.

[Mr Purple]

I expect since chain rings are bigger the driving force is spread over many more teeth so force per tooth is less and the release angle of chain off the top means less wear.

You're probably right - the relationship between tooth number and tooth wear is actually not linear.

I got 20,000km out of my last 52-36 chainring combo and get about 7500km per cassette, 2500km per chain. I don't particularly make any efforts to be mechanically sympathetic though.

Gravel drivetrain wear against my expectations is much worse than that. I suspect that's not brutality but dust.

[warthog1]

You wouldn't believe how little I clean the 12 speed chains - hard any cleaning at all. Maybe it's because they are so narrow and don't collect muck. And it's not for lack of riding in dirty conditions.

The most I do is wipe the chain clean with a bit of soapy water then use compressed air to dry it off, then a little bit chain oil (Morgan Blue Race Oil) if it sounds a bit dry.

That is way more than a waxed chain. It just doesn't collect grit.
Apart from stripping the factory grease with turps and then metho, A wipe with a towel before it goes in the wax cooker is it.

I'm not interested in wax, sorry.

No need to aologise, I fully understand. I was the same for years. Now I shake my head that I didn't start earlier. Less work, less time, less friction, less wear.

[warthog1]

I expect since chain rings are bigger the driving force is spread over many more teeth so force per tooth is less and the release angle of chain off the top means less wear.

You're probably right - the relationship between tooth number and tooth wear is actually not linear.

I got 20,000km out of my last 52-36 chainring combo and get about 7500km per cassette, 2500km per chain. I don't particularly make any efforts to be mechanically sympathetic though.

Gravel drivetrain wear against my expectations is much worse than that. I suspect that's not brutality but dust.

I'm on a roll here sorry

[CmdrBiggles]

I do the same when changing gears, I ease off the power a bit and don't slam through gear shifts under 500w+. Chainrings give no troubles and cassettes tend to be fine as well, though I'm on SRAM XG-1190 and the 12 speed equivalent whatever it is called, they seem to last a long time.

And as always I cannot believe the SRAM 12 speed chains how long they last. I changed one at 12,000km - only because I didn't trust leaving it longer. But in terms of stretch it was still fine.

zero


500W+!!?
I look after my transmissions and my shifting technique. I don't think much of today's yahoos who carelessly mangle chainsets, derailleurs and freewheels.

3/4 to be full revolution of front crankset when changing up or down. And very momentary (much shorter than a cabled system) easing-off power when shifting the rear. It was US "Mr Bicycling", Frank Berto in the early 1980s who made the well-founded point (as a team tech in the Tour De France) that applying power and force while the rear derailleur was in-process of a shift presents enough force to rip the derailleur off its hanger. Similarly, forcing a front up- or down shift with no revolution can shear the chain against the teeth at an acute angle, exacerbating wear of both chain and rings. The cost of the SRAM chainset, for example, at more than $1,000, is sane reason enough to follow efficient gearing changing technique to prolong service life!

Still, there are nongs out there using Di2 and SRAM who whinge and whine that, for the price point of either system, they should be well able to tolerate rapid, crunching, under-force shifting. Since when!? The materials are not made of indestructabilium! (with thanks to Oakley for that larf!). Just goes to show how very little many cyclists know about correct and efficient gear shifting!

Of freewheels/~cassettes, Giant's TCR Disc 1, which I test rode at CCACHE Melbourne in February, was fitted with the Di2 alloy freewheel; I had reservations about that. This model has the lighter wheel over the TCR 0-AR I settled with: it's a lighter freewhel and wheel overall, at the expense of freewheel durability.

I would not think Chinese made freewheels from AliExpress have any sort of precision or quality to speak of given that neither Shimano nor SRAM licence their designs or metrics to Chinese third parties.