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

[am50em]

Went for a ride this morning and about 1.5 km from home, changed down to a lower gear and heard strange sound from shifter. Thought maybe cable starting to fray (gear changes had been perfect till then). Next gear change bang and cable had snapped. Bit of walking up the steeper bits but got home OK.

This afternoon thought I would replace the cable (first time with Shimano had done SRAM before). Could not see the end and the shifter would only shift one position and back again. Much fiddly getting nowhere, decided the bite the bullet and remove shifter from bike. Saw there was cover underneath held on by one screw. Took it off and could see the head of the cable which was easily removed. Now shifter works correctly again. Fit new cable which went thru frame easily enough once I worked out need to remove outer cable near drop out. But more fiddly and all good but discovered where outer cable enters the frame at the front wasn't correctly seated. Pulled inner out and trim outer cable and fitted into hole. Redid cable and indexing again. Then noted head of cable not sitting fully in the shifter. Doh! Undid, fitted head correctly in shifter and got it all working for 3rd time.

I had removed handle bar tape as it was wearing thru and easier to work on outer cable with it gone. Of course the inner sticky part of tape stuck to handlebars so another 20 minutes cleaning it off completely.

Then noticed headset slightly loose so tightened that.
Front brakes need bleeding but Shimano mtb bleed kit doesn't fit (need adaptor?).
That was enough for one afternoon. The handlebars taping will wait till tomorrow. Now need to find parts to bleed Shinano 105.

[redsonic]

Went for a ride this morning and about 1.5 km from home, changed down to a lower gear and heard strange sound from shifter. Thought maybe cable starting to fray (gear changes had been perfect till then). Next gear change bang and cable had snapped. Bit of walking up the steeper bits but got home OK.
This afternoon thought I would replace the cable (first time with Shimano had done SRAM before). Could not see the end and the shifter would only shift one position and back again. Much fiddly getting nowhere, decided the bite the bullet and remove shifter from bike. Saw there was cover underneath held on by one screw. Took it off and could see the head of the cable which was easily removed. Now shifter works correctly again. Fit new cable which went thru frame easily enough once I worked out need to remove outer cable near drop out. But more fiddly and all good but discovered where outer cable enters the feane at from wasn't correctly seated. Pulled inner out and trim outer cable and fitted into hole. Redid cable and indexing again. Then noted head of cable not sitting full in shifter. Doh! Undid, fitted head correctly in shifter and got it all working for 3rd time.
I had removed handle bar tape as it was wearing thru and easier to work on outer cable with it gone. Of course the inner sticky part of tape stuck to handlebars so another 20 minutes cleaning it off completely.
Then noticed headset slightly loose so tightened that.
Front brakes need bleeding but Shibano mtb bleed kit doesn't fit (need adaptor?).
That was enough for one afternoon. The handlebars taping will wait till tomorrow. Now need to find parts to bleed Shinano 105.

It always happens, doesn't it. Something that might take 15minutes ends up taking all afternoon.

[elantra]

New Chain procedure today !

The biggest hassle with replacing chains is probably cutting it down to the correct number of links.
Shimano chains seem to usually be 116 links which is a bit too long for most road bikes, especially if they have compact-sized chainring(s)

There are a variety of ways of working out the correct number of links to remove, perhaps the easiest one is to look at the length of the old chain.
But in this case the old chain had been removed weeks ago, and possibly installed on another bike, or possibly tossed out, I could not recall.

Anyway, the procedure went quite well, yes I removed a few links and then wrapped the chain onto the rest of the drivetrain, and then decided that I needed to remove a few more links. Not a problem.
I also replaced the rear derailleur with a newer one, but that’s a separate issue of little relevance.
Although it would have been easier if I did that BEFORE I replaced the chain !

The new chain ends were connected with one of those traditional Shimano long pins that you push through and then hopefully seats itself and then protruding end is easy to snap off.
I prefer to use a quicklink but didn’t have one in the shed

A quick check of it shifting between front and rear cogs etc was done but of course the important test is to take her out on the road and see how it goes under load.
In this case it was very gratifying, a quiet drivetrain that shifts well.

Here is a pic of some of the important tools, including a chain breaker, a wire hook, a releasable cable tie (for the crank to the frame or bottle cage, otherwise the chainring rotates during installation and the chain falls off)
- and the reading glasses, so I can see what I am doing.



And the result

[WyvernRH]

This week seems to be developing into a 'ride the non-indexed gear bikes' week.
Took out the Bosomworth today to check out that the upgrade to a triple is working as expected and... yes it is.



Some may not consider it an upgrade as this was an all Supurbe Pro drivetrain...until... the long arm Supurbe Pro rear self-destructed halfway up a hill. Now has a Suntour Mountech front and a SunRace R80 long arm gear at the back, which works perfectly with the Supurbe Pro friction levers over the 12-28 7-speed block. Which is all I care about really

The 'AccuShift' stickers that came on the bike in front of the down tube levers have always puzzled me a bit on this bike as it never has had AccuShift levers or gears AFAIK. Not been brave enough to peel them of to see what is underneath

Richard

[elantra]

^^^ Nice looking machine - looks like a “race” frame.

Amazing how saddles have evolved over the years, modern saddles don’t look like that at all.

While I am unapologetically a retro-fan, I generally find recent model saddles a bit more cosy than the “old” ones

[Dent]

Yeah you need something softish under your own rear. . True story . I now have 10 bikes . Sold one a few weeks ago to a mate for his wife . picked up two giveaway this morning after I notice a farcebook post by chance as I was editing an ad for something else I'm wanting gone. The ad was up for 14 minutes . I barely looked at the pictures. I know if there are two bikes there is going to be bits for my bins , maybe one saddle fits my Malvern Star better , some funky alloy hardware... Nice tyres ... So I go out to the northern beaches here and got the bikes. Looks to me to be a retired German couple. Who bought these bikes from Germany a while back when they migrated. There is a Gazelle Hybrid lite line . This thing is nuts . Everything is oozing quality. Carbon forks . Carbon rear spar sections grafted into 6061 alloy . The headstem is a work of art and the mechanism to adjust the bars it's tool free for adjustment..lovely engineering. continental tyres and crazy spokes ... 4 spokes ...miss 4 .. 4 more . Even the side stand is cool and perfect length. This bike will probably have my gurl on it and I reckon she won't get off it ... Her other bikes are nice but this is next level ...And a mens Gudereit city performance fantasy. Made in Germany. It's soooo European..it's got the Shimano dynamo front hub and the lights 7 speed Nexus rear with a back pedal brake . Plus the other rim brakes . Pannier , frame mounted " honesty lock " like if you knick you gotta carry it . It's got suspension forks , two complicated hubs , pannier , lights a stand a suspension seat ... Good luck unless your truck is close . Now I've got two bikes I was going to use for bits that are way to good for that . Both the bikes have the original bike dealers stickers on them . That's cool.

[redsonic]

Glad you're keeping them intact. Sounds like a great find

[Dent]

For sure . I'm hunting for a few key items to get my Avanti Discovery 8 a decent set of light rigid forks . When I first stripped this alloy bike for the Nexus drive for a Dutch bike build, removed the forks ... I was stunned by how light it is. I'm not taking hardware from these bikes to finish that custom cruiser. Again pics are hard to get up on this platform ?

[Dent]

As a change from " what did you do with your bike " ...."what have your bikes done to you "

First it's like having a favourite child. But they are just machines right ? ..the bikes ... It's easy to find your favourite. It's the one you find yourself on more than the others . Hands down it's my Malvern Star Kinetic conversion to upright. It just seems to move by itself . And it is sexy and unusual to look at . Would I ride it at night in the rain in Amsterdam with a bag full of groceries....no I would ride the Gudereit. Bikes are super functional but also jewellery with a transport Benefit....

[brumby33]

I have agonised long enough with that Specialized Mimic saddle that I bought for the Vivente in Sydney about 3 years ago but i just could not get comfy on it and I sort of found out why, being a bloke, and not a light one either, I found out by accident that the Mimic was designed from the Ground up to suit females.

I gave it a good go thinking that i'll get used to it eventually but no, even after a couple of hours riding, I've found that i can barely put any weight on it as it just hurts too much......so it's gonna be taken off the bike and I bought a new Bontrager saddle that i can use and see how i go for the next week or two......if it doesn't suit, i can give it back with receipt and get a refund, I will probably then just go and buy a Brook Cambium saddle or something.

Saddles are becoming an expensive part of bicycling......i'm sick of the cheapies but over $200 is a bit rough. Only my opinion of course!!

So I'll go out to the Garage a bit later in the day or tomorrow morning and change it over......

that's about it.....My Trek Marlin 7 has just had it's first service since buying it (free) and it's all working nicely.....but the Vivente is the one getting the new saddle.

Cheers

brumby33

[warthog1]

Saddles are a very personal thing and tough to get right imo. It takes time to work out what works. Your butt adapts to the saddle and the saddle adapts to your butt to an extent.
Important to get the right one though, as if your aint comfortable, you aint going to be to keen to ride.

[Dent]

Yeah ... Look too true . My gurl gets annoyed if I put her on a bike and take time to get it just right for her. ...well she used to... Now she just gets her gloves and helmet on knowing riding is so much better when it's comfortable. I reckon having other saddles and the Allen keys around helps to make quick adjustments. I put her favourite saddle on a bike I did not think she would like... She liked it .Warthog is correct . You will not ride if you are not comfortable. Some of us know how bikes work and I reckon getting people on sensible bikes is cool . Saddles are dear . So you need to pay for a good one or have a hobby where you find them . I found a great one for nothing but it had a Gazelle liteline alloy carbon hybrid connected to it

[bychosis]

Bike adjacent. The park tool work stand I found on council clean up needed a second repair. Original piece of wooden dowel i used had split meaning the clamp wouldn't tighten to a seatpost. Spent somewhere between 1 and 2hr finding a bit of thick steel bar, cutting to length, drilling and tapping the ends and drilling through the middle and fitting it. Good as gold (blue?).

Then once complete swapped back in the BB I took out of the commuter yesterday after finding another 3 that were wrong size. Will test ride again in case the noise was just something loose and not a dud BB.

[Dent]

I took the Gudereit " fantasy" " city performance" out for a stretch today. Trying to find a reason to love this bike. First ride when I got the bike was to just see what it's like without putting it in the stand . Just put air in and went . It's fine straight up . The supports for the front mudguard were a bit off and scraped the tyre . The gears and 3 brakes work fine. It's heavy but it's mostly in the Nexus rear and dynamo front. Suspension forks on a city bike ? . Pretty much the bike makes sense . I wonder if the forks are original. It's ... Lovely and solid to ride . Why a Nexus rear with a brake and 2 rim brakes ? .. makes coasting tricky . Maybe if I took some " fantasy" and rode it
.

[elantra]

Took my “Gravel” bike on a ride up the beach.

Quite a long beach in fact- specifically the “Ten mile beach” is an uninterrupted 12 km stretch of ocean beach between Shark Bay and Black Rocks headland.
The closest town to Shark Bay is Iluka, about 8 km south, and the closest town (by road) to Black Rocks Headland is Woodburn, about 25 km north.

The Beach and its coastal landmass is designated as the Bjundalung National Park.

Anyway I was in luck as the wind and weather conditions were favourable for a beach ride.
It had poured rain overnight and was still raining lightly at 8am which gave a relatively mild temperature and no harsh sun.
And the wind was gentle.

The ride along the beach to Black Rocks was fairly effortless really on an outgoing tide.
I had 28 mm tyre front and 32 mm on back.
With relatively “narrow” tyres like this, riding at high tide would be absolutely impossible.
Fortunately the tide was outgoing.

In the 12 km along the beach, I didn’t see many people.
Only one bloke who had parked his 4x4 and was fishing in the surf, and another bloke in a 4x4 who was probably looking to go fishing also.

At Black Rocks headland there is an extensive NPWS campground. There was a few camping setups there but certainly not that busy. It probably does get a bit busy at certain times of the year.
Theoretically it might be possible to keep riding north along the beach to the township of Evans Heads - about 25 km further along the beach.
But this is probably illegal as it is a Military training area for the RAAF, and the beach area dunes etc may have unexploded ordnance.
And of course if the jet aircraft are doing flight training over the beach there may be live firing.

From Black Rocks Campground I could have kept riding along the gravel road to the town of Woodburn but riding back to Iluka via Ten mile beach was a more attractive proposition.

Overall it is a beautiful ride if the conditions are right.
The beach is beautiful, and the rock formations at Black Rocks headland are especially beautiful.
Here is a picture :