Show us your.......newbie progress! [4 Sep 2012 - 4 Oct 2014]

[Nomadski]

@Nomadski I think if your bike is quite new you should get away with just the chain this time and maybe change both next. I know that's what I got with my Forme...........and they fitted a 10 speed Wipperman chain and it was only £30 so £50 sounds a bit excessive.

There seems to be a huge variation in KMC 10 speed chains in price, so looking at it, depends what exact chain it is if their pricing was thru the roof. Pearsons do err on the side of expensive though. What makes an expensive chain expensive? Weight? Quality of build? Don't know why but looking at chains makes my eyes go blurry and my mind starts to wander to the subject of cleaning windows.

I have wheels that I can interchange between two of my bikes. Blue bike's chain started slipping some on the big rear cogs. I did some adjusting with the cable but it came back. I put the wheel on the blue bike on the red bike and it didn't slip so I am going to stay with the cassette. I think like Mo said you can get more out of the cassette than one chain. I bought a chain wear tool for like 6 dollars or so. You can use a measuring tape but it can be sort of messy and time consuming. You don't need a fancy chain wear tool, just a cheap one should do ( I could probably make one if I took a little time to try) and it takes about 20 seconds (after you find the tool) to know if the chain is getting close to being worn or needs replaced. It is so simple even I can do it without much problem. I am glad I bought one.

I am not sure about the bottom bracket collecting water. I have never seen any in mine but I have never checked it right after riding in the rain. I use Hollowtech II bottom brackets on my drop bar bikes, so I am not sure if it is the same as yours. I would ask in know how section and see what they say there.

I switched my standard FSA cranks for Shimano 105 ones and had to make the switch from BB30 to Holowtech II myself. He says water can get in thru the seat post, the headset etc etc I was out in a massive thunderstorm last week but he showed my how much water and it was a half decent sized shot. Obviously this can affect grease etc etc The Praxis Works adapter was only fitted into the bike a few weeks ago.

Will get a chain checker tool, I know you can measure it with tape but I'm sure I can pick up something fairly cheap. I have bought that Park Tools crank removal / torture stick thing so I can keep an eye on whats happening in the chamber.

Sorry to read about your off, glad you're in one piece, skidding on gravel is everyone's nightmare. Not sure what a newbie would look like but all I can say is that I couldn't dare dreaming of riding your distances 3-4 months ago. I almost fainted after a 1mile trip to Asda and my goal was to be able to ride 10 miles without stopping, 3-4 times a week. If anything, it only gets to show how quickly the body adapts, I'm still amazed by that. Progress is inevitable as long as you keep pedalling. Keep up the good work!

@Nomadski Replacing a chain and / or cassette is easier than changing a tyre. You can get a Shimano 105 10 speed chain for less than £20 and a cassette tool + chain whip for £10. A 10 speed Tiagra cassette (the one the Synapses are shipped with) is also about £20. Water in the BB can't be a good thing for bearings and pretty sure it shouldn't be there. How did you notice it in the first place, were you able to take it out?

Ordered myself a new set of wheels, after much indecision and deliberation, I decided against a super expensive or lightweight set. I needed something durable to train with and there's still plenty of fat to burn before I consider any weight reduction on the bike. I settled on a pair of Fulcrum Racing 7s which I got for £120 delivered from Merlin Cycles. They are described as very smooth and virtually bomb proof by a lot of riders, some even use them off road. They seem solid and have a 2:1 pattern on the rear with double the number of spokes on the drive side (the ones that I kept busting on the RS10s).

It was when I picked up the bike from the LBS, they had a glass with about 2 cm of water in it. Confused the hell out of me. The water was just sitting below the inside crank of the chainside..erm crank...if that makes any sense. I didn't see it myself, he showed me from a Shimano 105 crank on the workshop wall.

Like with a lot of stuff bike related, am never too keen on trying anything mechanical as I tend to make things worse most of the time!! Really need to give it a go though, simple jobs can be so expensive when you take it into shops, but I always find there is a super expensive tool that needs to be bought for anything I muck about with. Bikes and unique one job tools seem to be the way it is.

Good luck with the new wheels, hope they serve you better than your RS10's did.

@stevey - best of luck with the 50 miler, its a great feeling when you do it (if your like me and enjoy these little milestones, forget the pun) I don't think it is much of a strain if your increasing it from 30 miles or so, but depends on the terrain I suppose. Like with everything bike related, enjoy it, that's what its all about!

@madferret - I think your quite right, this thread has sort of developed a bit with many of the newbies becoming pretty hardened cyclists, but so long as new blood keep coming in the thread will still be a great goto place for newbies because the support is there, as everyone has been one, and not afraid to say so. This place will never intimidate or demotivate anyone, wether they are trying their first 10 miler, or their first 100 miler.

That's what makes this thread the greatest thread on the internet™

 

[AndyPeace]

Ridden quite a few spangly bikes since starting to consider my Birthday Treat. Today I made up my mind and bought a Trek Madone 3.5. from my LBS (at this point I shan't name them and if I have in a previous post please don't bring it to light) Collected the bike at lunchtime and off I went for a good 1 hours spin. Slight mechanical issue as lots of gears seemed to rub on the front derailier, like 4 either way. Not had a double before so I thought maybe that's how they work, then the low gear starts clicking...so I think the gears need a bit of adjustment. I have a good look at the derailier too and the cable has been overtightened and threads in the cable are severed. I also saw that the handlebar tape is a bit shabby, as in badly finished, with bits sticking out where the end plug is. Yeah could do it myself, but I figure it's a good time to test the shops customer service. Took the bike back expecting to either be frowned on for picky points or have to leave the bike at the shop for them to sort. I get there and am warmly greeted. The guy listened to me and took the bike into the workshop and offered to do the adjustments etc there and then, pop back in thirty minutes. so I do, all seems well till I start shifting gears again. I'm getting no gear change or slow changes with each click and random noise on gears. So I figure I'll take a look, then I give an opinion of what needs to be done when I go to the shop. I take a look...and my double has triple shifters and front derailier. At the price piont I paid there is no way I'd accept that, but the shop is shut till tommorow, hense my long ramble! So far my experince of them has been good and although they don't give owt for free, they are welcoming and have a good reputation, of decades of service. I'm a bit worried that the headset isn't quite right too, as there seems a small gap between the fork and frame that dosen't look like it belongs there. My only consoloation is that I didn't buy it off the internet, so at least I have direct contact with the shop. Hopefully it will all be bright news tommorow. It's times like these when you realise that a good reliable bike beats fancy pants any day of the week...my bike felt sorry for me so it took me to the pub! http://app.strava.com/activities/71005994

 

[Nomadski]

Aw man was excited to hear you got your new bike, sorry its been a nightmare for you.

Ive had not quite so dramatic but a seemingly endless set of niggles that would have been LBS bound had it not been for the fact my bike WAS ordered online. Wont be doing that again, false economy.

Hope the LBS sort you out with something worth your cash.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@Nomadski
Well said.
Repairs it's like cycling really, you just get better at it, tools once bought if a good quality will last a life time.
Practise it's a little like cycling.
I have had some form a chain rub on my front mech ever since I can remember, I made it better a few weeks ago, but it still wasn't perfect, any way whilst I wasn't out most of last week, and when I had the strength, I had a good look at it (on my Aldi bike stand, paid for itself already), now apart from a little rub on the middle front and rear 7 its perfect, even the front changes are snappier, not had chance to use the 30th front much though, bit a of a bugger that.

 

[AndyPeace]

I've been to the shop several times leading up to the purchase, although they give nothing away (well to tbf they did say I could have 10% off pedals and shoes, just not quite as enticing as internet prices) they have been really helpful, I think I've spent around 3 hours riding bikes round the car park and asked every question bar what's the meaning of life. It does however seem to be Trek at fault here as they supply there bikes part assembled to the shop, though the bike shop should have recognised there was a problem with the shifting action when checking it over both at the time of sale and my second visit. I'm not happy about it I'm hoping either the shop will let me chose a different bike at the same price or the bike will be replaced/rebuilt under warranty and be ready before my 40th, that or full and prompt refund...anything else I won't accept. I'm pretty sure I'm protected under consumer law if need be. I'm going to phone them tomorrow to let them know but won't be able to return the bike until Thursday.

 

[Nomadski]

I know Ive mentioned it in the RideLondon thread, but for anyone who doesnt go to that thread, BBC will have 4.5 hours of coverage of the day in two parts on Sunday. Part 1 will be amateur coverage from 11:30-14:00 (with highlights of the events of Saturday) and Part 2 will be the pro race between 16:30-18:30.

The event is being shown in 111 countries via various media partners. Gives some idea to the size of this thing. http://www.prudentialridelondon.co....verage_of_Prudential_RideLondon_s1_p16508.htm

Should be noted the link says BBC2 for the first part, but my Sky+ and TV Guide says BBC1...?

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@AndyPeace
It's no consolation, I believe some triple shifters also work with doubles, so it might be a bonus if you want to change it to a triple, I presume you checked the spider to make sure it's not missing an inner ring, is it a double or compact I know the sora 3400 series were double/triple and some of the tiagra and 105's I think.
There should be no rub apart from maybe a little on extremes. The front mech is probable not aligned correctly, when you look down at the cage when set on the inner ring it should be parallel with the outer ring.

 

[Nomadski]

I've been to the shop several times leading up to the purchase, although they give nothing away (well to tbf they did say I could have 10% off pedals and shoes, just not quite as enticing as internet prices) they have been really helpful, I think I've spent around 3 hours riding bikes round the car park and asked every question bar what's the meaning of life. It does however seem to be Trek at fault here as they supply there bikes part assembled to the shop, though the bike shop should have recognised there was a problem with the shifting action when checking it over both at the time of sale and my second visit. I'm not happy about it I'm hoping either the shop will let me chose a different bike at the same price or the bike will be replaced/rebuilt under warranty and be ready before my 40th, that or full and prompt refund...anything else I won't accept. I'm pretty sure I'm protected under consumer law if need be. I'm going to phone them tomorrow to let them know but won't be able to return the bike until Thursday.

I don't even doubt you are covered under consumer law, if its not fit for purpose. I hope you get a positive outcome, is very upsetting when you spend significant amounts of money, and don't get that quality back.

Although you say they have been helpful, I would be hesitant in going the way with them unless they bend over backwards to help you get the right solution for you, if they don't, there will be plenty of local places that will.

 

[AndyPeace]

@AndyPeace
It's no consolation, I believe some triple shifters also work with doubles, so it might be a bonus if you want to change it to a triple, I presume you checked the spider to make sure it's not missing an inner ring, is it a double or compact I know the sora 3400 series were double/triple and some of the tiagra and 105's I think.
There should be no rub apart from maybe a little on extremes. The front mech is probable not aligned correctly, when you look down at the cage when set on the inner ring it should be parallel with the outer ring.

They work to an extent, I think the gaps between the chain rings remain the same. The problem is you will be able to shift onto the air in-between the small ring and the frame! You can't adjust a front derailler's inner stop enough to stop it happening. The spread of movement between a triple and a double is too much, so there will always be a chance of the chain derailing, most significantly on steep climbs...I can quite imagine me trying to shift down not realising I was in a low gear already . I think for similar reasons ,of the spread of movement they cover, the mechanism hangs at different distances from the frame. On my triple I have adjusted it so all the gears work without sound...thats xt deore. On a shop bought bike kitted with Ultegra gearing I'd expect at least the same, but to only be able to use half the gears in each chainring is wrong on any drive train. I expect there are subtle differences between the designs of the chain guide between a double and triple which on a refined mechanical set up really stick out like a sore thumb.
Incidently , although I know the different body positions of a road bike will add to my performance, I'm under no dillusions of it(edit) the bike making me faster than I am. I just want some refined mechanics and playful carbon to celebrate my birthday

 

[Nigelnaturist]

@AndyPeace
I understand you wanting it working, is it new I am not clear on that. There is a difference between triple and double cages triples are deeper, to lift from the inner ring. Shifters that are triple/double compatible would I imagine have some way of making them one click or two. I would also imagine a double to be more central than a triple or rather the space between gears would be where the inner ring on a triple is, so it follows a double cage would not need to move as far from the frame as a triple, hence shorter cranks, or a combination of these factors. I dont know enough about the different groupsets to make more than an educated guess.

 

[Mo1959]

@AndyPeace Sorry to read of your woes with the bike, but I'm not sure I share your high opinion of your LBS. A brand new bike given a decent final assembly and pre delivery inspection should be pretty much working perfectly and to go back to get looked at already and still not be working properly doesn't sound right to me.

Hopefully, your next visit will get it sorted properly or a promise of a replacement bike if it is still not feeling 100%. This is your birthday treat and you want it to be perfect.

 

[RWright]

Andy, sounds like you got a nice bike, just let them get the bugs out. I feel like they will get it sorted for you and you will really enjoy it. Very nice specs on it.

I just did a late evening ride and decided to do my bypass route after I started to do another route. I got a couple of punctures in the past couple of weeks on the bypass route and decided last week to call the State department of transportation. The road is relatively new, three maybe four years old or so and isn't fully completed on both ends so traffic isn't too bad. One end has recently opened and quite a bit more car and truck traffic is using it now. I still like it because of the smooth wide paved shoulders and the way the hills on it are, not severely steep but enough to get a work out. I just don't like getting punctures from all the trash that is accumulating there this year.

The lady I talked to at the DOT seemed nice enough when I told her it looks like the road has never been cleaned and there was trash and clothes, blown out tires, glass, and what I considered some very dangerous wire right beside the road and someone could easily get hurt. She told me she didn't like the sound of that wire being there and she would contact the people for my district and report that herself. She also gave me their phone number so I could call if I like. I sort of had the feeling I had called the right place though, she sounded nice but also like this was her call and she was going to take care of it.

I didn't tell her I was riding a bicycle there. It may or may not be totally ok for me to ride there and I don't want to know. I have talked to city cops, sheriff deputies and highway patrolmen while I have been riding on it and none of them said anything about me being out there. I did try to read the state regulations on riding limited access highways like this one and it got to the part about law and another about policy. I felt that was confusing enough that I could claim ignorance and actually not get in much trouble for doing it. Now I don't really want to know.

I noticed on the way out that they have started mowing beside the highway...mowing all the paper and other garbage along with it, it is a mess and looks terrible. I went a little farther and saw all the same old busted tires and roll of wire I had complained about but now with grass clippings and shredded paper from the mowers as an added bonus. I was sad and a little ashamed of living somewhere that was this nasty looking.

I just kept on riding and another mile or so I spotted it on the other side of the highway going in the opposite direction. A trash bag, my eyes lit up, I pedaled a little more and could see over the hill now, a long line of trash bags! White bags about every 100 yards or so! all the way up to the end of the area I told them that needed cleaned. This didn't look like the normal prison inmate pick up paper work detail either, these bags were different, these looked like they are going to get all the blown out tires, glass and everything this time! I was happy and smiling again. After they finish I am going to call the lady back and thank her. I wrote down her name and saved the phone number when I talked to her. I was so happy that I decided to complete the Powerbar Challenge this evening too.

 

[Hill Wimp]

Just in from a little ride prob gonna do a ride every other day this week as i am going to attempt my first 50 miler this w/end so taking it easy just turning over the legs.

http://app.strava.com/activities/70991775#

Good rides from all today as well

Snap I sorted out the route for my first 50 last night to do on Friday. Not going for specific times at any point I just want to complete it first then do the fine tuning.

Good luck.

 

[Nigelnaturist]

I noticed on the way out that they have started mowing beside the highway...mowing all the paper and other garbage along with it, it is a mess and looks terrible. I went a little farther and saw all the same old busted tires and roll of wire I had complained about but now with grass clippings and shredded paper from the mowers as an added bonus. I was sad and a little ashamed of living somewhere that was this nasty looking.

Well done Rocky on making the tour.

I am not going to get on my high horse about the environment, but Rocky this is endemic of the human race at the moment, its the same here ( worse in place better in others), thing is we only have ourselves to blame, we are the ones that buy plastic shrink wrapped products, I bought a headlight bulb the the O.H. car the other day, it was actually cheaper by 8pence for the local car spares shop to buy it bulb wrapped in plastic than the the one in a cardboard box, even though there was almost the same amount of card in the plastic, dont ask me how a 2 step packaging process plastic and cardboard insert, is cheaper than a cardboard box, but its everything, whilst cardboard my look unsightly overall there isn't much risk to the environment, neither are most metal unless tin cans that haven't had the tops removed (so they arnt a danger to wildlife), glass again is more an injury problem than long term environment.
We are currently a house of 5 adults and one child and the amount of plastic waste that is produced I just wouldn't have believed possible, 6 adults when the o.h. lad is home from Uni, the worst problems are plastic water bottles, whats more not only have people paid over the odds for this they then leave them half full.
Changing tack a little I watched a report last week about the E.D.L. (English Defence League) and an abattoir, well this place is Muslim for Hal-la meat, the story went something along about method of slaughter and smell, well I went to a school where there was a abattoir just across the street, and yes they do smell, not the most pleasant smell, but the pigswill they put on the fields around here is worse, the point I am getting at is the transport of animals from one end of the country to the other just to be slaughtered, then processed and the shipped back.

 

[MaxInc]

@RWright Congrats on completeing the challenge, ready for the next one?

@AndyPeace Just felt like mentioning since your story resembles a lot my first transition to STI Shifters. Are you positive that what it feels like a tripple shifter is not just the Trim function on the Shimano STI shifter? The shifter has two click either way and it may feel like it's a tripple but this is actually a function that helps eleminate the chain rub on the front derailleur when cross chained on the double by moving the front cage 1/3 way through. In my case there was too much cable tention and trim was not working but I kept wondering for a while why the two clicks, until I read about it on the forums somewhere.