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

[ThinAir]

Well... Following the earlier in the week 20miler disappointment, I have vanquished those demons with a 27.1 miler!

Average speed has dropped to around 17mph, but I did a lot more climbing than I would normally.

Almost had my first clipless moment too, but (very) narrowly avoided it. Phew!

Time for a brew


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2

 

[Nomadski]

Phew! Loads of great rides ^^

@AndyPeace Very happy birthday sir. However, photos are very much due! From the looks of the short ride, it looks like a speedy one!

@eevvee Congrats on your first 50, 17.6mph is a pretty epic average for that sort of distance, well done.

@Rustybucket Well done on the 70 miler, looks like a pretty tough route with that climbing. Great speed again.

@ItsSteveLovell Every scalp is a scalp, a motorbike especially so! Enjoy the 50 miler, it is a different kind of ride when your with others, makes it more fun for sure.

@ThinAir Dropped to 17mph? I wish I could get UP to 17mph lol. Well done squishing the 20 mile barrier, another one bites the dust!

@Hill Wimp I think there is a certain point, after checking the rider is ok, and then the bike is ok, that all clipless moments become funny. Especially so when described so graphically as yours! Have I mentioned multi release cleats before? Hmm Would have been 1 less rose bush casualty!

Had an interesting ride out today with @themosquitoking and his mate. DId a loopy kind of tour of north surrey into Richmond Park, via a very nice couple who run a bike workshop from their garage. Seems to be well recommended and I may well be using them for services etc in the future. The friend had horrible issues with his knees though, to the point every single climb was a massive challenge and so the ride became quite stop start, but plenty of time then to have a little natter and drink plenty. Had the sunshine for it anyway.

Also, Richmond Park has a strange habit of only being windy when you climb on a bike! All the times I was stood by the bike, I felt nothing, despite seeing the grass move, yet the second you push off crosswinds galore!!

On the return popped round to the local supermarket to pick up my new chain sent from Wiggle.

http://www.strava.com/activities/73593628

 

[SWSteve]

Have any of you changed a chain? I'm going to buy one/chain tool soon so I can - I spoke to dad about some issues I've had and his response was 'make sure you change your chain regularly' the fact only some chainring teeth are shark toothed was odd to him though, this cannot be good.

Is there anything I need to worry about with chains or tools?

 

[RWright]

Have any of you changed a chain? I'm going to buy one/chain tool soon so I can - I spoke to dad about some issues I've had and his response was 'make sure you change your chain regularly' the fact only some chainring teeth are shark toothed was odd to him though, this cannot be good.

Is there anything I need to worry about with chains or tools?

if you use a chain breaker tool be sure to go slow and make sure the tool pin it is lined up center on the chain pin. I found out that the tool pins can bend very easily. I was lucky Topeak replaced a couple I had bent. I now just use the all in one tools for carrying on the bike for emergency use. I got a full size tool for shop use. I will still be careful even with the larger tool.

Not sure about ring wear. I am going to use my old cassette a while longer and hope it will be ok, the chain I am putting on today is only the second one on the cassette. I hope the front rings last through a lot of chains but who knows, I will eventually find out.

I got a chain wear gauge thing, cheap and easy way to keep a check on chain wear.

 

[Nomadski]

Before you do anything with the chain @ItsSteveLovell check you actually should be changing it first. As @RWright said there are cheap chain wear gauges out there that could save you a lot of money without needlessly changing chains that are still within acceptable boundaries.

The one I bought the other day was a park tool one, £9.99 from Evans (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/park/chain-wear-indicator-ec006000) Absolutely no reason to buy anything more expensive. It has two sides, a .5% and a .75% side. You stick one end in a gap between two links, and if it drops all the way in you have crossed that threshold. .5% is still ok, just keep an eye on it, if the .75% side drops in it means change the chain!

As for changing it, depends what chain you have. If its Shimano or Campagnowhatsistsname you will need a chain tool to push the pin out / new pin back in. You can buy these sperately, or they often come as part of a multitool like mine (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/topeak/hexus-ii-multi-tool-ec023024) This also comes with integrated wheel levers for changing tyres!

If you have a KMC chain like mine then REJOICE! You don't need any tools, just find the master link (called the missing link bizarrely in KMC's case) and you will see a notch, push the side you can see to the right, and the side behind to the left while squeezing and it comes apart there. To lock a new one just do the reverse with its master link.

But dont go changing chains for the sake of it, just when the chain is stretched to that .75% mark. Its good advice to keep an eye on it though, its by far the cheapest part of the chainset to replace, and if you dont change it when necessary, it can do damage to the chainring or cassette.

 

[Nomadski]

As a visual indicator of the chain checker tool, and how easy it is to check whether you need to spend the money on a new chain, here is my chain, both 0.5% side (dayum, passed this point) and the 0.75% side (yay, still few miles to go - although you can see its verging on falling in).

0.5%

0.75%

 

[BrianEvesham]

Happy birthday @AndyPeace
I still can't find these pictures of your new bike, are they on another thread?

 

[Hill Wimp]

Happy birthday @AndyPeace
I still can't find these pictures of your new bike, are they on another thread?

He is still out on it celebrating

 

[Goonerobes]

Some good weekend rides out there today so well done to all.

Another new longest ride of 40.3 miles for me today & I don't mind admitting that the first 20 miles were possibly the toughest I've ever ridden due to a damn headwind. If I weren't 20 miles from home I'd have happily called it a day there & then!!
http://www.strava.com/activities/73600087

Glad I did it though as football season starts next week so this was my last weekend ride for a while.

 

[Nomadski]

Some good weekend rides out there today so well done to all.

Another new longest ride of 40.3 miles for me today & I don't mind admitting that the first 20 miles were possibly the toughest I've ever ridden due to a damn headwind. If I weren't 20 miles from home I'd have happily called it a day there & then!!
http://www.strava.com/activities/73600087

Glad I did it though as football season starts next week so this was my last weekend ride for a while.

Headwinds are a big problem out there in the New Forest, especially those very open areas. Great speed on the ride there anyways!

 

[Goonerobes]

Headwinds are a big problem out there in the New Forest, especially those very open areas. Great speed on the ride there anyways!

Thanks Damon, I think I'll check the wind direction in advance in future & plan my routes accordingly!

 

[SWSteve]

Before you do anything with the chain @ItsSteveLovell check you actually should be changing it first. As @RWright said there are cheap chain wear gauges out there that could save you a lot of money without needlessly changing chains that are still within acceptable boundaries.

The one I bought the other day was a park tool one, £9.99 from Evans (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/park/chain-wear-indicator-ec006000) Absolutely no reason to buy anything more expensive. It has two sides, a .5% and a .75% side. You stick one end in a gap between two links, and if it drops all the way in you have crossed that threshold. .5% is still ok, just keep an eye on it, if the .75% side drops in it means change the chain!

As for changing it, depends what chain you have. If its Shimano or Campagnowhatsistsname you will need a chain tool to push the pin out / new pin back in. You can buy these sperately, or they often come as part of a multitool like mine (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/topeak/hexus-ii-multi-tool-ec023024) This also comes with integrated wheel levers for changing tyres!

If you have a KMC chain like mine then REJOICE! You don't need any tools, just find the master link (called the missing link bizarrely in KMC's case) and you will see a notch, push the side you can see to the right, and the side behind to the left while squeezing and it comes apart there. To lock a new one just do the reverse with its master link.

But dont go changing chains for the sake of it, just when the chain is stretched to that .75% mark. Its good advice to keep an eye on it though, its by far the cheapest part of the chainset to replace, and if you dont change it when necessary, it can do damage to the chainring or cassette.

I have a KMC chain according to the bike specs online - how would i check this is actually the case?

 

[Mo1959]

I have a KMC chain according to the bike specs online - how would i check this is actually the case?

My old hybrid had a KMC chain. Needed the specs on to read it but I'm sure KMC was actually printed on the chain.

 

[Nomadski]

I have a KMC chain according to the bike specs online - how would i check this is actually the case?

Look for the missing link, the one link that looks different from the others.

Here is one new in a packet

And here is mine on the chain

 

[Nomadski]

I should also add, when you buy a new chain, take off the old one and check the length, you may need to use a chain tool to take off some links to make the new chain the right length.