Cycling chat

[ejstubbs]

On 02/03/2022 at 21:24, Mark Forrest said:

I gather that there's something of a shortage of used vans at the moment

 

"Van life" has become very trendy this past year or so.  I think it may have something to do with people having become used to taking their holidays closer to home during the various pandemic restrictions, and a related inclination to save money on the accommodation as well as the travel.  In terms of popularity it seems to be taking over from purpose-built camper vans, although AIUI the rules about DIY van conversions have been tightened up somewhat recently.

[Nearholmer]

This week looks set to be bright, dry, but with a sharp easterly wind, the latter making it feel pretty cold, so I’ve decided to go for several fairly short, but more intense than usual rides, ‘cos I don’t like being out in that wind for too long.

 

First one turned out to be quite a mud fest in places; the insides of my shoes were filled with semi-liquid mud when I got home, and the bike was filthy.

 

It was pretty intense by my standards: I wouldn’t usually look to spend this proportion of time at 90%+.

 

I got to see a train on the branch-line. There has been a great deal of bustitution over the past two years, because turns on this line are the first to be dropped during driver shortages, but they are now covering I think two driver-shifts with one set, which is almost half of the service back on rails. This is where a muddy old bridleway has been provided with a rather splendid new crossing.

 

In exposed spots the wind is bl@@dy horrible, as expected!

[Mark Forrest]

22 hours ago, PMP said:

@Mark Forrest you mentioned crossing snake, im hoping to ride that next week or so, are there still vehicles on it using it for access?

@PMP might be an idea to give it a miss, unfortunately...

 

[PMP]

2 hours ago, Mark Forrest said:

@PMP might be an idea to give it a miss, unfortunately...

That’s a bummer, I’ll have to think

about it early doors in the summer. 

Meanwhile back on an evening ride today 

 

Edited March 7, 2022 by PMP

[big jim]

Just won this off eBay, Whyte R7 hybrid bike, XL frame size, 10 speed, hydraulic brakes, a shade over 10kg which is 1/2 the weight of the electric bike!

 

 

It’s in Folkestone but as I’m in Tonbridge for a few days I can collect it quite easily

 

looking forward to getting it and trying it out on the trackbed rides

 

 

[Nearholmer]

That wind was vicious sharp earlier.

 

I went along the ridge in background, and the views were very clear, but I didn’t stop for a photo until nearly home ….. just kept going to keep warm!

 

 

[Nickey Line]

8 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

That wind was vicious sharp earlier.

 

I went along the ridge in background, and the views were very clear, but I didn’t stop for a photo until nearly home ….. just kept going to keep warm!

 

 

 

Captain Sir Tom Moore country?

[Nearholmer]

I was along his way yesterday, although I didn't actually go to the lakes this time, but today I stayed closer to home, going over the Brickhills, climbing up the bridleway near Stoke Hammond, and coming back down that unsurfaced lane/path into Woburn Sands. That lake is in MK.

 

TBH, I'm itching for the weather to become a bit less testing, so that I can go a bit further afield.

[big jim]

Just collected the new bike from Folkestone, it’s absolutely immaculate, had a quick ride around the station front and it’s really light and nimble, needs a little bit of air in the rear tyre though

 

going to get some mudguards on it, I’ve got a set of hybrid type that I bought by mistake for Dom’s bike so they may go on but there may not be the space between the wheel and seat post 

 

I’m definitely going to take the sprung seatpost off the road bike onto this one as it’s the same size as that bike will probably be used 99% of the time on the trainer now, if I do decide to use that one out and about I can just swap the seats round prior to the trip 

 

not going to cover this one with reflective stickers either, and there will be less lights than the electric bike too

 

 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

Very nice bike ….. you seem to be a magnet for ‘em.

 

My quick whizz today involved a farm shop right opposite the stud farm and workshops of The Devil’s Horseman stunt team, some of whom were in for a cuppa. Their place is fascinating, in part because they build horse drawn vehicles from scratch for films, and in another part because they practice death-defying stuff in their fields - driving a two horse chariot at full tilt while standing on the back of one horse, that kind of stuff.

 

Wind just as strong, maybe stronger, but now from the south, and warm, so like riding into the nozzle of a giant hair-dryer. Very odd sensation.

[Lambton58]

On 07/03/2022 at 14:39, Nearholmer said:

This is where a muddy old bridleway has been provided with a rather splendid new crossing.

 

In exposed spots the wind is bl@@dy horrible, as expected!

@Nearholmer Which crossing is this?  Might have a wander down sometime :-) 

Ralph

Lambton58

[Nearholmer]

.

[Lambton58]

Thanks!  I know where you mean.  I often walk from home to the two next crossings nearer Woburn Sands (Woodley's Farm and Fisherman's Path).

[Nearholmer]

You’ll need wellies if you intend going along parallel to the railway; the bottoms of those fields are a complete swamp at the moment.

[Lambton58]

16 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

You’ll need wellies if you intend going along parallel to the railway; the bottoms of those fields are a complete swamp at the moment.

Often the case along there.  The fields sit on the clay belt and don't drain very well. 

[Nearholmer]

Could I please seek the advice of the collective?

 

I’ve “done a Jim” and bought a barely-used bike cheap via Gumtree. Here it is:

 

It’s a fairly entry-level machine, but if you ignore the horrible welds, the frame is OK, and the air-shocks at the front seem to do the job and are easily adjustable. Shifting is a bit basic, ditto brake performance, but acceptable.

I’ve never ridden a bike with suspension, ever, and fancied trying it for long bridleway runs, which can get a bit jolting when the ground is dry without. So, a cheap way of trying it.

 

The questions:

 

- I think the 29er wheels are the same as 700c, so can I fit some less tractor-like tyres, maybe 42mm with less knobbles?

 

- the bars are dreadfully wide, to the degree where they caught on a bush, and I would have ended-up in the canal if there hadn’t been a boat moored alongside, so I’m about to take a hacksaw to them; am I likely to regret doing so?

 

- how do you stop the front wheel rearing-up when climbing steep slopes, I can’t seem to get my weight far enough forward?

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

 

 

[Butler Henderson]

27 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

- I think the 29er wheels are the same as 700c, so can I fit some less tractor-like tyres, maybe 42mm with less knobbles?

https://www.declinemagazine.com/mtb-parts/is-29-inch-the-same-as-700c/

Bit confusing but seems to be a rim width issue rather than diameter so 29er tyres most liklely will be too wide for 700c wheels while 700c tyres should fit 29er wheels.

[njee20]

No, they’re both the same. ETRTO of 622mm. 
 

29” was derived from the outside diameter of mountain bike tyres. I mean putting tiny 700x20mm tyres on huge wide MTB rims may cause problems, but 29”=700c.

 

Wide handlebars are in fashion. They allow for better control on technical trails. No reason not to cut them down if you don’t like them. Just make sure the controls all still fit on before any bends or rises. 
 

Just lean further forward - sit on the nose of the saddle, bend your elbows if necessary. This was steeper than it looked, nose virtually on the Garmin!

 

 

[Nearholmer]

11 minutes ago, njee20 said:

Just lean further forward - sit on the nose of the saddle, bend your elbows if necessary.

 

I think this is tangled-up with the bar-width and very short stem thing, and just a matter of practice. It feels very odd indeed trying to throw weight forward with arms wide apart, when you are used to doing it with arms tucked-in, and standing up. I'll have another bash at it tomorrow.

[Bernard Lamb]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

Could I please seek the advice of the collective?

 

I’ve “done a Jim” and bought a barely-used bike cheap via Gumtree. Here it is:

 

It’s a fairly entry-level machine, but if you ignore the horrible welds, the frame is OK, and the air-shocks at the front seem to do the job and are easily adjustable. Shifting is a bit basic, ditto brake performance, but acceptable.

I’ve never ridden a bike with suspension, ever, and fancied trying it for long bridleway runs, which can get a bit jolting when the ground is dry without. So, a cheap way of trying it.

 

The questions:

 

- I think the 29er wheels are the same as 700c, so can I fit some less tractor-like tyres, maybe 42mm with less knobbles?

 

- the bars are dreadfully wide, to the degree where they caught on a bush, and I would have ended-up in the canal if there hadn’t been a boat moored alongside, so I’m about to take a hacksaw to them; am I likely to regret doing so?

 

- how do you stop the front wheel rearing-up when climbing steep slopes, I can’t seem to get my weight far enough forward?

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

 

 

It looks as though the frame is too big for you.

If the frame was smaller the saddle would be higher and your weight would naturally be more forward.

You need to adapt your riding style to get more weight onto the front wheel when climbing. It can work with a bit of practice.

Try the climb at Brickhill a few times while shifting your weight distribution until you can apply power and still keep the front wheel from lifting.

If the bars are straight then cut a bit off from each side but make sure that the brake levers are in a position where they can work properly. I prefer about 50cm overall width with straight bars but only 44 with drops..

Bernard

[Nearholmer]

1 minute ago, Bernard Lamb said:

If the frame was smaller the saddle would be higher and your weight would naturally be more forward.

 

The seat was set too low when I took that photo. The overall size feels right, apart from the bars, and I'm interested that you go right down to 50cm. Following some on-line advice about using press-ups to find best width for straight bars, I get to c60cm, whereas they are currently 78cm. The drops on my usual bike are 46cm.

 

9 minutes ago, Bernard Lamb said:

Try the climb at Brickhill a few times

 

 

That'll require the job to be spread over a few days/weeks! Twice in one short ride is all I can do.

[njee20]

50cm is extremely narrow for flat bars, you’ll struggle to find anything that narrow without chopping lots off. I use 720mm (and 42cm drops), I certainly wouldn’t advise you make that much of a change in one go (or ever frankly, YMMV). 

 

760 is pretty wide certainly - buy a plain flat bar and try trimming them down gradually, or even just moving your controls in without cutting anything. The riser bar you’ve got fitted won’t have anything like that range of adjustment.

you can try a longer stem, inverting the one you have, or putting the headset spacers above the stem. The other issue is that modern mountain bikes just aren’t really designed for climbing, it being something most endure to get to the descents. If you want narrow bars, slick tyres and different geometry it may simply not be the right bike, good value or not.  

 

 

 

[Nearholmer]

Don't worry, I'll apply the hacksaw or tube cutter in graduated steps, and I'll go for a few rides before deciding on tyres, we have some sand-bogs nearby where the current tyres could earn their keep. Whether I'll ever go downhill at more than snail's pace is a different question altogether!

[big jim]

1 hour ago, Nearholmer said:

 

I think this is tangled-up with the bar-width and very short stem thing, and just a matter of practice. It feels very odd indeed trying to throw weight forward with arms wide apart, when you are used to doing it with arms tucked-in, and standing up. I'll have another bash at it tomorrow.

i was in the opposite situation going from wide bars to the drop bar, still not massively confident with them hence why I wanted to try a hybrid type which still has wide bars but are narrower than the e-bike

 

Regards suspension, it does feel strange going from front shocks to no shocks on the new bikes, the hybrid is certainly a lot lot firmer than the e-bike on rougher ground (cycle paths with tree roots pushing up the tarmac!), be interesting to see how it performs on old trackbed rides, it will no doubt be smoother than the racer though, it does need the tyres pumping up a bit too (it’s running 32 tyres compared to 28s on the racer)

 

had a couple of rides earlier to see how I got on, first one was while my train was being unloaded in Donnington, had a ride to Oakengates and back at just over 6 miles, it’s going to take a bit of getting used to not having a motor, gearing seems good on it on the hills, similar to the electric bike and it got a good turn of speed on the flat as it looks to have a smaller ‘fast’ cog 

 

i then used it to ride from basford hall to home which I managed in 15 minutes in traffic, looking in strava similar rides on the e-bike normally take me between 13 and 14 minutes so not much difference really, it certainly felt a lot quicker.

 

my trainee said his new bike is quick earlier in the week and I thought to myself “surely it’s the rider who makes the bike quick” but having rode the hybrid back I can see what he is getting at, it seemed to blast along very easily with me not exerting myself 

 

 

got to collect the electric bike from the station tomorrow and I’ll strip the bits off it that are going onto the new bike (frame bag, just one front light, garmin bracket) and get it cleaned up ready to sell I recon, once it’s gone I won’t be tempted to be lazy and use it instead of the conventional bikes

 

 

 

 

Edited March 10, 2022 by big jim

[Bernard Lamb]

53 minutes ago, Nearholmer said:

 

The seat was set too low when I took that photo. The overall size feels right, apart from the bars, and I'm interested that you go right down to 50cm. Following some on-line advice about using press-ups to find best width for straight bars, I get to c60cm, whereas they are currently 78cm. The drops on my usual bike are 46cm.

 

 

 

 

Cut them down to 60cm and then try riding with your hands a bit in from the ends.

78cm seems to be far too wide.

If you are happy with less, then take a bit more off.

Unless you are riding very technical trails at speed I do not see any reason that the bar width should be much more than on a rod bike.

I mainly ride the road bike and when I ride on trails on the MTB a similar width bar means that you do not need to think about hitting branches. I do confess to clouting a couple of narrow canal under bridges though, with scuff marks on the shoulders of a jersey to prove it.

Bernard