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Numpty IM Bike Thread
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I am considering acquiring a new bike for daily commuting and occasional off road use (think gentle Sunday bike along the canal path to the pub or possible forest track rather than cycling up and down sheer cliff faces).
I was thinking in terms of a hybrid but have been advised that it wouldn't stand up to the off road use. I have tried searching for a hardtail, front suspension, mountain bike which is capable of taking full mudguards and a pannier but am coming up blank. (I know that the hardcore off-roaders will laugh at this spec but I don't have changing facilities at work so need the mudguards to prevent me arriving like a drowned rat.)
Anybody got any knowledge of a bike that fits these requirements?
Bryan, I used to have a Trek 820 when I lived in Dublin ...mtb, front suspension, alum frame.... and fitted with mudgards.
I did change the knobbly tires for some hybrid tires, tread in the centre would be smooth and the sides had rough treads to grip more in gravel and whanot.
It's no longer made but I'd check the trek 3 and 4 series, they're not expensive and most can be upggraded with the mudguards.
Hope this helps.
Mate of mine bought a bike to just ride around the park with his young daughters - he got a full on MTB with long travel front suspension.
His kids must ride some pretty hardcore stuff for 6 and 4 year olds...
I think the Kaffenback would be just fine for what you want Bryan.
I use my full carbon road bike on canal paths - not a problem at all.
Hi,
Numpty question for you, I am now getting to know my road bike (how long does it take for your butt to get used to a saddle !! ) and want to get a couple of spare tubes due to training distance increasing .
The tyres are 700 x25c - what does the 25c mean ?
Tubes seem to cover 18-25 but when I need new tyres do I stick to 25c again ?
Hope that makes sense.
Adbru
adbru
The 25 is the width
I ride 23's
MY trackpump his gone kaput.
Recomendations please.
Hard working, reliable, not top bling. Able to take both types of valves.
Halfords have the Joe Blow on sale at the moment - £30 rather than £45. A few people have raved about it - so I got one yesterday - does seem a good pump so far.
Adbru - sometimes saddles never get comfy - its an impossible question. I have stuck with some of mine for months and months before realising that they were never gonna get comfy.
My faves at the moment are the Charge Spoon (£20) and the Fizik Arione (a lot more).
But your bum may differ......
Fizik Arione I have on two bikes , 3 IM's and 000's of ks , other bits hurt first......
Joe Blow is OK , Blackburn AIr Tower but the mutts nutts is the SKS Renkompressor , (this is the one you will see in the workshop of any self respecting bike store, its about £50 notes on wiggle though....
I have a Joe Blow - been going strong for some while so I can recommended it
I also rate Fizik Arione highly - have 2 on the roadies plus a Fizik Gobi MTB saddle
Sounds like a Joe Blow then. Lucky LBS stocks them and i get discount!
Thanks chaps had to check incase I bought a pup.
Cheers Guys.
The saddle i have is a selle italia x2 like this
Its ok up to 7-10 mile then it starts to get uncomfortable, by 17 miles (my longest ride so far
) I start dreading any sort of bumps !!
I'll give it another few weeks to see if my butt toughens up before thinking about another seat.
I could also do with a pump so some more good info
I think overpadded saddles are a mistake as they don't mould to your shape and you don't mould to them. minimal saddles like the Fizik Arione are way more comfy for long distance but for all saddles - HTFU
Theres plenty of bog standard full mudguards to fit commuting hybrids and MTBs out there. The manufacturers tend to do one width for the roady tyres and one for the MTB tyres.
From the description of where you want to ride, a hybrid should be plenty strong enough, fitted with Semi slick tyres.
If theres a Decathlon near you, I'd give them a try. Well spec'd bikes for the money and tend to get great reviews. I was regularly doing a 30 mile round trip commute on one of their sub £200 road bikes.
i don't believe I'm posting advice on this thread
but here goes.......
Who suggested a hybrid wouldn't do the job? I've got a hybrid (Bike co-op courier nexus) that has put up with a year of cycling along the cycle path from Cramond to Roseburn, quite happily goes along the canal tow-path and has even done the off-road track round Loch Morlach without complaint..
No doubt more knowledable people than me will have different thoughts - but I wanted something that did what you described - mostly commuting with occasional off-road and my hybrid certainly does the business.
I've got a Selle Italia XO TransAm on one of my bikes. Loads of cushioning and very comfortable but...... once I got past 40 miles I got the numb tackle syndrome! I also have a Specialized Alias which is designed to take the pressure of your manhood. Yes, it does it's job, but it is bum-torture for my sit bones once I get past 6 miles - yes SIX miles!! So, I bought a Fizik Life Pavé and I'm very happy with it - no problems at all.
My LBS is a Selle Italia dealer. They have loan saddles for you to try and keep swapping until you find the best saddle for you. I assume all Selle Italia dealer would do the same?
I would just like to add to the debate that cycling shorts are a must - without underwear - but with chamois cream for the best comfort in my experience
I'm sure this question has been asked before but here goes
want to change my casette
its a shimano 105 11-23, want to go to 12-27, its also a shimano 105,
1 is it easy to do?
2 do i have to change the chain?
2. Its advisable to change the chain, unless its new/less than say 500 miles.
and no you shouldn't need to change the chain
Easy to remove though - you just need :
1. Shimano Block Remover
2. Spanner to turn the remover
3. Chain Whips to stop block from moving.
Takes a minute or two.
need a new chain
Okay, I have a problem after only five minutes on my new bike. Probably one for the LBS, but as I can't get there till the weekend let's see if there's an easy answer...
(this may be down to me being a numpty and pushing the wrong lever in the wrong direction)
My front derailleur is stuck. It doesn't seem to be stuck against anything, just stuck on the big cog. I've got Sora brake/gear levers - the brake lever will move right but not do anything, whilst the little switch won't move at all.
Anything I can do other than wait a few days?
Have a look to see if the problem is definitely the shifter - is it pulling and returning the cable ? If it is the shifter then whatever you do don't be tempted to take it to bits.
If it's not the shifter itself then a stuck cable or a stuck or badly adjusted front mech are sortable without a bike shop.
Move the chain down to the smallest ring, see if it moves back up .... it may be that the shifter wasn't working and it was just that the chain was on the wrong ring to start with ....... well it makes sense in my head.
Thanks for suggestions guys. Took another look - chain is on the right ring relative to where the shifter is, cable is fairly tight, no movement from shifter switch.
One for the LBS, methinks.