Bike Maintenance

MJF
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Postby MJF » Tue Feb 13, 2007 11:32 am

I have Nike/SPD... and most of the top is mesh (no other holes). I'll check out the 'booties' :)

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Postby heavymetal » Tue Feb 13, 2007 12:11 pm

MJF wrote:BTW - what do people do to stop their shoes getting wet? I don't really want to buy spare shoes so I can rotate them while a set dries...
I ride in cleated sandals. In bad weather I wear socks and then heavy duty waterproof booties with a hole for the cleats over the top.

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:28 pm

Hotdog wrote:my cycling shoes are only just drying off after the soaking they got yesterday morning.
I was stupid enough to wear my training shoes on Monday, like the velodrome was going to be open monday night, no chance. They didn't seem to get that wet inside.

Nice dry commuting shoes today.
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Postby MJF » Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:41 am

TriggerFish wrote:27.7 is a fair pace. I managed that for the first time as an average on my ride in this morning. Couldn't believe it!
I changed my route this morning, so I did 20.5k on the way in (AT) 27.05k avg, with Avg HR (AT) 147. I live in Spence and work in Bruce, and I've changed the route to loop around the back of Palmerston and come down the GDE... All reasonable except for the GDE - nastiest, roughest road I've come across.

Route is here.

Now the suspension in my seat post is playing up (feels like it's binding). I'll have to work out how to disassemble and see what its issue it. Otherwise, I'll have to pull the seatpost out of the old bike.

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TriggerFish
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Postby TriggerFish » Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:47 pm

That's a fair extra distance to add. That extra loopy bit adds heaps! One day I might look to add distance for the commute rather than take it away...hehe :lol:

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LuckyPierre
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Postby LuckyPierre » Thu Feb 15, 2007 2:59 pm

You could get some variety and go the other way, too.
Instead of heading for Palmerston, loop back around Kuringa / Tillyard / Kerrigan to Ginninderra Drive, up over Florey Drive to Southern Cross, back out to Spofforth and Drake Brockman then along Kingsford Smith back to Ginninderra and in to work. It would have a couple of right-hand turns, but there's some good fast bits in it too!

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Postby MJF » Thu Feb 15, 2007 3:15 pm

Work is moving out to Gunghalin next week, so that's probably a bit too far.

The main issue I have now is TIME. Long rides detract from work hours... Thank goodness the better half is supportive of my exercise efforts.

Besides which, Kuringa is not bicycle friendly. I'd go as far as saying it's not car friendly either - seeing how many single-vehicle crashes there are.

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » Thu Feb 15, 2007 4:17 pm

TriggerFish wrote:That's a fair extra distance to add. That extra loopy bit adds heaps! One day I might look to add distance for the commute rather than take it away...hehe :lol:
When I first started commuting, work was a long way away.
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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Postby MJF » Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:16 pm

OOOhh! I hurt.

Lot harder the other way - it's slightly uphill and was into a headwind for the first 8km. Looks like I skip cycling tomorrow... New bike now has 621K on it, up from 480-odd at the start of the week (clocked to 500K when I got to work on Monday). Seat post still doing weird things...

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TriggerFish
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Postby TriggerFish » Thu Feb 15, 2007 8:13 pm

It'll be due for a service!

I have to skip tomorrow becuase of work.....although I could ride home late at night, but, I think that would be pushing the motivation a little at this stage.

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Postby MJF » Thu Feb 15, 2007 11:01 pm

Hmmmm... Lights :)

The HID stuff looks interesting - lots of goodies on Ebay.

I am so looking forwards to mid winter when it goes dark before 6pm :(

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LuckyPierre
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Postby LuckyPierre » Fri Feb 16, 2007 10:32 am

And it doesn't get light until ....

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Postby MJF » Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:34 am

Back to chain maintenance...

I've been using prolink since new. This is one of these volatile lubes that dry off leaving a coating which supposedly repels dirt, works when wet, blah blah.

I've found that it washes off (chains rusts if rinsed off), and unless I apply every couple of days the chain links start to stiffen up when the lube dries off. When it is dry, the chain is noisy through the derailleur, and makes noise from the chainring when under load. I've also had lots of problems with the alignment of the rear derailleur causing the chain to skip at odd points, and the LBS had considering fitting (free of charge) an Ultegra chain to try and fix the problem.

Anyway... I dropped past Rebel Sport yesterday (because I was outside the shop), and bought some of the Michelin general purpose oil. The chain is now nice and quiet again, and once I adjusted the alignment of the derailleur the skipping problem has disappeared...

The downside is that the chain will really need regular cleaning and lubing now. I've read on Sheldon Brown that is is a bad idea to break and join the chains for the 9/10 speed, because of the danger of bending side plates. Anyone got experience with this?

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mikesbytes
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Postby mikesbytes » Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:52 am

I'm using a link rather than a chain breaker
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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LuckyPierre
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Postby LuckyPierre » Mon Feb 19, 2007 9:53 am

MJF wrote: Back to chain maintenance... I've been using prolink since new ... I've found that it washes off (chains rusts if rinsed off), and unless I apply every couple of days the chain links start to stiffen up when the lube dries off ...
I haven't had any problems like this. But, my riding patterns tend to mean that the chain doesn't get wet and I re-lube after washing my bike. I can go for a couple of weeks without any noise from the chain.
MJF wrote:I've read on Sheldon Brown that is is a bad idea to break and join the chains for the 9/10 speed, because of the danger of bending side plates. Anyone got experience with this?
The guys at my bike shop say that you should get a 'good chain tool matched to your chain' (they laughed at my vintage multi-tool until they saw that it was a Ritchey and now it's recognised as a museum piece) and that you shouldn't re-use the pins (which is what Shimano say anyway). You shouldn't have to break and re-join the chain very often anyway. If you need to remove the chain to clean it, check out your derailleurs as you take the idler wheels out of most rear ones and the spreader pins on front ones (if yours are Shimano) and get the chain out that way rather than breaking it - and it makes for a good logic puzzle to get it back together again!
That said, the side plate on the link that gave way last week was bent - I'd like to think that it was as a result of the failure, rather than the cause.

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Postby MJF » Mon Feb 19, 2007 10:26 am

mikesbytes wrote:I'm using a link rather than a chain breaker
This would be the SRAM Powerlink? I've read good & bad reviews, but I wasn't sure if it was the right way to go.

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Postby mikesbytes » Mon Feb 19, 2007 10:42 am

I'm currently using SRAM on the OCR and Shimano on the Beast and previously I've used Connex on the OCR.
- Shimano is the hardest to use as you need to bend the chain to get it off.
- Connex is the easiest to get off
- SRAM is also easy, but needs a light press from plyers.

Its so easy to get the chain off, with Connex or SRAM that I take it off to clean it, rather than use a chain cleaning device.

Take the chain off on a clean surface as if you drop half a link on the ground it can be a bugger to find.

Sogood doesn't use a link, has he has concerns as to its impact on the exact length of the chain.

Have a nice day
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If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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LuckyPierre
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Postby LuckyPierre » Mon Feb 19, 2007 10:45 am

mikesbytes wrote:I'm using a link rather than a chain breaker
MJF wrote:This would be the SRAM Powerlink?
I've still got the connector link in my chain from last week - I've done just under 150 kms with it so far. I had to adjust my front derailleur out a smidge (and I mean, a smidge) as something was just touching in high (small rear cog) gears. My chain is fairly long (because I run a 12 - 27 cassette - I need my granny gears) and it does 'slap' a bit on the smaller cogs.
Oh, yeah, why is this at all relevant? It's a SRAM Powerlink Gold connector - I knew there was a reason for starting this! :wink:

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Postby MJF » Mon Feb 19, 2007 11:03 am

LuckyPierre wrote: My chain is fairly long (because I run a 12 - 27 cassette - I need my granny gears) and it does 'slap' a bit on the smaller cogs.
Errr.... perhaps I should toss away the 11-32 cassette on mine. Wouldn't want to be mistaken for a Granny.

Time to try the SRAM link.

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Postby mikesbytes » Mon Feb 19, 2007 11:06 am

Its personal preference as to whether to use a link or not.

Any component can fail and logic would dictate that the more components, the more risk of failure.

I've had 3 chains break, a 9 speed and a two 7 speed. In all 3 cases it wasn't at the connector, but I would suspect that the connector is the most likely place to fail.

Check my training log, I had a failure with the beast this morning.

BTW Peter aka LuckyPierre, what chain rings are you running?

Have a nice day
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If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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LuckyPierre
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Postby LuckyPierre » Mon Feb 19, 2007 11:22 am

Both the girlie bike and Tojo have 53-39 cranksets - Ultegra for the girlie bike and RSX on Tojo. I have a 12-27 Ultegra 9-speed cassette on one set of wheels (Shimano WH R-560's) and run either 12-25 or 12-23 on the other (Mavic Open Pro's with 105 hubs) for the girlie bike. Tojo has to make do with some Formula rims and Exage hubs and a 12-25 7-speed cassette until his Ultegra upgrade is finished.
ps. after sticking up for the WH R-560's late last year, I might be about to change my tune. My front wheel is behaving strangely - but then, it did get hit fairly hard by a car in September. :?

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Postby MJF » Sun Feb 25, 2007 7:35 pm

Finally bit the bullet and fitted an SRAM Powerlink into the chain. My trusty chain breaker from 18+ years ago did the trick... but it is pretty obvious it was not meant for the job - these new chains have tight pins!

I dropped the chain in some degreaser... a few times. Very dirty. The last 270k has been with chain oil instead of volatile lube. I've observed that the shifting of the front derailleur is much improved (I've had the chain catch up and bend the derailleur twice) and overall much quieter in operation.

I got the Powerlink's from Phantom Cycles, they are under $5 each, but shipping is $8.

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TriggerFish
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Re: Bike Maintenance

Postby TriggerFish » Wed Mar 07, 2007 8:11 pm

TriggerFish wrote: The other thing I have noticed with this bike (and my old bike for that matter) is that sometimes when I pedal, I get a sqeak from the base of the pedal cranks (?). I don't know the correct term for the part of the bike, but, it is the bit where the cranks that the pedals are joined onto join with the frame. I assume there is an axle thingy in there that I can lubricate somehow, but, am not sure how or where to apply whatever lubricant I need. I want my bike to be quiet and was surprised when a little squeak was let out every now and then.
Just an update on this issue. I had the bike serviced the other day (the first free one) and just prior I figured out that it was my shoes and pedals that were making the annoying squeaking. It looks like they were poorly adjusted when I bought them and there was metal on metal rubbing and causing the noise! I bought the shoes and pedals when I bought the bike and they had to change the cleats to suit the pedals from the ones that came with the shoes.

To cut a long story short, I forgot to take the shoes in when I got the bike serviced and had not had time to go back and get them to look at them, so I adjusted the cleats myself this afternoon and the squeaking seems to be gone! Yay!

The other interesting thing was one of the bike mechanics said that one way to avoid squeaky cleats, particularly when new, is to rub soap into them. Interesting idea that I thought I would share :) .

That's all.

Ciao for now,

TF.

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Postby europa » Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:03 am

Just bought Tom's post across from the other thread :D
Richard
wndrdr1111 wrote:I generally lube my chain every 1 or 2 weeks. I use ProLink lube and find it very good. I apply a drop to every link on the chain, run through all the gears, wipe off the excess and I am done. ProLink keeps the chain running smooth and also cleans it.

Every 3 to 4 weeks or after a ride in the rain I will:
1. Put some turps in a plastic container and clean the casette, chain and chainrings with a toothbrush.
2. Rinse the drivetrain gently with water.
3. Put some car shampoo in a bucket, add 2l of water and clean the whole bike with a sponge.
4. Rinse the bike gently with water.
5. Let the bike dry.
6. Lube the chain as described above.
7. Grease the derailleurs
8. If the cables are sticky might give then a spray with WD40.

And that's it, bike is as new.

Some people recommend getting a quick disconnect link for a chain (such as wipperman or SRAM) so you can take the chain off, but I find cleaning the chain with a toothbrush on the bike does a good enough job.

Cheers,
Tom

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Postby MJF » Wed Mar 21, 2007 9:06 am

And another update... I did the "Big Canberra Bike ride" on Monday in pouring rain, 26km of fogged up glasses, big puddles and mud. When I got home I washed off the bike, and stuck it back in the shed where it got a quick blow-off with the air duster - but I didn't pull the chain for a clean or oil it - it's been about 200Km since the last remove/clean/oil.

Rode to work today - the chain is a little noisy under load, but no rusty links and no squeaks. When this is compared against the prolink which washed off under the hose and left the links rusting, light machine oil seems to do a much better job of protecting the chain.

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