Question 1
On my brake levers, there is a Philips screw sticking out, just below where the cable comes out.
What's it for?
Question 2
I have centre pull cantilever brakes, they are rubbish - whats the best brake shoes? ( I need the type with a plain centre post)
|
Have nosey around on here. All your questions and indeed some you hadn't thought of will be answered but get someone to hide your credit cards for a while....
:-)
www.bikeradar.com/
|
OK - now you've mentally sold the family silver to fund a new treadiron, back to reality...
The wee screw is to adjust the amount of travel on the levers. If for example someone with small hands needed them set closer to the bars.
Brake shoes / pads are much of muchness really unless you go spending fortunes. More important is to ensure the wheels and indeed the surface of the pads are free of grease or oil. Bit of meths on a cloth will transform them.
|
The reason for the question is that Nicole has bought a nice light (aluminium frame) hybrid step through bike and wants to go riding.
The Zero jalopy has been dragged out of the garage, and cleaned, serviced and adjusted, but despite setting up the shoes correctly the brakes are crap.
|
|
Old brake pads, perished and gone all hard?
|
>> Old brake pads, perished and gone all hard?
Yeah, likely candidate i thought.
|
>> Mind the dog poo....
>>
>> :-)
Mudguards!
|
>> Mudguards!
Deeply unfashionable. But then...fair enough, won't be an issue if you transport them with the Lancer I suppose.
:-)
|
And before Humph says it.
I have a very nice unused Thule bicycle rack, the type that hitches onto your tow-hook. Unused...for sale etc etc...
|
Better with a clip on. Don't need to be buying tow bars etc. I know where you could lay your hands on a good cheap one...
:-)
|
|
Don't know about the best but I bought my last few sets of brake blocks from Asda for about £2 a pair; seemed to work ok. They might have been threaded though.
|
It hasn't got chromed steel rims has it?
Stiff cables can rob a lot of braking efficiency.
|
>
>> but despite setting up the shoes correctly the brakes are crap.
>>
If you care to email me I will give you the name of a very nice man in Byfleet who does bike repairs as a sideline.
|
If those tyres are cracked replace as a blow out on cornering and you end up in the hedge is not pleasant.
Brake blocks replace after 3yrs and clean up the rims with wire wool & de grease.
Spray chain lube on the chain after a ride let it soak in and wipe up after it drips.
Don't use a pressure washer near the crank as it forces water in bearings.
|
If he's not been on the thing long enough for the brake blocks to perish he's not going to be going fast or far enough to shred his tyres. It his um, "saddle contact area" he's going to have problems with first !
Agree about the de-grease though. Meths is best.
|
Posting from a tent in Provence so absent my usual reference sources but.....
My beloved Dawes Galaxy has old fashioned canti's. Setting them paralell to the rims in both aspects with a touch of trailing toe in is a nightmare job. Any deficiency is tempered by making sure the cable is AOK. Outer and inner both free of corrosion and sufficiently lubed without too much grease to attract grit etc.
Best shoes are fibrax, Aztec or Kool Stop salmon
|
|
And the C4P to Humph's HJ (bikeradar) is www.cyclechat.net/.
|
|
Just pull the lever a bit harder, you wimp.
|
>> And the C4P to Humph's HJ (bikeradar) is www.cyclechat.net/.
Oh good lord no, I dont want to be associated with a bunch of cyclists who think its exciting enough to write about it!
|
Brompton>>Posting from a tent in Provence
Smug g1t. ;)
|
>> If you care to email me I will give you the name of a very
>> nice man in Byfleet who does bike repairs as a sideline.
Its a cycle for gawds sake! I can fix cars and computers, why would I need a man to fix my cycle!
|
That sounds suspiciously like a "famous last words" sort of thing. Good A&E locally is there?
:-0
|
|
Pah, its not rocket science. Its nuts and bolts!
|
Sure of course "what does the little screw on the brakelever do again?" ...Sheeesh...
:-)
Well, do you want the bike rack or not?
|
|
No, I have a gentlemans shooting brake remember!
|
Don't say you weren't offered ! Two bikes + two adults + a dog + mud + oil in that...Not sure I'd risk it when for £50 I could have had a solution but there you go. You try to lead a horse to water but...
:-)
|
|
Why would I buy it if you have been towing horses with it! Probably bent to bug... well bent anyway.
|
Pristine condition squire, pristine. Oh wait a minute the 'phone's ringing, expect it's someone about to make an offer....
:-)
|
|
Oil? you mentioned oil? was I supposed to change the oil on the bike? I have a few litres of semi synth left over, will that do?
|
|
Actually yes. Get some on the chain and all the ball races if it has been standing. If you had a bike rack you could attend to that with the bike elevated but of course you don't do you?
|
>> Actually yes. Get some on the chain and all the ball races if it has
>> been standing
Gosh you cycling types are very serious aren't you! Or perhaps its the "non smokers in need of a drag" ones only!
Last edited by: Zero on Thu 4 Aug 11 at 22:04
|
Just trying to make it easier for you. After all, you're not exactly in the first flush of youth are you and you'll at least want to be able to keep up with Mrs Z. Be a bit embarrassing if you were lagging behind puffing eh? Or indeed if you put your back out heaving what I assume is an old steely into the back of your small estate. Your call of course...
;-))
|
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wO7_tp0rD7c
Sorry to interrupt the funny exchange Humph.A nice song about a little girl on a bicycle.
|
Get your lass to do a you tube video of you on this bike.!! HA HA
Bet your like mr Bean. :-)
|
>> eh? Or indeed if you put your back out heaving what I assume is an
>> old steely into the back of your small estate. Your call of course...
Yeah only us real men who havent smoked for a few years can handle a real mans bike.
|
Are the brakes set so that you are getting maximum leverage from the cantilever?
If you picture a crank lever with a rod or cable attached, you get maximum leverage when the cable is attached at 90 degrees, ie on a tangent to the circle formed by the radius of the crank. If the crank is angled too early, or too late, in its arc of movement you are wasting most of the effort.
So adjusting the length of the bit of wire joining the two brake cranks is as vital as the main cable adjustment.
|
>> So adjusting the length of the bit of wire joining the two brake cranks is
>> as vital as the main cable adjustment.
Yer done that in combination with moving the shoes in and out, to get the maximum effort.
Still crap tho.
|
|
Sounds like you need a decent bike to me.
|
Of course I don't! Mine is perfectly functional and mainstream, nor am I jealous that she has a wizzy shiny brand new one:(
|
Side-pull brakes - trademarked V-brakes by Shimano - are cheap, simple, and work a treat.
I'm guessing converting Zero's bike would be more trouble than it's worth, although he would need do only the front.
www.jejamescycles.co.uk/shimano-deore-br-item169532.html
|
|
Nicole has V brakes on her new bike :(
|
Get one with discs. Preferably hydraulic discs. Then see how smuggetty smug she looks eh?
:-)
|
...Nicole has V brakes on her new bike :(...
Post a pic, then - of the new bike.
|
He's been missing for a while. In Halfords I reckon. Announcement to follow I'll bet...
:-)
|
...He's been missing for a while. In Halfords I reckon. Announcement to follow I'll bet...
Nah, I reckon he can't that £800 camera of his to work.
|
Nicole got one of these.
www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_762373_langId_-1_categoryId_165534
Seems to my eye to be a well made bike, with good quality parts, (the exception being the wheels)
As for me, despite Humph trying to strip my wallet down the bike shop, I dont need another bike, I just need to get the brakes working.
|
...Nicole got one of these...
Looks like a decent bike for the money.
Mostly branded components, which is always a good sign.
Interesting you comment on the wheels, which are described only as 'alloy'.
Hard to tell from the pics, but another sensible upgrade might be the saddle.
|
He knows what he needs to do and he'll get there in the end. Some good deals on bikes at the moment...Matter of time.
:-)
|
Humph, don't want to hijack this thread totally, I have been using my bike for commuting for a few weeks now, much to my, and everyone else's surprise. Using it in the rain very quickly gunges up the bike with grit and stuff that lies in the edge of the roads.
Planning on stripping the bike down this weekend, degunging and relubricating but can you suggest a cheap way to make a stand to hold the frame? Don't want to fork out money for an off the shelf , purpose built bike stand.
Is there a cyclists "insider" trick to hold the bike for this purpose?
|
Yup, make a simple double A frame stand out of scrap wood. Bit like a very primitive "workmate" bench. Attach two crossmembers which fit under the cross bar and hang the bike on that. If you put a flat top on the frame as well it's somewhere to stash the tools you're using.
Alternatively, find a second hand car rear mounting bike rack at a good price and screw it to a suitable wall in your shed / garage....
:-)
|
Cheers for that, still have quite a bit of wood lying around the back, will give that a go tonight!
Oh and can I just say how much I hate those bike tyre valves that are not the same as car valves. Can never remember their name but totally pointless and a pain to blow up...
Feel better I got that off my chest......
|
|
Schraeder...no Presta !
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Fri 5 Aug 11 at 14:58
|
...can never remember their names...
Presta, sometimes known as 'high pressure'.
The car-type ones are Schrader.
I agree, never seen the point of Presta, but someone may be able to enlighten me.
|
Presta valves are good because the screw holds them shut and they don't leak.
The advantage of the Schrader is that your car airline fits it.
The one with little going for it is the Woods valve which I think has died out.
www.camcycle.org.uk/newsletters/11/images/valves.gif
Last edited by: Manatee on Fri 5 Aug 11 at 15:10
|
...and they don't leak...
Thanks.
I can see a valve which doesn't leak would have its advantages.
|
|
You can get self-healing inner tubes now too. "Slime" are the best known brand. Bet you're all excited to know that?
|
|
Zzzzzzz is that just for BMW and Mini bikes????
|
I have done 200 miles over 2 weeks on my boke with Schrader valves and the tyres are still pretty much rock solid.
Every Presta valve I try and pump up I either seem to break the screw bit off or the tyre goes flat instantly.
Give me Schrader anyday of the week!
|
When I inherited my Grandads bike the pads were shot to pieces and noisy. I got some of these - quiet and effective, but not quite as good when wet and raining. And clean off the old rubber on the rims.
www.wiggle.co.uk/kool-stop-dura-aceultegra105-pair-of-cartridge-inserts/
|
Look at it this way Z. If you buy a bike now it'll probably be the last one you ever buy so why not have a good one?...just to re-awaken the frailty of life theme :-)
I mean. you probably don't want neighbours spotting you wobbling about on that old rusty clunker with no brakes and whispering things about "him having gone to seed a bit since he stopped working" now do you?
|
|
Humph, he is scared that if he gets too good a bike it might go faster than his car on that downhill stretch........ :)
|
Well, you might have a point and indeed if he did buy a half decent one and put it in the Lancer it might arouse suspicion. The local Surrey Fuzz might reasonably conclude he'd nicked the bike.
He's gone missing again mind. Not like him. Fallen off or down at Halfords? What's the betting?
:-))
|
The RF clunker is quite kewl looking its only 10 years old. Cleaned rims with car brake cleaner and new shoes.
And it was only 25 years ago that I was cycling 120 miles a week. There is life in both of us yet.
Edit, and yes just been to halfords for new shoes and managed to leave minus new bike.
Last edited by: Zero on Fri 5 Aug 11 at 18:18
|
|
Doesn't hurt to have a spare...I've got two "in use" and an old Pacific. One of the first "mountain bikes" ever produced. Never ride it these days so I don't know why I keep it. It hangs on the back wall of my garage. Daft really. Might suggest my lad uses it as a school hack bike when he's big enough. Fancy me a Brompton now for my days in London.
|
>>Hmm, quite taken a shine to this one
Be careful! It may well be a well respected old name, but it may count for nothing nowadays.
I bought a bike from Falcon. The gears would change of their own accord and couldn't be sorted. The tyres blew off the rims at pressure considerably below advisable maximum. They refunded me in full.
Anyway, the front mudguards too short! You'll get muck all over the crank and feet. I cut up a plastic milk-bottle to extend mine.
|
>> Anyway, the front mudguards too short!
MTB'ers like the up the back stripe of honour, and splattered feet and legs complement the look.
Don't try to understand them.
:-)
|
I personally wouldn't bother with the extra weight of front suspension on a hybrid bike.
I just went for a suspension seat post on mine.
|
>>
>> And it was only 25 years ago that I was cycling 120 miles a week.
>> There is life in both of us yet.
>>
Pah!
Come back when you can do that in a day.
|
>> I have done 200 miles over 2 weeks on my boke with Schrader valves and
>> the tyres are still pretty much rock solid.
>>
>> Every Presta valve I try and pump up I either seem to break the screw
>> bit off or the tyre goes flat instantly.
>>
>> Give me Schrader anyday of the week!
>>
There is no difference in efficiency between Presta and Schrader valves, nor in the pressure they can withstand. Presta valves are used with rims which are too narrow for a Schrader.
|
A warning for anyone intending to hire bicycles while abroad. Traditionally bikes in the UK have their back brake lever on the left side of the handlebars and the front one on the right side. Most other countries have them the other way around.
I went on a mountain biking trip to the Alsace a few years ago. Didn't take my own bike and hired while we were there. It didn't take long to adjust but in a slightly frenzied "moment" whch involved a long very steep descent down a muddy gulley and a pop over a fairly chunky log half way down I instinctively grabbed the "back" brake to skid/scrub off some speed after hopping the log.
Except...it was of course the front brake.
Several unplanned things happened at that point. The end result was the end of the handlebar driving into my chest and cracking two of my ribs. This was inconvenient. not least given that we were a good 10k from anything resembling civilisation.
However, I expect it helped me not to forget in the future.
:-)
|
|
Traditonal Dutch bikes you had to brake by pushing the pedal back.No hand brakes.The first time my missus had a go she nearly ended up in a ditch.;)
|
|
I have an old Dutch bike like that. There is also a rod brake applying a block of wood to the front tyre. It is only meant to hold the bike steady while getting on. Applied while moving, it instantly locks the front wheel, with amusing results.
|
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsF7G2tq7Wg
Look after it Cliff there is always somebody interested.Next time when seing brother in Assen I be looking for a bike.Batavus good make not cheap do.:)
Watch the film nice songs and familie on a bike ride.
|
Curious - Mrs Beest's bike is a Falcon bought in 2009 and she's very pleased with it. It came from a proper independent shop that also sells much more expensive bikes to more serious bikers, so I'm guessing they did a proper job of setting it up. They certainly asked her to bring it back after a month so they could refettle it as the cables bedded in.
I also have two bikes that I ride pretty well alternately: one for shopping (it has mudguards and a rack) and one for longer, more rural rides. The rural bike is a Cannondale I bought 14 years ago in Austin, Texas, while I was working there for a spell, and it has the 'foreign' brake configuration; the other is UK-sourced, and I've yet to find the difference a problem. Perhaps I've just not been trying hard enough.
}:---)
|
|
Both my bikes are set up with the front brake on the left, it gives a wider bend to the cables for smoother operation and stops them rubbing paint off the headtube.
|
Another thought on Zero's brakes.
The shoes should not be parallel to the rim, the leading edge should be a little closer.
This means the brakes are less likely to grab, and the braking will be more progressive, the harder you pull, the more of the block contacts the rim.
I'm not sure how this angle is achieved, but there should be a means of adjustment where the block is bolted to the calliper.
|
>>
>> The shoes should not be parallel to the rim, the leading edge should be a
>> little closer.
>>
>> This means the brakes are less likely to grab, and the braking will be more
>> progressive, the harder you pull, the more of the block contacts the rim.
>>
Bit of a fallacy that one, Iffy.
No matter how much you toe the brake blocks in within a couple of miles they will have worn themselves parallel to the rim again.
|
>> I'm not sure how this angle is achieved, but there should be a means of
>> adjustment where the block is bolted to the calliper.
The fixings have an eccentric washer, that can be turned and tightened to achieve the required toe in.
|
>> Another thought on Zero's brakes.
>>
>> The shoes should not be parallel to the rim, the leading edge should be a
>> little closer.
The use of 'leading edge' needs care. While, with the bike upright. its the front of the block that needs to contact the wheel first that's actually the trailling edge in terms of the wheel's rotation.
I agree with Robin however, toe in does not help much in modulating brake force as the difference is quickly eroded by wear. It does however help the new block wear in smoothly and eliminates any tendency for them to squeal.
|
...eliminates any tendency for them to squeal...
When I were a lad, some bike brake blocks were cut to form three or four stubby teeth.
On cars with disc brakes, if a customer complained of squeal, we cut a slot in the pad with a hacksaw.
It worked - sometimes.
Last edited by: Iffy on Thu 11 Aug 11 at 15:29
|
Well i am getting on with this biking lark, its a doddle
8 miles yesterday, 8 miles today.
4 miles there, large slice of cake coffee and biccy, 4 miles back. I shall be fit in no time.
Last edited by: Zero on Sat 13 Aug 11 at 16:39
|
The bug will soon bite, Zero.
This time next year you'll be asking advice on which carbon fibre road bike to buy.
|
|
Better start saving, they don't come cheap.
|
So did you buy a new bike Z or are you attempting these marathon rides ( Tee Hee ) on the embarra... sorry, "trusty" old one?
:-)
|
>> So did you buy a new bike Z or are you attempting these marathon rides
>> ( Tee Hee ) on the embarra... sorry, "trusty" old one?
The old warhorse is doing a grand job, much time waiting around for Gym Queen Nicole to catch up on her poncy lightweight jobby.
|
>> much time waiting around for Gym Queen Nicole....
...or is she in fact just trying to distance herself as much as she can from the embarrassing old gti on the crap bike?....
:-)
|
>> >> much time waiting around for Gym Queen Nicole....
>>
>> ...or is she in fact just trying to distance herself as much as she can
>> from the embarrassing old gti on the crap bike?....
>>
>> :-)
Rubbish, pathfinding I call it. There is a sale on at snow and rock, I shall cut an imposing figure when i am decked out in my lycra cycling gear.
|
|
Trust me, there is an age limit on Lycra wearing. Stick with the cargo pants. At least that way people might think you've only borrowed the bike and some dignity can be retained.
|
Ohhh No age limit round here. We have a local group with lycra cycling sports gear with their club name on
The Saga Peloton
|
>> Trust me, there is an age limit on Lycra wearing. Stick with the cargo pants.
>> At least that way people might think you've only borrowed the bike and some dignity
>> can be retained.
>>
I agree partly with you Humph.
There IS an age limit - but also gender has to be considered.
Female - nice body, 20's maybe 30's brill.
Male - any body type or age - NO!
|
>> I>> shall cut an imposing figure when i am decked out in my lycra cycling gear.
>>
>>
MAMIL, or in your case EMIL.
|
>> The bug will soon bite, Zero.
>>
>> This time next year you'll be asking advice on which carbon fibre road bike to
>> buy.
No, tomorrow I need advice on if I should have some victoria sponge, or a scone jam and cream?
|
>> No, tomorrow I need advice on if I should have some victoria sponge, or a
>> scone jam and cream?
Bread pudding; food of the gods.
|
...I need advice on if I should have some victoria sponge, or a scone jam and cream?...
You are a new cyclist, so I would advise you to be wary of other traffic, particularly lorries.
|
>> You are a new cyclist, so I would advise you to be wary of other
>> traffic, particularly lorries.
And don't overtake on the left.
|
Full of the joys as usual I see Iffy...
:-)
|
...Full of the joys as usual I see Iffy...
Funny you should (nearly) mention spring.
Fair few dead leaves on the ground here in leafy North Yorkshire.
I know we've not had much of a summer, but I didn't think it was already autumn.
|
Time to get your lopper out then. Should last 'till next year now.
Hissing down here today. Hope it blows over.
|
>> Full of the joys as usual I see Iffy...
When he mentioned lorries, I think he had a certain driver in mind, especially in view of their recent spats...
:)
|
BiCycle questions. - Runfer D'Hills
