Bicycle Thread

[25GTT]

HAAHAH some of the funniest stuff i have seen on here for a while.

Firstly, thanks all so much for your information, i really appreciate it, definately a novice at the moment and all this info sure does help!

Ok i will go and get some tyres, the local shop had a slick tyre in the middle but some nobbly bits on the outside (semi slick no doubt) brand new for $20 a tyre, i have free servicing for a year on it, so at the 6 week mark (4 weeks away) i will get them to whack those tyres on for me.

Might also look at some lighter rims depending onhow much they cost, as you have all said i will probably hold off spending big until i can get a decent bike.

I DID want to go all out and get some of your lovely bikes, but i was a little worried because i thought i might by a beautiful bike but not enjoy it.... HOW WRONG I WAS!

So prob around christmas time if you guys have any nice high quality mountain bikes you want to get rid of let me know.

Eps- I live in Joondalup and look after the Joondalup Leisure Centres so riding to work is prob a miss, BUT when i get a bit more used to riding (2 -3 weeks) would definately be keen on doing a river ride! you will prob have to go a bit slow for me though!

Will PM you mate pretty soon on that in a few weeks.

As strange as it sounds and as much as we joke about it, that bloody seat its whats annoying me the most! its a good gel seat but man it hurts after an hour or so ride!

Not to keen on that new lightweight space saving seat you posted above. :-)

Ok so:

Tyres - Check

Rims - check price.

Thanks again, and advice from you guys is much appreciated, i will be on this thread quite a bit id say learning bit by bit.

[mad082]

you won't really get rims that are much lighter than what are on there. at least not without spending big bucks. a wheel similar to what is currently on the bike will cost you about $60 or $70 each at least (that is just the wheel, so you would need to add the cost of a disc rotor on top of that - only about $20 or $30, and for the rear also add the cost of a cassette which is about $30 or $40 depending on the shop).

[BoyWhoCriedWolf]

Marco, Imma let ya finish but Jayze had the best rims of all time.

Can you advise on which type of bike stand to get, for putting the Giant on and using it like an excersize bike.

[JAS-25T]

T7 has real cheap ones.

I bought one for around $70 and it aint bad. cept you gotta change your rear quick release if it doesnt fit, which they provide.

[mad082]

yeah there are some cheap ones round. the ones i prefer to sell are a bit more. up around $200 for you. same as what i use at home. sold heaps and never had any problems. sold some cheaper ones and had problems. the cheaper ones i can get are down around the $100 to $150 mark i think. will suss it out and let ya know.

[Mr Eps]

25GTT - my tyres are still sitting here man - they're waiting for you taking up space in my house... and they work real good like!

u know you want em!

and widebody180 there will be no "war" he's just a rude little piece of shit. i'm not going to reply to his blatant trolling attempts. btw - that pic was posted a few pages bak. wasn't funny then either...

25GTT as for your seat caning your arse... that's largely due to rider position, think about it... on a mountain bike you sit upright, the saddle is naturally wider... all your weight and force from your torso is pressed down onto your seat...

whereas on a road bike, you're leant forwards, distributing your weight between the saddle, handlebars, pedals etc more evely, putting less pressure on the arse.

the SDG bel air is a cheapish saddle (70 odd RRP) that will cure your butt pain.. but then again - you just started riding - you're going to get a sore bottom for the first few weeks. but yeah... if the pain isn't fading or it's not comfortable... just upgrade really

[mad082]

i could recommend a few seat that i like, but you won't like the price, LOL.

first off try altering the angle of the seat. go for a ride and work out what you don't like about the seat. then try altering the angle of the seat. the seats on the 2010 apollos are much better than the 09 models (which weren't that bad either) so you shouldn't have much trouble find a setup that is more comfortable. other than that, try riding faster. push yourself more. it will take your mind off the seat, LOL.

another thing would be to get yourself a pair of nix. the basic $40 netti ones will be all you need. then if you are going for a ride just wear them under your shorts. they will add a bit of padding.

[widebody180]

and widebody180 there will be no "war" he's just a rude little piece of shit. i'm not going to reply to his blatant trolling attempts. btw - that pic was posted a few pages bak. wasn't funny then either...

[25GTT]

By Nix do you mean skins?

I just got back from my honeymoon in vegas/NY/LA and picked up some awesome Nike skins shorts for $25 (retail for about $100 over here)

Awesome will give the seat adjustment a bit of a go, i have only been for two decent rides so yeah hoping my a$$ gets used to it! Otherwise will check out some nice seats to cushion it :-)

Eps - what info do you have on the tyres so i can look em up, will they fit onto any rim, just thinking of car tyres here, cant put a 215 on a 17x12inch wheel :-)

Oh one last question - do you guys use the shoes that clip into the pedal, cleets (sp???) i dont have a strap or anything like that for my pedals, was even thinking about checking to see if they have a strap that just goes over my pedal, i read an article lately saying that the downforce on the pedal is only 70% of the potential power as your only using the "push" part of a push/pull motion.

[25GTT]

Sorry guys to whack up yet another post, just to get your last opinion.

The apollo bike i got (summit) is having troubles changes in the front gear set from 1st to 2nd to 3rd.

Basically it wont go 1st to 2nd, i have to go to third and THEN to 2nd.

I have taken it back twice because prior to this the chain was falling off when changing gear AND the chain ws rubbing against the selector, both of those issues have been fixed by adjusting the selctor however now after fixing those issues the front three gears arent "smooth"

He said bring it back in four weeks for your first service and we can look at it more then, i would just hate when i do he then says "Oh well now its out of warranty so if you want it fixed its going to cost X amount of dollars"

Are these kind of things normal?? i know its a entry level bike however its still $500 for the bike and would think the gears would be nice on it??

One of the ladies though who i work with just said as long as your little gears work well thats mainly what matters as other than going up a massive incline there is not much need to change the big gears.

Also, that Apollo TAOS C bike that you bought looks insane! carbon and all! VERY JEALOUS!!

Edited May 11, 2010 by 25GTT

[Mr Eps]

hahahaha awwwww us kids and our bikes!

lol

ok well first up - tl; dr.

(kidding)

there's a chance your chain may be a bit dry and need to be lubed up with PROPER chain lube... but reality is - you only been on a few rides, the metal teeth are sharp, chain isn't worn in, it's not "at it's peak" yet

where'd u buy the bike from? most perth shops are pretty competitive with the whole "one year of free servicing" but that A) depends on where you bought the bike and B) I wouldn't be suprised if they offer a year of free servicing on a bike that was so inexpensive...

BUT

if they offer free servicing, they offer free servicing...

the gears WON'T be smooth for the first few months, and as that lady told you - how often do you REALLY need to change gears? that's why i only have one gear =)

NIX - shorts with padding in the bottom for sissies. =P

tyres are maxxis Xenith, google em! they will fit on your 26" wheel, no worries... come round some time n try em out, worse case scenario you don't like em and i just hold onto em. no biggie!

cleated pedals - makes more or a difference with say - a fixed gear bike... where there's NO freewheeling motion or backpedalling, but yeah - giant make a kit which just screws onto the "OEM" pedals if that makes sense... works okay... i suggest while you're pretty much learing - just keep the toes free...

imagine this

falling off a bike... off the side of a gravel hill, say... your feet leap off the pedals, you land "Sort of" on your feet, and kinda save a lot of injury

or

falling off bike.. off the side of a gravel hill, say... and your feet are strapped in the pedals and attached to the bike so you fall flat on your face and the bike lands on top of you...

it sucks. but it's a reality that does happen to the best of us when learning

[xALmoN]

Teach him to trackstand, he'll never fall off ever.

But i hate those idiots who try to trackstand in the middle of an intersection, i'm not sure what they're trying to prove. But it makes them look like idiots and its bloody dangerous. Saw one today, i gave him a beep and he gave me the finger, wtf?

[mad082]

ok, to answer most or all of your questions...

no nix are different to skins. they are just lycra that is tight, but not tight like compression skins, and they have a foam padded chamois in the crutch.

i have run toe straps as well as clip pedals and platforms. which is best for you simply comes down to riding style. if you ride hard then go clip pedals. if you just ride at a steady pace then stick with flats, or you could go toe clips. when i have run toe straps i didn't use the strap, just the toe clip so that it was easier to get your foot in and out. i didn't find that they did much. i also found that most of the toe clips on the market weren't long enough for my big feet (i'm a size 12) and i couldn't get quite comfortable on the pedals (couldn't get my foot far enough foward on the pedal). how much of a difference clip pedals make comes down to riding style. i know people who say that it makes them so much faster. for me though it doesn't make that much difference and i actually find that what i gain in the pulling up motion i lose in the pushing down motion as i'm subconciously concentrating on pulling up and not as much on pushing down. also i've had a few near misses where i couldn't get unclipped and nearly fallen into the path of oncoming traffic. so for me i probably gain maybe 10% with them, if that. not really worth the $200 outlay for pedals and shoes, LOL. on the other hand i know a few top leval bmx guys who only race on platform pedals, and others that will train with platforms and race with clips. so as i said, it varies greatly from person to person. the biggest advantage with platforms is that you can move your foot position as much as you like, so as your legs get tired you will still be comfortable, and it means that you can just jump on and off your bike as you please. and if you are stopped at an intersection, when you can go you can just go full speed straight away. no taking a rotation or 2 to get clipped in properly.

the front gears are the hardest to get adjusted because there is such a big difference in both distance between the cogs (relatively big for what it is) as well as the size difference in the cogs. something to keep in mind is that if you are pedalling slowly and putting lots of powertorque through the cranks then it won't shift as well as if you are spinning a bit faster with less torque on the cranks. this applies to both changing up and down. something you can try though is on the left hand shifter than controls the front 3 gears, where the cable comes out of the shifter there will be a barrel adjuster. twist it a turn or 2 out (i think that is anti-clockwise). that will tighten the cable a bit and make it shift up a bit better, but this comes at the expense of how it shifts down. the biggest problem with most mtb front derailleurs (even a lot of the expensive stuff) is that they don't have a trimming function. generally this is only on the 2 speed shifters and not 3 speed ones (even on road bikes). this allows you to do a half shift which means that when you change down to the smaller cogs, if the chain starts to rub on the derailleur due to the change in the angle you can do the half click to get it to stop rubbing. but most triple setups don't have this so it means that sometimes in order to get the gears working properly you have to put up with the chain rubbing on the front derailleur in some gears. that said you aren't really supposed to use certain ratios together. ideally you should only use the smallest cog at the front with the first 3 gears or so, the middle cog at the front with gears 3, 4 and 5, and then top gear at the front with gears 5, 6 and 7, or what ever corresponds to 3 equal groups for the number of gears you have at the back. running like this decreases chain stretch and chain slack as you keep the chain in a straighter line and you will get longer life out of the chain before shifting gets sloppy.

the issue you are having is made slightly worse on cheaper bikes because the chainrings don't have as good pick up notches in them. if you look at the teeth of the middle and big chainrings you will see that some of them are cut at different angles, and some may even have cuts in the side of them at the base. this is to help pick the chain up when shifting up gears. the better cranks have much more defined sections on them as well as some special pins to help pick up the chain. some teeth will be smaller and this is to help the chain drop off the chainring when shifting down.

as for warranty, you get 12 months on it, so don't worry there.

and yes the taos is 1 sexy bike. i still haven't taken it for a ride yet. might do that when i drop cherie off at work on friday since it is a public holiday here. had a few people looking at it. would be nice to sell it. round here the apollo name doesn't have much of a following in the higher end market because the name doesn't have the prestige of some of the others. but i like them. i would buy an apollo over a hell of a lot of other brands on the market.

[Mr Eps]

ugh... i'm going to hell for posting this ... but look, marc!!!!

a TEAL DEER

cmonnnn you gotta admit that was a little bit funny...

but yes - marc speaks the absolute truth... he knows his stuff

[mad082]

hahahaha awwwww us kids and our bikes!

lol

ok well first up - tl; dr.

(kidding)

there's a chance your chain may be a bit dry and need to be lubed up with PROPER chain lube... but reality is - you only been on a few rides, the metal teeth are sharp, chain isn't worn in, it's not "at it's peak" yet

where'd u buy the bike from? most perth shops are pretty competitive with the whole "one year of free servicing" but that A) depends on where you bought the bike and B) I wouldn't be suprised if they offer a year of free servicing on a bike that was so inexpensive...

BUT

if they offer free servicing, they offer free servicing...

the gears WON'T be smooth for the first few months, and as that lady told you - how often do you REALLY need to change gears? that's why i only have one gear =)

NIX - shorts with padding in the bottom for sissies. =P

tyres are maxxis Xenith, google em! they will fit on your 26" wheel, no worries... come round some time n try em out, worse case scenario you don't like em and i just hold onto em. no biggie!

cleated pedals - makes more or a difference with say - a fixed gear bike... where there's NO freewheeling motion or backpedalling, but yeah - giant make a kit which just screws onto the "OEM" pedals if that makes sense... works okay... i suggest while you're pretty much learing - just keep the toes free...

imagine this

falling off a bike... off the side of a gravel hill, say... your feet leap off the pedals, you land "Sort of" on your feet, and kinda save a lot of injury

or

falling off bike.. off the side of a gravel hill, say... and your feet are strapped in the pedals and attached to the bike so you fall flat on your face and the bike lands on top of you...

it sucks. but it's a reality that does happen to the best of us when learning

ok, first of all, 90% of the stuff chain lubes advertise is crap. some chain lubes out there do more harm than good. that said, use any chain lube, or even sewing machine oil or old engine oil. it will all work well. just don't use too much. and don't use wd40 as that will dry the chain out (washes out the oil). personally i like the triflow stuff, finishline or the rock n roll stuff.

secondly, you are actually best off not lubing a new chain as they have packing grease inside them and lube washes it out.

thirdly, the chain is at it's best when brand new. it has very little sideways play in it and that is what makes it shift well. a chain with lots of flex in it won't shift as well as a new chain because when the derailleur moves the chain just flexes and stays where it is rather than being rigid and moving with the derailleur. gears not being smooth when new means that the gears weren't adjusted properly to start with and as the cables have settled into their housings, etc, they have moved into a better adjustment. the teeth being sharp would mean that it would pick the chain up better than when they are worn and rounded off.

[mad082]

ugh... i'm going to hell for posting this ... but look, marc!!!!

a TEAL DEER

cmonnnn you gotta admit that was a little bit funny...

but yes - marc speaks the absolute truth... he knows his stuff

i'd fkn want to, LOL. as of the 6th of july i will have been in the bike industry for 10 years.

[Mr Eps]

10 years in the game and im STILL grindin.

and see? the dude knows his stuff...

even i learned a lot in those last few posts - but the chain lube stuff being crap - don't agree with that... i personally use "EPIC RIDE" (i got it because it said it was EPIC)

and that works better than what i used to have

and - marc - tell that to my dad. he's got a Giant TCR and cleans it with WD-40!

[xALmoN]

i used to clean my chain with diesel,

Then liberally apply singer oil, and wipe off excess oil..

Nicely lubed chain.

[mad082]

10 years in the game and im STILL grindin.

and see? the dude knows his stuff...

even i learned a lot in those last few posts - but the chain lube stuff being crap - don't agree with that... i personally use "EPIC RIDE" (i got it because it said it was EPIC)

and that works better than what i used to have

and - marc - tell that to my dad. he's got a Giant TCR and cleans it with WD-40!

print off my post and show him, lol.

there are 2 ways to tell a good lube from a bad lube.

1: the smell. this isn't always accurate but it is most of the time. if the lube has a strong smell that reminds you of metho or fuel then there is a good chance that it isn't a good lube as it will more than likely wash away and of the original grease as well as any of the previous lube that has built up a protective layer.

2: the feel of the lube. tip a small amount onto your finger then rub your thumb against it firmly. if it is a good lube it should stay slippery for a while. a crap lube won't last that long before you start to feel friction again. i have extremely rough, dry hands (they are actually rougher than my feet) so i don't have much trouble drying out the crappier lubes. if you have soft hands then you may find most of the lubes stay slippery for a while.

out of all the lubes that i have here, the best 2 performers are finishline krytech at number 2, shimano wet lube at number 1. however these were both beaten by a lube that you buy from repco and places like that called lubex. it is a general purpose lube but the down side is that it comes in an aerosol can. doing the friction test it performs much better than the proper chain lubes, but it is still beaten by good old engine oil. i've got a general rule that if you read the bottle and there is no mention of using it on cables, then don't use it. in my experience the ones that are purely a chain lube are generally terrible. the reason being that a cable creates more friction than a chain does, so if the lube can't cope with the friction of a cable then i wouldn't be putting it on my chain either.

there is a downside to the lubex and the engine oil (more so with theoil than the lubex). this is that they aren't quite as thin as the proper chain lube, so don't get into the chain rollers quite as well.

[BoyWhoCriedWolf]

Marc, I like it when you talk about lube.

Im touching myself.

Oh and thanks for the info on the rollers! Ill grab one of those when we get a house.