[Bubba]

Yay! Pay through the nose to look like a cunt 

[saltbeef]

i want a commuting steed, and one i can burn my friends off on, if i can look like a gallic legend of the alps then that'd be cool too! plus that ride to work shit is my friend! but yeah i'm still into cranking!

[webbo]

I'm assuming that there a few people who ride compacts for this next question.
I had my new Ultegra (with compact chainset) groupset fitted today. Went out for a blast tonite. Have to say I was a little disappointed. It was as smooth as you like, but in the smaller cogs on both chain rings I was experiencing chainrub.
I've had a compact before,  but assumed the chainrub was because of various parts of a groupsets assembled over the years, so not quite synching correctly, slightly different sizes etc.
This is brand new, fitted by trained mechanics etc.
have they done a bad job or is everyone's compact groupset like that ?

no when you get a compact they presume you will be too weak to use the small cogs.

[fatdoc]

webbo - you git  , there are some of use on here that have yet to get the power for the bigger peak climbs without the use of a compact. Interestingly there seems to be SO much british snobbery over doubles vs comnpact vs triples... not a big deal in the pyrenees apparently (spanish mate, ridden all his life.... astounded at the UK arse on over triples.. laughs as he hears stories of shagged knees... and he's an orthopeadic surgeon!!!)

bubba, if i didnt want your children i'd -ve karma you for that... I know you're simply in denial... remembe those lyrca BIB SHORTS you used to downhill in mate? I for one will never forget!!

salfbeef: welcome... I got mine *for commuting*, I now have 3 sportives planned for next year, and probs 3 short audax's... I'm also gonna try to get into this year's etapecaledonia.... welcome to the ukroadiebouldering fraternity 

[Bubba]

bubba, if i didnt want your children i'd -ve karma you for that... I know you're simply in denial... remembe those lyrca BIB SHORTS you used to downhill in mate? I for one will never forget!!

True but i am now reformed

[chappers]

now then.
it is my birthday coming up so i may come into some money if my rentals think i have been nice enough to them.
i am attracted to the idea of a single speed bike to ride to work on, more to the point to build one myself up so i can get some practice doing bike building stuff.
does anyone have any experience doing such tasks?
i see that some parts are avaliable on chainreaction.com and such like. (chain tensioners etc...)
basically i just want a bit of advice...where for example can i get a frame and forks from, £150 from ribble (any cheaper? im not sure weight is really an issue...)
oh, i want it to free wheel too, i take it that that is possible?!


in the mean time, as a thankyou, i present you with this:

[Percy B]

These have been highly recommended by those in the know.
http://www.on-one.co.uk/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=187&MMN_position=278:278
It is a fixed wheel bike, but I'm sure it could be changed if you asked nicely. Mind you, riding a fixed wheel bike is very good for you.....honest! Just don't forget to keep pedalling at all times or it will be a painful learning curve........

[Fatleg]

Salt beef Condor bikes -London based heard mixed reviews, from really good to arrogant shit.
You could try the new place on Greystones Road, looks like where one may buy an armani suit. Lord knows how they expect to make money. There were 2 chaps in there doing naff all the other day.

Compact / triple ring = Weak. AKA Granny ring for obvious reasons. Fair enough in the alps maybe.

[fatdoc]

Salt beef Condor bikes -London based heard mixed reviews, from really good to arrogant shit.
You could try the new place on Greystones Road, looks like where one may buy an armani suit. Lord knows how they expect to make money. There were 2 chaps in there doing naff all the other day.

Compact / triple ring = Weak. AKA Granny ring for obvious reasons. Fair enough in the alps maybe.

snob


no offence, but


you are a snob. You try getting the strength to ride up the hills of the peak from a zero aerobic exercise base on a double... i know it's not the alps but when you have to actually get up the damn hills to do a ride from home options are limited. This isnt a thread of one upmanship.. most of us here ride for fitness to then climb. I know many really fit lads that have got a double who ride in the peak and really suffered, I also know may etape finishers that use compacts... yeah, i'm sure they're really weak... this is exactly what i was reffering to above - you have displayed the point perfectly, thank you.    Where do live? essex?? 

saltbeef,

forget the new place in greystones, set your budget and get to stanley fearns in matlock, they stock bianchi, wilier and trek.... best honest advice i've ever had, way the best service... the idea that they would balls up fitting a new groupset (a la Dolly and j e james) is inconcievable.

[Yossarian]

now then.
it is my birthday coming up so i may come into some money if my rentals think i have been nice enough to them.
i am attracted to the idea of a single speed bike to ride to work on, more to the point to build one myself up so i can get some practice doing bike building stuff.
does anyone have any experience doing such tasks?
i see that some parts are avaliable on chainreaction.com and such like. (chain tensioners etc...)
basically i just want a bit of advice...where for example can i get a frame and forks from, £150 from ribble (any cheaper? im not sure weight is really an issue...)
oh, i want it to free wheel too, i take it that that is possible?!


in the mean time, as a thankyou, i present you with this:

if you want a singlespeed then you want to get a bike with horizontal drop-outs, so you can adjust the position of the back wheel to keep the chain correctly tensioned. you can get tensioners so you can use a normal frame, but it looks a bit shit, and seeing as half the point of a singlespeed bike is posing you're going to lose out there...

i would get a shop to fit the forks / headset / face the frame. but putting the rest of it together would be v straightforward. 

freewheeling is no problem. if you get a flip/flob hub you can have both on the same wheel - you just flip the wheel around whether you want to freewheel or not. have a look at this - http://www.63xc.com/hubchoice/willhubs.htm

i was going to build a fixed wheel tourer earlier this year, but i decided that my knees might be a bit fragile for that kind of thing...

[Fatleg]

Chill fatdoc, I was only kidding. I've never ridden a compact or triple, so can't comment.
I do live in Sheffield and ride most of the peak as training, and have thought about changing to  a compact.

I agree Stanleys is the place to go. Good honest advice, and they really know about the bikes they are selling. No shit just the advice you need. They let you test bikes for a whole day quite often, which is great. But a single speed, you obviously don't live near a hill or something.

[Percy B]

All this said, I have just placed my order for a new track bike with the guys at La Bicicleta. Operation Deep Ream was a complete success. They saw me coming, prepared themselves and scored a direct hit. They can spot a sucker for Italian framesets a mile off! However, I am quite excited at the prospect of an awesome new bike to throw myself from at high speed....

[Yossarian]

what track frame did you get?

i am in a state of extreme elation. i have been after a retro racer for a while. (actually, i would quite like an old school bmx as well. and a nice early neon mountain bike.) anyway, when i go out for a fun ride with some not so frequent riders, i thought it would be fun to load up on speed and brandy and get medieval with a more old fashioned gentleman's racer. something like a colnago mexico, preferably with racing history.  i can but dream...

however, a bloke at work informed me the other day that he had a relatives bike in his shed, and asked if i would consider taking it off him for a small sum. i agreed, but was fairly convinced that it would be utter shite.

he left it down in the factory for me to have a look at, and i have just been down to give it an inspection.

it is pure 80s sex. it's like a cross between weird science, ghostbusters, dynasty, samantha fox and a lambourghini countach liquidized and poured into a bicycle shaped mould. (it might actually be early 90s, but anyway)

it's a vitus 992. apparently andre tchmil won paris-roubaix on one of these bad boys, and sean kelly did the 92 milan-san remo on one as well. lugged and glued aluminium. neon cable outers. down tube shifters. turbo saddle. flux capacitor.

photo to follow. it's mine...

[Percy B]

The frame is a Cinelli Vigorelli - I resisted the HED wheels to go with it though!
I got given an 18 year old Colnago International by a good friend of mine who doesn't ride anymore. I'm ashamed to say that I mostly use it as a training bike on the turbo though. The good quality retro bike is a beautiful thing though.

[Yossarian]

tut tut...

i would nearly swap my litespeed for this -


 

[Yossarian]

i want this too...



on a bmx note, has anyone seen joe kid on a stingray? it is rad...

[Yossarian]

der..

[clm]

i just rode the glentress black.    but  (not bored, knackered)

It always amazes me the bikes you see some people on to ride the blue trail or to push along in your way on the run in to the car park. Like money grows on trees.

[Percy B]

My Colnago is the spit of the Mexico - albeit without the gold back end and lugs. My International is chromed where the Mexico is blinged, but apart from that its pretty much identical. Same groupset, saddle, wheels,etc, etc. Even has the chainrings engraved with Ernesto Colnago's moniker. Your right Yos, its a shame to leave it on the turbo. Next summer i'll give it an overhaul, sort out the rust spots coming through the chrome and get it back out on the road.

[Yossarian]

a shame?!  man, that is the bicycle equivalent of a mapplethorpe original... it deserves to be ridden. in the open. preferably under the tuscan sun.

re the vitus - i'm going to get a big ol' ass pair of fluorescent oakleys and a pink lycra skinsuit. and old white shoes. i think i might try to launch a retro time trial league. at least then i will have an excuse for being crap....

[Percy B]

clm - this is one of the most frustrating things about cycling of any type. As a youngun I so wanted an awesome bike, but made do with a shit one and revelled in whizzing past old punters on their £5K road bikes or cruising past even fatter punters on thousands of pounds worth of state-of-the-art freeride bikes. It was so obvious that all the money you throw at a bike don't make you ride it any better. Now I'm older and have worked my arse off to get some money I can afford the nice bike I always wanted as a kid, but the process of earning the cash means that now I'm not so fit due to work getting in the way of riding, so I now live in fear of being overtaken by some young spunker on a £150 Halfords pile of shit bike just like I used to do. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm living on borrowed time. It will!

Oh, the irony....

[chappers]

i have located an old dawes bike to switch over to single speed. i will be doing this with the help of kit from "charlie the bike monger". the bike doesnt have the desired dropouts, but i cant complain since it is free...
i have emailed charlie, and he is most helpfull, and his website is quite funny. he is going to sort me out an all i need kit for 48quid.

percy, that bike you linked is nice, but beyond my budget (maybe 100quid if i am lucky). thanks tho, that is a target to aim for with my construction job.

[fatdoc]

percy,

with this bike and sam's evo i would suggest the climbingworks was one of youe better ideas. good effort matey!

All this retro stuff is a bit lost on me, but i would be keen for some pink oakleys, to set off the red and black thing i have going on..

some questions for you all here:

dolly has ensured me a place in the alps next summer, long weekend... riding  . not my usual french DH lift assisted fun, but "real" bike type riding   

Now, i realise at this moment in time i would surely die.... sooooo dolly (who really does have a lot to answer for) then suggests Italian holiday en famile... with beaches, guided rides in the a.m., great food (as you know v v v important for me) in the early spring to get fit..


anyone done the family a.m. ride in the morning, be a dad in the afternoon thing?? type holiday?? I was thinking for otherwise 5 days in majorca ????  not sure...

Chill fatdoc, I was only kidding. I've never ridden a compact or triple, so can't comment.
I do live in Sheffield and ride most of the peak as training, and have thought about changing to  a compact.

I agree Stanleys is the place to go. Good honest advice, and they really know about the bikes they are selling. No shit just the advice you need. They let you test bikes for a whole day quite often, which is great. But a single speed, you obviously don't live near a hill or something.

get a compact matey, your knees will love you forever!!

[Bubba]

pink oakleys

oh my god!

not my usual french DH lift assisted fun, but "real" bike type riding

stop this sickness now!

[Fatleg]

Fatdoc bin the Oakleys get some rudy project shades, far cooler and cheaper than oakleys.

http://www.thespecsplace.co.uk/