What you done t' your bike today

[robsmuddygloves]

. A hugely personal and subjective question, but what sort of psi do people use?

I know folk use tubeless to go as low as possible, but I go for as high as I can without affecting comfort/grip. So much depends on weight, rim/tyre combo and terrain. Start hard and lower pressure gradually until you get the feel you want. Easier to let air out than put it in, especially if you squirm the tyre round a corner and belch a load #tubelessjargonalert

Cheers, I’m going out now for a little pootle, to get a feel for it. Much riding and tinkering is called for, which can’t be a bad thing

[Boab]

First time setting up tubeless. There was quite a bit of effing and jeffing, but the blighters are seated and on. Curious to see if they still hold any air for my Sunday morning ride tomorrow. A hugely personal and subjective question, but what sort of psi do people use? Much of my current riding is flat Fen’s bridle way, but I’m off to Brecon and a route kindly supplied by Verena, so may well adjust it for that trip.

I think we'd need a bit more info at answer that question, like what kind of bike it is, size of wheels, make, model and width of tyres, weight of yourself in all your gear. On my RAG+, which is running 700cx45, I'm around 30psi on the front and 35psi (ish) on the back. On my Scandal, which is running 29x2.35"/2.25", I'm down at 20psi on the front and 23psi on the back. Obviously this is all conjecture, as it's based on the tiny dial on my track pump and not a properly calibrated one; plus my scales say I'm 78KG in full gear, I maybe, I maybe not...

I'm near Cambridge, so regularly head into the fens. Pretty sure I could go a bit lower on the front of both, or lower front and back if I chose to run inserts. The easiest thing to do, is start of with something on your dial, ride and see how you get on. Reduce, or increase, the psi and ride the same thing again and see what the difference is. If you like it, use that as your new benchmark, if not, stick with what you had previously. If your setup is anything like mine, you'll end up leaking air occasionally, so you do have to check regularly. Sometime you'll be surprised at how low you've been riding without issue...

[robsmuddygloves]

Cheers, food for thought. I’m riding a Genesis Vagabond, 2.3 up front and 2.1 at the rear. I’m only a little fella, so 10 stone, I’ve not weighed all my kit, but will do at some point. I went out for a spin today with both tyres in the 20’s, felt squishy but good. More experimentation needed, might try putting on all my kit and see how that feels.

[Boab]

I take in a few rooty bridleways / byways on a regular basis. They're quite good for finding the right pressure, too low and you hit the rim on the roots. So the trick is to get just enough air in that you don't hit the rim...

[Johnallan]

The tailfin rack doesn't have a light mount and the one you can buy fits to the bag. Pretty useless with a dynamo rear light if you want to remove the bag..

I shaped a bit of ali plate and turned 4 off ali top-hat spacers. Needs better hardware and a lick of hammerite but it seems functional enough

Neat work John - is that the seatpost mount light? Looks like it. I have one that I'd like to move to above the rear caliper brake on my road bike - currently have an Alu plate off the brake bridge that holds a round LED back-up light + reflector. It looks like you've got the steel strap/loop off the light to secure on a flat plate there?

It is the seatpost light. Theres half a tube on the back of the plate to act as a mock seatpost. The loop is still on the light and I slotted the the new mounting plate so I can remove the light quickly by loosening the fastening 'nut' and sliding the light assembly upwards. I hope that makes sense...

[PaulB2]

Rode the bike down to the LBS to go tubeless - I thought about attempting it myself but I don't think my floor pump will cut it.

[redefined_cycles]

Swapped em out. Needed doing about a month ago and the squealing on the last ride was bad enough that I tried to change em mid-ride. But hadn't brought the pads with me.

Now on some Uber white pads. Hopefully they'll last until I get a chance to order some more Shimano finned versions (not sure if the fins actually help to be honest!).

Oh... and sqapped out the chain too which was hitting the 0.75% wear mark.

[yourguitarhero]

Have been getting a lot of wrist pain/numbness when cycling (and riding motorbike).
Am away for 4 days next weekend for first big trip of the year (Loch Lomond Trosssachs Loop).

Been getting bike ready.
Got my new custom framebag from bike-bag.co.uk which is very nice, and cost less than most standard bags. Quality seems high and it was a pleasant experience.

After doing some test rides and still getting sore hands and tingling, I decided to change my handlebars. I was using a set of Spank Vibrocore bars that were relatively straight but at 780mm wide were too wide for a long distance bike.
Planet X were selling their OG bars for a tenner so got some of them.



Have put them on and feel they fit my shoulder width better and my hands seem at a natural flare/angle.
Also spent a fair bit of time adjusting my KCNC Ergon copies to get the wrist support section at the right angle. Now have it so that my wrists aren't bent at all and my palms are supported. Hope it helps!

[PaulB2]

I was finally able to do some work on the Huntsman so put Gorilla tape on the bag wear points, fitted bottle cages and put on some ergon grips I've had lying around for a couple of years but never got round to using. The original planned 3rd cage didn't clear the cable stops on the down tube so I've had to steal one off the gravel bike which makes me twitchy since that now has mismatched cages. My large frame bag is too short for the very long top tube on the huntsman but that just means I'll have more clearance for a larger bottle. In the spirit of Need More Stuff, now I just have to ponder whether to get a XL partial frame bag or get a custom full one at some point in the future.

[boxelder]

Stripped and lubed the clutch on my rear mech - always a bit 'spring tension' fraught.

[voodoo_simon]

Half way to fitting new tyres in the bike, 2.6 on the front and 2.35 on the rear. Just got to add the sealant and then I’m done Front seems to be holding up but the rear is leaking a little, so hoping the sealant will rectify that

[PaulE]

Tuesday's job, rather than today's, but I ended up doing a high speed rim replacement and coincidental brake pad change.

Heard a strange metallic clang on the ride home and thought I'd broken a spoke. Stopped for a look and turned out I'd ripped one spoke & eyelet out of the rim. Limped it home and luckily enough the random 32 hole road rim I had spare in the garage was the same erd as the damaged one. Taped the rims together, swapped over and tensioned. Even got to do it sitting in the sunshine which was nice ... Then when refitting the wheel, realized that there was no pad left at all on the rear brake - even started to wear through the backing - oops!

All up and running ready to commute on Wednesday

[Boab]

Tomorrow, we finally ride flats*...













* Pretty sure the left crank is almost threaded, took me ages to get the pedal fitted. Looks like I'll be after new cranks soon...

[Lazarus]

Bar end shifter to drop bar to get a friction shifter as too much rubbing on my oversize double mullet drive ( works perfectly)
Replaced a dub BB under 1000 miles and non drive totally seized ...poor show. Had a spare so let's see how long that lasts.
Replaced a crank on FS ( as I stole BB from that) WTF was in keeping a xtr crank with a hope BB in my spares ( as if it's not the best crank set up I own)

[redefined_cycles]

Tomorrow, we finally ride flats*...













* Pretty sure the left crank is almost threaded, took me ages to get the pedal fitted. Looks like I'll be after new cranks soon...

Very very nice Bob.. Nukeproofs too, very bling. I just regreased mine a few weeks ago and still going strong (originally bought about 1 or 2 years ago and the cartridge bearings looked/felt fine)... Enjoy!

[Boab]

Decided to switch out the Super Gravity Hans Dampf I've been running on the front wheel, for a Super Ground Nobby Nic, as it's starting to dry out nicely around these parts. Managed to save all the sealant from the Hans Dampf and transfer it across, but couldn't get the thing inflated; even with an inflater and strap. Ended up having to put an inner tube in and leave it for a few hours, then it went up fine. Lost half the sealant I'd saved, which has annoyed me a trifle...

[Mart]

New running gear fitted just in time for the WRT.
Not wanting to have a repeat of last years derailleur failure.

2x chainrings, clean out BB, properly set up rear derailleur, new cassette, new chain, set up front derailleur again as had moved slightly, cleaned and lubed the back hub. New pads front and back.

All sorted

[slarge]

Clean it after a filthy ride up in Kielder, and found a crack in the chainstay.....

[fatbikephil]

Araldite is the answer Steve, never mind a new bike!

[Lazarus]

New front mech for the drop bar after it broke yesterday ( a mere 4 miles into a century road ride ) .pinch bolt was slipping and snapped clean off when I tightened it...new issue for me that one. .
Felt the climbing as I stupidly adjusted it for the big ring rather than remove it so I could heel kick to change.

[yourguitarhero]

Just back from doing the Loch Lomond and Trossachs Loop.

New On One OG bars and KCNC Ergon-esque grips were great. No hand pain/numbness at all. New Fabric Radius saddle was amazing too, my arse was fresh as a baby's bottom??? all the way round. Other guys were struggling with saddle sores.
Found that my Vittoria Terreno Dry tyres didn't have enough braking grip for steep descents on loose stuff, so may swap for some lightly treaded XC tyres I have in the garage. They did roll well though and had no issues with toughness. One of the guys ripped a Maxxis Minion so badly it wouldn't seal, so terrain was quite tough.

Big issue was with the drivetrain. The goat link set up I had with the 48t cassette gave up and was grinding in the lowest gears. Had had it working for 50 road miles before, but think I had the goatlink on wrong and once it spun round to the correct position I couldn't use the three largest cogs, which led to much pushing. Found a lovely wee bike workshop in Arrochar and he managed to get me going again by shortening the chain.

So, this morning I took it all apart - goatlink off, 42t cassette back on and changed the front chainring from a 34 to a 32 (which is what i should have done in the first place!). Was investigating some creaking/cracking noises I'd had when pedalling and found that my bottom bracket is goosed. Very notchy and the dust seals were damaged.
So will get another and put it all back together.

[Lazarus]

Goat links do work and come in different lengths ( cheap eBay or Amazon ones tend to be longer )

[Alpinum]

Decided to switch out the Super Gravity Hans Dampf I've been running on the front wheel, for a Super Ground Nobby Nic, as it's starting to dry out nicely around these parts. Managed to save all the sealant from the Hans Dampf and transfer it across, but couldn't get the thing inflated; even with an inflater and strap. Ended up having to put an inner tube in and leave it for a few hours, then it went up fine. Lost half the sealant I'd saved, which has annoyed me a trifle...

Curious to hear how you find the Nobby Nic compared to Hans Dampf.
Never thought much of the Hans Dampf, especially under cornering, but quite like the shapes of the shoulder knobs on the 'new' Nobby Nic and would like to give it a try on the short travel trail bike up front.

Also... why does the rim remind me of Liam Glen's Stooge, which currently is getting ridden across South America

[Alpinum]

Just back from doing the Loch Lomond and Trossachs Loop.

New On One OG bars and KCNC Ergon-esque grips were great. No hand pain/numbness at all. New Fabric Radius saddle was amazing too, my arse was fresh as a baby's bottom??? all the way round. Other guys were struggling with saddle sores.
Found that my Vittoria Terreno Dry tyres didn't have enough braking grip for steep descents on loose stuff, so may swap for some lightly treaded XC tyres I have in the garage. They did roll well though and had no issues with toughness. One of the guys ripped a Maxxis Minion so badly it wouldn't seal, so terrain was quite tough.

Big issue was with the drivetrain. The goat link set up I had with the 48t cassette gave up and was grinding in the lowest gears. Had had it working for 50 road miles before, but think I had the goatlink on wrong and once it spun round to the correct position I couldn't use the three largest cogs, which led to much pushing. Found a lovely wee bike workshop in Arrochar and he managed to get me going again by shortening the chain.

So, this morning I took it all apart - goatlink off, 42t cassette back on and changed the front chainring from a 34 to a 32 (which is what i should have done in the first place!). Was investigating some creaking/cracking noises I'd had when pedalling and found that my bottom bracket is goosed. Very notchy and the dust seals were damaged.
So will get another and put it all back together.

Nice always grand to find comfort with a few little changes/ when new parts work the way you hoped they would.

Can relate muchly.
Vittoria has some amazing tyres, the Terreno Dry being the fastest tyres I ever rode (rear only, front was Mezcal) on my short travel trail bike. The tyres and self might have been a bit overwhelmed in some cases despite never having ridden it on steep stuff.
Did you ride it (Terreno Dry) front on rear?

I had a relatable under braking feeling (on steepish Alpine tracks probably not too different from Lomond/ Trossachs which I only know from hiking) when I had first set up my long travel trail bike with Magic Mary up front and Rock Razor rear. Went Magic Mary front/rear then the at the time new Big Betty rear, Magic Mary front.
Big Betty always feeling a tad faster rolling, but not quite as stable in corners as the truly 'Magic' Mary.

Regarding the drive train issues; sometimes is also little things little retightening the mech to the drop out.

Have some creaking on my gravel bike under load and guess it's also the BB. 3500 km in. I find it a bit early.

[fatbikephil]

Just back from doing the Loch Lomond and Trossachs Loop.

Big issue was with the drivetrain. The goat link set up I had with the 48t cassette gave up and was grinding in the lowest gears. Had had it working for 50 road miles before, but think I had the goatlink on wrong and once it spun round to the correct position I couldn't use the three largest cogs, which led to much pushing. Found a lovely wee bike workshop in Arrochar and he managed to get me going again by shortening the chain.

It's a good wee shop that-bailed me out when I was lacking inner tubes, punture repair outfit etc. on a tour a couple of years ago. Good village shop too