Close call

[raleighnut]

Kool Stop are a good shout, will have a look for those. Cables under the bar tape? No, that's a step too far! I like my brake cables looping up in the air, where God intended them to be. Seriously the levers are OK for me. They can be used in two ways, and I need to remember to use the appropriate way, that's all



Nowt wrong there. Levers pointing at the floor, where they should be. I would have the bars slightly flatter/further forward (hooks pointing to the rear axle) and the levers moved accordingly, which would make riding on the brake hoods a little easier (for me), but your setup looks fine to me.

Aye that bike was always a bit small for me but it evolved into how it is now over the past 44 years (the bike is a 1967 Clubman that I've been riding since 76) so the bars are kicked up a bit for comfort on my wrists .I've never ridden 'on the hoods' but my normal hold on drop handlebars has always been on the bend of them with my thumbs pointed forwards and fingers curled underneath so most of the weight is carried by the ball of my thumb, this can be seen on the wear of the bartape on my Equipe, a much more suitable frame for me.

Note the bars are flatter but because it has a bigger frame I can get onto the drops to operate the brakes a lot easier.

 

[12boy]

My rule is never go faster than you can see. By this I mean see to stop. Dogs, broken glass, people cycling toward me head down and cranking, and patches of black ice have all greeted me in coming around blind curves.
I've also found moustache bars work really well with old brake levers, both in terms of leverage and combining aero with ease on getting on the levers. These bars remind of drop bars that have been flattened out to the sides. Here's a couple of pics with some on my Brompton.

 

[davidphilips]

Aye that bike was always a bit small for me but it evolved into how it is now over the past 44 years (the bike is a 1967 Clubman that I've been riding since 76) so the bars are kicked up a bit for comfort on my wrists .I've never ridden 'on the hoods' but my normal hold on drop handlebars has always been on the bend of them with my thumbs pointed forwards and fingers curled underneath so most of the weight is carried by the ball of my thumb, this can be seen on the wear of the bartape on my Equipe, a much more suitable frame for me.

View attachment 549308

Note the bars are flatter but because it has a bigger frame I can get onto the drops to operate the brakes a lot easier.

Just as a mater of interest raleighnut would you consider fitting center pull brakes?
If so i have set that you could fit (with cable brackets) means a bit of work to shorten outer brake cables but would make a very big improvement to braking performance.
They are already set up with spacers to improve braking, take my word for it but after fitting them it would be very hard to ever want to go back to single pivot brakes, have been sitting in garage for a few years and you would be welcome to them?

 

[raleighnut]

Thanks for the kind offer but the brakes are fine, the Carlton originally came with Weinmann 'Dynamic' brakes but the front was damaged when it was run over by a lorry so that was replaced with a centrepull when I rebuilt it (along with the wheels, fork. crank and both mechs)

Did you know they made twin pivot sidepulls back in 67.

 

[Lovacott]

Yep. We have a network of lovely little single track roads. Very rarely much on them but there is always the occasional vehicle or occasionally a deer shoot out or something. When I see some riders Strava speeds on segments on some of them they must be taking huge risks to cover them at the speeds they do.

The greatest risk to anybody on the road is complacency (be they cyclist, pedestrian or car/van/lorry driver).

Brilliant day exploring the local lanes. Five hours and 27 miles of pure bliss in the North Devon sunshine,. Slow but blissful.

 

[wafter]

We've all done stupid things of which we're rightfully not proud - it's easy to get caught up on the moment and let your objectivity / rationality slip. I've done it numerous times myself (thankfully with no serious consequences); usually when someone else has nearly hit me through their own stupidity / arrogance, I've become immersed in chasing a Strava PB or yeah, just zoned out enjoying the ride.

Being able to look back and objectively critque your own behaviour is the first step towards self-improvement and none of these experiences are wasted if we learn from them.

At least the bike's OK and you're not dead

 

[MichaelW2]

As Seinfeld said" No hugging, No learning"

 

[rogerzilla]

I cycle country lanes and my rule of thumb is to always assume that there is a brick wall across the road just around every blind bend.

Round here, it's often cyclists on the wrong side of the road. All common sense goes out of the window if the lane is quiet enough for cars not to be expected.

 

[mjr]

become immersed in chasing a Strava PM or

Strava makes you have to chase your Private Messages?!?!

 

[wafter]

Strava makes you have to chase your Private Messages?!?!

Personal Mostbestest

 

[mjr]

Personal Mostbestest

Thank heavens. I thought gamification had gone too far!

 

[12boy]

Complacency is right. I have ridden the bike paths and lanes in my little town thousands of times and now rely on changing bikes to help me stay present and aware when riding. Otherwise I drift off into a fog. We have a lot of headwinds here for which I tend to put my head down and grind away. Many times I've looked up just in time to avoid running into something or someone. Embarrassing but true.

 

[Lovacott]

Round here, it's often cyclists on the wrong side of the road. All common sense goes out of the window if the lane is quiet enough for cars not to be expected.

Most of the lanes around my way are single track and only slightly wider than an average family car. To give way to an oncoming car, I either need a farm gate to pull into or I will stop the bike and lean in to the hedgerow to create room. If I am approaching a left hand bend, I drift to the right of the road to allow me to see further around the bend before I hit it. Now the mornings are darker, it's actually a lot easier because I can see the cars coming well in advance.

 

[mjr]

Now the mornings are darker, it's actually a lot easier because I can see the cars coming well in advance.

Beware the unlit motorist!

 

[Lovacott]

Beware the unlit motorist!

Because there is no ambient light on those roads, the unlit motorist will have crashed long before he met me.

But I have seen quite a few recently in town driving without lights in the morning. It's a dodgy time of the year when it comes to lights.