New (Old) Bike

[Deleted member 20519]

Had this bike for around a week now. It's not fantastic but it does the job. It's a mountain bike but it's got fairly small 26x1.90 tyres on it. No suspension (tried to do serious off roading, never again) so it's fairly light. Good gears, good brakes although the pads might need replaced soon. I've got all of my accessories on it, lights etc. I had a water bottle cage on it but it clipped my shorts, snapped and forced my leg in to the back of the pedal. Ouch! It's a good bike for commuting as my commute's only a few miles. Thinking of putting some semi slicks on it, not sure if it's worth spending the money yet. I'm also considering adding a suspension seatpost, Halfords are selling one for £20.

The gears needed a bit of adjusting, gave them a good clean and re oiled them and they're working fine now. Brakes needed tightening too, the back wheel is buckled so that just gives me more reason on why I should replace the wheels for thinner ones.

All in all, good bike by my standards. Not advanced in any way, everyone here has a better bike but like I said earlier, it does the job.

Here's a few pictures, click the images to make them bigger):

While I'm here, is anyone else in Scotland feeling the heat? It's been 22 degrees+ over the past few days with it being 29 yesterday and this is supposed to last 2 weeks! Right now it's 19:40 and it's still 21 degrees.

 

[BlackPanther]

Looks like a nice clean example of an ideal commuter. I notice that your seat post is set quite low.......make sure you check before you buy a suspension post that it won't make it too high for you, as they add a good few inches on to the seat heights lowest setting. The other downside is that you can't usually fit a seat post mounted rack onto a suspension post.

 

[cyberknight]

Welcome to CC
Suspension seat posts are a bit rubbish in my opinion, i had one and i had to take it to bits twice as the part in the seatpost fell apart and as the spring compressed over time i had to keep raising the seat height .
If your commute is only a couple of miles sticking slicks on will not save you a great deal of time but make it easier .
I noticed the saddle is all the way forward, is that comfortable for you as i find that this works better for me..

How buckled is the wheel? if its only slightly wobbly you might be able to get it trued by the bike shop by tensioning the spokes.
As for better bikes , as long as it runs smoothly ,, gets you where you want to go and you enjoy it then its a good bike !!
This is my winter hack, £40 off ebay circa 1990 ,before i got the seat right ...its now a lot further back and the seat higher....

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Stop moaning about the weather, my wee plants need sun!
Nice bike

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Looks like a nice clean example of an ideal commuter. I notice that your seat post is set quite low.......make sure you check before you buy a suspension post that it won't make it too high for you, as they add a good few inches on to the seat heights lowest setting. The other downside is that you can't usually fit a seat post mounted rack onto a suspension post.

Didn't really think about that, I was considering getting some racks for my bike. Not sure if I should even bother getting the suspension seat post, although it might add a bit of comfort, my commute's only around seven miles and it's half road/half cycle path.

Welcome to CC
Suspension seat posts are a bit rubbish in my opinion, i had one and i had to take it to bits twice as the part in the seatpost fell apart and as the spring compressed over time i had to keep raising the seat height .
If your commute is only a couple of miles sticking slicks on will not save you a great deal of time but make it easier .
I noticed the saddle is all the way forward, is that comfortable for you as i find that this works better for me..

How buckled is the wheel? if its only slightly wobbly you might be able to get it trued by the bike shop by tensioning the spokes.
As for better bikes , as long as it runs smoothly ,, gets you where you want to go and you enjoy it then its a good bike !!
This is my winter hack, £40 off ebay circa 1990 ,before i got the seat right ...its now a lot further back and the seat higher....

Thanks!

Is there a certain position for my saddle? I've just changed the saddle and I wasn't paying much attention to how far forward it was. What would you recommend?

It's actually both of the wheels. They aren't terrible, the front one has a small bit of sway to the side and the back one's just the same. Probably could be fixed by getting them trued. Thanks for the suggestion!

That's a nice bike, good deal for £40. The bar ends that you have on, what are the effect of them? Are they there to make you stretch a bit so you're in a more aerodynamic position or are they just there for show? Mudguards was one of my problems too, they were rubbing against the tread on the wheels. I've taken them off but I'll need to have a bit of a play about with them. Also, is that a camera on the side of your bike?

Stop moaning about the weather, my wee plants need sun!

Definitely not moaning, loving the hot weather! It just makes me really warm when I'm cycling and then there's the added frustration of having to put on sun cream

 

[BlackPanther]

The bar ends that you have on, what are the effect of them? Are they there to make you stretch a bit so you're in a more aerodynamic position or are they just there for show?

I have bar ends on my town bike. I just found it more comfortable having the option of 2 different hand position. TBH I find road bike drop bars the comfiest if you ride a 'conventional' bike, as you have 3 positions to swap between.

And I say 'conventional', as I'm a recumbent convert.......you can't get comfier than a recumbent bike, or trike. There's no going back!

 

[cyberknight]

Is there a certain position for my saddle?
Look at my reply, a starting position is to have the saddle height set by putting your heel on the pedal at the bottom and your leg should be straight, then move your saddle back so the front of your knee cap is over the pedal centre.

The bar ends that you what are the effect of them
They give you an extra hand position so that you can change , relieving pressure and i find the position more comfortable than standard flat bar position.

If your riding 7 miles each way then semi slicks are worth it , look at schwable city jets as a budget , fast rolling option.



Definitely not moaning, loving the hot weather! It just makes me really warm when I'm cycling and then there's the added frustration of having to put on sun cream
was lovely and cool coming home from work at 3 m this morning

Camera?
No its the battery pack for my main light as i ride on unlit country lanes ....
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808...de-900-lumen-led-bike-light-set-44459?item=14

 

[Deleted member 20519]

I have bar ends on my town bike. I just found it more comfortable having the option of 2 different hand position. TBH I find road bike drop bars the comfiest if you ride a 'conventional' bike, as you have 3 positions to swap between.

And I say 'conventional', as I'm a recumbent convert.......you can't get comfier than a recumbent bike, or trike. There's no going back!

I can honestly say that I've never seen a bike with as much kit as yours!

Camera?
No its the battery pack for my main light as i ride on unlit country lanes ....
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/mj-808...de-900-lumen-led-bike-light-set-44459?item=14

Whoah, that's a bright light. This is the one I have, http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_525123_langId_-1_categoryId_165636

 

[cyberknight]

I have bar ends on my town bike. I just found it more comfortable having the option of 2 different hand position. TBH I find road bike drop bars the comfiest if you ride a 'conventional' bike, as you have 3 positions to swap between.

And I say 'conventional', as I'm a recumbent convert.......you can't get comfier than a recumbent bike, or trike. There's no going back!

Hehe i want a recumbant but SWMBO would kill me if i bought another bike lol, here is a picture of the main commuter....

 

[cyberknight]

I can honestly say that I've never seen a bike with as much kit as yours!



Whoah, that's a bright light. This is the one I have, http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/..._productId_525123_langId_-1_categoryId_165636

I do ride on unlit country lanes during the winter, currently just carrying a p4 torch in a mount as a bike light.
The rear light i use is this one , guy at work asked about it and he turned away when i put it on ....
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00452O6...de=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B00452O6LI
Along with a standard rear light on each pannier bag to give a triangle effect of lights from behind.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Here's some more pictures, it's just getting dark so you can see my lights. Pictures are a bit grainy. I've made some changes to the bike. I've adjusted the saddle high so my leg is straight out when it's on the pedal (thanks cyberknight), I've added my mudguards and I've recharged the batteries in my front light. I need to replace the ones in the rear light but I don't have any AAA batteries as of yet. If you've got any suggestions on things to add to my bike to make it faster, safer or 'cooler?', feel free to let me know

Also, cyberknight, the Schawble City Jets look good and there's some good prices on Amazon. All the places I've seen are around the £10 mark but is that for a set or just a single tyre?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I've got city jets, find them much better than the chinese tyres my bike came with. It'll be a tenner each, that's about correct, I think mine were just over 20 for the pair a couple of months ago.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

I've got city jets, find them much better than the chinese tyres my bike came with. It'll be a tenner each, that's about correct, I think mine were just over 20 for the pair a couple of months ago.

That's a good price, Amazon have them for £8.51 and around £2.50 postage. What difference does it make and what are they like in the rain, having little (if any) tread?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

That's a good price, Amazon have them for £8.51 and around £2.50 postage. What difference does it make and what are they like in the rain, having little (if any) tread?

Well, the city really roll smoother than the ones on your bike just now. In your case, a lot smoother, my tyres were not as nobbly as the ones you have now. Makes you go faster with less effort!
I was a bit worried about the wet, but they were fine, not slippy at all. The only time I could feel them sliding was on the wet cobbles on the clyde cyclepath. My other tyres did not slide there, but it stands to reason, they were more like mountain bike tyres. i just stopped using the cyclepath, use the road instead.
Also, with the city jets, I found loose gravel (another cyclepath, the one that leads towards the transport museum) makes them slide. But, if you ride in paisley and surroundings, just stay on reasonable paved roads, or go slow on stony bits, and the citys will do you great. The rain is no problem, not even going over the metal drain covers.

Edit: I got the city jets because somebody on here liked them, they were right.

 

[Deleted member 20519]

Well, the city really roll smoother than the ones on your bike just now. In your case, a lot smoother, my tyres were not as nobbly as the ones you have now. Makes you go faster with less effort!
I was a bit worried about the wet, but they were fine, not slippy at all. The only time I could feel them sliding was on the wet cobbles on the clyde cyclepath. My other tyres did not slide there, but it stands to reason, they were more like mountain bike tyres. i just stopped using the cyclepath, use the road instead.
Also, with the city jets, I found loose gravel (another cyclepath, the one that leads towards the transport museum) makes them slide. But, if you ride in paisley and surroundings, just stay on reasonable paved roads, or go slow on stony bits, and the citys will do you great. The rain is no problem, not even going over the metal drain covers.

Edit: I got the city jets because somebody on here liked them, they were right.

Thanks for that I take it they would be really slippy on painted road markings?