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How was your cycle commute?

Front Dérailleur - (SRAM 3.0) is suddenly on the edge of needing replacing - it appears I fitted it in Sept 2011, so 18 months.
Last time I left it until I could only use the smallest and middle chainrings, but I'll get in early this time.
I'm not sure, but I think I could try a Shimano if I felt like it, but it's only £10...
 
gentlegreen said:
Front Dérailleur - (SRAM 3.0) is suddenly on the edge of needing replacing - it appears I fitted it in Sept 2011, so 18 months.
Last time I left it until I could only use the smallest and middle chainrings, but I'll get in early this time.
I'm not sure, but I think I could try a Shimano if I felt like it, but it's only £10...
Click to expand...
Is that a normal sort of life expectancy? Seems really short.
 
joustmaster said:
Is that a normal sort of life expectancy? Seems really short.
Click to expand...
It's the price for doing about 3,000 miles on gritty / salted country / suburban roads day in, day out, with only an MTB-style front mudguard.
I swear I'll fit a cover made from inner tube this time.

I'm forever squirting chain-lube on it. I probably need to try grease instead.
 
What the hell do you do to your bikes GG?

I've ridden tens of thousands of miles and never had to replace anything like the amount of things you replace. My main commuting bike - which has seen winter after winter of salty/gritted roads - has never needed a replacement derailleur in fifteen years of use.

-baffled-
 
A good 14 miler this morning, taking it relatively easy for the first ten or so, partly so as not to overtake another roadie (I would've only been going slightly faster than him, so overtaking might've been dangerous, plus my continuing fear of looking like an arrogant twat). I then hammered it for the last couple of miles, up a steady incline pushing a pretty big gear. I kept thinking I should change down, but I was determined to do it and felt very good by the time I reached the top.
 
a_chap said:
What the hell do you do to your bikes GG?

I've ridden tens of thousands of miles and never had to replace anything like the amount of things you replace. My main commuting bike - which has seen winter after winter of salty/gritted roads - has never needed a replacement derailleur in fifteen years of use.

-baffled-
Click to expand...

It is odd. I look after my bike pretty well. It's up on the stand for the basics every 100 miles and gets lubed whenever the chain does.

Out of interest, do people here use oil or grease on their dérailleur pivots ?
As I said, this time I'll fit a boot and use grease. Perhaps the chain lube is just too thin.

Perhaps SRAM front mechs are simply cheap and nasty.
Trouble is there's only a limited range of 8 speed compatible kit.
 
gentlegreen said:
It is odd. I look after my bike pretty well. It's up on the stand for the basics every 100 miles and gets lubed whenever the chain does.

Out of interest, do people here use oil or grease on their dérailleur pivots ?
Click to expand...

oil
As I said, this time I'll fit a boot and use grease.
Click to expand...

don't recommend that, it'll probably bugger up your shifting

Perhaps SRAM front mechs are simply cheap and nasty.
Click to expand...

yes.
 
gentlegreen said:
Perhaps SRAM front mechs are simply cheap and nasty.
Trouble is there's only a limited range of 8 speed compatible kit.
Click to expand...

How do you know it's the front mech and not the cable? Are the pivots loose? Have the premium quality SRAM plastic parallelogram links deformed?

A 9 speed front mech will work fine on an otherwise 8 speed drivetrain.
 
Not sure what's deformed, or worn, but it's made of steel.
You simply lose operating range until you have to mount it at a funny angle just to get it to shift between two of the three cogs.
You mean cable stretch ?
I'm pretty certain I've replaced more than one mech without replacing the cable at the same time.
 
gentlegreen said:
Not sure what's deformed, or worn, but it's made of steel.
You simply lose operating range until you have to mount it at a funny angle just to get it to shift between two of the three cogs.
You mean cable stretch ?
I'm pretty certain I've replaced more than one mech without replacing the cable at the same time.
Click to expand...

Bang a new cable on it! It's only a fiver or thereabouts and the cable is always the first thing to try. It's not cable stretch, it's corrosion or grit or kinks affecting how smoothly the cable runs in the outer. Replace the inner and the outer at the same time.
 
What I mean is I eliminated the cable as a cause by not changing it, but I do clean, lube and replace my cables fairly regularly.
This is the front mech remember, it never has the subtlety of the rear one.
 
The giraffes came out of their sheds in Regent's park zoo for the first time today. I was doing laps around the park, stopping every so often to watch them being giraffes...
On my hybrid it seems like the only people I overtake are pretty ladies with roses-decorated front baskets, and clusters of assos clad over 70s.
I think I'm shopping for a new bike next week.. :)
 
I'm still feeling a teeny bit fragile post-flu and still have sinusitis, and I haven't got the measure of temps above 5 degrees, so even though my own thermometer said 11 degrees C, I stuck with the extra shirt and scarf, but left off the fleece hat.
I was somewhat moist by the time I got to work ...
 
I was cycling today down Drury Lane. Traffic was a little heavy. So I slowed down. Then suddenly this guy opens his door in front of me. I shouted to him "Oi, watch out!".

He jumps out of his car and slams the door shut with such force that his car shook. He then walked up to me and shouted "FUCK OFF, GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY!!".

Now I wasn't expecting this, as I have not experienced overt racism for maybe the last 5 years. I shouted back to him "fuck off!" and continued on to work. I looked back and I could see his passenger standing outside the door that he had slammed, inspecting it.

What a total fucking cunt. Did he calculate in his simple little mind that as a consequence of me riding a bike and asking him to look out, that I had now taken his job, taken ownership of his home that was given to me by the government, claimed benefits whilst working illegally and fucked his daughter on the side?

I was totally caught off-guard by this. Lovely fucking Monday.
 
uk benzo said:
I was cycling today down Drury Lane. Traffic was a little heavy. So I slowed down. Then suddenly this guy opens his door in front of me. I shouted to him "Oi, watch out!".

He jumps out of his car and slams the door shut with such force that his car shook. He then walked up to me and shouted "FUCK OFF, GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY!!".

Now I wasn't expecting this, as I have not experienced overt racism for maybe the last 5 years. I shouted back to him "fuck off!" and continued on to work. I looked back and I could see his passenger standing outside the door that he had slammed, inspecting it.

What a total fucking cunt. Did he calculate in his simple little mind that as a consequence of me riding a bike and asking him to look out, that I had now taken his job, taken ownership of his home that was given to me by the government, claimed benefits whilst working illegally and fucked his daughter on the side?

I was totally caught off-guard by this. Lovely fucking Monday.
Click to expand...
trelock-BS510.jpg
 
gentlegreen said:
Not sure what's deformed, or worn, but it's made of steel.
You simply lose operating range until you have to mount it at a funny angle just to get it to shift between two of the three cogs.
You mean cable stretch ?
I'm pretty certain I've replaced more than one mech without replacing the cable at the same time.
Click to expand...

I think you're losing cable tension (which would reduce the movement range) and when you install the new mech you are retensioning the cable which rectifies the issue.

Have you got a cable tensioner?

7729da81b7d1b986acd531952e21447c3e4b1cf4_800x700.jpg
 
uk benzo said:
I was cycling today down Drury Lane. Traffic was a little heavy. So I slowed down. Then suddenly this guy opens his door in front of me. I shouted to him "Oi, watch out!".

He jumps out of his car and slams the door shut with such force that his car shook. He then walked up to me and shouted "FUCK OFF, GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY!!"..
Click to expand...
:(
There seems to have been a lot of this recently.
I swear it's the 70s all over again.

It seems that their poor transport choice encourages this sort of dinosaur to reveal their true nature.
 
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