Members' bikes

[Paul]

Still, I like it.

What a relief from all that more bloody nickable/breakable/unrideable malarky.

[Foghat]

Indeed. Whenever I can can, I do too.

This is a regular thing, is it?  Funny lot, you French!

[SpaceBadger]

My commuting bike gets the chain cleaned every six weeks or so in winter...and everything else is just left to get mucky (I smear the chromed bits with vaseline).  The dirt reaches a plateau after a few days of wet lanes anyway.  It is, however, fixed, which means it tolerates this sort of thing better.

If you think about it, the top-end groupsets are the ones with the best bearings, seals etc. so it probably makes some sense to run them in the worst conditions as, all other things being equal, they'll last longer, with the added bonuses of working better and looking prettier.

But, if you look after it, everything lasts well.

[jellied]

The Roat Rat after 2 months, so far so good but not as maintenance free as I'd hoped.

[rogerzilla]

The BSO lives!



The SRAM 24-speed gears are brilliant - much better than Shimano.  The brakes work tolerably well considering the curious design, although they are new discs (the pads looked new anyway) and they need bedding in.  The fork is still utter crap, although riding straight into kerbs is quite funny, since I've never owned a bike with any suspension apart from the Brompton.

It's too small for me to give it a proper test ride - the seat is as high as it will go in the photo - so I need to get it back to father-in-law with a big bill for the new wheels, discs, cables, front mech, front shifter, rim tape, cassette and headset bearings.

Retro bike fans can be horrified by the use of original Panaracer Smoke Lite and Dart tyres.

[Torslanda]

Rog.

If those tyres are new they are worth more than the bike!

Well, nearly . . .

[Moloko]

Roger, trust you to make it look factory fresh.  
It doesn't deserve the BSO tag now.

[Moloko]

Worried chicken: Please don't be a Muddy Fox... Please don't be a Muddy Fox.

[Tail End Charlie]

That's incredible - I hadn't even noticed the chicken till it was pointed out !!!!!

[Andrew Br]

It doesn't deserve the BSO tag now.

Exactly what I was thinking 

[Rhys W]

Roger, trust you to make it look factory fresh.  
It doesn't deserve the BSO tag now.

Looks better than his cakes.

[TimC]

The BSO lives!



The SRAM 24-speed gears are brilliant - much better than Shimano.  The brakes work tolerably well considering the curious design, although they are new discs (the pads looked new anyway) and they need bedding in.  The fork is still utter crap, although riding straight into kerbs is quite funny, since I've never owned a bike with any suspension apart from the Brompton.

It's too small for me to give it a proper test ride - the seat is as high as it will go in the photo - so I need to get it back to father-in-law with a big bill for the new wheels, discs, cables, front mech, front shifter, rim tape, cassette and headset bearings.

Retro bike fans can be horrified by the use of original Panaracer Smoke Lite and Dart tyres.

BSO!!? The Vulcan's a damn good frame for the money, despite the horrors that yours has endured. And, as you say, the SRAM X-4 setup is excellent - better than the higher-up SRAM mtb groupsets, I reckon, if weight isn't important. Not as good as Shimano SLX (which my missus has on her Inbred 456), but that's a good deal more expensive. The Suntor XCM fork is a bit limited, but what fork on a £249 bike isn't? I replaced mine with a Rock Shock Dart 3, which isn't exactly state of the art but it behaves a lot better than the Suntour. I put Continental Speed Kings on instead of the Maxxis originals, and all in all it's a very good bike. Well, I like it anyway!

[Chris N]

My new audax bike on a beautiful spring morning:


S/H Giant SCR 2.0 frame and forks, shifters and brakes, bars.  New chainset, BB, front mech, tyres, cables, brake pads and pedals.  Wheels, mudguards, seat post, saddle, rear mech, cassette and chain from the Kaffenback.

First ride with Campag shifters (Shimergoed with an XT rear mech) - very comfy and a nice shifting action.  A bit indistinct changing to a bigger sprocket on the back, but feels ok.  Nice to be able to reach the downshift lever from the drops and to shift more than one sprocket at a time too.

[GruB]

Yay !!  Looks good mate.  Glad you have set it up correctly.  A few hundred kilometres in 4 days will soon tell you if you haven't 

What tyres have you put on?
Is it  a compact double?

[Chris N]

Yay !!  Looks good mate.  Glad you have set it up correctly.  A few hundred kilometres in 4 days will soon tell you if you haven't  

 

What tyres have you put on?
Is it  a compact double?

Krylion Carbons - £20 each from CRC.
It's a square taper Tiagra triple.  I wanted a 42T middle, and this was the cheapest way of doing it.  £27 for the complete crankset!

[Paul D]

All you need now is a rear mudflap to keep yer mates dry. 

[GruB]

All you need now is a rear mudflap to keep yer mates dry. 

Well spotted.  Cunning plan I reckon so he always goes at the rear 

[Oscar's dad]

TT bike completed:



I love the noise carbon wheels make!

Blimey.  I guess you won't be riding it to the pub.

[Dinamo]

TT bike completed:



I love the noise carbon wheels make!

Blimey.  I guess you won't be riding it to the pub.

If you do you'll get there FIRST 

[Oaky]

TT bike completed:



I love the noise carbon wheels make!

Blimey.  I guess you won't be riding it to the pub.

I was plotting with chief the other day, wondering about doing a Wednesday night run across to East Hanningfield in time to enter the ERCC evening 10 miler, before collapsing into the Windmill for recovery drinks.

[GruB]

If you rode sensibly that would probably be a great warm up, as long as you timed your start time to perfection 

[Sergeant Pluck]

My new audax bike on a beautiful spring morning

Very nice  Hope you have many good miles on it.

[David Martin]

You do like your saddle pointing up though..

Must get some pics of mine soon. (not as nice, and not a dedicated TT bike)

..d

[Blah]

You do like your saddle pointing up though..

I noticed that, every time I look at it I wince...

[токамак]

You do like your saddle pointing up though..

Must get some pics of mine soon. (not as nice, and not a dedicated TT bike)

..d

I don't like my saddle pointing up - I just hadn't adjusted it at the time of the photo! Is now perfectly horizontal. Did a 25 yesterday, position feels good etc.