Members' bikes

[AlanW]

That's a SCHEME? 

 

Well I wanted something low key and not to loud, you know the sort of thing? 

Something that blends in with others..............

[Moloko]

Nice stable you keep there AlanW.  I miss my large air compressor and 100% grit free chains and mechanisms.  I'll have to get another.

[AlanW]

Nice stable you keep there AlanW.  I miss my large air compressor and 100% grit free chains and mechanisms.  I'll have to get another.

Thanks, I have to admit, that little compressor has proved to be invaluable over the years.  I seem to recall that it was only about £80 brand new of e-bay (where else?)

Its certainly the most useful bit of garage equipment I have ever bought, and to be honest, I cannot imagine not having one now.

[Adam]

Here's my contribution to getting the economy going again!  A Planet X Ti Sportive.



The frame is made by Lynskey (previously Litespeed) in the USA and is very well made.



It's about 2.7 kg lighter than my old (aluminium) Sequoia, and it really does seem to fly up hills.  I've also noticed just how well it smooths out poor road surfaces, so hopefully that should help ease some of the RSI type issues I've been getting.

[mecwales]

About time I put my modest stable up here...

The nice one:




The shonky one:




The shonky road one:

[SpaceBadger]

And last but not least, the Scott MTB.  I have also changed the bars, stem and seatpost to carbon, again this is a very light machine at around 20lbs ready to roll.

Great alternative training to the road bikes.  I also have a spare set of wheels for it fitted Conti slicks and a close ratio cassette, 12-21.  Great bike.   

Very nice XC race bike. You're a lucky man. I hope you put it through its paces! Not sure about those mudguards, though. A bit like wearing comfy slippers when driving a Ferrari 

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one still with bar ends on my MTBs. They make such a difference, especially on the climbs.

[Climberruss]

I find Open Pro ceramic rims fine, provided they are used with the dura-ace "ceramic" brake blocks.   My audax wheels are 32h Schmidt dynohub at the front, 36h XT hub at the back, on Open Pro ceramics.

I have ceramics too and have found Dura Ace blocks to be quite poor. I have just switched to Fibrax Green Ceramic blocks which are a quarter of the price. Dry weather braking is definately better but wet weather braking is still of the heart stoppingly poor variety!!   Just why are ceramic blocks so poor in the wet?

[AlanW]

And last but not least, the Scott MTB.  I have also changed the bars, stem and seatpost to carbon, again this is a very light machine at around 20lbs ready to roll.

Great alternative training to the road bikes.  I also have a spare set of wheels for it fitted Conti slicks and a close ratio cassette, 12-21.  Great bike.  

Very nice XC race bike. You're a lucky man. I hope you put it through its paces! Not sure about those mudguards, though. A bit like wearing comfy slippers when driving a Ferrari  

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one still with bar ends on my MTBs. They make such a difference, especially on the climbs.

I agree about the mudguards, and in truth I don't normally have them fitted, for the reasons you have mentioned.  However, we went out last weekend, minus mudguards, and I got plastered.    In saying that our club kit is more white than anything else, and its a real swine to get clean afterwards.  But worst than that was the spray coming up from the front wheel.  

I also binned the riser bars in favour of the old style flat bars, then fitted the Cane Creek bar ends.  Not only great for climbing but ideal on long tarmac/fire road sections.

I just need to get a lighter set of wheels now to really fly................

[mecwales]

Flat bars are the way forward, I think. It seems as though everyone fitted risers following the DH trend, but that's now wearing off a bit, and there's a reversal back towards flat bars for XC. The steering's just much more 'positive' with them.

(Nice bike by the way, I'm very jealous...)

[SpaceBadger]

And last but not least, the Scott MTB.  I have also changed the bars, stem and seatpost to carbon, again this is a very light machine at around 20lbs ready to roll.

Great alternative training to the road bikes.  I also have a spare set of wheels for it fitted Conti slicks and a close ratio cassette, 12-21.  Great bike.  

Very nice XC race bike. You're a lucky man. I hope you put it through its paces! Not sure about those mudguards, though. A bit like wearing comfy slippers when driving a Ferrari  

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one still with bar ends on my MTBs. They make such a difference, especially on the climbs.

I agree about the mudguards, and in truth I don't normally have them fitted, for the reasons you have mentioned.  However, we went out last weekend, minus mudguards, and I got plastered.    In saying that our club kit is more white than anything else, and its a real swine to get clean afterwards.  But worst than that was the spray coming up from the front wheel.  

I also binned the riser bars in favour of the old style flat bars, then fitted the Cane Creek bar ends.  Not only great for climbing but ideal on long tarmac/fire road sections.

I just need to get a lighter set of wheels now to really fly................

I see from your other bikes that you're a fan of pimpy Mavics. I can recommend the Crossmax SLR - and they've got a red spoke too!

[Blah]

Here is the first of my collection. 

The everyday work horse, the Ribble frame is great value for money.

I've got one of those frames, as have a few others here.  You're right, they are great value for money and a nice ride too.

+1. The ride quality is a very pleasant surprise.

[Oscar's dad]

Blah is the reason I bought my Ribble frame. In fact I shall be swinging my leg over it in about 40 minutes.

Blah, I hope you claimed your commission from Ribble!

[AlanW]

 I see from your other bikes that you're a fan of pimpy Mavics. I can recommend the Crossmax SLR - and they've got a red spoke too!

They are already on my Christmas list.....

[AlanW]

The only gripe I have with the Ribble frame is the rather odd frame dimensions?  Hence the reason why there are so many spacers under the stem.  If I went for the next frame size up, the top tube was to long.

I made that mistake a number of years ago with a Terry Dolan training frame, and tired to overcome it by fitting a shorter stem, big mistake.  Plus the fact it was a bloody awful frame.  The ride was as dead as a dead thing.  

In saying that, I looked at other winter/training frames before buying the Ribble and it seems a common fault, if that's the right word.

Thats why I had the Rourkie frame custom made for longer distance riding.

[Blah]

Blah, I hope you claimed your commission from Ribble!

I think I missed out on it by removing all the decals...

[Sergeant Pluck]

Here's my contribution to getting the economy going again!  A Planet X Ti Sportive.

Very nice indeed Adam! Many happy miles etc....

[Oscar's dad]

Fellow YACFers.. meet Torquey:

Is that a B17 Imperial with the cut out?

[токамак]

Fixers outside the pub! Bobb's Woodrup 531, my Raleigh 653, as we enjoyed a pint of Tribute in Chelmsford town centre. 

[CommuteTooFar]

This is the oldest picture I have of red bike and blue bike when they were both young and shiny.




Time passes and this is how poor Red Bike also known as Audax Bike looks today




Blue bike had a hard life and jumped the queue and was repainted in Cardiff Byways colours
I call this bike Blue Bike, Pink White and Blue Bike or Commuting Bike. The fork should be pink but when it needed to be replaced Argos could not match the non standard pink so it is now white.




Finally the bike I hate to ride called Dawes Discovery 101

[rogerzilla]

The Frankendale has a new wheel, or at least a recycled Fuji track hub and new spokes.  I'm ashamed to say I hadn't ridden it since last year's Dun Run.

Too it out for about 17 miles this morning - I'd forgotten how light and fast it is.  It climbs better than anything else because the wide bars really let me use my arms, and it's much easier to ride than the Fuji because it's not trying to pitch me over the bars at every opportunity.

I think the half-link may have solved the ENO axle creep problem - the chain is still drum-tight despite some reasonable hills.

[ed_o_brain]

Would love to give my M500 the Frankendale treatment.

Well at least some reasonable tyres! It's very light and very responsive, possibly the best aluminium framed bike I've ridden.

However I'm more compelled to leave it as it is until I've at least worn out the Halfrauds slick MTB tyres 

[mecwales]

The Frankendale has a new wheel, or at least a recycled Fuji track hub and new spokes.  I'm ashamed to say I hadn't ridden it since last year's Dun Run.

Too it out for about 17 miles this morning - I'd forgotten how light and fast it is.  It climbs better than anything else because the wide bars really let me use my arms, and it's much easier to ride than the Fuji because it's not trying to pitch me over the bars at every opportunity.

I think the half-link may have solved the ENO axle creep problem - the chain is still drum-tight despite some reasonable hills.

I'm quite jealous of that - it looks exactly the kind of bike I want to take to uni (along with an MTB). Any idea how much it cost you to put together?

[Chris S]

The Frankendale has a new wheel, or at least a recycled Fuji track hub and new spokes.  I'm ashamed to say I hadn't ridden it since last year's Dun Run.

Goodness me - that's one taught chain. If you play it with a bow, does it play top C? 

[rogerzilla]

I'm quite jealous of that - it looks exactly the kind of bike I want to take to uni (along with an MTB). Any idea how much it cost you to put together?

Too much - about £500.  The eccentric hub is the most expensive part, and not entirely foolproof since it has (hopefully "had") a tendency to creep round when climbing steep hills, gradually losing chain tension as you can see on this photo (after 125 miles):



By putting a half link in the chain I think I've got the position of the hub such that there is very little leverage from the chain trying to pull it round.  As well as this I have thin serrated washers, the longest, well-greased, bolts that will fit and I roughened the ends of the hub to try and make them bite into the dropouts.

[Rhys W]

The Frankendale has a new wheel, or at least a recycled Fuji track hub and new spokes.  I'm ashamed to say I hadn't ridden it since last year's Dun Run.

Goodness me - that's one taught chain. If you play it with a bow, does it play top C? 

 Yes, because it's been taught.