Bought any cycling stuff today?

[Bolt]

Thanks for that but I do not buy from the Bridgewater Bandit and the review - an overgenerous four stars - confirmed my prejudice.
Something will turn up locally; it always does.

So where exactly does "Bandit" term in relation to SJC originate from, I've heard it bandied about for years but thought it was just a bit of fun?

[nobby]

Thanks for that but I do not buy from the Bridgewater Bandit and the review - an overgenerous four stars - confirmed my prejudice.
Something will turn up locally; it always does.

So where exactly does "Bandit" term in relation to SJC originate from, I've heard it bandied about for years but thought it was just a bit of fun?

I didn't invent the moniker but it is appropriate.
Back in 2007 I decided to have a touring frame built to fit me. I had a budget of £1500-ish for the complete bike and somebody suggested SJS. I phoned them up explained that I wanted a frame built to suit my seven prolapsed discs and asked what they could do.
As they were speaking and not addressing my specific questions I realised that I was being spieled. I asked specifically about how they would measure me for the frame and it came out that they 'could work it out' from my inside leg measurement given over the phone. I wrote to the firm and complained, and had a reply from a Robin defending the sales person.
I have never spent a penny with them since.

[robgul]

Thanks for that but I do not buy from the Bridgewater Bandit and the review - an overgenerous four stars - confirmed my prejudice.
Something will turn up locally; it always does.

So where exactly does "Bandit" term in relation to SJC originate from, I've heard it bandied about for years but thought it was just a bit of fun?

I believe it arose quite a while ago from the high cost of delivery that SJSC applied, and some of the prices for parts etc - and the personality traits of some of the people there.   [I called there to buy a pump on my E2E in 2005 and found the attitude and service rather lacking]

That said, they do stock a myriad range of weird and wonderful parts for old (and really ancient) and newer bikes - at a price.

Rob

[Gattopardo]

Bitten the bullet. Needs must and all that. With the current waiting lists at LBSs I have no choice but to sort our one hydraulic braked bike out. When it gets warm (like yesterday) both brakes jam on.

Ordered a brake bleed kit yesterday.

Syringe is cheaper

Yup, but the kit comes with new fluid, two syringes, the right threaded fittings for the bleed ports and two tube clamps. I'm so not looking forward to this job that I don't want to be able to excuse the likely mess up on poor tools.

If you can bleed a car or motorbike then cycles are the same.

Some people have issues but never had an issue....until I had a master cylinder with a blocked return so the fluid would not return to the reservoir.  That took a long while to figure out.

I've bled cars' brakes since I was a nipper, but for those all you had to do was attach the bleed pipe to the bleed nipple on the calliper/wheel cylinder, loosen the nipple, and pump the pedal, whilst ensuring that the master cylinder stayed topped up.

The manufacturer's instructions for the bike brakes I'm lining up to do require pumping fluid from the calliper back to the master cylinder (lever), and there's no handy bleed nipples on either fitting, so I'm more than happy to pay the £20 for a bleed kit.

Now I feel like I am trying to teach your granny to suck eggs, I'm not.  Most modern cars don't like having the pedal go to the floor for pumping or excessive pressure in the brake system.  Or on older cars, have had master seals fail after a pump pedal job as travel in to an unused area of the master system fucked it.  So syringes to draw the old fluid out under a low vacuum is the easiest IMO.  Then I am a lazy brake bleeder to and just use a length of pipe so the fluid can level out and any trapped air escapes.  I recommend two cups of tea and a biscuit for each tyre.

[Gattopardo]

Going to buy some bike tyres for GF ductch bike are the tyres have cracked...

[Andrew Br]

A Carradice top tube bag after I broke the zip on my Topeak version. The finger of a latex glove caught caught in the zip and removing it caused lots of damage.
First impressions are that the straps are a "Meh" compared to the Topeak and I would prefer three of them rather than two.

Most important info:- It's a "Sue".

[Gattopardo]

Going to buy some bike tyres for GF ductch bike are the tyres have cracked...

Two different decathlons are stripped of bike parts...what have I missed?

Lots of ammo and knoves tho.

[hatler]

Bitten the bullet. Needs must and all that. With the current waiting lists at LBSs I have no choice but to sort our one hydraulic braked bike out. When it gets warm (like yesterday) both brakes jam on.

Ordered a brake bleed kit yesterday.

Syringe is cheaper

Yup, but the kit comes with new fluid, two syringes, the right threaded fittings for the bleed ports and two tube clamps. I'm so not looking forward to this job that I don't want to be able to excuse the likely mess up on poor tools.

If you can bleed a car or motorbike then cycles are the same.

Some people have issues but never had an issue....until I had a master cylinder with a blocked return so the fluid would not return to the reservoir.  That took a long while to figure out.

I've bled cars' brakes since I was a nipper, but for those all you had to do was attach the bleed pipe to the bleed nipple on the calliper/wheel cylinder, loosen the nipple, and pump the pedal, whilst ensuring that the master cylinder stayed topped up.

The manufacturer's instructions for the bike brakes I'm lining up to do require pumping fluid from the calliper back to the master cylinder (lever), and there's no handy bleed nipples on either fitting, so I'm more than happy to pay the £20 for a bleed kit.

Now I feel like I am trying to teach your granny to suck eggs, I'm not.  Most modern cars don't like having the pedal go to the floor for pumping or excessive pressure in the brake system.  Or on older cars, have had master seals fail after a pump pedal job as travel in to an unused area of the master system fucked it.  So syringes to draw the old fluid out under a low vacuum is the easiest IMO.  Then I am a lazy brake bleeder to and just use a length of pipe so the fluid can level out and any trapped air escapes.  I recommend two cups of tea and a biscuit for each tyre.

  My brake bleeding days may have started when I was nobbut a lad, but they stopped in about '95, and all the bleeding I did then was as described, to cars that were all older than ten years then. Never had a problem with the pumping the brake pedal thing.  I probably wouldn't know where to start now. (Probably the Haynes manual.)

[hatler]

Going to buy some bike tyres for GF ductch bike are the tyres have cracked...

Two different decathlons are stripped of bike parts...what have I missed?

Lots of ammo and knoves tho.

In the absence of imminent death from car shaped objects, everyone tried to get on their bike to enjoy the wonderful weather and discovered that either : -
a) they didn't have a bike and bought one or
b) they had a bike but it was beyond repair and bought a new one or
c) they had a bike that needed a bunch of spares to get it roadworthy

LBS round my way were running out of 26" tubes a few weeks back and were selling approx five times as many bikes as normal. And supply chains can't cope.

[Legs]

I bought a couple of new pairs of shorts from Planet X, since I think all of my current selection have holes in the arse region.

[Gattopardo]

Going to buy some bike tyres for GF ductch bike are the tyres have cracked...

Two different decathlons are stripped of bike parts...what have I missed?

Lots of ammo and knoves tho.

In the absence of imminent death from car shaped objects, everyone tried to get on their bike to enjoy the wonderful weather and discovered that either : -
a) they didn't have a bike and bought one or
b) they had a bike but it was beyond repair and bought a new one or
c) they had a bike that needed a bunch of spares to get it roadworthy

LBS round my way were running out of 26" tubes a few weeks back and were selling approx five times as many bikes as normal. And supply chains can't cope.

Am in la belle France but can see your thinking, but seems the hypermarkets and other bike shops don't have the same issue.

[robgul]

Going to buy some bike tyres for GF ductch bike are the tyres have cracked...

Two different decathlons are stripped of bike parts...what have I missed?

Lots of ammo and knoves tho.

In the absence of imminent death from car shaped objects, everyone tried to get on their bike to enjoy the wonderful weather and discovered that either : -
a) they didn't have a bike and bought one or
b) they had a bike but it was beyond repair and bought a new one or
c) they had a bike that needed a bunch of spares to get it roadworthy

LBS round my way were running out of 26" tubes a few weeks back and were selling approx five times as many bikes as normal. And supply chains can't cope.

Am in la belle France but can see your thinking, but seems the hypermarkets, such as local Auchan don't have the same issue.

I'm sure that you know that Auchan (hypermarket), Decathlon (sports) and Leroy Merlin (DIY/building) are all the same business group.

Rob

[Gattopardo]

Going to buy some bike tyres for GF ductch bike are the tyres have cracked...

Two different decathlons are stripped of bike parts...what have I missed?

Lots of ammo and knoves tho.

In the absence of imminent death from car shaped objects, everyone tried to get on their bike to enjoy the wonderful weather and discovered that either : -
a) they didn't have a bike and bought one or
b) they had a bike but it was beyond repair and bought a new one or
c) they had a bike that needed a bunch of spares to get it roadworthy

LBS round my way were running out of 26" tubes a few weeks back and were selling approx five times as many bikes as normal. And supply chains can't cope.

Am in la belle France but can see your thinking, but seems the hypermarkets, such as local Auchan don't have the same issue.

I'm sure that you know that Auchan (hypermarket), Decathlon (sports) and Leroy Merlin (DIY/building) are all the same business group.

Rob

I didn't.

Editted the original post as I was also in a carrefore and they didn't have a stock issue nor a local small bike chain called alltricks.

[L CC]

Yes. Went a bit mad, actually.

#sootbike #pretty

[Karla]

 

[phil653]

Just turned up from that China after a long wait.  I was scouring ebay for hubs with twin threads and non-QR axles. It's for a tandem project that otherwise is using mostly stuff in my parts bin. The twin threads are so I can use a freewheel from stock on one side and mount a hub brake on the other.

When these appeared for the stupidly low price of 17.52 the pair plus 2.05 postage I thought I'd take a punt on them.  At that price even if they turn out to be useless, it's not going to break the bank. Joytech is a brand-name that appears on pricier stuff too and allegedly is turned out by the same factory.

Initial impressions are that the one-piece hub body is nicely machined and the finish is good.  The threads are cleanly cut with no burrs. However, the axles are stiff to the point of grindy-ness - there appears to be no grease in the bearings at all. A strip down to look at the cones and pack them with grease is obviously the next step.  After that I'll be having my first attempt at wheel-building, so it could be a while before any further reports on the hubs...

[mike]

searching for some bits and Mantel came up as cheapest.  They're a dutch equivalent of Wiggle, as far as I can see. Went through the process and got the best 'thank you' page I've ever seen:

https://www.mantel.com/uk/thankyouthemovie

Brilliant.  They also sign their emails with 'have a wheelie good day'.  Have bookmarked for future spend!

[Kim]

Bought a new bottle of sunblock.  Got about 4 years out of the last one.

[phantasmagoriana]

searching for some bits and Mantel came up as cheapest.  They're a dutch equivalent of Wiggle, as far as I can see. Went through the process and got the best 'thank you' page I've ever seen:

https://www.mantel.com/uk/thankyouthemovie

Brilliant.  They also sign their emails with 'have a wheelie good day'.  Have bookmarked for future spend!

I got my last groupset (about 18 months ago) from Mantel. They were cheaper than all the UK shops at that time, and delivery was just as quick IIRC!

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Sort of.

Brooks is testing some new treatments and processes. I just received a B17 Standard with a textured top that is a variegated tan/ brown finish. Just need to Proofide it and pop it on a bike, probably my commuter fixed.

[markcjagar]

I bought a 29T sprocket as the 30T on my Miche Primato is skipping with a new chain and it's clearly more worn than the rest of the cassette, by a long way. The only website which sells single sprockets doesn't have 30T and "it'll be a while" until it is available again.

I also bought a Restrap - Fast Strap to secure a spare inner tube between the seat tube and mudguard.

[ElyDave]

searching for some bits and Mantel came up as cheapest.  They're a dutch equivalent of Wiggle, as far as I can see. Went through the process and got the best 'thank you' page I've ever seen:

https://www.mantel.com/uk/thankyouthemovie

Brilliant.  They also sign their emails with 'have a wheelie good day'.  Have bookmarked for future spend!

I needed new pedals and a chain checker tool, honest

[De Sisti]

The only website which sells single sprockets doesn't have 30T

Which website is that?

[perpetual dan]

I got a new front light (Fenix). Very shiny, but haven’t had opportunity to try it yet.
I think it may be the top of a slippery slope of bags and GPS.

[rogerzilla]

The things you find on eBay.  I have an Eddy Merckx fork with an SLX steerer but it's too short (try finding an EM fork of the right vintage with a 190mm steerer) and needs a new steerer.  Now, Argos would just whack a 531 steerer in there but some chap in Greece is selling a NOS SLX steerer tube.  Amazing.