Members' bikes

[Vince]

Is that Haresfield Beacon?

Its above Uley looking West with Stinchcombe Hill just visible on the left.

[Kim]

If you are not planning to ride in the sort of mud that requires poking with sticks to allow the wheels to turn...

That's the general idea - proper mud, and silly bouncy stuff that my wrists would baulk at on a rigid bike with touring tyres.  I expect I'll have a crack at the Sands Of Doom at some point, too.   

I have sensible bikes for the other stuff.  (TBH, rim brakes notwithstanding, the hybrid armed with cross tyres is competent at moderate levels of mud, except that the mudguards rapidly fill up with plaster-casts of themselves - impeding further progress, and it's a nightmare to clean afterwards.)

[cycleman]

Sand's of doom tunnel ride planning trip Kim 

[bobb]

Teh shiny 

[delthebike]

Teh shiny 

Very nice! 

[orienteer]

If you are not planning to ride in the sort of mud that requires poking with sticks to allow the wheels to turn...

That's the general idea - proper mud, and silly bouncy stuff that my wrists would baulk at on a rigid bike with touring tyres.  I expect I'll have a crack at the Sands Of Doom at some point, too.   

I have sensible bikes for the other stuff.  (TBH, rim brakes notwithstanding, the hybrid armed with cross tyres is competent at moderate levels of mud, except that the mudguards rapidly fill up with plaster-casts of themselves - impeding further progress, and it's a nightmare to clean afterwards.)

I found an effective way to reduce the mud filling mudguards is to position the rear of the mudguard closer to the tyre than the rest of the mudguard. This tends to scrape the worst off before it gets under the mudguard.

[Oscar's dad]

That looks excellent bobb!

[mike]

Teh shiny 

phwoor.  What's that then? 

[bobb]

phwoor.  What's that then? 

Kinesis Tripster ATR Ti

[mike]

very nice indeed!

This is the latest incarnation of my 50 quid ebay special mtb, I'm not sure what brand it was but I bought it 10 years ago and love it - it's bloody light with fantastic handling, and vintage XT kit.    With slicks (1.5" paselas), an SQR block for the shopping and mary bars & bar end shifters it's brilliant for nipping round town. 

[Oscar's dad]

phwoor.  What's that then? 

Kinesis Tripster ATR Ti

Mudguards???

[bobb]

Mudguards???

Fear not - I have some bling mudguards to go on!

(If mudguards could ever be described as bling that is...)

[Oscar's dad]

Mudguards???

Fear not - I have some bling mudguards to go on!

(If mudguards could ever be described as bling that is...)

Phew, I was worried.  Gentlemen ride bicycles with mudguards.  And mudguards can be described as bling 

[TimC]

Teh shiny 

Very nice indeed!

[Jurek]

Teh shiny 

*Open image in new window*
*Zoom*
*Zoom again*

Good grief bobb!
That's lovely.
And so not you.
Give it to me.
Fear not. It's way to big for me.

[StuAff]

Lovely indeed Bobb. Probably also too big for me   As you have Campag gearing, I assume those are Hy-Rd brakes?

[Arellcat]

This is the latest incarnation of my 50 quid ebay special mtb, I'm not sure what brand it was but I bought it 10 years ago and love it - it's bloody light with fantastic handling, and vintage XT kit.

It looks a lot like a mid-90s Orange P7.  Orange was very fond of wishbone seat stays.

[bobb]

Lovely indeed Bobb. Probably also too big for me   As you have Campag gearing, I assume those are Hy-Rd brakes?

They're Spyres rather than Hy-Rds. I was going to get Hy-Rds, but as Oscar's Dad found out, the only (mainstream) levers they work satisfactorily with are the latest generation Shimano. Campag levers don't pull enough cable. In fact, TRP's own levers don't pull enough cable! They don't bother to mention this on their website or anywhere in their blurb. So Spyres it is for now. I'm pretty happy with them so far, although there is quite a lot of lever throw...

Mudguards???

Here you go 



Big

[Jurek]

Thorough.

[Oscar's dad]

Lovely indeed Bobb. Probably also too big for me   As you have Campag gearing, I assume those are Hy-Rd brakes?

They're Spyres rather than Hy-Rds. I was going to get Hy-Rds, but as Oscar's Dad found out, the only (mainstream) levers they work satisfactorily with are the latest generation Shimano. Campag levers don't pull enough cable. In fact, TRP's own levers don't pull enough cable! They don't bother to mention this on their website or anywhere in their blurb. So Spyres it is for now. I'm pretty happy with them so far, although there is quite a lot of lever throw...

Mudguards???

Excess lever throw?  That's interesting.  Mine are fine, a combination of pad adjustment at the caliper and tweaking the barrel adjuster has them just right.

I'm very relieved to see the mudguards and generous rear flap 

How heavy is the bike with all that gear on?

[bobb]

Excess lever throw?  That's interesting.  Mine are fine, a combination of pad adjustment at the caliper and tweaking the barrel adjuster has them just right.

Yes, it's a bit tricky getting the pads close enough for a nice amount of lever throw, but far enough away to erradicate irritating rubbing noises!

I'm very relieved to see the mudguards and generous rear flap 

I'm a considerate chap, hence the long flap. 

How heavy is the bike with all that gear on?

Not very! Those mudguards weigh fuck all! I haven't weighed it - it's light rather than very light.

Thorough.

I just need to chop another 2 or 3 inches off the bottom of the front guard (I already removed about 4!) and trim the stays to a neater length. I also need a stem with a couple of degrees more drop to get the angle exactly the same as the top tube. Plus a few other bits and pieces...

[Oscar's dad]

You and tippers are both gits as I'm now thinking about an upgrade for the Ribble and both your new steeds are under consideration.

Re lever throw, we'll have to compare your Spyres and those on Fred.  Given the amount of grief disc brakes have caused me recently and the BB7s on my old Claud Butler a few years back, I was delighted that my Spyres were very easy to set up.

[Chris N]

[bobb]

Nice! Magic gear?

[marcusjb]

Very tasty! 

Nicely slammed as well.

How is the chain tensioned?

Looks good and fast!