Entries Tagged 'bikes' ↓

Which Way Do We Go?

Nice bikes for getting around town.

I always like to see a bit of Yorkshire in my adopted home town. This vintage Bob Jackson cycle from Leeds stands out from the crowd.

Bob Jackson cycles have been hand building quality bikes for over 67 years. Based in Leeds they specialise in building Steel / Cromoly frames with the best Reynolds and Columbus tubing. The advent of carbon fibre has diminished the demand for steel frames from the top end of the market. Also, the mass produced light aluminium bikes of the far east, make home produced steel bikes have even more competition. Nevertheless, steel still has its advocates. The newest Columbus tubing is as light as Aluminium and even carbon fibre. Also for the tourer or commuter, a good quality steel frame can produce a very good ride.

How Not to Use A Chain.

Look how loose this chain is and where the rear dérailleur is. It is in the smallest back sprocket and smallest front chain ring. The effect is to make a chain that is too loose. It should be much tighter than this.

Bar end shifters on the drops.

Related

• Reynolds steel frames
• Bike Frame Materials
• Bike as Art

Further Reading

• Bob Jackson Cycles

I’ve always been curious why single speed bikes can be sold for double the price of a relative road bike. A road bike has more components more gears (and often is lighter). Single Speed bikes are supposed to be sleek, simple, easy to maintain. With simple steel Cro-mo frames you would expect them to be cheaper. But, actually they are more expensive, which seems to defeat some of the point of them. I guess, economies of scale have lot to explain, if you make bikes in big numbers, you can just get better value.

Single Speed bikes do have the capacity to turn my head, I’ve seen this one a few times in Oxford, and liked its bold simple colours. Create bikes are not too well known, but, they are cheap for single speed. £200 – £300 rather than double that (e.g. like popular Charge Plug). To me it looks the archtypal bike – classic frame geometry, steel frame. Simple design.

All Create bikes are fitted with flip-flop hubs which means you can switch between single speed (freewheel) and fixed rear wheel.

At £270, I could justify spending money (I’d worry too much about leaving a £600 bike locked in centre of Oxford), but, practicality may rule it out. I invariably use panniers, and like most other single speed, they are too cool to have pannier eyes – too bad!

• Single Speed Bikes
• Best Commuting bikes
• Single Speed Bikes at Wiggle
• Create Bikes.com

Trek Madone Project One. Custom colour – an incentive to keep it clean!

I wanted a new road bike to replace my current one. My old bike was from Ribble; the frame was made from scandium (close to light aluminium) with a 5 year old mix of Dura Ace and Ultegra. It was light, and relatively cheap. In getting a new bike I wanted to get a top of the range road bike to last for several years. It was partly for getting best ride enjoyment, and also to have best bike for hill climb races.

I spent a long time looking through different options, e.g. top road bikes at Evans Cycles and Wiggle. What I found is that it was difficult to get a bike with everything I wanted. When I did find the right bike, it invariably didn’t come in my size (60cm) or it didn’t have an appealing colour or whatever.

I stumbled on Trek Madone Project One, and it was exactly what I was looking for. You can customise the bike,  choosing components, frame, colour, size e.t.c. I am not attached to the Trek brand name, if I could choose a bike brand, I would have gone for an Italian one like Bianchi or Colnago. But, despite not being a huge fan of Trek, it seemed to offer the best value, so I was happy to go along with the Americans.

Because you could choose all components, I choose cheaper training wheels, which helped knock £700 off starting price. I added £300 to be able to choose custom colours, a little extravagant perhaps, but, it gives me joy. I could have save a lot more by choosing say Shimano Ultegra (which is as good as my old Dura Ace).

Lovely smooth Curves and great internal cable wiring. (Cateye Astrale fits nicely onto bike)

Specifications of Trek Madone 6.9

Groupset – Shimano Dura Ace.

Dura Ace groupset. Marvellous.

Weight of Trek Madone 6.9

This Trek Madone 6. weighs in at just over 7Kg. But, the wheels are not the lightest. I can save another 500-600 grams when I get some super light racing wheels. The pedals are Speedplay X1 which is about as light as you can go.

Bottle cages are Zipp carbon at 21grams each.

Computer is new Wireless Cateye Astrale which is very sleek and fits nicely on bike.

Review of Test Ride

After picking up bike, my first race was a 100 mile time trial, so the Madone got left at home. After one day recovery, I went on a 100 mile ride through the Yorkshire Dales. Setting off from Menston, after 30 miles I hit the climb of Fleet Moss (at 20%) and over 250 metres of climbing. As you might imagine, weight of bike is crucial for such a steep climb. But, it is the strength and responsiveness of the frame which makes a big difference. It is also a very comfortable ride over potholes of Yorkshire. On the fast descent (52mph) into Hawes, the bike felt very stable and comfortable around corners.

Having not ridden too many carbon fibre road bikes, the ride was bound to be an improvement on the old Aluminium frame I had been riding. But, it still felt quite exciting to ride.

100 miles is quite a lot for first test ride. I was pretty tired towards the end of the ride. I may replace the Bontrager saddle, with a Selle Italia I have been used to riding. Saddles are quite a personal affair; the best and most expensive are not necessarily the most comfy. On the other hand, I may keep riding to see if I get used to the new saddle. Also, the handlebars are quite different to usual set up. It needs a few tweaking to get the best position. The only thing I was very careful with was maintaining same saddle height that I have on all my bikes.

Buying Trek Madone Project One

A nice feature of the Trek Madone Project One series is that you order it online, but, it gets delivered to your local Trek Dealer. For me this was Beeline Bicyles on Cowley Road just one mile away. When you spend so much money on a bike, it is actually nice to pick it up from people enthusiastic about cycling, rather than just dumped by your postman. It also means I can have free bike sizing and free services on bike.

Overall Review of Trek Madone Project One.

Overall I am very happy. I spent a lot of time researching best road bike, and I just couldn’t find a better deal than this. You may be less fussy about choice of colour and you may need a more standard size like 58cm, in which case other models may be good value. But, because I could choose cheap wheels (which is what I needed), the bike was quite a bit cheaper, than a model where wheel choice is fixed. It’s also very nice choosing components to a bike, it feels like you are helping to build it up. Also in the internet age, it is still very nice to get the best of both worlds – internet choice and value, and still picking it up from local bike shop (who threw quite a few accessories in for free)

Related

• Trek Madone 6 Series at Trek Bikes
• Best Road Bikes
• Trek Equinox SSL – my time trial bike

If I listed the biggest irritations of cycling, I would say that getting a puncture would be pretty high up. These are some tips for avoiding punctures.

1. Puncture Resistant tyres.

Unfortunately, at the moment it is hard to get completely puncture resistant tyres for road bikes. For some bikes you can get solid tyres, which offer a puncture resistant ride, but they are considerably slower. When racing I always choose a tyre with good layers of puncture resistance, at least 1 kevlar belt. I would rather choose a slightly heavier tyre than sacrifice the improved chance of avoiding a puncture. (puncture resistant tyres)

2. Avoid the grit at the side of the road.

Often on busy roads grit and debris accumulates on the side of the road; riding amongst all this grit increases the chance of getting a puncture. Don’t feel pushed into the edge, you have a right to cycle away from the extreme edge of the road.

3. Put on the tyre properly

The biggest cause of ‘repeat punctures’ is putting on a tyre with tyre leavers. This invariably causes a pinching of the inner tube between rim and tyre. To avoid this, it is important to always put a tyre back on with your hands. Also, when the tyre is part blown up, you can check around the rims to make sure there is no inner tube squeezed between the rim. Continue reading →

Only £100 – well in 1938.

Being the kind of cyclist who spends £50 on a tubular, and £500 on a wheel, it’s hard to get my head around the idea of buying a bike for £100. If you bought the parts separately, they would certainly add up to more than £100.

There are bikes on sale for less than £100. This will be from the likes of Cycle King, Amazon and Asda. As you can imagine you get what you pay for. It’s hard to maintain the bike as the plastic parts are more difficult to adjust. The tyres will be thin and more prone to puncture. It will feel heavy and unresponsive and could put you off cycling.

If you really are determined to get a bike for less than £100, I would suggest the second hand route. If you live in a reasonable sized city, there should be a few places offering second hand bikes for less than £100. Take care you aren’t buying a stolen bike and use this tips for buying a bike second hand.

After saying all that, I did buy a cheap new mountain bike for £90 from Halfords. It was actually reduced from £150. It was great during the snow. However, after lending it to a lodger it got three punctures in a short space of time. It was also quite an ordeal to change the inner tube and adjust the brakes. They just felt very plasticy and hard to get in line. A very different experience to adjusting a quick release wheel and high range Shimano or campagnolo. (BTW: If you ever lend a bike, you have to know that you will still do the maintenance when they get a puncture..)

The punctures were from small flints, they would never have got through my armadillo tyres which I use on my commuting bike. This is a good example of a false economy. If you are actually going to cycle regularly, don’t try to get away with the cheapest tyres, get the best, you will save yourself the cost of inner tubes and time repairing.

Get A Paperound and spend £200.

If you really have no money to spend on a bike, why not get a paper-round for a few weeks and save up another £100 to buy a half decent bike for £200? At least at £200 you can get something reasonably road worthy and semi – enjoyable to ride.

I’m always suspicious of bike shops which sell bikes for less than £100, – mind you I would love that £70 – 19 gram carbon fibre bottle cage….

Related

• How much to spend on a bike

I saw this Raleigh explorer bike, and thought it would make a good addition to the vintage bike collection.

You might not be able to see from this photo, but underneath Raleigh, it says ‘the all steel bicycle.’

A great simple single speed.

A like matching bell and saddle (though it doesn’t look very comfortable.)

The lock seems a bit flimsy for such a bike in central Oxford. You could probably cut through with a pair of scissors.

Raleigh no longer make this vintage single speed. But, they do make a Raleigh Explore mountain bike. Steel frame, steel forks, 18speeds, but not the style of this.

After looking at mountain bike, I realise what I like is simple one or two colour bike designs like this. I don’t like the multicoloured splodges that is the modern day mountain bike. (I might end up on grumpy old men TV if I’m not careful).

Related

• Retro bikes

My first bike was a bmx. It spent about seven years hidden away in a garage, rarely been used except for my Sunday paper round.

I never really got any joy from a bmx. I never saw any attraction in learning to do tricks – either that or I fell off at my first attempt at a bunny hop and never ventured there again.

My disillusionment with cycling was so strong when young, that I never went to a cycling proficiency test at school because I didn’t like cycling. It was only when I got a proper bike aged about 15, that I started to get the cycling bug. It was a mountain bike with thin tyres, it was so quick compared to a bmx! I remember the first time, I managed to cycle somewhere not involving going around the village. I think it was a 3 mile ride from Menston to Otley. I suddenly realised that cycling gave you tremendous freedom. No longer were you confined to the village, British Rail or the parental taxi service. Before, long I was cycling all around the Yorkshire Dales and a Reynolds 501, road bike soon followed.

Anyway going back to BMX bikes, I do admire some of the tricks people can do. See: Danny MacAskill video I just never got the point in getting a bike, which is so difficult and slow to pedal.

BMX Bikes at Evans cycles

Best bmx bikes under £200

This part of my series of  tips for beginners to Cycling.

Reasonable Bikes Start from £150-200.

For a very small investment, you can get a decent road worthy bike. It won’t be competitive in the Olympics, but, you don’t need any of those top end features.  Consider how much you spend on bus fares / petrol / buying a car, and you will realise that bikes are really good value. (see: cost per mile of cycling)
Don’t be stingy and try riding that hand me down old mountain bike you found in the back of a garage. A decent well set up bike, will give a much more enjoyable ride.

Also, even for commuting don’t buy the cheapest bicycle shaped objects you find in Asda. It may be £70, but, is generally a false economy.

For a beginner bike, I really recommend the local bike shop. As you will be able to take it back for first service, and they can help with best set up. Just  be clear of your budget and make sure they don’t oversell you.

If you want to start cycling outside town on basic leisure / touring rides, I would be wanting to get a £300-£400 road bike. But, for commuting, bikes in the range of £150 or greater will be fine for a start.

Good Value Bikes Under £300

Hybrid bikes generally make the best introduction to cycling. They are robust, not flashy and tend to be cheap because they are mass produced. For example, single speeds and fixed tend to be more expensive, even though they have less components.

The Dawes Discovery 101 or 201 Hybrid Bike. The Dawes Discovery is a popular series of hybrid bike. It comes with lightweight Aluminium frame. The 101 series is the bottom of the series, with basic groupset. But, it will be fine for the average commuter or first time cyclist.

Claud Butler 100 Hybrid Bike. Similar to the Dawes Discovery, this is another good hybrid bike with basic set up / aluminium frame / 18 gears / Shimano STI shifters – more than adequate for beginner to cycling.

See also: Best Hybrid Bikes

Second Hand Bikes

Second hand bikes can be a good way to get even better value. It depends where you buy from. You need to be comfortable. In Oxford we have the Oxford Cycle Workshop which specialise in reconditioned second hand bikes. These are good value.

If you do buy second hand -

• see tips for buying second hand bikes
• Best Commuting Bikes
• Frame size Guide

I hope when I’m an old man, (in roughly 65 years or so….) I hope that

• I won’t be a grumpy old man
• I’ll still be riding my bike.
• I will still be racing a bike.

Many people who do time trials are ‘Vets’ – people over 40. In fact I know of many riders who don’t start until they are a Vet. It’s often surprising how quick people can still be on bike, even into their 60s and 70s.

Cycling and smoking a pipe. Reminds me of the great Norman Maggs smoking a pipe during a 24 hour time trial

If you’re going to ride for 24 hours, you might as well enjoy it…

I bought this bike before you were born

John Woodburn still racing (aged 73 I think now)

Related

• Cycling into old age