Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

Puncture repair is basically my job description.

Apidura saddle pack for sale: http://www.lfgss.com/conversations/256485/

Not mine. But nice.

from here: http://cyclitis.wordpress.com/2014/10/01/panasonic-tourer-preview/

Spoke to Phil at Mosquito, on Thursday, he gave me a price and is looking into availability of the Soma Wolverine frame and fork for me. Just need to sell my genesis now.

@edscoble #rep

Nice!

Aye. It will be nice if Phil can get one, and I can sell my frame to fund the purchase. Fingers crossed.

Well Phil can get one, just need somebody on here to buy my genesis 853. Come on somebody must want it.

Love that bike

just need somebody on here to buy my genesis 853. Come on somebody must want it.

What size is it?

54cm, it's in classifieds.

Have been offered a kona 'dew drop' in good nick at a very reasonable price (~£240 complete bike). It's for my wife, who gave in as the frame is so compact it's almost step through :)

Does anyone have any experience with these bikes? Specs are basic (except bb7s) but can be upgraded gradually. It'll be used for commuting and maybe light touring.

I met somebody on tour with one. It seemed able to handle some good rough stuff from what it had done already.

With all that David Millar business recently, I've been getting into fixed wheel hill-climbing bikes:

weight?!

and that brake lever is jokes

claimed weight is 7.2 lb (about 3.2 kg).

Yeah they seem deathproof, I'll buy it and see how she likes it.Thanks for the input! And @TheNork that's pretty impressive. Don't get the brake lever either though.

I like the simplicity of that. Unbelievable weight!

I'm trying to spec some wheels for my CDF 931, any recommendation? I'm going to be running 35mm kojaks and want something disk specific, light and robust.

Kinda surprised to see a bottle cages.

Would love to try that on the Alps.

OTP?

Best one for the price is the On-One CX Alloy wheelset.

The very best would be the ZTR Crest/ Hope Pro 2, the Crest is the lightest rims you can get for the money, combo F&R weight is 1720g.

Link to the front wheel.

Could get them built by Wheelcraft (Glasgow) so I'd also consider other combinations. I'm also thinking about front dyno hub....

That brakelever is some work of art.
It's suspended free floating between the start of the brake cable outer and the end of the handlebar in a straight line. Now when you pull that lever towards the handlebar you also pull on the cable.
Basic understanding of physics would suggest that this isn't ideal, since you would need to pull very hard for very little braking power, but then again, this thing is made to go uphill, so I don't think that will be a huge problem...

I reckon that if he could, he would simply ride brakeless on a hill climb.

Agreed, this looks more like a "I need to mount a damn brake so I better make it as light as possible" kind of thing.

Like on old German bikes. They used to have coaster brakes only, then in the late 90s (I think) a law was passed stating that they all had to have a proper hand-operated brakes. So you'd see loads of old clunkers with completely functionless brakes retrofitted on.

My friend had one where a rod operated on a pad that pushed down directly on the front tyre from above! The bloke she bought it off said "never, ever use this brake - it's just so the police don't stop you."