Cheap But Brilliantly Effective upgrades

such as wine, whiskey or the spirit of your choice.

more of a whisky-man than a whiskey-man... do they make hip flask cages?

Hipster flask cages.

more of a whisky-man than a whiskey-man... do they make hip flask cages?

http://www.ahearnecycles.com/pages/flaskholster.html

surley make hip flask cages
and hip flasks to go with it.

EDIT. too slow.

Koolstop dual compound brake pads.

Lose weight.

Clean rims with plastic green scourer thingy.

Roughen brake pads with sandpaper/nail file.

Possibly tighten all your spokes half a turn, depending on the original build.

Loose weight.

what, just sort of tie loose weights around you?

arrgh, you sneaky edit monkey. but i saw it!

i'm not a big whisky drinker, so i think i'm allowed to misspell it.

^ Not spelling error, knowledge error.

Hipster flask cages.

Truly lovely idea.
Point of information, I tried to give MA3K some +ve for this, but because i'm too much of a hipster I think it ironic to hit the wrong button

Possibly tighten all your spokes half a turn, depending on the original build.

my front wheel spokes don't feel all that tight, after 10 months on rough roads with me on top of it - should i get tightening, if so, what's the technique, and do i risk fucking it up?

start and finish at the valve so you know when you have done one rotation of the wheel. Check after every wheel rotation that your wheel seems hunky doory. If something seems wrong just go back and undo the last step you did all the way round.

ok, thanks. and tightening each half a turn is the right amount? or a quarter?

pluck the spokes and compare pitch.
it is unlikely that all the spokes will loosen evenly over the course of 10 months.

well, that's what i thought. so i shouldn't tighten them all the same amount then?

ermmm... your results may vary!
I would do this complete tightening malarkey if I was bored or if the wheel didn't feel tight.
But I would also do the plucking business and tighten the low-pitched spokes a little more. This may bring your wheel out-of-true a little.
You may end up opening a small can of worms. This can be avoided by simply tightening up all the spokes a 1/4 or 1/2 turn.

okey dokey pig in a pokey.

Buy a bike that is suitable for the purpose for which you intend to use it.

Buy a bike that is suitable for the purpose for which you intend to use it.

You realise the use of logic and common sense has been tried before on this forum and failed drastically don't you?

ok, thanks. and tightening each half a turn is the right amount? or a quarter?

I'd start with a quarter, once round (valve-to-valve as mentioned above). The check tension/change in tension, check it's still true in relation to your brake blocks* (just tighten them up a bit using the barrel adjuster). Take it from there...

*if it's the front wheel, or you're into contingency.

Buy a bike that is suitable for the purpose for which you intend to use it.

not cheap

pluck the spokes and compare pitch.

Then tune them up so you can thrash out the A-team theme at the lights.

I'd start with a quarter, once round (valve-to-valve as mentioned above). The check tension/change in tension, check it's still true in relation to your brake blocks* (just tighten them up a bit using the barrel adjuster). Take it from there...

*if it's the front wheel, or you're into contingency.

and what if it's not still true? then i'm fucked, i'm sweating, i'm on my way to the LBS

pump your tyres to 100-120psi

If it goes wrong undo what you have done since you last checked and everything was ok.. Don't check until you have done one complete revolution of the wheel.

Chain tugs, cause I'm shit at getting chain tension right and everyone loves a tight chain.