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If i can have your bike
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Me neither. Laaarge I imagine judging by the brake recommendation.
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Assuming they're steel, take them to a metal workers place, at least someone with a pillar drill and suitable holding device. If they're a decent engineer they may be able to tell you if they'll break too...
Might want to check if a brake will even work on them, i.e. if they are of the super-minimal-clearance variety then your choice of brakes is limited - on some forks I have the clearance is a couple of mm; when I put on a 105 brake the wheel wouldn't go round. Soon remedied by grinding off ~4mm of the knuckle of the caliper, and it hasn''t exploded yet.
If they're done in a vice with a pillar drill the paint damage will probably less than what bolting on a caliper will do. -
I thought this was going to be about french bread.
Oh well, maybe next time. -
also... it certainly looks like a nice bike to me - has it been resprayed? If it has they may not be the original forks, in which case it might not do any harm to change them for some with a slightly bigger rake on them.
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That's kind of strange, being that it looks like a regular road frame - maybe check if the forks are bent or something. On my track frames there's masses of overlap (like 2" on one of them) but it's very rare that I do turns that tight - if I do they'll be low speed anyway and then I just watch out, and it's usually fine. Just turn a little bit later and your toes don't hit.
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well... good publicity and all that, but journalists really have the mastered the art of making good things sound shit i.e.
"it has been reinvented by the courier community, which has brought roller-racing to a paying audience of fixie-riding hip urbanites, complete with bottled beer, band and DJ. A scene is definitely happening: coming to you soon, the new rock'n'rollers."
or
"Retro-fixie fashion is all about style and individuality" (irony?)True maybe, but every time an article like that is published I could almost become embarrassed to ride my bike.
Or maybe I woke up feeling a touch more cynical than usual today -
You need to develop calouses on your bag.
Or what I do is have the saddle at such an angle that the majority (but not all) of contact is made on the cheeks - wears through your jeans in no time, but gives the scrote a break. I've used £20 selle italias for years and they're fine after a little use. -
Take a look at spa cycles website - they have TA and stronglight i think, both of whom do 135bcd
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On your chain tool there should be a second set of pins (might not be, but usually is), nearer the screw than the other ones. Put your chain on there and wind the screw in - it should loosen up the link without popping the pin out
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I have a Tektro RX4.1 and it sends the cable outside the bar - I wasn't too happy at the prospect of putting a hole on my bars anywhere at all as I kept having visions of the bars snapping if I went over a lump in the road... over cautious probably, but I thought it better not to risk it
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Do you think it'd be possible to rig up some sort of catapult between the ends of a set of bullhorns? Something with a kind of latch on top of your stem, so that if someone tries to squash you you could ping an old bolt or something at their rear window.....possibly?
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I use an Ultimate workstand, and they are pretty fkin ultimate to be honest, but you have to pay ultimate money for them too - you can get something to do the job for a lot less. If you wanted to spend too much money though, I'd definitely recommend one.
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Other famous flag-wavers - Noel Gallagher, various chavs, that nasty old colonel down the street who drives a rover, Nick Griffin, lots of old bats at the Tory conference.
I think I'll stick to single colours on my saddles :-) -
Well... I'm sure to be put right soon, but.... I use 3/32 and when my cranks turn so does my rear wheel and it does it very well indeed. I'm fairly sure that with a 1/8 chain you'll get the same thing phenomenon occuring.
Logic tells me a 1/8 chain may be fractionally heavier, and possibly stronger too, but that shouldn't really make a difference if you're not subjecting your chain to twist. (I haven't broken a chain before wearing one out, but I'm only a slip of a thing)
I think you can get some good stuff only in 1/8 - possibly an advantage? On the other hand it could be argued that 3/32 is more versatile, as you can use a 1/8 chain on 3/32 gear if necessary whereas you couldn't work it the other way round, but i'm not sure you'd ever need it to either.
I think 1/8 chains can be found stupid cheap, whereas 3/32 start a bit more expensive, but I think a lot of people would be disinclined to put bargain basement chains on their dura-ace drivetrains anyway.
I don't know if tracks pros (outside of NJS) have preferences for one or the other, or if they stick with the staus quo and go 1/8; if there is an advantage they'd know it i suppose. -
Avoid levering the tyre on at all costs - rub a little bit of washing up liquid all round the bead and even the tightest damn tyre in the world will go on so easily you wouldn't believe it. And if you've got a brake don't get a drop on the rim... you're brake will probably work but it'll make a right racket
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No you're right, not all steel frames will - most will to a certain degree. The point is, steel generally flexes, so I wouldn't worry about it too much, unless like I said, you don't like it, or the frame is broke, which will be more apparent than a bit of flexing.
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If you stand side-on to a steel framed bike and push down on the pedal, the bottom bracket will always flex out, as it will flex when you're pedalling - it's simply part of the nature of steel frames. It's only a problem if you don't like it, or if the frame is fucked (it'd be more than flexing then), in which case it's the manufacturers who are at fault, not the material. Maybe go for a long ride on a alu frame and see what you think? I've never ridden a alu fixed frame - I imagine the braking feels totally different.
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Pip's post reflects things I've noticed recently; like edmundane my fear is that someone who is worrying more about what they look like than whether they're alive or not will come to a sticky end and that the rest of us will feel the consequences.
I ride with a brake, and I'm all for some riding brakeless, but all in all there is fuck all you can do to stop people ripping their brakes off cos they think its the way.
Personally I would like to see all riders, brakeless or not, strongly encouraging the newengers to stick with brakes for a while - encouraging them to the degree of saying that to ride brakeless on your first experience of fixed is for fools (whether its true or not). Just to be safe like, and more importantly, so the rest of us don't get slandered/regulated by the usual twats.
Oh sorry for stringing the thread out even more, i promise i tried to stay above the level of brake vs. brakeless -
I know its sentimental old tosh but i've got the theme tune in my ipod. And its great too.
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Are they Nitto Noodle bars you have on that there bike of yours Wayne? It looks like a really nice bike by the way; good finish on it - bet you can't wait to get some gritty black shit all over it!