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Is it still available? PM sent.

New chain has been ordered, just waiting for it to come.

I was just hoping to get rid of the creaking in the meantime.

Instead of Clean Ride, what else is good that won't turn my chain black after commuting for a day?

Todays update. I've tightened everything and the creaking has stopped. Completely.

It seems that's cleared up the problem which is fantastic. Thanks to everybody who helped, its much appreciated.

Now I just need to sort out my clicking chain. I stupidly used White Lightening Clean Ride and now my chain clicks continually. Does anybody know how to get it all off easily?

I'll check tomorrow to measure the BB.

I tried tightening the crank and got about 1/4 of turn extra out of it. Thus, that might be the cause of the creaking, so I'll test it with a ride tomorrow to see if its fixed the creaking and clicking noise its making.

Aha, excellent. So would the Italian thread 111mm BB recommended still work?

I'll check the lettering and see what it says for mine.

And I'll check the bolts are tight enough, although, I'm sure I did that recently.

How do I know if I've got English or Italian threads? I'm presuming its Italian, but I'm also guessing that I could be totally wrong again!

Hey, thanks for the reply, I owe you beers!

I've just checked and you're absolutely right, the BB is Athena. I've also tried the cranks and there's no play in them at all. But the creaking is definitely there, with every pedal cycle and getting worse if I'm out of the saddle. So, I'm guessing its going and will be gone soon. The bike is apparently from around the early 2000's (but could be older) and I would guess that its still the original one.

You're also absolutely right about the different sized cassettes. The Shimano 105 one was 12-23 and the Campagnolo Veloce one is 13-26. I didn't know I would need different chain lengths, I thought the rear derailleur would compensate for this? And after reading your link, it probably is the wrong size coupled with it being possibly quite old too.

I think what this is getting to is that I need to get a new chain and BB, and the correct one this time. I'm guessing this would work? And a new chain.

If I wanted to just upgrade everything, would Athena 11 work okay with this bike? I'm guessing that the main problem would be the BB as the bike is quite old.

Lastly, a quick question. How do I keep the back wheel in the dropouts when putting the power down, without tightening the quick release unbelievably tight? I bought new wheels, thus its got new a quick release system. I've moved the position of the wheel so its further back, checked the axle isn't protruding. Nothing works apart from seriously over tightening everything. Any ideas.

Hi all,

I bought an old Colnago from ebay with mostly Veloce, but a Mirage Crank and presumably BB. Since buying it, I've replaced the wheels and the cassette (as it had a 105 and now its got a Veloce) which I thought would be good. But the indexing has got worse, and now the BB is creaking and clicking!

So, I'm presuming that I probably need to get a new chain, as I've no idea how old the one on there is? I've ordered a chain wear tool, and will see what happens there. Hopefully it'll show that the chain is worn, needs replacing and it'll improve the indexing.

For the BB, I need a little advice. Is this something I can do myself? Do I need to replace the bearings or the whole BB? I think the issue developed as I couldn't really ride the bike hard with the original wheels, as they were so flexible they rubbed on the brakes no matter what I did. The new pro-lites are considerably stiffer. Thus, I've probably changed my riding style. And the original BB doesn't like it. And probably hasn't been serviced or had any attention for years.

I'd like to have a go myself, but I'll need to get tools, and obviously the parts. Any advice? What do I need to get? I there anything I should watch out for?

Sorry, I've just realised this is a little rambling! But any advice will be much appreciated.

PM sent

Hi, where in SE are you?

Judging from the amount of bikes in the basement of the building where I went to collect mine, its a hell of a lot of bikes stolen. They did say they had a lot of issues with people just not reporting their bikes stolen and thus they can't return them. Also, people being who aren't able to identify their bike is apparently a problem too.

They advised customising your bike in any way so you can easily identify it. Mine, had bar tape, bottle cage, saddle (which was changed) different tires, and various marks which made it undoubtedly mine. Also, having photographs really helped too.

And its also about not giving up. I was initially told there was little they could do, but after I explained that I would be retrieving my bike with a baseball bat, they decided they would be able to sort out a few Officers for me that evening. And following the unsuccessful meet, the bike was listed 3 more times and I hassled them to arrange more meetings each time.

Since that episode, I've now found my rear light on eBay, and I'm still waiting for my Brooks saddle to turn up. The police are currently investigating the light person as they seem to have a lot of random bicycle bits appearing.

The important bit I would say is that nobody should EVER go and get their bike back by themselves. The people who had mine were also arrested with quantities of drugs, and various other illegal things, and charged with weapon possession. The police said that the organised people who steal and sell bikes are quite dodgy in general and the bike side of their business is the easy cash part.

Long time lurker. Hello.

Just wanted to write about my experience of having my bike stolen, and how I got it back. It won't work for everybody but I'm sure there's some things people might be able to take away.

My bike was stolen from outside my place of work, in early November last year. It was quite a unique bike (a very expensive folding bike) with SPD pedals, Brooks bar tape and Saddle, and I had recently put on new tires (which ended up helping a lot in its recovery).

The theft was on CCTV and about took place about 15mins before I was going home, so I was quite gutted when it wasn't there to go into the security office and watch the thieves take my bike on the footage. However the footage was rubbish. They wore hoods, and it seems had already prepped the bike earlier in the day. The overall theft only took less than a minute.

I reported the bike as stolen (using the Met Police online thingy) and chalked it up to experience. It was the first bike I've ever had stolen.

I set up automated eBay searches, GumTree, and general google searches, just a precaution. Many similar bikes were listed but not mine. Then about 3 weeks later, it turned up on GumTree, with a different saddle. It was listed for £650 and I went into action. I called the police and they told me that they would look into the matter, but couldn't give me a timescale as to when they would do anything. I found through a little bit of a google search, the Met Police have a Cycle Task force, and got the main email address and started from there.

After a bit of digging (about an hour of searching) I managed to get the name and contact details of most of the Cycle Task force. I found out that they were all unavailable that day, as they were doing a major bust that night, and were prepping for that. I was told not to make contact with the seller, but if I did, I should under no circumstances go and try to get the bike back. Instead I should let the police go. I immediately made contact, and arranged a time and place to meet. I went back to the police and told that either I would be appropriating my bike with a baseball bat, or they could go and get it for me. They offered to go.

I met up at a Police station, and handed my phone over. They had a van ready with about 8 officers inside. We checked out the listing and I was able to confirm the bike was mine, due to the collection of modifications and photos of my 72yr old dad riding it. Unfortunately they went to get the bike, but the seller didn't show. They think he got spooked, but we didn't give up.

We tried a variety of different phone numbers and arranged a few different meets. In the meantime, I was following the guy's various listings on Gumtree and the mobile phone numbers he was using. The police had contacted the mobile providers and were arranging the location/address details.

In the meantime the guy listed a few more bikes, which I guessed were stolen too and the price for mine was dropping. It was then that the mobile operators returned with the location/address details, and the police found that with a bit of surveillance there was a lockup, full of bikes, of which mine was one.

They then told me they were going to bust/raid a number of properties associated with the lockup and my bike. That was about a three weeks after I'd first made contact with the police, and the next day I got an email to say they have my bike.

We arranged a collection, it was covered in fingerprint dust, and I had to bring proof that it was mine, photos, receipts for bits etc. They also had a room of other bikes that were confiscated in the raid, which they were trying to return to their owners. I was shown photos, and asked if I knew four men, who were found with my bike, and arrested in connection with the theft. Currently, they're awaiting trial.

The Police were great, however it was really frustrating at first to get them to do anything. It also helps if you tell them that your bike is worth a lot of money (mine would have been £1799 new) and that you have lots of evidence to prove its yours. Also, keep searching for it. Mine took 3 weeks to turn up on GumTree, with a different saddle, but the rest was the same.

Excellent. PM will come as soon as it lets me.

Thanks.

Is the Brooks still available? If so, can I take it?

Can't PM, newbie unfortunately. :-(