Mini blog, my weekend escapdes.

Pro : it's very frustrating when you get a mechanical problem like that but no matter how annoyed one gets, it doesn't help to chuck your bike over the ditch ! You'll only end up causing further damage.

I can concur about the lack of daylight issue with you : I went for a spin on both Saturday and Sunday.
I did 40 miles on Saturday and I did 53 miles yesterday.
Saturday was a terrible day - wet and cold : three layers of clothes on me and I was still frozen when I got back to base.
Daylight seemed to disappear within 20 minutes.

I went out with my wife on Saturday night - she was dying yesterday morning
(Sunday) with a hangover.
I was fine - went to church, got home, had breakfast and went pedalling.
Nice bright day but it was bloody freezing (worse than Saturday).
It was practically dark by 4.15pm yesterday : and cycling along roads with poor visibility and dense traffic's not to be recommended.

Enjoy the new bike (I'm envious !)

it is generally accepted that there is only one allowable reason to miss church: hangover.

does mrs. limerickman cycle? i wish my wife did.

Hang on MP, what's all this?

Your chain breaks, so you throw the bike over a hedge and buy a new one!

Sweet. I'll cite you as an example of good practice when I try to convince 'er indoors that it's the only way to fix a broken chain. 😄

MountainPro said:

it is generally accepted that there is only one allowable reason to miss church: hangover.

does mrs. limerickman cycle? i wish my wife did.

Mrs Limerickman has zero interest in cycling - I've tried to persuade as to the merits of going out on a freezing day for a 3 hour spin but she won't budge.
I wonder why ?

She's more of a health club type fitness person.

Missing church for a hangover - I've done that in the past, MP.

wheelist said:

Hang on MP, what's all this?

Your chain breaks, so you throw the bike over a hedge and buy a new one!

Sweet. I'll cite you as an example of good practice when I try to convince 'er indoors that it's the only way to fix a broken chain. 😄

perhaps the chain was sabotaged in some way...we'll never know. I threw it into the neighbours bin.

dont buy SRAM products, just dont okay. Thats not a request, its an instruction. Dont even look at thier wbsite or even say the word. thier stuff is utter [censored].

i dont have to convince the wife to buy me a new bike. she wanted to get me the more expensive one...!

I had the quintessential cyclist's weekend:

A 24 hour mountain bike race with my mates.

What a wicked tway to spend a weekend - noon Sat to noon Sun doing laps of a fairly mundane course with your friends, sharing war stories and poking fun at the other teams.

Activities included: tossing the road bike (never fear it's always a sad old machine that life has not been kind to), the underwear lap at 23H00, sending the road bike to roadie heavan at midnight (burning above mentioned piece of scrap), riding the "reverse" bike (they rig the bars up to turn the front wheel the opposite way (i think some guy managed about 5m), listening to a DJ pump out some wicked tunesand generally having a good time.

Today the body is ok but the brain is on go slow....

MountainPro said:

Started late, about 3pm, so i had an hour or so of proper daylight and got half way round the route when my chain, a [censored] Sram effort, decided it was time to sieze up. One link just failed to move resulting in an inability to get round the sprockets and rear mech.

FWIW my lower jockey wheel decided to disintegrate itself this weekend. I went over a bump *crunch*, stop, note that the chain is off the lower jockey wheel, I check everything over, looks fine, but the chain links seem to stick to the lower jockey wheel a bit. On closer inspection the jockey wheel's teeth are flattened at the tips so they have a T-shape cross-section. That's after just 50 miles... Apparently genuine Campag C9/C10 wheels (although they were grey and the originals were black)... The originals were a bit chewed up after a good 2K miles or so (which still seems too low after my previous tourer's 10K without any running gear changes).

Sigh... I've ordered some new ones, in the mean time I'm going to take a file to the brutes and see if I can salvage some riding while I wait. I guess that begs the question : How long do folks here expect a chain & jockey wheels to last on the road ?

i've had a shimano stx rear mech since 1996. jockey wheels are still on there and it has done many thousands of miles touring and off road. If you dont crash and damage it then it should last you quite a long time.

i've always found the cheaper stuff to last longer. XTR (dura ace for you roadies) has a certain 'get you through the race in the quickest time' aspect about them, i dont think they are designed to last years. Like F1 cars, built to race and nothing else.

darkboong said:

Sigh... I've ordered some new ones, in the mean time I'm going to take a file to the brutes and see if I can salvage some riding while I wait. I guess that begs the question : How long do folks here expect a chain & jockey wheels to last on the road ?

MountainPro said:

i've had a shimano stx rear mech since 1996. jockey wheels are still on there and it has done many thousands of miles touring and off road. If you dont crash and damage it then it should last you quite a long time.

Right, the retired bike has '95 vintage Sachs Duopar *Eco*, and
it's working well outside it's capacity (a wide range triple on the
front rather than a double) but it still runs fine...

Struggling to work out why the Campag rear mech is eating them
damn Jockey Wheels. I am using Campag Veloce C9 gear all the
way through (including the chain) aside from the front hub, brakes
and the front mech which is a Racing-T. The bike has *never*
been dropped either, I've been lucky so far. 🙂

MountainPro said:

My weekend escapades, mini-blog if you will.

i chucked the bike over a dry stane dyke into the ravine beyond.

I think I have seen "Bike Toss'n" at a few Scottish Games events in the past.

Some how I get the feeling the Bianchi will never be air-mailed into the ravine beyond.😄

Sorry about the hangover. Enjoy the new bike.

Lw

Here is the bike, arrived today...the rear stays are carbon as are the forks..😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 🙂 🙂 😄 😄 🙂 😄 😎 😎 😎 😄 😎 🙂 😎 😄

MountainPro said:

Here is the bike, arrived today...the rear stays are carbon as are the forks..😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 🙂 🙂 😄 😄 🙂 😄 😎 😎 😎 😄 😎 🙂 😎 😄

You lucky bugger !
Very nice machine there Pro : enjoy the ride !

MountainPro said:

Here is the bike, arrived today...the rear stays are carbon as are the forks..😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 🙂 🙂 😄 😄 🙂 😄 😎 😎 😎 😄 😎 🙂 😎 😄

Schwwweeeeeeeet!
Enjoy.

MountainPro said:

Here is the bike, arrived today...the rear stays are carbon as are the forks..😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 😄 🙂 🙂 😄 😄 🙂 😄 😎 😎 😎 😄 😎 🙂 😎 😄

Nice. Campy eh 😕 What size frame' & chain 😕 Again, nice machine 😉

thanks guys, i just wish the weather was a bit better so that could go out for a decent ride. Dave, its a Campy Xenon group with a 53cm frame. I could have gone for a 55cm and lowered the seat a bit. (the seat in the pic is a bit high but thats the way it arrived from the shop)

davidmc said:

Nice. Campy eh 😕 What size frame' & chain 😕 Again, nice machine 😉

limerickman said:

I did 40 miles on Saturday and I did 53 miles yesterday.
Saturday was a terrible day - wet and cold : three layers of clothes on me and I was still frozen when I got back to base.
Daylight seemed to disappear within 20 minutes.

What have I been telling you ..Woolen jerseys. Man, you live in Ireland where wool has to be the national material. The boys in the peloton choose wool back when they didn't have "team cars" to hand them fresh clothing along the way. They knew what they were doing.
When I first starting riding I owned a high neck woolen sweater...... I loved it when riding in nasty weather.

wolfix said:

What have I been telling you ..Woolen jerseys. Man, you live in Ireland where wool has to be the national material. The boys in the peloton choose wool back when they didn't have "team cars" to hand them fresh clothing along the way. They knew what they were doing.
When I first starting riding I owned a high neck woolen sweater...... I loved it when riding in nasty weather.

Couldn't agree more. In cold/wet eather it is hard to match. It insulates even when wet. There aren't many others out there that have that ability 😉

http://www.vintagevelos.com/jer-molteni_arcore1.html

road bikes eh? dont you jus' love 'em?

riding along last night and spotted a small pot hole in the road, normally this kind of thing doesnt phase me, i just let the Bomber shocks take the hit. But on my road bike....jeeeezuuz, my hands slipped off the bars and i nearly lunched on alloy stem for tea. There is no give at all in the front end. The smallest lumps and holes just vibrate through your whole body...

i have had life easy, fat juicy tyres, 4 inches of bouncy forks and thick rubbery grips.

i need some hardening up....ladies?

MountainPro said:

road bikes eh? dont you jus' love 'em?

riding along last night and spotted a small pot hole in the road, normally this kind of thing doesnt phase me, i just let the Bomber shocks take the hit. But on my road bike....jeeeezuuz, my hands slipped off the bars and i nearly lunched on alloy stem for tea. There is no give at all in the front end. The smallest lumps and holes just vibrate through your whole body...

i have had life easy, fat juicy tyres, 4 inches of bouncy forks and thick rubbery grips.

i need some hardening up....ladies?

Just imagine how treacherous it would be if you had to ride in some of the most severe weather on earth... You could take your psi from 115 or so down to 80 and your ride may be softer but it would increase your drag....