General bike winterisation/upgrade info

ejls2

Hi all,

It's that wonderful time of year again when things are about to get a whole lot wetter, darker and windier on my commute and I was hoping I could ask some general advice questions on a kit upgrade to deal with this.

Last year I rode in all winter on my five year old alu road bike with race blades. While they're definitely better than nothing:

a) I'd rather have full guards;
b) my frame is beginning to make some alarming noises under pressure (yes sure it's the frame not components ) and is no longer true around the stays; and
c) I'm currently using a seatpost rack and it's never been quite satisfactory.


So.... I'm planning on getting a cheapish alu frame with clearance for guards and bunging all of my current components across onto it.

My questions are about which components it's worth replacing anyway.

Chain, chainrings and cassette are all newish so I'll keep them.

Bars - 5 years old, cheap alu, involved in a couple of minor prangs but nothing major. I take it I should replace them as a priority? What about the stem, do they break?

Fork - 5 year old, carbon/alu bonded jobbie, a few scrapes and a couple of crashes, also doesn't have eyelets for guards. Can someone recommend a carbon fork with eyelets? Is it worth upgrading to something with canti mounts for more stopping power in the wet? Would cantis be better than normal double pivot brakes?

BB - 5 years old bottom of the range campag, still seems to work fine, but with my luck will start messing up when I move it across. What's a good, long lasting replacement (to fit a Campag square tapered chainset?

Sorry for asking so many questions but I really appreciate the advice I get on this forum and I'm stuck at home with a cold and unable to cycle

Many thanks in advance,

Ed

mekonta

You might find it's just as cheap to buy a complete new bike. Ribble do some great prices on winter bikes. You can probably still build a bike yourself using a mixture of new/old parts for less, but I doubt the saving is really worthwhile considering the extra time of sourcing best priced bits and time spent putting it all together.

ejls2

Of course, but then you don't get all the fun of making it yourself I'll get the BB faced and the headset installed but I can do the rest myself and it'll be fun!

I've also had a look at prices and given the amount of parts I have that can be swapped across there wouldn't be any saving by buying a comparably good bike.

Plus I'm not a fan of throwing things out. My wheels are good, my drivechain is good, my saddle, seatpost and pedals are good and have thousands of miles left in them.

Cheers for the advice though, it's so easy to get blinded by that 'one more upgrade' urge that you can fail to see that a new bike would be cheaper!

A - W

Buy a new bike and keep the bits and bobs for spares.

ejls2

Good idea, but I still don't get that wonderful tinkering time unless I take all the kit off and then put it on again and that just seems wasteful Plus that's a hell of a lot of 'spares' to store. How often do you go through commuting pedals?

The bike I'm looking at is £800 in the shops before upgrades to get it to the spec I want it (about another £100). I can get new frame, bars, stem, rack and guards for £445. Even if I get a ~£70 ish fork there's still quite a lot of change which can be put towards my bike for next summer

A - W

There's plenty of tinkering time in setting up a new bike to how you like it!

Once you've got it where you want it then you start upgrading. Commuting pedals for me? Never so far. lol.

Your saying a £450 difference between new and upgrading existing, that isnt a lot in the grand scheme of things because soon as you upgrade the existing your going to want something else.

ejls2

A - W wrote:

There's plenty of tinkering time in setting up a new bike to how you like it!

Got it down to a fine art these days. Besides I've got all these bottom bracket tools and the like which I enjoy playing with

A - W wrote:

Once you've got it where you want it then you start upgrading. Commuting pedals for me? Never so far. lol.

I tend to get them where I want them and then plot buying the next bike. This bike won't need any upgrading for a while. Strong, light, fast and able to carry lots

A - W wrote:

Your saying a £450 difference between new and upgrading existing, that isnt a lot in the grand scheme of things because soon as you upgrade the existing your going to want something else.

£450 is the difference between being able to buy the winter bike before the winter or after the winter which, ultimately, is the difference between training a lot or training a bit for the next 6 months.

You're right, I do want something else: a £2000 Condor racing bike! And I'd like it sooner rather than later so £450 makes quite a difference!

Guys, anyone - canti mounts on the fork? new bars? are veloce bottom brackets still good?

PHcp

ejls2 wrote:

Hi all,

Is it worth upgrading to something with canti mounts for more stopping power in the wet? Would cantis be better than normal double pivot brakes?

Ed

If anything it's the other way round. The only advantages of cantis is the size of tyre you can use and mud clearance.

I'd treat the handlebars and carbon forks as consumables, keep everything else unless there's a problem with it. I'd even keep the BB, it's a simple enough job to replace when needed, it could go on for years.

I can't understand anyone who doesn't think £450 a significant saving. If you wanted to spend that you could get some stuff that makes winter riding more fun, lights, boots, clothing...

alfablue

V-type canti's will improve stopping power, but I don't think regular ones would, but canti's of either type will permit wider tyres with mudguards if you desire. I gather Campag Mirage Liner Pull brakes (like v-brakes) will work with STI's. What about a Kinesis Crosslight Fork, it has mudguard mounts and canti bosses.

A - W

PHcp wrote:

I can't understand anyone who doesn't think £450 a significant saving. If you wanted to spend that you could get some stuff that makes winter riding more fun, lights, boots, clothing...

Two things I think we approaching from different angles.

1 - These components are going on a cheap alu frame.

2 - £450 isnt being saved your just not spending it. If we go down this route, why not save the other £450 for the new bike the OP wants and be so much closer to the £2k needed to buy it. It is only a saving if you cant afford it.

ejls2

All - Many thanks for the advice on brakes. I knew v-brakes would be better but that they wouldn't work with ergos. I've only ever used cantis on a cross bike in the mud when 'stopping power' is more of an ironic phrase!

I had a look at those brakes but I was told they only work with the campag flat bar shifters unless, like all v-brake type brakes, you fiddle with them incessantly. I'll e-mail campag and report back.

I don't need the extra clearance as I'll be riding on road the whole time and just use nominal 23mm width tyres. So SKS guards will fit under the brakes just fine.

PHcP - cheers for the advice on bars and forks. I think you're probably right. Better safe than sorry eh! I'll give the BB a try, I'm glad I re-greased it last Christmas now!

A-W re your points - 1. When I say "cheap" alu frame I probably should be more specific. It's actually a Condor Agio frame which is really quite nice and has perfect geometry for rides like my commute. The only way of spending more on the frame and not really wasting it would be to go titanium which is out of the affordability envelope. Plus spending more isn't necessary. I'll be spending max 4-5 hours on the bike and for this period the Agio's frame is perfectly comfortable.

2. WIthout a winter bike I won't train as much during the winter because I'll use the lack of guards/extra cleaning time etc as an excuse. A training bike for me is, without a shadow of a doubt, more important than the racing bike but doesn't need such high spec components.

If anyone else has any views on good forks with eyelets for mudguards I'd be interested to know.

alfablue

ejls2 wrote:

I had a look at those brakes but I was told they only work with the campag flat bar shifters unless, like all v-brake type brakes, you fiddle with them incessantly. I'll e-mail campag and report back..

Campag only specify that they work with flat bar levers but they do work with STI's - for example, Condor fit them to the Heritage tourer that has drops (it was tested in C+ in June, got 9/10).

alfablue

Just dug out C+ (it was May)

One interesting component is the Mirage linear-pul brakes, a recent inclusion in the Campag range. These are a welcome addition, originally designed for Campag's flat bar levers, but they work absolutely superbly with drops without the use of Travel Agents or similar devices. They offer bags of stopping power and loads of control...

ejls2

Alfablue - Many thanks. After a quick rummage I've managed to find the review. As I'm going to Condor soon anyway I'll have a chat with them and see what they think. I'm definitely keen on more stopping power though

Cheers,

Ed

<Edit as Alfablue has re-posted in the meantime>

Yellow Cliff

I'm all for saving the money and transferring all the parts, £450 is a lot of money to me!

I'd put the BB in the new frame - it could last years. It isn't a big job to replace it when required. I guess that a suitable replacement would be another Campag square taper, there are lots about. Despite the taper being slightly different on the Shimano BBs, I haven't noticed any problem with them when using a Campag chainset and I do find the Shimano ones super reliable.

For forks, Surosa (formally Oldham Cycle Centre) had some OK looking ones when I was in there last. Personally I wouldn't go for cantis, but would have long reach dual pivots with good brake blocks (such as the Koolstop dual compound or salmon). My experience of cantis with ergos/sti suggests that they are OK, but not any better than the dual pivots. I thought that you had to set up the brake blocks very close to the rim (which is less practical if you are doing a lot of riding in all conditions) with the Campag linear pulls, so it would be worth investigating that if you are considering them.

ejls2

Many thanks Yellow Cliff! I'd sort of decided to ditch the cantis for the same reasons as you have set out.

I've been using a bike for the last couple of days with full guards and Campag Mirage brakes which have worked very well. Not sure if they're extra long reach or not (will check with the new fork before I buy it) but they seem to fit well. I agree on the brake pad point though. I'll probably go for swisstop as I know them and trust them.

I'm looking at the ITM Visia and ITM 4ever Carbon (winter versions of both). Both look pretty good. Has anyone used eiter of them?

Cheers once again for all the info.

Ed

spnorm

I'd also recommend buying a new bike.

I bought a Ribble 7005 Audax with Shimano 105 triple groupset and mudguards for £540 in their winter sale - review here http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... udax-11764

In fact, every other bike I see around here in the winter is a Ribble (they all dissappear in the summer though ) They can be had for as little as £400 depending upon the spec.

I have no connection with Ribble BTW; I'm just a very satisfied customer, as are several of my colleagues at work

To keep the bike looking good in the winter, just rinse it down when it's been used on wet roads and spray vulnerable parts with Scottoil FS365 to neutralise the salt. Mine still looks like new. FS365 is sold in motorcycle shops e.g. Hein Gericke.

ejls2

Cheers for the advice. Ribble do make nice bikes but as I've said above, that wouldn't give me the opportunity to do any of the fettling

I agree with you on the Scottoil. It's great stuff but I don't use it anymore as I once accidentaly got some on my brake pads and lets just say it wasn't pleasant!

Thanks,

Ed