Silly commuting racing

tgotb

njee20 wrote:

What are people doing to wear rear mechs out in 8,000 miles!? I think the last (and only) one I've genuinely worn out was after at least 20,000 miles. I get crashes and what not, but not in 'normal' use.

I've worn out quite a few jockey wheels (generally off road), but mechs themselves tend to last indefinitely (or until they make unplanned contact with the rear wheel...)

cruff

njee20 wrote:

What are people doing to wear rear mechs out in 8,000 miles!? I think the last (and only) one I've genuinely worn out was after at least 20,000 miles. I get crashes and what not, but not in 'normal' use.

Came in a bit later this morning, traffic was even worse, horrendous! Slightly fewer choppers than Tuesday. Resurfacing work between Epsom and Chessington and in RP was a pain - clearly trying to punish me for being on the 'nice' bike still.

My best guess would be:
'Never cleaning them. Ever.'

drhaggis

njee20 wrote:

What are people doing to wear rear mechs out in 8,000 miles!? I think the last (and only) one I've genuinely worn out was after at least 20,000 miles. I get crashes and what not, but not in 'normal' use.

Easy. Cycle faster than 10mph on the shared paths in Edinburgh throughout the winters without mudguards and without cleaning your bike after every ride. Mud. Sand. Grit. Small flint on the road. This all ends up chewing through absolutely everything. If I stuck to the road, I'd get more miles out of my chain and mech but it's more stressful, it's shorter, and it's a lot less safe. I mean, I chew through at least two sets of brake pads a year.

rower63

njee20 wrote:

What are people doing to wear rear mechs out in 8,000 miles!? I think the last (and only) one I've genuinely worn out was after at least 20,000 miles. I get crashes and what not, but not in 'normal' use.

It's not the rear mech causing the problems, they will last forever if kept away from spokes and tarmac. It's the rear wheel, namely the freehub which has failed, causing the whole cassette to wobble around and make gear-changing almost impossible.

tgotb

rower63 wrote:

njee20 wrote:

What are people doing to wear rear mechs out in 8,000 miles!? I think the last (and only) one I've genuinely worn out was after at least 20,000 miles. I get crashes and what not, but not in 'normal' use.

It's not the rear mech causing the problems, they will last forever if kept away from spokes and tarmac. It's the rear wheel, namely the freehub which has failed, causing the whole cassette to wobble around and make gear-changing almost impossible.

CJ's the one claiming that his rear mech has worn out.

I'm sceptical; I reckon it's some combination of dead jockey wheels, bent hanger, poor alignment, and the sort of maintenance regime that once led to the same crank falling off 3 times in as many weeks...

njee20

Agreed! Like I say, I did have one which just got so sloppy in the pivots it wasn't worth saving combined with the b-spring being worn, but they don't really 'wear out'.

I wasn't aware of any preceding crank issues, that does indicate a certain sort of person ;-)

kingstongraham

cjcp wrote:

*For those who commute through Richmond Park*

I rode in around midday today - late shift at Maccy D's - and had dug up the road around Kingston Gate roundabout at the bottom of Dark Hill and the approach from Ham Gate.

Just in case they hadn't started when I was still in my PJs, eating Nutella on toast, and everyone else was making their way to the salt mines.

Temporary traffic lights and single lane traffic when I went through this morning at the Kingston Gate roundabout. Gate still closed to cars.

njee20

I think the road was just closed when I went through, the roundabout was certainly being dug up, I just went in the gate to the LH side, along the path a bit and then rejoined after the works.

Several cyclists were just riding around the barriers along the newly laid tarmac. It's clearly dried as there were numerous vans on it, but that was a bit brazen for me given the number of workmen around.

cruff

I was down in That London visiting mates over the weekend. Went out to RP for some intervals on Saturday, on the way back down the Euston Road was filtering between traffic outside the British Library when some gammon on a moped came out of nowhere from the side to try and get into the advanced stop box and I had to do an endo to avoid getting crunched. I screamed like a girl then gave him some abuse and he just said 'sorry mate' and carried on. Got video of it as well as I recorded my ride just to show the northern monkeys I ride with what London is like (camera warrior FTW)

This taught me two things:
1 - When you leave London, coming back it takes a while to get used to this kind of sh*t
2 - Moped riders genuinely think the advanced stop box is also there for their benefit

mattsaw

The most shocking thing about that is that you got an apology

rower63

... however, I have had a FRONT mech wear out, its arm gave way due to fatigue crack. It had done 25,000 miles across 3 bikes. Rhodrich was with me at the time and had a multi-tool screwdriver to allow me to remove it from around the chain.

rower63

Mattsaw wrote:

The most shocking thing about that is that you got an apology

If I get an apology I generally forgive them, as they've clearly learned a lesson...

jds_1981

njee20 wrote:

Agreed! Like I say, I did have one which just got so sloppy in the pivots it wasn't worth saving combined with the b-spring being worn, but they don't really 'wear out'.

I wasn't aware of any preceding crank issues, that does indicate a certain sort of person ;-)

I've had several that have become way too floppy in the pivots. Leads to poor and phantom shifting.

cruff

rower63 wrote:

Mattsaw wrote:

The most shocking thing about that is that you got an apology

If I get an apology I generally forgive them, as they've clearly learned a lesson...

To be fair, it wasn't that much of an apology. More of a sarcastic one. Along the lines of 'sorry mate, but you really should have had eyes on stalks and anticipated that I would be cutting you up from nowhere without even a cursory glance'

wolfsbane2k

dekant wrote:

Smokey Bacon wrote:

Now seriously considering getting a camera for stuff like this.

If it's not on camera, it didn't happen.
If it didn't happen, they can't get in trouble for it.
If they can't get in trouble for it, things will never get better.

At least that's my logic.

Mine too.
And I've found many will re-consider a stupid move once they've seen the camera. It's not that they don't know that they are doing stupid things, it's that they don't care.
Hurt them where it hurts - via points on the driving license and penalties, where it then hurts them in the pocket through increased insurance premiums etc, or if in a business vehicle , via formal warnings from management.
Of course, that needs police to have resources to act on them

Yes, that's probably deemed militant, but if people were to drive as though their livelihood depended upon it, they might actually drive better...

wolfsbane2k

Thoroughly had my face rubbed in it this morning.
I was late, so had been pushing quite hard up the 2km long hill on the roadie, only to have someone fly past close to the top on a trek hybrid with a large bunch of flowers in a rucksack.

Seriously embarrassing. In my head they'd joined me half way or more up the hill as they looked quite fresh, so that's the story I'm sticking to, even if they were lycra'd up!

Ben6899

So I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that the dayglo Giant SUAB is the new Allez / Trek 1.1. I don't really appreciated being drafted by some chopper who then goes down the inside on Mortimer Street when there really isn't enough room - if he carries on riding like that, he'll come a cropper either with someone's fist or the offside of a large motorised vehicle.

And yesterday, I had the misfortune of riding along the Euston Road towards Kings Cross (forked off at Somers Town and went the back way as soon as I had the chance). I don't know how the LTDA has the nerve to claim that cyclists are "speeding" along the Euston Road to chase Strava records - you can't get above 5mph because of bumper-to-bumper, fareless LTDA members.

njee20

rower63 wrote:

... however, I have had a FRONT mech wear out, its arm gave way due to fatigue crack. It had done 25,000 miles across 3 bikes. Rhodrich was with me at the time and had a multi-tool screwdriver to allow me to remove it from around the chain.

All riveted these days annoyingly, so that wouldn't work! I had several front mechs seize irrepairably, I'd go months without using them on the commute, then go and ride in the hills and you'd suddenly find it wouldn't work! Di2 has solved those issues though, I hope, I haven't tried changing in a while!

cjcp

rower63 wrote:

... however, I have had a FRONT mech wear out, its arm gave way due to fatigue crack. It had done 25,000 miles across 3 bikes. Rhodrich was with me at the time and had a multi-tool screwdriver to allow me to remove it from around the chain.

How can you wear out a front mech?!

You can only do that if you use it... oh wait... you use the front mech to change into that thing they call the... "inner... ring"... don't you?

cjcp

Cruff wrote:

I was down in That London visiting mates over the weekend. Went out to RP for some intervals on Saturday, on the way back down the Euston Road was filtering between traffic outside the British Library when some gammon on a moped came out of nowhere from the side to try and get into the advanced stop box and I had to do an endo to avoid getting crunched. I screamed like a girl then gave him some abuse and he just said 'sorry mate' and carried on. Got video of it as well as I recorded my ride just to show the northern monkeys I ride with what London is like (camera warrior FTW)

This taught me two things:
1 - When you leave London, coming back it takes a while to get used to this kind of sh*t
2 - Moped riders genuinely think the advanced stop box is also there for their benefit

A fair few of their number also think the section in front of the AS box is for their benefit.

tgotb

cjcp wrote:

You can only do that if you use it... oh wait... you use the front mech to change into that thing they call the... "inner... ring"... don't you?

Wrong! You use the front mech to change to the OUTER ring, typically at speeds in excess of 18mph. Duh!

tgotb

cjcp wrote:

A fair few of their number also think the section in front of the AS box is for their benefit.

As do plenty of cyclists (before we get all tribal in our hatred of moped-ists). Quite why cyclists feels the need to stop in front of a totally empty AS box I don't understand, but I see it multiple times a day...

cjcp

TGOTB wrote:

cjcp wrote:

You can only do that if you use it... oh wait... you use the front mech to change into that thing they call the... "inner... ring"... don't you?

Wrong! You use the front mech to change to the OUTER ring, typically at speeds in excess of 18mph. Duh!

Do you also read books upside down?

The default setting on any front mech is for the OUTER ring. And any self-respecting commuter has a front mech which is frozen solid - IN THE OUTER RING SETTING - by mud, grime and grit.

cjcp

TGOTB wrote:

cjcp wrote:

A fair few of their number also think the section in front of the AS box is for their benefit.

As do plenty of cyclists (before we get all tribal in our hatred of moped-ists). Quite why cyclists feels the need to stop in front of a totally empty AS box I don't understand, but I see it multiple times a day...

In the interests of balance, they do indeed.

rower63

Seeing motor vehicles in the ASL box always reminds me of something I was asked by a mate wanting to know where I'd parked shortly after I'd passed my driving test (aged 24).
However the way he phrased it was "where did you manage to stop?"

kingdav

I guess most will understand this "offside" rule, but in case anyone is under any misapprehension.

Motor vehicles are allowed in the ASL, they have to travel through it to negotiate the junction and get on their way. It's not like a box junction in that they aren't forbidden from entering it to queue, as long as the traffic light is green.

What's not allowed is for them to roll into it to wait at the junction when the light is red. In London there are frequently queues and so the traffic you see stationary in the ASL may be there legally, if you didn't see them roll into the box when the light was red.

itboffin

anonymousblackfg wrote:

Good to know Hopkins is back and I know where his new office is, will bring a hack saw and set of spanners and have those prime wheels on ebay by 11am saturday.

Cracking heart in mouth moment this morning with old geezer walking between slowing transit vans straight into my path, sailed past his back with 10mm to spare while grabbing a lot of brake.

Finally, a spot of the hive mind. Friday night I need ride from City - Heathrow - Riseley (due south of reading) Any thoughts on route for either leg would help. First leg can be fairly industrial a) embankment, north of hyde park, uxbridge road, Hillingdon then south or b) Hammersmith, Chiswick, Hounslow

If you look at my commute to work a couple of months ago I end at Hayes and went through the back roads around heathrow on past Reading via Windsor, lovely route apart from Hayes

https://www.strava.com/activities/1577401156

roger_merriman

jds_1981 wrote:

njee20 wrote:

Agreed! Like I say, I did have one which just got so sloppy in the pivots it wasn't worth saving combined with the b-spring being worn, but they don't really 'wear out'.

I wasn't aware of any preceding crank issues, that does indicate a certain sort of person ;-)

I've had several that have become way too floppy in the pivots. Leads to poor and phantom shifting.

The old commute bike few years ago, the rear Derailleur got like that, it was 10 years old at that point having being used off road in filthy conditions for years, as you’d expect for a MTB.

Front was fairly poor as well but I went from 3x9 to 1x9 since didn’t need the range commuting and I always seemed to be between chainrings!

hopkinb

Thought I'd get away with not wiping & re-lubing chain after getting wet in unforecast rain last night. I was wrong. Squeak-squeak all the way in, and it'll be squeak-squeak all the way home. Bl00dy dry lube.

The summer seems to have been an increase in people who want to have a go. They come past, shorts a-flapping, legs a-whirring. Then they just kind of stop as their nose gets in the wind, and I come past them again. Some skinny guy in a white & black camouflage jersey with a terrible trackstand (well, at no point did he "stand", just wobbled very slowly into the middle of the junction) tried to speed up & latch on as I overtook between Balham and Bec yesterday evening, but he was left gasping. Maybe I didn't lose so much fitness over the summer.

Good to be back on the road regularly though.

anonymousblackfg

Great start to the day with every red against me I then puncture at Oval. All my own doing from using a road tube in a 32 tyre with a boot made out of some plastic from the front of a packet of ham. New tubes ordered but am now apprehensive about having just one spare on me with 160k to ride before I next get home.