Bike Reliability in Sportives
Der Kaiser
Posts: 172
Whilst doing sportives I notice there appears to be a number of people with mechanical failures, punctures.
Have I been lucky so far to not have had any problems during a sportive or is it that my bike (Ridgeback Voyage) is designed for distance rather than out and out speed?
What are other peoples views?
Have I been lucky so far to not have had any problems during a sportive or is it that my bike (Ridgeback Voyage) is designed for distance rather than out and out speed?
What are other peoples views?
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All bikes can handle the distance of any length sportive, the difference is likely to be how people maintain their bikes, rather than the bike itself.
Punctures can happen to anyone, though use light tyres and the likelyhood is you will suffer more.0 -
I've been suprised a few times recently to hear what are quite expensive bikes sounding like a bag of spanners. I'm not the most meticulous person regarding maintenence by any means by some people must just prefer to keep riding until something fails completely.0
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The state people often keep their rather expensive bikes is shocking, that combined with the general tendency to underengineer every part common in the industry and there's your answerleft the forum March 20230
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I thought that maintenance would be the key to this.
When I was riding on Sunday in the Shropshire Hills Sportive I was surprised at the noises coming from some bikes.
I rode most of the way with a guy whose chain was catching on the front derailleur in most of the high gears.
I think it's strange that many have expensive bikes but don't take the time to get them serviced. I clean and oil mine usually once a fortnight minimum.
As for punctures I don't ride with slick tyres. It may make me a bit slower but they last a whole lot longer
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The state people often keep their rather expensive bikes is shocking
does sadly sometimes seem that way, squeaking chains thro` no lube is quite common, inability to mend punctures is something else I`ve seen.0 -
verylonglegs wrote:I've been suprised a few times recently to hear what are quite expensive bikes sounding like a bag of spanners. I'm not the most meticulous person regarding maintenence by any means by some people must just prefer to keep riding until something fails completely.
I don't know if it is an expensive bike thing but I came across a guy in all the gear with a Pinarello in tears by the roadside once day. "me bikes broken, me bikes broken" he told me. I took a look and the chain had come off! Pushed the front mech over to the big cog and turned the pedals and voila! Broken bike fixed.
I should have offered to swap it with my old bike but it was too small.BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
Instagramme0 -
I was amazed the other week non the Dragon Ride at the number of folks doing it who had rusty/unoiled chains. Sounded almost as painful as when my chain snapped on one of the hills before the first feed stop. Thankfully I was carrying a couple of powerlocks!Allez Triple (hairy with mudguards) - FCN 4
Ribble Gran Fondo0 -
Dodgerdog wrote:I was amazed the other week non the Dragon Ride at the number of folks doing it who had rusty/unoiled chains. Sounded almost as painful as when my chain snapped on one of the hills before the first feed stop. Thankfully I was carrying a couple of powerlocks
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Der Kaiser wrote:I rode most of the way with a guy whose chain was catching on the front derailleur in most of the high gears.
I wasn't that man but I did ride the Virgin Money Cyclone is a similar condition. I'm quite new to bike maintenance and was convinced it was my pedals making the racket. I re-lubed them the night before the event but was puzzled when I found that hadn't cured it. The mechanic on the start line put me straight and I honestly would never have guessed that was the cause. I wasn't even aware a chain could end up doing this.
I've been riding for about 2 years and I can fix one or two things that go wrong, but not much. I'm sure there are other riders on sportives with less skills than me who don't even know there's a problem, or have no idea how to fix it anyway and assume that bikes do that or theirs is just a bit crap in some way.0 -
jhop wrote:Dodgerdog wrote:I was amazed the other week non the Dragon Ride at the number of folks doing it who had rusty/unoiled chains. Sounded almost as painful as when my chain snapped on one of the hills before the first feed stop. Thankfully I was carrying a couple of powerlocks
