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All purpose cycling thread 2022

I think I will get up early on Tuesday to ride, I guarantee there will be some idiots on the chain gang in the evening.

Had great ride this morning, love the sunshine, makes me happy.
 
Some years ago a mate who was a professional bike/race mechanic used to call Cannondale "Crack'n'fail".
 
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Some years ago a mate who was a professional bike/race mechanic used to call Cannondale "Crank'en'fail".
They are utterly crap bikes now. Cranks, forks, cheap Freehubs etc would never buy another.

IME you are far better off with Canyon or Specialized.
 
Anyone following the Transcontinental race? https://www.transcontinental.cc An unsupported race from the Belgium coast to the Black Sea. Winner expected to arrive in 8 days.
Last years winner Fiona Kolbinger had her purse and tracker stolen last night as she slept. She had to take time out of the race to report it at a Police station. Purse has been returned but not the tracker! She'll be able to pick a new one up at the second check point. Inside reports suggest that the thief also stole three Snicker bars from her! Glad she's well and still racing. Could have been so much worse.
 
Anyone following the Transcontinental race? https://www.transcontinental.cc An unsupported race from the Belgium coast to the Black Sea. Winner expected to arrive in 8 days.
Last years winner Fiona Kolbinger had her purse and tracker stolen last night as she slept. She had to take time out of the race to report it at a Police station. Purse has been returned but not the tracker! She'll be able to pick a new one up at the second check point. Inside reports suggest that the thief also stole three Snicker bars from her! Glad she's well and still racing. Could have been so much worse.
A mate of mine did it a few years ago, did it in 14 days, it’s a hell of a thing. Most don’t finish with the 15 day limit. Not my cup of tea.
 
A friend of mine did it a few years ago. An immensely competent cyclist. He abandoned after a couple of close passes which he described as drivers, on the early shift, taking the same lines they take day in day out, not seeing him and by sheer chance not colliding.
For me long distance styling is about soaking up the countryside, stopping, fuelling on beige food etc. The TCR crowd are a different breed. I need my sleep! This year a mate is volunteering at one of the check points so he can secure a place next year. Another rider from my club is currently in the top 30/40.
 
Starting from Hampstead today I took on The Tour De Sth London !. Taking the scenic route of A 24 ( ha ) I passed such gems as Oval, Stockwell,
Various Clapham s, Tooting Bec, Tooting, Colliers Wood, Sth Wimbledon, Morden.... might of missed a few.... northern line tube stn s !
Better than it sounds, as its reasonably ish bike friendly, and nice to go urban sometimes. Was hoping to make Epsom Downs, but started a bit late so
had to shelve that this time. Condor. single speed ( potenza ) bike. Love it
 
For me travelling south out of London, via Dulwich and West Wickham is the best way to quickly get to the lanes etc. Riding though Richmond Park, Kingston and on to Windsor isn't bad either. East through Epping Forest is ok. Travelling due North always seems to take forever to get out of town!
Bike lanes in London have enhanced the infrastructure over the last decade or so. Some of them are marvellous!
 
For me travelling south out of London, via Dulwich and West Wickham is the best way to quickly get to the lanes etc. Riding though Richmond Park, Kingston and on to Windsor isn't bad either. East through Epping Forest is ok. Travelling due North always seems to take forever to get out of town!
Bike lanes in London have enhanced the infrastructure over the last decade or so. Some of them are marvellous!
Yes, some of them are marvellous. Could try the Dulwich route, maybe having a blond moment ha, but what's the lanes ?. Hampstead to Epping, or Richmond Park is all good.
But as you say Nth is more awkward and bit hillier. Enjoy
 
Cannondale
They are utterly crap bikes now. Cranks, forks, cheap Freehubs etc would never buy another.

IME you are far better off with Canyon or Specialized.
I'm inclined to agree. I have a bike I got second-hand with what were obviously nearly new, almost unused Cannondale wheels. They were obviously entry level quality but even bearing this in mind they were pretty poor, I had to rebuild the bearings after very little use. A few hundred miles, at best.
 
Cannondale

I'm inclined to agree. I have a bike I got second-hand with what were obviously nearly new, almost unused Cannondale wheels. They were obviously entry level quality but even bearing this in mind they were pretty poor, I had to rebuild the bearings after very little use. A few hundred miles, at best.
Had a new Freehub fitted after less than 6 weeks, it went again about a week later. Wheels are a problem on all modern bikes, just basic crap to save costs but Cannondale add on other problems with their crappy cranks & bottom bracket.
 
I can only add to the bad experience of stock wheels on cannondale/GT bikes. The wheels on my GT grade gravel bike were rubbish, spoke tension all over the place, wheels kept going out of true, freehub grinding after no time. I swapped them out for some DT Swiss wheels and since then , no issues.

the PF30 bottom bracket has been faultless though.

for those who don’t know, GT bikes is a sister company of cannondale and they share a lot of OEM parts.
 
Had a new Freehub fitted after less than 6 weeks, it went again about a week later. Wheels are a problem on all modern bikes, just basic crap to save costs but Cannondale add on other problems with their crappy cranks & bottom bracket.
Cheap bottom brackets have been a fixture for decades, nobody can read the numbers when they are fitted and if they pack up inside a year, heigh ho. Most won't, because people buying consumer grade bikes simply won't use them enough. Decent wheels are expensive, especially so as a fraction of the overall price on a bike costing under £500 fully built. That said, you shouldn't be able to kill 2 freehubs in 6 weeks.

I can only add to the bad experience of stock wheels on cannondale/GT bikes. The wheels on my GT grade gravel bike were rubbish, spoke tension all over the place, wheels kept going out of true, freehub grinding after no time. I swapped them out for some DT Swiss wheels and since then , no issues.
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So you would hope given the difference in price. "I had a Ford Fiesta, it was rubbish. Worn out at 80k miles, rubbish to drive and no performance. So I replaced it with a BMW 5 series, 50,000 miles, no drama. Lovely car. Only cost me £35k".
 
Well yes, but i think the point that woodface made is that some companies eg canyon spec good quality wheels that don’t need swapping out, thus offering much better value for money.
 
On the subject of bike wheels I just picked up a near mint of Campagnolo Vento 20 spoke "aero" wheels from the mid 1990s for just over £100 on Craigslist (US equivalent of gumtree).
https://www.velobase.com/ViewComponent.aspx?ID=4DDFCBE3-A55E-46A3-9474-766D4FEF4B3C
I must be one of the very few folks still running 8 speed Campagnolo so it's good to have a spare set of wheels - though these are bit bling.
Campagnolo-Vento-Clincher-Vintage-Wheelset-1_480x.jpg
 
Well yes, but i think the point that woodface made is that some companies eg canyon spec good quality wheels that don’t need swapping out, thus offering much better value for money.
When you pay £2300 for a Caad13 with 105 disc brakes you would think that there would be some room for a decent set of wheels. I would have replaced them anyway but would have liked to get 6 months out of them. What irks is that they use DTSwiss rims & shoehorn the crappest formula hubs into them. It’s incredibly devious.
 
When you pay £2300 for a Caad13 with 105 disc brakes you would think that there would be some room for a decent set of wheels. I would have replaced them anyway but would have liked to get 6 months out of them. What irks is that they use DTSwiss rims & shoehorn the crappest formula hubs into them. It’s incredibly devious.
That is pretty poor. We all know that the bike brands cost engineer their bikes, some will fit a cheap set of wheels in order to be able to fit 105 or Ultegra at a price point, some will fit bling wheels and make do with a lower groupset. As ever, it's a choice. I've only ever bought 2 new bikes, my old MTB bought in the mid 90's had Shimano STX (woo-hoo, not bad!) and decent wheels at a similar price level (Parallax hubs, decent rims) but cheaped out on the seatpin, saddle, bars, tyres, headset bearings and BB. Clever move, the bits you could see looked good. Similarly my road bike had 105 groupset and nice carbon forks but some no-brand brakes, cheap wheels and whatever else. The marketing guys know what bits will increase sales. At the end of the day if you want a bike for £1000 you aren't going to get a £500 set of wheels on it. North of £2k I would expect better treatment, however.
 


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