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My new bicycle

chainrule said:
if it works, don't change it. but, if you want the transition between the bar and hood to be flatter, you could always get a stem with less rise, and rotate the bars upward, something like this...
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I think I’ve got it right for my bar type and taste now. Initially I was trying to set it up something like your picture, but mine are old-school ‘round’ not ‘ergo’ bars, so work very differently - the curve of the bar is just totally different. This means my brakes need to be in a different position relative to the tops to enable proper access in the drops etc. It took me a while to really figure this out, but I’ve now got the drop position really comfortable. I can now happily ride on the bottom section of the drops and it is easy to hook a finger up onto the brakes, so I’ve got a good safe fast descent position. I think I have the right balance between hood angle and drop access now, - if I rotate the bars either way from where they are now it starts to feel wrong.

PS The 3T carbon bars have a fair bit of spring to them once you are down in the drops, so its quite nice and smooth down there!
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
Dan,

Funny that you mention a Van Nicholas Yukon.
Here's a pic of mine on Brighton seafront earlier this year:
mikesbike.jpg


Mine replaced a damage Giant cf road bike and I love my Yukon. Very comfortable and reasonably fast.
Note that the spec has changed a little since that photo.
Still has my B17 special seat, the changes include:
- Move to a 105 50/34 front gear set and Ultegra 32/11 rear cassette, which makes hills a LOT easier
- The rear pannier collapsed, so that cheapo one was replaced by a really cool Tortec velocity unit
- Replaced the cheapo wheels with a pair of handbuilt ones from Pearsons cycles, who happen to be based in my local town

All in all, pretty damn close to my perfect bike. Not sure what else I could sensibly do to it to improve it.
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Zombie thread alert ...

I am considering the option of a rim brake Van Nicholas Yukon frame and fork as an upgrade to my winter/utility road bike.

Do you (or anyone else reading this) know if this frame has clearance for 32mm tyres without mudguards?

I would normally expect any frame designed to use long reach calipers to have clearance for 28mm tyres with mudguards and 32mm without, but the specs for this frame only quote max clearance with mudguards.

Cheers
 
Just asked a mate who had one.

He always ran it with mudguards and stuggled to get a 28mm on the front and thought the fork was a poor design in this respect. So he thinks no chance on the front, but he thinks it maybe possible on the rear.

However, I run these Brake Calipers and imported this fork from the States for my own bike. They're not cheap, but much cheaper than what would essentialy need to be a new bike to have wider tyres, as it would otherwise mean a switch to disks.

The fork claims a max tyre width of 35mm and I use 32mm's with plenty of space left. The brakes are the best long drops too, highly recommended.
 
All that plus less complex and easy to setup. Infact the mate I mentioned above who sold the Van Nick bike, the last WhatsApp message I got was this along with a video of a rotating squeaky wheel:

Keep your calipers. Long term view - Discs rub terribly.... when they are set up correctly then fine, but for a SUBSTANTIAL time they rub. True, stopping power is quite a bit better - but only on hydraulics, which are then not possible to adjust on the road. Pads are invisible.... gggrrrhhh. With the faaar inferior fork, im telling you that they aren't an "upgrade". This is what I was riding for the last 40k yesterday..... shocking I think you will agree :
 
halvis said:
Just asked a mate who had one.

He always ran it with mudguards and stuggled to get a 28mm on the front and thought the fork was a poor design in this respect. So he thinks no chance on the front, but he thinks it maybe possible on the rear.

However, I run these Brake Calipers and imported this fork from the States for my own bike. They're not cheap, but much cheaper than what would essentialy need to be a new bike to have wider tyres, as it would otherwise mean a switch to disks.

The fork claims a max tyre width of 35mm and I use 32mm's with plenty of space left. The brakes are the best long drops too, highly recommended.
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Cheers. I may stick with my steel 'mudguards and racks' frame and forks for now then. Plenty of clearance for 32mm tyres without mudguards and it has front rack braze ons.
 
halvis said:
All that plus less complex and easy to setup. Infact the mate I mentioned above who sold the Van Nick bike, the last WhatsApp message I got was this along with a video of a rotating squeaky wheel:

Keep your calipers. Long term view - Discs rub terribly.... when they are set up correctly then fine, but for a SUBSTANTIAL time they rub. True, stopping power is quite a bit better - but only on hydraulics, which are then not possible to adjust on the road. Pads are invisible.... gggrrrhhh. With the faaar inferior fork, im telling you that they aren't an "upgrade". This is what I was riding for the last 40k yesterday..... shocking I think you will agree :
Click to expand...
Like triple groupsets, caliper brakes offer a few niche advantages. I bet your friend is running SRAM/Avid hydraulic discs, though. They're bloody awful.
 
Not a massive fan of discs but it’s where the market is, rims are very much on the out. Brakes are generally reliable though, it’s everything else that’s a bother.
 
halvis said:
All that plus less complex and easy to setup. Infact the mate I mentioned above who sold the Van Nick bike, the last WhatsApp message I got was this along with a video of a rotating squeaky wheel:

Keep your calipers. Long term view - Discs rub terribly.... when they are set up correctly then fine, but for a SUBSTANTIAL time they rub. True, stopping power is quite a bit better - but only on hydraulics, which are then not possible to adjust on the road. Pads are invisible.... gggrrrhhh. With the faaar inferior fork, im telling you that they aren't an "upgrade". This is what I was riding for the last 40k yesterday..... shocking I think you will agree :
Click to expand...
I run road bikes with rim brakes and with hydro discs and my experience doesn't really match the above - although it might depend on the brakes concerned (and perhaps also how well they've been set-up).

My bike with Ultegra discs has needed zero maintenance of the brakes so far (and I've had it for years) and the difference in braking power even in the dry is immense. Control is also a lot better - I can do rolling stoppies on that bike no problem at all. It's true it'd be more difficult to adjust the brakes on the road but then (unlike with rim brakes) I've never had to. I've also never had any brake rubbing issues.

Having said that I do mostly use my rim braked bike (which also has Ultegra brakes) in the winter - just really because it's my older bike and the disc braked one is my "best bike". So I don't really have anything against rim brakes on road bikes although I'm really glad they're a thing of the past for mountain bikes - I recall the days when a set of rim brake pads wouldn't last through a single ride in some conditions.
 
SteveG said:
- I recall the days when a set of rim brake pads wouldn't last through a single ride in some conditions.
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So do I, in fact I still have that (1995) bike. It's still a decent MTB trail bike, handles well and the only thing about it that's not up to modern standards is the V rim brakes.It's OK for commuting but you can expect to kill a rim every 5 years or so. As I've said elsewhere, I wouldn't fit rim brakes to any "nice" bike other than an ultralight roadie, or they are OK for commuting. I used to have a stock of old rear wheels that I used to fit to wear out on the commuter, I've recently fitted a NOS one I got cheap and that will probably see the bike (and me!) out unless I get some work where I use it a lot.
 
In case I have not posted here. My bike of 22 years is a rare Dawes One Down with 631 tubes and 26" wheels with ceramic coated rims with rim V-Brakes, never wear out but "fun" in the wet. A sort of rough stuff tourer. Why is itcalled "One Down" Well in the day they also had a Tandem called " Two Across". Clearly a wag in Dawes in a fit of whimsey? One of the last Dawes I think made in the UK, before sold to the Dutch? It has RSX bits and pieces that have stood the test of time
 
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