PeteH

1,929 reputation

210

bio	website
	location	New Forest, UK
	age
visits	member for	10 months
	seen	7 hours ago
stats	profile views	27

I work in London and commute between the station and my office, on a Charge plug single speed. Home is a rural area in the south of England, where I keep four bikes - a Giant TCR Adv road bike (fun), a Dawes audax bike (winter, touring, commuting), a Boardman hardtail (off-roading) and an authentic Dutch Omafiets (granny bike, for tootling down to the shops). 90% of my riding is on the road, I just found I prefer tarmac/speed. I've also done some track riding (awesome) and am eager to spend more time in the velodrome.

Got back on my bike in 2008 to put a stop to middle-age spread. But as well as being very successful as regards weight loss/fitness side, I've also rediscovered "fun" aspect and this is my main motivator nowadays.

I do my own bike maintenance, where possible, and am also a motorist.

	1,929 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	10 months
210 badges		location	New Forest, UK		seen	7 hours ago

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7h	comment	How to clean a combination bike lock? Write it off as a bad investment maybe, and buy a more substantial lock ;-) Seriously, you might have some joy with WD-40, certainly don't think it would do any harm.
8h	answered	Is there legal recourse to drivers passing too close?
8h	comment	Guidance for buying large double saddle panniers you specifically want this style? I had something like these years ago from Decathlon (never tested with big load) but moved on to an independent pannier on each side, which clipped directly to the frame, these seem more common nowadays.
1d	comment	How much do components really matter for a non-competitive rider? I also test rode Sora and would tend to agree. My audax/touring bike however has a Tiagra groupset and this is perfectly useable. Nowhere near as nice a ride as my carbon/ultegra ride but a fraction of the price. Had a quick look on a uk site and tiagra comes in at about 75% of the 105, Sora at about 50% of the 105.
1d	comment	How much do components really matter for a non-competitive rider? To further your use of the Shimano groupsets, I would say you could certainly go further down at least one level (to Tiagra), possibly two levels (to Sora), and possibly further (don't know), before you come to a point where you look at the components and you might say, "that level of quality isn't good enough".
1d	accepted	What tools are required to replace a spoke?
1d	comment	What tools are required to replace a spoke? Just as well I ordered a bunch then. But can you believe I had to order them from the US? I've just discovered the perils of "designer" wheels - sourcing the exotic spare parts look to be a nightmare. I've assumed my best bet is to replace like for like, and for these particular spokes, the best my LBS will do is to order a box of 72 for me - at a cost of about USD150! But as my mate pointed out, at least then I'd have 71 spare spokes. From a site in the US I was at least able to order them singly, and to get spares for the other lengths in the wheelset.
1d	comment	What tools are required to replace a spoke? ha, sorry Gary, my comment was unclear. I understand you, I was just trying to get a handle on roughly how frequently the average rear wheel will go through spokes / will need rebuilding.
1d	comment	rebuild shimano wheel I've been going through my own wheel problems at the moment, trying to get spare parts for a fancy wheelset. But you should take heart from my experience - I chatted to a mechanic yesterday and he said that his shop will now only stock Shimano wheels on the basis that these are the only manufacturer that they can reliably source spare parts. That seemed quite scary to me, but that's what he said. His priority is not sales, but after-sales.
1d	comment	What is the reason for starting before the traffic light turns green? ah.....if I had a penny for every time I've seen a car stop in the waiting area.... If only this were enforced.
1d	comment	What tools are required to replace a spoke? +1 for the 3/4, gives me a sense of perspective. Not looking for an excuse, per se, but I do like to be self-sufficient when it comes to my bikes. I'm happy to spend time working on them and to learn about them along the way - I figure I've got maybe 30 years riding left in me, that's long enough for me to spin tool purchases as an investment! So I may or may not.....I'm sorted re cassette removal, this is something I've done a few times before.
1d	comment	What tools are required to replace a spoke? You may have something there - the chain came off the top and into the spokes very early on. (I'd bought a new cassette for the new wheel and the "old" derailleur needed its limit tweaking.) I'll check the other spokes on that side. Thanks
2d	revised	What tools are required to replace a spoke? edited tags
2d	comment	What tools are required to replace a spoke? how far, ball park, have you ridden on a wheel before you've broken five of its spokes? Just to give me an idea.
2d	revised	What tools are required to replace a spoke? edited body
2d	comment	What tools are required to replace a spoke? when you say "look for reasons why the spoke failed", are you saying that what I see when I examine the broken spoke might give some indication as to what made it fail? Can you perhaps elaborate?
2d	revised	What tools are required to replace a spoke? added 309 characters in body
2d	asked	What tools are required to replace a spoke?
Jun 15	comment	What causes uneven wear on cleats? +1 because this is my experience too. I find it strange that cleats would wear unevenly, never even considered it until Op asked question
Jun 15	comment	I'm worried about my derailleur snapping. The chain isn't running around the bottom pulley, it's running next to it You do have time - 20 hours to be precise. I have removed "London" tag since really the focus of the question should be your dodgy chain.