basscyclist thread picture thread

[turf3]

@pie_man_25 Aha, it's one of those things. As it turns out a US or metric size bolt that's just long enough, a nut, and washers on both sides, will do the trick. I must have a couple of those in my bin, in which case I can just send you one.

Except he posted a picture of the serrated clamp bits and they're worn flat.

You can put a grade 12.9 bolt in there and tighten with a 6 foot cheater bar till it stretches to 99% of yield strength, and it ain't gonna hold the seat level. You have to have a new clamp with new sharp serrations.

 

[turf3]

Except he posted a picture of the serrated clamp bits and they're worn flat.

You can put a grade 12.9 bolt in there and tighten with a 6 foot cheater bar till it stretches to 99% of yield strength, and it ain't gonna hold the seat level. You have to have a new clamp with new sharp serrations.

Also, the size of the seat post the clamp slips over is not standardized. Most of the clamps come with a bushing that you can knock out if you don't need it, but there are oddballs that need oddball clamps. You're gonna have to take a Saturday morning and go down to the shop.

 

[turf3]

Yeah that makes sense. Only problem is, the bike shops close at 5 and I tend to work until about then.

also, tracking on the bolts now, honestly I've never really sized the bolts by the size of the bolts, only ever the heads, kinda figured they were pretty well standardized that way ngl. Thanks for the corrections and the advice, though, I'm happy to learn!

Threaded fasteners are sized by the major diameter of the threaded portion. Heads and nuts come in multiple standard sizes and additional non standard sizes.

 

[pie_man_25]

Except he posted a picture of the serrated clamp bits and they're worn flat.

You can put a grade 12.9 bolt in there and tighten with a 6 foot cheater bar till it stretches to 99% of yield strength, and it ain't gonna hold the seat level. You have to have a new clamp with new sharp serrations.

as much as I don't want to buy another whole part, I honestly can't say from observation that I disagree with you there, the faces are just too worn out.

 

[J_Bass]

as much as I don't want to buy another whole part, I honestly can't say from observation that I disagree with you there, the faces are just too worn out.

You can just buy a new seat post with an integrated seat clamp, as someone already suggested.
And it won't cost much, like 15 or 20 dollars.

 

[pie_man_25]

You can just buy a new seat post with an integrated seat clamp, as someone already suggested.
And it won't cost much, like 15 or 20 dollars.

Honestly, it's less the cost of the item, more the cost of the bike I'd put it on, it's not worth much.

 

[turf3]

Well, when you get rid of the bike, strip off the good bits and put them into your "bike stuff" box like all the rest of us old roadies. That's why I'm the only person around riding a $140 list price Schwinn "Gambit" with a Campagnolo Super Record seatpost and a $40 Phil Wood track cog lockring (yeah, that was eye-wateringly expensive).

 

[J_Bass]

Also behind every cheap bike with un-available spares, is a cheap bike that's been converted to single speed. For this reason I place a premium on frames with horizontal dropouts.

Yes!

Well, when you get rid of the bike, strip off the good bits and put them into your "bike stuff" box like all the rest of us old roadies. That's why I'm the only person around riding a $140 list price Schwinn "Gambit" with a Campagnolo Super Record seatpost and a $40 Phil Wood track cog lockring (yeah, that was eye-wateringly expensive).

I hear you! The only thing original on my SS is the frame and fork. Everything else is from my stock, haha!

Well, almost everything. The only thing I bought for that bike was the ss chain tensioner.

The SLR seat alone cost more than the whole bike. It migrated from my mtb.

 

[Mark Reccord]

Yes, it’s hard to have nice things when you live in the salt belt.
It’s just brutal here. Cars just melt away. There’s a stretch of road in the Adirondack Mountains that is one of the most heavily salted roads in the northeast. It’s studied regularly to measure the impact on the surrounding environment. Don’t get stuck behind a salter. It’ll shoot your eye out.

We have the double whammy here. Salt in the atmosphere from being on an island surrounded by an often angry North Atlantic, always windy with frequent gales plus an average of about 12' of snow per winter so loads and loads of road salt too. My mom's house overlooks a bay but she's like a km from the water. She has to clean the salt off her windows after any southwesterly-northwesterly gale. Cars rust outrageously fast. I don't ride bikes on the road or carry them on racks in the winter. Way too much salt.

 

[pie_man_25]

We have the double whammy here. Salt in the atmosphere from being on an island surrounded by an often angry North Atlantic, always windy with frequent gales plus an average of about 12' of snow per winter so loads and loads of road salt too. My mom's house overlooks a bay but she's like a km from the water. She has to clean the salt off her windows after any southwesterly-northwesterly gale. Cars rust outrageously fast. I don't ride bikes on the road or carry them on racks in the winter. Way too much salt.

I've been told Newfoundland is gorgeous, though. I still want to visit L'Anse aux Meadows.

 

[pie_man_25]

Well, when you get rid of the bike, strip off the good bits and put them into your "bike stuff" box like all the rest of us old roadies. That's why I'm the only person around riding a $140 list price Schwinn "Gambit" with a Campagnolo Super Record seatpost and a $40 Phil Wood track cog lockring (yeah, that was eye-wateringly expensive).

Might be sooner rather than later, a guy literally on my block is selling a decent trek frame for $25 with a BB intact. I already know both frames use V-brakes, but I'd need to get a fork and wheels.

 

[fdeck]

Might be sooner rather than later, a guy literally on my block is selling a decent trek frame for $25 with a BB intact. I already know both frames use V-brakes, but I'd need to get a fork and wheels.

If it's your size, grab it. Fork and wheels can be waited for. Cantis are better.

 

[fdeck]

Here are a couple more parts bikes. This is my "fun" bike, for cruising around town, going to the opera, etc.

This is my winter bike: Studded tires, 3 speed coaster hub, chainguard and fenders.

 

[pie_man_25]

If it's your size, grab it. Fork and wheels can be waited for. Cantis are better.

You're oddly not the first I've heard to say that. What makes cantis so special? My high school bike has caliper brakes, they work fine enough. My current one has Vs. I've ridden a bike briefly that had disc brakes. Some might be better than others but I guess I don't have much of a preference other than that disc brakes wouldn't require me having to true up the wheels every few weeks.

Also, nice rides, are they both fixed? Chain guards have a cool aesthetic.

 

[fdeck]

You're oddly not the first I've heard to say that. What makes cantis so special? My high school bike has caliper brakes, they work fine enough. My current one has Vs. I've ridden a bike briefly that had disc brakes. Some might be better than others but I guess I don't have much of a preference other than that disc brakes wouldn't require me having to true up the wheels every few weeks.

I just don't like v-brakes. At least, cheap ones. The bikes in my family's fleet that require the most brake maintenance are v-brakes. I find it hard to keep them centered, and I'm probably doing everything right. I think a problem is that on a lot of frames, especially shorter ones, it's hard to really have enough space to route the cable properly, so the housing is always tugging on the noodle.

But canti's can be mounted on the same posts. Granted, they're not always optimal for cable routing either. Two bikes in the fleet have canti's. This isn't deliberate, but just luck of the draw on old bikes that we happen to have.

I'm quite happy with modern Tektro dual pivot calipers, and my fun bike has an old Dia-Compe single pivot caliper that was their higher-end model, and it's fine. One of my bikes has mechanical discs, and those are fine too. It can be a bit of a coin toss as to whether disc brakes are quiet or noisy. Mine are reasonably quiet, the ones on my wife's Surly can be heard from a quarter mile away.

If wheels need constant truing, it's a sign that they were built with insufficient spoke tension. That's a known issue with machine built wheels. If it's not a super high end bike, you might be able to just give each spoke a half turn to increase the overall tension, next time you have to adjust the wheels. I build my own wheels, so it's somewhat a matter of pride, but mine rarely need adjustment. Like the intonation of my basses.

 

[pie_man_25]

I just don't like v-brakes. At least, cheap ones. The bikes in my family's fleet that require the most brake maintenance are v-brakes. I find it hard to keep them centered, and I'm probably doing everything right. I think a problem is that on a lot of frames, especially shorter ones, it's hard to really have enough space to route the cable properly, so the housing is always tugging on the noodle.

But canti's can be mounted on the same posts. Granted, they're not always optimal for cable routing either. Two bikes in the fleet have canti's. This isn't deliberate, but just luck of the draw on old bikes that we happen to have.

I'm quite happy with modern Tektro dual pivot calipers, and my fun bike has an old Dia-Compe single pivot caliper that was their higher-end model, and it's fine. One of my bikes has mechanical discs, and those are fine too. It can be a bit of a coin toss as to whether disc brakes are quiet or noisy. Mine are reasonably quiet, the ones on my wife's Surly can be heard from a quarter mile away.

If wheels need constant truing, it's a sign that they were built with insufficient spoke tension. That's a known issue with machine built wheels. If it's not a super high end bike, you might be able to just give each spoke a half turn to increase the overall tension, next time you have to adjust the wheels. I build my own wheels, so it's somewhat a matter of pride, but mine rarely need adjustment. Like the intonation of my basses.

Honestly with my bike, re the V brakes, I've found that the primary thing with proper adjustment comes down firstly to putting some grease onto the posts, as well as starting adjustment by zeroing all of the fine-tuning screws. Once I figured that out I've found that they keep pretty well. That might also just be a case of, "not knowing what I'm missing out on."

Re: the wheels, I'll have to keep that in mind for next time I need to true up the wheels, it might help.

 

[turf3]

One good thing about cantilever and V brakes (but it depends mightily on the design details and application) is that you can have the brake shoes further from the rim and still have plenty of cable pull, compared to centerpull and sidepull calipers. So the trueness of the wheels becomes less critical to avoiding rubbing.

I'm not a fan of disc brakes except for certain specific use cases - I don't like the stress on the fork nor the way the resolution of forces wants to yank the front wheel out of the dropouts. I still think that for 90% of road and light off road riding, rim brakes will be superior over the long haul. Certainly for a supplemental rear brake on a tandem used in the mountains, or for extreme off-roading where there's likely to be a lot of mud, the discs are a good choice.

 

[Mark Reccord]

I can't believe we're still talking about rim brakes in 2021... I've been using hydraulic discs for so long that I don't think I could even go rim brakes on a road bike at this point. Hydraulic discs are essential for any kind of technical mountain biking, not only because they work when it's wet. Even the best rim brakes don't have the power and modulation of even middle of the road discs. I remember riding steep DH sections with rim brakes, I'll stick with discs.

I've been told Newfoundland is gorgeous, though. I still want to visit L'Anse aux Meadows.

Oh it is but definitely best enjoyed in July or August. The rest of the year is a bit of a harsh mistress. L'Anse Aux Meadows is worth seeing but it's a hell of a drive from anywhere. We went up there this summer. I had been there before but it was the first time for my wife and kids. It's 12 hours drive from our home in St. John's... We split it up and spent a few days in Gros Morne on the way. Gros Morne is also worth the cash. It's absolutely stunning. We talked some people at L'Anse Aux Meadows that had ridden there from Nova Scotia on bikes.

These are the replica sod houses they build. Walls made of peat ~6' thick. The original site is back behind this one they restored it to as close to natural as possible. Below is Gros Morne Mountain from the approach trail. We did the summit. It's an 11 mile hike with 2600 vertical feet. The approach trail climbs from sea level to about 1000' over 3 miles, then the summit trail climbs the other 1600' in under half a mile (the trail goes up the gully on the right side of the pic). The last pic is from part way up the summit "trail."

 

[J_Bass]

I can't believe we're still talking about rim brakes in 2021... I've been using hydraulic discs for so long that I don't think I could even go rim brakes on a road bike at this point. Hydraulic discs are essential for any kind of technical mountain biking, not only because they work when it's wet. Even the best rim brakes don't have the power and modulation of even middle of the road discs. I remember riding steep DH sections with rim brakes, I'll stick with discs.

I'm with you, hydraulic disc brakes are much, much superior.

I use rim brakes on my SS, but it has less braking power than hydraulic discs, by a lot.

And if it's raining, or there's mud, forget it.

For city bikes, rim brakes work well, but for road, mtb, gravel, hydraulic discs are the best choice.

 

[elgecko]

Some pics from Sunday's gravel ride. 55 miles and 4,200' of elevation gain with 17 miles of dirt in the middle.