The "Show off your bike" thread!
Discussion
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was an ebay £87 barn find...picked this up saturday.
spend 5hrs degreasing and de-horse-hairing!!!!
2 new inner tubes...and a 30mile ride sunday...
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feels like a speed machine compaired to my daily Trek hybrid...
but the sadle feels like its been implanted after a 2hr trip!!!
hahaha....and my back......
hahah must be getting to old, to fat, etc...
or all of the above
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removed the rest of the aero kit bars...and just left the part you can see in the photo.
would ideally like to get some std bars for it...but will see how i get on with it.
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when getting back on the trek from the butler it felt like i was on a cushion of air....the butler with its 700x23c tyres over poor tarmac..wow my vision went fuzzy.
Edited by PAUL RUN on Tuesday 13th May 15:29
Changing gear looks like a pain!
I had the same model while back, it made great winter stead. The frame spacing is quite tight, so the biggest tyres that will fit are 25mm which was a worthwhile upgrade.
Edited to add - I had a big problem with spoke tension on those Vuelta wheels, make sure you keep an eye on them if you don't want them to fail on a ride
I had the same model while back, it made great winter stead. The frame spacing is quite tight, so the biggest tyres that will fit are 25mm which was a worthwhile upgrade.
Edited to add - I had a big problem with spoke tension on those Vuelta wheels, make sure you keep an eye on them if you don't want them to fail on a ride
Edited by Spyder5 on Wednesday 14th May 01:57
spyder, many thanks for the tips.
i rode the bike to work today, and whilst i had a higher top speed and knocked a few mins off the trip, I found myself not enjoying the ride as much as on my hybrid.
on flat tarmac it feels amazing, but the broken up mess i feel very nervous..
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spokes, are they meant to have a couple of mm of flex in the middle?
might be best for me to get it serviced for peace of mind.
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my last road bike...was when we all called them "racers" and I had a 12 speed Raleigh Arena..and back then they didn't use normal bar tape but foam tubes.
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hmm think i might try drop bars...and see if that improves the feel, i guess it will always be nervous and twichy compaired to my hybrid bike...
i rode the bike to work today, and whilst i had a higher top speed and knocked a few mins off the trip, I found myself not enjoying the ride as much as on my hybrid.
on flat tarmac it feels amazing, but the broken up mess i feel very nervous..
.
spokes, are they meant to have a couple of mm of flex in the middle?
might be best for me to get it serviced for peace of mind.
.
my last road bike...was when we all called them "racers" and I had a 12 speed Raleigh Arena..and back then they didn't use normal bar tape but foam tubes.
.
hmm think i might try drop bars...and see if that improves the feel, i guess it will always be nervous and twichy compaired to my hybrid bike...
Edited by PAUL RUN on Wednesday 14th May 08:35
PAUL RUN said:
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was an ebay £87 barn find...picked this up saturday.
spend 5hrs degreasing and de-horse-hairing!!!!
2 new inner tubes...and a 30mile ride sunday...
.
feels like a speed machine compaired to my daily Trek hybrid...
but the sadle feels like its been implanted after a 2hr trip!!!
hahaha....and my back......
hahah must be getting to old, to fat, etc...
or all of the above
.
removed the rest of the aero kit bars...and just left the part you can see in the photo.
would ideally like to get some std bars for it...but will see how i get on with it.
.
when getting back on the trek from the butler it felt like i was on a cushion of air....the butler with its 700x23c tyres over poor tarmac..wow my vision went fuzzy.
Those are drop bar shifters, on upside down, cut-down, drop bars. The Claud Butler Milano was sold as a standard drop bar road bike. All you need to return it to 'standard' is a new set of drops and some bar tape.
Did you 'flip' the stem? Or was it like that when you bought it? I only ask because it seems silly for the previous owner to go to the trouble of flipping and cutting down the bars, only to have such a 'non-aero' stem height. Proper bar-end shifters and separate brakes would have been a better solution to make that bike more suitable for TT/Triathlon use. I would suggest you stick with your plan to get a set of drop bars and turn it back into a 'roadie'.
The only other time I've seen an arrangement like yours was an elderly couple, who'd done it because they were both in their 80s and could no longer realistically reach the drops for normal riding, but they had retained far more of an 'upturn' on their cut down bars, so the angle to the shifters was still comfortable.
Still. A nice looking bike, and a bit of a bargain if this... http://www.thegreenbikecompany.co.uk/Default.aspx?... ...is any kind of comparison.
donfisher said:
yellowjack said:
Those are drop bar shifters, on upside down, cut-down, drop bars.
They look like normal bullhorns to me. The bullhorn bars look very similar to the ones I have on my Single-speed, I have bar-end brake levers which work quite well. A bit like this pic (I can't upload a pic from my own right now). Brake cables are routed under the tapes and emerge near the stem clamp.
The reason I put them on was: I was given the bike for nothing after mine was stolen, it was a bit too small with the drop bars and the gears were knackered. So the bangernomics (manmaths) solution was to single speed and extend the reach. It works well for me / my size, on my London commute. There are 3 or 4 hand positions, so plenty variability in grip and back angle. Enough room for a Sram Garmin ahead mount clamp and a light.
The reason I put them on was: I was given the bike for nothing after mine was stolen, it was a bit too small with the drop bars and the gears were knackered. So the bangernomics (manmaths) solution was to single speed and extend the reach. It works well for me / my size, on my London commute. There are 3 or 4 hand positions, so plenty variability in grip and back angle. Enough room for a Sram Garmin ahead mount clamp and a light.
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looked like this the day i bought it...
as of 8am this morning i bought some secondhand drop bars...and later will order some NOT PINK..
handle bar tape...
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i'd never seen these bars before. but rather new to road bikes. and google seems to flag up bull horns with of course different gears, rather than the last owner using the standard ones..
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another as bought...
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I really value all your advice chaps. I thought i might get shot down in flames for showing this...but many thanks....
another funny aspect to this mish mash of pasts..is...turn the bars more than 45degs..and hey presto rear braking....yep cables being standard are to short..
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but as mentioned by another poster. as soon as i can get it back to standard it should fix most of the problems...hahaha...
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plans...
either to use this or my trek hybrid for the 90mile oxford to cambridge ride in sept...a challenge yes...but wow would be fun to say i completed it on a £87 bike...about the same as the boss here puts in his petrol tank...haha..
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thanks again chaps for the advice.
oh. any input on bar tape...apart from checking raitings on amazon i'm once again glueless....
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just found this thread...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Edited by PAUL RUN on Wednesday 14th May 14:48
PAUL RAN said :
plans...
either to use this or my trek hybrid for the 90mile oxford to cambridge ride in sept...a challenge yes...but wow would be fun to say i completed it on a £87 bike...about the same as the boss here puts in his petrol tank...haha..
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Did that a few years ago, great ride through the countryside but a bit lonely for the first 80miles if solo.
plans...
either to use this or my trek hybrid for the 90mile oxford to cambridge ride in sept...a challenge yes...but wow would be fun to say i completed it on a £87 bike...about the same as the boss here puts in his petrol tank...haha..
--
Did that a few years ago, great ride through the countryside but a bit lonely for the first 80miles if solo.
yellowjack said:
But it would shock me if it were comfortable to use that shifter arrangement at that angle.
I see one of these often on the way to work: 
I'd imagine that for using the brakes and shifters it's completely fine - it just looks awkward because they're designed to be able to be used from both the hoods or the front of the drops. If you're not using the hoods then having them in tha position might be more comfortable than using them the normal way from the drops - depding on how the bars are angled.
PAUL RUN said:
spokes, are they meant to have a couple of mm of flex in the middle?
might be best for me to get it serviced for peace of mind.
The spokes should make a nice ping when twanged like a guitar string and ideally all sound similar. A dull thud is a loose spoke that will need sorting.might be best for me to get it serviced for peace of mind.
Edited by PAUL RUN on Wednesday 14th May 08:35
Get some proper bars on there and get in a comfortable position and you'll settle down on the bike, keeping your shoulders relaxed and loosen the grip on the bars will steady it up.
yellowjack said:
MadDad said:
Quite fond of this shot taken last week in Southern Spain at about 8 in the morning before setting off on a hundred miler.....
Stop it right now. I can hear that poor chain screaming for mercy!!
MadDad said:
Almost as much as my legs did.........sat at home misty eyed wishing I could do it all again!!
I'm sat at home wishing I could 'do it' (cycling, that is ) at all.The new physio has warned me off cycling until she's had a chance to 'fix' things. Several weeks, at least, is her estimate...
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