On 2/02/2011 7:44 PM, Owen wrote:
On Feb 2, 6:07 am, Geoff Lockglock@home wrote:
Yes, I am pretty sure why some ppl are wondering why a 12km walk is of
any significance in a newsgroup like aus.bicycle

In another day and age, I rode on some pretty lonely roads and always
carried a pair of walking boots, just in case. Eventually decided it
wasn't worth the trouble, and found I could walk a fair way in my
thongs.

Heheheh! I haven't tried riding me bike with thongs on and anyway thongs
are not allowed in the pub I go to after 2100 or something like that

Spare walking boots, eh? Hm. I suppose you normally wear them fancy
cycling footwear which clip onto your pedals. Damn! one of these days, I
am gonna buy some but they are not cheap - $240 on special for a pair I
saw the other day!!

But you are right, thongs can take one a long long way


The only unrepairable event was a cluster that went belly up and I had
to do about 40 Km in low gear. That was a pain. Broken axles seem to
hold together and chains are fixable if you have a chain tool.

40kms in low gear? You poor ******* - my commiserations.

How in the hell can you bugger up a gear cluster??!! I have stuffed up
front derailleurs and rear derailleurs but a gear cluster?? You had to
be trying real hard to do it!!

I hope broken axles and clusters are a thing of the past as I now have
cassette wheels with sealed bearings, what a god send.

Hm, recently spoke to Johnno at Europa, Kenso about sealed bearings for
me normal road bike (yes, I am still riding my spare bike, the
Cannondale, 2 weeks on) and it sounds like :-

1/ I'll have to replace my threaded hub with a freehub - yeah, I looked
up Wikipedia and I think I got it right

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cogset

2/ I'll have to chuck away my newish freewheel cogset and get a cassette
- a sheer waste but instead of a 7-speed, I could have a 9- or 10-speed

3/ I'll have to re-spoke(?) the whole wheel - you know, the one I took
16 zillion hrs to get into something resembling that which seems
roundish, sort of if you inclined your head at the correct angle and
squinted your eyes just so??

4/ I need to save up some $$

Still, I gotta admit that sealed bearings work a treat as I have sealed
bearing bottom brackets on my normal road bike (which is a piece of ****
everywhere else component-wise), the Cannondale and the Scott.

Caged bearings just seem too fragile and don't last very long for me - a
week or two max I do go a bit hard when I am riding but more likely,
maybe I am not installing them properly - perhaps not tightening them to
the right tension?