Old BIANCHI + Shimano Adamas AX

I took my old Bianchi bicycle that has Shimano Adamas AX brakes and derailleurs out for a ride on snow, brown slush and some bare spots roads today. One thing i noticed besides the positive braking of the brake calipers is that there's no freezing up of cables inside cable housing with these derailleurs. that's because there IS NO cable housing on them. I love it. This is a real Frankenbike as it has a Tiagra triple crankset but with just the inner 42 ring and the outer 52 ring. At the moment it has a 9-cog cassette and chain on it. The handlebar is a cut down and inverted drop bar with bar end brake levers. It's a very nice riding bike. Oh, it has 700C x 30mm knobby Schwalbe CX Pro tires on it.

I need to get to the hole in the wall bike shop out of town that has the old Adamas AX brake shoes. I want to have some for spares. It's amazing how well those ancient shoes and calipers work in stopping.

Cheers

On Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 7:09:21 PM UTC-8, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
I took my old Bianchi bicycle that has Shimano Adamas AX brakes and derailleurs out for a ride on snow, brown slush and some bare spots roads today. One thing i noticed besides the positive braking of the brake calipers is that there's no freezing up of cables inside cable housing with these derailleurs. that's because there IS NO cable housing on them. I love it. This is a real Frankenbike as it has a Tiagra triple crankset but with just the inner 42 ring and the outer 52 ring. At the moment it has a 9-cog cassette and chain on it. The handlebar is a cut down and inverted drop bar with bar end brake levers. It's a very nice riding bike. Oh, it has 700C x 30mm knobby Schwalbe CX Pro tires on it.

I need to get to the hole in the wall bike shop out of town that has the old Adamas AX brake shoes. I want to have some for spares. It's amazing how well those ancient shoes and calipers work in stopping.

Cheers

I was riding on Saturday with a friend who has an older Pinarello with rim brakes, and I was on a Trek Emonda with rim brakes -- dry and overcast in the high 30sF, and he was going on about how he liked the modulation of his rim brakes on that bike better than any of his bikes -- including one with hydraulic discs. We both prefer discs in wet weather. Rim brakes are fine on dry weather bikes or any bike, really, although not as good as discs in wet weather, particularly with CF rims (if you have CF rims). My friend would buy discs on a new racing bike, however, just because of resale and the direction of the market -- and the fact that it does make CF rims an real options. This is where marketing kind of pushes choices.

-- Jay Beattie.

On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 10:15:02 AM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:
My friend would buy discs on a new racing bike, however, just because of resale and the direction of the market...

Wow. I don't think about resale when I buy anything, let alone bikes.

I suppose it makes sense if you're a person who likes to "churn"
your possessions. But that's not me.

- Frank Krygowski

On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 7:15:02 AM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 7:09:21 PM UTC-8, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
I took my old Bianchi bicycle that has Shimano Adamas AX brakes and derailleurs out for a ride on snow, brown slush and some bare spots roads today. One thing i noticed besides the positive braking of the brake calipers is that there's no freezing up of cables inside cable housing with these derailleurs. that's because there IS NO cable housing on them. I love it. This is a real Frankenbike as it has a Tiagra triple crankset but with just the inner 42 ring and the outer 52 ring. At the moment it has a 9-cog cassette and chain on it. The handlebar is a cut down and inverted drop bar with bar end brake levers. It's a very nice riding bike. Oh, it has 700C x 30mm knobby Schwalbe CX Pro tires on it.

I need to get to the hole in the wall bike shop out of town that has the old Adamas AX brake shoes. I want to have some for spares. It's amazing how well those ancient shoes and calipers work in stopping.

Cheers

I was riding on Saturday with a friend who has an older Pinarello with rim brakes, and I was on a Trek Emonda with rim brakes -- dry and overcast in the high 30sF, and he was going on about how he liked the modulation of his rim brakes on that bike better than any of his bikes -- including one with hydraulic discs. We both prefer discs in wet weather. Rim brakes are fine on dry weather bikes or any bike, really, although not as good as discs in wet weather, particularly with CF rims (if you have CF rims). My friend would buy discs on a new racing bike, however, just because of resale and the direction of the market -- and the fact that it does make CF rims an real options. This is where marketing kind of pushes choices.

-- Jay Beattie.

I have full sized disks on my Redline cross bike and there is hardly any modulation at all. They are so powerful you're watching all the time you don't lock them up.

On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 10:04:02 AM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 10:15:02 AM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:
My friend would buy discs on a new racing bike, however, just because of resale and the direction of the market...

Wow. I don't think about resale when I buy anything, let alone bikes.

I certainly look for products that retain their value, but that doesn't mean I'm "churning" them. It just means I'm not buying crap that plummets in FMV the second I get it home or that can't be unloaded in the event of changed circumstances.


I suppose it makes sense if you're a person who likes to "churn"
your possessions. But that's not me.

Me neither, unless I smash a bike or one is stolen. I did sell my tandem and a couple of my wife's bikes when she became disabled. You never know when you might have to unload stuff, and you sure don't want to be selling crap nobody wants. Paying attention to what will retain its value is not a bad thing.

Moreover, with discs, its not just a resale issue. The racing wheel market is moving to carbon-only rims, and discs are a good choice if you want to stop a carbon wheel in wet weather or on a long descent. Discs also allow the use of larger tires and even fenders. Through axles stiffen up the front end a bit, too. Discs have direct and incidental benefits on racing bikes.

It used to be that there was a weight penalty with discs -- and there still is if you want a bike below UCI minimums, but for ordinary folks capable of living with a 15lb bike, there is no weight penalty. I sort of regret not getting discs on my Emonda but only because of a perceived lost opportunity and not because of any performance disadvantage. The direct mount brakes work great, but again, I have aluminum rims and ride the bike in dry weather, and I have a disc bike for rain riding -- with fenders and fatter tires..


-- Jay Beattie.

On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 10:15:02 AM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 7:09:21 PM UTC-8, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
I took my old Bianchi bicycle that has Shimano Adamas AX brakes and derailleurs out for a ride on snow, brown slush and some bare spots roads today. One thing i noticed besides the positive braking of the brake calipers is that there's no freezing up of cables inside cable housing with these derailleurs. that's because there IS NO cable housing on them. I love it. This is a real Frankenbike as it has a Tiagra triple crankset but with just the inner 42 ring and the outer 52 ring. At the moment it has a 9-cog cassette and chain on it. The handlebar is a cut down and inverted drop bar with bar end brake levers. It's a very nice riding bike. Oh, it has 700C x 30mm knobby Schwalbe CX Pro tires on it.

I need to get to the hole in the wall bike shop out of town that has the old Adamas AX brake shoes. I want to have some for spares. It's amazing how well those ancient shoes and calipers work in stopping.

Cheers

I was riding on Saturday with a friend who has an older Pinarello with rim brakes, and I was on a Trek Emonda with rim brakes -- dry and overcast in the high 30sF, and he was going on about how he liked the modulation of his rim brakes on that bike better than any of his bikes -- including one with hydraulic discs. We both prefer discs in wet weather. Rim brakes are fine on dry weather bikes or any bike, really, although not as good as discs in wet weather, particularly with CF rims (if you have CF rims). My friend would buy discs on a new racing bike, however, just because of resale and the direction of the market -- and the fact that it does make CF rims an real options. This is where marketing kind of pushes choices.

-- Jay Beattie.

My brakes all work just fine with my metal rims even in the rain. Thus I DON'T NEED disc brake of any sort.

Cheers

On Mon, 28 Jan 2019 14:15:36 -0800 (PST), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 10:15:02 AM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 7:09:21 PM UTC-8, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
I took my old Bianchi bicycle that has Shimano Adamas AX brakes and derailleurs out for a ride on snow, brown slush and some bare spots roads today. One thing i noticed besides the positive braking of the brake calipers is that there's no freezing up of cables inside cable housing with these derailleurs. that's because there IS NO cable housing on them. I love it. This is a real Frankenbike as it has a Tiagra triple crankset but with just the inner 42 ring and the outer 52 ring. At the moment it has a 9-cog cassette and chain on it. The handlebar is a cut down and inverted drop bar with bar end brake levers. It's a very nice riding bike. Oh, it has 700C x 30mm knobby Schwalbe CX Pro tires on it.

I need to get to the hole in the wall bike shop out of town that has the old Adamas AX brake shoes. I want to have some for spares. It's amazing how well those ancient shoes and calipers work in stopping.

Cheers

I was riding on Saturday with a friend who has an older Pinarello with rim brakes, and I was on a Trek Emonda with rim brakes -- dry and overcast in the high 30sF, and he was going on about how he liked the modulation of his rim brakes on that bike better than any of his bikes -- including one with hydraulic discs. We both prefer discs in wet weather. Rim brakes are fine on dry weather bikes or any bike, really, although not as good as discs in wet weather, particularly with CF rims (if you have CF rims). My friend would buy discs on a new racing bike, however, just because of resale and the direction of the market -- and the fact that it does make CF rims an real options. This is where marketing kind of pushes choices.

-- Jay Beattie.

My brakes all work just fine with my metal rims even in the rain. Thus I DON'T NEED disc brake of any sort.

Cheers

Two of several bike that I have built with rim brakes have outstanding
braking ability, sufficient to skid either wheel on wet or dry
pavement.

Given that this appears not to be a unique capability I really wonder
whether there are multitudes riding around with less then optimum
brakes on their bikes.

In all honesty I suspect that it is largely the mechanical advantage
of the brake calipers as I also have one bike with less braking
ability then the other two which I attribute to the fact that because
of the distance from the brake bridge/fork crown to the rim it was
necessary to use "long reach" brake calipers on that bike. Although in
fairness the brakes are certainly sufficient for use in city traffic
or normal road riding.

I've also found that "V" brakes that have a large mechanical advantage
give superior braking. But it is also true that "V" brakes may not be
comparable with some brake levers (but to interject a little Zen
philosophy, is that the fault of the brake or the lever :-)




Cheers,
John B.

On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 6:57:19 PM UTC-5, John B. Slocomb wrote:
On Mon, 28 Jan 2019 14:15:36 -0800 (PST), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 10:15:02 AM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 7:09:21 PM UTC-8, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
I took my old Bianchi bicycle that has Shimano Adamas AX brakes and derailleurs out for a ride on snow, brown slush and some bare spots roads today. One thing i noticed besides the positive braking of the brake calipers is that there's no freezing up of cables inside cable housing with these derailleurs. that's because there IS NO cable housing on them. I love it. This is a real Frankenbike as it has a Tiagra triple crankset but with just the inner 42 ring and the outer 52 ring. At the moment it has a 9-cog cassette and chain on it. The handlebar is a cut down and inverted drop bar with bar end brake levers. It's a very nice riding bike. Oh, it has 700C x 30mm knobby Schwalbe CX Pro tires on it.

I need to get to the hole in the wall bike shop out of town that has the old Adamas AX brake shoes. I want to have some for spares. It's amazing how well those ancient shoes and calipers work in stopping.

Cheers

I was riding on Saturday with a friend who has an older Pinarello with rim brakes, and I was on a Trek Emonda with rim brakes -- dry and overcast in the high 30sF, and he was going on about how he liked the modulation of his rim brakes on that bike better than any of his bikes -- including one with hydraulic discs. We both prefer discs in wet weather. Rim brakes are fine on dry weather bikes or any bike, really, although not as good as discs in wet weather, particularly with CF rims (if you have CF rims). My friend would buy discs on a new racing bike, however, just because of resale and the direction of the market -- and the fact that it does make CF rims an real options. This is where marketing kind of pushes choices.

-- Jay Beattie.

My brakes all work just fine with my metal rims even in the rain. Thus I DON'T NEED disc brake of any sort.

Cheers

Two of several bike that I have built with rim brakes have outstanding
braking ability, sufficient to skid either wheel on wet or dry
pavement.

Given that this appears not to be a unique capability I really wonder
whether there are multitudes riding around with less then optimum
brakes on their bikes.

In all honesty I suspect that it is largely the mechanical advantage
of the brake calipers as I also have one bike with less braking
ability then the other two which I attribute to the fact that because
of the distance from the brake bridge/fork crown to the rim it was
necessary to use "long reach" brake calipers on that bike. Although in
fairness the brakes are certainly sufficient for use in city traffic
or normal road riding.

I've also found that "V" brakes that have a large mechanical advantage
give superior braking. But it is also true that "V" brakes may not be
comparable with some brake levers (but to interject a little Zen
philosophy, is that the fault of the brake or the lever :-)

The first two bikes I owned as an adult had lousy center pull brakes. On the
second bike, they were mid-quality DiaCompe, but long reach models and probably
with lousy brake shoes. (I didn't know much about brake shoe quality in those
days.)

That bike (1972 Raleigh) was the one I converted to cantilevers. It still has
those same brakes, and they're still fine.

Interestingly, the brakes themselves went onto the about-town three speed I
built up a few years ago. For the duty this bike sees, they're more than adequate.

But almost all other bikes have cantilevers. Yes, they're more difficult to
set up, but I have no complaints about their performance.

- Frank Krygowski

On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 1:19:09 PM UTC-8, jbeattie wrote:
On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 10:04:02 AM UTC-8, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 10:15:02 AM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:
My friend would buy discs on a new racing bike, however, just because of resale and the direction of the market...

Wow. I don't think about resale when I buy anything, let alone bikes.

I certainly look for products that retain their value, but that doesn't mean I'm "churning" them. It just means I'm not buying crap that plummets in FMV the second I get it home or that can't be unloaded in the event of changed circumstances.


I suppose it makes sense if you're a person who likes to "churn"
your possessions. But that's not me.

Me neither, unless I smash a bike or one is stolen. I did sell my tandem and a couple of my wife's bikes when she became disabled. You never know when you might have to unload stuff, and you sure don't want to be selling crap nobody wants. Paying attention to what will retain its value is not a bad thing.

snip
You mention in passing that your wife became disabled...temporarily, I hope?
What happened, if you don't mind my asking?

Pureheart in Aptos



-- Jay Beattie.

On Mon, 28 Jan 2019 19:52:16 -0800 (PST), Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 6:57:19 PM UTC-5, John B. Slocomb wrote:
On Mon, 28 Jan 2019 14:15:36 -0800 (PST), Sir Ridesalot
wrote:

On Monday, January 28, 2019 at 10:15:02 AM UTC-5, jbeattie wrote:
On Sunday, January 27, 2019 at 7:09:21 PM UTC-8, Sir Ridesalot wrote:
I took my old Bianchi bicycle that has Shimano Adamas AX brakes and derailleurs out for a ride on snow, brown slush and some bare spots roads today. One thing i noticed besides the positive braking of the brake calipers is that there's no freezing up of cables inside cable housing with these derailleurs. that's because there IS NO cable housing on them. I love it. This is a real Frankenbike as it has a Tiagra triple crankset but with just the inner 42 ring and the outer 52 ring. At the moment it has a 9-cog cassette and chain on it. The handlebar is a cut down and inverted drop bar with bar end brake levers. It's a very nice riding bike. Oh, it has 700C x 30mm knobby Schwalbe CX Pro tires on it.

I need to get to the hole in the wall bike shop out of town that has the old Adamas AX brake shoes. I want to have some for spares. It's amazing how well those ancient shoes and calipers work in stopping.

Cheers

I was riding on Saturday with a friend who has an older Pinarello with rim brakes, and I was on a Trek Emonda with rim brakes -- dry and overcast in the high 30sF, and he was going on about how he liked the modulation of his rim brakes on that bike better than any of his bikes -- including one with hydraulic discs. We both prefer discs in wet weather. Rim brakes are fine on dry weather bikes or any bike, really, although not as good as discs in wet weather, particularly with CF rims (if you have CF rims). My friend would buy discs on a new racing bike, however, just because of resale and the direction of the market -- and the fact that it does make CF rims an real options. This is where marketing kind of pushes choices.

-- Jay Beattie.

My brakes all work just fine with my metal rims even in the rain. Thus I DON'T NEED disc brake of any sort.

Cheers

Two of several bike that I have built with rim brakes have outstanding
braking ability, sufficient to skid either wheel on wet or dry
pavement.

Given that this appears not to be a unique capability I really wonder
whether there are multitudes riding around with less then optimum
brakes on their bikes.

In all honesty I suspect that it is largely the mechanical advantage
of the brake calipers as I also have one bike with less braking
ability then the other two which I attribute to the fact that because
of the distance from the brake bridge/fork crown to the rim it was
necessary to use "long reach" brake calipers on that bike. Although in
fairness the brakes are certainly sufficient for use in city traffic
or normal road riding.

I've also found that "V" brakes that have a large mechanical advantage
give superior braking. But it is also true that "V" brakes may not be
comparable with some brake levers (but to interject a little Zen
philosophy, is that the fault of the brake or the lever :-)

The first two bikes I owned as an adult had lousy center pull brakes. On the
second bike, they were mid-quality DiaCompe, but long reach models and probably
with lousy brake shoes. (I didn't know much about brake shoe quality in those
days.)

That bike (1972 Raleigh) was the one I converted to cantilevers. It still has
those same brakes, and they're still fine.

Interestingly, the brakes themselves went onto the about-town three speed I
built up a few years ago. For the duty this bike sees, they're more than adequate.

But almost all other bikes have cantilevers. Yes, they're more difficult to
set up, but I have no complaints about their performance.

- Frank Krygowski

I've had cantilevers on a couple of bicycle and they worked fine but
there are a lot more bits and pieces to them, cable hangers, straddle
cables, etc. and I've always ended up changing them over to caliper
brakes. In fact the bike that doesn't stop as well as the others used
to have cantilever brakes but when I repainted it I took the brake
braze-ons off. In fact the "V" brakes that I put on a rebuilt MTB that
are so powerful are really just a version of cantilever.


Cheers,
John B.