#1
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Bike Modification
Hi all, I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to this cycling malarkey so go easy on me! I have a Giant Escape M1 which is currently as purchased, i.e. with road tyres, no suspension, no mudguards etc. The bike will mainly be used for commuting, however, I do plan to go off road at weekends (mainly trails, nothing too!) I'm looking for suggestions on a couple of things, firstly can anyone suggest some wheels/tyres/inner tubes that would be suitable for off- roading, I'm a fairly big (read fat!) guy, should this make any difference to your recommendations. Secondly does anyone have any recommendations for mudguards, ideally they will be easy to fix/remove and suitable for on and off road use While I'm on a roll can anyone recommend a decent hand pump. Any help gratefully received |
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#2
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Bike Modification
Bigmush wrote:
Hi all, I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to this cycling malarkey so go easy on me! I have a Giant Escape M1 which is currently as purchased, i.e. with road tyres, no suspension, no mudguards etc. The bike will mainly be used for commuting, however, I do plan to go off road at weekends (mainly trails, nothing too!) I'm looking for suggestions on a couple of things, firstly can anyone suggest some wheels/tyres/inner tubes that would be suitable for off- roading, I'm a fairly big (read fat!) guy, should this make any difference to your recommendations. Secondly does anyone have any recommendations for mudguards, ideally they will be easy to fix/remove and suitable for on and off road use While I'm on a roll can anyone recommend a decent hand pump. Any help gratefully received 1) Fit knobbly tyres. The wheels are fine for off road use. I'd go with Tioga Factory XC as they're cheap and wide in 1.95 sizes. Shed mud well too. Inner tubes shouldn't need changing - the only special 26" tubes in common use are the heavy duty downhill ones, although lightweight ones do exist. I've found Schwalbe tubes fine. If you want wider tyres, go for downhill Tiogas or another make - I run rigid forks on my bike with 2.35" tyres. 2) Crud catcher are the mudguards to have for off road use, though they'll be of little use on road compared to full length mudguards. The best road mudguards are SKS chromoplastics, but they're not generally easily fitted and removed. 3) Blackburn mountain air. Under a tenner and it works. I'd not bother with suspension, it'll slow you down on the road and to be honest, doesn't make a huge difference on a lot of UK off road riding, IMO, particularly riding around the woods. I prefer a rigid bike with a bit of excitement compared to the same bike with a pair of Marzocchis soaking up the bumps and taking the fun out of it. OTOH I'd not do some riding without suspension (bits of the dark peak for example) as you have to slow to a snails pace with rigids in very rocky sections. See how you go on with a big front tyre at fairly low pressure (30psi or so). If you really want suspension, then Marzocchi have a name for being bombproof, as long as you get the proper ones (not the ones with chrome stanchions). If you want a second set of wheels to go with the other tyres to avoid having to swap tyres every weekend, I'd go to Merlin Cycle's website and buy a set of cheap wheels with Deore hubs and Mavic rims, probably something like a 321 which is fairly wide. |
#3
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Bike Modification
Doki said the following on 31/03/2008 12:22:
I'd not bother with suspension, it'll slow you down on the road and to be honest, doesn't make a huge difference on a lot of UK off road riding, IMO, particularly riding around the woods. I prefer a rigid bike with a bit of excitement compared to the same bike with a pair of Marzocchis soaking up the bumps and taking the fun out of it. Agreed. After all, we didn't have suspension 20 years ago and we got on fine! If you want a second set of wheels to go with the other tyres to avoid having to swap tyres every weekend, I'd go to Merlin Cycle's website and buy a set of cheap wheels with Deore hubs and Mavic rims, probably something like a 321 which is fairly wide. What you need to watch doing that is there doesn't seem to be a common standard for the distance the disc sits from the end of the axle, so swapping wheels may mean the brake caliper also needs to be adjusted slightly each time. -- Paul Boyd http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/ |
#4
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Bike Modification
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#5
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Bike Modification
Bigmush wrote:
Hi all, I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to this cycling malarkey so go easy on me! I have a Giant Escape M1 which is currently as purchased, i.e. with road tyres, no suspension, no mudguards etc. The bike will mainly be used for commuting, however, I do plan to go off road at weekends (mainly trails, nothing too!) I'm looking for suggestions on a couple of things, firstly can anyone suggest some wheels/tyres/inner tubes that would be suitable for off- roading, I'm a fairly big (read fat!) guy, should this make any difference to your recommendations. try it with the road tires first, you might be pleasently susprised as to how adaptable it is. make sure the tires have enought air so they don't "snake bite" ie rim bottom out, and cause two neat holes, the snake bites. if it is too jarring then you'll need to go wider tires. which will tend to end up being big nobblies which tend to be fairly sluggish on road. getting off the saddle really helps off road to smooth things out, you should beable to tacke most things, after all it wasn't that long ago that bikes didn't have suspention. Secondly does anyone have any recommendations for mudguards, ideally they will be easy to fix/remove and suitable for on and off road use i personanly like crudcatchers, they also can be attached and detached easely While I'm on a roll can anyone recommend a decent hand pump. Any help gratefully received roger -- www.rogermerriman.com |
#6
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Bike Modification
"Paul Boyd" usenet.is.worse@plusnet wrote in message ... Doki said the following on 31/03/2008 12:22: I'd not bother with suspension, it'll slow you down on the road and to be honest, doesn't make a huge difference on a lot of UK off road riding, IMO, particularly riding around the woods. I prefer a rigid bike with a bit of excitement compared to the same bike with a pair of Marzocchis soaking up the bumps and taking the fun out of it. Agreed. After all, we didn't have suspension 20 years ago and we got on fine! If you want a second set of wheels to go with the other tyres to avoid having to swap tyres every weekend, I'd go to Merlin Cycle's website and buy a set of cheap wheels with Deore hubs and Mavic rims, probably something like a 321 which is fairly wide. What you need to watch doing that is there doesn't seem to be a common standard for the distance the disc sits from the end of the axle, so swapping wheels may mean the brake caliper also needs to be adjusted slightly each time. Ah. I suspect that's something that could be fixed by a decent engineering shop if you really felt the need. |
#7
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Bike Modification
On 2008-03-30, Bigmush wrote:
Secondly does anyone have any recommendations for mudguards, ideally they will be easy to fix/remove and suitable for on and off road use While I'm on a roll can anyone recommend a decent hand pump. I noticed today that Lidl will be selling some bike bits from next Monday, including pumps and mudguards (also: panniers, toolkits, lights, computer). I've had a Lidl track pump (that's the floorstanding type, not required to reach the pressure your mountain bike tyres need, but a lot quicker and easier) for a couple of years and it's been fine - it's a different design to their new one but was even cheaper. Be warned that they tend to sell out of cycling stuff fast - you really need to get there on Monday morning to get the popular stuff. cheers, Finlay |
#8
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Bike Modification
On 2008-03-30, Bigmush wrote:
Secondly does anyone have any recommendations for mudguards, ideally they will be easy to fix/remove and suitable for on and off road use While I'm on a roll can anyone recommend a decent hand pump. For off road SKS Shockboard Front Mudguard and Crud Raceguard Rear. But neither will keep your feet dry on-road - only proper guards (like SKS with decent mud flaps) will do. |
#9
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Bike Modification
Bigmush wrote:
Hi all, I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to this cycling malarkey so go easy on me! I have a Giant Escape M1 which is currently as purchased, i.e. with road tyres, no suspension, no mudguards etc. The bike will mainly be used for commuting, however, I do plan to go off road at weekends (mainly trails, nothing too!) I'm looking for suggestions on a couple of things, firstly can anyone suggest some wheels/tyres/inner tubes that would be suitable for off- roading, I'm a fairly big (read fat!) guy, should this make any difference to your recommendations. Secondly does anyone have any recommendations for mudguards, ideally they will be easy to fix/remove and suitable for on and off road use While I'm on a roll can anyone recommend a decent hand pump. Any help gratefully received Now you have had all the suggestions on how to convert your existing bike, it is time to consider an alternative ... Get another bike. You will then have one suited to road conditions and one for off-road. This will only be that start of your collection. Soon you will need to consider the delights of recumbent, folder, fixed, trike ... and your shed will overflow with machines. While they will all qualify as bikes, they will have sufficient differences to justify their existence. Welcome to the world of cycling. -- Don Whybrow Sequi Bonum Non Time "I contend we are both atheists, I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours." ...Stephen F Roberts |
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