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Returning to cycling
After years away from cycling, I'd like to get back into recreational
cycling. I'm 6ft 4in tall and so need a large-framed bike. I've got a low budget and the Giant Cypress SE (23" frame) seemed ideal. My local bike shop got one for me but there's a problem. In top gear (largest chainring/smallest rear cog), there is enough flex in the chainset etc. for the chain to foul the outside of the front changer cage every time I push down on the right-hand pedal. This only happens when riding the bike (i.e. no fouling occurs when testing on a stand). The bike shop have had a go at fixing the bike. They've replaced the chainset and bottom bracket (I hope that means the axle!) and they say it's about 95% fixed. However, they tell me that if you really stand on the pedals in top gear the chain still fouls the front changer. Is this fouling to be expected with a budget bike in a larger frame size? Is it acceptable, or should I reject the bike? If the latter, any recommendations (up to about £250)? TIA, -- Geoff Lane Cornwall, UK |
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Geoff Lane wrote:
After years away from cycling, I'd like to get back into recreational cycling. I'm 6ft 4in tall and so need a large-framed bike. I've got a low budget and the Giant Cypress SE (23" frame) seemed ideal. My local bike shop got one for me but there's a problem. In top gear (largest chainring/smallest rear cog), there is enough flex in the chainset etc. for the chain to foul the outside of the front changer cage every time I push down on the right-hand pedal. This only happens when riding the bike (i.e. no fouling occurs when testing on a stand). The bike shop have had a go at fixing the bike. They've replaced the chainset and bottom bracket (I hope that means the axle!) and they say it's about 95% fixed. However, they tell me that if you really stand on the pedals in top gear the chain still fouls the front changer. Is this fouling to be expected with a budget bike in a larger frame size? Is it acceptable, or should I reject the bike? If the latter, any recommendations (up to about £250)? TIA, It can probably be sorted with proper adjustment of the front derailleur so that it sits a little further out in top gear. Its not an uncommon problem on many bikes and usually easily fixed with a bit of tinkering to find the right balance between far enough out to stop the rubbing and not so far that it throws the chain off when you change up. -- Tony "A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers) |
#3
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Geoff Lane wrote:
After years away from cycling, I'd like to get back into recreational cycling. I'm 6ft 4in tall and so need a large-framed bike. I've got a low budget and the Giant Cypress SE (23" frame) seemed ideal. My local bike shop got one for me but there's a problem. In top gear (largest chainring/smallest rear cog), there is enough flex in the chainset etc. for the chain to foul the outside of the front changer cage every time I push down on the right-hand pedal. This only happens when riding the bike (i.e. no fouling occurs when testing on a stand). The bike shop have had a go at fixing the bike. They've replaced the chainset and bottom bracket (I hope that means the axle!) and they say it's about 95% fixed. However, they tell me that if you really stand on the pedals in top gear the chain still fouls the front changer. Is this fouling to be expected with a budget bike in a larger frame size? Is it acceptable, or should I reject the bike? If the latter, any recommendations (up to about £250)? I can't tell if there's some serious problem or inadequacy with your cranks or frame but there is always /some/ flex in the cranks, which can cause rubbing if the derailleur is not adjusted to allow for it. You need enough margin in there for the flex. It's a very common problem. I would have a go at adjusting the limit screw, and possibly the angle/height of the whole derailleur, before worrying about anything more serious. See http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html ~PB |
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Geoff Lane wrote:
The bike shop have had a go at fixing the bike. They've replaced the chainset and bottom bracket (I hope that means the axle!) and they say it's about 95% fixed. However, they tell me that if you really stand on the pedals in top gear the chain still fouls the front changer. Did they not mention anything about the front changer? This is something bike shops often don't spend enough time adjusting. ~PB |
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"Pete Biggs" wrote in
: Did they not mention anything about the front changer? This is something bike shops often don't spend enough time adjusting. Thanks guys. Yes, the "95% fixed" is after replacing the chainset etc. and adjusting the front changer to the "optimal" position. The bike is brand new, so I was expecting everything to work flawlessly. In the old days, I wouldn't have worried overly - I'd have just adjusted the outer limit stop and that would be that. However, this bike has those "new-fangled" Shimano EZ Fire changers, which have only indexed functionality - so I don't have "on the move" fine control over changer position. Personally, I hate "quick-fire" shifters (I started cycling pre-index, when Huret Svelto was brand new) - but "quick fire" seems all that bikes of today offer. I guess that, pragmatically, if the chain only rubs in top gear when really standing on the pedals it's no big deal because I'd normally changed down rather than push that hard. I'm going to re-check the bike on Monday and, if it's OK, complete the purchase. I guess that I'm after a reality check as to whether my expectations are too high. Thanks again, -- Geoff Lane Cornwall, UK |
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in message , Geoff Lane
') wrote: After years away from cycling, I'd like to get back into recreational cycling. I'm 6ft 4in tall and so need a large-framed bike. I've got a low budget and the Giant Cypress SE (23" frame) seemed ideal. My local bike shop got one for me but there's a problem. In top gear (largest chainring/smallest rear cog), there is enough flex in the chainset etc. for the chain to foul the outside of the front changer cage every time I push down on the right-hand pedal. This only happens when riding the bike (i.e. no fouling occurs when testing on a stand). The bike shop have had a go at fixing the bike. They've replaced the chainset and bottom bracket (I hope that means the axle!) and they say it's about 95% fixed. However, they tell me that if you really stand on the pedals in top gear the chain still fouls the front changer. Is this fouling to be expected with a budget bike in a larger frame size? Is it acceptable, or should I reject the bike? If the latter, any recommendations (up to about £250)? Frankly yes, but it also has something to do with your pedalling style. Firstly, all chainsets - even expensive ones - flex. All chainsets with pressed steel chainrings flex a lot - easily enough to cause the symptoms you describe. The frame also, obviously, flexes too but this contributes relatively little to the problem. But if you 'spin' - stay in lower gears and pedal with a higher cadence - you put much less stress on the chainset (and, incidentally, on your knees) than if you 'mash' - use high gears and pedal with a slow cadence. If you use inappropriately high gears you will get the symptoms you describe even with a £700 chainset. So no, it isn't really a problem with the bike. The system will still work. But it will work better if you develop your pedalling style to be kinder to your body and the bike. -- (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ The Conservative Party is now dead. The corpse may still be twitching, but resurrection is not an option - unless Satan chucks them out of Hell as too objectionable even for him. |
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Geoff Lane wrote:
Thanks guys. Yes, the "95% fixed" is after replacing the chainset etc. and adjusting the front changer to the "optimal" position. The bike is brand new, so I was expecting everything to work flawlessly. That indicates that the bike shop do not really know what they are doing. Changing the chainset won't make much difference. Changing the bottom bracket might. It just needs a simple adjustment by someone competent or else follow Sheldon Brown's excellent instructions http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html -- Tony "A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers) |
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in message , Geoff Lane
') wrote: In the old days, I wouldn't have worried overly - I'd have just adjusted the outer limit stop and that would be that. However, this bike has those "new-fangled" Shimano EZ Fire changers, which have only indexed functionality - so I don't have "on the move" fine control over changer position. Personally, I hate "quick-fire" shifters (I started cycling pre-index, when Huret Svelto was brand new) - but "quick fire" seems all that bikes of today offer. Yes, Shimano are crap from the trimming point of view. However, Shimano are not the only game in town. SRAM GripShift shifters allow you to trim the front deraileur, as do Campagnolo Ergo levers. You can get the SRAM GripShifts from about a tenner upwards, and you can get them in pull ratios which match Shimano deraileurs. -- (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ "This young man has not the faintest idea how socialists think and does not begin to understand the mentality of the party he has been elected to lead. He is quite simply a liberal" -- Ken Coates MEP (Lab) of Tony Blair |
#9
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Simon Brooke wrote in news:m6ail2-jc5.ln1
@gododdin.internal.jasmine.org.uk: Shimano are crap from the trimming point of view. However, Shimano are not the only game in town. SRAM GripShift shifters allow you to trim the front deraileur, as do Campagnolo Ergo levers. You can get the SRAM GripShifts from about a tenner upwards, and you can get them in pull ratios which match Shimano deraileurs. Thanks for the info. However, this is a brand new, out-of-the-box bike. IMO, the manufacturer should have chosen components that work properly together and the retailer should have assembled and adjusted it correctly. Obviously there will be problems if either hasn't done their job properly, so I wouldn't (and probably shouldn't) expect to buy a brand-new bike and then change components just to get it to work. That said, I may eventually change the shifters or get used to "quick-fire". -- Geoff Lane Cornwall, UK |
#10
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