Cycling

[Harrison]

Sorting the gears out on mine has been a nightmare in the past, and I actually haven't used it for quite some time now. It would keep jumping out if gear which was annoying and I think the derailleur must be slightly bent. I really must start riding again.

@Submeg. That is a crazy target, but good luck with it. I hope you make the goal! Why not try to get sponsored for a good cause?

[Stephen Coates]

I've had my road bike nearly a year now. I've enjoyed using it. Unfortunately I've not used it as much as I'd have liked to.

My gears are ready for adjusting again. Not too difficult .

[J T]

I reckon I could probably fine tune gearing that was OK to start with. The problem with el-cheapo bike is that straight out the box (I had to put it together myself) things weren't set up even close to properly, so I'm almost starting from scratch. I didn't expect too much from a bike that cost very little, but it's still a bit annoying.

I'll have to grab a guide online or a book and sit down for a while until I get it properly sorted out. Thing is, because the bike isn't working too well, i'm not using it much; and because I'm not using it much I can't be bothered to spend the time to fix it so I'm caught in a bit of a cycle (heh) there.

[Andrew1971]

Hi All
Having indexed gears are a little harder to setup the racer iam using has no indexed gears its all done by feel or known as friction gears. only 3 adjustments to get right.
Many Thanks
Andrew1971

[Harrison]

That is a problem I have with my bike. My older racer has these friction style gears where you just move the lever until the gear moves into position, whereas my newer mountain bike has fixed gear selections and it never wants to go completely into the gear or 3 or 4 of them all of the time. Often it will be just on the edge of moving over and not quite. I've attempted to adjust it in the past but not with complete luck. And I avoid the largest gear as it often jumps the chain off the gear into the middle of the wheel. It wasn't that expensive a bike when i bought it... I think about £100 or maybe slightly less, but that as VAT free via a friend's father's company... Still, I wasn't ever hoping for something amazing, but I did at least have hope it would work.

Oh well.

[Stephen Coates]

Sheldon Brown's website has good information on how to set up things like brakes and gears properly. Might be worth a read. http://sheldonbrown.com/.

[Harrison]

Thanks for that link. Looking at the info about adjusting gears I need to first look for the limit stop adjusters and see if mine has them as it should allow me to stop the chain going too far off the end of the last gear.

[Submeg]

Hmm, getting sponsored hey? I never even thought of that! But because it will take me such a long time (I'm only riding in my spare time) I don't think I could justify it!

So $1 a km? haha

It seems that in bikes, you get what you pay for. I haven't had one issue with my bike and I've had it since I was a kid!

[Andrew1971]

Hi All
How many people have nearly been hit by a car cos the driver didnt see you. My latest was by an older driver on a round about i doing about 18ish mph. he saw me at the last minute and then stopped i had to brake hard and swerve to miss him just. by then i was on the other side of the road. pants were nearly full by then. It just make you more aware of car drivers.
Many Thanks
Andrew1971

[Harrison]

As a car drivers I've been noticing more this year the number of idiots riding bikes with no lights and dark clothes. At this time if year that is mad as you just can't see them in the evening until you are right on top of them, especially down country lanes or areas with lots of trees. Mad!