New Carlton Thread

For all they say about steel frames being durable, the only frame failures I've ever had have been steel frames (steel steerer tube on one bike and a head-tube on another). My aluminium and carbon frames have been flawless, (except for a Trek where the alloy BB shell became unglued from the carbon frame, but not really a structural frame failure).

Good work in noticing the cracks before full failure. You MIGHT have got away without a crash if a chain-stay failed (as opposed to a downtube or fork!). Was your frame steel? Just fatigue, no crash or other overload?

And me. Electronic shifting solves problems I simply don't have. I also don't need something else to plug in and charge.

ATB from George

Scandium. No crash, 4 yrs old. Presumably fatigue?? It really was a good bike - lightish, comfortable, handled OK, took full mudguards with 25mm tyres. This time I've paid extra to get the Titanium version which is v comfortable without being lethargic. Have set it up with 12cm saddle to bars drop 

I have another Brooks B17 standard steel railed saddle to run in on the Ambrosio, so the comfortable armchair - the brown Brooks - in back in its proper place on the Carlton ready for the weekend's cycling - provided it is not pouring down or snowing. Both these possibilities seem to exist. It's not very like Spring yet!

I proofed the saddle, and will let it sink in for a couple of hours before making a maiden trip on it!

It is hard as iron, but actually felt comfortable when I set the height again.

Being black it suits the otherwise blue with black handle bars scheme of the Ambrosio. The brown Brooks looked a bit eccentric ... on the blue bike!

ATB from George

PS: It is salutary to consider that a Brooks B 17 is less money than it costs to fill up the fuel tank on an average car! When you abandon motoring it is far more significant financially than the costs of maintaining cycles in tip top condition.

I am sure it will catch on again, like it did in the first quarter of the twentieth century!

I have long weekend's cycling planned with a friend, two fine cycles on the topline, and now it is bloody snowing!

Well I guess the beer will be "at home" and the music will pour forth. 

The outlook is for freezing daytime temperatures and wintry showers. No way that I am going to face that on a cycle, ....  "for fun!"  

Going to work in such conditions is character building, but "cycling for fun weather" this is not going to be!

Haha!

ATB from George

PS: The new saddle on the Ambrosio is as unyielding as cast iron! I commuted on it today, and my goodness, you can feel every chipping! No doubt that it is supportive, and not uncomfortable, but the old brown Brooks on the Carlton [now] is as supple as a good horse saddle. I ran that one in from new, but it was never as hard as this new black one ...

Come on, George! Are you going to let a bit of snow spoil your weekend? Surely not.

Here is some inpiration...

KR

Tony

Tony!

That is very funny!

The trouble is that We don't quite have good enough snow for those spikes!

ATB from George                  

Having hired two pairs of Eskimo fur outfits, we had a thirty second outing this afternoon round the yard!

I did the commentary from the sidelines!

ATB from George

When the snow has gone you could ride round the garden and aerate the lawn !

Dear Paul,

If you had been following this thread very much you'd soon realise that neither of my cycles are for use off the the road or tarmacked path! Certainly not on the lawn!

First post in my new totally Windows-free environment. Using a really old Sony Vaio with Linux. If MAC teaches any lessons, it is that Windows is not the only way! The little Sony works well with Linux, though I only want it for Forum and Email ...

I want to keep the Mini completely free off anything but music,and having a laptop for the internet is very fine as it means I can clear the little table that houses my now retiring desktop [with XP] and make some nice space in this room!

ATB from George

Good Night Vienna!

ATB from George

PS; No  photo of the Ambrosio with the black Brooks, but never mind. It is a rocket, just take my word for it ... Now is the time to ride off into the sunset, and enjoy the music between cycling and work ... at least till I retire ... in about 16 years time ...

Six years of evolution.

ATB from George

Well maybe.....

Joff

Dear Joff,

Nice to see the Carlton's old stable mate again and looking so good as well!

I hope she is behaving herself!

ATB from George

An inviting view to look over when cycling!

ATB from George

So many things are wrong in this picture.

Nope.

A nice older bike setup to suit its owner is what I see. I would agree that it is not to everyone's taste but how boring would it be if we rode the same bike? I like my mountain bike on road tyres, is that wrong too? Is a traditional bell on a bike used in mixed traffic wrong?

Joff

Quelle? [In English, "What?"]

That message was a hook for George really so I will simply add the handlebars are an aberration along with the gear levers.

With one hand ringing the bell is taking the other off the bars to shift in mixed traffic wrong? Not if you can ride with no hands it is not.

Dear Mark,

In mixed traffic - a rare thing for me nowadays in any case, except in rural lanes - the bell is useful to alert pedestrians, in a quiet and polite fashion, after slowing right down.

The brakes are quite usable without reference to the archaic gear shifting, which is a delight on the open road. In less easy conditions, i get off and walk!

ATB from George

PS: I shift the gear with the left hand, and once a year I use the bell with the left hand! n fact I ride a cycle left handed, including pushing it with my left hand on the pavement. I have reverted to the right brake on the front, which is the English way, and that is neither her nor there for me ...

Might the bars be improved if they had a flat section on top and they reached parallel with the road at the end of the curves? Something like this:

Like this:

My previous three year set-up...

And in that arrangement I had the front brake on the left lever ...

ATB from George

PS: The handlebar is the same but only the other way up ...

Why did you switch it?

Dear Wink,

During the fortnight's severe flooding in Worcester six weeks ago, I was forced to quit my cycle path to work, because some of it was as much as six foot under water. During this period, I made my way to work mostly on foot, as the traffic was so dreadful, because of closed roads that even driving a car was not realistic. It took longer than walking.

But I discovered something from this. Over the last couple of years, my left shoulder had developed an ache at night. I put it down to age, but it went away, so I concluded that it must be from cycling, as this was the only factor that had changed. So before I could resume my cycle commute, I turned the bar the other way up to make the riding posture more upright. The shoulder ache did not return, so I shall not revert to a road-bike riding position now.

It makes the cycling safer as it is easier to see what is going on behind, and I am even riding in lighter traffic again after two years of having lost confidence after the smash on 19th April 2012. 

The main difference is not at normal speeds up to 20 mph, but when pressing on at a faster speed. I feel the air resistance, and like this I'll never match the speeds I occasionally did when testing myself against previous speeds. 

An advantage is that I can see right over cars to observe the traffic a long way in front now. Equally i see over far more hedges on rural rides out, and that is a pleasure in itself.

In terms of the angle of the "flats" of the bar, I simply sat on the saddle [stationary and leaning against a wall] and found the angle which the hands naturally fell onto the bar. You see many cycles with this sort of set-up with the flats nearly horizontal, which leads to the wrists being permanent off line with the the arms, and is not comfortable on a long ride. And the brakes [which splay out slightly] were positioned for maximum comfort as they fall exactly where the fingers go without making any contortion. I found I could never ride for more than a few minutes on the hoods of the brakes on a drop bar without a cramp in the hands ....

Like this the coupling from saddle to handlebar is quite sort, and the bar is near enough for the hands [on the bar flats] to meet the legs on a very sharp low speed turn. 

Best wishes from George