Bicycle Bits! - What’s your latest acquisition?
Posted by: naim_nymph on 01 November 2013
With so many forum folk with an interest in cycling it would be fun and informative if we shared our thoughts of cycling products recently purchased, frames, wheels, bike parts, accessories, clothing, shoes, helmets, puncture outfits - anything you like to do with your bicycle and bicycling.
To start the show… i’ve just changed my pair of 700x23mm tyres from Continental 4 season which have lasted three times longer than the recommended 3 years and not once ever punctured. Considering my usual ride is country lanes with farm yards and bits of countryside ever-present on the bumpy [Paris-Roubaix?] type tarmac it is a good test for any tyre.
The new tyres i just fitted are brand new Continental 4 season of the same size again - Why change when you have a good thing?
The 4 season is a very light weight folding tyre, puncture resistance built in, and fantastic road grip in the wet. They are expensive but they do last longer and imo are safer than most cheaper types so perhaps the value for money is actually very good in the long run.
I can’t recommend them highly enough! 
My latest acquisition was a couple of months ago -
I chose the silver colour 
It’s only function on my bike is to hold the rear part of the mudguard from above, using zip-ties. Being a very narrow rack this actually does this job very well.
My rear SKS mudguard needs to be in 2 parts, and neither part goes under the brake calliper.
The shorter length forward mudguard part is bolted at the bottom bracket bridge, and zip-tied at brake hanger bridge - just forward of the brake calliper.
The much longer length of rear part of the mudguard stops short of the brake calliper and is held securely by the rack.
It’s the best I can do with the very limited clearance between brake calliper and tyre, the result is over-engineered but works well until the road gets very muddy and clogs up the brake calliper area. They’re not called mudguards for nothing.
The only other way to fix the problem is to buy another frame with the bridges in the correct places, and it may come to that one day...
Debs
Peter,
i have a 2005 model Trek 1000 WSD
I purchased mine a year or two after 2005 when it was a last years model bargain.
You can't expect perfection with a £450 bike, but the Trek 1000 does has a lot of remarkable good points for little money, and what i particularly liked about it was the inclusion of very sensible mudguard eyelets on dropouts, bottom bracket, and even eyelets for rack on the stays, so with its racing geometry this makes for a good fun all year round hack.
However, my Trek 1000 frame, which incidentally is made in Taiwan, good as it may be for the line entry money, has just one little misfortune; to of had the brake hanger bridge welded too low down the stays so there can not ever be enough room [6mm between calliper and tyre] for any mudguard or rizza red to go between. This is a shame because at a stroke it eliminates all the use of the bolt eyelets. At the time i checked another Trek 1000 frame at my local bike shop which was the same so i suppose this problem is a batch fault at the frame builders.
I tried fitting Crud Roadracer MK2 Guards and found the rear didn't have enough room under the rear brake calliper, and also didn't like the wobbly feel and nature of the design, so went back to using my modified SKS.
BTW - your Colnago frame looks very cool, it would be sacrificial to the goddess of dark glasses to put mudguard eyelets on a frame like that, but if you ever want to swap for my Trek… 
Debs
Peter,
i have a 2005 model Trek 1000 WSD
....went back to using my modified SKS.
Debs
I think you just need to be a little creative to fit the guards to a frame like that. You need to make a little T-shaped bracket out of a metal strap (like piece of Meccano) that bolts on with the brakes that extends forward (under the bridge) and rearward (under the brake). The two halves of the guard rivet or bolt to the ends of the bracket. We fit guards to race frames all the time like this. You can even buy split guards in this configuration now.
+1 to wot Peter said.
On my rides when i used the quick-release crud catcher [photo right] i used to come home with loads of mud spots up my back. It isn't good enough for winter rides but it may come in handy for those occasional wet summer rides when the mudguards are off.
Today i came home though some flood water, only a few inches deep but traffic was causing it to surf up in two directions, felt almost sea sick riding over it for 100m or so but the wash cleaned all the mud off nicely! 
Anyway, another way of resolving my mudguard clearance issue would be to relocate the rear brake hanger hole to a new position just above the brake hanger bridge. But this would require a neat and strongly engineered bolt/clamp device to bolt though the orignal hole and to give an aditional brake hanger hole above. This would put the whole calliper approx 1cm higher, so the lowest part would become the bridge itself.
Doing this would give another 5mm of room, and that would be enough.
Debs
+1 to wot Peter said.
On my rides when i used the quick-release crud catcher [photo right] i used to come home with loads of mud spots up my back. It isn't good enough for winter rides but it may come in handy for those occasional wet summer rides when the mudguards are off.
Today i came home though some flood water, only a few inches deep but traffic was causing it to surf up in two directions, felt almost sea sick riding over it for 100m or so but the wash cleaned all the mud off nicely!
Anyway, another way of resolving my mudguard clearance issue would be to relocate the rear brake hanger hole to a new position just above the brake hanger bridge. But this would require a neat and strongly engineered bolt/clamp device to bolt though the orignal hole and to give an aditional brake hanger hole above. This would put the whole calliper approx 1cm higher, so the lowest part would become the bridge itself.
Doing this would give another 5mm of room, and that would be enough.
Debs
The difference is that I don't really mind a bunch of mud up my back. I can't see it, so it doesn't bother me. My clothes get wet and dirty anyway. It is no extra effort to wash "very, very dirty" clothes compared to washing simply "dirty" clothes.
Your solution of just using a rack to hold the guard is perhaps the best one. I can imagine the bracket you're speaking of, but it would likely cost more to engineer and build than a new frame that does have the clearance.
White pedals for a Whyte bike...
Joff
That Surly is a classic tourer. Here's a couple of shots of my Cannondale T2000. Sadly now being used to commute to work rather than tour the globe.
gordon franklin np entrance bike by winkyintheuk, on Flickr
Nice rig Winky, never say never...
It's fun on smooth single track (wheelies real well!) but in the rough stuff it can get a bit much not having any springs!
Sounds interesting. There is a real appeal to dispensing with suspension. Setting aside the clear multi-functional advantages of the bike does it feel at all weighty / unwieldy in pure MTB mode when riding mid-level off-road? Not so much hardcore technical stuff in mind here but a certain step-up from fire road.......so winding through trees, speeding round berms, bunny-hopping tree roots, seat of the pants at speed - you know the stuff
Well I've never owned a sus mtb so I'm used to the rigid feel of it. I think it's nice and direct in handling as I always found 'springs' pretty vague handling wise when jumping, hopping etc...
If you are used to a ful sus rig then it would be a wake up call & a half!?
That Surly is a classic tourer. Here's a couple of shots of my Cannondale T2000. Sadly now being used to commute to work rather than tour the globe.
gordon franklin np entrance bike by winkyintheuk, on Flickr
Nice rig Winky, never say never...
That trip was "fully loaded" around Tasmania with camping gear. 2800km. Much of it on forestry/fire roads. No crashes, no flats and no broken spokes. It was great.
Doing this would give another 5mm of room, and that would be enough.
Debs
Debs
The SKS road racers would most likely fit as I've fitted them to bikes with clearance of 6mm...
there is not enuff room
is not enuff room there
not enuff room there is
enuff room there is not
room there is not enuff
i've tried it all ways, as the actress said to the bishop
and as i've already pointed out a great many times before,
the bridge position is too low down dodgy 
Debs
That Surly is a classic tourer. Here's a couple of shots of my Cannondale T2000. Sadly now being used to commute to work rather than tour the globe.
gordon franklin np entrance bike by winkyintheuk, on Flickr
Nice rig Winky, never say never...
It's fun on smooth single track (wheelies real well!) but in the rough stuff it can get a bit much not having any springs!
Sounds interesting. There is a real appeal to dispensing with suspension. Setting aside the clear multi-functional advantages of the bike does it feel at all weighty / unwieldy in pure MTB mode when riding mid-level off-road? Not so much hardcore technical stuff in mind here but a certain step-up from fire road.......so winding through trees, speeding round berms, bunny-hopping tree roots, seat of the pants at speed - you know the stuff
Well I've never owned a sus mtb so I'm used to the rigid feel of it. I think it's nice and direct in handling as I always found 'springs' pretty vague handling wise when jumping, hopping etc...
If you are used to a ful sus rig then it would be a wake up call & a half!?
Never got on with full sus but very accustomed to front forks for riding down hills. Without any sus, you're pretty close to a cross bike in many regards albeit with a slightly lower BB etc. Forks can be a pain to maintain properly plus good ones are expensive. What I really like about your bike is the simplicity and multi-functional qualities. It is nice to get rid of some of the parpaphernalia sometimes.
there is not enuff room
is not enuff room there
not enuff room there is
enuff room there is not
room there is not enuff
i've tried it all ways, as the actress said to the bishop
and as i've already pointed out a great many times before,
the bridge position is too low down dodgy
Debs
Dear Debs,
I have exactly the same problem on the Carlton. The clearance on the back and the front is such that though I managed to fit the crud racer guards, about three winters ago, as soon as any grit appeared there was an audible scraping sound that could only be stopped by taking the guards off, washing them, and also washing the tyres. After about a week I gave up ...
I have got used to going a bit slower in the rain!
ATB from George