• Re: Bikes and bikes

    From Catrike Rider@21:1/5 to cyclintom@gmail.com on Mon Dec 4 14:24:12 2023
    On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 11:09:55 -0800 (PST), Tom Kunich
    <cyclintom@gmail.com> wrote:

    OK, my intensions now are to sell off the Ridley with its Di2. I will have to fiddle with it more to get it to run in gears quietly. Otherwise it is a good bike though it seems to flex under me in some gears making the crank squeak. I will retain the
    BMC SCO 01 as a winter bike.

    I will build the Serotta Fiere as a Dura Ace 10 speed and see of I can stand to use it. Otherwise I will sell that bike off as well. In general I don't like Shimano but if Campagnolo can't offer commonly used lever parts I will have no other option. The
    SRAM stuff I looked at didn't seem to work very well. About as well as the Campagnolo Veloce stuff.

    I just installed a CF fork into the Fondriest and expect it to handle all hell and gone better than with the rather poor steel fork I put in previously. That bike without the water bottle is 20 lbs. now. I will have to fit the steering tube properly now,
    but I have everything but the spacers. I will probably have to cut the steering post down a bit.

    I am still debating the Tommasini since it appears that the sealed bearing headsets don't work properly in the lower half of the steering tube. But I may be able to find an aluminum washer to space the bearing down a mm. That would fix the problem. I
    could also buy another caged bearing headset that has slightly more clearance. With that, the bike would be excellent. Presently, the steering is fine while it isn't under a load but when riding, the crown race seems to touch the frame head tube slightly
    once in awhile and that tiny drag makes the steering drag just the slightest.

    I will be receiving the Basso Loto this week and will install the Record 11 speed. The crank will be a Super Record which is substantially lighter than a record unless I can find a Record on one of the other bikes that has a Chorus group on it. The
    Basso is my forever bike.

    Everything else will be sold off. Shops don't seem to be stocking bikes now except for the Trek factory stores but they don't seem to be selling a lot. And I think that they are being undercut pretty substantially by Specialized. Though that may be just
    that the Specialized stores started stocking the cheaper models earlier.

    It took me 12 years after my concussion and loss of memory to know what sort of bikes I liked again so the one's I have will have minor modifications to my liking and the rest will exit the garage and hand me back working space.

    Campagnolo had better start thinking before they lose their markets altogether. Spare parts are an important matter. Remember when campy down tube levers had a million parts in them? I wonder if they sold spares then? Of course they were the only show
    in town and could do anything they liked but I can't tell you how many Campy downtube levers I've come across with missing parts now that Campy doesn't make them anymore.

    Oh come on. You're not really going to designate a "forever bike," are
    you? I haven't gone that far, yet.

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  • From AMuzi@21:1/5 to Tom Kunich on Mon Dec 4 14:31:10 2023
    On 12/4/2023 1:09 PM, Tom Kunich wrote:
    OK, my intensions now are to sell off the Ridley with its Di2. I will have to fiddle with it more to get it to run in gears quietly. Otherwise it is a good bike though it seems to flex under me in some gears making the crank squeak. I will retain the
    BMC SCO 01 as a winter bike.

    I will build the Serotta Fiere as a Dura Ace 10 speed and see of I can stand to use it. Otherwise I will sell that bike off as well. In general I don't like Shimano but if Campagnolo can't offer commonly used lever parts I will have no other option.
    The SRAM stuff I looked at didn't seem to work very well. About as well as the Campagnolo Veloce stuff.

    I just installed a CF fork into the Fondriest and expect it to handle all hell and gone better than with the rather poor steel fork I put in previously. That bike without the water bottle is 20 lbs. now. I will have to fit the steering tube properly
    now, but I have everything but the spacers. I will probably have to cut the steering post down a bit.

    I am still debating the Tommasini since it appears that the sealed bearing headsets don't work properly in the lower half of the steering tube. But I may be able to find an aluminum washer to space the bearing down a mm. That would fix the problem. I
    could also buy another caged bearing headset that has slightly more clearance. With that, the bike would be excellent. Presently, the steering is fine while it isn't under a load but when riding, the crown race seems to touch the frame head tube slightly
    once in awhile and that tiny drag makes the steering drag just the slightest.

    I will be receiving the Basso Loto this week and will install the Record 11 speed. The crank will be a Super Record which is substantially lighter than a record unless I can find a Record on one of the other bikes that has a Chorus group on it. The
    Basso is my forever bike.

    Everything else will be sold off. Shops don't seem to be stocking bikes now except for the Trek factory stores but they don't seem to be selling a lot. And I think that they are being undercut pretty substantially by Specialized. Though that may be
    just that the Specialized stores started stocking the cheaper models earlier.

    It took me 12 years after my concussion and loss of memory to know what sort of bikes I liked again so the one's I have will have minor modifications to my liking and the rest will exit the garage and hand me back working space.

    Campagnolo had better start thinking before they lose their markets altogether. Spare parts are an important matter. Remember when campy down tube levers had a million parts in them? I wonder if they sold spares then? Of course they were the only show
    in town and could do anything they liked but I can't tell you how many Campy downtube levers I've come across with missing parts now that Campy doesn't make them anymore.

    World is filled with options depending on your relative
    rankings of various criteria.

    You could run 1999~2007 Campagnolo Ergo Ten, perhaps with
    the long cage rear changers of that era. Mix-n-match all
    component levels (Record, Chorus, Datyona/Centaur. Every
    part for the easily serviceable levers is available.

    Larger than 30t low cassette sprockets only with
    not-Campagnolo wheels, but a better more popular solution to
    aging is a not-Campagnolo compact with a smaller front such
    as 32x46.
    --
    Andrew Muzi
    am@yellowjersey.org
    Open every day since 1 April, 1971

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  • From Catrike Rider@21:1/5 to cyclintom@gmail.com on Mon Dec 4 15:33:23 2023
    On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 11:29:47 -0800 (PST), Tom Kunich
    <cyclintom@gmail.com> wrote:

    On Monday, December 4, 2023 at 11:24:18?AM UTC-8, Catrike Rider wrote:
    On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 11:09:55 -0800 (PST), Tom Kunich
    <cycl...@gmail.com> wrote:

    OK, my intensions now are to sell off the Ridley with its Di2. I will have to fiddle with it more to get it to run in gears quietly. Otherwise it is a good bike though it seems to flex under me in some gears making the crank squeak. I will retain the
    BMC SCO 01 as a winter bike.

    I will build the Serotta Fiere as a Dura Ace 10 speed and see of I can stand to use it. Otherwise I will sell that bike off as well. In general I don't like Shimano but if Campagnolo can't offer commonly used lever parts I will have no other option.
    The SRAM stuff I looked at didn't seem to work very well. About as well as the Campagnolo Veloce stuff.

    I just installed a CF fork into the Fondriest and expect it to handle all hell and gone better than with the rather poor steel fork I put in previously. That bike without the water bottle is 20 lbs. now. I will have to fit the steering tube properly
    now, but I have everything but the spacers. I will probably have to cut the steering post down a bit.

    I am still debating the Tommasini since it appears that the sealed bearing headsets don't work properly in the lower half of the steering tube. But I may be able to find an aluminum washer to space the bearing down a mm. That would fix the problem. I
    could also buy another caged bearing headset that has slightly more clearance. With that, the bike would be excellent. Presently, the steering is fine while it isn't under a load but when riding, the crown race seems to touch the frame head tube slightly
    once in awhile and that tiny drag makes the steering drag just the slightest. >> >
    I will be receiving the Basso Loto this week and will install the Record 11 speed. The crank will be a Super Record which is substantially lighter than a record unless I can find a Record on one of the other bikes that has a Chorus group on it. The
    Basso is my forever bike.

    Everything else will be sold off. Shops don't seem to be stocking bikes now except for the Trek factory stores but they don't seem to be selling a lot. And I think that they are being undercut pretty substantially by Specialized. Though that may be
    just that the Specialized stores started stocking the cheaper models earlier. >> >
    It took me 12 years after my concussion and loss of memory to know what sort of bikes I liked again so the one's I have will have minor modifications to my liking and the rest will exit the garage and hand me back working space.

    Campagnolo had better start thinking before they lose their markets altogether. Spare parts are an important matter. Remember when campy down tube levers had a million parts in them? I wonder if they sold spares then? Of course they were the only
    show in town and could do anything they liked but I can't tell you how many Campy downtube levers I've come across with missing parts now that Campy doesn't make them anymore.
    Oh come on. You're not really going to designate a "forever bike," are
    you? I haven't gone that far, yet.

    I remember having a Basso Loto and another Basso Gap both of which I really loved. But because I continued to have seizures on fast descents and was falling off, (I had no idea that I was having those seizures) I decided to give up cycling and sold of
    gave away EVERYTHING. Otherwise I would have kept those steel Basso's forever. So, a new one the proper size is a forever bike.

    Glad that it works for you

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