Why I hate my bike

Why I hate my bike
An essay by Stephen Hulley

I hate my 84 CB Dalesman lately. The brakes are rubbish. I upgraded to Shimano 105 Golden Arrows but they're rubbish too. They don't stop the bike, they just bend. I almost went into the back of a lorry the other day.

The headset has no sweet spot. It goes from too tight to too loose. In fact right now its both stiff to move and slightly wobbly at the same time. I changed the cage and bearings and packed it with loads of grease. This made approximately 0.1% difference.

The seat post won't stay put no matter how tight I get it. I cleaned out the seat tube and put a newer bolt on that I could screw even tighter. That made approximately 10% difference. Its 10% worse. - Solved. See below.

The friction shifters friction shift by themselves. I know there's some washer that needs replacing but I hate friction shifters, I want indexing. Problem is all the 6 speed index shifters out there are those ugly matte grey things Shimano were producing in the 90's. Isn't there anything period I can fit?

I hate the fact that the fork crown is so low my £50 GB mudguards don't actually fit. They're on top of my wardrobe now.

I hate the front mech which refuses to stay on the big ring, probably (definitely) because of the shifters.

Why oh why did I sell my Majestic? It refused to break no matter how badly I treated. Even when I was hammering it around fully loaded and bits of metal were flying off, it always got home. And never killed me once.

I don't hate my wheels. They're great (and brand new).

edit: For future reference, thanks to suggestions in this post, I just resolved the seatpost issue. It had been fitted with one a size too small and then the neck of the seat tube had been over-tightened in a attempt to make it grip the smaller post. Had to use a screwdriver to open the slot on the rear of the neck up then the post slid in easier and neater than the original.

You're right, old brakes are crap. Try some modern deep drop shimano dual pivots. If these aren't long enough, Alhongas are surprisingly good for the price

Agreed with friction shifters. You could try suntour ratchet leves which aren't indexed, but dont slip. Shimano did a metal 105 indexed six speed which is period and the 7 speed 6400 tricolours had a plastic insert to let you use 6 speed.

One of the headset cups isn't seated correctly and is either out of centre or not perpendicular to the bearing race

the seatpin is too small, wrong diameter.

I've had the same problem with mudguards and the low forkcrown before, but not spending £50, was prepared to shave the corners off for better clearance

You might also have a worn out headset. If the races have little dents in them from the balls they will never adjust right. New headset time.

I saw a well used red 70s Raleigh Chopper locked up today . Rusty as hell but it had custom V brakes fitted. Very cool with Union Jack seat covers.

Basically you can make anything work properly with a little £££s and tlc.

Stephen,

Nice essay and i read it as a challenge fix all the problems - none seem insurmountable or very costly either. Start with one problem, fix it and move to the next and when you are done you will be able to write an essay entitled 'Why i Love My Bike'.

Richard

It used to be a bit of a cycling joke that weinmann side pull brakes weren't for stopping, they were for slowing down

I can testify to that!! If anyone remember NatureTrek shoes (Clarks i think) - they had a deep rubber sole - i used a heel to compensate with my brakes and removed almost half the sole in a triangular shape. What a kicking my mother gave me!

Richard

I had a compass in my heel.

Thanks for the replies guys. Really think I need to get this thing sorted before winter hits. Main priority would be the headset and brakes I guess. The rest I can at least live with.

Brakes: No room for dual pivots (low crown). Thinking about some centre pulls. Maybe even frame work to take cantis.

Headset: Is seated straight but doesn't seem notchy at all (this is something I was looking for). Think I'll replace it with a modern cartridge one though. Current one is unbranded, just says "Japan" on it.

Seat post seems like the right size, but is a smooth, cheap chromed one.

Frame desperately needs a respray too

Fix it with this................