Why I hate my bike

Well mate, sounds like your bike is crap. On the plus side old bikes are cheap so get thee to ebay.

M-Power":2zf2dudn said:
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.
Click to expand...

Probably just a MK3.
 
SantaHul":289t2d34 said:
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.

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).
Click to expand...

A pic would be nice so as to comment on the background based on the essay :)
 
My guess for the headset is that you have the wrong size balls in it (or one half of it). One of my bikes runs a mongrel Campag headset (to get the look I want with the stack height that matches the forks) and it took me a very long time to work out that your precise symptoms were because the balls in the bottom needed to be a different size to the top!
 
Don't know the brand of headset but rather than mess around with my balls I think I'll just do away with them altogether. Get a cartridge headset.
 
I was having problems with the headset that came with my newly refurbished Graham Weigh frame, the headset was brand new and fitted to the frame by Graham Weigh when I bought it from them. It was either too tight or had a slight bit of play, no sweet-spot. I decided to re-grease the caged bearings to no avail, so I removed the cages and fitted single ballbearings, fresh grease a different washer at the top and it's working perfectly now.

I would suggest you strip the headset down and check the bearing seats for tracking and if they are clean fit new bearings and fresh grease, it will only cost a couple of pounds for the ballbearings
 
SantaHul":2p8ds7e5 said:
Don't know the brand of headset but rather than mess around with my balls I think I'll just do away with them altogether. Get a cartridge headset.
Click to expand...

Too Loose Le Trek! :facepalm:
 
headset sounds like it might have the wrong cages fitted, try loose bearings instead.

drop a wheel size for the guards to fit, the Dalesman is meant to be a tourer after all - I'm guessing 27?

And there are definitely alloy Shimano 6spd indexed downtube levers out there, I'm sure I have some from the lower groupsets.
 
legrandefromage":udqrno75 said:
headset sounds like it might have the wrong cages fitted, try loose bearings instead.

drop a wheel size for the guards to fit, the Dalesman is meant to be a tourer after all - I'm guessing 27?

And there are definitely alloy Shimano 6spd indexed downtube levers out there, I'm sure I have some from the lower groupsets.
Click to expand...

Again I ask, How big is your shed????????
 
Gears: Just remembered I upgraded to 7spd :oops:

Wheels: Already dropped down to 700c

Headset: Could try smaller ball bearings. Not sure what the current size is off the top of my head but its that really really common size.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

cyberknight
Seatpost slippage
2
Replies
12
Views
1K
shedobits
S
Takingabreak
Cantilever brake suggestions for a '94 bike
2 3 4
Replies
30
Views
1K
Suprachrgd82
Suprachrgd82
T
Dave Hinde/Brian Rourke - 90's Campagnolo
2 3
Replies
29
Views
2K
Nob
Nob
jonnyboy666
so old MTB frame to gravel bikes? thoughts?
2 3 4
Replies
31
Views
2K
novekili
N
jonnyboy666
1989 (i think) Muddy Fox Seeker! the prodigal bike returns!
2
Replies
12
Views
931
elite504
elite504

Latest posts

Back
Top