Anti-Hope- Rant.

clubby":3rnb73jf said:
legrandefromage":3rnb73jf said:
And I have some Hope brakes to bleed.

Do the have the “classic” or the offending new tangled mini nipple? ;)

Quids in i was forced to buy both(obviously)



-----------Subject pet hate #2

"Quick Links"

Quick aye, but not to remove, and impossible by hand so you need the new special tool that costs a tenner. Link, recommended disposable(no surprise eh) £3 per go.

Previously a chain splitter costing £3 and replacement pins at ten pence each. A quick link tool isnt going to fix your chain in the middle of nowhere, but you will be required for that to also have said oldie worldy splitter too.

A clear innovation thats brought us forward into the modern era hooray.
 
Re:

Quick links. I hear you and until I learnt the knack, hated them.

Headset standards are a pain, but hope and other adapters mean you can work with most frame/fork combos. Hassle: yes.

Bbs. Push fit are pants! Ht2 and the like make fitting cranks easier in terms of axle length etc. Is it me, or are the latest cranks with removable axles simply replicating the bbs of old, but in kit form, and more expensive, and bearings wear out faster?

Bitd when I got my RTS-2 new, it was worth 10x what I paid for my Vauxhall nova, and there was way more technology, moving parts and engineering in that car. With bikes now costing 5k plus, a car still has much more and takes much more to make, so why do bikes cost so much?
 
Quick links are a pain until you get the knack. But I've used the same one across four different chains before it was worn out and never had a special tool.

External bottom brackets demand properly faced bottom bracket shells if you want any kind of longevity. Never had a push fit one, never want one. I'm unsure about whether external screw thread bottom brackets are an improvement. They are a lot easier to fit, less chance of knackering cranks by amateurs and the early cup/cone ones were not exactly well sealed/long lasting. But an internal cartridge bottom bracket is a thing of beauty longevity wise.

Drive chain wise, for the average person, I'm not sure anything above 7 speed cassette adds much - but I do love 1x. I just wish there was a 1x7 with roughly the same range as the new ones.

The biggest problem with modern gear is the proliferation of standards. I'd quite like to build a bike up from a frame, but unlike in the 90s, I know there's zero chance of most of my stuff transferring across including some quite expensive bits like wheels! (I have a 650+ boost front wheel with a thru-axle, and 650+ non-boost quick release rear one).
 
Cheap nasty screw-on hubs often gave up a snapped axle or ten

The new SLX/ XT 12spd is about as backwards compatible as a Space Shuttle.

This reminds me of the 80's, there were so many different types of hub, all with the same goal of attaching some cogs but with so many different tools required.

With a potential of some 30 - 40 years of cycling ahead of me, I think I'll have to stock up on certain parts.
 
I did manage to snap an axle back in the 90s. But it was some mavic hub with an aluminium axle and a screw on hub. I got rid of that wheel pretty sharpish. I have seen heavy lads break and bend axles too.

I do think there is something to bike handling. I still see middle aged lads who ought to know better crunching their way through their 12x cassettes with the inevitable snapped chains and busted mechs. Whatever the marketing says, changing gear under heavy load while possible, probably isn't desirable.
 
Well look at how that went. Started for us with 3x, which apparently lasted the MTB as a riding sport up hill and down dale without problems for the last 40+ years. more recently they went 2x, with some bumpf about gear inches and ratios etc etc. I think that was about 7 or 8 years back, now much more recently and over the past few years its gone to 1x. In use,and as required to go down, you first must go up, they find that 1x10 is not enough so it's 1x11, then 1x12, all requiring different derailleurs and usually the shifter too. Where is that going to end ? other than snapping the flimsier chain. They cant innovate a single gear any further, its already too light for the pounding they're supposed to be designed to receive.
 
If you were cynical, you would believe that SRAM didnt want to pay for any patents to Shimano for their front mechs so made the rather rash statement that they 'will never make a front mech again' - or something like that

Others would claim that the front mech got in the way of decent suspension design

Rotor have a 1 x 13 if you're interested https://rotorbike.com/1x13-groupset-road/

You could also rant at disc brakes on road bikes - some have found them to fade on long descents but others could claim that carbons rims are cheaper to manufacture

But only if you were cynical...
 
The 1x13 is road specific. Well done on finding an article on 1x13 but points off im sorry to say for not noticing it's content :)

I know a bloke who has hundreds of road hubs, Hope Campagnolo, Miche, Royce and others. It's his job, and livelihood.

Problem for him and others is none of them are for disc brakes. Not a fun position for a businessman to find himself in, especially after just recovering from the loss of 26" business. I'm sure the many 26" rims he has will maybe find a home.


So is it a cynical rant, or just voicing the concerns of others :?
 
Re: Re:

ishaw":2r6is4tw said:
Bitd when I got my RTS-2 new, it was worth 10x what I paid for my Vauxhall nova, and there was way more technology, moving parts and engineering in that car. With bikes now costing 5k plus, a car still has much more and takes much more to make, so why do bikes cost so much?

That's not a fair comparison. A £5-6k bicycle now is a top end bike. That is comparable to a £100k sports car. Just because a cheap new car may cost the same as an expensive high end bicycle does not mean that there is equivalency.
 

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