Tag: components

New Parts Day

The replacement parts for my single speed arrived. New chainring and cranks.

That’s obviously a job for the weekend, along with installing the new brake callipers that are sat waiting to be installed. First impressions of the new crank are good, it’s quite light, and stiff and looks good.

So, time will tell how it works out of course. I got round to fitting the new callipers, however, the front cut down on the available space for the mudguards. I had to cut the front off the guard, so it ends just behind the Caliper. Only time will tell what difference this makes, but it has the added benefit of stopping the rubbing that no amount of tweaking cured.

Shouldn’t be a issue, as the spray back should be caught by the rear part due to tyre rotation.



Another learning curve.

So I had my bike up in the workstand cleaning the gunk after the very, very wet ride I had earlier. In the lower gears, the chain jumped off the lower jockey wheel, jamming between the jockey and cage.

Not being quite sure what was causing it I started to look into it. I initially didn’t think it could be Todo with the wet ride so I looked at the jockey, not worn, so cleaned it off and ensured it still spun freely. Put it back on and the same thing happened. Ok, perhaps the derailleur cage is bent. Nope, that was fine, so check the hangar, that’s perfectly straight.

Could it be the chain? Time to break out the chain cleaner. A good scrubbing of the chain, and bingo, no skipping off the jockey. So all I can think of is that some filth had worked into a chain link causing it to be skipping off the jockey.

A Few Upgrades

So, its been a little while, and a few extra miles covered on the bike.

I’ve upgraded a few parts on the bike, and noticed a significant increase in performance. First off, after speaking to my Mechanic  with a issue with the front wheel extra bearings, he recommended Racing 5 wheels from Fulcrum. The spin rate of the wheels was amazing, when spun on the work stand, they just kept on going.

Riding the bike saw a vast decrease in times, with a good set of personal bests beaten.

On my first proper outing with them, and the new drive chain,

Second replacement was a new drive train, as the bike had done well over 1000 miles and the chain had stretched well past replacement.

Now the times really started to fall, on almost each ride, I noticed how much less power I was having to put down to get the same forward motion, and how easy they coasted. The best ride was out to Wetherby, a fast route once your past Rudding hill.
Untitled pictureThis Section, from Folifoot to Spofforth saw me have an average speed of 22mph, topping out at 31mph. And I wasn’t really trying there. But the bike just zipped along.

Some of this is without doubt, due to improved fitness, but alot is down to the wheels. They are simply the best upgrade you can make to a bike to improve its speed. Especially over stock factory wheels.

So, if your wanting to upgrade your performance, replace those slow factory wheels with a better solution.