C & V pet peeves!!
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11-09-22, 02:07 PM
#127
52psi
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Hi-viz anything, unless it's clearly an 80s reference.
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A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
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11-09-22, 03:43 PM
#129
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I resisted, but oh, what the hell.
Bicycle Specialization Syndrome, or BSS. It's a collection of bs beliefs I see circulate. Examples:
-Bicycles require special lubricants. No, they don't. It's a freaking bicycle.
-Big box bikes can't be repaired and will fall apart. Always uttered by bike "mechanics" and always followed by the reasoning (if you can call it that) that they are assembled poorly and use crappy components. Both of those things may be true, but are fixable and can be taught to the average twelve-year-old. "Oh, the welds are crappy." Ever seen the brazing on a Raleigh from the '70s? Welds can be fixed, too, which could be easily done by just about any real mechanic. Google search "cracked titanium frame." Did all those people get what they paid for? I have a Chinese Next here that was ridden hard and chucked to the curb, and it is welded nicer than my '73 Super Course's brazing. It didn't break! Lots of bikes fall apart, even the expensive ones. Certain Trek seat stays and forks, Ultegra Hollowtech cranks, Campagnolo cranks, and many, many others.
-Good steel bikes are only made from 4130 Cro-moly, 531, Colombus, etc. Right. That high end tube set really made all the difference in getting any non-competitive rider anywhere ever. Never mind frame geometry, wheel/tire choice, bars/saddle, gearing, etc. Right. Any good frame builder could totally make a fool out of the connoisseurs of ferrousness, most of whom don't actually know anything about steel.
-Bicycles always need special bikey tools. Sure, some things do require special tools - crank pullers, cassette/freewheel tools, cone wrenches, and the like. But mostly, ordinary socket sets, combo wrenches, hex keys are vastly superior to the sea of cheap, flimsy, stamped sheet metal "tools" marketed to bike customers.
-Throw in any other nonsense about needing at least 105 to be "serious", or SPD this or that, etc. "I'm a serious cyclist. The name on my crankset/downtube/helmet/billboard says so!"
Bicycle Specialization Syndrome, or BSS. It's a collection of bs beliefs I see circulate. Examples:
-Bicycles require special lubricants. No, they don't. It's a freaking bicycle.
-Big box bikes can't be repaired and will fall apart. Always uttered by bike "mechanics" and always followed by the reasoning (if you can call it that) that they are assembled poorly and use crappy components. Both of those things may be true, but are fixable and can be taught to the average twelve-year-old. "Oh, the welds are crappy." Ever seen the brazing on a Raleigh from the '70s? Welds can be fixed, too, which could be easily done by just about any real mechanic. Google search "cracked titanium frame." Did all those people get what they paid for? I have a Chinese Next here that was ridden hard and chucked to the curb, and it is welded nicer than my '73 Super Course's brazing. It didn't break! Lots of bikes fall apart, even the expensive ones. Certain Trek seat stays and forks, Ultegra Hollowtech cranks, Campagnolo cranks, and many, many others.
-Good steel bikes are only made from 4130 Cro-moly, 531, Colombus, etc. Right. That high end tube set really made all the difference in getting any non-competitive rider anywhere ever. Never mind frame geometry, wheel/tire choice, bars/saddle, gearing, etc. Right. Any good frame builder could totally make a fool out of the connoisseurs of ferrousness, most of whom don't actually know anything about steel.
-Bicycles always need special bikey tools. Sure, some things do require special tools - crank pullers, cassette/freewheel tools, cone wrenches, and the like. But mostly, ordinary socket sets, combo wrenches, hex keys are vastly superior to the sea of cheap, flimsy, stamped sheet metal "tools" marketed to bike customers.
-Throw in any other nonsense about needing at least 105 to be "serious", or SPD this or that, etc. "I'm a serious cyclist. The name on my crankset/downtube/helmet/billboard says so!"
11-09-22, 05:37 PM
#130
Ride, Wrench, Swap, Race
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Bottle cage clamps placed on top of decals. I always find a way around this!
Noisy under-saddle bags, clanging tools or whatever.
Bags that hang by the stitching that attaches the straps, instead of having the straps go up between the saddle rails and then out to encircle the bag.
Jagwire's over-length, loud-looking ferrules, accentuating their crooked exit from a loose-fitting housing stop and forcing sharper bend in the housing.
Levers set too low on the bars (bars usually tipped up to compensate, or not).
High-friction cabling used with high-effort derailers, think Varsity. The uncomfortable saddle and thinner, vinyl-wrapped (7/8") steel bar add to the need for immediate modifications. Yeah, I got carried away.
Age-hardened cable housing vinyl that tinks and clacks against frame tubing, bars/stem or even adjacent cabling.
Axles that are driveside-spaced too long for the freewheel's width, leaves the axle unsupported and never helps the chainline.
Overly-long bottom bracket spindles.
Saddles tilted or slammed rearward.
Leather saddles that look like they've sagged too far.
Indexed downtube levers. I honestly prefer friction unless we're talking integrated shifters and Hyperglide.
Salmon-colored brake pads, only because black compounds grip better. (I rarely ride in the rain, and the pink pads are only a little better then).
Group riders who show up wearing bulky clothing that obscures a trailing rider's vision.
Riders who never check the condition of their road pedal's plastic cleats or the bolt tension. Accidents waiting to happen.
Having to use the wrong hoods on Shimano AX-era levers.
Difficulties servicing older Phil hubs (luckily not needed often).
STI cables left to rub through unprotected headtube paint.
Regarding marble bar tapes, it looks absolutely great on certain bikes, like the black/yellow on my (black) 1995 Mondonico-built Masi, or the red/orange on my 2005 Litespeed Siena.
The multi-color "marble" tapes however, were nicknamed "clown vomit" for a reason I guess.
When a stem's bar-clamp bolt breaks while merely loosening it (after noticing that the bars had suddenly started creaking). Uneasy feeling from that encounter.
When a Vintage Bianchi's frame turns out to have 5mm holes drilled into it's butted seat tube, hidden by bottle cage. This and the above both on the same bike!
Noisy under-saddle bags, clanging tools or whatever.
Bags that hang by the stitching that attaches the straps, instead of having the straps go up between the saddle rails and then out to encircle the bag.
Jagwire's over-length, loud-looking ferrules, accentuating their crooked exit from a loose-fitting housing stop and forcing sharper bend in the housing.
Levers set too low on the bars (bars usually tipped up to compensate, or not).
High-friction cabling used with high-effort derailers, think Varsity. The uncomfortable saddle and thinner, vinyl-wrapped (7/8") steel bar add to the need for immediate modifications. Yeah, I got carried away.
Age-hardened cable housing vinyl that tinks and clacks against frame tubing, bars/stem or even adjacent cabling.
Axles that are driveside-spaced too long for the freewheel's width, leaves the axle unsupported and never helps the chainline.
Overly-long bottom bracket spindles.
Saddles tilted or slammed rearward.
Leather saddles that look like they've sagged too far.
Indexed downtube levers. I honestly prefer friction unless we're talking integrated shifters and Hyperglide.
Salmon-colored brake pads, only because black compounds grip better. (I rarely ride in the rain, and the pink pads are only a little better then).
Group riders who show up wearing bulky clothing that obscures a trailing rider's vision.
Riders who never check the condition of their road pedal's plastic cleats or the bolt tension. Accidents waiting to happen.
Having to use the wrong hoods on Shimano AX-era levers.
Difficulties servicing older Phil hubs (luckily not needed often).
STI cables left to rub through unprotected headtube paint.
Regarding marble bar tapes, it looks absolutely great on certain bikes, like the black/yellow on my (black) 1995 Mondonico-built Masi, or the red/orange on my 2005 Litespeed Siena.
The multi-color "marble" tapes however, were nicknamed "clown vomit" for a reason I guess.
When a stem's bar-clamp bolt breaks while merely loosening it (after noticing that the bars had suddenly started creaking). Uneasy feeling from that encounter.
When a Vintage Bianchi's frame turns out to have 5mm holes drilled into it's butted seat tube, hidden by bottle cage. This and the above both on the same bike!
Last edited by dddd; 11-09-22 at 05:40 PM.
11-12-22, 08:30 AM
#131
Bianchi Goddess
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When people pick a frameset clean they selling like a thanksgiving turkey!
Why do people remove a headset, especially something like just an Ofmega, Tange, 105, or any really, from a frame they are selling? Same goes with the seatpost binder and dropout adjusters
On my recent purchase I specified I wanted the headset so didn’t have to hassle with finding one the correct size, and it appeared to a basic no frills black one anyway. well the shop that did a lousy job of packing the frame removed the fork (why I don’t know it wasn’t like they then cut the box smaller) but didn’t put the bearings in the box!
They also took off the seatpost binder bolt, now I need to scrounge one of those.
thankfully they left the dropout adjusters. I don’t know though if they were left behind because they were bent and couldn’t be easily removed or if they got bent in shipping.
Why do people remove a headset, especially something like just an Ofmega, Tange, 105, or any really, from a frame they are selling? Same goes with the seatpost binder and dropout adjusters
On my recent purchase I specified I wanted the headset so didn’t have to hassle with finding one the correct size, and it appeared to a basic no frills black one anyway. well the shop that did a lousy job of packing the frame removed the fork (why I don’t know it wasn’t like they then cut the box smaller) but didn’t put the bearings in the box!
They also took off the seatpost binder bolt, now I need to scrounge one of those.
thankfully they left the dropout adjusters. I don’t know though if they were left behind because they were bent and couldn’t be easily removed or if they got bent in shipping.
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
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11-12-22, 11:56 AM
#132
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When people pick a frameset clean they selling like a thanksgiving turkey!
Why do people remove a headset, especially something like just an Ofmega, Tange, 105, or any really, from a frame they are selling? Same goes with the seatpost binder and dropout adjusters
On my recent purchase I specified I wanted the headset so didn’t have to hassle with finding one the correct size, and it appeared to a basic no frills black one anyway. well the shop that did a lousy job of packing the frame removed the fork (why I don’t know it wasn’t like they then cut the box smaller) but didn’t put the bearings in the box!
They also took off the seatpost binder bolt, now I need to scrounge one of those.
thankfully they left the dropout adjusters. I don’t know though if they were left behind because they were bent and couldn’t be easily removed or if they got bent in shipping.
Why do people remove a headset, especially something like just an Ofmega, Tange, 105, or any really, from a frame they are selling? Same goes with the seatpost binder and dropout adjusters
On my recent purchase I specified I wanted the headset so didn’t have to hassle with finding one the correct size, and it appeared to a basic no frills black one anyway. well the shop that did a lousy job of packing the frame removed the fork (why I don’t know it wasn’t like they then cut the box smaller) but didn’t put the bearings in the box!
They also took off the seatpost binder bolt, now I need to scrounge one of those.
thankfully they left the dropout adjusters. I don’t know though if they were left behind because they were bent and couldn’t be easily removed or if they got bent in shipping.
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11-12-22, 02:27 PM
#133
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When people pick a frameset clean they selling like a thanksgiving turkey!
Why do people remove a headset, especially something like just an Ofmega, Tange, 105, or any really, from a frame they are selling? Same goes with the seatpost binder and dropout adjusters
On my recent purchase I specified I wanted the headset so didn’t have to hassle with finding one the correct size, and it appeared to a basic no frills black one anyway. well the shop that did a lousy job of packing the frame removed the fork (why I don’t know it wasn’t like they then cut the box smaller) but didn’t put the bearings in the box!
They also took off the seatpost binder bolt, now I need to scrounge one of those.
thankfully they left the dropout adjusters. I don’t know though if they were left behind because they were bent and couldn’t be easily removed or if they got bent in shipping.
Why do people remove a headset, especially something like just an Ofmega, Tange, 105, or any really, from a frame they are selling? Same goes with the seatpost binder and dropout adjusters
On my recent purchase I specified I wanted the headset so didn’t have to hassle with finding one the correct size, and it appeared to a basic no frills black one anyway. well the shop that did a lousy job of packing the frame removed the fork (why I don’t know it wasn’t like they then cut the box smaller) but didn’t put the bearings in the box!
They also took off the seatpost binder bolt, now I need to scrounge one of those.
thankfully they left the dropout adjusters. I don’t know though if they were left behind because they were bent and couldn’t be easily removed or if they got bent in shipping.
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11-12-22, 05:02 PM
#134
Bianchi Goddess
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Thats called Tweaking and it’s a whole different issue. LOL.
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
11-13-22, 11:15 AM
#135
Partially Sane.
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I ain't touchin' that one. 😁😉
Why do some companies still put bottle cage braze-ons right where the front derailleur has to go? 🤔
Are they "trying" to upset me? 😵🙄😉
Obviously, you can just use those thick washers, but why not just mount the braze-ons 6" higher? 🙃
Why do some companies still put bottle cage braze-ons right where the front derailleur has to go? 🤔
Are they "trying" to upset me? 😵🙄😉
Obviously, you can just use those thick washers, but why not just mount the braze-ons 6" higher? 🙃
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11-13-22, 11:27 AM
#136
Fat Guy on a Little Bike
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I hate bicycles. Every. SIngle. Part. Of. Them. I hate the wheels, the derailleurs, the cranks...all of it. The older they are, the worse they are. I especially hate bicycles that look like they were actually ridden.
Last edited by KonAaron Snake; 11-13-22 at 11:48 AM.
11-13-22, 11:38 AM
#137
Bianchi Goddess
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
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11-13-22, 06:43 PM
#138
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Right lever to left stop, left lever to right stop, cross cables under downtube. (Under BB cabling only.)
11-13-22, 10:48 PM
#139
elcraft
WRT to being able to see the hub marking through the valve stem hole, this seems . exactly opposite of what I think would look best! If the valve stem naturally descends to the lowest point, then shouldn’t the hub marking be visible on the top of the hub? This standard causes the hub marking to be unreadable when the valve stem reaches its lowest position.
11-14-22, 10:06 AM
#141
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I always seem to see oversized older road bikes where the SR LaPrade seatpost is "slammed" so low that it is messing up the seat clamping cluster.
11-14-22, 10:27 AM
#142
Bike Butcher of Portland
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I've been sold on salmon pads ever since I moved to the PNW (where, of course, we get a bit more rain than you do). But they do seem to wear out faster. Just before starting out on our recent Neal Lerner tour of the PNW I put in new salmon pads. 4 days later they were pretty worn, I swapped them out at a bike shop with black ones. We didn't have rain the last 2 days to test them, but in dry weather they work just fine, and to my memory, last longer. This make sense, as black pads have carbon black in them, which is the typical tire additive to improve wear.
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If someone tells you that you have enough bicycles and you don't need any more, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
If someone tells you that you have enough bicycles and you don't need any more, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
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11-14-22, 10:39 AM
#144
Senior Member
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I've been sold on salmon pads ever since I moved to the PNW (where, of course, we get a bit more rain than you do). But they do seem to wear out faster. Just before starting out on our recent Neal Lerner tour of the PNW I put in new salmon pads. 4 days later they were pretty worn, I swapped them out at a bike shop with black ones. We didn't have rain the last 2 days to test them, but in dry weather they work just fine, and to my memory, last longer. This make sense, as black pads have carbon black in them, which is the typical tire additive to improve wear.
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11-17-22, 09:25 PM
#147
Happy With My Bikes
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I fixed a flat tonight on the bike I hope to ride tomorrow and after airing it up, I noticed that the label isn't aligned with the valve stem. I'm only slightly peeved though. A bourbon neat should fix that. The peeving that is, not the label.
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"It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels." -- Heinz Stücke
"It is the unknown around the corner that turns my wheels." -- Heinz Stücke
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My other pet peeve is PINK!
11-17-22, 10:08 PM
#149
aka Tom Reingold
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I was trained to set bikes up the way Italian racers did. My boss was persnickety. So am I by nature, and I try to beat back that tendency.
A couple of years ago, I was setting up a bike for myself, and my intuition told me to rotate the bars back a bit. OK, a bit better. Then I tipped them back a bit more, and oh my goodness, I'm in heaven, why did it take me so long? It looks bad and feels good. I'm leaving it this way.
A couple of years ago, I was setting up a bike for myself, and my intuition told me to rotate the bars back a bit. OK, a bit better. Then I tipped them back a bit more, and oh my goodness, I'm in heaven, why did it take me so long? It looks bad and feels good. I'm leaving it this way.
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“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
Tom Reingold, tom@noglider.com
New York City and High Falls, NY
Blogs: The Experienced Cyclist; noglider's ride blog
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West, US author
Please email me rather than PM'ing me. Thanks.
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11-18-22, 12:33 AM
#150
resykler
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that steel wire stuck in your foot
blunt cable cutters that worked yesterday but decided to shred my new cable today. Inevitably when I've been working where I shouldn't and even a magnet
wont pick up all those little pieces of steel wire. Bring on the spotlight, tweezers and duct-tape as the nearly invisible wire is stuck in my foot.
Not my peeve, using the kitchen as a workshop,
wont pick up all those little pieces of steel wire. Bring on the spotlight, tweezers and duct-tape as the nearly invisible wire is stuck in my foot.
Not my peeve, using the kitchen as a workshop,