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Cyclists - your experiences on the road

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PeterY

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Well I've learnt something new there then, never would have thought about that potential issue with the cables!
I've had a few cables snap. Both times the front brake, which I use the most. Luckily brakes on bikes are independent :D :D :D I think it's cheap thin cabling that's being used nowadays .
 
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LSWR Cavalier

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Well I've learnt something new there then, never would have thought about that potential issue with the cables!
Check them ASAP! You can upend the bike and drip oil in at the levers or the calipers. I recommend reading up about cycle maintenance. One can pay someone else to do it, but most things are quite easy. I trust myself to looking after my machine better than someone else. A properly maintained cycle should last decades. I had one for 21 years in regular use, did change a few bits: wheels, tyres, gears, several times
 

Non Multi

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There certainly are hills around here which would deliver a fair bit of training, I could do with looking at creating a route plan for that. I get really bored doing the same routes though, and urban riding is just so dull and boring. Not to mention insanity-inducing...

I've never lubricated a cable on my bike, never even occurred to me that it could be beneficial. After today's lengthy ride, which followed a bit of a clean of my frame, I think the poor thing's in need of another major scrub-down. Need to get some more Muc-Off tomorrow, come to think of it...
My 7 mile circuit is mainly rural, and with 2 rivers, pretty scenic and varied.

I have to clean mud off in winter and fine gravel dust in summer. The joys of being off road!

Never had the misfortune of snapped cables, just the annoyance of fraying cable ends needing to be recapped.
 

Bletchleyite

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Hand-operated cycle brakes need frequent checks, adjustment, maintenance, especially the cables should be greased/oiled, otherwise they can snap without warning.

If they are decent quality components - metal levers etc - you don't have to do much maintenance on them at all other than occasional adjustment (which you can do while riding using the screw collar on the lever) and replacing the pads periodically. I have never had a bike brake cable snap, I'd question the riding style of anyone who is pulling them with enough force to snap a steel cable.

That said, cheap rubbish tends to fail, whatever it is. Best not having cheap components that your life depends on! :)

Disk brakes are plusminus, more effective but complicated, one could write a thesis about changing hydraulic fluid and another about in-compatibilities, grrr

I brake only with my feet, a back-pedal brake seems maintenance free, but I understand it wears eventually

Though you trade that off for less effective braking; roller brakes are all very well for low speed riding in the Netherlands where it's flat, but they aren't great for faster riding or hills.
 

LSWR Cavalier

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If modern brakes still have those multi-strand bowden cables it really is important to check them. If they are dry they can break almost without warning at the sharp bend at the lever
 

Bletchleyite

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If modern brakes still have those multi-strand bowden cables it really is important to check them. If they are dry they can break almost without warning at the sharp bend at the lever

I have been cycling for something like 30 years and I have never, ever had that happen.

What sharp bend at the lever, anyway? Mine go straight in. Is this just road bike drop bar brake levers? If a particular design of lever is running the cable round a sharp bend then lubricating that to prevent wear would be important.
 

LSWR Cavalier

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I have been cycling nearly fifty years, I do remember cables breaking. Maybe bowden cables were not so strong back then, or had a sharp bend and direct metal contact at the lever, are they self-lubricated now? I do remember them breaking at the lever, maybe the nipple right at the end. Used to tip up the cycle and drip oil into the cable housing until it came out at the bottom
 

Non Multi

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Has anyone here tried an old style bike with rod-actuated brakes? My father rode one, but I don't think I ever used it before it was moved on. It was a decrepit thing that creaked with every pedal stroke.
 

Bikeman78

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Well I've learnt something new there then, never would have thought about that potential issue with the cables!
In my experience they tend to fray close to the brake lever after a few years. Then they snap if you have to brake hard.
 

LSWR Cavalier

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They might break if clamped too tight at the caliper, adjusted, clamped in a different position. I just oiled my brake cable, must have a good look at it by daylight. It is just for show, my legs do all the retarding
 

Non Multi

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I've had the reverse problem with cantis, where I've not tightened the retaining nut enough, so the brake cable comes free after a few lever presses.
 

ashkeba

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What sharp bend at the lever, anyway? Mine go straight in. Is this just road bike drop bar brake levers? If a particular design of lever is running the cable round a sharp bend then lubricating that to prevent wear would be important.
Yes, modern road bike levers run the cables along the bar under the grip tape and around a corner in the lever, but not very sharp in most. It does cause more drag and wear than old style top entry brake levers or most flat bar levers and they do snap the pear off sometimes.
 

Bletchleyite

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Yes, modern road bike levers run the cables along the bar under the grip tape and around a corner in the lever, but not very sharp in most. It does cause more drag and wear than old style top entry brake levers or most flat bar levers and they do snap the pear off sometimes.

Ah, fair enough. I'm not as familiar with drop-bar bikes because I find them uncomfortable, so I always go for straight. (The most comfortable for me is actually "Dutch style", not the really olde-worlde "C shaped" bar with the handles at 90 degrees to the bar, but the "moustache shaped" ones that have them at about 30 degrees or so, but you rarely see them on UK spec bikes).
 

Techniquest

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Thanks for all the input gang, very much appreciated. It must be said I know very little about maintaining a bike, and I must remember to book mine in for its 1,000km service soon. It's done 755 miles now, in 2 months. Crikey I've just realised I got it 2 months ago today, that's awesome.

If I include the 230 miles I've done on Beryl bikes around the city this year (I needed a new bike around New Year, so while I waited for the bike shops to reopen I had to have some way of starting the new year off properly!) that puts me at around 985 miles of cycling this year so far o_O I ended 2020 on around 1,987 miles, so I'm pretty pleased with that. Granted, I didn't start until 24th February 2020 and I had loads of time off the bikes due to various health concerns.

20210304_110035.jpg

Yesterday's hill climbing training took on some rural roads, and the opportunity to get a bike-selfie at this location's sign was impossible to resist. Despite it sounding super Welsh, this was actually in Herefordshire!
 

ashkeba

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Ah, fair enough. I'm not as familiar with drop-bar bikes because I find them uncomfortable, so I always go for straight. (The most comfortable for me is actually "Dutch style", not the really olde-worlde "C shaped" bar with the handles at 90 degrees to the bar, but the "moustache shaped" ones that have them at about 30 degrees or so, but you rarely see them on UK spec bikes).
Are those not named "North Road" shape after some road in London?
 

py_megapixel

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Interesting one today - spotted a cyclist riding with only one hand on the bars, reading something on their phone and completely oblivious to traffic!

Surely it's common sense that it's necessary to keep one's eyes entirely on the road?
 

Bletchleyite

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Interesting one today - spotted a cyclist riding with only one hand on the bars, reading something on their phone and completely oblivious to traffic!

Surely it's common sense that it's necessary to keep one's eyes entirely on the road?

I've seen teenagers doing that with no hands on the bars. Which I have no idea how they manage - if I take both hands off I crash straight away! :)
 

LSWR Cavalier

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One often sees young persons doing that. Perhaps the police could exceptionally target cyclists, and put the Fear of God into the smombies, so that they do not think of doing that when driving later.
 

py_megapixel

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One often sees young persons doing that. Perhaps the police could exceptionally target cyclists, and put the Fear of God into the smombies, so that they do not think of doing that when driving later.
It doesn't feel like something that should need to be enforced by the police - it feels like basic survival instinct!
 

ABB125

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I can ride a bike without holding the handlebars. But I wouldn't do so on a busy road. Nor would I use my phone whilst cycling*, that's just silly. Especially on a busy road.

*The only exception being to check RealTime Trains/a signalling map, to see whether I've missed the train I was going to see. But in that case, it's just a quick glance that requires little thought, unlike (say) writing a message.
 

satisnek

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I've seen teenagers doing that with no hands on the bars. Which I have no idea how they manage - if I take both hands off I crash straight away! :)
Same here. It's a regular sight on a cycle path close to my place of work. All I can assume is that they must have stiffened up the steering or something. The path in question hasn't been maintained for decades and is very bumpy and cracked up from tree roots. It must surely knock your front wheel all over the place if you haven't got at least one hand on the handlebars.
Something teenagers tend not to possess, unfortunately.
They don't need it round here, they have the nine lives of a cat.
 

LSWR Cavalier

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Another possible problem is rims wearing away. Modern rims have a wear marker, when it disappears the rims are no longer to be trusted and should be replaced. When I started cycling brake blocks wore away. But modern rim brakes have more power at the cost of wearing rims away as well as the brake pads. Another good argument for braking with ones feet.
 

Bletchleyite

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Another possible problem is rims wearing away. Modern rims have a wear marker, when it disappears the rims are no longer to be trusted and should be replaced. When I started cycling brake blocks wore away. But modern rim brakes have more power at the cost of wearing rims away as well as the brake pads. Another good argument for braking with ones feet.

Or for discs, to be fair.
 

PeterY

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Another possible problem is rims wearing away. Modern rims have a wear marker, when it disappears the rims are no longer to be trusted and should be replaced. When I started cycling brake blocks wore away. But modern rim brakes have more power at the cost of wearing rims away as well as the brake pads. Another good argument for braking with ones feet.
Just wear your shoes away instead. :D :D :D :D :D
 

LSWR Cavalier

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Brake discs wear away of course and have to be replaced using special tools, or one pays someone to do it. Using a back-pedal brake or fixed-wheel to brake is my choice, for legs are much stronger than arms. Not many hills round here, mind.
 
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