List your comments/things that mark you out as a noob:
I thought 'selle' was a brand name.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff
Biggest Cycling N00bs
(24 posts)-
Posted 12 years ago #
-
I thought the same about Fond de Jante.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"
I never really thought to translate what "fond de jante" meant. Despite taking French in HS and college, the words were lost on my. Over time, I built it up to be some major meaningful pithy phrase that some how summed up cycling. Tragically this is not the case as "fond de jante" means "inside the rim".
"Posted 12 years ago # -
Never even heard of it.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Someone (Uberuce??) explained the difference between a n00b and a newbie. I'd describe myself as a newbie but actually I can't remember what the differences are?
Dave C
Posted 12 years ago # -
It took me a long time to realise that the limit screws have no influence on how the rear derailleur shifts, and just stop the chain falling off either side. Hours of fettling time in vain.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Twas me indeed. The difference is that a newbie understands that there are people who know more about the given discipline than they do, and take their advice. The n00b is convinced he or she knows it already and will angrily react to contrary advice.
It is possible to be a n00b for an unlimited amount of time, provided your ego can steamroller over empirical evidence.
N00b error in my case: front wheel on black fruity's the wrong way round. Thanks to Kaputnik for pointing that out on Saturday.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Surely the fact that you took kaputnik's word on it and rectified the wrong-way-round-wheel means that that was a 'newbie' error, rather than a 'n00b' error?
Posted 12 years ago # -
Does n00b rhyme with tube?
Posted 12 years ago # -
It does, chdot.
It's still a n00b error because I haven't fixed it yet. I'll do so before I go back out on it, but for now I'm enjoying the freewheel feel.
Posted 12 years ago # -
there's a wrong way for a wheel to go? But I thought they were round...how can that be?
Posted 12 years ago # -
"But I thought they were round...how can that be?"
That's a good newbie question.
Posted 12 years ago # -
If it's a quick release hub, which in my sorta defence my other two bikes do not have, then the releasey lever should be on the left hand side. That means the rotation of the wheel as it goes forwards will tighten it if something got jammed into the threads. As it currently is on mine, if it stops running freely it'll loosen itself, which is the opposite of good.
I should have been able to work this out from first principles, but like a n00b I just slapped the wheel on and got the bad side of the 50% chance to get it right.
The real bad news here is of course the fact that I'm the person who replaced your brakes. Might want to see if chdot, Kaputnik et al can cast their hugely more competent eyes over it just in case.
Posted 12 years ago # -
QR lever on the left also means that on the back wheel it's on the less cluttered side away from the gear changer.
Posted 12 years ago # -
So in fact it was just the QR skewer that was the wrong way round. If you have a trailer hitch on your rear QR axle (eg. a Carry Freedom or Burley) then the hitch usually needs to go on the left to avoid fouling the derailleur, in which case your QR lever has to be on the right...
Posted 12 years ago # -
It would I think require the hollow axle to bind with the skewer (highly unlikely) for said potential catastrophe to happen.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Glad you said that, crowriver, or else I'd have flipped the whole thing round and therefore had to change the tyre and speedo magnet round too. It's a fixed fixed now, at any rate.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I swapped the sparebike's twist-grip shifters for thumb-levers yesterday, initially (in a rush at lunchtime (compounded by not initially being able to thread the cable through the exit hole)) installed with the brakes medial to the shifters, only realising on the way home that this was silly. With the shifters innermost, then the brakes, then the grips I now have usable/reachable shifters and a reasonable amount of space for lights and stuff in the middle, but changing up on the rear mech using the right-hand shifter (by rotating the lever clockwise) doesn't feel as easy as it should. Pushing the lever anticlockwise with the pad of the thumb works and can be achieved without adjusting the rest of the hand's grip, but trying to push the lever clockwise with the knuckle is a bit strainy. Have I accidentally salvaged a special backwards shifter from the Bike Station, have I mounted it wrong or are they just meant for easy downshifting at the cost of tricksy upshifting?
Posted 10 years ago # -
My head is hurting a bit just now as I've always had this conceptual difficulty with the notion of shifting 'up and down' between 'high and low' gears. Seems to be intuitive to many folk but I always think of things in terms of where the mech is on the sprockets.
Okay, I can say that every right thumbshifter I've seen has released cable when turned clockwise, which sends the mech towards the frame*, to the 'high' gears. In that case the spring in the mech is assisting you so it's nice and easy. Going the other way you're fighting both the spring and having to winch the chain onto larger cogs, which makes it a bit harder, sometimes much more depending on the state of the cable.
So, if you're shifter is going up the gears (to larger sprockets) when turned clockwise, I think you may have it on backwards. Looking at this picture that's the way it should appear from behind, clockwise releases cable, anticlockwise pulls it in, so the cable exits heading directly away from your hand. Unless you do have some oddball shifter that's different.
*Unless you have a rapid rise/high normal mech, but they've been out of fashion for a bit as I understand.
Posted 10 years ago # -
It's been ages since I've used thumb shifters though I think I'd have them set up so the pivot of the pulley/lever was pointing mostly vertically and slightly back so the lever would go directly towards and away from you. Rotating clockwise would involve hooking the index and middle fingers round the lever and having the thumb against the base of the lever, then pulling towards myself. Anticlockwise (always harder from what I recall) would usually be with the left side of the palm by hooking the lever between the base of the thumb and index finger then pushing away, possibly using the index and middle fingers to pinch it tight.
It seems you're understandably trying to set it up so you can shift without having to come off the grip but I don't think it's easily done. I certainly remember shifting with the things to involve removing most of the hand especially if it was a tight/stiff cable.
Posted 10 years ago # -
I've never had these before so have perhaps been spoiled by STIs and properbike's bullhorn/bar-end since the bike with downtube levers. Perhaps reading too much into the 'thumb' bit of thumbshifter.
Posted 10 years ago # -
Too much to offer on this one, but for starters: I spent >1 year telling my Sunday morning bike buddy all about this really strenuous French multi-day cycling event called "Le Jog"...
Posted 10 years ago # -
Aye 'Thumbshifters' is a bit of a misnomer. Last I had them on flat bars was when 1x5 speed gearing made you the cool kid on the block - nowadays you need at least 3x10 to do the same!
They do make good improvised/cheap bar end shifters for drop bars though:
Posted 10 years ago #
Reply
You must log in to post.
posts
