Bicycle Thread

It can depend on the type of fluid, and it does go off quicker in higher temps. But even having to do it annually would be too much maintenance for me. I regularly ride bridleways/gravel on my tubed tyres without issue, so can’t see the point. I have my mtb set up tubeless though.

I run tubeless on my mtb and it’s obviously way better than having inner tubes. For the most part it’s worry free but I have had problems with my presta valves blocking up with congealed goo. In four years I’ve replaced them three times. Quite often a poke through with a spoke will do the trick but other times, no, and a replacement has been necessary.

I’ve just cleared the front valve and replaced the rear one and added some more fluid. If it happens again I’m probably going to drill slightly larger valve holes in my rims and go for a tubeless compatible shraeder valve replacement. I’m on 27.5+ so it won’t significantly weaken my rims. Shraeder works fine for all other tubeless tyres so it might be an improvement. There seems to me no reason for wide mtb rims to have presta valves. Makes sense on a road bike where there’s no room for a wider valve and therefore no option. Aesthetically presta valves do look better but to have them on mtbs just seems like a throwback to when top end bikes had prestas and cheaper bikes had shraeder valves and the industry has carried on doing it. Now it’s not a signifier of quality because they’re on practically every bike. Anyhow, will see how I get on this time and fingers crossed I don’t feel the need to get the drill out.

You kind of get what you pay for with bikes IMO - a bit like skateboards.

This one is cheap, it will do the job, but it will be cheap.

If you’re on a budget, I would recommend going down the second hand route. For £300 you will get a much better quality bike that than Decathlon one.

eBay, FB Marketplace, car boot sales etc. You’re in Oxford, so there must be Bike Co-Ops or Bike Shops that do second hand bikes.

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Less punctures. But if going with clinchers then get something that won’t puncture often like Continental 4 seasons.

Total overkill in this scenario. He’s had 3 punctures in 4 years and cycles to get around, doing about 30-40km per week.

In general, any tyres I’d assume would suit his bike look like they have minimal grip - he’s been lucky with no crashes or slips in winter on the big chunky things he’s got right now, and definitely uses the coaster brake way more than the hand brakes.

Continental 4 seasons are good. Have had 1 puncture a year and been cycling 50-100 miles a week. You might be able to get gravel tires on it though if the width of the fork allows this.

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Nice one, thanks, will investigate.

Apologies if this has been asked, I had a brief look through

I want to get an electric bike, but have absolutely zero clue where to start. My only experience with them is using the hire bikes in my city that boost automatically as you pedal. I already have a bike but don’t massively enjoy cycling round here as it’s super hilly and often windy, so my main reasoning for wanting one is laziness, if that helps. Don’t mind spending a bit on it if it’s worth it.
Any advise at all would be appreciated. I’m not really sure what to look out for spec wise. Would prefer second hand if that’s advisable

Edit - just found one of these on Facebook for £400 as a starting point.

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That was sick. Filming and editing was better than most skate output these days, which never use to be the case.

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Filming, editing AND music.

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Went for a ride this morning and frost was forming on my gloves and jacket. My lungs feel fried after flu last weekend and sub zero blast today.

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Bet somehow that was really good for you though

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Does anyone know an alternative to strava to record your bike rides on?

I use Runkeeper.

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Anybody here got some worthwhile ebike recommendations?
I get the impression a load of ebikes are just the same basic design & features with a different company logo, like skate hardware.

I’m not looking for a MTB, or road racer or comedy motorbike, instead something with a flat toptube and a descrete, unobstrusive battery (probably in the downtube) so the bike would look more like a single speed… If I had €5k to spare, i’d go with a Schindelhauer, but I don’t, so I’m looking for something cheaper. I’ve been scoping out a Dutch brand called Watt who’s aesthetics tick a lot of boxes for me, but they seem to have gone out of business. Only thing going for that is the local shop beside me here has 3 of their bikes in-store.

Van Moof? They do quite a nice ebike

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They look ok alright, but all their parts and whatnot are proprietary and app-based, which caused a lot of problems when they went out of business for a while last year.

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Inventory piled up and an industry in danger of crashing, huh?

Probably because they keep hiking the prices for minimal technical advancements.

I wanted to get a full suspension bike to take over from my hardtail, last full sus I bought was back around 1999, a Marin B17, cost me £1500. Anything with a slightly better spec starts around £3500. Don’t get me wrong, the budget gear these days is leaps and bounds over even the higher end gear from 20 years ago, but anything close to mainstream is working out more expensive than you average motorbike.

£7299

£7500