What you done t' your bike today

[redefined_cycles]

… whether I risk such a narrow overlap of the top of the steerer tube with the upper part of the stem

Imma say no, don't do it Shaf. But it's not my face, teeth, collar bones … 

I'm no engineer, but the fact that the top bolt is as good as clamping the top half of the stem onto thin air would seem a bad thing.

Yeah. I'm inclined to agree and this is the problem I was working around. Last stem was 40mm. Was clamped to thin air. This one is 30mm and the overlap for clamp area is only 3mm. But with the clamp force going partly into thin air of the top clamp, means it's as good as being clamped to thin air....

But, for every more-money-needs-to-be-spent problem, there's an equally satisfying, oh-this-fits-perfectly part waiting to go on. Lol.

[redefined_cycles]

All part of the fun when trying to do things on a shoestring budget (but want the best there is/that is attainable). So whilst dealing with the stem/steerer height issue. Out comes the front Hope Pro 2 wheel. Needing a boost spacer, so I whacks that in.

But, it's a Pro4 boost spacer the blooming thing so it's not centralised properly in the boost forks.




Nowt wrong with standards and innovation/advancement at all. Just gets a bit overlapping and messy (in the workshop/shed).

[whitestone]

Swapped wheelsets.

When I got the Cannondale the intention was to have two sets of wheels: one gravel oriented and one road set. It came with the gravel wheels/tyres but the only road sets the shop had were nearly as much as the bike! The bikeshop down the road had some cheaper sets ended up getting a set plus tyres and centreLock rotors for £400.

Something of a doddle to swap them over, the through-axles just need a 4mm Allen key and the cassette obviously needing a (standard) Shimano tool. So a total of about five minutes. I didn't even need to realign the calipers, everything just ran smoothly

[redefined_cycles]

Swapped wheelsets.

When I got the Cannondale the intention was to have two sets of wheels: one gravel oriented and one road set. It came with the gravel wheels/tyres but the only road sets the shop had were nearly as much as the bike! The bikeshop down the road had some cheaper sets ended up getting a set plus tyres and centreLock rotors for £400.

Something of a doddle to swap them over, the through-axles just need a 4mm Allen key and the cassette obviously needing a (standard) Shimano tool. So a total of about five minutes. I didn't even need to realign the calipers, everything just ran smoothly

Bob, some of these roadie thru axles appear to be made of mushrooms. Careful when tightening IME.

[gecko76]

Converted the rear end to qr and hitched up the trailer that used to carry the girls around for an end of term bike ride, sausage sizzle and investiture with the Cubs. Rattled like a rattly thing but did the job.

[fatbikephil]

I see you got the frame glued back together again

[voodoo_simon]

Bought some of those inboard bar end thingys a couple of weeks back, £8 but only had the chance to use them today (fitted a while back).

Very impressed, will get another set for the other bike

I normally ride flat stuff on top of the brake levels but this is much better, could even get out of the saddle uphill

[Hyppy]

Found a barely used but long since forgotten about Hope cassette and freehub body in the parts bin while switching wheels about, so now have marginally lower gearing on the gravel bike.

IMG_4681.jpeg (194.16 KiB) Viewed 172 times

[fatbikephil]

Fitted one of those Redshift flex stems to the Stormy. I should have got one for the gravel round round the Trossachs last weekend, which knackered both wrists. 60 miles of local roads and trails, some pretty rough, suggest it's a Good Thing, at least for this old codger. It cost a bloody fortune but it's the only one which has a 30 degree rise option. Also like the proper bearings so no stiction, unlike flex stems which were always pretty rubbish due to nylon bushings. The 'Unfair Advantage' indeed!