Today's Bike Ride

[MickTor]

10 very windy and wet miles on the road, on my mtb..
Why, I don't know but it was fairly fun.

[mr brightside]

Question for you roadies.

After talking to Dom at xotf i've decided to change the stem on my Raleigh from 130mm down to about 80/90mm. It's a quill stem, an ITM Eclypse. Can you open the bar clamp up enough to change stems without stripping the handlebars down? The ITM is steel so might be ok, but if i get an ally replacement i wouldn't be too confident.

[mr brightside]

Not much in the way of short steel stems on fleabay, nice 80mm ally Tange for 30 quid.

It drives me up the wall seeing sellers ludicrously overpricing retro Dura Ace kit...http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3211852485...84.m1423.l2649...back in the real world how much is this actually worth? about £60? If i'm stripping the bars down it may as well be made worth it.

I was locked in an offer-off with a Polish seller recently, trying to get him down on a Dura Ace HG 8spd cassette, he wouldn't go lower than $200!

[mr brightside]

Bit QAH...

Got a nice NOS Shimano 600 Aero stem from USA seller, not cheap! Bars will be coming off as it's a single bolt hidden clamp affair.

I'm developing a serious condition whereby i can't stop buying parts for my road bike...is this normal? I'm draining my savings and justifying it to myself like a smackhead justifies another bag!

How about these...nice...shiny...period...http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2612270656...84.m1423.l2649

[Stagger]

Got the old Claud Butler mountain bike out and did an hour and half around the lanes and bridleways of Calderdale.
Enjoyed it but cold on head, helmet, no buff under it, (mistake)

[mr brightside]

Fitted the new Aero stem, it looks really cool. Winding bar tape on is a real hit and miss affair; one side is rubbish and the other side is mediocre. It's getting the spacing right on the bends that is the problem, and if you space it to closely you end up having to wind it all back off again because there isn't enough to cover all the bar!

Question- does anyone know if an 8spd cassette will go on a Hope RS Mono hub? The blurb says 9spd is ok but 8spd is a wider chain so may be the same width.

[mr brightside]

According to the LBS they give you an 8spd spacer, so it fits.

Reading through some reviews of Hope hubs it looks like there is a problem with the aluminium freehub body. Many people have reported Shimano cassettes digging into the grooves after around 500-1000 miles; which, if you are using Hyperglide, will disrupt gear changes. There is more than one report of pawl springs going too. Never heard of either of these problems with Shimano. I could keep my current Ultegra hubs, but i don't know how many miles are on them and i'm rebuilding with new rims.

Anyone riding Hope?

[wheezing donkey]

According to the LBS they give you an 8spd spacer, so it fits.

Reading through some reviews of Hope hubs it looks like there is a problem with the aluminium freehub body. Many people have reported Shimano cassettes digging into the grooves after around 500-1000 miles; which, if you are using Hyperglide, will disrupt gear changes. There is more than one report of pawl springs going too. Never heard of either of these problems with Shimano. I could keep my current Ultegra hubs, but i don't know how many miles are on them and i'm rebuilding with new rims.

Anyone riding Hope?

Exactly the same thing happened with my Planet-X own brand wheels that came with the good road bike - looked as if someone had attacked the ( steel / cheese?) freehub body with a cold chisel and a lump hammer - spotted when I had to replace the pawl spring/circlip! Very careful use of a very fine jeweller's file removed the burrs and they didn't look too bad. Rebuilt ok and worked ok. Eventually, a club mate (ex pro team mechanic) hand built a pair of Rigida Chrina rims on to a pair of Ultegra 6700 hubs.
Don't worry about the mileage on your old Ultegra hubs - it's the condition that counts. Strip them down and check that bearing surfaces in the hub are not worn or pitted then rebuild with new ball bearings (and new cones if necessary) using a generous (but not too much) application of waterproof grease. Do a similar rebuild every couple of years and they will last almost indefinitely.
The 6700 hubs are nominally 10 speed, but will take a 9 speed cassette. One uses a shim / spacer, the other doesn't; can't remember which cassette it is that requires the spacer.
Just had a look at my folder of techie papers. The info that came with the 6700 hubs shows a spacer shim when fitting a 6700 (10 spd) cassette. There's no spacer shim when fitting a 6600 (9 spd) cassette. So 10 (individually) narrower sprockets are narrower than 9 (individually) wider sprockets.

[mr brightside]

Cheers WD, ally is such a garbage material for rough service applications, but companies almost see steel as a swearword because of it's comparative weight. Hope have a steel freehub listed in their spares so i'm going to ask if i can order with that fitted, if not i'm keeping the Ultegras. It seems odd that they should use swiss bearings but then deliberately build in an achilles heel. I've been on the lookout for some new old stock 600ax or Dura ace 8spd hubs on ebay, but if you need Hyperglide they are rare.

My Ultegra hubs are 6500s, they seem to spin pretty quietly. I'm often reluctant to strip hubs that seem ok because you are disturbing a factory assembly.

[wheezing donkey]

For new old stock, try RGH Cycles, 1, School Road, Wales, Sheffield S26 5QG - 01909 770397. They used to be good for old Mavic, Campag & Shimano parts.
Better to disturb a factory assembly & re-build carefully than to wait until things go wrong and you find that the bearing surfaces are goosed - it's called preventive maintenance. From experience, the secret to rebuilding ball bearing hubs is to have pukka cone spanners - I'm currently using ParkTool - and don't overtighten at the first pass, go incrementally. Treat yourself to the Haynes "The Bike Book" Complete Bicycle Maintenance.
I've yet to do the Ultegra 6700 hubs - only 10 months old. I have stripped and rebuilt the stx-rc hubs on the crosser countless times ( Finish Line, Ceramically Enhanced Grease ) and it will out-freewheel all the other bikes on our group rides.
The weight weeny thing can get a bit stupid. Lightweight/disposable is ok if you are a serious competition cyclist chasing titles; even more so if you are "sponsored" with a support car in attendance and get your kit replaced for free. Most on here are runners using the bike for cross-training; reliability is the watchword, rather than being a poseur and trying to look like a TdF wannabe. Last thing I would want is to have some (overly) lightweight component fail whilst over in Wensleydale (say) and have to get myself home to Lancaster.