Cycling - NLC

[istoo]

i am toying with it too, did the KOM sportif and the huntly 100k Audax in April.

[Doc883]

i am toying with it too, did the KOM sportif and the huntly 100k Audax in April.

It's the same route as the Alford KOM Sportive although this year it was changed to 110k because of the bad weather.

[thesurfbus]

Loving the Bamboo Fat Bike, was it hard to make?
I bought an OnOne Fatty a couple of weeks ago, so still getting used to it.

[ClarkyBoy]

anyone signed up for this?
http://www.etaperoyale.com
might be a good collective for those of road persuasion?

No, but Clarky and I did discuss it last night...

Yeah - Woody and I are in talks

[Sanjøy]

anyone signed up for this?
http://www.etaperoyale.com
might be a good collective for those of road persuasion?

two weekends ago, raced my home made rigid bamboo fatbike in the scottish enduro series as a veteran. finished 19th out of 40 in the vets, one hardtail and all the rest on full sus enduro bikes. So plastic cars made by some blokes in Norfolk seems somewhat fitting!

Can we get some close ups of the frame pls!

[sja]

Is anyone using speedplay pedals ? I've used Spuds since 1992 for mountain biking and road but feel that covering much bigger distances I need a proper road pedal / shoe set up. Any recommendations welcome.

Istoo that bike looks interesting as Sanjoy says it would be good to here how you made it

[ryallm]

I ride with Speedplays on both my commuter and my Bianchi road bike.

Pros: easy to clip in and out when you get the hang of it, very solid pedalling base (way better than any MTB system), float very adjustable so good if you have dodgy knees like me.
Cons: bad to walk in, and it is easy to get dirt in the shoe plate/cleat so they need a bit of looking after.

Overall I really like them and Sir Brad uses them so they must be cool

[sja]

I had read a few reviews about them needing looked after more than other setups. The better for dodgy knees is the bit I'm interested in. Currently have a shim in my left shoe to see if that helps my knee alignment.

Cheers for the info
Stephen

[istoo]

Speedplay started out as an MTB pedal with the eggbeater back in the mid 90's, SPDs had sod all float, Look/Time pedals had more float but were road pedals, single sided and didn't suit MTBs as a dual sided platform is a heck of a lot easier when you are on and off the bike more regularly. They were also born from the weight weenie era that hit mountain biking in the mid 90s, really clean and simple design. Also been on SPDs since their inception, ride with flatties for the doonhill days, but predominaitely been on SPDs. current XT SPDs are very nice. Luckily knee pain is not one i get but i did used to get back pain. For that... I would really suggest a bike fit session, little tweaks to your position/cleat positions can really resolve/ massively reduce a lot of pain. I used to get lots of lower back pain then did a fitting session with Alves bike (no longer around sadly) and it transformed things for me. I think there are one or two shops locally who are doing genuine bike fit sessions. Had to tweak that setup over the years as crank profiles have changed etc. But pedals are one, correct(ed) setup is another. Like getting the geo done on your car...

[istoo]

For the chubby woody bike...
It was born from me wanting to make my own frame, old MTB builder from the 90s called Dave Yates runs frambuilding courses in London, I have been hinting heavily in the run up to my 40th and missus istoo listened. However the 3 year waiting list felt a bit much so she found this http://bamboobicycleclub.org. I treated it as a flippant comedy idea at first but after a fair bit of research, these are strong and durable. My issue was, do i build something i already have? Felt a bit pointless, so opted for something i dont have nor knew anything about. So the fatty was born! sketches back and forth with James at Bamboo Bicycle, modeled up in Solidworks, tweaked the geometry. James made a jig which basically holds the angles for the bike on the metal points using bits of unistrut. So it has a steel 1 1/8th Headset inner sleeve, and english threaded MTB bottom bracket shell, 31.9mm steel insert seatpost and doubly thick mild steel dropouts, the jig positions these to the angles and design of my choice.

Fly to London and did the 2 day workshop
Day one: pick, cut and make all the bamboo tubes, using a tubular cutter, identical to one you would use for a tubular chassis car. being wood, you cut to big then nibble away until it fits. I changed the chainstay design midway through as i felt it wasnt strong enough so added a second bracing piece aft of the BB to strengthen up the back end, i wanted strength from this as i am not light nor am i a light rider. Tack the bamboo to the steel using marine epoxy, continually check for alignment. the ends of the tubes before tacking are stripped back about 100mm from either end removing the top layer of silicate to make a key for the bonding.

Day two: bond it all together, which is strips of hemp ie sacking material and a bucket of marine epoxy. cut into 50-60cm long strip between 25-50mm wide. and build it up by wrapping it around the tubes in the same way you would a crepe bandage around your fingers. messy as hell and takes longer than you think as the epoxy goes off very quick. One all hemped up cover with gaffer tape to allow it to cure.

thats as far as i got, three other bikes getting built that session who were all done before me but they only have 7 tubes to cut, i had 13. So the rest of the finishing was at home. Weight the frame when i got it, 12lbs!!! So peeled back the gaffer tape and set about smoothing it off. I went for the cant be strong enough mantra so set about sanding it back. Spent 4 hours with a dremel to then try a had rasp which took me all of 10 minutes to do the whole thing then finished with emery paper. James recommended wood stain/laquer to finish of the epoxy. Sandolin launched their summer range this year to i opted for shocking lime rather than the usual antique pine. Clear lacquer coat then built up all the componetry in an afternoon, needed a bit of filing work on the chainstays, getting clearance for a 5in tyre, chainstay and crank arm is not easy, but it has worked out surprisingly well.

Changes since built are from steel surly moonlander forks to onone carbon fatties, chain guide, revert seatpost. Attempting a homebrew tubeless conversion next. Overall bike weight is now 32lbs... i shaved 3lbs of epoxy off the frame! Is it strong enough, i have no idea but its taken some battering.

I build this for a laugh, but did spent time getting the geometry to suit the way i ride. long cockpit, slack front end. It is way more capable than i ever thought and was certain it would only manage shop ruins and the odd kirkhill jolly. But had a big Scolty day clearing all the doonhull runs with no bails in respectable times. And the Scottish Enduro Series was a bit of fun, a heap of my riding pals race in the series, so the fat bike was a tongue in cheek

Have loads of pictures on my old phone, never uploaded but will do that of an evening.

Took it out for a blast again last night, got another KOM, so despite all the comedy of it, it actually rides really quick on certain terrain

All in, best birthday present ever.

[woody]

For the chubby woody bike...

There are a few extra pounds, but the cycling is helping greatly.


ETA, now I've read the write up, sounds v cool. Would love to make a frame.

[lou_m]

Just joined the strava group. Not done much this year so any bit of motivation can't be bad!

[thesurfbus]

Thanks for the write up on the Bamboo Fat Bike, I recently bought an Onone Fatty and its not as slow as they look, I have done loads of ghetto tubeless setups (fatty included) if you need any pointers.

[istoo]

Thanks for the write up on the Bamboo Fat Bike, I recently bought an Onone Fatty and its not as slow as they look, I have done loads of ghetto tubeless setups (fatty included) if you need any pointers.

Ah, now which method did you go for? I did the old 24in tube method on the 26er years ago to try out tubeless and that works well. Large marge rims on the fatty which don't have much of a lip, so i am going to create one.

[woody]

anyone signed up for this?
http://www.etaperoyale.com
might be a good collective for those of road persuasion?

No, but Clarky and I did discuss it last night...

Yeah - Woody and I are in talks

I'm signed up now, Clarky's is in WIP. Registered as Team Sheds. We'll be cycling in aid of MS (my mum has been diagnosed for 25+ years now).