[shipnil]

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

Hi Folks! I shifted my Firefox Trek to new place. While assembling the bike again the cycle wala screwed the pedal shaft on right side in reverse grooves resulting in damage to pedal and the shaft. After the shaft was replaced, the gear shifting has become a problem. The bike rides only on front gear 2 and it does not engage front gear 1 & 3.

I would like to solve this problem through DIY route. Any help on the setting and adjustments of the gear?

I am not exactly sure which component is damaged. There is one single shaft that connect left and right crank arms. And the two pedals are groved into these two crank arms. So what is damaged?

Secondly, damaging this would not affect the front derailleur directly. Most likely scenario is, the front chainrings (3 rings set at the front) got out of alignment at the time of re-assembly. You'll have to adjust the front derailleur to overcome the shifting issues. You can check youtube for videos and DIY.

[ecenandu]

Originally Posted by ecenandu

We started from Stockholm after having lunch, so didn't take the lunch break like the onward journey. My average speed was below 20 Kmph for most of the return leg, my friend had to wait for me for almost 45 minutes(total) so that I can catch up with him. The last 31 kms was fun, it was getting dark and we didn't have proper headlights, so I decided to draft behind my friend and asked him to ride at my pace.

Not any more, got my self Sigma Speedster.








Claimed battery life is 2.5hrs(100%), 4.5hrs(70%) and 9.5 hrs(30%). Will update the actual battery life after fair usage


There is no flash option


The build is good, the led housing has metal finish, the black part is plastic.
There is five bar led battery indicator, which is necessary in my opinion. Slightly on the heavier side.


5V, 1A USB power brick


Sturdy mount, feels good to hold as well.


The main reason for the purchase was the light throw. Optics looked good for me.Cateye Volt 300 was also a contender, but as I said earlier the optics of Sigma Speedster won me over. Both of them where similarly priced, but in Cateye, you get two flashing modes, Hyperconstant and normal flashing. Where as in Sigma there is no flashing modes

Cateye Volt 300. Beam pattern

[ecenandu]

Sigma Speedster. Initial impression.

Went for a small ride on a relatively unlit road, came out impressed. This particular stretch is about 500m long and went upto 35Kmph, no problem in seeing the road. The light throw is more like, its from a motorcycle and the best part is it won't blind the oncoming traffic much.

There is a better road to test the headlamps, but it was -1C outside, so I cancelled the plan.


My previous headlight, runs on 3AAA batteries, I fixed it on the mud guard. For the price I paid, its not that bad. This is more to show my existence rather than illuminating my path.

'Supreme Lens Technology', terminologies to milk poor us, .

[ecenandu]

Just loved this click, thought I will share it here as well.

[DaiusPitar]

Off-topic possibly... Do you think the broader theme of cultural or social identification has resonance in the Indian context? For example, it may be urban-rural instead of cultural or social
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/d...d-middle-class

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by DaiusPitar

Off-topic possibly... Do you think the broader theme of cultural or social identification has resonance in the Indian context? For example, it may be urban-rural instead of cultural or social

Thank you for the link. I found it quite similar to the status here in India. However here, it can be seen that cycling is taken up more as a hobby/exercise than just commuting. You can spot people cycling early mornings but not during the day. Yes, a few will be spotted using cycles for commuting, but that is rare.

Also, I maybe bashed on the forum for this, but the cyclist in India is a person who is accustomed to his air conditioned car, yet won't hesitate at all in using the bus/local when needed. He/She doesn't boast about it at parties, but if the topic comes up they'll try to convince you to try it.

Broadly, I can see two categories of cyclist here in India. The ones who do it as part of the job - delivery guys, the paper guy, etc and the well to do lot who take it up as a hobby/exercise. I've got respect for both, but the former's life is tough and he's just trying to make ends meet.

Also, cyclists tend to be on the fitter side, don't think about what others think of them and if they drive a car as well, they respect other road users on the road.

[sujit_as7]

Originally Posted by kumar2007

How do you say that they are faster on the road?

Simple! More distance covered per pedal revolution due to larger tires The same reason why cyclocross bikes and hybrids are faster than MTBs on road

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by sujit_as7

Simple! More distance covered per pedal revolution due to larger tires The same reason why cyclocross bikes and hybrids are faster than MTBs on road

That's only half the cookie - a lot of factors play their part in speeds, the biggest being the rider comfort and tuning setup (between bike and biker); than just the size of the bikes.

29ers are also bigger and (generally) heavier in size; causing you to put more effort in increasing momentum.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by DaiusPitar

Off-topic possibly... Do you think the broader theme of cultural or social identification has resonance in the Indian context? For example, it may be urban-rural instead of cultural or social
l]

Interesting article, thanks for sharing. Yes, I think it is relevant in the Indian context. in fact I think it is relevant in any other nations context as well.

In the Netherlands you will see that just about everybody uses a bicycle to commute. From students to shop assistants, to engineer, to lawyers, even our prime minister rides to work on his bicycle. If you go to a fancy party at night, people would not even think twice to ride their bikes there too, dressed in a cocktail dress and or smart suit. So its also a lot about what is the expected norm. Just because you ride a bicycle in the Netherlands doesn't mean anything specifically, it doesn't set you apart one way or the other because everybody does it and it is just very convenient.

You will find similar approach to bicycles in Sweden, Denmark and to some extend even Germany.

I would say in most of the USA it is at best a hobby/sport. And you will also see the same as mentioned in the article. Its most likely a white very middle and upper class phenomena. The exception being California where you will see a lot of bicycles and where people do use it for commuting. I was at Stanford university in PaloAlto recently and there were bicycles everywhere. All students rode bicycles, but a lot of other people as well. In Kansas City where we used to live, all colleges and universities had very few bicycles. Just about every student had a car. Even though Kansas City has a pretty active, but small, biking scene. Nobody would even think of commuting to work on a bicycle.

There are practical considerations as well. Having a good bicycle dedicated infrastructure of course helps. But the nation mindset/culture is more important. Countries such as the Netherlands and Sweden are notorious for having a very flat society. People are more rated and valued on their behavior then on the house they live in, the job they hold, their education, the car they drive etc. so a bicycle is nothing special, just convenience for all when it comes to commuting and enjoyable as a hobby as well. So you will actually see a lot people owning at least two bicycles. One for the daily commute and one for leisure.

Jeroen

[sujit_as7]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

That's only half the cookie - a lot of factors play their part in speeds, the biggest being the rider comfort and tuning setup (between bike and biker); than just the size of the bikes.

29ers are also bigger and (generally) heavier in size; causing you to put more effort in increasing momentum.

Yea its heavier than the regular 26 or 27.5ers. I ride a 26 and when I tried the 29er it felt marginally faster on road. But as you said weight plays a major part.
So the never ending debate continues! 26 vs 29ers

[abhjain]

Having recently returned from the biking havens of France and Netherlands, I agree with Jeroens views. It's got to do with the cultural acceptability of cycling, infrastructure can only follow. In India, it's at best a hobby and not socially acceptable to cycle around. I think the younger generation is trying really hard to break this taboo but it sure will take its own sweet time.

[kumar2007]

Originally Posted by sujit_as7

Simple! More distance covered per pedal revolution due to larger tires The same reason why cyclocross bikes and hybrids are faster than MTBs on road

That is so totally wrong. Speed has nothing to do with the size of tyres. Well, other than fat tyres are slower.

[sujit_as7]

Originally Posted by kumar2007

That is so totally wrong. Speed has nothing to do with the size of tyres. Well, other than fat tyres are slower.

Okay maybe I am wrong. But when I tried the 29er it was a bit faster than my 26" regular mtb. Maybe its just me

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by sujit_as7

Okay maybe I am wrong. But when I tried the 29er it was a bit faster than my 26" regular mtb. Maybe its just me

No, it might have felt so, as 29 will give smoother ride. It might be correct or it might be incorrect. There are a lot of factors involved.

Here is an interesting perspective:

http://www.bikemag.com/news/exclusiv...e-wheel-sizes/

The article is about a year and a half old and as you see they predict that the biker world will standardize more and more towards 29. Well, I can confirm that. This summer we bought my wife a new bike in the Netherlands. My wife is quite petite, about 1.60 and her previous bike was on 26. However, there wasn't a single bike in the shop on 26 and we are talking the largest bicycle shop in the Netherlands which is most likely the largest bicycle shop in the world if not the universum. Only frame sizes came in endless variety.

So for better or for worse it seems we are moving toward larger wheels. Personally, I dont care, I am 1.96 so I will always need the largest frame and the largest wheel to ride comfortable.

Jeroen

[kumar2007]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

The article is about a year and a half old and as you see they predict that the biker world will standardize more and more towards 29. Well, I can confirm that. This summer we bought my wife a new bike in the Netherlands. My wife is quite petite, about 1.60 and her previous bike was on 26. However, there wasn't a single bike in the shop on 26 and we are talking the largest bicycle shop in the Netherlands which is most likely the largest bicycle shop in the world if not the universum. Only frame sizes came in endless variety.

So for better or for worse it seems we are moving toward larger wheels. Personally, I dont care, I am 1.96 so I will always need the largest frame and the largest wheel to ride comfortable.

Wheel size has nothing [much] to do with fit/comfort, except if you are very small. I have a friend who rides a 20" wheel bicycle faster than most people here would ride a road bike.