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This looks really nice, what is it?
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In my experience you'll drop the chain if you ride over a mid-sized bump. When I rode big ring 1x, I bought a Sram X-Sync narrow wide chainring which offsets the chainring in-board from the regular big ring position (teeth sit in line with the crank spider). I still dropped a couple of chains on bigger, avoidable bumps. The Rotor ring look sooo good though! Aerocoach made some nice sleek looking chain guides at one point which could be an alternative
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Thanks for everyone's replies RE: my health and safety concerns. Really interesting to hear everyones experiences, and reassuring to know that I'm not the only person concerned about these chemicals.
I think bike mechanics fall into an interesting grey area, we're able to work on vehicles (with braking mechanisms, and other critical safety bits) without (or with optional) qualifications. I've never done a Cytech*, and know plenty of others that haven't either. As far as I can imagine, untrained car mechanics wouldn't be allowed to carry out servicing, even though the industries share a lot of chemicals (and responsibilities).
Should there be some kind of authority over workshop safety as in other industries? It sounds sensible, but I can't see how it would be implemented, or if it should be. There are benefits to being in a fairly unregulated industry, and I doubt a lot of struggling workshops can afford to lose 'unqualified' staff either.
As Leshaches and others have mentioned, the first thing we can do is to protect ourselves. Back in the workshop tomorrow, and I'll be wearing gloves and a mask and chatting to my employer. It's only the 3 of us, but hopefully we can spark some conversations with other mechanics in the city.
I'm 25 and have been messing with dirty bikes and chemicals for the last 5 years or so, more regularly in the last 2 months. After more research I'm feeling a little less comfortable with those last 5, and less excited about the next! It's glove time.
*According to the site they cover health and safety in every module.
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£170 with the Audi steering wheel or £130 without
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Health concern ramble
Hello fellow mechanics. Maybe the wrong place to post this (let me know if a thread of this nature already exists), but after spending more time in the workshop recently I've been noticing mild changes in my respiratory health. Most notably a blocked nose (probable sinus infection) that won't budge a couple of times in the last month, but also dry skin in the nose (often feels like I'm alternating between the two extremes).
I work with a lot of old, dirty, dusty bikes. For freeing parts we use aerosol lubricants, strong degreasers and solvents to clean components, and plenty of different greases. All these products come with their own health warnings, often regarding respiratory and irritation risks, which makes a fairly clear case for them being the source of my woes.
The only thing stopping me from accepting that I should take more precaution* when working with bikes, is that I've not witnessed the same happen to any home or pro mechanic I've worked with. Gloves are rarely worn, masks even less so, and the majority of workshops I've seen are pokey and lack proper ventilation. Everyone seems relatively happy walking around in a GT85 fog, licking their grubby fingers after a mid-cassette-change monster munch.
Is everyone fine? Has anyone here experienced similar effects? Does anyone have any anecdotal warnings or insight that might confirm my suspicions? Thanks in advance!
*I will take more precaution, not every body reacts to external factors in the same way.
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Sold sold sold sold sold
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Sad to see, although I'm a fan on the hanging basket mounted on the back.
My '95 Kilauea. Lovely builds here, nice to see some forum Kona love!