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Ok, knowing-stuff-about-bikes fail on my part

And yeah sumo, I'll still be riding at least, that's better than no bike at all.

Reeeeeennnn want to hammer on my door on your way past?

Reeen's not coming... (see above)

lockrings come loose naturally, it isnt a fault

Ah ok, so even in the future, if I get good parts, and do it right, I should be tightening the sprocket and lockring on a regular basis.

Sorry, I don't agree with your comments about Cycle Surgery. It all sounded fine for months and then you choose to neglect it further.

Well yes, I just called them cunts for using the excuse that I was too heavy for it. I doubt I have the power of Chris Hoy, it seems to work fine for him. If they had done it properly in first place, or had been willing to replace dodgy parts, it wouldn't have ever been an issue. They only told me the thread was fine, but didn't want to show me.

But yes, as soon I as I chose to ignore it, it was my fault, I'm not disputing that.

If you overtighten a lockring on threads you've already trashed then obviously it's going to fail. Replace it and learn how to take care of your fixed drivechain so you don't do this again.

That's the plan ;)

A Shimano chainwhip and lockring tool is a must have in my opinion.

Which is what I bought

I stripped the thread on my first fixed - crappy Langster wheelset.

Yep, guess what bike I have...

A langster.

Balki, I have no idea what hubs they are, but whatever shit ones come with the langster, they didn't even have sealed cartridge bearings.

I've been meaning to get a new wheel, so it's no big deal, though I wasn't planning to spend the cash on it at the moment.

So yeah, the question is whether to get a wheel made for me, or whether to go down the path of doing it all myself. I guess I've got this far, so it's the only logical step. Cheers for the link by the way.

I'm not going to have time to build a wheel today, nor do I have a shop near me, I'm not in London today, so I guess it will be freewheel for the marathon ride, then sort it next week.

So, I finally decided to learn about fixing problems on my bike myself, rather than wasting money at shops. It didn't go so well...

First the back story:

I bought my bike a year ago at cycle surgery.

After a couple of months I noticed some play on the sprocket/lockring, if I accelerated hard or skidded hard, it would jump back and forth.

It got worse and worse, until I took it back to the shop.

They said "don't worry your thread is fine, you are just to strong (polite way of saying heavy) for it" and tightened it as much as it should go.

That was fine for a while, and then it started to happen again, but whenever it did I just did the old standing on the pedals trick to tighten it and it was fine again for a few weeks.

I've kept doing that for a year. Bad idea I know...

Recently I noticed a rattling noise from my rear wheel (thanks to sumo for bringing it to my attention, I had just ignored it). It got worse and worse, and with help from reeen we worked out it was the bearings, as the wheel had some play on it, from side to side.

So yesterday I went out and bought a lockring tool/chainwhip, some cone spanners and grease.

Today I took off the sprocket and lockring, and took a look at the bearings. I re-greased the bearings, and tightened it up. That was fine.

The problems came with the sprocket and lockring. I could see that the thread on the hub under the sprocket was as good as gone, and the lockring had been so loose I could almost take it off without the tool, and there had been no grease on it at all.

I wanted to put them back on, just so that it would work until I could check if there was a fixed thread under the freewheel on my flip-flop hub, and if not, get a new wheel built (I've been thinking about that anyway).

I got the sprocket on, though without much of a thread it was quite hard to get tight, but I did it. I then got the lockring on, and it was pretty damn tight, but I could still get it slightly tighter. I was putting so much force on it, that it finally slipped, and fucked that thread too. Now my fixed is entirely fucked...

So cycle surgery are cunts, I'm an idiot for ignoring it, and now I have to ride SS front brake only, which makes me hate myself on so many levels, at least until I can get a new wheel, or get to a bike shop for them to take the freewheel off and check what thread is underneath it.

At least the noise and play on the bearings has gone, so that's one success.

I'm still glad I did it, I've now got the tools, and I've learnt what to do, but it's annoying, especially with the marathon ride tomorrow.

One question though, I didn't think it was possible to overtighten a lockring, I thought the point is for it to be as tight as possible (at least from the threads I read here). If so then clearly it was a bit fucked too, I just took it over the edge.

helmets is a must?

No, you can turn up naked for all that anyone will care (Please don't).

They're straight allegedly and they always looked so clean and fresh. At least I wouldn't catch anything.

YouTube- modern talking--you're my heart you're my soul

Modern Talking? ahaha, I never thought I would see them posted on lfgss, I thought it was Germany's dirty little secret. So Thomas or Dieter?

Perfect John, nice one!
And good luck with the bike build.

Cheers, I'm picking up the frame and various bits on Sunday.

With my holiday and moving, it's going to be chaos for me the next month, but hopefully I'll have time (and money) to build it up for the end of May.

Put your name on the list guys!.

I meant I'm up for this in general, I'm not in London tomorrow though, and away for the next two weekends.

After that I'd love to join in though (or in the week).

Also I'll be moving very close to both Brick Lane and Broadway courts at the end of May, less than 2 minutes ride in both cases, so I'll be happy to help you with this, say storing spare mallets for beginners, etc.

Brilliant, I'm well up for this.

Can't say I wasn't thinking this too...

Not even half the people will turn up though.

I never know whether to ask what someones "forum name" is when i go to things like this. Is it an un-written rule not to ask? Reservoir Dogs style but the wrong way round

I don't mind, I'm John H by the way.

This is going to be huuuge!

At this rate in a few years there will be more cyclists than runners.

am I getting the wrong end of the stick? |I thought everyone here was meeting somewhere in south?

I'm in west, but dont mind getting to brick lane..

Sorry I've probably confused you now.

The actually ride is meeting at 6:30am on the big roundabout in Blackheath for a 6:40am departure.

But there is a feeder, of easties leaving Brick Lane Bagels at 5:30am, so that we can ride to Blackheath together.

There is also another feeder from somewhere south.

I don't know if there is a wests feeder, ask around.

Anyone want to join a small convoy leaving from the north side of the Woolwich foot tunnel at 5:50? It will be a leisurely ride to the start....

I'm pretty sure I heard the woolwich tunnel is shut at the moment for repairs...

I'd like to do this, but everyone else I know who's doing is going from the beigel shop in brick lane

And why can't you meet us at brick lane too?

Or do you not live east?

Be careful with sprockets that large.
They have a tendency to strip hubs due to the amount of torque that can be achieved.

Cheers, I am keen to spend as little as possible on this atm, so if I can get it to work with the 42 tooth I have at the moment that would be great.

Of course that's a false economy if it does strip the hub, and I end up having to replace it all anyway...

but thanks for the advice, at least I can't say I wasn't warned ;)

Handling delicate goods eh?

Probably driving them back from the dam eh?

Sorry, I'm sure it's genuine, it's the cynic in me.

Ah, If I get a 25 tooth sprocket, I can use the 42 tooth chainring I have on my langster (which I'm going to replace with a 47 anyway), which should give me 45 gear inches.

polo bike???? forget non-polo gear

42x22 is 50gear inches, way to high
you need something between 40 and 45

have a look here

Ok, thanks rik.

I did see that thread, and saw that 50+ was the top end, but yeah, I guess I should aim for the average of that.

cheers.

saying that, even if I just go with a 42 tooth chainring, I can get a reasonable polo gear with a 22 tooth sprocket, right?

then at least I can get a smaller sprocket on a flip flop hub, for a non-polo gear.

Where and at what time are Easties meeting? According the Greenwich council website the foot tunnel is closed on sunday?

leaving Brick Lane at 5:30am.

Fred reckons it's open until 7:30am, we will see.

Well, he says it's 130, which doesn't surprise me.

I guess I might be able to find a 38 tooth chainring for that, otherwise I'll just have to get new cranks.

what sort of bcd should I be looking for, for a polo chainring?

That looks like a sugino messenger to me, so I assume it's something standard.

I'm interested, going to PM you.

Dibs.