Brooks & Carradice, a thread #Retrogrouch #BikeTooter

So for reasons, I converted my Brooks saddle back to its sprung form as a Flyer:

Happy to say that the bike fitting efforts the last couple of weekends seem to have paid off. An extra cm of saddle setback and a short reach handlebar that is definitely within my shoulder width were ingredients, and let's not forget the 2 cm shorter front of the frame, which was why I started the whole New Old Bike project. (The 1 cm less top tube due to the 1° steeper seat tube has been swallowed up by the 30 mm instead of 21 cm setback of the seatpost). #BikeTooter #Retrogrouch

Let's just say the submersible news has not improved my impression of carbon fibre #SteelIsReal #RetroGrouch

Today we reenact at small scale the point at which Shimano overtook SunTour as an mtb derailleur manufacturer. XCD coming off, XT going on 😪🤔 (🙂?) #BikeTooter #RetroGrouch

The rear derailleur works as described here. Just mind out in the steps where you're holding something against the springs, especially the cage, that they can't slip, bc that thing can give you quite a crack on the fingers. #RetroGrouch #BikeTooter https://youtu.be/-_wDyw5FRaE

So yesterday I gave the Deore XT RD-/FD-732 derailleurs that I bought a couple of weeks ago a little service. #RetroGrouch #BikeTooter

And incidentally the post mentions another thing that I think should exist: ergonomic non-aero brake levers. Among other things, aero levers (especially the front one) make the length of the brake outer casings extremely fussy, which is an enormous pain if trying to tweak handlebar & hood positions. & non-aero levers can be made so it's easy to unhook the cable, again: Rinko solved w/o any extra parts. #BikeTooter #RetroGrouch

This page shows a bike with a feature I've often thought of – a gear lever mounted near the top of the head tube. It can be done 🤓

A bit handier (maybe) than downtube levers, Rinko-compatible, and less inclined to poke one in the thighs than barend levers.

#RetroGrouch #Biketooter

https://runawaycyclist.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/bianchi-lepre-minivelo-8/

… and if you can possibly afford it, find a trainer who can show you how to work on your wonky old body and move bits of it you never suspected could be mobile, and show you which bits can and should be stronger.

Spend as much on the trainer as on the bike would be a good rule of thumb. Cheers. #BikeTooter #RetroGrouch <>

Fortunately I say this at the end of a year of one-to-one Pilates lessons, so I should have the repertoire of excercises I need to be doing and a good understanding of how to do them. Just have to get on with it.

My pro tip would be never neglect your off-the-bike exercises, even if your goal is just pootling around the countryside;

#BikeTooter #RetroGrouch >

The big take-home message though is really not about the bike, it's about me. All of this stuff I was analyzing by videos taken from the side, and the inescapable fact is I'm an overweight old fart with quite hefty postural issues. Losing as many kg as I can along with strengthening my back has more potential than any bike tweaking I can do. #BikeTooter #RetroGrouch >

4) Final point was to look at the up/down angle of my wrist when resting firmly on the hoods. So far my wrist is bent *up* a bit and I have an idea about how to fix that, involving the wedges that come with the TRP RRL levers (which I forgot to bring). And then … #BikeTooter #RetroGrouch

So 3) I worked through several combinations of stems, bars and brake levers, measuring the reach and doing my sitting-up tests. It made sense of some past setups & I settled on a shortish combination, most importantly with the Specialized Short Reach bar. The bar is also 38 cm wide which is (finally) definitely within my shoulder width. Testing without any resistance from the chain may be a bit harsh, but if I land a bit on the safe side that's ok. #BikeTooter #RetroGrouch >

So my setback was not weird at all. Got another + 1cm backwards out of the B17, sitting up felt easier; switched to the C15, whose rails let it go another 1 cm further back (compensating for the lower height of the saddle from rail to top), sitting up felt easier again. At this point my knee just below the kneecap might be a cm or so behind the pedal spindle. #BikeTooter #RetroGrouch >

Made a thing. For bike fitting. #Retrogrouch #BikeTooter

Omg what a bike #Biketooter #Retrogrouch https://meerglas.org/blog/big-blue-randonneur/

@carlosfroh darf ich?(1/3) Am Old Bike der originale Specialized ST (Sugino) "flag" crank, wie vom #Retrogrouch beschrieben http://bikeretrogrouch.blogspot.com/2016/01/old-is-good-specialized-triple-cranks.html

> I'm gonna say one word to you. Just one word.
> Yes, sir.
> Needle-bearing headsets. #RetroGrouch #BikeTooter

In a little sequel to this, Klickaleur mk. 2 is done and while "pretty" is possibly an unrealistic goal for a chunk of black plastic stuck on the end of a couple of strips of metal, it seems ok in a practical sense #RetroGrouch #Biketooter

If loving bikes with threaded BBs and externally routed cables is wrong, I don't want to be right.

#BikeNerd #RetroGrouch #BikeTooter