Cyclist's Corner

I can’t call myself a gravel cyclist. Simply because in Moscow and near it, it is very difficult to find a gravel road.
I chose a gravel bike for a slightly different reason - I’m heavy and not as flexible as I was 20 years ago. That’s why I chose a gravel bike - stronger than a road bike, with a slightly more comfortable frame geometry.
On the other hand, I feel very well that my bike is a thoroughbred gravel bike. As soon as I turn onto a gravel road (if I find it), there is a feeling that the bike starts to smile and he likes it :blush:

As I can see in the photo, I have the same pump as you - Topeak Mini Morph.
Very satisfied :slight_smile:

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And I also decided to give up my backpack and bought a bag for the Apidura Racing Frame Pack (4L). And only with this I can reduce the weight of the bike by 750 grams :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: The backpack weighs 950 grams, and the Apidura weighs 200 grams.

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Servicing the hub of the rear wheel, at the same time replaced the ratchet 18T with 36T.

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After that, even just spinning the wheel while holding it in your hands, the difference in the angle of engagement is very noticeable. That’s what I wanted :slight_smile:
And yes, I reduced the weight of the bike by another 9 grams :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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:ok_hand: :sunglasses:

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In Lx (short for Lisbon - Lisboa in Portuguese, in which the ‘s’ reads as shh) this morning by sunrise and mid morning.

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At first view I thought the ship is fixed to your bike … :sunglasses:

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I see you payed close attention, I was towing it for some exercise with extra weight.

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Very good :heart_eyes: I would say - душевно (but I can’t find an analogue in English)

Meanwhile, I am servicing my bike - Merida Silex 4000.
And I am somewhat upset by some moments …

PowerHead was not tightened and, accordingly, did not perform its functions. It was replaced by an analogue of what is in the picture, and tightened as it should.

The lower bearing of the steering column turned out to be of very poor quality. Ordered a new one.

The bottom bracket was not pressed (as it should have been) and I was able to pull out the cups just with my fingers, without effort and tools. I ordered a slightly cheaper analogue of what is in the picture.

Now I’m sitting and waiting for the packages to be delivered.
But in modern realities it will not be soon…

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Good luck with that! I’m not very good with bike maintenance, I can fix a flat tire, change the tire, then I can more or less tune the breaks and the gears. I mosty love to ride. The easiest to maintain is a fixie / single speed bike, but mine has no rack so I usually don’t take it to work (also, it’s not as comfortable for long rides).

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Thanks! I will do everything in the best possible way :slight_smile:

In fact, there is nothing complicated in the maintenance of bicycles. Documentation is available, tools are not very expensive and many of them are already there.
For a person born and raised in the USSR, servicing his equipment is not a problem at all :slight_smile:

I understand you very well!
But with our climate, the cycling season is not very long. And in winter, you can calmly, without haste, do your own technique. We even have a saying: prepare a sleigh in summer, and a wagon in winter :smile:

Periodically I come back to the idea of a single speed bike. But so far there is no general picture for my scenario of using a bicycle.

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It’s a lot of fun :slight_smile:

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I have no doubt about it :slight_smile:

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Another picture of last summer

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This summer, on my wife’s bike, the front brake began to work inadequately.
I decided to replace it with a brake, with two movable pads.
The problem is that the choice of flatmount brakes is quite limited. And the second problem is that a folding bike is a dead-end branch for our use case, and my wife is increasingly talking about a “normal” bike. Therefore, a chinese-made brake was purchased and installed, under the Nutt brand.
But in fact, after proper adjustment, there are no complaints about the operation of the brake.
And now I am calm for the safety of my wife :blush:

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P.S. I restored the brake caliper afterwards. So now there is a spare. Just in case :wink:

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I keep forgetting to ask… How much does your singlespeed bike weigh?

10.1 kg. It’s this frame (the least expensive one): https://bicirodagira.com/collections/lx2 with reliable components from different brands, assembled here in Lisbon by this guy from https://bicirodagira.com/ who specializes in single speed / fixies. Check it, he sells worldwide :wink: I have had it for more than 4 years now and find it very reliable.

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Good bikes. On some points, I see superiority over the bicycles of the russian manufacturer BearBike.
However, I don’t quite understand why they are so “heavy”? I’ll explain… My bike, with disc hydraulics, 2x10 system, weighs less than 10kg.
The cassette of my bike weighs 380g. The brake rotors alone weigh more than the brakes on a single-speed bike. Not to mention the two gears in front and the front derailleur. That is, in my “ideal” world, single-speed bicycles should weigh less than 9kg at least…
I look at this model myself. But so far I’m just looking :wink:

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You’re right, I was also surprised (even though I knew it, I had forgotten it).

My geared bike (specialized diverge) also weighs less than the single speed one: 10.5 kg with rack and some light components.

The single speed has a chromoly steel frame (I think), not aluminium, for comfort. I think a very small part of it is carbon, maybe a part in the fork or the fork itself. From what I remember, all in all steel and chromoly is heavier than aluminium, but more comfortable because it absorbs shock better. Carbon is just much more expensive, of course :slight_smile:

Then another different reason might be in the components. I’ve read that the components in a single speed bike might be heavier:

You’d expect a bike with fewer parts to be lighter, but that’s not always the case, with many singlespeeds being as heavy or heavier than a similarly priced geared bike.

In part that’s due to the beefier components usually specced, but often singlespeeds have frames made of heavier materials too: steel is a popular option, while alloy frames may be overbuilt to cope better with the extra stresses on the frame that can occur from fixed-gear riding.

In: https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/buyers-guide-to-fixies-and-singlespeed-bikes/

Have you seen brick lane bikes? They also have some cool stuff.

That one you are looking into seems cool! One important thing is to make sure that the components are good and durable.

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