another Scandiland song:

perhaps an old German song or two:

something different:

maybe to sneak in a little more modern music:


and

on the whole, this is by far the best source:

FM4 DaviDecks - fm4.ORF.at

it's a station out of Vienna (Wien) that broadcasts in English, German and French (news and everything)

All bull**** aside, this is worth your time to listen to, especially on the weekends as most history is from a European perspective but in English!

you have any problems, you shoot me a PM

also, not sure if people in the US have adopted Soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/davidecks

front brake pad change:

Hi all!

I just did the first front brake pad swap on my SS bike at 2119km (1315mi).

Here are the old pads next to the next pads ... as you can see the old pads are totally worn out:

comparison of old and new pads (top view)


comparison of old and new pads (45° view)


comparison of old and new pads (braking surface)


old pad surface after front duty for 8 months in english rain:


threw on some Jagwires Basic Pad (for £1.99)


braking surface ...



FINALLY, the real question ... how do I know when the rim is worn through ... it does have a groove and i can feel that it's less than the rear groove. is it when it's worn smooth or will wear indicators appear? just curious ... seems like I'll be lucky to get 5000km of out of the rim as I live at the bottom of a steep hill

Did the rim have a single, clearly machined depression when you got the bike? If so, that would be the wear indicator. When you can't see or feel the depression anymore, the idea is that it's time to replace the rim. I can't tell from the pictures whether that's true of your rim or not.

I think I see two orange depressions, but I can't say for sure.

For what it's worth, I bought some cheap-as-hades Alex-rimmed wheels at Biltema here in Sweden, with the grooves (and one with a dynamo hub, for about US$65!), and everything has been rock solid. I suspect I'll use one with a normal tire, and the other with a studded tire this winter.

Hej! Tack så mycket!

Ja, hjulen har en enda skåra. Jag tycker det är 2mm djup.

Jag älskar Biltema! Bra jobb på navdynamon. 65 USD? Är det 400 kronor nu?

update on the bike!

i changed the tube with my last spare at work and ordered 5 more as back-ups. I also changed the front brake pads. Seems that I'll need some new bar tape soon and I'll change it out when I have some time I dumped the bike on the ice last winter and tore the tape and scratched the bar. More recently I dropped the bike, while waiting to walk it across the street and broke the end cap :-/

will get some cheap bar tape.









reminder to add £3.99 for the pads with shipping to the next update!

Changed the tube and bought 5 spare tubes for a bike that is less than a year old? And you think you wore out a rim? What a piece of doo-doo. Or you just like throwing away your money on an overpriced piece of junk.
Next time get a coaster brake single speed and forget about all those brake pad replacements as well. You can paint it any kind of loud obnoxious colors you like for less than the price of five!! spare tubes.

actually, i was asking how to tell when the rim was worn out. it seems that brake groove was packed with material so I couldn't really tell.

secondly, like a shop posted, it seems that running 23c on British road is asking for flats:

these guys went through 16 tubes in 5000 miles:

Single Speed Components 5,000 Mile Challenge

and to be fair, I've went through tubes in this order:

1. when green tire wore through the canvas under the rubber (rear) and lost the tube
2. hit a bump and broke the replacement Schwalbe Lugano tire (literally broke it across the width of the tire) and lost the tube ... the shop credited it toward a new Gatorskin
3. grazed a kerb and bent the braking surface on the rear wheel and lost the tube
4. wore through the canvas on the front tire under the rubber (front) and lost the lube
5. left the bike in the locked bike locker during a holiday and returned to ride it home and got a pinch flat (lost tube)

1, 2 and 4 are unavoidable unless I don't get the most of the tire, which is what I want to do.
3 was from riding too agreesively.
5 was a learning lesson ... there's even a bike pump in the locker

5 tubes makes sense, so that I can leave 2 at work, have 2 at home and carry one in my backpack.

you're an interesting fellow, i.e. had a Römer Jockey on a nice German bike, but you've become rude all of the sudden.

what happened?

I have only one spare tube - and carry tip-top patches and glue:

REMA TIP TOP - Tube Repair Vulcanizing Patches


They take 5 minutes to dry, so I almost never even use the spare tube - carry it just in case. Even on a cold evening in the rain I found some cover and fixed a flat using those patches.

Cool ... I will check them out ...

This is not meant as an offence, mate: I can't believe that you didn't know about those. I've been using them for like 20+ years - my father taught me how to fix flats - he had been using those patches before. We never bought tubes - just patched them. If tyres aren't too thin (like 23 mm ) - you can patch them 20+ times without any difference in ride quality.

The only time I got a spare tube was when I was older and started riding 100 km away from home - just in case.

I did roughly 10000km on my MTB without a flat in Germany (2010-13).

This is my first "road" bike

Never really had to deal with flats before, as I've never had 23c tires

But for sure, I'll check them out

I'd suggest 28 mm tyres. Or the thinnest ones you can run at 6 bar, or lower pressure. That is the border pressure above which a lot of sharp rocks and glass debris puncture into tyre. Go below 6 bar, and they don't seem to stick into the tyre nearly as often. That has been my experience.

cool ... will check it out after I wear out these 23c tires.

These are discount and VERY fast, comfortable and bombproof - even on Serbian pavement:

Bike24 - Continental Grand Prix 4-Season Folding Tire

You described your bike as a "BSO" right in the OP. What does the acronym mean to you if not some PC description of cycling doo-doo?

Rude for describing a bike with as many problem in as little time and use as you have outlined as being overpriced junk? Sorry I've had city bikes with 10 years of all weather use have far less problems than you have encountered and the bikes cost less at retail. Perhaps I was a bit harsh on the paint scheme, lots of children and hipsters in the neighborhood probably admire it.

What is a Römer Jockey? I've got lots of good German bikes, all less costly than your so-called BSO. Never knowingly put a Römer Jockey (whatever it is) on any of them.

It is surprising what some so-called experienced bicyclists do not not know or never even heard about bicycling technique or the simplest maintenance procedures.

It wouldn't be much of a test if he deliberately held back from spending anything. As I see it he's trying to see how a cheap bike does, whether and how much it saves him in the long run, if he uses it normally. That would include buying extra tubes if that's how he usually rolls.

Quite quoting your 1991 price in DM. It's tiring.

The other issue, is how much time do I really to work on it. It's supposed to be replacement for a car or bus here (or subway/tram somewhere else). I wouldn't need to work on those items to use them, so the most accurate comparison is to not work on the bike that much.

To be fair, I used to race cars and did engine swaps ... yada, yada ... I also renovated a Victorian house myself ... but those days are behind me.

I'd rather focus on research and travel (and at some point family), so I'd like to keep personal maintenance to a minimum and while it is interesting to patch tubes, I'd rather be engineering bacteria to produce new biofuels or chemical precursors.

Yeah, that's how I currently roll, I'm in tube buying mode.

I like doing it all myself. Makes me feel good and more confident on future repairs - whether at home, or roadside.