MALF Newbie

AaronM

Likes Dirt
Woohoo - 180mm AliExpress “Genuine” Shimano rotor arrived today. Well packed and has the lock but and everything, again no branded packaging but the “remove before use” stickers and every other detail is identical looking to the 160mm on the bike.
 

dan76n

Likes Bikes
South-Central end of Canberra, such that Pine Island, the Murrumbidgee and Lake Tuggeranong are all within a 15 minute lazy pedal for me. There are some nice dirt riding trails in all those reserves nearby and I’ve got a real good connectivity to the bike paths from my place.
Id suggest checking out the trails behind the Zoo. They are quite fun with not too much climbing.
Also for some basic skills practice have you seen the new nature park at Farrer? Theres some nice little jumps you can just roll over, some good berms, a mini pump track and a few logs and bridges to build your confidence up.
I did 9ks on there the other day just trying to clear the 3 table tops. kept casing the last one.
Ohh, I’m in my 40s as well and feel like I’m still in my 20‘s when I’m on the bike. That is until I come off, then my age comes flashing back to me.
 

AaronM

Likes Dirt
I’ll freely admit that the trail riding is more my thing than downhill - and even then it’s a ways off before I go seeking them out special so to speak. All that aside though I’m coming up on about 300km on the bike and in general things are feeling more natural every time out.

I probably am overly critical on myself but I do need to start pushing my general skills a bit harder, you know go a bit deeper under braking, get better at dealing with surface changes, trusting a level of grip and stability... It’s just a time and energy problem really.

The other thing is after my derailleur issues I’m hyper paranoid of it crapping out on me - no doubt it’s not set perfectly but my setup has gone at least 50km further than the bike shops reset of it all did! I suppose I’ll have to track down a decent bike tech down my end of town and think about throwing some money down to get it “right”...
 

Tubbsy

Packin' a small bird
Staff member
Might have to go check Farrer!
It's attached to a new playground, so it's really more for the local kids. Probably not worth a special effort unless you're in the area.

I'd head to the Majura pump track for skills practice.
 

AaronM

Likes Dirt
This time last week I was bleeding all over the (white) leather in the car while getting picked up by MrsAaron. See I’d come off along one of the Murrumbidgee trails thanks to a rookie error pedal strike.

The outcome was writing off the Merida/AlexRims front wheel and slightly bending the steerer so that the bars now tilt down slightly right-to-left.

New wheel (Shimano MT-500 because ultimately I’m trying not to over capitalise an entry level frame) and I was riding it by Saturday night. Have since picked up a matching rear wheel (because OCD, and after a bunch of loose spoke issues in some trails the LBS reckons it can’t be trued better that it’s slight wobble now).

New Suntour Epixon Air forks have been ordered - should be better than the XCM coil forks that came on the bike, and assuming Cycling Deal comes through with them the price is not too shabby. Although the internet indicates the BigNine40D may be able to take a tapered steerer I’ve ordered the straight as it should be “easy” to swap.

As for me, bruising is pretty bad, scrapes are a bit scabby but life goes on.

Now that I am getting to a point where I can comfortably cruise 10-15km around local paths without stopping to regain breath every few kms and when it’s not blowing a fracking gale I am actually really just enjoying being out on the bike.

I’ll have 350km on the bike since late July (and I was OS for most of August) and I’m not regretting giving it a go :)
 

link1896

Mr Greenfield
Don’t sell the Merida when the times comes for the next bike. You’ll have a special place for it in your heart after it got you back into cycling.

Well done.

Coke off a hookers ass is cheaper then this sport but not half as much fun.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Don’t sell the Merida when the times comes for the next bike. You’ll have a special place for it in your heart after it got you back into cycling.

Well done.

Coke off a hookers ass is cheaper then this sport but not half as much fun.

I'm not so sure about that. Has he/she waxed/shaved his arse down first?
 

AaronM

Likes Dirt
^ I wax the bike frequently


There’s a box with a courier that hopefully has my Epixon Air fork. Bit of a relief and even though I’m not in a hurry to install I just want the money spent and parts ready to go.

I’m not kidding myself that the Merida is a forever bike, it seems to work as I wanted (ie casual XC/trail/bike path) and quite probably I’ll be happy for a year or so at that. It’s relatively easy to get into riding in Canberra in the late winter > spring > summer, if I keep it up during winter then we can talk about new bikes....
 

Cardy George

Piercing rural members since 1981
I keep it up during winter then we can talk about new bikes....
Riding in winter is all about clothing layers. I'm fortunate that it doesn't rain all that much where I am, but it gets down to sub-zero for a couple of weeks around here.

Good warm gloves and socks, plus a wind-proof jacket are the must haves and maybe a neck warmer. Then just add layers until you stay warm enough.
 

AaronM

Likes Dirt
I’ve got a few parts now to chuck on the bike and my stack I to the bush full of bees will be a distant memory.

Decided to buy a TL-LR11 Shimano lock ring tool because although my Bikehand tool kit has the giant wrench for the older style Shimano lock rings it really sucks to use and doesn’t engage well enough to loosen the damn things without slipping. As both my bike and the wife’s bike use the same style I figure $20 on the right tool isn’t a bad investment.

This comes back to me wanting my front and rear wheels to match, so I need to chuck the cassette and rotor (as well as tyre) onto the new MT500 wheel sitting in the garage.

I was originally not going to service/fix the bikes myself - I’m reasonably competent on the tools with cars but bikes are all new - then I had the front derailleur issue and worked out I’m no worse at fixing stuff than my LBS.

But then I was on BikeBug ordering up the TL-LR11 and thought maybe I could pick up a slightly better cassette at the same time. The CS-HG200 isn’t bad but maybe there’s a lighter or smoother option. Cue the CS-HG400. A full 76g lighter! It’s also a little more bling and will mean that for an extra $32 I will have a fully built up rear wheel as a spare for when inevitably I break my fancy new one.

—-

My wife bought a 2020 Crossway 100, it’s a nice thing but again my LBS faith has been hit hard, it’s got basically no rear brake, and hasn’t since new. I thought the lever was a bit soft but thought bedding in would occur, but nope. Doesn’t inspire her confidence riding. So that goes back to them in a week or so for a service and it had better come back with two functioning brakes!

Will have to find a decent bike mechanic down my end of town who’s happy to just sort some of my basic stuff out (like fitting my new forks including cutting the steering down etc) and give them a once over service/check every now and then.
 

T-Rex

Template denier
Will have to find a decent bike mechanic down my end of town who’s happy to just sort some of my basic stuff out (like fitting my new forks including cutting the steering down etc) and give them a once over service/check every now and then.
Nah.

If you are decent with car mechanics, just jump onto Youtube to watch how a particular task is done, such as fitting your new fork, then get on with it. Worked for me. And you will find the vast majority of shop mechanics are self taught, I don't think I've met anyone who has done the TAFE course.

But do get the right bike tools, there's quite a few that are specialised bicycle tools that make tasks so much easier and more enjoyable than trying to adapt car tools.

And since you are starting out, you have the opportunity to buy a kit of decent tools, rather than one at a time like I did. Park are the gold standard, equivalent to Snap On. X tools are more of a value brand, but still OK.
 

Litenbror

Eats Squid
I’ve got a few parts now to chuck on the bike and my stack I to the bush full of bees will be a distant memory.

Decided to buy a TL-LR11 Shimano lock ring tool because although my Bikehand tool kit has the giant wrench for the older style Shimano lock rings it really sucks to use and doesn’t engage well enough to loosen the damn things without slipping. As both my bike and the wife’s bike use the same style I figure $20 on the right tool isn’t a bad investment.

This comes back to me wanting my front and rear wheels to match, so I need to chuck the cassette and rotor (as well as tyre) onto the new MT500 wheel sitting in the garage.

I was originally not going to service/fix the bikes myself - I’m reasonably competent on the tools with cars but bikes are all new - then I had the front derailleur issue and worked out I’m no worse at fixing stuff than my LBS.

But then I was on BikeBug ordering up the TL-LR11 and thought maybe I could pick up a slightly better cassette at the same time. The CS-HG200 isn’t bad but maybe there’s a lighter or smoother option. Cue the CS-HG400. A full 76g lighter! It’s also a little more bling and will mean that for an extra $32 I will have a fully built up rear wheel as a spare for when inevitably I break my fancy new one.

—-

My wife bought a 2020 Crossway 100, it’s a nice thing but again my LBS faith has been hit hard, it’s got basically no rear brake, and hasn’t since new. I thought the lever was a bit soft but thought bedding in would occur, but nope. Doesn’t inspire her confidence riding. So that goes back to them in a week or so for a service and it had better come back with two functioning brakes!

Will have to find a decent bike mechanic down my end of town who’s happy to just sort some of my basic stuff out (like fitting my new forks including cutting the steering down etc) and give them a once over service/check every now and then.
As @T-Rex said YouTube is your best friend. If you have any mechanical ability then you will be fine. If you have any questions or want some help feel free to send me a message I'm in inner North Canberra and do most of my own bike work so happy to help where I can. If your looking for a LBS Monkey Wrench Cycles in Hackett are the best in Canberra.
 

AaronM

Likes Dirt
Thanks for the vote of confidence in my abilities.

I’ve long learnt the value of biting the bullet and investing in having the right tools, hence the TL-LR11 purchase instead of persisting with the Bikehand clone of the Lockring Spanner. To the credit of the cheap Bikehand kit I bought the TL-LR15 clone in there is excellent an most of the other items are sufficient. Genuine Shimano tools aren’t that expensive either which helps.

I’m not exactly having to struggle with tools beyond the very special purpose tools - was mounting the rotor on the new wheel today and spent a glorious 15 minutes debating with myself which torque wrench would be best for the job.

Oh bought a floor pump from Pushys thanks to their Black Friday sale and an obvious stock runout deal. Trying to inflate the Presta tubes without a specific head and those $2 adapters off my compressor was sending me a bit loopy...
 
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