Shake out tour.

[AndyE]

There are some adjustments to make and fine tune front and rear dérailleurs.  Its going to have a good clean and re-lube of all bearing surfaces this week before I make the final tweaks.

Andy

[AndyE]

Andy what front and rear mechs are u using i had shimano Xt770 on mine great set up but what i didnt like about rear mech NO barrell adjuster so  had to fit on line adjuster  worked fine but a bit tricky once the barbag was fitted.
have you the the front mech set at right height   top of teeth big chain 2mm.

anto.

All sorted now Anto. I gave it a good clean and re-lube to the brakes and bottom bracket. It had accumulated a lot of dust & grit on tour. The front Dérailleur had also slipped down by 1 mm as well as not being parallel to the chain rings. I could not see this properly until the chain guard was removed. The rear Dérailleur is now fine, it has a barrel adjuster. just needed a quick adjustment after re-ailing the front Dérailleur and the skipping has stooped.

The weird thing about this I have kept on top of the cleaning and checking the tightness of all the components on a regular basis, so I am a little confused as to how this came about. I'm a bit wiser now and hopefully I can prevent this happening again. 

Andy

[jags]

Andy look at it this way if it was a Rohloff you were goosed.
they should bin all those feckin rohloff hubs totally useless yis are all be conned 

[John Saxby]

I am a little confused as to how this came about. I'm a bit wiser now and hopefully I can prevent this happening again.

Hope so, Andy!  Glad your shakedown tour worked out well, and the post-op cleaning has done the necessary.

Unlike jags ;-) I was tormented for years by the derailleurs on my Eclipse touring bike, slipping out of adjustment frequently but irregularly, so I never knew just when I'd miss a shift, though as you might guess, Sod's Law required that it be halfway up a steep hill with a load of gear.

After a few years, I said, "I'm 65, I've paid my dues, I don't need this."  So I sold an old motorcycle to finance a Thorn Raven-with-Rohloff, and have lived happily ever after.  Derailleurs no longer haunt my dreams, and now I actually look for hills.  Tomorrow, f'r example, I'm going here, just to see how my trick new lower 36 x 17 combination works on 14% grades: http://tinyurl.com/qdndq8k

The Eclipse sits in my workshop, its derailleurs silently grumbling and getting fat & dusty 'cos they rarely get much of a workout these days.  Occasionally, I open the bars of the cage and go for a quick spin on level ground, then I lock them up again to reflect upon their misdeeds.

[jags]

nice one John im just winding up you rohloff owners .mind u i can get up a 14% climb on a 34x28 my next bike will have an electric motor for hills.

[John Saxby]

Yah, not too worried, Anto -- us Rohloff owners are pretty thick-skinned, y'know...  ;-)  Will post a photo from one of summits, anyway, if the weather's OK for a decent view. (The view is mostly trees, just a question of sunshine & blue sky.)  I'm going to take the easy route this time:  drive the car to a starting spot about 160 kms away, ride for 3 - 4 hours, beginning & ending with a big steep up- and down-hill, then turn around & head for home.  I'll stop in a nice café in an old schoolhouse at a crossroads on the Calabogie Rd beside the Madawaska River, A-grade coffee & a place we sometimes visit for an evening of local music.

[jags]

Sounds magic John the hills over here are a tad different to yours i bet. short sharp shock  unlike your hills that go on forever.im not long in from a 30 mile spin on the tandem with my buddy Darragh ,he just gave me one of his cd's  he's a great uillean whistle and bodhran player sounds great wish i new how to post a listen to it. there's a web address on the cover ..www.eitlean.com try that.

sorry rambling again  look forward to the photos John be sure to take plenty.

anto.

[John Saxby]

Thanks, Anto.  I'll have a listen there.  Meantime, you & Darragh might enjoy the work of Rawlins Cross, a fine band from Newfoundland.  Here's their "Memory Waltz" on youTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsEN6ZawgnU&list=PLBEz1N9gisoy_e0lEtOYZ5yLElefk6Bcz  On the same screen, there's more of their tunes. "MacPherson's Lament" is a good one.  Beware -- this stuff can make you cry, it's so beautiful.

[Andre Jute]

That's an ambitious shake-out tour. But it is all worth it for the superb image of the man sitting on the bridge with his fishing-rod, his bike lying in the road behind him. That's my Forum Photograph of the Year! Takes me back to my boyhood on the dirt roads of the Langkloof and the Little Karroo when time stretched forever.

[AndyE]

That's an ambitious shake-out tour. But it is all worth it for the superb image of the man sitting on the bridge with his fishing-rod, his bike lying in the road behind him. That's my Forum Photograph of the Year! Takes me back to my boyhood on the dirt roads of the Langkloof and the Little Karroo when time stretched forever.

Thanks Andre, That photograph is on the bridge over the river Ouse just south of Bishopthorpe. The sculpture is called "The Fisher of Dream". The fisherman has a caught  a steam train!

Andy.

[jags]

cheers Johm great stuff indeed.
anto

sent it to my buddy darragh he loves it as well.

anto

[Matt2matt2002]

Andy - sorry if i missed it - but you mentioned a September tour.
Where to?

Matt

[AndyE]

Andy - sorry if i missed it - but you mentioned a September tour.
Where to?

Matt

Hi Matt, I'm off up on the west coast of Scotland for 12 days. Glasgow to Inverness via Isle of Skye, train at either end. Was up there on the 1st of June Sea Kayaking, Isle of Skye, Harris, Lewis and St Kilder, the weather was horrible. I'm undecided if it will be summer or winter sleeping bag at the moment. I'm not going to hold my breath with the weather.

Andy
 

[Matt2matt2002]

I'm Aberdeen based.
Guess you'll be on the other side of Scotland but let me know if your plans change.
Very welcome to stop over.

I did end to end Scotland last summer and came South via Lewis Harris Eigg Skye Fort William Obanull of Galloway.
Took the ferry from Aberdeen up to Shetland to kick things off.

I waited 4 days at Leverburgh on Harris for the weather to clear for a boat to St. Kilda.
No luck.
Actually the weatherv wasnt that bad but the sea swell was too much for the boat.
So near but so far.
Anoyingly, the week before had been perfect.

I had planned to go back this year but then my Pamir trip took shape.

Keep in touch

Nice to meet up.

Matt

[AndyE]

Thanks Matt very kind of you to offer.

Andy