Roads the Romans Rode.

wheelist said:

"I've been regularly using New Walk for the past 200 years and I preferred it prior to 1826. Back then, anyone could use it, including wheeled traffic, though, of course, there were only horses and carts. I don't remember there being any accidents, though it was a long time ago and my memory isn't what it used to be."

the Romans did some wicked roads. Many, like the New Walk, are just begging to be cycled on.

If you follow Fosse Road South or Narborough Road, you get onto the B4455, or Fosse Way. It just cuts right through the landscape towards Cirencester, but sadly turns into the A429 before Halford... Crossing the A5 at Wigston Parva is also a nightmare and a half.
I'm in favour of rehabilitating these roads.
I should have buried a few personal items on the side of Fosse Road before starting as an offering, but the Gods of the Road are playful and cruel.
Also, I was doing pretty well until I broke my forks on the thames Path outside of Oxford, whilst trying to find a way to Swindon...
Now, try to find a pair of 700C 531 forks in this day and age...
Did you know they say you can't get 1' threaded steering tubes anymore?
Is this true or is this some bull they serve you at the bike shop to try and push crappy cromo welded frames and forks on you like it's canine testicles...
Am I making sense?

fabrice said:

Am I making sense?

Absolutely not.

That's as insane a ramble as I've ever witnessed. 😉

However, you're right about the roads. Nice and straight. A to B. Begging to be ridden.

I recently rebuilt a Raleigh SuperBurner (ah, remember the days...) - it has a 1" steerer tube and a 1 1/8" head tube. I managed to find an original Raleigh headset in a little backstreet shop in Highfields (I can't remember the name of the shop - it's the one with saucepans in the window) -an incredible stroke of luck.

Therefore I have to conclude that canine testicles are not inevitable. Your forks are out there.

Am I making sense? 😄

The shop is Bob Warner.
Bob died ages ago, also the old geezer who certainly served you is Bob's apprentice. He's looking after Bob's wife who still lives upstairs.
he probably does remember the New Walk before 1826...

... I'm talking about when you walk in a bike shop and the guy takes a look at your machine and he goes: "Oooooh... Did you get that one from your dad?" Although it's blatantly obvious that the bike's under 2 years old.
And then they start teling you how much bikes have changed and that you won't get the parts (which you got off the same shop 3 months before) and that you'd be better off buying a new one, etc, etc.

wheelist said:

Absolutely not.

That's as insane a ramble as I've ever witnessed. 😉

However, you're right about the roads. Nice and straight. A to B. Begging to be ridden.

I recently rebuilt a Raleigh SuperBurner (ah, remember the days...) - it has a 1" steerer tube and a 1 1/8" head tube. I managed to find an original Raleigh headset in a little backstreet shop in Highfields (I can't remember the name of the shop - it's the one with saucepans in the window) -an incredible stroke of luck.

Therefore I have to conclude that canine testicles are not inevitable. Your forks are out there.

Am I making sense? 😄

fabrice said:

The shop is Bob Warner.
Bob died ages ago, also the old geezer who certainly served you is Bob's apprentice. He's looking after Bob's wife who still lives upstairs.
he probably does remember the New Walk before 1826...

... I'm talking about when you walk in a bike shop and the guy takes a look at your machine and he goes: "Oooooh... Did you get that one from your dad?" Although it's blatantly obvious that the bike's under 2 years old.
And then they start teling you how much bikes have changed and that you won't get the parts (which you got off the same shop 3 months before) and that you'd be better off buying a new one, etc, etc.

Yep - that's it - Bob Warner. Top shop.

W.r.t "your Dad's bike" - it's all a con. Fake progress is what it is. Innovate or die? Innovate so you can sell new stuff, is more like it. I guess eBay is the answer, though it's not easy to log on from the roadside when your forks are forked, and the delivery times might not be quick enough for you to finish your ride by the end of the day.

I'm a big fan of Thumbshifters, but as you know, these have been superseded by bigger, better and faster under-bar STI type shifters. A massive technological advance of course. Easier to break. Harder to repair. No option to go for friction mode. Pure Genius.

Fortunately I was able to get on eBay for a few spare old DX and XT thumbies which, until I have need for them (they last a long, long time), I wear as earrings on nights out.

I guess you've resolved your fork issue by now though?

So, is that what your avatar is, then, a worn out thumbshifter?
You do mean the bar end ones, don't you?
I do like theSTI's ones, although it's true that they have a worrying tendency to break down, especially for the price.
Thumbshifters must be a tad heavy to wear as earrings. Have you got massive Buddha ear lobes, then?
I've found a bloke in Nottingham who's got forks, but the tube's too short, so he's going to have to lengthen it somehow.
In the meantime, I'm riding ye aulde Italian bike with Suntour Accushift bar shifters that trap yoiur thumbs betwixt the bar and the shifty bit...

wheelist said:

Yep - that's it - Bob Warner. Top shop.

W.r.t "your Dad's bike" - it's all a con. Fake progress is what it is. Innovate or die? Innovate so you can sell new stuff, is more like it. I guess eBay is the answer, though it's not easy to log on from the roadside when your forks are forked, and the delivery times might not be quick enough for you to finish your ride by the end of the day.

I'm a big fan of Thumbshifters, but as you know, these have been superseded by bigger, better and faster under-bar STI type shifters. A massive technological advance of course. Easier to break. Harder to repair. No option to go for friction mode. Pure Genius.

Fortunately I was able to get on eBay for a few spare old DX and XT thumbies which, until I have need for them (they last a long, long time), I wear as earrings on nights out.

I guess you've resolved your fork issue by now though?

fabrice said:

So, is that what your avatar is, then, a worn out thumbshifter?
You do mean the bar end ones, don't you?
I do like theSTI's ones, although it's true that they have a worrying tendency to break down, especially for the price.
Thumbshifters must be a tad heavy to wear as earrings. Have you got massive Buddha ear lobes, then?
I've found a bloke in Nottingham who's got forks, but the tube's too short, so he's going to have to lengthen it somehow.
In the meantime, I'm riding ye aulde Italian bike with Suntour Accushift bar shifters that trap yoiur thumbs betwixt the bar and the shifty bit...

I mean the MTB bar mounted ones. Before I managed to get hold of second hand ones from eBay I ended up buying some Dura-ace shifters with a bar mount (crafted by Forge MTB) - 90 bloody quid.

How about these forks?.....

cgi.ebay.co.ukeBayISAPI.dllOpen ↗

Could they be the answer to your forking problem?

Or these cyclocross jobbies...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=36135&item=7166756444&rd=1

Oh, I see:
You want the shifty ones rather than the clicky ones...
You're not the first person I heard saying that actually.
Re: forks.... I'm going to shepishly take my bike to Nottingham and let the guy work his magic, hoping it's as magical as he claims it's going to be.
Thanks for your efforts with ebay, but I've kind of got my mind set on something pretty specific.
I can be hard headed at times.
I paid 100 for my STI's and they are pretty [censored], (you need to be on the lowest gear at the back to switch to the smallest plate at the front!-and you're generaly reminded of it when you're half way up a hill...) but they still avoid me reaching for bar-end or down tube shifters.

We're not realy talking about Roman roads any more.
So, is your avatar a Roman Handlebar shifter or what?

wheelist said:

I mean the MTB bar mounted ones. Before I managed to get hold of second hand ones from eBay I ended up buying some Dura-ace shifters with a bar mount (crafted by Forge MTB) - 90 bloody quid.

How about these forks?.....

cgi.ebay.co.ukeBayISAPI.dllOpen ↗

Could they be the answer to your forking problem?

Or these cyclocross jobbies...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=36135&item=7166756444&rd=1

fabrice said:

Re: forks.... I'm going to shepishly take my bike to Nottingham and let the guy work his magic, hoping it's as magical as he claims it's going to be.

We're not realy talking about Roman roads any more.
So, is your avatar a Roman Handlebar shifter or what?

Are you off to see Sid Standard? (in Nottingham)

My avatar is a [censored] bar-end. 😉

(I couldn't find a nice picture to use. In a couple of weeks though I get my new bike, so will get a pic of me on that and replace the [censored] avatar I'm using).

wheelist said:

Are you off to see Sid Standard? (in Nottingham)

My avatar is a [censored] bar-end. 😉

(I couldn't find a nice picture to use. In a couple of weeks though I get my new bike, so will get a pic of me on that and replace the [censored] avatar I'm using).

Sid?
Good God... He's at least from 1826, that one...
Last time I saw him, his shop was open 1/2 hour a day and he was so senile that, if you went and see him for, let's say, brake pads, he would come back, after rummaging in his shop, with drop handlebars, or a cup of tea, or he'd forgotten you were there and gone away or something...
Mind you, he'd adviced me to get a Dutch bike for riding in town. I eventualy got an Azor and I never regreted listening to his advice... But that's by the by...
I was thinking going to Bunney's, the guy by the train station.
In the meantime, I've lent the bike to another bike shop in town. They (too)reckon they might be able to help...
Mind you, the whole thng is stating to get frustrating.
Last time, I spoke for half an hour to some guy at Freewheel in Hockley. He had me describe the bike in minute details. I even measured the front tube for him and he was like:"Yeah, no worries, we got them!"
I take the bike down and ask to speak to the guy I spoke to on the phone. The guy just takes one look at the bike and goes: "Man, you're really going to be struggling to find some of those."
...And then starts the whole "Ah, they don't make bikes like these anymore nowadays..." (which is bollocks) although, acknowledgedly, Reynolds now only produces 531 for special orders...

fabrice said:

I was thinking going to Bunney's, the guy by the train station.

Last time, I spoke for half an hour to some guy at Freewheel in Hockley. He had me describe the bike in minute details. I even measured the front tube for him and he was like:"Yeah, no worries, we got them!"

I don't know Bunney's very well - I remember they were big into BMXs back in the day, but I never went there. Freewheel is exactly as you say it is - everything is possible until you say do it - they're a useless bunch of idiots, especially the manager (who is as nice as pie if he thinks you're gonna spend a wad of cash, but arrogant and rude if you're not). I wouldn't trust them with my Grandma's bike.

I let Sid respray my 531 frame some time ago (Cod, it must be 15 years!) - he did a fantastic job, and even replaced the stickers. I haven't been back there since though.

Aren't there any decent bike shops in Lincoln? (I suspect I already know the answer to that one)

Why are you so specific about the forks you want? Surely you could improve on 531 and get the right length (I'm not sure about the threaded steerer though)?

Hey, The older Bunney's the handy one.
The younger one's wouldn't know his elbow from his [censored].
Bunney the elder has a big stock of old spares and bits and bobs in the basement, although they currently seem to specialise in these MTB's that are kind of like BMX's but not quite.
As for Freewheel, I'm positively gutted that the guy had me come all the way only to kick me out as if I was taking the [censored] by asking something impossible...
I'm not hell bent on 531. I'm willing to upgrade but not downgrade. Because I've absolutely murdered the original forks, (and they were supposed to be tough as nails) I'm concerned that settling for something of a lesser quality might result in me having to drag the goddam thing to the nearest station rather than bending the fork back somehow and somehow cycling it back.
The main problem, and the worst thing that can happen to cycling is that it bacomes nothing but a sport, rather than a sustainable mode of transport.
Part of the reason why I can't get what I want is because people at the bike shop don't understand me.
They dig cycling as a race, or cycling as an acrobatic sport, or even cycling as a way to relax along the canal on a hot summer day, but it totally elludes them that you'd want to subject yourself to cycling to go to work or as a way to carry yourself plus 50kg across the country. When I tell them my mileage, they think I'd joking or that I'm demented... "Why would you want to do that?"
So, I'm waiting to hear what the guys on the high street have to say.
And no, there isn't really a decent bike shop in Lincoln. most sell bikes but they might as well be selling shoes, with the difference that you wouldn't expect anybody walking out of a shoe shop systematically wearing the wrong size shoes...

wheelist said:

I don't know Bunney's very well - I remember they were big into BMXs back in the day, but I never went there. Freewheel is exactly as you say it is - everything is possible until you say do it - they're a useless bunch of idiots, especially the manager (who is as nice as pie if he thinks you're gonna spend a wad of cash, but arrogant and rude if you're not). I wouldn't trust them with my Grandma's bike.

I let Sid respray my 531 frame some time ago (Cod, it must be 15 years!) - he did a fantastic job, and even replaced the stickers. I haven't been back there since though.

Aren't there any decent bike shops in Lincoln? (I suspect I already know the answer to that one)

Why are you so specific about the forks you want? Surely you could improve on 531 and get the right length (I'm not sure about the threaded steerer though)?

fabrice said:

The main problem, and the worst thing that can happen to cycling is that it bacomes nothing but a sport, rather than a sustainable mode of transport.

Absolutely. It seems that the only time cycling gets a mention on TV is when the tour is on, or at the track during the Olympics. Everybody dismisses cyclists as a bunch of moaning whingers when they talk about transport issues - I mean just look at the flak that's being hurled about at the moment regarding 4x4 vehicles. Quite rightly there's a lot of animosity towards the drivers of these monster trucks, but then there's a backlash from the 4x4 community towards all lesser cars and especially cyclists, due to our inherent lack of toxicity I reckon.
This (your quote) is the very reason I started my web site, in order to try and raise issues regarding cycling as a means of transport, rather than a sport/hobby - you'll notice there's not a single mention of the Tour anywhere!

Now, regarding your forks - if you've no success on the High Street, why don't you consider going to a custom frame builder? Websters Cycles in Leicester built me a nice frame (Columbus Max tubing) - I'm sure they'd be able to help. And you'd get to ride on the old roman A6. (Hey!! Back on topic!!)

The little guy of F & J cycles (Hunsgate, Linc) phoned up some bloke and ordered me forks straight away.
They're chrome... for that 70's feel, but he says they should be OK.
The guy was on the phone and asks: Has it got a crown on it?
The other guy: What's a crown?
-It's the square bit that goes on top to hold the forks...
This is quoted practically verbatim...
Anyway, I'll have a look at the forks this Friday and just take them if they look OK and they fit.
I think the best thing to do is to save my pennies and consider having a new one built at some point but I'm not going to bother for just the forks.
I didn't know Webster's were still active.
My "good" bike also has a Columbus frame.
It's from the early 80's and maybe I should consider a rebuilding at some point in the future.
It's light as a packet of crisps and tough as nails, just the way I like them.
I'm concerned that a definitive switch from 1' headsets to 1-1/8 might toll the bell for steel lugged frames.
I'm not a traditionalist, not at all, even. I like bikes to be light, fast, a bit tall and that can take a bit of knocking about.
By the way, I'm posting a pic of my bike.
Enjoy.

wheelist said:

Absolutely. It seems that the only time cycling gets a mention on TV is when the tour is on, or at the track during the Olympics. Everybody dismisses cyclists as a bunch of moaning whingers when they talk about transport issues - I mean just look at the flak that's being hurled about at the moment regarding 4x4 vehicles. Quite rightly there's a lot of animosity towards the drivers of these monster trucks, but then there's a backlash from the 4x4 community towards all lesser cars and especially cyclists, due to our inherent lack of toxicity I reckon.
This (your quote) is the very reason I started my web site, in order to try and raise issues regarding cycling as a means of transport, rather than a sport/hobby - you'll notice there's not a single mention of the Tour anywhere!

Now, regarding your forks - if you've no success on the High Street, why don't you consider going to a custom frame builder? Websters Cycles in Leicester built me a nice frame (Columbus Max tubing) - I'm sure they'd be able to help. And you'd get to ride on the old roman A6. (Hey!! Back on topic!!)

fabrice said:

I didn't know Webster's were still active.
My "good" bike also has a Columbus frame.
It's from the early 80's and maybe I should consider a rebuilding at some point in the future.
It's light as a packet of crisps and tough as nails, just the way I like them.
I'm concerned that a definitive switch from 1' headsets to 1-1/8 might toll the bell for steel lugged frames.
I'm not a traditionalist, not at all, even. I like bikes to be light, fast, a bit tall and that can take a bit of knocking about.
By the way, I'm posting a pic of my bike.
Enjoy.

Yeah, Websters are still active and going strong. Alex now runs the Bike Park below the Town Hall (its a joint venture between the City Council, Environ and Websters), so they have in effect 2 shops. And they're much better than Julies! (It's always nice to know that people who run the shop you're buying from are as passionate as you are about cycling).

Do you ride off road, Fab? (I saw your pic on the 'What do you folks all look like thread' but didn't spot an MTB in your bike pile!) If you do, you'd love my 'good' bike - Columbus Max, and a mix of titanium and alu parts to keep the weight down. Oh, and no suspension. It's pretty light and handles like a dream. Webster's said it was the best frame they'd ever made! It's about 10 years old now but still feels like new (well, apart from the drive chain which I've replaced a couple of times but seem to have set up wrong last time 🙁)

Have you posted the pic of your bike yet?

Wow...
I had no idea Webster's worked with the Bike Park...
I'm not too keen on the Bike Park since I've always had the suspiscion that they'd sabotaged one of my bikes years ago and then made up that the rear axel had to be replaced...
This doesn't seem consistant with people working with webster's, though...
the bike collection you can see on the picture is a fairly recent one.
I don't own an MTB at the moment, but I've had a few over the years.
I mostly do road, though and swapped my last MTB (a horrible GT job) last year in exchage for beer... 🙄
I'd like to invest in a decent MTB at some point, unless I opt for making one from scratch with bits and Bobs... I've got an old school Raleigh frame that looks like it'd be good for that (I think it's a 501), but it's not on top of my priority list right now as I still have to get the tourer fixed...
Hoping the pix of the bike will load this time round.

fabrice said:

Wow...
I had no idea Webster's worked with the Bike Park...
I'm not too keen on the Bike Park since I've always had the suspiscion that they'd sabotaged one of my bikes years ago and then made up that the rear axel had to be replaced...
This doesn't seem consistant with people working with webster's, though...
the bike collection you can see on the picture is a fairly recent one.
I don't own an MTB at the moment, but I've had a few over the years.
I mostly do road, though and swapped my last MTB (a horrible GT job) last year in exchage for beer... 🙄
I'd like to invest in a decent MTB at some point, unless I opt for making one from scratch with bits and Bobs... I've got an old school Raleigh frame that looks like it'd be good for that (I think it's a 501), but it's not on top of my priority list right now as I still have to get the tourer fixed...
Hoping the pix of the bike will load this time round.

Hey, nice bike - looks like a proper classic piece of kit. I reckon my road bike is about the same age - I've no idea what make it is as I swapped it for an old MTB and when it arrived it was yellow with the name Rivelli on the frame. Now I've never heard of Rivelli and my mate said that the guy who owned it previously had added the final 'li' to make it sound Italian!?! Mind you, I've never heard of Rivel either and no amount of searching on t'internet has revealed any clues. All I know is that its a 531 frame and forks and it's got some old Campag parts on it (levers, pedals, front shifter), but the rear shifter is a newish 105. Anyway, I hated the colour so had Sid spray it a nice deep red (burgundy). It's a bit small for me so I've recently picked up a large Reynolds 18-23 tubed frame and am planning on swapping over the bits. Seems a shame though really to take it to pieces. It'd be better of going to someone a little less tall and me buying a new one. Still, I'm skint so thats not about to happen.

I've just bought (much to my girlfriend's horror) a Kona BikeHotRod - it's a stunningly beautiful bit of kit, but entirely impractical. Perhaps the money would have been better spent on a nice road bike!

Re. Websters, I always take my bike to London Road rather than the Bike Park - Martin (the elsdest brother I think) is by far the most helpful and the mechanic there is pretty good. I think the Bike Park is exactly that - a bike park, with a little shop for your menial bits and bobs. Not really a bike repair place. And Alex who runs the place can be rather blunt. The youngest of the brothers (Zed) is a top lad though, but he's really only into BMXs. He was most helpful when I was rebuilding my Raleigh SuperBurner recently, managing to source original brakes!

I'll get some pics of my other bikes up tomorrow.

Hi,
I always swap bits from one bike to another. As long as they fit and that it can be done easilly, I don't have much of a problem with it. They're meant to be ridden, after all. Saying that, I have been more scrupulous in the past when doing up some classic bikes.
It's a pretty weird idea, to change Rivel into Rivelli... a case of misguided inferiority complex?...
Anyways, if it's Rivel, then Rijwielfabriek Rivel ltd produced bicycles and bike parts at a plant in Surhuisterveen, in the Netherlands up until it went bust in the late 80's-early 90's... What's interesting is that, when this happened, then another brand stole the Rivel name brand to put on their products in order to cheat customers into believing that they were buying the real Mac Coy, so maybe Rivel was actually pretty good.
... A bit as if I started making bikes and called them, er... Rudge-Whitworth, or something... Hhmm, food for thoughts.
The Kona looks amazing!!!
Not many girls dig that sort of stuff. We are fitted into gender/social stereotypes pretty early on... Some say before we're even born...
Also, sadly, that's the kind of stuff I would buy too. That's how I ended up with a butcher's bike, a Vietnam war helmet, 3 typewriters, etc.
Looking forwards to see the pictures.

fabrice said:

Hi,
I always swap bits from one bike to another. As long as they fit and that it can be done easilly, I don't have much of a problem with it. They're meant to be ridden, after all. Saying that, I have been more scrupulous in the past when doing up some classic bikes.
It's a pretty weird idea, to change Rivel into Rivelli... a case of misguided inferiority complex?...
Anyways, if it's Rivel, then Rijwielfabriek Rivel ltd produced bicycles and bike parts at a plant in Surhuisterveen, in the Netherlands up until it went bust in the late 80's-early 90's... What's interesting is that, when this happened, then another brand stole the Rivel name brand to put on their products in order to cheat customers into believing that they were buying the real Mac Coy, so maybe Rivel was actually pretty good.
... A bit as if I started making bikes and called them, er... Rudge-Whitworth, or something... Hhmm, food for thoughts.
The Kona looks amazing!!!
Not many girls dig that sort of stuff. We are fitted into gender/social stereotypes pretty early on... Some say before we're even born...
Also, sadly, that's the kind of stuff I would buy too. That's how I ended up with a butcher's bike, a Vietnam war helmet, 3 typewriters, etc.
Looking forwards to see the pictures.

How the hell did you know about Rivel? I'd given up trying to find out where the bike came from. Never occurred to me that it might be Dutch. It appears that a company called Union Cycles took over Rivel, and they still operate today - I've just inquired about replacement stickers but their site is in Dutch so I'm not sure if I'll get a response. The guy I got the bike from was an Italian (working in a bike shop in Covent Garden) - I guess he wanted it to remind him of home!?!

It seems a shame to take it to pieces - it really is a nice bike - especially to put all the parts onto an inferior frame. And God knows what I'll do with the frame when it's stripped. Like you say though - bikes need to be ridden and I'm not riding it 'cause it's too small.😕

So you've got a butcher's bike eh? Sweet. Do you ride it? I recently missed out on an old trike - the guy across the road gave it away because he didn't know what to do with it, and he didn't realise I was a bike nut! :eek:

I'm running out of room in the shed though so it was probably a good thing. Yeah right.

Hi Fab,

Here are my beautiful babies:

The first is my Webster MTB - Columbus Max OR tubing, a mix of Deore XT and Deore chainset, XT hubs, Mavic X517 rims, XT V-brakes, Dia Compe PC3 brake levers, X-Lite Titanium bar and X-Lite bar-ends, Use Alu Post, Flite replica saddle (titanium rails) and some early Crud Guard kit. Oh, and the Forge MTB/DuraAce Thumbshifters! It's my dream bike (nearly).

The second pic is the Rivel racer. A mix of Campag and Shimano bits and Mavic MA40 rims - I believe these were the first rims Mavic designed for MTBs. It needs a good clean.

3: The Super Burner (just needs some new handlebars as the ones on it are a bit rusty)

4: The Shed - containing a GT LTS I'm building, my GF's Kona Cindercone and the old racer I'm switching to.