New Website Notice for Edinburgh Bicycle

Please note that the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Operative now has a new website. To visit the new website, please follow this link.

If you have bookmarked a page from the old website, please update your bookmarked page so that you can go straight to our new website. Thank you.

The Edinburgh Bicycle website team.

The chin strap on my helmet continually loosens off. How can I prevent this?

One neat tip is to sew a couple of loop stitches to the chin strap. Hold the two straps together close to where they enter and exit the chin buckle. Then simply stitch through both straps a few times so they're tightly held together. Voila - no more loosening straps.

For chains and sprockets try Finish Line EcoTech or Citrus Degreaser. These are biodegradable and far more effective, yet more gentle, than old-school solutions, such as paraffin, for banishing the blackstuff that loves to accumulate on your chain.

Finish Line Degreasers are water soluble, so they can be diluted 50/50 for general cleaning.

Muc-Off is another favourite degreaser/cleaner, and it's available in family-sized 5 litre bottles as well as regular 1-litre bottles. It's even stronger than EcoTech. You just spray it onto an unclean bike, hose it off with water, and your bike is clean again. Miraculous.

To restore those tarnished alloy components to their former glory you need some of that fail-safe product, elbow grease. To assist in your task those innovative people at Finish Line developed Pro Detailer Spray Polish, which can be used all over your bike and will provide endless hours of fun as you seek that perfect gleam.

Over time, the link bushings wear. This is called 'chain stretch'. Initially the chain's hardened coating resists this process, but once the hardened coating wears off, the stretched chain starts to wear down the rear cogs and front chainrings.

Chain wear depends on many factors. Is the chain kept clean and well lubricated? Are you cycling in winter on salty roads? Do you regularly go off-road through mud? Do you cycle hard, stomping on the pedals? Are you using the gears correctly? Do you ride in one gear all the time or do you 'spread the load'? Are the gears, freewheel and chain-rings worn? Is your chain compatible with your gears and freewheel - e.g. super narrow 9-speed chain with 9-speed cogs?

Due to all these factors it's not possible to give you a length of time, or mileage, over which a chain will last. One approach is to run 3 chains and swap them regularly to maximise the life of the whole drivetrain. This is sound in theory and works for some people, but it does sound a tad obsessive. Our recommendation is to use a chain checker. This is a tool which accurately measures chain stretch and alerts you when it's time to replace the chain BEFORE it wastes the cogs and chainrings.

'From half an hour before darkness till half an hour after sunrise, bicycles must display a working white front lamp and red rear lamp which must be seen from a regular distance.'

This makes sense. After dark you are 4-times more likely to be involved in a collision, simply because the other road user hasn't seen you in time.

Mount the lights where the motorist can see them. Fit the rear light at least 70cm off the ground. That's where the motorist would expect to see the rear lights of a car. Mount the front light on the handlebars, if possible, so it's level with most car drivers' line of vision. Don't point the beam down. Town cycling requires a forward beam. Be visible.

Flashing LED lights are more eyecatching than constant-beam lights. Strictly speaking, however, it is illegal to use flashing lights on a bike, lest you are mistaken for an emergency vehicle. The legal method of getting round this daft law is to ride with non-flashing lights fitted to the bike and clip the flasher(s) to your clothing or courier bag strap.

In real life, every police road safety officer we've spoken to agrees that LEDs are the bees knees so they would never caution anyone for riding with flashing lights on their bike.

However you cannot be too visible. Nor do you want to give the motorist who hits you the legal loophole that he didn't see your blinking light. We therefore recommend running flashing and constant beam lights, front and rear - ie. 4 lamps in all. That's not over-the-top when you consider that LEDs are so lightweight and economical-to-run compared with bike lights of yore. Running 4 lights also means you'll get home, legal and safe, in the unlikely event of one of your lights failing.

In addition, consider reflectors. In many circumstances, they're more conspicuous than lights. By law your bike must be fitted with a red rear reflector. Retro-reflective ankle bands and helmet bands, which glow when picked out by car head lights, come especially recommended.

Stripped crank threads are usually caused by incorrect use of the crank extractor tool - i.e. screwing it in squint or not far enough, so use this tool with caution. Cue for a plug for our Day and Evening Classes in bicycle maintenance.

If the thread is stripped, our best advice is to keep on riding the crank till it reaches the end of its useful life, then book the bike into one of our workshops where intelligently-administered brute force will be applied to remove said dead crank prior to its replacement.

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Any tips for carrying Sunday papers on a bagless/rackless bike?

Wrap them round your top tube and secure them with those toe straps you removed when you upgraded to clipless pedals.

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Why do some puncture outfits come supplied with a wee rubber tube?

This tube is for fixing leaky Woods valves, once common on 26" non-metric (pre MTB) wheels. Woods valves are now nearly extinct.

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What does a Scotsman wear under his cycling shorts?

Well - nothing. Regular underwear seams do not facilitate comfy saddle contact, exception being Endura Lites.

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Is it OK to 'jet wash' my bike?

Jet washing is OK up to a point. It's excellent for blasting muck off your wheels and frame.

Don't point that thing at your bearings however. The jet wash is equally efficient at blasting the grease from your hubs, bottom bracket, headset and pedal bearings.

Also, a jet wash doesn't always budge oily grime off, say, the chainstays. That's when you need old fashioned elbow grease, soapy water and scrubbing brush or new-fashioned Muc-Off.

And be aware that lube and solvent-abuse can wreck disc brakes. That's why Hope came up with the first disc-friendly bike wash - Sh1t Shifter.

After cleaning, dry your bike with a rag, then spray it with a water-dispersing lube such as X-Lite or Scottoiler FS365.

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The chainrings on my new bike have broken or missing teeth. What's going on?

'Missing' teeth is another Shimano innovation, near every other company now emulates. The odd missing tooth facilitates faster downshifting because it makes it easier for the chain to move onto a smaller chainring.

Similarly, ramps, pins and twisted teeth facilitate upshifting into a bigger ring.

Thanks to Shimano's engineering ingenuity, Shane McGowan-like twisted or missing teeth do not prejudice the chainring's primary responsibility which is to turn the chain.

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What is the best thing for keeping the paint on my bike shiny?

Simply a lot of cleaning. The trick is not to let your bike get too grubby. Once the shine has gone completely it is harder to remove the buildup of muck. We recommend Finish Line Pro Detailer Spray Polish. Happy polishing.

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What's your suggestion for a 3-week tour of Scotland?

If I had 3 weeks to explore Scotland, and was looking for the quietest, most cycle-friendly, and most 'other' terrain, I would recommend the Western Isles above any other part of the country.

Easiest way to get there is by train to Oban. From there, it's a quick ferry hop to Mull. You could easily spend 4 or 5 days there, just chilling out, and slowing down to island pace, taking day trips to Iona and Staffa (Fingal's Cave!)

After exploring Mull, I would return to Oban from where you can catch a Ferry to the Outer Isles: Barra, then island hop to South Uist, Benbecula, North Uist, Skye, then up to Harris (my favourite place in the world). This route takes advantage of the prevailing south westerly winds we experience most of the year.

If this route doesn't take you 3 weeks, you're going too fast. If you want to see the mainland however, you can ride through North Harris to Lewis where you can catch the ferry from Stornaway to Ullapool, from where you can ride right up to the top of Scotland, or if time does not allow, over to Inverness (via the south banks of Loch Ness), from where you can get a train back to Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Also see A Visitors Guide to Cycle Touring in Scotland

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