I don't think RobShed really carries his Top Dog floor pump with him on the bike...

Yes those hand-held ones that squeeze themsleves onto the valve are pretty crap really, for presta valves especially. I just bought this pump from Decathlon since it has a separate flexible hose to screw on the valve and get a proper fit, but haven't tried it yet. It goes up to 6 bar (87 psi) which is OK for all our bikes, but if you want 120-160 psia (8-11 bar) you need something bigger...

Are you actually wearing bits of carbon?
Do you have any photos of this kind of thing?

Let me know how you get on with it. It looks like a better design than mine which has a reversible Presta / Schrader valve.

It seems that most of the companies who make these things have never seen / tried their product on a Presta valve. I can't think of another reason why they would be so useless.

Just do a google image search for cycling time trialling.

The UK scene is even more extreme than the continental pro scene as it is not governed by stricter UCI rules.

For punctures I carry two sorts of pumps depening on the ride. I have a Lezyne mini drive
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-road-drive-mini-abs-pump/
This fits discreatly to a bracket attached beside the bottle cage and can get to 120psi easily, albeit with a lot of pumping.

I also carry a CO2 pump and a spare cartridge in order to speed up inflation. I carry a spare inner as well as park self adhesive patches.

My best, a few years back, for a 10mile TT was 25:25. I had all the gear but still a better trained rider could do a far faster time than me equiped on a shopping bike.

Training is the key and being able to suffer pain. As Greg Lemond once said, cycling fast never gets easier or less painfull but you do get faster. Reading accounts from both Boardman and Obree about their world hour records and it is the management of pain that is key to succeeding.

Riding with a group for a novice is good, you will be amazed at how much better your average speed is, some of that is due to drafting but a lot is due to you pushing yourself more in the company of others.

Why don't we see that kind of setup in the Tour De France except in the time trials?
Do the organisers ban the extra bars etc?
Is it all too uncontrollable when riding close to other riders?

How did the guy on the tricycle get on?

It is not legal (under UCI regs) to use such equipment in bunch rides. Besides it is not practical when bunch riding. Turning up for a club ride on a TT bike is frowned upon.

Besides the TT bike is the motoring equivalent of a no compromise sports car which would be driven at max speed all the time, wheras a standard bike is more you grand tourer which makes a compromise between comfort and speed.

That looks interesting. They also have a micro floor model that might be good (riches permitting).
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/lezyne-micro-floor-drive-hp-abs-pump-with-gauge/

One word or warning on any pump that has a screw on connector. Some inner tubes have removeable valve cores and it can be nigh on impossible to remove the pump tube without also unscrewing the valve core and so undoing a lot of pumping effort in seconds. I have since thread locked all my inner tube that have removeable cores, mainly vittoria ones.

I also do this with permanent carbon valve extenders to stop them coming loose and also a couple of wraps of gaffa tape to stop the buggers rattling in the rim aperture (especially true for deep sections). This actually sounds like a spoke magnet hitting the wireless sensor but is impossible to trace unless riding and slicing fingers off (TIP OF THE DAY).

That might explain an issue I had trying to fix the Specialized tube. Had it in the wheel, pumped it up and it was leaking from somewhere around the valve. Took it off, pumped it up and it held air fine for a few hours.

I think I'll go home and examine the wheel rim in detail with a magnifying glass tonight. It seems improbable that there isn't some kind of defect given that I'm getting puncture after puncture on the same wheel regardless of tyre choice, rim tape position, rim tape type, tube etc. It has hit its fair share of potholes recently.

Thanks for all the help.

Butyl tubes hold air forever.
Latex tubes loose air over a few days/week.
Check valve core for tightness as Bockers says.
Check spokes are tight and that the end isn't puncturing/dinging into rim tape.
Consider that the tube firmly inflated is exerting a lot of pressure on the rim tape and will cause the spoke/nipple hole to indent.
Use chalk freely.
Never use tyre levers to put on. Correct technique and train your thumbs to grow some balls (blisters are the norm with Continental and Bontrager brands).
Never over-tighten the knurled 'nut' on external threaded valves as this will cause failure at the root of the valve where it meets the tube.

Thanks Rob,

The spoke thing could be a possibility but they are going to be hard to see.
I guess the rim tape/ tube bulge into the hole and hit any spokes that are sticking out beyond their nipples.

What's the idea with the chalk?
I have a block with the puncture kit and a grater. Should I splash it around liberally everywhere?
What does it achieve?

I use jumbo blackboard chalk and just vigorously rub the inside of the tyre to generate a lot of chalk dust.
The theory is that it helps prevent the two sticking/rubbing/chaffing to each other either when dry or even wet, in much the same way people used talc for areas affected on the body.
It could be just an old wives tale, but it's something I've done for 40+ years with good results.

Looks like I was wrong about the punctures coming from inside the rim. No more than 2mm long.


Probably did both tubes in the same place some way down the sidewall.

Also corrected this by cutting it down a bit.

Rob, I also put a load of chalk in the tyre and along the bead that mates with the rim. It seemed to help the tyre to slide up into position on the rim.

Trying to get loads of chalk dust took a while. I guess that's the reason you get a grater type thing in the puncture repair kits?

19 miles, no punctures yet.

Does anyone know what you'd look for to decide whether a rear cassette is past its best?

Actually that looks OK.
You can replace sprockets/spacers individually if you think they're shagged. A good source is ex-RR/TT Shimano DA or Ultegra/105 off ebay (buy a few complete cassettes with different ratios).
Also if the sprockets move too much on the freehub body, investigate to see if the freehub is fubarred.
My 3 rears with 9 speed are at least 8 years old and have had a sprocket or two replaced.
Chainrings 55/52 and 42 are all original too.
The TT bike has a new chain at least twice a season. These are £15-20 mid-range KMC or SRAM. Old chains get demoted to training bike and turbo bike.
In a nutshell, change your chain frequently as this is the most low-cost option and exhibits the most wear. This practice can seriously prolong usable service life of more expensive drivetrain components (perhaps 20X).
TIP. never clean a new chain. Wash any shite off with warm soapy water and lube with car oil (using a toothbrush). Wipe-off excess after spinning the pedals.

Are you not a fan of dry lube then?

I've tried White Lightning/Ice Wax however their effectiveness is short-lived with premature flakiness.
Warm soapy water with a paintbrush gets all the external crap off, and a toothbrush with 10W/40 used on each link keeps the chain lubed INSIDE. Any excess can be wiped off with a final quick blow of Teflon-based GT85 (addictive sniffy) for external friction reduction. Then left to dry.
The latter method seems to minimise component wear.
Please nobody use the twin roller captive bath with solvent gizmo. This kills chains from the inside.

So do you rely on soapy water to clean the grit out of the heavy machine oil???

Thanks Rob,
The hub/ freehub and chain are newish.
It feels like the bike's lost some efficiency somewhere, but it might just be weight.
I'll give the car oil another go.

Hot Fairy has detergent.
I don't pick-up much grit on the roads.
If the chain was that shitty, I'd wipe off the excess with a rag, and perhaps wash it twice.
MTB'ing is fun and challenging too, but hard on equipment if you go balls-out and jump/crash a lot.

Check your BB for play and also crank tightness.
Presume your brake blocks aren't rubbing?
Are your cleat allens tight?

Yup (I used to manage the manufacture of Fairy ) but it's not particularly effective against engine oil (basically because it's not designed to be). I commute all year round and my chain gets gritty and crappy. The only effective way to clean them is to thoroughly degrease the chain, wash, dry and re-lube. I also prefer the dry chain lubes as they don't capture the grit in the same way as engine oil. If you're talking about a TT bike, I can see that it probably doesn't get anything like the punishment my road bike does on my commute. I also have to recognise that component wear is a cost of commuting by bike - insignificant in the grand scheme of things though.

BB and cranks are fine for now.

I found some non-shiny bearings in the front hub which is only 2-3 months old. (Not learning the lesson on buying rubbish Deore parts)

I'm not sure what grease to use in there with the new bearings. The Shimano stuff supplied was clear and really thick like Vaseline.

The bike runs on discs which have been rubbing at the front, but I've put some shims in to try and hold the calipers in a better position.

Cleats are tight on the shoes but I leave the pedal ones reasonably loose for an easy escape.

The roads I tend to use are almost always slightly wet and gritty which seems to multiply up the chance of a problem about 10x. It would be interesting to find solutions to keep dirt off the BB, hubs, chain etc. Maybe just something to extend the front mudguard down a bit further?

Are you sure the two aren't connected? It doesn't take much misalignment in the wheel to cause disc rubbing (on my road bike, it's possible to get slight disc rubbing when standing hard on the pedals). If there's play in the bearings, it's very possible that's causing the rubbing.

As far as caliper alignment is concerned, I loosen the caliper, apply the brake and gently retighten the caliper. That tends to self-align it.

This is on the front wheel for both things so they could be connected.
The caliper has been moving on its mount when I apply the brakes.
It looks like it has pistons both sides of the disc, so maybe it needs freeing off like a Fiat rear caliper would.