Poor Campag ergonomics.

Simon Mason

Surprisingly I'm still commuting on my road bike in December as apart from
the greasy roads the weather is still quite good. However, coming home from
work the other day I noticed my front Campag Mirage derailleur was
completely seized up solid and wouldn't budge at all. All of the road muck
thrown up by the front wheel had got in between the moving parts and jammed
it.

It took a fair bit of cleaning with a toothbrush and WD 40 to free it. I
can't remember having any problems with the Shimano front mechs on any of
the bikes I've had in the past (and my current hybrid). OK, the hybrid has
mudguards but you would think a front mech could be designed so it could
cope with road muck.

--
Simon M.

Simonb

Simon Mason wrote:

> you would think a front mech could be
> designed so it could cope with road muck.

Not if you don't clean it.

Arthur Clune

Simon Mason <simon@simonmason.karoo.co.uk> wrote:

: It took a fair bit of cleaning with a toothbrush and WD 40 to free it. I
: can't remember having any problems with the Shimano front mechs on any of
: the bikes I've had in the past (and my current hybrid). OK, the hybrid has
: mudguards but you would think a front mech could be designed so it could
: cope with road muck.

This is a generic problem of winter riding. My front changer froze on
Saturday; I could shift up, but not down again. That was a Shimano changer
and with mudguards (but it was seriously caggy)

Arthur

--
Arthur Clune PGP/GPG Key: http://www.clune.org/pubkey.txt
It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness

NC

Simon Mason wrote:
> Surprisingly I'm still commuting on my road bike in December as apart
> from the greasy roads the weather is still quite good. However,
> coming home from work the other day I noticed my front Campag Mirage
> derailleur was completely seized up solid and wouldn't budge at all.
> All of the road muck thrown up by the front wheel had got in between
> the moving parts and jammed it.
>
> It took a fair bit of cleaning with a toothbrush and WD 40 to free
> it. I can't remember having any problems with the Shimano front mechs
> on any of the bikes I've had in the past (and my current hybrid). OK,
> the hybrid has mudguards but you would think a front mech could be
> designed so it could cope with road muck.


A pedant writes... is this really an *ergonomics* issue ?
Its more of a general engineering design issue ?


- Nigel
(Ergonomist, at least it says that on the Erg-Soc professional membership
list)


--
NC - Webmaster for http://www.2mm.org.uk/
Replies to newsgroup postings to the newsgroup please.

Simon Mason

"NC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:32637vF3i036hU1@individual.net...

>> It took a fair bit of cleaning with a toothbrush and WD 40 to free
>> it. I can't remember having any problems with the Shimano front mechs
>> on any of the bikes I've had in the past (and my current hybrid). OK,
>> the hybrid has mudguards but you would think a front mech could be
>> designed so it could cope with road muck.
>
>
> A pedant writes... is this really an *ergonomics* issue ?
> Its more of a general engineering design issue ?

It was a play on the words "ergo levers" which are used to operate the mech.

--
Simon M.

NC

Simon Mason wrote:
> "NC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
> news:32637vF3i036hU1@individual.net...
>
>>> It took a fair bit of cleaning with a toothbrush and WD 40 to free
>>> it. I can't remember having any problems with the Shimano front
>>> mechs on any of the bikes I've had in the past (and my current
>>> hybrid). OK, the hybrid has mudguards but you would think a front
>>> mech could be designed so it could cope with road muck.
>>
>>
>> A pedant writes... is this really an *ergonomics* issue ?
>> Its more of a general engineering design issue ?
>
> It was a play on the words "ergo levers" which are used to operate
> the mech.

OK, groan, didn't spot it. Put it down to a long day in the office....


- Nigel


--
NC - Webmaster for http://www.2mm.org.uk/
Replies to newsgroup postings to the newsgroup please.

Simon Mason

"NC" <me@privacy.net> wrote in message
>>>
>>>
>>> A pedant writes... is this really an *ergonomics* issue ?
>>> Its more of a general engineering design issue ?
>>
>> It was a play on the words "ergo levers" which are used to operate
>> the mech.
>
> OK, groan, didn't spot it. Put it down to a long day in the office....

Don't worry - it wasn't a very good pun in the first place ;-)

--
Simon M.

Mike K Smith

Arthur Clune wrote:
> Simon Mason <simon@simonmason.karoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> : It took a fair bit of cleaning with a toothbrush and WD 40 to free it. I
> : can't remember having any problems with the Shimano front mechs on any of
> : the bikes I've had in the past (and my current hybrid). OK, the hybrid has
> : mudguards but you would think a front mech could be designed so it could
> : cope with road muck.
>
> This is a generic problem of winter riding. My front changer froze on
> Saturday; I could shift up, but not down again. That was a Shimano changer
> and with mudguards (but it was seriously caggy)

One of the reasons why fixed-wheel is a good thing for winter.

Simonb

Mike K Smith wrote:

> One of the reasons why fixed-wheel is a good thing for winter.

And the other?

Mike Smith

Simonb wrote:
> Mike K Smith wrote:
>
>
>>One of the reasons why fixed-wheel is a good thing for winter.
>
>
> And the other?
Keep your legs warm, especially on long descents.

Other benefits, which are not specific to winter...

Cultivate a smoother pedalling style.
Increase your cadence by trying to keep up with your (geared) clubmates
on the flat.
Increase strength by trying to keep up with your (geared) clubmates uphill.

Sadly my knees are not what they were, so I need to ride gears all the time.

Al C-F

On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 13:17:25 -0000, "Simon Mason"
<simon@simonmason.karoo.co.uk> wrote:

>Surprisingly I'm still commuting on my road bike in December as apart from
>the greasy roads the weather is still quite good. However, coming home from
>work the other day I noticed my front Campag Mirage derailleur was
>completely seized up solid and wouldn't budge at all.

I'm still commuting on my tourer. Fortunately I do not have Campag
kit, I have the cheapest range of Shimano stuff including an Altus
chainset and a front mech that is mounted to the BB. Each week, it
gets a squirt of GT85 and has continued to shift properly so far.

I don't think I'll be upgrading anytime soon.