What next
'to stop your eggs rolling off the worktop put them in a bowl'
'to stop your self looking like an arse don't be seen reading MBUK'
'don't wear pants with your padded cycle shorts'

I went touring in Austria with a mate of mine for two weeks, on our return he and his GF and some other mates went to Spain touring for another few weeks - those two trips combined with a years worth f other riding had turned the straps of his helmet into a petri dish of disease and he developed this sort of greenish fungal infection around his ears and chin where his straps went.

Quick boil wash of all the straps and pads and a couple of days riding without lid plus a suitable anti fungal cream and he was OK but its a warning to not take helmet cleanliness lightly!

They've nicked my idea the buggers!!!

That gives me a great idea for a new version of the old "shoe polish on the binocular eye pieces" joke

I know a chap who, until his 32 birthday, didn't realise that gloves could be washed.

As a result, any road trip or drive to the trailhead was punctuated by all manner of gaseous emissions, from his gloves.

Yuk

I actually contracted a skin rash on my hands, due to a curious combination of damp conditions and saharan sand, on an MTB Pro trip to morroco.

Of course, it being morroco, I thought it was an icky disease, but my doctor just told me I was a mucky bugger.

"MTB Pro"


Ahhhhh, heady days!

Had the sticker in the back of my old Golf for ages. Sniffs....

Was that the classic "Mountain Biking - Almost A Religion" sticker, CT?

My dad nicked mine & put it on his Volvo!!!

No, just the original MTBPro one.

i use the 'ride like an idiot, crash badly, crack helmet, buy new helmet' method.

Not cheap but less faff!

I normally wave teh shower around the inside of my helmet after each ride and then hang it to dry in the airing cupboard - it certainly reduces the minging quotient a fair bit. It stops the straps from tasting too salty too!

Nice short and to the point article!

But Mike can we have on on striping and re-greasing hubs - seeing as its getting in to wet winter time.

Apologies if there is one already - but I hav't been able to find one.

Ollie check this out, might help:

http://www.bikemagic.com/news/article.asp?SP=&v=4&UAN=3095

;~)

Did anyone really not wash the pads from their helmet? I do it every ride and just put them in the pocket of the cycling top I was wearing to make sure they don't get stuck in the washer.

Can't wait for the next instalment of 'stating the bleeding obvious'.

Either that or BM is turning into an online variant of Viz.

"Can't wait for the next instalment of 'stating the bleeding obvious'."

The vague point was the string bag bit, but no, not everyone washes their helmet pads. Or their gloves. There are even people who wear underpants under their cycling shorts and don't know how to do up a quick-release. I'm sorry if you find such basic information beneath you, but if we only catered for people who know everything then there wouldn't be very much to say.

And the original poster already made the Viz reference.

Simmo, already seen that, it deals with free hub replacement rather than a blow by blow for dummies account of stripping the thing (dealing with the ball bearings etc) and the like.

From personal observation it just seems that articles are either:

- Focused on the newbie - like the helmet pads, or tyhe quick release etc (which is fine and Mike is right the site would be dull if it was all expert stuff)
- Straight into really technical without covering how to get there (i.e. replacing the freehub without an article on the bits of the hub for people learning about bike bits first)

But we should cut Mike and the guys some slack - Bikemagic is an excellent resource - and sounding board though and as there is an article submission system if people don't like it then submit something better yourself (although it probably won't get published due to the pessmistic tone!)

I would submit an article on stripping hibs etc - if I knew how to do it, maybe when I do know I'll submit one.....!

;-)

Ollie, it's all in there, just ignore the bits about taking the freehub body off ;-) Take axle out, catch all the bearings, clean, grease, put bearings back, put axles in, adjust cones. There's another article all about cones, that's the tricky bit.

There are plenty of gaps, though, you're right ;-)

Thanks Mike.

It seems strange that the Haynes bike manual doesn't cover this stuff, I think I need a book that is the next level up. Something to stick on the Christmas list (along with the new ball bearings!)

Man I need to check my posts for typos and grammar before hitting the submit button!

It doesn't suprise me that you had to post an article on this board about hygene. After all - you're British.