Hi,

I'm looking for some second hand bicycle parts in Basel. I'm looking for a chain, a rear cassette of gear cogs and a few other bits and pieces.

Thanks

Basel Bahnhof bike shed? take some tools. If not I would have thought a donor bike from a Broki.

DC

I have a 7-speed cassette that is past its best that you could have, plus a few other assorted components that have been upgraded that I'd pleased to part with. What exactly do you need?

Hi,

Thanks for the info and offers. I'm not exactly sure what I want to be honest. I've just bought a second hand bike and the chain keeps slipping when I put a lot of weight on the pedals eg. when I start off. I've checked the chain and there are a few links that seem to have worn side walls. The back cassette also seems to have a kink/buckle in it when viewed from behind?

Therefore, I thought I could replace both of these.

Replacing the chain and cassette should help to fix the problem, but it could also be the hub!
Either way I wouldn't advise putting on old parts.

It might be easier all round to just bring the bike to a repair shop for a service.

If you want to do it yourself though, check out Sheldon Brown's site for tips

If you have shimano gears, you should be able to find spares in most bike repair shops, just be aware that the thickness of chain required is determined by the number of sprockets on the cassette
Also if you are going to change them yourself, bear in mind you'll most likely need special tools.. i.e. a splined lockring tool, a chain pin remover and a chain whip!

I get my bike bits online at action sports, a 7 gear cassette starts at €13

Good luck!

The only time I've had chains slip on a bike it has been due to a very worn front chainwheel. Slip, as in the pedals turn but the back wheel doesnt turn coorespondingly, rather than an accidental change in gear type slip.

This website has pictures of worn chainwheels. Really, you should replace these as a set, front sprocket, rear sprocket and chain, as they wear together and mixing worn and new may cause just as many problems. Problem is that here in CH the cost of repairs makes this a bike scrapping situation, maybe salvagable if you are handy at DIY and the bike is worth something. Good luck!

Thanks for the tips again,

As I don't know one end of a chain whip from another I figured it'd be a big job! At the moment I can live with the odd slip every now and then but a service may be required.

Any extimates for how much a job like this would cost? Replacing the chain, front and back gear casettes?

I agree with Radar, given the symptom you report, you may also have a problem with the rear axle, hub, or freewheel.

If you want do it yourself, then Sheldon Brown's site certainly has some great info, and for parts and tools there is veloplus.ch, who also have a store in Basel (Leimenstrasse 78).

If the drivetrain is worn, then the recommended method is certainly to replace the entire thing at once with all new parts. However, to save a little cash then you may only need to replace ONE of the front chainrings. If the previous owner just kept the chain on one chainring permanently (as many novices do) then the other two chainrings could be virtually new. However, if it is a really cheap crankset then the chainrings will not be individually replaceable and you'd have to replace the lot.

I'm not sure about labor costs because I do all of my own work, and the price of the components is completely dependent on the quality of those you are replacing - what does it say on your rear derailleur, or any other parts of the drivetrain? You'd probably want to replace with similar quality as is already there.

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I just checked out action sports (which is German), and neither the price nor the selection appears to be as good as are many of the UK online retailers. For mountain bike parts, I'd go with Chain Reaction Cycles. They're also starting to get some road stuff in, but the range on their road gear isn't quite as good as for their MTB gear.

As I said above, Veloplus is the best that I've found within Switzerland, anyone got any other tips?

Thanks again Chris,

I'm going to have a closer look at it again this evening. It's probably not worth the hardship and cost for the occasional slip. There's a bike shop hear us, I might bring it in there and see what they make of it.

Cheers

I'll recommend the ones I've purchased from. They seem to have more reasonable postage prices. Many online shops have great prices but when you consider postage and the chance of being hit with CH customs charges (CHF10 + 7.6% of value), Veloplus has an advantage.

http://www.profirad.de/ - Good range and service. I had rims sent from here. Very good prices.
http://www.singlespeedshop.de/ - Specialises in singlespeed and fixed. Good postage and Kent is one of the good guys.
http://www.veloplus.ch/ - can be expensive, but need to weigh in post & customs advantages.

[quote=ChrisW;53864]I just checked out action sports (which is German), and neither the price nor the selection appears to be as good as are many of the UK online retailers. quote]

I'll admit that the selection could be better, but I found action sports very cheap when I ordered quite a few bits recently.

They have a fixed shipping cost for Switzerland, so it's probably better suited to buying in bulk or clubbing together with friends, but when you give a Swiss address, they do automatically knock off the German VAT at the checkout

also.. clicking on the Union Jack in the top right corner magically changes the language

I used to buy all my parts of chain reaction, but on the parts I have checked out lately action sports appears to be cheaper. The delivery charge seems expensive enough but if you need to get a few parts then it will definatly be off set by the price difference between buying in CH and buying in the EU.

Example.

Set of brake pads on actionsports 16 Euro (including german tax)
Same brake pads in a shop here in CH 54 Francs (picked up a cheaper set for 40 instead, but that is still way over the odds!)

Is that price of 54chf for brake pads for two wheels or one? I need both replaced and was quoted 30chf for one wheel, is that good or bad??

That was for one set (one wheel), but they were pads for disc brakes. If you have rim brakes they will be a good bit cheaper then that.

I was just illustrating the point that if you need more then a few bits and pieces you might be better off buying from one of the online stores in the EU, such as actionsports or chain reaction.

Does the 30CHF per wheel include fitting or is that just for the pads? What kind of pads are they?

OK I need help as I am completely clueless when it comes to bikes, cars etc.

I have been offered a second hand bike but it wouldn't come with the saddle or the saddle stand thingy. I've looked on Veloplus as recommended above to see the kind of prices but I don't know if I need to buy special things and if the brands have to be the same for the saddle and the stand??

What is the difference between all those stands and how the hell do I put it together?

I want the cheapest option as I am by no standards a professional biker and it would only be used occasionally.

Could someone advise me on the above? Pretty please

Thanks in advance!

If the bike has a seat post and no saddle then you just need to buy a saddle, they are usually a standard fitting mechanism. Just get a comfy one. If the bike has no seatpost then you need to buy that too. Seatposts come in different diameters so you need to know the diameter for you bike first.

If you actually go into Veloplus in Wetzikon, they have all the saddles available to be test sat on a stationary bike, and they have a pretty good selection of womens specific saddles too. There are a few guys (and girls, who might be more helpfull for you), there who seem to have an idea what they are about so best bet is just to pop in if you get the chance.


Edit: Just realised your not in Zurich, but they do have a shop in Basel too, and it should be a similar set up to the one I mentioned in Wetzikon.

The only thing you need to worry about is the diameter of the seat post. Pretty much all saddles will fit on all seat posts except for a few boutique brands which will be out of your price range anyway.

The other differences between seat posts are to do with strength, weight and the exact workings of the clamp that holds the saddle.

Differences in saddles tend to come down to comfort/performance and strength/weight. You can also get women's specific saddles, but again, these tend to be for models outside of the "cheapest available" option.

EDIT: Damn! beaten by Eire. Go and do some work you slacker!!!

Thank you both.

I thought it was all standard and I'd buy something online and do it myself.....until I saw the websites and got lost

Wanted to really get an idea of cost before I took the bike in case it wasn't much cheaper than buying a new bike. The stands I've seen are 300 CHF plus which might not make this such a good deal after adding all other costs on