Localisation for my bike? 單車也要本土化?

Those two Giant TCR bicycles that delivered to UK were bought through authorised dealer in Hong Kong few years ago.

Being the world’s biggest bicycle manufacturer, Giant bicycles sold in different parts of the world have to conform to local regulations and riding practices. As such, there are variations in the use of components and settings for these bikes across the world.

隨行到英國的兩部 Giant TCR 公路單車，於香港的代理購入已有數年。

基於全球單車第一品牌 Giant Bicycle 產品行銷世界各地，需配合當地的法規及使用習慣，因此無論在設計細節，零件使用或設定亦會有一定的差異。

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Giant bicycles sold in Hong Kong were the ‘International Edition’ with factory settings fitted for use in most of the countries and braking control was one of those. As most of the countries in the world are ‘Driving on the right’ (Left-hand drive), Giant’s International Edition bicycles would came with main braking (Rear wheel) set to the right hand control. Cyclist could then utilise their left hand for all kind of hand signals like making a left turn, etc.

Since Hong Kong was once a British Colony, driving on the left (Right-hand drive) was adopted. Having the rear main braking on the right hand control was definitely not proper. However, as I seldom rode on roads in Hong Kong, I considered this as low risk and had never asked the technician to change it.

However, situation is different here in UK as riding on roads will be the the standard practice, where hand signalling becomes a must. Using the left hand to stop just with the front brake will be extremely dangerous. As such, I finally decided to ‘fix’ the problem! First with TCR SLR 1 and followed by the TCR Advanced SL 1.

香港發售的 Giant 單車屬於國際版 ( International Edition )，稱得上做國際版，設定多會適合多地選用，其中之一是煞車系統。由于差不多全球各地是以靠右行駛（左軚）為主，國際版單車的主煞車（後輪）會設定在右方的煞車手掣上，令左手可自由作出各種手號，如轉左等。

基於昔日香港是英國殖民地，路道使用者靠左行駛（右軚），主煞車設定在右方其實並不適宜，不過自己甚少於馬路騎行，風險不大，所以多年來亦從沒有請車店作出修正。但到了英國後，情況就完全不同，日常騎行以道路為主，需要使用右手作手號的機會大增，只剩下左手作前輪煞車便變得很危險。思前想後，決定要為單車兩邊的煞車功能作對換。

第一次更改煞車系統，先完成我的 TCR SLR 1，往後才更改另一部 TCR Advanced SL 1。

My TCR SLR 1 was equipped with the Shimano Ultra 6800 Groupsets where the front and rear brakes cables were connected to the left and right STI (Shimano Total Integration) controls respectively. What I needed for this exercise was extremely simple, swapped the cables and job done.

However, as the brake cable joints were located at different positions of the bike, the existing brake cables might not be re-used. In view of these cables have been used for nearly eight years, this was possibly a right timing to replace them as well.

我的 TCR SLR 1 用上的是 Shimano 的 Ultegra 6800 Groupsets，前、後輪的煞車線分別被連接於左、右的 STI (Shimano Total Integration) 手掣上。這次改動頗簡單，只需把兩組線對換，但因為接線座位置有所不同，舊線未必可翻用，加上用了差不多八年的煞車線也有點損耗，亦是時候線更換了。

Got the brake cable kit and the relevant tools from Chain Reaction Cycles, I kicked off my first brake cable replacement exercise.

從網店 Chain Reaction Cycles 購入所需線材及相關工具，便正式開工。

To have a better understanding on the replacement work, I had visited the Park Tool’s YouTube Channel.

要瞭解更換煞車線的步驟，這次我亦找來 Park Tool 的 YouTube 教學頻道。

Before any works could proceed, I had to remove the existing brake cables. As my old TCR SLR 1 utilised external cabling design, this was quite straight forward. Simply cut the cables at the front/rear brakes and pulled out the inner brake cable via the two STI controls.

首先要折除現有的煞車線，這部舊款的 TCR SLR 1 採用的是外置佈局，工序較簡單。剪掉煞車線後，便可從 STI 手掣抽出內線。

To swap the front and rear braking function among the two STI controls, I had to properly cut and replace the two brake cable housing. As such, un-wrapping of the handlebar tape to reveal the underlying brake cables was also required.

由于我需要對掉前、後煞車控制，現有煞車線 Housing 亦需重新剪裁更換，因此亦需將手把帶 ( handlebar tape ) 拆開。

Next, cut the three sections of the brake cable housing based on the new cable layout. As the cable connectors on the TCR SLR1 were not big enough, those cable end caps came with the Jagwire Brake Cable Kit could not be used as well.

In addition to the cable cutter specifically ordered, a number of handy tools plus electrical tape were also required to complete the work. The electrical tape would be used to tie the brake/shift cables to the handlebar and fix the ends of the handlebar tape.

接着把三段 cable housing 就所需長度剪裁好，而隨 Jagwire Brake Cable Kit 附上的 end caps 因單車連接座較小，亦用不上了。

另外除了先前購入的 cable cutter 外，亦需要其他小工具及電工用的膠帶，後者主要用於把 cables 緊緊捆在 handlebar 上及固定 handlebar tape 末端。

The brake cables replacement job and the re-wrapping of the handlebar tape did require some works but could still be considered as relatively simple work. With proper preparation, even newbie like me could finish it within an hour.

Other than learning a new maintenance skill, I also managed to save another £100 labour cost.

以我這個新丁，整個更換工作加上重新包上 handlebar tape 只需一小時，難度不算高，亦可省下約一百鎊的安裝費用。

The only regret I had was the damage I had made while re-wrapping the old handlebar tape.

Anyway, save a few bucks and keep using it!

唯一遺憾是舊有 handlebar tape 畢竟已有五、六年歷史，在重新包上時給我差點拉破，還是節儉一點，留待將來才更換吧！

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For safety sake, field test of the replaced brake cables is a must. But, in view of the sudden lightning and heavy rain, just leave it to tomorrow!

安裝妥當，本應落地一試，但無奈傍晚剛下大雨，雷電交加，還是明天才算吧！