Should I tune up or replace bike? This question is about the economics of owning and maintaining a bike.

I bought a brand new mountain bike for $250 some months ago. I ride about 30 miles a week on paved trails for occasional exercising. The cost of a yearly tune up in my area is about $80.

Should I forgo the tune up and buy a new bike every 2 or 3 years? The bike was bought online and is of similar or better quality than those cost $350+ at REI. Entry level but for my purpose it is fine.

My answer would be:

Politely ask the bike shop what you are getting for that $80 tune-up.

I'm of the same mind as @danielrhicks, $80 sounds a lot for a tune-up, unless they are trueing your wheels (in which case you're paying for the mechanics skills), and replacing parts (in which case you're paying for...parts).

Depending on what they are doing for that $80, I would be trying to do some/all of that tune-up myself - regular cleaning, pumping of tires, checking "stuff" isn't loose, visual check wheels aren't buckled.

If you don't have the basic skills of bike upkeep, maybe there is a local community centre, or bike club that give free classes on how to take care of your bike...or even ask questions here! :)

To me, if you take regular care of your bike then the big jobs are seldom and cost less.

I'm not saying don't get those regular tune-ups, but maybe you can ask them to focus on the brake cables/wheel straightening - jobs you can't do yourself.


What to replace after using WRONG hydraulic fluid Tektro Auriga Comp hydraulic brake. I needed to add fluid to my brake, and decided to do a bleed. I used DOT 3 fluid instead of mineral oil (Very stupid me). after a few days my brake went dead (there is not fluid, must have escaped through a damaged seal).

Question: What seals/things must I replace in the brake - I do not wish to purchase another brake (but will purchase correct fluids in the future)? Do I replace all the seals/rubber parts, or are there more parts to replace? Can I buy a 'kit' that contains all the parts needed to replace?

Every non-metal part touched by the fluid could have been damaged by it, and none of it is available as service parts other than the hose. Especially given you're already seeing evidence of the seals degrading, replacing the whole thing is all you can do.


Cheap german bikes and online shopping What you guys think about bike-discount.de
Has anyone had experience with this website and Radon bikes?

I've ordered small and large parts from bike-discount.de. 100% satisfied and cheapest price for those specific parts at that time after comparing with at least 6 other known e-shops.

Regarding cheap german bikes, I don't know about Radon (they don't seem to be well known to the rest of the EU), but I own a canyon torque for the last 3 years and a pal of mine owns a yt noton (both companies well known around the globe). Both are cheap german bikes with high end specs at lowest price possible. We are both 100% satisfied with the bikes, the build and 90% satisfied with after market support.


Identify this frame year and build I am interested in picking up this frame for a rebuild project. I can't find info on which year this is or what model. Most models seem to have a black rear triangle, presumably carbon.

After sleuthing online, I can't find any that have the website printed on the rear triangle and the specific branding. The forks and stem are obviously a placeholder from another bike. But is the frame okay? It's not a repaint is it? Or, worse, a crappy frame painted and with stickers? What would you estimate the worth is?

This Orbea Logo was used from around 1995-2004 however in the early 2000s the started changing the rear seat stays and chain stay to be black. the biggest way to know the exact year would be to see the tube shapes. starting in 200 they started going to more of a triangular tube and going away from round and oval. It looks like you have a a 2000-2003 frame. that being said, I highly doubt it is an original team frame, they did make many replicas. That said it doesn't make the frame not as good as an original. These bikes came with DuraAce components, I can't tell what you have on there.


Need some help identifying my new project I need some help identifying my new project. I  would like to get new decals for it.

Only 'CICL' left on headbadge, can't figure out what's left on the down tube.

Numbers stamp on bottom bracket 52.

Campagnolo shifters, derailleurs, stamped Campy rear dropouts, front forks. Campy hubs with Mavic tubular rims. Dura-ace headset, Madolo Pro brakes, 3ttt (Italy) handlebar and stem.

What's your best guess? Ane suggestion is it is a Vanni Losa frame.

Thanks

This is a bad answer and is only here to share progress so far, and hopefully inspire an answer from someone else.

First up  "cicle" is Catalan for "cycle"  so that definitely points at a European basis.  We don't know if that sticker is from the manufacturer or a retailer that sold the bike, but the easternmost part of Spain is where Catalan is spoken.

By combining the three images of the logo, I get this composite:

Which doesn't look like anything. Googling shows no ligatures that are a combination of C and Z, but does hint that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87 may fit.

The V is too wide and the H is too narrow and character 6 isn't anything recognisable - Russian has a backward R (Яя) but its capitalised not lowercase.

Go back to Catalan though, and there are "dz" and   "dʒ" as consonants , from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_language#Phonology

Catalan-based bicycle companies include Orbea, and Rasaba Cycles.

Your idea of Losa is certainly possible.  Here's an image of the fork crown, inside fork leg, and head tube of a known Losa frame.  From http://go-mamil.bike/losa-background

Similar but different, and the fork doesn't have the "chevrons" on the inside, which are V for Vanni according to that link above.

Vanni Losa was an artisan framebuilder who built many frames for other brands - so anything's possible.

A frame number of 52 on the BB definitely implies a low-throughput framebuilder - German Tank theory suggests a total output of ~104 bikes.


Reassemble my Shimano Deore XT shifter It's an old 9 speed shifter bought in 2010 or so. It has been completely in bits and i have it all nicely back together, it operates "normally" for once shift only, doesn't reset and so only gives me 3 gears.

I probably have the lug in incorrectly.

Can someone explain how the indexing works or give me some other hints?

Welcome to StackExchange.

It's a bit difficult to answer your question without knowing the make and model number of the shifter.  On Shimano RapidFire Plus shifters, used on flat handle bars like you'd find on mountain bikes, the model number is embossed somewhere on the shifter, most likely on or near the handlebar clamp.  Also helpful would be a picture of the shifter with the dust cover removed so the internals are visible.

In absence of more details, I've gotten together a few references for Shimano RapidFire shifter repair/reconditioning.  The Deore XT is this type of shifter, and in 2010 the newest model number was SL-M770.  It's not clear to me what you mean by "reset" so I'm going to assume that your referring to the action of the trigger returning to the start position after each move and click forward. Questions that need answers at this point are, is a click heard when the lever moves foward? Does the lever feel "free" or encounter any resistance after the motion forward?  In addition, are we discussing a right or left side shifter?  A left side shifter would only have 2 or 3 detentes (corresponding to one or two clicks)as it controls the front derailleur, moving the chain between the 2 or 3 chainwheels.

At any rate, the two big things to check: 1) is the pawl engaging the cogs (teeth) with each shift? This toothed wheel inside the shifter should rotate a set amount--enough to bring the next cog/tooth into position to engage the pawls--with each swing of the shift lever (as if you were shifting up the cassete (or multiple chainwheel if it's the front) from a smaller sprocket/chainwheel to the next largest one; 2) is the coil spring correctly engaged in the mechanism--it needs to be placed in the correctly wound orientation and the ends secured in the correct engagement holes. Using the other shift lever (as if to move down the cassette, large sprocket to next smallest), you should note the pawl disengage the tooth and the spring tension that successively builds on shifts up the cassette, release which moves this toothed wheel the opposite way. A crisp click is heard as the pawls engage the next teeth, stopping the spring loaded rotation.  To summerize: note if the shift lever motion translates into rotation of the toothed wheel by the actions of the pawls engaging the teeth of the this wheel, and does the spring appear to build tension (the spring will not have a great deal of movement if seated correctly).  The inference that it was in pieces is not encouraging.  Lotsa small pieces that are very particular as to their orientation and connections inside the shifter increases the complexity as there's a few things to look for at the same time in a problematic shifter that hasn't been disassembled beyond dust cover removal.

Check out these links and edit your question with the relevant details.

RapidFire reconditioning:  http://www.bikeride.com/rapid-fire-shifters/  A basic set of techniques to utilize when first encountering a hinky trigger shifter.

http://thebiketube.com/tutorial/diy-how-quickly-repair-rapid-fire-trigger-bike-shifters. The Bike Tube is a DIY site with this particular link discussing basic repair tips for a trigger shifter.

This youtube video

             is good for observing the correct anatomy of the shifter guts and it uses the SL-M770 as the example.


How to cut a brake/derailleur cable? I need to cut a cable, cleanly enough that it can be inserted in its housing.

What kind of cutting tool do I need for this?

I probably won't be using it more than once every few years, so cheaper options are preferred.

Also, tips to make sure the cable does not get disorganized when cutting would be appreciated.

Note: This question is not about cutting the housing.

You need a cable cutter. All of the companies that make tools for bikes make them. Here are a few options:

http://www.parktool.com/product/professional-cable-and-housing-cutter-cn-10
http://pedros.com/products/tools/brakes-and-shifting/cable-cutter/
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1030380_-1___400625

As some of the other answers/comments have pointed out, it's a good idea to stick an awl (I use a fine-point nail set for finishing nails) in to the cut end of the housing after the fact to clean it up.

For the inner cable, the cable cutters will cut it cleanly with no prep or clean-up needed.  If you're going to use a pair of regular wire cutters, then you'll want to use the solder trick mentioned in other answers.

That being said, you really should replace the housing when you replace the inner cable.  It's rare for the cable to be worn to the point of needing replacement without the housing also needing to be replaced.

Alternately, you can use a Dremel tool with the cut-off wheel. Some people swear by this approach:


Back wheel slipping on loose ground I find that when riding across loose ground such as dry mud or sandy patches with my mountain bike that the back wheel can sometimes slip and I have to stick a leg out.

What are the typical reasons for this? The bike is new, do the tyres need some working in perhaps?

There's a few reasons you could have a rear wheel sliding around. I'll go through them briefly:

Traction: This sums up several different issues, but basically it means the rear tire is no longer gripping the surface you're riding on.

Tires: Moving a certain speed will cause the tire to break loose, no matter how much grip it has. The tire profile also has a strong impact on how it will react. Some tires have large knobs to assist with cornering, or small knobs to reduce rolling resistance. This goes for center tread as well, with some tires having an aggressive pattern to increase traction. Of course, smaller details like tire material can influence this as well (durometer of the rubber, mixed tread compounds, etc.).
Surface: You know a car can slide around in the snow? The same can happen to a bike and not just on ice/snow. Mud, water, leaves, and sand can all cause the same thing. Tire choice can help to reduce the effects of different surface qualities, but eventually you're going to have one surface that acts differently than another.
Weight: Push down on something enough and it becomes hard to move, even if the bottom is slippery. Similar theory can be applied to biking. This is most noticeable when climbing hills. As you shift your weight forward in the saddle (or further when standing) you take weight off the rear wheel which reduces the ability of the tire to remain in contact with the ground.

Spin-out: If your getting the occasional time when the rear wheel seems to just spin in place on the ground you might be putting down too much power and exceeding the grip of the tires. This can happen on loose climbs, flats, or elsewhere. Try lowering the gear to one you can spin in (but not too low).

After all that, there's also the practice of skidding/drifting by purposefully locking up the rear wheel and letting it break free. Sometimes it looks cool, sometimes it allows you to go faster around a corner, but doing it consistently requires you to know how your bike and tires will handle at different speed and varying terrain.


How to release Planet Bike fender safety release tabs I have Planet Bike Cascadia Fenders and wondered how the safety release tabs work. I recently bought replacements for them:

https://www.planetbike.com/store/products/bike-accessories/service-parts/front-fender-release-tabs-pair.html

I've read that they release "the front fender stays if debris is present in between fender and tire" but am not sure what this means.

Does it mean in the event of a possible crash? That is, the tabs break allowing the v stay to move freely? Or for maintenance? Instead of unscrewing the screws that keep the stay in place, one can somehow release the stay using the tab? Maybe both?

If for maintenance, how does one release the tab? I see no place where one might squeeze and thus release it. I do, however, see two small holes at the angles near the tip. I guess one might insert two small flat-head screwdrivers, push the clip's small teeth inward, and that might release the clip. That seems tricky, though, and not the right way to do it. Still, maybe it is.

The paper insert that came with them shows only how to install them:

https://www.planetbike.com/store/downloads/dl/file/id/47/product/0/fender_safety_release_tab_instructions.pdf

Would anyone know?

The only purpose of the tabs is to be the weakest link in the chain so that, if something gets stuck between the wheel and the fender, the tabs will break, allowing the fender to come loose. If you didn't have the tabs, the debris would wedge between the fender and wheel, locking the wheel and throwing you over the handlebars.

You never need to release the tabs deliberately. To detach the fenders, pretend the tabs don't exist and just unscrew the bolt that holds them near the axle.


Scratches on fork stanchions On of my fork stanchions has scratches on the black coating. The scratch has sharp edges.

The Fork is a RockShox Pike RCT3.

I could try to fill the scratch with paint and polish or replace the crown with standpipes. The replacement CSU unit for the Pike costs 316€

It really depends how deep the scratch is.  If it's deep enough, then a new CSU (crown-steerer unit) is the only sure-fire fix.

However, here are some steps I've taken in the past, which have given me some success:

Sand the scratch down to remove the burrs.  You can use super-fine wet & dry paper for this; something like 2000 grit should do the job without damaging the rest of the surface.
Clean the scratch and the surrounding area thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol, removing any debris from the scratch itself.
Fill the scratch with some high-quality epoxy.  I've used J-B Weld in the past with some success.  Some people have reported success with super glue or nail varnish, too.
Wet a razor blade (or something similar) with water and use it to scrape off the excess.  You want it to be as smooth and flat as possible.

Your mileage may vary here; if the filling comes off after riding, you might be looking at a new CSU if you want a complete fix.  The fork will still work, of course, but a gap will allow dirt into the lower legs, which will effectively shorten the service interval on the fork.

I've successfully repaired a nick in a Fox RP2 rear shock like this, and it's still going strong today.  However, it didn't work so well on the stanchions of my TALAS 32, since the filling wouldn't stick for more than a couple of rides.


What Threadless adapter should I use? I want to replace the quill stem on my Roadbike with a Threadless head post.

The measurement shows about .8 inches.
Does a 1 inch adapter mean it is converting to a 1 inch diameter or does it mean the head post diameter should be 1 inch?

For a road bike the quill / threadless adapter size it is almost certain to be 22.2 mm (0.874"). When people talk about a 1" steering tube 1" is the OD, the ID which is the actual size of the stem is usually 22.2 mm.

The description of the adapter will call it a 1" to 1 1/8" or a 22.2 mm to 28.6 mm adapter.

When you install it you don't need the spacers under the stem that would be used in a normal threadless setup. To me the look took some getting used to, but I loved being able to swap handlebars without having to strip everything off one side.


Dura Ace 7700 (with American Classic RD205 rear hub) Broke Shifter. Upgrade Options I’m currently putting quite a lot of miles on an older Canyon F10 carbon bike equipped with Dura Ace 7700 shifters, derailleurs and brakes. My wheels are American Classics with a newer RD205 hub, which according to American Classic supports 10/11 speed cassette.

Unfortunately, my right shifter broke and I’m quite short on options regarding 9 speed shifters. I could go with Microshift, which would be a significant downgrade as well as Sora.

I really love that bike but it’s a bit old for a complete 11 speed upgrade.

If going with 10 speed 105 5700 is the difference in shifting in comparison to 7700 big?

Any suggestions?

If you want to keep with 9-speed and Dura Ace level, options are following:

New Old Stock. You can probably find and exact replacement on eBay or some shop that specializes on old parts.
Campagnolo shifters, either 10-speed with Hubbub cable routing or Shiftmate 2 or 11-speed are compatible with Shimano derailleur and 9-speed cassette.


Will Deore M6000 SGS derailleur work with 42t cassette in 1x10 configuration? I'm building a 26er 1x10 commuter. I have a 40t chainring and 11-42 cassette.

Will an out-of-the-box (no goat link or extra-long B screw) 2017 Deore M6000 SGS Rear Derailleur work with this?

Will the YBN SLA 101-TiB chain have enough links to cover the drivetrain?

I talked to Shimano this morning and got the final word. The reason the long cage  is designated as having a shorter reach than the medium cage is because the long cages is designed to be used with the triple crankset.  The Shimano  representative  I spoke with confirmed that the long cage is indeed only designed to wrap around 36T cog.
The bottom line is the medium cage m6000 derailleur  is the only 10 speed derailleur designed to work with the 11-42t cassette out of the box.


Replacing a B-knuckle tension spring I have a [cheap and old] Falcon Indexing System (rear derailleur). There seems to be not enough tension on the B-knuckle pivot point so the cage runs into the large cogs. There is no B-knuckle adjustment.

Questions: Can that spring go bad with time? Is there another way to adjust the tension I might be missing? Can I just replace the spring or am I better off replacing the whole derailleur?

It takes a lot for springs to weaken from normal use but not break. There are applications where that's more of a thing, but little if anything on bikes unless maybe it's of particularly bad quality.

Usually if a derailleur spring has this happen it's because the bent nubs of the spring that engage the other part get bent or broken, or the holes they poke into get distorted, or slop at the joint allows them to slip out of the holes, or the spring has become distorted and weakened by being forced too much.

Some derailleurs allow disassembly of the knuckle but yours almost certainly doesn't. Just replace it. New similar derailleurs are extremely cheap.


Can I convert a rim brake wheel to a disc brake wheel? I recently bought some Roval SLX 24's from eBay.  I made a pretty silly error and didn't check whether they were rim or disc brakes.  I need them to be disc brakes.

Should they be rim brakes, will I be able to convert them to disc brakes for my Cannondale 2015 CAADX Sora?

The hub for a disc brake wheel has the mounting for the brake rotor machined into the left side, and has shorter spokes that side to make room for the brake.

If the eBay wheels are for rim brakes, they won’t have these disc mount features out the box. If the spoke counts match and are sufficient, you could theoretically rebuild the rims onto disc specific hubs, but at best you would only be able to reuse half the spokes, quite possibly you’d need to replace the hubs and all the spokes.

It’s not that this can’t be done, but it would probably be less economical in time and money than paying return postage or fees for listing the wheels again on eBay yourself to then buy the right set. You would also have to sell the unwanted hubs and spokes to recover the money sunk into those. It would certainly be more hassle!

Great point from @Rider_X that disc wheels can require higher spoke counts, so that may take the whole exercise off the table anyway. Rim version of these wheels are 20 spoke front, 24 spoke rear, while the disc version is 24 front, 24 rear. In general terms, not having enough spokes on the disc (or any) wheel would be a bad idea.


Do helmets go out of style and get discontinued by manufacturers? Issue:
My head is on the smaller side, so all "universal adult" helmets don't fit me. I've been to a couple LBS's recently and tried on just about all their helmets, from most of the popular brands (excepting Specialized). Most Small sized helmets I tried on don't even fit very well, some of them are in fact too tight. Going into winter, I decided to go for a cheaper, warmer helmet. However, I am pretty sure next summer I will not be able to handle miles and miles in it. I have found two other helmets (with lots of venting) that I would say actually fit comfortably (my primary criterion), one in particular I really like the look too.

Question: should I pick that other helmet up now (Bell Sequence) just in case it gets discontinued? I won't be wearing it for quite a few months, so it's kinda silly when you're on a tight budget to buy something before you need it, but I sure do like the fit (and venting).

In most bike shops, if they have a helmet in stock, they will sell it even if it's last year's model, rather than ship it off to a remainder seller or some such.  But, of course, if they sell the helmet, and the model changes next year, they will not get more of the old ones.

I would guess that helmet manufacturers turn over their product line about every three years, doing a little bit each year.  There's no good way to know if this year's model will be around next year -- it might or it might not.

So you figure the odds.


Do these pads look contaminated? These are the front brake pads of my bike. Lately I've seen a decrease in stopping force and some shudder when braking at low and very low speeds. I took them apart and they look like this:

Do the pads look contaminated?

I agree with @Daniel R Hicks.  Those pads aren't terrible, but they're obviously not new either.  New pads are cheap, so go ahead and throw a new pair on and see if it helps.

It's also possible that the pads are worn enough that even when you pull the lever in all the way they fail to make good contact with the rotor.  Are they mechanical brakes?  That problem is especially common with mechanical brakes.

Lastly, is it possible that you got some sort of oil/fluid on your rotors?  That can severely lessen braking power, and it can happen with an invisibly thin film of oil.  If you think that is the case, clean the rotors with a non-detergent solvent like goo-gone.

Also, can you describe what you mean by "shuddering"?


Why is it easier to follow a cyclist up-hill Watching the Tour de France on TV I notice that the riders like to ride close behind other riders when going up a steep hill.

I understand that rider can benefit from a slipstream on the flat section, but on a climb the speed is so slow, the slipstream has minimal effect.

When climbing, the TV commentators make a big deal of the importance of riders 'getting on to the wheel' of the riders ahead as if it will be much easier if the rider could attach himself to the group ahead.

What is the benefit of being attached to a group when climbing?

I have raced Cat 1/2 for a number of years (elite road cycling) and I can unequivocally say the many here have no clue what they are talking about.  On a climb "getting on the wheel" is rarely about slipstreaming (unless there is a severe headwind), instead its about   positioning, pacing and psychology.

Position and Pacing

Rides who attack or lead out the climb are strong and will likely be climbing near their aerobic threshold.  If you don't get on immediately, a gap will form.  If you want to catch up (close the gap) you will have to work hard likely putting in an anaerobic effort.  This is not good as it will reduce your capacity to respond to future attacks (you only want to go anaerobic or near anaerobic when you absolutely have to). Then best analogy is you are like book of matches, you get so many strikes so use them wisely.  If you immediate latch onto the wheel it is your best shot at keeping your pace aerobic, therefore conserving a match.

Conversely, lets suppose you say "%^#* it I'll let a gap form."  You continue climbing eventually matching the pace so that the gap doesn't get too big.  When you reach the top, you will have put in virtually the same effort, but they will have started on the downhill  before you reach the top.  The gap will now get even wider and all of a sudden you are screwed. You are at speed and now you have an even bigger gap to close plus you now have the added disadvantage that slipstreaming has suddenly become important again. Facing this you have two real choices, cross your fingers and hope the peloton slows (which it may - the peloton is a fickle beast), OR bust your ass and close that damn gap.  The rub is if you do close the gap you put in twice the effort you would have if you had simply got on the damn wheel when the climbing started.

Road racing is like chess.  You need to plan at least five moves ahead, but unlike chess there are virtually no restriction to the type of moves you can make and there are 150 simultaneous players.

Psychology

Some here seem to believe there is no psychology involved with getting on someone's wheels on a climb.  WRONG.

If someone is climbing hard (at a pace you find hard to match) the best thing you can do is sit on their wheel as close as possible (we are talking 2 inches gap).  You just stare at that frackin' wheel and you DO NOT let that gap widen.  You tell yourself that you don't care how much it hurts, you will not let the gap widen.  You then keep repeating this to yourself and before you know it the climb is over.

In all seriousness, when you are right on your aerobic threshold you have to nail pacing.  Riding really close lets you judge when you are slacking off.  It is much easier to work to pick up an inch or two that you lost when your concentration waned, than it is to be farther away from the rider and realize he/she has put 5-10 feet on you.  When everyone is at a similar fitness level you need to fight for every bloody inch you can get. Focusing on something like the wheel in front helps you not focus on the pain you are currently enduring.

Aside - road racing questions are fun, someone should ask about fun strategies such as guttering the peloton or rolling attacks.


DIY Painting a Bike Frame: Is it possible? I have painted a couple bike frames (think really cheap garage-find rebuilds) with varying degrees of failure. Can you help me correct/fill in the missing pieces of my frame painting process?

Breaking Down the Bike: Remove everything except the Bottom Bracket, which can be masked. (Removing BB is to easy for me to mess up) Fork can be removed and painted separately.
Stripping old paint off a bike frame: Easy enough using scraper, sandpaper, and even super-dangerous paint stripper.
Cleaning off Rust: Rust can be sanded off pretty easily, even using tinfoil on sensitive/chrome areas works really well.
Masking: Mask the BB, the Fork and Seatpost holes, and anything else that shouldn't be painted.
Priming: A few coats of primer is absolutely necessary to fight rust.
Painting: Here's where I am lost.  I have heard these options:

Spraypaint/Rattle-Can: Worst Method, use Engine-Coat Epoxy paints, many coats, need to cure for weeks before anywhere near scratch-resistant.  Even then a strong fingernail seems to be able to strip paint.
Powder-Coating at an AutoBody shop: Don't know much about the cost EDIT: Costs around $200, according to wdypdx22 below. or pros and cons. Probably not financially feasible on a garage-find bike build, or am I wrong?
Other Options?

I'm not an expert on this, but I do have a friend who immaculately restores vintage bicycles. I've helped him on a few projects and this is roughly what he does. (My friend started out 5 or 6 years ago with an old cruiser and cans of spray paint. Wound up becoming obsessed and ended up with a spray painting set-up that he found on Craigslist...)

Basically he starts with your steps 1 - 4 for paint removal, although more advanced. My friend has professional grade spray painting equipment and uses industrial grade coatings, so he's not using rattle cans of spray paint.

After the paint removal, he re-tapes with a finer grade of masking tape.
Usually 2 coats of epoxy based primer.
2 - 4 coats of color, which is an industrial grade polyurethane paint.
During the color phase, he deals with lug detailing and decals. This part is tedious and time consuming.
Finally, 3 coats of clearcoat. And then the frame hangs in the paint shed for 24 to 48 hours.

If you're serious about it, I can find out what brands, etc he uses.

And for powder-coating, another acquaintance recently spent ~ $200 USD on a frame.

Yeah, totally possible However, sending your bike frame off to the paint shop for powder-coating ceases to be DIY. ;~)


Discs rubbing no matter what I do So a couple of days ago I regreased my back wheel hub bearings, put it back together so there's no play, golden. But when I put it back in the bike one side is constantly rubbing.

Tried loosening and tightening the caliper clamp bolts, no luck. Checked if the rotor is bent, it's not bent. On a closer look of the caliper without the pads in I noticed that one of the pistons is sticky. So I cleaned the pistons with alcohol and put some mineral oil on the sides and pumped it and pushed it back in a few times until they come out evenly, still rubs. Bled the brake, still rubs. Adjusted my hub over to the side it was rubbing, still rubs.

I have literally done everything except change the pads, but I doubt that's going to work either. What is going on? It was fine before I cleaned out the hub, apart from the fact that it was gritty when I rode it, which is why I cleaned it.

The first thing I'd check is that the wheel is mounted in the frame straight and fully in the dropouts - sounds stupid I know but we've all been caught out by things like this.

I wonder if somehow your hub is not running true, either because it's not running true on the axle,

Remove the brake caliper, spin the wheel with the bike off the ground and verify that the hub body does not have any run-out. Do the same with the disc rotor - you can attach a  trimmed zip-tie to the seat stay to give you a point of reference. I'd check both lateral and radial run-out.

Once you have verified the rotor is indeed true, re-retract the pistons and align the caliper carefully. USing a flashlight and a piece of white paper to look down through the caliper can help you spot where the rubbing is occuring.


Replacing/Upgrading brakes on ‘80s Peugeot road bike I have a Peugeot road bike that I commute on every day. I’m not sure of the exact model, but from some digging around online I believe it is a 1986 or so. It has single pivot side-pull brakes, Shimano as I recall, the kind of generic silver kind that I think most bikes of this era had? Can figure out more specifics if necessary.
The other day while biking home, the pivot bolt (not sure the proper term) of the front brake broke, for some reason I can’t figure out. Sheared off about halfway between the frame and the front end. Calipers went flying, as far as the cable let them anyway.

My question is this: Rather than just getting a replacement bolt, would it be worthwhile to upgrade to a newer brake? The stopping power on them has never been that amazing, though some high performance pads I bought recently have helped a lot. I’m curious if a new brake would offer more stopping power, more structural integrity, or any other advantages?
And if yes, how do I tell whether a brake assembly will fit? I know to measure the reach, but is there anything else that’s changed since the 80s to watch out for? I believe the brakes are unrecessed, for example, are those still manufactured?
Any pointers or recommendations would be appreciated!

You can mount recessed style brakes on your 80's frame by drilling out the hole through which the brake bolt goes on the backside of your forks such that the recessed style bolt fits through the hole.

You may have to get long reach style brake calipers in order for the pads to be able to reach the rim. These would be an option: https://www.amazon.com/Tektro-R559-Calipers-Silver-55-73mm/dp/B006Z0OVWC
You can find cheaper models but in general the newer style (dual pivot) long reach brake calipers are more expensive than the standard reach models. You could potentially look for a second hand pair.

Another option (If you want significantly more braking power) is to replace the fork with a newer model which will work with normal range dual pivot calipers. These calipers have better leverage and therefore better braking power.


Is bike fit really needed? I'm having neck pains and muscle cramps when I go for long rides (> 90kms) . I don't know if the reason is due to big kms or is it the fit of the bike.
I live in India where a bike fit costs 12000 INR($195).
Do you suggest me to get a bike fit compulsorily ??

Thanks.

If you are having pain and riding a lot of volume, it makes sense to get a fitting. Your other options are to

continue to experience the pain, possibly doing long term damage to your health.
reduce your volume of riding
get a different style bicycle with a more relaxed and upright geometry. Your fitter may recommend this anyways.


Grip shifters not opening on a Mongoose Terrex (trying to remove the shifting cable) I'm trying replace the shifting cable on my mountain bike. The bike has grip shifts. I loosened the hex screw on the grip shift and was able to slide the grip part off the shift housing but it doesn't expose the shifting cable. Then I was able to remove a piece of the housing which exposed the cable but am still not able to reach the end of the cable to remove it.
If I put any more force, I'm just gonna break it. There's something I'm missing. It can't be that tight and there aren't any holes left to tinker with, lol.
Any help or ideas to access the cable would be appreciated.

If you still need help, or someone else needs this, I just got one open. Take it off the bar. Take out the grub screw and separate the silver ring it goes in from the body. Looking down the hole from where the ring was, you’ll see locking fins (?) that hold the body together. You can use a screw driver to pop the fins off from the inside and it all comes apart.


what suspension fork should I get Thinking to get a Montague bike for mountain biking. The reason for a folder is easy storage and transportation. And reviews I read all say good things about their bikes.
There are these models available:

http://www.montaguebikes.com/compare-mountain-folding-bikes.html

I have almost 0 knowledge on MTB, but based on my experience with other bikes, these frames are probably the same, only different components (except x50, which uses v brake so the frame/fork maybe different). So I am thinking to get the second least expensive paratrooper then buy a good fork later when needed. So what kind of fork can I put on this bike? Please let me know the points to consider (e.g travel, wheel size, etc etc remember I have almost 0 knowledge). I will be using this bike on off road, trails, etc but nothing too rough(jumping etc) in my mind. Or is the stock fork (SR Suntour. Suspension XCT V4. 80mm travel) already enough for my need?

BTW, I want to get a decent enough fork so I won't upgrade soon after that (at least I hope LoL). So the fork can be a little more than my needs.

It's a difficult question to answer as there are a lot of personal variables.
"Nothing too rough in my mind" being the biggest variable.
For a lot of flat or rolling terrain without many obstacles; rock gardens, gnarly roots, etc, I would say the stock fork is fine. I have an old 26er with a similar fork which does fine on fast rolling trails but sometimes bottoms out on steep but abrupt drop ins.
However, to be honest, if I was worried about the fork being able to handle the terrain, I most likely wouldn't even consider riding a folding bike on it.


Why do my brakes squeak? Do I have an incorrect distance between brake pads and rims? My brakes were working normally until I adjust them today. I thought the brake pads were too close to the rims so I increase the distance a bit. Now every time I brake, they make horrible squeaking sound. However, when I test them in slow motion, they won't make that noise. My guess is only when the bike is moving fast, the brake pad cannot hold the wheel strong enough; consequently, the wheel slides on the pads causing the squeaking noise. Please correct me on that if I'm wrong.

Now, I wonder if there's any golden rule on the optimal distance between brake pads and rims?

I'm not aware of any established best practices other than "as close as possible, without any rubbing through a full revolution of the wheel".


BMX pedal thread pitch I found a bmx in the garbage and fixed it up but when went to replace the pedals bought the wrong size. I'm wondering if someone can help me out. I was testing the old thread in my socket set an it screws into a 15/32 inch socket.

Most pedal threads are 9/16" with the left pedal being left-hand thread (ie backwards to normal)   Kids bikes might have 1/2" axles or 9/16"
There were some crazy metric threads used in the 80s but they were very rare and never took off.
Not sure how you got it to work into a 15/32" other than that's vaguely close to 1/2" suggesting a kid's BMX.


Are 29" and 26" bikes come with different size frames? I am going to buy a cycle. In this regard I got my framesize 20". Now I would like to know is it for 26er or 29er ?? Is frame size will be different for 29er and 26er ??

I am going to buy a GT Timberline. My height is 5' 11.5" inseam is 34.5". I am from Bangladesh. May be I am going to have 18.5" frame size.

When 29ers first became popular many buyers found that many manufacturers did not adjust their size charts to allow for the increased standover height. Whether this is the case for the models you are looking at is impossible to tell without more information. With identical main frame geometry, a 29er will be taller than its' 26" counterpart. You really have to test ride or test fit each to determine which size is correct for you. If you are comparing sizes between different brands there may also be a size differences. Brand "A" may require a size 20", Brand "B" may require a different size.


How hard is it to remove a European-style rear-wheel ring lock? I have an old Breezer Uptown 8 with a European-style ring lock on the rear wheel. I am thinking of removing it. Does anyone have experience doing this? Is it as easy as unscrewing a bolt? It looks like maybe it is bolted on with the fender mount.

I am worried that this may be very difficult because if it was not, the lock would not be very useful.

Performed the operation today and it was, as suggested, very easy. Simply unscrewed a bolt on each side affixing the lock to the seat stays. For mine, the lock did not obstruct these bolts. I was then able to twist the ring lock and pull off the wheel, around the fenders, without any more fuss.


What's the difference between Fulcrum Racing 3 and Fulcrum Racing S3? I'm able to buy a set of Fulcrum Racing S3 wheels.  I searched in all their on line catalogues but the wheels in the picture the guy send me are nowhere to be found.
I'm thinking these are exclusively made for Specialized bikes, could this be true?

The difference between the Racing 3 and the racing S3 is that the racing S3 is a 35mm deep aero wheel and the racing 3 is a more shallow lighter wheel.


Is it possible to move a wireless computer between two bikes? I have a cateye velo 7 wireless computer on a Hybrid bike and I use it mostly to check the speed and track my miles like an odometer. I love it, its simple and cheap and works.

I recently got a road bike that I am going to use on the weekends and but I want the same computer to track my miles. It is possible to have two sensors on two different bikes and use the same computer?

the wheel size on both 700C

It depends on the bike computer.

Some computers have this feature, others don't. A brief look at the manual of this computer says yours only supports one bike and you'll need to get another computer for the other bike (or recalibrate it each time you swap them).
If the tire sizes are the same, you might be able to get by by just swapping the computer between two sensors of the same type, but there may be enough sensor variation that the results may be off by a measurable amount, so I wouldn't recommend that. If the tire sizes are different, you'll obviously need to either recalibrate or have the computer have settings for 2 bikes since the circumferences are different.

In any case, you need 2 sensors, and if you're using a cheap bike computer, the cost of the other sensor will be close to getting it with another of the same bike computer.


Diagnosing the cause of clicking sound coming from drivetrain My bike is making a clicking sound on every downstroke of the left crank. Here's a recording I took while out on a ride: https://soundcloud.com/jugdish/20210309-1510-recording-2-edit/s-x5znI4sdTPu
It gets worse with more force, like when climbing.
I will admit I was the last one to put the cranks on and I didn't have a torque wrench, but I'm pretty certain I got them on securely. At least there is no lateral play in the cranks.
I'm thinking that leaves either the pedal bearings or the bottom bracket as the cause? Does anyone have any other ideas? Is there a good way to diagnose whether the pedals are the cause without having to buy new ones?

Crankset is a Shimano 105, two-piece compression slotted, non self extracting
Bottom bracket is Shimano SM-BBR60, about 5 years old.
Pedals were replaced due to pitted bearings about 3 years ago.

Your noise is pretty loud and constant. It suggests something is worn out. It's possible there's some interface that needs cleaning and greasing, but with Shimano road BBs, that usually won't produce a noise so constant and obnoxious. This is what I would do:

Pull the cranks and wipe the grit off everything, and also wipe down the contact surfaces of the spindle.
Check that the BB isn't overtly worn/gritty feeling. 5 years of riding is an ample lifespan for Shimano external threaded BBs, and they're inexpensive to replace.
BB cups torqued.
Chainring bolts torqued (this isn't it if you're sure it's only from left side pressure).
Light grease cooating on the the black BB top hats in the spindle contact area. Shove the spindle through. Don't grease the spindle itself because it will squeegee into a big mess on the drive side. Grease the inside the of the splines on the left. Install the left side, adjust so the play is just gone, torque down both bolts to 14Nm in a row. (Or, sans torque wrench, make them both as tight as you would ever reasonably tighten something with a 5mm L-wrench.)
If that doesn't do it, test with different pedals. Alternately, sometimes you can get this right off the bat by applying pressure to the left crank at the end of the crank arm, getting no noise, and then applying similar force to the pedal and getting obvious noise.


A good bicycle trailer I can order I would like to purchase a bicycle trailer, to take bottles to the depot and pickup stuff from the hardware store from time to time. What is a good one to get?

For what you are asking about I would recommend buying a used kid trailer (for about $50 - $150), cutting off the fabric and adding some kind of floor/bin.  Interestingly enough most child trailers are rated for up to 100 pounds were as the BOB trailer is only weighted for 75 (if I remember correctly).

The only advantage of a BOB or Extra wheel trailer is that they single wheel trailers.  This means they can handle faster cornering and are narrower for roads.  They also cost basically the price of a new bike.

See here: Converting kid trailer to cargo trailer


Bike for college campus I'm looking for a good bike to use to get around campus and use on the local trail which is about 10 miles paved and unpaved and goes around a lake. Preferably under $300.

If your campus is like most I have ever heard about, you want the cheapest bike that will do the job.
Bike theft is a common thing everywhere but campuses where a lot of young people are in need of bikes are certainly not less risky than average.

Most students I know look for second hand bikes, either at the university, online or where they grew up/have their relatives and friends network.

The brand of bike is less important, I guess you know better than I do what kind of bike you like for that.


Is it more economical to true a cheap wheel or to buy a better wheelset? Truing wheels around here costs about 20 dollars.

I have a cheap rear wheel that has 32 spokes. This is a rear wheel that came with a Bikes Direct bike, to give you an idea of its quality. The hubs are unbranded and the rims are Alex DA14s. The wheel is severely out of true and I've resorted to taking off the rear brake pads. The front wheel is better off but not by much.

I could buy a new Shimano wheelset for about 100 dollars. From what I read online these wheels come true and stay relatively true for a few thousand miles easily. My experience with lower-end, big-brand wheels has been wholly positive too - they've all stayed very true and none of them have required re-truing.

I could also spend about 90 dollars and get the Performance Titan wheelset. The thing about these is that they crack after a few thousand miles apparently. But I don't mind since Performance has a lifetime satisfaction warranty, so even if they fail, I can just exchange them for a new one, free of charge.

Would it be worth buying the new wheelset and running them down into the ground or truing up my cheap wheels? To me, truing my cheap wheelset once gets me halfway there to a new wheelset that likely won't require any truing during its lifetime. What do you think?

Whatever you decide based on answers here I suggest you get a decent, dedicated spoke tool and print off or even buy on paper a comprehensive guide to truing wheels. You may have a multi tool with a spoke slot. Pretend you haven't. Use the brakes pads as a guide and hang the bike off a car rack or put it upside down, rather than spending a lot of money on tools which you might not use again. A spoke tool is cheap and handy for replacing the odd broken spoke.

If all goes well, you've got true (or true enough) wheels and you've learnt a skill. If you get the wheels true, and they won't stay true even though you've relieved the twist in the spokes you've got your answer and you can buy new wheels. If you find you can't improve matters enough, you're back to choosing new wheels or taking them to the shop. But you'll be better placed to make that judgment once you've developed a bit of a feel for it. It sounds like they're bad enough for now that you can't make matters significantly worse.


Headset fully tightened, but fork still loose and wobbly I'm almost done assembling my new bike :)

There is still one thing in the way though... See the headset in the picture? It was installed by a professional (or, at least a LBS owner) when I bought the frame. Kinda came preinstalled.

After assembling the bike, I went back to the shop to have the headset adjusted. And somehow they couldn't get the thing set up properly. I tried too, and yeah, let's face it, that headset is probably bad or badly installed.

As is, the bike is pretty much unrideable since the fork would wobble every time I brake.

The frame is an Intec M1, see document page 6.
It has a 1" 1/8 fork tube.
The current headset is a XLC A51AN. I guess it's an external headset, but not really sure.
http://www.intec-bikes.de/index.php?eID=tx_nawsecuredl&u=0&file=fileadmin/Downloads/SecureDownloads/ra-co/ALLE/Sortiment/INTEC/INTEC_Katalog_2015_EN.pdf&t=1428962756&hash=d367558de1db3f45634191e466256d126c14beca

There are enough spacers, allowing to tighten the top cap really hard, hard enough to almost lock the steering. Even then, the fork still wobbles. The fork tube is not cut straight, but I'm pretty sure the tube never touches the top cap.

So what are my options to fix that? (not involving yet another LBS)

What could explain why we can't adjust it? Can I fix this headset?
otherwise, which tools would I need to replace the headset with another? And what kind of headset do I need?

Also would I need to change the "fork race" (referring to the piece attached to the bottom of the fork tube, correct?) if I were to fit a different headset?

The wobbling could come from the fork. This is easy to check by putting a finger between two parts of the headset (as you can see here, around 0:35 ). If you brake and feel movement, problem is for sure on the headset.

If you do, is the headset the correct size, BOTH for the frame and for the tube? And are they in good shape? These parts have low tolerances because they have to fit the frame and the fork tube very tightly, and different manufacturers have slight different dimensions.

If you can, go to your usual shop and ask them to test with another one headset.

Good luck. And until you fix it, please don't ride that bike.


Cockpit tech: ANT+ Power meter → Android phone? Question
Has anybody had any success getting ANT+ only equipment to talk to Android apps?
I'm only talking about a situation in which the Android phone specifically has ANT+ capabilities; obviously if there's no ANT+ radio it would be idiotic to expect it to happen.
This might be the wrong SE to ask a question like this, since it's not so much about cycling per se but about data-exchange-protocol interoperability... I just figured that somewhere out there, someone else will have encountered the issue.
The background below lays out the main details.
Background
So I recently bought a set of wheels with a CycleOps PowerTap Elite+ hub, as a (relatively) cheap alternative to buying pedal- or crank-based power meter. My current bike has "near-vintage" Dura-Ace 7700 throughout - including pedals and cranks - and I didn't really want to switch anything out.
I knew that the hub was ANT+-only (no BLE), but I have an ANT+ dongle (for my PC, for Zwift) and my phone purports to have an ANT+ Radio Service and an ANT+ plugin manager. An ANT+ testing app claims that the phone has all the appropriate ANT+ functionality (HAL; Radio; USB; Plugins).
My phone detects the ANT+ ID of a bunch of Wahoo, Garmin, and other devices (e.g., speed and cadence sensors), but they are all dual ANT/BLE and they always connect using BLE.
When Zwift starts on my phone there's a little ANT+ icon next to the Bluetooth icon, and both are pulsating.
Same for the PC, except that on the PC Zwift usually connects to speed and cadence meters - and my KickR - using ANT+ rather than BT.
When I first put the wheels on, I tried to pair them with the Wahoo android app, but the app didn't find them. Nor did Zwift, on either phone or PC - despite the pulsating ANT+ icon.
My Garmin Edge 500 found the wheels no problem, but I hate the lack of screen real-estate on Garmins - I have terrible eyesight and pretty awful on-bike coordination, so trying to switch screens by button-pressing is a recipe for an ironic death...  give me a 6.5" screen and swipe-changes and I'm less likely to die.
Plus uploading to Strava from an Edge 500 is a GPITA (Gigantic Pain In The ... Aorta), whereas from Zwift or Wahoo it.just.happens. The lack of screen and awkward functionality rules out, e.g., getting a cheap used Edge 510.
I would really like for my phone to be able to 'see' my PowerTap hub, without getting the hub upgraded to ANT/BLE - assuming that's still possible. It used to be possible, and might still be; I've seen one ebay ad for the 'Powercap' (which fits all G3 & GS Hubs including Pro and Elite model hubs that have been upgraded to the G3 style cap - that has stopped me from pulling the trigger until I work out what this 'upgrade' to the cap entails; the cap's just a threaded bit of plastic).

Several suggestions in the comments helped steer me in the right direction.
The suggestion from Andrew about switching off Bluetooth on the phone and seeing if the phone still 'saw' ANT+ IDs was the clincher (I already knew that it saw nothing, but Andrew's comment made me ask WHY).
It turned out that the ANT+ Radio service on the phone required an additional permission.
This Reddit thread concerns a different phone (a OnePlus 5; I have a Samsung), but it was exactly the right solution.
ANT+ Radio must be given an additional permission to use ANT hardware.
This must be a relatively new thing, because back when I had a OnePlus One, there wasn't any hardware permission required (the only ANT+ device I had back then was a cadence sensor).
When I granted that additional permission, the hub was detected by the Wahoo Android app.
I just went for a brief ride to make sure that the app was receiving power numbers: it was. The hub is detected and data is being sent to the Wahoo app.
Problem solved - thanks to all.


Replacing pneumatic bicycle tires with Honeycomb Hole non-pneumatic tires Can I replace my 24×1.95" pneumatic bicycle tires that came stock on my Yukon Trail Navigator SF24 ebike with 24×1 3/8" Honeycomb Hole type solid non-pneumatic bicycle tires?

Most likely the 24" 1 3/8" tyres will not fit on you bike with 24" x 1.95" tyres. While the inch diametre is the same, decimal and fractional number usually mean different standards for tyre sizing.

Sheldon Brown provides tables with sizes. Here is an excerpt:

24 x 1.5-24 x 2.125 | 507 mm        | Juvenile mountain bikes, cruisers

24 x 1 3/8          | (E-5) 540 mm  | British Juvenile, most wheelchairs;
                                      common on women's utility bicycles in Japan.

Please check if your tyres provide also an ETRTO number, such as 50-540. ETRTO numbers give the nominal tyre width followed by bead circle diametre, also in milimetres.

If the larger number matches, the tyre is intended for a rim of the same size.

At that point you have to check if rim and tyre width are compatible and if the tyre clears the frame and brakes. Both are usually not an issue when the sizes are about the same. Unless you have very little tyre clearance with your present tyres already.


Shimano Mountain Bike Cassette Comparison Can anyone explain to me the difference between the cassettes of different MTB Shimano groupsets in terms of value for money and durability?

In particular I am interested in the entry level cassettes for 8 or 9 speeds as CS-HG200, CS-HG31, CS-HG400.

The cassettes you listed are Tourney (9 speed), Altos (8) and Alivio (9) respectively.

At this component level there will be little practical difference between them.  A skilled rider might notice better shifting, and there might be a weight advantage on the higher spec cassettes, but the difference will most likely be swamped by everything else that makes up a bicycle.

Durability might be marginally different but irrelevant. Durability is determined more by maintenance and tolerance of the rider for poor performance than parts quality, and is affected by chain wear more than any other aspect.

As far as value for money - the discount off RRP you get will be the determining factor. If looking for this quality range cassette, I would go to my favorite online parts site, filter on the speed and cassette size I need, sort by discount and scan though for something in my price bracket.


What are the benefits of drop bars? I come from a mountain biking background but I've also done a lot of cycle touring but I chose to go with flat bars and bar-ends vs drop bars.

I've also seen bikes that are designed for 'bike packing' such as the Salsa Fargo sporting drop bars.

Recently I've done more road biking but I still don't fully understand the reasons behind drop bars. Can you tell me what the benefits area?

The main advantage is more hand positions. With a regular flat bar, you hold your hands at the grips (with possibly about one more hand position available if you have bar ends).

With drop bars, you can hold at:

The brake hoods (on top of the brake levers)
The drops (the bottom part of the bar)
The tops (on the left and right of the stem)
That place between the hoods and the tops
Possibly others (or less of these, depending on who you ask).

For long rides, this makes a difference due to hand fatigue.

A secondary advantage is you can also change how aerodynamic you are and your body geometry with respect to the bike by shifting around and using different hand positions relatively easily. For example, when you're in the drops, you're in a more aerodynamic shape versus sitting straight up with your hands on the tops.

Drop bars aren't for everyone and do require proper setup (as do all bikes) and acknowledgement of the geometry of the bike. In particular, racers will likely set their bike up differently than tourers will (e.g. higher bars than racers), where its primarily a comfort thing. If you like doing long rides with flat bars and bar ends, more power to you. But for most people, the same bike won't work well with drop bars and flat bars because changing the bar changes the riding geometry.


Rotating two chains on one cassette I clean my chain on the bicycle, mostly because taking it off for a bath, drying, etc seems to take more time than I have. But maybe I could use 2 chains in rotation, I would take one chain off, replace it with second clean one, and during the days that follow would slowly clean it to be ready for next cycle.

Are there any drawbacks to such approach regarding the wear of cogs, or something else?

There is actually a real gain from this strategy. By rotating 2 (or 3) chains you extend the life of rear cogs (cassette) and it will last all your chains. In case you use one chain, you may need to replace cassette together with chain.

As of front cogs, they last longer, but you will get a more even wear.

Speaking of drawbacks - regularly taking off your chain you can make your PowerLink (or other brand) a bit more loose and have a higher risk of it failing under a load.


MTB to Drop Bar Conversion I currently have a cheap begginer’s MTB. A Toseek Brandon 27.5er 1x8 with hydraulic disc brakes and I came across a circular drop bar handlebar close to my original flatbar diameter. Is there a possible way to connect my current hydraulic disc brakes to drop bar brake levers?

This project has numbers of obstacles.
Firstly, drop bar hydraulic levers are hose specific, as are the brakes. In practice you may need to use the same manufacturer for brake lever and the brake. (Never ever mix calipers for DOT fluid with levers for mineral oil or vice versa!) If your brakes are Shimano, the levers should be Shimano. I don't know if Shimano specifies compatibility between "road" levers and "MTB" brake calipers. If not, then you're on your own. They may differ in the amount of fluid pushed per amount of brake lever travel.
Of course you can change the brakes, but do note that "road" brakes usually use flat mount and "MTB" brakes post mount, and if your frame has post mount you probably won't find an adapter for attaching flat mount brakes. If you change the brakes, an option is to use mechanical disc brakes which may or may not be compatible with "road" brake levers. (There is a difference in cable pull ratio: short-pull mechanical disc brakes can only be used with levers made for caliper or cantilever brakes, and long-pull mechanical disc brakes can only be used with levers made for V-brakes.)
Also different calipers and levers may use different size hoses. For example my MTB uses SM-BH59 hose (the calipers being compatible with it) and my road bike uses SM-BH90 hose. Levers made for SM-BH90 hose may not be compatible with SM-BH59 hose.
Also, "road" and "MTB" front derailleurs have different amounts of cable pull. So you need to use friction lever for the front which pretty much limits you to bar-end shifters, unless you want to experiment with pulley wheels that translate the cable pull ratio. If you use bar-end shifters, you probably want to use brake levers that don't have shifters but good luck finding hydraulic Shimano drop bar brake levers without shifters!
Of course it could be an option to change the front derailleur, but do note that "road" front derailleurs don't work with "MTB" triple cranksets because of differing chainline. And also "MTB" chainrings may have so little teeth that a "road" front derailleur would not be optimal. So you may need to replace the crankset as well. Different cranksets may need different bottom brackets (square taper / Octalink: different BBs have different length spindle, Hollowtech II: road and MTB use different bottom bracket cup spacing.) So it's crankset + bottom bracket purchasing time!
Then the rear derailleur cable pull ratio may differ. Shimano 10-speed Tiagra and Shimano 11-speed road use 1.4 as the ratio. MTBs used to use 1.7 as the ratio for 9 speeds and less and shifted to something like 1.2-1.1 for 10-11 speeds (not sure what ratio 12 speeds use). If your bike has 9 speeds or less then great, but if it's a 10 speed (or more) bike, then you won't find levers compatible with the rear derailleur. So you need to swap the rear derailleur.
So, bottom line: doable but expensive. You may need to change brake calipers (mechanical disc brakes being the easiest) and derailleurs plus install new shifters and brake levers, plus possibly new crankset and bottom bracket.
The sitation was very much different when I put drop bars on my 8-speed V-brake hybrid bike I bought in 2008 and swapped to drop bars in 2009. I only needed the handlebar (salved it from a 20+-year old bike I otherwise disposed), 8-speed bar-end shifters (were no longer being manufactured but found some new-old-stock ones from eBay), and Dia Compe drop bar V-brake levers. Plus new inner cables (I reused the old housing). That's it! Nothing else new was needed.


Removing rear hub end caps (Mavic Allroad Pro) I've just bought a Mavic Allroad Pro wheelset and I want to convert the rear hub from 12x142 to 10x135 configuration. I bought the 10x135 adapters (highlighted in red in the attached image, it's a section of Mavic manual) and I need to remove the original endcaps. I tried pulling them by hand but they don't move at all and I'm afraid of damaging something by using too much force. What is the correct procedure to remove the endcaps? Anyone knows? Couldn't find anything on Mavic site about this.

Unfortunately you have to use force to get those guys off.

If you can wrap the cap with a rag and then grip it with a pair of pliers you should be able to pull it straight off. It will take some effort.


9-speed system to 11-speed drivetrain upgrade? I am currently upgrading my bike from a 9 speed to an 11 speed system.  I am currently using shimano 105 components and will continue to use them within the new system.  Current bike has a shimano 105 rear derailleur but does not specify if it is unique to a 9 speed system.  Will I need to buy a new rear derailleur?

This page has the best answer I've found so far

http://blog.artscyclery.com/science-behind-the-magic/science-behind-the-magic-drivetrain-compatibility/

Reading between the lines, the cable pulls from 9spd to 11spd are probably close enough, but the derailleur ratios are significantly different. 1.4 vs 1.7. This means
that the 11 spd indexing in your new shifters will not work correctly with your old
derailleur.


Why are Disc Brakes better in the Rain? It is generally accepted that disc brakes will offer better performance in the rain on a road bike.
But from reading many articles on the topic of disc vs rim brakes, I have yet to find any explanation of why this is the case.
The biggest issue with braking performance in the wet with rim brakes is that the rims will accumulate water and dirt which needs to be cleared off by the pads before they start to slow the bike properly. But to me it seems that discs should get just as wet and dirty.
So why are disc brakes so much better in the rain?

Discs have a much higher clamping force. For rim brakes, there's usually quite a bit of movement; you can run the brakes with 5mm clearance from the rim and it'll still work fine. With discs, the pads move a much smaller distance, allowing them to use higher leverage ratios. For example, people running hydraulic rim brakes found themselves crushing rims from all the power.
I imagine this allows disc brakes to have more authority while braking. Water isn't capable of forcing itself under the pads due to the high pressure. Discs also heat up more and can run more aggressive pad compositions (because rapidly wearing out an aluminum rim isn't an issue anymore).The best MTB brakes use sintered metallic pads, which still offer crazy power in the wet.


Fat bikes and pannier racks I'm trying to research fat bikes for rack attachment holes and have not seen any so far. I'm a long term commuter and must have a way of attaching my panniers to my bike. Backpacks are out because I'm a pack rat, plus I do my shopping with my bicycle and that won't work. I believe I saw one commuter with a rack that connected to his bike by attaching just above the wheel openings, but couldn't find a name on it to do some research. Can anyone offer some help? Thanks.

Many of the expedition/endurance race fat bikes will come with rack mounts.  If you plan on "packratting" and carrying groceries, you should avoid the seatpost only options.  They generally have low weight restrictions and can also have issues with the bags flopping into your wheels (they are often missing the side panels regular pannier racks have).

If you look around a bit more, it should be fairly easy to find fat bike companies making rigs that are rack ready.  At most of the winter endurance races, racks and sometimes panniers are common.  The Surly Pugsley (the original production fatbike) still comes with rack mounts (rear AND front).


why can't you use park tool shift cable cutter to cut hydraulic cable I was going to use my parktool cable cutter on the hydraulic cable for my reverb.
 I would potentially service my hydraulic shimano disc brakes cables if I ever need to. But another thread has said you shouldn't. if it can cut metal why not hydraulic cable

The comments OraNob and Batman said are spot on. A cable cutter uses shear force (focused crushing) to cut through the metal wound wires in a cable housing but still requires some clean up because of this. This is why you need to go back and reform the inside wires with an awl and clean up the edges with a file or sanding pad. A plastic hydraulic line can easily be cut with a sharp blade or razor. A brake line can not, you could cut it but it will mar up the blade and deform the cable creating more friction when the cable is reintroduced.

You can't sand a hydraulic line because it will introduce particles into the fluid which could then lodge and build up in the moving parts of the brake system.

Also the plastics that are used in hydraulic cables don't do well with being smashed and reformed and could hairline crack if crimped and then reformed. If it did crack you would have to start over and try again, a vicious cycle. All it takes is a tiny crack to allow air into the system and turn your brakes to mush.

The hydraulics lines are made to perform under pressure, pun intended, and doing the above creates a weakened area that may lead to cracking at the fittings. They won't be easily visible but could allow air to slowly be introduced to the system.

When I have serviced my brakes, I cut the hydraulic line with an X-acto knife, a razor would work equally well. I put it on a hard wooden work desk that has a 90º angle cut into it. This way i find it very easy to cut a straight line in the hose. I used a sawing motion to be sure that I wasn't crushing the housing at all but this may be overkill. If you cut at an angle it can also cause a bad fitting connection that may lead to air in the system.


Pieces of plastic that came with my bike, what are these? I've looked into my 6 years old Mountain Bike manual and in the bag with it and all the warranties I found these 5 pieces of plastic, what are they made for?

Thank you in advance

These are cable guide parts.  From the looks of it, you have:

2 Housing shims, used to secure hydraulic lines or brake housing in the braze-ons of the frame, or for securing the housing at the point it enters the frame in the case of internal housing.
1 Headset adjustment bolt button, used to keep water out of the bolt in the center of your headset cap, or to hide the bolt.
2 Hydraulic line clips, used to secure hydraulic lines or cable housing on a particular type of housing guide on the outside of a frame or the back of a suspension fork.

Many frames come with extras of these parts, so it may be that you have no need for them at this time.  Or you might, if the LBS did a poor job of assembly. No way for us to know without seeing your bike.


"bent" by design frame Lately I have been looking on new bikes, and I have seen some design on an aluminum frame which left me quite dubious:

That bend seems to scream "I am gonna buckle at the first hard hit!".

Are my worries just the fruit of a "conservative mind", or indeed such design value coolness over safety/durability?

A cyclo-cross bike that had been quite successful in world cup and UCI championship races has a similar feature, IE a top tube bent up. Cyclo-cross is very stressful for the materiel. In this specific carbon frame this bend is apparently not a significant weakness.

The same manufacturer also offers an aluminium version of the bike. Of course that's isn't race tested to such a degree.

The main reason for this bend is to bring the top tube up, about level to the ground, while exposing as much of the seat post as possible. For a cyclo-cross bike a high top tube is necessary as it makes shouldering easier.

The bend also allows the seat stays to attach at a shallower angle to the seat tube while joining at a nexus with the top tube. This in turn is supposed to improve rear end compliance.

The manufacturer also claims the bend would be beneficial to general handling, stiffness, and compliance characteristics in the typical vague way all manufacturers talk about their stuff.


Can I add spacers to my cassette and crank to fit 3" tyres? Can I add spacers to my cassette and crank to fit 3" tyres? The chain rubs on the tyre.

I’m running a hope hub with SRAM 8 speed cassette and saint cranks. Can I just buy spacers to pull the cranks and cassette out so the chain is away from the tyre?

Nope.

For the cassette: the cassette mounts on the freehub body. The position of the freehub body on is fixed on the hub. Besides, there is no room for the cassette to move outwards as it's inside the frame.

For the cranks: depending in what width bottom bracket shell you have, perhaps there might be a solution using a crank with a longer axle and a wider bottom bracket but you really don't want to do that because you'll end up with a very bad chain line alignment.

I'm actually surprised you have not run into lack of tire space between the chainstays before hitting the chain.


Is it possible to drop a foot in corners while using clipless pedals? My friends convinced me to try clipless pedals, that I never trusted too much (BMX background). Now while I'm getting used to them and experience very funny falls, I try to figure out, can a used-to-cleats rider drop his foot in a sandy corner, or the only thing he can do is to get used to proper race style cornering?

As your pedals age and cleats wear it will get much easier to unclip at a moments notice.

Until then, you can try adjusting the tension of your pedals or do as I did and just ride at slower speeds until more comfortable with cornering while being locked in.

Even with looser clips and experiance I still fall, but that wasn't any different then when I was using flats :)


Are there any major drawbacks to using a track frame as a frame for a fixed-gear or single-speed commuter? I follow a few communities which have a lot of fixie and single-speed riders. Most of the riding discussed is commuting around the city, and often, riders will show off their new bikes, upgraded hardware, or will post photos of parts needing maintenance, seeking repair advice.

I've noticed that many of the bikes are in fact track bikes, based on the track fork-ends where one would normally find dropouts.

Does using a track frame for day-to-day city commuting have any drawbacks, either for the rider, or for the frame itself?

Real track bikes don't have brakes. You need brakes for commuting, especially in a city, and at least 2 independent braking systems. Not all frames and forks have brake mounts. You also won't have fender or rack mounts which are nice in wet weather.

Ergonomics and geometry can be an issue, given that track bikes tend to be a bit twitchy and aggressively positioned.

A lot of people use them in an urban environment, probably because of fashion and some sort of bike messenger fantasy.


Why is wearing a skin suit in the Tour de France risky? I was watching Stage 1 of the tour and the commentators said that it was 'risky' for Cav to wear a skin suit.

As far as I'm aware, the benefits of a skinsuit are that it's lighter and more aero.

The downsides are that there's no storage for gels/bars. However, surely he can get gels/bars from other riders  in the team.

Are there other downsides I'm not aware of? Why is it risky?

I saw this question a couple of weeks ago and was interested in it, I have just got back from spending 2 nights at the Tour de France where I happened to stay in the same hotel as one of the teams. So I asked one of them.

I'm afraid it has absolutely nothing to do with protection, or with ventilation. In fact you hit upon the disadvantage of a skinsuit in your question - they do not have pockets. Not having gels/food becomes important in a 4-5 hour race.

In fact, even despite this disadvantage, you will on occasion see riders (normally specialist sprinters) wearing skinsuits in a stage, especially one where there the finish is expected to be a bunch sprint. Under such circumstances it becomes the responsibility of a poor old domestique to carry food and gels on behalf of the sprinter. (Heck, I even saw a spectator wearing one!)

So I would guess that the risk mentioned by the commentator is just that the domestique isn't close enough to the sprinter when they need nutrition.


Cyclocross for road bike type of routes - Increased risk of INJURY? I am 33years and just moved to belgium. My work commute is about 25km (16miles). I plan to buy a bike mainly to commute to work and get the exercise and decompress after work.
I am new to biking but was introduced to Cyclocross, which I thought a great alternative since it also gives you the flexibility to ride in the woods.

I went to a bike shop and asked the sales guy if it would make sense to buy a cyclocross, most of the time I will be on the road (there are no woods on the way to work).
He scared me away from that idea, saying i would be more likely to get injury, back/knee/neck if I did 25km commutes regularly on a cyclocross. However on the internet I got the opposite feedback, saying the position on a CX bike is more relaxed then on a road bike. Even so I hear that a CX bike can be set up exactly like a road bike. I don´t care so much about bike weight etc.

Anyone has experience on this and is willing to share ?

thanks so much

A CX bike is stable, strong, and will take wider tires.  It is a great road and commute bicycle.  It is built to race in city parks.  It has a comfortable riding position.  Just put touring tires on it (I like 35mm).  I don't mean to advertise a bike but if you look at a high end CX like Moots the even say use as light touring.
Rout

You are not going to road race a CX but I will take it as a daily grinder and light touring every time.  At the end of CX season in the US and you can usually find great buys on used bikes.

As for risk of injury the only time I would rather be on true road bike is a 50 mph road decent.
But I am 50 years old - I don't 50 mph decents.

This is getting a bit of discussion so will add a little.
I don't road race and gave up my only road bike as for me my CX is was better road bike.
My road bike was limited to 25 mm tires and that is good for racing but not what I want for commuting or even a long road ride. In this pic it has 35 mm tires but with 28 or 32 mm tires it is a road bike.  It even came geared more for road (52T).  I would not commute on this as it is kind of my baby.

This Salsa below is a bike I bought to CX race but I just did not feel as comfortable on it so I race the above Bianchi.  The Bianchi is softer and not as quick.  As a commuter and light touring this Salsa is an awesome bike.  Other than spend a lot more money on a Moots there is not other commuter I would rather have.  I picked this up used for $1600 US.  It is light enough to get up and go and strong enough to take a beating and titanium does not rust.  And it will take a rack.  I also have a steel Salsa Vaya that I use for shopping but even at just a few pounds difference this bike way nicer for light commuting.
I like 35 mm tires for daily commuting.

This is my beater commuter.  At my gym I have to leave a bike out in a lower end neighborhood. I picked this up used for $400. For a single speed I like 32 mm tires.

You can do so much with a CX bike. If you get a nice one you will keep it the rest of your life.  Avoid an aluminum true race CX bike.  A steel bike is heavier but has a longer life than aluminum.  Look at the Surly Cross Check.  No one races a Cross Check - it is just a ballistic commuter.  A bit more money but like the steel Salsa Vaya.


There is a lip on my brake pad from bad positioning. Can I remove the lip? One of my bikes had the brake pads positioned poorly and they developed a pretty pronounced lip where the pad hung off machined braking surface on one side. The bike is using cantilever brakes.

These brakes have great stopping power, but It's hard to adjust the pads since one of them has an uneven surface due to the protruding lip.  Is there any way to cut off, grind off, sand off, or otherwise remove the extra material from the brake pad to make it even again?

You can trim off the lip with a sharp blade, if you do it carefully. However, I normally recommend that the lip be filed off with the flat side of a 3/4" bastard file.

It's more accurate, the mechanic is less like to hurt the self if they slip, and it has the added benefit of roughing the surface of the pad to remove any heat glazing at the same time you are flattening the surface of the pad.


Can I upgrade to a 11 speed freehub or do I need to change everything? I have a set of Shimano WH-RS10 hubs on my bike. Can I upgrade to a 11 speed freehub or do I need to change everything?  If not what would I need to upgrade to 11 speed wheel?

This is a partial answer:

Given that the WH-RS10 isn't a fancy wheel, if you can't just get a 11 speed freehub body, you're going to be best off economically by just replacing the whole rear wheel if you want to go 11 speed. I suspect there isn't a replacement to 11 speed, but you can ask your bike shop or someone else may answer there is.

Interestingly, Zinn has figured out that you can file the feet of the splines down on an existing Shimano 10 speed freehub to fit a 11 speed cassette on it, since the difference is only a few mm. But this is at your own risk, and may or may not work.


Do they still make rear shocks with remote flow control valves? I have a 2007 Stumpjumper FSR frame, I bought the Elite model back in 2006, but it still has the same mounts as the Expert and Pro models for a rear shock with a flow control valve. I haven't been on top of the newest tech trends, so I don't know if flow control valves are obsolete already or not. Have they gone the way of the dodo, or are some bike manufacturers still putting them on their bikes?

The shock you are referring to was marketed as a 'brain' shock I think. The worked by varying the damping based on detected rear wheel movement. As far as I remember only specialized sold them, first produced for them by Fox and then an in house model. They typically appeared on more XC orientated designs and I've never seen one available as a separate retail product.

Fox have been working on a very similar concept using electronics instead of a remote 'brain' to vary the damping. See http://www.pinkbike.com/news/exclusive-ride-report-fox-live-valve-active-suspension-system.html for more info.


7 speed cassette on a Kickr Core I have a mountain bike with a 7 speeds in on the back cog and 3 on the front. I recently got a Kickr Core. To use with my mountain bike could I use something like a Shimano 7 Speed Cassette, 12-28T, CS-HG200?

You'll need enough spacers to compensate for the width of the cassette and maybe readjust the rear derailleur. Your LBS mechanic will normally have a box of spacers, especially those from discarded 10 and 11 speed cassettes are convenient for fine adjustments.

I run a 6 speed cassette on a Tackx Flux with an early 1980s racebike. It works without any problems. The spacers go on the 'hub' ahead of the cassette. You may have to try out for the correct amount before the locknut sits perfectly.


Bum-off-seat cycling Is their a particular term for "standing" while cycling, and how is it done?  I've never been able to manage it, nor for that matter, flinging my leg over the saddle while the bike is still in motion, when the ride comes to an end.

It can be called "standing sprint" if used by a road race bicyclist during a race/training. At MTB, it can be associated with "attack position", where one leaves the saddle momentarily (or for quite prolonged periods of time in fact, thanks @mattnz) to not be thrown out of the bike by the saddle launching the rider into space.

For regular commuters, Sheldon Brown considers the need to stand up while pedaling as a sign of a bad technique or poor bike fit:

  If you find yourself standing to accelerate, on level ground, it is a sign that your gear is too high or that your saddle is too low.

Also from there:

  Standing pedaling doesn't make you any faster, except in the very short run.

So, check your gearing technique and bike fit.


Recovering confidence after a fall One month has passed since I fell on a mountain bike trip. The accident wasn't critical, it just left a huge scratch. The accident happened during a fast descent when my front tire hit a little crack.

My problem is that I don't feel confident riding descents anymore. My mind gets afraid and it impacts my riding. What should I do?

Keep riding.
It will take a little while to come back, but it will come back. Just don't push yourself too hard, as you will be tense and stiff and those things can lead to another accident. For all practical purposes your skill limit has decreased, so riding at your old limit is riding beyond your limit until you get past the mental block caused by the crash.
Try to analyze what happened in the crash and learn from it. Were you riding too fast for the trail or your skill level? Did you pick a bad line? Did you use your front brake at the wrong time? Replay it in slow motion in your head. Pick it apart and learn from the mistake. If you can find what the limiting factor was that caused the crash you can become a better rider because of it.
Once again, just take your time and ease your way back into riding at the level you were at prior to the crash. Eventually the fear will dissipate, and if you've learned from the incident you will be a more skillful rider than you were before.


Can I use denatured alcohol instead of isopropyl alcohol when servicing a fork? I want to try to do the lower leg service of my suspension fork myself for the first time. In the RockShox videos on that topic on YouTube, they take apart the fork and clean the parts with isopropyl alcohol.

In the nearby bike or hardware stores, I can't seem to find isopropyl alcohol at all. Will using simple denatured alcohol be bad for any parts of the fork, e.g. the seals?

Or are there any common household alternatives for this purpose?

Yes, denatured is fine to substitute for isopropyl. For regular shop use, the methanol is kinda nasty (debatably) from a toxicity/odor standpoint.

Everclear (which is 95% ethanol) is the other thing from around the house that can sub in.

Isopropyl is more a drug or grocery store item, although industrial suppliers do sell huge jugs of it.


Is there any advantage to preparing the tire bead with sealant during installation on the rim I am on a hard tail 29er and this is my first time going tubeless. I will be mounting 2.4 Maxxis DHF to a carbon 35 mm rim.

Where I am going is remote, quite rooty, and there are lots of technical small-rock gardens as well as broccoli and smaller rocky trails.

My plan is to go with lower pressure, maybe 20 psi. But I don't want a burp in a rough descending off camber turn and then have to pull out a spare or have to try to get the tire re-seated.

I'll be using gorilla tape on the rim instead of the 'official' tape, no diff there and save a few bucks.

I saw them apply a milky coating the last time my car tires were installed and the shop guy said it was a water soluble latex to help bed and seal the tire to the wheel.

Most people use a mild soapy water to wet the tire when mounting. Given that
I am using Stan's or Slimepro, would it help to apply a thin film of the solution to the tire bead when mounting them on the rim?

edit 1: What I did in the end

Before mounting the tire on the rim I watched the Slime Pro how-to video on YouTube
Slime Pro - Official How To Video

So, I guess that answers it, yes, it is recommended to use the sealant as the tire bead bedding solution as far as Slime Pro is concerned. Also, I tried that, exactly as shown in the video with a toothbrush and got my 'two loud pops' and a bubble free (perfect seal) of 2.4 Maxxis Minion DHF on a 35mm wide 29er rim.

The sealant, which is slippery and stays liquid actually for quite a while (definitely more than 5 minutes) seems to be excellent as a tire bedding solution.

I had a really tough time getting my last tire (2.35 Hans Dampf) on the rim. That one took forever to get on the rim (at least 5 minutes) and the sealant I applied to the tire and the rim stayed lubed until I was ready to air. Also a perfect seal and some good 'pops' when airing.

edit 2: What the local bike shops do

I inquired at 4 well-known local bike shops in the area to find out how they do tubeless mounts. All of the service departments said that they use the sealant (Stans Tubeless Sealant) instead of soap and water for tire bead mounting. So it turns out that no-one around here actually uses soap and water any more.

The soap and the sealant do not have the same purpose.

The purpose of the soapy solution is to lubricate so the tire better pops (seats) onto the bead.
For some tires it is hard to get them on the bead (especially with a hand pump).

From there the sealant in the tires is used to seal.

Stans has some good videos
StansHelpCenter

tireinflatingtips

  Use soap and water to help the tire bead seat.

  Do not add sealant until you’ve successfully been able to seat the
  tire.

I get the thought of have some sealant on bead.
But I will go with getting the best seat (soapy solution).
And that is what stans recommends.

Other tricks are:
Shake the tires to disperse the sealant.
Lay on each side for 12 hours.
Run em up to 40 PSI and be sure they hold for 24 hours.
Some tires suck up a lot of sealant - you may need to add sealant.


Why replace brake cartridge when grooves wear off Many websites recommend replacing rim brake cartridges (pads) when the grooves on them have worn off. Why would this be reasonable, other than for the hypothetical reasons listed below? I am looking for a scientific/engineering perspective, not personal stories on when you replace your pads.

I understand that once the cartridge wears down to its metal holder, then the braking performance is poor and the metal wears out the rim. The rim is much more expensive, so the brake pad should be changed before metal hits metal. But new Shimano brake pads are 10 mm thick (I just measured), of which 6 mm is outside the metal holder. The grooves are less than 2 mm. Why not use say 3 out of the 4 mm remaining after the grooves have worn out?

I understand that cartridges are cheap, might as well change them every week. I am not looking for a financial or preference-based explanation, only performance-based.

Another reason to change cartridges early may be that the worn cartridges would be too far from the rim. Brakes would have to be moved closer to the rim, which takes a little labour. With new cartridges, the brakes would have to be moved out again. Some people may prefer to change cartridges instead.

It may be that the material of the cartridge is not uniform, e.g. softer rubber on top, harder beneath. When the soft rubber is worn off, the cartridge starts wearing the rim out fast and offers poor braking. I cannot detect any difference of rubber across a Shimano brake pad. It would be more expensive to manufacture 2-compound cartridges than uniform-composition. Is the rubber of a cartridge uniform?

Grit and metal shavings stick in a brake pad, making it wear out the rim. But this seems to happen right from the start, no difference whether the grooves are there or not. Presumably grit sticks in softer rubber better, so if softer rubber is on top, then the brakes gather more grit before the grooves are worn out than after.

This is a good question. The short answer is that the design of modern rim brake pads is greedy and cynical.

This is a Mathauser pad, and is representative of how a lot of old brake pads were, and some still are.

The design differences with modern pads are obvious. You get a huge simple block of rubber with no grooves. Nothing about the design of the pad is coaxing you to replace it any time before the metal part starts contacting the rim, a point that most riders will be able to see coming and all but the least observant will hear about the second it starts actually happening, before any serious damage is done.

Pads like these are cheap to produce and last a very, very long time. I'm a heavy rider, and I have a set of these I got NOS on a bike that gets moderate use in all conditions that I've had for maybe 8 years now and the pads are about 1/3 worn. There are some theoretical arguments why grooves might help braking or prolong rim life, but I can endo the brake just fine and my rims aren't getting trashed. Many millions of pads of this design have given totally satisfactory performance.

The reason brake pad design moved away from being cheap, thick blocks of rubber is 100% that you can't make any but the most trivial amount of money producing and selling them. They last too long and are too effective for how cheap they are. Only the most hardcore of cyclists become repeat buyers.

Modern cartridge inserts are dainty and full of conservatively sized wear grooves because it creates a situation that gets more pads sold. Nothing bad happens if you wear them all that way down as long as you stop before you get to the holder, at least as long as you can be bothered to keep the brake adjusted along with the pad wear, and watch out for the worn pad overhanging the brake track. The compound doesn't change, the geometry of the brake doesn't change substantively in most cases, and the grooves don't do anything of note in either direction to braking power or rim wear.

A core question about grooves is whether their presence helps or hinders the pad to clear water and debris from the rim, potentially increasing braking power even as they inherently decrease contact area. Personally I think they don't and because they in effect feed water in to the pad/rim contact area they probably are a detriment when it's wet out, but I don't have any data. I believe the contrary idea would be that as the pad touches down on the wet rim, the leading edge has the job of squeegeeing off water to get more friction between the pad and the brake track, and having grooves essentially gives you another leading edge, getting more area clear of water faster after the pad touches down.


I need a new derailleur I have recently been given a bike, all works fine accept the gears keep jumping down to 3. It'll say it's on gear one on the handle bars, but the chain is sitting on the third set of teeth. So I'm looking for a replacement derailleur but I cannot seem to find the right one. It is a Shimano SIS; I have attached a photo of it. If anyone could help would be much appreciated (:

You need to tighten the cable. Also, check that you're not missing a limiter screw, because that looks plain dodgy.

Once the limiters are set up, follow these steps:

1)Set the gear shifter in the highest number (6/7/8 whatever your maximum is).
2)Undo the bolt pinching the cable, the bolt with the spanner on it. This will allow the cable to move freely (if it's not seized up and if you've loosened it enough. But, don't let it go all the way through!
3)Then push the derailleur manually to the biggest cog whilst turning the pedals and wheel. Push on the 'O' of 'SHIMANO' on your particular derailleur, and it will move the derailleur, and in turn, chain onto the biggest cog.
4)Allow the slack of the cable through and make sure it's sitting in the inset. Then set the clamp bolt down tight. About as tight as you can with a small 1/4" ratchet from the head of the ratchet. Note, it'll work the same with your nut-style pinch clamp like this pinch-bolt style.
5)Then, let go of the derailleur and hopefully it'll drop down near the smallest cog. In this image, this is what the bike mechanics where I work call 'Non-Limited'.
(source: mountainbiketoursthailand.com)

If it DOESN'T sit on the smallest or second-smallest cog, keep repeating steps 2,4 and 5, pushing the derailleur up to the second largest cog, and then the one next to it each time until it sits on the second cog when you let go. If when you let go, it goes to the second smallest cog, screw in the barrel adjuster until it aligns with the very smallest cog. Then proceed to tighten and loosen it as you need until the gears shift into each cog accurately and easily.

Very good luck, and if you cannot do this yourself, give it over to a mechanic. I'd personally give it a go if I were you. If you manage it, great! You've saved yourself some money. And if you mess it up, there's not much that can go wrong, nothing is going to really break. You'll just be stuck at square one and need to take it to the mechanic, which is the position you were already in anyway. :)


do DT Swiss 240 hubs need proprietary tools to maintain them? the bearings in my DT Swiss 240 hub appear to be shot, I have the toolkit for and am used to maintaining Chris King hubs but I wonder if I have to get special proprietary tools for the DT hubs as well?

For the bearings you do need the tools. The hub is advertised as a tool-free maintenance hub, but that's only for light work. Check this post out on bikeradar.com:

  I recently e-mailed DT-Swiss on this
  topic and here's the conversation -

  Me - "This one has been mentioned by a
  couple of people - you advertise a "No
  tool concept" and a "No tool
  maintenance concept" while in actual
  fact only the drive mechanism is
  serviceable without tools and the rest
  of the hub requires expensive special
  tools. I've tried to explain before
  that bearing replacement probably
  falls outside of "maintenance" and
  enters the "overhaul" category but the
  quote "No tool concept" has being
  thought misleading. What answer do you
  have?"

  Them - "I've fielded many questions
  about the no tools concept too. It
  simply means that you do not need any
  special tools to perform normal
  maintenance such as ratchet cleaning
  and re-greasing. This should be done 1
  to 3 times (on average) a year,
  depending on your riding conditions.
  This is a 5 min procedure, even for
  the inexperienced. When you open up
  our tech manuals, the first picture
  you see is of a tool set, which looks
  scary and complicated. I can see how
  this seems misleading. The tools are
  required for more in-depth work such
  as bearing replacements. Want
  cartridge bearings? Then you need
  tools to install them. If tools were
  not part of the equation, then your
  bearing would simply fall out and the
  hub would be chronically loose. Show
  me a hub of any quality that does not
  require tools for complete
  tear-downs."

The tools are pretty expensive though.
http://www.amazon.com/DT-Swiss-DT-240-440-FR-front/dp/B001CK0S22

You might want to drop at the local bike shop.