Is it possible to do 50 km distance without any previous training? I'm considering to do a 50-55 km distance on a mixed surface. Mostly asphalt and gravel, maybe even a little bit of sand. Haven't done any training or exercise, basically been sitting at home all day, everyday for years. Don't know why but suddenly had an urge to go on a journey.

My bicycle is quite old, 12 or so years, not in a great condition either but nothing is falling off so far. That wouldn't be my concern though, my concern is will my legs be able to cycle for 50 km in one go without any previous leg training. Is it advisable for me to do this? Will my legs be stiff after the first 10 km? What do you guys think?

Edit  I'm 24. Last year I tried a 30 km distance, my legs were gone after 20 and I had to step off my bicycle and walk a bit, as it seemed easier than cycling. That was my only real exercise I've done in a couple of years.

I really have all day and can take as many rests as I want. I'd say I have a solid 8 hours. Is it doable if I go on a gear that doesn't require a lot of push?

A fit person can do 50km without too much difficulty, though they'll probably be sore from the effort if they don't cycle much, just because cycling uses different muscles to, say, running.  It wouldn't be easy, but it wouldn't be too hard.

It sounds like you're not very fit. If you were determined, you could probably make it around 50km but I doubt it would be enjoyable at all.  I suggest that you start with shorter distances. Try riding 10km and see how that feels. Once you can ride 20-25km fairly comfortably, doing 50km will be a nice challenge: not easy but an achievable goal that you can look back on with pride.  Note that gravel and especially sand are more work to ride on than the equivalent distance on the road.

Since your bike's not been used for a while, you should get a bike shop to check it over. Depending on how much it was used and how it's been stored, it might need things like a new chain, new cables and new brake blocks. Possibly new tyres if they're in bad shape.

If you're going far from home, make sure you know how to repair a puncture (bring a spare inner tube so you don't have to use patches unless you puncture twice) and that you have a way of getting back if everything goes wrong.  Rather than cycling to somewhere 25km away and then coming back, consider arranging your ride as more of a circle so there's a shorter route home if things don't go well.

Make sure you bring water and snacks with you, since your first 50km will probably take at least three hours.


Fastest sprinter and their top speed? What is the top speed hit during a sprint on flat ground in a road race by a professional sprinter, say, someone like Cavendish?

Is there an official record for this and if so who holds it currently?

Not a complete answer really, but I've had a scan through this TdF data Twitter account and Greipel's winning speeds from his two wins this year are an average of 59.58 km/h over the last km and a peak speed of 67.03 km/h.

Pretty quick.

Edit: more stats for nerds here.


A folding bike for short winter commutes? I've been looking into a folding bike to help with short commutes on roads during the winter. What would be the advantages/disadvantages of a folding bike during this season? Any serious modifications to consider? Should I also consider an electric version or another bike type to help power through the snow?

I have a 20" folder, and powering through is not something its good for.

Depending on the depth and consistency of your snow, as depth increases you'll benefit from larger wheel radius.

Spiked/studded tyres will help if you expect to ride on ice, but they're less useful on snow.

Again dependent on conditions, but close fenders/mudguards will be the wrong thing in snow because it will pack and potentially trap your wheel.

Wider floaty knobblies for snow, with studs for ice, and ideally disk brakes will be most helpful because snow will clag up rim brakes.

Wider ranging gears will help too - most folders have a single chainring of 40-44 teeth, which limits your low gearing.

An electric bike sounds good, but you're really carrying around an extra 5-10 kilograms of mass which can contribute to slips and slides.   Adding power through wheel is also going to contribute to traction loss risks.

For snow, I'd suggest a lighter bike with wide tyres, large range cassette or a wide IGH, and disk brakes.  You can swap out the tyres for summer slicks when conditions improve.   Add lots of lights and reflectors too, and thermal clothes as required for comfort and safety.


Is it possible to tighten/replace my wobbly spider? I have a Shimano FC-M460 crank and the spider is starting to wobble a little. Is it possible to tighten or replace the spider? I can't figure out which tool I would need to order. Or should I just replace the whole crank & spider?

The FC-M480, as originally identified in the question, is a 9-speed, Deore level crank. This is a link to Shimano's spare parts diagram. Here is a link to the M460 crankset's parts diagram. Neither indicates that the spider is available as a spare part. For Shimano cranks of this era in general, I don't believe the spider can be practically be separated from the crankarm. The road cranks generally had the spider forged with the arms. As shown below, the M480 and 460 do appear to have separate spiders, but the spare parts diagram indicates that the spider isn't available as a spare part, nor is there an obvious lockring. Hence, the spider is likely bonded (i.e. industrial strength glue) to the crankarm. The image is of an M480 crankarm-spider interface that I stole from an eBay listing.

Note the supplemental discussion in comments: the OP checked that their chainring bolts were tight and that the crankarm was tight on the bottom bracket. When the OP wiggled one chainring, all three rings moved together. Unfortunately, that points to the spider moving. As it isn't secured by a lockring, this likely means the bond is failing. While that is presumably very strong glue and this should be a rare event, this is unfortunately not out of the question. There have been a few reported failures of Shimano's higher-end road crankarms, which are forged in two pieces and then bonded together. In these events, the bond fails, possibly exacerbated by salty air.
It might be impractical to re-bond the spider to the arm. While I've never done anything like this myself, I would expect that the existing adhesive would need to be dissolved. That might harm the anodizing. Then, after cleaning off any remnants of the adhesive, the OP would need to select a proper adhesive, and re-bond the arm and spider. I'm not sure if the application procedures for appropriate adhesives are achievable by typical home mechanics. In any case, it could be possible if you knew what you were doing, but I expect that it would be much more cost effective to buy a new crankset.

As a side note, Shimano's 12-speed MTB cranks appear to all be direct mount. Here, the spider is integrated with the chainring, not the crank arm. You fix the chainring to the arm with a splined interface. If one had that type of crank and bent the spider or the chainring, you'd just replace the chainring as one unit. That requires a lockring tool, e.g. the Park LRT-4, plus a wrench to hold that tool. However, the Tourney cranks in question are definitely not direct mount. If they were, the parts diagram would show a lockring rather than mounting bolts, and they would show the spider arms integrated with the chainrings.
As the OP indicated, the spider could have been bent rather than the bond coming loose. If the spider were bent, however, it would not explain the symptom of the chainrings wobbling together when moved by hand. Also, it would take a lot of force to bend the spider. After all, the spider's arms are short and are relatively thick aluminum, and they have a bunch of chainrings bolted to them that would collapse first under the impact.


Plastic screw with ripped-off head stuck in the frame So I attempted using a couple of shitty plastic screws to attach an air pump to the water bottle mounting holes in the frame. I was using a long-arm torque wrench and the head of one of the screws just came off, leaving the body inside.

I need those threaded holes in order to install the pump!

Thinking of burning the screw body with a soldering iron and then forcing a steel screw in, to clean the thread.

Would this be a good idea? Maybe drilling would do better? Anything to be careful about?

As the comments have stated, here's your options:

Screw extractor: Inexpensive and easy to use.
Drill: Use successively larger drill bits until most of the screw is gone.
Drill and extract: Drill a spot large enough to put something in the middle and pull it out.
Screw/Nail Extract: Lightly tap a nail or smaller screw into it and then try to unscrew the stuck body.
Melt it: Not really recommended but you could do it. Be prepared to retap the threads if things go awry.

Note, these are not in any order and some can be tried before others.


Are single-sided forks a gimmick? The first time I saw a Cannondale with a one-sided fork I was in shock & awe.

But I got to thinking about it, and it seems to me like it's just a marketing strategy, touting the quality and mechanical sophistication of the brand.

It saves some weight, maybe. But it loses so much strength. How could it possibly have a better strength/weight ratio than a traditional fork?

I think that their main point is not less weight but more control.  Imagine the normal 2-legged fork: even though the two sides are connected to the same air spring, you could concievably temporarily compress one more than the other, and now your front wheel is no longer pointed in the direction that the handlebars are.  This can only happen if the bridge is flexible, and typical fork bridges are very strong.

The Lefty avoids this by using a single stanchion, which can only move linearly, but now must be able to support twisting motion.  I do not know if Cannondale has succeeded in making it strong enough, but Leftys have been around for years, so it can't be too far off the mark.

And, note the many schemes for rear suspension.  There are many ways to suspend a bicycle; no single type is so good that all manufacturers must use it.  The same is apparently true for front suspension.


Is it advisable to travel 11 miles one way to office every day I am in London. Is it a good idea to travel 11 miles (one way) from home to office.Google says it takes 56 minutes.

I wear office formal with out a suit and tie. What advice can you suggest on clothing?

My office hours are 9-5

This is really only a question you can answer for yourself.

How fit are you? How much do you ride currently, is 11 miles a long way for you? Are you comfortable in London traffic? Is it raining?

These questions, and others, you will need to answer before you get close to an answer. Personally, I'd do it, I chose 2 points on the map in London at random and it shows about an hour by bike, an hour by car and 30 mins by train.

As for clothes, you may find that your office has a shower or changing room and you can change from something in lycra to something more office friendly when you arrive. Failing that, a lot of people recommend baby wipes. There's other questions about commuting with a lot of information on this.


Little play in the front suspension fork (RockShox Judy T2 long travel 98'(?)) I've just restored my 98' Kona Caldera, but I left the fork like it was since it seemed to work smoothly enough. Considering I would like to not mess with a fork (like everybody), even if I've done some time in the past with some other spring fork with success, after some rides I feel some play of the tubes inside, especially under front braking. It's not super severe, I tried to make a video but it's invisible by eye, it's probably 1/4 mm of play and not so easy to replicate. It seems a minor issue but this doesn't give me too much confidence in some trails and in some high speed descend, so what should I really do? Is this supposed to work like this since it's an old technology, or it's not working correctly? When it compress it's not super smooth, but I would not even call it grindy... So I don't really know what to do. Do you know if there is any oil inside this model, or some guides to refeer?

UPDATE
After your suggestions I decided to take a look... Honestly they were quite easy to disassemble, I think this is an example of a good build fork (no talking about the performance here), it's light (1.5kg) and easy to maintain, inside it was pristine, no sign of dirt anywhere, which for a 22 year fork is just amazing (I don't know how it has been used, I bought the bike some months ago from a guy who doesn't really know something about). I discovered the origin of play, is here supposed to be a foam seal?

Since I'm cheap, I decided to make ones from a foam package which seems surprisingly similar to the kind of foam you find in the forks.

This seems to have solved the play problem, just for info mine mesures 1cm height and 3.5mm width (with a +/- 0.5mm margin, not really precise). I cut the length while I was putting in place, so I don't really know. The nice thing is that this foam made the fork less pogo-stick feel, and more proper actually by adding a little bit of rebound. Never tried an High-end fork, so can't really compare, but it works better. At the time of the disassembly I was expecting no oil, but surprisingly there was very little oil, so little I tough it was put here by mistake because on the web it was impossible to find any info about that. For now I just put some teflon grease and it seems to work better than before, do you think is that safe to use? Would oil make it work better? Which oil I should use? I should also replace at least one elastomer, take a look here...

Where to buy a proper replacement without braking the bank? I don 't really want to use in hard trails, but I can find a cheap replacement I would be happier.

That era fork will probably be spring/elastomer or spring/sealed cartridge. I believe the T2 was essentially a glorified Indy. The elastomer will have hardened and no longer be working optimally, so the shocks won't be performing like new (and when new, were not great by todays standards).  The sealed cartridges were not serviceable. The play will be wear.
What to do - nothing is probably the best option. A new fork will be expensive and the best you will do is a a very cheap fork as the technology has changed so much a modern fork will not fit the bike.  Servicing ability if limited to lube and with parts being practically unavailable, any problems could make the fork unserviceable.
A fork service is pretty straight forward - strip the fork, lube the internals with a fork grease, and put it back together.  I cannot remember exactly how - plenty of stuff on the internet if you look.
You may be able to find replacement elastomers, if these were reasonably priced might might be worth it.


I failed to replace my chain at the proper interval. Will I have to replace my whole drivetrain? My bicycle is a 2012 Specialized Secteur. It has 6000 miles (10000 km), and I have never replaced the chain.
I recently began noticing that the chain always seems out of alignment with the rear cassette, no matter how finely I adjust the rear derailleur. This feeling only occurs in certain gears (the ones I tend to use the most). In these gears, the chain clicks softly. It is almost like it wants to skip off of the current cassette gear onto another. The feeling is similar to when the rear derailleur needs an adjustment because it is trying to set the chain between two gears on the cassette.
I know that when a chain is worn, it will "jump" gears because it has enough free play to prevent a proper mesh with the gears of the drivetrain. That led me to research when a chain should be replaced. To my horror, I realized that I had ridden the bike three times the recommended replacement interval. I have regularly cleaned the chain throughout its life and kept it lubricated.
I know that I must replace the chain, but before I do, I would like to know if it is possible that the rest of my drivetrain is salvageable. Should I replace the chain and see if the problem goes away? If not, should I follow with replacing the rear cassette, then if that also fails to fix the problem, the front chainrings? Or, is it possible that this symptom that I am experiencing is not related to the chain's wear at all?

Yes - after that mileage you will need both a new chain and new cassette.
A new chain on the old cassette will not mesh right, and accelerate wear on the new chain.
Depending how much chain elongation has accrued, you may need new chainrings too.  They wear slower because more teeth are engaged in the chain.  Look at the chainring and see if the scallops are asymmetric, which is worn.  You can also wrap the new chain around the teeth firmly, and look for gaps between chain and chainring.
There's also a chance you may need new jockey wheels in the derailleur, though these are only guides and not load bearing so tend to last a very long time.
It would not hurt to replace the gear cables too - they're a relatively minor cost, and a complete fresh set will make it all feel even better.   You should also deep-clean both derailleurs, and lube the shifters while its all apart.


Restoration after immersion - what needs doing? I'm taking my usual approach to learning how to fix things - I've acquired a bike in need of repair (for free!), and am working it out as I go along. In this case, the bike got caught in a flood and spent a week or so under a couple of metres of river water.

So far, I've disassembled and cleaned everything, and so far as I can tell:

The bottom bracket is dead, so I'm getting a new one.
The frame, somewhat surprisingly, seems fine: no signs of rust anywhere.
The brake disks had some minor surface rusting that came off with the mud, and now seem fine.
The headset bearings were full of river water, so I've disassembled and de-greased, and will be re-greasing when I reassemble it.
Given that all of the other bearings were knackered, I assumed the same for the wheel bearings, so have cleaned and re-greased both.
The whole drivetrain seems OK, after much cleaning.
The pedals are a bit rusty, but I'll be swapping them anyway, so I'm not bothered.
The shifter cables seem OK.

For things that I know I'm not sure about:

What do I do with the front suspension? Previous bikes have all been road bikes, so I've no idea what I'm even looking for here. It's one of these. I assume the river water will have done a nasty on it, but what's the best way to go about fixing it?
This bike has hydraulic brakes (Tektro M286). What do I need to check about these? Any likely problems?

Finally, is there anything that I've not listed above that might have been damaged and not be obvious at a glance?

I'd consider replacing the shifter cables and housings, as this is a relatively low cost fix. Water will have seeped deep into the housings.

The hydraulic brakes are of course nominally sealed, but a bleed may be good idea in case water has got into the system. The braking system is obviously critical so I'd do it.

Water probably got past the fork seals. You don't want that sitting in the fork and the seals are not preventing it from coming out. If it's a coil fork it should come apart fairly easily (search youtube for videos), if it's air it's trickier. I notice there are service manual downloads on the Suntour page. You can also try contacting Suntour.


Shimano: what's the difference between medium cage and long cage? I'm looking at XTR Di2, and it seems the rear derailleur comes in 2 variations: medium cage and long cage. What are the two sizes for? Do they match different types of cassettes? What kind would I need for an 11-42 or 11-46?

A long cage is used for drivetrains with a wide range. A wide range would be a typical triple front crank or a wide ratio cassette (11-46 tooth) with a double crank. To determine what you need you need to determine the tooth capacity of the derailleur (check Shimano web site for tech information). Add the difference of the cassette tooth count (42-11=31) crankset(36-26=10) for a total tooth count of 41. You may be thinking that a long cage would always be a better choice for the flexibility of range. However the long cage can be an issue for a mountain bike where logs, rocks and such love the big target of the long cage. This is especially important with 26" wheels where everything is lower to the ground.


Is it possible to loosen or crack the tire when I change a broken tube? If I don't use the proper tools. Last time I used spoons to take out the tire.

Yes, you can definitely damage the rim and tyre. But normally you just pinch the tube. The little dents you make have sharp edges which are not good for the tyre, and you might possibly poke your tool through the sidewall, but it's extremely unlikely that you will break the bead of the tyre. You might even crack the rim by excerting too much force (this is normally a problem for people who resort to metal tools after breaking plastic tyre levers). But if you're using that much force, you are doing it wrong.

Tyre levers are cheap, buy some. Michelin (almost flat, yellow rectangles) or Schwalbe (blue ovals) are the better brands IMO.

The "magic" technique bike mechanics use for removing tyres is to pick one point on the rim, pull the tyre out at that point, then run your other hand round pushing the bead into the slight depression in the middle of the rim. That gives you extra slack at the hand that's pulling out, making it easier to get the tyre off. It also makes sure the rim isn't stuck to the tyre at any point, and makes sure the bead is disengaged from the hook of the rim. I usually use a tyre lever for that so that any rough spots or objects embedded in the tyre don't end up in my hand.

Look at a rim cross section to see what I mean:

Two things to look at: the hooks that "grab" the bead to hold the tyre in place, and the slight curve that creates a low spot for the bead to sit in while you're getting the tyre off. Done this way I often don't need tyre levers except for running one round the rim to loosen the tyre.


In which orientation should a front wheel be installed? A front wheel with a quick release mechanism can be installed in two orientations: the lever on the left, or the lever on the right.  Does it matter in which orientation it's installed?  If so, would any problems result from installing it the wrong way?

In my experience, a front rim is symmetrical, and it doesn't matter which direction it's in. Unlike the rear wheel, where there's a drivetrain side and a non-drivetrain side, the only place where the quick-release handle can be. However, there are some other considerations to keep in mind:

Tires will sometimes have a tread direction. This is usually marked on the tread itself, in the form of an arrow with "direction of rotation" indicated. If you put a rim on a backwards from how you installed the tire, that could be swapped by mistake.

In addition, it makes sense to have the quick releases for both wheels on the same side. I make sure when putting a tire on the rim to set it up so, if both release handles are on the same side, the front tire is in the direction of rotation.

Disc brakes may introduce other considerations; other answers on this page address this. Outside of that, it mechanically makes no difference what side the quick-release is on.


How to Get Starter Pins I'm not sure if 'starter pin' is the correct terminology.  When you buy a new chain, that doesn't have a master link, you get a longer pin that allows you to put the chain together.  Then you simply take a pair of pliers and snap the extra piece of pin off.  Is there anyway to just buy the pins without buying a new chain?

Yes. Any local bike shop should have them in stock, and they should cost no more than 5 dollars. You need to know the brand and type of your chain. (i.e. Shimano 10 speed or Campag 11 speed) If you know the model (i.e. Ultegra or Dura Ace Shimano, that is a bonus.

By the way, Shimano refers to it only as a reinforced connecting pin, or replacement connecting pin.


what's a good road bike for leisure? I wana ask you guys for some advise. Wish to buy a bicycle for my husband for Chritsmas. He sure did mention he would like a road bike and not a mountain bike.
He is 5'6 tall and weighs approx 170pounds.
I am confused about the frame size and the various options of brakes etc.
My budget is about 500$
Can you guys help me narrow down my search or throw in some names bike brands I can look for? Also which site is recommended? Or which store is better to go have a look? Would really appreciate your advise! Thanks

Today (2019) road bikes have branched into several sub types, each optimised for certain type of riding. Yet, several are quite versatile.

Road bikes for races stayed very much the same in their scope of use as they were in the past. Today they are specialised on aerodynamics and or lightness for climbs. These are hardly ever good beginner bikes. When you need one, you will know it already. People typically get them because they actually race, dream of racing, or are just in love with the bike.

Endurance bikes are a road bikes with a more relaxed geometry. That is, the rider is not so low and stretched out, and the bike is slightly less agile. These bikes now often come with disc brakes. Disc brakes allow wider tyres. A typical endurance bike ships 28 mm tyres, and is often good for slightly wider tyres. They are perfect for bound surfaces like tarmac. But also good for light gravel roads. Their disadvantage to race bikes are slower and usually heavier.

Gravel bikes continue this trend to even wider tyres and more stable geometry. With 40 mm wide tyres these bikes can be ridden on rather coarse gravel and easy trails. Some gravel bikes are almost as off-road capable like mountain bikes used to be in the 90s. Gravel bikes always have disc brakes. Their disadvantage compared to endurance bikes is higher weight, higher price, slightly slower.

There are categories like cyclocross, touring, and time trial, and tri-bikes.


Shimano STI shifters: do they come in different sizes? I was sure that there's only one size for Shimano road bike shifters. But now I'm helping a friend to choose a bicycle and it seems that a lot of them have bigger shifters judging by images that I'm looking at. Is this just my perception or do they frequently come in different sizes?
EDIT: is it possible that disc brake shifters are larger than rim ones?

Yes.
Shimano introduced the 3300 STI in 1999, which has a downshift lever on the hoods, and reach adjust via screw (the main models had only rubber shims to adjust reach). This continues today as Tourney ST-A070. Generally people are quite rude about this as it is 'not pro' but it will suit some people better.

The third release of Dura-Ace brifters was 7800, and these reduced the grip circumference by 5mm compared to earlier releases, to fit smaller hands, as such products tend to be designed for average-sized men, not women or men with small hands.
7800:

vs 7700:

R700 was then a specific 'small hands' short reach model

The introduction of a hydraulic master cylinder complicated the design. The first one was Di2, which meant no mechanicals and buttons for shifting so these weren't too huge

Shimano has a habit of making clunky shifters for the low-end, and because they were charging exorbitant premiums for hydraulic brifters, came out with ST-RS405 as a cheaper version, which caused many complaints because of its bulbous shape

The pointless (and now cancelled) 'urban' groupset Metrea also experimented by moving the bleed port around which resulted in this monstrosity

Eventually Shimano settled on a hydraulic design which was not too ugly and which is now basically standardised across the range (small differences for gravel, and a bit smaller for Di2):

The one above is ST-R7020, there is also ST-R7025

which is the same but with 4mm less reach, for smaller hands (these brifters all now have screw adjustment as well). Similar models are R8020 vs R8025, and 4720 vs 4725
So several different current sizes:

Di2 (because no mechanical shifting) + cable brakes
Di2 + hydraulic brake
Tourney A070 hood shift type
Mechanical hydraulic brakes (plus various discontinued versions)
Closer reach version of the above
Mechanical cable brakes (plus various discontinued versions)
GRX Di2 hydraulic (higher hood because 'gravel')
GRX mechanical hydraulic


Rear derailleur at limit, chain still rubbing I gave my bike a thorough service recently by pulling it apart and cleaning/re-greasing everything. Now everything is back together and I just can't get the rear derailleur to work properly.
The H limit screw is already fully backed out and the derailleur is at its mechanical limit, but the guide pulley just doesn't move out far enough to eliminate the chain rubbing against the 2nd smallest cog.
During service the rear axle and cassette stack was removed, however I took care to measure the position of the cone nuts beforehand and they should be in the right position. The stack is also bolted together (except for the last 2 small cogs), so couldn't be a missing spacer.
What could be the cause of this?
PS: The bike was never in a crash, so I guess the hanger is not bent. In any case I have no derailleur alignment tool at hand if it were.
The model is a Simano Deore XT (2013)

If aligning the hanger doesn't work, it's not a tweaked derailleur, the guide pulley isn't slopped out, and it behaves the same with zero cable tension, the fix is then to put a spacer under the RD mounting bolt. In shops this would be a 1mm M10 axle spacer, but you can improvise with whatever.
It's unusual to need to do this on aluminum bikes, so I kind of suspect it's something else, but in a pinch the spacer may be a solution of sorts anyway.


Long stem influence on cyclocross handling I want to introduce myself to the cyclocross world, I'm looking for my first bicycle. I found a great used bike with a frame at size 54 (54 seat tube x 54,5 top tube), which would be slightly small for me(1.86 m tall).
On my road bike I use a frame in size 56 (54 seat tube x 56,5 top tube) with a 130mm stem, it has the perfect fit.

In my research I saw that cyclocross bikes need to be 1cm to 2cm shorter in full reach, which would allow me to continue using a 130mm stem, but would using such a long stem in a smaller frame affect the handling of cyclocross specificities(bunny hops, short and steep climbs/descends, 180º turns)?

Couple of problems I can think of:

Reduced front-center (BB to front axle) on the smaller frame which means more toe overlap.

For the same reason the front wheel will be tucked further under your center of mass, which may create problems on steep descents.


What cassette remover tool I should order for Shimano CS-HG50? There is duplicate question
What tool is needed to remove a Shimano HG-50 freewheel?

but I need a non-park tool tool. Something I can order from AliExpress.

The cassete looks like this

I don't have enough reputation on bicycles to add comment to the duplicate question  (so my only option is to post it as question)

All Shimano cassettes, and all SRAM cassettes other than "XD" ones, have the same spline pattern.  If you search for "cassette lockring tool" you will find lots of compatible tools.  Virtually the only incompatible ones will be SRAM XD and Campagnolo, and they will be specifically labeled as such.


What is the difference between Shimano 14-28T MF-TZ20 and Shimano MF-TZ500-6? What is the difference between Shimano 14-28T MF-TZ20 and Shimano MF-TZ500-6 ?

 Shimano MF-TZ500-6, Shimano website

 Shimano 14-28T MF-TZ20, Ebay shop

Does it mean that "Shimano 14-28T MF-TZ20" (which doesn't appear on shimano website) is fake?

They're both freewheels, so likely the design has been around for decades.  At this price point in the market, noone really compares features, a user is more interested in specs like max/min toothcount and number of cogs.  Thats about it.

Specs are identical - they're both 6 speed with 14 tooth minimum and 28 tooth maximum cogs.

The TZ20 is probably a later version, possibly made in a different way to reduce manufacturing costs.  Notice t that the TZ500 has a black large cog, where the TZ20 has the same colour cogs all the way through.

Minor difference is that the TZ20 pictured has a black plastic spoke protector included in the picture, whereas the TZ500 does not show one.

As for being fake, that's always possible given the age of these designs.  But there's also minimal profit in these low-end low-value items, and realistically even a fake one should work fine.


Garmin 510 lost data I rode the Georgia 3 gap bike ride yesterday.  For me almost a lifetime accomplishment.  I used a Garmin 510 and when it reached 22% I plugged in an external charger.  The screen continued to indicate my ride.  However, when I finished and hit Save  there was no data preserved.  Is there any way to retrieve this data?

Thanks, Dave Holmes

I have seen similar happen with my Garmin 500, regardless of duration/distance of the ride. For me, it occured when I had the Garmin plugged in to my Mac. I would delete activities from the Garmin and then safely remove (will also happen if you unsafely remove) the device. How to avoid this on Mac operating systems:

Delete your activities on Garmin
Empty trash via finder menu
Safely remove your Garmin device

I haven't tested if similar occurs on Windows or Linux.


How do you estimate the speed of Tour de France riders on tv? I was watching Tour de France with my father (who is a cat 3 racer), and he claimed to be able to estimate how fast the riders were going by observing the cyclist on the screen. I didn't believe him at first, but as we watched, and the screen showed their speeds, he was fairly accurate. How is this done?

This is not that hard for someone with a lot of riding experience. Often times you can tell the gear a rider is in from the TV. Then you can see the rider's cadence, and the road grade is often given. So it's fairly easy to guess the speed to +-2 mph. Plus, on a mostly flat road, the peleton will be riding at somewhere between 24-27mph, unless they are trying to chase down the lead group. If the lead group is gaining on the peleton, you know they are riding somewhere north of 24-27. And the opposite would be true. At the end of the sprint, the lead riders will be somewhere between 30-35. Given all this, it's not hard to fairly accurately guess the pace of any individual rider, at any given time.


Problems with shifter? I have problem with my gears. How can I fix this or where I can find wire like this?

You have a Shimano Positron shifter and derailleur. If you didn't know you own a bit of bicycle gear shifting history. See Sheldon Browns Shimano page and look for 'Positron'.

Simply googling for 'shimano positron cable' should produce some hits. There appear to be some cables for sale on Ebay.

You should probably try to find out more about the Positron system, especially if there are different variants that might require different cables. I think there were at least a couple of models.

Update 1: I did some google image searching and I believe you have a Positron II Six Speed.

Update 1.1: Further research reveals it's a Positron FH Six Speed. Positron II was 5 speed.

Update 2: Looking at how the cable is attached to the shaft, I think it is soldered. You may be able to re-solder the cable using a small butane torch. Or even use high strength epoxy to glue it back.


Best way to repair damage I've had kinda of a crash today on my bike. To keep it short, I bumped into a small sidewalk and ended up losing control and crashing into a small wall and went over it (me, not the bike). I was about to get up on the bike when I noticed some damage and eventually decided to go back home (not riding).

As I know 0 about repairing a bike I thought about asking around here to find out what's the best way to fix the damage. Below are some images of a couple of dents in front of the frame and on the wheel.

The frame damage is more cosmetic I could tell from the pictures. The quick release can be replaced at low cost. The bigger problem could be to take it out because the end of the thread looks bend and damaged. Best go to your LBS (local bike shop).


Affordable GPS with maps? I have my eye on the Garmin 800. It looks fantastic, but alas I can't afford it right now.
I would like a gps / cycle computer that would work well in Europe with maps.

What are my options? I want something I can couple with wheel sensors for speed (better accuracy).

Next month I intend to cycle through Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Thanks in advance

One option would be to use an iPhone. If you use software such as MapMyRide you can integrate it with ANT+ sensors to measure speed, cadence and even heart rate. These sites also have excellent mapping, training review and history functions.

Pros:

You can use your existing phone rather than needing separate hardware
The online version of mapping software allows you to plan routes and review your history

Cons:

Waterproofing the iPhone will be harder than with dedicated hardware, although I have seen solutions (such as Biologic's case) that claim to do this.
Battery life will be an issue. You'll need to find a way to keep it charging (using a hub generator as seen here) or have battery extenders (as seen in the millions on ebay).
Maps are downloaded from google maps so you'll need to have a data plan.


Headtube dent, how safe is it? See picture below, I am in this situation with a new alluminium frame (don't ask me how I ended up here, it's a heartbreaking story.) It’s a Cinelli Mash Parallax.

The headtube has a dent and I don't know exactly what caused it, but the frame has allegedly never been used.
With a bit of a stronger push than usual, my lbs mechanic managed to fit the headset. As for now, the bearings don't seem to be compressed by the dent, but I am still worried. I am going to ride this bike on the track, so I want it to be very reliable.

How safe is it? Do you suggest I try to fix the dent or will I only make it worse?

More photos here: https://imgur.com/a/JdZKwU1

The dent is not in a high stress area.

If the headset turns OK, I would ride it.

Inspect regularly for cracks, both near the crack as well as the welded side of the headset.


Tough road or touring frame/bike I recently had my bike destroyed by a car. I love cycling, and since I'm no longer a research fellow, I'm considering replacing it with a bike with great longevity (N.B. I know that until a process is perfected for constructing self-healing, Adamantium bike frames, no bike is guaranteed to survive a collision with a car). I've owned several aluminum- and steel-framed bikes in the past, and liked them all (although aluminum Canondale and GT frames had fairly thin, oversized tubes and once or twice got dinged on university bike racks, and the steel bikes slowly succumbed to rust in the rain/snow/salt of winter).

For these reasons, I've long held titanium frames in high regard, because I've heard anecdotally that a good titanium bike can last the longest with minimal care (i.e. it is strong and resists corrosion); however, I recently read about stainless steel frames (e.g. KVA and Reynolds 953), which are very strong and corrosion resistant (although I've heard conflicting accounts as to whether stainless is as corrosion resistant as titanium).

Which is the frame material with greatest longevity-- stainless steel or titanium? I've learned that in addition, there are other stainless steel frame types such as the nascent Reynolds 921 (Also, do you know the manufacturer with greatest longevity? I've read that the longevity of the frame not only depends on the material, but depends even more so on the quality of construction, and it's almost certainly better to have a good aluminum bike than a titanium bike held together by gum.) And if stainless is the best, is there a recommendation between KVA and Reynolds options? I found a couple of nice tables comparing physical properties online, but wanted to ask because such tables does not quantify corrosion resistance or the average tube thickness used for that material or the difficulty working with the material (which can manifest itself in greater likelihood of imperfections and later cracks), or any other je ne sais quoi that a bike expert like you can recommend.

Thanks for any help you can offer, and hope all is well with you and your bike.

Its not just the material that affects frame longevity, but the design of frames - different tubing thicknesses and geometries will last longer than others given the same materials.

That being said, a lot of touring bikes (often made of steel such as Reynolds 521 or the Tange equivalent or something, since in a pinch, you can repair steel in pretty much any country and its "ride quality") are essentially bomb-proof if you take care of them [the material is a neglectable factor relative to this, especially since you won't build identical bikes with different materials due to different material strengths and properties]. Some people have hundreds of thousands of miles on them with little degradation. Examples of touring bikes are things like Surly Long Haul Trucker, Trek 520, etc.

That being said, a lot of 70s Schwinns and 80s road bikes and what not are still running perfectly fine after replacing consumable parts (chainrings, chains cassettes, hub repackings, bottom brackets, etc.) when they were maintained reasonably.

Part of the reason why titanium lasts so long is that the people who buy titanium bikes are already extremely invested in their bicycles and take extremely good care of them. They aren't left outside, they get the top level of care, they don't abuse it, etc. so they see a very nice environment.

Also, very few if any decent bikes are going to survive taking a significant hit from a car.


What kinds of kickstands are good for touring? I am using a sturdy 2nd-hand-bought diamond-framed Crescent Sport bike which I like to use for random touring.

I have seen a cyclocrosser using the kickstand to spin the pedals while cleaning and lubricating the chain. I'd like to be able to do that.

I've seen a parent load a huge amount of groceries onto his touring bike, and want a kickstand that is stable enough to let me do that.

I have a middle-of-the-bike kickstand that doesn't let me do these things. What should I be looking for?

Resources

generally about kickstand here

I find that a standers, one-legged kickstand doesn't work well with a full touring load (as you've found). I used a two-legged stand mounted to the frame just behind the bottom bracket, and while that worked well, it scraped up the frame where the kickstand was mounted.

Touring without a kickstand was my solution for quite some time, until I found the click-stand. It's a kickstand substitute, essentially a modified tent pole with a cradle on the end. It's custom sized by the manufacturer so it'll fit with your bike. It's particularly well-suited to loaded touring bikes, and is much more stable than traditional kickstands. However, It takes a little time to deploy, and I'm not sure it'd work reliably with a load of loose items such as groceries unless they're very tightly packed. (More information, including pictures here.)

However, none of these will let you spin the pedals while the stand is down, unless you have very long chainstays; as far as I know, most bikes, except for cruisers, do not. A kickstand mounted to the rear triangle, just in front of the rear axle, will allow you to spin the wheels while the bike is parked, if you balance the bike on the front wheel and the rear, deployed kickstand. The Greenfield stabilizer kickstand has a good reputation in the touring community. We have one on one of our bikes, a Trek Navigator. It seems stable, but we haven't brought that bike on tour just yet. (With the Greenfield on the bike, I was able to balance the bike with panniers on it, so it looks good.)

Summary: If your frame is particularly sturdy and you're not worried about scratching it, a two-legged kickstand on the chainstays behind the bottom bracket will work best. If this is not the case, a kickstand on the rear triangle would work well for you.


Interoperability of hydraulic disc brakes and levers between model lines/manufacturers My bike came with  Shimano Deore XT M765 hydraulic disc brakes and Shimano Deore XT M756 hydraulic levers Dual Control units.

I wonder whether the calipers from one manufacturer can be connected to the levers of another?

For example, can I connect 2018 Shimano XTR Race M9100 series calipers and rotors to Shimano XTR ST-M966/ BR-M965-F Hydraulic Disc Brake & Dual Control shifters?

Alternatively, can I connect Hope Tech 3 V4 calipers and rotors to the Shimano XTR ST-M966/ BR-M965-F Hydraulic Disc Brake & Dual Control shifter?

I want to mount this set-up on Fox Talas RL shocks.

What will be the issues of mounting these systems?

Thanks

You should have no issues with your proposed Shimano-Shimano setup. You may  confirm this using the Shimano technical documents si.shimano.com.


Will a 60cm seat tube bike fit a 5"11 male adult? I got my eyes on this Raleigh:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-RALEIGH-WINNER-ROAD-BIKE-LOOK/352239962812?hash=item5203234abc:g:7YkAAOSwJH1ZLcwa

Yes it's a little expensive but I like the blue and white frame.

Am 5'11", is this going to be a good fit for me?

The seller said its frame size is 60cm measured from bottom bracket to top of seat tube.

Am a little confused because I was told a while back that measurement isn't necessarily the frame size. Is this true?

It's not impossible, but once you add the crank length and the height of the seat post bracket and saddle, I'd say it's unlikely unless your legs are long for your height. You certainly won't have much room for adjustment.

Without a test ride, this would seem like a bad idea.


Saddle Rail Failure? I've been running a non-brand name full carbon saddle for less than a year.  It lasted through a couple of crashes and 'cross season.  But when my usual ride stopped for coffee, I found out both rails failed.  When in alignment, the saddle held enough to get me home.

The break was right at the point where the Thomson Masterpiece clamp mechanism starts, not far behind the nose of the saddle.  Is there anything to be aware of about where the rails broke?   The seatpost is offset - does this mean I should be running a seatpost without an offset?

I expected the failure at some point, just want to be sure there isn't anything I'm missing before shopping for a replacement.

The first issue with carbon rail seat posts is the lack of a standard for rail diameters.  This often leads to the seat post clamp being improperly sized when compared to the saddle rail.

Due to the stress riser of a seat post clamp on carbon, an ill fitting seat post clamp can contribute un-necessary stress to the carbon rails.

Carbon is much more likely to develop stress fractures due to over tension of a seat post clamp\stem clamp\etc than aluminum or steel.  Because of this, and the above situation, proper tension of the seat post clamp (along with an anti friction paste) is paramount.

Personally I don't think standard carbon rail seat posts are worth the hassle (of fitting them propertly, tensioning them properly, etc) of saving 20-40 grams.  Double so if you are doing any type of off road riding (like cross) where the external forces at play are magnified.


Clothing: when should we wear what, are there any guidelines/conventions? I regularly cycle to work in London, at the moment the weather is between 5-9 degrees Celsius. I'm finding it difficult to decide what to wear in these conditions as I either get too much windchill (when I don't wear leggings) or sweat too much that it's uncomfortable or I look too disheveled when I arrive. It seems to be about striking a balance between not being too cold when I leave and not too hot once I'm in full flight. It's obviously much easier to decide what to wear when it's either really cold or very warm.

My question is, are there any guidelines or conventions governing what pro cycling teams / serious riders wear according to the temperature/wind conditions? Are these things decided by each rider or do teams decide?

For the question you actually ask, about team riders, the answer is that its a personal thing.

Keep in mind, though, with a pro rider (any sponsored rider, in fact) that there may be contractual things which require/prevent them from wearing certain things. The range of kit available to them will depend on the depth of the sponsor's pockets.

Someone like Santini, for example, produce lots of different clothing products (they have a catalogue online) and so getting each and every product made up in team colours will be prohibitive for the smaller teams. (I suspect non-team clothing is not an option for the riders, and you do hear stories from way back about riders sewing their sponsor's labels into their preferred clothing, so as to "appear" compliant - a bit like footballers and their boots.)

As for the rest of us....the general rules are (a) to wear your layers many, thin and wicking, so as to prevent getting sweaty (and therefore damp); (b) not to allow yourself to overheat during the ride - in practise this can mean starting off cold and relying on the exercise to get you warmed up.

Those two are good for the dry. In the wet, bear in mind that the more waterproof you go, the less you will wick, so it is a sliding scale. My personal preference is to accept that you're going to get wet, but to concentrate on wearing clothing that will dry quickly once the rain stops. But this rule doesn't work very well though for e.g. winter socks (and shoes for that matter) - the combination of cold and wet is always difficult to overcome.


brake seems slack but pad is already close to rim This is a v-brake. I have to press the brake lever all the way down for the bike to stop, but if I try to adjust the brake arm by pulling cable out a bit more towards outside, then the pad would be touching the rim already. It seems the cable has some slack inside the tube or between the brake lever and brake arm? How do I adjust this?
Thanks

In addition to all the points Jeff is talking about in his answer, there may be a simple mismatch between your brake lever and the brake: V-brakes require the brake lever to actually pull the cable a fair distance, much more than other brake systems require. As such, if you combine a V-brake with a lever intended for some short pull brake, you will simply not be able to move the brake pads far enough.
The classic cause for such a mismatch is when your bike has been reconfigured from cantilever brakes to V-brakes some time ago, but it may also be caused by someone installing a new lever without being aware of the pull length issue.
If this is the case, the only remedy is to install a V-brake lever. You may check your brake lever whether it is actually configurable to act as a long-pull lever, but most brake levers are not configurable. Thanks to Artefacto for pointing out that there are also pull length converters. These replace the noodle of a V-brake and adjust the amount of cable action.


507 rims on a narrow frame I bought my son a powerlite Jr cruiser. He would like to but a bigger tire on it. It currently has 520mm 24" wheels with 1" tires. Question is how wide is a 24" 507 bmx rim? I can't find specs anywhere. His current rims are 11/16" wide and I think it's possible to fit a 1.75 or 1.50 tire.

The bigger problem here isn't the width of the rim, it's the sizes of tires made in that ISO.  As mentioned in the comments, frame width is another restricting factor.  Junior Cruisers are made for junior riders.  If he's outgrowing it, it may be time to switch up to standard Cruiser or Pro 20" class.  To answer your question, 507 ISO rims are usually between 19 and 24mm wide.  They will run tires from 24x1.25 up to 2.25 and a little bigger for the larger side of the range.  One other consideration is brake position.  Make sure you can get brakes that will reach the(farther) rim position.


How to thread gear cables through outers and end caps? I'm currently putting a bike together with recycled parts and want to get away with not having to purchase a new gear wire. On my first attempt to thread the RD wire I ended up fraying it, cutting off too big a length and having to purchase a replacement. The old FD wire is too short so I want to switch the wire from the right to the left shifter.

New cables are cut and 'sealed' in a way that they're easy to thread.

For a used wire what is the best way to:

cut the wire to prevent fraying?
thread the wire through the cable outers and end caps without fraying?

It is relatively simple to thread the cable through the entry end cap and outer but even with removing the exit end cap it is difficult to thread through the last cap.

Before I purchased a cable cutter, I found the following method worked acceptably. After determining the cable length make a small mark with a permanent marker. Apply a small drop of superglue to the mark. After the glue dries, cut the cable with a pair of electricians pliers. The glue keeps the strands from unraveling. This still leaves the problem of cutting the outer cable housing cleanly. The pliers do not work to cut the housing. It gets crushed before it cuts. I used an air powered 3" cut off wheel. If you have to purchase either of these tools you are close if not above the cost of a Park Tool or other quality brand cable cutter.  Some times the best tool for the job, is the right tool .


Can I use a 9s front chain ring with a 10 speed chain and cassette? I have mistakenly bought a 9s 44T front chainring to replace a worn one.
It's for the correct chain type (HG).
The original was a 10s 44T.
I have a (new) 10s rear cassette and (new) 10s chain.
(CN-HG95 + CS-HG81-10 11-34)
Will it work or will the tooth spacing be incorrect?
I don't want to ruin a new chain / cassette.

The 10 speed chain is slightly narrower than a 9-speed chain. The tooth spacing of 9 speed chainrings in the side direction is slightly different than for 10 speed chainrings. In the front-back direction, the tooth spacing of all chainrings is the same regardless of the speed count.
The worst that could happen (assuming here you have at least two chainrings) is that when shifting in the front, the chain starts to momentarily skate on the small ring teeth. This phenomenon is most likely to happen when using top gear (large front chainring, small rear sprocket) and downshifting in the front to a smaller ring, before shifting in the back. This shifting pattern results in an extreme chain angle and is not reasonable for this reason. In practice, you will never shift this way, so the problem should not occur with reasonable shifting patterns.
This effect will not ruin your chain. It's made of steel and thus very strong. Your cassette has no contact with the chainring, so it will naturally not be ruined.
In practice, when having at most 1 speed mismatch on the chainrings, it is extremely unlikely that the problem would occur. A larger problem might occur if using 8 speed chainrings with 10 speed chain.


What do I need to know about this rubber stopper? I recently bought a used Diamondback Sorrento.  One day I rode it over a sizable bump and heard a popping noise.  Upon inspecting my bike I noticed the following:

As far as I can tell, I lost a rubber stopper that protects the shocks from dust/water/etc.  What exactly is it called?  How important is it that I replace it?  Do I need to worry about protecting the inside of my shocks until I do?

On your particular shock, it is as you guessed just a cover to keep out dirt. Replacement parts for these shocks are generally not available. I would suggest a visit to a local hardware store and find a generic rubber /plastic plug that will fit in the hole.


Is this crack on my seat stay mechanically safe? Recently picked up a steel frame and realised there was a crack on one side of the rear triangle, right by the seatpost. Crack seem to be contained towards the outer part of the tube so does not seem to affect wielded joint. Since it's a steel frame, I feel like it's good to go but a buddy thinks otherwise. Anyone experience something similar?  Is it safe or am I doomed for a tragic death ☠? Any help appreciated!

I think the key question is: how much strength is the elliptical plate brazed over the top of the seat stay adding to the strength of the joint? I'd guess it is adding some strength, as without it there is not much material between the main seat stay tube and the brazed joint. I'd be worried about a crack forming just below the joint which could lead to the stay detaching from the main triangle

However, if one stay detaches it likely won't be a catastrophic failure, because the other stay will still be supporting the rear triangle.

Really you need to consider the risk yourself. If you are a heavy rider who rides the bike hard there's more risk, obviously. At the very least I'd periodically inspect that area to check for any other cracks forming.


Shimano caliper not sitting properly on fork (gets angled) I just bought a new mountain bike equiped with Shimano M365s and RST Blaze fork and I've been through the bedding process.

I noticed that my front brake is rubbing a lot, and when i tried to fix it, I realised that the caliper is not seated straight on the fork. Also, the disk is a bit bent but i suspect that's coming for the hub itself as the bike is brand new.

When i try to center the caliper it sits perfectly on the disk, but when i tighten it, it gets a bad angle and rubs unevenly on the disk.

I suspect it's something to do with the washers as they not sit straight when the bolt is tightened.

First double check the wheel is fully seated in the frame. If it is, and the caliper is sitting at an angle no matter what you do, it's a sign the post mounts need  to be faced, which essentially is a shop job unless you buy a fairly expensive tool. This isn't common on new suspension forks for whatever reason, although you see it out of the box on frames quite a bit presently. Hopefully whoever you bought it from just takes care of it for you.

A related problem arises if the mounting bolts have been overtightened and caused the post mount or adapter to dent a depression into the surface of the caliper. That doesn't really happen on relatively chunky mounts like these though, more the dainty rounded ones that some bikes use.


Are carbon road bikes robust enough to use off-road? Regardless of the tire clearance, could I use my carbon road bike off road too? Can it handle the stress and load? Wont it break ? Does a road bike needs to be more robust to handle the offroad, gravel load?

Thankfully

Rob

The strength of a carbon fiber composite frame is not the problem. There are many CFC gravel, cyclocross and mountain bikes, so obviously CFC as a material can take the impacts. If you ride a road bike on a harsh, bumpy paved surfaces it does not break. If you want to be convinced of how tough CFC frames are, google for videos of the testing that manufactures put them through.

The primary features that make a gravel bike more suitable for bumpy and loose surfaces are stronger wheels, larger tires run at lower pressure, slacker steering geometry and longer chain-stays.


Minimum chainstay/crankset clearance I have just finished to assemble a track bike (Cinelli Mash Parallax with Sugino DD75 crankset).

Here is a picture of the distance between the right chainstay and the crank spider. I am anxious by how close it is (less than 1mm, probably).

Is it something I should worry about? If yes, what solutions do I have except for picking another crankset?

Answering my own question with some observations I gathered from other forums:

The bolt boss (the knurled metal ring) in the picture is visible only because the chainring was installed incorrectly. When I tightened the bolts properly, the metal boss settled inside the crank spider and I gained at least 1mm clearance. New clearance in the following picture:

Both chainstay and crank arms are objects that don't flex much, unless they are of poor quality, but this is not the case for my build.
The biggest risk is the chain dropping and getting trapped in that small gap. In my case the gap is small enough that it shouldn't happen. Moreover, given that it's a fixed gear setup without front mech, the chance of chain dropping are very low.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/FixedGearBicycle/comments/4ck3h9/crank_arm_spider_and_chainstay_clearance_should_i/


Have multi-speed non-freewheeling bikes ever been common? Prompted by a recent question I was pondering the idea of bikes with variable gearing (derailleur or otherwise) but without the ability to freewheel. Have such bikes ever been widely used?

They would appear to share many of the advantages and disadvantages of fixies but be better at handling hills (up and down) while being more complex.

I read somewhere about a three-speed  internal fixed rear hub, the Sturmey-Archer ASC (hmm, here maybe?; now replaced by the Sturmey-Archer S3X), and people were complaining that it had poor reliability. Obviously if something is not used in a big cycling sport (and has access to its R&D budgets), it has little chances for a wider market effort.


Oval p-clamps for front rack mounting in fork I would love to find some oval p-clips to mount a small front rack on a bicycle without any eyletes. Are there any available? Or any other solution?

P-clips are designed to bend into shape, whether made of steel or plastic.  The steel kind are really quite flexible and will pull into th right shape as you tighten them.  However I suggest using a (fairly large) washer under your fastener (a square washer would be even better) to make sure that the sharpest bend is away from the fastener and supported.


What's the maximum size for low-rider bags? I am thinking of buying a combination briefcase/bike bag to carry a small laptop, some papers etc on my daily commute to and from work (I was thinking something like a Vaude Newport II L, 33cm high and 45cm wide). This would be mounted on a low-rider rack attached to the front of my bike (I can't attach any bags to my rear rack, as that space is taken up by my daughter's child seat; I take her with me for part of my commute).

I have been to a number of bike stores in my local area (northern Germany) to get advice on what bags to look at, but I have gotten wildly different opinions on what bags are suitable for mounting on a low-rider rack. Some tried to sell me bags that looked far too large for a low-rider rack, while others said that anything larger than (for instance) an Ortlieb Front-Roller City (30cm high, 25cm wide) it too big for my front rack.

I understand that anything I attach to my front rack must be narrow enough (or mounted far enough in front) that I don't touch it while pedalling.

Is that the only restriction on size, or are there others?
Is there an maximum recommended size for front low-rider bags?

Starting this year I have been front loading two panniers on my commuter, with a reasonably large load (laptop, papers and project books, clothing (work and change) and food).  For what I have learned is that there isn't a single answer to how large you can go and depends on a number of factors:

Q1: Pannier Size

I actually run rear panniers (and/or a computer pannier similar to your linked one) on the front (Orlieb rear panniers), and have been through three different low-rider front rack set-ups until I found one that worked with these larger sized panniers. The main problem for me was the smaller sized front racks didn't properly support a larger rear pannier (see Other Considerations Item 3).

This was a difficult process as this is a somewhat non-standard setup the on-line information information was inadequate at best.  For example, I started with a Tubus Tara, which does not properly support larger panniers (as suggested by one of your LBS), but the Tubus Duo (you need fork that has inside and outside eyelets) has the lower rail positioned about an inch lower than the Tara which does support larger panniers.  NO WHERE was this mentioned in any of the Tubus literature.  I figured it out by going to a local bike shop and holding up different racks to my bike and my panniers.  No one in the various bike shops had any idea about these differences, as the standard touring setup is to run smaller panniers on the front, with a larger load in the back.

I also tried top platform racks like the Surly Nice rack, which did a good job of supporting larger panniers, but I didn't like how much it flexed when trying to steer under heavier loads (this makes balance difficult).  The higher pannier position compared to a lower rider made the bike feel less planted.

In the end answer seems to be a lot of trial and error, with little help out there because it is a non-standard setup.  You will need to ensure your rack can properly support your pannier size and that you can properly fix the pannier to your rack (see Other Considerations Item 3). If one set-up doesn't work, don't give up hope you may want to try a different rack or pannier combo.

Q2: Max Size

By size I assume you are talking about weight (as your first question asks about size). As suggested by other answers it really depends on if the bike still handles well  (see Other Considerations Item 1).

Other Considerations

While you didn't explicitly ask for general advice, I feel it is worth adding the following general notes about front-loading only as it is a rather niche approach:

Steering is affected by front loading, it works best with a bike designed to front load.  There seems to be two approaches here, (a) a low trail geometry (e.g., Soma GR) and (b) shifting the riders weight farther back by default so a front load balances the weight distribution (e.g., Specialized AWOL).  If your bike is not designed to be primarily front loaded  (e.g., Soma Saga) front loading will make the bike sluggish and hard to steer, this gets worse as the load increases.
You will need to ensure your panniers are evenly loaded or your steering will pull towards the heavier pannier.  Carefully loading is less of an issue when touring, just part of the preparation like packing down your tent, but to can be a hassle when commuting.  When rear loading the panniers, uneven weighting has a much smaller effect on handling.
Fixing the pannier properly to the rack is also critical in a front loading set-up.  If you only partially fix the pannier (or the pannier is not properly supported) it can twist into the spokes.  If it jams, it will result in a rather nasty crash.  The same scenario in a rear-loading configuration is much less dangerous as in the worst case it will simply result in a skid and a damaged wheel or pannier. When commuting and tired in the morning it is easy to make mistakes such as not properly fixing the pannier.
So why even front-load?  If the bike has a front loading geometry the ride quality is much better than rear loading.  Climbing out of the saddle feels very natural and similar to a bike without a load.  Plus it is easy to skid/slide the rear through corners.  Killer style points!


Tips for cycling while pregnant, and is it safe? To clarify, I am asking this for my wife!

Blog articles and other webpages differ on the question of the safety of pregnant cycling.  Most seem to think that it is okay, but some think that a pregnant woman's balance will become skewed in late pregnancy.  Does anyone have experience or knowledge that would shed light on how concerned we ought to be about that?

Sample of webpages: 1, 2 (there are more but I have insufficient reputation to post them all)

Additionally, does anyone have advice about comfort for pregnant cycling - does it get uncomfortable on a bicycle for a pregnant woman and are there good ways to mitigate against that?  And is the baby well cushioned against vibrations?

Snippets of wisdom as well as full answers appreciated.

This would have to be

one of the most opinion-based questions we could possibly have, and
one of the most important to deal with in a sensible manner.

Firstly, it must be said that what is safe depends on the woman's own behavioral history, and the state of the pregnancy. She certainly should not be taking up new active sports.

Some competitive sports ban obviously pregnant women from participating, not through any risk to the woman or child, but because she has two advantages. She has a greater blood supply, and competitors are likely to "go easy". I recall this was the case when I played competitive squash.

The mother of my children cycled (on a road bike) until month seven in both pregnancies. With her extra blood supply, she would leave me behind on the hills! She only stopped when her belly was hitting the top bar. It should be said that both pregnancies were completely normal. She did discuss cycling with her Ob, who agreed that since she was already a cyclist, she could continue, but that she should be sensible and stop if problems developed. She cycled about 60km (38 mi) in 3 or so rides per week.

She did find her balance changed. By doing the activity continuously, she adapted to that.

My recommendations are

Listen to the obstetrician. You chose this person for their guidance, for a reason.
Only cycle if already a regular, confident cyclist.
Always ride in familiar, safe places, and with a buddy.
Ignore those who use emotional blackmail in their arguments. This is an emotive topic; it needs clear factual arguments to form a balanced decision.
Every activity involves risk, including no activity, and being wrapped in cotton wool.

Enjoy!

PS The great Sheldon Brown's alter ego Carapace Completed Umber also wrote about Riding while pregnant.


How much can I reuse paraffin to wax to my chain? I've been waxing my road and mountain bike chains for a few years now, and have always used just paraffin wax.  Typically, I leave the leftover melted wax in the heating element (an old slow cooker) for use the next time, so the wax that's in there now has been heated up and cooled off several times now.

I've noticed that early on when the chain had cooled off it was incredibly stiff with wax, whereas now it's still stiff but much less so.  I'm wondering if the age or constant heating/cooling of the wax is producing a worse/different lubrication.

Should I completely replace the wax every time, or just more frequently, instead of repeatedly re-using it?

Paraffin wax is not a single chemical, rather it is a mix of alkanes with the formula CnH2n+2, having between 20 and 40 Carbon atoms. Commercially available Paraffin wax may also contain additives to raise melting point (normally 37 °C, 99 °F) or reduce brittleness (often stearic acid as found in tallow).

It's possible that when you immerse your chain, the longer alkanes are more likely to be retained in the chain. The stearic acid molecule (C17H35CO2H) is only 18 Carbon atoms long, but the O and OH groups may increase the chances of it adhering to a surface.

Alkane cracking might also be occurring, catalysed by some impurity in the pan or chain, breaking the longer molecules up into shorter alkanes. Paraffin's density should be about 0.9g per ml. Alkanes from C5-C16 (inc octane, decane) are liquid at 20 °C with density 0.63 to 0.77 g/ml. The shortest Alkanes are gases: Methane, Ethane, Propane, Butane. With an accurate scale you may be able to detect a difference in volume between your used wax and the same volume of fresh wax.


Geometry question: shorter stack with same reach? I'm planning on building a new bike soon but I'm quite conflicted about choosing a frame. For now I'm riding a GT Grade AL 2015 that I use everyday to commute but since I'm planning on doing some bikepacking tours overseas, I want to have a lighter bike. Buying a carbon GT Grade might be nice but they don't sell them as frameset and the specs they are offering are... Uuuh... Undesirable.

Now then, I might buy a CX or gravel frame, both are okay as long they can fit at least 38C. The CX frame that I have my eyes on has a stack/reach of 561/374 mm and BB drop 57 mm while my Grade has stack/reach of 578/373 mm and BB drop 70 mm.

Would the differences in stack and BB drop make a noticeable difference? I would say I wouldn't mind a bit of racier position since I also have a road bike but I just need some more inputs.
Also the CX frame costs like 50% less than the current gravel carbon frames that's why I'm leaning toward it. Plus higher ground clearance might mean I could fit 650B wheels there (hopefully).

Don't just look at the stack and BB drop, consider the steering geometry as a whole (chainstay length, BB drop, head angle, front-center [BB axis to front wheel axis]) which will affect how the bike handles; and the cockpit geometry (stack and reach) which will affect your position. Cockpit geometry and steering geometry are interrelated obviously, a bike with a long front-center will have a long reach for instance.

The Grade geometry is really long chainstays, long front-center and a slack head angle (FYI, I own one). The stack is quite high too. If the CX frame you are looking for has a very high 57mm BB drop I bet it has traditional CX race steering geometry as well: short wheelbase and steepish head angle. You'll very definitely feel a big difference between the Grade and and a trad CX frame like that.

I'd really hesitate to use a race geometry CX bike for touring. The high BB moves your center of mass higher up and the short frame and steep head angle make for quick steering - not what you want for loaded touring. I don't think you'll want a low stack that results in a leant-forward rinding position for long days in the saddle either.

There are plenty of gravel frames out there that are shorter, have 1/2 degree steeper head angle and a little less stack than the Grade. That's what I'd look for for a touring adventure/gravel bike.

BTW you don't need a high BB for 650b wheels, as the point of using those is to run larger tires (45mm+) than you can with 700c rims. The difference in whole wheel diameter between a 700c with 25mm tires and 650b with 45mm tires ends up being quite small.


How can I build my own open-source cyclometer? I am interested to build a bike but I would also like to have free software/hardware. How can I build a cyclometer with open-source software? Would it be possible to find reflashable hardware or open schematics?

The most detailed account/details I've come across for building your own bike computer is here on PIClist.

Those pages contain detailed instructions for building a bike computer using a PIC microcontroller linked to a Hall Effect Sensor (it detects the magnet attached to a spoke as the wheel spins). In addition to the build details it also features a detailed discussion of the design process which the creator undertook whilst creating the computer.


Merino or non-merino socks? I am a weekend-warrior mountain biker and want/need to buy cycling socks. Should I buy regular cycling socks or merinos? I only ride one day a week for 1-2 hours in Mexico, that contrary to everyone beliefs, it is neither hot nor cool (between 8-18 °C or 46-65 °F) year round.

Any thoughts/experiences?

In your case, I would purchase based on reviews (for durability) and feel.  Merino have the advantage of tending to stink less.  However, if you are riding only once a week (not sounding like a commute) it's less of an issue for you.  Some people will likely argue that one or the other lasts longer, but the reality is that manufacturing techniques vary so widely that you can find good examples of either extreme in both makes.  Wool generally requires a bit more attention with care (not drying on high).

My sock collection is about 95% wool.  I used to lean towards coolmax (or other synthetics), but wool socks now feel so nice to me that I can't see a reason to go back.  The only synthetic socks I regularly use now are my vapor barriers, which almost always get a wool over the top.


handlebar setup/selection to mitigate wrist pain on multiday rides On my first multi-day bike tour the only physical trouble I had after a several long days on my bike was pain in the wrists.

My current touring bike setup has drop bars with a long fork. I chose the setup so that I would have a couple different positions to ride in, though in practice I generally keep my hands in palm rests on the brake levers.

I'm sure preference can be up to individual preference/physiology, but I was wondering if there were preferred handlebar types/brands/positions/setups known to be good for addressing wrist pain.

Alternately, is there an ideal wrist position (or other strategies) I should look for, regardless of gear?

Thanks!

The biggest consideration for addressing wrist and hand pain (especially when riding long distances) is by reducing the pressure you're bearing on your wrists. Aggressive riding postures put excess pressure on your arms/hands/wrists/elbows for the benefit of aerodynamics and better advantage on your pedal strokes. For the majority of cyclists unconcerned with such things (tourists, especially) comfort and rideability are more worth the effort.

The traditional KOPS (knee over pedal spindle) has been the go to rule for adjusting saddle fore-and-aft for quite a while. Lots of people find it totally satisfactory, however, everyone is built differently and quite often different riding styles necessitate different setups. Moving one's weight back onto their sit bones and feet (two parts of the body that aren't as sensitive to bearing weight) will in turn reduce pressure on your wrists. Your saddle needs to be adjusted for the appropriate height and then set back a bit.

The idea is that when you squat (sans bicycle), your hips have to move back to balance your upper body. In the above diagram, you can imagine the effect of moving your saddle back as being a similar shift in weight.

To compensate for that more upright posture, you may need to change your stem and spacer orientation and setup. The idea is to bring the bars up and back (with some room for fine tuning.) Most touring bicycles are fitted with tall stems that enable you to achieve this posture. If you're refitting a bike, you may need to buy a new stem or some spacers.

Many people will suggest adding padded bar tape or thick gloves. While this is a great way to relieve some of the roughness and pressure, no amount of padding will make supporting your upper body all day comfortable. The idea is to use your legs and rump to get you from place to place.

Also, these sorts of issues can certainly be caused by medical complications (carpal tunnel syndrome, especially), so consult with a doctor if things start to deteriorate or worsen.

Further resources can be found at SheldonBrown.com and RivBike.com (and many others.)


How do I keep my seat from tilting back? When I first got this bike, I got the saddle adjusted almost perfectly.  Recently it slipped back (so that the nose sticks up).  I loosened the bolt under the saddle, tilted the saddle back into the proper position, tightened the bolt up, and within a week the nose had tilted back up. Did the same thing again, but cranked the bolt even tighter; still happened.

I noticed that there's visible "scarring" or scraping on the top of the seat tube where the clamp that holds the saddle (not sure the proper term for those pieces) grabs onto the tube.

This is a 2009 Surly Long Haul Trucker (touring style bike; equipped like a commuter) with the stock seatpost (pretty sure it's 27.2mm.  No real branding on the seat post).  I'm a fairly heavy rider (near 250 pounds) and I do sometimes ride over some pretty rough stuff, so I suspect that might be part of the problem.

So far I'm seeing maybe 3 options:

Get a hex tool with more leverage and tighten that thing down even more
Some sort of super glue or epoxy (or maybe just a bit of old innertube?) to keep the seatpost from sliding back
Replace the seatpost (and clamp assembly, of course).  Except I don't know what to replace it with that wouldn't just get the same problem again...

Update: Pics: (sorry, phone pics, but I think they're workable)

First: overall picture, very careful to take the picture close to level.  Top tube has just a teensy amount of slant, almost level.

Closer in (you can see some of the scarring on the seatpost):

Attempt at closer-in picture of scarring after disassembly, but can't focus close with this camera:

Here's the saddle itself, which has no bending, no visible damage to the rails, etc.:

Here's the actual pieces of the "clamp".  On the right is the bottom piece that sits on top of the seatpost and under the seat rails, there's matching "scarring" at the points that touch the seatpost. On the left is the top piece that goes on top of the rails. On top is the bolt that goes through everything from the bottom (with a curved sort of washer thing that fits into a matching curved area on the seatpost).  The opposite side of the "bottom piece" basically looks just like the visible side of the "top piece", and the opposite side of the "top piece" is boring.

Update 2: Used a hex tool with a longer arm (more leverage), removed the bolt, greased it up and tightened it as much as possible, not worrying about damaging the already damaged seatpost further. The grease helps to allow a bit more tightening. This held up for a couple months but eventually seat started sliding back again.

Final solution: Thomson Elite seatpost, specifically the shorter model with a setback in silver ordered through my LBS. (they had black in stock but decided I was willing to wait an extra week to get silver) It's a two-bolt design that seems to be the top-end for seatposts that don't slip.  I considered a Salsa two-bolt seatpost that was a less expensive, but it didn't seem to be as heavy-duty.  I also considered a Nitto S-83 which is a two-bolt seatpost about the same price as the Thomson and has more of the classic touring look to it, but the Thomson seemed to be a bit better engineered and I like the markings on the Thomson that help you keep the same adjustment.

The problem is that there is only one bolt holding the seat at the angle you want.  Put enough torque on the back of the saddle and can overcome the friction that's holding the seat in place.

A few options:

Tighten up that bolt as much as you dare (but you've already tried that).
Increase the friction between the seat post and the bottom of the seat clamp -- either scuff it up or use some carbon assembly paste (ask your LBS, I've used it to keep my seat post from sliding down).
Switch to a seat post that uses a two-bolt design to hold the seat in place.  This is what my current and previous bikes used, one bolt pulls the nose down and the other tilt the seat back.  Get enough tension on the two and your seat stays right where you want it to.


Why do my disc brake calipers fall out of alignment? Every so often the Shimano 105 7020 hydraulic disc brakes on my road bike start to make a metallic grinding noise and I can feel additional resistance when riding. The culprit has always been misaligned brake calipers on both my front and rear wheels. The fix is simple: throw the bike on the stand, loosen the caliper bolts, spin the wheel, hit the brakes, and tighten the bolts.
I'm wondering why the calipers fall out of alignment in the first place? When using the brakes while riding you're forcing them into the correct, centred position - basically the technique I described above to fix them.
I can also imagine that the calipers might move around due to other forces (bumps, etc) and hitting the brakes doesn't apply enough force to centre them. In that case it probably bends the rotor a bit. The solution in this case is to tighten the caliper bolts more but I already use full force with a screwdriver and don't want to risk doing any damage to the fork posts with a wrench.

There could be a few possible issues here:
1: You’re not tightening the bolts enough. Take the bike to a bike shop, or even a car garage, and have them torque the bolts down properly with a torque wrench. Additionally, make sure to use threadlocker on the bolts, which is a special type of glue that prevents them from loosening due to vibrations.
2: Your bike’s caliper mounts are not faced properly, meaning that they are not flat and square. This is a more complex issue that can be resolved either by getting the bike warrantied, or having a bike shop machine the mounts down to get them flat. See Weiwen’s comment for details.
3: Your rotor isn’t true. Realigning the caliper won’t fix this. To diagnose this issue, watch the gap between the rotors and brake pads as the wheel spins. If it pulsates or the rotor briefly rubs, then the rotor is not true. Carefully use a clean adjustable wrench to bend it straight again, a little at a time.
4: Your brake piston seals are dirty, and one or both pistons is not operating as it should. This can be remedied by extending the pistons and cleaning them with alcohol.

5: As mentioned by Nathan in the comments, if your bike uses quick release hubs, your wheels may twist and reposition themselves under hard braking if your QR skewer is inadequately clamping on the fork/frame. Make sure you are properly tightening the QR skewer, that it is fully closed and not contacting part of the frame, and that you are indeed flipping it and not just using it as a wrench. If the problem persists, consider switching to an internal cam skewer.
If you have thru axles instead, make sure the axles are properly fastened. The exact procedure depends on the axle system your bike uses.


Clipless pedals, saddle height and proper starting (and stopping) I commute ~20 km a day and decided to give clipless pedals a try. I installed my cleats following a guide on the web: under the ball of the foot, very slightly behind to relieve the toes, especially since I am just commuting and touring, so not focused on pure speed. I loved it from the start!

Still, I was feeling like I was my saddle got suddenly too low.
Probably I was pedaling too much "with my heels" when riding flat (which maybe explains even more how the performance gain is spectacular).

I have considered the saddle height from a few different perspectives:

I moved my saddle up and it felt way better while riding.
Still, at the height where it "feels" the best, my knee is slightly bent which seems fine.
With the general rule-of-thumb of having the barefoot heel just touch the pedal with the leg completely straight when the pedal is completely down, my barefoot foot is a little under an inch hovering over the pedal.
I know that Master Sheldon also stated another rule-of-thumb being that the proper saddle height is: the highest possible without wobbling the hips down to reach for pedals. So I would be fine from that point of view.

Which rule of thumb is most important? Is it a problem that my heel can't touch the pedal?

This leads me to my other problem which is an obvious leak in a bike maneuvering/driving having learnt on my own at the age of 20+ ... : I cannot start without sitting on the saddle already. I have no trouble getting up from the saddle for some power pedaling, even just a second after starting, but I cannot get to start outside of the saddle.

Until now it was fine since I have quite a low bottom bracket and I could stand on my tip toe on one side and be sitting, but with the height increase, this is becoming a very painful option since I am on my very tip-tip-toe and a stop over 20 seconds is very uncomfortable.

I know it is a leak on my side. But it just freaks me out. It is probably that as much the fact of starting out of the saddle as much as it is starting with a position way more in the front of the bike than usual, it just does not feel right, I feel I will lose balance (since the "usual comfort position" is way more in the back).

I feel like an idiot but just can't seem to overcome that "fear" (yep, ridiculous, I know...)

Same goes for stopping, feels weird to have to brake and get one's butt so much in front and so low at the same time,...

Any tips?

The rule of thumb of "the highest possible without wobbling the hips down to reach for pedals" seems like a better rule than "having the barefoot heel just touch the pedal with the leg completely straight when the pedal is completely down".

If your saddle is at the right height, it should be difficult to place a foot on the ground while seated. Now that your saddle is at what seems to be a more appropriate height, you may have to change any habits that developed during the time that you had a lower saddle.

Remaining seated on the saddle at a stop is uncomfortable on a well fitted bike. You should find stops much more comfortable if you stand over your top tube with one foot flat on the ground. With a bit of practice, you should be able to use a single push with your foot to simultaneously begin to pedal forward while lifting yourself onto the saddle. Clipless pedals make this easier because you can easily position the crank by "pedaling backwards" to the desired position. With a little bit of practice, this will become perfectly natural.


Drivetrain replacement on fixed gear I have been using my 2008 langster (new york edition) as my main form of transportation for a very long time. The drive train has thousands of miles on it, will occasionally slip links when going uphill, and needs a replacement. The teeth are very rounded.

I am not experienced with upgrading parts on a bicycle and do not understand what to look for to ensure compatibility between new and old. My goal is to replace the crankset and bottom bracket + chain + sprocket for a few hundred dollars.

What are the specifications I need to keep in mind for compatibility and performance?

I am also open for recommendations!

Thanks!

Replacing entire drivetrains on fixed gears is usually pretty straightforward. The main point of compatibility is making sure you're using a 3/32" compatible ring and cog if for some reason you use a 3/32 chain. In the more normal and advisable circumstance of using a 1/8 chain, it's hard to go wrong from a compatibility standpoint.

Unless there's something wrong with your cranks or you want something fancier, the normal thing to do would just be replace your chainring. If you are replacing your crank, you want any track-ish crank that's strikes your fancy, the nicer and more expensive (generally) the better for concentricity, plus a bottom bracket of it's manufacturer-prescribed spindle length, which will be spec'd to put the front chainline at the standard for track/fixed gear bikes, around 42mm. If you do decide just to replace your chainring, get anything of the right BCD and the tooth count you prefer that's made for singlespeed use. I've become extremely partial to the Surly stainless steel rings because they're well made, beautiful, strong, and economical for how long they last. If you're in the US, most of the house brand rings you'll encounter are totally fine too (Origin8, All-City, Dimension, etc.)

For the bottom bracket, if you stay with the existing cranks and presuming the chainline on the existing bike is good (the plane of the ring teeth and the plane of the cog teeth are within around 1mm), all you have to do is match your current spindle length.

Cogs are a place not to skimp ever. In the early days of the fixed gear revival and in the years before that, cheap stamped track cogs that are prone to stripping threads and in the worst case destroying hubs were fairly common. They're still out there, but a lot of us have been taught the hard way to steer clear, and thankfully the good options now outnumber the bad. Of the commonly seen good ones I would count Shimano, Surly, EAI, Origin8, and All-City (there are more but I'm speaking from what I've used/sold). I honestly don't think it matters too much which you pick once you're out of the junky price bracket, but I'm partial to the Shimano Dura-Ace cogs because of their increasingly rare confluence of exquisite precision and humble, utilitarian finish, plus they're quiet and last a long time. Lockrings are pretty much indefinitely re-usable.

For chain, the choice is basically use a basic, cheap, and functional singlespeed chain like the KMC 410, SRAM PC1, etc, a dedicated track chain, or a BMX chain if you want to get crazy. There is little to no downside in going basic. The other options have cachet value, and the nice track chains can be a little quieter perhaps.

It should be noted that some would answer your entire question from a perspective of what's quietest in each category, and that's not entirely wrong because it is an area where there are real differences in singlespeed drivetrain parts, particularly cogs.


Is this a clipless pedal? I have bough a 2nd handed road bike recently. The seller said that the pedal could work as both platform pedal and clipless pedal.

Is it true? If yes, which system of clipless shoes can it work with?

Either the seller meant clipped pedal-as in you could bolt toe clips to it-or he didn't know what he was talking about. Those are not clipless pedals. They are VP road pedals that have an integrated toeclip:


Dangers of commuting outside town to work I live in the Canary Islands, more concretely, in Gran Canaria. Our towns are pretty spread on the island, and it is really common to live in one town and working in the capital, which on average is approximately 20 minutes by car.

Some of my coworkers come to work by bicycle, they live somewhere near. The one that lives furthest from the office has to make a 30m ride in his bicycle before he arrives at the office.

I was thinking about this idea, the difference is that I should make a 1h 30m trip (estimated by Google Maps): Which is this one: Google maps link

It involves roads without road shoulders and some parts with a cliff on the right (it has a crash barrier).

Being a beginner in long trips (actually never made one that took more than 30 minutes) I don't know if this one is too dangerous for taking it two/three times a week (I work on semi-remote).

I live in a rural area, and I am always looking for new roads.  Most of the roads here have no shoulder, and there are some cliffs.

The first thing that I do when I'm deciding whether a new road is too dangerous or not is to do a test-drive in a car.  I look to see where there is a shoulder and where there isn't, I look for blind curves, I look at the pavement quality, and I look to see how much traffic there is.

Next, I try riding the road when there isn't much traffic.  For me, the most dangerous thing is a blind curve where there is no shoulder; around here, people in cars like to pass me illegally in the blind curve.  The danger is that there will be a head-on collision between the car passing illegally and another car coming the other way; I don't want to be hit by the shrapnel.  If there are blind curves and no shoulders, then the traffic must be light or I won't use that road.

I would recommend that you have a look at your route in a car, and then try riding part of the route as a test when traffic is light, maybe early in the morning on Sunday.  If riding part of the way doesn't seem too risky, then try riding the entire route the next weekend.  If riding the entire route on early Sunday morning doesn't scare you, then try riding it early in the morning on a weekday.  If that is OK, then try your plan of riding to work two or three times a week.

I would also recommend that you find some local cyclists with more experience, and ask them about your route.  Maybe they can recommend some alternatives around the most dangerous parts.  Also be as safe as you can: wear bright colors and have flashing lights, use a mirror on your helmet, carry identification, and tell someone about your exact plans when you ride.


Uncut steerer tubes too short for 21" Frames I am restoring two old bikes a 1996 Trek 8000 and 2000 Fuji Aloha. Both are 21" frames. The problem I am having is getting forks that do not cost $1000 and have steerer tubes with sufficient lengths. I am finding forks with uncut tube lengths of 250mm etc... The longest I have seen is 300mm. I think for the Trek MTB i would need around a suspension fork with around 320mm and for the racing Fuji, I would need a road fork with an even longer tube than that ( maybe 350mm). Do they make forks intended for a certain size bike or one size fits all?

Thanks in advance.

When I have had this problem I have paid to have extensions welded on to the tube. The welding must be done in a lathe, or a proper rotating pipe welding jig, so it's not a DIY project. Or look for a fork with a removable steerer tube and fit a longer one.

One advantage you have here is that many (most?) steerer tubes are still steel, so it's usually possible to weld them without destroying them. In my case I've used fairly cheap forks, so even if one gets trashed during the process I'm only out $100 or so. Also, with a little work you end up with a tube stronger than the original because you can sleeve a second tube inside the original and weld that at the fork crown too. Or if it's a tight fit, just leave it there.

For my bikes there steerer lengths required have been unreasonable (in the worse case, about two metres for a tall bike), so there was never a question of being able to find one pre-made.


What kind of pedal do I have and what shoes do I need to buy? Based on my limited research, I think these are SPD-SL clips? But I really just want to know what shoes I can get that will clip into these. I don't ride my bike a ton, so I just want your normal, run-of-the-mill shoes for these pedals.

Those are not clipless pedals and you don't need any kind of special shoes. Those are pedals with toe clips and are meant to be used with regular running shoes.


Freeing stiff nipples? I've got a nice used rear wheel that's slightly out of true.  Simple fix is true it up.
But the nipples are stuck to the spokes and won't turn freely.  I managed to get one spoke to do two full twists and still it wouldn't release.
The spokes are round profile, so there's no good way to hold them firmly while turning.
Without replacing all the spokes, what are my options to release the nipples?

I agree with Daniel’s comment, I’ve had success with using vice grips to hold spikes myself. Be careful not to use excessive force to prevent crushing the spoke. It may help to add a small “flag” made of tape to each spoke to help visualize spoke vs nipple rotation.
Matt’s suggestion of using penetrating oil and heat is a good idea, provided you removed the tube/tire and rim strip first like Daniel suggested. Brass does in fact expand more than steel when heated.
Of course, be sure to use a high quality spoke wrench to prevent rounding the nipples.