What are some alternatives to fruitlessly ringing my bell at a motorist? I doubt that motor-vehicle drivers can hear the "ding" sound that a bicycle bell makes. What are some better alternatives?

I'd go for the air-horn, for example the AirZound.

It is my opinion that screaming and yelling (the primal scream) can cause a lot of unnecessary social distress, and is not a good alterntive for traffic communication and signalling under normal conditions. It ends up being more effective when you're in "panic" as said, which is barely a day-by-day acceptable situation to be.

Air horns, on the other hand, save your throat, are MUCH louder, and have a more emotionaly neutral sound, adequate for signaling in traffic, specially heavy urban traffic.

One single thing is paramount, based in my experience with bell-rings: the activation lever must be easily, instantly accessible by your thumb when the hand is in braking position. If you have to move or reposition your hand in order to activate the horn, it will be underused and practically uneffective.

Hope this helps!


Advice needed re Carbon Fiber vs Shocks I am an occasional rider who bought my last bike 15 years ago (an all-aluminium Saracen with shocks). I've put about 400-500 miles this year and am thinking of taking up one of the Cycle to Work schemes to get a new bike.

So I remember when I went from my steel, fully-rigid Diamond Back, to my Saracen. "Wow!" is the only way I remember the luxury of getting shocks. I plan to do 20 miles a day (90% road / 10% off-road) for commuting, and have been advised to get a carbon fibre cyclocross bike. But no cross bikes seem to have shocks, and, despite what I've been told, I just cannot believe that carbon frame & forks can offer the same amount of shock absorbtion as shocks.

There's much BS floating around about the wonders of carbon fibre, and while I would like a light bike, by the time I've added lights, mudguards, and a trip computer for road use, saving a few ounces here and there seems a bit silly.

The gearing of the bike I am thinking of (Planet X XLS Shimano 105 Cyclocross) seems perfect, with a top gear of 46/11t on 700c wheels. My biggest complaint about my Saracen is the lack of a really long gear for the roads, but the lack of shocks on the Planet X really does worry me. As an aside, I am most definitely not Mr. Super-fit, being 5 1/2 decades young, and with the weight problems (85-90Kg) that go with being such a spring chicken.

So does anybody have some real empiric evidence that CF forks are as good as Shocks for the use I have in mind or is there just too much marketing BS out there to form a firm opinion ?

Any sound advice would be appreciated !

There's no frame material in the world that will absorb bumps like a bike with a suspension fork/frame.

However, the original "suspension" invention that made bicycles practical was the pneumatic tire. If you have a rigid frame and fork, that's all the real suspension you have.

Skinny road tires at high psi have about 2-3mm of "travel", a fat commuter tire at 60 psi will have close to 25mm of travel. A suspension fork generally has about 100mm of travel.

A CX bike is a good choice to build a commuter around since they generally take fatter tires ( usually up to 32mm ), but there's absolutely no reason to get a carbon CX bike for commuting. Especially one that does not take a rack or have fender mounts.

With fat tires at the correct PSI, I think you would have a very hard time distinguishing between different frame materials in a blind test. Geometry and tire size make so much more of a difference than what the frame is made of.

To enjoy your commute, I'd recommend finding a balance in the middle. A bike with suspension is going to be heavy and slow and overkill 99% of the time. A "racy" carbon CX bike is going to be fast, but rough and the handling will be a bit twitchy. A good commuter should take fat tires(32mm at least), have a relatively long wheelbase and slacker angles.

But you can commute on anything. You might just try putting slicks on the bike you already have and see how that works for you. If you are going to get a new bike, I'd really suggest looking at CX/commuter bikes with disk brakes.


What kind of pump works for hard to reach kids valves? Could you recommend a pump that can inflate this?  I want to jump off a bridge right now :/

That looks like you need to push the valve in from the back (i.e. put your thumb on the tire side and push towards the rim so that the valve portrudes more out) because the tire pressure is low. Then, hook on the pump and start pumping.

Otherwise, you can start with whatever pump you have and buy an extension hose or valve extender. The type of valve on there is a Schrader valve.


Manage and Track Maintenance Schedules I'm wondering how people manage the required (and completed) maintenance for their bikes, especially when you have a couple each with completely different component sets (i.e. a road bike, a XC, a cruiser, etc). It seems most components are intended to get service every XX hours or miles or seasonally, while others when they're worn out or broken (I guess prevent extensive damage vs. replace wear & tear).

I'm a software developer so naturally thinking of building a web app for this (amongst other features) but would rather use something that already exists if it's available.

Looking for input on everything from "I track it in a 3-ring notebook" to "my personal mechanic takes care of all that"

There are many different philosophies about how much maintenance a bicycle needs, and on what schedule or basis it should be performed.

As I prefer to never be worried about whether my bikes will fail under me on a ride, I am more meticulous than most.  I currently have 4 bikes, each with different function.

I service each bike when it's time to change the chain. I do that at 1000 miles ridden. I have yet to need more than chains, cables, and lubrication, and I've never had a more serous mechanical than a flat tire on a ride since I started this maintenance scheme.

Your question, though, is about how I keep track of that regime.  I've tried several things, including an Excel sheet, a Rails based web app I built, and just logging the miles on paper, but the problem with all of them is that they are dependent on me to remember to use them.

Given my chosen schedule, if I forget to log a day, or a week, of riding it's not going to hurt me.

But what I'd love to see is an iPhone/Android bike computer app with the ability to set more than 2 bikes, and to set maintenance reminders based on GPS miles logged for each bike. Perhaps with an "x distance or y time, whichever comes first" based reminder, with the mileage and timeframe user adjustable.

Haven't found it yet though. My bike computer will let me set a mileage reminder, but I'd need one on each bike.


What is the advantage of a "compact crankset" vs changing a chainring? It seems that I'm old (my last good bike had a 5-speed freewheel and shifters mounted on down tube braze-ons - they were indexed, though!), and I've been out of cycling for quite some time.

I've seen several references to a "compact crankset" and questions like this one asking about replacing the whole crankset just to change gearing. Back in my day (get off my lawn you meddlin' kids!) I would have (and, occasionally did) simply changed a single chain ring to one with a more or fewer teeth to change the gearing.

Why would one now change the complete crankset instead of buying a single new chain ring? Does it bring specific advantages to the table, or are replacement/different size chain rings simply no longer manufactured? (The cynic in me says that means more profit for the manufacturers.)

Getting though all the hype and testosterone - Compact cranks allow a smaller small chain ring as they have a smaller BCD. Modern tech means you can have a wider gap between chain rings, giving larger spread.

This means modern compact cranks with wide range 11 or 12 speed cassettes can get the same gear range and stepping as a triple 7 or 8 speed with just a double.

Where you would switch to a compact is if you have decided you need a smaller chairing than will fit on a standard crank. However, you may still need a new Front derailleur and possibly a shifter.


How does a double effect pump work? I have just bought a double effect hand pump (a BETO CLD-024NAG) without knowing what to expect. I was very surprised to discover that the pump inflates the tire both when I push and when I pull. How does it work?

Also, the barrel of the pump is at the rear instead of the front (by front I mean where the valves and the manometer are) - is this related to the double effect?

Pumps have an air chamber (normally cylindrical) that is compressed in order to force the air into the tyre. When the handle is pulled out, air behind the piston is forced out of the cylinder. In single action pumps, this air is vented into the atmosphere and lost (no big deal; there's plenty of it around!). On a double (or dual) action pump, this air is collected and forced through the valve into the tyre.

Single action pumps are mechanically simpler, and so smaller and lighter than equivalent double action pumps, but take roughly twice as many strokes to get to the same pressure. With a double action pump, you have to do work when pulling the pump handle, as well as when pushing, which is more effort per stroke (due to the pressure of the air already in the tyre, unlike in the single action pump, where you're working against atmospheric pressure which is much lower).


How to dismantle RST 381L forks I have cannot remove the elastomer/spring adjuster assembly from the top of the forks.
I can remove the bottom of the forks.
You undo the assembly for adjusting the tension with a 10mm hex key. Inside this 10mm socket there is a smaller hex for adjusting the tension.
When I have the assembly undone and pulled out from the top of the leg it will only come out about 30mm and stops and there is a spring pulling it back in.
I found this diagram and it is nearly the same. but no hex used to undo the tension assembly or adjust it.
RST 381EL service manual

I had the same issue and was just about to give up...I don't imagine this is the best way, but it is what worked for me.

Take the bottom covers off.

Take the caps off the top and spraying brake cleaner inside the tube to melt the old elastomers down. I let that sit for a couple hours and then sprayed some Simple Green down in there and let that sit for a couple more hours. Flipped the bike over and tapped (banged on out of frustration) the plastic tubes coming out of the bottom until the springs and old elastomer and all the filth of the last 20 years came out.

Be sure, if you decide to do this, to cover any painted surfaces. You don't want to get brake cleaner on there as it will eat the paint right off.

Good Luck!


Can a child seat attached post-manufacture be as good an attachment as a manufacture installation? I live in Japan. My wife has a regular good bicycle with a basket. I have a son who is 1 year and 8 months (he is 11 kilograms and is currently carried in a baby sling). My parents who live in Australia want me to buy a bicycle with a manufacturer installed child seat. I want to know if they're right that a baby seat installed after manufacture by a bicycle shop (I don't think we'd have the tools to it ourselves nor is it sensible) is not as good as manufacturer installed seat? Of course there are a lot of factors that could affect the installation but roughly speaking is there answer.

Here is the exact bicycle that my wife has: https://www.aeonbike.jp/products/2162

Here is an example bicycle with baby seat: https://www.aeonbike.jp/products/2152

TL;DR  I feel trailers are a safer option for small children, but the circumstances of your commute may mean that a trailer is not an option or is a huge inconvenience.  In that case, I believe that a mechanic installed child seat is/can be just as safe as a "factory" installed child seat and likely far less expensive than a new bike.

I (personally) don't ever recommend that type of child seat.  Even expert cyclists can crash and since children are often not good at crashing (they don't have instincts to roll, etc) those seats worry me.  Accidents happen and those style of seats have never felt safe enough for a small child (let alone an infant).  Both of my children (now three and four) have been towed hundreds of miles in a trailer, which essentially encloses them in a roll cage.  I've had times I've slid off trails into snow banks, and a rear seat would forced a child's head under snow.  With a trailer, it simply tipped into the bank and had no ill effects.

All that being said, I don't think their is really a difference between the factory installed model and a well built child seat installed by a good mechanic on a bike properly setup for a rear rack.  In your case, if you were looking at the money to purchase and entire new bike, I may consider simply purchasing a trailer which would work with many different bikes and possibly be of other use to you as well (some are convertible and can be used for non-cycling activities as well).  If money was an issue, I personally wouldn't differentiate between a factory installed model and a mechanic installed model.


How to pick a crank puller? I need to get a crank puller for my square-taper spindle.  There are several available on eBay and Amazon.  What information do I need -- about the puller, my bottom bracket and my crankset -- to pick the right crank puller?

My spindle is a bolt-type square taper.

(Is there a wide variety of crank puller types -- meaning I need to be careful to pick the right one -- or will it be obvious just by looking at them which ones fit and which don't?)

Here's what I have, in pictures.

As @Nathan Knutsonsaid in response to a now-deleted answer:

  There are several older square taper crank with extractor thread sizes other than 22x1, and there are some older 22x1 pullers with tips that only work with nutted spindles.

The vast majority of cranks have a thread size of 22x1. There are other older crank sets that use different sizes (two others I can think of immediately), but these would only be on what would be considered vintage bikes today.

You need to ensure the tip of the puller is suited to the BB you have. Again, most modern Square tapers are pretty generic and its almost certain any generic puller will do the job.

Be careful about buying a cheaper extractor. I had one that came in a cheap bicycle tool kit that (unknown to me, first time I used one) was slightly undersized and stripped the tops off the threads of the crank. I purchased a Park puller and was able to remove the same crank with no problems.


how can I fix an uneven hydraulic disk brake set I have a cargo bike (http://www.christianiabikes.com/en/product/26/) with front wheels having bengal helix 7.5 hydraulic disk brakes.

Inexperienced me, I have taken off the caliper from the rotor on the right side and squeezed the lever. After that I wasn't able to put the rotor back. Then I took apart the caliper (the entire thing, not just the bleeding valve) and leaked some fluid so that I could put the rotor back and took the bike to the bike shop.

They have filled the liquid up but the brakes became uneven. Bike is steering towards left when it is braked. They are saying that they cannot do any better than that since I messed with it and asking me to buy a new brake set.

Is it really true that brakes are ruined? Can I not fix it by completely disposing the fluid and starting over?

In my view its unlikely the entire brake needs replacing, although if you have to pay someone for the time needed to resolve the problem, its entirely possible it will be the cheapest solution in the end.

As already said in comments, the most likely cause is contamination of discs and pads with brake fluid. If the pads have been cleaned, the next step is to replace them and thoroughly clean the disk.

Another possibility is the shop replaced the pads with new ones. In this case there are a couple of possibilities. It may be the new pads just need to be bedded in, and the problem will resolve itself with a half dozen high effort stops. You may also need to replace the pads on the other side with a matching set as different pad material have different characteristics.


Can using a trainer damage my bicycle? I know that using my road bike with a fluid trainer will wear out the back tire more quickly than regular road riding, but does it have the potential to actually damage my bike (frame, gearing)? While not a super expensive machine, I do like it quite a bit and it is my only bike.

While on the trainer, I notice (1) every little noise from the drivetrain and (2) some flexing of the (aluminum) frame as I pedal. It's quite possible that these things happen on the road, but it's too loud to hear them.

Should I think about getting a trainer-only bike?

It is possible but quite uncommon. The trainer holds the bike upright while you throw your weight around, and the frame is not really designed for that. Bike fames are very strong with regard to vertical forces but nowhere near as strong for sideways forces. Twisting the bike between the rear axle and the handlebars is kind of ok (because it's designed to take a twist between the handlebars and bottom bracket) but it's something to minimise. You're more likely to see a fatigue failure than a simple overload.

If you are moving your upper body as you pedal you should try to learn not to do that. Wind trainers are all about sitting still and pedalling, not about practicing sprints. You should avoid getting out of the saddle, and try to minimise upper body movement. Or you may need to go with rollers rather than a trainer.

You definitely shouldn't bolt the trainer down - having it free to move almost guarantees you won't break your frame. The break I've seen was from one bolted to a concrete floor and the rider was out of the saddle when it broke.

As Billy said, your rear skewer will suffer cosmetic damage. Trainers often come with a cheap steel skewer for this reason.


What's the power loss to a squeaky chain? I've got an almost new chain, but forgot to oil it before today's ride. It would probably have been fine except for repeated dunkings in muddy water early on. Later in the ride it developed a noticeable squeak. Although I carry oil, I didn't particularly want to add oil on top of filth, and couldn't really be bothered (an ill-judged route led to a fair bit of walking/wading so time and cold were both sub-optimal).
But in hindsight, could stopping to oil the chain have actually got me home sooner? Was I wasting loads of power?
I ask in a general sense, but my setup is Sora 3x9, on a heavy tourer (and not very aero with extra bottles on the forks).

This seems to answer your question:
https://cyclingtips.com/2020/05/how-many-watts-does-a-dirty-chain-steal/
It suggests a dry chain loses 7W out of 244W, which is 2.9%.
Your % speed loss will depend on your speed and aerodynamics - if you are producing, say, 80W, and cycling at 10mph on a flat road, then you could expect to lose almost that much time (so maybe another 100 seconds over an hour). At higher speeds, say 25mph on a flat road, then almost all of your losses are aerodynamic, so it comes increasingly true that your gains (or losses) are proportional to the square root of power losses, so you could expect to lose perhaps 1.5% of your time, so something like 54 seconds.
Of course stopping to lube isn't a bad thing as it helps avoid that little bit of premature wear to components meaning your chain lasts a few more miles, but  if it was raining or whatever, it is probably better to just keep going, as it would just wash off anyway.


What is correct procedure to remove freehub body? I want to replace a defective freehub body and I am confused on how I should unscrew it from the hub. This earlier question (Cannot remove freehub body) explains which direction to go between CW and CCW but it is very confusing due to talking about drive side or not, as well as if turning the tool or the wheel.
Therefore here is my setup (see picture): I have a 11mm HEX socket on a 2' breaker bar and I will hold the wheel and pull the bar. My understanding is that I should pull the bar CCW but I applied quite a lot of pressure already without any success.
Could anyone confirm which direction I should turn the breaker bar in order to loosen the  freehub body. I don't know if it helps but the bike is a 2017 Norco Indie 3 and the specs show that the rear cassette is the "Shimano CS-HG200 12-32T 8spd".

It turns out that my freehub part was a type 49N Quick Release for which I have a hard time finding documentation. However, what I can tell is that I had to insert a 12mm hex key from the other side of the wheel. This 12mm HEX key was used to unscrew a bolt located inside the hub with the thread on the outside of the bolt holding the freehub in place.
Amongst the 5-6 tutorials I watched online, not even one mentioned the existence of that system. I found a replacement in a local bike shop so almost ready to go. Thanks.


Service kids forks 20” wheel The suspension forks on my kids bike are totally seized, never been great anyway, but I’d like to try to get them moving in some way.

First problem is how to disassemble. They are the standard fork sold on a decathlon wyldee and the sticker on the back says GST, rapid suspension technology.

My problem is they don’t have a bolt at the bottom of the lowers to undo and if I pop the top caps off there’s not much accessible there either.

Anyone had any experience servicing something like these? Any thoughts? Or just unserviceable?

Most of these older design entry level fork have no serviceable parts the best you can do is disassembly it and cover all the moving parts in grease. On most this requires removal of the little plastic caps on the top. If you shine a flashlight in you will likely see a 5mm allen screw. To remove the screw you need a "LONG" allen wrench. Alternatively you can purchase a 3/8" drive 5mm socket and use a 3/8" drive socket extension to remove the screws. Count the number of turn it takes to remove the screw so they can be reinstalled in the same position.  Once the screws are removed the lowers will slide off. Clean everything on the lower inside and upper outsides. Examine the upper legs for rust and if necessary sand smooth and spray with epoxy paint. Cover everything with grease (I use white lithium) and reassemble. After all of this you may notice  little if any difference. Most of the forks I have seen on kids bikes are so stiff that children don't weigh enough to compress the fork anyway.


Converting an existing cyclocross bike to disc brakes I have a bike (Surly Crosscheck) that is used for commuting and cyclocross. As it's a bit older and disc brakes were not legal for 'cross until recently, it has cantilever brakes for optimal mud clearance.

They also kind of suck for commuting in a rainy city with panniers.

I have been debating doing a conversion to discs for this bike, but I don't really know what I'd need to replace, so a list would be highly helpful, then I can price it out and decide whether or not I should just buy a new bike... Possibly I could also keep the cantilever on the rear and just go with a disc on the front for good stopping.

Presumably the wheels and front fork at the least would need to change. As would the brifters as those probably pull differently. What else would I need?

Hydraulics for your drop bar bike might be difficult to acquire. I believe that someone made a cable actuated hydraulic brake ... it was downright terrible.

The clamp on adaptors are in my experience a nightmare. They allow for greater vibration and therefore terrible noises.

First, check your bike for disc tabs. If it doesn't have them you could have them welded onto your frame by a local builder. As well this could be your opportunity to upgrade your bike. Haha. As well it might be cheaper to simply purchase a new fork rather than have tabs welded on. Who knows?

Second, check your wheels. Do you have disc hubs? If not you will minimum have to rebuild your wheels with a new hub. Ensure that you can build the wheels in a nice dependable 3 cross pattern to resist wind up. Again, this might be the time to get a nice new set of wheels. Or the opportunity you have been looking for to start building your own wheels.

Thirdly, what shifters do you have? Does your crosscheck have barcons w/ independent brake levers or STI style shifters? If you have STI style shifters then AVID makes a bb7 road disc caliper. This caliper has had the pull adjusted to accommodate road set ups. If your setup features independent brake levers for the calipers the road bb7 is your best choice as well.

That's about all I've got for you. If I can think of more ... I'll be back.


Why do we sit on saddles that rest on seatposts? (and not on seats that rest on saddleposts) Why do we call bicycle seats saddles  and why is it a seatpost not a saddlepost? Asking for a friend.

Like most things in English language, established convention. According to Google N-grams, "saddle post" along with "seat post" was used until 1950s, after which "seat post" became dominant.


What bike would be right for me? I live in an area with many steep hills which are all about 1000-1300 feet high. My current bike is a Ghost Northshore which is a freerider just slightly under 37 lbs. I bought this bike to ride on my own trail. However I dont do this kind of riding anymore and I am looking for a bike to cruise hills up and down and to do tours under 20 miles regularly. Climbing with my Ghost bike is certainly not the funniest thing to do. Sometimes it is just not possible. The bike is heavy, has only higher gears, the suspension takes all my energy (it is not lockable) and the saddle is very low. Its just not made for this kind of riding.

Now Im looking for a lighter bike which fits my needs a little bit better but I dont want to loose all the characteristics of my freerider. I would love to have bigger brakes and some fork travel. I found this Cube Stereo 140 HPC Race which has the right amount of suspension travel for me (I would like to take smaller jumps under 3 feet or so very rarely); bigger brakes; is light enough and most important: It is in my price range.

I need your advice if this bike is capable for regularly and sometimes serious climbing. The weight seems to be fine but Im especially unsure if the gears are right for my purpose. Are they low enough for serious climbing? Or is this bike meant for riding in a bike park? That is something I almost never do.

There are far too many options and it's far too subjective for someone to give you a straight "get this bike" answer.

You're kind of talking about the "All Mountain" to "Enduro" range of bikes. Ie bikes that can go long distance but can also go downhill.

The all mountain type bikes typically start at 140mm-ish travel. The cube you link is one of these.

The enduro bikes typically start at 160mm travel. Cube do the 160 version of that bike too.

The difference is, less travel, better pedalling efficiency, the more travel, better downhill efficiency.

You just have to decide what is more important to you, having a nicer time going uphill and sacrifise some of the down (get an all mountain). Or just be good enough to go uphill, but the downhill is the main point (get an enduro).

For decent bike, like your cube, the difference between the 140 and the 160 will be marginal in terms of pedalling and downhill.

You just have to decide, on which side of that margin you want to be.


Is my interval training routine effective for mountain bike training? During these winter months I am currently attending the gym 3 times a week. On each of the days I start my training on an exercise bike with the following:

5 minute warm up
30 minutes, 1 minute hard, 1 minute recovery
5 minute warm down

I am using a specific interval training setting on the bike. I preset the training to level 15, which is a high resistance and as much as I can take.

Hard is a cadence of between 80-90rpm high resistance. Recovery is a cadence of 60prm and the resistance backs off considerably, I imagine to approximately level 7.

My heart rate towards the end of the session reaches 170–190bpm, and I am working flat-out. I turn 30 in March, am 5' 8" and weigh approx 168lbs.

Does this training routine seem sensible for building strength and speed on the mountain? Should I be changing up the training with other types of bike training?

It is also worth noting that after the interval training I perform free weight strength training too.

Whether an interval training is effective or not depends mostly on your particulars relative to the interval. Heart rate is only a very inexact measure of effort, but you seem to be roughly in the ballpark. However, such quick switching between on/off interval state does not generally produce interval-like results and should be viewed as a single 30-minute interval at the average power of this period.

A better gauge of interval quality would be this: how long can you keep up the effort? A more typical interval training might be e.g. 6-7 times 3-8 minute efforts, with 2-5 minute rests, at such intensity that you simply cannot complete another interval round.

A goal of "strength and speed" on the mountain is unspecific enough that you can be sure it's being helped somewhat, and in some way, by the intervals. However, it's counterproductive to do interval training and weight training both in one session. If you are still in shape to do weight training after your intervals, it means the intervals weren't done hard enough. Do intervals and weights on alternate days.


Need help to put gear shifter back together! My daughter has Shimano SL TX30 gears on her bike....I think they might be Tourney, from searches I've done. The gears on the right handlebar has a button to go down gears. I stupidly took it off the bike and opened it, with plans of changing the cable. Well couple bits of plastic popped out and I don't know how they go back in to be able to change gears with it. If you use either the lever or the button for changing gears it would make a clicking sound. I'm hoping someone might have a pic of the inside so I know where and how the pieces go back in.
Searched the Internet with no luck as yet.

Thanks in advance xox

Looking at Shimano Technical Docs there are these pages:

https://si.shimano.com/#/en/search/Keyword?name=sl%20tx30

https://si.shimano.com/pdfs/ev/EV-SL-TX30-2493.pdf

whether there's enough detail in that exploded image I don't know!

Is it the left or right hand shifter?
If its the right hand one , I have one you could have cheap (I'm in the UK)

Cheers


Getting started in racing What should I know before I start entering races?

I've been cycling for one year now after an injury ended my running career so I'm still pretty much a beginner. I'd like to try my hand at racing but I've noticed there is quite a lot of etiquette around cycling so I don't just want to roll up to the start line and anger all the other competitors.

Contact a local club.

Most have regular training outings (weekends, evenings), you'll meet other racers who'll willingly teach you the tricks of the trades, the local routes and just the espirit de corps which makes competing all the better. (As well as recommending the best local events.)

Everyone was a beginner once, although not everyone remembers that. If there are no online chat rooms for clubs in your area it might just be worth going out cycling in the local area of a weekend morning and trying to see groups in similar kit and just asking people. Especially if you can find where they stop for tea!


What are my options for correcting a bent aluminum fork? I have a Cannondale ST700. A few weeks ago, I had a head-on collision. At first glance, the bike was fine. But the next time I went to ride it, it pulled to the side when I turned. Turns out my fork is bent backwards (although it is bent evenly). The bike shop thinks it's bent about 5-15mm. I've ridden it 3 times since the accident and it doesn't feel as stable.

The first image below is of the same model bike that I found online. The second image is my bike. Notice how my fork is clearly leaning backwards.

Obviously this isn't safe. What are my options for fixing it?

Can I just bend the fork forward a little? (It's an aluminum fork)
If I need to replace the fork, how can I identify a fork that will work with the bike?
The bike has a headshok (it's the back, ring about 1" long between the headset and the fork). I don't really care about losing it, but does it prevent me from putting on a "normal" fork?

It's not clear what is actually bent. From your picture, it is obvious what isn't bent: your fork is perfectly straight from the crown down to the drop outs.  Also, the boot which covers the stanchion seems to be quite suggestively aligned with the fork; the bend seems to occur at the top of the boot, just before the head tube.  If so, then it is in fact the shock's stanchion which is bent. That part may actually be a steel tube that inserts into the fork's crown. It would help to have a picture with the boot retracted or removed.

Here is what I mean, visually:

If that stanchion tube is bent, then on top of the steering problems, the suspension isn't going to work.  In this case, perhaps just that tube can be replaced instead of the whole fork?

That's the optimistic view. The more pessimistic view is that it's bent in two places. Let's rotate it back along these two points to illustrate:

In this edited image, I've straightened the boot-covered stanchion so it aligns with the head tube. Then a second bend where the crown meets the tube to add caster to the fork.

(Either way, it looks to me like substantially more than a 5-15 mm! That would barely be noticeable in the image. Do they mean 5-15 mm total displacement at the drop-out?)

Like anything else, this requires a careful inspection and diagnosis, so that a well-targeted and cost-effective repair can be performed.


Which grease should be used between plastic and bearings? I have taken apart an older Shimano 105 brake calliper, there are tiny bearings that sit inside the piece of plastic as shown in the image. Is 'standard' teflon bike grease appropriate here, or should silicone grease be used. As I understand it, the chemical composition of certain grease can cause degradation to plastic over time. I know that silicone is good for plastic, but is it good to use with bearings?

It is my belief that this fear is overstated, and I'd simply use Park polylube. (I've seen threads where boat mechanics discuss using their favorite marine grease on all their bike parts with no ill effects.) If worried and wanting to spend more, I'd use suspension grease, which is by definition going on plastic/rubber seals. A couple of the more popular name-brand suspension greases are just Slickoleum, re-packaged and marked up 3-4x in price. You can get a tube of slickoleum for around $12, or a bigger tub to last your whole life for around $20.


Repairing a Crimped Titanium Frame I have a Van Nicholas Astraeus Titanium bike, and recently had problems with removing the seatpost. The aluminium shim oxidised itself to my frame. I took it to the bike shop, and in our efforts they crimped the top tube when clamping it into the bike stand, as put it in super tight as we were going to try and hammer the seatpost out.

I'm rather upset at my once beautiful bike is now tarnished. Do I have any hope of fixing this? Would painting the whole frame, and using filler on these 'dents' work?  Can't actually believe I'm writing this, absolutely gutted.

If you are not worried about cosmetics, these dents won't affect the frame at all.

I had a massive dent on top tube of my Ti trials bike from bad crash. And rode the bike for years after that. And nothing happened to the frame. Titanium is very good in for this. Dents won't affect the overall lifespan.


How to clean and brighten reflective wall tires I have a set of Continental Touring tires with the white reflective stripe on the sidewalls, and they get pretty dirty with road and brake grime.  Normally I would clean with car soap and water but sometimes it doesn't get all the dirt off/make them look new.  It is also winter right now so it is harder to soap and water wash in the garage.  I did use a washcloth and clear water from bucket. It helped a lot but still a long ways off.  Is there a way that I can make the stripe clean and bright white again?

NOTE:  The reflective strip on these tires are a tape that is added to the tire.  I have another bike with different brand tires where they might be painted on.

Hit the tires with a bush and some concentrated soap.
In the dark shine a light on them and you would be surprised how much they shine even if they look dirty.
Once you scuff em up bad then just time for new tires.


How much of a difference do Toe Pedal Clips make in comparison to Platform Pedals? I am a novice cyclist, using my bike to travel to work with a round trip of about 15 miles in moderate to heavy traffic. I have been thinking about upgrading my bikes platform pedals to a set of pedals with toe clips. (Clipless pedals are probably out of the question because traffic is too heavy). My question is whether I can expect a performance boost (in terms of my average speed) by doing this, and if so how significant it is likely to be. (based on studies / past experience of other riders)

I found toe clips to be better than platform pedals, but not by a huge amount.

Seriously, get clipless pedals. It doesn't matter how much traffic there is as it's so easy to get your foot in or out of the pedals. The advantages are huge.

The cycling shoes are so much more comfortable than street shoes
Your foot is so secure on the pedal - you can confidently apply as much force as you want, knowing that your foot will not slip off the pedal
You can get extra oomph up a hill by pulling with your back leg.

Once you get clipless pedals you'll never look back!


Road crankset with 29er mtb frame I wonder if anyone knows of a 29er frame that has clearance for at least 2.5 tires that will take a compact (50/34) road crankset? Preferably steel.

Thanks everyone for your contributions! Some were actually really helpful, some not so much lol; thanks anyway for taking your time to post.

So, to summarise, there isn't a 29er frame that will take a compact road crankset, or at least people don't know about it. However there are workarounds which will ALMOST achieve my desired result.
Thanks everyone!

P.S. I'll update this post if I find a frame like that, I wouldn't bet on it coz of clearance + chainline issues


Attempting to Rebuild a 2000 Trek 7700 Multitrack I have/love my old Trek 7700 Multitrack, but it's fallen into some disrepair over the years including being in a flood (thanks Hurricane Sandy!)  I've been told by my LBS that it's not worth repairing, but I'd like to give it a try even though I've never done more than fix flats.

As I see it, I need to replace my BB, repair the Rolf Vector rims (spokes) and repair/replace the hubs.  I'll have to look deeper into any drivetrain problems, but I'll assume some of it would need to be replaced.

I'm wondering if these repairs can be done for around $300?  I know that's a bit vague and that I may be better off with a new bike, but I'd like to experience stripping it down and rebuilding it.  Any words of advice?

So, the quick answer is to take inventory of what is wrong with the bike, and start by fixing the things that seem possible. I'd be inclined to start with the absolute basics:

Make sure the brakes work.
The tires hold air, and
That you've got at least one gear that works.

Just take it slow and fix things one at a time, aiming for a bike that you're not afraid to ride in an empty parking lot, then for one that shifts, and so on…

I'd probably go to the library to get a good book on bicycle maintenance, maybe one of Zinn's books, but you could Google, or ask here – whatever feels like the right way to get the information you need. If you're in a city of any size check to see if there is a bicycle co-op where you can take the bike to hang out and work on it. You're real likely to have fun, get some good advice, and learn your way around the world of bicycle tools.

For an old bike that's been flooded you should probably think about:

Replacing brake and shift cables and housings.
Cleaning, lubricating, and adjusting the headset, bottom bracket, pedals, and wheel bearings.
Lubricating and maybe replacing the chain.
Adding a bit of penetrating oil to all of the spokes so that they're likely to move when you want to adjust them.
You may need to replace the free hub body (or soak it in a good penetrating lubricant like Kroil).

If you keep in mind that this is a learning project and something that is supposed to be fun, you can putter away at fixing things and understanding how to work on a bike. Undoubtably you'll find things that you "should" spend money on – but that doesn't mean you have to. If the bearing races in your hub are shot, you could get a new wheel, or you could replace the balls, add plenty of grease, and adjust them as best you can. It will work for a while, maybe a long while and you'll have learned something and saved some money. In the meantime keep an eye on craigslist for a deal on a wheelset.

If you approach it as a learning experience with a budget, I think you can easily get by for $300.


Threadless stem keeps loosening I recently got a 2018 Felt VR30. I've been riding for a long time, but this is the first bike I've ever had with a carbon fork, and only the second I've had with a threadless headset.

The problem I'm having is that the stem keeps creeping up the steerer tube; this pulls the plug up as well. Every few days I need to tighten everything up, and tonight I noticed that the headset's upper cartridge bearing is loose in its race.

I am concerned about over-torquing the clamp bolts, but I'm doing it anyhow, because 5 nm just doesn't seem very tight. I've applied some carbon paste to the steerer, which seems to help a little, but it hasn't solved the problem. The stem (from Ritchey--not stock) has visible loctite on its bolts, but maybe they need more? It occurred to me that it might have a different stack height than the stock stem, and I've played around with headset spacers, but that doesn't seem to make a difference.

Possible causes:

Deformation of the steerer around the clamp area, possibly from overtorquing.
The steerer is cracking and hence lacks dimensional stability. I've seen this cause the exact issue you're talking about and it's scary, so I recommend looking very closely for it. Take off any spacers below the stem to get a better look when doing so.
Using a plug and topcap assembly that doesn't provide as much internal support as the fork is designed to need. Sometimes plug assemblies are treated as totally interchangeable and in practice this isn't really the case. If this is what's going on it can easily have already caused cracking. If it still looks good and the plug assembly isn't snug inside where the stem clamps, try getting one that is.
Plain old poor fit/tolerance between the stem and steerer. This is pretty unlikely.
Using a single-bolt stem with the carbon steerer. This is a big no-no and could have caused the sort of deformation mentioned above.

Bear in mind that 5Nm, with or without carbon prep in most cases, really is plenty when things are working right (given common lightweight stems that call for 5, of course). It sounds like something else has gone wrong and I doubt that more torque is going to be the fix.


What causes "softness" in hydraulic disc brake systems? I have a simple Shimano hydraulic disc brake system (don't know the model).

Over time, the feel of brakes is getting soft, I have tried to adjust by tightening the screw (on the joining of brake line). I have also recently changed the brakes pads myself.

Is softness due to a decrease in fluid level?

You should bleed the system with mineral oil, not top up. If it's your first time you shoud see a tutorial video first on utube . if there is no leak you don't need to tight anything. if you changed the pads you must brake at least 50 times on a safe place at 25 km/h to get the full braking power.


Is it generally the case that bikes are allowed to use the "full lane"? Many blogs and other sources of information on cycling advocate "riding like a car" or "taking the lane" as a way to increase safety and visibility when riding on a road. But such advice presupposes that doing so is legal.

Is it generally the case that bikes may use the "full lane", or is it better to check with local ordinances? Is there a general rule of thumb one should apply in cases where one is not certain about local rules?

For any question about law, you always have to check local laws.

The general rule is that you go with traffic and ride as far to the side as safe, taking the lane when it makes you safer. In many places this is how the law is written, but even when it isn't you may wish to do so.

From what I recall of the League of American Bicyclists safe cycling class I took, in the United States you're allowed to "take the lane" basically anytime that doing so is safer.  The exact laws vary from state to state, but they all basically allow this same behavior.

Reasons to move away from the side include:

hazards (glass, gravel, bad pavement, possibly opening car doors)
the lane isn't wide enough for a car to pass safely (to discourage dangerously close passing)
where a right turn is possible (to avoid right hook hazard)

Whether or not you're required to use a shoulder or not is different in different states. In California you're allowed to use a shoulder, but not required to; a narrow lane and wide shoulder allows you to legally use the full lane (but riding on the shoulder might be better).

Police often don't know the proper rules for bikes and mistakenly think you're always required to ride as far to the right as possible. Other road users often have that same problem.

The key phrase to look for to learn more is "vehicular cycling". There was a big move to vehicular cycling in the 60s and 70s, an I've noticed many laws that make it explicitly legal date to the 70s.


Where can I find a 130 bcd single speed chainring with 58 or 60 teeth? Where can I find a 130 bcd single speed chainring with 58 or 60 teeth? I am attempting to setup a goldsprints setup using a very large front ring and a small rear freewheel.

I've been looking for the same thing for a while. Rotor makes a ring that might be of interest: A Q-Ring (oval shape to maximize power stroke) in a 56t in a 130bcd.  That ring goes up to a 59t at the largest point. They say that it is effectively a 58T ring.


Servicing a bike left in a garage Knowing next to nothing about bikes I bought a Parva hybrid bike a few years ago, which saw only a few rides before being put in the garage to collect dust. Now that I'm moving to a new city I need to get it back into working condition.

Is it worth taking it to a bike shop (halfords is near) for a service or is it likely that I can do most of the work myself using some sort of guide?

Cheers

Bicycle maintenance is well within the scope of most people with basic tools. Your task is made easier because the bike had not been ridden many miles before being stored, so it should not have any significant wear and should still be adjusted correctly. Bicycles don't wear out or go out of adjustment when they are just sitting in a garage.

You can go through a basic list of checks then if you find a problem look further guidance here or from other resources.

I always recommend cleaning the bike thoroughly including the sprockets and chain as it makes maintenance more pleasant and is a chance to visually inspect the bike.
Inflate tires to recommended pressure. A puncture will be readily evident (although check the next day for slow leak). Tires or tubes may be dried out and cracked. If so you can replace them.
Check that both brakes are working properly.
With the rear wheel off the ground manually spin the cranks and change through the gears (getting someone to help you makes this much easier). Spin the wheels, cranks and pedals and make sure they rotate freely with no looseness or play in the bearings.
Make sure shift and brake cable housings are inserted properly into shifters and derailleurs, levers and calipers, and attachments points on the frame.
Go over the whole bike making sure everything is attached properly and not loose. Seatpost, seat, handlebars, stem, pedals, brake levers and calipers, shifters, derailleurs etc,
Make sure wheel quick releases are done up properly.
Re-lubricate the chain.

Update, some links to Park Tool Company pages on the most likely adjustments you may need to make:

Front derailleur adjustment

Rear derailleur adjustment

V-Brake setup


What to do with too many old bike parts and frames to count The side of our house is filled with old bike frames, parts, accessories, etc. - Once I hose them off and clean them up, I would LOVE to get rid of them.  Where's a good place to sell them?

I work two afternoons a week with a group called "Cycle it Forward", a local organization which rehabs old bikes and makes them available to Christmas Anonymous and other charities in the community.

You should check around your community to see if there is some similar organization to which you can donate at least some of your trove.

(But be aware that random frames and bike parts, unless of exceptional quality, are worth more as metal scrap than as bikes.)


Disc brakes installation I have got IronHorse Maverick 3.2 bikes with v brakes and I want to upgrade to disc brakes. The fork and frame both has Is mount so they should be able to get calipers on them with the right mount adaptors.

Should it be possible to put 28' (CHECK THAT) disc rotors on them? (The wheels are 26 inch / 559mm ).

If the wheels don't have fittings for disc rotors, do I have to buy complete new wheels, could I replace the hubs only?

Rotor size is unrelated to wheel size, but your fork will have a maximum rated size. Any larger than the rated size will put you at risk of a (literally) fatal breakage. Disk brakes dump a lot of torque into the fork. Have a look near the calliper mounts and there might be advice on maximum rotor size.
A bike of that vintage will probably want 180mm or 160mm rotors. A nominal configuration would be 180 front & 160 rear.
Take a look at your hubs. Do they have 6 bolt holes on the non drive side to attach rotors? If not you need new wheels. Unless you already know how to build wheels, don’t bother with replacing hubs. Seek a pair of disk ready wheels.


Can I make Shimano XTR Shadow 2008 work with road shifters and hydraulic disk brakes I am getting a new bike (Giant Revolt Advanced 3) and because of GRX being completely out of stock I am not able to upgrade the GRX400 that comes with it. I will have to do it later. Since I have a Shimano XTR Shadow 2008 groupset in very good conditions, my idea was to mount this group but only with two chainrings. This way I can sell the GRX400 parts and not lose that much money since I do want to upgrade whenever becomes possible.
Now, my question is if there is any way of having brifters (Sora?) working with XTR 9 speed mechs and at the same time compatible with the existing hydraulic disk brakes (GRX400)?
If I must guess I think this may be an impossible mission but not Tom Cruise style, with some kind of workaround possible.

There is no hydro STI that can do the first idea. It would need to be an old cable pull 10 but hydro, and that doesn't exist.
The first obstacle with your FC-M970 in BB86 idea is even if you jank it together with spacers, the bearing contact areas of the spindle won't be in the right place. Also you'll be taking a component where one of the reasons it's so expensive in the first place is the machine work done to remove material everywhere possible, and then you'll be adding extra leverage to the spindle in a place it wasn't designed to take it. Someone may make a conversion BB that does it better, but then you're eating into the money you're trying to save.
Providing you solved the above, published chainline for FC-M970 is 50 and 46.9 for GRX 2x10 rear ends. So you can make that work if you accept having bad chainline. You are also sacrificing Q and will be spending money on rings that play nice with a road FD, or accepting bad performance of ones that don't.


Straight 1" OD quill stem for Townie I have an Electra Townie with handlebars offset 2 1/8" forward of stem tube.  Is there a replacement quill stem available that would line up handlebars with stem tube?  Center of handlebars needs to be about 5" above top of stem tube.

Sounds like you have a ~60mm stem   Quill stems are available in lengths from 20mm up to over a hundred mm.

Your other option is to rotate the handlebars so they get a bit closer, or possibly pull your saddle further forward on its rails.  These might be worth trying anyway - they're free fixes and you can always revert.

If you want, you could replace your quill stem with a quill/threadless adapter and then fit a modern stem.  There are many more threadless stems available nowdays, including adjustable ones which might suit you.


Separating the gear hanger from the derailleur I am trying to exchange my rear derailleur. Now I have the problem of detaching it from the hanger, as you can see in the attached image, I was able to detach the gear hanger from the frame, but I could not turn the inbus (hex wrench) either clock- nor counter-clockwise.

It is likely that you need more leverage. Off the bike the derailer and hanger will be hard to hold. If you have a vice you could clamp the hanger in the jaws and then turn the mounting bolt counter-clockwise. With the hanger held firmly the wrench you're using may be sufficient – and the penetrating oil suggested by @Frisbee in the comment above will certainly help.

If you're still having trouble loosening it, first look at the back of the hanger (the side towards the wheel) to see that the bolt and hanger haven't been "staked" – sometimes parts that are fastened together with threads, but which aren't meant to be taken apart, will have the threads intentionally damaged to prevent loosening. If that has been done you can probably still get it loose, but it will take more effort. It might be worth just getting another hanger if you have a local bike shop (LBS).

In either case (staked or just hard to move) a longer wrench is in order – if you have one, great – but if you don't there are a number of ways to "cheat" one is to use a length of pipe over the end of your existing wrench, another is to use an adjustable wrench to grip the end of the existing wrench, you can also hook the end of a box wrench over the existing wrench. Just be careful as you improvise to think about avoiding slips – they can hurt!

For inspiration:


Can I modify the gearing on a 2009 Jamis Aurora? I have a stock 2009 Jamis Aurora.

I'm looking to modify my gear set-up to make climbing hills with large loads a little easier on my knees, as I constantly find myself wishing I had one or more low gears.  The specs say the crankset is an FSA Vero Forged 50/39/30 with a length of 175mm. The casette is a 9-speed SRAM Powerglide 950 (11-32). I read on a couple forums that some people had switched out their 30 tooth front sprocket for a 26 or 24, to help out with steep climbs and heavy loads. However, when I called a couple bike shops, they expressed concern that it wouldn't be possible and compatible with the front derailleur.

So I had a couple questions for bike experts since this is my first time really looking at gear systems -

1) Would changing from a 30T to 24 or 26T make a tangible difference on climbs?

2) How do I figure out whether the rest of the bike components will tolerate a 24 or 26t sprocket in the front?

3) Finally, any other solutions for this problem that one might try?

Thank you!

UPDATE 6/19

After incredibly helpful advice from folks in this thread, as well as consulting a number of LBS, I have successfully swapped out the 30 for a 26, without losing my STI levers and without any other problems. The secret lies in adding a 'chain watcher' to help guide the chain back onto the granny if it comes off. Some other adjustments to the front derailleur are also necessary. But with a competent bike shop, it's doable. I haven't climbed with a load yet (this weekend), but from use so far, it shifts smoothly into the granny (but you have to take care you're somewhere in the middle of the rear cassette when doing so), and shifting back up to the middle is also not an issue, though it takes a little longer than before and must be done delicately. With the granny, you shouldn't use the smallest 3 or 4 cogs in the back. Otherwise it works like a charm. Bike shop said it'd probably work just fine to switch the cassette to a 12-34 instead of 11-32 if I wanted lower gearing, too.

You can easily put a 26t chainwheel on the front crank. I've done that on a couple bikes, because 30/39/52 makes for a stupidly redundant set of gears with anything like a wide range cassette on the back.

It will likely take some tweaking of the front derailler setup to get it working properly, switching to a 50 from a 52 can help with that.

It isn't an out of the box recommendation since you are slightly exceeding the manufacturers specifications for both front and total ranges, but in practice it
works just fine. I would recommend installing some kind of chain keeper like the
Deda Dog fang. This will help avoid dropped chains when shifting from the middle to small chainring.

As far as changing the rear cassette goes, you should be able to use a Shimano 9speed HG 12-36 and it's generally just cheaper to buy the whole cassette than individual rings. If your current cassette isn't worn, you can mix and match rings to build a custom cassette. However, switching cassettes doesn't really solve the problem as well as a smaller chainring would IMHO. A good granny will give you a few choices in climbing. If you go to just the 36t in the back, you've only added one lower gear and you'll be "stuck" there.

If you are doing a lot of loaded touring, I would recommend replacing the entire front crank altogether. Standard road triples 130/74 BCD don't make a lot of sense for touring. A 110/74 or even a 9 speed MTB crank 22/32/44 will give a more useable set of gears. Personally, I would take a long look at the Surly Mr Whirly crank for touring. It uses modern bearings and you can get a replaceable spider to
allow for whatever front gears you like.

IMHO, the old MTB standard 58/94 is ideal for loaded touring. 20/30/42 allows you to use a relatively close range on the back and still get all the gears you need. If you do go this route, you might need to replace the front derailuer as well.

Keep poking around on Sheldon Brown's pages, there is lot's of good info there.


How to mount a derailleur hanger on this frame? I have acquired an older Pegasus, model unknown. Guessing by the decaying decals it might be something like Atlas. Bike is in poor neglected condition, but I will try to put in on the road to see how it rides and then decide if I dump it or do some more work on it. It came with a Suntour AR II rear derailleur. The frame has simple dropout and bike came with some sort of generic deraillur hanger. The problem is that when I release the quick release the hanger with derailleur comes loose along with the wheel. Below are some pictures. As you can see the derailleur has no clear way of mounting to the frame. The frame does not have any hole that aligns with small the in the hanger. The hanger has on the backside a little edge that aligns it with a dropout as seen on the picture.
Options I considered were:

1. Drilling a hole in the frame and then cut a thread for the bolt. Which thread should I cut in that case to be "universal" or compatible with bolts that are used for that purpose?

2. Puting a bolt through the small hole in the hanger and through the dropout. Use a big washer and a nut on the backside to fix the hanger in a dropout semi permanently. I would then fix wheel axle with quick release as usual. Down side of it is, that the axle would be moved forward in dropout by about 14mm.

3. Try to find a suitable hanger. No luck so far. Through Google I have found a picture of a hanger that might do the job.

What would my best or simplest option to mount that hanger?

You have answered your own question, correctly too.

Those generic hangers are exactly what you want.  The golden piece held on with the short bolt should slide up the dropout and rest against the curved end, and your wheel axle clamps down on the hanger.

Then your rear derailleur will thread into the large 10mm hole in the hanger.

Its not complex, but it can be fiddly with tolerances.  Good work, all I can do is confirm you're on the right track.


My new crankset is stiff I just recently bought a new crankset that included the bottom bracket, a english threaded 68 mm bb. I installed the crankset and for some reason its stiff, it moves but doesn't spin at all, all it does is simply move. Do you think maybe that i need to take apart the bb and grease it up less? The crankset came already greased up but i think maybe a bit too much.

Thanks in advance
Mark Harrington

To start with, it's almost impossible to over grease a BB.  It could literally be packed in grease and would work just fine.  Too much may slow it down a tiny bit, but really, riding it you wouldn't notice.  Grease is simply too viscous to cause a lot of friction.  It's much more likely it's over tightened or has damaged bearings.  Also, with some cheap sealed bearings there could be a short "wear-in" period during which it may not spin freely, but will act looser over time.  Depending on the type of Bottom Bracket, you really could be having any number of smaller problems, but I would start with bearing tension(if it's a loose ball BB), or feel if the bearings themselves spin freely without the crank spindle installed(if it's a sealed system).  Or if the spindle spins smoothly(if it's a cartridge like a square taper or Splined), and go from there.


How to remove rear hub covers I'm trying to service my DT Swiss wheels.

I watched some videos that show how to grease cartridge bearings but don't understand how to get to them. I tried to unscrew the ends using two adjustable wrenches but just ended up stripping the edge of the nuts.

How do I get he end nuts off the axle?

For the inner nut you need a special wrench that is slimmer than a usual one - as slim as the nut is. For the outer nut a normal wrench will do - hold the inner one and turn the outer one until they no longer lock each other. Then you can take them off both.


Will Shimano Di2 synchro shift work with an XT (Mountain) rear derailleur with an Ultegra (Road) front derailleur on the same bike? Basically, can I mix a mountain Di2 rear derailleur (specifically, the RD-M8050-GS) and with a road Di2 front derailleur (specifically, the FD-R8050)? Will firmware updates and syncro shift still both work properly?

Full context: I'm trying to build a touring tandem with a very wide gearing ratio... hoping for an 11-42 tooth cassette and a 16 tooth differential in the front.

I'd use full syncro-shift to ensure I can't cross chain (at least after it finished shifting) to ensure the rear derailleur has sufficient chain wrap capacity.

The other option is to use either (1) all mountain derailleurs with a larger big chainring at a 16-tooth differential, but I understand the front XT derailleur is only supposed to be used on a 10-tooth chainring differential, or (2) all road derailleurs with an 11-42 mountain cassette, but the road rear derailleur is only spec'd up to a 34-tooth sprocket, and I'm not sure if a road derailleur with a Wolf Tooth RoadLink DM (to allow bigger cogs) is as good as a native mountain derailleur on an 11-42 cassette.

No, Shimano's software intentionally disallows you from setting your bike up with a mix of mountain and road derailers. Boycott-worthy, I say.

It's very common for touring tandemists to wind up feeling best served by doing something or other with their front chainring setup that is just never going to work well with front indexing or di2. If you look at serious, cost no object touring tandems that get ridden, you'll see a lot of downtube and bar end shifters.


TRP Hy Rd brake : why won’t actuator arm return properly? The actuator arm on my TRP Hy / Rd front brake no longer returns to the correct position. Even with no cable attached, it requires a bit of help to return to its resting position. The result is that there is a small amount of brake rub.

I’ve used the brake on this bike for two years before now without trouble. I’ve tried to clean out the arm mechanism which perhaps helped a bit.

Is there something I can do to free the arm up? Could it have anything to do with the brake pistons being stiff?

I suggest to clean the whole brake and replace the oil. After some time, it accumulates particles caused by abrasion. The oil of my brakes came out completely black.

First of all, you'll need a bleeding kit for this.

Remove the brake from your bike and remove the pads. Open the top lid by removing both Torx T10 screws. Pour out the used oil and rinse the brake with alcohol, e.g. methylated spirits. Clean the reservoir with a rag.

Now, check if the piston returns the whole stroke by itself.

If it does:
Close the lid and tighten the screws. Fill the brake with new mineral oil by help of a bleeding kit.

If it doesn't:
Open the body of the brake by removing the two Torx T20 screws on the spoke side of the brake and see what's wrong.


Is front-suspension a false-economy for cheaper bikes? I'm a 30 year old male looking to purchase my first non-department store bike. I haven't biked in more than a couple years.

My use-case is 90% asphalt (inner-city, occasional low-speed highway) and ~10% trail. Trails would typically be flat, straight, with few serious bumps. The bike could see very occasional heavier use.

I've seen several arguments against the use of front suspension forks on Hybrid bikes in the $0-$500 range, with arguments levied against them including:

They lack lock-out at this price point, making city/uphill travel more difficult.
They add weight to the frame.
They limit speed.
They require maintenance.
Its another moving part that could fail.
They're ultimately unnecessary for this use-case.

Of these arguments, speed is probably the one that I can most easily disregard, as I am not looking for high top-end speed. On the other hand, if a suspension fork at worst won't hinder me, I would see no real point in avoiding purchasing one.

Benefits of suspension forks (city/gravel road use):

Remove chatter from bumpy roads
Take the jar out of major bumps
Better traction

Drawbacks of suspension forks:

Entire bike is heavier, leading to a less agile bike.  A bike with suspension (all else being equal) will hit more holes and hit them harder.  It will also climb like a pig and accelerate poorly.
You will learn much better technique when riding without suspension.  Things like hoping curbs and avoiding potholes become more important but also easier.  The bike will give you clearer feedback.
Make the entire bike feel spongy and sap your energy.
Suspension dives under braking, making the bike perform as if it had a steeper head tube.  This causes more twitchy handling at a poor time.
On cheaper models, behaves more like a pogo stick that bounces.  This may actually make bumps more extreme.
May not be adjusted to your weight.  If you are lighter, it will act very much like a rigid fork.  If you are heavier, it will be permanently compressed and not doing you any favours.
Service - City bikes can get many hours on them between service.  Some forks require servicing every 100 hours of riding.  The cheap forks that will come on a cheaper bike may not require this level of service (many are not serviceable) but still something to consider.
Simplicity.

If you have a suspension fork you risk:

Paying more for your entire bike
Trading better components for cheaper ones to offset the suspension cost
Having a substantially heavier bike

Other options:

Putting wider tires on a bike, or buying a bike that can accommodate wider tires is in my opinion always a better option (for a city bike).  This allows you to adapt your bike to different conditions and change it cheaply when you want to.  It is possible to remove a suspension fork but that is difficult/expensive.  See this question I asked about swapping out a suspension fork.


Motobecome Mirage (I think) made in France I am trying to put this bike back into use.  The cassette is not freewheeling.  Does that mean that the cassette is locked up, or do some bikes not have a freewheeling cassette?

If it is locked, will I possible be able to disassemble and repair it?

There are fixed gear bicycles don't freewheel. Presumably you have multiple gears, so its not fixed gear bicycle (or you know it used to freewheel).

That being said, if it is really a French Motobecane (the Motobecane brand is now used for bikes sold directly from some Chinese factory), it probably predates the common use of a freehub and almost surely uses a freewheel.

The solution in this case is to put on a new freewheel. You can try blasting it with WD-40 or whatever to see if it loosens up, but at the end of the day you will need to replace it. Assuming this bike was sold in an export market (i.e. not in France), it almost surely uses a regular old freewheel (ISO threading, 1.375 x 24 TPI). If it was sold in France, it may require a French threaded freewheel (1.366" x 25.4 tpi; in which case, you're best off buying a new wheel and possibly spreading the frame to accommodate it).

See these directions on how to remove a freewheel (and if you can't find the appropriate tool quickly or cheaply, use the destructive method).


How do I properly torque a track cog lockring? I see a torque rating is stamped onto a lot of track cog lock rings:

However, I cannot find a way to use a torque wrench when tightening the lock ring. All the tools I've found, like Park Tool's HCW-17, are for hand use.

Are there any lock ring tools that can be used with a socket so that I can attach a torque wrench? Or is guessing the torque by feel the only option here?

A torque specification is not just a torque-spanner setting but a physical property. That is, there are many ways to apply the correct torque.
In this case it means more or less: pull it as tight as you could. One can conclude this from the high torque value and wide torque range.
To illustrate this let's find the force F you need to apply to a tool to get the torque t.
The spanner you used as an example is 30 cm long. Since you need to grip it you cannot use its whole length for leverage. Let's calculate with l = 0.25 m.
t = F l
F = t / l
For the minimum torque 40 Nm we need a force of 160 N and for the maximum 65 Nm it is 260 N. That is the weight force of 16 kg and 26 kg, respectively.
The limit to over-torqing the lock ring is either your strength or pain in your hand as you begin to crush its bones on the narrow handle of the tool.
One more thing: with bike specific quality tools, especially from manufacturers who are long in the market, you can assume the tool was built to fit its purpose. That means also that it has just the right length and shape that a professional mechanic (who tends to be strong) intuitively uses it with the right torque.


Mountain biking: How to ride in mud? Any one have any tips for riding in mud, and lots of it? I am talking about mountain biking.

I am doing a race on Sunday, and it rained all week, and there's a chance of rain during the contest as well.

Turn your head before your face hits it. There might be rocks and dental work is expensive.

Seriously, more than about 50mm of mud and it's both faster and easier to carry your bike. Other than that it's just a sticky version of riding on loose gravel. So:

stay loose on the bike - off the saddle or at least slightly unweight it. Be ready for the bike to move in its own direction.
try to keep traction. If you hit a solid bump, pour on the power to get max benefit.
learn to handle losing traction on the front wheel. Practice.
if you're floating and don't have traction, power on and try to either dig through it or power over it. The difference is how much weight you put on the back wheel.

But any of this is only good for short sections. Note the liberal use of "power". If you've got 20km of mud you just have to slog through it, probably on foot. Touring on a mud-over-gravel road is about as miserable as it gets.


Feeling of suddenly missing chain in bike while pedalling I can't pinpoint the problem with my bike, but the feeling is that it suddenly feels like I have no chains, and then it comes back, like it's "skipping".

UPDATE: From the comments, I think the proper description is that it suddenly stops engaging from the freewheel. Usually it happens when I'm vigorously pedalling, or when I pedal in reverse. There's also a snapping sound when it happens. And then it returns to normal after a while.

There are three possibilities that I can think of to start with:

Your chain is worn and no longer fits the cogs on the cassette (or the single cog on the hub of a bike with internal gears or a single-speed bike).

In this case the problem would usually be worse on higher gears (the smaller cogs in the rear) and under load. It probably wouldn't happen if you were pedaling gently on the flat for example.

If you have a ruler it is fairly easy to check for chain wear. Just measure out 12 inches along the top of the chain, starting from the center of one roller. On a new chain the center of another roller will line up with the 12" mark exactly. As the chain wears it elongates and by the time that roller is at 12 1/8" the chain is worn out. Much beyond that and skipping can start. If the chain is very worn it is best to replace the chain and the cog(s).
Your freewheel is malfunctioning. Two things could be wrong, there could be damage in the freewheel – either broken pawls or rounded/broken teeth, or corrosion or dried out lubricants could be causing the pawls to stick. The photo below, from A New Recyclist shows the internals of a single speed hub.

In this case the problem would be most noticeable when you were starting to apply power, damaged pawls/teeth might also skip as power increased as well. If you have sticking pawls I would expect them to hold once they seated. Broken pawls might never seat, and broken teeth would mean that there would be small (much less than a revolution of the pedals) skips when the pawls land on damaged teeth. Sticking pawls could let you go several pedal revolutions before they catch.

You might also be able to diagnose this by listening as you coast. The sound of the freewheel should be a very regular fast clicking as the wheel spins. Then as you start to pedal there should be a consistent firm engagement, perhaps with a bit of click after a moment of silence as the cog catches up with the hub.

Your shift mechanism is badly adjusted or you are shifting inaccurately.

If the shifters are out of adjustment you may find that shifts either happen spontaneously or that you will sometimes do a "half-shift" where the side plates of the chain will land riding on the teeth – rather than on the sides of the teeth with the rollers engaging the teeth. That's not a very stable configuration and usually the chain will drop into a gear, but until it does the pedals will spin freely.


changing disc brake pad material while keeping same rotors I would like to know what effect changing the material of a set of disc brake pads would have on the rotors if you kept them the same. for example, If I have resin pads and have been using them for the life of the rotors, what would happen if I switched to metal or organic pads, while still keeping the rotors the same? Would they just squeal like crazy?
thanks

Just called Shimano to ask this question for a customer's bike. For switching from a resin to a metallic padset, the answer is clean rotor with isopropyl alcohol and do a standard bed-in.

Didn't ask them about metallic to resin


Modifying SKS Race Blade Long for solid axle hubs I have a set of SKS Race Blade Long fenders. They have quick release attachments that fit around QR skewers. Unfortunately, I'd like to set these fenders up on my single speed commuter which has track hubs with solid axles (standard diameters of 9mm up front, and 10mm in the rear).

Initial idea: drill the holes in the fender quick release tabs with a battery powered drill to fit around the track hubs' solid axles.

However, I've also seen suggestions for using a round file instead of drilling, or just p-clamps and abandoning the qr tabs. Anyone have any experience that would care to give their thoughts?

If you enlarged the hole on those, there's really not going to be much material left. I'd worry about it getting mashed to nothing under the nuts.

The other thing is that the knurled surface and generous dropout contact area on track nuts do a lot to keep the back wheel in place. Messing with that seems bad.

I would use either p-clamps or, if possible, an appropriately sized random plastic bracket.


Chain Waxing - Strainer / Colander / Other? How do you keep your chain out of the muck when re-waxing it?

I've been using this colander:

There's an unperforated section around where it bends at the bottom.

At first I had it in the bottom of my crock pot and noticed there was about 3cm depth of stuff that looked like black miso soup that my chain was sitting in.

I raised the colander up by ~4cm and it's not swimming in gunk, but there's a definite residue of the stuff in the bottom of the colander where the chain sits.

The chain came out covered with wax that was a little grey when wiped off.

I'm considering using this strainer next:

Would a strainer allow hot wax to circulate around the chain but not let dirt settle in the bottom?

I previously tried plant pots but the plastic became so soft during soaking that I couldn't easily remove the chain without stirring up the sediment.

Is there a better way I could keep the chain and the muck separate  from each other while it's soaking?

Thanks in advance!

Once you have fully de-greased and waxed the chain, most suggest that you can simply re-dip the chain in melted paraffin  to re-wax, but as you have found out this can leave small particles in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Personally, I just keep a small circular mesh steel plate at the bottom of the slow cooker to keep the chain out of the debris when re-waxing. Then every so often I like to remove the debris from the wax.

Removing debris from the wax

While the wax is liquid in the slow cooker I will pour off wax into a container (usually old yogurt container that has been cleaned). Because it takes time for wax to cool and harden, typically the debris first settle to the bottom prior to the wax hardening.

Once the wax has hardened I will heat up the outside of the container (e.g., boiling water) to loosen the adhesion of the solid wax to the container so I can get the wax out as one solid chunk. The debris will then be at one end of solid wax piece, making it easy to cut off the wax with the debris.

With the debris removed, I will remelt the remainder of the wax and reuse.

Cleaning chains before re-waxing

Once a chain has been de-greased and waxed, it is much easier to clean than a regular chain that has been lubed with oil. As such, cleaning the chain before re-waxing can ensure you wax stays cleaner for longer before having to deal with debris build up.

There are two main approaches that I know about:

Soak the dirty chain in boiling water, the heat will liquefy the paraffin.  Agitate the chain to loosen debris, then wipe the chain with a clean rag.  This typically gets the chain very clean before re-waxing.
Ultrasonic cleaner. Molten speed wax has a good tutorial on this approach.  I haven't tried this so I can't comment.

Both approaches are water based (i.e., aqueous) cleaning solutions as such please ensure your chain has had time to dry before attempting to re-wax.  When dealing with boiling water, ensure you use heavy duty gloves to prevent burns.


Mounting long reach center pull brake on Marrakesh (or similar disc-braky) frame? I wanted to build a  commute/touring bike using a existing parts.  I'm considering Salsa Marrakesh or similar frame that's designed for disc brakes.  I'd love to use rim brake 650B wheels I already have.  Is it possible to mount long reach center pull brakes on these frames.

I see holes both on fork and seat stay, which are meant for mounting rack.  Wondering why can't I mount center pull brakes there.

As Sheldon Brown notes, 650B rims are 19mm further away from the brakes than an equivalent 700c. Given that your frames were designed for disc brakes in the first place, you will have some difficulty in finding rim brakes with enough reach. You might need an unsafe hack -- especially if you are using fenders.

Furthermore, your brake cabling is set up for disc brakes so you'll need to get new braze on guides or use ugly zip ties.

Most people would wonder why you'd go to such lengths to have worse brake performances and worse looks in order to keep your hubs. There are a number of great looking disc brake hubs now available. If you found one with the same spoke count, you could keep your rims.


Changing wheels on Scott 960 - will 29" 12 x 142 fit I've recently bought a set of wheels I'm hoping to change over to for a Scott 960 (2014).

The specs of the bike are here https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Bikes,3/Scott/Scale-960,13562

I wasn't sure from these specs how to find what the correct hub size should be for the wheels.

I've bought the following wheel set:

Shimano SLX MT66 Wheelset Black 29" 12 x 142 Shimano

A friend of mine thought the original wheels may be 29" 10 x 135 rather than 12 x 142. How from those specs would I determine this and does this mean I need to return the wheels?

I think you are out of luck and have ordered the wrong size rear wheel.

Looking at the page you provided a link for, the bike has a quick-release rear hub. (I had to open the picture in a separate tab and zoom in to determine this, the text does not appear to specify the hub width or type).

The wheelset you have ordered has a 12mm thru-axle, so regardless of the hub width it will not work.

Have a look at the Terminology Index and search for 'quick release' and through axle' if you are not familiar with the difference.

It's very easy to determine the hub width you need. Just get the rear wheel out and measure the distance between the inside faces of the drop outs with a ruler.


Wheel tru, bearing & cones tight but still WOBBLES I have a 35 year old Trek Mountain bike that I have refurbished.
- Rear wheel is true within +/-5 thousandth (it is true as mounted on the bike using a calipers clamped to the frame and perpendicular to the rim)
- Bearings (9 x 1/4") have been replaced and cone is tight (no perceptible rocking)
- All spokes are intact
- The wheel is set all the way back in the frame slot

When I spin the wheel under no load, as expected, it spins true without any perceptible wobble.

BUT when I ride, I feel and hear it rubbing back-and forth on the brakes -- and when I look down, I can see the wheel (and the rim itself) very clearly wobbling back and forth between the caliper pads.

Also, if I put lateral pressure on the rim with my fingers, I can feel it giving laterally, though this may be normal given that it is all under tension anyway.

Note bike was working fine until last week.

What could be causing a wobble under load that doesn't exist under no-load?

Could it be that the spokes aren't under enough tension? (i.e. would it be helpful to say tighten each spoke by say 1/2 turn?)

Thanks

As one commentator pointed out, the frame was actually cracked (severed even) at the end of the chain stay (on the gear side) near where the wheel is mounted.

For some reason I only noticed it tonight after riding home from work and experiencing an even worse wobble. Perhaps the crack got worse and became through-and-through on my long commute today.

While frustrating, I guess I am lucky I didn't get hurt...

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions...

One question, is it possible (and worthwhile) to have someone weld it back together -- while the bike is almost 40 years old, the frame is solid, heavy and steel (it's a Trek Mountain Bike from the early 1980's).


Cylinder volume of hydraulic brakes and levers I've been asking around for a while now but even workshop pros couldn't answer this (by citing exact figures):

How big are the brake cylinders of disk and rim brakes in terms of volume and surface area? Specifically the Shimano RS505/685, SRAM Force and Magura HS33 R (FIRM-tech).

EDIT   I intended to build a full custom solution working around some of the limitations given by the brake manufacturers.

In short, shifters from brand A on brakes of brand B. I went a different path so I'm not limited by this question any more.

Is it not a sealed system though?

If the reservoir holds 30ml fluid the only difference will be the fluid within the brake lines adding to the total capacity of fluid needed or used.

Even when pads get low you don't lose fluid, it may seem like you have as the reservoir will look like its gone down, it has but you still have the same amount of fluid you started with.


What kind of tire should I purchase for use on a bike trainer? I am in the process of acquiring a bike trainer (likely CycleOps Fluid 2) for winter conditioning.  Most of the reviews and other information I have read suggestion that a regular road tire will be damaged or quickly worn out on a trainer.  What type of tires or specific models/brands should I look for use on a trainer?  Should I get a different rear wheel/tire that I change out during the winter conditioning season?

To make it easier on myself I purchased a cheap wheel on eBay and added a trainer specific tire such as the Continental Ultra Sport Hometrainer Tire. When I used regular road tires, the rubber wore out quickly. The trainer specific tire lasts much longer.

You do not want to run the trainer specific tire on the roads. So having a spare wheel with cassette makes it easier to put on your normal wheel for those nice winter days.


My bike tire just started rubbing against the frame. Please help me fix it the problem is the back tire just started rubbing against the frame. this literally happened 30 min ago. please help me fix it!!

I'm going to guess that the wheel slipped in the dropouts (where the wheel's axle enters the frame).

Loosen the nuts that hold the wheel's axle in the frame. Push the wheel back into the dropouts all the way (depending on the frame, you might not do all the way; the wheel should be sufficiently in the dropouts). Check that the wheel is centered. Then, tighten the nuts.


Higher saddle height and pressure on palm It is recommended to adjust saddle height using a formula. I made calculation and adjusted the saddle position to a higher point than my usual riding position. But now pressure on my palm increased significantly in spite of comfort in riding. Should I use some hand gloves or put some good type of handlebar cover? What are the recommendations for saddle height and palm pressure adjustment?

Rather than setting your seat height according to a formula, I recommend setting it through experimentation. The rule of thumb is that you should set your seat height so that when one leg is fully extended at the bottom of the pedal stroke, that knee should be almost but not quite straight. You should be able to pedal comfortably without rocking your hips in this position. Note that this height can change based on how much you ride, the fore/aft position of the seat on the seatpost, your age, etc. This is just a starting point--you need to repeatedly fine-tune your seat height to find what works for you.
Raising your seat without making any other changes is naturally going to rotate your torso forward so that you carry more weight on your hands, as you've discovered. You may simply get accustomed to this in time. You could also raise your handlebars to rotate your position back. Lots of cyclists (myself included) do wear padded gloves, and it's not a bad idea to try them, but these are more to smooth out shocks transmitted through the handlebars than to redistribute your weight. Either adapting to your position or correcting it is more important.


Can one use a 26" tube in a 27.5" tire or a 27.5" tube in a 29" tire? I upgraded my bike but have a bunch of old tubes lying around. Can I use them?

yes I'm pretty sure it should work. have not tried it myself but when you pump up a tube outside of the tire the diameter increases quite a lot (so the change in diameter from 26-27.5 or from 27.5-29") should not be an issue imo.


Laws against electric assist bicycle with energy recovery? Is an electric bike like this required any special license. The power applied comes from the collected kinetic inertia from going down hill or stored from the rider then the stored power can then be applied while going up hill or to go faster. Are there laws restricting bikes like this anywhere before I buy one?

New Zealand

There is no speed limit for a bicycle, but you can be charged for "dangerous use of a vehicle"

An electric bicycle must have no more than 300W of power in addition to the rider's mandatory pedal input.  Bicycles do not need registration or licencing, but there are lighting/reflector, braking and helmet requirements.

Any more than 300W and it becomes an electric motorcycle, regardless of whether it has pedals or not. At that point it requires licencing and registration and the rider needs a motorcycle endorsement on their driving license.

If your bike has electric brakes that do energy recovery, then that is irrelevant to the power output of the motor.  Your ride does require two independent braking systems, so that failure of one does not prevent the other from working.

By comparison, a liquid fuel motorbike without pedals, and cubic engine capacity of under 50cc still requires registration and licencing, but can be ridden by a licenced rider with a car endorsement only.  A motorbike licence is not required.


I want to increase my gear range, will my front gears affect the cassette I can use? I'm contemplating increasing my road bikes gear range. I have a race coming up that has some significant climbing. My question is if I want to increase the teeth on my rear cassette will that be limited by the type of gears I have at the front? My set up currently is a Shimano Claris FD 2403 front mech, Shimano HG50-8 11-30t cassette. Would I be able to increase the cassette to 32t or more without it being incompatible with the front mech?

Your cassette won't affect your front mech. You may need a longer chain, and your rear derailleur might not be designed to handle the larger cassette, but that's another question.

Also, the difference between a 30-tooth and 32-tooth gear is barely noticeable. Go for a 34-tooth low gear.


How to get grease out of my brake rotor holes I got an as-is bike used that came with disc brakes. Both brakes squealed so I cleaned both rotors and both sets of pads. That fixed the back one but not the front one. I removed the pads and noticed that there is something that looks like grease in the holes of my front rotor. I used a q-tip and rubbing alcohol to clean both the pads and rotor and that quiets it down for a short time, until the grease re distributes over the rotor surface.

I'm sure someone will be able to provide a better answer before too long, but my solution for this sort of situations is baby wipes. I've used them on various parts of bikes (and babies) and they work really well - I think it's mainly thanks to their ability to hold/absorb substances. Things to bear in mind:

We use pampers sensitive and I assume most brands will give you similar results, but I do note that pampers sensitives are fairly flossy in texture whereas some brands like huggies are more cloth like. Hope it's ok to use brand names on stack exchange?
I imagine it may take some experimentation before you find a way of dealing with the shape of the rotor, feeding wipes through holes, getting into awkward corners etc.
You may also find they leave some floss on, it might be worth clearing that so that you don't jump from the frypan into the fire - the wipes may have not been tested under the pressure and temperature present in disc brake systems. If the floss is synthetic it could melt under heat and become harder to remove.


Better to change rim or tyre size to get lower rolling resistance on trekking tyre? Changed back tyre 700x35c (WTB ALLTERRAINasaurus) to 700x23c (Schwalbe Lugano) and front rim from 18 to 13 inner width (photo below), is it better to change rim or tyre size to get lower rolling resistance ?

One of changes made significant improvement (>20% shorter travel time), but not sure which one.

Pressure around max 500kPa front, 700kPa back (max. >8bars)

The tire change would have been the biggest change, the ALLTERRAINasaurus is a knobby tire, while the Lugano is a slick road tire.

Years back I used an ALLTERRAINasaurus and it had to be one of the slowest touring tires I have used in my life. Some earlier versions I later found out also had an incredibly stiff casing making it even less efficient.

I have also ridden on Lugano as well. It is a slower tire too, kind of like a gatorskin, but no where near as slow as the ALLTERRAINasaurus.

Note that  your pressure could be an additional confounded factor, that said from my experience with both tires I would put money on the the tire change being the culprit. The rear wheel also carries the most weight so will be disproportionately affected by rolling resistance.


Buy a new cycle or assemble new parts? My budget is $300 - $400. I live in India.
My doubt is whether, its better buying a new bike or just assemble different good company spare parts (used or new).
I am very new to cycling, so please help...

Don't know about India, but assembling from parts in my end of the world costs a lot more than a new bike. I know of many instances where people buy a "donor" bike for good new parts at a reasonable price. If you can get parts at the right price, it may be worth it, but problems with compatibility between components can lead to a  lot of blood, sweat and tears, as well as expense, especially for a beginner. It seems every year has at least one small but significant change that is incompatible with last years model.... Something as simple as seat posts - One post recently someone counted 39 different sizes -size increments are 0.1mm - measuring the hole that accurately is not possible for most of us.

I don't know about India. but where I live you can get great secondhand bikes for good prices, if you do homework and take care. My 14 year old neighbor just got a "new condition" second hand bike for $850 -  a new one with equivalent components would have been $2.5K. The previous owner was obviously a fanatic on maintenance and all of the important bits look anything more than a few 100km old. It's not risk free, but its the best way to ride a better bike than you would otherwise be able to.

The other option is end of season and last years bikes - often 1/2 retail price just because the color changed. This is a good way to get into a new bike cheaply.


Snow Tire Wraps for Bicycles In some areas of the world, cars are allowed to use snow chains (or cables) in order to increase traction on ice and snow. This is slightly complicated on bicycles, but has been done. The main problems seem to be the chain being fixed to the tire while avoiding the rims (for brakes; presumably this can be relaxed for bikes with disc brakes to grab around the rims).

As an alternative to installing tire chains, various manufacturers have been selling snow socks (wraps) for car tires, which are temporary stretchable covers for your tires designed to increase traction in winter driving conditions without having to install chains or specific winter tires. While I haven't used them, they seem to be helpful for occasional cases where all season tires are not comfortably enough. It seems like some of them work on changing texture due to water absorption due to tire heating (which I don't think will happen on a bicycle, but depending on absorption rate, could be pre-treated with warm water before riding), while others start textured.

Does anybody offer snow socks for bicycles? (I was not able to find them, but I'm guessing you could stitch together a set for both tires from one car snow sock, possibly with some additional fastenings to prevent the cover from rolling off. I also did not see a similar product for motorcycles.).
If they exist: Has anyone tried to use snow socks on bicycles? If so, did they offer a significant advantage over running a smooth road tire or a non-smooth commuter tire such as this (or alternatively, some knobby variety of tire) without the sock?
If they do not exist: Does anyone have some theoretical insights to the last problem?

I realize there are two issues here - snow and ice, which are related but somewhat distinct due to the types of snow and ice, so characterizations in both cases would be useful. Snow socks are useful for on-road use, so lets restrict the answers to the case for on-road use.

This question is primarily of theoretical interest, given the installation times for snow chains being longer than a tire swap, but snow socks should be quicker if they can be fastened to the tire around the rim as in the disc brake case.

You can avoid this problem altogether with studded tires

The pattern is deep enough so that it grabs quite well on the snow, and the studs give you a very good grip on ice and hard snow. On uniformly flat ice, the grip is almost as good as asphalt.

If the tires are good, you can wear them for all winter season, even if there is no ice. The studs are not very prominent, so the whole tire is still in contact with the road. This solves the problem of having to adapt to weather conditions. At my local bike store they assured me they would last for at least 5 years.

Source: I have tires like the one in the image in the Swedish winter.

PS: here, I have never seen cars them using chains or socks, they have winter tires instead, pretty much a car version of the image. Not all have studs, though.