Bicycle shorts fit: do leg grippers stretch out? I am looking for padded bicycle shorts. When trying on candidates, all of the "leg grippers", as described in this answer, feel uncomfortably tight around my thighs, which are on the meaty side. They feel as if they might start to cut off some circulation to my lower leg. Is this common in new pairs of shorts? Do the leg grippers stretch out, or will they retain this uncomfortable tightness?

The short answer is "sometimes". There are a few different styles of leg grippers.  Some are more likely to stretch than others.

Thick Silicone leg grippers, in my experience stretch the least and are the least comfortable. While they do a great job of not letting the pant leg slip, I find the level of discomfort not worth it.

My favorite kind have a slightly different material than the rest of the short, similar "strechiness" but only slightly tacky on the inside. These, I've found do stretch out over time but in similar fashion to the rest of the short's material.

There are some shorts that have the tackiness of the above type but bind a little more and can stretch over time.  I have a few pairs but the wider the band the more tolerant I am of the binding

There is another type that tends to stretch out which is, more or less, a cinched, folder over piece of the same material found in the rest of the short. As mentioned, they do tend to stretch out and don't often stay in place as well as the tacky kinds.
There are also grippers that have little silicone "dots" to help hold in place. I usually find that they're less binding but they can be put on any material so the stretch durability is hard to nail down


Best Way to Upgrade My Bike About three months ago I bought a second hand bike for £70; to be honest it is reasonably good. Current setup for gears is a 2 x 18 (38-48 front, 13-28 rear).

As far as I can tell it's not a branded Shimano system, just some generic Shimano 8 speed (the shifters say ST-2200 and the RD looks like the RD-2200).

I want to upgrade the bike as I keep having to re-index the RD, and I think it's just worn and sluggish. Also I want a cassette with a larger low gear (maybe a 30) as I have a big hill by my house and I struggle to get up it.

I was thinking as Wiggle has a sale I would upgrade to Shimano CS-HG41 8-Speed Cassette 11-30T and Shimano Sora R3000 9 Speed Rear Mech. I was thinking of possibly changing the 38 chainring to a 36 or even a 34.

I ride 8miles to work and back 4 times a week (64miles a week) with a backpack for food and clothes, and as I said the bike isn't too bad, I just want the hills to be a bit easier.

Would the above new setup be ok, or is there a better way of me achieving this?

I have added a link to a bike calculator for my hopeful setup.

http://www.gear-calculator.com/?GR=DERS&KB=38,48&RZ=13,14,16,19,20,22,24,28&UF=2150&TF=80&SL=2.5&UN=MPH&DV=teeth&GR2=DERS&KB2=36,48&RZ2=11,13,15,17,20,23,26,30&UF2=2150

Thanks for any responses.

I had a look and the smallest cog does have another set of holes about 65mm in diamater. Also the holes on the current smalles chainring are 125mm.

2200 is the Shimano Claris line from 2009, so not 'unbranded', but at the bottom end of Shimano hierarchy.

Firstly, the derailleur itself is probably not causing shifting issues. Replacing the shift housing and cable will very likely fix the shifting and keep the indexing properly adjusted. Check chain and cassette wear as well.

A 9 speed Sora derailleur with a 8 speed cassette and Claris 8 speed shifter should in fact work. The reason is that all Shimano road rear derailleurs and shifters at 10 speed and below generally use the same cable pull ratios. You can also consider the Claris RD-R2000, which will work a little better than the RD-2200.

The RD-R3000 and RD-R2000 will work with a cassette with a large sprocket up to 34 teeth.

The 48/38 crankset is a bit weird. Fitting a smaller ring depends on the bolt circle diameter (BCD) of the crank. What has probably happened is that a previous owner has fitted a smaller big ring to a 130mm BCD crank which limits the small ring size to (usually) 39 teeth. If the BCD is 110mm, you'll be able to go to a 34 tooth small ring at least.

Remember that if you do change the cassette you'll need to replace the chain as well.

Edited to add: There is another route to a drivetrain with a spread of ratios - buy a different used bike that has what you want (and re-sell the current bike). This is my standard advice in these situations as upgrades can easily cost a significant fraction of the original cost of the bike, and entail headaches and frustration.


Is it legal for a car to overtake me as I overtake a parked car in UK? The road has one lane. There is a parked car on the side. I overtake it and position myself in the middle of the road because no car is coming from the front. Often enough, at the same time I get overtaken by a car from behind.

I feel like this is illegal as it creates a double overtake…

I guess I can prevent this by going more to the right when overtaking so that the cars behind me cannot pass at the same moment, but should I?

A parked car isn't moving, so you're not overtaking it.

Whether it's legal, safe, or sensible for the car to overtake you is another matter, and very heavily dependent on the circumstance. Consider a long straight road with a line of parked cars and no oncoming traffic. You take up much of your side of the road staying outside the door zone, and the car is mainly over the line as it passes you with plenty of room.  No problem. Now you approach a bend, the the centre line goes to a double solid line. It's now illegal to overtake you, parked cars or no parked cars (unless you're doing less than 10mph).

Generally speaking you should rise far enough from parked cars that if one of them suddenly opens a door it doesn't hit you. That's not always possible (the worst obvious problem case is when the door zone is marked as a bike lane). Riding this wide is likely to delay cars behind you depending on oncoming traffic, and in reality that is something you need to take into account.


Ideal pants for bicycle commuting the rain I commute about 10 miles a day in Portland, OR.  Needless to say rain is a big part of many of my rides.  My current rain pants leave me almost as sweaty as if I had just ridden without the rain gear.  So I'm looking for pants with a hard shell/ gore-tex/ dwr front and soft shell sides and back.  I figure that this combination has to exist out there and that it would help with my moisture transfer issues.  Who makes my Holy grail of rain gear?

Which pants do you have right now? And did you enjoy that downpour yesterday? There wasn't a dry cyclist in the city, breathable pants or not. Some days we're just going to get wet.

Showers pass is made right here in portland, and I use them on all the nasty days, for me they work great http://www.rei.com/product/821425/showers-pass-roadie-event-bike-rain-pants-mens

Arc'teryx, even though I can't pronounce their name, make the top of the line holy grail rain gear. I was just looking at these for myself yesterday: http://www.rei.com/product/836409/arcteryx-micon-insulated-pants-mens


Are taller carbon fork expander plugs available? I recently cut my carbon fork steerer and it is a few mms too short for my desired spacer arrangement. If it was a little bit higher, then I could move a spacer from above the stem to below the stem.

My expander plug sits 1mm above the top of the steerer column. It occurred to me that if it were a few mms higher then I would be able to add another spacer.

Are there slightly taller expanders available?

The critical thing here is how much steerer tube length the stem is clamping. The expander plug does not add any structural strength and the cap must be of slightly less diameter than the steerer otherwise it would prevent the stem clamping it.

If the stem overhangs the end of the steerer tub by more than a few mm, then the stem is mounted to high and could possible stress the steerer tube too much.

If you need to raise the bar consider flipping the stem so it’s angled up rather than down.


Is there an adaptor for a quick release wheel on thru axel hub I have a 2020 Jamis Renegade with QR front fork and thru axle rear dropout (142x12mm). Buying a set of wheels for road-specific use but have had trouble find a mixed set. Got a good deal on a QR Axis 4.0 wheelset. However, there doesn't seem to be a safe adaptor for converting the rear QR wheel to be used on the thru axle frame. Does anyone have any insight on this or should I just sell the wheels and look for the specific set I need. Thanks!

Usually, switching axle standards is accomplished by switching end caps on the hub. Whether this is possible or not entirely depends on what hub you have. You will need to do some research on whether your new hubs have convertible end caps.
I believe there’s generic adaptors available to shim down a 12mm thru-axle down to a 5mm QR skewer, but that’s the opposite use case from your intention.


How to deal with motorist's road rage (after prevention has failed) A few weeks ago I had my first experience where I really worried for my well-being at the hands of an angry motorist-- so, what can a cyclist do when being threatened and followed by a motorist?

Background

I was riding on a road with a lot of parked cars as well as driveways, so I was riding somewhat more "center" than what a certain guy was happy with, because he shouted at me to get off the road and onto the bike lane after honking and trying to overtake me. I told him that I don't have to because cyclists have the same legal rights to surface roads that motorists do, and then rode even closer to the center to keep him from dangerously trying to pass me. He then began shouting obscenities at me while driving behind me, so I gave him the one-fingered salute, which he, his wife and son all reciprocated in a perfect Kodak moment.

I admit that what I did was the antithesis of mitigating road rage, but I also admit that, until now, I (foolishly) never expected to meet someone on the road who might willingly hurt me: At the next traffic light, he told me to pull over so we could discuss this face-to-face, and I said: "No: I don't have to do that either". What began to scare me is that, after losing him in traffic, he managed to catch up to me and began following me for a very long time and glaring at me. Eventually I pulled quickly off onto the sidewalk and put my keys from my bag into my pocket (it was the sharpest thing I had), but luckily he had to follow the flow of traffic and he didn't meet me again on the road.

Solutions

My safest course of action would have been to avoid provoking the driver in the first place, but I honestly had no expectation that telling a driver about traffic laws could provoke someone into a potentially-murderous rage; Even if I became a mouse on a bike, the possibility of (inadvertently) enraging someone will remain, no matter how small it may be. Therefore, my question is what someone can do in a case where even trying to prevent road rage has failed and they now face the unadulterated wrath of the Gods of the Exploding Dinosaurs-- I really don't think the guy in the story above was intending on "discussing" the matter if he caught me off my bike.

Pull off the road sooner. Sure, you have a right to be there, but it was quite clear that this creep wasn't prepared to accept that. Your safety is more important than taking the lane.

Noting his license-plate number and car make/model as he vanishes into the distance isn't a bad idea either, in case you see him again.


Replaced Shimano Bottom Bracket, now front derailleur won't shift to largest gear OK, so in my quest to get my old Trek 7000 ZX MTB running again after a long retirement, I am having an issue with replacing the bottom bracket.

The bike came with a Shimano LP25 that is marked BC 1.37 x 24. The spindle has LL 113 stamped into it.

So I ordered a Shimano UN55 BC 1.37 x 24 113mm.

They should be exactly the same size right? Well the new one seemed to be offset to the right (drive side) by about 1/8 inch, even though the spindles are the same length.

Now my front derailleur (STX-RC) won't shift to the largest outside sprocket even when the adjustment screw is all the way out. What can I do to correct this issue? I thought the only thing that mattered when replacing a bottom bracket was the thread size (68mm) and the spindle length.

Another strange issue is that the orginal LP25 has the threads on the L side, while the new UN55 has the threads on the R side. I could have sworn the threads were on the drive side when I removed the bottom bracket, but now I'm not so sure given the markings on it. Unless the bottom bracket was originally installed backwards? Would that explain the 1/8 inch offset discrepancy?

Thanks for any help. I'm really confused at this point.

Despite the the spindle length is 113, but as you observed, the offset is different - so the cranks are sitting in different positions. Not all Shimano BB are made symmetrical - and UN55 BC 1.37 x 24 113mm. means its a 1.37*24tpi thread, with a 113mm shaft - not mention on the offset of the shaft. Based on all this, evidence is that you have an imcompatable BB.

Presuming you have correctly refitted the crank (so it is seated properly) - What to do about it - best would be to go to a 110, or even 107 mm BB - this will move the crank to the centre of the bike and fix the problem, also providing better alignment.

Alternatively, are you certain the derailleur won't move out further. Best thing to do it unhook the cable outer from the frame (or shifter) so the cable is certainly free and not stopping the shifter moving to it's outer most position, and release the outer limit adjustment screw on the derailleur. If the derailuer then moves out far enough, you should be good to set up, as it's "just" adjustment of cable and limit stops. If not, you will need a different BB.

It is not possible to install the BB backwards - the right hand side has a left hand thread.......

Edit: In response to OPs comment.....
The problem is then to do with the BB getting to the correct chainline - MTB sets should be about 47.5-50mm. If you cannot find the correct sized BB, and a 110mm is too short for the left crank, you have two other options - try a different left crank, or (Perhaps for the really desperate only) I have seen this web article about grinding off the lip on the fixed right hand side, allowing you the thread it into the frame further, thereby to give the ability to adjust the chain line. (I would get a local engineering shop to use a lathe.....)


How to descend mountain roads? What skills and techniques are required to descending at high speeds while maintaining control of the bicycle? How does this change when the roads are wet or have gravel in them?

Whilst I come from a mountain bike background so my advice might be different from someone with a road background, I've found the following tips work well when I've been on a road bike in the mountains.

Keep your weight centered - don't be tempted to lean back. You want to keep a good amount of weight over the front wheel to help it grip.
Look through the corner, not at the corner, focusing on the exit.
On dry roads with a good surface you can probably lean the bike a lot further than you realise.
Brake before the corner, not in the corner. Braking in the corner will cause the bike to "stand up".
If you have to brake through the corner, only use the back brake.
If you can clearly see through the corner, use the full width of the road (but ONLY if you have good visibility of what is coming up the hill).

On wet roads, go slower :-) The same advice applies, but it's even more important to not use the front brake in the corner. And in gravel, take it slow - it's just not worth taking risks because you can lose the front wheel without any warning.

The best way to lean to descend mountain roads is to follow someone who knows the road and has carbon rims. You'll be able to hear them braking and you'll be surprised how much faster you can go!


Fiido D2: shock absorber broken I bought almost an year ago a Fiido D2 bike. I use it everyday for my commute to work and unfortunately it broke.

I brought it to a bike repairer and he said that there's nothing he can do. The only solution is to buy a new one.

My problem is that I can't find it online, I googled a lot about it but no shock absorbers of the Fiido D2 found.

Does anyone can suggest me where I can find this shock absorber replacement?

Your best bet would be to contact the manufacturer for specifications or even replacement parts. Failing that, your next best thing should be to measure/learn parameters of your current shock, and then finding another ones that matches closely these parameters.

What you need to measure/find out are:

Eye-to-eye length
Stroke length
Mounting hardware used to mount it into the frame and related parameters. such as diameters of mounting holes
Air pressure or coil firmness values

See e.g. this article


Can I swap a 700c onto a 26"/650b bike Can I put a 700c (28") wheel on a 26" or 650b fork, it looks like I'll have plenty of room but I would need to get something to move my v brakes as they wouldn't touch the rim

I assume you have a mountain bike, as you have a 26"/27.5" fork.

Answering the question in the title:

26", 27.5" and 29" mountain bike wheels all have approximately that diameter with a tire installed. Obviously the actual diameter of a particular wheel depends on the size of tire installed on it.

The rim sizes are 559, 584 and 622mm respectively, as defined by ISO standards. In road bike circles 584 and 622mm rims are also known as 650b and 700c - hangovers from a old French wheel size system.

So on a MTB, you need about 1.5" of extra clearance to fit a 29" wheel instead of a 26" wheel.

Can you fit a 29" wheel on your 26"/27.5" fork? Not really.

Even if you have the clearance, adapters to move the rim brakes are not available (to my knowledge, maybe there is some speciality manufacturer out there).

In addition, bike frame and fork geometry is designed around a specific wheel diameter. If you change the wheel size, the steering geometry will be altered, usually with negative effects.


Gear shift rubber cover liquified, post cure possible? I recently got my bike out of storage and the rubber cover on the right gear shifter is liquified.
The rubber is basically a sticky oily paste now.
It's just the right gear shifter cover, even the rubber handlebar cover next to it is fine.

What kind of rubber are the gear shifter covers usually made of and can I post cure it with some chemical or heat?
Or do I need to exchange it?

Thank you for the help!

Once the rubber has gone gummy, its game-over for that part.  You have two real options.

Cheap answer - Cover the gummy partI've put cheap heatshrink tube over some bar grips that were deteriorating.  That was ~5 years ago and they're still working fine on my MTB.   Since its not a round part, you might get away with a layer of tape.Downside is that the goop will soak through most tapes, and plastic tapes will be harsh on your hands.
Outright replacement of the hoods. Find your shifter's model number and start searching.  I see plenty on ebay, selling for 10 pounds to 20 dollars.  Expect to pay more for brand-originals, but they're more likely to fit.

Doing nothing is not really an option - they'll only ever get worse, sticking to you and your skin and gloves.

You might choose to cut the old hoods off, and ride bare, but that will expose some of the internal gubbins to the elements and to your sweat.  Also this would give sharpish edges that will chafe and irritate your hands.

I'd suggest you tape them temporarily, and start searching for new replacement hood covers.


Broken fork and front wheel after head-on crash, need to replace headset? Crashed out a couple of months ago, broke my front wheel, fork, and left collarbone. The crash busted my fork pretty bad, I can't even turn the front wheel now without it getting stuck on the frame. Will I need to replace the headset as well? As much as the front wheel permits, it seems to turn smooth, with no noise or resistance. Thank you.

UPD: Ended up replacing the headset, the old one had a little resistance as the wheel passed the center. The repair guys said that it was good as new and probably just needed a new fork that's not bent to hell. However, my old headset was loose ball bearing and the new one is on sealed bearings, so I don't regret replacing it.

I am sorry to hear about the crash!

You do want to get a bike store to inspect the bike. Headsets can take damage in crashes like that, but we don't know for sure. If the headset was damaged, how it happened was probably that the fork steerer banged against one of the races and dented it, which would cause your fork to feel loose in the headset and not turn smoothly. Ride like that, and over time, I think you have a good chance of damaging the head tube.

As @nollak and @DanielRHicks mentioned, you also want to make sure that your frame is in alignment (and this is not something most people have the tools for at home). Guys, your comments could have been answers.


Shimano 105 R7000 left crank compatible with Sora FC-3550? Can I temporarily use my (power meter fitted) left crank Shimano 105 R7000 on my old bike that has Sora FC-3550 crankset? I assume that all Hollowtech 2 cranks should be interchangeable but I am not entirely sure Sora FC-3550 is actually Hollowtech 2. There is no mention of Hollowtech 2 on Shimano's page related to the product, although it certainly does look like it is the same thing (two bolts, typical star-like pattern of the plastic cover) and Amazon lists it as "Hollowtech 2". Has anyone tried it?

It is indeed HT2. The website mentions “2 piece crank construction”, which refers to this.
It should be compatible assuming the arm length is the same and the Q-factor is the same.


Why does my back tyre wear so much more quickly than the front? Identical tyres, identical rims, minimal braking on the back wheel, no skids, properly inflated at least once a fortnight to manufacturer's recommended pressure.

Why does the back one wear out more quickerly than the front?

Kerry Irons put together an impressive breakdown of tire wear data.

His read on it is the fact that the rear tire is the primary driving force and thus the main point of power dissipation is the reason for the increased wear:

  Force per unit area grinds off the rubber, so higher rider power and lower contact area increase the rate of wear.

This makes more sense than the weight ratio, when you consider the weight distribution is perhaps 20% higher on the rear while the ratio of wear is significantly larger.


screeching/grinding sound when coasting at speed 2003ish Cannondale six13, all Ultegra.

Frequently, but not always, when I'm coasting at a fast pace, usually down a hill, the bike will start making this hideous screeching/grinding noise.  It is silenced if I rotate the pedals a bit, but might start up again immediately.  I'm reasonably certain it's coming from the bottom bracket.

My questions are:

If it is the bottom bracket, why would it be making this sound?   Can the existing one be serviced to fix this?

If it can't be serviced, should I just get a new bottom bracket and install it, or could it be something else?

Since I cannot reproduce this off the bike, what should I look for if I take things apart?

Thanks!

I think it's impossible for it to be coming from the bottom bracket while the pedals are not turning.  More likely it's coming from the rear hub.

I'd first check whether the spoke guard (if you have one) has come loose and is rubbing against the cluster.  And inspect the area behind the cluster for any piece of trash that has gotten in there.  Failing that, you probably have a problem with your freehub.


What are the advantages and disadvantages of a cycling desk? I just came across an article about a cycling desk (never knew that such a thing existed). This past year, I gave up a traditional desk for a standing desk and have been pretty happy with the results, but getting in some extra miles during the work day is very, very intriguing.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a cycling desk, compared to a standing desk? (The increased activity of cycling over standing is obviously an advantage.) Would I be moving around too much to get work done, or is this a non-issue? What about the posture of sitting on a bike saddle all day? Can the movement of cycling be distracting? How does it compare to a standing desk with a treadmill?

Does anyone have any experience with a cycling desk? And is it possible to be productive while cycling, or is that an unreasonable expectation?

The basic answer is that there are many studies that link exercise and brain function.  A standing desk will get you off your bum, but a treadmil or cycle desk will get your body moving enough to allow your brain to work better.

There is an entire chapter in the book Brain Rules.  I have no personal experience with it, but that is the theory.


Mechanical Shimano Deore Disk Brake - How to fix lack of bite/grip I have a frustrating issue with my MTB and want to ask how I can go about actually diagnosing this issue.
I have a MTB Shimano Disk brakes. These are mechanical and one pad is pushed into the rotor and then onto the inner pad.
I had found that the braking on the bike had become weak, at best. So I bought some new brake pads by EBC and replaced them.
The thing is, the braking is still very weak. Basically, I am tightening the brake and walking the bike on the ground I am still able to rotate the wheel, showing that the pads are simply not gripping the rotor tight enough.

I have tightened the brake cable (at both ends), which doesn't seem to do much.
I have tried to realign the brake housing mechanism (by unscrewing the top and bottom allen screws) and tightening the brake and then retightening the screws.
The wheel rotor does not state any requirements for brake materials.

But I'm lost... I think I need to tighten up the pressure piece that the brake actuates. But I can't find any advice about this (here and youtube). I did find an allen screw that looked like it worked on the pressure mechanism but results were inconclusive.
I have read a multitude of posts on here about fixing shimano brakes (including here and here) but can't find anything that gives me any ideas for solving this issue.
I am suspecting that I could maybe try and put something on the caliper to stop the spring/brake mechanism travelling on the caliper, which it does a little.
I am also aware that disk brakes do need to be used hard for 40+ times to wear in, but the thing is this appears to be the same issue (or symptom, at least) that was on the older pads which have been used extensively.
Update
Extensive testing and "bedding in" of the new brake pad, and reading the answer by Swifty, raises some flags for me: that the issue is completely that the pads themselves do not exert enough pressure on the rotor to stop its rotation.

The pads do seem to significantly bend and flex the rotor.
The pads possibly do not yet have enough friction/grip from bedding in but as stated, this issue seems to be that the pads are somehow bending the rotor which causes a delay in the braking mechanics.

The cable tension is absolutely fine. The pads at rest are very close but not touching the rotor.
The issue is that as the braking system only moves the outer pad, this is pressing the rotor and then pressing the rotor towards the inner pad, with visible movement (several mm).
Update 2
After comments with Chris H, I have had a nose around at the mechanism and found a screw for tightening the fixed pad nearest the wheel. This looks promising. It feels like there's more grip and riding this morning (day 2) with this is better, not perfect but definitely better.
Pictures
BELOW: Loose view. Brake is not triggered:

BELOW: Tight view with brake triggered:

Mechanical disc brakes can work well, but they need to be set up just right for top performance. There are a few aspects:
Pad condition: you have new pads which is good because they will be flat and clean. They can be scuffed lightly with sandpaper to be refreshed when necessary, if a little dirty, or hardened/glazed. They need to be uniformly flat and not worn unevenly, with a matt complexion.
Disc condition: it needs to be running straight/true and free from contaminants like oil, but bedded in, where a fine layer of pad material is transferred to the disc to increase friction. You mention braking 40+ times, this is the bedding in process, but I start doing this very gently and increase the duration and force as the brakes warm up. You might like to clean the disc with ipa alcohol or brake cleaner to reset them, then re-do the bedding in.
Pad positions: the inboard pad is fixed in position, but can be positioned with the Allen key adjuster (5 mm) on the inboard face of the brake caliper. It must be as close to the disc as possible without rubbing the disc; you can find the setting where it rubs gently and back off one click. The minimal gap ensures the disc doesn't get bent much out of vertical when the floating pad operates. This is critical for maximum power. If you can see the disc getting flexed sideways a lot then something isn't right. This is something to monitor and adjust in use, to account for pad wear as it is not automatic like with hydraulics.
Cable tension: finally the cable tension is set up. This is to give acceptable lever travel, but it has the least effect on braking power, the previous points are more relevant to power. You could set this up to your preference of early bite point or late bite point, but well clear of the bar when the lever is pulled. The previous points are more effective in getting sharp brakes than the cable tension, and you can set it with the pinch bolt, in combination with the barrel adjusters.

If any of these aspects are not set up optimally, the braking performance does drop noticeably, so work through them methodically. Finish with a bedding in procedure which is gradual and patient, to really get them sharp.
From your comments, it sounds like the inboard pad is out of position and causing your problem. if that rotor is pushed out of vertical any more than necessary, then the contact is reduced and power is lost. You need to locate the pad adjustment screw and get the fixed pad closer to the disc.


What is the most secure bike rack for long distance travel? I'm looking to transport my bike a fair distance (500km) and I would like to spend $150 or less on the transport. I currently have a strap mounted trunk rack but I worry about it loosening over the trip. I do have a roof rack (stock) and a hitch (also stock.) Which would be the best option for securely transporting my bike?

The most stable and secure racks are the ones which mount directly to the vehicle at hard points, such as a trailer hitch (for rear racks) or door frames (for roof racks).

Racks which use fabric straps attached to hooks can move around a bit more, and if they are not very well made, they can loosen over time.  This problem is made worse by the fact that most cheap racks use fabric straps.

Of course the best is if you can somehow mount your bike inside your vehicle.  If you drive a small car this won't work, and even some rack mounts may not be viable if your car has only two doors.

Personally I prefer roof racks, and have driven up to four bicycles at a time on multiple cars using them for hundreds of kilometers without stopping, at speeds up to 125 kph.  The main problems tend to be (1) the removed front wheels spinning in their separate mounts (easily corrected by small straps which some racks now come with), (2) reduced fuel efficiency and increased wind noise, and (3) the possibility that you will wreck your bikes by driving into a garage or other low-clearance area.  All of those problems are reduced on rear-mounted racks.

If your car has a trailer hitch, consider a rack that mounts in it.  These can be very secure, low-noise, and easy to install and remove (both rack and bikes).  The main downside is that accessing your trunk becomes less convenient (but still not as bad as with rear racks which attach using straps).


Is a 100mm travel hardtail ok for light downhill and a few jumps? I bought a haro flightline two dx and i want to upgrade it (fork,brakes,derraulliers,...)iam scared that if i do this with this bike that my fork is going to fail or something like that so could i do this with a 100mm sr suntour xct v2 or could i upgrade it to a fork with more travel. I dont know if a fork with more travel can go on this bike.Will my fork fail?and can I upgrade my bikes travel?

It looks to me that the bike is an entry level XC mountian bike. Not a great bike, at the right price tag, none the less suitable for off road use. I wouldn't take if off a 2 meter drops all day, but it should be OK over less than about 300mm (1 foot) and more if you know how to land. If you keep the wheels on the ground it will handle most tracks.

Upgrading the fork to more travel will change the geometry. Too much is a bad thing, but 20mm or so should be OK. Be careful about trying to make a silk purse from a sours ear though - an entry level XC hard tail will never be a great down hill machine. Looking at the list of upgrades, it would be better to start with a bike closer to what you really want.

As for breaking the bike etc - it will probably not fail catastrophically from normal riding, but it's not a 20kg downhill tank, and parts breakable if abused. Riding style and skill , as well as your weight, plays a part. A skilled rider controls the bike over the bumps and landings, and rides "lightly" and unskilled rider can land very "heavy" on the smallest bumps and jumps.

Theres nothing wrong with a hard-tail for down hilling - not that many years ago people rode no suspension on what we now consider "Light" down hill tracks (I used to land 2 meter jumps with no suspension, ....memories... the early 90's, just like life, MTB's were so much simpler - 2 wheels, 18 gears, choice of steel or steel frames and one size nearly fits all..... ),

Although this one would not be my choice, if it's all you have got, get out there and have fun.


Timing Yourself To Determine Gear Ratio/Torque Since there are so many types of bikes IGR, belt, and gears, I have resorted to doing timed runs with the bike to determine how high the torque is.  I throw it into the highest gear and ride on flat ground.

If I wasn't comparing bikes I would just use the gear ratios or use a gear calculator(still confuses me slightly).

Is doing timed trials on the highest gear effective for determining which bike has a higher gear ratio?   I gather I am not factoring in wheel speed differences considering some wheels are faster.

Alternatively a tool would be nice that would help but I am guessing they are rather expensive.

The gear ratio is simply the ratio of the number of teeth on the two cogs. If you can see the gears, you can compute it by counting the teeth and dividing. If you can't see the gears (e.g., an IGH), just measure how many times the rear wheel turns for one turn of the pedals (or, for more accuracy, do ten turns of the pedals and divide the answer by ten).

Time trials would be a terrible way to compute the gear ratio since there are so many uncontrolled variables and confounding factors. For example, a higher gear ratio would potentially give you a higher top speed but it would take you longer to get there.

It's not clear to me why you think that computing the gear ratio is important.


"Le vélo de Tati” - Jacques Tati by Robert Doisneau Does anyone know where i can purchase this iconic poster? I've searched the most obvious websites.

thanks

This is a bad answer, but its been six months and noone else has a better one.

For personal use only AND given there appears to be no other way, you could either

1)  recreate it for yourself and take your own photograph,

2)  Scale this one as big as you reasonably can and then manually retouch it.     https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/c5/2a/42/c52a428f7765eaaaa7ccbc1151b2f4f5.jpg

Both would probably be derivative works, and as long as you're not claiming it as your own original work, then there's little chance of someone accusing you of stealing the image.

Remember to give credit to the original artist.


Riding packed limestone trails on 700x23 ties I recently bought a Trek 2.1 and it came with 700x23 100psi tires. I do a lot of road riding, but every once in a while the packed limestone (rails-to-trails) trails are the better option. I've ridden a few times already with no incident, but I would like some input as to whether this is a safe idea?

Side note, I am planning a self-paced century that will utilize almost 50 miles of packed limestone. If 700x23 is not a great idea, what width would you recommend for a limestone/road century?

You may want to go up to 700x25s or 700x28s. While you should be okay with 23s, you'll definitely have greater peace of mind with a thicker tire. You may also want to drop the pressure slightly to 80–90psi.


Do I need to have this thread screwed all the way in on bottom bracket BB-UN53 I'm restoring a 1994 Mongoose Switchback (which I've had since college so I'm unreasonably attached to it). When I was removing the bottom bracket, a Shimano BB-UN 53, I cracked the plastic non-drive side shell, which is apparently super common. At my local bicycle co-op I picked up several cups that look like they would be the same, but they're not exactly the same - the cup depth that sets onto the cartridge body is shorter, and their overall depth is slightly greater.

When I thread them on, the bottom bracket seems very well secured, but there are still excess outboard threads from the left side cup. Aesthetics aside, is that mechanically acceptable? Or alternatively, is there a type of cup that I can use that won't have this problem, or is there a way of cutting the one (cutting a millimeter off the inboard side?) that I have so that there is no excess threading?

Obviously easy answer this question is "just buy a new bottom bracket dude, they are cheap", but I just want to see if there's a way of completing the rebuild with the things that I have (or without wasting this bottom bracket that is otherwise functional).

Original left hand side cup , would go completely flush if it were not broken and I could fully torque it:

Another plastic Shimano cup that sticks out when fully seated:

Metal cup same deal:

The three left cups I have in profile view:

As long as the BB is being held in place properly the stick-out of the cup shouldn't be an issue. Make sure the BB can't move from side to side when putting axial force on it.
Also make sure the crank arm on the side of the cup that sticks out isn't rubbing against the cup. As long as those conditions are met you should be fine.

The forces on the bottom bracket in axial direction will be quite low under normal use conditions so I'm pretty sure the plastic cup will work fine but if you want to play it safe use the metal cup since the threads won't strip nearly as easily as on the plastic cup, also the tool-interface (the grooves that the tightening tool falls into for tightening the cup) can more easily be damaged on the plastic cups (I've had cases where they have become very stuck in the frame).

Do make sure to apply some sort of grease or anti-seize product on the threads especially on an aluminum frame to prevent the metal cup from seizing. They can be very difficult to remove in some cases

I have seen bikes which have spacers/rings in between the non-adjustable cup of the BB and the frame, similar to this:

You could consider using such spacers to properly center the BB in the frame. Do keep in mind this may mess with your chain alignment a bit. The difference should be so little though that it shouldn't cause issues. if you find that it does cause issues you could potentially solve it by using a BB with shorter or longer axle length.


Touring Drivetrain Dilemna I own a 2015 Specialized AWOL Elite and love it except when I am fully loaded and lumbering up a pass.

I'm looking for a way to get more range without completely replacing my drivetrain. This Adventure Cycling article perfectly describes my situation: THE DRIVETRAIN DILEMMA.

Currently I have

the stock FSA Omega 30/39/50 MegaExo crankset paired with
9-speed triple Sora 11-32 front/rear derailleurs and shifters.

I'm confused about STI vs MTB indexing on Shimano 9 and 10 speed shifters. I am considering swapping out the crankset and rear derailleur with a

FSA Afterburner 26/36/48 crankset and
9-speed Deore rear derailleur with an 11-36 cassette

My question is will these new components work with the original Sora front derailleur and shifters?

The replacement of the 9 speed Shimano road RD with a 9 speed Shimano mountain RD is fine -- the cable pulls are the same. You'll need to re-size (i.e. put on a longer) chain for the bigger cassette though.

As for the crankset swap, I think with the new cassette it isn't going to be necessary. In any case, the Sora FD-3403 (which is what you likely have) has a maximum front chainring difference of 20 teeth whereas you're asking for a difference of 22 teeth, so you're technically out of spec. Since its 2 teeth, you might be able to get by, but you'd have to try it and tune it to see if it works. You do need a Shimano road FD to work with the Sora shifters.


Santa Cruz Blur linkage maintence How much maintenance and what is it specifically that needs attention on 2006 - 2010 Santa Cruz Bur VPP rear linkage mountain bikes?

Im looking to buy a used Blur XC, but I hear they need a lot of upkeep. Just wondering what. Is it just a lube and clean situation? or replacing bushings on a yearly basis?

No more than any other full floater.

The bearings are sealed so they should only need replacing every few years or so.
The bushes usually last a year, but you can feel their state by any 'knocking' when you take pressure off the wheels, or by trying to bend the swingarm laterally.

Stripping down the frame and regreasing the pivots won't do any harm, but certainly isn't necessary - I find it just makes getting the bearings out easier when they need replacing.  Admittedly, after a wash I put a few drips of thick 3-in-1 oil inbetween each pivot - truthfully I have no idea if this does anything, but it probably stops water sitting in the bearing cavities for long periods.

As for any other sealed bearing do not spray GT85, WD40, or any other water displacing fluid into them.  They come pre-greased, and if the seal fails, it needs replacing.


What pedal cage is compatible with size 14 shoe? Are there toe clips/straps that are oversized to comfortably fit a men's 14/15 shoe?

There are plenty of strapless clips on Wiggle which come in extra-large. An example is this https://www.wiggle.co.uk/mks-steel-toe-clips/

  Top Features: 3 sizes Medium Euro 36-40 Large Euro 40-44 X-Large Euro
  44-48

44-48 Euro is size 12-15 US, 11-14.5 UK


Will 10 speed cranks work with an 8 speed freewheel? I'm looking at building a road-bike, and I've just purchased some wheels with campagnolo hubs, with an 8 speed freewheel on the back.

Can I use Campagnolo Daytona / Veloce cranks on the front? I understand that they state 10 speed on the cogs, but can I use them with my 8 speed on the rear?

According to Sheldon Brown's website:

  New Chainrings, Old Chains
  Going the other direction, using wider chains with chainrings intended for narrower chains is not generally a major problem if there's only a one- or two- generation difference. The only problem you might run into is that the chain will be more liable to rub on the inside of the bigger chainrings in the small/small crossover gears, gears you shouldn't be using in any case.

You may run into some poor shifting performance, but the system should still function.  If you are unhappy with the performance, 8 speed chainrings will mount on your current crankset, so there's no need to change-up everything.


What 70's/80's freewheel threading is most common in central or eastern Europe? Just interested to know?

For example, if an 80's steel frame road bike in Europe came with Suzue high flanged hubs (94mm spacing front and 126mm rear), what type of freewheel threading would be expected?

Specifically, Suzue Sat. No. 5 (94mm) front and Suzue Sat. No. 6 (126mm) rear.

Thanks

Suzue is a Japanese company. The threading for the freewheel is ISO for the Suzue Sat. No. 6.

In general, its quite easy to measure these things by just measuring the thread pitch. Aside from French and Metric BMX freewheels, the rest of the freewheel standards (English, USA, ISO, Italian) are all 24 TPI and about 1.375", and are effectively interchangable.


Safety data: Which is safer, head/tail lights which blink or emit a steady beam? My head and tail lights can be set to blink or emit a steady beam of light.

I usually set my rear (red) light to blink, because I believe it makes me more visible at night. My friend argues that it makes it more difficult for motorists to judge how far away I am.

Are there any studies showing which is the safer way to use a tail light?

The short answer is that 'safer' is subjective and depends on your requirements.

You are both correct.  Movement attracts the eye, so your blinking light is noticed.  It is easier to judge the position of a steady state light.

For a motorist to pick out your tail light, particularly, from a sea of noise is very difficult.  The surface area of the light is tiny, and it's all on its own.  Your light is just not important enough to notice amongst the jumble of signs, traffic directions and other cars unless it does something to stand out, like flash.

My understanding is that the reason it's easy to see cars (apart from bulk) is that they have 2 lights moving together.  Something to do with your brain automagically resolving the connected pattern.  That's why it's hard to see a car with one working taillight, or a motorcycle or bicycle.

In terms of safety, my policy is always 'be seen and misjudged' rather than 'not seen'. So I always set both front and rear lights to blink at night.  If you need illumination for the road, I'd strongly suggest a second forward light for that.

From Rear Lighting Configurations for Winter Maintenance Vehicles

  Flashing lights will be perceived as having higher brightness than steady-burning lights, up to a flash frequency of about 15 flashes per second. Such brightness enhancement can aid in conspicuity, and several rear lighting systems have been designed to have a flash rate between 5 and 9 flashes per second in order to maximize their perceived brightness. While conspicuity may be greater with such configurations, an observer’s ability to make accurate judgements of relative speed or distance may be compromised when flashing or strobing lights are used. Croft observed that the judgments required in tracking an object were difficult to make under strobing conditions, yet very easy in steady-lighting conditions. Observations made during a study of service vehicle lighting for maintenance operations similarly pointed out that strobing and flashing systems designed for maximum conspicuity can at the same time reduce one's ability to judge relative speed and distance. Periodic sampling of the field of view in another study resulted in deterioration of one's motion-tracking ability that increased as the distance to the object of interest decreased.

Also from Selection and Application of Warning Lights on Roadway Operations Equipment

  Flashes are bursts of light which, by definition, are unexpected
  because they do not occur in nature (save for lightning).
  This characteristic is their most important feature and
  why they are so good at capturing attention.


Shimano Nexus 7 gear hub slips I need help on adjusting my Nexus 7 Shimano rear hub.

Today I tried to install a Shimano 7 gear shifter to change the gears on a Nexus 7 Shimano rear hub. Before installing, I lined up the red lines on the hub and I set the shifter to 4.

Next I lined up the red lines even better by the adjusting-wheel near the shifter.

The setup did work momentarily at one point. However, soon after the whole thing did not work anymore.

The problem: When I pedal hard the rear gear slips and does not drive the back wheel anymore. It is the same for every gear. I tried every position of the adjusting-wheel. After more than two hours and no success, I gave up.

Does anyone have a solution or the same problems? Is all the needed info here?

If I understand correctly you are trying to use a conventional 7 speed derailleur shifter on a Nexus hub. The Nexus hub does not use a linear cable pull ratio. The amount of cable pull required to shift is not the same from 1st gear to 2nd as required from 2nd to 3rd. A conventional 7 speed shifter pulls 2.9mm of cable between each gear. So you need to get a Nexus compatible shifter or risk hub damage due to improper adjustment.


What is the proper position for quick-release levers? Is it best to have the front wheel release lever in front of the fork, tailing the fork, or aligned with the fork? How about the rear; ahead, behind, or alingned with the chainstays, seatstays, or between the two?

Rule #41 Quick-release levers are to be carefully positioned.:

  Quick release angle on the front skewer shall be an upward angle which tightens just aft of the fork and the rear quick release shall tighten at an angle that bisects angle between the seat and chain stays. It is acceptable, however, to have the rear quick release tighten upward, just aft of the seat stay, when the construction of the frame or its dropouts will not allow the preferred positioning. For Time Trial bikes only, quick releases may be in the horizontal position facing towards the rear of the bike. This is for maximum aero effect.


Chemically roughening rim braking surface to improve performance For trial bicycles there is a technique to improve braking performance by roughening the rim surface using a grinder.

How-to video
Apparently, this technique is not widely seen outside the trials competition. There are other ways to  improve the braking efficiency (better pads, cables, housings and technique) worth trying before messing with power tools. Not to forget that decreasing rim's thickness shortens its lifespan.
I recently discovered (purely by accident¹) that application of a certain kind of household cleaning fluid to the rim surface had improved braking power on a few spots of the rim.
The only explanation I have now is that the rim's surface has gotten chemically etched, which roughened it in those spots.
I wonder now if this is another viable hack to try for braking performance.
Is such chemical rim treatment a thing to consider? Is using a sandpaper and roughening by hand an alternative?

¹ I was cleaning a neglected chain from a nasty thick layer of dried teflon chain lube. Apparently, I was not very accurate and a section of the rim got covered by the cleaning liquid. The same liquid has demonstrated to be able to remove anodizing from a cassette, meaning it is quite powerful (base? acid? no idea). I should probably stop experimenting with it…

When I was into freestyle BMX in the early 2000s, we had a few tricks to improve braking. Much of the tricks were designed, like in the case of trials, toward having brakes that can be locked up solid with the least amount of effort so that you can consistently lock them up with 1 finger. So modulation was not usually a goal.
First of all, contrary to the trials example provided, we did not find that rougher rims were better. The friction characteristics of rubber on rims is complicated, and apparently making the rims rougher can also reduce the surface area in contact with the pads, and may also scrub the pads away faster. But whatever the reason, and while I'm not doubting the trials technique could work, I'm just saying that we didn't find that rougher rims were better. In fact, usually rough rims got better after they had worn smooth, and for people to find that their brakes actually got worse after sanding the rims. And it was widely believed that chrome-plated rims, which were nearly mirror-smooth, were the best of all for braking.
About applying substances, the usual suggestions were Simple Green or Coke. In my experience both worked, but Coke didn't last very long, and both usually caused squealing during non-lockup braking.
Some household cleaners contain lye, which will etch aluminum and remove anodizing. One example is Purple Power. If you are looking for a substance to experiment with, lye seems as good as any (although it can be dangerous), but I have no experience with using it to improve braking. Most all my bikes have disc brakes.


What freehub do I need? The bearings in my freehub are starting to go and I'd like to replace the part. Sadly I have no idea of the part I need to replace it with and cannot find anything specific. My bike is a Merida 140 2016 with a 10 speed shimano rear cassette. The hub specification I can find is limited to "Rear Hub: Bearing Centerlock- 12mm rear" with a slightly better model saying "Rear Hub: Shimano XT 12mm rear"

Searches for 10 speed shimano freewheel don't give me anything that looks like this.

Anyone any ideas what would work?

I suspect the only way to get a certain answer to this is to contact your countries Merida distributor:

https://www.merida-bikes.com/en/p/about-us/distributors-worldwide-139.html


Chain Noise I identified the problem, don't know how to solve it (chain/cassette?) I bought a bike, second hand, yesterday. The bike looks quite new and it is ok, but I notice that with some gear I got a clicking noise. After inspecting the bike, I notice that the chain does not flow steadely on the rear cassette, and this make the clicking noise.
I don't know how to be more precise, so I uplodaded a video where the problem is quite clear:

             (second 5/6)

It seems to me that the chain is really close to the other disk (is it called cassette?), maybe because it is misaligned.
Of course this is not only about the noise, I am afraid that it will ruin the chain/bike.
Plus, if this is a serious problem, maybe I could just ask the guy I bought the bike from to take it back. However, I would be totally happy to solve the problem myself.

Please consider that I am a TOTAL beginner :)
Thank you!

You may want to read up on how to tune a rear derailluer, but if you just want to get going, all that is needed is a minor adjustment using the barrel screw (clearly seen in the video) where the cable comes in. Turn the screw clockwise 1/4 turn at a time, and the chain will move away from the cog (The cassette is the full set of cogs). Trick is not to make big adjustments - no more than 1/4 turn at a time, and count the turns so you can go back to where you started.

Once this is just clearing and not catching, check the gears are all working properly. Sometimes, especially with cheaper bikes and old worn out gears, its not possible to get it perfect, and you need to compromise a bit.


How to fix a spring in brake lever? I was wondering if there was any quick fix for a broken spring in a Pro-Max 239A brake lever. It seems a waste to buy a new one for a broken spring.

This sort of component-level repair is rare in cycling.  Generally speaking a shop would fit a new replacement brake lever and clamp.  Moving sub-components around would be the realm of someone valuing a period-correct part over functionality.

I'd replace both brake levers with either new or a good quality used replacement.

Why both?  So they feel the same when in use, with similar action and pivot distances.

Brakes are a critical safety component, and I'd think very carefully before twiddling internal parts around and using a generic item as a replacement.


Is it ethical to ride with races without being part of them? I find it tedious to spend half a day riding the dangerous streets of the city to purchase a mountain insurance, then spend money on race subscription and in then arriving early as hell on the start line to get my number.

Provided I do not take any water or food from the checkpoints and I do not cross the finish line, is there an ethical reason not to ride with the race?

Unethical, because you're imposing costs on the organisers anyway. Apart from the obvious "if you get hurt they're going to help you", they almost always face costs per participant and often have a limit on numbers. Violate those limits and the organisers will have problems.

You're also causing wear and tear on the track, equipment and marshals. You can't pretend that away by saying "other people do it too"... yes, and they paid for the privilege. You're stealing it. Not really ethical IMO.

This is another case where your exact marginal impact is low, but at some point one more increment like that will get the race cancelled or refused permission to do it again.

The other thing is that if you are involved in an incident and are deemed to be at fault, you will not be insured. The race insurance won't cover you (obviously), but whatever insurance you have almost certainly has a an illegal activity exclusion. They'd most likely leave it to you to show that what you were doing was lawful. But since most races take place on temporarily closed areas, that would be hard. They close the area specifically to people like you. For exactly that reason.


Can jockey wheels be used in either position in derailleur cage? Old jockey wheels are getting toothless and I was wondering, does it make a great difference which jockey wheel goes where?

Can you use the same profile jockey wheel in either position?

The top and bottom wheels are different. The top wheel's bearing allows some lateral movement. They come as a set and are not expensive so just replace both together.


I have got 29er tires and I want to upgrade to 29 plus Hi I am just about to take delivery on a new bike (Carrera Hellcat) with 29 inch wheels however I want to upgrade to 29 plus wheels and I have found some tires that will work but will my normal inner tube and wheel work with the 29 plus tires? Thanks in advance.

Factors that decide whether or not a certain tire width fill be compatible with your bicycle are many. This applies to any transition that keeps the tire diameter (29 → 29+, 27.5 → 27.5+, 26 → 26+). The most important, in my opinion, are the following.

Your frame and fork clearances should allow wider tires. Both in increased width and height. Typically, bicycle vendors designate if a bike is "plus" compatible. If not, the risk is high that no tires designated as 29+ will fit in a 29 frame. In such case, you'd better consider switching to 27.5+ wheels if you are firm to go plus.
Your rim width. There are limits to how wide/narrow a rim can be to accept a given tire width. Here's ERTRO guidelines, copied from here:

Having a too wide or too narrow rim would result in a suboptimal performance or even straight unstable wheel. Another picture from 1:

Actual tire dimensions when installed on a given rim may differ from what's designated on it. There are a lot of reports online that a 2.6" tire actually measures closer to 2.7" or even 2.8". The same applies to non-plus tires: a 2.1" can sometimes be 2.25" when installed on a wider rim. Knobs can add to width and create problems with clearance. I recommend either playing it safe and taking a narrower "plus" or finding an online review with actual measurements of chosen tire applicable to your situation.

Other factors are less deciding. Inner tubes should be fine. There might be some extra muscle effort needed if you install tubeless-ready tires on a regular rim (or was it the other way around? cannot remember).

If your fork does not accept wider tires, you can change the fork. If it is the frame that has too narrow rear wheel clearance, changing it equals practically to obtaining a new bike. Getting new wider wheels is easier, because you'll then have two pairs of nice wheels. Some people use 27.5+ wheels on 29-ers, but if bike geometry is not an empty sound for you, you might consider doing some calculations before going that way.


How does the new Canyon Endurace rim version support 33mm tyres with R7000 brakes? Canyon just popped a new version of the Endurace back in stock and I'm a bit confused. Half way down the page they claim "With 33 mm of clearance, just fit chunkier all-road rubber and you’re good to go." for gravel riding.
But the bike is fitted with Shimano's 105 callipers. To the best of my knowledge, these only support up to 28mm tyres. What am I missing here - are Canyon suggesting you must swap the brakes to put in wider tyres...? Or are they tacitly accepting that slightly chunkier tyres can fit inside the 105 callipers.

I talked to Canyon's support and they have clarified that apparently it's an error.


chain line with narrow-wide chain ring I'm running a 1 x 10 set up on my mountain bike. Recently I noticed that when I'm on the largest cog, there is a lot of friction in the drive train and is choppy. I think this is due to the fact that the chain line is not aligned with my narrow wide chain ring. Every time a chainlink gets to the wide tooth, it has a bit of trouble getting onto the tooth.

I do not notice this choppiness when I'm in the middle of the cassette and the chain line is straighter. Is there a way to fix this?

Change into the middle gear in the cassette and check the chain is straight. Otherwise, you may need to remove a bottom bracket spacer (usually 2.5mm thick) from the drive side and move it to the non-drive side or vice versa. (Of course, make sure the chainring does not contact the chainstay on the frame to avoid damage)

Failing that, you mention in the comments that you changed the chain recently. If your previous chain was very worn, it might be that the chainring is now also worn and might need replacing.


'Micro adjust' saddle clamp not allowing fine enough adjustment (on SP12 suspension seatpost) I have an Suntour SP12 seatpost, and the saddle is held on by two clamps on either side.  The clamps are splined, but these splines only allow adjustment of around 6-8 degrees which is far too much for me to find a comfortable position.

Red circle =  side of seat post (with outwards facing splines)
Blue circle =  inner side of clamp (with inwards facing splines)
Green circle = outer side of clamp

The outer side of clamp is not splined, it stays in position by wrapping around the saddle rail in combination with the inner clamp.  Because this isn't perfectly machined, there is some play that can be used to add maybe 1-2 degrees of adjustment (by putting weight on the rear or nose of the saddle while tightening).  However, this still leaves 2-4 degrees of adjustment unavailable (and it feels a bit janky).

I tried swapping the inner clamps, in the hope that the splines were in slightly different positions, but it didn't help.  I have tried this morning to use a rubber washer between the seat post side and the inner clamp, but it wasn't strong enough.  However, I only used a piece of an old silicone phone case, and about 24nm of torque because I was worried of breaking something.  Maybe this could work with a proper rubber washer?  But I doubt it

Any ideas?  I don't mind making some kind of mount from a bit of metal bent around and screwed into the sides, but I don't know to spline it to make it stay in position.  Or maybe some old saddle rails, and a mount screwed onto those?

The suspension makes a lot of difference to me, so I would like to find a way to make this seatpost work.  Although I suppose I could go for the thudbuster instead - it's just quite expensive.

Although the damping effect of the seatpost is quite nice the clamping system dates from the 'medieval' period of cycling. Modern systems rely on friction between the surfaces. Instead of a silicone or rubber washer try with a thin aluminium shim that you may cut from a beer can. But take care that no sharp edges protrude from the sides.

If this doesn't work there isn't much else that you can do except bringing in the heavy machinery if you dare and remove at least part the of the splines with a Dremel or by filing them down. I'd do that on the blue bit with the fine file held in a vice and running the 'blue' clamping part over it.


I have a Schwinn Tempo which has a 6 speed freewheel I'd like to replace my rear wheel because it isn't able to be fixed to be made true once again. The bike is an older Schwinn Tempo, the rear wheelset has a 6 speed freewheel. Or so that's what the guy at the shop told me. He only had wheels with casettes, and told me I wasn't able to use one of those.

Question is, I'd like to get a new wheelset. Do I have to stick with the freewheel style? Or can I get a modern, casette type wheelset? If the latter, do I need to make any modifications? Adjustments?

A 6 speed bike has 126 mm rear spacing while more modern wheels will need 130 mm rear spacing (which you can fix by cold setting the frame). If you're getting a new front wheel too, you will need to do this to the fork as well (likely). If you go 7 speed and up, you can get a cassette wheel, but if your Tempo has indexed shifting, you'll need to use friction mode (or get new index shifters) and adjust the derailleur accordingly.

The Schwinn Tempo has 700c wheels and there are decent 700c freewheels with 126 mm hub spacing made by Velo Orange under their Grand Cru line.


Hand signal before braking: a thing? In this question I have seen a number of answers/comments mentioning hand signals to notify traffic/cyclists behind you ahead of braking.

I have never seen anything similar in Europe (at least where I was cycling so far). We signal left/right for turns, changing lanes, overtaking - basically the same as cars (or we should, that is). I have not yet seen any kind of pendant to a cars brake lights.

Is signalling before braking a thing which is done in the US/Canada (this was the context of the above question)?
Is signalling before braking considered safe/advisable? (In the light of: you're warning those behind you but you yourself are braking one-handed.)

The way I see it you mostly need two hands on the bar for any kind of sharp braking, and light breaking should pose no problems for those driving behind you. Unless, maybe, if they're drafting (which makes them idiots if they do it in traffic). Also sharp breaking is generally called for in time-critical situations where you don't have seconds to waste for signalling.

This question is distinct from Hand signalling whiled decelerating, which covers left/right signalling while being forced to decelerate (e.g. at the bottom of a hill).

Signalling before braking is a defensive riding skill, to be used when you think there are riders close behind. In my answer to one of the linked questions, I wrote

  If you think there are bikes behind you, signal with your hand (palm facing backwards) to show you're slowing and they should too, or call "SLOWING!".

The idea here is that while bikes crashing into you from behind can cause you to crash also, it's more likely to cause them to crash.

As you say, in time critical situations, you may not have time for signalling, in which case I recommend calling "SLOWING!".

You can argue, as many do, that cyclists should not be so close behind you. The conventions I have described originate in group riding situations, where a bunch of riders are in close proximity. They may be social riders, club riders, commuters, or organised ride participants. I have experienced these signal conventions in Australia and Europe.

The biggest danger is when random commuters ride close behind one another, since the rider behind doesn't know anything about the skills or experience level of the rider ahead. So, to answer your question, in the context of commuting

  Is this considered safe/advisable?

No riding close behind a commuter in traffic is not considered safe or advisable.

Two cyclists should only ride in close proximity when they both know each other's skills, and are both comfortable to trade the benefits and the risks. In a commuting situation that is not the case.

Edit in response to David Richerby (thanks David for heads up)

Is braking one handed safe?

How safe it is depends on whether you can maintain control braking while steering one handed. It's certainly an advanced skill. When the situation is too urgent then focus on braking and control. If you're worried about following bikes, then call out as I suggested.

If you have time, I do recommend signalling first.

Second edit

The answer by muphblu led me to investigate what international standards for hand signals exist. I'm not going to reference what I found here, because it's a complete mish-mash.

To summarize, many places still allow riders to follow outdated rules adapted from the rules for motor vehicle drivers (and they were probably adapted from horse cavalry, but I digress). These require

for a near side turn (left turn in Australia, NZ, UK, et al, and right turn in US, Canada, Europe, Russia) to be indicated by holding the other arm out horizontally, with the forearm vertical from the elbow and hand facing forward.
for an offside turn (right turn in Australia, NZ, UK, et al, and left turn in US, Canada, Europe, Russia) to be indicated by holding the same arm out horizontally. I.e. you point in the direction you're turning.
for stop, it's a mess. It can be the same as the nearside turn, or with the arm strait up, or in some parts of the US, the arm horizontal with the forearm vertically down and the palm facing back. I think of this as "holding those behind back".

In additional, many places allow point in the direction you're turning for turns in either direction.

I have not seen any updates to the cavalry-style stop sign.

What is a cyclist to do?

Any time you suspect there are riders behind, you need to take extra care, because you are the one who can see ahead, and they cannot.

So when approaching the kind of situation described in the linked question, if you can see the situation developing before you arrive, it's time to start signalling (with the palm vertically down and facing back) to those behind so that they can be ready to stop. In this case you're already using your brakes lightly with the other hand if you can.

If you don't get any warning, there's no time to be gentle. Call out loudly that you're braking / stopping, and get on the brakes asap. Try to feather the brakes if you have room, so that those behind have a better chance of avoiding you.

An advantage of calling out is that with a loud enough call even the motorist can hear you. (I swear I've moved whole cars sideways this way).

Why palm vertically down, facing backwards?

Cyclists who ride close together tend to be road cyclists, and because of the position they tend to ride in, they will more easily see a low signal than a high one. And to make the high cavalry-style signal, you need to sit up, which is the opposite of what's needed for braking. And we can get our hand back on the brakes more easily from the low position too.

So, is it a thing?

Well, yes. But not an officially or universally accepted thing.


Riding bicycle without using seat I've almost always rode on a BMX, so I've never been sitting while riding because of how low the seat is.Now I've had a chance to try out a more normal bike but I found sitting on the seat to be very uncomfortable so I've been riding several km standing.

I've also tried many different seats but they were all too uncomfortable.

I'm quite concerned that if I start doing this everyday Ill develop some leg problems (like blood circulation maybe?) or have other issues.

Traveling long distances on a bike seat is almost always going to be uncomfortable when your body isn't used to it. Give it time.

But also, consider taking your bike with you to have a professional make sure the seat and the bike fit you. Some people have managed to permanently damage their blood vessels ( I won't go into detail ) by improperly sitting on a bike seat. Call around to see if there's a bike shop near you that can help and ask how much they'll charge you.


Optimal Placement of Cleats I am transitioning from mountain bike shoes to road bike shoes.  A marked difference is the limitation of versatility in cleat placement.  I prefer to have my cleat as far up and to the inner side of my foot as possible - pretty much at the balls of my feet.  This was possible with my mountain bike shoes but no longer.

It feels weird to have the cleat so centered on my foot.  I feel like I can't use my calves as strategically now.  Is this because it's more efficient to have the cleat central to the foot?  Looking for explanation or advice. Thanks!

I am transitioning from mountain bike shoes to road bike shoes. A marked difference is the limitation of versatility in cleat placement. I prefer to have my cleat as far up and to the inner side of my foot as possible - pretty much at the balls of my feet.

Typical road shoes use three bolts holes, with the positions of those holes being static (as opposed to mountain bike that have two bolt pattern in a slot that allows for forward/aft changes). In a road setup the ability to adjust cleat position (forward/aft or inboard/outboard) comes from the design of the cleat itself.  Some brands and systems offer a lot range in this regards while other less. In addition, road pedals themselves often come with different length axles which will help you fine tune the inboard/outboard position your foot (what you have been doing by shifting the cleat inboard on your mountain bike pedal and shoes). Finally, road bikes also tend to have a narrower stance (distance from the center-line to pedal; often termed the "Q-factor") relative to mountain bikes, meaning that all else being equal your feet will already be positioned closer to the center-line of the bike (relative to your mountain bike) before you even start tweaking your setup.

The take-home is that to get the same stance (distance from the center-line of the bike to the middle of your foot) the road cleat will be in a different inboard position relative to a mountain bike cleat position, so land-marking the mountain bike cleat position will not help you to get into the same final stance.  Unless you are very good with measuring these types of distances you may need to start over fresh when setting up your road cleat position.

  It feels weird to have the cleat so centered on my foot. I feel like I can't use my calves as strategically now. Is this because it's more efficient to have the cleat central to the foot?

Finally, the current "thinking" for fore/aft position cleat position is to have the pedal axle between your first and fifth metatarsal, that is, just behind the "ball of your foot (which is the first metatarsal). This keeps your calves muscles more neutral (requiring them to work less), reducing fatigue and oxygen consumption. The calve muscles  primarily play a postural role in cycling rather than generating any substantial power. If you are looking to generate more power, you should look into getting muscle recruitment from other muscle groups such as your glutes.


Is it possible to fit a 36T chainring on a 34T frame? I'm thinking of building a bike from scratch around a Commencal HT AM 2018 frame, which normally comes with a 32T front chainring (1x setup) and says it takes 34T max. However a 36T would be ideal for my riding style, and the difference in radius measured at tooth tips between 36T and 32T chainrings is less than 9 mm (by calculation, roughly 72.9 vs 64.8 mm). Given such a small difference, I think 36T  would fit based on this photo, which features a 32T chainring (you can see more of this bike's photos here):

However, I have no practical experience, and it would be a pretty expensive schooling if I bought a good chainring and found it does not fit. Anybody knows whether this would work?

I think you will have to go with Commencal's specified max chainring size.

Radius of chainrings at center of chain rollers is:

32t: 64.8mm

34t: 68.8mm

36t: 72.9mm

If tooth profile is the same, the tips of the teeth will be a constant height above the center of the rollers, so a 36t ring will be approximately 8mm greater in diameter than a 32t - as you calculated.

Doing a rough analysis on the photo you provided: the gap between 32t ring tooth tip and frame looks to be about the same as the depth of a tooth.

If we assume the tooth depth is the same as the chain roller diameter of 7.9mm, you only just have 8mm clearance. If the chainring does clear, any frame flex will likely result in the ring hitting the frame.


How do internal hubs work This question is just one of curiosity. I have a hard time visualizing this. How do internal hubs work? Does anyone have a cross cut image that is easy to understand?

The only scheme I know of is called planetary gears, or as Wikipedia calls it Epicyclic gearing. @Daniel suggests that there are other designs.

Here is one of the images from Wikipedia:

The inner gear is called the sun and the gears that go around that are called the planetary gears. In the basic design (the original Sturmey Archer design) the sun was fixed to the axle, and the pedals could either drive the assembly that the planets are on, or the outer ring. The wheel could be driven by the outer ring or the planetary assembly. A moving selector device controls the mechanism. The gear ratios were 1:2/3, 1:1, 1:3/2.

Thanks to @RoboKaren for editing in the image.

For more details, see the Wikipedia Sturmey Archer page, the Rohloff Speedhub page, and the Hub gear page.


Locking a vehicle bicycle rack We are planning a trip with a bike rack attached to our trailer hitch. What is the best way to lock the bikes while the vehicle is unattended? I see some racks have locks on the knobs but they don't seem very strong.

What do you suggest?

Don't rely on the racks locks alone to keep you bikes safe. They willat very best, slow the thief down (shows the point).  A hitch rack provides a good lever that can be effectively used to snap the rack (or the hitch) off to take the bikes, and if the bikes are damaged in the process, the thief just walks away leaving a mess.

Strong cable lock though a closed loop on the car (the cars tie down loop / eye)  around the bikes, threaded to limit the range of twisting and lever motions, meaning the racks locking mechanisms cannot be push further than they can cope with.

For any length of time, take the bikes off the rack and store safely inside, or out of site locked to a secure rack. Cheap bikes also help.


What are the advantages and disadvantages to chain wax? I recently bought a new chain for my bike and it came full of chain wax. I was wondering if this was a better lubricant then regular chain lube, or if it had some other qualities that the manufactures thought would be better than lube?

I suspect that it's cheaper for the manufacturer. Or if they're advertising it, it may just be a market differentiator. Regardless, leave it there rather than trying to remove it because it's right inside the chain where you need it. By all means wipe off any excess on the outside, but don't use a chain cleaner.

The different types of chain lube have been discussed at length on the web and elsewhere, and to the best of my knowlege the definitive answer is "it depends".

Broadly: oil-based (wet) lubes are more water resistant but attract gunk and turn into black sticky goo on your chain, grease-based (wet) lubes are more water and mud resistant but attract even more gunk, and wax (dry) lubes attract little gunk but wash off more easily. You also get various additives (usually teflon) to reduce friction. Then there are solvents used to remove gunk, like WD40 and kerosene. Despite sometimes being called oils, they are not useful as lubricants except in the immediate "stuck bolt" sense - they evaporate very quickly.

The consensus seems to be use wet lubes in the wet, dry lubes in the dry, and caution when discussing the subject.


How to re-tension front derailleur cable Bike is a mid 80s Miyata with early Shimano 105 components. It's a 10 speed, 5 speed cog and 2 chain rings.

I recently had my front derailleur set up again by a good mechanic after it stopped shifting at all. He reinstalled the derailleur to height/angle, adjusted the limits, and installed a new cable. It shifted great for a few days, super fluid and quick. Now it has trouble traveling far enough to reach the larger chain ring and I feel like the shift cable stretched a bit and needs to be re-tensioned.

Is it likely the shift cable needs to be re-tensioned? Or the limits need to be readjusted?

Agree with others here - cables stretch only slightly, requiring one or two clicks/half turns of whatever barrel adjuster, either typically next to the headtube, or for the rear also where the cable meets the derailleur body. More than that, implies the cable actually slipped because the nut clamping it at the derailleur wasn't tightened enough.
  These are not complex issues, and every cyclist should learn how to at least make these basic adjustments, on principle to be more self-reliant, and also to free yourself from constant, costly, inconvenient trips to the shop. That said, the shop that did all the work should definitely follow up on what appears to be related to their work. Cables can also not be seated fully in the frame points etc. so another possibility exists there.


Are these spokes too damaged to use? So, I've had the chain slip under the biggest sprocket a couple of times, and the spokes got chewed up by it to the point that two of them have broken recently. So, I decided to replace all the affected spokes, and am now left with six chewed-up spokes that didn't actually break (although one of them sounded pretty suspicious when I rode it home after the second breakage).

Here's what the spokes look like:

The damage seems to vary anywhere from scratched paint-job up to the two spokes that actually broke.

Anyway, there were supply chain and delivery issues that ended up with me waiting two full weeks for the spokes to arrive, so I'm wondering: are any of these spokes in good enough condition to use as a temporary replacement while I wait for the replacement?

If you break more spoke you can use the least damaged ones temporarily, understanding that they might break, but will probably last two weeks.

Save yourself a from future headaches by addressing adjustment of the lower limit on your rear derailleur, or getting a spoke protector, or both.


Is it possible to reverse cable direction in Shimano M770 shifter? I tried to set up the perfect shifter + derailleur. For the last part it is better (for me) to have low-normal version, because reducing gears is essential for me (I bike mostly within city).

So I bought low-normal Shimano derailleur (Shimano-RD M770 SGS XT) and M770 shifter. To my surprise it is asymmetric shifter -- you are able to release gears by 4, and increase by 1 (I tuned M770 already, so I am able to increase gears by 2, just like with XTR).

So with current configuration I can more easily increase gears (by 4) than reduce them -- quite contrary what I wanted.

I can send back derailleur, and order a new one, with top-normal spring, but I would LOVE to improve M770 shifter even further by reversing the direction of cable, i.e. so the thumb level would pull the cable, and index level would release cable.

Such tweaking would result in dream machine (well, part of it).

The question is -- is such modification is possible at all (at home)? I would appreciate firm "no" or "yes" (+how to do it) answers. Thank you very much in advance.

You should switch your derailleur out for one with a reverse pull, but there is absolutely no chance that you'll get the shifter to reverse the operation of the cable.


How do I true a trailer wheel? We use a Croozer Kid For Two, and we love it. I replaced the tires recently, but badly: one twisted, making the wheel look like it was out-of-true -- to the extent people started stopping me to tell me my "wheel was buckled". The twist was easily fixed, but it got me thinking.

How would I true a rim from a two-wheeled trailer? My own jig assumes a through-axle, but the trailer uses cantilever axles.

I would skip using the truing stand and just true the wheel on the trailer. You can generally clamp a strip of something to the frame to act as an indicator (have it stick out and just brush the rim, kind of like a rim brake pad), so you can more easily zero in on the worst spots.

Dishing/centering is harder without a stand, but there should no need to dish/center a trailer wheel that accurately in most cases.


Very short-pull derailleurs designed specifically for 1x6 drivetrains? EDIT: After some searching, it appears this type of derailleur is currently available in the form of folding bike derailleurs, such as the Shimano RD-FT35. It is a SIS 6/7 speed compact derailleur with chain capacity of 17 teeth, max cog size of 28t. As a bonus, it's very cheap. It seems to be targeted as an OEM item, and details are a bit hard to find, but appears to be perfect for this application. I ordered one to try.

Was there ever such a thing as a rear derailleur for a single chainring, but a 6 or 7 speed freewheel?

What I want is a derailleur optimized specifically for 14-28 or 14-34 freewheel, but a single chainring, and indexing compatibility doesn't matter.

The reason I ask is I fix up lots of cheap bikes that are being thrown out and make them rideable again. It's become almost a vocation at this point. In the case I get a good frame and wheels, I even try to make them nice.

I usually throw away the front derailleur and go with a single chainring, for cost and simplicity. That is, when I don't outright convert to single speed, I only keep the rear gears. I ALWAYS change to friction shifting, so compatibility is not an issue.

The common freewheels still available seem to be Shimano 6 speed 14-28 or 7 speed 14-34 "mega range" freewheels, or generic equivalent freewheels.

Since I don't need the range of chain length from multiple chainrings, this means even the 6-speed derailleurs, which are designed for 3x6/18spd gearing, are overkill in terms of chain pull, and result in a chain longer than it needs to be. At the same time, I need a derailleur that can shift onto the 28 or 35 tooth sprocket of the freewheel.

I would really like a derailleur with a shorter cage just for 3-speed to 7-speed freewheels only, with a single chainring. Are there any rear derailleurs, new or vintage, that are like this? If not, what would be the closest?

In theory you could get a short-cage derailleur, but that would add significantly to the parts cost and not really be much better.

Back when I did a lot of fixups, it was all about making the bike as good as it could be, without spending anything on the more expensive items.  We'd often replace brake pads and cables with new, but items like cassettes and derailleurs were very rarely bought new.

Fixups are a different mindset to working on your own bike.

Instead, we'd knock down bikes that were too-far-gone, and put the usable bits into storage bins.  During downtime, volunteers would clean and recondition components, then return them to storage.  So later, if someone's fixing a bike and finds they need a rear mech, they'd pull one from the parts storage bin for rear mechs and fit it up.  The old part would be either cleaned and serviced, or scrapped for metals which earned a couple hundred dollars perhaps twice a year, but each time it was a truckload of pre-sorted metals.

The expertise comes from deciding how dead a bike has to be to go to parting-out vs what's worth saving.  That is affected by how busy the operation is, what parts are low-stock.  Your local area also affects the supply line - there are always old bikes turning up.  And finally the ultimate limiter is how much space you have for storage.


What can cause headset bearings to become loose quickly? On a new-ish CX bike (about 1 year old), I frequently need to adjust/tighten the headset bearings (semi-integrated ahead type).

After a few rides, they become loose which is noticeable by a "shuddering" feeling when using the front disk brake. Additionally, there is noticeable play in the bearings when I pull the brakes and move the bike back and forward.

What can cause the headset to become loose that quickly? What can I do about it? I already tightened all screws on the stem to spec (the label says "all max 8Nm") after tightening the adjustment screw, is there anything else I can try without specialized tools or replacing the headset?

A few months ago, I finally found the most likely reason for my problem: Instead of a star nut, this bike uses an expander plug under the top cap. This plug extends about 4mm above the end of the steerer tube, like this:

#########
|#######|
|#######|
|#######|

Where the # represent the plug, and the | is the steerer tube. I had the stem at the topmost position, and I suspect that it not only gripped the tube, but also the compression plug. Which in turn was loosened by vibration and the stem moved upwards with it, loosening the bearings.

I have since moved a spacer above the stem so that it does not touch the plug; this seems to have fixed the problem. The lower handlebar position is fine with me, and my problem hat not re-occurred for the last months despite riding some rough-ish trails.


Dynamo hub cones regulation I have bought my first dynamo hub wheel with Shimano DH-3N72 hub.

The axle of the wheel fells like if it is over-tightened a bit, it rotates with feeling of clicks.

Should I loose the cones in the hub OR I am wrong and this is just magnetic forces inside a hub provide me such a feeling?

The feeling of notches is just the resistance you feel from moving the magnets past the coils in the hub.  That's what generates the power.  The hub is fine!  When you actually ride the bike you won't feel a thing. Well, at least I don't feel anything. Some people have said they feel vibrations from their dynamo hub at lower speeds.


Meerkat H1 General BMX I have a bike on which I’m looking for information. Serial number is T80409c3 I believe.  Has been stored in a garage and has all original parts minus the kickstand that was aftermarket. I believe it to be a prototype.

It’s a Chromoly frame.

You have a F1 racing BMX - probably from around the late 1980s.

They have 20" wheels and generally steel frames, and often feature BMX style brakes, and the crankset on this one is a one-piece construction.

Differences to regular BMXs, they are built with derailleur gears and a sloped top-tube.  Also, the bars are not traditional BMX ones but are either short flat bars or somewhat aero bars to encourage a lower more-aero position.  Some brands even fitted non-round biopace chainrings to appeal to the racer crowd.  Even disk wheels were fitted to some, for added aero benefits.

There are many more photos at https://bmxsociety.com/topic/48820-general-meerkat-l1-m1/   Notice the disproportionally long cranks too - that seems to be common, showing it was more about straight line power than manoeverability or tricks and stunts.

You're right - these would not have been kickstand bikes so that's definitely after fitment.


Raleigh 300 Crank Bolt specs for replacement I have a Raleigh 300 and the crank bolt fell off and was lost.

I have no idea how to find out what size crank bolt I should get!

Can anyone advise?

You lost one crank bolt.  So there's the correct bolt on the other side of your bike.  They should be identical.

Take it out and go to the bike shop with that.  Its likely you'll need a 14mm socket to remove the bolt.

Talk nicely to them and you might just get one out of the parts bin, specially if you're a regular customer or buying other stuff too.  These bolts generally don't wear out.


YouE planetary motor is having problems how do I pinpoiont the problem? I was riding then I turned a corner went to turn the throttle suddenly it makes a loud grinding noise and is unable to accelerate.

I got the motor open and it can only start turning when I roll the motor backwards a bit first (forwards on the ground).

It rolls smoothly, planetary gears stay still till it makes a loud bang like something is catching then dead. It never takes longer than 10 seconds tops. At high speed the planetary gears move suddenly in a jerky motion but also the motor dies whenever there's too much of a jerky motion.

Magnets are not loose or falling apart. There is no debris in the hub it is clean and well greased on the gear.

Can it be fixed? Any advice on how to make it work properly will be greatly appreciated.

[EDIT WITH NEW INFORMATION]

I disconnected the hall sensor to see if the motor would still function.

When I disconnect the 5 pin hall sensor plug the motor acts like a magnetic lock when I turn the throttle, it freezes the wheel in place. After a few seconds the controller stops feeding power to the motor. I can do it again once I reset the throttle and twist again. I am beginning to suspect the controller seeing how the hall effect sensors do emit information to make the motor time the controller to work properly when they are connected until the power fails with or without the sensors. The power fails at about the same amount of time per try.

The specs reads: max. 36 volts
I switched over from SLA 36 volts to li-ion 42 volts.
Some assured that it's within tolerance but I suspect that these Chinese controllers are also on the cheap side and aren't as robust to take on that much more above tolerance continuously.

I got my new controller and now everything is back to the way it was.
I got this controller:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/36V-48V-350W-Electric-Bicycle-E-bike-Scooter-Brushless-DC-Motor-Controller-/172878396579?roken=cUgayN&soutkn=IvO9vJ

I tested the throttle to make sure that it was giving the proper ohms. Check
I tested the magnets by short circuiting the 3 phase power for the motor a felt a turning resistance. Check
I bypassed the ignition and the brake switches, connected the throttle, then the 3 phase wires and connected the controller's self-learning wires and then the power.

Before I was able to connect the hall sensors the motor was turning at about 1/4 power and I discovered that in learning mode it learns to know what direction to turn the wheel and gauges the throttle resistance.

When the controller is powered and you disconnect then reconnect the learning mode wires while the motor is turning the motor will turn in the opposite direction. Also, in learning mode, if you turn the throttle the controller will learn to add more speed based on the change of resistance of the throttle. I went full throttle and it slowed the motor but another twist and it accelerated the motor. It figured out how it should react to it.

I hope this can be useful for those who need to figure out replacing a new controller.


Noleen ATS Comp 26 Front Fork Shocks - Oil Needed? I purchased a VERY used 2003 26inch K2-Zed 1.0 (Small Frame) from a guy for $10 and am attempting to restore it for my 15 year old daughter who says she has outgrown her 20 inch bike. The front forks had a decal on the side (Noleen ATS Comp 26) were in bad shape and were completely frozen when I got the bike although I was able to get them moving slightly again after much rust remover/disassembly/cleaning/lubricating (trying to keep it as original as I can as the bike is as old as my daughter which I thought was cool). The bike was in various stages of disrepair and the forks came with plastic one fork tube cap (threaded) and a spring with two plastic attachments on either side. One side of the fork tubes is threaded at the top so I assumed that is probably where the spring goes but my question is what, if anything, goes on the other side and does it require fork oil when I'm reassembling it (if so, how many cc)? I have searched the starting with their company site but so far I can't even find specs on the forks, much less a diagram. Anybody out there know how these forks were put together originally? Thanks in advance for any time you spend helping out and let me know if pictures of the disassembled forks would help.

Bikes that sold in the price range of the Zed were sold with very simple front suspensions. The forks consist of a spring (sometimes only on one side), some type of plastic slide or bushing and some rubber bumpers on the end of the springs. Very few service parts, if any are available. There is no rebound adjustment (this is the rate that the fork extends after compression). The preload adjustment is done by tightening a long bolt that passes thru the spring and shortens the spring as the bolt is tightened. The usual cause of failure is rust on the uppers or the plastic bushings wearing out. If you have completely disassembled ,cleaned and relubed both sides it is likely as good as it going to get.


Fork travel for 16" frame size, 26" wheel hardtail I would like to ask question if my frame and setup are OK for me.
I am 5'6.5" (169 cm) tall and I am using a Merida HFS 1000, frame size 16".  Please tell me what fork travel should I set up with this. Right now I am using an SR Suntour Epicon 100 mm travel.  Should I decrease the travel to 80 mm?

Acceptable fork travel is primarily defined by particular bicycle frame design, not by rider's height or other parameters. More specifically, it is important to maintain the same or close distance between the front wheel's axle and the fork's crown, as stipulated by the manufacturer, when changing forks or changing travel.
If your fork is the original one that came with the bicycle from the factory, then recommended travel for the bicycle is 100 mm. Otherwise, if it was replaced by you or a previous owner, you can try to figure out what was the travel on the original fork.
There are several models that I can find by the name "Merida HFS 1000", and the fork travel range for them varies from 80 to 120 mm. You'll have to be more specific with the model name and frame year to figure it out.
Lastly, if you feel that your current bike handles fine, there is no point in experimenting with a shorter fork, unless you can easily swap back and forth between them to find the best one that suites you.


Can I use 25.4mm bullhorn brakes on a 26mm handlebar? I've got a 26mm bullhorn handlebar but it seems like many stores sell bullhorn brakes that are for 25.4mm bullhorns.

Will this 0.6mm make much of a difference? Would it be okay to use the 25.4mm bullhorn brakes on the 26mm bars?

It seems like you're confusing the clamp diameter with the grip area diameter.

26 mm is a standard road bike clamp diameter (i.e. where the handlebar attaches to the stemp) and 25.4 mm is a standard mountain bike clamp diameter. Your stem needs to match the clamp diameter. The clamp diameter and stem must match exactly.

The grip area diameters need to match for the brakes (which are 22.2 mm for mountain bike stuff and 23.8 mm for road bike stuff).

Most bullhorns are typically 23.8 mm grip area, so they can use road bike levers.