What features should I look for in a mudguard? I am wanting a mudguard that is quite long for the rear. However I don’t want the mud to flick onto my back.

I have already tried the ‘Ass Saver Fendor Bendor’ but it slips on my frame. Would you be able to recommend me one that would work?

Mudguards / fenders work by intersecting an imaginary line between your wheel and you/the bike frame.

There are two main reasons for having them and they're similar but different.

Keeping your bike and rider DRY from water
Keeping your bike and rider CLEAN from mud/dirt

In addition mudguards might offer an increase in aerodynamics, and somewhere to hang more lights/reflectors.

So the best mudguards will look something like this:

The rear mudguard starts after the rear tyre.  So there is no straight line from the tyre to the rider or backpack.
The guard is close to the tyre, so spray can't flick off the sides of the tyre, evading the guard and hitting the rider under the thigh.  My ass-saver does none of this.
At the front of the rear mudguard, it does right down to the chainstays.  This somewhat-protects the bearings of the BB and your chain and chainrings from spray.
Up the front, the rear edge is quite low too, and this protects your face and front from upspray when turning.  It also shields the BB somewhat.
But in addition there's a mudflap behind the front guard.  This dangles and helps catch roadspray that would hit your chain/chainrings and BB housing.  Mine's made from a leather tongue from some worn shoes.
Finally, the front/leading edge of the front guard goes forward of the front wheel axle.  This stops water from being thrown forward or slightly upward and catching the wind, coming back either into your headtube bearings, your hands, or your chest and face.

The only thing missing is a flap on the rear guard - this is more for the benefit of someone riding behind you though.

A second downside, this style only works on rigid bikes.  If you have suspension then your guards can't be too close.

Notice the rear guard is fastened to the rear triangle, so as the suspension flexes, the guard stays in the same place.   The front guard is much shorter because it can't use stays for support, and is a very long way from the tyre.
The tyre/guard clearance has to be bigger if the bike is likely to be ridden in mud too, else there can be a buildup of mud enough to stop the wheel turning.

The MTB guard has to be much wider too, because the tyre is wider.  Knobblies catch and throw a lot more water/mud/stones than smoother road tyres.

As such, this offers much less protection from water and mud.

Materials will probably be either metal or plastic.  There are wooden ones, but they're not common.   Metal ones can suffer from stress fractures due to vibration, so more stays work better.  Plastic ones are a bit more forgiving, but they crack slightly easier than metal and can embrittle with UV/age.

A final option is a home made hack.  All you need to do is intersect the flying droplets.  So search and you'll find fenders made from strips of plastic, old bottles, even tyres with the bead cut off.   If you have a rear rack, simply line it with flat plastic and you've got protection


Rear light with failure warning It is a thing that I noticed even on cars it is missing: when rear lights fail, the driver does not realize it.

In bicycles it is much more worse it happens, as the cyclist's own life is more exposed.

I would like to know if someone knows about the existence of REAR lights for bicycles that give some feedback about their own failure, without the needing of
the cyclist to lift up from the bicycle.

My thanks in advance.

The problem is that you have to start considering the failure modes of the failure detection system. You're quite likely to end up with a less robust system or a lot of false alarms if you have a system designed to warn you of failure.

You also have to consider what faults would be detected:

a dead battery? You'd need another power source to feed your warning
a briefly open contact causing the light to switch off (I've had a proper brand light do this every pothole on a road bike)? Can this be distinguished from a deliberate switching off?
accidental switching (e.g. bumped by a pannier)? How is that different from switching it off?
unlikely failure modes like LED burnout? These shouldn't happen in a well-designed system, and I wouldn't trust failure detection in any other system.
the light falling off? Quite a likely failure mode but an extra fixing would be more reliable and less effort - and your failure warning service could fall off too.
Damage (which could be things like a failed connection or loss of focussing optics) due to vibration/fatigue/impact. My helmet-mounted rear light has lost an LED to this, and another flickers, so it happens.  With series-connected LEDs (common on e-bike rear lights) or a failure in a common electrical path, you could easily lose the whole output.

So instead we consider a system designed to confirm that the light is on. If the confirmation fails you stop and check. This could be a design or mounting that deliberately directs a little of the light to where you can see it. Simply mounting your rear light on your seat tube and having a silver-coloured pannier rack is an easy solution to this. A light with some front-facing white/yellow lights that shine between your legs would cost battery power but might increase visibility.

There are big advantages to multiple independent lights:

you're more visible from more angles (and further away if you add lights up high)
approaching vehicles can get an idea of how fast they're gaining on you (this really needs multiple constant lights to work well)
they indicate your size better - important if you're wider than a driver might expect (trailer for example)
and of course the big one here: if one dies you've still got some minimum level of lighting at the back.

I take this approach with two steady rear lights and a flashing one on my helmet (also with yellow LEDs on the sides). Sometimes I have a third rear light as I have one on the top of my daughter's seat and one on my spare pannier.

Another consideration is what you'd do if you detected a failure and it wasn't easy to fix at the side of the road, an hour from home, in complete darkness.  With a backup light or two, just ride on.  Of course this does mean you should check your lights at home - this is just a matter of looking at them as you switch them off and not doing it by feel.


Is there a non-proprietary standard for oval seat-tube/post? I see Pinarello Dogma and Gan S frames have a proprietary seatpost/seattube combination, which don't have a circular section. An advantage of that design in my opinion is that it's impossible to have the saddle not aligned when adjusting the height of the seatpost. One disadvantage I can see is that if the seatpost is not properly greased and get stuck, you don't have much freedom of movement to leverage on in order to unstuck it. In any case, I was wondering:

  Is there any standard for seatposts that don't have a circular section?

Say one wants to build their own frame with this feature. Is it possible to have this on a steel frame? And if it exists, what's the most common standard so that it's easy to find seat tubes and replacement seatpost?

There has been in the past--Shimano once had aero group variants (Dura Ace AX and 600 AX), which included an aero-section seatpost. I had a bike that came with one such seatpost. Unfortunately the binder clamp on the seat tube didn't quite keep the seatpost in place, and I had to have a framebuilder tap a hole for a setscrew.


Cassette teeth design I'm new to the bicycles scene and was trying to 3D draw a bicycle.

I'm currently trying to draw an 11 speed 11-30T cassette but I quickly noticed that the design of the teeth of the gears are quite advanced and thus that piqued my interest.

From a friend I hear that there are books and papers that discuss the shape of the teeth and they also have equations used to determine the shape using the pitch and roller diameter dimensions from the chain.

I tried looking for these books or any relevant information on these teeth designs but to my surprise, it seems that this info is really hard to find on the internet.

So my next strategy to find this information is by asking others! So if anyone has any information on this or has a website/book/technical report where I can find more info about this topic please let me know.

Thanks in advance!

I hear that there are books and papers that discuss the shape of the teeth and they also have equations used to determine the shape using the pitch and roller diameter dimensions from the chain...  if anyone has any information on this or has a website/book/technical report where I can find more info about this topic please let me know.

This is a huge topic I'm going to bucket the conversation into two groups.
1. Information on products currently being manufactured.
2. General roller sprocket and roller chain design - this is the best source of detailed information. Google and/or search Amazon books "roller chain design" or "roller sprocket design".

1. Information on currently manufactured products.
Bicycle drive train makers (Shimano and others) have spent a great deal of money trying to make chains and cogs that shift better in hopes of giving them a competitive advantage in the market place. The details of their design are proprietary and patented. They will not publish enough details for you to re-create their designs.

There are people who have spent the time reverse engineering products.

For example:

Peter Verdone has a page that details a Shimano hyperglide 9 spd cassette interface.

Konstantin Shemyak spent some time examining the teeth of hyperglide sprocket teeth and has posted his findings.

GRABCAD has drawings of cassettes and chains.

Here is a deep dive into some Shimano chainring designs using information from the patent office from BIKERUMOR!.

Chasing the patent trail - Google has a nice patent search engine. Here is an example of a "bicycle sprocket assembly"

2. General roller sprocket and roller chain design
The roller chain / roller sprocket drive mechanism is over 100 years old. If you look for information that is not specific to current bicycle drive trains and generalize to sprocket and chain design you can find a world of technical information on the web an machinist handbooks like this document on Gears Educational Systems.

Or an article on designing a single speed cog as just two examples of the mountain of information available.


How to tell if compression damping settings are working? This is an embarrassing novice question ... I got a mountain bike with a fork that has low and high speed compression damping settings. This is the first time I am riding a bike with an air fork. I do not have experience with them. I cannot notice any difference in the fork's behaviour when going from minimum to maximum damping or vice versa. In contrast, I can notice a difference in the rebound setting. Is this normal? How can I determine if it is working correctly?

Try taking all the air out so you can feel just the damper’s resistance. Low speed compression will be noticeable when doing body movements such as preloading, weight shifting, or braking. High speed compression is for events such as hitting big drops and large square edge impacts. The easiest way to test that is to smash into a square curb (perhaps with a bit of air to prevent fork damage).
Remember that the “speed” here is shaft speed, not bike speed. Shaft speed is how fast the damper shaft is moving through the oil column. Smashing a curb at walking speed is a high shaft speed event, just as pumping through a compression at 40km/h is a low shaft speed event.


Wheelbuilding spoke tension vs lateral truing I am using rim that is not bent, i screw each spoke nipples at equal distance from point when spoke thread is covered by nipple until spokes are tense.
i get perfectly laterally true wheel, however tension on some spokes comes out different than others some are around 30 kgf (300 N) more.
Why this happens?
When i start to set similar tension for each spoke rim goes out of lateral true and then i spend hours trying to true it while keeping every spoke tension equal which never works out because there's still individual spokes that that needs to be ~20 kgf (200 N) more tense than others in order to have rim laterally true, what's wrong here?
P.S. I am not worried about radial truing because rim is double wall it never gets bent radially.

The rim is probably not made by the very best of rim manufacturers.
I have found that I can create a radially and laterally true wheel where the variation of spoke tensions is around 150-200 N. I use DT Swiss TK 540 rims. DT Swiss is a well-known reputable rim manufacturer and makes high quality rims.
I suspect your rim has not been built to such a high precision.
I think 300 N variation might still be barely acceptable for low-weight riders not riding hard on narrow high pressure tires, especially if you tension the spokes such that the average spoke tension is according to the manufacturer's spec and not such that the maximum spoke tension is according to the manufacturer's spec. Also spoke count helps -- anything below 36, and low tension variation becomes more critical.
For me, I weigh over 100 kg and ride hard on narrow high pressure tires. 300 N variation in spoke tensions would be way too much for me because the loosest spoke would repeatedly go slack and the nipple would self-unscrew, destroying the wheelbuild.


Why do many full face bicycle helmets not conform to the ASTM F1952 standard? It seems to me that a lot of full face bicycle helmets do not conform to the requirements of the ASTM F1952 standard for downhill bicycle helmets. Some noteable examples from the best selling list of chainreactioncycles.com are the Bell Super 2R, 661 Comp, and the Urge Drift. All of these appear to be popular downhill helmets that do not conform to ASTM F1952. Why is it so that many full face helmets do not conform to this standard?

Short answer: they're not required to.

According to http://www.spkids.com/pages/astm-helmet-safety-standards-explained   this standard consists of these tests:

Dropped from two meters on flat anvil (iron block); drops from curbstone and hemispheric anvils placed higher than bicycle helmet testing
Three anvils mimic various mountain bike terrains for helmet drop landings
A lower test line than bicycle helmets in the back of the helmet ensures back and side of head coverage
Chin strap/buckle strength and retention tests similar to the CPSC standard
Chin bar is tested under ambient conditions

By comparison ASTM F1447 is "Bicycle and roller skating helmets"  and the tests are:

Eight sample helmets, two each in hot (up to 127 degrees), cold (as low as -1 degree), wet and ambient environments
Four samples (one in each of the conditioning environments) are impacted with anvils of three different shapes (flat, hemispheric and curbstone) mimicking biker terrain
Dropped from two meters, the peak acceleration of the force during impact is measured
The ambient helmet is subjected to the positional stability (roll-off) test
Helmets are subjected to the dynamic strength retention test (chinstrap and buckle strength)

ASTM is American, so assume its degrees F not C.

Summary, the downhill helmet has to pass harder tests than a bike helmet to be accredited to the higher standard.

However, that all costs money, which has to be passed onto the end user as higher cost on that model.

To paraphrase "you can crash harder on this expensive helmet and have a better chance of survival than with a normal helmet"  so the thought process goes "I don't/rarely crash but I have to wear a helmet for law/competition rules/downhill park T&C"

If there were cheap helmets for sale that met no standards, but ticked the box for "wearing helmet" then they'd sell quite well.


Best setup for lightweight cycle touring with Ti road bike Should I use rack or trailer? Touring would be B & B normally, but might involve some minimal-gear camping (no cooking) occasionally.

If a rack - what type is best? - there are no braze-ons for a rack, but the Ti frame should carry weight OK and the wheels are strong alloy with steel spokes. Would heel clearance be an issue?

If a trailer - is there a danger of cars pulling across behind and hitting the trailer? I also worry about jack-knifing on steep downhills, and being tempted to take more weight than the (Ultegra) brakes can stop.

Thanks.

PS I'm pretty light myself - about 65kg

I would avoid a trailer.

On rear rack you are going to have heel clearance issues.

It may seem extreme but get a front fork with braze-ons.  Braze-on on the inside and outside for really solid rack mounting - check out the Salsa Vaya.  Not going to cost you more than a trailer and ride a lot nicer.

Also consider frame bags. Check out http://www.revelatedesigns.com/. See this set up http://moots.com/our-bike/cross/routt-45/overview/. You can put water bottle cages on the axles.


How do I clean the inside of my frame? Is it even necessary? I'm trying to fix up a bike that has been abandoned outside for a while. When I first turned it upside down, rust brown water started coming out of holes in frame around the rear stays.

I've fixed it up so the outside looks great, but I'm wondering if this standing water could've done much damage, and how I can clean and lube it up to keep it in good condition for as long as possible.

The most important thing is that there is no standing water inside the tubes. Usually there are drainage holes around the rear dropouts and bottom bracket. Make sure the holes exist and are not obstructed.

You can look inside the frame through the bottom bracket, seat tube and head tube. Some people use oil or wax-based surface treatments against rust, e.g. J.P. Weigle's Frame Saver.


Piston problem, not responsive I have SRAM Guide R hydraulic brakes.

The problem is, the rear brake piston won't come out from the lever body. so I decided to bleed it but it's still less responsive even though I already lubricated the piston assembly with DOT fluid.

Here's what I did:

Removed the wheel and brake pads from the calliper, then inserted the bleed block.
Prepared my syringes with DOT 5.1 fluid. 1 is 1/4 full and the other one is 3/4.
Removed the bleeding cup of the calliper and inserted the 3/4 full syringe and close the clip.
Set the lever full extended and used a rubber band to hold and squeeze the lever to the handle bar.
Removed the bleed screw on the lever and inserted the 1/4 full syringe.
Started the bleeding procedure by opening the clip of the syringe attached on the calliper and push the syringe.
I can see the old fluid coming in the syringe on the lever. I pushed until 1/4 and closed the clip of the syringe attached on the calliper.
Removed the syringe attached on the calliper and inserted back the bleed cup/screw.
Removed the rubber band from the lever and pulled the handle of the syringes attached on the lever to removed the air from the system and closed the clip.
Removed the syringes from the lever body and reinserted the bleed screw.
Cleaned the lever body and calliper with glass cleaner.
Reinserted the pads and wheel.
Fully squeezed the lever and touched to the handle and squeezed again but the lever didn't touch to the handle bar again.

Now, the problem is the piston is not responsive but its better than before I bled system.

Do you think its better to upgrade with saint or zee?

Sounds like a sticky piston to me. These can be a real pain to sort.

To get the unstuck you remove the wheel, and push the pistons in and out a handful of times.

Stick the bike in a sturdy stand.
Remove the wheel.
Squeeze the levers a few times to get the pistons sticking out a bit. Don't go too far as dropping a piston out is bad news.
Push them back in. Repeat as necessary.

Another way I tried was removing the pads, and sticking an 8mm allen key in the calliper, clamping it between the pistons and holding the level down with a strap.

Then you can gently move the pistons back and forth together.

You shouldn't need to lube the pistons, just make sure they're clean. The in and out will lube the bits that need to be lubed.

SRAM say 3-5, my Maguras took a lot more than that.


Calorie Burn Meter Bicycle Is there any bicycle with calorie burn meter in market? Its not the one on the gym. Normal bicycle for outdoors. Is there any bicycle like that in market? I have a project for my school work. Really need your help. Thank you. I'll appreciate any comments.

Generally, you attach a bike computer or a power meter to a bicycle to collect statistics, and/or some sensors to yourself.

A bike computer measures the revolutions per minute of a wheel, typically by attaching a magnet to a spoke of the wheel and using a detector attached to the frame which tells the computer every time the magnet passes the detector (so the number of times the magnet passes the detector per minute is the revolutions per minute; the circumference of the wheel gives distance). This gives you information like speed. These are cheap -- maybe 10-20 dollars on the low end, and various exercise apps can estimate calories burned based on the speed data (sometimes automatically from things like ride logs, and possibly with additional parameters you can estimate). A GPS can also take position and time measurements and do calorie estimates, albeit probably less accurately than a bike computer.

A power meter is often built into a special crankset (or occasionally bottom bracket or hub or pedals). It uses strain gauges to measure your power output based on your pedaling. This gives you watts that are delivered through your drivetrain. These are often quite expensive -- on the order of 1000 USD, typically. Using data from this, you can approximate the power you're using (under some appropriate models), which would give you the rate of calories burned.

You can also attach things like heart rate monitors and O2 sensors and other sensors to the person's body. From these, again,  with appropriate models, you can estimate the calories burned. These are in the middle in price -- my bike computer came with a heart rate monitor strap, and bike computers that have this feature are available in the 100 dollar range (probably less; mine came with my trainer). Generally, this calculation will come up in terms of VO2 max (which you can estimate based on how quickly you can run), age, gender, weight and the heart rate. This can be supplemented with other sensors as well.

I'd venture in terms of accuracy, combining a heart rate monitor (and maybe other sensors) and power meter would be most accurate. However, in terms of cost, just using a decent heart rate monitor (i.e. with a chest strap; not something like a FitBit) is probably the best for budget. The cheapest option would likely be using the bike computer and entering the speed data into some app, but this is likely the least accurate option.


Can a headset base spacer ring be removed? My bike currently has a headset base spacer ring (aka conical or cone spacer) installed (like the tapered ring in the picture ).

Can this ring be completely removed if the steerer and spacers are adjusted accordingly or does this serve some purpose?

The tapered spacer is usually for water proofing the headset (dust cover), you can remove it as long as there is enough pre-load tension when assemble back the stem.

It is actually quiet useful to keep all the dirt and water away, especially if you leave the bike outside the rain. There usually is a set of O-ring(s) inside to keep the water dripping down the steerer tube.


Are there geometrical differences between framesets optimised for flats vs drops, other than top tube length? Question background:
I am on the cusp of buying a 'do it all' bike for commuting and light touring.

The bike i'm looking at (Genesis Croix de Fer 2015 model) comes with drop handlebars. I would like to use a flat bar with a slight rise instead and bar ends.

I am aware that replacing drops with flats (in addition to requiring new levers and shifters) will change the handling of the bike somewhat. I can see that the most obvious way this would be will be a shortening of the reach, due to the extra forward distance from where a drop bar is clamped to the stem to the hoods/drops. Looking at frame geometries can also see that framesets for bikes with drop bars tend to have a shorter top tube to compensate for this.

My personal experience of riding most bikes is that I feel more stretched out than I would like to be, and I have test ridden the Genesis Croix De Fer and felt this to be the case. (I think I have a relatively short upper torso/arm reach).
I appreciate that a stretched out position is good for racing, but I would actually like a more upright position - this bike will be used for commuting and light tourer, and may one day take a child seat. I won't be racing on it.

Given this scenario, it seems to be that swapping drop bars that the bike is shipped with for flats (with a slight rise) may well make the overall geometry and riding position of the bike more suitable for my needs.

My question therefore, is, are there any other problems this will cause? e.g. will the handling be significantly adversely affected?
I.E Are there ways in which framesets are optimised for drop bars OTHER than a shorter top tube, that I am not taking into consideration?

If the effective top tube (horizontal measurement) is OK for you - then the only other things I can think of might be the head tube angle & chainstay length. A road bike may have a steeper head angle & also have shorter chainstays. Which quickens the handling & steering.
Mind you, at the smaller end of the road bike sizing - the head angles tend to be a little slacker which helps with toe overlap. So head angle also depends on size.

Best thing to do is a compare a few geometries from a manufacturer for hybrid and road. There isn't a hard and fast rule for geometries.

Also consider spacers as an alternative to a riser stem - might save you a few pennies.


What tool to adjust brakes My brakes make a noise on a time interval, as the tire rotates around. I have Shimano BR-MT520 brakes. I hear you can loosen the two bolts and move it side to side to adjust.

What is the name of the tool and what size do I need?

Shimano BR-MT520 brakes are hydraulic discs. The alignment can be adjusted by loosening the two mounting bolts. The bolts typically have Torx T25 size heads, so you need a basic T25 wrench at least. If your rear caliper is mounted between the seat and chain stays the bolts can be difficult to get to, so a L-shaped rather than a T-shaped wrench is necessary.

The basic short-cut technique for aligning the calipers to loosen the bolts so the caliper can move but is not loose, pull the brake lever hard, tighten the bolts. See this Park Tool page for more details on caliper alignment.

If your pads are rubbing periodically as the wheel spins, your rotors are probably warped. They can be straightened fairly easily. There are special tools for this but an adjustable wrench works reasonably well. See this Park Tool video.

Update:

I read through the BR-MT520 Dealer Manual and it seems the mounting bolts are in fact 5mm hex heads.


How are Prophete chains with built-in locks assembled? I recently bought a 3/32" chain from Prophete, and despaired in the attempt to close it. The complex end of the chain looks like this:

Now, at first thought, the slight groove (the one where you can peek the Euro sign) looks designed to take the bolt, and then pressure during riding will close the link. Unfortunately, the open part of the link is too short for the bolt to fit. Whenever I slide the upper part over the lower part, I have to bend it slightly, and the bolt misses the groove by half a bolt diameter.

How in the world should I assemble this?

You need to move the open end of the posts closer together so you can pop that plate into place. To do that, bend the chain sideways at that master link to get it to close.

There's a bit of technique, but it's not too hard to close (opening it again often requires three hands - the extra one to lift the plate off. Sometimes the plate will pop off if you bend the chain a bit further, sometimes not).

Move the slotted plate so it's over the post ready to close.
Hold the chain with one hand each side of the master link with the slotted plate towards you.
Pull your hands apart slightly so that the chain is straight.
Now bend the chain so the master link moves away from you (and the open end of those posts get closer together).

It might take a couple of attempts but it can be done (the chain-bending is the same way I push chain into chain tubes on my recumbents, when I can't life the recumbent to get the tube vertical)


Help for a 169 mile bike ride I am not a pro and I have never taken a long bike trip before, but I think I am up to it. The trip is not going to be one-go. I'll stop for rest. I am thinking that if I do 10 miles a day, I should be at my destination in two weeks.

I really need help with the following:

Do I need to put myself through easier challenges/trainings before I embark on my planned trip?
What food and equipment do I need?
I am travelling in between two cities in Mississippi. What should I be wary of? Or what can I expect?

Really, any help will greatly appreciated!

Do I need to put myself through easier challenges/trainings before I embark on my planned trip?

That depends. What is the farthest you've cycled in one go before now?

I suggest you skip your next gym visit and go for a 10 mile cycle. If that works out, take a 20 mile cycle the next time.

  What food and equipment do I need?

A spare tube, tyre, mini-pump and tyre levers are essential. So is a helmet. Use winter tyres if you're expecting poor weather conditions or a lot of debris on the roads. (Winter tyres are more resistant to damage)

Panniers are quite nice, because carrying your gear on them is easier than a backpack and doesn't give you a sweaty back. A speedometer is also nice, because it gives you an easy way to see how you are doing (even the cheapest will have distance since reset and odometer functions).

You will also need:

Water - however much you need so that you can have about 2 litres (half a gallon) per day. If you can refill multiple times a day, this probably means you're fine carrying one litre (~ 1 quart)
Reasonably energy dense foods - Nuts, bananas, etc...

  I am travelling in between two cities in Mississippi. What should I be wary of? Or what can I expect?

I'm not familiar with the area, so I can't help specifically with that.

If you're camping and it gets cold overnight, make sure you have something tasty, energy dense, non-perishable and OK to eat cold. When you wake up cold and your gear is cold, you need some food to help you warming up. Nuts are good.


What should the torque of an expander plug in a carbon fork be? What torque should be used for the expander plug in a carbon fork?

This one shows 8NM, which seems high
Manufacturers rarely seem to supply this information, yet tightening too much could damage the steerer.

You use the manufacturer specified torque, which in this case is max 8 Nm but in another component it could be different. That value sounds like more than we are used to in this area of the bike, but it is presumably for a 6 mm hex fastener, in which case it isn't an unusual value - it would be moderate torque on a 6 mm bolt.
The resulting force is spread out a little more over the larger component, than it would be if it was acting at a localised pinch point in another component. 8 Nm would be too high for a stem bolt, for example, but the stem compresses inwardly, while the expander pushes outward, which is very different forcing on a carbon steerer. Carbon fibres are very strong under tension, but floppy when compressed. This means it is difficult for them to resist a clamping force, hence the cited need for an expander plug to support the tube.
When the expander is pushing outwards from inside the tube, the carbon fibres are not being compressed, but are under tension instead, which is when they are strong. Like when you wrap a tape measure around your bicep and tense the muscles. That 'weak and floppy' tape you could crumple if you squashed it, is suddenly able to resist the large force of your expanding muscles when being expanded.
So given the size of the hex key required, the need for securely fixing the plug to adjust the headset and the carbon fibres not being compressed,  I am of the opinion that max 8 Nm is quite a reasonable value to torque up to, if the manufacturer's instructions are hard to come by. one could interpret it as a suggested 6-8 Nm, which means using the 6 mm hex key with a moderate force but a little sensitivity.


How does the length of the studs on winter tires affect traction on ice? How does the length of the studs on winter tires affect traction on different surfaces?
I recently bought a pair of Nokian Hakkapeliitta W106 tires for my around-town cruiser. These studs are pretty small, as tires go; these are meant to be good all-around winter tires, not specific ice or deep-snow tires.

The next time I go on a ride on ice or snow, I'll want to get studded tires appropriate to the conditions, probably for my 700c touring bike. (I'm hoping to find them reduced at the end of the winter season.)

How does the length of the stud affect handling?
What kind of tires will I need for icy roads?
Is it possible to have aggressively studded tires at the same time as full fenders (SKB plastic fenders with metal cores, in my case) or would I need to remove my fenders for the winter?

They're not really that short; compare them to the studs in studded car tires, for example.  A tiny bit of metal gives you a huge amount of traction on ice.  The real trick is that, unless you're purely riding on frozen lakebeds, you need studs small enough to deform into the tire when riding on pavement.

In icy conditions I ride 37mm Nokian W240's, they fit just fine under my 65mm Cascadia 29er fenders.  In snowy conditions, however, the snow can build up under the fender and make it difficult to ride.

If you are planning on riding long distances in deep snow there are only a small number of options, chief among which are the the Surly Endomorph or Larry tires. At 3.5" wide and at low PSI there is no comparing with a smaller tire.  Of course, you need a special bike and rims to run those beasts.


Are disc brake rotors interchangeable between brands? I have Tektro HD-R310 brakes, with center lock rims, using the new and only center lock rotors from Tektro TR160-35

Well after 2 months of driving in winter, i already notice some rust on the rotors (and i do clean my bike often)

That never happend on my other bike which i rarely clean with shimano slx + rotors.

So my question would be, can i use better quality shimano rotors with my tektro brake? Only problem i can think of would be the pads type (resin), which needs to be compatible. I'm still on the original pads but will switch to "SwissStop Disc34 RS" after they are worn out.

tldr: be sure new rotor works with metal pads or get a set of resin pads.

Generally, disk brake rotors of same diameter are thought of as cross-compatible, but there are some edge cases when this might not be true:

Rotor thickness might not be the same across manufacturers and disk brake calipers might be designed with thicker/thinner rotor in mind. Examples: Tektro TR180-16 / TR203-16 has thickness of 1.85mm and TR180-17 / TR203-17 is 2.3mm thick; also, see Lennard Zinn's piece on the subject.
As you already noted, rotor manufacturer might require or recommend to use certain kind of pads. Examples: Shimano SM-RT56 is compatible with resin pads only (literally written on the rotor) while SM-RT64 can work with both resin and metal pads. More exotic rotors might also require a matching set of pads.

Let's put all of the above to your case:

A relevant quote from Zinn's piece:

  Shimano rotors are made 1.8mm thick and should be replaced when the
  thickness has been reduced to 1.5mm.  Since 2010, the 1.5mm minimum recommended rotor thickness has been printed on Shimano rotors.

Based on published TRP rotor thickness, I assume TR160-35 is most likely 1.85mm thick. According to Shimano, a 0.05mm thickness difference is in a range of expected rotor wear, as per quote above. So, no problems here.
Tektro HD-R310 comes with "Metal Ceramic Compound" pads. That means the new rotor should either support metal pads (like top of the line SM-RT900) or you should get a set of resin pads if new rotor requires these.


Saddle position for a long steep climb Various sources indicate that when climbing to slide back on the saddle. In about a month I plan to attempt Whiteface Mountain with its 13 km at an 8% grade. If I manage this climb I will be at my limit. Should I move my saddle back for the climb?

Most of the new schools of thought  suggest moving back or forth on your saddle is more of an indication that the saddle offset isn't set up correctly, than it is advantageous.  I would tend to agree.  If you find yourself constantly shifting forward or backwards, this likely indicates that the saddle isn't in the correct position.

Old school fitting have been obsessed with KOPS (Knee over pedal spindle), but this was originally derived as a general method to determine whether or not a frame size was appropriate (i.e., if you couldn't get into KOPS, you needed a different size). (There isn't even consensus on how you even measure KOPS as everyone landmarks the knee differnently - this can result in over 1cm difference in offset alone).  Depending on your body proportions and bike position if you setup your bike to comply with KOPS this may have  put you into a sub-optimal position, which is why you may find yourself moving forward or backwards.

Best advice is to go out with a set of allen keys and level and ride a reasonably long climb.  If you find your self wanting to move forward, try moving the saddle forward  (0.5cm at a time) then retry. Eventually you should be able to fine tune your fit.  The level is used to ensure you can keep the attitude of your saddle (i.e, nose up, level, or down) the same between trials.  Optimal saddle attitude is a topic onto itself (I feel a lot of "experts" have little understanding on the functional bio-mechanics of  hips and how this inter-plays with saddle attitude.)

  In about a month I plan to attempt Whiteface Mountain with its 13 km at an 8% grade. If I manage this climb I will be at my limit. Should I move my saddle back for the climb?

Honestly, I think gearing will be the most important factor for surviving 13 km at 8%.  I have done a 40 km ride at a similar gradient and being able to spin is a life saver (when I saw the "only" 19 km remaining I shed a tear). There are lots of long cage road derailleurs and wide range cassettes available now.  I would consider this as the most important change over fine tuning such as saddle offset.


What's the ideal balance (forward/backward) in the saddle on an endurance road bike? I got my first road bike (and found I favor endurance riding position), and I can't figure out if I'm positioned well in the saddle. It's as far aft as it goes, but I still feel like I'm falling forward a bit and putting pressure on my hands. I don't know how much pressure and reaching forward is ideal. I've heard varying advice, like that I should be able to lift my hands a few millimeters off the hoods and still feel balanced, or that I should feel balanced when I'm in my riding-the-hoods position then put my hands behind my hips*. What's the recommendation for best stability? If I were to make an adjustment, it would be either a new saddle with longer rails, or a shorter stem (but I already swapped out my 105mm stem for an 80mm, and I'm concerned any shorter will throw off the handling). What's the general consensus - Should I feel completely balanced in the saddle, or is a little forward pressure normal?
General fit notes: My seat height and leg bend are good, my saddle is already tilted a few degrees nose-up (any more and I'd slide right off the back), the angle of my handlebars and position of the hoods on the bars is good, my KOPS is good, visually speaking the front hub is obscured by the bars, and my hips are as far back on the saddle and rotated as forward as possible without crushing any sensitive bits. I'd rather avoid a professional bike fit, since I'm poor and buying a new stem/saddle won't be cheap.
*Scroll to the section on "COG." And I'm trying to picture this hands-back position... like Naruto running, I suppose?

Should I feel completely balanced in the saddle, or is a little forward pressure normal?

There should be some weight on your hands when riding.  Not too much of course, but your setup is already slid back as far as it can reasonably be (saddle aft, 80mm stem), and chasing some abstract notion of fit when you're already at the extreme end of adjustments doesn't make much sense.
What's completely missing from your post: what happens when you actually ride the bike?  Is there any specific problem?  If not, just ride.  And maybe think about neutralizing your adjustments a bit as an experiment--if you put the saddle 1cm forward of max-aft, does the bike become uncomfortable?


New bike for commuting and touring I went downstairs earlier to get ready for an afternoon ride on the cheap bike I picked up a few months ago as I wasn't certain if I would keep the cycling up and found to my dismay that, once again, the rear wheel had come loose on the bearing and was wobbling back and forth.

I've been thinking about replacing it since I have kept up the cycling successfully but there's too much information out there for me to make sense of and certain concerns that I don't know how to quantify; but first, I'll put what I'm after.

£1000 budget
Road type split: 90% tarmac, 7% gravel cycle path, 3% horrible rutted gravel road
Commuting 15k each way
Would be used for occasional long distance cycle rides (Think London to Amsterdam style challenges)
Rugged/Low maintenance
24 speeds preferred (If this is just me being too used to MTBs from my childhood, please let me know)
Drop bars preferred
Proper gear shifters that click into place instead of moving a lever and hoping preferred
Sized for 6'0", 33" inside leg
Capable of carrying a fat sod who weighs ~100kg (for now)

Normally, I would consider just replacing the wheels with higher quality ones but I think that the bike I have is a size smaller than it should be as I have to have the seat at its maximum height, my legs still aren't fully straight at the lowest point of the pedal and the handlebars won't come high enough for me to take advantage of the drops. On top of that, I prefer airless tyres as I've historically had terrible luck when it came to punctures and am crap at fixing them.

My concerns stem from various throwaway comments such as the review here under disadvantages where the reviewer raises concerns about nuts and bolts falling off. More experienced riders than myself have commented that airless tyres feel like 115-125psi which can only exacerbate the problem. As you can probably tell from the "crap at fixing punctures comment" earlier, I'm not a confident tinkerer - while I know where most of the important bits fit together, that's mainly on a theoretical level and getting out allen keys/spanners is something I view with dread.

After all that context, my specific questions are below:

Does anything spring to mind that fits the above requirements like a glove?
Failing that, does anything spring to mind that fits all but one of the above requirements?
If neither of the above, what should I look for to ensure that the bike is going to fall apart the minimal amount?
Is there such a thing as a bike made from disparate components, where components are all purchased separately like if you were building your own PC?
On a slightly different note, as a large chain of stores, is Halfords trustworthy or the PC world of cycling? - I have a LBS near me but their opening hours are almost entirely the same as the hours I work making life a bit tricky.

And once I own said new bike

Does cycling on horrible rutted gravel roads or even smooth gravel cycle paths harm road bikes considerably?

Bike weight doesn't bother me that much currently - I'd rather something be overbuilt than constantly be worrying about it.
Finally, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if my requirements list is incompatible with the budget.
Thanks all,
Ben

Last year I bought a steel tourer.  It seems to tick all your boxes or near enough: £900, 27 speed, pretty rugged (timelapse of a ride I did last year, starting when I hit the gravel, before it got rough), and I can also do 300km days on road. I weigh less than you but then more than make up the difference on some trips.

A tourer's not your only option.  Cyclocross bikes and adventure road bikes (the 3 categories overlap anyway) will also do it but I wanted to be able to carry a lot, and you might do too.  You may want to swap tyres between rough gravelly stuff and serious distance. The combination of a heavy rider, potentially crashing through potholes (though I could be maligning you there) and a light road bike isn't a good one, which is a reason to go for a sturdier frame.

I'd steer clear of Halfords both because they don't have much range and because I've been unimpressed with their ability to sell bikes that actually fit the rider -- fit is important here as you want long rides, and drop bars make for a less forgiving fit IMO.

Mine came from Evans, but an independent local bike shop can often get similar pricing, and would have more chance of tweaking the spec if necessary.  When it comes to tyres, I suggest going for tough touring tyres, with a Kevlar belt. I run that sort of thing on my top 2 bikes by mileage, and I don't think I've had a puncture this year (over 8000km).

As you appear to be in the UK, do you have access to a bike-to-work scheme? Is that where your £1000 comes from?


Torque of the rails or torque of the post? I am building a bike and I am  using a saddle with carbon rails on an alloy seatpost. I read that it's not an issue as long as the shape of the clamps is compatible with the shape of the rails, and in my case it is.
However, the torque specified on the rails (6 Nm) and the torque specified on the post (12 Nm ~ 15 Nm) don't have any overlap. Which of the two should I go with?
I am afraid that if I go higher than 6 Nm, it will damage the carbon fiber of the rails, but if I go lower than 12 Nm, the saddle will slip while I ride, and as a consequence will again damage the rails.
Should I ditch the combination all toghether? Or something in the middle, say 9 Nm, is going to work just fine?

If the max. torque on the rails is 6Nm then you shouldn't exceed that in no case. The 12-15Nm is the maximum when the clamp is used with metal rails.
In your case, start by taking the clamp apart and clean the bits that touch the rails of your saddle from any remains of grease with a solvent. Check the clamps for sharp edges and give them a sanding with fine paper if required. Then apply some carbon mounting paste, grease the bolts of the clamp and tighten to the recommended torque for the saddle.


How often should hydraulic disk brakes need bleeding? The brake handles for my disk brakes became very loose four months after I bought the bike. The bike shop bled the brakes and put new oil in them, which sorted it.

They're feeling a bit loose again (6 months later), but not as bad as last time. I use my bike most days cycling for commuting (6 miles) with longer rides of around 30 miles once or twice a week.

How often would you expect to have to bleed your disk brakes and if you had to do it more often would that suggest there was something wrong.

If the brake response gets mushy, also check the brake pads. Personal experience: I saw no need in bleeding the brakes before changing the brake fluid (on a DOT system). Maybe your system is not sufficiently sealed?

The need to exchange the fluid depends on the type that is used in your brakes. And this should be self-evident: Do not, under any circumstances, change the type of fluid used in your brake! It will most certainly degrade the gaskets.

DOT

If your brakes use DOT (classified by the US Department of Transportation) brake fluid, i.e. "DOT 5.1", the fluid should be exchanged every 1-2 years [1]. With time, the fluid absorbs water, affecting its compressibility. This is by design, since non-absorbed water would affect the compressibility even more.

Mineral Oil

Mineral oil, however, does not need to be changed so regularly. Unless you open the system, the oil stays good for up to 6-7 years [2].

[1] Bosch Automotive Handbook, 7th Edition, ISBN 978-0-7680-1953-7
[2] http://www.magura.com/de/produkte/scheibenbremsen-2012/prod/mt2/info/faq.html


Slipping aluminium seatpost in aluminium frame I've already seen this question: Problems with a slipping seatpost

The main difference is that I have an aluminium frameset and a forged alloy seatpost - lightweight clamp.

After every couple hundred miles on my commuter (particularly over rougher surfaces), I've found that the seatpost slides into the frame by about half an inch or so.  After the second time I've noticed and readjusted it, I figured it might just be because I have a lightweight clamp.  I over-tightened it past the recommended torque, but alas, it happened again.  I then tightened it as far as I dared without snapping the bolt, but have now found that it has slipped another half an inch over the last 200 miles or so.

Is there some kind of paste / compound that I could use that, similar to the carbon paste, would prevent this slippage?  I asked the manufacturer and my LBS about the carbon paste, but they explained that it may not be a great help, because the carbon paste is "designed to create a small amount of swelling of the carbon" on the surface of the components, thereby improving grip.  Well, this is metal on metal, so it's different ... right?

Update: It is not oily / dirty / dusty and it is not old and worn

For completeness, I have this bike:
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXRT58ALRIV22/planet-x-rt-58-alloy-sram-rival-11-road-bike

With this seatpost:
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/SPPXSLT3D/planet-x-superlight-team-3d-forged-alloyseatpost

And this clamp:
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/SPPXSLT3D/planet-x-superlight-team-3d-forged-alloyseatpost

Any advice other than drilling a hole through it an putting a bold in (I won't really do this) ?

Note: I tried to add a tag to the question for the correct English spelling for ALUMINIUM, but apparently I need more reputation for that.  Right ... ;-)

I had an exactly same problem: Ritchey WCS seatpost, Merida frame (both alu alloy) and a lightweight clamp, like in @Frisbee's answer. What I tried:

Beefy clamp with various torque settings. Didn't help at all.
PVC tape. Helped, but didn't last long.
More torque on a lightweight clamp. I snapped it in half with only 6Nm.
Hair spray. To my surprise, it worked and seatpost stopped slipping, creaking and annoying me.

I've switched to a CF seatpost since then, same problem occured, but hair spray come to rescue again. No slipping for months.


Which pulley is which on my Shimano STX RC derailleur? I disassembled my rear derailleur to clean it; when I removed the sprockets they basically looked the same; both jet black and caked with all sorts of black grease-like-stuff.  I figured they were the same so didn't pay attention.  However, after a bit of cleaning they turned out to be different.

One has a metal bushing, says Centeron G-Pulley, and seems a bit beefier.  Which is the top/guide/jockey pulley, which is the bottom/idler?

From your photo, the left pulley (beefier, with metal bushing) is the top one, which goes closer to the cassette.

I know that because that's how things were in every shimano derailer I had over the years, and I think that makes pretty much sense, since the beefier pulley (the upper one) actually shifts the gears, while the bottom, thinner one is only an idler that keeps the chain tensioned.

As for the "centeron G" stuff, I have no idea what this means...


How does a chain get filthy and how can you stop it from getting filthy? For the record, my chain looks a lot filthier. I hate cleaning bikes beyond anything. I don't clean my training bike very often, because it's only got cheap compenents and I do not care much if they don't last very long.

All that filth has to come from someplace so I was wondering if someone could specifically suggest from where, how and from what direction all that filth emigrates onto my chain and why it chooses to stay there. And then maybe I, or anybody else, can come up with a genius idea of how to stop the filth from making it's way onto my chain in the first place so nobody will ever have to clean it again.

Something like this maybe. You get the idea.

The "filth" is a composite material. It is a mixture of chain lube, road grit, and the metal filings from gear and chain wear. The road grit is composed of sand, tire bits, asphalt, trash, etc. The issue is when you mix them all together it forms a thick, pasty sticky mess.. The goop tends to collect more material. The  grit in the sticky residue acts like sandpaper accelerating wear. You can minimize but not eliminate it by using the correct lube. This generally means a dry type lube when the conditions are dry and a wet lube when the conditions are wet.


Can this bent (after crash) rigid steel fork get repaired? I have this EBS (unknown model please help) rigid steel frame bike.

Due to a recent crash, the fork was bent backwards and a little bit to the right, at the bottom bearing in the headset:

Front View:

Left View:

Right View:

Can this fork get straightened? And if it was straightened would it be safe to use? I think it might be able to get slightly straightened because I know steel is quite flexible compared to other metals and can be bent a lot before cracking or breaking.

I had to put nonfunctional links instead of formatting as images due to lack of reputation.

EDIT There is no paint in some areas because of the brake outer cables rubbing with the frame, NOT because of the crash (it was not there since before the crash).

The front wheel DID absorb some of the shock on impact and was bent and needs straightening+truing or just replacing.

More details about the crash:
I was riding in town at 25-30 km/h, when suddenly a parked heavy motorbike comes out of where it was parked. Its rider was busy talking to someone riding with him so he didn't even see if the road was empty. I braked the hardest I could but it was too late, so I crashed into his rear wheel. Fortunately I wasn't hurt.
Summary: Crash into the rear wheel of a heavy motor bike at 25-30 km/h

The quick answer is NO, you can't bend back the fork. Or at least not at a reasonable price.

Your bike looks right knackered. You could maybe find a used fork off a donor bike for free or cheap at a bike coop - but you might put said fork on and find your frame is bent.

I'd say your bike is what we kindly refer to as a said "donor bike." It's brain dead and its best use is to give up its vital organs to a bike that might be able to use them. Given that it looks BSO quality, the parts aren't that valuable but if your next bike is a BSO, you might want a spare drive set, seat, brakes, or rear wheel.


Choosing my first bike I would like to get into biking. Haven’t ridden since I was a kid. Back then everyone had a one speed bike. The 10 speed English racer was the bike you dreamed of getting. I never had one.

I’m in my early 70’s and live in W. Massachusetts, very hilly terrain. Up until a couple years ago I did a lot of inline distance skating (K2’s w/90mm wheels). My usual loop was 13 miles (21 km) and my longest trip was 26 miles (42 km). My legs are strong and I think I would enjoy biking.

I’m finding the world of bike choices a bit confusing. Sport/hybrid, road bike, touring, fitness etc. Will be riding almost exclusively on back country roads and as I mentioned, I live in a very hilly area. Would like to work up to riding a 50 miler (80 km) eventually. I am 5’8” (172 centimetres), 145 Lbs (66 kilograms) 32” (81 centimetre) inseam, if that helps.

I did some research and have come up with what I think I need, but am not really sure.

Sport/hybrid
aluminum frame
Flat handle bar
Triple chainring
9 speed rear cassette
Fully hydraulic discs brakes (because of the hills)
rapid fire shifters
700c tires
carbon fork?

Would like to find a used bike for around $500 for my first bike to see how I like it. Hoping someone could tell me if I’m on the right track with my choices and maybe recommend a few used models I could look for that would work for me.

Thank you, thank you for all the great input! I found and purchased a used bike which is like new and had exactly what I was looking for.

I decided to go with a double front chainset rather then the triple as recommended by a couple posters. Since I’ve never ridden a geared bike I felt that it would be a lot less confusing. This bike also has a carbon front fork and hydraulic brakes.

I’m going to use a flat parking area up at our high school to familiarize myself with using the gears.

Bicycles Stack Exchange prohibits recommending products, but we can offer principles to use when shopping.

The key to choosing the right bicycle is matching the bike to the kind of riding you want to do. I apologize for the length of the post - this is a complicated topic.

Generally speaking, you can narrow your search to just a few bikes by:

Identifying the type of riding you want to do
Match a bike type to your need
Select a brand of bike
Filter for bike type and your price range

Matching a bike to your need
Starting with the beginning of the decision making process - you may have already thought all this out but I want to be thorough.

Bicycles are designed for different kind of riding styles. Bikes are like shoes; there is a different shoe for every activity.
Looking at one bike maker's website offers examples:

Mountain

Cross Country
Trail
Cross Country/Downhill

Road

Performance
Gravel
Cyclocross
Triathlon

Active

Fitness
Transportation
Comfort

What's the difference?
The different types of bikes are designed for a type of activity, most of the names are pretty descriptive. What's different about each type are things like:

Frame geometry: this will determine how the bike rides, handles, and the seating position
Tire size: generally narrow tires are faster and less comfortable, wider tires are slower and offer more comfort and/or more traction for off-road
Appropriate drive train / gearing for the task
Appropriate brakes for the task
Wheels to match the application

In the original post the type of bike mentioned is "sport/hybrid". This style of bike indicates that the bike

Will be used on streets or paths
The rider prefers a more upright seating position
Tires in the medium-wide to wide range for greater comfort
Focusing more on comfort than speed

If these qualities match the kind of riding you have in mind then you have selected the right bike type.

The original post mentions some specific parts. My thought is that some of the parts are "must have" (meet a riding need) and other parts are "nice to have"

Triple chain ring: this feels like a must have given the hills described
9 speed cassette: if you found a great deal on a used bike with a 7 speed cassette would walk away? 21 speeds will give you plenty of gear choices.
hydraulic disk brakes: nice to have. Any quality brake system will get you stopped on hills.
700C tires: for the riding style described the tire width seems more important than the wheel diameter. Do you want 40mm wide tires? Wider or thinner? If you find a great deal on a used bike with 26 inch tires is that a deal breaker?
Carbon fork: seems like a nice to have

Selecting a brand
Major bike makers are very competitive with each other in each type of bike and at each price point. Every now and then one maker introduces something that gives it an edge over another maker. Usually, it's only a perceived edge and not a measurable edge.
All that to say - in a given category and price point bikes are very similar.

The one large exception are bikes sold in department stores. Department store bikes are built to hit a very low price point and large compromises are made in quality of materials and workmanship to achieve a low retail price.

One way of narrowing your brand choice would be to look at parts availability and support.

Used Bikes
The original post indicates a desire to purchase a used bike.
Evaluating the condition of a used bike is easier than evaluating a car but it still takes some bike knowledge to do a good job of evaluation. Here is a link to a previous question on buying used bikes with some helpful answers.

Even if you are looking for a used bike, drop by your local bike shop. A good shop is interested in helping people learn about bikes. They should be happy to answer questions and let you test ride a few bikes. The test rides are critical to verifying that you are looking at the right type of bike.


Could I use a FD-M735 with a FC-MC3x? I have a Shimano FD-M735 currently on my bike, and I would like to replace the aging FC-TY33 that I have, with a FC-M730 ideally, but they are too pricey. However, I have found a FC-MC36 and a FC-MC34 (42T/32T/22T) at a very reasonable price.

Is there any reason why the FD-M735 and the FC-MC34/36 shouldn't work together?

I have the old style XTII gear shifters:

As an aside, I presume that the FC-MC34/36 is of lower spec/quality when compared to the FC-M730. Would that be a correct assumption?

I see no reason why the XT derailleur would not work with the same generation SLX crankset.  The FD-M735 is a triple derailleur (used for a triple chainring crankset) with a total capacity of 26T.  Your proposed FC-MC34, having 42-32-22 tooth chainrings, doesn't surpass this limit so you're good there.  Looks like your derailleur could handle up to a 48T large ring.

As mentioned above, quality difference between the two is minimal as the Deore XT models (which is what the FC-M730 belongs to) sit just one tier above STX (FC-MC34/6's designation).  According to this spec table the biggest difference is the XT has aluminum large chainring vs. STX's steel and there are also some differences in finish.  Note that the table doesn't include exactly the FC-M730 model, but references FC-M737/9.  I believe this is because the FC-MC34/6 is newer by a year or two than the M730, which grew into an M737.  At any rate, the two are about as close as it gets in a comparison.


LBS said creaking under torque is normal? On my last question I asked about a creaking/tick I was getting when I was stand pedaling on a climb.

I took it to my LBS today and they said they had stripped all the crank and BB and re-greased it all and all is well.

When I took it out that evening it clearly wasn't and was probably worse so obviously I took it back there today.

They then told me that really the whole gear system is designed so that I don't need to stand pedal uphill.  My response was don't talk to me like a 5 year old and explained that I like the challenge of sprinting uphill.  Apparently according to the man who served me, theres not a lot I can do to prevent this noise when I'm stand pedaling?  My other bikes don't do it, but apparently a Trek 6300 does much to my confusion?

Can someone please tell me if this is normal? Or am I getting conned?

He basically tried to make me feel a bit stupid as I'm still new to this and then decided that trying to sell me a Shimano Hollowtech 2 chainset including BB which would help strengthen the bottom of the bike and prevent the noise?

I'm a bit confused now to be honest and would like some unbiased expert advice from you guys.

First, to respond to the issue of your LBS -- you shouldn't be made to feel foolish or to feel obligated to purchase expensive replacement parts. The lack of attention and reassurance you're getting suggests that maybe you need to take your business elsewhere (which can be difficult if there are few local options).

Second, your creak/tick is not normal (and, as many have rightly pointed out, could come from many components which carry your pedaling force). While there are a number of components which have a tendency to creak or tick while remaining safe and functional (your BB for example), what your LBS should have checked for is any integrity issues with your frame (though, they may have done so and not mentioned it. Who knows?)

Bicycle frames (Al, CroMo, Ti, Carbon Fiber...) can develop cracks in a number of places which, when stressed by pedaling aggressively, can generate creaks or ticks in time with pedaling forces. Some bike frames will live decades with cracks while others can--and do--fail catastrophically (i.e. your head tube tearing off...though, thankfully, this is infrequent).

I recommend that you take your bike to a different bike shop and ask them to investigate this potential problem (more info on frame inspections here). If they're good, they'll give you sound advice about repairs or replacement (avoid trashing your other shop, though. It's bad etiquette.)

If the noise is a component, a good shop will solve the problem; a mediocre shop will replace every component one-by-one until the issue is solved (and a terrible shop will try to sell you a new bike!) Understand, however, that nuisance squeaks and creaks can be quite common--even for experienced cyclists.


Is there a preferred frame size calculator? I am buying a new road bike. I have looked online for calculators but I am getting different answers on which frame size I should get. I've got 53 cm on a calculator that only considers inseam height and 56 cm on another one that also considers riders height so I don't know which one is correct because I don't want to end up with a bike that is either too big or too small for me.

IMO Frame size is more than just measurements. A proper bike fitting pairs your riding style & level with the frames own handling characteristics. (defined more by tubing and angles than measurement alone)

BUT... not everyone's out to get a custom bike frame made or go research their frames butted tubing or headtube angles... But I always suggest visiting a place where they know how to "fit bikes" (for racing, touring, etc) and getting advice from a bike fitter.

Don't forget to buy a water bottle and power bar while you're there, chances are they don't charge you for the advice. #smallbusiness


Will the Shimano HG41 match nicely with a Shimano Claris derailleur? I am almost buying a bike equipped with a Shimano Claris group, and I am particularly fond of big hills. So I found lying around my place a new cassette HG41, 11-34 teeth, which is allegedly for MTB. Will the big cog adapt ok with the short road derraileur? Both are 8 speed.

I know Shimano has some compatibility charts around, but I couldn't really figure it out by myself. Maybe something related to too much caffeine right now.

In short: Yes.

I bought said bike, and tried the new cassete. It works on both big and small front rings, but the derailleur arm gets very very stretched on the big one. My opinion on this is that the 32 teeth maximum limit has a bit of a safety margin, so if in the next 100 km something bad happens, I'll update the answer. Otherwise, problem solved.

And I will try to avoid using that low gear, unless necessary.

Also, here is the resulting derailleur position on the worst possible scenario, which I avoid:


Derailleur does not match up with chain after tube replacement I have been recently replacing rear inner tube on my bike, since then I was not able to fix the
wheel back in.

It makes unusual clicking sounds when backpedaling and one side of the chain gets loose. Upon further inspection I think the problem is that the chain does not properly fit into the rear cogwheels, as if the chain got longer while replacing the wheel?

Also, if I shift to the smallest cogwheel on rear derailleur, the part with two small wheels gets collapsed as if there was not enough tension making in practically impossible to function.

As I said, the bike was working perfectly. I only took out the rear wheel, replaced inner tube and put the wheel back in.

Here is a video of me trying to backpedal. Also notice how the part of the derailleur is wobbling - it is because the chain seems not to fit in the teeth and causes resistance.

I think this was a pre-existing condition in your drivetrain that you just didn't notice before removing the wheel. Have you tried riding the bike and seeing if it functions as before, when the right way up and pedalling forward?

There does seem to be resistance in the jockey wheels in the derailleur cage. You can try removing, cleaning and re-lubricating them.


I am a big guy who wants to buy a race bike I am new to this site and I would really appreciate any thought on this.
I am 32 years old male. I used to be in good shape most of my life. my weight fluctuated between 180 to 220 lbs.
three years ago. I had bad right knee and foot injury, runner knee and PF, planter facii, in my foot. I stopped every thing all together and started gaining weight. I reached 235 ads, and decided again to get back to active life style. I bought my first bike, which was specialized diverge I believe. Guess what, I fell in love with cycling, after a few months I decided to buy my a good racing bike, but injuries hit hard this time in both knees. I had to stop cycling as the pain was bad, burning sensation during night. I was busy finishing my phd and stopped every thing all together. I gained weight, this time is 270 lbs. I started active style again and lost 10 lbs and feeling good. knees bothering me from time to time but looks like I know how to handle them.

I got a job and saved some money. The dream still in back of my mind, I want a good racing bike.
It happens I am visiting the states so I can get the bike I want, which is not easy in the country I am from and cost extras for shipping.
I am seriously considering Madone SLR 7, which is ulteagra di2 system.
the question is:
Am I being a child who wants something and keep begging for it here? should I wait until I look like those athletes, or go ahead and buy it?
if you recommend so, would it be good for average distance riding like 30 miles or so 3 times a week as for fun and exercise?

Also if there is any thought I would really appreciate it.
my height is 6 foot and 258 lbs.

Fact: True pro-level road racing bikes from all eras, including but not limited to the current iteratons, prioritize being light as possible while durable enough, and the right kind of durable, for a pro racer.

Fact: A heavy non-racer riding for fitness and pleasure doesn't really get any utilitarian benefit from the extra bit of weight reduction that distinguishes really high-end bikes, at all, other than potentially the psychologically driven kind of utility, i.e. you have a light, sexy bike and that motivates you to ride more.

Fact: There's a whole ton of ways the durability factor could bite you. That said, none of them are individually super likely. A related thing is that really high end bikes cost more to maintain and replace components on, especially if you care about keeping everything high end.

Fact: Wheels are going to tend to be the biggest and/or most immediate trouble spot if you do go for it.

Fact: Pro race bikes tend towards offering position choices that work for pros, and it's very common for this to create difficulties or impasses for non-pros doing long-distance recreational riding. The "endurance road" category was basicaly invented to address this.

Fact, but more contentious one: There can be some nice things about having a really stiff bike as a large, strong rider. That said, the importance of this as it relates to what modern humongous-tubed carbon frames actually give you over the competing options, like say a nice steel frame with 31.8 downtube and 28.6 seat and top tubes, is often overstated.

Opinion: Do it if it's what you need to do. Meeting your goals and having fun while making emotionally driven equipment choices is a lot better than nothing. You won't be the only one. Do make sure your fit on the bike is uncompromised, which you may find to be a criteria that other decisions have to flow from. All that said, many of us find there's another kind of emotional satisfaction in having bikes that actually make sense for who we are and the kind of riding we do.


My new bicycle skids laterally, especially in the wet; what can I do about it? My new bicycle is a new regular road bicycle (not specialist) with puncture tough tyres. The bicycle is fine otherwise but a bit rough on all the crappy pedestrian path elements in Japan like kerbs. The pedestrian path is all bitumen with various levels of embedded gravel.

It is not a braking problem- it doesn't skid forward. Turning at speed and manoeuvring (probably on a metal culvert) makes it skid sideways when wet and much less often in dry conditions. It is just a scary problem but seemingly not dangerous.

I have bad joints and back. When I put the old bicycle to the right height for effective riding, it hurts my lower back so I don't think changing my form is sensible.

Can I modify the bike to reduce or eliminate this problem?

After looking at your pictures, reading the description of the roads you ride on and looking at the comments here are my suggestions:

Riding Style
Change your riding style based on the surface you are riding on.

For normal cycling on surfaces with good traction a rider will lean into a turn. When the surface you are riding on is less than optimal you need to adopt riding tactics to prevent falling.

Choose your path. Bike tires are skinny, make sure they are on the best and safest part of the path. Notice the road condition in front of you. If you see loose sand/gravel/dirt is in your line of travel seek to safely avoid it. Pay particular attention to the condition of the road when making turns. If possible make turns on the dry gravel/sand/dirt free part of the path.
On gravel / sand / lose dirt change your riding style so that you don't lean into turns. Reduce your speed and rely on turning the handlebars to make the turn.
If there is wet metal in your path seek a safe way around it. Wet metal is very slick. If you have to ride on wet metal reduce your speed and avoid leaning.
If you are on dry, dirt/sand free pavement ride normally.

The key is to be aware of your riding conditions and adjust your riding style to stay safe.

Tires
It might be possible to find a tire that will improve your traction on gravel or adjust the air pressure in your current tires. There are three tire characteristics that improve traction on gravel:

Tire width - Off road bikes have very wide tires to help with challenging traction issues. You won't get much - if any - wider tires on your bike so this won't help much. The good news is that your tires are not super skinny now.
More aggressive tread. You might be able to find a tire that fits your bike designed to get more traction on gravel/sand/dirt. It would be good to have a conversation with someone at your local bike shop on what is available.
Tire pressure. Every tire has a maximum rating that works well for good traction situations. You can experiment with different tire pressures and see if a lower than maximum rating pressure helps. Try running the tires 3 PSI lower than max and see if that helps. Don't get carried away with reducing tire pressure. If the pressure is too low the tires can slip and tear valve stems.

Summary
I think your best solution is to adopt riding tactics that fit the road surface you are riding on. Avoid poor traction situations. When you can't avoid a poor traction situation slow down and don't lean.

If you don't have one already make sure you ride with a helmet.


Combine Nexus 3 Hub with Torpedo 3 gear shifter? I have upgraded my bike with a Nexus 3 hub, but the corresponding gear shifter takes away too much handle space on my crooked handle bar (I have to grab the gear shifter during my rides). Hence, I'd like to use a more flexible gear shifter that can be installed everywhere on my handlebar, as e.g. the classic Torpedo. I am wondering whether these are compatible.

Many thanks in advance

According to Sheldon Brown's exhaustive list, the Shimano is fairly close to the two hubs that use the Torpedo shifter. Shimano wants 14.2mm of cable pull between gears 1 and 2 where the two Torpedo-compatible hubs want 14.0mm and 13.8mm, then between 2 and 3 it's 7.8mm vs 8.7mm and 7.7mm, which suggests that the tolerances on the hubs are sufficient that you should be able to find and adjustment that works reliably.

HUB                  -> mm of cable pull
Shimano 3-speed Nexus IG    14.2   7.8
SRAM T3                     14.0   8.7
SRAM i-motion 3             13.8   7.7
Sturmey-Archer 3-sp trigger 14.2   9.5

The Sturmey-Archer trigger might work, but you might find it over-tightens the cable in top gear.

You could also use a handlebar-mounted friction shifting lever like this:

This question about the differences between the various Sachs/SRAM hubs might also be useful to read.


Alwasy getting a flat rear tire on my 14"inch folding bike I just bought my 14" folding bike and I always getting a flat tire on the rear. It happened 4 times in a span of three days. 1st flat was with the stock inner tube, 2nd flat is with the new inner tube, 3rd same goes with 2nd. The mechanic advised me to change a bigger tire size from 1.75 to 2.25. 4th I thought it would solve the problem, rode longer than the old tire but still I got a flat tire. It's frustrating. I weigh 185lbs. Is that the reason why? But I've seen a lot of bikers who are bigger than me riding a 14 inch folding bike.
PS. They also added another rim tape.

There are a few possibilities:

The culprit is still stuck in the tire. Carefully check for any glass shards, pieces of wire, thorns etc.
Something is sticking out of the rim. Check if the rim tape is properly seated and covers the spoke holes completely.
You are using insufficient tire pressure and getting pinch flats (”snake bites”). Usually you’ll get two long-ish punctures on opposite sides of the tube. If you are riding on roads only and are on the heavy side it’s probably a good idea to go up to the maximum pressure the manufacturer recommends.
You are pinching the tube between rim and tire during installation. Or damaging the tube with tools. Install without tools if possible. Inflate to a very low pressure after installation and check if the tube is pinched anywhere by pushing the tire away from the rim and looking into the gap.
You are simply having lots of bad luck or there is a lot of debris on your roads in combination with a fragile tire. Get ”puncture proof” tires if you ride on roads with glass shards, thorns etc.

General advice: Install the tire with the label aligned to the valve stem. This way, after you’ve found where the puncture in the tube is you can check the corresponding area of the tire and rim.


Shimano downtube shifters 3x7 speed I have an old road bike with 3x7 speed and STI levers. I need to downgrade it because I can't reach the levers due to my small hands.

What downtube shifters can I buy to that will work with my Shimano derailleurs? I'm on a low budget.

Are downtube shifters designed to be indexed only on the rear derailleur? My LBS has a pair of 3x7 downtube shifters and only the rear is indexed.

7 and 8 speed cassettes have the same spacing, so you can use either in your situation.

As for indexing on the rear, usually there is no indexing, though I've seen 'semi-indexing', where they do have an index mechanism, but it still requires several clicks to switch chainrings.

Additionally, you sometimes need to adjust a little bit based on what gear you have selected in the rear. Spacing between chainrings can vary somewhat on different cranksets, it's not as rigidly specified as it is for the rear.

The 3x7 shifters your LBS should work just fine.


Is it safe to ride this frame? I don't have a clue what happened… Got the frame this way.

Mountain bike is Lapierre Zesty 2014.

If it's an aluminium frame it's fine. The dent is relatively small on a large diameter tube so will not affect frame integrity.

I guess you just bought the frame used. If you bought it in person you should really have checked for damage before making the trade. If it was bought online and the dent was not mentioned in the ad you technically have a reason to return it the seller and get a refund. If used a site like Craiglist you'll have to negotiate with the seller, if a site like Ebay you can use their dispute resolution tools.

In any case it's fine. If and when you crash on this frame at least you won't feel so bad about putting scratches or small dents on it.


Tiagra upshifting jumping 3-4 gears in middle of cassette My Tiagra 10-speed shifters have recently been jumping multiple gears.
Shifting down (from smallest cog to biggest) is fine (10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1), though maybe a little stiff. But shifting up will jump in the middle (1-2-3-4567-8-9-10) with single pushes of the paddle casing the gears to crash up multiple gears in the middle.

I've ridden 20K miles (32K Km) on this bike. The shifter cable was replaced in May, about 250 miles ago (this is my winter bike), and the rear mech was new in February.

So I'm thinking maybe the shifters are just worn out?

Or should I just replace them?

Are the shifters serviceable?

Or could it be something else? I don't think it's cable tension as I'm shifting up fine - but I'm not a mechanic so...)

Thanks for any good advice.

That sounds like the shifter itself is malfunctioning.

If the cable or derailleur was hanging up you would get delayed multiple upshifts after clicking the lever several times, but you are saying that a single click results in a 3 sprocket upshift.

My guess is that the pawl mechanism in the shifter has worn and is slipping when upshifting, but is managing to hang on when downshifting. To confirm this you could try detaching the shift cable from the derailleur, putting tension on the cable manually (as close the shifter as possible if you have exposed shift cables, to eliminate cable or housing problems from the test) and seeing if you can get the shifter to slip when upshifting.

If the shifter is the problem, they are not serviceable. A replacement is necessary.


Do bikes require a specific brake type? I have a old bike of mine that I want to fix up for my younger brother. I don't know the brand, it just says Shogun racing on it (I haven't used it in ages and it was a gift.)

It had the factory default brakes on it and they both snapped off, leaving the bike brakeless, and this is what I want to fix. When it broke I removed the parts that remained and threw away the broken ones (the handles and the pieces of plastic that connect the brakes to the brake wires,) as they were getting in the way. All of the wires are still on, just the handles and and pads are removed and the tension released.

What I would like to know is, do bikes require specific brake types? Do you have to have a brand/make-specific brake, or can I just get a generic one off, say Amazon or my local bike shop?

Brakes are usually standard!

It comes down to three things:

Frame options/brake type

If it is a frame with a "connector" for a v-brake, it won't be
possible to fit a caliper brake type (and vice-versa). Or if it
has no way to connect a disk-brake, then no way to use it without a
proper adapter (or even impossible to do it); you even have frames
without connectors for the brakes (ex: when the brakes are in the
wheel itself).

You need to try to indetify which type of brake it uses, and from
there get a standard one (as long as it "answers" the next two
points, wheel size and type of bicycle)
Wheel size

If the wheel is too big or too small for a v-brake type (for
example) then no way you can use it.

Also the frame "connector" for the v-brake (for example) if it is
too small for a certain wheel rim, there is no way it will work
unless you use the right size.
Type of bicycle

If it is a really old or out of the ordinary bicycle, the standard
brakes may not work, and you will need to find suitable/custom/old
ones...


Frame identification Any idea of the maker of this carbon frame, if more photos needed just let me know

Looks like a Specialized Epic frame.
Hate to post an ebay link but they had good pictures. And when I say "good" I mean that there were many detailed shots. The pictures are of a pretty frightening frame.


How often should I lube my chain? I ride less than 200 miles a week, and I'm at about the 200 mile mark on my new road bike.  Most of my riding is done on the road in an urban city, so there is a lot of odd, unnatural debris.  My LBS told me to lube my chain every 150 miles, but I've read conflicting opinions.

How often should I be lubing my chain?

Lubricate when needed.  I don't think it's possible to put a mile marker on when to lube.  I think most people add chain lube too often.  Too much can cause debris to build up on the chain.  Too little lube can cause unnecessary friction; but you'll know pretty quickly by the looks (and possibly sound) of it if you have too little lube.

Hints:

Wipe your chain off before you add
more lube.[*]
Is the color black?
Is it greasy?
Wipe all that schmutz off until it's
looking dry.
Add lube while rotating cranks.

Tips:

Lube the night before you ride: this
gives the lube a chance to 'spread'.
Wipe the excess off immediately
before you ride - but not until dry
as above.

^ [*]. Wiping off the chain is best done in a work stand or while the bike is in a position where you can rotate the crankarm such that you can hold a rag to the chain while the chain is moving.


Shimano 600 downtube shifter installation I recently purchased some vintage 6-speed Shimano 600 downtube shifters. The package came with all the parts in a ziploc bag and it looks a bit bewildering. Any idea where I can find an installation diagram for this assembly?

The Shimano Techdocs site has installation manuals and exploded diagrams of Shimano components. While it's possible your shifters may not be on the site, you can probably find a set that's similar enough.


Chainguard vs front mudguard to protect the chain from spray My local bicycle mechanic advised me to get mudguards (such as the ones in Image 1) to extend the life of my drivetrain and protect it from spray in the winter. If I have £20 to spend on either a chainguard (see image 2) or a front fender, would I be better off with a chainguard? Would this be lighter and provide better protection for the drivetrain vs front-wheel-spray? Image 2 shows how a chainguard on a bike (3-9 derailleur) could block both spray which would be stopped by a front fender (green lines) and spray which would slip past underneath a front fender (blue lines).
Are there any chainguards which would divert mud flowing along the underside of the down tube, so it drips to the ground before it can flow onwards and build up around the axle for the pedals? (Otherwise I guess I could accomplish this by DIY-fixing a mudflap to hang down from the down tube.)
NB, I would still use a rear mudguard regardless.

Chainguard is not there to protect chain from dirt spray from tires, unless it is a completely enclosed chainguard (which is not feasible on derailleur bicycles). A chainguard is there to protect your pants from chain oil.
Should you install a chainguard, then? Yes! It protects your pants from chain oil.
But to protect your chain from dirt spray, you'll need fenders, too.


Avoiding road tires which collect grit One of my tires (the front) was replaced recently, and I notice that it picks up grit (i.e. tiny, sand-sized debris) much more easily than the cheap stock tire (still on the rear) that came with the bike.  This happens both when the road is wet as well on roads that have been recently resurfaced.  (In the latter case even though the road is dry, I still seem to get bits of asphalt along with occasional black gunk which makes the sticking worse.)

I have been told that grit sticking to the tire won't cause a flat, and if I don't scrape (which I always try to do under these conditions, although this is really annoying) I find the grit generally spins off the wheel eventually, but nevertheless it leaves me with an uneasy feeling.

When it is time to replace my rear tire, I would like to get a tire that doesn't have this problem.   However, I don't see how to tell by looking at a tire whether or not it will have this problem.  I do notice that my new tire does seem a bit shinier than the old one, but I don't know that this would be a reliable indicator.  Is there some foolproof way to avoid such a tire?

I tend to agree with @amcnabb, softer rubber will stick to asphalt better, but it's going to collect lots of junk. However soft tires will also live less than harder slicks, so anyway it's the balance between grip and durability. If you are not that worried about gripping the road in crazy turns, just search for harder rubber slicks.


drum brakes and drop handle bars I have sturmey archer xfdd and  xrd5. Which brake lever are suitable for these and drop handle bars. The cable is  road type with a barrel rather than a nipple.

I can not find anything suggesting that these components require special parts, so it looks like any road bike brake lever should work well.

If you are replacing the shifter as well, then you should be sure to buy and indexed 5 speed shifter. It will be difficult to find a 5 speed brake lever / shifter combo, as most road bikes have many more gears.


Help identifying make of steel elevated chain stay mountain bike frame Could anyone tell me what is the make or model of this bike there are no visible numbers or name except for this sticker of the maker of the seat tube.

I appreciate all the help. you guys know your stuff.

Roadmaster Techno Trac.
Sears never made bikes, they bought them from other companies like Steyr, AMF-Roadmaster and Murray.

see one here with the original decals still intact (and a broken frame)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rickpaulos/49958454372/


Eliminating chainslap on a 90's Stumpjumper I have a mountain bike - a Stumpjumper hardtail frame with a Shimano drivetrain - where I'm getting a good amount of chainslap. Before I start fiddling with stuff, I'd like to understand the problem better.

This is a new-to-me bike that's only recently been built from a mix of old and new parts.

(I've put up more pictures of the bike here, but these are the two that most clearly show the drivetrain.)

I believe I have two options here:

Increase the tension on the chain (somehow), or
Pull links out of the chain until all is well.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of both? Or are there other strategies I'm missing? Or is my time better served by simply wrapping the chainstay and living with the problem?

(While this isn't strictly relevant, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that the front derailer also has issues - I can't get enough cable tension to get the chain to shift into the big ring up front.)

Let me introduce you to the B-Screw...

Look at how that derailleur is hanging. The parallelogram is angled skywards rather than downwards. This is because the B-Screw at the back of the derailleur is not screwed in enough. This screw contacts the derailleur hanger's little 'spur' and you may want to twist the derailleur body clockwise to make it easier to do up the screw. Tighten it all the way, then go into the big cog and back it out so that the top pulley is close but not touching the sprocket. This will put the B-Screw in its correct position, putting a sensible amount of tension on the chain.

As for your front derailleur not making it onto the big cog, the problem may be with the bottom bracket. These come in different lengths and if the cranks or b/b have been repaired/upgraded over the last decade, due concern for the chainline may not have been given. Take out the one that is in there and put in a cartridge b/b of the same shell size with a shorter length. The next size down may be all you need but, without seeing the gap between the cranks and the chain stays I can only guess. Obviously you want the cranks to be an equal distance from the chain stays on each side with enough room in there for the triple chainset. the derailleur (front) will probably need adjusting by then, this has the outer plate parallel with the chainring and 1mm above the outer chainring teeth.

To make the bike look really good and eliminate chain slap problems in style, consider going on eBay to get a genuine Shimano 'Shark's Fin':


Air suspension unit for relatively low mass Let's assume I have an object with a mass of 3 kg. I want this object to isolate from vertical shocks and vibrations when I'm riding approximately 30 km/u on my bike.

Let's also assume I have an air suspension front fork modified and mounted on top of the bike's frame. This suspension unit carries the object I just mentioned (see figure below).

What should be the air pressure from the suspension unit to isolate most of the shocks?
Is it even possible to dial down the air pressure from an air suspension unit in order to isolate shocks for a relatively low mass (3 kg)?

My initial thoughts were to calculate the relation between mass and required air spring pressure level based on values in a product's manual. But the exponential decrease seems just too much for the fork to adjust.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Note: I read questions about specific products are mainly downvoted, but just for reference I included the RockShox manual with Air Spring Pressure levels with respect to a rider's weight. I'll edit the post if this isn't appreciated.

I don't think (like the other answers) a suspension fork will do it.  There's another reason as well - suspension forks only isolate vibrations in one linear dimension, as you go over bumps, as well as up and down you will accelerate and decelerate, and pitch up and down.  So here are some other thoughts.  We might be able to offer more help if you give some idea of what the object is.

It's not unknown to use an underinflated inner tube as a shock absorber for light loads - but that's generally a flat object on a flat surface.  Providing suspension for a light object can be done by hanging it in a frame using bungee cords (shock cords).  The rubber provides some damping so it's better than just springs.  Might be hard to fit between you and the bars - but then if I was doing 30km/h over rough ground I wouldn't want a set of forks pointing at my chest as you've shown.  Either on a modified rack behind or in a modified front basket would be better.

Whatever means you use, for best performance you need to tune the system - with some means of sensing the vibration (smartphone app these days?) and adjusting either the thickness of the cords or the mass.


Compatibility of predictive steering hub with boost 110 fork I have a bike which had a RS1 fork and a wheel with a required predictive steering hub.

I have a second bike which has a Boost 110 front fork.

Since both these hubs are 110mm wide, can I use the wheel with the predictive steering hub on the Boost 110 fork?

I know it does not work the other way around since the RS1 fork does require the predictive hub.

According to SRAM's website, the Predictive steering hubs use a "dedicated interface for the RS-1 fork".

The hub/dropout interface is toothed, to lock the dropout and hub into place and prevent twisting.

Boost 110:

Predictive Steering hub:

In addition, the Maxle Ultimate which is designed for the RS-1 and is required on the hubs, is only available for the RS-1 and some recent model year Pike forks.

It is unlikely that the predictive steering hub is compatible with the standard Boost 110 spec.


What causes this tire “hair” wear There are spots on my rear tire that have developed rubber hairs, almost like the edge of the tire is shredding and the structural integrity is starting to go. You can also notice in the pic a waviness to the tire, which I’m thinking is because it is starting to deform.
I should also state this is a Raleigh used for hybrid road/mostly trail cycling.

What is this?
do I need to adjust something or is this normal wear and tear?
do I need to replace my tire and if no, how much life does it have on it from this?

See also an earlier answer: How do I know when to replace my tires?
To quote Sheldon Brown:

Many cyclists waste money replacing perfectly functional tires simply because they're old, or may have discolored sidewalls. If you just want new tires because the old ones look grotty, it's your money, but if you are mainly concerned with safety/function, there are only two reasons for replacing old tires:

When the tread is worn so thin that you start getting a lot of flats from small pieces of glass and the like, or the fabric shows through the rubber.
When the tire's fabric has been damaged, so that the tire has a lumpy, irregular appearance somewhere, or the tube bulges through the tire.
Cracks in the tread are harmless.

In my opinion, this tire can still be used for certain types of riding, for the following reasons.

Sidewall cracks are minimal and cosmetic. No inner layers of tire nor tube can be seen through them. The rubber does not fall in chunks off the carcass.
I cannot see the tread, but if you do not get punctures often, it may be OK.
The "hairs" are likely to happen because rim brake pads occasionally touch the tire. This is not good, the pads must only touch the brake surface of the rim. Replacing them (fresh pads are "thinner" at the tip in the beginning of their life) and adjusting them (move them just a bit lower) until it is too late is in order.
The bulging of the tire is disconcerting. However, it seems to be caused by an uneven installation, and tire's bead sits just deeper at that section of the rim. For wide tires (2 inches or 50 mm wide), this does not affect the ride quality.

I would not take this tire to a long multiday touring trip or onto a blue mountainbike trail. But for running daily errands and commuting it should work for at least a season. Of course, regular visual pre-ride inspections (at least bi-weekly) are recommended to monitor the situation, as it is for any tire.