Cage holder for large bottle I am trying to find a bottle holder for this bottle.

I am open to building it if need be.

I am NOT interested in buying another bottle.

Specific product recommendations are off-topic for Bicycles.SE. There are some bottle cages for larger-than-usual bottles, but water bottles for bikes come in a standard size with a diameter of about 2¾" and a shoulder about 5" along its length, and most cages are designed specifically for that.


Using a UST wheel after a dent has been repaired I found a dent on my rear wheel on the weekend, a UST rim which I had been running a UST tyre on. This was allowing the tyre to burp (not running sealant) so I had to repair or replace. It was the first dent on this wheel and only relatively small (size of nail on small finger)

Using the technique of holding a flat piece of metal aginst the rim and carefully working along with a adjustable spanner I managed to get the rim straight without any further damage and could not see any cracks. The bead seems to have maintained it's shape.

I refitted the tyre (finally perfected the technique of seating a UST tyre with a floor pump) and it held pressure overnight although I've yet to ride on it.

Are there any possible issues that I should be wary before riding this wheel?
Should I be confident that there is unlikely to be a catastrophic failue?

I'm not concerned about burping, I can manage that just worried of a rim breaking at speed downhill.

Are there any possible issues that I should be wary before riding this wheel?

No. Just go ride. Always have a spare tube with you.

  Should I be confident that there is unlikely to be a catastrophic failue?

The only catastrophic failure I see is if you hit the rim (e.g pinch flat very hard) again on the exact same spot. Then there is a high possibility that the aluminium will crack.

Don't worry too much. If you've pulled the rim dent back at 95% of the correct position then you have nothing to fear of. My rear wheel on my old bike had 9 (nine) of those straightened dents and I was using the ghetto tubeless method. No problems whatsoever. Here is a similar dent on my new bike just before fixing it: http://i.imgur.com/oMGab6L.jpg


Using Nylon vs. Silicone Washer on Bafang BBSHD BBS01 Mid drive E-bike Motor Assembly Question - Can I replace the silicone washer in the BBS01 axle assembly with a like sized nylon washer?

Background - I am rebuilding a Bafang BBSHD BBS01 mid drive e-bike motor assembly.  I have about 10K miles on the motor and began experiencing some noise.  The fault appears to have been corrosion on the mechanical bearing at the top end of the rotor.  Cleaned, greased and attached with lock tight.  It should hopefully work.  While checking the axle for damage, I discovered the sole silicone washer (27mm OD x 18mm ID x 1mm Thick) was slightly damaged [see photos].  I have been unable to find a suitable replacement.  I can find a like-sized nilon washer.  Can I swap or does the silicone washer impart some special characteristic for this application?  My gut says the nilon washer will last longer.

Nylon melts at a low temperature, but probably not gonna happen there. That is a worthless, free guess for you. The bearing looks to my unschooled eyes like a ball thrust bearing?  The "silicone" washer would be an aid to prevent ingress of dirt and egress of lubricant.  (PT Barnum famously led dalliers out of his mid-1800s New York Museum via a street door labeled, 'this way to the Egress,') ha ha!  Well, that Bafang sure has served you well. I vote that the slightly damaged old seal should remain on duty.  It is a known success and its job is not vital. It is a trained seal. I mean experienced seal. If it were a trained seal it would be playing toot horns in Barnum's American Museum.

          ------------> this    way    to    the   Egress

On second thought, it is not a seal, is it?  It's a deformable washer that smashes between a bearing adjustment nut and its locking nut. I don't understand its purpose but I don't know much.  That the motor has lasted so long is a great testament to the designers' skill.  Too bad, we can't ask them who really know.  Again, I would not replace it at all.  Nylon is low temperature, slippery and deforms (flows away) from pressure. IF that is a lock nut system, a nylon washer between the adjuster and the jam nut would not be a good idea.  The original "silicone" washer will serve just fine again, remains my opinion.


How can I find inexpensive salvage repair (frame) parts? I've got a 2008 or 2009 Titus X. I cracked one of the struts (probably the wrong term) in the rear suspension triangle.

I'm hoping I can find a salvage part (still waiting to see how expensive a new part will be if it's not covered under warranty).

My first thought is Ebay but I thought there might be better places. Is there such a thing as a "junkyard for bikes" by mail? How can I find where to look for salvage repair parts?

For this bike you may be able to get replacement seatstays or chainstays from the manufacturer.  See their frame parts section of their store or give them a call.

http://shop.titusti.com/category-s/1836.htm


Changing the entire chain gear mechanism I have a Lapierre shaper 100.

I am looking to change my entire chain mechanism as some of these parts need to be changed. I have selected my components, and I am hoping you can tell me if these parts will be compatible.

Shimano Claris FC-2403 crankset
Shimano CS-HG51 8-speed cassette
Shimano Claris RD-2400 GS rear derailleur
Shimano CN-HG71 chain
Shimano Claris FD-2403 B front derailleur

I would really appreciate your thoughts

Addressing only the technical compatibility, if you currently have a Shimano 8x3 setup, and you wish to upgrade to another Shimano 8x3 setup, then any Shimano 8-speed road parts should be fine.

So that includes Claris, Sora, Tiagra etc. as long as it's 8-speed kit. Same goes for the chain.

I mention Sora and Tiagra just in case you're able to source these "old" parts at a decent price, off eBay or something.


How do I find the master link on a Mongoose Intake dirt jump bike? I want to switch cranks on my Mongoose Intake dirt jump bike but can't find the master link

There is a good chance that there isn't a master link. Many single speeds do not have one on the factory installed  chain. It requires a chain tool to press out the pin. At that point a master link can be installed or a replacement pin can be installed using the chain tool. The chain does not need to be removed to change the crank unless it is worn. If you are changing crank or chain ring sizes you will need to either shorten your existing if it is serviceable or replacing it if its worn or too short.


will an old wheelset support 28mm (28c) 700c tires or will they "balloon" My bike is early 2000s and came with Shimano wh-r540 wheelset and 26mm tires

googling shows ETRTO: 622 x 13C (internal width?) and 19mm (external width?)

I've successfully used 25mm tires but considering going to 28mm since I believe there is clearance everywhere important for a tire that wide

However I am questioning if the rim is too narrow to properly support a 28mm and that it will "balloon" defeating the benefits of 28mm

But I've noticed new bikes that come with 28mm typically have a very wide rim to support the tire so the tire sits more square or inwards and not ballon out

ie. modern rim + 28mm tire profile =   /----\

ie. old 540 rim + 28mm tire profile =   \----/

does it matter? will it defeat the benefits of 28mm for handling?

Wider road rims have become more popular, in part because of the reasons you're talking about, but 28 is far from the reasonable maximum for a more classic 19-20mm road rim, and will be totally fine. Consider how many people race cross on 19-20mm clinchers with 32s and 35s. Where the actual line is of what's reasonable is a hotly debated topic that there are other questions about.


Brake only touches rim occasionally when brake applied On a new mountain bike, the brake pad seems to touch the rim only at some parts when I apply the brake, not the entire rim. It still stops the wheel or touch all parts if I press hard enough. Does this mean the rim is not centered, or warped? Or could be brake pad position issue that I can adjust to resolve?
Thanks

If you have to pull hard on the brake lever to get the pads to full engage on the rim, the brake caliper is not adjusted properly. Rim brakes can only generate stopping force when both pads are applying opposing 'gripping' forces to the rim.
New bike should be set up correctly, if you bought from a dedicated bicycle store take it back and and ask for the brake calipers to be adjusted. If you bought from a 'big box' store or general sports store the staff probably do not have expertise to do this properly, so you should seek out a bicycle repair shop to help you.
If you want to address this yourself, there is plenty of guidance on-line. Park Tool Repair Help is particularly good.
It also seems from you description that your wheels may be out of true. This can prevent the pads from being adjusted closely enough to the rim. First check the wheel is properly seated in the fork or frame drop-out slots before the quick-release or axle nuts are tightened. You can visually check the trueness of the rim by spinning the wheel slowly and observing the distance between the rim and a brake pad. If the distance varies by more than a couple of millimeters the wheel may need truing. This is not a trivial process so enlist the help of a bike repair shop


Where purchrase cheap MTB frame? I recently bought a Merida HT matts sub 60, and I like it but sadly it's way to big for me, I purchrase it more for the components since it was really cheap. I'm 165cm, and probably need 16inch frame, and I kinda want to swap the frame (sadly the best part of the bike) with a more suitable one. I don't want to spend more than 100€, and I found some aluminum frame on Aliexpress for my budget, on ebay I found only quite expensive ones, and often on large size or with some cracks and other problems. I need a frame with disk brake mounts so it's hard to find a cheap bike just for the frame, for this reason I want to buy just the frame. Do you have any feedback about those cheap unknown chinese frame? Any other suggestion is appreciated.

As the question is formulated now, there is no definitive answer. It is really up for you to decide. Here are some hints though.
You can either buy online, or in person. In both cases you can buy either new or used.
When buying online, you cannot "feel" an object before getting it, compared to buying in person. However, in both cases it is possible to see obvious problems if you are careful enough and you ask questions. For used frames that would be crash damage. For new frames it would be manufacturing/QA issues, such as poor welds.
You would not be able to tell "hidden" problems in either case, such as internal cracks or poor welds hidden behind coating, so there is always risk of getting something unusable. For used frames, there is rarely a possibility to claim warranty. For new frames, it depends, and usually the law is on your side as long as you have proof of purchase.
Remember that a bike frame is not a small object in its dimensions. When buying it from overseas or even ordering the delivery by post, freight costs are likely to eat a considerable part of your budget. When buying in person, this is something that can be avoided. But when buying in person, there is a small chance of ending up robbed and getting nothing (again, I do not know where you live and how bad the situation is there)

I need a frame with disk brake mounts so it's hard to find a cheap bike just for the frame

Buying a bike just for the frame is almost always unwise when money is considered.


What is a good replacement for a cable end cap? I was adjusting the tension of my front derailleur cable and managed to pop off the cable end cap. The cable is now quite frayed at the end and I think it would be difficult to attach another cap.

What would work as a suitable replacement for a cap? I've read that perhaps superglue or duct tape could work?

Those end-caps are quite reusable. If you take a pair of pliers and squeeze it gently so that the flattened portion opens up you can then slide it back onto the cable. Using the pliers you can then re-crimp it on the cable. Although it looks ugly and everyone will know that you are too cheap to buy a 10c end-cap.

A little bit of superglue placed at the end of the cut seems to help keep the individual wires from separating.


How can I stop my toes from going numb on long rides? I've begun trying to commute to work, which is a 70+ minute ride each way for me.  I find that after about 30 minutes of riding, my toes in both feet begin to go numb.  It's not a cold thing, because it happens in warm weather too.  It's more of a pins-and-needles, limb going to sleep feeling, though it hits all my toes and sometimes a little further into my foot (never really past the ball though).

This happened with my old flat pedals and several different pairs of shoes.  I recently switched to clipless pedals and shoes and hoped it would stop with the stiffer sole and dedicated contact to the pedal, but no dice.  My cycling shoes are quite comfortable and there is no pain associated with this, just the annoying numbness.  Right now the only way I can fix it is to coast for a while so I can unclip and dangle/shake my foot around to get some feeling back into it.  Unclipping and temporarily pedaling with my heel helps a little, but not much.

Anybody else have this problem or know how to alleviate it?  Or am I just stuck with it due to some quirk in my anatomy?

There is probably a combination of things that can help.  Periodically getting your weight off can help as can making sure your pedaling stroke includes ankle flexion.  In my experience, that helps a lot with circulation in my feet.  Obviously, you'll want to make sure your shoes are not laced or velcro-ed too tight.  I will often stand in the pedals and do calf stretches by flexing my ankles up and down (still clipped in) to help with foot circulation.


When riding with a single pannier, does it matter which side it's on? I read somewhere that when riding with a single pannier, the pannier should be mounted on the left side (traffic side in the US). However, the article didn't give a reason behind that. It's been quite some time and I can't find the article again for reference.

I initially thought that it was so that the reflectors on the panniers wouldn't mislead motorists as to where on the road I, the cyclist, was positioned. However, after noticing this evening that a pannier mounted on the traffic side of the bike blocked the visibility of my girlfriend's seat post mounted light, I began to question this.

Is there any reason to ride with the pannier on one side or the other? Does it matter it all?

I wasn't aware of a rule for this, but I would hang a single pannier on left because it's the non-drive side of the bike. I doubt it matters though.

When I was buying a new rear wheel a few months back, I found the spoke patterns in some rear wheels are different on one side to the other, so I don't know if this would make a difference.

(I'd have added this as a comment, but it informs me I'd need 50 rep for that, hence the "answer".)


Formula T1S disc brake rub I have Formula T1S disc brakes (2014 or 2013 model). One day when it was quite hot (in the 30s), but otherwise on a very mild ride on bike paths with kids, the brake started rubbing constantly by itself, grabbing the wheel quite strongly as if on both sides, giving me significant resistance (couldn't even spin the wheel freely). I couldn't reset it using normal disc brake alignment procedure (loosen bolts, hold lever, tighen while holding).
Upon more careful examination, when I removed the brake pads at home, it turned out the pistons inside are pushed inwards, not flush with the brake body, and I can't push them back outwards - I mean both at the same time: when I push one outwards, the other goes in.
How to diagnose how to proceed from there? I haven't serviced these brakes since I bought the bike 5 years ago and in fact it was my first bike with disc brakes, I don't have a lot of experience here. Other answers and various videos suggest a full bleed procedure which means I should probably bring the bike in to the LBS, as I don't fancy buying a full bleed kit to do something once every 5 years... and I don't even know if it would solve the problem.

Seeing the pistons extended a little is expected on hydraulic disc brake calipers. As the pads wear fluid is slowly drawn from the reservoir and the pistons extend to take up the space left by the pad wear. The pistons should retract slightly when the lever is released to back the pads off the rotor though. It sounds like that failed to happen with your calipers.
You should be able to push both pistons back. This can be be tricky as you have to put opposing force on both pistons. I have a set of tire levers that work well for this, but y9u may have to search for the right tool.
Dirty pistons and seals may be the cause of the pistons not retracting properly. You can try cleaning them and see if that helps. Park tool has a good video showing how that is sone, and it also shows how the automatic pad wear adjustment works.


Tektro HD-R210 Bleed Kit Compatibility I'm looking for a bleed kit compatible with Tektro HD-R210 brakes.

I believe this is an OEM part - it doesn't look like there's a lot of information available for them. The levers are labelled to indicate use of Mineral Oil.

Would Tektro HD-R210 be compatible with Shimano bleed kits, or would I need a Tektro specific kit?

This is a good question. As detailed below, there is reason to think that mineral oils are unlikely to be compatible between brands. I can't unequivocally show that Shimano oil will damage Tektro brakes. However, if the tradeoff is possible damage to the seals in the Tektro brake, then it would seem better to use Tektro oil.

First, mineral oil is, per Wikipedia:

  Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum...

Higher alkanes are molecules with 9 or more carbon atoms. Per the table in the link, their boiling points range from 150.8 (C9H20) to 286.8 (C16H34) degrees Celsius. Their density varies less, their viscosity varies more.

We don't know the mix of alkanes in Shimano and Tektro oil. Their compositions and resulting physical properties may be close enough for them to be mutually exchangeable. Some posters on bike forums have reported interchanging oils for Shimano and Tektro, e.g. this poster, this poster who said their LBS said the oils are interchangeable, and one poster here who put Shimano oil into Tektro Hy/Rd cable-actuated disc brakes. This article on Juiced Bikes seems to imply that either oil is fine.

Bikerumor interviewed several brake manufacturers, and one of the questions was interchangeability. Some brakes (e.g. SRAM, Hayes, and Hope), use DOT brake fluid (of which there are several types). We can categorically say that DOT fluid should never, ever go into brakes designed for mineral oil. DOT fluid is corrosive to things like paint. If the seals are specifically designed to resist it, this is fine. If they are not, you'll corrode the seals and then your brake will fail.

Shimano said that their brakes could only take Shimano oil:

  I can tell you with absolute certainty that Magura fluid will destroy Shimano brakes in a very short amount of time. I’ve seen it happen several times. The rubber seals in the system have to be specifically designed to interact with a specific brake fluid. If you use a different fluid, the seals will interact differently. Specifically, when you put Magura fluid in Shimano brake, the lever feels spongy and the pad contact point changes because the square edge seal at the caliper is breaking free from the piston at a different time.

  There are third party companies that make mineral oil brake fluid and
  it says right on the bottle that it is compatible with all mineral
  brakes. Shimano has never approved a third party brake fluid to be
  compatible with our brakes and we never will. How is it possible that
  one fluid can work in both Magura and Shimano brakes if Magura fluid
  destroys Shimano brakes?

Magura simply said to only use Magura oil in their brakes. However, both manufacturers have a commercial incentive to say that, and Tektro didn't respond to the interview. This leaves open the possibility that Tektro's oil is similar in composition, chemical, and physical properties to Shimano's oil.

Nevertheless, even considering that issue and the forum posts, I don't consider the tradeoff to be worth experimenting. Brakes, after all, stop your bike.


Pacing for 90km time trial with heart rate monitor I'm participating in my first race by doing the 90km bike part of a half-iron man relay - I'm hoping to complete within 3 hours.

I would like to know how I should pace myself with a heart rate monitor. I have been training with Carmichael's Time Crunched method so would appreciate if the heart rate's were given as a percentage of the CTS field test HR (max sustainable HR in 8 mins).  Any other pacing strategies are of course welcomed as well.

For those unfamiliar with the CTS system, there is a guide here

The answer is a hard one without knowing the individual athlete, as a better trained athlete will be able to tolerate much more work in the tempo and sweet spot ranges.

On race day HR is often a few beats higher and you can squeeze out that bit more due to a combination of adrenaline and motivation.  I would be looking to target
86-90% for the first half and push on to 88-92% in the 2nd half if you feel you have more in the tank.

Putting the HR monitor to one side, it is also useful to pay close attention to your RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) during the first half.  You should feel like you are pushing firmly on the pedals, but if your legs are burning, you are probably going too hard and will pay for it later.

In general push towards the top of the HR band on the inclines, and ease off a little to the bottom of the band on the declines.  Using this minor variation in effort is more efficient as at higher speeds, wind resistance is higher, and you are gaining less speed for every Watt of power you are producing.


How to properly position foot on flat pedals? I recently replaced my clip-in pedals(SPD) with regular flat pedals on my commuter cycle with the hope to avoid wearing shoes with cleats on my commute. I want to wear my water proof boots to work when cycling. The problem I face is that my feet are not positioned properly, I usually find that one foot is farther or behind the other foot.

I considered adding a cage on the flat pedals but I cannot fit my boots in the toe clip.
I tried booties on my cleated shoes with clip-in spd pedals, but it is too much effort for commuting, the booties wear out fairly quickly due to frequent stops/walking and I feel that cleated shoes/booties are good for long rides on the weekend.
Pedals with SPD on one side and flat on the other still poses the same problem, alignment of foot when using the flat side.

I am looking for a solution where I can wear normal shoes/sandals/boots that is weather-appropriate  when I am commuting to work. I think a vast majority of cyclists use regular flat pedals/ flat pedals with toe cages. Is there a trick/tip to align both feet properly on pedals or should I give up hope on being able to wear non-cleated shoes and go back to clip-in spd pedals? Or do I just need more practice with flat pedals? Are there other riders who have this problem? I did ride a mountain bike with flat pedals during my high school days but never thought about foot alignment, but back then I had never used clip-in pedals.

This is a mindfulness technique rather than a product, but when riding on flat pedals I consciously focus on keeping the balls of my feet over the pedal spindles. (I also resist the temptation, every time I see someone pushing flat pedals with their heels, to yell out "You're doing it wrong!")


Transporting groceries What's the best way to transport groceries on rough roads without breakage? (My town has a generous budget for potholes.) I currently use a 2-wheeled cargo trailer, but it there anything I can do to cushion the more delicate items (i.e., eggs)? What about items like milk, where every pothole causes the liquid to slosh around?

Delicate items would probably survive best in a small backpack.  Your body acts like a natural shock absorber so anything strapped to your back should get the smoothest ride, especially if you're out of the saddle for the bumpiest sections.  Remember to keep the pack light though.

Put heavier items like milk on a rear rack, rear panniers or ideally on a trailer.  On your back they can get really tiring and on a front rack they can really destabilize your front wheel (even worse for something that sloshes around).

Fragile and heavy?  (e.g. jars, glass bottles)  Put them in a carrier on the rear rack, but make sure they're well padded from both the bike and each other.


Help identify fender mounting clamp? My bike has metal fenders that attach to the frame through ~3mm steel arms that are clamped and held in place with a piece of plastic that is screwed to the frame (M5 bolts) - as shown on the photo.

I lost two of those. Does anyone know what can be used as a replacement? What would be a proper English term for this type of a hardware?

They may be called R-clips in the US. The hole of the R encloses the fender stay (the metal rod). The stay is one of the fender's points of contact with the frame/fork and it prevents the fender from flopping around. A hex bolt goes through the legs of the R into an eyelet (i.e. a bolt hole) on each side of the frame or fork. The link goes to a US online only store (Velo Orange). However, your local bike store could probably order similar items from their distributors, and you could also find them on other sites. I do not recommend any specific retailer; I only selected Velo Orange because they have decent pictures and descriptions.

Not all fenders may attach to your frame/fork's fender mounts with R-clips. The pic below, courtesy of Sheldon Brown's site, shows SKS's breakaway stay fitting. The fitting is designed to quickly break away if something (e.g. a stray branch) gets jammed between the fender and the wheel. This should hopefully save your fender.

Or if you look carefully at the image below from road.cc, some stays may be designed to bolt directly to an eyelet without an additional piece of hardware. The stays are bent in a little loop, and it seems like you'd put a hex bolt right through that loop. Look where the fender stays connect to the frame near the bottom of the seatstays.

I am not certain if R-clip is standardized terminology in all parts of the world. In English, some differences exist between US and UK terminology (e.g. US: crankset and Campy, UK: chainset and Campag), and I'm not sure if this term is identical on both sides of the Atlantic.


Missing mtb bottom bracket cable guide screw? 2016 Diamondback Haanjo Comp

I was giving the bike a bit of a wipedown today and noticed a missing screw on the bottom.

I've been unable to find any specifications such as this from DB.

Can I figure this out without taking it apart?  (I don't want to take the other screw out since it looks like I'd have a mess on my hands.

Does anybody have an idea what screw I need to get and where to get it?

If you are concerned about the empty hole next to the Phillips head screw, you can ease your concern. The cable guide typically only needs a single mounting screw. The extra hole allows the same cable guide to fit a variety of bikes by  shifting the guide towards the drive or non drive side depending on which hole is used.


Recommendation on new $400-500 hybrid Analysis paralysis.  My wife says I can spend up to $500 on a first bike.  I don't want to spend it on the wrong stuff.  My intention is to use it as the "last mile" on public transit on commute/weekends, quick to the grocery, leisure ride, and perhaps even intentional exercise.  I've read tons of other posts on this site talking about what to look for in the abstract.  Now I need some concrete advice.  Which bike to buy?

At 6'4", 36.5 inseam, This calculator says my ideal mountain bike measurements are 21.5" seat tube and 180mm crank.  I don't know how that equates to a hybrid.  I think the larger frame size limits my options - bikes stores don't seem to carry these sizes.  So perhaps I have to order online?

Besides being the best value in all parts, certain luxuries I think I'd like are wheel splash guards and a rear rack as I might commute to work.  Can these be added to any bike?  Front suspension?  Not sure if I need it, but I know to want lockout if I do.  Aluminum vs Steel?  I've read that aluminum is less shock absorbing than steel, yet my known options below are all aluminum.

Here's what I'm looking at:

http://www.marinbikes.com/2011/bike_specs_compared.php?serialNum1584=1584&serialNum1581=1581&serialNum1580=1580&serialNum1882=1882

http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1094212_-1_20000__400321

Are these any better than a Dick's Sporting Goods Diamondback brand hybrid?

What others should I look at?

Thanks.

I've worked on a number of Marin bikes and they are impressive IMO.  Simple, straightforward design.

Here's the bottom line.  In this price range, regardless of what you get, you are looking at a Chinese-made frame built to "spec" (what the company wants).   Then, various major-manufacturer components are bolted on and the bike is shipped.

They are all really rather similar; variations in frame geometry are minimal, variations in component spec are also minimal.  It's common to throw on an "upgraded" rear derailleur as this catches the consumer's eye... Costs the manufacturer only a few bucks more.

Not that these are not perfectly fine bikes... The main thing you are looking for is fit, which you already recognize as important, and the best components you can get for your money.
Most hybrids are made with a frame that leans more to the "road" type, with a straighter top tube.  Most mountain bikes have a more compact design with a sloping top tube so that the rider can maneuver on the bike while off-road.
The old "standover height" or "inseam" height measurements date to when road bikes were built with the standard diamond frame with a flat top tube.
Modern bike design is a little more flexible.


26 X 1.75 front and 26 X 2.0 rear tyre? can I use 26 X 1.75 for front and 26 X 2.0 for rear? the tube size is the same.

Bike : Rockrider 5.0
Terrain : mostly Road, occasionally off-road.

Yeap- no reason not to. I do the same on my mountain bike, I prefer the width of the wider rear to enable stability/grip whilst the front is just wide enough to steer in the direction. Most inner tubes will work over quite a range of tyre sizes & the same for rims. Make sure you check the specification of both if you are concerned.


Slipping shift cable barrel adjusters Currently, I have Shimano Tiagra 4600 series brifters on my bike, and the barrel adjuster on the front derailleur cable slips when the shifter/derailleur is in the smallest chainring position, when the cable is at its slackest.

The adjusters appear to be Jagwire Rocket adjusters (see photo), and the cause of the slipping seems to be that the notches on the screw part and base are somewhat different in size and don't engage well enough to prevent the adjuster turning due to road vibration.

I could fix the problem with the existing adjusters by either filing out the notches on the fixed barrel to be slightly larger, or possibly using a mild threadlocker. However, I don't feel that these are good solutions to what appears to be a design flaw with the adjusters (which came with my bike from the factory).

I have a number of questions as to the best fix for this. Should I use the cable adjuster designed by Shimano , subassembly (4) on the ST-4600 exploded view, which contains an alternative baseplate to place on the shifter itself that provides the indexing and retention of the adjustment.

Alternatively, should I use an inline cable adjuster like the Shimano SM-CA70 (see spread 11/page 20 on the 24 MB 2013 Shimano Spares catalogue). I know that these are intended for brifters with under-tape gear cable routing, but are they higher quality than the adjuster that would be built into the Tiagra shifters?

Another option would be adjusters that fit into the downtube cable stops, but my frame (Cannondale Synapse Alloy) has somewhat unusual non-threaded ones mounted on the sides of the head tube, and I fear that the stops being mounted so far forward on the bike would pose an issue with sharp bends for the cable exiting the adjuster if the bars were turned a large angle.

Small edit: If I had to summarise the question to be a bit more objective, it is this: do all cable adjusters for the front derailleur cable have issues with slippage due to the lower cable tensions, or are the Jagwire Rocket adjusters just unusually bad at keeping their position? Do either inline or cable stop adjusters generally perform better than the other option?

Thanks for posting this problem. I have exactly the same with my Cannondale Synapse alloy 2009 (Tiagra triple). During every ride I have to tighten the micro-adjuster. After renewing cables, housings, bottom bracket guide etc several times I have finally reached the conclusion it's the barrel adjuster itself.


Bike Floor Pump for Raleigh Talus 3.0 I'm trying to find a good floor pump for my Raleigh Talus 3.0 bike which I recently purchased. I don't know much about bikes and have seen that there are different valve types (i.e. - Presta and Schrader) that a bike may possess.

How do I distinguish a good floor pump from a bad one and how can I tell if it is compatible with my bike in terms of its design and features?

You likely want a floor (track) pump - something that looks like this:

(Image from here)

Most good floor (track) pumps have support for both Presta and Schrader valves, usually through two opposite ends of the chuck:

(Image from here)

If your pump only supports Schrader valves but you have a Presta valve, you can go to your bike shop and buy an adapter for Presta->Schrader for around a dollar, each. (The reverse case is rare to occur, but adapters do exist but they're around 8 dollars a piece)

To pump up a Presta valve, you unscrew the nut, tap the nut to let a bit of air out (so that the valve isn't stuck), push the chuck onto the valve and lock it, then pump, tighten the nut. Dust cap is optional. Schrader is identical to the procedure on a car.

As for which pump to buy, make sure its rated to an appropriate maximum pressure, has a good warranty and has good reviews. Going with a good brand helps too, but you don't need to spend much. I've been using a Topeak Joe Blow Sport II which I got for around 30 bucks with no problems for the past 2 years.

Frame pumps are a different matter, but they're primarily for people going on longer rides who won't have access to a floor pump in an emergency. Shock pumps are for people who have air suspension to fill their forks, and are also a different matter.

A non-exhaustive list of quality manufacturers include:

Topeak
Park Tool
Lezyne


How to build a fixie bike? I’m thinking about building a fixie and was wondering what are the best types of frame, wheels etc to use and how long the whole building process may take?

As a general rule, we don't go shopping on bicycles.SE, since that information goes out of date quickly.

The first problem with building your own bike is fit. If you don't know what measurements you already need from the frame and stem and handlebars and saddle a priori, its going to be hard to gauge which size is right for you. Your LBS may be able to help you in this area, or if you have a similar type of bike as to the one desired, you may be able to move the measurements to some other part set get close to whats right for you. Picking parts is hard enough as it is when things are approximately known already!

The second problem is part selection - brands, budget, functional differences and if they go together (e.g. do you want a wheel with a flip flop hub, or just a fixed gear? What gear ratio should you pick? Do I shell out for the Chris King headset instead of the cheaper Cane Creek one? Will my crank go together with the bottom bracket I selected? etc.) For example, if you have a bottom bracket which is too narrow, you may get some knee pain. Specific to the case of fixies, Sheldon has some advice on selecting gearing and converting old frames to fixies. Also, your frame should have horizontal dropouts.

Finally, theres the problem of putting things together. You may need some help here, as you may not have all the tools on hand for it and the investment in these specialized tools may not be worth it. For example, you may need a bottom bracket tool, cassette tool, chain whip, cable housing cutters (If you run a brake, you can get away with rougher cutting than for shifter cable housing (which fixies don't have), but its still a PITA to cut without the proper tools) etc. Also, if you need to cut your fork at home, its a lot nicer when done by the bike shop instead of pulling out a hacksaw at your house since they typically have nice guides for cutting the fork (with a hacksaw). Sometimes you can borrow these tools from a bike shop or a bike co-op and save yourself some of the expense. Also, you need some expertise to put the bike together in the first place (i.e. some knowledge on how the parts go together and how to adjust them properly, such as chain tension, which is critical on a fixie). Also, you'll make some mistakes (hopefully not forgetting to grease some thing or cross threading things), so you also need to allot time to deal with that. Even once you get the parts put in, you have to tune it to your riding style, so it could be a decent amount of time to put the thing together.

If you are interested in doing this still (instead of buying a bike which you essentially like, and tweaking it, or having a conversion of an old frame done by your LBS), I suggest you go to your LBS, talk to them about what you want to do, take a bike which is similar to what you want, and get them to help you select which parts work for you (and you can have them install things which you don't want to buy the tools for or don't have access to, and have them check the wheel tensioning and stuff). The amount of time it takes you depends generally on mechanical aptitude, access to tools and luck in how close you get to getting something close to right in the first place.

Sheldon Brown's site is useful if you want to do this, as is the Park Tool site (Park Tool makes some excellent bicycle specific tools, but if you're purchasing tools, you may want to go with a cheaper set since they do not need to be so long lasting). There are also various books, such as "The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance and Repair" by Todd Downs, "Big Blue Book of Bicycle Repair" by Park Tool and "Sutherland's Handbook for Bicycle Mechanics" among others which may be of use (the last one is designed pretty much for shop mechanics though).

Finally, a note on money: If you want to do this, note that you'll probably end up paying more than a similar bike on the market due to the fact that you're buying 1 of each part rather than a ton of each part like a complete manufacturer does. And you have the cost of your labor or LBS labor in putting it together.

Finally, a note on safety: Despite it not being "cool", I firmly believe fixie should have front and rear brakes (or at least a front brake at the least).


Road bike: can't shift down on front gears I only have two chainrings on the crank. The chain is stuck on the big one. When I hit the button on the shifter to shift down I am not seeing the cable move at all which is odd.
Not sure where to start, I can take pictures if I need to. The bike is pretty old and has been through a lot of abuse to be fair. With California closing indoor things again today I am looking to fix this myself instead of at the local bike shop.
Pictures

Either the shifter, cable or derailleur is stuck.
Detach the cable from the derailleur, check the derailleur will move through its full range of motion. Tension the cable by pulling in it with a pair of pliers. Work the shifter and check the cable is payed out and pulled in smoothly. You can also pull the cable housing away from the shifter to expose the cable, grip the cable (gently) there, tension it and work the shifter. That should tell you what is jammed.
Often the cable gets stuck in the cable housing due to dirt, dried up lubrication or corrosion. Replacing the cable and housing is relatively easy and inexpensive.
If the derailleur is jammed you may be able to get it moving by applying a penetrating oil and pushing the cage back and forth to free the mechanism.
If the shifter seems to be the problem things can be a little trickier. The mechanism can be contaminated with dirt or corrosion, but sometimes shifters break and the only recourse is to replace them.


Is a car "perfectly entitled" to turn left around cyclist (I'm in the UK so we drive on the left)

This morning a driver pulled up alongside me (to my right) at a junction. As soon as a gap came available, I pulled out to turn left and he did the same, coming within a couple of feet of me as we turned. I verbally objected (what the ..?). He confronted me a little further down the road, and insisted he was "perfectly entitled" to turn left around a cyclist who is also turning left.

Is this correct? This was from a single lane road, turning into another single lane road.

The UK Highwaycode states:

  Using the road: Turning left
  Rule 182

  Use your mirrors and give a left-turn signal well before you turn
  left. Do not overtake just before you turn left and watch out for
  traffic coming up on your left before you make the turn, especially if
  driving a large vehicle. Cyclists, motorcyclists and other road users
  in particular may be hidden from your view

It seems quite clear to me that the driver should not have pulled up to the right of you, which is essentially an overtaking manoeuvre, if he intended to turn left, no matter what you were planning.


Will using a pannier rack mounting kit damage a carbon frame Axiom vs Tubus I am hoping to buy one of these in the next few weeks:

Specialized Roubaix SL4 Expert Disc Di2 2014 Road Bike

But I will be using it for commuting and need some luggage so I need to fit a pannier rack (I'm going to ignore all the shouts of horror about using this bike for commuting or putting a rack on it).

Initially I thought that this was not possible and I was looking at getting a custom Titanium frame made with the same components. I have now found a couple of options though.

There is the Tubus set of pannier racks. I have used a Tubus rack before on a bike with no eyelets and it seemed to work very well. If I use the Tubus Clamp Set For Seat Stay Mounting and the Tubus Adapter Set For QR-Axle Mounting I think that'll work won't it? I am unsure if the rack will clear the disc brakes though...

There is also the Axiom set of racks as shown in the video. They specifically make a rack for road bikes with disc brakes which sounds very promising. I can't see how the rack will attach to the frame at the top with no eyelets and no caliper brakes. I could use the Tubus Clamp set though (which I have on my current bike)

So, Will mounting this to my bike damage the carbon frame?
Any recommendations about which rack / mounting system I should go for?

Thanks

I would recommend getting a second bike for commuting. The Specialized Roubaix is a racing machine. It would also be foolish to leave it locked outside a shop (in case you considered doing that).

Most likely you will void the warranty by using clamps on seat stays. To get that low weight, carbon frames are strong only in certain directions and may be relatively weak in others.


Should I force an 130 mm hub into my old vintage alu frame I have a classic vitus 979 aluminium road frame where the rear dropout width is 126 mm. Most of the things I hear is that you should not use force on an alu frame and try to fit in an 130 mm hub in there, like you could on a vintage steel frame, but some say that the vitus 979 frame has so much spring in it.

I'm not sure what to do, I want to have modern wheels on it, should I try to force it?

First, try to find a modern wheel that's the right size. They are still made and you can get very shiny ones that will match the bike very nicely. Or get a 120mm fixie hub and add 3mm of spacers each side.

If you must use a modern wheel, try to shrink your hub. Many hubs have washers between the locknuts and cones, or other spacers. If you can remove even a couple of washers to bring the hub width down you're better off. Ideally keep the hub symmetric, but a millimetre out is not the end of the world. Note that you'll need cone spanners and a little skill to adjust things after you do this. With a modern sealed bearing hub it's easier, but with a classic bike like that I suspect you're not putting new wheels in it.

Finally, spreading the frame 4mm should be fine. It'll make getting the rear wheel in harder. With aluminium, do not try to cold set the frame. Once the aluminium yields a lot of the strength is gone and you've basically destroyed the frame.


Alternative Firmware for Garmin Edge 500 I'm using a Garmin Edge 500 cycle computer. For most parts I'm quite happy with it. Besides the issue of it not finding GPS from time to time there is one thing which really drives me crazy: When switching between my bikes I have to go through 5 or so menus to get to the option to pick another bike. Without doing that it won't recognize the bike sensors. Over time I had quite a few cases where I didn't realize I forgot to configure it properly.

I can't image it too be too complicated software-wise to scan for all known bike sensors and automatically switch over (or ask the user "hey I'm seeing other sensors, should I switch to that bike?") so I wonder if there are folks working on alternative firmware which offers such features or where one could contribute.

Garmin do not publish the firmware or provide support for community modifications, and actually seem to be killing off the one community feature they had allowed (the ability to use non Garmin maps) in some areas.

My advice - buy another device for the other bike, or just accept that navigating through 5 menus isn't really that bad:-)


How can I make a glow bike? How I can make my bicycle glow? As seen in this Blackberry commercial (with screen capture image below).

Paint it with fluorescent paint and then illuminate with ultraviolet lights (and white LEDs serve this purpose fairly well).

There are also glow strips/panels sold mostly to (oddly) computer hackers who like to light up the inside of their computers.  And probably a few other specialty markets.

Of course, you'd have to rig up some sort of power supply.  Batteries can be concealed under the seat or in the seat tube, or on the person of the cyclist.

[Odds are, to achieve this special effect for the commercial, the bike was painted with fluorescent paint and then illuminated for several minutes with separate UV lights.  The paint will continue to glow brightly for several minutes after being so "charged", long enough to shoot the commercial, I'd guess.]


Do more expensive bib shorts make a difference when sat on a turbo trainer for hours on end? Several times during the year I occasionally have to work night shifts (mostly during winter). This can make longer training sessions difficult as the shifts which allow this type of training ride (+2 hours) that are not days off finish at 1:00am. Going out training at this time in the morning can be fun but I more often than not hit the rollers (deer, drunks and potholes). I would like to get in longer rides this coming winter but am finding sitting on rollers for more than one hour and a half painful. Would a 'top of the range' pair of bib shorts designed for long distance (assos s7) riding help ease the pain?

The big difference between rollers and the outside is that your position is much more static inside. If you are good enough on rollers to stand every once in a while that might help. ( I'm not ). Maybe just take a 5 minute break every hour.

If your shorts/saddle are comfortable outside for 2+ hrs, I doubt expensive shorts will really make much of a difference. However, when it comes to saddle comfort everything works for somebody and nothing works for everybody.

I'd try the expensive Assos cream to start with, it's only a $30 experiment vs a $300 one.


Is a brompton right for my riding style? This question is for current OR past Brompton owners.

I am considering purchasing a Brompton because

hype about its quality built
compact
simply looks awesome!

About me:  6ft, 145lbs. (182cm and 66 kilograms)

I plan to carry 20-30 pounds (9-14 kilograms) extra ( work supplies, groceries)

Ideally, I want it to be my commuter bicycle.  I bike approximately 4 days a wk to work, 7 miles one way.

[Those who own(ed) a Brompton can you speak on your experience on its durability, and maintenance upkeep.]

I have a Brompton and it’s a great bike. It really shines in three circumstances:

mixed mode commuting where you might ride for a bit then fold it up and take it on a bus, car, or, train and then unfold and ride again at your destination
in commutes where there’s no safe storage so you have to fold it up and put it under your work desk or you want to keep your bike in your tiny London flat
for trips where whatever you want to carry can fit in the front bag, which can be quite capacious

As a regular commuter, it’s ok but:

there’s limited gearing range even on the six speed
the six speed with the high handlebars is the most comfortable but that configuration of Brompton is actually quite heavy for its size
the smaller wheels will make cobblestones feel larger
there is space for a rack and panniers but they’re not the best as any sort of panniers interferes with folding
thieves know that Bromptons are expensive.

I commuted for a while on my B. It was just a 3 mile commute on flat ground so the two speed was fine. My previous town was known for bike thieves so always having my B with me, even into grocery stores on my way back home wasn’t a problem.

However, my regular commuter which is a 1970s mixte road bike is all-round better as a commuter. It’s lighter, faster, more comfortable, has better gears, and most importantly, I’m not constantly worried if it’ll get stolen or rained on.


Road cyclist keeps popping out of speedplay pedals I've been riding for years and suddenly I've developed a problem with my right foot involuntarily popping out of my speedplay pedals.  New shoes/cleats and new pedals did not help.  I've even been checked out neurologically.  Any ideas?

Which Speedplay pedals? The ZERO model I used quite extensively had a pair of set screws on each cleat that would set the desired amount of float through the complete pedal stroke.

The only reason you should be popping out of a Speedplay pedal is due to lateral foot rotation through your pedal stroke (which is really just an extension of knee/hip dynamics), or your cleat is not secured to your shoe correctly (angle of the cleat body to the release point of the pedal's design), or your cleats are installed on the wrong shoe...

I realize this is an old question, but hope that my information might help another with a similar situation.


Fix a broken floor pump, replace pump head The little plastic lever to tighten the o-ring broke on my floor pump. It's probably fifteen years old. The model is a Pyramid Pro. The broken bit is highlighted in red.

There's nothing else wrong with it and it seems silly to toss the whole thing over so small a problem. Is it supposed to be easy to replace the head on cheapo pumps like this? I cannot easily figure out how any of the pieces are supposed to come apart. Neither end of the hose screws apart. There's a large allen key hole that I think allows for dismantling the whole lower plastic housing, but it's not obvious to me that the hose is in any sense replaceable.

I assume the answer is I'm just being stupid cheap and need to a buy a new pump. Just checking first.

Slica makes a very nice presta pump head (below), the cost in the US is around $35. For that it ought to work well – and it does. The connection is a Schrader (car tire) thread and it is a pain to find a hose barb with that thread. What I did was to cut off the end of the hose and then use the threads on the pump head as a hose barb. I put a hose clamp on it and it holds just fine.


When should I replace the brake cable? Here is the picture of the cable from my rear V-brakes:

As you can see it's worn down. Should I replace it now or is it safe to use it for some more time?

Yes, at least one strand has broken. Looks like this happened where the cable was previously under the fastening bolt. Since then, the cable has been let out, maybe to allow for new brake pads?

It would probably last a while before more strands break. But a new cable is only around $5. It's very important to be able to stop your bike reliably, so I would definitely replace it now. It's an easy change to make, cables ends normally slot in fairly easily to the brake levers on V-brakes.


What factors influence the maximum tire pressure other than the tire itself? On the tires of a bike, there is a label which shows the maximum allowed pressure for it. However, I am wondering if there are any other factors that affect the maximum allowed pressure in a tire?

Does the innertube also has a "maximum allowed pressure"?
I need a rim tape to cover the spoke holes in my rim. Does this lower the allowed pressure?
Any other factors?

Background: In the last week, two innertubes on two different bikes exploded. They were both under the maximum allowed pressure. I suppose one was old and the other had a manufacturing error. One was exploding during cycling, the other one during inflating the tire. I am now quite afraid of inflating tires, so I want to make sure that this will not happen again.

The usual cause of inner tubes exploding while being inflated is that part of the tube is pinched under the rim, or was damaged by a tyre lever while you were fitting the tyre (but manufacturing flaws can happen - I once had a puncture in a tube next the stem where it was difficult to patch, and my spare tube failed at the same place as soon as I inflated it (and there wasn't a sharp edge on the hole in the rim)).

But apart from that, if the tube and tyre are properly seated, and the tube is the right size, the tube shouldn't limit the pressure.

Rim tape can make a difference if the wrong sort is used, but shouldn't otherwise, see http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/_webedit/uploaded-files/All%20Files/Technical%20Info.pdf and search for "Which rim tape should I use".

Tyre sizes and rim sizes vary slightly, and a combination that is a slightly loose fit will let the tyre blow off at a lower pressure. The label allows for that, at least to a certain extent (see http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#pressure and scroll down to "Pressure Recommendations").

Using a tyre on a rim much narrower than it is intended for can make the rim fail and let a tyre blow off: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html#width. So can using a badly worn rim, of course.


Broken bottom bracket? I bought a Trek FX Series 7.5 in April 2017 and ride every day for about an hour. Two weeks ago the crank arms suddenly gave around the bottom bracket and no longer stayed 180 degrees to eachother. I "fixed" this at first by simply tightening the screws on the crankarms. Last week the problem recurred and I took it to a bike store.

The repairman showed there was actually a spacer in the bottom bracket which broke off, which caused the BB and crankarms to wiggle side to side slightly. He put on a new spacer, gave me the bike, but today the problem recurred.

I don't have any experience repairing more serious problems like this, so I have a few questions. Given my explanation and the photos provided, can anyone guess as to what the cause of crankarms not staying 180 to eachother is? Is it indeed a broken BB?

If so, is this the type of thing that is fixed or should the component be replaced? Should more components than just the BB be replaced?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Edit: The picture below shows the problem in greater detail. The "spacer" I was referring to isn't part of the bottom bracket, but the crank arm. Also the chain ring bolt had broken/fallen off. The technician put a new chainring bolt and just screwed the crankarms on tightly. As a solution I have bought new crank arms, same model, both right and left. Thanks for the help!

The bottom bracket is not damaged, the left hand crank arm is.

You have a 'two piece' crank where the right side crank is permanently attached to a steel axle, and the left hand crank clamps onto the axle with two pinch bolts. The axle has small splines cut into it where the crank clamps on and the crank has corresponding splines cut into it.

for the crank to come loose and rotate on the axle the pinch bolts must have been loose. You can re-align the crank and re-tighten the pinch bolts, but the crank is likely to move again because the splines in the crank will have been damaged when the crank rotated on the axle. The axle is made of steel but the crank is softer aluminum alloy.

To fix this you need to replace the left hand crank, which means effectively replacing the whole crankset as left hand crank arms are not generally available individually, although you might be a able to find a matching left hand crank arm on Ebay.

I believe the Trek FX 7s used a Shimano R460 crank, which is a lower-end, relatively inexpensive model. Any Shimano Hollowtech II road crank with matching chainring sizes and crank arm length will be a drop-in replacement.


Derailleur adjustment: front or rear first? When adjusting both front and rear derailleurs, which should be done first?

If the derailers just need minor tweaking (they are basically in adjustment but are "not quite right") then you adjust the one that is obviously wrong, check the overall adjustment again, then again adjust what needs adjusting.  Often only one derailer needs adjusting and often the adjustment is just a half-turn of the barrel adjuster.

If they are completely mucked up (but nothing visibly bent/broken), I usually first check the front for parallel and sprocket clearance (they often get knocked out of alignment), get it on the center sprocket, then address the rear.  Once the rear is basically correct, get the front to where it will shift to all rings with modest accuracy, then, trying all combos, adjust the rear some more.  Finally, fine-tune the front, then fine-tune the rear.

But it varies with the bike, how recalcitrant the derailers are, and specifically what is out of adjustment most.


Giant Revel 29er 2015 - maximum width of tire I can fit? I own a Giant Revel 29" 2015 which has 2.1" wide tires. I want to go wider.

What's the maximum size of tire that I can put on these rims?

The Giant bike specs page says nothing about tire clearance. You can measure it yourself:

Measure mounted tire width at widest point.
Measure distance from wide tire points from #1 to frame/fork.
Considering a (very arbitary) minimum 1cm clearance for 29er, choose a suitable tire.

For example, if current tire is 53mm wide and clearance at each point is 1.5cm, about 1cm wider tire might fit (about 2.3"). Keep in mind that tire width will vary from claimed depending on manufacturer and your rims inner width. You should also factor in riding conditions, especially amount of mud. And make sure that new tire will fit into rim brakes, if that's what the bike has.

You might find it easier to visit a local bike shop and find a suitable wider tire together. Just fit something bigger and see if clearance is good enough.


Budget brands for gears in India A total newbie here. I'm planning to upgrade a single speed to geared one road/tour bike. I haven't decided the gear system though. I guess I'll decide that upon availability of the parts.

Well, I am looking for a budget but reliable alternative to Shimano brand gears.

I live in India. Can anyone suggest some other brands? Also are there any local companies?

Changing major features of a bike (e.g., drop/flat handlebars, gears/no gears) is rarely an economical option. There are all kinds of compatibility issues (e.g., different drop-out width, nowhere to mount a derailleur, etc.) and overcoming these takes time and money and tends to leave you with a worse bike.

Usually, the most economical and most effective way of making this kind of major change is to sell the bike you don't want and buy the bike you do want, possibly second-hand.


Serial number & Head badge issues I have a vintage Schwinn Traveler made approximately 1985. I have been trying to learn more about the bike through the serial number and head badge.  However I can't seem to find difinitive information.  I located the serial number:  SC507898, but the two letters at the beginning don't match any date code listed on any of the sites the last serial numbers and how to decode them. The head badge also has a number on it: 1025 which would put it as made the 102nd day of either 1975 or 1985. This confuses me though because the head badge days Chicago, but I thought I read somewhere that the Chicago factory was closed in 1982.  The bike is a Schwinn Traveler.  Given all this information, can someone help me find out exactly the year the bike was made?

Schwinn closed the Chicago plant in 1983 shortly after opening a plant in Greenville MS. They were also importing many bikes at that time. Your '85 Traveler was built in Greenville MS. The headbadge still read "Chicago" because Schwinn's corporate offices remained there.

The serial number SC5xxxxx indicates the frame was built in March (C) of '85 (5), and the 1025 headbadge number indicates the bike was built on the 102nd day of '85, or Friday April 12th, 1985: http://www-air.larc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/jday?month=3&day=11&year=1985&Show_Calendar=Show_Calendar

This of course means your bike is an '85 model as depicted in the catalog here: http://bikecatalogs.org/SCHWINN/1985/LightWeight/Traveler.html


What are the benefits of external bottom brackets? Pretty soon, I plan to replace the bottom bracket on my early 90's Sakae Litage road bike.  It takes a standard, English-threaded bottom bracket.  Right now I think it contains loose bearings--I was planning to replace it with a decent-quality cartidge.

I see a lot of external bottom brackets when I am looking at my LBS's website.  I have replaced many sets of loose BB bearings and several cartridge BB's.  I know nothing about these external things.  Why do there seem to be more of them for sale than cartridge bottom brackets?  Do they have larger, longer-lasting bearings?  Would it benefit me to consider one as opposed to the cartidge BB's that I have been using recently?

I ride pretty seriously for fun, commuting, and errands... I built this bike specifically for doing really hilly weekend rides.  But I'm not a racer.

Curious.  Many thanks.

External bottom brackets allow you to have both large bearings and a large, hollow bottom bracket spindle.  A large hollow spindle can be designed to be as stiff as a small solid spindle for less weight.  Smaller bearings reduce the longevity of a bottom bracket, so the typical bottom bracket design allows a narrow range of suitable spindle sizes and bearing sizes - to get the weight savings from a larger spindle you need to sacrifice durability.  Moving the bearings to the outside effectively removes this tradeoff.

There is an additional performance factor in situations where high stiffness is required in that the distance between the cranks and the bearings is reduced, lessening the torque on the axle.

For commuting, errands, recreational riding and other "normal" purposes a cartridge bottom bracket is almost always going to be more than sufficient.  If you are particularly concerned about durability, the SKF bottom brackets are engineered for 10 years / 100,000km of riding, but for the price a $25 Shimano cartridge will usually last what feels like forever.


Cost of trickle down on components I enjoy buying used gear and building up bikes, but often wonder why some used/older components are only a fraction cheaper on sites such as eBay. For example, Shimano Ultegra 6600 10 speed shifters are currently going for anywhere around $100 - $150 USD when you could buy Tiagra 4700 for around the same price, which will most likely outperform the older series.

Do older bike component really hold value well or are older components expensive because of their, 'vintage' factor?

You've given an answer to yourself already - it's the 'vintage' factor.

To elaborate a bit more on that have a look into supply and demand law.
For the items that are no longer in production the supply is limited and shrinking (not every component of a certain model will end up on the market, some get damaged, some age beyond the possibility of restoration, etc.). It's like with e.g. 10 y.o. whisky. They've put a certain, fixed amount of whisky into the casks 10 years ago and there won't be more.

When the component in question is not yet 'vintage' and not really wanted, the price drops. Once the demand is rising, so does the price.

Then you may encounter some components that were wanted from day one as they were not available on the amateurs' market in the beginning (vide some Campagnolo groupsets that were available only to professional teams).

And of course, the nowadays groupsets are often superior to their equivalents from previous eras (e.g. some say that a new 105 is at the level of 5 y.o. Ultegra, just to give you an idea) but it's up to you whether you want to ride something that everyone can buy off-the-shelve or rather some vintage and unique equipment.


my chain is skipping on my single speed The chain keeps wanting to load towards the right hand side of the cog no matter how I orientate the chain. This causes painful skipping. Do the marks have anything to do with it?

I have a singulator and I've moved this left-right and even removed it but i still get the same issue: chain loading towards one side and skipping.

ideas?

Your chain skipping/dropping could be the result of a few things, so I'll lay them out briefly:

Your chain/freewheel could be worn out. If you recently replaced your chain, the worn out teeth of the freewheel won't mesh with the new chain and will cause skipping. Simply examining the profile of the freewheel teeth with pictures of a new one will give you a sense of whether this is a possibility. (Worn out teeth are sharper at the tops and, in serious wear, form little waves or shark-fins.)
It is possible that the chain installed is too narrow for the freewheel teeth (though it would be a very noticeable problem.) Muti-speed chains are typically 3/32" wide, while some single speed chains are 1/8" wide. Freewheels are manufactured in both widths. Where one can run a 1/8" chain on either width freewheel, a 3/32" chain will bind noticeably on a 1/8" freewheel.
The singulator installed on your bike may not be providing enough chain tension. The actual alignment of this component won't cause the chain to skip as it it on the slack side of the chain. This is an unlikely scenario but could occur if it has been in service for a while or damaged in some way. Replacing the spring will bring it back to original tension specs.
The most likely thing I can imagine is that your chain-line is off. Your chainring is set further out from the center-line of the bicycle than the freewheel is, causing it to catch on the freewheel teeth and be thrown off. If the bicycle is a homebrewed single-speed, chances are you reused the original crank and bottom bracket spindle that were designed for a multi-speed bike. If this is a store-bought bike, it wasn't set up properly. Here is Sheldon Brown's article explaining the chain-line and how it is adjusted. In a nutshell, you will use different BB spindle lengths, BB spacers, and/or chainring spacers to line up the chainring with the freewheel. This can be done easily if you have the right tools and some patience. Here is a SE question relating to adjusting chainlines. Good luck!


a carbon rim cost only $169 is real carbon? Wanna upgrade my bike to carbon,and find this rim http://www.carbonbikeoem.com/bike-rims/mtb cost only $169,so is this a real carbon?and what is the general price of carbon rims?

I would be very careful with a deal that sounds too good to be true.  Take a look at what happend to this carbon wheel in another question: Carbon Wheel Heat Bending

I wouldn't buy from a company I've never heard of before and will never hear from again (like when the wheel deforms from the heat of braking and I'm trying to get a refund). Even the tagline on that website ("Welcome to carbonbikeoem.com , enjoy the great savings now!") is a red flag to me.  It suggests that the only point of their products is that they're cheap. The generally poor grammar of that website also suggests that it's not a serious company, but just someone who can cheaply produce things from something resembling carbon fiber.

It would be much better to get a decent set of aluminum wheels, then you don't have to worry about how long they last before they snap.  For $85, you can get a Mavic XC 717 Disc rim that weighs 395 grams.  Mavic is a well-known manufacturer and you are guaranteed that this is a good product.  It weighs 35 grams more than those carbon rims.  Who cares about 35 grams ?


Experiences of the Cannondale Headshok system? Does anyone have any experience of the Cannondale Headshok suspension system, where the shock is in the head tube / above the fork?

Are they reliable? I'm looking at a Cannondale Bad Boy 2 (2013) and am concerned that if something goes wrong it could be hard to rectify..

I only know this system from older times, perhaps current (2013) systems have different qualities.

It uses a wider head tube, because the shock is placed in the steering tube of the fork. Usually, you can install adapters to the frame, so that you can use a normal suspension fork.

The main difference is that, instead of using telescopic stanchions, it has a squared tube with needle bearings. When new, this system has virtually no static friction, so it will be VERY responsive to minor and/or high-frequency road irregularities, such as cobblestones, rough gravel, and rooty trail sections.

If something goes wrong it's usually the needle bearings themselves, which develop progressive "play", thus needing service/replacement, which in turn can become "complicated" since only Cannondale can service them or provide replacement parts, as far as I know. I have seen some problematic Fatty forks in the past, but I have also seen A LOT of people happily using Fatty and Lefty (which uses the same principle) without issue.

Hope this helps!


Is my bike any good? I have an Lumala Trigger ATB 26" bike and I have no problems with it, but I have never felt a better bike than that either. It costs about $300 and it is a full squish with 100mm travel fork and a oyi ch 501 back suspension (I have never heard of that brand) it has 21 (3 on the front 7 on the back) gears and comes with Shimano Revoshift friction Shifters. I wanna use it for proper mt biking but I wanna know if it will hold up or if I should sell it and get a new one. thanks :)

Is my bike any good?

It depends on what you mean by "good".

There are many definitions of the word "good". Definition 2.3 and 2.4 in the dictionary are a good fit for this situation.

Good
Lexico

  2.3 Useful, advantageous, or beneficial in effect.
  ‘a little sun is good for you’

  2.4 Appropriate to a particular purpose.
  ‘this is a good month for planting seeds’

If your bike is useful to you and appropriate to your purpose then yes, your bike is good.

  I wanna use it for proper mt biking but I wanna know if it will hold up or if I should sell it and get a new one. thanks :)

We can't know how hard you will be on your bike and there is no data on how much abuse your bike was designed to take. How you ride is a key factor in how long a bike will last no matter how rugged your bike is.
In the absence of critical information we cannot make a determination on how well your bike will hold up.

My recommendation is that you ride what you have.

Time in the saddle will tell you what kind of riding you like. This information will be useful when or if you move to another bike.
As you ride things will break. This will tell you what features to look for when or if you move to another bike. For example - suppose you are unhappy with the braking capability of your bike. You can look into modifying your current brakes (better brake pads for example) or make sure that better brakes are on the list for your next bike.
Selling your current bike won't offset the cost of a better bike by much.

Everyone has to start somewhere. What's important is that you get out there and ride and keep on riding. Only you can determine what meets your needs and is "good".


What do I need to do to bring this bike back to life? I've neglected this bike, a Marin Bridgeway, for the past 3-ish years. It's spent a significant part of that time sitting in the sun and (occasionally) rain. I want to fix it up again, but I have no knowledge of bike maintenance and want to just run things by someone more knowledgeable than me to set me on the right track. The main problems I can see that would affect useability are that the tires are flat, and the chain is pretty rusty and has slipped off the chain ring. The back cassettes also look pretty rusty. From the small testing I've done, the wheels seem to turn fine, and when I squeeze the brakes they seem to work, but it's hard to know without riding the bike. I can't really tell whether there are any problems with the shifters at the moment.
For the tires - I see tiny cracks all along the side of the tires. I photographed the worst ones on the front and back tire, respectively. Is this a sign that I need to replace the tires entirely or is this okay? I am also thinking that I'll probably need to replace both of the inner tubes, since I recall that one of the reasons I stopped using this bike was I kept getting a flat tire, but I don't actually know how to check the quality of the inner tube.

For the chain - I looked at some online tutorials and think I can remove it myself. After that, I'm not sure how to tell whether the chain is in good enough condition to just remove the rust and put it back on, or whether I need a new chain entirely. This bike forum post recommended using Evapo-Rust to remove the rust.

For the cassette - I also want to clean the rust off of it, but I'm a bit less certain on how to remove the cassette from the bike. Do I need specialized tools to do it? What is a chain whip and what is its purpose? I don't own any bike tools at all, so to keep down expenses I'd like to minimize unnecessary purchases.

In addition to making it rideable, I would also like to fix up the appearance of the bike a bit. My dad gave me this bike as a gift and I feel bad for having let its condition deteriorate. In particular, most of the screws and bolts on the bike look fairly rusty too, and the top of the seat looks a little worn. My idea is to remove the screws in small batches, cleaning them with a rust cleaner, and reattach them.

Thank you so much to anyone who takes the time to offer my guidance and advice. I am very grateful for your help and look forward to understanding my bike better!

I would start by just trying to pump up the tires and see if they hold air. Then put some basic lubricating oil on the chain and gears. That should be enough to make it basically rideable so you can use it. Once you are riding, you can decide what is most urgent to work on next.


Can I replace a Shimano RM30 8-speed freehub with an RM33 without any fiddling? I have a Trek 4300 mountain bike with a Shimano RM30 8-speed freehub that's slipping badly.  When I search for a replacement, some places seem to interchangeably suggest the RM33, but I was hoping someone could confirm that the RM33 is a drop-in replacement.

(The reason I haven't just bought another RM30 is I can't seem to find an 8-speed RM30 replacement- perhaps the RM33 supercedes it?  I can't tell.)

Thanks!

The freehub should fit fine, the RM33 is for the updated/higher end disc hub version but it is backwards compatible to RM30.  Actual part# for the RM33 freehub is Y30V98050


Is there a difference between the durability of the chains with 1/8 and 3/32 inch? I mean, I have a single-speed bike and have chains width 1/8 inch.
The other standard I could use on my bike is 3/32 inch wide.

Is there a difference in durability?

Yes. All other things being equal a 1/8" chain will be a tiny bit sturdier than a 3/32", just by virtue of the fact that the plates are a little thicker.

I also have a single speed bike, I also choose to run a 1/8" chain.


How can I cycle in winter while not being able to change work clothes? I started recently to bike to work, where we have a shower and I can change clothes. However recently I also started attending an evening course, where there is no place to change.

So when I commute to work, it's easy. At home I wear my warm cycling clothes and then at work I switch to light comfort ones.

However the problem happens when I want to go to the evening course. Since it's pretty warm at the classroom then I can't wear my warm cycling clothes and go to the course and stay with them for 2 hours. And since there is no place to change, then I can't change there to be able to return home from the course.

Any ideas on how to solve this? or any clothing alternatives/ideas?

My commute is pretty long. From the course to home is about 18KM.

Edit: the temperature in winter here gets easily below 0, and the worst is -18 to -20.

I've had success wearing legwarmers under trousers during winter.

The main advantage is at the far end you can either wiggle them down while standing, or drop your pants in the toilet cubicle and shove them down around your ankles for comfort.

This works well with overshoes, in combination with a decent jacket and gloves.  I also wear a neck buff and/or helmet liner.

Try sitting nearer the window or door if you need a cooler breeze.


What tools will I need to remove sprocket/what type will I need to order? I have a flip-flop hub on a single speed track bike.
I need to replace the rear sprocket (freewheel side) and chain.

Id prefer to give this a go myself, but

Not sure what tools I need to remove this
Not sure what freewheel I would need to order to replace it with.
(ideally a similar or upgrade.  + points for links to sites like Evans/ChainReactionCycles)

That will be a BMX freewheel tool you will be needing. Order a BMX style freewheel, count the teeth or get one with less/more teeth depending on how you want to be pedalling - higher cadence will need more teeth.

If you have access to a big vice then you can put the freewheel removal tool in that. Otherwise a really big adjustable spanner from some pound-shop will do nicely.


Mixing tire sealants I had two new tires put on my bike and the LBS used Finish Line sealant.
I have managed to puncture after 5 rides. The tire doesn’t lose much air, but air still bubbles out. My experience with Stans sealant on the previous tires is it did a good job.
I was going to syringe it out the Finish Line and replace with Stans, will this compromise the Stans?

Yes - mixing sealants will either make no difference, or both will interfere and neither will work.
Start by checking the SDS (aka the MSDS)
Stans: https://www.notubes.com/pub/media/wysiwyg/GIS-004_R3_Stans_Tire_Sealant_SDS_GHS.pdf
Finish Line: http://www.finishlineusa.com/files/Tubeless%20Tire%20Sealant_EU%20SDS_UK%20English_6%20November%202017.pdf
Both are based on Propylene Glycol with Latex embedded as the solid.  So there's similarity in their basic makeup - its not like one is oil and the other is water based.  However I still would not mix them; Similar in this case means you don't need to dispose of the new tyres.

I would unmount both tyres, pour out the existing sealant and dispose safely.
Then wipe them out with a cloth rag or paper towels. Also wipe down the rims.
Leave to sit open over night to let anything remaining evaporate.
Then reassemble your tyres onto the rim and add you preferred sealant brand as per the instructions.

And consider doing this yourself - no need to pay a bike shop for a simple tyre swap.
Based on that, you may choose to try a couple more months on the original sealant, and go through this process after ~5 months because by then it would need a topup anyway.


Mountain bike rain coat / jacket (packable, not for winter) I am looking to get a thin rain coat.  I have a good one for the depths of winter (it needs water proofing again), but it is way too hot to wear it any other time. (I am a portable radiator.)  My hope is that it would be thin, so not too hot, and that it will pack down into a small size so I can store it in my bag whilst riding. (I like to do long rides so may not want it all day.)

I do 70/30 offroad to on road riding, as much off road as I can get but I don't have the best selection of hills at my door step.

I am happy to build up my layers so that the coat is only there to stop the rain.  Main points I guess are:

stops the rain
will not get me too hot
packs away small for transport when not needed.

I swear I saw a good review of half a dozen or so such jackets a while ago, but for the life of me I can not find them anymore.  Does anyone know of a good jacket, or even better, links to good reviews to be able to look at the best options?

Recently introduced by 'Altura' (the poor British man's 'Endura') is the 'Pocket Rocket':

This jacket is distributed by Zyro and widely available in British bike shops. Visit a stockist and try for size wearing what you expect to be wearing underneath, i.e. more than a T-Shirt. Remember that when buying from the LBS you may pay RRP rather than 'online price', however, you won't pay postage, have to wait or be bereft of a coat if a seam goes and you need to take it back. (Altura seams are pretty good b.t.w.)

Available in black, yellow or red versions of hi-viz, the reflective parts of this jacket will dazzle on-coming motorists. A neat feature are the thumb loops that enable you to keep the sleeves tucked under your gloves.

IMHO a lot of 'breathable' does not work, so there is no point bothering with it. There is some rating of breathability for this jacket, but you can expect some 'boil in the bag' aspect. Waterproofing is claimed 100%, just what you asked for.

A pack-to-nothing jacket is truly useful to just have. It is also nice to have a relatively plain jacket without any fancy colours or extra seams. This jacket keeps it simple. The pack size is exactly what you want, i.e. very small:

You can dangle it on the handlebars if you are in casual clothes and without a bag. If you get this jacket, expect people you know to want to permanently borrow it. Also expect to see other people on bikes with a jacket remarkably similar to yours.


Dutch Bike Winter Cleaning I am asking this question as I ride a dutch bike (chain guard, mud flaps etc) so my chain is not directly impacted by salt on the roads. However, seeing that there is a lot of water splashing with a lot of salt in it, I was wondering the following:
- Many experts have mentioned that cleaning the chain and lubricating it is advisable. Is it the same with bikes with full chain guards? While I assume the frequency would be less for a bike with a chain guard vs a bike with no chain guard, what is advisable as my chain is not visible.
- What about the wheels (rims and spokes and hubs)? Are those part of the cleaning too...and do you put grease on every nut and bolt on the bike...does it not stick to your clothes when you ride or get on/off the bike?
- I bike to work (about 20k a day RT) so the general advice is to sponge off daily using a sponge and a bucket of warm water...is this to be done for the entire bike or just the sensitive areas (hubs, what else?)

My first year riding so these may be novice questions.

Appreciate your advice in advance,

Sal, Toronto, Canada

To my standard, if I kick/push the crank (freewheel direction) as hard as I can and it does not rotate more than 1 rotation after the push, I know that it is time to service. I actually aim for 1.5 to 2 rotations

Usually lubing the chain will do the job. This happens after one winter, and the chain usually shows signs of rust. This is on my Cobra steel dutch bike, with partial chain guard.

It is my winter bike. So I rarely wash it after rides on rainy winter days. A wash every fortnight/winter would suffice. The idea is that winter bike requires less maintenance in tougher weather condition. So if one have to do a lot of maintenance for a bike in one winter, maybe it's not really meant for winter.

Regarding the screws/bolts, I have replaced them all with titanium material. They do corrode, but not as bad. I also put a little lithium grease on them, and by little I mean a very thin coat. The grease never cause me any trouble.

Regarding the spokes/nipples/hub, unfortunately there is not much you can do except replacing them when they fail. I heard a rumour from our local bike club that you could grease the spokes/nipples a little and slow down the corrosion. It sounds tedious so I have never tried out.


What's the difference between power meter and bike computer? I am currently using a IpBike computer app (on Android) with DuoTrap Speed and Cadence sensors on my bike. I was reading about power meters and how they would help in training by assessing the power output. However, I have some questions as mentioned below.

Can somebody explain the differences between power meter and bike computer? Are there any overlapping features between the two? or are they totally different from each other?

Also - having a power meter but not a bike computer, will it serve any purpose?

Thanks.

A 'bike computer' is a generic term for everything from a simple wheel sensor giving distance and speed, to an all singing all dancing computer that measure cadence, speed, altitude,  heart rate, power and anything else you can think of

A power meter measures the power you are outputting, and is one input into a bike computer.   Power meters are expensive - a basic bike computer is less than $10, last I checked the cheapest power meter was worth more than my bike. They are also useless without a 'bike computer', but come with one - the computer with all the other sensors a typical bike computer has is the cheap bit.

Power meters, like HR monitor in the 1990's are a great tool, but that is it, they are only a tool. Think of TV sales channeled selling fitness gear -'but wait, there's more.... You too can have a 6 pack and a gorgeous girl with just one ride a week with your power meter.  *In conjunction with a nutrition program *Result will vary, Not all users will achieve the same outcomes shown in the advert.'

If you don't know how to use them, have no interest in sports science and physiology  and no desire to learn this stuff, they are expensive paper weights that slow you down.  If you are prepared to learn and interpret the results they provide, they can be a great benefit.


Which chain should I use for Rex Touring with 5 gears? The bike is about 15 years old. The size of tyre is probably 28.

I want to change the old chain.
I am not sure which chain I can put to the bike.

Does any chain which length is enough for 28 fit my bike?

To directly answer your question, no, any chain which is long enough is not compatible with your bike. No one here can tell you what chain will fit without a lot more detail in your question, but this is a good place to start. Daniel posted that link as a comment on my earlier answer.

Ask your LBS. They will know once they see the bike. Or measure the width of the outside chain plates with a vernier caliper on the old chain.


Every time I move my handle bar left or right the wheel turns in different direction I crashed my bike and now every time I push on the front wheel a little, or if I turn the handle bar a little hard the wheel turns in the other direction.

What could cause this and what can I do about it?

Sounds like the handlebar stem is loose. This is an extremely dangerous situation and you should go immediately (pushing your bike or taking it in a car, but not riding it) to your local bike shop to have it looked at.

The fix is easy and should take less than 5 minutes (and only a few dollars/euro if they charge you at all), but again it is critical that you get this repaired.


Why do left pedals have inverted thread? We all know right pedals are screwed regularly in the cranks.
Whereas left ones are screwed in the other direction.

Why is it like this and not the other way around?

Here is how I see things: under normal circumstances, the direction of the thread matters little if at all since the bearing allows pedals to spin freely regardless of how they are attached to the crank.

But when the bearing has troubles, I would think the thread direction is here to protect the pedal from unscrewing from the crank as one is pedaling.

But when you pedal forward, the right pedal is spinning counter-clockwise (since the crank is spinning clockwise) so you would unscrew the pedal from the crank.

Same works for the left: when you pedal, the pedal is spinning clockwise so in the direction to unscrew the inverted thread on the left.

I must be missing something,... but what?

The reverse threading is to counter precession, not friction from the bearings. The wiki page explains it well (and I doubt I could): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession_(mechanical)


How precise do spoke sizes need to be? I'm building a rear wheel for the first time. I have purchased the rim and hub and am now sourcing the spokes. I put the measurements into an online spoke calculator (on wheelpro.co.uk) and it estimated 295mm and 293mm for the right and left side respectively.

Now I can find 295mm spokes but, so far, I haven't been able to find a 293. I will keep looking, but I have two questions:

1)  How precise do the spoke lengths need to be. If they are out by a millimetre is it likely to cause a significant problem?

2) If they are out by 1-2mms, is it better if they are too long or too short. So if it turns out to be impossible to get a 293mm, would a 294mm or a 292mm be a better alternative.

Many thanks in advance.

Chris

This topic is really poorly understood. Anyone who ever who tells you it's fine to just round up or round off when choosing spoke lengths hasn't been through the disaster scenarios that can be caused by it, or perhaps doesn't remember because the experience is too painful and embarrassing. Rounding up can cause you to run out of threaded length before the spokes are fully tensioned. Always round down unless you can test and measure the spokes in question before building to avoid running out of threaded length or poking the tube. If you have to order spokes, just round down. If your calculated optimal length is accurate (and there's no reason it shouldn't be) and you must round down to the next even number from there (as in the 292 in your example), nothing meaningful will ever be lost in terms of durability from that extra 1.99mm max.
What gets overlooked in this discussion is that there are whole brands/models of spoke, or spoke/nipple combinations, that offer zero ability for the spoke to protrude past the top of the nipple. They don't have the threaded length to do it. So rounding up walks you right into the failure situation of running out of thread and having to either start over or accept an untrueable wheel with bad tension. Various Wheelsmith bags I've used, for example, have been like this, with Wheelsmith nipples.
Contemporary DT Champions and Competitions, the most commonly encountered premium spokes, avoid this occurrence by having some superfluous/generous threaded length. Some other spoke brands and models do not, and give you no leeway for the spoke to be long. And single wall builds naturally have no such leeway.
Some point out that having aluminum nipples miss more than 1mm or so of engagement introduces some risk of the nipple breaking. That's probably true and I recommend shooting for the best possible thread engagement on aluminum nipples, which for practical purposes on conventional nipples is between the base of the screwdriver slot and the top. However, you'll never know if that's what caused it, because al nipples break anyway, especially for 2mm spoke ends. (Al nipples for 1.8s are far less prone to breaking because of the extra material.)
Your calculation must be accurate. You don't want to miss more thread engagement than around 2mm from perfect. Never use a calculator where you can't verify that the math it's doing is the pure classic spoke length formula. Some calculators try to invisibly factor in estimates of spoke stretch and rim compression, which you should do manually based on the parts you're using. (Spoke gauges differ in stretch, the amount of tension also causes it to differ, and the stoutness/cross-sectional area of rims make them differ in compression.) Because it's an Excel spreadsheet and all its formulas are right out in the open, Spocalc is my preference. And always measure the hub and rim yourself. It seems pedantic, but I promise that if you build enough wheels, or are ever working for a wheel producer and are tasked with doing spoke calculations and there's never time to do test runs of anything (this was my situation that taught me good spoke calculation habits), you'll find all this necessary to have consistently good results.
If you have to order the hub/rim along with the spokes (particularly the rim, because manufacturer list measurements for hubs are usually very accurate), just take vendor/manufacturer listed measurements on faith for calculation purposes, but measure yourself once you do have everything to make sure what you're about to do is going to work. Second-guess published ERDs early and often.
Wheelbuilding texts almost never remember to tell you that longer length nipples usually have more threads, and you need to compensate for this to avoid bottoming out the threads on the spoke. Most handbuilt wheels are done with 12mm nipples, but if you ever use 14s or especially 16s, you'll find the rim's ERD is effectively a few millimeters smaller. Or, in other words, ERD is usually calculated as the diameter of the circle formed by the tip of the spokes in a state of optimal thread engagement. Usually that's synonymous with the tip of the spoke being just about flush with the top of the nipple, somewhere between the bottom of the screwdriver slot and the top. 12mm nipples can all handle that, but most of the time if you thread an aftermarket/handbuilding-worthy/premium (however you want to say it) spoke into a 16, you'll find it runs out of thread and bottoms out before it reaches the top.
If you do need to round up, or insist on getting full thread engagement, always test it out first by taking a nipple and spoke that you're about to use and see how far the nipple screws on before it bottoms out, and then measure the amount of protruding spoke you have to work with to make sure it will be acceptable with whatever your calculated length was. Also make sure the rim's depth is such that it won't cause spoke to protrude up and poke the rim strip/tube. If the spoke meets these criteria it's fine, but it can't just be assumed that it will until you test. Do that test on enough spokes and you'll see.


Different chain guide mounts... Why? I think there's two types of chain guide mounts, one of them is screwing in screws and another one is using the bottom bracket to hold it in place. Why not just use one type of mount? Is there a reason why they do this? Cuz I'm using the bb one and I don't see any problems. I want to add a chain guide that has a wheel at the bottom of the chainring to hold the chain but all of them are just exclusive for screw in ones.

And also, what's the name for both of them?

Not all frames have threaded bottom brackets with external cups that can be used to mount a chainguide. Frames with press-fit bottom bracket bearings need to provide threaded holes for bolting on a guide.


Yellow anti-rotation washer, Shimano Nexus 3 speed with trailer? Should I keep or remove the yellow anti-rotation washer when installing a child trailer to my e-bike (EcoRide with Shimano Nexus 3 speed)? The trailer installs through the wheel axle (see attached img.)

If the wellow washer is a anti-rotation washer - one that fits in a slotted dropout and prevents the internally geared hub from rotating with the axle - then yes it needs to be in place.


Brand new Shimano BB-UN300 hard to spin when drive side is fully torqued I'm installing a brand new BB-UN300 (68x122mm) into a 1991 Specialized Sequoia (replacing the pitted cup and cone BB). Out of the box, the BB doesn't spin very freely by hand, but that's to be expected out of brand new seals I guess.
The problem is when I fully tighten the BB into the drive side of the bike. That's when it barely turns at all, even with the crank arm attached. It's hard to explain how hard it feels to spin, so I'll just explain it like this: crank arm attached, moved up 90 degrees, released, and it goes straight down and stays there, without moving from side to side at all.
Any idea why this might be happening? I would understand it if it happened when tightening the NDS, since that would put excessive preload on the bearings on that side, but this happens with just the DS threaded in. Why would the torque on the DS affect how freely the spindle spins?

It is possible for BB shell distortion from welding to cause excess friction in BB cartridge units. Usually this is accompanied by roughness screwing in one or both parts of the cartridge. In those cases, chasing and facing the shell typically eliminates the issues, and there's not much else that can be done.
What you describe could be the normal friction of a new lower-end cartridge, which will tend to get better in use, or it could be a symptom of the above. Doing a test with a crank as you describe may make it harder to see what's going on, because the crank creates so much leverage. I would install the cartridge in the normal way and then test how freely the spindle turns by hand. A little friction is okay but it shouldn't be much more than that.