Which brake pads to choose if you have fake carbon clinchers I have one more question regarding this question well answered. (Thanks for all answers.)

Now I checked that, The wheels which I have, are FAKE
 as you see on left image. I have two questions:

Which brake pads should I use if I don't know even is it carbon or not.
Can I use this wheels, or replace them something else.. I'm asking because of aero effect.

Image taken from Zipp official website

I urge you not to ride these. I can't emphasize this strongly enough.

Almost all carbon manufacturing in the bike industry is done in China or Taiwan. There are likely to be a number of lesser known but good brands. For example, a number of posters on the Weight Weenies forum report good experience with Light Bicycle rims. I suspect but can't confirm that November Bicycles uses many Light Bicycle rims in its lineup, e.g. these wheels. In any case, their blog straight up admits that they've inspected and had good experience with their China-based rim suppliers. I've seen forum users endorse other lesser-known brands as well.

Fake goods are another issue entirely. These are fake. There may be rumors circulating that the factories for major Western brands, e.g. Pinarello, sell surplus product at lower prices through other channels. As discussed on the article, however, those are fakes. This Bikebiz article focused on fake frames, and it asserted that those are likely to come from low-quality factories with poor quality control. I'd suspect that the same applies to wheels.

Basically, it's possible that the carbon involved could have structural flaws that you can't see (e.g. voids that will propagate as stress fractures). Most factories in China do, in fact, conduct safety testing, but the ones producing fakes are very unlikely to do this. You could have the rims inspected, but this would require someone with knowledge of composites manufacturing and repair and an ultrasonic scanner or some other type of scanner. You would have been better off buying a lower-priced set of carbon wheels that were made in China, but were inspected by a retailer you trust and that has business insurance and a warranty. Or even just pony up for the Zipps.


When I pedal the rear wheel is not turning I have a very old bike. It used to work perfectly, but just recently it happened that when I pedal the rear wheel is not turning. Just for notice I pedal in the correct direction, brakes are not stopping the wheel... The chain is properly mounted, the casette or freehub (I don't really know how it is called, that thing on which the chain resides on the back wheel) is spinning while I pedal, but the wheel is not. So I guess the problem is somewhere in the back wheel.

So I thought that something is completely broken, but sometimes the wheel is turning when I pedal. Thus I don't know if it is totally broken or is maybe just clogged, or whatever.

Is there a way to just repair it without buying new things?

Thank you for your time and answers (p.s. sorry for my bad English)

This sounds like either the freehub on the rear wheel, if you have the newer cassette style, or the freewheel, if you have the older thread on design, needs to be replaced.

These parts contain the pawls which drive the wheel forward when you pedal. If the pawls are broken, or simply not engaging the hub shell, you will pedal with no forward movement.

See this answer to the question What causes the noise that race wheels make when you are not pedaling?


Using older mountain bike in a Trainer I have an older mountain bike.  I need to change the rear skewer so I can use an indoor trainer, but I don't think there is one.  What do I do?

I have a CycleOps Mag trainer and they included a skewer to replace the one that is supposed to be on the bike.

The point of the quick release skewer they give you with a trainer is generally to prevent damage to your fancy skewer already on your bike, and make sure the trainer can grip onto the axle properly. If you have a quick release system, you should use the provided skewer.

If you have a thru axle like a Maxle, you may need to buy a special adapter.

If you have a classic nutted axle (which you most likely have), you can generally use it directly in the trainer, but you may want to double check with the trainer manufacturer.


What could be the cause of phantom pain? I am new to cycling, after doing my usual route, the next few days I feel like a phantom pain in my calves and thighs if I do not use them (like running or cycling).

Could anybody shed some light on this annoying pain?

Cheers!

I would call it muscle pain, or myalgia from using muscles you did not train before.
It is normal that it disappears when you are using the muscles as this kind of pain is one that will 'go away when you do more'.

If it is a light aching, I would just ignore it and go on with your current training schedule.
If it is painfull enough to keep you awake or keep your attention while doing things, slow down on the cycling and do not do as much or take more time in between sessions.


Campagnolo Ergopower Chorus 9 inaccurate shifting My Chorus 9 Speed Ergo-power (~2005) got inaccurate during shifting. The local bike repairman couldn't get the dérailleur to shift properly.

Sometimes the chain don't jump down or up after shifting. Some gears are skipped and the pressure points got weak.

What parts do I need to replace? Is it maybe a better idea to replace the whole Shifters with a available new 9 Speed Ergopower like the Xenon?

The Ergopower shifters have a part called G spring that eventually wears out. The symptoms are inaccurate shifting and less sharp clicks, just as you are experiencing. The part is still available, not expensive and relatively easy to change.

I would not replace the shifters with Xenon, as it is generally much lower quality and doesn't allow downshifting multiple cogs at a time like other 2000s Ergopowers.


How do I bend my rear derailleur hanger (part of frame) back into place Somehow I bent my rear derailleur hanger, how would one suggest bending it back into line? In my case the rear derailleur hanger forms part of the frame and therefore if I snap it when bending it back, I could write off the bike.

There is a tool specifically for this. For example, by Park Tools. Might that help?


Pull Inexperienced Tandem Stoker? Is it feasible for an experienced single seat cyclist to serve as captain of a tandem bicycle and effectively "pull" the stoker behind as if the said stoker was riding in a trailer?

It's understood the said stoker will be required to maintain some cadence and balance, but it seems possible that a sufficiently skilled single seat cyclist would theoretically be able to compensate for significant stoker errors.  Additionally, I know it would help if the captain had tandem experience, but some experienced single seat cyclists may not have time to try out a tandem before pairing with an inexperienced stoker.

As an experienced cyclist with a lot of tandem experience: you are way over thinking this whole thing.

Assuming both of you are adults and not complete klutzes, you'll have it figured out well enough in a few minutes of trial and error. If you're not both adults, you'll still figure out within a few extra minutes.

Getting to be real slick starting and stopping instantly takes awhile to develop as a team, but just getting going is pretty easy. As andy256 said, the captain can ride around on it for 30 seconds to get a feel for it, then add the stoker.

Two of your comments to address:

The stoker can't just maintain "some" cadence, they have to maintain exactly the same cadence as the captain, unless the tandem is very fancy. Normally, both cranks are always in sync. It will be up to the team to manage it between themselves what the ideal cadence is.
The stoker should not maintain any balance per se. This is one thing some teams struggle with early on. The stoker should always be sitting 'upright', in line with the plane of the bike. The stoker should not lean to help steer. All steering is to be done by the captain exclusively. Attempts to steer by the stoker leaning can make it difficult for the captain to control the bike and maintain balance.

Also, while the captain is in control, the stoker is in command. The stoker decides how fast the team goes, where it goes, when it stops for a snack or to take a picture of a puppy, etc. The stoker has no control of the bicycle whatsoever, so by the stoker having control of the trip, will help make everything go much smoother.

Read http://sheldonbrown.com/tandem.html for instructions on how to get started, or don't, it's really not terribly complicated. And have fun, it's a blast.

  Wherever your relationship is going, your tandem will get you there faster.


Best 9 speed cassette for fast & flat I have a road bike with a 26/11 9 speed SRAM rear cassette. I cycle in Cambridgeshire on a daily basis and it's very flat. I find that I never use the hardest cog, leave the chainring on the biggest cog and generally find that the jump between gears is a little too much.

My chainring is a compact 50/34 110mm.

Sometimes it gets very windy and I'm forced to have to change to the smaller chainring cog - I guess that means I don't want the big cassette cog to be any less than 26 or so. I'm not a fan of changing between my chainring cog much as it kind of changes everything.

Ideally if it exists, I guess a 27/14 (do they exist?) or something similar would suit me better... not sure if 27/15 would cut my top speed down too much though.. I find with my current 28/12 I can get over 30mph without spinning out (with lots of room to play). I never go this fast unless I get an amazingly lucky tailwind :) There's no downhill here either!

Basically I have no experience of different cassettes so any guidance from an experienced cyclist would be of great help. I'd like to avoid buying something stupid.

---- UPDATE ----
In the end I replaced my 9 speed drivetrain with a tiagra 10 speed.. this was fairly involved as I needed quite a few new components: new shifters, cables, derailleur, cassette, also got new chainrings, crank arms, bottom bracket (and pedals as I just couldn't get them off!) One of my reasons for replacing all the old stuff was that it was worn, another was that I recently got a tax rebate!

The 'feel' of this change is apparent and it does seem to help a bit.. however speed wise my new wheels made the biggest difference!

My guess is that if you have 12-28, you might not have a Shimano 9 spd hub. Generally Shimano road clusters top out at 27t. That sounds more campy-like to me. That's the first thing to figure out. Shimano and SRAM clusters are interchangable, Campy are not.

If you have a shimano hub, it's very easy to build 'custom' cassettes with Shimano 9spd parts. It's just not cheap. If you've got the tools to remove the cassette, you can get an 14-25

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/shimano-tiagra-hg50-9-speed-road-cassette/rp-prod387

and mix and match with your current cassette to get the gears you want. It may be possible to do the same kind of mix/match with campy 9spd cogs, it's just more expensive. You can get 14-28 campy cassettes.

http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/product_details.php?id=5047&category=40

If you can find them, junior racing cassettes are a good solution. Junior racers have gear limitations so they tend to have clustered but lower gears. Currently they only seem to be available for 10 speed cassettes, but you can get 16-27
cassettes.

If you poke around enough on the web, you can find small companies like IRD that will make all kinds of custom cassettes. They aren't cheap though.

http://interlocracing.com/cassettes_steel.html


How to properly lace spokes in rim with offset holes When i make 3-cross pattern in regular rim with aligned spoke holes i put first green spoke in first hole to the left of air valve (in order to have no cross around air valve) then moving counter clockwise.

For first time i am lacing rim with offset spoke holes and i cannot figure it out.

I assume its incorrect to lace as on photo labeled "Version 1"?

If i use "Version 2" then i get crossing over air valve.

In your second photo, which shows the valve area, you see that the spoke hole left of the valve is offset down and to the right is offset up.
This is the opposite of how most modern rims are made. It's almost universally the other way. That's what's throwing you off. Variance here was once more common and wheelbuilders looked at this orientation at the start of the process, but people who learned recently and/or don't handle vintage parts much are understandably often lulled into skipping that step.
Ordinarily, from the perspective shown in that image, the first hole to the left will be running to the top hub flange (imagining the hub to be in its normal position relative to the rim) and the first hole on the right will be running to the lower. That will be opposite here. Also opposite will be which comes first in each pair of pushing and pulling spokes.
In other words, your "version 2" photo is right, but you're going to do the other flange's spokes in a way where you don't get spokes crossing under the valve. From the blue spoke to the right of the valve, you're going to find the next hole clockwise on the other flange and it will go to the next rim hole after that first blue one.


Presta valve on new tube won't inflate Just replaced a bad inner tube with a new, Presta valve tube. Unfortunately, I seem to be unable to get any air in the tube; I hear air leaving the pump and not going anywhere.

I tried investigating the usual suspects:

The pump is not sealed on tightly enough: Doubtful; several times I was able to lock the pump head so far down on the valve that it took considerable effort to remove it again.
The nut on the valve was closed: Nope. Opened and closed the valve several times, pushed down on the valve enough to hear a minuscule hiss of air. The valve is open.
Wrong pump type: Nope. Managed to inflate my other Presta valve tire just fine.

The only thing I can think of is that the complete lack of air pressure in the tube means there is nothing closing the valve, so the pump has nothing to depress and the sealing nut sits on the air opening. However, that sounds wrong to me.

Any ideas?

Perhaps its obvious, but maybe the tube has a leak? Is it an old tube that has perished and is just letting air out as fast as you pump it in?

Perhaps try taking the tube off the wheel, put it in a bucket/tub of water, and then pump.  Can you see bubbles somewhere?


Can a saddle clamp be upside down on a children's bike? Generally, when we put a saddle clamp on we put it so the rails are mounted on the "top" side (reference clamp pictured):

However in my case I still need to lower a seat by a inch more.  Looking at the clamp I could do this:

I'm asking this for my kids 16" bike.  She fits the bike well, but has a little issue of getting up on the saddle.  There appears to be enough space in the saddle to flip the clamp.  She is on the petite side at 15kg (and for reference, same model bike, my son was 23kg when he retired it).  I do plan on flipping it back over before I extend the seat post though.

Does this work or will I run into issues?

I went ahead and did it, it was just right amount she needed, didn't even mess with the lock on the rack.

EDIT

Not to take away on the answers here.  My daughter has been riding this bike like this for just under a year now.  She has even taken it off a simple 2x4 and plywood ramp without issue.  I'm sure it will handle most kids, but since she is on the small side then I can't really answer as such.

Ask yourself which is stronger.  In the correct orientation a downward force would need to sheer the bolt to come out the bottom.  In the incorrect orientation a downward force just needs squeeze through the gap (bend a relatively thin plate just a fraction).  It is not designed to take force in the that direction.

And you have to consider stand over. If you get the seat low enough then your stand over will go negative.  Even if flipping worked you are going to be close or into a negative stand over.

And need room in the seat to be flipped.

Have you even tried this?

Oh, this is for light child? Light child is not likely to break a seat clamp even in a compromised orientation. Kids are not disposable but they are hard to break. Even if (and that is a big if) the rail blew out one side it is not even likely a trip to the hospital. A blow out to the front tire is more likely and will have the same scraped knee and tears.


Why don't women have Cat. 5? For road racing in the US, USA Cycling has women divided into four categories (4,3,2,1) and men divided into five categories (5,4,3,2,1). The procedures for category upgrades for 4-3, 3-2 and 2-1 are the same for men and women, but only men have this extra "category 5", where the typical way to upgrade 5-4 is to simply finish a certain number of mass start races. Women don't have an equivalent "experience-only" category.

Why don't women in the US have a Category 5, like the men?

Its to control the size of the field. The number of categories grows as the number of riders increases. This is so that you split people by ability more (for better consistency) and keep the fields sufficiently small.

There just happen to be more men than women. If the number of women increase to be unwieldly with 4 categories, they'll presumably add a cat 5 for women as well.


Getting back on bike after wrist fracture Does anyone have experience of getting back riding a road bike after fracturing wrist?

I am 3 weeks away from my cast being taken off.

I am wondering how much time I should wait before going back fo a ride?

All but the most gentle rides on smooth surfaces can put quite a lot of stress on your wrists. Listen to your doctors on how long you should rest it because in general there's still healing to be done when the cast comes off. Not only is the bone still fragile but the muscles will be very weak. I was a teenager when I broke my wrist so timings may be different, but the length of recovery after the cast was removed was equal to the length of time it was on.

Do any physio exercises you're given, which will help you retain strength and movement. Then start in benign conditions - good roads when they're quiet - until your bike handling is back to normal.  When you first get back on, you really don't want to fall off, and wrist-jarring potholes should be avoided (you may not have the grip strength to maintain control, in addition to avoiding the shock). This is likely to be worse on a road bike than on flat bars. Everyone is different and everyone's injuries are different, but if you plan on a cautious approach and take advice from the medical professionals you shouldn't go wrong.


How to remove rear wheel of old school Brompton 3-speed I want to remove the rear wheel in order to replace the tire and tube.
How to detach the chain-tension cable on this old-school 3-speed Brompton? Does that black losenge-shaped thingie that is attached to small chain going into the rear hub simply get twisted off the threaded connector? Is that shiny clip somehow involved?
When I attempt to unthread the plastic piece from the threaded connector at the end of the hub chain, the chain-tension cable itself begins to untwist into separate strands.

Just press the metal clip and you can simply pull them apart (with very little force). Tipp: attach some tape to where the plastic part engages the threaded rod so you don't have to readjust the shifting when reassembling.


[MTB ]How much can my bike endure? I recently bought a (Mountainbike) Bergamont Revox 3.0 and I'm concerned that I'm not taking proper care of it.

I want to know if I can, for example, ride down a flight of stairs or switch the gears while I'm riding up a steep hill.

I clean it regularly where I can, and it's currently sitting in the basement (due to weather) anyway.

But the question is, how much "rider-abuse" can my bike withstand ?

Bikes break because they've been either mistreated or not cared for.  Riding a bike down stairs should be okay provided you don't fall off or catch anything.... that's what a MTB is built for.

Proper care and maintenance keeps everything working, so lubrication and washing off mud/silt etc will keep the bike functioning.  Storing your bike inside out of the weather is the single best thing you can do to preserve it and extend its life.

If your question was about a road bike or a hybrid/commuter, I'd say stairs would be outside the normal usage for such a frame.

Finally, every bike needs to change gear while going uphill.  The only trick is timing, to get the chain to move cogs/chainrings while at the top of the stroke where the pressure is less.  If you're changing gear with the pedal cranks horizontal then that's sub-optimal and bad for the transmission.

This question is likely to generate various opinions.


Chainring for a Shimano FC-CX50 I have a 2013 Scott CX Team Cyclocross which has an FC-CX50 Crankset.  Unfortunately, I cannot afford a road/triathlon bike right now and I have been using this for triathlons.  I now have road tires on it which has helped a lot but am tired of being passed spinning away maxed out.  I am looking for the cheapest option for an upgrade and I thought that I could look at switching the Crankset's Chainring to a 50 from a 46.  That should give me a little more speed.  I am pretty new to bike mechanics and I did not want to order a chainring till I was sure it would work.  Would someone be able to point me to a Shimano unit that will work or is this even possible?  If so, can I assume that I will probably need a new chain as well?  Thanks in advance.

A CX-50 is usually fitted with 46-36 and is 10 speed. Occasionally I replace the 36 with a 34 on mine. Any flat 110mm BCD ring of 50/52 will fit instead of the 46 ring and the 36 is the usual combination with a 52.

The chain will have to be 2-3 links longer and the FD must move up by one or two mm to clear the big ring.

(Note: You may even change the rings without having to remove the crank from the bottom bracket, as they can easily be manoeuvred around the arms and the pedal.)


Bottle holder for mountain bike I want to get a bottle holder for my bike.

It has no pre-drilled holes for the holder.

I found some that clamp on but not sure if they would work with the wide tube that I would need to mount it to.

Get a clamp-on solution like the SKS Anywhere, Topeak VersaMount or Elite VIP.

As Nate W pointed out in the comments, make sure it doesn’t interfere with your cables.

A quick and dirty solution with cable ties and duct tape can work temporarily as well.

There are also bottle cage mounts which clamp to the saddle’s rails, for example the TacX Saddle Clamp:

I think a disadvantage of this solution is that you can’t slide behind the saddle on descents. They are primarily intended for time trial bikes.


How difficult is the switch from flat to drop bar? I've ridden with flat bars for more than 10 years, both freeride and commuting. Now I'm considering switching to a road bike with a drop bar for commuting.

I went to a shop and tried a couple of such bikes, and the feeling was awful: a very bent neck and lack of control, esp. in changing the grip to brake. My question is: (1) what are the typical problems (or striking novelties) in moving to a drop bar, and (2) what can be done to alleviate them?

Some problems are highlighted in these useful discussions: neck, and wrists 1, 2. Is may seem that one should better not consider switching from flat to drop without a professional fitting (with an exception of this answer).

I have never had professional fitting - just adjusted until it felt right.  I am sure a professional fitting would be nice but I just did not want to spend my money on one.

A road bike might not be the best bike for you.  In a drop bar consider cyclocoss or light touring.  Some companies have a drop bar "commuter".  They are going to have bigger tires and a bit more upright position.  If no other bike feels comfortable then stay with you flat bars.

As far as get used to it just ride. Brakes and gears are different but clearly you have figured that out.  More hand position.  Most riding is up on the brakes/hoods.  If you get on the bike and go straight down in the drops it will feel low - that is for high speed and into the wind.


My road bike seems slightly too big for me After riding for about 300km, I'm looking at adjusting some parts to fit me.

First adjustment:
Because I feel that I'm stretching a little too forward, causing my back to ache, I've decided I would decrease my stem from 110 to 90.

Second adjustment:
Because I feel that the saddle is too small for me, causing the sensitive area to compress, I've decided to change my seat to swork power (OEM).

Right now I'm looking at my leg reach to the pedals. Currently I feel that I have to stretch a bit more than I feel comfortable to, while pedaling, so I'm considering if I should shorten my seat post or change my crank length from 172.5 to 165. HOWEVER my seat post is integrated to the frame, I feel like I shouldn't cut it (plus its risky as it is carbon).

165 cranks are rare: I only found Dura-Ace 7950 that would cost me $275, but it would be a upgrade from the current Ultegra.
Also my friend is saying that changing my Ultegra BB to a Dura Ace BB would make my ride much smoother.

Please advise me if all these changes I'm doing are advisable. Also crank change vs seat tube cutting!!

Thank you for your reading time!

Because I feel that I'm stretching a little too forward, causing my back to ache, I've decided I would decrease my stem from 110 to 90.

You can help this by also moving your saddle forward.  If you combine that with raising your handlebars some by changing the stem angle, you'll shift your torso to be more upright, too.  That will also shift your weight back a bit, putting a bit less pressure on your hands and a bit more on your bottom.

Moving the saddle forward would also slightly shorten the reach to the pedals.

  165 cranks are rare

They sure don't seem to be.  A simple Google search returns many examples of Shimano 165 mm cranksets that would likely all be compatible with your bicycle.

  Also my friend is saying that changing my Ultegra BB to a Dura Ace BB would make my ride much smoother.

Hogwash.  You wouldn't be able to tell.  You'd probably be surprised at how many amateur road racers use things like Sora or Tiagra cranksets, or won't bother paying more for Ultegra - much less DuraAce - over 105 or today's Tiagra.  (Wheels are what gets the money - good aero wheels can save 40 or 50 watts - maybe more - at 30+ mph...)  Pros and higher-level amateurs ride high-end bikes because they get them for free - it's marketing aimed at getting you to pay a premium for bling.  DuraAce doesn't make your bike faster.  All it really does is make your bike a little bit lighter and a lot more expensive.  How much better is a $275 DuraAce crankset than a $65 Sora crankset anyway?  IMO, don't worry about the grams until you get down to 2% body fat.


Aerodynamics of cycling behind a bus If cycling directly behind a bus that was travelling at 30mph on a flat road on a windless day, how far would the rider have to move away from it to receive zero drafting benefit?
Is the distance-to-benefit relationship linear, or does the benefit decrease more quickly the further away from the bus the rider is?
Is it possible that at certain distances the rider would be worse off, i.e. they would suffer from being in the wake of the bus more than they would if there was no bus at all?
If it makes any difference, assume the bus is 10m long, and the front and rear faces are 2.5m x 2.5m, and the cyclist is average height riding a road bike on the drops.

The zero benefit will theoretically only appear in infinity. In practice, it will of-course be non-measurable in a finite distance. The wake of a bluff body (like a bus) will consist of a recirculation zone, where the  Reynolds-averaged streamlines are closed and the flow is actually reversed (in the coordinate system fixed with the bus) in some volume, and the rest where the flow is only slower. The benefit will be decreasing the most at the boundary of the recirculation zone. It will be relatively constant within the zone and it will be slowly decreasing in the wake farther behind. The length of the recirculation zone will be comparable to the lateral dimensions of the bus.
I do not have time nor resources for a proper literature review at the moment but I recommend looking at Figures 3 and 4 in Longa et al. JFM 866, pp. 791, https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2019.92 that show typical wakes for two lorry-like bodies.

(© 2019 Cambridge University Press, CC-BY 4.0)
The figures show that the region of decreased wind velocity can reach far behind the depicted region but is the strongest in a small blue region with dimensions comparable to the lateral dimensions of the vehicle, where the U velocity component is actually reversed. That means that the bus traveling in the still air effectively sucks the particles in that region towards its rear wall. The flow in that region can be complicated, the paper itself is about that (bistability etc.). Be aware that the details strongly depend on the shape of the rear of the body.
For a cyclist we have to consider the dimensions of the cyclist too because the low-momentum region is becoming lower and lower, see Fig. 4a. That means that it is difficult to predict the drag of the cyclist in that complicated region. It would be a difficult simulation. But we can still look where the flow is fast and where it is slow.


Grocery Shopping by bike, expanding my cargo options cheaply Can I take a shopping cart like say this one and safely attach it to a bike? I'd like to also take it into the store with me as well.

I think you would be much better off converting an old kids trailer.

They can be found pretty cheap on Craigslist.


What's the correct term for a 700x23c disc wheel? I'm looking to convert my fixie to a front wheel disc brake set up. I've narrowed down a fork that looks promising, and I'm on to the wheel.

I've got 700x23c tires I want to keep, so I want the wheel to fit. I understand the hub needs to be disc brake compatible. When I search for it (700x23c disc wheel OR 700x23c disc hub wheel).

What's the right term to search for that I'll get results for the product type that I'm looking for?

A search for cyclocross disk wheels turned up plenty of options.  Maybe this wheel would work for you.


Trek FX 7.7 rear tire is rubbing the frame I have a Trek FX 7.7 and the rear tire is rubbing the frame with 100psi in the tire.  Stops rubbing at 96psi.  I have 26mm Continental Grand Prix 4 Season tires.  The original tires were Bonetrager 24mm(I think).  I would not think 2mm would make a difference???  Any suggestions, am I missing something simple and stupid??

Update to the information I posted, new tires are 28mm (went to my receipt, sidewall hard to read), previous tires 25mm.  The rub is on the face of the tire, the picture shows with 96psi and not rubbing.  One of the comments I received said that specs for my bike said that 25mm tires would fit, I went to Trek website before I posted this question, and could not find that information.  I did not realize that going up in width would effect the diameter as well.  Sounds like I need to get some new tires.

For some of the other responses I got, 1. Yes the wheel is very slightly out of true, 2. No bulges or anything in the tire, and 3. I carefully checked to make sure the wheel was mounted correctly and straight.

To everybody that responded - THANK YOU!!!

Uploading a picture

Three steps:
is it rubbing the entire rotation? If not true your wheel.
Is it rubbing all the way round but just on one side, fix the dish of your wheel.
If it is neither of the above, you need a smaller tyre.

All tyres will expand to a point as you increase the pressure. They will expand less and less as the pressure increases up until the point that they either explode or you destroy the rim.

There is also the question about why you are using more pressure?. Pressures much over 100psi are only faster as the road gets much smoother (dependant on weight of rider and tyre width), that's why they still use pressures towards 200psi on the track, but road pressures have been declining for years.  It takes less energy for a tyre to deform than it does to push the entire bicycle up as it encounters a bump in the road.


What are the best brakes other than disc brakes I'm a big fan of hydraulic disc brakes because of the braking power and relatively infrequent maintenance. What is the best kind of brake other than disc for braking power and modulation? And is it the case that rim brakes tend to need adjustment more than hydraulic disc? For context, I've been warned off cable disc as a poor substitute for the hydraulic type, but I don't have first hand experience here. To improve the question in response to comments, is it possible to say what kind of mechanical brake gives the best mechanical advantage, ie best lever-to-pad travel ratio? Many thanks.

Brake type is a matter of personal preference, and going with what gives you the most satisfying experience on your bike. That being said, I had a couple (cyclocross) bikes with disc brakes when disc brakes started to get popular on cyclocross bikes, and after a year or two I went back to rim brakes. I found disc brakes to be unreliable and unpredictable. They can have decent stopping power, but they are heavy, ridiculously noisy, and the hype about better modulation makes no sense. If your caliper or canti brakes are set up correctly the will have much more usable modulation by design. Disc brakes are a gimmick that the bike industry has been pushing on consumers to turn bigger profit. If you are a mountain biker, there is one advantage to having disc brakes- they work great when your wheels get muddy and everything is wet. If you do most of your bicycling on pavement, rim brakes are going to be much more practical and stop you just as well. Consider that rim brakes are also disc brakes, but much bigger, quieter, and hassle free.

The best type of bike brake is a side pull cantilever for over all power,
reliability and cost.


how do you develop the strength to be able to hold a aero right angled forearm position? How to pros go about developing the strength to be able to sustain this kind of position (specifically the bent fore arms, not so much the flat back) for more than a minute and what type of yoga would you do to be able to sustain this position?

I ask as even after a bike fit I struggle to get past the one minute mark whilst trying to hold this position.

It's all about core strength, not arm strength.  If you want to ride like this for long periods of time you should be supporting most of your weight with your core muscles - not your arms.  Your weight should be on your sit-bones, anchored on your saddle.  Then your back and abdominal muscles stabilize your pelvis and share the load with your arms.  Your shoulders should be fairly relaxed and your grip loose.

I've have good results from following Tom Danielson's 'Core Advantage' book.  It's specifically about core exercises for cyclists and has a stepped approach to take you from untrained to pretty fit.


I keep getting flats. What's wrong with my tire? My back tire caught a flat from a pot hole. The next day I take it to a shop and I get an inner tube change. From the shop I ride the bike home, but the tire catches another flat on the way. What do I do now? By the way I have a 52cm pure fixed bike

It could just be bad luck.

Or, there may be a piece of glass, a tack/nail, or caltrop stuck in your tire in a way that wasn't visible to the shop that replaced your inner tube. It may be deeply embedded in the rubber tread, invisible on both sides, and only pierce the inner tube when under both air pressure and the weight of a rider.

When you or the shop changes the inner tube yet again, they should keep track of the orientation of the inner tube to the outer tire and where the puncture is. They should triple-check the outer tire casing at the location of the puncture.

Or it could be bad luck.


What are the pros and cons of suspension seats and suspension handlebars? The title says it all, but I’ll add more specifics to give a better understanding of my particular situation.

I am a on-road commuter with little-to-no dirt roads in my routes, many of the roads are VERY degraded and as such are very bumpy. My bike has 26x1.95 tires on it aired up to around 50 psi. I have no suspension other than my seat(spring) and seat stem, as well as on my handlebars. I happen to weigh approximately 225-250 lbs, if that matters. Additionally I do carry a messenger bag or backpack on most days, usually adding another 10-25 lbs. This question regards the pros and cons of the suspension seat stem and handlebars, although I’m open to extending it to other forms of suspension and other methods such as larger tires and tire softening. This is a general question but I would also like to know specifically what I should know about my bike, including upkeep and other things to keep in mind, particularly regarding the suspension I have on it.

tl;dr: I have a road bike with suspension seat stem and handlebars, I commute on degraded and bumpy paved surfaces, I weigh 225-250 lbs on average, I usually carry on-person cargo weighing approximately 10-25 lbs. What should I know about the suspension seat and stem and what other relevant information should I be informed of.

Suspension seatposts and stems have relatively limited travel--I think most suspension posts have about 20 mm of travel--so they're not so much intended to absorb big bumps as iron out road buzz.

Most suspension posts and stems are heavier (perhaps not so heavy as to bother you), more expensive, and sometimes more finicky to set up.

You're already running pretty fat tires, although perhaps you could go up to 2.5" ones. According to the tire pressure optimizer it looks like you could use 40 psi in back and 24 psi in front, which would smooth things out a bit. There are some light-casing tires that are noted for giving a smoother ride (they deflect more readily around road irregularities), although I would hesitate to recommend them for riding over bad roads.

It's hard to answer specific questions about your bike without knowing more about your specific bike.


New Rear Wheel goes out of true Couple of months back, I installed a new rear wheel for my road bike. Its a wieman LP18.

Since then I had to get it trued at-least three times. Is this normal for new wheel?

It's normal for a new wheel that was under-tensioned, unevenly tensioned, inadequately stress-relieved or whose spokes are twisted.

Either that or it's being abused - ie. if you're really throwing it around, or are carrying heavy loads on the 24-hole version.

The repeated re-truing may end up with a decent wheel, since you're just performing the stress-relieving step while riding instead of in the workshop. It may equally damage the wheel before you get there, and you really shouldn't have to pay to fix a bad build.


Bailing out with SPD pedals on a mountain bike I got a new mountain bike a year ago, with SPD pedals. I'm OK with these on a road bike (that I don't normally crash), but on a mountain bike when I crash I usually can't jump off the bike like I used to. I can handle stopping OK, but when I'm about to crash I can't jump off and land on my feet.

Do I need to loosen the pedal settings? Should I unclip when I'm getting to a hard part on the trail? (I have pedals that work both ways.) Or should I just practice crashing until I get it right? What do "real" mountain bikers do?

Your best option is to practice a lot on how to unclip your foot, so you get accustomed to it. I suppose you have already done this. So you must now adjust the spring tension on your pedals. Refer to the instruction manual on how to adjust it.

Aside from that, I have found that dirt, grime and other pollution in the cleats makes it extra hard to get the foot free. It gets to your pedals every time you step on mud or soft soil and then go back to he pedal, something that does not happen so frequently for a road biker.

When you cleat after stepping on mud or soft soil your shoe picks up little stones, little stems, leaves and all sort of things that clog up the pedal's mechanism, and the pedaling action makes all this dirt get to critical places.

That's why I recommend to thoroughly clean the pedals and oiling them between rides. Normally you won't get too much dirt in only one ride, but you don't want it to get accumulated, for this worsens the performance of the release mechanism. Oil helps a lot for clipping in and out, but also helps a little by not allowing some dirt to stick to the mechanism (Your pedal won't be so dirty by the end of the ride).

Tip #2: you should periodically inspect your pedals and cleats for dents, deformations and other that can affect your ability to clip out. Specifically I've had trouble with the "ramps" that push the cleat out when you twist your foot. For some reason these develop a kind of hook that prevents the foot from twisting. You can easily file out these deformations, usually they are surprisingly tiny! Use a fine file or a rotary tool (dremel) with a fine grit grinding stone.

Tip #3: Part of some training I also did, was about conquering difficult technical sections without removing any foot from its pedal. I did this by  building small obstacles in the middle of an ample flat terrain. The Obstacles where made of stones and logs, trying to make then with increased difficulty every time, but always made then in such a way that if I fell it wouldn't hurt much, hence the flat clean terrain around the obstacle. This kind of training gives the rider a lot of self confidence and builds the necessary skills that make the use of cleated pedals more intuitive at the required level for MTB riding.

These tips have kept me clipped for 10 years of mountain biking, doing XC, and a little all-mountain and downhill.

My final comment: IF you're accustomed to SPD on your road bike, make an effort to stay on SPD for your mountain bike, if you remove them, almost sure you'll miss them!


Wear on an IGH by pre-selecting gear under power I have a bike with an 11 speed alfine IGH in the rear wheel.  It works fine, and I am comfortable riding it.

When accelerating hard or sprinting for some reason, I've noticed its possible to change at the shifter but the gearbox doesn't react until the chain tension drops for an instant.   For the Alfine, this mostly happens when changing to a harder gear.

This is similar but opposite to a derailleur-equipped bike, where changing down to a lower/easier gear (ie chain moves to a bigger rear cog) needs a brief window of lower chain tension to get over.  You might have done this when on a climb and have run out of leg in the current gear, and need to change to an easier gear.

Question: Is this bad?  Is it causing more wear on the internals of the IGH?

It seems my carefully-cultivated smooth pedal circle doesn't help.  A slightly choppier or bouncier pedal stroke allows the gear change to happen mcuh easier.

As a test I managed to ride in second gear  while clicking through to about 9th gear, though this was intentional.   When riding for real it might be only one gear postion out, but pulling away from a light quickly might cause 3~4 gears difference and when it does catch up I can end up in an overly hard gear,

Shimano IGH use springs to move cogs away from the cable pull, and what's happening is that lateral friction between the engaged cogs inside the hub is too great for the spring to overcome.

This is actually a good thing, because if one of those cogs slid sideways under power the load on the engaged remaining width of the cogs would steadily increase (same load, less engaged width) and very likely something would fail - you would chip the corner off one of the teeth on one of the cogs. Doing that isn't a problem, once. But over time you end up with a collection of hard chips of metal from the cogs floating round inside your hub. Some will inevitably end up on the wear surfaces of the cogs, or if they're especially large even wedging them so they don't rotate.

The reason you should try to avoid this is that you're not 100% reliable at keeping the cogs engaged until you back right off on the power. Every time it shifts just before there's no pressure on the pedals you run the risk of damaging something.


Caliper bolts after crash: repair or replace? A few days ago, I was looking down checking out my crank while riding and drifted into the LA River Bike Path and ended up crashing bending my front brake caliper.  Can the recessed bolt that holds the brake caliper in place be bent back straight or should I just buy a new one?

My vote is for replacement. It does after all hold on the brake a very important component. Bending the bolt may cause microscopic cracks that could cause the bolt to fail with no warning.


Do DC HUB Motors For Electric Bikes use regenerative braking? Or do I need a special control circuit aside from the included electronics?

For the most part, no.

The main problem is that you don't brake for very long compared to a normal battery charging cycle, so regenerative braking doesn't match the battery very well. Some systems use supercapacitors because they're designed for this sort of situation, but those are expensive and heavy in a bicycle application. Motors also typically don't work as well generating as motors, so they'll be less efficient, meaning a standard 250W motor might put out 200W as a generator.

The physics is pretty simple: a 100kg rider travelling at 36km/hr (10m/s) has E = 1/2 m v² = .5 x 100 x 10² = 5000 joules of energy. That's 5000 Watt-seconds. If you gently brake to a standstill in 5 seconds you're putting 1000W into your brakes, assuming no air resistance.

A typical battery is 36V and about 15AH, = 36 x 15 x 60 x 60 = 1,944,000 Joules or 2MJ, and takes 4-10 hours to charge. Pushing 5kJ into that isn't going to make a lot of difference - it's a 2000/5 = 4% recharge, assuming 100% efficiency. And you're not going to get 100%.

A much better scenario is either you pedal against the regenerative brakes, or you spend half an hour going down a long steep-ish hill, generating 200W all the way. Since a typical rider puts out 150-250 watts, for you to charge at that power level will mean pedalling very hard - you're going to need 300W or more to keep the bike moving, more like 500W taking into account all the losses. A world-class cyclist can put out 500W for an hour... and after that hour, the battery will be 30-50% charged.

This google search gave me a good explanation, a dismissal of the idea, some strongly held opinions and a couple of production bikes that have it.


New bike's disc brake rubbing the pads there, I just got a new motobecane bike off of bikesdirect and it comes with this disc brake

SHIMANO DISC-BRAKE SET ULTEGRA, ST-R8000, BR-R8000 FOR 25MM MNT, RESIN PAD
SHIMANO KSMMAR160DDA MOUNT FOR ROAD DISC BRAKE MOUNT
SHIMANO ROTOR FOR DISC-BRAKE, SM-RT76, 160MM, 6-BOLT TYPE

I put the bike together and when I spin the wheels, the brake pads are certainly rubbing constantly the rotor.

and here's a link to a video I made about the problem.

I have tried squeezing the brake while re-tightening the bosses on the caliper (at least that's what I think it's called), the thing that's actually attached to the bike frame.

I notice also that there is a piece of metal between the brake pads, it's very thin and is folded like a butterfly, should this piece of metal be removed?

What else would you try to fix this?

Yes, the body of the brake that holds the pistons is called the caliper.

The thin metal is a spring that keeps the pads help up against the pistons. It should be there.

First, make sure the caliper is actually aligned properly. Try looking through the caliper to see if the pads are touching the rotor. A bright light and a sheet of white paper held behind the caliper can help you see gaps between pad and rotor. Have a look at the Park Tool video below for how to align the caliper.

If both pads are touching the rotor the caliper the pistons may have been pushed out a little too far. This happens if the lever is pulled when the wheel is out of the bike. Take the pads out and push the pistons back in using a flat head screwdriver or tire lever.

Another possibility is that the pads are so new they simply need wearing down a little. You will need to break the pads in in any case. Here's a good procedure for doing that: https://www.bikeradar.com/us/gear/article/how-to-bed-in-disc-brake-pads-31337/. Break the pads in then try re-aligning the caliper.


Most Efficient Way to tune rear gears of mountain bike I have a schwinn ranger suntour mountain bike which I enjoy riding and ride frequently.  When the bike was new I had no difficulty shifting through all 21 speeds of the bicycle with 3 gears by the crank and 7 by the rear wheel.  I can shift through the 3 gear speeds with no issue, however currently  when I attempt to shift to any of my rear 7 gears nothing usually happens I appear to be stuck around 2nd or 3rd gear no matter which gear is selected and I am noticing more frequent chain slipping.

The amount of slack for the cable for the derailleur for those gears can be adjusted by loosening a screw with an alan wrench, it is currently loose on my bicycle (I haven't been riding around like that)

Is it possible to regain access the rest of my gears and reduce chain slipping?
What is the proper technique to resolve this issue of gear shifting?

Generally, if you haven't bent the derailleur (or its hanger) [such as by having a crash], you should have been using the barrel adjuster as shown in this image

(from here)

in order to make tweaks to the adjustments. The mis-adjustment you were experiencing was likely just "cable stretch" in the non-bent case. The barrel adjuster changes the cable tension, which you were more drastically doing by undoing the bolt which holds the cable (so you may have put wrong cable tension now). From the description, it sounds like you don't have cable tension (and thus the shifters can't pull anything and shift).

The rest of the adjustment options (screws) change the derailleur limits (big and small cog) and angle of the derailleur (b-tension). These should be set-it-and-forget-it (unless the derailleur gets banged up, in which case it must be un-banged up and then possibly re-adjusted).

Park Tool has a good description on how to adjust a derailleur, which you should read and implement (or take the bike to your LBS, give the guy 5 bucks and get him to adjust your derailleur and check if its bent). If the derailleur/hanger is bent, it must be un-bent prior to adjustment.

Another thing that may be occurring (though unlikely) is excess cable friction in which case the shift cable+housing need replacement.


What's the deal with Rohloff and Gates Carbon Drive? Can someone explain to me why a Gates/Rohloff combination is so stonewalled? It's got warnings all over the kit that you cannot do an aftermarket conversion, that you need Rohloff to switch you from chain to belt (why?), that your frame apparently has to pass some stiffness test, et cetera. It never ends.

Reason I'm asking is that the parts for the front/rear CDX cogs for Gates are readily available on the market, and it seems like if your frame supports it, there should be a way to just attach them and ride. But evidently neither Rohloff nor Gates want you to do anything like that, preferring to keep this as some OEM option.

Don't get me wrong, I'm OK with chains, but why even bother selling the kit if people cannot use it?

Rampant Guess: Given how much Rohloff likely values their reputation (the hubs are hailed for their longevity under poor conditions) they are likely being extra cautious as the set up might produce poor results under some conditions.

Gates belts require a lot of tension to operate correctly. This can be hard on hub bearings and could potentially twist a frame if is not designed for it. There is a lot going on inside a Rohloff hub, I suspect twisting could put important hub parameters out of specification, which could shorten the hub life. Being risk adverse to any tarnish on their reputation it sounds like they are trying to tightly control this potential problem.


Canyon Ultimate R8000 front derailleur - can't get low enough I have a Canyon Ultimate CF SL.

I have installed an R8000 Ultegra front derailleur. I am finding that even when the limit screw is dialed right out that when in the little-big combo (little front, big rear) the chain is still scuffing on the inside edge of the derailleur cage.

I have tried dialing out the lower limit screw, ensuring there is no cable tension, and ensuring it's properly aligned with the chainset. The chainset is 6800 50-34.

Any ideas what is going on and how I can rectify this issue?

Amateur hour. Turns out my K-Edge chain catcher was actually blocking the derailler from moving into the lower position. It looks like this chain catcher is not compatible without modification for use with R8000.


Finding compatible parts I am looking for some guidelines for finding compatible pieces with the ones I currently have installed on my bike. I have for instance a right brake lever (bl-m445) which is leaking oil. It is connected to a brake hose (bh-59) which goes to the brake (br-m447). Knowing all this how can I find out which brake levers are compatible?
I found this https://bike.shimano.com/en-EU/product/component/shimano/BL-M445.html but it isn't helping with any compatibility tables

What would he approach look like for any other part?

Here are a few web-based resources i seem to gravitate toward when musing about an upgrade or taking on a "fixer-upper"project becomes hands-on.

https://si.shimano.com/#/ is the Shimano technical documents resource. Where your link is the marketing/catalog face of a Shimano product, this site links to Shop Instructions and Dealers Manuals specific to a Shimano component. A subsection link on the above site is the Compatibility chart. Here you will find all the Shimano parts that are cross compatible within a system (for example, Mountain Front Drive Compatibility displays a chart that graphically displays Front derailleur-shiftlever-front chainwheel-bottom bracket combinations that sync). Similarly you'll find brake caliper-brake lever compatibles within road and mountain groups.

Finally, I offer you: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/ Great "how-to" resource  that often discusses compatibility issues and work-arounds pertinent to the particular bicycle part or system being addressed.  A couple examples include mixing mountain and road components and issues involved when one wishes to employ differently branded components (and therefore differing engineering specs) within a particular bike system (like using a Shimano shifter with a Campagnolo derailleur).

Parts compatibility in the realm of bicycles is pretty involved when it comes right down to it. Multiple standards in use as well as proprietary engineering tweaks manufacturers conjure up make for quite the mish-mash of options one must consider when a bike part requires replacement.


Helmet law in Spain? I was told that there is a fine of €300 for cycling on a "carretera" in Spain without a helmet.  But it's possible the guy just wanted to sell me a helmet.  I'm not completely sure what exactly distinguishes a carretera from any other road, but on this trip, I don't have that helmet with me and several police have seen me riding.

A web search gets more advertisements than information.  Anyone know what the law is there?  Extra credit if you have a link to the official text.  (I can read Spanish.)

http://www.bikeramble.com/do-you-need-a-helmet-spain/  says

Well, the short answer is: it depends.

There is a mandatory helmet law for cyclists in Spain, but it is seldom enforced.

Are you required by law to wear a helmet in Spain?  Yes. But there are four notable exceptions:

You don’t need to wear a helmet in Spain if you are in an urban area.
Since 2004, it has been mandatory to wear a helmet for all cyclists outside urban areas. It is not required in urban areas. In 2013, it was made mandatory for all cyclists, everywhere, to wear a helmet, even in urban areas. This was met by opposition from council bodies and the new law was quickly overturned. However, it is still necessary for under 16’s to wear a helmet at all times. The definition of “urban area” is quite loose and everything bigger than a couple of houses should qualify.
UPDATE - This exemption was deleted in 2015 and NO LONGER APPLIES. You didn’t need to wear a helmet in Spain if it was too hot.
What classifies as too hot? Probably anywhere in the south of Spain from May-September, or all of Spain from June-August. The exception applies because wearing a helmet in extreme heat is pretty uncomfortable, and would completely deter some from cycling at all.
You don’t need to wear a helmet in Spain if you are going up a hill.
Convenient as I usually find that if I’m not in an urban area, and it’s not that hot, I’m going up a hill.
You don’t need to wear a helmet in Spain if you are a professional.
Get paid for cycling a bicycle? Great, then you are probably already subject to hundreds of rules, one of which is that you must wear a helmet at all times!


What should I look for in clipless pedals and shoes? I am just thinking about investing in some clip-in pedals (and presumably shoes).  I want to use them mostly on my older road bike but in the future I might want to move them over onto my mountain bike.

What do I need think think about when investing in clip-in pedals/shoes?  (I have never ridden clippless pedals before).

I am thinking about picking up a pair of the Exustar E-SM440 Mountain Cycling Shoes or the  Lake MX 85 Cycling Shoes.  Would this be a reasonable shoe to start with?

Pedal Selection

Pick a system that will work well for your current and future use.  It's annoying to have different shoes for different bikes.  My experience is limited to Shimano SPDs and Crank Brothers systems -- both of these work very well for road and mountain biking.  The shoe cleat is similar for both systems and is fairly small, which means you can use it with shoes that allow recessed cleats.  Very nice to be able to get off the bike and walk like a human being rather than a duck.

If you're just starting out with clipless, definitely get double-sided pedals (some "road" pedals only clip in on one side).  If you think you might still occasionally use the bike with regular shoes, consider getting a pedal that also has a normal platform.

One other thing to keep in mind: float.  This is how much freedom your foot has to rotate.  Some folks like almost no float, others like/need plenty -- I need lots for my peculiar pedal stroke.  If in doubt, err on the side of more float, your knees will thank you.

Shoes

Like regular shoes, fit is very important so make that your first priority.  Remember that your feet swell later in the day so don't try shoes on first thing in the morning.

Also look at sole stiffness.  A completely rigid sole transfers more power, but is more awkward to walk in.  A partially rigid sole is a good choice for touring where you're not likely to pack a pair of normal walking shoes.  I have a pair of each but much prefer the rigid soles for normal riding.  Both pairs have recessed cleats.

Practice

Once you get your nifty new shoes and pedals: practice, practice, practice!  You need to be able to unclip on either side at a moment's notice.  Practice coming to a stop and unclipping -- better to get it right when you're not in traffic trying to stop at a light.  That said, you will probably still have a few falls.  It normally hurts your pride more than your body and this phase should wear off after a few months.


Shimano Tourney "Rapid Rise" Rear Derailleur Installation I'm trying to set up an old mountain bike that has a Shimano Tourney "Rapid Rise" rear derailleur which appears to operate in the opposite direction to the Shimano Acera derailleur on my own hybrid-style bike.
When changing the gear cable on my own bike, what I do (before pushing the new cable taut through the derailleur and tightening the bolt) is put the chain on the smallest cog and put the Rapidfire gear shifter on number 1.
This doesn't seem to be the correct way to do it with the Rapid Rise derailleur. Could anyone tell me:
Before tightening the cable to the Rapid Rise derailleur, what cog the chain should be on and what number the Rapidfire shifter should be on.

EDIT Thanks for the answers. Just to be sure, should the chain be on the largest sprocket when I do this?

Update: I followed Argenti's instructions (with the chain on the largest sprocket) and that seems to have worked. I can shift through the 7 cogs fairly smoothly and just need to fine tune it now.

AS you have found out Rapid Rise systems reverse the derailleur spring and direction of positive pull from the shifter. The idea was to make it easier for inexperienced riders to quickly change to lower gears.
You just need to reverse what you would do on a normal derailleur setup:
If you detach the cable the derailleur cage should want to move to the most inboard position over the largest sprocket as you turn the cranks. If the cage does not do this then you'll need to check for an obstruction or the lower derailleur limit adjustment may be incorrect.
Put the shifter in the lowest gear position, then attach the cable. If you are unsure about which end of the shifter range is low or high - when the shifter shifts towards lower gears it should pay out cable, when shifting to higher gears it should pull in cable.


Which bottom bracket do I need to replace crank on a Trek FX 7.1? I have a Trek FX 7.1 that I've rode for several years now and replaced parts as they've worn out.

Now I'd like to upgrade the whole drive train with Tiagra 2x10 flat bar shifters, derailleurs, crank, cassette, wheels, etc.

So, my question is, which bottom bracket do I need to replace the old one? There are choices of english thread or italian thread and 68mm or 70mm. Additionally, if there is a higher quality one someone would recommend over the taigra one, that would be appreciated. Please specify size and thread needed.

Assuming that you own the 2012 model, your bottom bracket should be a Shimano M171, according to the Trek Archives.

Found a Shimano Technical document that says you should have a 68mm thread width.


Replacing 8 speed with 9speed I've mistakingly bought a pile of rubbish instead of a road bike (was going to be my first one), however, I'm determined to make the most of it and treat it like a project for me to work on. Currently it's right hand shifter is a 9 speed one (campagnolo), a broken rear derailleur (shimano) and an 8 speed cassette... with only 7 of the cog things actually present... (key words and knowledge in this area are pretty poor for me so I apologise.) I'm going to replace the derailleur, does this need to be a specific one?  And then the main question... Is it possible for me to swap to a 9 speed cassette from the 8 speed? Would this make the shifters work effectively, to save the cost of replacing them?

Everything here depends on what rear hub you have, specifically what type of freehub body it has (the part that the cassette mounts on). Given that it seems to be a frankenbike, it could be a lot of things.

Also, given that it's a frankenbike, it would be wise to first double check that your shifter that says 9-speed is still set up for 9-speed, since Campy can be upgraded. So check that it has 9 positions (8 clicks).

The first thing to do is identify what type of rear freehub your hub has. Campy and Shimano each have different freehub spline patterns, and each have at least a couple different generations of freehub lengths dictating how many cogs will fit, and, in Campy's case, derivations of the spline pattern.

If you have any Shimano-compatible freehub, you can't set up the bike with any kind of normal drivetrain and would need to resort to some kind of compatibility hack. There are actually a couple pretty reasonable choices there, unless you got really unlucky and it's a 7-speed Shimano freehub. Namely you could upgrade the shifter to 10-speed and buy a 10-speed Campy rear derailer and 10-speed conversion cassette, or you could upgrade the shifter to 10-speed and then use the "Hubbub mod" with a Shimano RD and 9-speed cassette, which is a much cheaper plan.

If it's a Campy-compatible hub, you need to figure out what generation of freehub body it has. Campy 9 speed cassettes don't fit on their 8-speed freehub bodies. Campy used to sell upgrade 9-speed freehub bodies for their 8-speed hubs, but I believe they haven't been made for a while and may be fairly unobtainable now. If it's a 9 or 10/11 speed freehub body, you just need a Campy 9-speed cassette and rear derailer.

Note that buying a bunch of Campy parts to make your Campy shifter work may be far from the most economical plan, especially depending on the condition of the Campy-compatible wheel if that's what you have.


Campagnolo chainring bolt stuck to crank I have a Campagnolo 11 speed Athena setup. I am enjoying a noisy creak which I suspect is located in my chainring bolts. I have replaced all of them, except  the one that screws the chainring to the crank. That one is stuck. I tried to unfasten it, but I messed up the bolt. My hex key can not grip it now.

Do you have any ideas on how to solve this?

I would underscore taking it to a trusted local shop to remove the bunged screw.

But I would also suggest that if you've tightened the other four that your creak is NOT coming from the chain rings but probably from either your pedal, your cleat or your shoe. Also if you haven't lubed the chain for awhile you can try that as well.

A creak from the chainrings will almost always be heard when pedaling on both sides. This will also be the case with the crank bolt as well if it isn't properly torqued.

In one case it was the right LEVER that wasn't tight enough. In another the front derailleur. But shoes and cleats are the most common.


Externally routing cables on Trek Allant 7.4 How would I externally route the rear gear cabling on a Trek Allant 7.4?
It's had problems down shifting ever since I had the shifters replaced that can't seem to be repaired (Internal Cabling Problem?)
I'd like to convert it to an mid drive e-bike if I can get it to shift properly and afaik the motor I'm looking at can't be used along with cabling under the bottom bracket.
There's a cable entry point on the side of the down tube from the shifter, internal (no housing) cable lines under the bottom bracket, and an exit around the back of the chainstay.

Assuming you have no cable stops on the outside of the frame, you'll need to use full housing all the way from shifter to derailleur.  Simply run it alongside the top tube and down the right seat stay, and secure the housing to the frame with cable ties.
Its not the prettiest solution, but you're strapping on a motor, battery, controller, and wiring on anyway so looks are already going to suffer.
If cable ties aren't your thing, there used to be brackets for the top tube which would hold a rear brake cable on 80s style road bikes, or you could buy pairs of clamp-on cable stops of suitable size.


Removing suspension from a bike I'm looking to do a bit of light touring and want to outfit an old mountain bike to be up to the task. But most of the bikes I'm looking at have some crappy/mid-range suspension on them, which – to my understanding – only adds weight and an additional point of failure (at least from the perspective of touring).

What I'm wondering about is, is it possible to buy a fixed fork for a bike and replace the suspension?

If so, what sort of things should I watch out for?

This should not be a problem. A decent Al-fork will easily replace a crappy 'suspension' fork. You'll just need to check for the right length and diameter of the stem and maybe replace the direction bearing as well.


Metal seat post with carbon fiber frame? Is using a metal seat post on a carbon fiber frame advisable or not? I want to use a seat post mounted rack on my road bike (no regular rack mount points are on this bike), but I have been told that is not a good idea for carbon seat posts. So I thought I get a whole new metal post & saddle and swap the posts as necessary for commuting versus recreation.

I ask primarily because the famous Sheldon Brown once wrote on his site "Using a carbon-fiber seatpost in a metal frame, or vice versa, invites problems." but didn't explain why.

Any thoughts?

It's likely that Sheldon's concern was for galvanic corrosion between carbon fiber and aluminum.  This is an issue that's well-trod in both the bicycle and aeronautics fields.  In essence, in the presence of an electrolyte (sea air, your sweat) and a cathode (carbon fiber-embedded resin) the anode (aluminum) will corrode.  In the case of a seatpost/seattube interface, this corrosion will wedge the seatpost in place.  This can, at best, make it extremely hard to remove the seatpost.  At worst, it can render the frame unusable.

The first thing to do is to check to see if your frame was built with an aluminum insert for the seat tube.  Given that you currently have a carbon seatpost this is unlikely, but it would alleviate the main concern.

If that's not the case, there are still some precautions you can take. As Calfee notes, anodization will provide some protection.  As well, regular removal and cleaning and reinstallation with carbon paste can help prevent excessive buildup.

On the significantly more expensive side, you could also consider a titanium seatpost, which wouldn't corrode.

I'm not sure how the formatting in this article got so ruined, but you can read more in this VeloNews Technical Q&A with Lennard Zinn.


Switching the position of brake levers for a bike ordered from another country I purchased a bike from Germany and I noticed the front brake lever is on the left and the back brake level is on the right. I'm from the UK, and all the bikes I've ever ridden have had a setup that's opposite to this.

It looks like the only way I can solve this would be to pull the brake wires out from their cables, and run them back through the levers again. This means I may need to cut the end of each brake wire.

I'm wondering if there is an easier way to do this? For example, working from the levers and unhooking the top part of the brake wires? I remember when I used to repair my bikes as a teen, there was a part that I'd hook and unhook, but not 100% sure this was something to do with the brakes.

I haven't worked on, or ridden a bike since I was a teen. I'm going to buy some tools to carry out this work, but just wanted to know how to easily switch over the brake order.

Thanks in advance

With the setup you have shown here, it looks like you could unclamp the brake levers from the handlebars, flip the left and right, clamp them back on, and be done. The fixing bolts would be on top rather than the bottom, but if you can live with that, that would be the simplest method.

Normal road-bike levers located on the drops are often specific to the left and right hand, so this approach wouldn't really work. You'd also need to rewrap the bar tape, at minimum. So in that case, you'd need to re-run the cables and cable housings, which is what you are proposing.

This is not a difficult maintenance task, but having the right tools makes all the difference.

Tools

a cable cutter, ideally a "bypass" cutter that leaves clean ends.
a "4th hand" tool to tension the cable correctly. Not strictly necessary but makes the work easier.
Allen key--4 mm or 5 mm to lock the cable to the brake arm.
Pliers

Parts

2 new brake cables. Brake cables are different from derailleur cables, so make sure to get the right kind. You might be able to get away with the existing cables if there's enough excess left after you snip off the existing cable endcaps.
2 brake-cable endcaps

What to do

Snip the ends off the existing cables and pull them out through the brake levers.
Swap the cable housings between the left and right levers.
Brake cables usually have a mountain-bike tip at one end (looks like a small cylinder going sideways to the cable), and a road-bike tip at the other (looks like a sort of teardrop inline with the cable).  For these levers, you'll want to keep the road-bike tip, so cut off the mountain-bike tip.
Thread the cable. Finger-tighten the fixing bolt on the lower brake arm and leave your allen key hanging in the bolt.
Use your 4th-hand tool to pull the cable: hook the cable grabber onto the excess cable below the lower arm so that the cable grabber is at the bottom, butt the other side up against the lower brake arm, then squeeze.
Once the brake pads are within a few mm of the rim, tighten the cable fixing bolt.
Cut off the excess cable a few cm below the fixing bolt, then slide on the cable endcap on and crimp it with pliers.


Will wearing a backpack on my chest make any difference on my health? It's commonly acknowledged that wearing a stuffed backpack during cycling is somewhat bad for your back.
I see a lot of people saying they have back problem because of the usage of backpacks during cycling over the years.

Will wearing a backpack on your chest make any difference on the effect of a backpack weight on one's back?  (picture below)

I am not aware that wearing a backpack is bad for your back when cycling. I've been doing it every weekday for the past 8 months without ill effect. Perhaps if the backpack is very heavily loaded it's different. I do know that a lot of people just don't like wearing backpacks when riding.

Wearing the backpack in front seems like it would put loads on about the same points on your skeleton as wearing it in back, with the added problem that it would interfere with your legs' movement unless you're in a very upright position.


Does anybody use an under the saddle bag for touring? (Not Pannier Bags) I am looking for a bag as an addition to my backpack to use for cycling. A pannier isn't a choice I want to make, because I believe they balance the weight badly, and that there is some risk of broken spokes on the rear wheel when using a pannier.

I started looking for other options and finally found this one:

Bag details:
Volume: 7 liters (1.85 US gal)
Weight: 250 g. (8.8 oz)
Material: “Titan”
Material density: 1680D
Basic colors: black or gray
Additional colors: orange, blue, yellow, red, green, light green, lime color.
Price: $59

I have seen similar setups for MTB touring that use a large seatpack, a frame pack and a handlebar pack to get enough capacity. This setup also allows a better weight balance.

Bikepacking.net

is a good site for getting ideas for different setups. This site might also give you some ideas as well. I know we aren't supposed to recommend gear, but I've been very happy with the stuff I have got from Revelate Designs.

Revelate Designs

IMHO, your concerns about panniers are unfounded if you plan to tour on anything like a road. Panniers can be a problem if you are touring on trails or your bike geometry doesn't provide sufficient heel clearance ( often a problem on MTB bikes)


Is conserving energy something to do on a day-to-day basis, or over the week? I'm about a month into using my bicycle to commute to work, and one thing I've definitely gotten better at is pacing myself to conserve energy, both for the rest of the commute to work, and for the commute back.

What I'm still unsure of, however, is whether or not I should pace myself on one day to conserve energy for the next. Assuming I ate the same thing, and got the same amount of sleep each day, would I have relatively the same amount of energy each of those days despite a decent back and forth commute?

Today was the first day of my commuting week, and I had a lot more energy (granted, I have been drinking chocolate milk per the advice of bicycles.SE, which may be having a physical or psychological affect AND that my body should be adjusting to the increased activity), so I ended up biking a bit faster than I normally do. Am I going to pay for this tomorrow?

edit: the commute is 15 miles.

All other things being equal and provided the commute is no more than an hour you should be able to recover in full for the next day.

I reckon that with decent food and rest you will always recover in time.

That said if the week is long and tiring and you don't get enough rest you may be slower on the Friday than on the Monday.


Fork shakes on braking I reanimated an old city bike.

The front brakes work fine but the brakes squeaks. So I cleaned the rim and brakes, now the fork shakes on braking.

What is wrong and how can I fix this?
Change the brake pads?

What did you clean the pads with? If there is residue left on them, this can cause the stuttering that you speak of. The angle of the pads also matters. You should toe them in so that the front edge hits first, to minimize squeaking.

Another potential problem is a loose headset (as mentioned by a commentor). Grab your stem in one hand and fork in the other. See if there is play by shaking back and forth. If you feel something loose, you may need to adjust your headset.

One more possible reason for your issue is that your pads have not been tightened enough.

Note that usually pads need some time to wear in, and match the rim. Until this happens, you will probably experience sub-optimal braking.


How can I make my bike (and myself) visible at night? By winter I will be commuting on my bike at night. How can I make my bike as visible as possible to all car drivers?

The obvious few things are:

Front light
Red rear tail light
Spare batteries for said lights
Spoke lights/reflectors for improved side visibility
Bright clothing, ideally cycling clothing with reflective strips on them.


Replace Nexus 3 with rollerbrake with Alfine 11 I have a cargo bike equipped with a Nexus 3 hub shifter and related roller brake. Since where I live is pretty hilly, I'd like to replace it with a shifter with a big range and little gap between the gears, as the 11 speed Alfine hub shifter. Unfortunately, the Alfine is available only in disk version, while my bike doesn't have mounts for disk or v-brakes. Moreover, the bicycle has poor braking performance when fully loaded, so a disk brake would be a valuable addition.

Is there any adapter I can use to mount a disk brake caliper on the rollerbrake mount?
Are there chances that the bike present clearance problems while trying to mount a disk brake on it?

Update: In the end I mounted a Nexus 8 shifter with its own brake. The rollerbrake sold with the nexus 8 is the one with heatsink fins and, after some months of use, I can say it offers a lot more braking force than the one that comes with Nexus 3. The braking performance of the rear wheel is now comparable with a good disk brake (with less, but overall sufficient modulation). Adding the proper braking grease increase the modulation. I can warmly recommend this setup to anyone has similar constraints.

I think your next point of call will be to speak with a framebuilder local to you.  The chainstay has the big tab for your roller brake, so the chainstay is beefy enough for that.  Whether that translates to being enough for a disk brake, I can't say.

What you need is a pair of brake mounts brazed onto the bare metal, and perhaps a brace up to the seat stay to spread the load.  Once welded in it needs painting too.

If you go this route, consider what else you might want done to the bare frame.  Do you need additional mounts for racks, bottle cages, brake lines, etc?  If so, get them all done by the frame builder in one visit.  You generally have to strip your frame completely for work like this.

Does your fork have a disk brake mount?  If your bike has front suspension, its even more work to weld/braze because of the suspension.  If you have a rigid front fork, see what your frame builder says. but often the front tines are too weak to take a disk brake and you have to buy a stronger fork anyway.   However if the frame builder's got a painter, you might want them to paint your welds and the new fork so they all match.


Vertical front brake pads My daughter received a brand new bike. It came preassembled. The brake pads are oriented vertically. Is that correct?

Your intuition is correct those pads are not right.

The long part of the pad should follow the rim, like this:
(not exactly the same brake but the pad alignment is similar)

You can:
- take it back and let them straighten the pad.
- Use a 10mm wrench, loosen the nut, turn the pad and set it to the correct height and tighten the nut.

If they did this wrong it would make me nervous that there are other things they missed.


RB not ridden in 4 years unable to shift gear After a bit of advice. I recently dusted down my Carrera after a 4 year stint in the shed. Knowing that it had a few issues I dropped it in to my local Halfords store. It required a few things mending with the most relevant to this issue being the rear derailleur.

I get home and decide to go for a quick ride and find that I’m unable to shift gear at all. There isn’t really any tension in the shifters and the chain is currently on the smallest cog. The obvious thing to do would be to drop it back in but if it’s something I’m able to sort then I’d rather get it done myself!

Images below although I’m not sure if it helps in any way.

Thanks in advance

If people can figure out what the problem is, you can probably fix this yourself without needing specialist tools. Honestly, though, take it back to Halfords and get them to actually do the work you've presumably already paid them to do, because this is pretty ridiculous.

In general, I'd recommend taking bikes to a specialist bike shop rather than somewhere like Halfords: the level of clue is generally much higher and they'll actually make sure the bike is working before they hand it back to you.


Restore rusted chrome forks? I'm restoring an old bike. I have removed two layers of paint on the forks to reveal the original chrome on the forks. Unfortuantly they have rusted, and it looks like it has gone through the chrome layers.

Is there anything I can do to restore the chrome finish (I want to do it myself)? Or is the only option to just paint the forks?

I think your two options are (if you want to do this properly)

Paint will not properly adhere to the chrome, so, sand or grind of the chrome, rust etc, fill pits and irregularities, sand to proper condition for painting, properly prime, paint and clearcoat. Removing chrome probably requires use of special filtration masks.
The same, except have the fork re-chromed instead of painting. Classic and vintage car part restoration services is probably your best bet to do that.


How to inflate a tire with a Presta valve? My new bike has these thin tires with a type of valve I haven't usedbefore. I searched online and found out it's called a Presta valve, and it's pretty common and popular. I'm finding it annoying and fiddly and don't know how to use it properly. I have a floor pump, and I know the valves and pump are fine, because the guy in the shop had no trouble using the same one. But after reading online and watching YouTube videos I still can't figure out how to do it properly!

Here's what I'm trying:

Rotate wheel so that the pump can comfortably reach the valve (guides online say the valve should be at 12 o'clock position, but I can't do that because the hose on the pump isn't long enough)
Remove valve cap, unscrew thingy in valve, and tap it a little - a jet of air shoots out. OK.
Push pump onto valve. This is where I get into trouble...

I can't seem to get the attachment onto the valve in the right way. I'm pushing it on with the elbow lever thingy down, and then pulling the lever up as you can see in the pictures, to make the attachment grip onto the valve.

Now, either it flops around loose and leaks air out the sides (when I push it on gently), or sometimes it goes on but then the tire doesn't seem to inflate any, the pump just gets stiff really quickly as if the valve was blocked - then I remove the attachment and it goes pffffft like all the pressure was just backed up in the hose and not actually going into the tire.

I was able to pump up the tire eventually, but it took me about an hour of stuffing around and my "project manager" got angry, because I was supposed to be in the kitchen making her a salad, not mucking around in the garage.

The time I got it on properly I had to deflate the tire completely, and even then it was difficult because with the tire completely deflated the stem of the valve just pushed into the rim. Surely this is not normal? What's the trick of attaching the darned thing?

Also, how can I just check the pressure? When I attach the thing I expect the guage to jump up and show me what pressure it's at, but it just stays at 0.  The tires say on the side to inflate to 110 psi (7.5 atm), but my pump only goes up to 100.

Those valve stems are too short for those deep deep rims you've got on there. You can tell just from the photos that the valve stem isn't sticking out far enough from the rim for the pump to fit all the way on it. Hence, it's not contacting the valve enough for you to inflate your tires.


SunRingle ratchet rings I have a used Stan's NoTubes Neo hub and would like to replace the ratchet ring and pawls. These were once available but are now out of stock everywhere.

Since these hubs, like most hubs these days, are made in Taiwan I was hoping to find the same ring with a different label.

Anybody know what the outside diameter (and thread pitch) is on 30T and 36tooth  SunRingle ratchet rings?

Here are springs and pawls. They don't have anything called "ratchet ring"
Stan's No Tubes has them in stock.

They also sell a kit with a retaining ring that holds the pawls in place.


Is there a recycling program that accepts unrepairable inner tubes? The local bike shop, not the wealthiest operation, has a pile of dead inner tubes growing on the floor. I'd love to discover something where used inner tubes are repurposed, melted down, made into something else. Similar to how e-waste is harvested and repurposed.

We have need for only so many rubber bands and so many bungees.

http://alchemygoods.com/

They recycle inner tubes into usable products, and will give you credit towards their products for recycling.


Can I use an "8 speed compatible" crank such as Shimano FC-2303 with a 7 speed Shimano MF-HG37 freewheel? I have a 2004 Giant Cypress I use for commuting, and the entire drivetrain is very worn out (shark teeth and chipped teeth, front and back).  I need to replace the Shimano MF-TZ20 7-speed (14-34t) freewheel, chain (I know to enough to always replace the chain when replacing the freewheel!), and Shimano M131 (48/38/28t) crankset (not just the chain rings, unfortunately, because they're riveted on this cheap crankset)-:

I have a very flat commute and would like a taller top gear, so I'm thinking of using an MF-HG37 (13-28t) freewheel in back (since I never need the 34 rear gear on my ride anyway), and that seems like a straightforward substitution.

What I'm really wondering about is whether I can increase my top gear further by using a crankset such as the FC-2303 (52/40/30).  Shimano says it is "8 speed compatible", and I know 8 speed chains are the same width as 7 speed chains, so it seems like it should be OK.  Can anybody set me straight for sure?

Thanks.

The FC-2303 is a non series road crank set. It will work, with some shifting degradation, but it is not an ideal match.

8 speed road shifters, and 8 speed mountain shifters pull a different amount of cable, because the spacing of the chain rings on a road crank is different than that on a mountain crank set.

If you want it to work well, you need to also change your front derailleur, and front shifter. Depending on your bike and the direction of cable pull, you may or may not be able to put a road dérailleur on it, but you can get a touring dérailleur. And you'll need an 8 speed flat bar road shifter which will pull the correct amount of cable for for an 8 speed road crank set.


Back wheel suddenly started "wiggling" I bought recently a second hand bike for my daily rides, and it seemed in good shape. I rode it for more than a month without any problems, but recently had issues with it and had to get it fixed (mostly about a twisted rear wheel)

Out from the shop everything was fine until this morning, when I heard a "clack" coming from the back wheel, and suddenly felt friction on it
Upon inspection, it seems like the wheel is "wiggling" by like 1cm. Both screws on the side are well tightened and do not move.
The axle is not moving in the rear dropouts.

What could cause a problem like this ?

(I'm fairly new to this, so if it is a common issue please let me know as well)

EDIT: The problem seems to be a broken axle, I'll close after checking the bike again.

EDIT 2 (SOLUTION) : Upon inspection (sorry, couldn't find the time earlier), it's definitely the axle. I looked carefully, and the ball-bearing seems busted, with some balls out of it. I guess I found the problem, thanks for all the answers

This could be due to the cones on the axle coming loose. The cones screw onto the axle and prevent play in the bearings. If they are too loose the hub will be able to move independently of the axle. If they are too tight the wheel may not turn freely and you may damage the bearings by crushing them. See here for more information on how to properly adjust the cones.


Upgrade Options for Shimano Crankset Tourney FC-TY701 My son has bashed up the inner ring on his crankset (Shimano FC-TY701) and since it is riveted I can't replace the bent ring.  I want to replace it with something better but am not planning on upgrading the rest of the drive system (currently 3 x 8).  What are my options?  Will a FC-M3000, FC-MT500-3, FC-M430, or a FC-M610-L work? What specifications do I need to watch to make sure that the replacement will work?  Thanks

What you have is a basic 3-speed square taper crank arm built for an 8 speed chain. The important parts to consider when replacing it is the BB interface (square taper) and the chainring spacing (8 speed). If you don't want to upgrade the bottom bracket, then you will have to get another square taper crank arm.

The chainring spacing is less strict, there are differences between 8, 9, and 10 speed crank arms in the chainring spacing. You can be off by a gear or two but the shifting will be a bit less than optimal. Here's some more discussion about it. Personally I have no problem using a 10 speed crankset with an 8 speed chain/cassette on my mountain bike, but I've also been riding it long enough to be sensitive/responsive to mis-shifts that might happen because of it. I consider it an upgrade, as the 10 speed crankset is quite a bit lighter and stiffer, but if you are prioritizing reliability over eeking a bit more efficiency out of the bike, I'd stick with an 8-speed crankset.

FC-M3000 This is meant for 6/7/8 speed drivetrains and is square-taper, so it would be an exact replacement and you wouldn't have any issues or have to upgrade anything else, but it's not much of an upgrade.

FC-M430 Alivio This is a square taper 3x9 crankset, so it would work even though it is not specifically 8-speed, and looks like a solid upgrade from the most basic model.

FC-M610-L Deore This is a nice crankset. Also 2-piece BB and 10-speed spacing. I have one like it on my bike. It would work with a new BB but would be sub-optimal shifting with 8 speed. FC-MT500-3 is basically the same.

You don't need to stick with Shimano either, something like the SRAM S600 would work also, as it is 8 speed and square taper.


SRAM force upgrade from compact to standard 53-39 I have a SRAM force compact crankset and I want to change it to a standard 53-39.
Is it possible and how do I do it?

Yes, it is possible and fairly easy. You'll need to purchase a new chain in either route you go. You will also need to move and readjust your front derailleur.

You can purchase a new standard crankset and swap it out. You'll need to ensure that you get the correct version to match the bottom bracket which is most likely either BB30 or GXP and should be detailed on either your frame documentation on the frame itself or the bottom bracket.

If you do not have experience with this, you might want to bring it to a shop to actually switch out your cranks if you go that route to ensure proper installation.


9 speed cassette to put 42 teeth I like to start cycling again but I have a steep hill to arrive at home so I would like to put a 42 teeth. I have an Ideal mountain bike model hillmaster with a 9 speed cassette. All videos on you tube show that I cannot install a 42 teeth on my 9 speed. Can I put the 42 teeth instead of the 32 teeth.

Thanks all,

9 speed 11-36 is a common maximum cassette size.

42 would probably be too large for a 9 speed dérailleur to work reliably (Only 11 are specified to cope with 42 ). You would likely have trouble with the B screw adjustment, requiring a longer B screw or other hacks to get the dérailleur to clear the large cog. Even if you did succeed, the chain wrap would be minimal, increasing wear on chain and cogs.

You don't say what the chaining sizes are on your MTB, or your wheel size. A better option would be a smaller chain ring.


Why should you not just buy the chain with more links? I have the choice of buying a 114 or a 116 link chain for the same price.

Why would I not buy the longer one and shorten it?

In my case my bike previously had 108 links, and assuming that was correct, 114 should be sufficient, but given it may need shortened, is it not worth buying the longer chain just in case?

If your old chain was sized appropriately for your drivetrain, and you're not changing anything, then you're going to shorten the new chain to the length of the old chain (via counting links, or lying the chains on the ground and pinching them together).

Then, you throw the remaining links into your tool box in case of needing them as spares for a repair in the future. Eventually, you have enough spare links in your tool box and you start throwing the spare links away when you get a new chain (or better yet, as Kibbee suggests, donate them to a bike co-op/shop).

So, it doesn't matter which one you buy in the long run -- the chain just has to be long enough to begin with (unless its a bike which needs a longer chain, like a tandem in which case you need to buy 2 chains and combine them).


Buying parts for an extra set of wheels: will a an 11 speed freehub body accept a 12 speed cassette? I'm mechanically inclined, but I don't know much about modern bicycles. I have a Rocky Mountain C70. Since I live in the city, I'd love to have a second set of wheels that aren't knobby for the paved trails around my area.

I know a lot of people say "just get a second bike", but I don't have the storage area for that, so it's not an option. It's either this project has to work out or I just have to ride my knobbies.

I'm investigating getting a second set of wheels for only occasional use. I've decided to field as much stuff as cheaply as possibly from chinese supplies like ali express, or find used stuff on ebay. It appears I can fit 700c tire/rim combos on my bike because it's setup for 29" tires. I don't want to do a cassette/rotor swap every time, so I'm going to purchase those as well so I can drop the new set of tires on like a nascar pit stop.

I need help with the shopping list and any potential "gotchas" before purchasing items.

What I've found so far is a cheap pair of 700c rims on aliexpress with spokes already installed. The freehub says it's shimano compatible, but for an 11 speed.

That gives me my first question, will the 11s rotor be long enough to fit a 12speed?
What about rotor/hub width, is everything a standard width? Once I have these rims and install the brake discs, will they line up into the pads?
Do I need to worry about axel sizes?
What else do I need besides 700c rims, tires, brake discs, cassette, and tires?

Thank you!

You can put 12 speed on any of the freehub body types found on mountain bikes (HG, XD, or Micro Spline), but if you want to use a 10t small cog you can't use HG.

The spacing from the rotor mount surface to the dropout is standard, but the tolerance is big enough to make this the spot where alternate wheelsets can be tricky to make work with no adjustment. In other words, between two hubs of rhe same OLD spec, with the same rotor on each, the rotors will wind up close to the same plane, but possibly not close enough to center them given you're working with so little margin for error. The first thing to do if you can is get another one of the exact same hub, although I understand that may not apply here.

With 6-bolt you can use micro shims to build up the rotor mounting surface of whichever hub is more inboard to achieve drop-in interchangeability as best as possible. It will still be subject to rotor wear and trueness. There's no equivalent trick if one of the hubs is centerlock and it happens to place the rotor more inboard.

You need to use the same hub OLD your frame takes, like 142x12, 148x12 (Boost), etc.

Hubs usually put the cassete in close enough to exactly the same position for wheel swaps without adjustment. In the road world this is important because rapid wheel swaps are so integral to the sport. As you can imagine, it's still possible for tolerance considerations to make it not work, and a cheap MTB hub with 12-speed is probably about the most likely place for that to occur. There aren't any shims small enough I'm aware of to tune it the same way as above.

Many wheels don't come with rim tape or strips. And from your list you'd also need tubes or valves and sealant as applicable.