How to use bicycle gear ratios In a 21 speed bicycle, which is the fastest gear ratio.
Smallest on front and largest on back or vice versa?

It depends on your cadence (number of times you're turning the chainrings). If you fix the cadence, largest chainring (gear in the front) and smallest cog (gear in the back) will be fastest.

In practice, you will not be able to keep up the same cadence on all gear combinations, so depending on the cadence you can keep, a smaller chainring in the front and a larger cog in the back may end up being faster (since you can use a higher cadence) than a larger chainring and smaller cog (which, if you could spin at the same cadence would be faster, but you can't).

You can use this calculator to see what speed you get for a given cadence for the chainrings and rear cogs on your bike.


I bought a bmx with a 20x2.35 inch tyres on them, can i buy and put a 20x2.4 inch tyre on them without changing the rim and inner tube? I bought a bmx with 2.35 inch tyres on them , could I buy and put 2.4 inch tyres in the same rim and do I have to get another inner tube for it ?

Look at the clearance between your existing tires and frame/fork. 0.05" is about 1.3 mm, so it means about 0.7 mm at each side. This is hardly noticeable difference. If your tires are not already dangerously close to rubbing your frame/fork, neither are the 2.4" tires.

Be aware, however, that manufacturer's measure of a tire is an estimate, and actual tire width depends on the rim width and other factors. Tires marked as 2.4" may in fact be narrower than older 2.35".

Inner tubes are flexible and can stand at least 2× to 3× variation in width. In your case, the difference is about 2%, so you'll be fine.

Similar goes with the rims. There are limits on how wide a tire makes sense to install on a rim of given width, but 2% of difference is just below error margin.


What is this fender part called and where do I get one? My bike came with this plastic bracket thing that holds the fender to the fork arch. It's very convenient and now I want to buy another one. Unfortunately, I cannot find this part anywhere online, and I don't even know what it's called. I tried searching for obvious things like "fender fork clip" but no results.

Does this thing have an official name? Do you know where I can get one?

You could try finding the fender online, and then see what parts come with it.


What bicycle safe anti-car road spikes exist? I am curious if there is a technology that allows bicycles to run over it, but will destroy car tires.
From my understanding, usually poles like this are placed on trails to prevent vehicles from passing through.

Apparently, in Russia, there is a common issue with car drivers using the sidewalk. To allow the passage of bicycles and not cars, without making the pedestrians navigate between poles, maybe some kind of technology can solve the problem while keeping everyone safe.

Explaination from comments:  The russians have a real problem with drivers on the footpath / bike path / sidewalk. So there have been groups of vigilantes stopping a car on the footpath and haranguing the driver for bad behaviour. One thing they do is slap a huge hard-to-remove sticker on the car's window right in front of the driver. Literal sticker text translation would be "I spit on everyone and drive how I want"

Keeping cars off a bike path is easily done with bollards. Good solid posts 1-1.5m apart will completely block cars, and the middle one can be a removable, lockable version to allow service vehicle access. Alternatively a gate can be provided next to the bike gap. This also permits horse riders. Where the primary concern is horse riders but bikes are permitted, a gate that a horse can step over is sometimes fitted. A cyclist has to dismount and lift the bike over - one thing on a lightly loaded MTB, another touring with a trailer. Here a picture of one (CC-by-SA David Hawgood via Geograph.org.uk):

In this case it would also be possible to get a bike round the gate.

Some care is needed in designing the layout of bollards and similar to ensure that recumbents and especially trikes can pass, but a straight stretch of path makes this easier.

I suggest that blocking cars isn't the hard part. Blocking motorbikes is the hard part and not one I've seen a good solution to, as off-road motorbikes aren't much bigger than bikes (narrower than trikes) and can be lifted over a step-over gate.


What should I use to lubricate a freehub? I've noticed my freehub has gotten quite a bit louder over the last few months. Several people have recommended that I lubricate the freewheel by tipping the bike on its side and dripping lubricant into the freewheel. However, I've gotten differing opinions on what to use for a lubricant.

Is it safe to use a chain lube on the freehub or is there a better lubricant for this purpose?

Edit: In response to one of the answers, I have a freehub (2011 bicycle). Question edited appropriately.

Freewheel (old technology) or freehub (current technology)?   People tend to use the terms interchangeably, but they are quite different.
A freewheel can be pretty effectively lubed with any medium-viscosity oil.  There's not much in there; a couple of ratcheting "pawls" and their pivots.

You don't want anything that will gum up and cause the pawls to stick.

On a freehub, the mechanism is pretty well-sealed and greased from the factory.  However, they are pretty easy to disassemble in most cases.
They do make a clever tool called the "Freehub Buddy" which lets you inject grease into the thing without disassembly.

However, at 40 bucks it's a bit steep for home use where you would only use it every couple of years or so.


What is the downside to me purchasing a road bike instead of a hybrid? I'm about to move to a place closer to my work where I'll be able to ride to and from the office (9km ride each way).

I'm not super fit but I occasionally ride to work from where I'm living now which is a 14km commute on an old mountain bike with some thinner tyres fitted. I need a change of clothes for those rides.

I figured with the move, it's a good opportunity to get into riding. I plan on riding every day and me and my gf may even sell one of our cars eventually.

Which is why I'm thinking I need a real bike. I'm a little torn between getting a hybrid commuting bike or a road bike.

My brain tells me a hybrid is much more practical but I tried a road bike the other day (only in a car park), and it just seems SO much lighter and smoother. In terms of the handle bars, it was awkward but I think I could get used to it.

So yeah, if I pick a road bike where I can stick a rack on, should I just go ahead and buy a road bike instead of a hybrid? Is there anything a hybrid will offer me that a road bike will not? How do road bikes handle when they have racks?

The real answer is that for a 9km ride, virtually any bike will do the trick. It's hard to be uncomfortable on a bike (that fits you) for that short of a ride.

However, I'm fully in the road bike camp on this question. Hybrids are, in my opinion, a compromise with no real benefits. Most people aren't going to ride them off-road (and most road bikes can deal with short periods of offroad travel without problems). Cushioned saddles look great to novices, but divert weight away from your sit bones and are all but guaranteed to be uncomfortable should you decide to ride longer distances (for this reason, I can't recommend leather saddles highly enough, particularly Brooks'). The knobby tires that come standard on most hybrids have poor road  handling characteristics, and actually result in less traction on the road in wet conditions (bicycles cannot hydroplane).

On the contrary, a properly setup road commuter will offer you more hand positions via the drop handlebars (on the flats, the hoods, and drops) compared to just one. This will be invaluable for longer rides where your hands fatigue from maintaining one position. They can come with wider non-racing tires (I commute on 28C Panaracer Ribmo tires, and haven't had a flat in over 10,000km). And appropriate commuting frames come with rack and pannier bosses, and many will have racks preinstalled.

So while a hybrid bike will work, an appropriately-equipped road bike would be better in that it will be able to adapt to your needs should find yourself wanting to ride longer distances or join faster group rides.


What do I need to grease when assembling a new bike? I just took delivery of my first road bike. I guess it's an entry-level to intermediate level bike. I need to do a bit of assembly, and there weren't any instructions. It seems reasonably straightforward, but I just want to ensure I'm doing it right.

I found a couple of questions here:
Assembly of New Bike
What do I grease and what do I lubricate?

But what I'm wondering about specifically is what I need to put grease on now. I've figured out that I should put some inside the frame before installing the seatpost, and I should put some on the threads of the pedals before installing. But what about the front wheel axle? Am I supposed to put grease there before tightening everything up? I realise it's maybe a basic question, but I'm a newbie and as I said, I just want to ensure I'm doing things right.

Edit to add: The bike is a Scott Speedster 30.

FRAME Double Butted 6061 Alloy
FORK Carbon 1 1/8" Carbon steerer

This is for your specific bike.

Must grease:

Pedal threads
Seatpost unless frame or post are carbon, then must apply carbon prep
instead

Things that usually have an adequate amount of grease or other prep pre-applied, but should be checked and greased otherwise:

BB threads
Stem bolts (many are pre-loctited and don't need extra lubrication if
so)
Crank bolts

Things that are nice touches to grease, not critical, and probably won't have it pre-applied:

RD pivot bolt
Chainring bolts
Cassette lockring
QR shafts and threads
Brake pad mounting hardware
All headset contact surfaces, i.e. the bearing surfaces and
compression ring.

Also it's ideal to put carbon prep on the stem contact of the steerer. Not utterly critical, but it lets you feel good about running the minimum torque value for the stem binder bolts.

The "not critical" items are all good ideas to grease to prevent future issues with corrosion. The post and pedals are less negotiable; issues with seizing are very likely without lubrication. That's a factor on the other ones too, but the other thing you're trying to achieve by greasing threads is to make sure correct thread preload is applied. Anti-seize can be used instead on any of the threads. It's way messier, which is why it's not as popular, but is more specifically formulated for both jobs, so you won't get in any trouble using it and there are good arguments for its superiority.


Replacing the fulcrum lever of a Sturmey-Archer hub with something else. I'm trying to find a way to bodge a S.-A. SRF5(W) hub onto a bike with difficult dropouts.  There are two main problems (looking at step 6 of this diagram and also at these part pictures p.15,41 will aid in understanding this description, should you care to do so):

Problem 1: The axle is a bit too short to take all the washers and nuts on the right-hand (drive) side.

Problem 2: The bend in the fulcrum arm is not sharp enough to get around the lips of the dropouts.

Solution 1: get rid of the fulcrum arm (see link 2, pg. 41) and just use the locating washer (I think I can probably prang it off with a cold-chisel).  I could then cut the fulcrum arm bend off and attach the straight piece with clamps or somesuch to the chainstay.  As I understand it the fulcrum arm is not actually resisting rotational forces (that's done by the anti-rotation washers on the flat-sides axle), but instead is providing a place for the mounting of a barrel-adjuster screw to allow tuning of the shift lever.

Solution 2:  hope that someone is going to tell me that I can simply using Fitting Kit HFIS5.PHSV (p.15 ) which seems to magically replace the fulcrum arm, gear selector guid and g.s.g. protective cover with two simpler parts.

Solution 3:  try to get a thinner, more steep angled fulcrum lever machined for me ... or mock it up out of soft aluminum.  It LOOKS as though it's only function is to provide a mounting point for the barrel adjuster screw (see 3.Gear Adjustment of link 1)

To answer my own question:

Solution #2 is good.

It's possible to replace the fulcrum arm and pulley assembly with a short guide nut (HMN420) as long as there's a cable stop somewhere on the frame.  You can also buy what S.A. calls "fulcrum clips", see catalogue linked in question above, which effectively provide a cable stop.

This combination has the advantage that it will fit into a tight dropout with deep circular lips that impede the fitting of the fulcrum arm and/or the pulley assembly.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Tony Hadland in his supplement to The Sturmey Archer Story mentions that a different, but similar hub, the Sprinter would work with/out the fulcrum arm, so this is a use-case which S.A. has tried to address for some time:

  The Sprinter used the same shell as the 5-StAr; and like the 5-StAr,
  had the same ratios as the S5 series. However, the Sprinter's
  arrangements for routing the toggle chain into the hub were novel in
  that there were four options: the traditional flared wheel nut; or a
  "gear selector pulley" in a housing which slid over the wheel nut; and
  in either case with or without an axle-fitting fulcrum lever/clip.
  These options were felt necessary because of the high cable tension
  necessary for single cable selection of five gears - which with an
  ordinary flared nut and banded-on fulcrum clip could give stiff
  operation and/or cause the clip to slip along the chainstay. However,
  with a brazed-on cable stop, the flared nut worked quite well.

Whether the SRF5(W) has the same concerns about high cable-tension remains to be seen. One downside to using a fulcrum-clip (e.g. HSJ513 - HSJ514, HSJ548,HSJ543) on three-speed hubs is that the cable can apparently hang loose in certain gears.  A suggested remedy is using full-length cable housing.


Is this a bike light and how do I turn it on? (I know it sounds stupid) I've been doing a lot more cycling in the last year since moving to a new town and have really enjoyed it.

I had a fairly crappy bike though and went to a secondhand store quite far away to get a good bike at a nice price.

One big issues is there is what I assume is the bike light in front of it (just one) but I see no way to get it to actually turn on, which means I can barely cycle now.

I used to have the lights where you move that part down to touch the wheel and the movement causes the light to go on (best way I can explain it). This doesn't do that. I also don't see any on/off button or basically any obvious way to get it to work. The store I bought is really far away as are the good bike stores (I live in a small town.)

I've started to wonder if it's really a light or a reflector - although it looks like the former. Any help please?

This is a halogen light. Such lights are usually powered by a bottle dynamo. That is a small electric generator that is driven by the front or the rear wheel. There is usually no switch. One simply engages the dynamo by pushing it down, such that a spring presses it against the flank of the tyre.

Some bikes have a hub dynamo instead. In this case there might be a small switch at each light. A hub dynamo looks like a very large front hub (central part of the wheel).

If you have such a dynamo make sure that the light is connected to it. Follow the wires from the lamp to the dynamo. On older bicycles with bottle dynamos there is typically only one wire. The bicycle frame serves as common ground connection.

Check if the dynamo is properly pushed to the tyre and that its wheel spins when you spin the tyre.

The bulb in the lamp might be defective or missing. Replacement bulbs are not very expensive. But they may be hard to find today. An inexpensive led lamp might be a better replacement, as such lamps are considerably brighter.

Finding the fault may be a little tricky without a volt meter or other means to test electrical connections. If you cannot got to a bike shop anyone who is handy with simple electrics may help you out. For example, electricians or car mechanics.


Which way do I orient my bike tire's tread direction? and why? I have a mountain bike tire that has stamped on the side something like:

<----------front   rear------------->

Which seems like a pretty clear indication that the tire should be oriented in one direction when used in the front, and the opposite when used in the rear.  Is that right?  This is counter intuitive to me - I would have expected tire tread to face the same direction on both wheels - like cars.

If so, is this true in all cases?  For example, road bike tires with tread to handle rain?

And finally...why?

The tires have more traction in some directions than in others.

Your front wheel does most of the braking; your rear wheel does all of the propulsion.

Tires are oriented to give the most traction to the primary fore-and-aft forces.


How do I train for climbing in a relatively flat area? How do you best train for climbs in a flat area?  I am aiming to tackle some UK climbs in N. Yorks and the Lakes come autumn but I only have access to the flat local countryside at the moment.  I don’t have any specialist equipment to quantify power output (e.g. power meter) or proxy measures of exercise intensity (e.g. pulse meter).   The image below describes the most hilly circuit I can access nearby.

I have read around the topic from the following sources:

http://roadcyclinguk.com/how-to/cycling-fitness-tips-climbing-drills.html
http://road.cc/content/forum/27585-training-hills-when-you-live-flat
http://www.kingstonwheelers.co.uk/coaching4.shtml
http://www.bicycling.com/training-nutrition/training-fitness/no-climb-climbing-bike-workout [this offers a suggested workout]

And the key pieces of information seem to be as follows:

Lose weight to improve power to weight ratio.
Optimize the bike for climbing by selecting appropriate gears etc.
Use a turbo trainer (not possible for me)
Train abroad (not possible for me)
Practice sprints into a headwind in a big gear – aiming for development of quads and core
TT training – you spend a similar amount of time at a similar power output as used in longer in alpine climbs.
Train on any climb available with a bike loaded shopping.
Practice good pedal technique – on a hill every pedal stroke will count due to the heavier load.
Interval training at lactate threshold (difficult to characterise without specialist equipment)

With all this said I am still unsure how to make the best of the short climbs I have locally.  Is it best to practice in low or high gears?  Is it worth trying to tack on a short sprint at the summit of these climsb?

Can you measure your cadence? (The answer to this is that you can, even if you have to resort to counting strokes and looking at your watch. But a computer will make it easier.)

On the flat, try riding in a high gear and at a high cadence, as much as you are able.

This should translate to lower gear / high cadence when climbing (which is what you want).

A word of warning though, riding in too high a gear can cause knee pain, which isn't good. So you're basically looking for a threshold - the highest gear you can manage, while maintaining a decent cadence (say, 70 to start with, but ideally higher) and without it being painful.

Something you won't be able to reproduce is the heat - climbs can get very hot as there often isn't much airflow. But as you say you're riding in Yorkshire that shouldn't be a problem ;-)


Freehub has notches worn into it: is it OK? I bought a pair of second-hand wheels, and after removing cassette noticed these notches on the freehub. Is the freehub still in OK condition?

The bumps on the freehub splines are caused by steel cogs on the cassette digging into the softer aluminum metal on the freehub.

You can use a file and file down the ridges, once, maybe twice without affecting performance too much, but eventually you will want to purchase a new freehub.

Depending on your needs, you can purchase a steel freehub and this issue shouldn't be a problem.


What do I need to research to switch to an internally geared hub? I have a bike that I rather like, but it's geared entirely for high-speed road bike type work.  It's fantastic on the flat areas of the route that I take every day, but I also have a couple of serious hills that I cannot climb with this one (I can climb them with a different bike).

So, I'm looking at the possibility of saving money to replace the entire bike, or to regear it.  An option that I saw today was something like the Shimano Alfine 11-speed hubs.  I've not calculated gear ratios, but it's claimed that they have a very wide range and such a thing would benefit me.

So, if I wanted to retrofit my bike to an internally geared hub, what is involved (and what are the terms I'm looking for)?

size of axle?
distance across the rear fork?
what to do with no-longer-used rear derailleur?
will my existing grip-shifter need to be replaced, and does that entail anything other than just putting the new one on and attaching the wires?
will my entire rear wheel need to be replaced?

I'm pretty vague on what industry terminology would be used in this case.  I'm also trying to evaluate the viability of even doing this as I balance my options for adjusting or replacing the bike to better fit the city I live in.  The only adjustment I haven't mentioned is for me to replace the front chainring (there's only one on this bike) with something a little smaller.  I'd lose level-ground power but gain some climbing power.  And that, really, might be the least expensive and easiest of all of my options.

The first thing you should be looking into is gearing to ensure that an internally geared hub will work for you! The more you pay, the more gear range you get out of a hub, but even the nicest internally geared hubs don't match the spread of standard mountain bike gearing.
If you've decided that an Alfine 11 hub is for you then to answer your questions in order:
-the axle size shouldn't be an issue.
-the hub spacing is 135mm. That's mountain bike spacing typically. Apparently it can be adapted down to 130mm but I'm not going to detail how to do that here
-sell it/keep it/ use it as a paperweight
-The hub will have a dedicated shifter. I seem to remember that there are both trigger and grip shift options. Should fit without issue, though you'll probably have to take your grips/bar tape off.
-Yes, unless you have an incredibly nice rim with the proper drilling that you want to re-use.
You will also need a chain tensioner if your bike does not have horizontal/track-style dropouts, which I doubt it does. I believe there's one that goes along with the Alfine that Shimano sells as an accessory, though I don't think you have to have that particular one.


How do you spot fake Campagnolo Bora's? I have my eye on a set of second hand Campagnolo Bora Ultra two rims that are being sold by a friend for someone else. In South Africa the rims cost about +- R25 k (Rand is South Africa's currency) brand new with this set costing around R12.5 k.

I have had the rims looked at to make sure that they are sound however I would like to know if there is a serial or id code I can use to make sure the rims are real or fakes.

Campagnolo's system is to provide a tag,Certilogo, with new wheels which people can scan to confirm it is indeed authentic.

However, with a used wheel, there is no such tag. With carbon fiber, its incredibly easy for people to make very good counterfeits, so as Campagnolo says, if the wheel doesn't come with the tag, you should consider it being from uncertain origin (i.e. it could be fake).

You can also post pictures on forums to see if people can identify them by certain markings, mismatched aesthetics, features that shouldn't be there (brake tracks, for example, or wrong spoke pattern) and weigh them. For example, this thread gives some indicators of fake Campy wheels. It looks like this model is reasonably commonly faked, so keep your eyes wide open.


Cup and cone bearings: better a little tight or a little loose? A bike is commonly full of cup and cone bearings: pedals, hubs, bottom bracket, headset etc... The component change but the logic still the same the bearing is in between an axle, a pair of cones and a locknut. Sometimes, when you overhaul some bearings it's almost impossible to achieve the perfect tightness of the cones and locknut, if you retry you'll get a bit loose, sometimes a litte tight, never the in between perfection. It has happened to me only ones/twice that I was really satisfied about the tightness, so I was asking to myself: better to leave a bit loose or a bit tight?

As loose as possible without play. Bearings are supposed to have some amount of preload, which is a fancy name for being a bit tight as opposed to being loose. There should never be play once adjusted and on the bike.
For QR hubs, a good target amount of play off the bike is such that the play can be felt on the bike with the QR 50% closed but not 100%. Some people use tools either commercially available (the Stein axle vise) or improvised to adjust the hub while under QR compression. That is technically better but slower.
Without preload, the distribution of load is uneven across the bearing race surfaces, and they become worn prematurely.
Some people talk themselves into the idea that a bias towards loose is okay in some circumstances, but it is not. One of these scenarios is when prior damage (pitting, brinelling) or a bent axle is creating a situation where you have a rough spot unless you make the whole thing loose. The correct answer is still as loose as possible without play. Neither is perfect in this situation, but if you give it play, the overall condition will get worse faster.


Tour de Trump/Tour DuPont routes? The Tour de Trump (later Tour DuPont) was run from 1989 to 1996 on the East Coast. Information regarding the details of these events seems to be sparse, especially the earlier editions.

Does anyone have maps of the stage routes for each of these events (1989-1996)?

Are you still looking for stage maps?  I have the Tour DuPont program books from 1993, 1995 & 1996.  They include a map and a profile of each stage.  Also have Lance Armstrong's signature in the 1995 book.

edit - Here's a first snap of the overall maps for the three years.

Apologies for the quality - I've just snapped them with a phone in the meantime, and the glossy paper makes it hard to avoid reflections.  Better images will be coming, will scan the lot with a flatbed scanner.

1993:

1995:

1996:

EDIT Here's the complete 1993 magazine: https://criggie.org.nz/bikes/stackexchange/1993-dupont.pdf  Its 73 Mbytes.


Nice Work Shoes That Won't Get Messed up in Toe-Clips I'm a commuter and I'm looking for shoes that won't get totally messed up by my pedal toe clips.

I've been using something similar to these. Any other suggestions?

Don't change the shoes, change the pedal. A hybrid pedal would satisfy both needs. It features a clip and a flat "normal shoes" side. Because for commuting sport-like conditions are probably not so important.

http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/pedals/mountain/product.-code-PD-A530.-type-.pd_mountain.html

greets Josef


Is there a tool (or preferred method) for removing the snapring that holds the cog on a coaster brake hub? I was overhauling a coaster hub the other day. The snapring was recessesed and no screwdriver in my arsenal was small enough to remove the piece.

Park recommends using a small screwdriver to remove the ring:

I resorted to digging it out with the small blade on my Swiss army knife. I know this is stupid for several reasons; that's why I'm asking if there's a better way. Is there some kind of weird pliers or something that's designed to make snapring removal a snap? Or is there a better way?

The ends of the ring often taper, sometimes only one end does. That makes it slightly easier to get a screwdriver under the ring. But doing that often just pushes the ring around. Better to use a pair of pliers to spread the end, then a screwdriver to lift it. It will usually pop off, but the plier hand can usually block it from flying across the room.

I've commonly used the circlip pliers that force something open. They're reasonably well designed for the task although grinding the outer surfaces flat improves things. Even so, I often find that the job really requires three hands - for the pliers, a screwdriver and to catch the ring. Plus another to hold the wheel if you don't have an axle vise. AFAIK there is not easy way to do it - I've seen a number of mechanics who work on these a lot and all of them use either pliers or a screwdriver or both. Practice seems to make it faster rather than easier - they've all ended up chasing the ring around the cog at times.

Unless you have a spare pair of those pliers or work in a bike shop I think you're better off buying a proper small screwdriver than the pliers, because small screwdrivers have more uses.

Note that the bottom right pair open the jaws when you squeeze the handle. This is what you want.


Need help trying to find a solution to these vertical, linear scratches on my Rockshox stanchions I'm unsure whether these scratches are completely normal wear for my 3 year old never-been-serviced Rockshox Recon TK Silver 29 because they don't feel rough to the touch, and the fork has been functioning properly, no oil leaks whatsoever. This issue appears to be mostly cosmetic, and so I would like to know what the cause is and what I can do about it. Do I need new seals? Bushings? etc.
I've only tried cleaning the stanchions before and after every ride to minimize the dust/dirt.
Attached are photos of the scratches.

The seals at the top of the leg are known as dust wipers and need regular replacement. They are a consumable part. Inside the seal is a foam donut that wipes any dust that makes it past the rubber seal. Eventually the accumulated dust starts chewing at the legs.
Service intervals depend on the amount of use the bike gets and how dusty your local area is but 50-100 hours is a number thrown around lots. Check the manual for your fork.
You or your bike shop need perform at least a "lower leg service" which is pretty easy to do at home with regular service tools. Theres lots of YouTube videos on the topic.
Dust wiper, foam seal and crush washer kit

Since it hasn't been serviced since 2017 you should consider a full service which is better done by a pro unless you really want to learn about fork servicing and buy the special tools like C-Clip pliers, upper leg sockets and parts/oils/syringes. Not impossible, but easy to mess up and best with a workshop. If the fork feels "notchy" when you compress it thats a big clue that a full service is required.


Is a Shimano Dura-Ace 7800 rear derailleur compatible with a Dura-Ace 7900 11-27 cassette? Is the Shimano Dura-Ace 7900 10 speed cassette with a ratio of 11-27 cassette compatible with a dura-ace 7800 rear derailleur?

Some people say its fine but more important to me is what Shimano says on the matter. Some online retailers specifically state that the DA7900 11-27 ratio cassette is not compatible with the 7800 rear derailleur.

I believe that I saw on Shimano documents that it was not, due to chain wrap problems occurring but cannot find that material through google so am reaching out to you for help.

If you could direct me to material relating to this compatibility it would be very much appreciated!

The RD-7800 manual states that the largest sprocket for a SS is 27T.

Manual here https://static.bike-components.de/cache/dl-rd-7800-2-pdf-ce95c6782564d2bbf75cca831ae0bcbf.pdf


How to choose a set of tyres I have been riding my hard tail on the road for the last 3 years on some knobbly 26 x 2.1 tyres. After just starting a new job and with the need to commute further I am considering purchasing some slicks, however I do not know how best to decide on which tyre to choose. What width should I be going down to and what kind of tread?

I like the look of these http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-sportcontact-city-mtb-tyre-and-tube-set but they also come in two widths, is it the thinner the better?

Usually, for a MTB hard tail, a 26 x 1.25 tire is the narrowest comfortable tire to ride.

It is narrow enough to provide significant benefit to speed and rolling resistance, but not so narrow as to increase the probability of flats and rim damage.

The continental tires you linked are a good choice. I would probably do the 26 x 1.3 version of that tire.


Cutting off welded crankarm A long time ago, when I was younger and stupider, I decided to fix my creaking crank arm by welding the bolt. Yes, I know it was so damn stupid, but I thought that was the problem. I didn't use the bike and welding the bolt didn't even fix my problem. So now I need to fix my bike, but I have no idea how to take off that pedal. I thought of cutting the whole arm off on the bottom bracket with a grinder, but I actually have no idea if that would work. I don't really care if I need to replace the bottom bracket, I just want to know if it would come off without many problems. I know that I will need to buy a new crank arm, because the one I have currently is almost broken.

TL; DR Any suggestions on how to remove a crank arm that has the bolt welded and can't be taken off with a normal tool?

EDIT
I'm adding pictures to help you understand what I got myself into

The core problem is that you need the thread on the bottom bracket axle to attach the new crank, and that will have probably been damaged by your welding. If you can get the bolt out after unwelding, it might be possible to keep the current BB.

If your BB is this style, you might be able to cut the crank off, leaving enough of the bolt to weld on a small arm that will allow you to twist it out of the BB shaft. I would make cuts like this diagram, depending on which crank is affected - the one with the spider and chainrings is more tricky. I think you're trying for two things. First, if you can cut the weld and then cut the crank so it comes off the bike you win. If not, cutting it so you can remove the bolt then slide the crank off is also a win. Cutting into the axle means you lose, so the cuts shown try to avoid that. The middle diagram is supposed to be a sketch of a side view showing my guess as to how you'll need to cut the bolt head & weld off. Assuming you didn't just fill the whole bolt cavity with molten metal... in which case you're probably overheated the BB axle and you lose.

If you're unlucky you will have welded the bolt or crank to the shaft of the BB, and in that case you lose - you need a new BB as well as a new crank.

You will do much better with a 100mm/4" cutting disk (or bigger) than trying to do this with a Dremel or similar "rotary tool". I wouyld also use a thick cutting disk (3mm or 1/8") rather than a thin one, because you are likely to stress the disk a bit with the fiddly angles. But a 200mm/8" grinder is probably too big.

Also, try to mount the crank solidly - if you get the bike frame horizontal you should be able to put the non-welded crank into a a vice. That way the bit you're cutting is fixed, even if the bike can move a little around it.

Edit: seeing the new pictures, it looks as though you have an older style bottom bracket that has nuts rather than bolts. Like the one below:

That means you have welded the threaded part of the bottom bracket axle, so that is now junk. Since you need a new bottom bracket, like Suspended User says just cut the shaft (on the red arrow below) and bin the parts. Get a new crankset and matching BB, plus the tools to install them.


Prevent wheel bearing from coming loose due to disk braking lateral force I have an entry range gravel bike (Kona Rove AL 2017) with disk brakes and the cup and cone front wheel hub shown in the pictures. There is the cone itself that threads on the axle and a top ring that presses against the ball bearings to prevent them from coming loose (see 1st and 2nd pictures for the disassembled bearing). The inner part of this ring is made of rubber to rub against the cone and seal the bearing. Not shown are the lock nuts and washers.

The problem is that braking exerts a rather big lateral force on the wheel that slowly forces the ring to the outside, which in turn causes the bearings to have a lot of lateral play.

How do I deal with this? I thought of changing this setup to one where the cone actually overlaps and presses the ring into place, preventing it from coming loose.
Alternatively I could buy a tool to hammer cartridge bearings into hubs and periodically "tighten" the rings. This would be a pain since I think their inner diameter would not fit the cone nut, forcing me to disassemble the bearings each time.

Edit regarding the misunderstandings on the comments and answers so far.

Let me explain better how my bearings are composed:

There is the cup part where the balls sit, seen in the first picture. To close the bearing on the outside there are the cone and sealing ring seen in the second picture. It is the sealing ring (and not the cone itself) that is causing my problems, as I will detail. This ring is metallic on the outside and made from rubber on the inside (to rub against the cone).

The ring fits very tightly into the hub hole (as tight as a normal cartridge bearing fits). This ring moves tight with the hub and rubs gently against the cone to prevent dirt from coming in. The ring is held in place only due to how tight tight it fits the hub - there is nothing preventing it from moving to the outside if a lateral force is applied from the inside. The cone itself does not overlap this ring (see 3rd picture).

Due to the disk brakes on this bike a lot of lateral force is exerted during breaking. In this bearing setup, as I noticed recently and tried to explain above, if the lateral force applied is strong enough it overcomes the pressure of the tight fit and the ring is slowly moved out (the cone remains always in place, since it is screwed).

Now if this ring does not sit tight to the cup and balls they have play and so does the axle in relation to wheel.

How do I know this is the root cause of the problem? I bought the bike new about a year ago and its front wheel slowly built up lateral play under braking (which in turn induces fork vibration - but that is another story). This lateral play reached about 2 cm at the tire before I decided to inspect the hub last week and noticed the rings were not tight to the balls. After I pressed them again against the balls the play disappeared.

I should also mention that I had the bike inspected twice by the mechanic in this year, explicitly complained about deteriorating fork vibration and wheel play (since then I did not knew the root cause of it) and was told it was normal and still safe to ride.

This isn't making sense.

The cone holds the balls in  place.

The locknuts (not shown) keep the cones in place.

The grease seal has no effect on the tightness of the bearing.

If your cone is moving, you have not tightened the locknut against the cone (or it has been omitted).

You need a cone spanner (thin spanner) and a second spanner, to tighten the locknut hard against the cone.

It is a bit tricky to tighten cones - or more accurately, you will find yourself having to redo it a few times to get it correct. Correct is when there is a tiny amount of play, that disappears when the quick-release is tightened. Check for play after a few days, and readjust if needed.


Is 11- 34 rear cassette necessary? I have a road bike with a compact crank and 11-25 rear cassette(9 rings) at the moment. And my local climb is 35k long with an incline between 10- 30%. I really struggle with it. I have to stop like 5- 10 times to complete it. I am thinking of upgrading the cassette. I have an option between 11-30,32,34. I was wondering if it is really worth it to get the biggest cassette? Any opinions would be appreciated? Thanks.

For grades beyond 10% having a gear that you can spin at the rate you can climb makes a big difference.

Only you can know exactly what gear that should be. If you can find a gear ratio tool that displays speeds for a given gear, wheel size and rpm. This one seems pretty good.

http://www.bikecalc.com/cadence_at_speed

Then think about your typical speeds while climbing on the steep sections. You need a gear that will allow you to spin at a least 60 rpm and still keep those speeds.

A gear that works at 30% and 60 rpm probably isn't possible with a compact crankset.

FWIW, Where I ride has lots of climbs above 10% in the 5-10k range and I see lot's of riders with compact cranksets and 11-34 clusters.

Personally, I think if you are really considering this, you'd be much better off getting a compact 110 Bcd triple and something like 24/36/48 gearing. It's not that you get that much lower gears, but you get many more useable gears. Having a choice of a few gears in the low range makes a lot of difference compared to just the one or two extra low gears you get by going to a wide range cluster.


Help with cassette, worn or not? I have done exactly 2879 km on my cassette, and currently I got myself a new chain which is a third for this cassette. With first chain I made 1985km, but I already noticed a significant degradation in shifting so I replaced the chain. Then with the second chain I did only 894km, but did not experienced misshifting, I just measured the chain with a chain tool (two different tools) and and it showed lots of stretch, so I replaced for the 3rd time. Now I am wondering will this chain with this much "worn" cassette last at least some reasonable time/km/miles? I have done 33km with this new chain to see how will it perform and it didn't skipped at all, I could still call it a precise shifting through all the gears, but on some cogs there's a "grinding" feel if you know what I mean. I always keep my chain, cassette and crank clean after every ride, road or off road. So would it be wise to get a new cassette at this point? Or try and see how long will this new chain last? In case someone is interested the cassette is shimano 50-9 11-34, first two chains were hg53 and the 3rd one is kmc x9.

By looking on the shape of the tooth on the biggest cog, it looks worn out and a time for a replacement. Grinding feeling on a clean chain is always a sign of wear.

Also worn-out cassette will will wear out chains much quicker. And you already feel that - second chain got only 50% of usage from the first chain.

I would just replace the cassette, before the new chain is also stretched out.

p.s. you are far too precise with your mileage!


Transmission (cassette/crankset) considerations for 1st road bike purchase I currently have a touring bike, with fenders, rack, panniers, and so on.
I currently run a triple crankset 28/38/48 and 9sp 11-34 cassette.
I mostly commute and tour with this bike. And with a fair load, I mostly ride on my 48 in front and 14-ish and around in the back.
I can climb most climbs with the 38 and sometimes as high as the 26 (rarely the 30 and 34t)

As I want to go more on the workout/sport/exercise type of riding I am considering the purchase of a road bike (more of a racing type).

I prefer a compact 50/34 crankset but am wondering for the cassette, do I need to go as high as a 10sp 12-30 to climb all I need?
Because I also like the idea of closer gears, so is 12-28 or 12-25 too tough?

First, about the big steps between gears: you should really go on a test ride to see how you like shifting on a bike with such big steps between gears. For some people it's not a big deal, for others, it's a major annoyance. I don't think anyone else can make that kind of qualitative decision for you.

Using Sheldon Brown's Gear Calculator, I calculated some approximate ratios for the gears you use most commonly. I don't have the exact wheelbase or BCD for your bike, but here are the approximate ratios for the gears you mentioned using most often:

48 / 14: 6.9

38 / 26: 2.9

38 / 34: 2.3

There's some decent range that you use there. FWIW, my 1970's Motobecane Nomade with a 52/40 crankset and a 14x28 rear cluster covers a range down from 7.5 down to 2.8. That's good for your average commute, but leaves you without the bailout gear for when you have a really tough climb. It's back to the problem you originally stated -- it's all about whether you want the bailout gears or not. From a purely functional standpoint, however, the compact crank is not a bad idea.

If you're really interested in getting a bike with the gearing range that you have one your current touring model, you should run the numbers through the aforementioned gear calculator. Note that the calculator also shows the percentage increase/decrease between gears (as stated earlier, lower % increase typically makes for a smoother riding experience).


How should an unattached SunRace R90 bar end shifter behave? A few months ago I bought a SunRace R90 9 speed bar end shifter off eBay because it was ridiculously cheap and left it in a drawer.

My 8 speed Ultegra bar end has just died and I'm considering buying a 9 speed cassette and chain and using my eBay shifter rather than forking out £40 for a new lever.

The only question is if the SunRace is in working condition.

Perhaps naively I'd expect to be able to move it through 8 'clicks'. In actual fact I can move it through about 15.

Is this normal, or has it got a fault?

Without forking out for parts I've no way to try it out.

Found this on Rivendale Bike works regarding the R90 barend 9sps:

  Use: They click but don’t index. Out of the package and not on a bike, they click about 18 times. In the span of shifting over a 9-sp cassette, they click about 13 times. This sounds trick or confusing, but it isn’t at all. Like a with a pure friction shifter, you move the lever til the shift is made. With these levers, the first three clicks coincide with the small three cogs. After that, it takes two clicks to get the subsequent cogs.
  Now, I totally understand if this weirds you out, but don’t run away so fast—nobody on Planet Earth has shifted these levers even 1/20th as much as I have, and I’m telling you, it is a cinch. In the mid and upper range, one click isn’t enough, but two clicks are.

Source: RIVBIKE.COM


MTB crankset change, large ring from 42 to 48 teeth I have changed my front crank set from 42 to a 48 tooth ring. I am having difficulty setting up the front mech. The problem I am having is that the (don't know the name) tail? the box frame bit at the back of the mech is painfully close to the large cog.
Whilst this is working I have no faith in in it remaining in place, if is does slip the results could be nasty.
So in performing this change is there a specific front mech change that I also need to perform?

with a bigger chainring you may simply need to install the front mech higher up the seat tube.. The outer part of the 'cage', if correctly positioned should be just a couple of millimetres above the biggest chainring when you change up..
Not sure this answers your question but i hope so...!


Performance consistently better in the evening? This has been on the back of my mind for ~5 years after I started riding consistently but never got around to asking it. I always get faster average speed/power (Strava estimate, I don't have a power meter) in the evening compared to morning or noon. I've verified this over many, many rides. Why is this?

This is a very normal, but not particularly well understood phenomenon.

If you google "cycling higher power output in evening" you will find several published scientific papers showing improved performance in the evening.


How different it is to ride with same gear ratio with 26" and 28" Do you know how much of a difference it is to ride with specific gear ratio (example 48/16) with 28" wheels and 26" wheels?

Yes. You can do the math on this: (chainring ÷ sprocket) × wheel size. With a wheel that has an outer diameter at the tire of 26", you'd get 78 gear inches. With a 28" wheel, it would be 84 gear inches, or about 7% higher.

On a multi-gear setup, I've found that a 7% step is just about the smallest step that's really noticeable.


Schwinn Meridian Adult Tricycle not easy to turn left. Turning right is fine It turns right just fine but going to the left, whether on a curve or a hard left turn, seems stiff and a bit precarious. Can this be repaired?

Some trikes drive only one rear wheel, so that when you're turning with that wheel on the inside, it will handle differently than when you're turning with that wheel on the outside. So that might explain it. If so, that's just the nature of the trike. Have someone hold up the back of the trike while you turn the pedals to see whether one wheel turns or both.
This trike looks like it should be driving both rear wheels and letting the outside wheel freewheel through turns. If that's the case, it may be that one of the freewheels is sticky.


How to silence a creaking cassette/freehub body I have a DT Swiss ARC 1400 Dicut 63 rear wheel. It has a Shimano rear derailleur 11 speed LIGHT (ASL11) freehub body and I have an Ultegra 11-28 11-speed cassette. After a few weeks it started to creak under power. Very noticeable uphill. I applied Park Tool Polylube 1000 lubricant to the freehub body and the noise stopped. However, it returns after every 200 miles or so. I'm getting pretty sick of removing the cassette and reapplying the grease every week or so. I ride in good conditions. No rain.

Is Polylube 1000 the best choice? Is there another technique to solving this issue that lasts more than 200 miles?

There should be no significant movement between the hub body and the cassette. Because of that, lubricant choice should not make any difference. The very fact that applying lubricant temporarily makes the noise go away means that there is too much relative movement between parts which are not supposed to move. Not only it sounds annoying, it may well shorten life of the freehub body by gouging its splines.

The only real use a lubricant should have there is to prevent corrosion. What I can suggest:

Make sure you tighten the cassette to a torque specified by the manufacturer. It is typically a high value (40 Newton-meter or so), and it really makes difference.
Check tolerances of the hub's and the cassette's splines. Are splines wide/high enough to fully engage with their counterparts? It might not be easy to do without high-precision tools. But if you have a component with poor interface tolerances, it will be hard to alleviate this without swapping the components. You might be able to compensate the gap between them by filling it with thin metallic shims (people have used sewing nails, paper clips etc.), but there are no guarantees that it will be possible or even work.


Can a XTR 2016 di2 bracket axle unit fit in XT 2016 rear derailleur? I have recently lost my bracket axle unit of my XT 2016 m8000 rear derailleur. My friend will be mailing me his XTR 2016 di2 bracket axle unit. Is it compatible/will it fit? I just wanted to know before i buy an after market bracket axle unit from(Goat Link by wolftooth components).

Here is the Shimano Exploded View PDF for the Di2 mech (pdf download):

And for your XT one (pdf download):

What you can see from those documents is that the Bracket Axle Unit aka B-Axle is very different between XT and XTR Di2.

I would expect them not to be compatible.


How to prevent over-tightening a bolt with a socket wrench? I recently bought a socket wrench to fix a loose and awkwardly positioned bolt on my mountain bike. The bolt secures the bike's crank arm to the frame of the bike. How do I ensure I don't over-tighten the bolt and break it?

Generally, the size and grade of the bolt will indicate its strength and the max torque that should be applied. You can use a torque wrench (they make them rated for inch-pounds and foot-pounds) to set the amount of torque you want to apply to the bolt.
If your bike has a service manual, it may specify the torque settings there. Otherwise, the bolt may have markings on the head indicating the size and grade of the bolt.


How to (safely) navigate a four-way stop What's the safest way to navigate a four-way stop on a bicycle?

I've found that some cars will ignore me, others will wave me
through, and still others will just treat me as any other vehicle on the road.

As a result, I generally have a hard time figuring out the safest
way to get through such an intersection.

What does the (US) law say for how I should navigate such an intersection?
What is the safest way?

US law is state dependent, but generally, if you're a bicycle on the road, you're considered equivalent to a motor vehicle. If you're a bicycle on a sidewalk, you follow the rules for people on sidewalks (this isn't always permitted depending on area). For example, to quote the New Jersey driver's manual, for a controlled intersection:

An intersection is controlled if there are traffic signals or signs in any direction. A
motorist must obey the signals and signs. At a controlled intersection, a motorist
must yield for certain conditions. At a multi-way stop or stop intersection, a motorist
must yield to the motorist on the right if both motorists get there at the same time.
A motorist should also yield to another motorist already stopped at the intersection.
At an intersection controlled by a yield sign, a motorist must slow down and yield to
traffic on the intersecting roadway, even if he/she has to stop. When making a left
turn at an intersection, a motorist must yield to oncoming traffic and to pedestrians
within the crosswalk.

and from the same source, for an uncontrolled intersection,

An intersection is uncontrolled when two or more roads join and there is no traffic
signal or regulatory device. A motorist must be very careful when approaching
these types of intersections. Most of the time there will be a warning sign prior to
reaching the intersection. As a motorist nears a crossroad that is not controlled,
he/she must reduce speed and be ready to stop if any traffic is coming from the
right or left. A motorist coming from a private road or driveway must yield to all
traffic on the main road (although a motorist can never be sure that will occur). As
a general rule, the vehicle on the left should yield to the vehicle on the right. When
a traffic signal is not illuminated because of a power failure or other malfunction,
the traffic signal is observed as a 4-way stop signal.

Unfortunately, people are different in their behavior to bicycles and you need to be vigilant. Following the law by yielding to people who have already arrived generally works well (even if you have to wave them to go yourself even if they have the right). If they're waving, check and proceed with caution -- there are a decent number of people who will also try to gun it with a cyclist, and there may be both types to yield and gun at the same intersection.


Can I run a red light at a T junction? I was wondering if I was on a bike could I run a red light if it is impossible for me to get hit by a car? (Unless the car drives into the bike lane). I made a quick picture on paint to try and show what I mean.

EDIT: I live in Washington and here is a picture from google maps, I never see anyone walking on the sidewalk on the side I'm going because it ends in a few meters so usually people jaywalk further back. I also forgot to mention that there is a huge hill after this (for me, I'm not the fittest person in the world) and that's really the only reason I'm asking this because the downhill I get will help me make it up the other hill easier, if it was flat I wouldn't be asking this. Better safe than sorry but because there is a huge hill and I'm not really the best climber I don't want to stop and lose all my momentum to make it up the hill. I also never see any other bikes on the street, just bikes in parks etc.

Unless there are specific local laws or signage saying otherwise,*

NO. THE RED LIGHT MEANS STOP. AND IT MEANS EVERYBODY.

The traffic lights are there for everybody's safety, not just yours.

Pedestrians may be trying to cross, either because they have a green light or because there's nobody coming out of the side-road at the moment.
Bicycles turning left from the side-road will be expecting the cycle lane to be clear for them to enter. They're already having to check behind them to make sure no car is either about to turn right across them, taking a wide line round the corner turning left or trying to overtake while turning left, where there isn't room. It's very hard to do that and simultaneously check for people in the cycle lane. I come across this exact situation at the very last junction on my commute into work: it is very dangerous.

Also, at a more general level, a lot of motorists believe that cyclists are a bunch of scofflaws who don't deserve respect on the road because they don't obey the law. Motorists disrespecting cyclists is very dangerous for us, so please don't give them any excuse to do it.

* Now that an image of the specific junction has been added, I agree with Argenti Aparatus's answer that the absence of a stop line in the cycle lane suggests that local law does say otherwise in this case, and cyclists may go through this red light.


How can you remove logos from a bike frame? I'm trying to remove all these annoying labels from my bike. On the main frame there is one big logo, but I'm not sure if it's a sticker or not. The frame is black, but it's very cheaply made, and the logo is a bit higher, but between the letters it gets lower again. Is there some laser techique to get logos like this onto a frame? Or are that also just some weird kind of stickers?

Anyhow, how shall I go about removing the logo without damaging the underlying varnish?

It's almost certainly stickered if it's a cheap bike, plus laser etching is usually reserved for bare metal frames - Titanium in particular. Cheap or not, it's still probably got a clear coat over it, and that sticker is almost certainly underneath the clear coat. Unless you're prepared to strip it down to raw metal, prime it, and paint it, you're probably better of just leaving it as it is - especially if it's a cheapie.


How to check the gear before renting a bike? I don't own a bicycle. Whenever I go cycling, I would need to rent one. The first thing that I always check is to see if the brakes are working properly.

Sometimes, I have no idea that the gear is faulty until I encounter a steep slope where I need to pedal hard. This may cause the gear to jump or slip if it is faulty. Other times, when I change the gear, the pedalling suddenly becomes inefficient, with constant grinding noises from the gears.

In the end, I try not to change the gears at all to avoid the above problems. I would like to know if there is a way to visually inspect the gear and tell the shop assistant that, "Hey, the bike is faulty!", instead of coming back halfway to do the exchange.

If you're talking about a derailleur-style bike, a quick check is to suspend the rear wheel somehow (sometimes you can hang the nose of the seat on something, eg, or see if the rental place doesn't have a work stand) and crank the pedals with your hand while you shift through the gears.  On a bike with indexed shifters the transitions should be smooth and you should hear no more than very slight "chatter" from the chain once the transition is complete.


Life expectancy of a cycle tube and tire? Can anyone please let me know the life expectancy (no of km or time period) of a cycle tube and tire?

Let us consider different cycles (MTB Hybrid Roadbike) and different terrain (off-road slightly rugged smooth) respectively.

Though I have a hybrid and have rode around 1500 km on it without a change of the tubes, I would love to know the other cycle's life expectancy and it would be helpful for others too.

The tube will last the life of the tire, and more, if not punctured too much.

The tire will last until it wears too thin and starts puncturing a lot, unless damaged.

Tires do, however, become brittle and crack in the sidewalls from UV and ozone exposure, and will need to be replaced every 10 years or so if not worn out first. White wall and gum wall tires crack faster.  Tubes also will crack with age, around the valve stem.

Running too low of a pressure can also destroy a tire.

1500km is nothing, if the tires are kept properly inflated.


Shimano SPD-SL pedal tension adjustment not clicking, possible counterfeit? So when I read the manual, it says the 105 pedal I have (5800) will have a click when tightening or loosening the tension adjuster, supposedly 4 clicks for 360 degree rotation, however mine don't click and just twist.

Now, I had someone I know just got scammed buying a fake Ultegra pedal and that got me into researching if the 105 has fakes, which... surprisingly does.

He said (I have not confirmed if this is true) that one of the signs of fakes are the tension adjuster not clicking when you turn it. I've had a R540 pedal in the past that clicks, but later bought another that doesn't click, and so I never had any suspicion when buying a 105 which also don't click. I thought maybe they changed it in later releases?

So if you have a 105 5800 can you confirm that it clicks or not? or do you have any Shimano pedal that you know is genuine but doesn't click when turning the tension adjuster? that would be great, thank you.

Edit: Additional info, mine weigh 135.3 for each pedal, which is 270.6 for both.

Edit 2: So I asked a friend who had the same pedal and his have clicks, so the answer is very likely that mine is fake. Unless someone else chime in who had the genuine had one with no click like mine.

The "click" you are referring to is inherent to the design of Shimano's SPD, SPD-R and SPD-SL pedals. Each click signifies an increase in torque of the spring which tightens the retaining jaw.
Broadly speaking, there are two general possibilities. The first is that the tightening mechanism has worn out and the clicks are now overlapping with one another. The pedal in question however, is assumed to be genuine, but worn out.
The second is that you have acquired/purchased a counterfeit and hence, the poor attention to quality resulting in the lack of "steps" or clicks in the tightening mechanism.


Why do people use bigger cassettes for lower gearing when they could instead use smaller chainrings? I want lower (sub 1:1) gearing on my next drivetrain but also a decent range, reasonable spacing between gears and still be reasonably light.

While looking at different combinations of components, I noticed that:

1x options were not nearly as light as I expected, mostly due to the huge cassettes needed for decent range.
On 2x, large cassettes were killing my weight compared to "standard" road setups (50/34 compact double with 11-28 cassette).
Shimano GRX setups gain weight in all the components, partially negating their gearing benefits.

At this point, for a lark, I threw in some randonneur type cranks and the old heavy bottoms brackets that go with them, and noticed the numbers coming up not that much worse than modern drivetrains.

Furthermore, I found that some rando cranksets can be made to come with super small chainrings. One manufacturer I looked at went down to 42/26(!), and pairing this with an Ultegra 11-28 met my criteria and was the lowest weight combination. I'd love to buy an Ultegra 42/26! Just imagine what that would weigh!

So, why don't more people use smaller chainrings? Or the flip side to this question: why don't drivetrain manufacturers offer them?

Is this just the standard reason that "the bike industry is driven by racers"? Or am I missing some obvious physical thing that makes smaller chainrings inferior? Should I just give up and become a retrogrouch?

This answer seems claims that smaller cogs have more friction, but it doesn't seem like it would be a lot more, considering we have "small" cogs on most of our cassettes.

Gear ratio range.

If you decrease the chainring sizes you decrease the highest ratios available. It's not possible to make the gap between the chainrings much bigger and get decent front shifting so the large ring has to shrink with the small one.

It's easier for manufacturers to make a wide ratio cassette that retains an 11 tooth sprocket and shifts well.


How do I raise the handle bar on this bike? I would like to raise the handle bar of this bike so I can ride in more of an upright position. I tried searching for methods to accomplish this, but I'm not sure what I found were applicable to this bike. Do I just use an allen wrench to loosen the top nut in the picture below? The handle bar wouldn't budge though. Also does this fork look like it can be extended? Thanks in advance.

You can't, really.  It may be possible to get a few millimetres by adding another shim/spacer under the stem, but there's got to be a lot of steerer tube inside the stem too.

Your options are to extend the threadless steerer using an aptly named "threadless steerer extension" which look like this:
  from Are stem height extenders safe to use?

But simply raising the bars will move their position relative to the seat - they'll go up but will effectively be CLOSER to your saddle... that is the position won't move in an arc.  So your back will end up becoming more vertical.

You can get adjustable stems, but they're a little heavier because of the additional metal.  These are often used to dial in a fit and then you buy a fixed stem with the same effective angle.

Your third option is to replace the handlebars with something a little more "raised"  For example here are three different bars in the same brand, with various levels of "rise" but the same "upsweep"

Here's the difference:

 from https://www.pinkbike.com/u/LTP-Sports/blog/handlebar-dimensions-explained.html

Your best option here is to imagine where on the bike you want the bars to be, and then figure out how to get them there.  Smaller movements will be better than bigger movements, so sit over your bike and visualise.  Good luck!


Whole Bicycle Rack Easily Removed! Is the provider liable? The story is - Parked and locked the bicycle at a seemingly secure parking-rack provided by a supermarket. I soon discovered that someone had locked my bicycle (and their own) to the rack. Returning a number of hours later (in the hope that the person had removed their bicycle and lock) I discovered that the whole rack had been removed and my bicycle taken. The thief simply unscrewed the bolts securing the rack to the ground and made off with the bicycle. The supermarket provided the parking-rack. There is CCTV from another source of the thief in action.

It is arguable that providing the parking-rack the supermarket (in this case the party contracted by the supermarket to install the parking racks) has a duty of care to potential users to insure that the parking-rack is fit-for-purpose and not easily removable.

Does installing arguably easy-to-remove parking-racks breach this duty?

If they had installed secure parking-racks I would still have my bicycle - are they liable for my loss?

They provide the rack for you to park your bike not necessarily lock it, that part is up to you. I have never heard anyone make a claim that ANY rack is safe, the courts will find that it is your responsibility to check the effectiveness of the rack.

If shopping centers were responsible for the security of your bike, you would soon find that bike racks would no longer exist.


Odd metallic chafing sound I bought a second hand road bike recently, I'm quite new to the field.

I had a wet'ish ride and ever since getting a little bit of mud on my bike there's a metallic chaffing sound whenever I apply any sort of force to the pedals. I think it's coming from the chain but that doesn't seem to lack lubricant, is there a way to test this?
When applying a lot of force to the pedals I'll here more of a cringing sound from somewhere on the bike, I can't tell where that's coming from either :\

This could be coming from the bottom bracket, which will make noise when worn out and pedalling under load. One way to test this is to stand beside the bike, grab one crank in each hand and see if they can be rocked towards/away from the frame. There should be no play in this direction. This is described with pictures here.

If that's not the problem, then the following link has a rather comprehensive list of possible causes of bike noises.


Normal for derailleur to make noises? I have a giant anyroad 1 2015.  It has this as components
Crankset    Shimano Tiagra, 34/50
Cassette    Shimano Tiagra 11x34, 10-speed

That is 7 cogs in the cassette, and 2 cogs on the crankset.

Is it normal for the derailleur to make noise when the chain is on the smallest cogs? It also happens a bit when the front derailleur is on the smallest cog, and the rear one is on the second-smallest.

Yes - I understand you're not supposed to do this - your chain should try not to twist. My question is this - is this normal? Or is it just a poorly installed/adjusted derailleur?  My rationale is that it should be 'silent' on any combination of gears since the bike was built to do this.

Is the question is it normal for a it to make noise when cross-chaining from smallest to smallest which you're not suppose to do?  Yes, but by doing so you are putting more stress on the chain and cogs, it is bad for your drive train and can result in dropping a chain or mucking up your gears faster than normal.

It is likely making noise because it is rubber or grinding on the derailleur or chain set.

The bike was not made to do that, you said yourself that you know you are not suppose to do it.

"My car sounds like crap when i run it with zero oil in the engine.. is this normal?"


Wahoo Kickr cassette question I just bought the Wahoo Kickr, but I have a compatibility question. I have a Trek Madone 4.7 fitted with a Shimano 105 11-28, 10 speed cassette. Just when I think I understand whether I can make this work, I get myself confused again. Will the Kickr cassette work with my existing drivetrain?
If it won’t work, I was going to buy a 10-speed cassette to put on the Kickr, but instead, I’m thinking of upgrading my bike to an 11-speed cassette (plus shifter, chain, etc.). My husband’s bike is an 11-speed, so I was thinking it would be better to keep the cassette the Kickr comes with.
Is there a way to make the 11-speed cassette work with my 10-speed setup? Sorry if my question is confusing!

You're right - something has to change.  11 will not work properly with 10, and vise versa.
Ideally, you're going to have to standarise on 11 speed on both bikes.  That means new shifter, chain, cassette, and maybe rear derailleur.  This is probably the most expensive solution, though you can sell off the 10 speed parts to recoup some funds.
Your other option is to move your 10 speed cassette to the trainer for your bike, (or have a second 10 speed cassette spare)  and swap an 11 speed cassette onto trainer for the other bike.  THis is faddly and will add wear and inconvenience.
Your third option is to find a third bike and leave it on the trainer permanently to share, though that bike is unlikely to fit both of you.   Or buy a second trainer and configure for 10 speed (though this is a ludicrously expensive solution)


Shimano Bottom Bracket alternative I have a Giant TCR Alliance which has had 2 Shimano SM-BB71-41 press fit bottom brackets, both started clicking, pretty annoying. Any ideas on a good alternative? I'm looking to the £60 mark. Thanks guys.

There's every reason to suspect that problems with the bore tolerances and/or alignment are causing it. That's become a common theme of creaky BB issues.

It's a good idea when the cups are out to take what measurements you can to see what's going on. Bore tolerances are easy to measure but alignment for the most part is not.

The thread-together models from various manufacturers can sometimes help mitigate the effects of misalignment. Either retaining compound or, in some cases, very light abrasive work in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing can help with tolerances.

At the far end of the spectrum are the custom-for-your-frame's-misalignment BBs a la Hambini which can solve bore alignment problems that nothing else can.


What would be the best gearing for mountain climbing? I'm 59, 5'11", 210,and have had a triple bypass. I moved from the flats to the hills, and I want to ride again, but I can't with the gearing I have now. 50/34 chain ring and an 11 speed 10-25 cassette. These hills are really steep, I'm talking "Climb to Kaiser" steep, and I do not like having to get off my bike and finish walking to the top of the hill. Keeping it a double, what groupset would give me the best range and lowest gears for climbing?

What parts are you willing to replace?

You can't get smaller than 34 in the front w/o replacing the crankset with some kind of MTB crank. You'll likely need to replace your front derailleur as well, and there are issues with indexed shifting that you'll need to figure out.

You can't get larger than at most 32t in the back w/o replacing the rear derailleur with an MTB version. There are also indexing issues between road/MTB derailleurs. If you get a road extended cage or triple rear derailluer, you can probably make an MTB 11-32 cluster work with your current shifters.

However, in the long run it's probably cheaper just to get a triple chainring on the front.
You'll have a much easier time getting the gears that work for you.


Do bike manufacturers use stock/shelve components or do they have access to special parts? I'm looking at upgrading a bike, and was looking at competing bikes to see what kind of components they are offering. The idea was to take a similar combination for my upgrade, if I found something interesting.
When looking at the specs at the Giant Roam 1 2021, I noticed some inconsistencies in the spec sheet: the rated capacity of the derailleur is not sufficient for the proposed drivetrain (46/30 in the front, 11/42 in the rear -> 48T vs 41T for the proposed RD-M5120-SGS) and they also claim that the front derailleur is a Deore, without giving a reference. "2x" Deore that are from the MTB range are rated for 36/26 chainrings, not 46/30. In the trekking range, Deore front derailleurs are rated for triple chainrings.
So I'm wondering, as general questions:

Do bike manufacturers have access to a different set of parts than retailers do?
Can they spec the frames on a way to accommodate "out of spec" components? (so in that case, taking the same components on a competing bike might not work as well)
They do their own internal testing and consider that the combo they propose works "well enough" and take the "non-compliance" risk on their side? (I would assume this one on this case: margins on Deore are not the highest, and given Deore is mass-produced, it would be more difficult to customize).

Bike manufacturers generally equip their bicycles with non-proprietary common components. The components I have in mind are the drivetrain components (crankset, chain, derailleurs, shifters, hydraulic hoses and shift or brake cables). With press fit bottom brackets, some BB standards are unique to only one manufacturer (e.g. Trek's BB90, albeit this is being phased out, Cervelo's BBRight, which they seem to want to stay with). They aren't quite proprietary, in that many aftermarket component manufacturers will make BBs for those standards. In the past, all forks weren't proprietary, but this has changed substantially, and it is harder to find aftermarket off the shelf replacements.
This is changing for some components at the higher end for performance-oriented road and gravel bikes. For drop bar bikes, aerodynamic considerations are leading to hidden cables, wires, and hoses. Many high-end bikes may have proprietary handlebars and seatposts as a result. Even among D-shaped seatposts, there is no one standard geometry, so each D-shaped seatpost would be proprietary to the manufacturer and often to a bike model as well.

When looking at the specs at the Giant Roam 1 2021, I noticed some inconsistencies in the spec sheet: the rated capacity of the derailleur is not sufficient for the proposed drivetrain (46/30 in the front, 11/42 in the rear -> 48T vs 41T for the proposed RD-M5120-SGS) ...

Addressing this, I haven't verified your capacity calculations, as the Giant US website didn't specify the derailleur model and I'm not familiar with MTB drivetrains. Shimano's official specs are known to be conservative, so Giant might have exceeded them by a bit. I would be slightly surprised if they did this, but I would assume that Giant tested the setup. (NB: note that I said "assume"; I don't work in the bike industry and I don't know this for a fact.)
Wheels are a bit more complex. The spokes and hubs of wheels sold as OEM on bikes are usually not proprietary. I can name some exceptions, e.g. Campagnolo and its captive wheel brand Fulcrum use proprietary spokes, hubs, and rims, Cadex (a captive brand to Giant) has some proprietary wheelsets, etc. Higher end rims may be proprietary to a company, although you can replace a broken spoke with any spoke of the correct length (barring some unusual construction like carbon spokes (e.g. Cadex, Hunt), aluminum spokes (e.g. i9, some Mavic wheels in the past). The hubs on these OEM wheels are often proprietary as well, although  replacement cartridge bearings are almost always non-proprietary. (For loose ball bearings, steel balls aren't proprietary, but the races are a different story, as would be ceramic ball systems like Campagnolo uses in some wheels.) Barring some unusual spoke count (e.g. some Campagnolo wheels use a triplet lacing system, and some have odd numbers of holes), you could lace an off the shelf rim to a manufacturer's hub if you wanted to and you were willing to put up with the aesthetic mismatch.
Derailer hangars are proprietary to each model of bicycle, but Wheels Manufacturing does stock aftermarket hangars for most bikes. Thru axles are also proprietary to each bicycle model, but there are also aftermarket replacements (e.g. Robert Axle Project).


Carbon Fibre Frame Paint Chip from Stuck chain My chain got stuck between smallest chainring and carbon fibre frame.. The paint chipped in one place and there is a half mm scratch in another place..

What is the chance that it damaged the carbon fibre? In the chip think the carbon fibre is exposed.. It doesnt look damaged to..

I am planning to seal this with Araldite...

To literally answer your question, Yes the carbon is damaged.

Considering it's exposed and because carbon consist of many filaments bonded together, you can also say it's integrity has been affected. The degree of damage however, is not easily determined by visual only inspection.

Sealing it with epoxy is a good idea to stop any contaminants and further fiber damage, but not a good fix for integrity.

When you get to proper damage assessment, you start looking at ultrasound and x-ray and a lot of $. Carbon has the tendency to 'flare' out on the inside on the tube. Consider the impact on the outside as a force and that would transfer through and push the fibers out on the inside. This is the bit you can't see and the dangerous part of carbon damage.

If you really want to know what the condition is like, you will need to get it to a proper carbon repairer. I say proper because there are many on the market that will 'fix' it by simply repainting and clearcoating it so it looks fixed. It's pretty cheap, but you need to understand what you pay for and how much you value your face IF the repair fails.


Brake weirdness on my new E-bike I very recently purchased an E-bike for commuting to work and other area locales. I understand with any new bicycle there will be some break-in time and after a few rides I did notice the brakes were a bit softer than when they started out. I looked online and found some basic tips to adjust the the brake tension which worked.

The brakes on the bike are TekTro Aries mechanical discs.

The weirdness begins with a slight ticking noise I recently started to hear when riding and goes away when I actuate the brakes. However, when I tried to duplicate the problem at home to confirm the problem, I found it difficult to recreate. With the rear wheel lifted off the ground, I turn the wheel and no ticking sound. Additionally while still holding the wheel off the ground, actuating the brake handle had no noticeable effect on stopping the rotation of the wheel. I then put the tire back in contact with the ground and actuate the brake handle, wheel refuses to budge until I release the brake.

Can anyone explain to me how to clear up the ticking noise?

Is the brake not working with the tire off the ground normal?

You seem to have tested the rear wheel. Have you tested whether the front wheel and brake are making the noise?

Also are you pulling the correct lever to operate the rear brake? It depends which country the bike was built in as to which one operates the rear brake. So in the UK the left hand lever operates the rear brake but in the rest of Europe (I believe)its the right hand lever. If you are pulling the front brake lever then obviously the rear wheel will not stop spinning. With the bike on the ground pulling either brake lever will stop the bike moving.

Ticking can be the rotor disc very slightly touching one of the pad. It can be a tick once-per-rotation of the disc if the disc is slightly warped at one point. The ticking would stop when the brake was pulled on as the pads would fully engage and make other louder noises.


Maintenance for an idle bicycle kept indoors? I have recently bought a six-speed transmission bicycle, basic yet the latest one. But owing to my busy schedule I am not able to go for a ride on it, and the cycle is always left idle at one place.

So, I wanted to know how I can at least maintain my bicycle, so that it doesn’t rust and stays healthy.

Bike is always kept indoors.

A lightly-used bike stored indoors in a dry (not humid) environment does not need much special maintenance. Just keep it clean with light lubrication on the chain.

The tires will slowly lose pressure. A bike left sitting for a long time on one spot on un-inflated tires is probably not good for the tires or tubes. Keep some air pressure in the tires or hang the bike up off the floor if you can.


Would variable crank arm length be beneficial to a rider? I was thinking it would be cool to have a bike where the crank arms can be adjusted automatically "on the fly", depending on load.  If that is not  so safe then maybe a manual adjustment that the rider could make from a control mounted on the handlebars while riding.  For example, when extra torque is needed, the crank arms could be extended to maybe 180mm.  When cruising along on flat pavement on a windless day (or with wind at the riders back), shorter crank arms might be desirable to save on excessive leg motion.  Having adjustable crank arm lengths might actually extended the effective gear range even wider.  For example, suppose the crank arm length adjustment is between 180mm and 140mm and is currently set in the mid portion of 160mm.  The rider then attempts to ride up one of those spiral walkways that are part of a pedestrian bridge over a roadway.  If the lowest gear has already been selected but more hill climbing torque is needed, extending the crank arms from 160mm to 180mm should help.  Even if 180mm is excessively long for the rider, it is only temporary until they crest the hill, then they can be reset back to 160mm.  I think that would be another fun thing to play with on a bike.

So my question is would this be beneficial to a rider and if so, why don't I see these available?  Has anyone attempted to make this, either homemade or available to the general public?  From an Engineering viewpoint, can it be done?  If so, how?

The system you propose is just a third way to change gear, in a mechanically very complicated way. Any benefit that could be obtained by lengthening the cranks can already be obtained by moving to an easier gear and a bike with two or even three front chain rings and anywhere between five and eleven rear sprockets has plenty enough gear ratios available to cover all situations. And if the range of gears available isn't wide enough, replacing the chainrings and/or rear cassette is a much simpler fix.


Why did my valve pin bend? Is there anything that I can do to help it without any specialized tools? I have a new bike (been less than a month since it was purchased) and has been ridden for about 600km (375 miles) on bad city roads.
What may have caused this bend of the valve pin?   Is it possible for me to be fixing it right at home with a very basic tool kit that I have?
Should I try bending it back to the middle, or is it best to take it to a shop and have someone fix it for me?
I'd also like to know what may have caused the bend because the bike hasn't been in any crashes whatsoever, or even gone over a pothole that I would consider mighty or particularly worth noting.

You have a Schrader valve. The pin on the valve core has been bent or the core is cross threaded in the stem - the picture is a little blurry.
You can remove the core by unscrewing it from the stem. There is a special tool for that, sometimes skinny needle nose pliers can be used.
Here are the options I can think of:

If the pin is bent or the threads on the valve core are ruined you'll need a new valve core. The shops I've worked at would replace it for you for free.
If the core is cross threaded you may be able to remove it and thread it back in straight.
If the threads inside the valve stem are ruined you'll need a new tube.

Hard to say what caused the damage but it's probably related to something getting cross wise during inflation. A bent valve core pin is unrelated to road types or number of miles.


Shimano STI does not shift up/to lower cogs Typ: Shimano RS505 2x11 hydraulic

Problem: Up shifting is possible to the 5th or 6th cog, after this the STI does not give the click feedback and the derailleur does not move to the next smaller cog.
If the cable is under more tension the STI shifts normaly and makes a proper click on every shift.
The derailleur is cleaned and has full tension in all positions. I tried a different derailleur and got the same result.

When did the problem occur: After a muddy tour the shifting got worse and inaccurate. Today I cleaned the bike with pressure water. I was always far enough away from the STIs, but maybe some water got into it. After that the derailleur started to stuck.

What did I try so far?: I pulled the rubber hoods down and put some grease into the STI, however it did not get better yet.

Any chance to repair the STI?

Sounds like the shift cable have become contaminated by grit or mud and are hanging up or there is excess friction, which stops the derailleur pulling the shifter onto the next highest gear position.

When you give the cable a little extra tension it overcomes the friction allowing the shifter to shift properly.

You can try removing the shift cable from the housing, cleaning and lubing it. If that does not fix the problem you can replace the housing. Start with the section at the derailleur end as it is closest to the ground an has the highest chance of getting something in it.


Mount mirror to front rack I have a large front rack that is 17 inches wide.  Is it possible to attach bike mirrors to the back side of the rack that extends to the right and left of the bike?

It's certainly possible. It could well be easy, but on the other hand you may have to modify parts quite heavily. There are decent quality mirrors designed to clamp onto handlebars and extend past your arms. I'm most familiar with the Busch und Muller cyclestar because I use a similar mirror with a different attachment. Cheap mirrors tend to wobble about and be useless, but there are plenty of decent brands (mostly European).

If the tube diameter is similar to the diameter of typical handlebars, you may be able to use the clamp almost as designed. If not, you'll need to make some adaptations, such as packing out the clamp.


How much does number of gears matter for a front derailleur? I need a low clamp 2x10 front derailleur. As it turns out to be a challenge to find locally, I begin to wonder

How important is the rear gear specification? What is I get 2x9?
How important is the front gear specification? What if I get 3x10?

I am looking to understand the reasons for those constraints, not just an "1)yes 2)yes" answes

The cages for a double and triple are shaped differently, so you need to get the derailleur for the right number of chainrings in the front. The derailleur also needs to have enough capacity to shift between the chainrings you have as well as clear the largest chainring. As usual, Sheldon is a good person to start with regarding FD selection. The number of rear speeds (the 9 in 2x9) marked for a front derailleur isn't too important, but the cage of the derailleur may be thinner for higher number of rear speeds (so if your chain isn't designed for high enough speeds, you may have some rubbing on the cage, especially if you don't adjust it properly) -- as Sheldon points out though, the distinction based on number of cogs in the back is primarily for marketing.

Obviously, you also need to make sure the derailleur will be able to be mounted on whatever type of mount your frame uses (this includes how the cable is pulled - bottom or top).

And finally, you have to worry about cable pull ratio, so if you're using brand X, buy a brand X front derailleur, and if it is a road (mountain) FD, buy a road (mountain) FD if you have road (mountain) shifters (which should obviously be matched with the number of chainrings in the front).

In summary,

1) Number of rear cogs doesn't matter - the shifting in the front is effectively independent of whats going on in the back.

2) Number of front chainrings does matter, but there's more to it than just matching the number of chainrings.


Which clothing brands are most suitable for very tall men? I always have issues finding cycling clothing that fits my body shape. I am 196cm / 6ft 5in of (reasonably) slim build (but certainly not skinny). When buying a jersey that is XL they often fit me perfectly across the chest and arms but are never long enough - often leaving a drafty lower back area. I don't want to go to XXL because it will be too baggy across the chest and I'll take on the son wearing his Dad's suit kind of look.

Like most clothing (not just cycling) I find that sizes >XL are more geared towards salad-dodgers rather than those of us with long backs.

Are there any brands of clothing known for producing tops/jerseys with extra long length? What brands do other riders of similar size/body shape go for?

Aero Tech Designs Cycle Wear

Tall Products

Short sleeved jerseys
Long sleeved Jerseys
Bike shorts
Bib Shorts
Tights

Sizes

Tall Cycling Jersey Size    Small   Medium  Large   XL      2XL     3XL     4XL

Fits Men's Chest inches     32-34   36-38   38-40   42-44   46-48   50-54   54-56

Garment Fabric Measures
around Chest                38      41      44      46      48      54      56

Fabric Measurement:
Back Length from top
of collar down the center
of the back to bottom       30.5    31.5    32.5    33.5    34.5    35.5    35.5

Sleeve Length from arm
pit seam to end of cuff     21      21.5    22      22.5    23      23.5    23.5


BunnyHop Soft Landing I broke my pedal today. I own a bmx. It happened when I landed from an american bunnyhop. Any tips to land softly? (I have even bent the rim.)

If you have a modern BMX then the saddle should be super low. If it is not then move it at the very bottom.

BMX bikes are very very stiff (100psi tyres, rigid cromo frame, rock solid wheels) so you need to absorb the imact with your feet and upper body. Landing with the rear wheel first (just slightly) helps trigger the feet at the exactly correct time. Another thing that helps is that when you start descending (from the bunnyhop) you extend your feet in order to give yourself enough room for absorption.

If you don't absorb with your feet then the weakest link will have to deal with the whole impact (knees, pedals, head tube of frame etc).

Keep in mind though that parts do fail. Broken pedals and bent rims is not something unexpectable in the BMX world.


Old Sears Simpson bike bottom bracket replacement Got the pedals out, but I'm struggling with both cups. I don't know which way the threading goes either.

The bike was made in Poland, pretty old. Anyone know what I could do? I have a flat-shaped spanner for the cups, but got almost no leverage so I can't turn it hard.

It turns out that there is a technique that involves using a bolt, a bunch of washers and a screw with a nut that can be purshased from just about any hardware store. The technique is documented here.

I tried it out and it worked like a charm. Even then, it's the amount of leverage you gain access to that makes all the difference(used a cheater bar for more leverage). The cap(drive side) happened to unscrew clockwise, same as the other one(Once I had the non-drive-side cup removed, I slid my finger along the threads of the drive-side around the inner perimeter to see if my finger was being pulled inwards or outwards to figure out the threading).

I also struggled because unbeknownst to me, my dad literally screwed a screw through the frame to lock the cup on the non-drive side. I used pliers to twist it out.

This was a satisfying experience.


For a very amateur rider, is Specialized or Trek worth it? After 15 years of being off a bike--and my waist line showing it--I'm about to buy a new bike and get back in shape.

Looking around, Trek and Specialized appear to have good hybrids, which is my desired bike. I have zeroed in on Trek DS 8.x series--leaning to DS 8.4--and on the Specialized side a Crosstrail Elite.

These bikes cost several hundred dollars more than competitor offerings. Are they worth it? Sure they have fancier components and I do like hydraulic brakes.

I can think of two substantive ways they could be worth the extra money:

They are more reliable and will have less long term maintenance costs
They will have a higher resale value

Does anyone have a good opinion on whether either of these things is true?

Thanks.

The quality of the bike is in the sum of the parts.
The heart of the bike is the frame and what carries the brand is more often than not - the frame.
The manufacturer then hangs various components off the frame to complete the build.

(Big brands) It could be argued - the quality of the frame (design and build) & warranty back-up is better. Other factors could be frame material and design.
At the lower end of the market where you are looking for a hardtail frame - it is a fair bit harder for manufacturers to make their product standout from their competitors (such are the complexities of welding 9 pipes as opposed to designing suspension). And its probably where the brand name will have greater weighting in the buying decision. Markups are also lower at this end of the market and manufacturers will use plenty of own-brand / OEM components to keep their margins higher.

Have a look closely at the component spec. as well as the brand. Manufacturers are great at hiding the down spec of a component ie. cassettes or brake calipers being common examples.

Google for reviews. If you intend to keep the bike for years and not intend to go on the upgrade path - than perhaps you should be looking at the overall package (component level) as well. If you'll upgrade eventually - than the typically better resale value of a bigger brand like Specialized will be a bigger consideration.


Upgrading a GF Tarpon to 650B wheelset I'm considering upgrading my GF Tarpon to a 27.5" wheelset. Is this possible? And how will affect the ride? In general, I've heard people say no, and some people say yes (nothing specific about this bike, though).

Why do you want to do this?

The problem with switching wheel sizes is normally the brake mounting for rim brakes, and the tire clearances. I have a feeling that you won't be able to line up the rim brakes when you do this (if you had disc brakes, this would be simpler - if the rotor fits, it works). The following thread here says that Velo Orange's Grand Cru canti has enough adjustment for swapping 26" wheels to 650b wheels on some bikes (probably, but would require switching to short pull brake levers) and Paul's MotoBMX brakes may work as well. Your current brakes may or may not have enough adjustment to do this. This is all assuming of course you can even get the 650b wheel in with your desired tire. You could run a staggered setup (650b front, 26" rear) with a new fork at the worst, but this is expensive and likely would require you to adjust things due to the height difference.

A switch from 26" to 650b will move your bottom bracket up 1/2 an inch.

I think this conversion would be largely pointless, especially on a cheap bike like a Gary Fisher Tarpon. You're better off picking a better tire for your purposes unless you REALLY need the extra half inch of bottom bracket height (in which case, you should probably get a different bike). You'd have to buy new wheels and possibly new brakes, which puts you a good way towards just selling the bike and buying a 27.5" er to begin with.

On the other hand, Sheldon Brown points out that the 700c to 650b conversion can be useful.