Saddle suggestions for broken pelvis I am a female getting into serious cycling, and will be riding in a 200 kms charity race (over 2 days) in June 2017, as well as beginning to compete.

In 2013, I broke my pelvis in 3 places. I broke both ischial tuberosity bones, though I broke them at the "top" of each round ring, not the bottom. I also broke the sacrum bone right next to the right side of my spine (2mm) away.

I have healed perfectly fine, and have no pain, except when I am cycling long distances. I start to get sore at 50 km, and it gets worse as the distance increases. It is the ischial tuberosities that get sore, not the sacrum bone.

I will not allow this to get in the way of cycling. There is a way to overcome this, and I will find it.

I need to find a saddle that will take some of the pressure off my ishial tuberosity bones, and I am looking for suggestions.

I live in Toronto, Canada, if that helps.

Please send me suggestions or ideas, so that I can kick some butt on my races, without my bones kicking my butt.

You may try looking into a noseless saddle. Some of the designs I have seen actually have cutouts or the sit bones in particular. Many people are dismissive of them (myself somewhat included), but they may hopefully be an alternative for you. Here is a completely random blog entry on the interwebz comparing several. There appears to be a large range of manufacturing quality as well as actual design effort, so I would resarch rather carefully before purchasing.

I would also strongly look into an alternative fit of some sort. Perhaps a more aggressive position that placed more weight on your hands (or other slightly non-traditional fitting) would be of benefit.  Professional fittings should always be looked at as a place to start.  Especially with past injuries or other less stereotypical anatomy, minor or major adjustments should be expected.  In the end it may not be one thing, but a combination of things (including perhaps time) that help things along for you.


Carbon crack or cosmetic damage? I have a new bike and after a bikefit (it was causing me kneepain) I had to raise the saddle and noticed a crack. I only use a torque wrench and tighten it to 4Nm usually so I can't overtighten (4.5 - 5.5). Can someone tell me if I should be worried?

Been to the bike shop that sold me it and they confirmed the cosmetic damage only.


What's the max weight a Btwin riverside 50 can hold? I've recently bought a Btwin Riverside 50 for daily commute. I weigh 94kg and usually ride with a backpack which weights around 3-5kg, I'm worried if the bike can hold my weight or the pedal might break off while standing. If the bike can't hold my weight, I want to know what modifications I can make so that it can hold my weight.

The manual offered with the BTWIN Riverside 50 (click on the bike manual tab) indicates that 100kg is the max weight for your bike. 94 + 5 = 99 so you are under the limit. Max weight limits take into account rough usage. Pedaling while standing and daily commuting is well below rough usage. The pedals on this bike have a large steel rod as the main support with a sheer strength much larger than 200 kg.

No modifications are needed.


How do I increase my average speed? I've previously used a very old, not maintained single speed bike, and after my father having recently brought a hybrid bike, it's been about 20 days since I've been riding it more or less daily, durations being upwards of an hour, at least. Sometimes even two. The single speed, I'd ridden for maybe a fortnight before the new bike came, but before that, it was more or less collecting dust.. So you know that I haven't been riding for too long now..
I average a speed of about 22-23kmph (~ 14mph) now, compared to a previous average of 15-16 kmph (~ 10mph). My previous recorded max speed was 31kmph and now on the new bike it's 56.5 kmph. The speed approximates are from whatever strava has told me. These approximates are on roads that are relatively flat, but don't allow too long for you to accelerate or keep your pace, I need to slow down for turns that I take so I'm of the belief that my average speed would otherwise be higher, if not for the turns. The roads also have embedded stone studs all over, the kind that ate put up on roads to allow motor vehicles to have a better grip.
Now, I ride with the saddle a little lower than it needs to be for my height (because my dad is shorter and I don't want to fiddle with it). I also can't make any structural changes or change the bike at all.
The bike is a Riverside 120. It has flat bars, a 36t single chainring and 11/34t cogs. It also has 35c tyres that are advertised as fast rolling.
Is there any way for me to be able to increase my overall average speed without changing parts? Any changes in posture? Should I try getting the saddle to my level and keeping the handlebars low to get a more natural riding position or would that be a problem because the bike doesn't have drop bars? Any other suggestions? I currently ride in the open chested posture that a hybrid is "supposed to be ridden in".

First of all I’d fix the saddle position. A low saddle will decrease your power output and can cause knee problems. As a rule of thumb your leg should be fully extended with your heel on the pedal in the 6 o'clock position.
Keeping the handlebars low or even lowering them further will generally improve your aerodynamics.
Make sure the tires are inflated to a relatively high pressure (depending on your weight and road surface, probably around 4–5bars) to reduce rolling resistance. Make sure the chain is lubed properly to reduce friction.
Wear tight fitting clothes to improve aerodynamics.
Regarding turns: Here I disagree with Adam Rice, a lot of turns will certainly decrease your average speed, especially if you have to brake. Good brakes and technique can allow you to brake stronger and therefore later, thus improving your average speed.
Since it sounds like you are using average speed as a benchmark of fitness or power: It’s relatively useless for that, even if you only use it to measure your own progress. Even on the same roads different wind or traffic conditions can cause a lot of variation.


Sliding chain over the cassette Today I have replaced my chain with a kmc z8s. The rear cassette is Shimano acera 8 speed , and is not worn yet , so everything is OK with the cassette. But the problem is that the chain doesn't fit the cassette properly ,when I apply more power on the pedals the  chain starts sliding over the cassette (The lenght of the chain is OK too). What is the solution of this problem ?

The cassette really is worn.  It takes something of a trained eye to spot a too-worn cassette, and often when you switch to a new chain the cassette will skip worse than it did with the old, worn chain.
The chain is the wrong one for the cassette.  Chain/cassette compatibility is an area where there are no nice general rules -- you have to make sure that the chain you get is compatible with your specific cassette. This includes having the correct speed pairing (e.g. 8-speed chain for 8-speed cassette).
The chain was cut to the wrong length.  A chain is always delivered with 8-10 inches of extra chain.  You must shorten it to the appropriate length, using a "chain breaker".  Some people just wrap the chain around the largest sprockets and eyeball it, but if you haven't developed that skill the best thing to do is to lay old and new chain side-by-side and carefully match up links along the length so that there are the same number of links in the new chain as the old.  (Note that if you just match length the new chain will likely end up a couple of inches too long.)
The chain was threaded through the rear derailer incorrectly.  It's kind of hard to mess up on the front, but the threading through the rear derailer is not intuitive, and it's possible to muck it up.
The derailer is out of adjustment or has been bent somehow.


Why are most BSOs mountain bikes? All department store bikes, that I have witnessed, are mountain bikes. Many of them are even full suspension and some feature dual-crown forks.

Why the lack of BSO (Bicycle Shaped Object) road bikes?

When shopping for BSO bikes, people are just looking for a recreational ride that is a once in while, which leads them to focus on the sticker price.  Looking at a mountain bike they then get to thinking "Hey, I can ride this around town.  I can take it off roading if I wanted too.", so more bang for their buck.

They also tend to look at the other components of the bike, hard narrow saddles just look uncomfortable, drop bars make one think they need to lay down to ride, thin narrow tires surely can't be a as comfortable as fat tires, and "why is there no tread pattern on this tire, it is just for nice weather racing".


Can a regular diamond frame bike be packed to fit as standard airline carry-on luggage? I've been looking into possibly taking my bike with me on planes as carry on (not checking in). This is for (i) avoiding the extra cost of checking in oversized luggage and (ii) avoid breaking any parts during checkin.
So I got searching and of course I found lots of information on "foldable" bikes such as Bromptons that seem to fit over-head compartments (link):

So I got curious, can regular diamond shaped bikes also be packed in such a way?
Some more search I found ways to disassemble them and pack them inside a thin tarp (link):

This of course lead me to the natural question: will that fit inside a carry-on compartment of an airplane just as the Brompton did?
Bike wheels already being 26/28" might already be a deal breaker for this, but was curious if anybody ever tried bringing a disassembled diamond frame bike on an actual flight.
EDIT
The carry-on standard limit is: 22” x 14” x 9”. My thinking was that a 28" wheel could still be packed with an angle in a 22" case, so am curious if anybody ever tried that.
Here's an interesting concept design for collapsable diamond frame + wheels.

You are correct that bike wheels are the dealbreaker—even if you could get the frame down to carry-on size, you won't get the wheels that small (although people have tried making collapsible bike wheels too).
There are full-sized bikes made with couplers, which can be taken apart and packed in a case with the same footprint as the wheels, and there are a few "full-sized folders" that look nearly identical to a conventional bike as well. But these will always be bigger than carry-on size. Attempting to bring one on board would require the indulgence of the cabin crew, and is not something you could count on.


bike suggestions for a commuter who takes an occasional long road ride I'm shopping around for a new bike.  I ride 4-10 miles a few times a week and an occasional ~50 mile road trip.  I'm looking for recommendations on bikes similar to a SE Lager, Surly Steamroller, or Raleigh Rush Hour.

Ideally, I'd like the bike to have 3-gears, but it looks like the only way to have that is to custom build. Is this so?

I'm trying to stay within a $1200 or so budget, but this is secondary.

It sounds to me like you want a fairly simple bike with rear hub gears, styled similarly to a track bike...  There's now "Urban"† bikes that match up to that category... The traditional thing would be to take an old 10-speed (horizontal-dropout) or singlespeed and replace the rear wheel with a 3-speed hub. (7 or 8 are common now, too)

Here's a few I found (starting with brands my 3 favorite LBSs carry, then some stuff I've randomly run into elsewhere):

Trek/Fisher Waubesa
Trek Soho or Trek Soho DLX
Less of the fixie styling, but the Trek Belleville is nice-looking and well-equipped for hauling stuff.  (this is one I've considered getting)
Globe Live 2‡
Globe Live 3
Globe Daily 3
Globe Vienna 4
Giant Seek 0
Cannondale Bad Boy ONbike (concept) (but custom would be cheaper)
Cannondale Hooligan 3
Novarra Fusion
Raleigh Cadent I8
Torker KB2 (only 2 speeds, not 3)
Civia Hyland
Civia Bryant
Charge Tap
Charge Mixer

† "Urban" or maybe "City" or "Street" or something that means "road" without actually saying road.  Sort of a silly term that their marketing departments came up with.

‡ If you hadn't heard, Globe is a spinoff from Specialized.


Converting calorie count on standard gym stationary bike to power data I use the stationary bike in my apartment's gym to train in winter. The bike does not give me power data, but it does give me "calories burned per hour." (as a rate, not a count)  Is there any way to use this to calculate my power output? I assume the machine is measuring my power, because I don't see how it could calculate calories burned otherwise.

Calculating calorie burn from power output is pretty straightforward, but the reverse simply cannot be done. The same number of calories can be burned by doing an hour of 30 second efforts and 2 minute recoveries compared to doing a one hour steady endurance effort. Beyond that,  you also have the inaccuracy of the gym bike measurement which will be the biggest factor to consider. Any bike which does not display power in watts to you also doesn't measure it in a way that is accurate enough to be useful in the slightest when comparing to data from any other unit.

In short, you can use the calorie number to compare between workouts on the same gym bike to know that you're improving if you burn more calories in the same time at the same level of exertion, but nothing more than that.


Switching from 3x9 Gears to Cheaper Ones? Alert I am unsure of the right terminology for gear-wheel but I mean the round things near pedals such as 3x9 or typically with 3x7 (3 front, 7 back) mix in commuting bikes.

My current gears are 3x9 (3 front, 9 back) but I plan to change to cheaper, the current gear-wheels are used (about 15k km, 4winters and 3 summer).

Can I put other gears such as 1x7 or somehow reuse the old gears?
What should I take into account when choosing other gear-wheels and gears?

There is nothing problem with my current ones, they work fine (a bit slower than as new but not a problem) but I cannot spend too much on upgrading the gears/gear-wheels. I need to know what to look for in second-hand stores or to find some sort of compromise i.e. perhaps to upgrade things slowly part-by-part.

I think you'll find that the cost of switching to a different gear type will be more expensive in the long run.  As technology progresses, the 7 speed stuff will get harder and harder to find, and more expensive.  I've messed around with this sort of thing, but going the other direction: there are a lot of items you'll need to switch.  A short (probably incomplete list):

cassette (obviously)
shifters (obviously)
brake levers (if they're attached to the shifters, as many are)
The freewheel in the rear, to be compatible with the different kind of cassette

May include a new rear hub
May include a new back wheel
May instead include rebuilding the back wheel yourself

Your crankset in the front, if gear ratios are wrong for your new cassette

It ends up being a pretty big change.  That said, you can get 9 speed cassettes pretty inexpensively.  If you're worried about cost, you can get a new cassette for about $20.  You can get a new 9 speed chain for $15 - $20.  If you keep your chain clean, dry it whenever you get it wet, and keep it well lubed, you should be able to get at least 2000 miles out of it.  If you replace your chains when they start to wear out, you should be able to make a cassette last through at least 3 chains.  That's 6000 miles for about $65; not bad.  Considering how much money and time you'd spend on new shifters, hubs, freewheels, and all the rest, I don't think it's ever really worth downgrading equipment.


Can I replace my bicycle's dynamo with batteries? I have a working lightning system on my bike with wired front and rear lights, powered by a dynamo. The dynamo's plastic has broken and I have repaired it several times now, but now it is FUBAR.

Thinking about a replacement, I wondered if it would be possible to just connect some batteries to the dynamo cables. AFAIK the usual voltage for dynamo powered lights is 6 volts, so if I were to add 4 normal batteries (4 x 1.5 = 6) in series, and connect this to the power cables, would it work? Or are there other things to consider?

Both front and rear light are LED lights; the rear light has a capacitor to maintain illumination even when you stop.

I would use a battery holder like the one pictured below, and rechargeable AA batteries, since I have a lot of them already.

If you have any other suggestions on how to do this, I look forward to hearing them!

I want to do this because I have had issues with rim dynamos in the past, and just want a reliable power source; and I am too lazy to install a hub dynamo. It is also a cost issue; I already have the rechargeable batteries, but would have to buy a new dynamo. This is my city bike; it could be stolen at any time, so I do not want to invest a lot of money in components.

Yes, a battery holder and switch from radio shack would accomplish this. Most dynamos are 6vac and can be replaced with 4xAAs or the 5vdc from a USB pack. You can ignore the issue about polarity as the dyno lights that I've worked are either incandescent and don't care or are LED but have built in blocking diodes and don't care.

Whether you would want to do this is another issue. I've gone the opposite direction and put a dynohub in my commuting bike.

Note: if you are handy with a soldering iron and multimeter, you can remove the diodes/rectifier (and likely super cap) from the LED lights and have them run in straight DC. You'd gain brightness especially when your batteries are running low because you would no longer have the voltage drop of the diodes or rectifiers, but you would need to check polarity and make sure you aren't drawing too much current.


Are the Shimano derailleurs sold on Ali Express genuine or fake? I am trying to buy Shimano Alivio M4000 components. When I was researching on Ali Express, I found this. This is Alivio M4000 including the front derailleur, rear derailleur, left and right Shifters and only for just $40. On Amazon they are sold for $35 and that is just for the rear derailleur. This just doesn't seem right.

I know this isn't exactly bicycle related but then I thought this was a worthy question because there are lot of people buying Shimano parts from Ali Express and it is impossible to segregate the actual sellers apart from the phoney ones. Answering this question can prevent lot of people from getting scammed.

Any more information about this would really be appreciated!

You pays your moneys and you takes your chance

Answer Maybe genuine, but just as likely not.

Essentially by buying discount, you're circumventing any quality and control process from the brand owner.

Costs are a strange thing - what costs you $40 in the shop retail, might be sold on sale for 20% off and the seller isn't making a loss.  The various stages of wholesaler, importer, shipping, and so on repeatedly add a layer of costs - could be the original item costs only a small fraction of the sale price to make.

The specific items you're looking at might be any combination of

Quality legitimate parts, perhaps overstock or older designs that are no longer as popular.
Legitimate designs that have been built outside the brand's control, on the same production line (ie they were never official products)  This is sometimes called second shift or midnight shift product.
Legitimate items that have been rejected in some way, that have failed quality control for some reason.  Perhaps they're out of spec, or something wasn't done right in the build process
Second line product where a shadow factory makes the same item but on different machinery.  It may or may not have the same metallurgy processes as the authentic product.
Reverse-engineered product - Someone has taken a finished item and figured out how to make the same thing.  The designer would not be working from plans or specs, but from a retail product sample.
Outright fakes - where someone slaps a Brand's name on a generic component.  May have a real model number, or a completely fake model number.

How far down that hierarchy you're prepared to go is up to you, and might vary depending on the safety requirements.  I'd approximate that the more expensive are at the top and the less-expensive are lower.

Personally I have no problem with discount non-moving parts, like a reflector.  But for a wheel or brakes I'd buy original only whether new or second hand.


How to mitigate the risk of riding on highways I'm planning a single-day ride between the cities of West Palm Beach and Orlando, Florida: roughly 180 miles. I'm trying to plan my route for safety. However, there are no routes to Orlando free of major highways.
I'm no stranger to cycling Florida's country roads. I've cycled between West Palm Beach and Naples, which is around 130 miles. During that trip, however, I managed to minimize the amount of time on major state highways by taking some two-lane county highways (which are less traveled). Still, the small amount of time I did have to spend on the major highways was very distressing, as large trucks frequent those roads, traveling at well over 65mph.
While planning my trip to Orlando, I managed to map most of the northbound part of the trip to follow the coast, where I can travel on the barrier islands that line the treasure and space coasts. The speed limits on those beach roads are usually lower than 40mph, and people are in less of a hurry on them; they're mostly used to get to residences and for leisurely drives along the beach. My problem comes when I must travel west. The only westbound roads into Orlando require me to ride along US192, or some other state highways with similar infrastructure (no bike lane, only a paved shoulder).
If I want to complete this trip, I believe there is no avoiding these roads. My question to the community is, if you're forced to ride a treacherous road as part of the route for a tour, what kind of precautions do you take to help ensure your safety? I know there is always a high risk present riding along a highway, but learning how to mitigate that risk may just save my life or the life of a future reader of this post.
My route:

Google is probably not the best tool for this, it's not tailored to the needs of cyclists. I would always use BRouter, here is the route it produces when I ask it to give me a safe route. The route is quite a bit longer, but I'd guess that there are pretty few major roads without bike lanes on it.
BRouter is a nice tool that builds on OpenStreetMap data, and allows you to select (or even define your own) different goals (safety, fast, walking, non-hilly, etc.) for which the route is optimized. It even allows you to generate some alternative routes. I've found the results of the "safe" optimization quite solid, there have been pretty few places where I decided that the chosen route is not safe enough for my purposes.


What do you do to make positive you remember your water bottle? I commute 11 miles to work, and at least once a month, at about mile 2, I'll look down and notice I left my water bottle on the counter at home!

What tricks do you have to make sure this doesn't happen to you?

I'm not a commuter, but I believe in putting something that must not be forgotten next to something that might be forgotten.

For instance, I would put my bike gloves on top of my water bottles.

(I do the same thing when I have people over to visit. If there's something in the fridge that I want them to take home, I put their car keys in the fridge on top of the container.)


How can i get the most air from a jump? I'd like to know what technique/s to use to get both the most height, and the most distance from a dirt jump. The stock image below is the kind of dirt jump I'm referring to.

Regarding the picture: in the comment I said the rider isn't going high because of not trying hard enough, but on second thought the main reason for not being able to get proper air from such jump is that the lip is not steep enough; in fact the entire transition of that jump is rather mellow and not suited for height, you'd almost have to bunny hop out of it to go higher. The second jump on the pic seems better in that regard though it is hard to tell. For reference, something like this will launch you in the air no matter what:
(sidenote: it takes a lot of practice to be able to build jumps like that, almost as much as it takes practice to be able to ride them:)

Now, the optimium between height and length can probably mathematically be derived but I don't know how. I do know in the end it is irrelevant: once you practiced enough sometimes you'll just want to flow through lines without going particularily high while other times you'll try to really boost it. Another thing to realize is that pure distance at itself is almost never the aim: you'll rather want the perfect distance to nicely clear the jump. And not much further than that or you'll land too deep into the transition of the landing which makes it hard to maintain speed.

As for the actual answer (finally): as said I cannot explain it very well, but to go heigh (on jumps as pictured above) you basically push the bike against the transition, somewhere in the center so well before the lip, using mainly (at least for me) legs and arms. Doing that pushes the bike somewhat in more in front of you and forces it to follow the an upwards direction of the jump, and your body follows that. I don't think there is any pulling up on the handle bars until you are airborne. On the contrary, pushing the bike into the transition means extending limbs. This is a pretty good illustration you can also check the rest of the explanation there:

Final note: I rode/ride quite some dirt and met many people and when talking about it is usually in rather vague terms like 'push the bike' etc. It is just hard to break down all steps because they happen so fast and as a consequence it is hard to explain it to others. Best thing you can do is watch fellow riders or watch films, eventually in slow motion to see what exactly happens. But even if you do that you'll need practice, practice and then some more practice and one day you'll realize you suddenly know how to do it. If you can then explain exactly why, please report back here!


V-brake / cantilever pad alternatives for carbon rims? I've found these V-brake compatible brake pads rated for carbon rims:

SwissStop RX Plus Yellow King

Trickstuff (unnamed) http://www.trickstuff.de/en/products/felgenbremsbelaege_KL.php

Ice (unnamed)
http://www.dccycles.co.uk/ice-72mm-v-brake-pads-for-carbon-wheels-53558-p.asp

Paul Components (Kool Stop-based)
https://paulcomp.com/shop/service-parts/rim-brake-pads/

They're all some combination of expensive, unattractive, and difficult to find.

Are there any alternatives? Or some way to use standard pads with V-brake shoes (or adapt standard shoes to V-brakes)?

It turns out the best way to go about this is to buy threaded cyclocross brake shoes that take regular road pads. A few:

Avid Shorty 6 TRP
TRP Inplace Adjust M
Jagwire Cross Pro
Kool Stop Cross Threaded
Clark's CP453CV
Tektro 720.12


Is it poor technique or physiology that causes people to cycle with their knees sticking out to the side? Why do some people cycle with their knees sticking out to the side instead of parallel to the frame?

Based on the people I've seen riding, knees-apart is a symptom.

New rider - it takes time to develop a good pedal stroke, and some people haven't got there.
Saddle too low - If your position is really bad, then the knees instinctively separate.  I have no idea why - try riding a way-small bike.   Relates to....
Posture - riders who might remember the Moon Landings might be expecting to sit up quite straight (ie Dutch-style bikes) where the back is almost vertical.  To do that on a modern hybrid bike needs a low saddle, which encourages the knees apart.
Fear of falling - Saddles can be set down by riders who want to put their whole foot flat on the road while stopped.  Yes this is a saddle-too-low, but the root cause is poor balance, or a perception of the same.
Beer gut - I was over 100 kilos when started riding seriously on a road bike, and to use the drops I had to be standing out of the saddle, else the belly and the upper thighs tried to occupy the same space.  Even a minor tum will affect the upper thigh and where the skin folds to the lower tummy (technical term anyone?)
Thunder Thighs - related to the stomach one above, but simply lower.  If the rider's thighs are a bit thick, then repeated rubbing on the sides of the saddle's nose may be an irritant and drive their thighs apart.  Chaffing is no fun.
An unfortunate choice of clothing?  I've done rides where something wasn't sitting quite right, and to alleviate irritation have sat up or rearranged things like seams.  This would be a more temporary situation.
Moisture - poor clothing choices can build up sweat in all sorts of places.  Dampness could also come from rain or from road water and poor mudguards/fenders leading to damp clothes.
History - riders who have come from a MTB or BMX background may be subconsciously prepared to stick a foot out and dab.  That's where they do a light touch on the ground to help with balance on a corner.
Speed - Sitting up and spreading yourself out catches more air to slow you down.  If you're going too fast then this is one way to reduce speed.  Again, more subconscious than planned.

Have I missed any?

Balance - I know I've used my knees like a motorcyclist on a turn, to vary my "lean" quicker.  Probably not pedalling at this moment though.


What should I check with set up of a tandem? Particularly with reference to hired tandems, or when you're first setting one up.

A bit of context:
I hired a tandem today and went for a ride with my wife. I've been riding for about 20 years, she rides very occasionally (once every couple of years). She's 30cm shorter than me, so she goes on the back and I go on the front - which means it's a bit harder for her to diagnose what's going wrong with the bike as she's unfamiliar both with the components she's looking at, and knowing what 'correct' feels like).

The tandem we hired was a bit of a tank: an old hack that gets ridden up and down a path in a park a few times every week, the gear shifters didn't work (and the indicators were completely worn off the shifters), brakes didn't do much apart from suggest the bike might slow down at some point in the future, usual sort of decrepitude, but as we were only going on a very flat bit of tarmac, none of that was a big issue.

When we were pedalling, there often seemed to be changes in how much feedback and force my wife was getting/putting through the pedals - sometimes it would feel that she was pushing much too hard on the pedals, and at other times she felt that I was upping the cadence without warning - which I don't think I was. Could this be caused by the chain betwee the front and rear cranks being misadjusted - and if so, what can I do to check that before riding the bike away from the hire shop?

In addition to the pre-ride checks covered here, I suggest you check that:-

The sync (timing) chain between the front and back pedals is not too slack. You can expect it to move a centimetre or two closer when pinched, but visible droop is bad news and might be causing feelings of sudden changes of cadence.
The pedals are in phase. That is, the right pedal on the front is at the top when the right pedal on the rear is also at the top. Some tandem teams prefer to be out of phase, but in phase is standard and easiest for a beginner. I would expect all hired tandems to be in-phase.
The tires are suitable. As tandem tires carry more weight, it is worth having wider, tougher tires. On a road tandem I would say 28mm is a minimum. My wife and I use Schwalbe Marathon Plus 35mm (1.35") and we aren't heavy.
The tires are at high enough pressure. As above, the right pressure depends on tire width and rider weight, so is generally higher for a tandem.
There is no keel tube/chainring damage. The bottom horizontal tube between the two bottom brackets can sometimes hit the ground if ridden over bumpy surfaces due to the long wheelbase of a tandem.


How to prevent brake quick release from opening on rough roads? On rough roads or when there is a lot of vibration, the quick release on my front brake will sometimes pop open. Is there a way to prevent this from happening?

If it helps, the bike is a 1995 Trek 370, which has Shimano 250EX brakes and Shimano Exage 300EX levers (according to BikePedia).

Presumably the QR lever originally had enough friction to stay closed but has worked loose or a plastic washer or bushing that provided the friction has degraded. Obviously keeping a brake functioning is a high priority

Probably the simplest solution is to use a bit of tape to hold the lever closed, but tape may come off. Maybe you could use a small zip tie or the type of wire used to stop bolts coming loose.


Brand new bike, motor conversion, crank moves when the wheel moves I have a brand new bike and I am installing a Skyhawk motor.

I installed the rear sprocket using a pineapple hub. I am not sure how this could have tightened anything unless it happened while reinstalling onto the bike,  maybe overtightened one of the nuts or something.

In any case, what can I try before having to save and then spend another $40.00 to get to the bike shop and back? I am on a pension and it took me almost 2 years to save enough money to buy this stuff. Can anyone help?

This is usually caused by the back hub. There is preassure on the outer side of the driver(freewheel,cassette, cogs, etc;), so when the wheels moves, the driver moves and pushes the cranks, thus not doing the "freewheel" thing.

So you need to check if the nuts, cones and bearings, are grinding anywhere by taking it appart. And just because you are doing that, clean it good and regrease everything while you are it, just to be safe.

When putting back your wheel, check for movement on the nuts, sometimes on frames with small room to play they like to tight themselves up to give you a challenge.

Cheers

Edit:

As I can see from some pictures, you have to install a sprocket on the other side of the wheel. Check for spacing issues, washers, spacing issues on your freewheel and hub.


Bending back a bent head tube - is it worth trying? I have a bike that was in a major front end collision (I T-boned a car). The frame is steel and the bike bent at the head tube, the welds seem to be fine. Pictures below.

I am fully aware the appropriate thing to do in this situation is never ride the bike again. However, I loved this bike, it was built by a very talented builder, and I would like to bend the head tube back and build it up as a townie, basically to cruise around to the bar and the corner store.

My plan is to put the head tube in a vice and use the frame as a lever to bend the head tube back. While I realize this is not something anyone should advise anyone to do, people used to straighten our bent steel frames all the time.

My question is, is there a world where this ever goes well? Or is this absolutely too far gone?

I personally wouldn't ride this frame. The degree of localized distortion means the steel will be work-hardened at that point and will fatigue, crack and the front of the bike will collapse under you. I like my teeth where they are.

Yes, steel frames can be re-aligned if bent, but only if the deviation is spread out over the length of frame tubes, not concentrated in a small area.

Also, you will never get the head tube angle back to what it was, and will probably crush or ovalize the head tube in the process.

If you want to keep the frame, contact the builder talk to them about replacing the head tube and damaged sections of top and downtubes.


Is there a trick to inflating a flat tire with deep section rims? I have a Schwinn floor air pump and its nozzle is the kind you push down and flip up the lever to connect. With a brand new inner tube installed I could not get it to connect with the valve as I have rims with a deep section, with these particular rims even inflated you only have the brass end of the valve showing.

Is there an easy way to inflate the tire with this set up?

The real answer is you need inner tubes with longer valve stems. Tubes come with various length stems to accommodate deep section rims.

There are screw-on valve stem extenders available for both Presta and Schrader that you could use to extend your stems. (I think some Schrader ones are actually for car tires, but they would still work for a bike.)

With out an valve extension, to get started, try pressing down hard on the tire and tube where the valve stem is to press the it out of the rim so you can get the pump nozzle attached. Having someone to help you will make this easier. You can also thread a valve stem nut onto the stem to retain the stem when you try to get the nozzle on.

Another approach to getting started, before getting the second tire bead onto the rim, reach inside the tire, press the valve stem out of the rim, clip on the pump, then fit the second tire bead.


How to access bearings on this headset? Since a while my racing bike seems to have delopped a little crackling noise in my headset. I thought servicing the headset bearings might be a logical first step. Unfortunately, when I opend it up I don't seem to be able to access the bearing themselves. It seems like it is a zero stack headset with loose bearings, but I cannot remove the upper race, even with some force since it seems covered by some washer:

I've tried googling a bit and it seems a bit similar to the bearing described in this post. However, I don't see an easily removable circlip in my situation.

Does anyone have any idea how I would be able to remove this race to access and service the bearings? Many thanks in advance!

I'm not completely sure, but those bearings look like sealed units.  They likely get replaced rather than serviced.

I would start by getting more information on the specs of your bike frame.  The manufacturer will have details about the size of the bearings, and should be able to show how to get into it further.

Your last resort is to take the bike into an LBS for a service, and ask if you can assist/watch.  Can be a great learning experience.

To remove them, you probably need a drift to push them out from below/inside-the-frame.

This goes through the bearing, the four legs click out, and then you tap it from below with a rubber hammer.  You will probably need a headset press to reinstall them, and maintain parallelism.


Rear wheel not moving when axle nuts tightened I have a racing bike with the wheels secured by axle nuts. For the rear wheel, when I secure the nuts to finger tight the wheel turns fine, but when I tighten them properly the wheel is stuck and will move only with a lot of effort on the pedals.

When the wheel is loose out of the bike it turns fine and, like I say, it turns when the nuts are finger tight.

The wheel has worked in the past. The only thing I have changed recently is that I had to remove it to change some of the spokes, but I'm not sure why this would cause this problem. I've checked and it doesn't seem to be rubbing on the stays or the brakes. I have had that problem in the past, but this is very different in that the wheel barely turns when I turn the pedals.

The wheel uses a freewheel (6 cogs) rather than a freehub.

UPDATE on 8 December

I removed the wheel and then removed the freewheel and adjusted the position of the locknuts and spacers. I also removed and refitted the derailleur, and then refitted the wheel. The wheel then worked ok for a while, but then seized up in the same way.

I have since disassembled, greased and reassembled the axle. I have then given it a 10 minute test ride and the wheel did seize up. However there was quite a lot of creaking and clunking coming from the rear wheel area. This was something which was happening before the wheel seized up (I forgot to mention it in the original version of the question).

I've attached a photo of the rear wheel with the freewheel still attached, and another with it removed.

Grateful in advance for your help.

Chris

It sounds like the freewheel is hitting the frame. Can you see any contact between the outer cog and the stays?

One possibility is that you dropped a spacer from the axle as you put it together.

Another is that the freewheel might not be threaded all the way back onto the hub and you should hand tighten it.  The first few pedal strokes will tighten it the rest of the way.

It's also very easy to get the freewheel cross-threaded onto the hub, which would keep it from going on all the way.  It might be possible to take the freewheel off and get it restarted.

In any case, a picture would really help, especially if it shows how much the locknut protrudes past the freewheel body.


How to clean this Helmet? My son has that helmet for bicycles. Its brand new and was gifted to him recently. Unfortunately due to my mistake it was left in the backseat of our car and has accumulated some dust/lint which is making it look dirty.

I want to clean it but don't know how, I don't wish to ruin it by just trying with a wet cloth. Its surface texture is like a very high quality tennis ball and it's not the carbon fiber hard top ones that I'm used to.

Any help would be great, That helmet is beautiful and I don't want to ruin it in haste.

I'd run it under a cold shower if the lint roller suggested in the comments (or not too sticky tape) didn't work. A helmet that can't take a cold shower can't take rain and is therefore useless unless you live in a desert (which Sweden, where it apparently comes from, isn't renowned for).

One further thing to try is a vacuum cleaner with a soft brush attachment. Ideally you'd use reduced power or open a vent hole so you don't suck too hard.


105 R7000 rear shifter malfunction Disclarimer: sorry for the wall of text and for my English: I tried to describe the problem as best as I could and English is not my native language.
Hello. I have a following problem with my Shimano 105 R7000 new (4k KM) rear shifter:
At the end of a ride a week ago something happened inside it and it stopped shifting altogether all of a sudden. The feeling was as if something disconnected/snapped. I took the bike to my LBS, where the cable was replaced. However, the shifting is not the same anymore. It is impossible to adjust the shifting so that both of the following work: big chainring + smallest sprocket and small chainring + biggest sprocket. The shifting is also clunky no matter what. The chain will always rub against the next sprocket before shiting to a bigger one and will often slam into smaller one. Regardless of how much I fiddle with the barrel adjuster. Also, shifting from 6 to 7 or 7 to 8 smallest sprocket requires two clicks of the lever and a downshift afterwards. Else it won't shift - the derailleur IS moving, but doesn't go enough of a distance to facilitate a shift. Most it gets is a rub on the next bigger sprocket. Conversely, shifting to smaller sprocket afterwards won't produce a shift after 1 click, but instead will shift 2 gears after two clicks (so then to back one gear I have to do the previous routine again).
Needless to say this is hell. The problem is that I had exactly all of these symptoms 8 months ago. Exact same scenario resulting in same symptoms happened to me in November when I hit first snow in Sweden. Back then, the problem got eventually solved by getting a new shifter (after lots and lots of unsuccessful troubleshooting). So now, apart from wanting to fix the problem, I really want to know what is this.
To add to the description: both times, the shiter looks and feels differently than before the incident. The lever is angled a bit more towards the frame. The braking aspect of the lever is now different as well: the distance from the lever's resting point to the "max brake applied" point is around 6 mm shorter. I noticed this as soon as I first got on the bike (I'm quite sensitive with my brakes).
Here are the photos where the shifter's angle as well as the brake distance capacity is visible: https://imgur.com/a/FbAF929
I think it is also worth to add that I have a new casette (2500 KM) and a relatively fresh chain (1000 KM) ridden in good weather conditions. They are both well lubed. The shifter is also lubed. The cable end bit sits correctly in the designated slot in the shifter. The rear derailleur seems to be fine too and shouldn't have been touched or affected in any way, but I have made photos as well: https://imgur.com/a/PZffPTZ

The events and symptoms you describe don't give a clear picture of what happened.

At the end of a ride a week ago something happened inside it and it stopped shifting altogether all of a sudden. The feeling was as if something disconnected/snapped.

This is consistent with a cable snapping at the head. Some past versions of Shimano STI shifters may have had a tendency to do this. Your gear and shift cables have a little round head that stops them in the lever, and the cable may have broken just below that. Presumably, your bike shop changed that cable.

The shop should have adjusted the derailer, or rather adjusted the cable tension so that the derailer shifted properly. Based on this sentence, the shop either did not do this, or something else happened to your bike in the interim:

However, the shifting is not the same anymore. It is impossible to adjust the shifting so that both of the following work: big chainring + smallest sprocket and small chainring + biggest sprocket.

Did you or the bike store adjust the limit screws? These adjust how far each derailer can travel. If you have them set too far in, the derailer may not travel far enough to shift into the specified cogs, which would reproduce these symptoms. However, you imply that you can shift into small/small and big/big, making this less likely. (NB: if the shop just replaced the cable and brought it to the right tension, they should not have touched the limit screws unless they were wrongly set to begin with.)

The shifting is also clunky no matter what. The chain will always rub against the next sprocket before shiting to a bigger one and will often slam into smaller one. Regardless of how much I fiddle with the barrel adjuster. Also, shifting from 6 to 7 or 7 to 8 smallest sprocket requires two clicks of the lever and a downshift afterwards.

These sentences are consistent with the cable tension being wrong, despite your adjusting it. If you're unable to follow the instructions for adjusting your rear derailer, have the shop do it. NB: it's not a mark of shame if you can't. Many people will pleasantly surprise themselves, but not everyone has mechanical skills, and there's no shame in not having them.
Another possible cause of poor shifting is if you dropped your bike on the side with the derailer. Novice cyclists commonly do this, as I can attest from experience. You may be surprised, but the derailer hangar (the removable piece of aluminum where your RD bolts in) can bend very easily. This is by design: in a major crash, it is meant to break before the frame takes damage; if it were a structural part of an aluminum or carbon frame, then many minor crashes or coffee shop bike spills would ruin the entire frame.
From your photos, it doesn't look like the hangar is bent. However, you have the camera angled slightly.

Last:

... both times, the shiter looks and feels differently than before the incident. The lever is angled a bit more towards the frame. The braking aspect of the lever is now different as well: the distance from the lever's resting point to the "max brake applied" point is around 6 mm shorter.

You said the right lever now rests closer to the bar. It sounds like someone used the reach adjustment. You can control how far the levers are away from the curve (i.e. the drop) of the bar with a little allen key under the hood. It's of immense benefit to smaller riders. This wouldn't affect the shifting by itself.
A side note for those interested: you seem to be saying that the lever travels a shorter distance before the brake pad hits the rim. On hydraulic brake levers, this phenomenon is known as setting the bite point. On those levers, you can adjust that independent of the lever reach. This is not applicable to rim brake levers, however.
Initially, I thought that your right shifter was twisted inwards on the handlebar, but I noticed that the photo is not consistent with this.

English being your first language is unlikely to be the issue. The problem is more that you're new to bikes, you don't know exactly what symptoms you are having how to describe them in technical terms, and none of us are physically present with the bike. You can try to follow the video by Park Tools. You should be able to check by eyeball if your derailer hanger is straight. If this doesn't resolve the problem, you will need to take it in to the store. Again, there is no shame in having to do this. It takes many cyclists a fair bit of fiddling to understand how our derailers adjust. Until I understood that process, I was essentially turning screws and cable adjusters without any clear purpose.


Childrens' bike if I want to put my feet down? I am a very short adult (61 inches; 155cm), who has not been able to get the hang of sliding off the seat and back on at stops (especially on hills). I really just want to be able to stop and touch the ground with the balls of both feet, but I do understand that on a regular bike, you can't do this and have the seat at the right height for pedaling.

Could I solve this situation by buying a children's bike, and then adjusting the seat up really high? It seems like with smaller wheels (maybe 24"), the part the pedals mount to at the center should be closer to the ground, so there will be less of a difference between "leg distance touching ground" and "leg distance at bottom of pedaling". Could this solution work?

Also, are there other solutions in the a-broke-student-could-buy-this-on-Craigslist price range that I should consider? (Something with gear shifting, my commute involves a big hill.)

The seat-to-bottom bracket height is important for comfortable riding and efficient power transfer.

The seat-above-road height is what you're trying to minimise in your question.  This means a lower bottom bracket, which means an increased risk of pedals hitting the ground.

The size of the wheels is utterly irrelevant to the bb-road distance.

Instead of sliding forward and standing over the bike's top tube, consider attempting to lean the bike and put a foot to the road and the other ready to take-off.

Leftmost police cyclist here is leaning to her right, the other is leaning left.  Both are seated on their saddles with one leg ready for the first power stroke.  I'd suspect female police rider is left-handed.

From left to right: Purple bag is leaning left, but has a foot on the curb/kerb.  Jeans Man is leaning left.  Can't see Red Jacket too well.  Red Bag Folder is track-standing (staying on bike without rolling)  NoHelmet appears to be drifting slowly forward while being off the saddle (prepared for a big power push when the light changes.  Other Folder seems to be right foot down.

My point is, none of these riders are standing over their top tubes with both feet on the ground.    Its really hard to find a picture of anyone even doing it that way.

Generally speaking that is only done when fully relaxed with no need to get up and ride again immediately so you'd rarely see it in traffic.

Another option if something is available.

Amusing video about how to stand with your bike:


How do mechanics test problem that are only happening under load? My singlespeed bike emits a creaking noise(coming from somewhere in the drivetrain) while I'm riding on it, however it doesn't when pedaling on the repair stand.

This question is not about this problem but it made me wonder how do mechanics test to find the problem and verify that they fixed it?

Do they check every pieces of the drivetrain to find a potential problem needing to be fixed? Not knowing whether it is this problem causing the noise.

Do they go out and ride it to try to reproduce the noise?

Do they have some way to apply power on the transmission while on the repair stand? (With a bike trainer or similar)

With most noise-diagnosing, my usual protocol is to test ride thoroughly, including on an uphill, as the first step, to try and get the most accurate impression possible of what the customer is experiencing. You kind of need to do that to know, or at least have a pretty good guess, that you've taken care of the issue at the end. A caveat here is for my own safety (people ride some sketchy stuff) I may torque crank and stem bolts first, which can in theory throw off the before/after picture, but oh well.

I think this is the best practice, but it's also not altogether unreasonable on a lot of creak-fest modern road and mountain bikes (integrated headset and unthreaded BB) to just do all your disassembly/parts replacement/grease-slathering up front and then see what you get afterward. If a customer tells me there are multiple creaks on such a bike or if I can pick up on it from just handling the bike, I might go that route.

There aren't really any ways of simulating load in the stand. There are a few tricks useful for isolating noises in the headset and bottom bracket areas involving sideloading or selectively loading certain areas with the bike on the ground, but they don't simulate full riding loads so they're not a substitute for test riding.


How should I mount a downtube shifter clamp that lacks a locating hole? Usually, the band on downtube shifters has a hole that fits over a dimple on the tube, like this:

The band on this pair of downtube shifters lacks this hole:

I can't put them over the dimple; it would damage the band. Would you mount them above, or below it?

Above, so that the tension on the cables can't pull the clamp down.


Questions to ask before buying a bike? I have thought about few questions to ask to the shop keeper before buying a bike.
But would like to know from you experts, a complete set of questions like warranty period? Number of free services offered after sales?...etc.

If you're buying a new bike at a bike shop I'd do the following:

Ask yourself:
Do you know what type of riding you plan on doing?
Do you plan to race on this bike and/or commute on this bike?
Do you prefer a specialized bike or a versatile bike?
Do you have a strong preference to disc vs rim brakes?
Do you plan to use this with racks / fenders, does it have mounts for those?
What is your budget? How flexible are you on it?  Is it enough to get the bike you actually want?
Does your budget include accessories like a lock / helmet / bottle cages / fenders / racks?
How will you lock your bike? (don't use a cable lock if you're parking your bike in the city)

Ask the shop:
Does this bike fit me properly?
Does this bike match the style of riding I want to do?
How do this bike compare to other bikes made for the same purpose that cost more or less than this model?
Can I test ride the bike?
Do you offer a tune up with purchase?
What essentials should I purchase with this bike?
How much does it cost to install accessories at time of purchase?
What other maintenance should I have done and at what frequency? How much can I expect to spend on this?
What is the warranty period for this bike and it's components?
Has your shop checked the wheel tension and truing?


Messenger bag or handlebar basket? Fairly straightforward question the answer to which I presume depends upon ride distance, terrain, bike type, and bag weight, but I'm hoping there's a rule of thumb that generally applies to all scenarios.

This question dawned on me as I was mounting a Citi Bike last night:

Should I keep my messenger bag (weighing about 15 lbs.) strapped to my back, or should I secure it in the "protective rack" attached to the handlebars?

My thinking at the time: The bag would fit perfectly, but it would weigh down the front of the bike and make it more difficult to steer.

I opted to keep the bag strapped to my back, but this decision was based on 100% conjecture. I have little to no experience riding with belongings in a handlebar basket. On the other hand, I very often ride with a heavy messenger bag. It's habit at this point, and maybe a bad one.

The ride proved uneventful, though I can report that it isn't exactly easy riding the incline of the Williamsburg Bridge while wearing a full messenger bag on a 45 lbs Citi Bike. Would the ride have been any easier if I had put my bag in the handlebar basket?

Bikeshare bikes are beasts, and their geometry (long wheelbases, particularly) is such that I wouldn't think 15 pounds in front appreciably changes the steering. My concern -- the picture isn't clear on this point -- is whether the bag can be secured in place so that it doesn't slide out. My messenger bag sometimes gets loaded unevenly (books!), which could increase the chances it would fall out.

Heat is another consideration, especially given that hill. Messenger bags on your back hold in the heat! Hill might not be any harder that way, but it'll likely FEEL sweatier and more difficult.


How to replace old style cotter-pin bottom bracket with a modern one? I have an old 1950's English bicycle with cotter-pin style bottom bracket like this:

I find the cotter pins fail fairly regularly and are hard to replace correctly. I was wondering if it's possible to replace them with a modern bottom bracket without having to do welding/major work?

I did this just last year. It's not a hard upgrade. You'll need to replace the bottom bracket and crankset.  With a bike of that age, depending on the make, it might be difficult to find a modern bottom bracket that can fit your bike.  Take it to the local bike store to determine the shell width, or measure with your current one. This requires being pretty precise, as there are various standards and they all vary by only a couple of millimeters.

Get a crank set that matches the number chainrings you want (looks like only 1 from the pictures), and is compatible with the new bottom bracket and you are set.  Square taper is a good choice for upgrading old bikes as it's cheap and ubiquitous, and works great.  A bottom bracket tool for putting the new cups in is quite inexpensive, as is tool for tightening the crank arms.  You might already have something sufficient for this as it isn't a special tool, usually just a larger allen key, although you'll need a lot of torque, so one that fits on a socket wrench is advised.

If you are unsure about doing it yourself, your local bike shop can do it in 15-30 minutes, and shouldn't charge too much.

My bike wasn't as old as yours, but I'm pretty sure English bikes from the 1950s still used either standard 68mm British bottom brackets, or in the case of a Raleigh, a slightly different proprietary size. 68 mm is still the standard so you're in luck if you have that size.  I'm pretty sure the Raleigh size is still available as they were quite a popular make of bike.


Falling over on carbon frame bike -- likely to cause damage? As per my last post, I'm learning how to use clipless shoes.  First 3 days of practice went fine, but on the 4th I came to a stop and couldn't get my foot out in time -- in truth, I got  one foot out, but the bike fell the other way. So I and the bike tipped over to my left -- I caught myself with my hands, but the bike clattered to the ground with me astride it.
It's a carbon-frame Giant Revolt.  I see no visible damage to the frame, and I'll take it by the bike shop tomorrow, but since there's no visible damage I believe they'll say "it's fine".  Which hopefully it is.  But how worried should I be with this kind of crash?  I've read that when you crash a carbon frame, you should get it inspected professionally.  Does tipping over like this count as a crash?
I know that no-one knows the state of the frame, and without X-raying it -- which seems a lot to do -- there's no way to know for sure.  But then again "probably alright" doesn't feel very safe.
If every time I tip over while learning clipless means I could break the frame, this seems a possibly terribly expensive proposition.

In practice, there is one thing I've seen enough to call it a pattern: aero/teardrop carbon seatstays and chainstays cracking near the joints after being flexed excessively during a crash. Some of these combine very light construction with a very flat joint in the side to side direction. Some frames like this you could probably break by falling over at low speed enough times. I'm mostly talking about the kind of tubes you'd see on a tri bike.
Most carbon bikes have nothing like the above vulnerability and, falling over at low speeds, realistically would only get damaged in a major single point impact to a tube. You could probably get that to happen if you fell on the wrong thing.


How to practice jumping over cars with disc brakes and SPD shoes? This question here raises a sub-question, to avoid accidents. I am looking for some safe ways to practice jumping over cars. I use SPD shoes and disc brakes because I have noticed that I can burst very fast with them. I have no idea whether it is possible to jump over cars easily without SPD shoes and disc brakes. So any good ideas for safe practising?

More useful for you would be going along to a basic aikido course, or if that's not available judo, gymnastics, ninjitsu or some other form that teaches you how to roll. Forget the holds and throws and just learn how to roll. When you can confidently run full speed at a waist-high obstacle and dive-roll over it, you'll be in a better position to survive a bicycle-enhanced version of that.

Find a grassy children's playground with a suitable step, bank or ditch, and practice going over the handlebars. As freheit suggested in comments, wear protective equipment. I suggest starting slowly and using an old BMX rather than a bike you care about. The bmx will be easier to get off as well as cheaper.

To be honest this isn't something I would practice. What I get people to do when I'm training them is just turning the bike to one side and fall away from it. At walking speed. The idea is just to convince them that they're not going to die if they fall off, and to give them a few tips on keeping their arms bent. Mostly I use it to sell them on the idea of cycling gloves (and not riding in crappy footwear). Note that I've only done this where helmets are mandatory, but otherwise I'd also be selling people on helmets.


Shimano GRX parts compatibility with XT or XTR FD on Salsa Fargo. (BSA73) I am building a bike on Salsa Fargo TI 2019 frameset (ordered). It has BSA73 bottom bracket.

My current plan for the 2x11 drivetrain looks like this:

Crankset: Race Face Turbine 26/36 (Boost)
Bottom bracket - Chris King ThreadFit 30 + Chris King Fit Kit #21 (Wide)

148 BOOST rear wheel (DT350)

ST-RX810-R - SHIMANO GRX Hydraulic Disc Brake DUAL CONTROL LEVER 11-speed

ST-RX810-L - SHIMANO GRX Hydraulic Disc Brake DUAL CONTROL LEVER 2x11-speed

RD-RX812 - SHIMANO GRX Rear Derailleur 11-speed (42T max low sprocket)

CS-M8000 - SHIMANO DEORE XT 11-Speed MTB Cassette Sprocket 11-42

Problem Solvers for the Boost crankset - Salsa FS1328 [thanks thl33ter]

Salsa has Fargo Tiagra frameset with the same size front chainrings that paired with Deore FD driven by Tiagra 4700 levers.

I'm not sure if I can mount Shimano XT or XTR Front derailleur here; and will it be compatible with GRX lever and rear derailleur? What possible model should I choose to mount it on the frame properly (is it DirectMount)?
The brand does not matter, it can be SRAM or other compatible. But the part quality is quite important (something like XT and up for Shimano)

Added this a little blurry picture I found on mtbr. Hope this will help.

The Salsa website states for the 148mm rear spacing you need one of these adapters to mount a direct mount front derailleur Problem Solvers FS1328

Source: Salsa Fargo 2019 Spec

I don't think you'll have any problems with those shifters and front mech.


What types of BB-axle to crankarms interfaces are there? On the lowest end, we have the taper/square interface. I believe it is standard i.e. there are no variations in the sizes.

image property of VP Components USA

Then there is the octalink. Actually several kinds of it.

image property of Sheldon Brown

Then there is HALLOWTECH. Those seem to be the "best".

image property of screambikes.eu

Now the questions:

What variations exist of those types and are they compatible with one another. For example, is a V1 BB compatible with V2 crankset?
What other interfaces exist?
Have I properly ordered them in increasing "quality"/"high-endness"?

When comparing BB types, a significant factor to consider is the longevity of the bearings, and serviceability. Outboard bearings have the most longevity but are essentially unserviceable. When they go, or when the splines are too damaged by bad installation/removal or inferior tools, then toss them and buy replacements. Outboard BBs are used with Hollowtech (Shimano) and Ultra Torque (Campagnolo). Then there are press-fit BBs, in which the cups (or a sleeve into which the cups are fit) are pressed directly into the BB shell, which is now made without any threads. These need specific tools to install and remove, but are preferred for high-end bikes.

The BBs with the least longevity and least serviceability are ISIS (ten-splined). These are also a pain to remove the cranks from, since you need a special attachment on your crank puller (similarly with octalink, incidentally). The reason these have such little lingevity is that the diameter of the spindle means that the bearings contain much narrower balls. I'm not sure what gauge, but if you've ever taken apart bearings on a bike, there are three main sizes: BB, wheels and headset, in order of size from largest to smallest. The BB should have the largest because there is significantly more torque applied to the BB that anywhere else on the bike. The headset for example endures comparatively little. Isis BBs have to fit the bearings and the thicker spindle in the same shell size, and so they use smaller bearings that can't endure as much torque.

As for the most serviceable: older bikes, before they invented cartridge BBs (of which all the above except outboard bearing style are examples), had loose bearings (or at most inside one-sided cages) sitting between the cups (the sides that screw into the BB shell) and the cones (raised smooth edges on the spindle itself). These cup-and-cone BBs are analogous to the internal design of the wheel axle and bearing setup. These require frequent (every 1000km or so) disassembly, cleaning and reassembly as they get fairly full of crud. On a recent clean of an older fixie I run, I found that I had split several of the bearings into chunks, explaining the crunchy feeling of my rotation. As loose bearings are readily available, these older style BBs can be continued to be serviced right up until the cups and cones themselves get too degraded on their inner surfaces to function properly (pits in the grooves for example, where the ball bearings will naturally sit in, and which come about through over-tightening) will mean that ball bearings will wear out quicker.

Square taper BBs, as the commenters note, come in several incrementally different types. The main difference between ISO and JIS is the length of the tapered section of the spindle. ISO is shorter. The angle of the taper is the same (I believe), so you can fit an ISO crank on a JIS taper (and I have done this) but the cranks sit a couple of mm further outboard than ISO > ISO or JIS > JIS. Conversely, you could fit a JIS crank onto an ISO BB, but depending on the spindle width, it may rub against the BB shell as it would sit a few mm inboard.

As far as ease of installation, longevity, ease of crank installation and interchangeability, I would definitely suggest that outboard bearings, either hollowtech or ultra-torque, are the best balance of cost and benefit.


I keep getting flat tires on my E-bike I got my first flat a month ago and it was a snakebite flat. I got it by hitting a small bump on the road with low tire pressure.

Since then I keep getting flats after a few days of riding. Every time I switch the tube and it's always tiny holes. I checked for anything in the tire, the rim seems fine and I always ride with the tube completely inflated ever since.

This is my 3rd flat now. I even tried switching tube brands. I'm pretty sure I installed them correctly.

Any idea why this is happening?

This is the tire:

You have addressed the pinch flat problem by running higher pressure.

If you are getting repeated punctures, even with new tubes, there is probably something still in the tire that is causing the tiny holes.

Finding the offending object can be difficult. I was unfortunate enough to pick up a tiny piece of steel wire (possibly a bit of paper staple) in my rear tire recently that just protruded into the tube. I had to carefully inspect both the inside and outside of the tire to find it.


10mm through axle hub use in traditional frame? My dilemma is i have a hub with 10mm through axle for which there are no qr adaptors. I considered clamping it into the frame just using the steel 10mm through axle as the "skewer". Funnily the through axle is marginally too big for the rear dropout. To make this work I'd  need to reduce the through axle diameter or enlarge the dropout size, very slightly, about 0.1mm or 4 thou.
I have placed a traditional Shimano 10mm qr rear axle through the hub axle. The over length is correct, ca. 11mm. It fits with a small diametral clearance, and hence also fits the dropouts as per common practice.I think it will be perfectly fine to use this axle and skewer to secure the rear wheel.
Can anybody point out an obvious flaw here?
Thanks

If understand right, you've got a thru-bolt style hub and it's not fitting correctly in the dropouts. You're proposing to take a standard 10mm axle instead, use that in place of the thru-bolt, and put a QR through the whole thing to secure it.

(Thru-bolt is the more commonly used term for the type of hub that fits in a standard QR-compatible dropout but uses a continuous-diameter axle for extra stiffness.)

I think it would probably be fine to do what you propose. Hypothetically one issue could be what if there were other aspects to the hub's design that were relying on the stiffness of the thru-bolt to maintain bearing alignment, etc. But that's very hypothetical.

However, if a 10mm threaded axle fits and your 10mm thru-bolt doesn't, you're probably talking about taking off a very minuscule amount of material from the frame to make it work. In most cases I wouldn't feel any compunction about just doing that, especially if this is your bike and this is the hub you want to use with it indefinitely. Back in the days when more bike boom era bikes showed up in shops for repair, I filed a number of 5/16" frames and forks to take replacement wheels with 3/8" or 10mm axles. That's about 30 times the material you're talking about taking off and maintaining symmetry was never a huge problem. Just be careful, do the same number of file strokes on each side with your best attempt at the same amount of force, and go slow. Make some sweeping motions with a round file to do the enlarging of the rounded part, if you even need to in this case.


Improving metabolic efficiency I'm doing road cycling, on hills, over long distances.

Typically at the moment, I'll do two 30-40 mile evening rides in just under 2 hours. Generally either 50ft per mile climb or 100ft per mile climb. These are fine and even going straight from work, with just water, I'm fine energy wise.

However, Sunday's are long ride days, typically 5-8 hours of cycling over 70-100 miles, typically with 100ft per mile climb ratio or more.

I ride with a guy 5 years older than me with one year more cycling training.

However, he rarely needs to eat on the ride, and he'll manage with a few gels and his energy drink.

Whereas, I'll have chugged 1-2 litres of chocolate milk, four rounds of bread (in the form of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches), a (big) bag of minstrels (yeah, jelly babies are better, but, I loathe them). PLUS the energy drinks and gels.

I've always had 'issues' with blood sugar crashes if I don't eat enough on a regular day. I seem to burn it fast.

What can I do to help re-train my metabolism to work better?

Fitness wise, my RHR is around 54bpm, my MHR is 192 (based on highest garmin logged figure), my BMI is bang on 22. The guy I ride with has an RHR of 46, has peaked his MHR at 199 and is probably (though I've never asked) about right on his BMI too. So yes, the fact I can't hold pace with him is because he has an edge fitnesswise, but we have a 'system' of him not waiting for me when I start to drop on the hills, so he's still setting PRs, but still doesn't need to load the calories like me.

I'm aware that my body stores energy in the form of glycogen in my muscles, and it's this supply that is burned first, followed by converting fat to use or any fast carbs I take in. And I'm eating a good amount of carbs for storing up the energy. Saturday night is typically a big pasta trough and a big bowl of porridge before I ride. The guy I ride with on the other hand is gluten intolerant and not taking pains to carb load. And often turns up hung over too. Just to rub it in :)

My fitness is clearly improving, I'm constantly moving on my PRs etc, however, I'm just not getting more 'efficient'.

Which means I'm carrying more weight in food which won't help me keep the pace will it: ;-)

The problem is burning too much carbs/glycogen and not enough fat, since you body has an essentially unlimited supply of the latter.
How? One step is to eat more fat and less carbs. That trains your body to burn more fat. This article also suggests pushing your limits on how far you can go without eating, as a way to train your body to need less. Another point is that you burn more carbs (vs. fat) at higher levels of effort. Do enough training at low effort, and your body will get used to using fat. That's the idea behind Phil Maffetone's training philosophy.


Bottom Bracket on a Trek CrossRip Elite 2015? I'm wondering if anyone can tell me what size bottom bracket would have originally come with the 2015 Trek CrossRip Elite?

Their bike archive doesn't have any BB detail.

I did find these two StackExchange posts, and both point to a 68mm BB, with the latter more specifically identifying 68mmx110mm. That'll probably do, but I wanted to see if anyone had exact information about my bike before proceeding.

Thanks!

There are two measurements you need: shell width and axle length.

Shell width is very easily determined - you can just measure it. The standard for road bikes with threaded bottom bracket shells is 68mm but some gravel bikes use 73 so it's worth checking.

The axle length can also be measured but you need to at least pull the cranks off to do so.

Different model cranks require different axle lengths to get the correct chainline. Shimano publishes detailed specifications going back to 2005 that will tell you what BB you need for any of their square taper cranks, but as you have an FSA crank that does not help. FSA does publish some documentation if you dig for it a bit. The manual for the current version of the Vero crank is here. It gives a FSA BB part number, the notes say '110.5 for Chainline 44' - i.e. 110.5mm axle for 44mm chainline - which is correct for a road double drivetrain.

Looks like you are correct and a 68x110 BB will be fine.


How to unscrew freewheel sprockets with 9 broken spokes A friend of mine has this problem. I haven't seen the wheel, but I suppose that the broken spokes are in one "area". It's a 27 inch wheel.

Is there any tool that can hold hub tight enough to use a freewheel wrench?

This one is way easy. Use a pneumatic impact wrench.  There is very little torque transmitted. Bruuupppp and its off. I use this a lot with my single speed spin on cassette with the torque from Hades. When I did this manually, I needed a six foot breaker with wheel tied down. Impact hammer is awesome.

No vise. No marks on part. I would just hold hub carefully with work gloves.  Heck, bring it by my house, we'll have it off in 30 seconds.


How much slower are big tires? I've now got a bike with 2.35" (or 60mm) Schwalbe Big Apple and feel a bit slow. There's no testing to prove this claim, but riding my fixie (25mm) the last couple of years just felt quicker/easier. Is that because the fixie is lighter (~10lbs) and has more efficient gearing or the thinner tires?

I am now thinking of going thinner, namely Marathon Supreme 40mm. I don't think I want to go thinner because I fell in love with the cushion. Will this make for a noticably quicker ride and will I lose much cushioning? Or should I just buy bigger legs?

There is plenty of discussions on the internet about larger volume tires actually being faster than narrower tires.  For example, a recent Cycling Tips pod cast has a good discussion. However, real world experience will likely be the opposite due to the tire construction used on the majority of tires available in the market place.

Tire construction

Unfortunately, tire construction is a confounding factor when discussing performance of large volume tires.  Most larger volume tires on the market use heavier casings and thicker tread, as they intended use case is "heavy duty".  Add in some puncture resistance strips (standard on most large volume tires currently in the market) and you get a very thick and stiff tire.

A stiff tire will have higher rolling resistance compared to a more supple tire  due to a a process called hysteresis, where the energy required to flex the tire slows you down and higher suspension losses (which has also been termed impedance).  Suspension losses vary by road surface and can be quite high on rougher surfaces. Here a stiffer tire response more slowly to road imperfection (i.e., flexes to accommodate the imperfection), which in turn vibrates the rider. The vibrating soft tissue "consumes" energy (actually it converts forward momentum into heat due to internal friction within the body). BQ showed this in an extreme context, where very rough surfaces more than doubled the amount of effort required.

All things being equal, a larger volume tire will also be heavier than a narrower tire.  Add in heavy duty construction found on most high volume tires, and you end up with a much heavier tire.  This results in a large weight penalty which can noticeably affect acceleration, furthering the feel of the tire being slower.

Because most high volume tires on the market have stiff heavy duty construction, these tires will typically have much higher rolling resistance than more narrow tires, which, on average, tend to be more performance focused, featuring more supple construction and lighter weights.

Light Supple High Volume Tires

An exception to this generalization is light supple high volume tires, which are currently quite hard to find.  These tires will also have low hysteresis and very low suspension losses as the supple construction means the flex easily and the large volume means you can run them at a lower pressure, there by greatly reducing suspension losses.  On most real world road surfaces (especially open chip seal or gravel roads), these type of tires will be faster, than a narrower tire of similar construction due to the large difference in suspension losses.

These typically will not have puncture protection, further adding to the suppleness. Lack of puncture protection is less of an issue in large volume supple tires, because the force placed on encountered objects by the tire is reduced due to the fact the tires flex easily and the tires are run at a lower pressure. This means the regular tire rubber is typically strong enough to resist the object and an extra puncture strip is not required.

Finally, a light suppler large volume tire will still be heavier than an narrower tire so there is an acceleration penalty. That said, this penalty is much smaller than with the "heavy duty" large volume tires and for most everyday riding it will be hard to notice.  It is therefore a bit of a non issue relative to the gains in comfort and higher sustained speed due to reduced suspension losses.

The real problem is getting your hands on light, supple, large volume tires.  Only a few brands currently exist, with pretty much all of them are being manufactured by Panaracer.


On recumbent trikes, vs road bikes which is safer down hill? Tadpole, vs delta have different tipping modes. Does the three wheel configuration give a false sense of stability? Are rocks on the road more or less of a risk on a Tadpole vs Delta vs Road/Mountain bike?  I'm thinking of "graduating" to a trike for stability reasons. I don't want to experiment if I can avoid it.

Safety on descents is more a matter of your state of mind than any objectively measurable phenomenon.

I will say that I have descended pretty damn fast on a road bike, and faster on a tadpole trike. This had less to do with being on three wheels and more to do with having an extremely low center of gravity on the trike. I've also never experienced speed wobbles on my trike--I'm not even sure that's possible.

You do not tip on a trike or bike when you're going in a straight line. If you're going through curves, the fact that you cannot lean into a turn on a trike means that you can flip the trike instead, and at higher speeds, you'll flip the trike on shallower turns.

Typically, tadpoles have two front brakes, and for the most part, this is a benefit. Braking at very high speed will steer the trike into the braked wheel; if you apply both brakes, then the slightest discrepancy in the application of the brakes can cause a dangerous back-and-forth when you're whipping downhill.

From what I've seen, a tadpole can be designed with a lower center of gravity than a delta, which improves stability.

If the road surface is too broken up or littered with debris for me to descend at full speed, then I don't, regardless of what I'm riding. I suppose in the abstract I would feel more endangered hitting a given rock at speed on my road bike than I would on my trike (I also have much fatter tires on my trike). It would also be harder to avoid the rock on my trike (three tracks vs one). But that's a hypothetical I am not eager to test.


How to select gear on internally geared hub with broken shifter I bought used bike with words "gear mechanism is not working and set to 6th gear only". Ok, no problem. Riding was a bit harder, but fine for quadriceps :)

Later I had a flat tire on rear/back wheel. I took the wheel away, fixed the tire and when I was putting the wheel back, and idea occured: "Why do I need to keep this non-funcional gear mechanism? Let's get rid of it!"

And now... yes. Riding is very, very easy. Like I'm on the 1st gear. And I can be fast enough. So guys, please, is there any way I can make it "harder" again without buying some expensive stuff?

Thank you for any suggestion!

2nd image: gear-mechnism found, but ...

From the image I'd guess your bike has Shimano Nexus 7 hub gear, though I'm not sure.

Anyway, the gear probably defaults to 1st gear when there's no tension in the shifter cable. So, riding your bike is very light probably because you are riding on the 1st gear.

What this means is that the hub gear might still be ok. It might've been stuck in the 6th gear earlier because either the cable or the shifter was stuck. Try attaching a cable back to the gear (it attaches to the bolt that is pointed by arrow in pic), pull it and see if the gear works.

If that's the case, you might be able to get a fully functional bike for a little money or effort - new shifters are not that expensive, especially if the gear is Nexus 7. It's a very common type and spare parts should be easy to find.


Should I put a downtube guard on my aluminium enduro bike? I am about to purchase a new Whyte G170s mountain bike. It does not come with a downtube protector to protect from rock strikes. Although the frame is not carbon I am wondering whether I should buy a guard or not. My last bike (a Trek Fuel) was also AL and came with a downtube guard included.

So should I get one or should my frame be OK with rock strikes?

Cheers.

Carbon frames are strong, but when struck hard, they can crack, which is quite nasty. Aluminium frames just dent and rarely crack. Depending on how you ride and where you ride, a downtube protector may be something to consider. It's not necessarily for protecting the structural integrity of your frame since, you would probably need a rock the size of a small boulder to really ireversibly damage your frame. However, a downtube protector may be benificial for you to protect your paint from rock chips and scratches as a result of trail debris. Hope this helped!


Clunking noise only when pedaling at higher RPM not low RPM. Video of Issue linked Bicycle Type: Gary Fisher Marlin Mountain Bike with 3x9 drive train.
Issue Description: When pedaling, there's a clunking noise emanating from what sounds like the cassette & hub interface but only at higher pedaling RPM.  The clunking noise doesn't occur when pedaling at lower RPM. Proper cassette lock ring tightness has been verified with a torque wrench, so the cassette isn't loose.  I have a video of the noise occurring only as pedal RPM increases to a certain speed:
Video Displaying Issue
Background Information: I think this clunking issue started after changing the tires on my bike. I went from a mountain bike tire (2.1" wide?) to more road friendly tires that are 1.9" wide. Could the weight difference of the tires be causing the slack in the drive train and clunking?  I verified that the chain isn't stretched with a chain stretch tool. The bottom bracket bearings/cranks are tight and quiet as well.

Given that the cassette lock ring was torqued properly and the play between the cassette and free hub was similar to that found on friends bikes, I moved on to checking other parts.  I removed, cleaned and lubed both rear derailleur pulleys. This reduced the clunking sound about 90%. The pulleys currently installed are original and I'd guess have about 700 miles on them.  In any event, I plan on replacing both pulleys with new ones with the hope that this completely eliminates the clunking sound.
My guess is the old pulleys weren't turning as freely as they should and this resulted in less tension on the chain, which created the slack between the cassette and hub that enabled the clunking sound.  My thinking is the new pulleys will have a slightly larger diameter that will allow the rear derailleur spring to provide just a tad more tension on the chain thus completely eliminating the clunk. The reduction in chain tension may have resulted from a combination of pulley wear and slight chain stretch (but not enough to register on a chain stretch tool).  New derailleur pulleys will do the trick. Thanks for taking the time to read this.


Does anyone have any special notes on buying pannier racks? I have a 520 mm cro-mo vintage tsunado road bike. It has 27 inch wheels. I'm putting a pannier rack on the back *preferably steel, but I'll consider Al.  It doesn't have the upper mounts but the dropouts have fenders so there are points there. I am going to be using it for touring, commuting, even picking up materials for the construction I'm doing (if anyone knows how to load a 3/4 inch sheet of ply onto bike,  I'll be really surprised)  I'm sure that I'd like to be able to load at least 25kg on that.

I'd be very interested in any pointers on what to get.  I'd like to keep the price in the best bang for buck range,  function/quality nothing fancy. If there any thoughts on bags I'm equally interested - Thanks

Bang for buck would suggest an aluminum rack, but these typically don't support high loads.  Once you start heading into the 20-30+ kg range steel performs better in terms of total load capacity and behavior under load (I.e., less flex which reduces the chance of a shimmy).  In terms of steel I have had good luck with Tubus and hear good things about Surly racks.  However neither of these racks are cheap.

About fenders

In terms of frame eyelets and fenders, some racks (usually the higher end ones) have additional mount points for fender struts.  If you are handy you can often create your own mounting points.

About pulling building supplies

If your intent is to be in the transport building supplies such as plywood, you should really think about alternatives to racks such as a trailer. There are lots of different types of trailers. I've seen some flat bed like trailers for putting large awkward objects.


How do you make an end-capped gear cable? I want to make my own gear cable of non-standard length. I have a cable with one end capped like the larger end-cap shown in the first picture; the other end is currently bare — I have trimmed the cable to the right length.

I need to create an end-cap on the bare end of the cable (after sliding through the ferrule), similar to the thinner end-cap in the first diagram.

I have considered using the standard 1.6 mm cable caps but these aren't not going to work because:

I need a slender and well-rounded end-cap to fit inside the ferrule
A pinched cable tip fails because the force of a gear change is applied directly to the anchor (and it just gets torn off)

How are these end-capped cables manufactured and therefore how can I make my own?

My specific ferrule and indicator are here:

If this is a 3 speed Sturmey Archer or similar system you need a replacement cable. It will come complete with the cable and housing with the ends installed. There are universal replacement cables available (I have one on my 35 year old Raleigh). The shift adjuster ferrule has a clamp/pinch nut attached so a standard shift cable can be used. Checking several on line retailers shows most of the replacement cables (non NOS) use this universal setup


SRAM Cassette with Shimano 105 groupset Can I replace my existing Shimano 12-25 10-speed cassette with a SRAM 11-32 10 speed cassette with no other modifications?

Probably not

If you have a 10 speed 105 group it will be either 5600, 5700 or 5701 series. Looking at Shimano's archived specs from here, 5600 appears in 2006, 5700 in 2011 I believe, 5701 is in the 2014 doc.

The RD-5600 has a max rear sprocket of 27 for both short cage SS and long cage GS versions. The RD-5700 has a max rear sprocket of 28 for both SS and GS versions.  A bigger cassette would likely exceed the total capacity as well unless you have a GS which has a higher capacity for use with triple cranks.

RD-5701 SS has a max sprocket of 30, GS max sprocket of 30 with triple cranks and 32 with double, so if you happen to have 5701 GS double you'd be OK.


Finding a road bike for 5'2'' girlfriend Last year I bought myself a used (although almost never ridden) road bike from around 1985.  I love the bike.  It is reasonably light and I love the diamond geometry.

My girlfriend wants to get a used road bike but we are having a hard time finding anything on Craigslist, Kijiji, etc.  I think that this is mostly because of her height.  She is about 5'2'' so I think that she would ride something like an 18'' (46 cm) frame.

I have thought about looking at bikes with low top tubes or mixte but I think that they are heavier and more flexible than diamond shaped bikes.

So here is what I am looking for:

A 18'' inch frame (give or take)
A diamond shaped frame (lighter, less flex)
Used ideally from the 80s or 90s so that the bike is under $300 for a reasonably well made bike.  (A newer bike would be great as well however I think that it would be out of the price range).
Road frame with drop bars

Does this bike exist?  If so why can't I find any online?

I'm answering the unasked question: "How do I find a hard-to-find bike?"

Certainly this bike exists, but you may have to stick with your search for some time before finding it. (I sympathize with the situation. I take a 19" frame in mens, and most bikes are too large for me.)

Mens' bikes often have a reach that's a bit too long, and handlebars that's a bit too wide for ladies. (Not always, depends on your girlfriend's dimensions.)

Some general thoughts:

Work with your bike shop. They may have something in stock, but more importantly, a good shop will keep an ear to the ground for you.
Try a bike co-op. You may find a used frame inexpensively, or even maybe a complete bike.
Keep searching on Craigslist and Ebay. Learn what frames and bikes you're looking for; on Craigslist in particular, sellers often think that bikes only come in the sizes "kids", "boys" and "girls", and don't list the frame sizes. If you find out what bikes came in the sizes you want, you can at least target your searches better.
Do you have a bike club? Spend time on bikeforums? Subscribe to any mailing lists for bikes? Spread the word!
Did I mention to work with your bike shop?

Stick with it. Keep searching.

If you're not willing to wait, you'll have to either adjust your budget or your expectations. But don't lose hope; the right bike is out there somewhere.


Why is lactose never mentioned as a fuel for cycling, either for short fast races or endurance? Sucrose, dextrose, glucose and fructose, but never lactose. Why not, what's wrong with it as a source of fuel?

Glucose (dextrose is the same thing) has a special role in metabolism - as well as being a nutrient sugar in its own right it's a vital intermediate in breaking down more complex sugars, starch, and glycogen, our bodies' main store of carbs.  This all means we're able to get energy from it very efficiently (excepting cases of diabetes).  This is why energy drinks (the ones with calories in, not just caffeine and flavouring) use it.
Maltodextrin, used in energy gels and some energy drinks, is pretty much just a string of glucose molecules.
Fructose is metabolised rather differently, but the pathway is connected to glucose metabolism, so it's not exactly parallel.
Sucrose is a glucose and a fructose joined together, so also a very available source of energy.
Lactose is broken down by lactase (in those individuals that produce it) into glucose and galactose.  The latter in turn then ends up as glucose by a variety of routes, probably slower release than glucose, but faster than starch. It would appear to offer no advantage as a parallel source of energy to glucose, while not being any cheaper and intolerable to some people.
So if you like it, you can certainly get energy from it, and milk can often be bought easily - on a recent warm ride it would have been the only way for me to get a chilled non-alcoholic drink in one shop (but I don't like it as a drink so I had an ice cream and water instead).  For a manufacturer trying to make money, it would make their products more expensive for no sales benefit.


Anyone found a good way to transport kids with a Strida? Are there any compatible trailers or such for a Strida?

It appears that one might possibly attach a lightweight trailer to that rack sort of deal on the back, or possibly to the seat stay.  Since the thing has such a short wheelbase with the rider's weight so far backwards, there would be a bit of a problem with the bike doing a wheelie, however.


Do freewheel/cassette/chains come as a set? I've a Marin San Rafael, 2005. The cassette is an 8 speed 11-28 shimano, exact model number unknown. The chain and freewheel are whatever came with the bike..

I've always thought the chain had a problem, stiff link perhaps, because it would feel like it skipped a tooth/jumped particularly when running on the smallest two cogs and pedalling hard.. everything else has been mechanically good, though lately the freewheel has developed a problem, probably stuck pawls. It's slipped and crunched enough times that I'd say it warrants replacing rather than cleaning and regreasing..
The bike has always been stored indoors, some use in wet weather but mainly dry, and has probably done about 2000 miles. I'm reasonably tall/heavy at 193cm/110kg and live in a hilly region which may have contributed to what I think is a premature failure

So, I'm setting about ordering bits but I'm not sure what to get - there aren't any obvious model numbers on these components and I can't find exact specs on what came as standard

If I replace like for like, do chain/free/cassette come as a set?
Will any shimano 8 speed cassette fit?
Do chains have a standard length and need shortening to suit?
What keywords do I need to search (e.g. eBay) for to ensure I get the set of things I need?
If I go for upgraded components (cos I don't think I'll be getting smaller any time soon), are there particular keywords to search/look in the tech specs for (e.g. Number of pawls-I've no idea what makes one freewheel more heavy duty than another)?
Are they a standard fitment hence a drop in replacement or do other things need to be changed too/do I need to match it to the hub?

I don't use the bike enough to warrant eg a sprag hub and rear wheel rebuild, but l'll be using it regularly, soon

Note, I'm not after particular product recommendations, I'm after knowing how to search for and buy the right set things over the the internet, what things are called, what's needed to ensure the job can be done in one swoop working finding something missing - the mechanics of fitting them is not part of the question either

Your easiest solution is to simply buy another of exactly what you have

8 speed cassette, 11-28 teeth
8 speed chain.

They don't come as a set - you need to buy one of each.  Its up to you if you want to get cheaper or more expensive parts.  The lifespan and weight is what varies with price.

Depending on wear, your front chainrings might be getting tired.  But I've seen some severely worn ones still working fine.

Any 8 speed chain will be fine - you could even mix and match KMC chain with a Shimano cassette.   But you need 8 speed chain (possibly labelled as 6/7/8 speed) and you need an 8 speed cassette.

If you want to get a bit more adventurous you could look at a 30 or 32 tooth big cog.  This would give you a lower-low gear for hillclimbing.  Its totally up to you whether this is required.

Downside of enlarging the cassette is that your rear derailleur might not fit, or it might chatter on the lowest gear.

Chains come in lengths longer than what you need.  114 or 116 links (or half-links)   So you shorten them to the same number of links as your old chain.

You'll need tools to do this - there are some special bike tools.

Cassette lockring remover (Undoes the lockring retaining the cassette on the freehub)
Chain whip (to hold the cassette and therefore the freehub still while using the lockring remover)
Chain tool (to shorten and fit the new chain you need a chain tool.  Chain will probably come with a one-time use pin, or you can fit a master link to make life easier next time.)

Also need rags and cleaners etc, and possibly chain lubricant.