What make and model is this MTB with no decal (pictured)? My second hand MTB frame has no decal on it. To me it looks like a downhill frame. I was told it's an Orange but now that I look at it I don't know how to tell. The serial number is JSG0111.

I locked in your FORK, but your frame could most likely be from the 1990's

SR Suntour XCM V3 Coil 26" Fork (2011)

Item Number:    100079607
Manufacturer:
Suntour
ItemNo  100079607
Color   Black
Fork Model  XCM V3 coil QR-V/D fork 100mm (1" thrd-150mm NLA>
Steerer Tube    1" Threaded
Front Axle Type 9x100mm quick-release
Spring Type Coil
Brake Type  rim + disc (6" PM)


Does helmet padding contribute to the safety of a helmet? Does the padding inside of a bicycle helmet contribute to the overall security of the helmet? I.e. do they cushion a crash in some way, or are they just there for comfort?

Because there is an optimum placement position for the helmet on the head, having padding that helps keep the helmet in place, or makes the helmet more comfortable to wear, indirectly contributes to the safety of the helmet.  But aside from a very minor absorption of force during the moment of impact the padding really has no direct impact on the safety a helmet.

Modern bike helmets are designed to deform in a crash.  Basically, the hard foam and plastic that the helmet is made out of, crumples during an impact.  This dissipates the force of impact during a crash. For this reason it is important to replace your helmet after any significant impact.  The padding is mostly there for comfort, and to make the helmet fit slightly better.

From the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute
"The spongy foam pads inside a helmet are for comfort and fit, not for impact protection"


Same tube for 23mm and 28mm tires? I like to change my tires with the Continental 4000S II 28mm width tires.
Do I need new tubes for the wider tires or can I use my old ones from my 23mm tires?

A tube will have a range.  Most likely the original range of that tube did not include 28.  Small tubes are usually sold as 19-23.  Yes the rubber would probably stretch to 28 without bursting but it would definitely be weak.  If you are going to spend money on new tires then spend money on new tubes.  Even same size I put new tubes in new tires.  Save the old for emergency.  Better yet save the old tires with tubes for emergency unless the tires are just plain shot.


Need help finding compatible bottom bracket and crank set for track bike My bike is this:

https://www.santafixie.co.uk/derail-black-fixed-bike.html

The BB measurements on the link are CH55 BSA 68/107.

I know literally bare minimum about bottom brackets and crank sets. I wanted to get this Miche Primato advanced track crank set and I need some ideas of what bottom bracket I could get that would work with this and my bike. (my bottom bracket currently has play in it so I need a new one anyway).

Or if anyone could check my current specs and recommend a compatible BB and crank set (preferably 48t) that is good. I know there are other factors like chain line width but as I've given the BB length I'm thinking a same length new one would be the same chain line width?

Cheers.

Like most bicycle components cartridge bottom brackets are highly standardized. Almost all bikes with threaded bottom bracket shells are ISO standard: 1.37inch x 24 threads per inch, drive side is left hand threaded. The ISO standard is also known as 'English' or 'BSA'. Obviously this is what your frame has.

There are two other parameters you need to know. Frame bottom bracket shell width and axle length.

Standard widths are 68mm and 73mm. The shell width is very easy to measure. Some cartridges will fit both a 73mm shell and a 68mm one with two 2.5mm spacers.

Different models of cranks require a different length axle to get the same chainline. This is because the square taper in the crank arms can be in a different position along the axle axis (closer to or further away from the center of the frame. In general you can't put a different crank on a given BB and definitely expect the chainline to come out right.

What you need to do is know or measure what you chainline is, make sure you are buying a crank that gives you the correct chainline, get the correct bottom bracket axle length for the crank, and bottom bracket shell width of your frame.

If you are buying Shimano they make this very easy as they publish extensive specifications and compatibility. With other manufacturers it can be more difficult. I found some data for the Miche crank here, and I note that in actual fact it calls for a BB axle length of 107mm for a chainline of 42.5mm (which I assume is the standard for track bikes).

Another example, the manual for the FSA Vero Pro specifies a 110.5mm axle for chainline of 44mm.

You can of course modify the chainline of a square taper crank by getting a BB with an axle greater or less than what is specified (remember that to get 1mm of chainline difference you need 2mm difference in axle length).


Will heavy tires make a difference for climbing? I have a pair of conti 4 seasons and a pair of marathon pluses. I use the latter on a daily basis for commuting because of their puncture resistance, and haven't used the contis in a while now. I will be going on a tour with quite a lot of hills and climbing. I will be taking a couple of kg of stuff in a rucksack. The question is, will there be a noticeable difference between using the marathons vs using the contis? Will the rolling resistance make any real difference (for climbing)?

There is no way tires are different than other weight when climbing. The saying about rotating mass being equivalent to double non-rotating mass applies only when accelerating and even then you have to take into account that tires are quite lightweight compared to rest of bike and rider.

Rolling resistance difference can be noticeable even when climbing, but Conti 4 seasons are among the worst road tires and Schwalbe Marathon plus is one of the best rolling extremely protected tires, so the difference isn't necessarily that great.


Got two bikes, one of them is more exhausting to ride, what can it be? I have owned a bike for many years, it's a cheap one but it's perfectly fine.
Recently, I've bought a bike for my girlfriend, second hand from someone quite clueless about bike maintenance.

Mine is 26" front and rear suspension 2.125 tires, 3x7 gears.
Hers is 26" hardtail 1.95 tires, 3x6 gears

When I bought her bike I had to ride it home, a 15km ride, and after that I was exhausted.
I trued the wheels, aligned the brakes, did a little test ride and it was fine.

My girlfriend said it was much harder to ride than mine. I felt that too, but was not sure if it's just because it's hardtailed and the ride is much stiffer. Rode it today again, and it's really much more exhausting than riding mine.

Wheels spin freely and don't have significant play.

Any ideas what should I check ?

Update:
About geometry and fit, I can feel almost instantly that something is not right with the ride, but can't put my finger around it.

Brakes are V-brakes. Both tires are chunky mtb tires. As I'm 35kg heavier than my girlfriend mine are pumped to 55 psi while her's to 45 psi. When the bike is upside down everything is as smooth as butter. Crank, chain, freewheel, spinning freely. Wheels are spinning for a long duration of time. All bits and bolts aligned and tightened so nothing moves, rubbing, catching under load.

As more testing was done, it seems the bike won't roll quite well as mine, while on my bike I can pedal some and roll some, on the same bit of road, on the other bike I won't stop pedaling in order to continue going.

Another clue is weird knocking sound with the rhythm of a car turn signal relay.

I now guess it's the hubs, but I hope its fixable by just overhauling and without replacing, have to get some cone wrenches to check them.

Fixed:
It was the rear hub, whole assembly was loose, and the most shocking thing : there was one ball bearing missing on one side, 8 of 9 balls, I don't know how much it affects the performance but i'm sure its not recommended (ordered new bearings), even more, the freewheel assembly itself was loose as well, so I overhauled it too, it was a bit hard, lots of tiny balls but I managed it quite well.

I can see 3 possible causes for the bike being more exhausting than it "should" be:

1: Lack of (or incorrect) previous maintenance.

Particularly you mention you bought it from a "clueless" person. It is likely that such person didn't knew when to take the bike to maintenance and was not very careful on how or where to keep it while not in use.

Some bikes are factory packed with such types of grease and lubricants that in short time can gum-up, and cause a seizure-like effect instead of reducing friction. This happens particularly in low end bikes, where cheap grease is used, so it lets evaporate part of the oils leaving only a paste-like residue. This may not be evident when moving parts by hand, but a tiny amount of resistance in every axle adds up when riding. When this happens in the pedals and bottom bracket, the effect on the rider is very noticeable, still the bike is felt to roll freely, but heavy to pedal.

The fix for this is a complete disassembly of the hubs, bottom bracket and pedals, cleaning completely the internals and reassembly with good, fresh grease. Of course this covers correct re-adjusting of hub cones, bottom bracket cones and pedal axle, etc. which may be currently over-tightened.

The chain may also be suffering from this. You can change the chain or deep clean and re-lube it.

2: Low end components too low

Some bikes are produced with low quality components, which are not formed properly and are made out of incorrect materials. In particular, chainrings, bottom bracket and cogs. Low end ones are made of low grade steel which is heavy and kind of soft. The heavy part has an obvious effect.

The softness of the steel is a major problem. When bearing cups or cones are made of soft steel, the balls "sink" into them because the steel flexes a bit, creating resistance. Think of it like rolling a pool ball on a bed, versus rolling it on a proper table (which would be a bearing on proper steel). This effect is very subtle and can not be noticed when moving parts by hand, but when real load is applied (i.e. actually pedalling) it is greatly increased. A similar thing happens between mild steel chainrings and the chain.

Also, poor quality components are often poorly machined, which means they do not have the right shape, just a very similar one.

This is the main difference among low end components and reputable ones: the quality of materials and machining used.

The only remedy for this is to upgrade components. It is not necessary to break the bank, there are a lot of good, affordable components made by reputable makers, which can be a good option. For example, almost any Shimano component from the basic line will perform better than a generic brand-less component from a Walmart bike.

If it was my bike and I needed to make it easier to ride, I would upgrade bottom bracket, crankset and pedals first followed by cog set and finally hubs. (And I would do it progressively, not all at once and only if the bike frame is worth the effort).

3: Geometry and fitting Issues
A bike with different geometry can be more tiring to use. Besides this, a poorly fit bike makes the rider-bike system less efficient. The bike may have good geometry but be severely far from a proper fir for the rider, it may even be the incorrect size.

Do a search for "bike fit" to check some critical points like saddle height, and effective top tube length, among others. If you can't adjust the bike to get it close to the recomended positions the bike may be too small/to large for the rider.

Other factors
I have left this apart because it is kind of obvious but:

Check if tires are properly inflated and in good shape. Tires at lower than recommended pressure generate more rolling resistance. A good tire can safely go up to the max pressure labelled on its side. If it doesn't seem to be able to hold up, then it may be too old and must be changed.

Check for rubbing brakes, or tire rubbing on frame.


Can a 26 Inch Controller Drive a 20 Inch Wheel? My situation:

A Bakfiets with a bad controller (hills too much for it I think)
Supplier has offered to send me a new controller
Supplier has also offered to supply a whole new separate battery - controller - motor system to mount on the front wheel (to prevent a recurrence of controller failure). This is a unit he has unused and it is designed for a rear 26 inch wheel.

This sounds great, but I am worried that his second controller won't properly drive my 20 inch front wheel.

My question - will this system work? Do controllers need to be configured to drive different wheel sizes? I feel the answer is yes, otherwise, how can a controller know the speed of the bike - it only has two ways of knowing this - the pedelec or the motor.

You may be able to reprogram the wheel size controller from the lcd control panel (or usb reprogramming cable). But this assumes a certain level of intelligence in the controller and yours might not have this capacity. You’d have to check with the vendor.

Even if it were reprogrammable you have the following challenges:

Motors have optimum torque and speed ranges. Your motor may be wound for slower rotations of a 26” wheel and won’t give you enough speed that a 20” needs
controllers may obey the ebike assist speed limit by limiting max RPMs. If your controller isn’t wheel size reprogrammable you’ll find yourself limited to a much reduced speed  and even if you can, the physical/electronic max rpm limit may still limit your top speed (my Bafang geared hub motor/controller doesn’t seem to go above a certain rpm irregardless of the wheel size; this may be either a motor or controller limitation)
you’ll need to build the wheel and you might find some of the spoke angles are going to be very tight
a rear ehub will not fit normally in the front forks because of the hubspacing and freewheel clearance.


How to mount posters, bills or placards on a bicycle We want to do a ride through our city to show the presence of cycling and want that people do not only see bikes, but also a message.

We thought of using some posters that we mount on our bikes, but we are not sure how to do this. We thought about glueing the posters on card board and maybe even reinforcing the card board with wood. We are thinking about A3 sized posters, or even larger. If there was somebody with experience on how to build posters so one can mount them easily on a bicycle, tips would be appreciated.

Other tips on how to convey a message as a group on bicycles would also be nice!

I wanted to keep the problem pretty open, so it can be of use to other people facing a similar problem, but since they have been requested:

Specifics are as follows: We want to make a bike ride in suits to show that cycling is possible in any attire, and I opted in to find a solution how to make posters so people see our message and do not just wonder about a group of cyclists in suits. We might need a big poster in front and in the back, and the individual cyclist should also be able to mount a message on their bikes easily (want to make around 5 smaller posters). There should be some trailers available.

It would be nice if the posters are reuseable, maybe even for different purposes, but the ride I want to use them for will only last around 2 to 3 hours.

Budget is pretty tight, I would guess around 50 $.

The most practical approach we found for larger posters was trailers. Like this They're somewhat inclined to fall over in the wind so you have to be a little cautious, but the group who were using them lent them out to a range of people without any problems (other than getting the trailers back afterwards). You can attach the same A frames to a loadbike if you have one.

Up to about A3 you can strap to your back, ideally to a backpack, or to the sides of a rear rack. I've either laminated posters or printed on coreflute, then stapled them to a wooden frame and cable tied them to the bike. The problem is that you have to print large for people to be able to read it, and that means "BIKES GOOD" rather than a paragraph. The graphic below I stole from a guy in Sydney because it's IMO good - simple, easy to grasp and direct. You could leave the "critical mass" off if you wanted to, obviously.

If you want to attach slogans to cyclists it's easier to do it on a T shirt. Critical Mass have a huge range of advocacy shirt designs and places like the Chicago Flyer Exchange have a range of artwork ready for you to use. People will generally pay you for the shirts, so you can use them to fundraise a little as well (cost of a printed shirt is usually a lot less than people expect, so just rounding up to the nearest convenient price usually results in a cheap shirt and a small surplus).


Can you remove the chain missing link too often? I became  pretty obsessed with my MTB maintenance. After every trip, I completely remove the chain and wash it.
I am wondering if you can damage the missing (and weakest) link of the bike by doing that this often.
Thanks.

Yes.

Most sorts of reusable link generally have a "snap in" position that the link pops into when you pull on the chain.  Between normal chain tension and design, the link should stay in that position.  However, with repeated use, you can wear the portion of the link that is tight enough to keep the link in the running/together position.  This means the link may become easier to get off, but will also be susceptible to coming uncoupled when the chain has less tension on it.

Your individual mileage on a quick link may vary, but generally they are much less expensive than a whole new chain and the reduced cost (to you) by keeping your drivetrain clean will likely be worth it.


What to consider when repainting fork from black to white My beautiful road bike was in an accident which bent the fork. It gets replaced with a black fork which doesn't match the rest of the bike (creme colored).

Now I want to attempt to repaint it. Is there a good way to approach this in order to match the color? I have sent the email to the vendor to ask for the color specifications. I hope there is some kind of industry standard when it comes to the color.

Other than that, is there anything else I should prepare? Do I need to remove the black paint first or can I just color over that?

I hope there is some kind of industry standard when it comes to the color.

Surly offers such a service for its bikes:

  RAL is a color code number system used by paint manufacturers.

Not so sure about other vendors.

  Do I need to remove the black paint first or can I just color over that?

You do not need to remove existing paint. However, it is recommended to use a primer before applying new color layers, and also a clear coat on top of that.

I used spray rattle cans (primer, color and clear coat) to repaint a suspension fork on one of my bikes. Not the best tool for a fine paint job, and even that required a couple of attempts to gain the experience to do it right. However, I am satisfied with the result, given that the fork is on a beater bike.

Good advices on hand repainting of bicycles can be found here. There are other good web resources that I used to learn about the process. Or, you can leave it to professionals — there certainly are services for quality paint jobs.


Front light that "pulses" I'm planning to start using my bicycle again for commuting and need to get a new front light (I'm in Australia, so it's dark early in the evenings at the moment).

I've seen a few in use by other cyclists that feature a fixed beam, with an additional brighter "pulse" of light. I'm guessing that there are just two LEDs in the lamp; one that's constantly on and a separate brighter one that flashes.

I really like this style...can anyone recommend such a light?

Pretty much all front and rear lights, except very cheap and simple ones, have a flashing or pulsing mode. Some have a harsh, strobe-like flashing, some have a softer pulsing effect.

Running a front light in flashing mode is good for daytime use where you need to be visible.

Flashing mode is horrible if you need to see where you are going at night. If you want to run a flasher at night, get a small additional light in addition to a main light that has a decent main beam.


Can I cut down a quick release skewer? I recently purchased a Conquer brand trainer - I have learned a lot after buying this thing - but I didn't know what quick release skewers were before I purchased the trainer.

I've got a skewer that came with the trainer and after replacing the wheel to take a quick release, I fit the skewer onto the wheel and frame. After doing this, the skewer sticks out about 5/8in beyond the cap. This will not work in the trainer.

Can I cut this down with a saw? Should I expect to have trouble in the future if I do this?

I'm new to the realm of bicycling, so thanks for any help with this.

http://imgur.com/2WhZ8Kc < image url

You can cut the skewer, but be sure to leave enough thread on there to keep the nut on when the QR is opened enough to take it off your bike (without having to remove the nut).

Don't forget to file the sharp cut edge smooth afterwards.


Psi for riding mountain bike on road I.would like to know what psi should I be maintaining in the tires to ride a mountain bike on normal roads

Thanks

That depends on the tyre, the range of pressures is printed on the sidewall of your tyres. It's your choice what pressure you want - lower pressure is generally more grippy and less bumpy on rough roads, high pressure saves energy. If the road is smooth, go for the upper limit of what is printed on your tyre.


Setting up chain tension on a fixed gear with road bike frame I got a road bike frame with vertical drops, so can't set the tension up. Tried to remove one link but then the chain becomes too short.
My next idea was to change the front sprocket, currently have 46 tooth sprocket.
The question is though: how much will each next tooth affect the chain tension?

The short answer, is you generally cannot make a fixie out of a frame with vertical dropouts.
Not only do you need to tension the chain, but the spacing of the axle of the bottom bracket and rear wheel varies, depending on your selection of cog and chainring tooth counts.
Adjusting tooth counts will allow you to try to fine adjust the spacing, but it won't always get you there. The formula for how adding or removing a tooth will change your ideal chainstay length is not simple. You're removing a link from the chain, but you're removing it at an angle, so your reduction in chainstay length will not be the same as the amount of chain you remove.
Online, you can find many magic gear calculators [example] where you can try to pick a ratio that will exactly match your chainstay length.
You can also use a special half-link chain element, to adjust the chain by half as much as an ordinary link.
With all that said, the difference between "slack" and "tight" is a very small amount of chain stretch, and fixies in particular are pretty touchy for the tension. What I describe above I think works well for coaster-brakes and single speeds, but I would not recommend it for fixies.
If you are especially willing to throw caution to the wind, you could file the dropouts to be slightly wider, which might buy you just enough space to make one of the magic gear ratios work. The risks to safety should be obvious but that's up to you.


Presta valve top screw missing I am new to bikes and I realized  the back tire valve is missing the top part of the valve , I inflated it but when I unscrew the pump it completely deflates. Can I buy that "screw" or I have to change the entire tube. How are they called ? Or where to buy them. If I add an adapter for for Schrader will solve the problem

What you need is a valve core (provided the stem is threaded to take a removable valve core) [The question is, what happened to the original one?]

The cheapest option and easiest option is to just buy a new tube.


Tips for amending apartment/condo bylaws around bike storage We are proposing a bylaw ammendment that would allow residents to bring top end bikes to their units. (This after several top end bikes were stolen from our 'secure' bike room.) The challenge we face is educating residents on the difference between top-end bikes and commuters. Most residents group bikes into one category and feel that our public bike room is sufficient. Has anyone tackled this issue with their strata and could share tips on ways to inform/persuade the masses, many of whom do not bike. We need a 3/4 vote to pass this ammendment. Thanks!

Even if it does pass do you realize how hard and emotional this would be to enforce.  You are going to need to tell someone their bike is not high end.  Just give them all the option.  Better yet fix the security issue in the bike room.


Dent in the wheel - is this bad? While putting back a tire without appropriate tools (screwdriver...), I made a dent in the wheel (aluminum, I think). Is this bad ? Do I risk more than a puncture driving with this ? It looks like this:

Hard to provide an answer based on a picture but I would not commute to work on a wheel like that. If I had a light trail by my house I'd risk a slow ride or two to see how things hold up. But I'd be looking for a replacement wheel (not so easy now that COVID has messed up everyone's supply chains). Also check that the wheel wasn't bent out of true (center).
I'd wager your brakes don't work quite right when they clamp down on that dent. Over time the dent would likely accumulate grime from the road and from your break pads. Then you're in for uneven brake wear on one brake track and pad.  So long term I don't think you can count on using that wheel.


2,600km on an 8 speed bike? I am about to go off on a 2,600km tour from Austia through Italy, finish in Malta. I originally planned to do this solo trip on my Giant Trance x2 full suspension but decided not to since it is too high maintenance.

So after a lot of searching (budget being the greatest restriction), I have chosen a Bianchi Hybrid camaleonte http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bianchi/camaleonte-iii-alfine-2009-hybrid-bike-ec019250. Now I'm confused, since it only seems to have 8 gears!

What are your thoughts on the bike? Would you recommend adding on new chain rings if it is possible?

Thanks

How many km per day are planning? 200km

Are you going to ride over the passes? Yes

What gear are you going to carry? Tent, clothes and cooking stuff

Will you have other riders with you? no

What level of riding and touring experience do you have? I've done 2,000 km in 9 days on a high-end mtb

...and it only has one chain ring, os it is a 1x8 setup..in the mountains :S

Should I look at another bike? It is looking like it! Or is it easy to add 2 other chain rings to the bike?

Thanks
Ian

The problem won't be the number of gears. Even 3 could be enough - if they were the right ones and you don't mind being slower. More important is the range, the difference between the lowest and the highest gear.

The range of the Alfine 8 speed hub is higher than what you would get of a traditional chain derailleur with only 8 gears (1 front, 8 rear). But its lower than the range of an Alfine 11 speed, a Rohloff hub or a common mtb setup.

I use an Alfine 8 speed on my commuter. I only really use gears 4 to 8. 4 or 5 are perfect to start from traffic lights, 8 is perfect on a slight descent.

The cog can be replaced to shift the gears in one direction (I plan to install a smaller one to get the used gears more to the middle, leaving the highest gear for faster descents or tail winds). That is not however something you can easily do on the road.

Whether the gear range fits your needs can be simulated with your other bike. There exist some gear ratio calculators online, most of them include the common internal gear hubs. Plug in the values of your Trance (wheel size, cassette sizes, ...) and find the ratios that correspond to the gears on the Bianchi (I think my Alfine came with a 20 teeth cog ... might be 22). Then try if those gears are right for what you expect on your trip.


Turbo trainer compared to road / air resistence - Magneto Classic For reasons I won't bore you with I have been confined to the garage for my training for the last six-seven months.

I have been using my road bike on a Cycleops magnetto classic (see: Here)

What I was wondering is if anyone had a feel for like for like gear resistivness compared to the road and air.

i.e. in the same gear this trainer is like riding on flat, 2% uphill, 1% downhill etc

I know its a pretty theoretical topic, I am just training for a centuary and will only have a few months road time before hand so trying to guage where I am.

Thanks

This Cycleops document appears to show the speed-power curve for the Magneto trainer. A few comments: first, the actual power demanded will depend on the pressure between the tire and roller, so you will want to make sure that is consistent between trainer sessions. Second, note that the power increases roughly linearly with speed, so if you double your speed the power also doubles. This is typical for magnetic trainers, and you may want to know that in the real world on real roads, power increases roughly with the cube of speed, so if you double your speed, the power increases by a factor of eight. Lastly, there are online "trainer" services (including www.trainerroad.com) which claim to have calibrated a wide range of trainers to estimate the speed-power relationship. I have no first-hand knowledge of these services, but typically one installs an ANT+ speed sensor on the rear wheel of the bike, mount the bike onto one of the listed trainers, insert an ANT+ dongle into a nearby computer, and connect to the online service.


Can bicycling cause runner's knee? I'm a longtime runner who has never, I mean NEVER, had any running-related injury before.

About 2 1/2 months ago, I started bicycling to my new job, about 5 very up-and-down, stop-and-go urban miles each way, a significant increase over my previous job where it was 1 mile each way, flat, and no traffic lights. I took a couple of weeks off of running to let my body adjust to the increased bicycling and then started up again.

Now, I've started having such bad knee pain that I can't run more than a mile. It only hurts when I run, and starts about 5-10 minutes into the run - it is a painful stiffness on the outside of my right knee. When I stop running or do other exercise, the pain goes away. I talked to my brother (who at one point studied to become a PT) and he said it sounds like runner's knee. So I got a foam roller and started rolling out my IT band 2-3 times a day, and it doesn't seem to be making much of a difference.

So here's my question: it seems like this is related to my new bicycling routine, since that's the only lifestyle change I've made. I am eager to hear if anyone else has dealt with a situation like this and how they were able to start running again. I do wonder if it could be related to my bicycle technique, or just in general the fact that my ride is so hilly and traffic-y. Or anything else that I haven't thought of.

People who don't bicycle just don't get this one - so I'd really love to know if anyone has some thoughts on this. I'm supposed to be running a marathon in March!

The Wikipedia entry for Iliotibial band syndrome suggests that some of possible causes may be

Inadequate warm-up or cool-down
Excessive up-hill and down-hill running
Positioning the feet "toed-in" to an excessive angle when cycling

This IT Band Pain Stretches, Treatment And Prevention article suggests "Having a properly fitted bike can help triathletes who suffer from ITB impingement while riding", and gives other advice.

Edit: This old answer may be useful also.

I suspect

because it's such a short ride, maybe you are not warming up enough before you start.
the bike fit, despite your confidence that it's ok.
gearing: if you have to stand on the hills for long periods, then you need lower gears.

I recommend

stop riding now while you find the cause and find the correct treatment.
go to a specialist bike shop and get you, your bike, and your position (including foot position) checked, so that the fit is confirmed to be good.
get lower gears.
get medical advice. I like to see a physiotherapist for this kind of thing. Find one who is really into sports injuries.
depending on the medical advice, do some strength work.
when you resume riding, make sure you warm up thoroughly.
when riding hills, use the lower gears so that you spin more.

Edit: and I should add I am not a medically trained person.


Outstanding Organized Rides As an annual rite, I typically ride in one or more organized centuries and other organized rides. All of those rides usually have a name that exemplify the ride in some way. For example "The Chilly Hilly" or the "Torture 10,000" or "Reach the Beach", etc. Additionally, I travel a bit and attempt to incorporate cycling when possible. So, I'm looking for possibilities for the next time I hit the road.

What is a notable organized ride that you have done, would like to do, or have considered? (A brief description and/or link would be nice as well.) Basically, I can of course google this, but that lacks the element of first hand experience that I feel I can get from this site. For all I know, something like the "Wilson County Wander" might be a superb hidden gem and by googling, it would never bubble to the top.

Since this is an international forum, metric centuries or other organized ride suggestions are also encouraged. (Although I'm not sure if these types of rides are common outside of the U.S.) As an example, I have done rides in the wine regions of the Pacific NW, and theoretically could find myself in wine regions elsewhere at some point.

Adjectives for outstanding could include things like, beautiful scenery, physically challenging, excellent support, etc...

Since this is a CW, only one answer per customer please.

Ragbrai 450 - 500 miles

This fully supported ride (SAG wagons, ambulances, emergency transport) is always the last full week in July. The route varies every year. You start on the west side of Iowa with your back tire in the Missouri River and end with your front tire in the Mississippi. While called a party ride in some circles, note you average 70 miles a day, each & every day, for a full week. It starts on a Sunday and finishes Sat afternoon. There is an optional century loop one day of the ride. Typical climbs of 12,000 to 20,000 feet over the week.

The ride is physically challenging. You need to have completed at least 1,000 miles of training. The roads you ride on are typically closed, no traffic in either direction except for ambulances. Occasionally the road is only closed in the direction you are traveling. Police are usually stationed at every intersection. Ride registration covers your camping gear transportation, ambulances, camping, and entry to various events. (There is a concert in every overnight town you stay in.)

The ride has about 10,000 week long riders, 3,000 - 5,000 day riders and probably 3,000 bandits. Weeklong riders enter a lottery to win a place in the ride. (The lottery for this year is already closed, but you can find people selling their spots after the lottery results are posted.) Day passes are available for quite a while yet. For this years route visit:

http://www.ragbrai.com


Disk brakes severely reduced in power after replacing bearings so I am creating a few posts about bearings and wheels, (story so far):

how to reassemble mountain bike rear wheel hub and bearings

mountain bike freewheel hub stopped rotating

I have now got the wheels, bearings and freehub working.  Started riding to work this morning and I almost couldn't stop at a junction.  Thankfully wasn't going too fast.  I physically can not get the wheel to lock.  I have to use both brakes at full force to get the bike to roll to a stop.  If I only use one brake I would not stop at any junction in time.

Could the cause be any of the following:

Over greased bearings?
Over greased axle?
not tightened cone hubs enough?
not tighted axle enough?

I do not have any grease on the disk brakes them selves.  Rather nervous getting on the bike now.  Don't seem to be doing too well with this bike home fixing thing.

over greased bearings?

EDIT

Forgot to mention that it is hydraulic disk brakes.

EDIT 2

So in the end I took it to the LBS as I didn't have much confidence in my self at this point.  They had to replace the front pads but where able to clean the rear and cleaned the rotors.  (I had tried to clean the rotors but obviously not vigorously enough).  He said it was a bit of a pain to do.  All is working again.  They double checked my wheels and said I had put them back together correctly which is reassuring.

Thanks for all the help

If the brakes appear to be engaging fully then it sounds like you have some contamination on the rotors/pads.  I would clean the rotors throughly and replace the pads.  I have heard it is possible to bake contaminants off pads in the oven, and if you want to give that a shot google for it.


Touring as a noob... Daily duration and distance? I've just started cycling on a cheap mountain bike. I've never cycled more than 90min in one go and average around 12mph.

The idea of cycling all day for days on end just sounds horrific and training for it sounds full without having a destination.

What would a novice cyclist tend to do in terms of distance and hours cycling if doing say a week long trip?

Do I need to train at such long durations or once I'm past a certain duration is it just about keeping hydrated and fed?

When I was 15 a friend and I somehow convinced our parents to allow us to go touring for a week; we were Boy Scouts and I'd read a book on touring.  We mounted racks and panniers on our cheap bikes, strapped a relatively-heavy tent down, and headed off.  We hadn't trained particularly, other than being typical kids of the pre-internet era who pedaled all over town all day in the summer.  We probably averaged about 40 miles per day on our tour, and we had many memorable adventures that make me smile to think about them even now ;)

Being middle-aged now, with a sedentary job, if I were to attempt a similar trip I'd have a much nicer touring bike and lighter gear, and I'd want to train for several months beforehand.  It's one thing to be able to ride a bike loaded with 20 lbs of gear for many miles in a day, and it's another to be able to do that for several days in a row with only mild aches and pains.  But you're not me; if you're younger and stronger, you might have no trouble just jumping on the bike and going.  Also there's no rule about how far you must go in a day; personally I'd plan for about 50 miles per day on average (more on some days and zero on others), but if you and your friends want to just pedal lazily for two hours and then camp by the nearest swimming hole, then go ahead and do that.

One thing that I can say definitively is that in order for touring to be fun, you have to want to do it.  The idea of pedaling a bike for a week straight should sound wonderful; it should excite you and fire your imagination.

The subject isn't often discussed here, but we hard-core bicyclists are a funny bunch.  Just pedaling a bicycle, feeling the breeze in the face and leaning through curves, is fun for almost everyone able to do it.  But pedaling hard or pedaling for a long time is painful.  We hard-core bicyclists get a sort of runner's high, often attributed to endorphins, which is its own reward, and makes the pain worthwhile.  Not everyone gets the same reward in the same proportion.  That feeling, the many healthy benefits of the exercise, and the simple joy of riding (plus the desire for the respect of our riding peers, for those of us who ride in groups) is what motivates us to keep riding.

If you're considering whether touring is right for you, you might try training for a month.  Ride at least two or three days a week.  Work up to riding at least two hours in a session; you might have to start easy, as little as fifteen or thirty minutes, to get your body used to it.  (Padded bicycling shorts help a lot; don't wear anything under them, or you'll have trouble with chafing.)  Push yourself, not so hard that you can barely talk, but enough that you feel like you've accomplished something afterwards.  At the end of the month, if you feel like the training was worth it and you want to continue, then you'd probably enjoy touring.


Brake pad too low on rotor? I just bought a new Clarks CFR-06 rotor to try to improve my crappy Tektro Auriga, but it seems that I made another bad choice. After just a couple of minutes of trials, I noticed that the pads are rubbing "too low" (3 mm) as you can see in the photo. Do I need to put some washer between the caliper and the adapter, or this is just fine?
Thanks

IMO, this is fine. I base that answer on the fact that I've been running Avid BB7s on Shimano Centerlock rotors and they are also too low, and in fact abrade down into the arms a bit. After thousands of (touring) miles, this has caused no braking issues nor even any perceptible pinging, etc.
There is more on this here.
If you put in a couple spacers, you'll of course have a little less pad grabbing the rotor. Whether or not it's sufficient braking at that point will be up to you to judge.


Touring vs race bike I am Fabrizio, completely new in this forum full of experts, considering myself somebody who wants to take his very first steps at biking on the roads. I started to live in the Netherlands since 2 months ago and I completely fell in love with bikes. Now I really want to buy a good bike for biking on the roads but, being 100% Dutch (e.g. direct ;)), I do not know where to start from.

I would like to ride the bike twice or thrice a week, to make exercise. Considering the fact that I have a knee injury, this is the only sport I can do without getting damaged, besides swimming (but it bores me). It really motivates me the idea of travelling very long distances across the Netherlands, enjoying the landscapes, and eventually carry some things with me. As for me, I am 1,85m and my current weight is 82kg.

I have done some research and there are the so called touring bikes. The drawback I find on them is that they are not so fast, but on the other hand you can easily add some panniers and carry almost whatever you want.

On the other side, race bikes are lightweight, fast, dynamic but you cannot carry anything on them. It's just you, maybe your phone and pocket, and that's it. Please, correct me if I am wrong. Is it possible to add some racks and panniers on them?

So to wrap it up, I honestly do not know where to start from and what to buy. It would be nice to hear so experienced opinions about this topic based on your thoughts and beliefs.

Thanks for helping me out! Looking forward to hear from you.

Edit:
I will provide a little bit of more information, as @john suggested:

The idea is to bike mostly on-road, and eventually off-road. This means that almost 80% of my distance will be covered on routes, but I would not like to get in troubles if I face off-roads.
I need to try drop handlebards. Honestly I do not know. I do not want to bike in a uncomfortable position, that for sure.
I think I need to be able to fit mudguards.
My budget goes up to 3000 euros.

Don't buy a €3K first bike! Instead, split your budget and get one for <1K. There are plenty of good advice here already (my vote goes to randonneur-type bike), and each of the suggested types can be had for that price. Don't aim at the highest specs: you don't know yet what you'll need. Just get something decent in the middle. Indeed, get to your local bike shop and talk to them (it must be more than easy in the Netherlands).

Ride it for a year or two. If you do it regularly, then you'll know what you need, and then spend the better part of your budget on a good new bike. If at all.


Rear wheel not centred, presses against one of the brake pads (Rohloff hub, Magura rim brakes) Upon replacing my rear brake pads, I noticed that my rear wheel is not properly centered.
The consequence is that the wheel is pressed against one of the brake pads, as can be seen in the pictures below.
I have a Rohloff hub where I can pull the dropout+wheel back in order to tighten the chain, but I don't know how to center the wheel horizontally.
In the final photograph (number 4) I have marked with A and B the dropout.
Normally, I put in the wheel by turning the bicycle upside down and then let the wheel into the dropout, going "all the way".
But If i do so, it results in the rim being pushed against the brake asymmetrically.
If I slightly raise at A and then close the quick release lever, the wheel is free from the brake, but it is not very stable, I think it's not the normal situation.

The wheel appears centered if I test the distance to the axle when putting it on the floor:

Dropout looks like this:

My question: how do I keep the rear wheel centered in the axle and straight for my bicycle (Rohloff hub with longitudinally movable dropout, Magura HS33 rim brakes)?

Edit:

It appears the wheel is straight, but it was not centered. I have those pads on both sides, and one side was pulled back much more than the other. I determine this based on the length of the visible part of the thread. I fixed it now, but I think the reason it keeps going bad regularly is because one of the screws is missing:

See the void in the second picture...

I remember that I unsuccessfully hunted for such a screw, but then concluded that it's not essential and continued cycling. But I can't anywhere in this area find a screw with an inbus-head and the right diameter. I used a screw with another head, but couldn't tighten it very well and — as I found out now — it fell out again...

I have a Rohloff hub with rim brakes (HS33, for the sake), with vertical dropouts, but I also have a single speed bike with horizontal dropouts.

I would suggest a procedure much like Daniel Hicks suggested, but in a different order, as to assure everything is fine. So, you should follow these steps:

Make sure the wheel is true AND symmetric. You can do it by finding out a bike with vertical dropouts, removing the tire from the wheel, and fitting the wheel with this second bike upside down. Measure the distance from rim wall to one of the sides of the frame. Then, you mount it in reverse (with sprocket pointing to the wrong side) to make sure that distance is the same. If not, the wheel is dished (should never happen with Rohloff), and you should use a spokes wrench to bring the rim to "center". Most probably, a bike shop is the recommended way to do it, but only if you think your bike shop's mechanic knows better than you (sometimes, they do not).
Assuming the wheel is symmetric, you should mount it in the frame WITH BRAKES REMOVED, in order to make the wheel centered relative to the frame. Since your dropouts are Rohloff OEM, you should:

Replace your missing bolt in the first place (always use a washer!!);
Loosen these bolts so that the dropouts slide freely;
Tighten the wheel's quick release while the axle is fully inserted into the dropouts ON BOTH SIDES;
With the chain engaged around the sprocket, slide the chain-side dropout fully backwards so the chain is properly tensioned, and tighten the two dropout bolts;
Move the rim sideways, near the brake posts, so that there is the same distance between rim wall and frame tubes on both sides;
Tighten the remaining two dropout bolts, on the other side;

Only then, install the brakes so that there is the same distance (the manual recommends 2 mm) between brake pad and rim. Maguras are a bit tricky to adjust, so again, if you're in doubt, ask a mechanic, but remember that some mechanics (depending on the place you live) don't "capture" the subtle essence of correct setup of Maguras.

The steps described seem complicated, but they are necessary to guarantee, in this order, that your wheel is true, centered on the frame, the chain "tension" is correct, and the brakes are setup properly.

Your bike setup is fairly complicated because of Rohloff OEM dropouts, but mostly, I think, because you use rim brakes with moving dropouts. It means that, for every chain's lifetime, each time you have to compensate for chain slack, you have to mess with four small-sized Allen bolts, AND hydraulic rim brake setup. The brake has to be adjusted in this case because, if the dropouts move back, the rim moves back and the previous brake setup is not valid anymore.

Hope all this helps, and good luck! And PLEASE, replace that missing bolt!!!


Smooth tires on wet road? In this answer : link

  (With regard to tires, there seems to be a widespread belief that the mountain bike tires will grip all kinds of surfaces better, including asphalt: in other words, that they are safer. This is quite unfortunate. Consumers should be educated, for the sake of their own safety, that smooth tires provide the best grip on a wet road, in addition to offering a smoother, quieter ride with less rolling resistance).

Kaz point out that smooth tires are the best choice on wet roads.
For me a smooth tires is a slick/flat tire with nothings to evacuate the water. how about aquaplaning ?

I'm fond of MotoGP and motorsports in general and I've never seen a slick tires on wet asphalt.

If we look at this wikipedia article

  Wet roads severely diminish the traction because of aquaplaning due to water trapped between the tire contact area and the road surface. Grooved tires are designed to remove water from the contact area through the grooves, thereby maintaining traction even in wet conditions.

Which is about wide tire (wider than bicycle's ones).

So why, for the bicycles, smooth tires would be better on wet floor ?
Is this from the thickness of the tire ?

I wanted to disentangle a few concepts here as most discussions around tire tread and wet conditions have typically been in regards to hydroplane/aquaplane, which other answers have correctly indicated is not a general problem for bicycles.

While tire tread is not needed to prevent hydroplaning, tire tread can still play a role in traction, explicitly helping the tire to interlock with road imperfections.  In low traction scenarios (such as wet conditions) getting every bit of traction available can be important.

In general bicycle road tire traction will be related to the following factors:

Tire compound and environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, wet/dry/snow)
Tire construction (e.g., tire suppleness) and tire pressure
Tire tread pattern

Tire Compound

This is probably the biggest predictor of whether or not you will have traction in the rain.  The quality and tackiness of the compound can vary greatly by price and manufacturer.  If you have a poor quality tire with a lousy compound it will likely be like riding on ice when it gets wet (regardless of whether or not it has tread). The ability for a tire compound to "hook up" will also depend on temperature.  In cooler temperature tire compound will harden up and provide less traction (wet or dry).

From John McKone (Vittoria)

  Compounds come into play and have the most influence on traction (wet and dry conditions); recently developed compounds such as Vittoria’s ISOgrip provide a much broader, stable compound in lower temperatures, this also a key component to a tire’s overall grip in all conditions.

  Technical FAQ: Tire grip in wet conditions

Tire Construction  & Tire Pressure

Traction is gained by the tire interacting with the road surface.  If you have a very stiff tire (i.e., not supple) or pump it to a very high pressure the tire rubber will have a hard time interacting with the imperfections in the road surface providing less traction.  In the wet traction is already reduced so this effect can become more important than in the dry where roads provide a lot of traction even under a bad setup.

From Alex Brauns President, Challenge Handmade Tires

  It is critical to fine-tune every component of the tire before riding aggressively in wet conditions to maximize the surface area gripping the road surface while squeezing water out from under the tires wherever possible. This is why all top level road teams and even experienced pro triathletes will ride tubular tires with soft, supple casing materials, natural rubber tread compounds, and supple latex inner tubes, sized to the rider weight and road condition and adjusted to a minimum pressure to keep the rims from bottoming out on the bumps.

  Technical FAQ: Tire grip in wet conditions

Tire Tread Pattern

The debate around tire tread vs slick tires in wet conditions has generally focused on aquaplaning/hydroplaning, however on the road a very light amount of tread (e.g., herringbone pattern on the old road tires) can be useful for interlocking.

Wolf Vormwalde who was the main engineer for Continental tires before switching to Specialized has this to say:

  Common perception is that tread has no influence in road bicycle tires. But this is not entirely true. The question has to be how much tread do you need?

  Does tread have an influence on traction in road bicycle tires? Yes. Tread does have an influence on traction in road tires. Tread, if it is not so high that it lifts the tread ground off the road (<0.2mm), helps sink tread rubber into rough road surfaces and penetrate lubricants (water) or dirt. Peaks in the tread increase press into surface crevices and add contact points between the road and the tire, and thus increase friction. Just a roughened or scuffed tread surface passes as a tread already. It does not need to be designed shapes.

  Technical FAQ: Tire grip in wet conditions

And from From John McKone (Vittoria)

  Tread patterns may decrease a contact patch by creating deformation of the tire due to road pressure under load from the rider and the rubber/casing bulges and deforms to fill the tread voids, but a well thought-out tread design increases its contact area when turning, accelerating, and braking (increased load due to force will flex the diamonds and grooves) and will also provide micro interlinking in between tread pattern edges and road surface grooves.

  Technical FAQ: Tire grip in wet conditions

Note we are talking about a incredibly light tread pattern (scuffing a tire is enough).  We are not talking about deep channel wells or off-road knobbies.  Also this is likely a secondary effect compared to tire compound which most manufactures have been chasing now for the last few decades.

For another good discussion on light tread pattern and interlocking see Jan Heine's Optimizing Tire Tread article.


Shimano Hollowtech II bottom bracket: milling the frame necessary? In a bike shop I recently asked for bottom brackets. The seller said, when choosing a Hollowtech II bottom bracket (like SM-BB70), compared to Octalink/square taper bottom brackets the outer (lateral) sides of the frame should be milled to be even. When they're not even I'll risk that the bearings will waer out too fast. He said even paint remainders are not allowed.

Is this right?

My frame is 7005 aluminium alloy.

The term for preparing the bottom bracket shell in this manner is called facing, and yes, it is necessary for all outboard bearing bottom brackets for proper function.

To understand why this is, lets compare a hollowtech type system to a square taper cartridge.

In the square taper, all the bearings and rotating portions are contained into a rigid metal casing, which is then screwed into one side of the bottom bracket shell, and a cup is threaded into the other side to hold the metal casing in place. If the bottom bracket shell's surfaces aren't perfectly flat to each other, it just means that the casing will be just a tiny little bit crooked with respect to the shell's optimal placement. However, all the bearings will be spinning around perfectly in the metal casing. At worst case, if the shell is very poor, there can be a little play between the casing and the cup, and the bottom bracket will creak when you pedal. An annoying problem of its own, but the bearings will be just fine.

On the other hand, with a hollowtech system, the two bearings aren't held together by the rigid metal casing. If the bottom bracket shell isn't faced properly, the two bearings won't exactly line up. Then, when you try to adjust the bottom bracket, one portion of the bearings will be too loose or too tight, and as the crank spins around the bearings will alternate between too loose or too tight, rather than being just right all the time. This will wear the bearings out faster and drag somewhat compared to a proper installation.

Now with all that said, it's not like the BB is going to spontaneously explode if you don't face it properly, you'll just wear the bearings out faster. If you already have a crankset laying around and you don't put a ton of miles on the bike, it might not really matter in the long run, but only you can decide that for yourself. If the frame is 20 years old, I would expect you to have a square taper crank on it already, and so there really isn't any benefit to switching to a hollowtech setup, in my opinion.


Is it OK for a child's bike to have a radially-laced rear wheel? I was looking at the Early Rirder Belter 16" child's bike and noticed that the rear wheel has radial spokes on both sides.

In wheels built for adult bikes this is considered bad practice. From Sheldon Brown's site:-

  Wheels with hub brakes and drive wheels should never be radially
  spoked. Due to the near-perpendicular angle of the spoke to the hub's
  tangent, any torque applied at the hub of a radial-spoked wheel will
  result in a very great increase in spoke tension, almost certainly
  causing hub or spoke failure.

These bikes seem to be popular and get good reviews, so it seems that this isn't an issue in practice. Is this because of the small wheels and the fact that children don't produce so much torque?

For a kids bike where the rider weight is under 25 kilograms / 50 pounds a radial spoked wheel is fine.

I've been trying to clean up and true an old 12" steel wheel with radial spokes and I'm truly astonished how strong it is.  The spokes themselves are identical to normal bike spokes, just the length that is different.  The cross sectional area is the same.

The rim is normally the same profile as a bigger wheel too, just with more curve on it.  This also contributes to the smaller wheel's overall strength.

I'd say a 16" would be fine, but a 20" and above should be properly laced.
If the rider is... over 25 kilos then perhaps a cheap wheel is inappropriate.
The rider will probably outgrow the bike frame in height before they get too heavy for it.


Why did my tire fail? Just got back from a ride. On my way back, my rear tire suffered from a side wall blow out. The area that went looks like it has been completely shredded.

The area feels like it's been melted, with sticky melty rubber covering it.

The tire itself hasn't done 500km, I got it last summer, but haven't been able to ride much. There really shouldn't be any reason I know that the tire failed.

The tires are Michelin Pro4.

Just so you know, each of those fibers had come apart completely.

Two common possibilities:

Your brake pad is contacting the sidewall of the tire. Classic cause for a blowout.
You've used something like heavy-duty engine degreaser to clean your drive train. This will chemically change the rubber and it will remain "tacky" forever. The best degreaser, that won't damage rubber is kerosene+lemon juice (or if you want to spend money, prepackaged citrus degreaser).


crankbrothers 1 vs 1 SE Most stores have Candy1 for $49, and Candy1SE for $39.

but i can't find the difference.

the SE have a golden spring, just like the Candy2. The plain Candy1 has a silver one.

Candy 1:

$49

Candy 1 SE:

$39

I think Candy 1 SE is a special edition where colors are changed from standard Candy 1 as you can see in the links provided. Candy 1 SE is not even listed at Crank Brothers website. So if you fancy a more exclusive color set and it's cheaper go for the SE!


What is the best floor pump? I'm looking for a pump at home to use with my high pressure (100-120 psi) road bike tires.  My bike has presta valves, but I would like to be able to use it on Schrader valves, should I get a bike with them.

Who has a floor pump that they like?

I have a Specialized pump which works very well for both high-volume and high pressure tires.

I've also used a couple of different Joe Blow pumps from Topeak, which worked pretty well.

In light of this, I'm of the opinion that your best bet is to hit up your LBS and see what they have, and what you like using.  For me, handle shape and size plays a big part (you need comfort to pump up a 26"x4" tire).  Plenty of pumps work for both types of valve, and your LBS should be able to point out which pumps can do this.  Some require you to screw off a cap and flip something over, others can have a two-sided head, and others (like my Specialized) have a head that works for both without any changes.


Will my bike hitch fit on any car? I'm trying to sell a 4-bike hitch on craigslist.   One thing I'm unsure of is whether or not it's tailored to universally fit on all cars.  I'm worried because if it's too specific, a few people who own those cars will buy it, but if it's universal, it should be okay.

What is the standard for hitches? Are they universal? Or are they custom fitted to support different vehicles?

As for the vehicle most buyers need only consider the size of hitch they have, 1 1/4" or 2" are the typical sizes and try to get a hitch of the same size. You can usually get an adapter to fit a rack that is sized differently than the hitch.

Typically the hitch racks sit a bit back off the rear of your car to accommodate rear features of most vehicles. I'd only be worried if they had a spare tire mounted on the rear of the vehicle.


Problem at bottom of threaded stem I just bought 2002 Specialized Expedition Elite 3×9 speed bike. The bike comes with stock threaded stem. It was taken apart for service. And upon reassembly the bottom of the stem is catching and not fitting inside. Nothing has changed in the setup, all parts are the same, no bearings fell out, nothing broke, so I am at loss. I will be grateful for any help!

If this is a quill stem—with both a horizontal member and vertical member that fits in the steerer tube—the part that fits in the steerer tube will have either a wedge or expanding bolt at the bottom, which is how it locks inside the tube. You need to loosen this at the top of the stem and make sure the wedge/bolt is loose at the bottom.


How to determine what kind of front derailleur can be used on my recumbent trike? I need to replace the front derailleur on my tadpole trike. Unfortunately, I cannot find a brand name or other numbers anywhere on the derailleur, so I cannot just replace it with an identical product. When looking at new items, they have many numbers and measurements which I do not understand, so I do not know whether I will be buying one that fits.

It has three gears.
The back derailleur is an 8-gear Shimano Deore.
I use MicroSHIFT shifters.
The other bike parts appear to be in metric.
The post that the derailleur clamps onto measures 28 mm in diameter.

What details do I need to look for to know that a replacement will be the right size for this bike?

Recumbent / trikes tend to use mountain-bike shifting equipment because they need the extra gear range. While there is a difference in cable pull between road and mountain sets,  front shifters on the whole tend to be much less picky than rear shifters about chain width because essentially  the limit for front shifting has stayed at 3 chainrings (aside from @Criggie with his 4 chainring setup). While it is optimal to try to match the chain width (speed), it is not a necessity. As always: Sheldon Brown

That means you can use pretty much any (Shimano) mountain bike triple front derailleur that fits. The main consideration for you will be how to mount the front derailleur. If you're using a clamp mount, you have to have one that can fit the tube where the derailleur mounts (the 34.9mm in the examples below are the seat tube thickness but many times the derailleur will come with a variety of clamps and shims to match different tube sizes). If you have braze-ons, they need to fit the braze-ons.

The other consideration is where the cable pull comes from (from the top or bottom of the derailleur as it would be normally mounted on a standard bicycle). Many front derailleurs allow for pull from either direction (dual pull) but some like the SRAM below are "top-pull only" or "bottom-pull only."


Which lubricant/grease to use for ball bearings? A little mishap happened today during cleaning my bicycle. I tried to take off the sprocket wheel for easier access, but instead I opened the lock nut of the hub (cassette type) and the balls came out.

Before I can put this mess back together I got some questions:

What kind of lubricant/grease do I need for the ball bearings?
There are two ball bearings in the wheel. One with smaller balls (the one on the sprocket wheel side), the other has bigger balls. Former used some black grease while the latter used a green, jelly-ish one. I'm confused, do they need different types of grease?
To solve my initial task: How would you get the sprocket wheel off of the wheel/hub/cassette? Does this require a special tool? I tried pulling, but I'm afraid to break something when pulling too hard.

First, to remove a cassette freehub does require a specific tool. The Park Tool version is called the FR-5.

There is no need for more than one kind of grease. Use any light bearing grease like the Park Poly Lube 1000.

There is a good set of instructions here on how to do the rebuild.

From Park Tool's repair help site:

Hub Overhaul and Adjustment

Useful Tools and Supplies

Cone wrenches, see DCW and SCW series wrenches. Always use the smallest size that fits.
Bench vise and axle vise AV-1, or AV-4. Holds wheel secure for easier work.
Combination wrenches to fit, or adjustable wrench
Pencil Magnet
Grease, Park Tool Polylube® 1000
Wire ties
Solvent, such as CB-2 Citrus ChainBrite
Rags
Hub Overhaul and Adjustment
This article will discuss the adjustment and overhaul of "cup-and-cone" hubs. These hubs allow for access to internal bearings, and are adjustable. See related article for

Freehub Service.
Bicycle hubs may be either the adjustable cup-and-cone type or the non-adjustable cartridge style. The adjustable type bearing surfaces can be adjusted for bearing play. The cartridge types typically cannot be adjusted for wear or play. Both types can come in either the freehub type or the thread-on freewheel style.

A basic bearing system is seen below. The cup is normally a permanent press fit into the hub shell. The cone traps the ball bearing. The locknut is tightened against the cone to prevent the cone from moving. If there is looseness from bearing play, the cone can be move closer to the cup.

The modern freehubs tend to be more complex. The hub will have a freehub mechanism attached to the hub. The cassette cogs attach to the freehub. It is possible to remove and service the freehub in a separate operation. See Freehub Service. A typical rear hub with freehub is seen below.

Cup and cone type freehub

Cartridge Bearing Hubs
Hubs using the cartridge type bearings are not serviceable in the sense they can be dismantled and adjusted. As cartridge bearings wear and develop play, the entire cartridge unit is replaced. Cartridge hub service is not covered in this article.

Common cartridge bearing type hub

Hub overhaul
For rear hubs, begin by removing rear cogs. Remove quick release skewer. If it is a solid axle type, remove axle nuts.
Inspect axle ends. Measure and note the amount of axle protruding past locknut. For quick release hubs, counting the number of threads is an adequate measurement.

(OPTIONAL) Mount in axle vise, if possible. Mount right side down with left side facing upward. Generally, dismantle from the left side.
Remove any rubber cover. Use a tie or string to hold small parts in the same orientation as they came off of hub.
Hold cone using cone wrench, and loosen locknut counter-clockwise.

Remove locknut and any washers, placing them on the tie.

Remove cone by turning counter-clockwise.
Place hand below right side, and lift wheel slowly. Be prepared to catch bearings that fall from hub. Place wheel on bench.
If inspecting bent axle, remove right side locknut and cones. Note that left side and right side cones, washers and locknuts may be different. Do not confuse left and right side parts. Use tie method to keep track of parts. Also note axle thread may be asymmetrical. The side with more axle spacers gets more axle thread.

Count the number of bearings on each side, and then use pencil magnet to remove bearings from hub shell.

For many hub models, it is possible and recommended to overhaul with the pressed dust caps in place. Dust caps may be fragile and removal may result in damage. Work around dust caps when cleaning and inspecting.
Wipe and clean all parts. Parts must be dry for assembly. Wipe freehub mechanism out using damp rag. Do not soak freehub in solvent. Freehub bodies are lubricated internally with a light lubricant, and soaking them with solvent will remove lubrication. For freehub service, see Freehub Service.
Hub and Parts Inspection
View hub cups and cones for pitting or damage. Also use a ballpoint pen to trace the bearing path. Roughness and wear will be felt as the small ball of the pen passes over pits.

Inspect ball bearings for shininess and brightness. If balls are dull looking, they should be replaced. If the cup is damaged, it typically cannot be replaced. A new hub would be required. Cones are typically available as replacement parts.

If inspecting axle, roll axle on flat surface. View axle close to surface and watch for gap appearing as axle rolls. Bent axles cannot be re-bent. A new axle is required.

Hub Assembly
Grease axle threads.
Grease heavily inside hub shell cups.
Place ball bearings in both cups and cover with more grease. Make sure balls are seated flat in cup. For rear hubs, the common number is 9 balls of 1/4-inch diameter per side. For front hubs, the common number is 10 balls of 3/16-inch diameter per side.

If all parts were removed from axle, install right side parts. Use care to install in the same orientation as they came off. Return axle protrusion to the original measurement, as noted earlier. Tighten cone locknut fully.
Install axle through right side of hub.
Install left side axle parts, using care to install in the same orientation as they came off. Do not set axle protrusion on this side and do not tighten locknut at this time.
For quick release type hubs, snug the cone down until it contacts the ball bearings, and turn back counter-clockwise one quarter turn (90 degrees). This will purposely make the bearing adjustment too loose. Hold cone with cone wrench and tighten locknut fully. Proceed to HUB ADJUSTMENT below.
NOTE: For quick release wheels, it is critical the axle end sit inboard or recessed inside the frame or fork dropout. This allows the quick release skewer to secure onto the frame or fork end. If the axle end protrudes even a very small amount, the wheel may not properly secure and may come out during use. In the image below the axle end is only slightly too long. If the hub is the correct width, check the axle is centered between the locknuts. It may be necessary to grind off the axle end until it is safely recessed.

Hub Adjustment
Quick release hubs have hollow axles that flex slightly when the quick release is closed. Hub bearing adjustments must account for this extra pressure. When a quick release hub is not clamped tight in the frame, there should be a slight amount of play in the axle. This play disappears when the hub and wheel are clamped in the frame.

To test if a hub in your bike has an adequate adjustment, grab the wheel while it is still in the frame and pull it side to side laterally. Turn wheel and test again, feeling for a knocking sensation. If no play is felt, remove the wheel. Grab the axle (not the skewer) and rock it up and down to check for play. If the axle has play when the wheel is outside the bike, but no play inside the bike, the adjustment is adequate. If there is no play in the axle when the wheel is outside the bike, the adjustment is too tight, even if the axle seems to turn smoothly when out of the bike.

Bearing Adjustment and "Feel"
Bearing surfaces are made from hardened steel. The surfaces are cut typically by grinding. Round ball bearings roll on the curved surface of the cup and cone. Even the highest quality bearing surfaces will have slight grinding marks. In the left image below is a high quality cone magnified two hundred times. Notice the parallel marks from the grinding stone. Also note a slight pit from wear. The right hand image is a bearing magnified the same amount. It does show some surface marking, but is generally smoother than the cone or cup. Bearing surface smoothness will vary between manufacturers and between models. Some bearing system will simply "feel" smoother because they are smoother. This is why it is difficult to adjust by using a subjective feeling of smoothness. Generally, adjust bearings for the loosest setting that has no knocking or play, regardless of this relative smoothness.

The following adjustment procedures simulate the on-the-bike compression while still allowing access to the left side cone and locknut for adjustment. The bicycle frame and skewer act as a holder for the wheel and the axle. The set up of the wheel on the frame may seem unusual. Follow directions carefully.

NOTE: Some frames and dropouts will not allow clamping the wheel as described. The hub or spokes may contact the frame. It is possible to find spacers to simulate the dropout. Additionally, an alternative to the procedure below is to adjust the bearings with the wheel unclamped. Mount the wheel in the frame to test the adjustment. Remove as necessary, adjust, and re-test.

Mount bike in repair stand.
Remove rear wheel from bike. If adjusting front wheel, remove front wheel as well.
Remove quick release skewer and springs. Remove any rubber boot covering left side cones and locknuts.
Insert skewer through cog side of hub. Install quick release adjusting nut on non-cog side. There must be a gap between the skewer adjusting nut and the locknut. The quick release nut must press only on the axle, not on the locknut.

Place cog side of wheel into left rear dropout. Non-cog side sits outboard of the bike, and is accessible to mechanic. If the cogs touch or interfere with the frame, remove rear cogs. Front wheel: either left or right side goes to rear dropout. Adjustment is done from side opposite clamped side.

Adjust quick release until tension is same as when normally clamping wheel in bike. Resistance to closing should begin half way through swing to fully closed. If in doubt see Wheel Installation.

Check bearings for play. Hold end of axle on non-cog side with one hand and rock rim laterally with other hand. Play in bearings will be felt as a knocking in the axle. If play is felt, proceed to step #9 below.

If no play is felt, adjustment is potentially too tight. Purposely create excess bearing play as the first step to proper adjustment.
A. Use a cone wrench and hold cone from moving. Note position and angle of wrench.

B. Use another wrench on locknut. Turn locknut counter-clockwise to loosen.

C. Loosen cone by turning cone wrench counter-clockwise about 1/4 turn, or 90 degrees.

D. Hold cone from moving with cone wrench and tighten locknut. Locknut must be fully tight before play can be checked.

E. Test for play by holding axle and moving rim laterally.

If play is felt, adjustment is too loose. Tighten adjustment:
A. Use a cone wrench and hold cone from moving. Note position and angle of wrench.

B. Use another wrench on locknut and loosen by turning counter-clockwise.

C. Recall angle of cone wrench and tighten adjustment by turning cone clockwise 1/32nd of a turn. Imagine cone wrench extending to the rim. Move end of wrench only the distance from one nipple to the next at the rim. This approximates 1/32nd of a turn for thirty-six and thirty-two spoke rims.

D. Hold cone from moving with cone wrench and tighten locknut. Locknut must be fully tight before play can be checked.

Test again for play by holding axle with one hand and moving rim laterally with the other hand. Rotate wheel and check for play all the way around wheel rotation.
If play is still present, repeat adjustment step above until play just disappears. Remember to make small adjustments clockwise one at a time. Check for play at rim after each adjustment. It is likely it will take several small adjustments.
Once play has disappeared, test final adjustment. Open skewer partially (about 45 degrees) and check again for play by rotating wheel and checking several points. If play is felt during this test, hub is adjusted.

If no play is felt during final skewer check, the adjustment is too tight. To adjust, first CLOSE SKEWER, loosen locknut and loosen adjustment only slightly. Tighten locknut and check adjustment for play, then test again by opening skewer to 45-degreee. Adjustment is finished when there is no play felt when skewer is closed, but some play is felt when skewer is partially open.
Remove wheel from bike and return skewer and springs to normal position. Replace any rubber covers. Notice there is play in axle. This play disappears when wheel is clamped in place for use. You must use the same skewer setting for riding as for adjusting the hub.
Remount cogs, if removed, and install wheel into bike. It is necessary to duplicate the quick release setting of hub adjustment when installing wheel.
Misc. Notes: If hub will not adjust smoothly, the bearing surfaces may be worn out. If play does not disappear until bearing adjustment is very tight, right side locknut may not be tight against cone, or cups inside hub shell may be loose.

HUB ADJUSTMENT- SOLID AXLE TYPE
Non-quick release hub systems use axle nuts and washers on the outside of the dropouts to hold the wheel in place. Adjustment of solid axle hub bearings is similar to the hollow axle quick release type, but there is no need to allow for axle flex. Mount the wheel in the frame similar to quick release hubs as described above. Tighten the axle nut inside the dropout that is holding the wheel. The axle is now held tight. Check for bearing play. If no play is present, create play by loosening bearing adjustment, then adjust in small increments until play in gone. The goal is to find the loosest adjustment that has no play. Remove the wheel from the bike. The adjustment for solid axle hubs does not change when mounted in the bike.

HUB-CARTRIDGE BEARING TYPE
These types of hubs use an industrial type-bearing unit. The inner and outer rotating races and ball bearings are installed as a unit. These hubs are not serviceable in the sense they are overhauled and adjusted. When the cartridge bearings are worn, rough, or have play, the cartridge should be replaced. The bearing unit is then removed and a new one pressed in. This requires special tools and is best left to professional mechanics.


Tank tape for tire patching - Enough friction? This topic has been cursorily covered by How can I repair a tyre with a deep cut? before, but less with empirical evidence. Tire patches as mentioned there are not available in my local bike shops anyway, so I'm considering using tank tape instead. (Temporary. Buying new tire anyway..)

Tank tape is certainly gluey and strong enough I think. And I've already read a few people swear by it as tire reinforcment against punctures. However I have a few 1 cm rifts in the tire sidewalls, so that would hold a few weeks at best. - Unless there's a special glue one could apply to the tire outside as well...(?)

My actual concern: I would have to cover around a 1/3 of the inner tire walls. How would that impact the grip between tube and tire? The tank tape has a rather smooth/sleek surface.

I would assume the tire sits firm on the rim hook, and is otherwise hold by the tube pressure. But I'm not sure how much of a (physical) influence (%) the friction between tire and tube has. Is there any danger if one is partially covered by more slippery tape?

Friction between tyre and tube is almost irrelevant to the normal situation. There's only movement at that interface at the contact patch, and it's normally small enough that it's done by stretch in the tube rather than sliding. Tubes don't abrade away over time. But when you have big splits in the sidewall friction does play a small part, in slowing down the rate at which the tube buldges out the sidewall before bursting. You're more likely to have a problem caused by the sharp edge or end of a fold in the tape grinding through the tube and causing a puncture.

In your case, it sounds as though you're going to a lot of effort for a temporary solution. I'm not sure why - if it's just to get you to the bike shop to buy a new tyre then maybe, but I'd be walking rather than spending time with tape on a solution that may not work.

All you really need here is tape that's reasonably strong and at least slightly sticks to the inside of the tyre. I prefer a boot made from part of an old tyre, and have seen someone use an entire old tyre to reinforce one like yours. That is a fair bit of work, you have to cut both beads off the inner tyre, but it does work.


Is wheel dish important? It makes sense that ideally a wheel should be dished well (close to centered), but what are the consequences of a wheel being out of dish but otherwise true?

As far as I know, these are the only possible consequences:

Your tire may rub on your frame.
You might have trouble getting your brakes to work (assuming you have rim brakes).
Your bike might run a bit sideways if your rear wheel is not centered on the frame. This can make riding no-hands difficult, because the bike wants to drift to the side.


Should I clean the grease off the gears? I usually keep my chain well lubricated. However, my gears are usually greasy. Should I be cleaning the gears or are they supposed to be greasy?

I clean my gearing and whole drive train every few months. I ride about 250km a week so it's not a time frame requirement but a use thing.

I would suggest that every few thousand km or each year you should take apart your whole drive train and get it entirely clean. Replace your chain but keep the old one just in case the new one skips. I replace my chain with each cleaning so that the gearing doesn't wear to fit the chain and thus cause skipping. Well worth the price of a few extra chains vs the cost of a replacement cassette.

My goal for each cleaning is that all parts should be back to their original colour. The older they are the less you can acutally do that as they scratch up but I'm sure you get the idea.


How do I tell the size of my braking discs? Looking to replace my hydraulic disc brakes but intend to use the old discs. How do I tell the size of the discs to ensure I purchase the right brakes?

The disc that you are talking about is in fact called the rotor.

Rotor size is measured by diameter, ie. edge to edge through the centre. The size may also be etched on to the rotor which would be more accurate than measuring yourself. There are a number of common IS (International Standard) sizes of rotor from 140mm through to 203mm.

Callipers only come in one size but use various adapters/spacers to fit the rotor. Once you know what rotor you have you purchase a new brake set which may or may not include the adapter you need. Your current brake callipers would use the right size adapter for the rotor you are using, but may not be right for the brake you wish to purchase, companies have proprietary systems for attaching the calliper such as Avid's CPS which require special adapters or spacers.

Additionally there are two types of mounts for callipers post and IS. Most callipers are made to use post mounts while most frames still have IS mounts on the real dropout. An IS mount is like a fin with two holes in it while a post mount is two posts. IS adapters are used to allow the calliper to be fastened to the bike. Most recent forks are post mount.


Bolt dimensions for Peloton cleat I cant find this answer anywhere but what is the screw size of the Peloton sclip that goes onto the cleat?  I need a longer screw for my shoe but cant determine the thread size to make that determination.

All 3-bolt shoe plates are M5 (5mm by 0.8mm per thread). So are 2-bolt. That's the thread size insofar as the wider world is concerned. That's not really what you care about.
What you ideally want is a Look Delta cleat bolt that's the right length for your shoe. They are funny little bolts and can be hard to find in just the right length if the stock ones aren't working for reasons like you're encountering. But, you need them to be low-profile like the stock ones are.

If you are forced to improvise from the hardware store or from what most bike shops will have, the best you can probably do is M5 button head bolts with large diameter washers. The total stack will probably be thicker than proper Look or clone bolts, so they may poke out or come close to it.


Light-weight ladies bike What about ladies bikes?

I tried to buy one recently, like mine but with a smaller frame. It came with 700 wheels. Is that sensible? Shouldn't there be a smaller wheel for a smaller frame? Does North America versus Europe make a difference re. which non-700 wheel size to expect?

The LBS said that frames with/for small wheels were the "mountain bikes".

When we bought this ladies bike we wanted it like my other bike, which I like, but smaller: so an aluminium frame with no suspension, and disc brakes; and added a rack, and fenders, an optional pannier ... and a heavy ("Kryptonite New York") D-lock (I use my bike for year-round commuting). I also got Marathon Plus tires, hoping they'd never flat. Though she could lift the bike on the show-room floor (and when we rented it for a week-end test ride) before they installed those accessories, now that it's heavier she's not comfortable lifting it up and down stairs. What solution?

Not for this bike necessarily, but in general: what bike has features and accessories but is proportionally smaller and lighter? Are there specific accessories which may be part of the solution, e.g. by being especially lightweight or removable yet well-made?

This isn't for racing. It's for riding to and around the local parks, and residential roads. Along roads to the park. For shopping. Along flat bike trails next to waterways. Possibly through town or city traffic.

Some light-weight bikes are racers, aren't they. But racers are not an ideal ladies bike, I expect. What if a lady has limited upper body strength: I expect (I haven't tried them) that racing drop bars aren't ideal, and complicate learning to brake and shift gears (kindly consider a novice lady rider if you answer this question). Also on a racer, the gearing would be wrong for a novice city/recreational rider.

When I say "lady" I mean adult (possible senior) female, wearing pants (trousers) or shorts, height around 5'4" (160 cm) or less, paved roads and paths, non-competitive, novice (and consequently not athletic). I'd like her to ride an hour and enjoy it (assuming e.g. she already does 45 minutes on an indoor bike each day, and swims and walks etc.), and carry it up or down a flight of stairs single-handed, or put it into the back of a van, or onto a rack on front of a bus.

Summary:

People have said and my experience confirms that an LBS might stock only 700-sized bikes, even with the smaller frames. And that where they have a smaller wheel, it's on a mountain bike.
Adding a rack, fenders, and D-lock to an aluminium bike can make it too heavy to lift. Can such accessories be light weight? Apparently a few extra pounds makes a difference, subjectively.
Eyeing specifically light-weight bikes they tend to be racers. Is there a light weight but not a racer (the answer was "apparently not" in the LBS), and if not can one be put together? For a rider of say 120-140 lb (55-65 kg) at speeds like 15 mph (20 kph).
My wheels are 700x32 with Marathon Plus tires, for commuting. What size wheel and type of tire would be appropriate for a recreational ladies' bike?

Take a look at the models by Electra with a 24" wheel, find a stockist and get your lady friend to try one. Not the lightest but well specified and easy on the novice due to their geometry.

Really anything with the 24" wheel makes sense for the 5'4" rider.

Going smaller wheeled with a 20" wheel Dahon folder makes sense too, however, 20" wheel is a bit squirrelly in the park and the stretch to the bars can be borderline for the 5'2" female rider. Try one of those too.


What tool do I need for this bolt that holds the crank arm on this stationary bike? I'm amateur and got this stationary bike. The crank arm, I think that's what it's called, fell off. I can put the bolt back (the one inside the red circle) and turn manually but can't tighten it. There was a cap on top of it. What tool do it need here?
It's completely round and not hex shape

That nut was put in the wrong way around.
This is what the nut looks like:

The hex end is what you should tighten with a approriate socket.
This is what it should look like when installed correctly:

If it ever get's super tight as it is now, to get it off, the easiest way is probably to cut it with a tremmel and chisel it out.
Good luck!


Is it possible to upgrade Schwinn Willy to use an internal gear hub? I have a Schwinn Willy (single speed).

My commute is 6 miles each way on flat road with a bike section. There's only one 'hilly' section. A single speed bike is too slow. Everyone keeps passing me. I need gears.

I don't want to spend money on a new bike since I like my current one so much. I thought I can upgrade it to have gears using a Shimano Nexus 3 internal gear hub.

My understanding is that I can fit it in. I can even mount the cable through to the steering bar. But I can't find anything on how to install it into the wheel itself. So my questions are:

Will it fit?
Do I need new spokes? If so, what size? I can't figure out what size my wheels are. They measure 27.5" including the tires.
The hub only gives 33% boost in gear. If I want more than that can I put in a new crankset? What size? I can't figure out what size I have and what's bigger than that.

It is possible -- you can either find a 36 spoke internal gear hub (since you have a 36 hole rim) and have the wheel re-built with the new hub and bodge on the cables for the IGH shifting. Alternatively, there are automatic shifting hubs (e.g. the SRAM Automatix) which will also have a coaster brake and no shift cables. That being said, its probably going to be cheaper to get a new rear wheel than have someone building the wheel up with a new hub.

But, in the end, on a 300 dollar bike, you're going to be better off economically just buying a new bike with gears.

As for the crankset, you can swap that out, but you'll still have only one gear ratio unless you add a front derailleur (which your frame likely doesn't have mounts for, so you'd have to bodge it on). You may also need a different bottom bracket in this case. As in the case of the new wheel, this isn't worth it economically.

Generally, though, swapping the rear cog on a single speed is a better choice. The Schwinn ships with a 19t rear cog. If you're willing to work a bit more on the hill, you can swap that out with a 16t or 14t or something. This is quite economical (probably 20 bucks for the cog and a bit for labor at your local bike shop). If you want to do anything to this bike, this is likely the only thing you can do that is economical.

The end of it is: if the cog swap isn't favorable, get a new bike with gears.


Comparing mini pumps - what to look for and what to consider? I plan to buy a mini pump to take on road rides.   My bike has 700 x 25c tires.

There are many different models from each, some with thumb lock levers and some with a hose and screw-in lock.

What do I need to consider, and why, when selecting a minipump ?

You need a pump that pumps air, to the pressure you ride at, through the valve system you have.  And you need that pump on you or your bike, not at home.

Lighter weight is nice, but super light tends to be weak and bendy.

Some pumps allow the use of CO2 which sounds nice, but gets expensive.  Plus that tyre will be low/flat the next morning. So carry a pump as standard and a co2 inflater as optional.

I have 4 bikes.  At a minimum, each has its own pump, tool kit (multi tool, 2/3 tyre levers) one spare tube, and stickers.   That way I don't get stuck somewhere without the bare essentials.   Consider this, should finances stretch that far.

Mini pumps generally come with a clamp that fits under the bottle cage mounts, or some have more unusual mounts.  There's a risk the pump gets stolen if you leave it there, or may vibrate loose and fall off while riding.  A velcro strap helps, or a ziptie that you cut off in time of need.


Spacers and boost hubs, yes or no? Is it possible or recommended to use spacers to fill the gap left by using 100mm front and 142mm rear hubs on boost frames and forks?

Is it fair to think to add possible 2 x 3mm spacers rear ? 5 + 5 mm spacers front?

How to adjust the rotor / caliper positioning?

There are commercial kits that do exactly this, such as the Problem Solvers ones:

To be clear, a wheel adapted this way offers none of the advantages of Boost, since the flange spacing remains the same.
While these kits are being sold without any such compunction, it's worth pointing out that they put extra leverage on the hub rotor mounting holes and on the axle. Personally I wouldn't be surprised if there's a scenario where you could get a hub or axle to fail because of this - if you look at some hubs, Hope is what I'm thinking of, you can see there's a very minimal amount of material around the rotor mount. So I'm dubious how universal of a solution these kits really are in that sense.


Is there a "conventional" configuration for mounted accessories? Many different types of bike accessories as designed to be mounted via somewhat-conventionalized braze-ons: These braze-ons most often are on the down tube and occasionally on the seat tube and nearly always seem to be mounted with two screws 8cm apart. However, is there not some sort of accepted convention for the "best" places to put different types of accessories? For example, water bottles are more easily reached while biking if they're on the down tube rather than on the seat tube, so if there's only one water bottle cage, I'm guessing most people would mount it on the down tube. However, what about other stuff?-- Locks, pumps, bananas and so forth?

Case study

I used to have a road bike (a '70s Motobecane randonneur/randonneuse) which had a dedicated braze-on under the top tube for an air pump but nothing else. As explained above, I then mounted a bottle cage to the down tube using a special bracket-braze-on-thingy which mounts to the frame with a metal band and a screw (I wish I knew where I got them from or even what they're called). Then, because I didn't know where else to put it, I mounted the holder for my folding bike lock onto the seat tube using another metal-band-braze-on-thingamajig:

However, after that bike died, I got road bike of very similar style (a '76 Motoconfort (Motobecane) Le Champion). However, an analogous configuration for this bike is actually not possible because it has its air pump mount on the seat tube rather than under the top tube:

As you can see, the folding lock is in a very strange place because

hanging it underneath the top tube near the saddle seems like a good place, but then it's not possible to shoulder the bike --- something I have to do regularly since I ride the bike daily in an urban environment (albeit without stuff like water bottles and air pumps on it).
mounting it on top of the top tube isn't possible because that's where the rear brake cable runs: The above-mentioned custom holder thing doesn't work there, and I can't simply use the lock holder's Velcro straps by themselves because I'm sure some wiseguy will steal the holder.

However, is the lock's positioning really so "strange"?-- its weight being so high and forward doesn't actually seem to affect handling nearly as much as I'd feared, which is the main reason I thought that people tend to mount stuff "low" and "back".

Lastly, I wrap my secondary, cable lock around the seat post because

I can't find a place on which to mount a proper holder for it.
the saddle bag featured in the photo of the previous bike doesn't actually fit on the newer bike's saddle.

In conclusion, the way I configured my bike's equipment was partially based on what I saw other bikes look like (e.g. with the bottle cage) and partially based on the quirks of my bike itself, which enforced constraints on where I "thought" accessories were supposed to go. Is this in fact what everyone does, and the second factor is what contributes to the variations in different riders' setups? Certainly, at least my "common sense" when it came to placing weight low and to the rear was actually a bit nonsensical.

For commuting with panniers and/or a toddler seat, I've settled on the front fork for the D-lock, mainly because little else fits there and I'm restricted by cables and tube diameters elsewhere. Having that 1.5kg forwards also helps the handling with a heavy back load. Don't forget that a heavy lock is only around 2% of a rider's weight - it has to be a long way from the centre of mass to be noticeable for handling.

A cable lock will often fit in a spare bottle holder. I actually use the down tube holder for this, and the seat tube  one for my bottle. But I'm usually in stop-start conditions (for longer rides I use both bottle holders for bottles).

My pump actually fits under the down tube with around 10mm clearance to the mudguard.

My puncture kit (including for humans) and other tools go in a small triangular bag in the front of the frame. A saddle bag doesn't fit with the toddler seat. I'm lucky in that I normally lock up somewhere I'm happy to leave tools and lights on the bike.

As for convention, if there is one I ignore it. Personal preference combined with quirks of bike design are much more important.