Can riding without a chain damage a bike? I've been really struggling learning to ride fakie (backwards) on my BMX. Tonight, an idea occurred to me. If I remove the chain from my bike, it'll be a "free coaster," and I won't have to pedal backwards while riding backwards, so I can focus entirely on balance and maintaining speed. I don't know if removing the chain would actually be very helpful, though I'm sure it would be fun and I'd learn some things. Is there any chance it would be harmful to the bike?

What harm could it possibly do? The cranks are held firmly in place by the bottom bracket; the back wheel is held firmly in place in the drop-outs. The chain is completely non-structural: all it does is transmit power from the pedals to the rear wheel.

The only issues I can think of are

make sure you know how to remove and replace it, obviously;
I pretty much guarantee that you'll fall off at least once because of this. You know, as an intrinsic part of riding a bike, that putting forward pressure on the pedals has various effects and you use those effects subconsciously to control the bike. Now you're riding a bike where putting forward pressure on the pedals just spins them with no resistance. But, hey, you're practising tricks so I assume that falling off isn't a deal-breaker. :-)

Benedikt Mokroß adds

You're going to hit your knee on your stem a lot. Been there, done that.


Riding on a failing bottom bracket - what could possibly go wrong? My BB is showing the first signs of being on the way out (a click when I drive either foot down hard; if I remove the chain there's a barely perceptible clicky feeling at the same crank position as the click).  It's not convenient to get it fixed in the near future.  The last time I wore one out, the ride was horribly notchy by the time I got it done, but I blamed the cassette/chain.

What's likely to happen if I keep riding on it?  I can tolerate a rough ride on this bike (I'm not doing much distance on it at the moment). But I don't want to damage anything else (this seems unlikely to me).  I also don't want a sudden failure, especially one that causes things to seize up.

Eventually your bearings will disintegrate and your BB will lose its ability to hold the spindle centred withing the BB shell, that will result in the crankset becoming wobbly, your chain will come off, your chainring might even go hit your chainstay and if you're lucky it will happen at low speed.

Here's a BB I personally exploded on my fixed gear commuter

Everything I described above happened and I would not recommend running a clearly faulty BB for too long.

I believe a BB using bearing cartridges might not fail as catastrophically as one with simple cages like the one pictured but I doubt it would end well in the long term.


Are the Truvativ powerspline BBs reliable? When I first got my Haymaker 1500 about 2 years ago the BB crank interface was the Truvativ powerspline pattern.  In the first winter my left arm came loose when it was cold (-15*C or so).  Since it was cold I wasn't really looking at my bike that much and the bolt loosen up and the arm began to wobble.  This led it to damage the interface of the arm.  After using some tin shivs to take up the slack and allot of red threadlocker on it (which I did in my place and gave it a day to warm up first and another to set, and used put more than enough torque on it), and then it was good until 2 months later were the bolt loosen up again (but with only a slightly wobbling of the crank arm) despite all the red threadlocker on it.  Tried to fix it again but the 8mm bolt (old) broke off into the BB with out any real force.  So, I got a new BB and left arm and it was good for for 3 months in the late spring, same thing but with the right arm.  The arms interface was fine (caught it early, so no damage).  I got a new bolt this time with thread locker, 40Nm of torque, and gave it 2 days to set.  It was fine for 5 months when it began to wobble again and this time the bolt broke off into the BB when I was riding.

Since then I replaced the BB interface system with the Octalink and I haven't had a single problem in the last few months.

So are powersplines really this bad, or did I just have a lot of bad luck?

The TruVative power spline BB is a decent, if inexpensive design, and is unlikely to have failed through a design fault.

All bikes, regardless of price or quality level, require periodic maintenance.

One of the most common issues on a relatively new bike is the crank arms "seating" on the BB spindle, and needing the fixing bolts to be re-torqued.  This will happen on every BB and crank design, with varying time frames between occurrences.

The Octalink BBs are known for loosing fixing bolts, actually. :)

This is not "bad luck". But neither is it a design flaw. It is missed maintenance.  They should be checked every few weeks until you get a feel for how often you need to do the maintenance. FYI, every bolt on your bike can have similar issues, and should be re-torqued periodically.

Unfortunately, as you discovered, a crank arm ridden while loose will damage the crank, and often the BB spindle, and it can be an expensive repair.


Alternative to 1" threaded low profile headset? I have a old (guessing ~2005) Jamis Aurora road bike. Recently, I found that the threads on the headset (probably original, nuts are made of aluminum) were stripped. The bike has a steel fork, and is designed for a 1" threaded headset. Apparently these are not very common any more.

A local bike shop had an old one in stock, which looks pretty close to this:
http://www.amazon.com/Threaded-Fixie-Track-Road-Headset/dp/B00811SI5E/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1431293092&sr=8-9&keywords=bike+headset

Unfortunately, it turns out that due to the length of my fork (or my frame?), I need a "low profile" headset, rather than a standard one. So far, it looks like it will cost around $50 for one of these.

I think the other option would be to replace the fork, which is more expensive, but would save me the trouble of dealing with this problem next time the headset goes.

Are there any other options?

Can you take replacements for the stripped parts from a standard headset? If you have a local bike co-op or a good relationship with your LBS you should be able to try some second hand ones to see if they work, and if so either buy them or buy a new headset and use the parts you need from it (in that case leaving the extra parts with the shop is a nice gesture, and they're more likely to be useful to another customer than to you)


Fitting brake cables on Tektro rl726 levers Iv'e got some Tektro RL726 brake levers that I want to fit to a project bike.  I bought the cables online & they have arrived with a stopper on both ends.  Am I right in thinking I have to cut one end off so I can thread it all through the brake, lever & housing?

If I have to cut the cable, which end do i keep for that lever type? The bigger drum bit or the more torpedo like narrower stopper (which looks like it would fit in the housing of the lever a bit.

Yes, you have to cut off the stopper you don't need.

In your case, cut the non-torpedo end. Take a look at the picture here: http://www.tektro.com/_english/01_products/01_prodetail.php?pid=58&sortname=Lever&sort=1&fid=3

Under "Specifications", "Brake Cable Type" it has a picture of the end you need to leave attached.

Happy Riding!


Back wheel is "wobbling" I have a bike which is about a year old.  I went to ride it yesterday and saw the back wheel wobbling.

Is it a major problem or a easy fix?

Please help.

There are a few things that could be described as a 'wobbly' wheel.

Hold the rear wheel off the ground, grab the tire at the 12 o'clock and 9 o'clock (from the chain side of the bike), try to move the rim sideways. If the wheel feels like it is moving (wobbling) on the axle (other that rotating), the hub bearings are damaged or need adjusting. Your local bike repair store can tell you if they can repair the hub, or if a new wheel is required.

Hold the rear wheel off the ground, spin the wheel, watch the rim relative to the brake pads. If the rim looks like it is moving in and out relative to the pads (wobbling) as it spins, the rim is out of true. If it moves a few millimeters, it wont really affect the bike. Any more, or if the rim is hitting the brake pads, the rim needs to be trued. Again, your local bike repair store can fix that for you.

Lastly, the tire may have become uncentered on the rim. If the rim runs true but the tire does not, you can deflate the tire and push and pull it to re-seat the bead on the rim.


Indexing 6 sprocket rear derailleur, having trouble reaching largest sprocket I'm trying to index my rear gears after replacing my 6 sprocket freewheel. I've set the limit screws fine, but I didn't have enough play in the barrel adjusters to make much adjustment, so I undid the clamp to release the cable, tightened both adjusters up then let them out a couple of turns, then reattached the cable finger tight.

I'm finding, though, that I can get the smallest cogs to change okay, but by the time I reach the lowest gear, it won't move to the largest cog, just this awful clacking of gears, even though by eye the jockey wheel is in line with it and the b tension gives plenty of room, about 1cm.

I thought I was meant to tighten the cable with the adjuster to amend this, but nothing makes a difference, I feel like I need to loosen or tighten the cable overall with the clamp bolt, but I don't know which way to go, am I doing something drastically wrong here?

Returned to this this morning, and have found that the high limit screw could be let out a bit more, and now that is done the chain reaches the large sprocket just fine! Apologies for being dense!

I am now finding that I can index it fine for going up from the low sprocket, or coming down from the large sprocket, but not both, but I'll work on that....


Mongoose front rim size I have a 1996 mongoose bike and I need to replace the front rim 20x1.95
All I can find is 20x1.75
Can I use a 1.95 tire on a 20x1.75 rim

The answer is yes, a slightly narrower tyre will be fine.

If you read the metric numbers off the tyre you're safer, because those have a fixed meaning. Inch sizes depend on the exact context (a 27" road tyre will be too big for a 29" mountain bike rim, for example). You probably have a 45-406 tyre, and are looking at a 35-406 tyre. The "406" part says it will fit the rim, and because the "35" width is smaller than the existing ""45" width, it will fit into the bike frame. Since it's not much smaller, it won't be too small for the width of the rim.

Sadly we don't have a good way of linking all the various tyre sizing questions into one definitive answer that will come up when people with your problem search for it. The definitive answer exists - Sheldon Brown wrote it years ago. If you want to read more, or much more, that's the place to look. We have lots of similar questions, like this.

Edit in response to answer above: you're probably better off buying a new wheel, or a second hand wheel if there's a tip shop nearby. Buying a rim and paying someone to put new spokes between your existing hub and the new rim is almost certainly going to be more expensive than a new wheel.

Shipping on the wheel will be expensive compared to the cost of the wheel, so if you can get one locally you'll save more. You can get new ones on ebay for under $50, but a genuine mongoose one second hand might cost a similar amount.

I suggest taking it into a local bike shop and getting their opinionbefore spending any money, if that's an option.


Buying Cervelo P2 vs P-Series I'm looking to buy my first tri bike and am considering between a Cervelo 2016 P2 (rim-brake) and the new 2021 P-Series (disc-brake).
The P2 is brand new, but it's an old stock my LBS has on hand, and would cost me about $1k less than the new P-Series. Should I get the P2, given that it's much cheaper? Or is there any downside to buying an older version of the bike? Any advice?

Cervélo advertises the P-Series to have less drag and weight than the P3 (and therefore P2). Which components/groupset are installed on the two bikes? What’s the overall cost? 1k$ is not that much of a difference when the bike costs several thousand.
Are you riding in bad weather (and/or hilly terrain) and can make good use of the disc brakes? One thing I also like about disc brakes is that you avoid wear on those very expensive aero wheels.
If the P-Series comes with electronic shifting I’d definitely pick it over the P2.


Mystery leak from brake caliper. What to do? I had poor performance from my SRAM Apex hydraulic disk brakes. This weekend, I bled them, and it seemed to solve the problem. However, on my next ride, I decided to test the newly bled brakes with a particularly hard stop. When I did so, I saw a puff of smoke. I assumed that it was oil on the hot rotor, so I looked closer. Sure enough, when I pump the front brake hard, a little oil runs down the disc. Also, the lever is almost as soft as before I bled the brakes. At least the rear brake seems fine.

At this point, I'm not sure what to do. I know the disc needs to be cleaned and the pads need to be replaced, but I do not know how to fix the leak. I don't even know where the leak is coming from, because the bleed port and cable are dry on the outside.

A couple of questions:
First, where could it be leaking from? Could it be from around the pistons? If so, how would you fix it?
Second, could this be fixed under warranty? I assume it would be SRAM warranty, not Planet X, right? The bike is almost brand new. If so, how would I go about that? Do I take it to my LBS? The bike was bought online. Please help.

I miss the cheap and simple mechanical discs from my last bike.

Sounds like a bad piston seal to me. Could also be any seal from around the calliper area, split line, cracked calliper.

Assuming these are newish and you've not bashed them up this should be a warranty claim. This will almost always have to go through the place you bought the bike, but there are exceptions.

You should email SRAM, the maker, and the shop to see who wants it back and see if the whole bike needs to be retuned or just the failed brake.


Why not place the cleats further back on the foot? I've found a number of articles saying there is no advantage in having the cleat under the ball of your foot as opposed to further back towards the arch. The reasoning is that the calf muscle is not suited for endurance efforts and shouldn't be overused while cycling.

  Most of a cyclist's power comes from the quads, glutes and hamstrings - the lower leg only connecting to the pedal and stabilising what happens above. It doesn't contribute enough to justify its energy expenditure. The idea is there will be more oxygen/fuel left for the bigger muscle groups. Side benefits include a reduction in the overall height on the bike for better aerodynamics and hopefully the elimination of my recurring Achilles tendinitis.

This really resonates with me, as I often get sore calves, even when I have positioned the cleat as far back as possible on my shoes.

Is anyone aware of any research or information supporting a more forward location for the cleat?

First off, i question why anyone thinks the calf muscle is not suited for endurance. Its a very active component of running, biking, jumping and so on.

The ball of your foot can take hours of running, biking and other activity with high pressure. The arch of your foot is soft, and where tendons stretch across. A cleat in your arch would cause massive pain over time.

Additionally, the clipped in pedal motion for ideal power is a triangle. Push down, scrape back. This backward pull would be difficult from the arch, and not very fluid feeling. Also likely causing other injuries.

I am not a doctor, medical professional or trained in physical therapies. Just an avid cyclist that pushes 4500 miles a year, 2 - 3 centuries on a road bike and several other mountain bike events annually.


Tire upgrade from 22" to 26" I am looking at purchasing a used Specialized Rockhopper with an XL frame.  Everything is exactly what I'm looking for on this bike with one exception...the tire size.  It currently has 22" tires/rims and I'm curios if I can upgrade those to 26" tires without having them rub against the frame?

Thanks in advance!
msindle

MTB rims branded 26" measure 559mm to the bead seat, which converts to... 22 inches.

You already have 26" wheels.

They're called 26" because when you put an ordinary 2" wide tyre on them, the outside diameter is about 26".


How to fix/prevent blocked cleat bolts I've had my SPD touring shoes for about seven years. The cleats are the originals and are now quite worn and I noticed recently that one of them (not pictured) is at a rather wacky angle that can't be doing my pedalling action any good.

As the shoes are more or less OK, I'd like to replace the cleats.

The problem is that the cleat bolts (hex-shaped) are jammed with grit, mud, stones and whatever else I've walked on in the past 7 years. So the allen key won't go in.

Last night I tried picking the dirt out with needle-nose pliers, chiselling it with a nail and hammer and even resorted to trying to drill the bolt out. This last attempt barely damaged the bolt, but heated it up so much the bottom of the shoe started to melt.

Is there any way to prevent this from happening or to fix it when it does?

Try a pipe nipple extractor or similar stripped screw extractor (Example:  http://www.plumbingsupply.com/extractors.html).  It is designed to grip the inside sides of a pipe using the same turning direction that will unscrew it.  It shouldn't need much depth to work and it will try to drill itself in.  You may still have to drill some of the junk out, but go slow and select a bit that is smaller than the head opening.


What does a "dished" wheel mean? How to tighten spokes on such a wheel, without a spoke tension meter? Should all the rear wheel spokes have equal tension? Or should

  the spokes from the side of the cassette be tighter, in order to skew to wheel in that direction, and the wheel to be centered in the frame

EDIT:

Ok, so this thing is called "dished" wheel. In the meanwhile I learned that often shorter spokes are placed on the side of the cassette.

If I do not own a spoke tension meter, how can I approach straightening a rear rim, or tightening up loose spokes? What is the difference in the procedure from a front wheel, where one uses the brake calipers to measure rim trueness, and pinching the spokes together indicates spoke tension, which has to be more or less equal around the wheel?

If the wheel is symmetrical the spokes should all have the same tension. If dished (what you've called "skew" the bicycle world calls dished), the side closer to the centre of the hub will have more tension. All the spokes on the same side of the wheel should have the same tension.

Since you have derailleur gears the wheel will almost certainly be dished (it's possible to build a frame such that this isn't necessary, but that requires other compromises, so if it's a mass produced frame with derailleur gears it's got a dished rear wheel). With hub gears it is almost certainly symmetrical, and with a singlespeed it's probably symmetrical.

In general, the spokes should be as tight as the rim allows. Jobst Brandt in "The Bicycle Wheel" is quoted in this question as saying:

  With tensioned wires as spokes, the wheel can support loads only to
  the point where its spokes become loose. At this point the wheel will
  collapse. Therefore, for greatest strength, spokes must be as tight as
  the rim permits. Structurally the rim supports spoke tension as an
  arch that is compressed by the inward force of the spokes. The load
  limit for most rims is far less than what the spokes could deliver if
  they were tightened to their breaking point.

That book is short and cheap (but densely written) and well worth buying if you're interested in wheelbuilding.

edit: You don't need a tensiometer, you can probably do it by ear. This question discusses truing by ear and links to a useful article. Like Daniel  said in the comments, focus on getting the wheel true, stress relieve it, re-true it (repeat as needed),  ride it for a day or two, then check it. The closer you can get the spoke tension to even the less the wheel will go out of true when you stress relieve it/ride it, so the faster that process will go.

But if the rim or spokes are damaged you won't be able to get the tension even, and the older the wheel is the less likely it is that you'll get it even. The advantage of a tensiometer is that it speeds the process up and is more reliable (doing it by ear is very sensitive to the exact length between the rim and the first cross of the spoke, and you can change that by pushing on the spoke)


Which MTB Inner Tubes I have tried a few brands of inner tubes for off road riding, mainly slime and dr. sludge but recently I have suffered more punctures than I'd care for despite the 'green goo'.

My question is what are people's recommendations for good off road inner tubes or tubeless systems.

Maxxis DH or Freeride tubes.  They're not light but I've only ever once punctured the DH model - a 6inch nail through both side walls, so I won't hold it against them!


I need to change my bike from UK to US Spec I bought a bike from the UK.  The brakes and shifters are on the opposite sides.  I want to change it so the front brake is on the left and the rear is on the right,  Same thing for the shifters.

I have Drop bars and Ultegra Shifters.  Is this a difficult project?

Thanks,

John

Kind of what Daniel said, brakes are easy. Sit down and think about it for a minute, all you have to do is switch the cables. Run the front cable to the left and run the rear cable to the right.

If you want to switch the shifters you will probably run into some trouble. You won't be able to just switch the cables, you would have to get shifters that work on the opposite side. I would just forego that goal if I were you.


Giant OverDrive road fork replacement I've got a Giant Revolt with a OverDrive tapered steerer (1 1/8-inch top to 1 1/4-inch bottom), and am thinking about replacing the fork with a shock.

If I used a shock with a 1 1/8-inch non-tapered steerer, can I just replace the bottom bearing?

Or can I add a tapered spacer and convert the straight steerer to OverDrive? Has anyone tried this?

You will need a crown race reducer.

1-1/2" -> 1-1/8" is a pretty common size. The 1-1/4" -> 1-1/8" that you are looking for is rarer but it probably exists. Maybe the de-evolution from Chris King.

If you can find that part, the existing bearing can stay.

Also do some research on the Problem Solvers headtube reducer; you would just use the bottom piece. If you use this, you can use the existing crown race (and bearing obviously).


Mixing SRAM X01 and Apex components I have a bike with an SRAM X01 rear mech, and SRAM Guide Hydraulic disk brakes.

The bike has flat bars, but I'd like to swap them for a Salsa Woodchipper, which means swapping the shifters and brake handles.

Does anyone know if one can use an SRAM Apex shifter to control an X01 rear mech and Guide disks?

Thanks!

SRAM 11 speed road and mountain shifters and and rear derailers are not cross compatible. They work on different actuation ratios. A Jtek Shiftmate 9 can be used to convert them in the road shifter on mountain derailer direction.

SRAM says there is no compatibility between road and mountain hydraulic brakes. I believe they're probably right because the road levers push way less fluid, but I haven't actually tried it.


How to get a bike from one city to another in the U.S I need to mail a bike from Portland, Oregon to Austin, Texas. I know that you can get free bike boxes from many bike stores, but how do you pack a bike to ship by mail or to check as baggage on a plane?

I've never shipped a bike, but I moved from Canada to Europe with my Surly Cross-check in a box last year. When the box came off the plane it looked like it had been run over by a truck and left out in the rain, but the contents of the box were 100% undamaged.

Hold on to your pants, this is gonna be long!

Shipping a bike is cheap and easy, but make sure to do it right.

As I'm sure you have found out airlines require you to have your bike in a box or a case. Cases are expensive. Most bikes are shipped to bike stores in a cardboard box in various stages of assembly from just a frame to a full bike with some parts removed for transport. When they unpack new bikes they have to get rid of the boxes so hopefully you can find a nice store that will give you one for free or sell you one really cheap, like 10 bucks or less.

If bike stores are no luck then furniture and appliance stores and bed stores like Sleep Country are great sources of large, strong, and free cardboard boxes and large strong plastic mattress bags, both of which you'll need. These stores are also usually overflowing with bubble wrap, styrofoam peanuts, little air filled plastic bags, and all sorts of other packing materials and are usually willing to give the stuff away if you want to root through the dumpster. Also recycling depots are always overloaded with cardboard, all free. Just think creatively and you should be able to find all the materials you will need for free in our mega-packaged and plasticized world.

So here's how (I think) you should pack your bike:

Materials List

Large strong cardboard box that will either fit your bike or can be easily cut and folded to make the right size box. Mattress boxes, fridge boxes, and large flat screen tv boxes are perfect. Just try to choose a box that is as long as your bike plus a couple of feet, and as tall as your bike plus a couple of feet, so you can have plenty of room to fold over the ends, top, and bottom. Just think of how you would size up a piece of wrapping paper before wrapping a present. I hope you are good at wrapping presents.
More flexible (but still corrugated) cardboard that you can roll like Xerox paper box type cardboard.
Lots of newspaper, bubble wrap, styro-wrap... whatever you can scrounge for padding and space filler. Plastic shopping bags make great padding and can usually be had by the thousands from friends who would love to get rid of the bags of bags they have in their hall closets or kitchen drawers.
Several rolls of 2" clear packing tape. Usually sold by the 6 pack pretty cheap or else sold per roll for the small price of an arm and leg at the UPS store, post offices, U-haul and other 'specialty' packing stores.
good box knife and/or good scissors

Procedure

Bike preparation:

You have three options:
a) leave the wheels on the frame and make a box big enough for the whole bike, or
b) remove the wheels and package them in a separate box, or
c) a combo of the two, which is what I did (remove front wheel, leave rear wheel on and pack it all in one box).

Check with the airline for fees per box and weight restrictions on the boxes to decide.

remove pedals (and crank arms if you wish to package them separately but this isn't necessary IMO)
release the tension on your cables but leave them attached, so basically just crack the nut so the cable is for sure slack and then re-tighten gently to just hold the cable there. You mention this is a fixie so likely no shifter cables but maybe a brake cable, maybe not.
loosen stem and turn handlebars 90 degrees to they are parallel to your top tube. If you have drop bars or aero bars you may want to remove them all together, they can be placed inside the triangle of your frame when you pack the bike, but if you have any cables it is easier to leave them on the stem.
push seat post down into tube all the way but leave the seat on the bike, it is a good spacer against side impacts.
air down your tires but leave them spongy enough that you could just ride them. This will allow them to expand and contract during the flight but keep them seated on the rim during packing and transport

Padding

I am going to assume you are using one box but if you decide to ship the wheels separately then just don't put them back on the frame.

remove wheels
using the more flexible cardboard cut a strip the width of your top tube and long enough to go around a couple of layers thick. Roll the cardboard around the tube firmly and tape in place, tabs are sufficient but you can wrap right around with the tape if you wish. Don't be stingy with the layers, put three layers if you want, make sure the cardboard goes right to the butt joints at either end.
repeat this process for the down tube, seat tube, stays and fork arms. Basically just cover all the long and delicate parts of your bike with a nice thick roll of cardboard. If you are putting your wheels back on the frame make sure you leave enough space so they can fit back on, depending on how thick your cardboard is maybe you'll only get one or two layers on the stays and forks.
do a similar wrap on your handlebars and cranks but use bubble wrap if you have some, or just a few sheets of newspaper. Hold in place with a tab of tape.
bubble or newspaper wrap other exposed sections of the bike if you wish such as brakes, stem, tube junctions
replace your wheels and tighten them on firmly. They should fit snugly between the cardboard padding.
if you managed to get a hold of a good solid plastic mattress bag (double or queen should do) then I would bag the bike and tape it shut. If for some unknown reason the box is left out in the rain or snow, or something in the luggage gets all over it you have an extra layer of protection.

After this your bike should be pretty well padded, time to put it in a box or build a box around it.

Boxing

Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, stick and jab... oh right, cycling. This kind of depends on whether you have a bike or mattress box that is already close to the right size and whether you are leaving your wheels on or not. I will assume you are building a custom box and leaving the wheels on.

IF YOU ARE TAKING YOUR WHEELS OFF, PUT A SPACER of some kind between your forks and stays where the axle would be to keep them from getting squished together if the box is compressed for some reason.

ALSO - MAKE SURE YOU EITHER REMOVE AND/OR PUT A BLOCK, SPACER, OR SOME KIND OF PADDING around your rear derailleur (if you have one, fixie riders can ignore this bit), otherwise you risk having it broken or damaged by careless airline tossers.

A block of wood like a piece of broomstick taped in place works fine, or perhaps you have (buy or scrounge from an old bike) a couple of solid axles that you can just pop into the dropouts, with one set of nuts inside the fork screwed out gently against the fork and the other on the outside screwed in gently against the fork, sandwiching the forks/stays in place.

Scenario 1 - you have a mattress box or bike box that is the right height and length and just need to drop the bike into it.

layer the bottom with a mass of firmly balled newspaper
lower the bike into the box
starting at the bottom pad around the wheels until the bike will free stand in the box. Firmly balled newspaper or bubble wrap is best.
once the bike is standing nicely you can begin to fill the rest of the space.

Styro peanuts, those air filled spacer bags, and bubble wrap are great for this. Loosely balled newspaper is excellent padding too. If your bike is in a clean(ish) plastic bag then extra clothing is good padding and space filler, and might cut down on the size of your checked luggage or carry on. Bulky items like jackets and pants for example. Or put your clothes in bags as well perhaps.

if you have removed the handlebars now is the time to place them in the triangular space and fill around them with packing.
bike parts that you have taken off such as pedals and cranks can be wrapped and places strategically in the empty spaces. Bike tools (to put it back together), tire pump, helmet, and other accessories can also be wrapped and used to fill the space.

When the box is full of packing to the top, close the top flaps and tape every single edge and seam closed. More on this later

Scenario 2 - you have a large box like a fridge box or mattress box that is way too big and you need to custom make a box.

measure how wide your bike is at its wides point, usually the BB or handlebars
cut the box along one corner so that it can unfold and lay flat on the floor. Choose the largest side and lay the bike on its side on top of the box leaving enough room so that the top parts of your bike (seat and handlebars or stem) are below the top edge of the box by the WIDTH of your bike PLUS 4 inches. You are going to fold the top of the box over eventually and this much space will allow you to fold the top over completely making the box wide enough for your bike with 2 inches of space on either side of its widest point. Mark a line across the box at the level of your tallest part. This is where you will fold the box to make the top.
make similar measurements and mark lines on the box where you will make folds for the bottom, and then for the top again, cut off any excess cardboard. Don't worry about the length yet, you just want to wrap around the bike first.

Creasing and folding these large strong boxes can be difficult to do in a straight line. One way is to pick the box up on edge and use the corner of one of your walls as a straight edge. Stand the box up flat against one wall with the line against the corner and fold the box around the corner. This should give you a good fold and not take too much effort. If you have a big table or long counter top you could use that too.

make all your folds so that you have a box with open ends and an open top.
once the box is folded it should be easy to mark, cut and fold the end flaps and then tape them shut so that you can lower the bike into your new box.

I recommend making all of your top flaps and end flaps the full width of the box. This makes each end a double layer of cardboard and also makes taping the edges together much easier because you can just butt the folds together and tape tightly. True, the sides and bottom are still a single layer but... meh.

So now you have made a box just the right size for your bike with the top flaps still open. Proceed as above under Scenario 1.

A Note on Taping

Here's how I tape closed a box that I want to be strong and secure for shipping.

close your flaps and use tabs (4-6 inch long strips of tape) to firmly hold them together. For a bike sized box I would have at least 6 tabs on each end.
once an end is made, tape each corner along its length with two strips of tape, first off setting the tape slightly to one side, and then to the other. Lay the tape strip lengthwise along the edge and then fold it over, off set to the other side and repeat. This gives each corner a double layer of tape.
once the top is closed and the flaps are secured as I just described I would now tape right around the box 3 or four times. To go from top, down the side, under the bottom, up the other side, and across the top again. Three or four strips evenly spaced. Do the same from end to end 2 times as well.
if any of the seams or corners still seem weak at this point, tape the heck out of them.

Labeling

Check with the airline again regarding any restrictions (or requirements) on labeling but I put my name on the box in big black sharpie as well a safe 'return' address. At least if the bike got lost it would get back to my folks place and I could have it shipped again. If you know your destination address then put it on there too, kind of like you would address an envelope.

Add labels like 'This End Up' with arrows or 'Do Not Lay Flat' to keep the box upright so they won't lay it flat and pile stuff on top of it.

'Do Not Squish'
'Do Not Bend'
'Fragile'

may also be useful.

Well, that's all I can think of. If your bike gets damaged after packing it this securely then I think you will have a pretty good insurance case against the airline.

Oh and on that note get insurance on the bike for the trip, possibly through the airline, and take pictures of the bike during various stages of packing to prove your efforts and show that it's really yours.

Paranoid enough?

Good luck and Bon Voyage!

ps. If you're traveling with the bike, remember to pack the tools needed to put your bike back together.


Are there any manufacturers of steel road bikes today? Is there any major bike manufacturer that still makes steel road bikes today?
The frame of my old Bridgestone got cracked and the crack is too close to the alloy BB lug for me to be able to weld it. I need a new training bike and it has to be steel because aluminium goes bad too quickly on local roads and I've seen way too many carbon horror stories.
Also, it needs to a major manufacturer because I won't get other stuff here in my country.
PS There is a supply-demand problem with second-hand steel bikes. Only lower end steel frames are sold second-hand and then too at the cost of aluminium frames.
PPS I've already checked the websites of most major manufacturers, nothing there.
Edit : Seems that I forgot to mention that I need something that feels similar to my racer. Judging from some internet trawling, both touring and CX frames feel different and wouldn't make good training bikes.

Depending on what you consider a "major brand", there really are a lot of nice steel bikes around these days.  If I were going this route, I'd look to some of the brands that focus on the steel frames, rather than complete bikes.  The list below should get you started.  While they aren't the biggest names in the industry, they do have good distribution so you should ask about availability at your local bike shop.  Or order a frame online.  Good luck!

http://www.somafab.com/
http://surlybikes.com/
http://salsacycles.com/
http://gunnarbikes.com/


Why would a bike pedal backwards, but not forward? I found a bike in our junk pile and it caught my eye. So I decided to fix it up by putting a rear tire and a chain on it. Pedaling forward fails to move the rear tire, but I can freewheel backwards.

Why would this be?

There is likely something wrong with the rear hub, the bearings may have seized.

If you remove the wheel from the frame can you spin the wheel whilst holding it by the axle?


How do I convert a Shimano Selecta to something more modern and quality? I have created a single speed bike out of a 1982 Helkama Kulkuri.
The only part that is a mystery to me is the bottom bracket (BB).
It seems it is an interesting and easy to work with Shimano Selecta.

http://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/733841-replacing-shimano-selecta-bottom-bracket-square-taper.html

It's an original but its teeth are too worn and I need to get something much more modern.

My worry is the size, do I need some kind of conversion kit to use a modern bottom bracket? Is there a kit in the EU I could get to take care of this?  Or is it the correct size and any BB will do?

According to what I am reading above it is the same size as the american single piece crank so can I buy the same conversion kit for it?

I see that this is a year old, but just wanted to share in case others are still looking up the topic.

Today I replaced a Shimano Selecta with a new, cartridge style Shimano BB (note: the bike is a late 70's or early 80's Apollo Custom Sport road bike).

The weirdest part was removing the old one, but came down to three steps:

Remove both crank arms with 6mm Allen wrench (they pull themselves off, no crank extractor required!) and remove the chainring by hand.
Remove the lock nut on the non-drive side with a 23mm wrench. (I think it was reverse-threaded), then remove washers, bearing rings, cone, until the axle pulls out of drive-side.
At this point there's just the "cups" left, they kind of dish out the end of the BB shell, and then curl inside where they have a splined inside. Using the old Shimano freewheel tool (I think it's called FW30) remove the 2 cups separately (remember which side is reverse threaded!) and then give it a good swipe inside with a rag.

At this point, I went to the shop and bought a Shimano cartridge 68mm x 117 (BB shell width x spindle length) and threw it on with some grease on the threads. Of course, the spindle length will be determined by your crankset (they usually have a specific one that they're designed for) and the cranks from the Selecta will not fit, so if you went for the cheap, simple,

A few hours of tinkering, and then $15 for the BB and another $5 for a crankset from your local community exchange. I think the end result is worth it, instead of having to switch to a one-piece crank, as it leaves you with more options for future uses of the bike (double, triple chainring, SS, etc).

Good luck to all future Selecta removers. Your struggle is not in vain!


Can a bent hub damage my fork? I've recently noticed that my front hub is bent, or at least the parts that connect to the fork (any name for this?). It's not a huge bent, but it's clearly visible with your eyes.

It fits the fork without any problem, but I'm wondering if I should keep these, or if that may damage my fork somehow (as a fork is probably more expensive than hubs...)

See the highlighted part in the picture? That's the bent part. It seems to be bent through the whole length of the hub, not only the external part. Actually, when I rotate the wheel, I can see this part moving from side to side.

The part you've circled is called the axle, even if it is not solid, and if it's bent you need to replace the axle, or the hub, or the whole wheel, whatever is cheapest. It can likely cause minor damage to your fork, but more importantly, if it's bent then it can fail- potentially in a catastrophic manner. Get it fixed, cheap insurance.


Effect of raising handlebars on a fat bike I am currently demoing a 2019 Cannondale Fat Caad 2.  Never owned a fat bike before.  This bike is relatively light and they are on clearance right now at a local bike shop that I ride with and do business with.

The problem I am running into (and it seems to be a common complaint of this particular model) is that the front is too low.  The bike shop owner says I can raise the handlebars using a different stem and handlebars. I get that.  I've done it with my Fuji Jari and my cheap mountain bike.

But I think it would need to be a bit more extreme with this bike, and so I'd like to understand the effect from a riding perspective that this will cause.  I'm not a bike geometry expert, but I get some of the general idea.

I'll mostly be using this bike for 2 things:  Winter snow riding (not on extreme terrain) and all season all-terrain riding (not on extreme terrain).  I'm not big on technical stuff, but I like to explore and ride a bike in all weather and wherever I can.

I generally keep my center of gravity over the pedals (light on the hands) and spend a decent amount of time out of the saddle.

So my question boils down to: What effect will raising the handlebars have on how the bike will handle, and ultimately, is this a legit thing for me to do for my riding style or would I be better off looking into a different fat bike with a different geometry?

Generally fat bikes seem to have the bars at about the same height as the saddle, which the Fat Caad complies with. If you personally want the bars a little higher that's fine.

The Caad stem length is quite short so it has limited potential for raising the bars. Riser bars in conjunction with a different stem will help.


Is it safe to mount fender stays and disc brakes on the same bolt? I bought these fenders recently:

The rear fender works fine — there are enough mount points to support my brake, kickstand, rack, and fender.

But when the salesperson sold me the fenders, we both failed to realize that my bike's front brake uses both of the mounting holes available on the left side of the fork:

I went back to the bike shop, talked to a tech and he gave me a longer bolt, recommending that I just mount the fender stay on the outside of the front brake (with some washers surrounding it). But when I asked at another bike shop, someone told me to definitely not try mounting them on the same bolt.

Could mounting them together cause any problems with brake alignment or reliability, or is it fairly safe?

Do not do that. That's dangerous because those stays are often made of soft steel and it's easy to bend or damage them, which means they'll pull out from under the bolt head. In that case you end up with a loose bolt on your brake caliper. Which is bad.

Two alternatives spring to mind: fenders that mount directly to the fork via clips or bands (or hose clamps if you're DIY), or the short fenders that only attach to the fork crown (I think the latter are decorative rather than functional, but enough people disagree that you can still buy them). I would just use cable ties to attach the fenders to the fork and see what happens. I think that will work, but if it doesn't I'd use hose clamps instead. Careful not to overtighten the clamps - you can crush the fork tube which will damage the suspension.

If you're committed to attaching to the brake the safer way is to make a plate that links both bolts and has a tab to bolt the mudguard onto. That way the plate can't rotate and is fairly solid so it's not likely to shift or deform and leave to with a loose front brake mount. The failure mode will be that extra tab bending or breaking, and with a little thought to the design that will be annoying rather than dangerous.


There don't seem to be many (or any?) carbon wheels for 9 speed bikes I have a 9 speed Shimano Sora road bike and I would like to get some nicer wheels without upgrading the bike or anything else at the same time.

Carbon wheels seem to mostly (or entirely) 10/11sp?  Can any carbon wheel be made to fit a 9 speed bike with some sort of spacer?

Any Shimano compatible 10-speed wheel, other than a very few with special deep-splined aluminum freehubs such as WH-7800, can take any 9 speed Shimano cassette without additional spacers.

Shimano 11 speed road freehub bodies are longer and require a common 1.8mm conversion spacer to put a 10/9/8 speed cassette on. Many wheels come with this spacer, or a generic one can be used. 11-speed road cassettes do not fit on 8/9/10 speed freehub bodies, although some machining hacks can allow it in some cases.


Is it ever okay to get in front of another cyclist at stoplight? I hate it when this happens:

I'm riding down the bike path and I pass somebody.
I stop at a red light.
They catch up, and instead of stopping behind me they pass me and stop right in front of me.
The light turns green.
Rinse and repeat until I get past a light that catches them.

This is obviously antisocial behavior.

I will sometimes get in front of people at a light, but only if I've been gaining on them.

Is this okay under the circumstances, or is it low class regardless?

It clearly is OK sometimes: almost the opposite case to what you describe, i.e. when a faster cyclist has been gaining for a while but finally catches up at the lights, or has been stuck behind unable to pass because of passing cars. I've been in both sides of this situation and will sometimes invite obvious fast cyclists to get away ahead of me.

Without condoning red-light running, some people get away very early at lights. I'd rather they were in front of me than behind, itching to overtake. I've got enough to worry about with the cars.

I've seen cyclists stop so far back in a bike box that there's no safe place behind them (with big vehicles around). Often these are the slow cyclists who don't position themselves clearly on front of cars but sometimes they're fast riders who don't want to unclip and are leaning on something. The sort of riders I'd normally let past. In this case a little discourtesy is less important than avoiding being in the blind spot of a bus turning the corner. That could be considered a general rule.

Any kind of jockeying for position is not OK unless preceded by an agreement to race, to which my response would be "you go ahead".


Rekindling a love for cycling after an accident How can one "start" to love cycling as a hobby again after losing interest in it after having bad experience(s)? — Since having a car-on-bike accident and subsequently not riding for quite some time, I've lost the love of cycling: I'm not afraid/angry/stressed when on a bike (at least not any more than before the crash, anyway), so I don't feel that I have some sort of PTSD/confidence issues. Nevertheless, I don't have a desire to cycle: It just feels like a way to get from point A to point B.

My situation is of course in no way unique (cf. CyclingTips or Sticky Bottle) and is definitely related to accident recovery, so I thought there might be common methods for "learning to love" cycling again — am I right?

Background

Strangely enough, even before the accident, my love of riding was directly connected with riding my bike-- not just any bike. I even bought a bike which is even "cooler" (to me) than the bike I had before, thinking that it would help get me motivated to ride again, but it didn't work; Might it be possible that I actually never really had a love of cycling per se but rather a love for my bicycle?

Since having a car-on-bike accident last year due to me performing an Idaho stop, and the driver not stopping at all, I feel like my riding habits have changed a lot, and I realized how bad other people's riding habits tend to be.  I don't always put my foot down when getting to an intersection, but I usually come to a stop and do a trackstand for a split second to make sure things are safe.  Commuting on roads definitely isn't as fun as it was before the accident.  I'm definitely a lot more alert when riding, even though, like you, I don't really feel anxious, afraid, or stressed when riding.

This year I've altered my commuting route a bit to stay away from busy roads.  Partly because I feel like getting away from traffic is safer, and partly because it's an easy way to pad my trip with extra distance, which is something I've wanted to do anyway.

I definitely recommend finding a group to ride with if you don't currently ride in a group.  Seeing some friendly faces and having somebody to push you to ride faster/harder can be a great motivator.  Having plans with friends to ride means that it's harder to just cancel if you don't feel like it, because they expect you to be there.

I think the best thing is to just get out on the open road, away from traffic and other distractions. Having a route where you can cycle for a long period of time without having to stop can be quite enjoyable and relaxing.  The rides where I have to stop every 2 minutes for a light definitely aren't enjoyable, and I do them out of necessity.  The rides where I'm not going anywhere and just riding for the sake of riding my bike are what really bring out the enjoyment in cycling.


Coping with mud in the face I am not talking about swimming in mud. Just a damp trail or even wet pavement - and some modest speed - and the front tire function switches from steering the bike to throwing mud precisely directed at the rider's face.

Without protective gear, the mud and gravel projectiles hit the eyes at unpredictable moments and the chance of loss of steering is significant.

With clear sunglasses, the lens become stained in a couple of minutes and impair vision. I am reluctant to brush them with my glove as I reckon this would:

be not very effective, only transforming the mud droplets into a solid film of mud and sand
scratch the lens badly after several tens of scrapes.

How do downhill riders cope with this? Does the full-face helmet protect the mask in some way? Do they apply anti-water coating on the mask? Do they install some hardy front fender? Or do they just live with it?

In the 2011 Megavelanche, the guy has the camera behind his mask. It got only several drops of dirty water during the entire race, regardless of him riding through snow, mud, water, dirt, gravel. How is this possible, and why do my glasses look like shit when I am touring over asphalt and it rained yesterday?

How do downhill riders cope with this?

With a front fender or with a mud guard such as this.
With goggles which use disposable tear off lenses or the ones with a reel of fresh len material which is pulled via a string or via bluetooth or something.

  Does the full-face helmet protect the mask in some way?

Probably not.

  Do they apply anti-water coating on the mask?

No

  Do they install some hardy front fender?

In really muddy conditions it's almost mandatory.

  Or do they just live with it?

Nobody likes mud in their eyes or mouth.


Problems with gears after re-attaching front chainring I had to remove the pedal crank arm  together with the front chain set when fixing a bottom bracket problem, but now that I've re-attached it, gear changes in my front derailleur are completely off.

I think this is because the distance between the chain set and the frame changed slightly after I installed the crank arm back on. I used a crank extractor to take it off, is there another tool I need to use to make it as tight as it was before? Or is the new gap a normal occurrence and I just go ahead re-adjusting the gears?

I had the same issue (taking cranks off, pulling / cleaning bottom bracket, replacing it only to find that the front derailleur didn't match up no matter how much I adjusted it in and out) - it turns out that the cranks weren't tightened fully, allowing / causing the chain ring to stick out slightly farther than tolerances allowed for. The solution was to crank it down using a torque wrench - find the torque specification for the crank bolts (mine was 40 ft/lbs amazingly) and crank them down. You'll be surprised at how much difference this can make.


Tyre exploded while riding I was riding my bike today and it suddenly exploded. I have attached a picture.
The tube was not over inflated and I haven't been riding on rough surfaces.
What happened? Was the tube or tyre faulty? Do I need to reach out to the bike manufacturer?

EDIT:
I went back to inspect the road closer. In the end, I found what caused this issue. It was a shell, stuck in a crack in the road, which was impossible to see because of the road levelling. I'd say, really bad luck.

I will send my wheel to inspection, and hope I won't have to replace the rim as well.

TLDR answer: you ran over something
Given the ding/cut in the rim itself that aligns with the cut in the tire, you ran over something metal that was sharp enough to cut your tire and even dig into your rim a bit.
That looks like a deep carbon fiber rim - if so, I'd recommend doing a better job watching what you're riding over because the next bit of debris might be enough to seriously damage your rim - which will be expensive to replace if it is a deep carbon rim.
Nevermind that getting a flat tire in any circumstance can be dangerous if it happens at any decent speed.


Can my bike be recovered from the rust monster? First question here, and please note that I am a total bike virgin, other than the fact I can (just about) ride one.

Last year I bought a Felt Q520 (I think) the 2009 model, secondhand that had been virtually unused. It's been ridden a few times (i.e. 3) and stored in a room in my flat for about a year, and then moved to a damp understairs outside cupboard thing for about 6 months.

I've just moved house, to somewhere where I can use the bike, which I plan on doing heavily as I loved it when I could ride it, but it is quite rusty. The chain, the err, gear disc things, the front disc brake all have varying degrees of brown rust. (and both tyres are flat :( )

So, after that essay, my question is: Can my bike be saved with a good intensive clean with some magical product I am not aware of? Can I do it myself easily or should I take it to a bike shop, and, most importantly, will a bike shop charge me the earth for it?

Thanks for any help in advance!

Agree with wdypdx22 that your frame is likely ok.  (otherwise you might be in for a lot more work)

I'd suggest taking a crack at cleaning up the drivetrain (that's the chain, the chainrings and cogs, aka gear disc things) yourself before taking it into the shop.  It's a simple job and doesn't require expensive tools.  Basically you'll want to scrub the chain & gears with degreaser, rinse, let dry and then re-apply chain lube.

I'd explain it in more detail, but others have done a better job with these answers:

What to use to clean your chain (and cogs)?
How can I clean sand off my bike chain?

I'm less familiar with disc brakes, but if the rust is on the braking surface, try using some very fine sandpaper or steel wool.

Since it's only been a year, you should be able to do a decent clean up.  If, despite your best efforts, there's still lots of rust left or the bike doesn't feel right then your local bike shop should be able to fix it.  Plan on a tune up charge at minimum, or some new components in the worst case.  Either way it will be cheaper than buying a new bike.  (I'd recommend getting the tune-up done anyway in case there are other problems you've missed.)


Can I replace this bearing? (MTB head tube) As you can tell from the pictures below, it's about time I did. I'm clueless as to where I'd get new a one. From this answer I think I can conclude it's an integrated one as opposed to a press-fit one, or am I wrong?(EDIT: I was actually wrong, they are press-fit ones) I figure the bottom one will also need replacing, I hope/figure they sell these in pairs?

Possibly relevant info:

Bike: Giant Boulder, no idea what year. (Can someone tell me this?)
Front shock: Rockshox Tora 318, 1.1/8 inch tube (measured at the top)

Any help would be much appreciated!

EDIT

After much more research and measuring all sorts of things (head tube inner diameter top and bottom, steerer tube diameter top and bottom), I found that these bearings are EC34/28.6 EC34/30 (SHIS), the first part being the top part and the second being the bottom.

For anyone else looking to identify their bearings, take a look at this helpful web app that helps you get there step by step:
Canecreek Headset Finder: canecreek.com/headset-fit-finder

This answer can also be helpful.

It's the most common kind of threadless headset. External cups, caged bearings. It uses a 5/32x20 retainer (bearing size x count), which again is the most common type and available online and at most shops for cheap. If you want you can also use loose 5/32" balls, which is more of a hassle but slightly better for headset longevity because you get more contact area and loose balls migrate around more freely and reduce pitting.


Why are bolts of brake discs using Torx sockets? Most bolts on bikes are using hex sockets. However, there is at least one exception: the 6 bolts of brake discs, which usually have Torx sockets.

What is the reason for this? Has the Torx socket a significant importance in this area in particular?

Related question: I'm considering replacing these bolts with titanium version (saves 6 grams per wheel, woohoo!), and I can buy them with either hex or Torx sockets (hex would be a bit more convenient as I have hex keys readily available everywhere, on the other hand, the Torx socket is technically better). Can I just pick the socket I prefer, or would you strongly advise for Torx?

The magic of lobes allows Torx to handle a given torque value with a shorter bolt head than the alternatives, and some frame/fork designs need the clearance in this area. That's the only reason for it.

Some secondary bolt retention designs won't work with just any bolts, ie Shimano.


Need cycling eyewear, but fogging is a big problem I'm commuting in temperatures ranging from -10 to -25C without windchill factored in. I have a typical pair of interchangeable lens wrap around cycling glasses. I find that they, without fail, immediately fog up when I ride due to the moisture in my exhalation. Wearing a balaclava as I sometimes must doesn't help.

I'm considering trying to find a cheap pair of ski goggles...

Given the poor road conditions, eye protection from debris and dust is imperative. How do other very cold weather commuters deal with this?

I suffered from foggy glasses a lot, I prefer to wear clear lenses since I tend to ride after dark frequently. I tried a few of different cycling glasses with clear lenses, eyeglasses with anti-fog coating, motorcycle goggles, and several pairs of safety glasses with no luck.

I finally found a pair of $9 MSA Safety Works safety goggles with anti fog coating that work well, don't fog easily, and have good peripheral coverage without obscuring my vision. They sit far enough off my face that they prevent fog when I'm stopped. So far this has been the best alternative to bulky ski goggles that I've used.

One of the biggest things you can do for any glasses to prevent fog is to keep them clean and free of sweat, oil, and residue.  I don't know if this is the best method, but i tend to just clean my glasses with a touch of dish soap and rinse well. Don't use harsh cleaners like windex or alcohol which may strip the anti-scratch and anti-fog coatings.

Also, do your best to avoid scratching your glasses, as this will make it harder to see and often can causes refraction when looking at light sources. I keep a glasses case in my bag for storage when not in use.


Specs for parts on Giant Defy 4 (2013) to decide on upgrades to transfer parts onto another bike I have a 2013 Giant Defy 4 and a new Montague Urban(UK)/Crosstown(USA) folding 21" 700c.

I'd like to make the Montague better for the occasional uphill commute home I do when I don't have access to a boot and a passenger seat (hence the folding bike) but I don't want it to be too appealing to thieves (however I don't mind making things appear cheap with mud and sandpaper!). It's built as an urban bike so the seat is comfort and the riser bars are for an upright position (so it's not great for a bent over wind resistant riding position). It only comes 7 speed with no front mech. Making the bike lighter would be lovely when I'm carrying myself and my gym stuff home, cursing at the geographically almost-guaranteed head-wind.

To that end I want to fit parts that would improve my ride (drop bars, better seat and anything else), but I'd rather buy good stuff for my Giant and then replace the not very good Montague stuff with the now surplus Giant stuff. (That's assuming the Giant hardware is indeed better.)

I can't find any useful info on things like the bars, which just say "Giant Sport 26.0" and which I can't find these on the Giant site. Roughly, the Giant is 10.7 kg and the Montague is 12.3 kg. Plus, without (what I consider to be) a reliable pannier rack option I carry the weight on my back. I'm fairly heavy and my road surface is fairly rubbish, I think I'm right to make weight loss a target for the bike ;)

Short of weighing the deconstructed bikes for parts, how do I proceed with this project?

A couple of things to note: I've already made the Montague look like crap by using permanent marker on the text, muddy water and strategically placed plastic carrier bags so it won't be too enticing to thieves - new fancy kit on it would make it a target; also I've got a couple of non-stock parts on my Giant: Shimano R540 SPD SL pedals and a Nukeproof Plasma Speed saddle.

Replacing a groupset in step purchases whilst this is a good post and will help if I come to adding a front mech or increasing the cassette, I am not primarily interested in replacing the gears - 7 speed is OK for the most part - I would probably only change it if the bars, stem and seat and drop levers if I change to drop bars. I'm more interested in making as big weight savings as possible and getting a more comfortable setup for reducing wind resistance etc. Though I'm sure once that's done I'll be wanting different gears!

Really, the only thing you can do is investigate each individual part as you go along.

With drivetrain parts you'll have to investigate how well they work with other drivetrain parts. E.g., if you change the derailleur, does it work with the shifters? Is the cassette compatible with the derailleurs? Etc. Try searching the site for stuff like drivetrain compatibility, shifter compatibility, and derailleur compatibility. The venerable Sheldon Brown is also a magnificent source for determining how things work together.

With fairly static parts like your handlebars and seatpost, it will likely come down to simply measuring to see if they match. You'll probably need to do so with calipers as these things can sometimes vary by a millimeter, or perhaps even less. However, Batman mentions in the comments, you may run into comfort issues. Whether these issues are within your range of tolerance will depend on your bike's setup, your body proportions, flexibility, and the individual parts that you're swapping.


What could have caused a rear derailleur to end up in the back wheel suddenly? This is a similar question to What exactly happened to my rear derailleur? but with some significant differences.

My bike had recently been serviced (about 3 weeks/500 km previously). All that had been done to it since that was a little tightening of new brake cables and oiling the chain the day before a planned big ride. The RD seemed fine when I oiled the chain.  Over the first 100ish km of the ride (link includes pictures of the aftermath) I'd used the full range of gears, front and rear.  On a gentle uphill, at least a few seconds after changing down, there was a nasty noise and the back wheel locked up.  I barely unclipped in time and got off to find the RD tangled in the spokes and wedged against the seat stay.  After two failed attempts to set up and emergency singlespeed conversion (snapped chain) I got the train and a lift home. No spokes broke at the time but several are damaged (two snapped after about another 150 km with a borrowed rear mech).

All parts were present including the B screw and both cage/axle screws (though one was torn out of its thread) and the mounting screw was still firmly in the hanger (which despite being solid steel was quite bent).

I've started putting the bike back together,  but what should I be looking out for either as I reassemble it, or before a ride -  I've got a tour coming up.

Every time I've seen a correctly adjusted rear derailleur go into the spokes while riding it was because something made the chain jam in the rear derailleur and the force of pedaling tore it off and put it into the spokes.

a few possibilities:

broken chain - if the chain breaks in such a way that it won't go through the pulley cage.
Foreign object in the chain - something gets caught in the chain in such a way that it won't go through the pulley cage.
Incorrect chain installation. If a chain was installed such that the pin wasn't seated correctly the chain can pull apart under stress and get stuck in the pulley cage.
On an abused chain (not like your well oiled chain) links can get tight or rusty and fail to make the sharp bends between the pulleys and get stuck.

Do a careful inspection of your chain when putting your bike back together.


What are the horizontal slots/tabs on the back of some saddles for? Some saddles like Brooks have two tabs sticking down from the back, with a horizontal slot through each. What are these for? My guess is they are for certain kinds of saddle bags, but I don't really know. Is there a name for the slots (e.g. if I'm looking specifically for saddles that have that feature, what do I search for)?

You're totally right - they're for saddle bag straps.

I don't have a search term, but the word "roll" might get you further.


Is it worth separating your vo2 max wattage's on the flat and hill climbs in order to provide clearer goals during training? My watts per kg on hill 5 minute hill climbs seems to be 30 to 40 watts higher than what I can achieve on the flat. This is where I get dropped the most often during group rides and races.

My maximum 5 minute watts/kg on a hill climb is: 4.90
The average gradient of the slope is: 9%

But on the flat the maximum I have managed is: 4.37

I would like to add I'm not sure how to extract the data for just the vo2max intervals or whether that would be more useful or not.

Do I train each separately to give myself the best chance of improvement in each discipline?

TL;DR

Your output should be consistent regardless of what type of terrain you're riding on, but external factors coupled can skew the results.

I've trained with power for many years, and while my evidence to the following points is purely empirical, maybe it will help you.

In my experience, I've always achieved higher W/kg results on hills than riding on flat ground. I believe this is because:

More consistently positive gradient. When riding on flats, typically the ground isn't exactly flat, and will fluctuate between +/- 0.5 percent without the rider noticing. Going down a 0.5 percent might translate to the rider as a false reprieve from the effort at hand, skewing the average. As I'm sure you know, maintaining the same wattage downhill is difficult, though probably because of purely psychological reasons.
Fewer external factors such as wind to content with. It should be noted that air resistance (drag) approximately follows a squared relationship with the free-stream velocity. Therefore, a tailwind or gust of wind while climbing 8 mph has less effect on power output than a tailwind while travelling at 25 mph. This will lend itself to more consistent power output.
Flat and straight roads tend to have high speed limits, which means cars will be passing you faster. This wash from the cars can skew your results through the same logic as above.

Granted, this evidence is only anecdotal but these are the assumptions I've always used to justify differing performance numbers.

As an aside, I've looked up your W/kg on a cycling chart. 4.9 W/kg puts you at a high Cat 3, low Cat 2 range. Even at 4.37 you're still a solid Cat 3. If you're getting dropped on group rides with these kinds of numbers, I would suspect that your limiting factor isn't your 5 minute power (unless, of course, you're exclusively riding with Cat 1 riders). I would take a guess that your limiting factor isn't your power, but your ability to recover after efforts. Decreasing recovery time allows you to attack more, recover from surges at FTP, and makes your a more resilient rider. That being said, while 5 minute power is a decent gauge of fitness, the real litmus test is the 20 minute from which you can estimate your FTP. I'd be interested to see those numbers.


M9 nut for rear wheel axle? I have been trying to find a bike shop or anywhere that still sells M9 nut which holds on the wheel hub next to the back wheel cassette for the cassette on my back wheel. I have a Vintage Sears Free Spirit Danish bike which has the old 3/8th" or 9mm size.

So far, all the bike shops just say they can not help but no additional help at all despite me asking.  I hope someone can help on here please.

Stock photo of bike

It's not M9. M9 is never used on rears. When 3/8" axle hardware sizes are expressed in metric, they're called 9.5mm.
What you have is almost certainly 3/8"x26tpi. If you don't have a caliper and thread pitch gauge, carefully taking the measurements from the axle with a ruler works too. There is some nonzero chance it's M10x1, but not likely.
A single 3/8"x26tpi locknut is something probably easiest attained by pulling off a dead wheel or hub. It's one of and maybe the most common sizes in the world. If you're squirreling through random axle hardware, distinguishing between 3/8x24 if all you're measuring is the nut with a thread pitch gauge is impractical, so again, measure the axle.


Finding compatible thinner street tires for Giant ATX I am trying to get a pair of thinner road tires for my Giant ATX (Disc). I have tried to look up resources to see what tires would be compatible with the bike but could not find anything.

Can someone suggest what road tires would be compatible. I have a 26 inch model. I am new to biking so have very little idea.

Thanks in advance.

Any 26" tyre will be fine, as long as it

Fits between your chainstays/seatstays/brakes/fork when mounted without rubbing
isn't too small (or big) for your rim's internal width
has exactly the same ETRTO diameter

Most of the versions of that bike seem to have a 2.1" width tyre, so its likely you'll be able to fit a 1.5" to 2.1" wide 26 inch tyre without issue.   26 inch is also known by the ETRTO size 559 or 559-widthinmm so yours probably have 559-53 or 53-559 on the sidewall.

  Just to confuse things, there are <26"> tyres that have a different ETRTO code, or may be so old that they don't have such a code.  You're not likely to find these on your bike, but you might find them for sale.  The ETRTO codes could be "26 inch" are 559mm, 571mm, 584mm, 590mm or 597mm.   You need to match whats on your existing tyres.

If you want thinner than 1.5" (or ~38mm) then you'll want to measure the inner valley width of the rim and compare it to the chart at What is the maximum or minimum tire width I can fit on my bicycle?

Remember to buy 3 new tubes as well, two for the bike and one in your bag as the spare.

My commuter bike is 26" wheel as well, and finding fast road-oriented tyres is challenging - the range is very small for sporty offerings, so you will probably be looking at commuter-tyres which tend to be more puncture resistant.  Still much faster than using knobbly tyres on the road.


What are the key components to compare and contrast when deciding between hardtail mountain bikes? Trek Stache 7 vs Cannondale Beast of the East 2

I'm trying to decide between what seems to me as almost two identical bikes.
One is made by Cannondale while the other is a Trek.

They are both priced the same.
What are some of the key components that I should compare to help me make my decision?

Any suggestions or recommendations are welcome?

I’m open to all Ideas.

Thank you all so much in advance.

Before outnumbering some key points I usually look when I want to buy a bike, I will tell you this: Ride them both. Form an opinion for each one and buy the one you think that comes better to you.

Compare their peripherials (suspension, drivetrain, brakes etc). Check what their manufacturer made them for and the warranty provided. If you have two bikes having drivetrain from the same manufacturer, it is wise you choose the one that might have a better series on (why get sram x9 if you can have xx for example).
What is the frame warranty from the manufacturer?
Make sure you know what are you spending your money to. Both bikes you are looking at are expensive xc bikes with some top peripherials. What discipline do you really want to ride? Do you need something that expensive? Are you a competitor, or just a fan of mtb?
What is your experience level? Beginner or pro? Spending a huge amount of money on a bike as a beginner is wrong. Learning and evolving on a reliable, yet not top of the class bike, will make you a better rider.

I suppose you are a beginner. If you are not oriented to racing xc, get a cheaper bike. Once you have learned technical stuff and have concluded to the ride discipline you prefer, get a serious bike.


Lamp holder for bicycle stem Is there any lamp holder for the bicycle stem?
The normal 360º degrees spinning lamp holders do not work, because the stem is slightly top-wards inclined.

Bike stem

Normal lamp holder

Maybe something like this may do the work?

But I couldn't find anything around the stem.


How is bicycle fit affected by switching from a riser bar to a flat bar? I have a 2009 Kona Dew that comes with handlebars that have a rise in them.

I've noticed that I feel pretty upright while biking so I'm looking to get into a more aerodynamic position. Looking at the 2009 Dr. Dew, it looks like the geometry is more aggressive due to a flat bar and a different stem.

How is the fit/posture affected by the difference in bars? Is it more taxing on the rider to maintain such a posture without increasing the weight on the hands?

Given that the basic frame geometry of the Dr. Dew is identical to my bike, can I replicate the setup simply by switching to a flat bar like this FSA XC-180? Should I replace the stem and/or headset at the same time?

Looks to me like the difference is as much in the stem as in the bar.  (It may be that for the Dr. Dew the bar has simply been rotated to a flatter position.)  And both bikes appear to use a threadless headset, so the stem can be replaced without touching the headset proper.  In some cases the stem is designed to allow it to be removed from the bar without having to "strip" the bar, in other cases not.  Can't tell from the pictures.

Minor differences in bar position -- height and "reach" -- can have a major effect on riding comfort.  Lowering the bar and/or moving it forward will significantly increase the pressure on the hands and add strain to the back.  It does improve aerodynamics significantly, but, unlike with a "drop" bar, you tend to be stuck with that lower position, even when you'd like to relax a bit.  (But there are various add-ons for straight bars that allow one to switch back and forth between a relatively upright position and a more aero one.)

(In fact, it's a pet peeve of mine that many bikes are designed to look "mean" on the showroom floor, with bar positioned low, but the bars are positioned too low for the comfort of most riders, and the threadless scheme makes it harder to raise the bar very much.  As a result, many bikes are purchased, ridden for a few weeks, found to be uncomfortable, and then forgotten.)


Wheel build sanity check Am a little scared now.

It's a 700c rim am trying to build. Trouble is it's an offbrand Rodi rim so there isn't any official data I could use.

I measured between spoke hole to spoke hole and it came in at around 575mm.

I used two 270mm spokes took a measurement at the valve hole from J-bend to J-bend it came in as 44mm. Spun the rim 90 degrees then measured it came in as 45mm.
hence a 584mm ERD.

Edd spoke calculator tells me:

Spokes              36
Crosses             3
Spoke length left   278.5 mm
Spoke length right  277.3 mm

but the guy at the bike shop says these number are more typical of 650b.
However it's definitely specd to be a 700c rim as the tyres say so.

It's a deep sectioned rim though (time to use a guide spoke).

Should I just go ahead?

My method for measuring ERD is simple for a normal wheel or a deep section aero wheel.

Feed a white or light-coloured string through two spoke holes directly opposite each other.  Count the empty holes on either side to be sure.

Then thread a nipple onto the string on one side.  Knot string behind nipple and pull string so it sits in the proper place.

On the other end of the string, thread enough nipples so that the first one pokes through the rim and sits normally.

Use hand tension to take the slack out of the string, but not so much it stretches.

Use a permanent marker to dot the string where it enters the second nipple.

Release it all, and then measure from the knot to your dot, and add the height of one nipple.

Note if you have access to the base of the second nipple then dot there and don't bother adding an offset of one nipple height.

Then repeat this in two more places around the rim - bare rims can be quite out of round, so averaging three results should get you a more accurate number.


How to check if the gear shifter or the gear itself is broken? I'm not a bike expert so I'm not sure if I'm using the proper terminology here. So I bought a used city bike. It's the first time I see such gear and such a bike actually. It looks almost like this bike: http://www.fahrrad.de/kreidler-vp2-schwarz-glanz-385180.html

However there is only a single issue with the bike. The speed switcher only changes from speed 1 to speed 2. I can't change to higher speeds and I don't know what the problem is. When I try to switch to 3 for example the switcher doesn't allow me to, so maximum is speed 2. I went to a bike shop, the guy seemed to be not knowledgeable at all. He said the problem could be from the switcher itself and it would cost 10 Euros to replace it, but it could also be the entire gear is broken and that would cost 200 euros!!! It felt that he wanted to ripe me so he wasn't really willing to tell me what the real problem is.

My question is: how to find out which part is broken?

Here are the images for the switcher and the gear itself. And I would highly appreciate it if someone knew what the issue might be so he can also mention the name of the broken part so I can order it online!

This does not answer your question, but it's too long for comments.

Summary: take it to another bike shop.

Details

This is an internally geared hub (IGH). I cannot tell what make it is; the ones I know of are Sturmey Archer, Shimano Nexus and Alfine, and SRAM.

The whole bike has been left to molder - the chain has rust, and the tires are flat. The chain should be fine with some oil.

The question is - why was it left to molder, and why was it sold? My guess is because of the gear problem.

Advice

See if you can identify the brand or make. Someone might be able to help more if you can tell them that. Once you know that, you can also look for a bike shop that knows about those particular hubs.

IGH's can stop working for fairly trivial reasons, and often the new parts are not very expensive. The main cost is the mechanic's time.

While you could DIY, the fact that you asked the question suggests that that's not a realistic option for you. There is no guarantee that after taking your first IGH apart you'll be able to put it together again. There are lots of springs and pawls and bearings and gears in there ...


Stock 10 Speed Shifters with 9 Speed Transmission I have a bike that was built with 10 Speed Campagnolo Veloce Shifters, 9 speed Veloce rear derailleur, and SRAM 9 speed cassette and chain.

I found a page on the builder's website that states they do this on purpose and that with proper cable adjustment, it works.

I've spent hours trying to get the adjustment right but some gears always slip from the indexing being off.

Thanks!

Not entirely surprised you have problems refer here...

According to this link, Cable Pull for a Campy 10 shifter is 2.8mm, dérailleur ratio for a Campy is 1.5 (or 1.4 for old) Cassette sprocket pitch for SRam 9 is 4.35.

So a single shift on the the 10speed is 2.8*1.5 = 4.2mm (ideal is 4.35). Over a 9 speeds that an error of 1.35mm, so when tuning, you will end up with about 0.7mm error on the outer cogs - i.e. it will never be able to be tuned perfectly, but when everything is new and shiny, will work surprisingly well. As things get less new and shiny, this error means tuning become more and more difficult.

The fix would be installed a Campy 9 speed shifter or a 10 Speed cassette and chain.

Edit: Another page on compatibility here lead me to
This adapter (Shiftmate) or similar might be the answer you are looking for. They specifically list a Campy 10 shifter to Shimno 9 (Sram and Shitmano 9 speed are the same).


What methods to determine chain length? I would like to know what methods there are to size chain length on a derailleur geared bike. There should be more than one answer, so there are effectively no wrong answers - don’t be shy.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of, and reasons for, your preferred method?

Starting from a new split chain:

Thread chain onto largest chain ring and largest cassette sprocket. Either thread through front derailleur or move it out of the way. Do not thread chain through rear derailleur.

On the chainring, find the links that will join to form the shortest possible chain that can be connected. Add 1 inch of chain to that (two rivets or 1 inner and 1 outer plate link).

If using a quick-link, remember that takes the place of one outer plate link.

Reading between the lines, what you are actually asking is 'what's the correct length of chain for a modern derailleur' bike?'

Given that modern derailleurs can accommodate the chain running from the chainring to sprockets in almost a straight line, the shortest possible chain that fits over the largest chainring and sprocket, that can run through the derailleur is desired. This is because:

Eliminates rick of breaking chain or derailleur if largest ring and sprocket are selected.
Maximizes chain tension and the slack that the derailleur can take up, enabling the largest spread of gear ratios.

If one had a system where the derailleurs could be prevented from selecting the largest chainring and n largest cassette sprockets at the same time - which could be programmed into Di2 or eTap systems - then the chain could be sized for the large chainring and n-1th sprocket.


How necessary are barrel adjusters? In the process of getting the slack out of my rear brake cable, the "cap" on the insulated part of the cable pulled out of the barrel adjuster. While monkeying around trying to get that part of the cable to "catch" back inside, I backed the barrel adjuster all the way out of the handle and can't seem to get it back in--I may have stripped the threads. The brake is working fine; I went for a short ride and had no issues with it. My concern is that not having the cable seated inside the barrel adjuster long-term may cause some sort of damage and/or failure.

I think my best option may be to simply remove the barrel adjuster so it doesn't abrade the cable over time. Is there any danger/drawback to doing so? (As far I am aware, the main role of the barrel adjuster is just to fine-tune the tightness of the brake without tools being involved. I can live without this convenience.)

I have to say this first: riding a bike when part of the brake system is not assembled as it is supposed to be is potentially dangerous.

The brakes may seem to work fine but if the housing or adjusters are not seated properly they may come adrift and leave you with a non functioning brake.

Brake and shifter barrel adjusters are necessary to fine tune caliper engagement and shift indexing. I do not recommend removing them as one day you will wish they were there.

Backing a barrel adjuster all the way out will not strip the threads as there is no thread engagement therefore no damage to the threads. They can be a pain to get back in though. If you disengage the cable at the caliper temporarily so there is no tension in the cable it may be easier to screw them back in. Alternatively have a local bike repair shop sort it out.

You may also want to check out some online resources on proper brake adjustment. Park tool has a particularly good set of videos on their YouTube channel.


Road Bikes: Aero vs. Traditional On any given race within the pro peloton, the teams whose sponsors offer both aero and traditional frames (BMC, Trek, Canyon, etc) typically have a mix of riders on each style of frame, but the GC leaders and climbers on those teams are almost exclusively riding a bike with a more traditional frame. Their bike fits look to be just as aggressive and both bike styles can be built to the UCI weight limit, yet you don't typically see Contador on a Venge or Tejay on a Timemachine.

What benefits do more traditional bikes provide that outweigh the watt savings that aero bikes provide (Roughly 28 watts within BMC's line), especially since both aero and traditional bikes can be built to UCI weight limit?

GC leaders are generally not out in the wind by themselves or taking many pulls on the front. They often put time on the field on climbs and in individual events like TT (which use bikes focused on aerodynamics).   As such, in pack riding GC leader will likely favour a bike that focuses on climbing (light and stiff) and handling (note, aero road bikes are improving here), rather than raw aerodynamics.  GC leaders are also more likely to be conservative with gear selection because they are in it for the long run and can't afford any technical issues.

That said, aerodynamics still plays an important role within the pack while drafting. As aero road bikes continue to improve (e.g., less weight penalty) and continue to prove themselves in competition you may very well see GC leaders riding them soon.


Headest: replace bearings or entire headset I realize this will be different for all headsets, but:

I have a Tange Levin headset. The headset is starting to show wear: the fork sticks at regular intervals through its turning.

I've inspected the races and they don't show any visible sign of deformation. Is it possible that only the ball bearings have deformed and that the races are fine? Is it worthwhile to order replacement bearings and reassembling the bike? Has anybody had success doing this?

You may not be able to see it, but it's pretty likely the races are damaged at this point.

One trick I've had luck with over the years is to replace the caged bearings with loose bearings. If that doesn't work, you can try using the next size up bearing. Both these tricks move the bearing contacts to different spots and can help a lot with indexing.

See Sheldon's page for more headset maintenance tricks

http://sheldonbrown.com/headsets.html

Loose bearings are pretty cheap and a whole lot easier than replacing the headset.
You can get a bag of 25 bearings for $5. Worth trying IMHO.


Replacing BB and Chainset only? Presently my bike has an FSA 19mm piece of junk BB and omega chainset. As this is a unique system it has no compatible parts. The bike uses Tiagra 4500 9 speed for the rest of the components.

If I fit a HTII BB(24MM) and a Sora 9 Speed crankset (50 & 34 tooth like the FSA) will that work or are there any other compatibility issues about not changing the entire set?

Yes, should be fine. Those 19mm BBs are available for replacement though.


Converting Sram Force 22 crank to Force 1 I have an existing Sram Force 22 groupset and want to convert this to a Force 1X system. My question is in relation to the chain rings. If I just swop the rings for the a narrow wide Sram Force 1 chainring will this automatically fit into my existing crank arm? Or do I need to replace the whole crank? Also if I do just replace the rings, would I need smaller chainring bolts or will the existing ones work. I will be using all Sram parts.

First of all, you absolutely don't need to replace Force 22. The crank arms have removable direct mount spider that the chainrings are bolted to. That means, in theory, you can put almost any chainrings given a matching spider exists - a very versatile system that's gained popularity over the recent years (Red/Force AXS are direct mount only, unlike Red 22).

If I just swop the rings for the a narrow wide Sram Force 1 chainring
will this automatically fit into my existing crank arm?

Also if I do just replace the rings, would I need smaller chainring
bolts or will the existing ones work

If I were to convert Force 22 to 1x, I'd check the following:

For regular chainring (mounted to spider), BCD (bolt circle diameter) should match. Force 22 came in 110mm and 130mm varieties. BCD limits minimal chainring size - the bigger the BCD, the bigger smallest compatible chainring is.
For regular chainring, chainring bolts should be compatible. Bolts are two-piece (nut and bolt), some are single piece (bolt screws into chainring). You can visually inspect existing bolts to check what you have, I don't have hands-on experience with Force 22 in particular. With a single chainring, the bolts might be too long and require spacers.
For regular and direct mount chainrings, you might want to factor in chain line (determines relative positions of cassette and chainring centers). For 1x road/gravel applications, it should be relatively safe to put the chainring on outer ring position, at least in my experience (I run 1x setup on my road bike with 2x crank arms). Spider design (I suspect Force 1x spider might have different offset/chainline to that of Force 22, but I can't say for sure), spindle length/interface and rear hub width (130mm non-disc road, 135mm QR/142MM TA, boost and so on) affect the chain line too. Force 22 can have GXP and BB30 spindles (there are true BB30/short and long BB30/BB386 varieties, at least for S2200). I only have experience with SRAM S2200 arms (very similar to Force 22, if not the same), when I was in market for a 1x chainring, this was an important factor. Direct mount chainring manufacturers usually specify what spindle/hub width the chainring is for. The spindle type is written on the spindle, the length can be measured with a ruler.
For direct mount chainring, take a note of chainring interface. There are a lot of varieties, but Force 22 has the 3-bolt Truvativ/SRAM pattern. Newer SRAM offerings have different interfaces.

Personally, I'd swap the whole spider assembly to a direct mount chainring because it looks cleaner. See manufacturers like Absolute Black, Garbaruk, Wolf Tooth and many others.


Can you ride a bicycle at 90 km/h on a flat road? This video was featured in a leading news website in my country. It's a cyclist riding on a highway with very high velocity - said to be 90 km/h - close behind a truck. The road is flat, so it keeps puzzling me: how could he reach and maintain such a high speed? Is it even possible to do this without any external help, e.g. grabbing the truck? Is it the "air-dragging" effect of the truck that makes it possible?

P.S.: I myself don't have too much experience with biking - I ride a mountain bike, my highest speed on flat surface was about 40 km/h, and I found maintaining it pretty exhausting. Couldn't have kept it for more than a couple of minutes.

In my younger foolish years I actually did this exact scenario, except at a slightly lower speed 85 kph (speed limit was 80 km/hr), but for a distance of nearly 10 km (between two suburbs).  In my case I drafted a double trailer gravel truck which was very slow to accelerate making it easy to keep pace. This was only possible due to the massive low pressure wake at the rear of the vehicle.

I was on a road bike with a max gearing of 53-11.  When we were at speed I remember spinning like crazy to keep up, typically I would have to do it in pulses where I would bridge up a foot or two to secure a better position in the draft, then take a quick rest.  Adrenaline really keeps you motivated in this type of situation.  I even remember a few cars driving up beside and staring in amazement or disbelief - I am not sure which one.

  The road is flat, so it keeps puzzling me: how could he reach and maintain such a high speed?

It really depends how fast the vehicle accelerates. It needs to accelerate slow enough so that you can keep pace and remain in the draft. At the time I had no trouble hitting 50 kph on my own for short periods so I had the acceleration needed to keep pace until the draft really started to kick in.  At higher speeds it is amazing how much the draft really sucks you along, you really don't need to generate crazy power, just have enough leg speed so that you can keep pace in your largest gear.

At 80+ kph you need at minimum 53-11 gearing.  Even then I could barely stay on top of the gear, I had to spin incredibly fast.  I had a bike computer at the time, but I never checked the cadence, just my speed which was 80-85 kph.  At that time (late 1990's) you didn't have many data loggers, which record every moment in detail for posterity like we do today, so I can't offer any more detail than this.

  Is it even possible to do this without any external help, e.g. grabbing the truck? Is it the "air-dragging" effect of the truck is what makes it possible?

As long as you keep close to the back of the truck the draft literally sucks you along. Once in the draft you really don't need a ton of power, just the ability to spin fast so you can keep nudging yourself back up into the sweet spot of the draft. I tried to minimize my risk exposure by drafting to the side of the truck, so I had a shot of getting over to the shoulder quickly if the truck suddenly braked. This meant I lost a bit of the draft, but given the insanity of the situation I felt it was a reasonable compromise.  Others seem a bit more brave drafting in the dead centre (pun intended).

WARNING: All this is of course incredibly foolish and could quickly descend into disaster.  At the time I was young and clueless.


Upgrading a crank set I presently have a 3x7 speed crankset with a sealed cartridge bottom bracket on my touring bike and want to upgrade to a new Hollowtech II bottom bracket and crankset, specifically, the SHIMANO Claris 3x8-Speed Road Bicycle Crankset (FC-R2030). My shifters are 3x7 speed indexed, and I will stay with the 7 speed rear cassette. Is there any reason why the 3x8 front crankset would not work?

A 3x8 crank will work with a 7 speed system. 7 and 8 speed chains are the same, as is the spacing between the chainrings.

The Claris crank specification can be found on the Shimano Manuals and Technical Documents site   here. The FC-R2030 seems to only come in 50-39-30. If that is larger than you current crank you'll need to check that you have sufficient clearance with the drive side chainstay.

The specification says the FC-R2030 works with either a 68 or 73mm bottom bracket shell, so that will work whatever your bike has. Note it also says what bottom bracket you need (BB-RS500) that will fit either shell width.

The FC-R2030 provides a chainline of 45mm - that's the standard for road triples. You'll definitely want to check that that is what you bike runs as there's a chance it runs the mountain bike triple standard 47.5mm. Measure from the center of the seat tube to the middle ring. More info here https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chainline.html.

If you have 47.5mm chainline you'll need to look at a mountain triple crank instead of a road triple crank.