How should I reinstall parts on my axle when I forgot what order they were in? I got carried away while disassembling/removing the freewheel, hub, cones, washers, and nuts on my rear wheel's axle, and now I'm not quite sure how it all goes back together. I was a fool and didn't take photos or note how things were arranged beforehand. Afterwards I found the Park Tools Hub Overhaul and Adjustment: Cup and Cone Style guide. It has great tips, like noting how things were assembled beforehand :-|
Before I grease and re-assemble, I'm trying to make sure I roughly put things back on in a meaningful order and with some more thought and care than when I disassembled.
There are a few parts whose orientation I'm sure about at least. I know these parts for the left/non-drive side (highlighted in green) are correct because they stayed on the axle during disassembly and I at least noted that much. And I think these parts on the right are likely accurate, because it roughly mirrors the left side, but I'm not 100% positive.

But I'm uncertain on these other washers. Two of them seem to be the same thickness as the ones on the axle in the photo above, so I think those probably just go outside the nuts that are on the axle. But then there's this last washer that's thin that I'm not sure about. I know at one point a bike shop had added that to help align things, but I'm not sure where it was positioned.

I also realized the ends on either side of my (flip flop) hub are slightly different sizes, so I'm wondering if the washers help to offset that difference somehow. One threaded side seems to be ~3/4" while one is more like 14/16".
With a pile-of-parts situation like I've got myself into, are there any general tips for people like me trying to reassemble properly? Guess and check? Patience and trying/re-aligning as I assemble? As long as the wheel's properly center in the end is that good enough?
The bike is a 2011 (or maybe 2012) KHS Urban Soul, but the manual is a bit vague

Being a flip flop hub this is easier than it might be otherwise, because flip flop hubs, like rim brake front hubs, are pretty much universally spaced to build a dishless wheel. If that's true, all you need to do is configure the spacers so that the flanges are equidistant from the locknut faces.
Once you've figured out which spacers go on which side, the order of the spacers doesn't matter unless there are rubber seals that need to interface with them, in which case it does matter. Big thin spacers like the one in the middle of your picture often hold down the lip of Parallax-style contact seals. Usually if you do have a rubber seal to deal with, it becomes obvious what spacers need to be sitting under the one that holds it down, because incorrect configurations will either squish the seal or gap it out.
Some of the spacers/washers in your stack look like they could be axle nut washers. I'll assume they might be, and also that there are no witness marks to guide you in figuring out whether they are or not. Unless it's old or weird, a hub is going to be trying to conform to one of the mainstream OLDs. In this case presumably it's a 120 bike. If you don't know whether some of the parts are supposed to be axle washers, measure the OLD with or without them included. Whichever is closest to 120 is likely to be right, i.e. if including them in the stack gets you something random like 127.3, they're washers, not spacers.
I'll also assume you don't know that the wheel was dished perfectly and/or that you don't have a means of checking dish, although it can be done with improvised tools. If you knew the wheel was true and dished before taking the hub apart, you could figure out which spacers go on which side going only by which configuration restores it to being perfectly dished.
Once you know everything that's supposed to be in the stack, measure the actual OLD of the hub, which will be the same regardless of the order the parts are in. It will be some number very close to 120. For any dishless hub, that number divided by two is the distance between each locknut face and the plane that bisects the flanges. Get a measurement of one side of the hub's distance from the center plane between the flanges to the cone face. If you know the flanges are equidistant from the cone faces this is easy; it's the distance between the cone faces divided by two. If this were a front, fixed/fixed, or free/free hub you could do that, but if fixed/free it could be asymmetrical. I usually do it by hugging around the flanges with a caliper, taking half of that number, and then squinting at the caliper with one blade against the outside of the flange and the other hanging in space lined up above the outer face of the cone, then add those numbers together.
Once you have an accurate measure of one side's distance between the center plane between the flanges and the cone face, all you have to do is build up a stack of the axle hardware that matches exactly half of the hub's OLD, or comes closest. Then put everything else on the other side. That is how you would do this with no information. A lot of the same steps and ideas are needed to replace cones (which it looks like you need to do) when the race profile matches but the length doesn't.


Do I need a spacer on my crankset? (2x11 SLX, BB shell width 92mm) I have recenly changed my crankset from FSA comet to Shimano SLX.
I have a pretty large BB shell (92 mm) and there is a press-fit BB installed, so it doesn't protrude.
So how can I figure out if I need any spacer or not?
(FSA had one spacer on the drive side).

Thank you!

The literal answer to how to figure it out is pull up the exploded view diagram and/or manuals from si.shimano.com of your crankset model.

Most Shimano 2-piece cranks (until very recently all of them, but new XTR is a departure) handle preload via the cap on the left side and crank attachment via the pinch bolts on the left crank. This sort of design has no use for the sorts of spacers you sometimes have to add and take away from the other main design, where one bolt does everything and you may need to mess with spacers to make sure bearing preload "just happens" in the manner intended.

All BB92 is doing is putting the outside bearing surfaces in the same planes as they'd be in with a 68mm or 73mm shell plus a regular outboard Shimano mountain BB.

Tldr, worrying about whether Shimano cranks need spacers isn't really a thing unless you're doing something unorthodox, at least not yet.

Note that a number of Shimano cranks do have little spacer-like rings that go on the left side and are more part of the crank, there as part of the sealing and/or bearing contact design. They live in a groove on the bearing side of the spindle attachment area of the left crank, and in some instances it may be helpful to know that if your crank has that groove, it's supposed to be occupied by that ring.


Do kickstands damage the frame by being used? I was told once that kickstands warp the frame when used, especially when the bike is laden down, and that some materials are more susceptible to this than others. Is there any truth to it?

I have 36 years of experience using kick stands on cro-moly (steel) and aluminum frame commuter bikes and several years working in a bicycle shop in which time I have never seen any such "warping".  Its the kick stand itself that may be in jeopardy when the bike is "laden down"; there are center balance kickstands for tandem and other heavy/awkward bikes.
The more likely damage you will get from a kickstand is from over-tightening where it is attached to the frame.


Buying a bike that has been idle in a garage for years? A close friend who can no longer ride (illness) asked me if I wanted to buy his 2009 Trek Fuel EX 9. This bike has been hanging in his garage for 9 years and was only ridden for a couple of hours after it was purchased. What are the potential problems in buying a bike that has been idle in his garage for years?

Its entirely possible the bike is good and safe to ride with a bit of air in the tires and shocks/forks - this would heavily depend on the climate in the garage it was stored in and condition it was in before being hung up.

Presuming the bike looks in good condition with little or no surface rust, the following are the things that might need attention apart from what a regular service would entail (regular service is things like chain clean and lube,tuning brake check etc.

Tires/tubes - Personally I would be putting on new tires and tubes. They may be OK, but the rubber will have hardened and not be as grippy as tires should be. If they look OK, check them after each ride for a few rides to be sure they are OK.

Brakes - Check they are not seized and work reasonably well. Seals could be gone, so look for leaks around the calipers, Keep in mind if it has not been used for a while, leaks may not show up immediately. Presume the pads and discs have been contaminated.It may just be dust and good clean will fix it, but in a garage that dust may contain oils. Budget for new pads and if needed give the discs a really good clean and put new pads in
Depending how its stored, a brake bleed may be needed. If Dot fluid I would suggest a bleed regardless as DOT is hygroscopic (Absorbs moisture) and after 10 years it will probably be contaminated.

Shocks/Forks - Best to give these a full service with new seals and O-Rings. If you don't want to go that far, a basic service is highly recommended. These are expensive bits to replace so its cheap insurance. Check for pitting and corrosion on the stanchions and shock damper body. They will be ridable - for a while - with pitting, but the cost of replacements on such and old bike makes it uneconomic.

If there is surface rust on things like the chain, things like a new chain and new gear cables may be in order. These are low cost items so should not be a concern. Apart from these components, a bit of surface rust largely cosmetic.


How to best determine if a bike will fit without riding it I would like to get a Surly Cross-Check but the local bike shop doesn't stock them. They have suggested a 56cm, but I am concerned about the top tube length (I am more legs than torso). Are there proven ways to figure out whether a bike fits other than riding it?

The best answer to your question is simply "no."  Unless you've ridden the exact geometry before, there's no great way to know if your body will enjoy the fit.  Sure, there are MANY adjustments you can do to any bike to get it close, but nothing replaces taking the bike out for 20 miles to find out how your body will respond.

Now, with that said, if you haven't been riding a bike on a regular basis and only plan on riding this a limited amount of time, a good fitter could make a reasonable judgment call without any serious problems occurring later.  The bike can be tuned to your needs, as long as the general size is correct.


What can cause disc brakes not to react after keeping/moving the bike upright, then recover? Recently, I experienced a strange situation with the Tektro hydro disc brakes on my hybrid bike (would the model be helpful here?):

I carried it upstairs at a friend's place, and later moved it downstairs by holding it upright and slowly pushing it downwards. When I started riding home, I noticed that the rear brake almost didn't react to any pull, I was able to pull the lever with minimum resistance until it almost hit the bar. I felt almost(?) no braking action. A few minutes into the ride, the brake fully recovered to the normal amount of resistance/braking force.

What happened here? What might cause such a behaviour? Could it be the bumpy ride down the stairs?

I never experienced fading on that brake so far, from the description it sounds very similar, though the brake was completely cool at the start of the ride.

As always, it's hard to diagnose something with such a brief description and without looking at it, but the most likely cause is air in your brake system.

Brake systems are designed to work with your bike standing still, where any small amount of air is pushed by gravity to the reservoir of the levers, keeping the system working well.

When you move your bike around and put it in strange positions, or when you store it vertically, this changes, gravity now pushes oil into the reservoir and air to the lever. This means when you start riding there is actual air somewhere where it shouldn't be and the brake don't feel right. If you keep your bike still for a few minutes this "resets", and air goes back to the reservoir and the brakes star working ok.

On the beginning of a ride, and mostly if you store your bike vertically, you should always test the brakes and give them a few minutes for oil to go "down" and air "up", and press the levers a few times because this creates mechanical pressure on the lever so that it gets filled with oil and air is pushed into the reservoir. This is actual advised in some brakes manuals.

It doesn't hurt to bleed your brakes and take as much air out as you can, and now that you are at it, check if the system is well isolated, i.e., check for small spills of oil in the calipers and levers and around the tubes. A problem in the system is not a likely cause as the brakes would always perform poorly instead of only after you moved your bike, but it doesn't hurt to take a look.

Happy riding!


Do I really have to replace the cassette when I replace the chain, or is this a scam? My chain broke so I brought the bike in and the guy told me "Well you don't have the old chain, so we have to replace the cassette also. They go together. If you don't replace the cassette then the chain will skip when you pedal hard."

Is there any possible truth to this, or is it just a scummy attempt to turn a $20 job into a $75 job?

For reference, the chain and cassette were both only about a month old, and had both been installed at the same shop - although they didn't seem to remember these facts when making the case for needing the new cassette.

At our shop, we suggest a new cassette every 2 times you replace your chain, IF you stay on top of your maintenance schedule. With 99% of customers this would mean a new cassette every 1-2 years depending on how much you ride it. If you are a commuter and ride everyday, your timeframe for replacement gets much smaller.

We would also assess the condition of the bike. If it looks like it has been neglected, we can, with high confidence (we do hundreds of these bikes a year), tell that you would need a new cassette as well.

What I tell every customer in your situation is as follows:

  A chain that is not cleaned regularly will attract and hold dirt. That dirt will act like 50-grit sandpaper on everything it touches. When the chain stretches out, it will wear the cassette equally. If we try to put a new chain on a worn out cassette, the teeth on the old cassette will match the old worn out chain and won’t properly hold the new chain. We recommend replacing the cassette for every 2 chains so we can guarantee shifting performance from our tune. If replacing the cassette is something you want to hold off on we can try to put a new chain on the old cassette, however we may find that we can tell what your favorite gears are and it may skip under load.

You can always ask them to just put a chain on, check to see if they can make the adjustment, and call you if it is skipping or poorly shifting.

However, since your chain and cassette were only a month old when the chain snapped, unless you have a bent/broken tooth on your cassette, it should be good if everything else is adjusted correctly.

As far as the snapped chain, it may come from manufacturer defect, improper installation, or you may need to revise your shifting strategy.

  You want to make sure you’re not cross-chaining. This will put a lot of stress on the components and will wear things out quickly and possibly snap your chain. Also, your bike doesn’t have a clutch, so you have to back off on power when your shifting. Right before you’re about to shift, let off pedaling a bit and wait for the gear to change. This will increase shifting speed and accuracy.

We do see a lot of customers resolve shifting problems with proper information on shifting. (If you’re shifting the proper way, then disregard. It’s more for people who will view this post later.)


Frame Or Paint Crack (Cannondale Super Six Carbon) I am about to pull the trigger on a used 2012 Cannondale SuperSix bike. This would be my first bike and I'm very excited.  However I am a bit concerned about some cracks.   Seller claims paint is cracked and not the carbon frame but I have my doubts.  I wanted to see what you guys think of this picture.

Since it's a few seconds with an allen key to pop the stem off and have a look at the inside of the head tube, I suggest doing that. Strongly suggest. If there's any damage to the fibres, or the cracks go deeper than the gel coat, don't buy the bike. If you don't know what that means, or the seller won't let you look, don't buy the bike. Exposed fibres or cracks on the inside of the frame might be fixable, but not by you (or you'd know enough that you wouldn't need to ask your question here, you'd be answering it instead). But they are probably not fixable.

The failure mode here is most likely that the head tube will break, probably when you're braking heavily. That's not a good crash to have, you can easily end up with severe dental trauma and that can never be fixed. Break an arm, grind half the skin off your face or hand, it hurts but those things grow back. Teeth don't. My partner has an expensive bridge where her front teeth used to be, and when we can spare $20,000 we will get them fixed better. Not fixed properly, because no-one can currently do that for any price, but something better than the "temporary bridge" that has been there for 10 years.

The trouble with buying something when you don't have a close relationship with the seller is that you have no idea whether it's really a good deal (if so, why doesn't the seller have any friends that will take the good deal?), or whether you're the gimp. Especially with carbon fibre and other materials that can fail in non-obvious ways, a common reason to sell is that the bike has failed in some way that's not going to be easy for the buyer to tell before they buy it.

The other obvious reason for a "good deal" is stolen property. Grab the serial number and search online for it, including the various stolen bike registries. You might be surprised at what comes up.


Ferrule size for a road brake cable housing slot? I have bought some generic cable housing without paying attention to the specification (https://www.bricklanebikes.co.uk/blb-brake-cable-outer-housing-black). It comes with a set of ferrules and I didn't know those have a size as well (mines are 5mm according to the link above). The ferrule fits very well into my lever (a bar short-pull straight bar lever), but it doesn't fit on the brake housing slot (see picture below). The brake is a Shimano 105 5800, but I can't find anywhere a mention of the size of the housing slot. (I tried to look even in the dealer's manual.)

What's the standard size for the cable housing slot of modern road caliper brakes?

If I go with a cable housing (and ferrules) with smaller diameter, am I going to have issue on the lever side? (It fits perfectly now).

Many road calipers don't have you use a ferrule at the brake end. That's the intent here. If you want to anyway or if you must due to using a braided/compressionless brake housing, the solution is to use stepped ferrules such as Jagwire POP ferrules, which are long and have an opening for 5mm housing on one end and reduce back down to 5mm OD on the other end.


What is the recommended procedure for adjusting the fit of my bike? I have a road bike which is a reasonable fit, what is the recommended procedure for adjusting the seat position and handlebar height to get the "perfect fit"?

A complete answer should include what order to make adjustments; how to determine height of saddle, fore and aft position of saddle on rails and height of handlebars. Also what testing is required. Is this all done on feel or are there basic measurements and mecahnics that affect the adjustments? Does it help to have a turbo-trainer and large mirror or video camera?

Do the same principles apply for hybrid and/or mountain bikes? What changes to the process are needed for other bike types?

I know that this is a service you can pay for at some pro-cycling shops, but since I have a number of different bikes, I would like to be able to get a good fit for each of them at home for a minimal layout. And also, by understanding the process and doing it myself, getting a better understanding between me and the bike...

There's quite a lot of discussion on the subject of fit, and some folks have considerably different ideas in this regard.
I use the old-school methods to get close, then try to "dial in" things according to what my body tells me.

Seat height should be such that you can easily pedal "circles" without rocking or stretching, nor by over-flexing the knee.  It's hard to describe...Essentially the leg should not be fully extended at the bottom of the stroke.  Just short of being fully extended.
The thigh should be more-or-less level at the top of the stroke.

The fore-and-aft measurement is often neglected or even ignored.   Again, the classic measurement is that with the pedals level (3 and 9 o'clock) a plumb line dropped from the bony process just below your kneecap should intersect the pedal's shaft.
That's assuming you're sitting on the saddle properly, with your "sit bones" on the heavily-padded portion of the saddle.
Saddle attitude is one of personal preference; I prefer just a few points nose-down from dead level.
"Reach" is somewhat dependent on the type of bike.   On roadsters, you want the reach to the hoods such that you can ride with a relaxed upper body at a reasonable angle.  Some authorities advise such-and-such a percentage of weight on the hands, and such-and-such on the seat.  You don't want to be totally supporting your upper body with your arms.
I've seen folks who maintain that these things are "all wrong", and propose all sorts of ideas for getting the perfect position.    I know I can ride comfortably and without hurting anything using these methods....


Replacing rear coaster brake wheel on 1959 Roadmaster I have to replace rusted/'bent rear wheel with coaster brakes on my 1959 Roadmaster.

I have found on Amazon the same size (24 X 2.125) new rear coaster brake wheel.

Will it fit? What parameters I should check for comparison?

What else do I need to know?

Sincerely,

BTS

Because you're using a coaster brake, rim diameter is less critical an issue than in most cases. The size 24 x 2.125 is actually a tire size which corresponds to 54-507 in ISO measurements. That means that the bead seat diameter (diameter of the rim) is 507mm and the tire is 54mm wide. If the original wheel is ~24", it will correspond to BSD sizes between 520mm - 547mm (because there are lots of "24" size tires, read Sheldon Brown.) The new rim will be smaller...however... with a wider tire, it may make for a close fit. Match the old tire size with the link and you'll have a better idea of the original wheel-tire size as compared with your potential new size. Keep in mind that you can buy rather narrow tires to provide clearance for your fenders.

Another consideration is the Over Locknut Dimension (O.L.D. for short) which is how wide the hub is at the axle nuts (and correspondingly, how wide the frame is.) This is something that you'll need to break out a decent metric ruler to determine. You want to get that dimension close, but if it is off it isn't a big deal. +/- 5mm is an acceptable stretch. Anything more and you may want to consider either finding the correct width hub or swaging out the seat/chain stays to accept a wider or smaller hub (steel is a very forgiving frame metal.) Another option is to use a longer axle and spacers in a hub that is too narrow...something that you may want a shop to handle if you've never rebuilt a hub before, especially considering it will alter the chain-line.


New Huffy rim and new tire/tubes but tire is coming off rim and tube is blowing I bought a 26" Huffy bike for my wife recently. The front rim was bent and not repairable (at least not by me). Rather than return the bike I decided to go to Huffy's site and order a new rim under warranty.

After a couple of weeks back order the new rim was delivered this weekend. I put the new rim on her bike yesterday along with the previous tire and tube and inflated to the same pressure as usual which is 38psi, max is 40 on this tire.

Within less than an hour the tube blew out. This same tube and tire had previously been inflated with no problem. I saw the tire was off the rim and figured I screwed up the install so I pulled a fresh tube off my garage shelves and reinstalled everything being a little more methodical this time. Everything seemed fine and my wife took it for a test drive. Later that evening I heard a bang in the garage and sure enough the same thing had happened again.

Anything I might be missing here or should I just call Huffy for a whole new setup or maybe just return the bike, assuming that's still an option - I would need to check. I've never had this problem before so not clear on how common this is.

26-inch tires are a major quagmire.  Unlike most other sizes, if 26-inch tires are fractionally sized (vs being sized in decimal) then the rim diameter varies with the tire width.  So extreme care must be taken when replacing tires to assure that the right size is being used.  It's best to refer to the "bead circle diameter" that is expressed as the 3-digit portion of the ISO size.

See Sheldon Brown's page on tire sizes.


Attaching a stem to a carbon steerer: how much torque? So I decided to travel with my bike this week and to my surprise discovered that the steerer is carbon fiber.  I had removed the stem from the steerer for packing but naively assumed it was aluminum like my previous bike (both have carbon forks).

I would like to reassemble this so that:

it doesn't come apart causing a horrible crash
I don't crack/damage the steerer

I do have a torque wrench with me but not my copy of Zinn, so how tight should I clamp the two stem bolts? (they are labelled 10Nm but I think that's the rating for the stem, which is probably aluminum)

Assuming the stem was chosen by the manufacturer, it's  required torque as printed on the stem should be within the ability of the fork steerer to support.

If the stem says,"Max Torque 10Nm" as opposed to just "10Nm" then start with a lower setting around 6Nm and work up slowly until the stem clamp will not slip on the steerer. If only the number is printed, it must be exactly that number.

It is a good idea to check the torque compatibility of parts purchased for your bike. If you buy a stem that requires 12Nm, but your handlebar won't support more than 10Nm, you are destined for trouble.

Usually, 6-8Nm is enough for that purpose. You can lower the required torque by adding a carbon friction compound, sometimes called carbon grease. It increases the friction between the steerer and the stem clamp and will therefore require less clamping force to stay solid.

I assume you've dealt with this issue long since, but in this case 10Nm would be correct.


Trek7200: new bracket,crank,chain,&shift cables. Deraillers set Trek manual. Good stand results, but stumbles riding up incline Trek 7200 Bike: new bracket, crank, chain, & shift cables. Derailleurs set to Trek manual. Good stand results, but bike stumbles riding up incline on middle of 8 gears.

If indeed the "stumbles" refer to the chain skipping on the rear cassette gear, a simple fix is to replace the cassette. I note that the cassette (8 speed seemingly from what I find on the net) is the part of the drivetrain that you did not mention changing. Its gears wear just as do the chainrings on the crank. Similarly to the crankset, the middle gears tend to wear the most as they are the most frequently used.  The cassette gears and chainrings would have worn along with your previous chain, and now the new unworn chain matches the new chainrings, but not the still-worn cassette gears.
Thus, the chain is likely skipping over the still-worn cassette gear teeth, especially (or only) when under load.


Getting the right cockpit position. Sliding forward. What should I adjust to keep my sit bones on the seat? I am experienced rider and I'm looking for some advice on how to adjust my cockpit position. I am a daily commuter, and do regular 40-50k rides on the weekends, and with the warmer weather will work on some 100-200km rides.

On my current bike, I continue to have a problem sliding forward in my seating position. I have short arms and legs compared to my body length (32 inch / 81cm inseam at 6'1"/185 cm tall) and my bike is fairly comfortable if not one size too small. The bars are currently about 2"/5cm below the hieght of the seat. I find that I am consistently sliding forward my seat and pushing back with my arms to stay in a decent position. My saddle is currently pushed as far forward as the current post will allow, and the stem that came with the bike is quite long. The seat post off-set is not large at about 1". The Brook saddle (B17 Special) is dead level as measured at the rails. I have no knee or back pain.

What should I adjust to keep my sit bones on the seat?

I think my options are:

Shorten the threadless stem to xx cm or so from the current 120ish?
Buy a new seat post that will allow the saddle to come forward more?
Buy a new bike that fits better (Probably not going to happen this year)?
Other? Seat height? Seat angle?
Stretch more? and get a flatter back, better hip position?

Try changing the seat angle. I'm tall as you, and had the same problem. I changed to a bigger frame, but the real solution was to set my seat a bit off the horizontal (back is lower than front). Seat and handlebar are at same height. No more sliding.


What do I need to get to upgrade 10 speed Campagnolo to 11 speed for a bike to be used on a trainer only? I have a 2007 Eddy Merckx Premium with 2008 Campagnolo Chorus shifters, UT compact (50/34) crankset & rear/front derailleurs. I want to throw this onto my Wahoo Kickr and make it my trainer bike. The issue is that the bike is a 10 speed, while the trainer has an 11 speed cassette. I have the 2017 Kickr, which cannot be used with a 10 speed cassette like some of the other models. I'd like to only upgrade what I need to get the bike to work on the trainer, so I don't need a cassette or new rear wheel with Campagnolo 11 speed compatibility. From what I've researched so far, it sounds like you can put 5-arm 11 speed chainrings onto the crankset I have now, and the 10 speed front derailleur will work with the 11 speed setup, but I'd like to know for sure before I spend any money, obviously. So that, plus a rear 11 speed shifter, 11 speed rear derailleur and an 11 speed chain should get me to where I need to be, correct?
Thanks!

The simple, cheap way to do this using an off-the-shelf product is buy a 10-speed Campy to HG conversion cassette. Various options for this have existed over time; the only one I can see now is an IRD 11-32, which would work if you used the low limit to lock out whatever cogs on it the RD can't clear or that you don't have the chain length for. This is probably the way to go if you can stand the gearing jumps being larger than you're used to.
There is no technical reason why spacers for fully interchangeable/customizable cassette systems such as the Miche one couldn't be made to do this, and if they did exist then that would probably be the cheapest. I don't think they exist commercially, though. It may be possible to make your own with off-the-shelf spacers and microshims, once you figured out what the thickness needed to be.
To make the bike 11-speed, the answer is the chain and right shifter for sure, the front derailleur if you want good front shifting and minimal chance of chain drop, and then potentially the rear derailleur. The RD actuation ratio between Campy 10 and 11 didn't change but the capacity and large cog clearance numbers did in some cases, and you haven't told us your cassette range. If you then put a Campy 11 cassette on the wheel too, drop-in wheel interchangeability probably won't work between your Campy wheel and your trainer if you do this with its existing cassette unless you space out whichever is more inboard, at which point drop-in interchangeability won't work between various wheels if it's the wheel cassette that needs spacing, or between the trainer and different bikes if it's the trainer cassette.
To my awareness there's no right Ergo you can buy here that doesn't leave you with a tactile mismatch. 11-speed index rings that fit into your right shifter were never released.


What are the benefits of a carbon seatpost? As the title states, what are the benefits of a carbon seatpost like this one from MEC?

My research indicates there may be the following pros and cons:

Pros

Lighter
Supposedly smoother ride

Cons

More expensive
Possibly more prone to catastrophic failure as compared to aluminium

Is there anything else I'm missing or that I'm completely wrong about?

In general, you've hit the high points yourself.

The benefits (and issues) will vary by post model, manufacturer, and design. Carbon fiber is a very versatile material engineering wise.

Storck makes 2 carbon posts, which are externally identical. But one is a comfort post, which focuses solely on smoothing out your ride, and the other focuses on being light and stiff.

While there were issues with catastrophic failures, especially in early models, carbon component design is no longer in its infancy, and you are extremely unlikely to have failure issues if you choose your components and ride in a manner appropriate to the style of bike you own.


Why are electric bikes so expensive? The limited selection of electric bikes available at Halfords ranges from £699.99-£1,199.99. What makes them so expensive — the dynamo, battery, or something else?

I have sold a small quantity of electric bicycles over the years (including one to a 83 year old woman). Were these profitable sales, from the bike-shop's point of view? Not really...

Frame + Extras

Cost is different to price, clearly the bicycle costs more to build, e.g. in Giant's top-class Taiwan factory on a relatively limited production run. As mentioned in other answers, there is the motor, the batteries and control gear. On top of that there is also a more expensive frame. The frame has more 'braze-ons' to mount the electric running gear. It is also extra tough so that the frame and fork can survive (force = mass x acceleration and an electric bike goes quicker with extra mass). This frame/fork combination is also unique to the electric models whereas, on a normal bike, the frame may be shared across a model range.
As well as the frame/fork being different, the wheels and tyres are up-rated, this may not actually cost that much more rubber and aluminium, however, these parts are model specific, limited run for the manufacturer, possibly specially made by the suppliers.
As of yet there are no electric bikes that make use of the frame to carry the battery, typically this has to have a rack and extra packaging to attach it to the bicycle. These parts cost money, again they are also bespoke.
The batteries can use Lithium, NiMh or even lead-acid, clearly with cost differentiation, the Lithium cells costing more.

As of yet we have not left the factory with our electric bicycle, the extra parts and Far Eastern labour may not actually amount to a lot in absolute terms, however the factory-cost will be a significant multiple of the regular mass-market mountain/hybrid bicycle cost. The parts cost more as does the assembly line.

Shipping: Weight and size

When we come to ship the electric bicycle half-way around the world, there is approximately twice the cost, whether the shipping is priced by weight or volume. This is because the electric bicycle weighs more and needs a much bigger box (compared to a typical MTB that ships with the bars/front-wheel/seat/pedals removed and no mudguards). Interestingly there is less EU 'anti-dumping' duty on electric bikes than normal ones, so no added cost there (and if you wondered why some bikes come from Macau you now know...). Some money does have to be paid to get the boxes out of Felixstowe, on the back of the lorry and up to the warehouse, again this is slightly more than the regular MTB or hybrid, but not massively so.

Warehousing margins

Now, this is where the costs get interesting. The bike arrives at the wholesaler or distributor and gets put into a warehouse until a retailer orders it. The wholesaler has price tiers for their 'B2B' customers (the shops) and these will be different depending on sales volumes, e.g. the big chain will get an extra 10-20% off the 'trade price' compared to the family-run lower volume shop. Because the product has a list price then this discount is unlikely to be passed on to the end customer, however, it does give the volume retailer that bit more room come end-of-season sales.

Notionally the wholesaler/importer/distributor is just importing boxes, putting them in a warehouse and sending them out again. In an ideal world they would charge just a flat fee for this, however, the more expensive boxes tie up more capital, they also tend to linger in the warehouse longer. This means they cannot be marked up by the wholesaler with a 'per box' price. Typically a standard margin is applied to the products, exactly what this margin is may seem high to someone outside of the trade, however, the tax man has a slice of that and some of that margin may be swallowed up by currency fluctuations.

Expensive, Niche Product

When the retailer buys the electric from the company owning the big warehouse they may be buying just the one - most bicycle shops cannot afford the showroom space or the capital cost to have a range of electric bicycles. For this reason it is unlikely that a good deal is done due to bulk purchasing. The delivery to the bike shop may be relatively expensive too - delivery with all couriers in the UK is by weight. So we have double the cost on this leg of the journey when compared to the regular bike.

The retailer has what seems a good bit of money to make on the electric bicycle. However, walk-in customers have not arrived for an electric bike, they are there for normal bikes. They may not even be aware that electric bikes are on offer too. Walk-ins just don't ask for an electric bike - customers wanting touring bikes or tandems are rare, customers wanting electric bikes are rarer too for the regular bicycle shop. To change this situation requires promotion, i.e. advertising, a window display and sales staff training. With the exception of retailers that have gone out of their way to push electric bike sales, this does not happen.

Training / Support

As well as the sales staff having to be able to know how to sell an electric bike the mechanics in the back room have to know how to make them showroom ready. Then, should a sale come along, the bike has to be checked to make it safe. Additionally, the bike will collect quite a bit of dust waiting for a customer and be subjected to test rides by potential customers. This total time will be a lot more than with the regular bike because the electric bike is not so familiar to the workshop team. It is unlikely that this time is costed, however, it all adds up. Hence the eventual sale is unlikely to be discounted (unless the shop is small and desperate for some extra cashflow that week or the model is end of season and needs to be shifted). The taxman also takes his cut, 20% VAT is not a lot of money if buying a 'Bicycle Shaped Object' (cheap bike), but is a lot of money if buying an electric bicycle.

Margin Pricing

If we work through the above steps starting with one small component, e.g. a washer that costs a penny. Its cost could be ten pence by the time it has been fitted onto the bike, maybe up to twenty pence to get to the warehouse in Milton Keynes. Because of how margin costing works, the washer could then cost forty pence by the time it gets to the showroom. On the face of it, it seems ludicrous that a penny washer now costs forty times as much, however, along the way nobody has been greedy (maybe with the exception of the taxman, but that is government protection rackets for you - lots of wars to pay for).

Although the maths has been simplified with the 'washer' example, costs go up from component supplier to the cycle manufacturer to the distributor and to the dealer with the maths being multiplication (by a margin) rather than addition (of a handling fee) at most steps. That is how it works.

Clearly, to save costs a cheaper washer could be used - one that costs the factory 0.5 pence - and it could be fitted to the bike by someone in mainland China costing less than the Taiwanese worker. The factory too could be cheaper - with less capital tied up in the building/land. This 'cheaper and nastier' product could then enter the supply chain to be marked up with margins at the importer-distributor-wholesaler-retailer steps. Given that the product is not really one that anyone really wants, some incentives exist in the supply chain, e.g. higher margin for the retailer. Hence the 'cheap' electric bike - as sold by certain High Street chains - might be a complete rip-off with the worst components and the fattest of profits for someone in the chain.

You might suspect that parts and training would factor into the costs, but it does not do so directly. Sales and workshop staff in the bike shop are unlikely to have had any training on how to look after customers for electric bikes. The spare parts are not likely to be kept in the cycle shop - these will be special order from the wholesaler. The wholesaler will be able to sell these spares profitably and - if they know what they are doing - keep sufficient spare parts stocked appropriate for demand.

The price is Actually Reasonable

We are a long way off monopoly pricing with electric (and normal) bicycles, due to competition in the marketplace the pricing is nearer 'cost + acceptable profit' rather than 'what the market will tolerate'. Electric bikes are not expensive per se. With the exception of walking (and maybe container freight) there is no cheaper transportation going. Arguably normal pedal cycling is more expensive than electric bike cycling, however, this depends on how you value your time. Electricity to charge and electric bike costs less than a Mars Bar (or other calorific food equivalent).

In the showroom electric bikes are somewhat clunky feeling, but once you go on the road with them and put the motor on the bike feels as light as a feather, particularly up hills.

My advice for getting an electric bike cheaply is to do so through government 'bike to work' scheme. This is where your employer buys the bike and gets the tax back. Effectively you get the bike at 50% retail price, with actual ownership of the bike being between you and your employer. Typically they let you have it.


What is meant by "inches of travel"? I am in the market for a mountain bike, and have been reading some mountain bike magazines for info.  They mention particular models as having particular "inches of travel".  What exactly does this mean and what is its importance?

"Inches of travel" refers to how much the shocks can compress before hitting their limit. The more inches of travel the shocks have, the large an impact they can absorb. More travel does not automatically mean that one bike is better than another. Different riding styles and different trail conditions will require different amounts of travel.


New wheels for my Specialized Allez Expert Z2 I want to upgrade my bike (Specialized Allez Expert Z2) with a new set of wheels because I think that those are the weak spot of the bike. Currently, it's equiped with DT Swiss Axis 2.0 wheels (I attached a picture of the bike where you can see the wheels too). Sadly, there is not a lot of information regarding this wheels available because I think they are a special version for Specialized bikes. Firstly, I want to aks with how much € I'd have to calculate to actually feel a difference between the Axis 2.0 and a new set of wheels? Would € 600 - € 800 be enough? If yes, which wheels would you recommend in this price range? The terrain I usually bike is flat to hilly but (currently) I'm not really biking in big mountains.
When I was searching the internet for the currently mounted wheels (DT Swiss Axis 2.0) I found the following data:
Front wheel: 831g - 880g
Rear wheel: 1036g - 1174g

Per the FAQ, we don't recommend specific products as they tend to become obsolete quite fast. We also don't really discuss product valuation. It's likely that the folks on Bikeforums, where you cross-posted, may offer some discussion on those aspects. However, general upgrade considerations can be a productive avenue for discussion here.
You have, with all respect, a lower-end rim brake road bike. Past a certain point, it's not really worth upgrading lower-end bikes. Bike manufacturers get favorable component (including drivetrain and wheel) pricing from manufacturers, because they buy in bulk. So, past a certain point, it's probably more cost-effective it to sell your bike to someone who wants an entry-level bike, and buy a new complete bike or a used bike.
Another thing to consider is that modern road bikes are increasingly shifting to disc brakes. If you had a disc brake bike and you bought a nice set of wheels, you might consider taking those wheels with you if and when you upgraded the whole bike (although you'd still want to consider the OEM pricing phenomenon discussed in the paragraph above). However, you have a rim brake bike. For performance road bikes, rim brakes may be a bit of a technological dead end. Many newer performance bikes don't have rim brake versions. Wheel and rim manufacturers might cease developing higher-end rims for rim brakes. That said, if you were willing to shop used, you might consider getting a used pair of nice wheels.
Discussing possible upgrades in my perceived order of cost-effectiveness:

Upgrade to ultralight butyl tubes (you can keep the older butyl tubes as spares). These should reduce rolling resistance. You might even consider TPU tubes (currently, Tubolito is the only manufacturer, and they're very expensive) or latex tubes (they will lower rolling resistance even more than light butyl or TPU, and they may even be more durable, but they require daily inflation and can be tricky to install). Some independent parties have actually tested rolling resistance for inner tubes. Aerocoach published estimates for light butyl, TPU, and latex tubes. Bicycle Rolling Resistance did similarly, but I believe they also included some good standard butyl tubes.

Upgrade to a high-performance road tire. Again, Bicycle Rolling Resistance and Aerocoach have published some estimates. Take note that Aerocoach focused on racing tires, and both outfits include time trial tires in their tests; those tires are very, very thin and not durable. High-performance tires like the Continental Grand Prix 5000, Specialized Turbo Cotton, or their equivalents from other manufacturers are good choices to consider here.

Those upgrades deal with consumable items anyway, and you could dismount the tires and move them if you decided to get a new bike. They will make a noticeable difference to the ride and to your perceived (and actual!!!) speed.
Upgrading your entire wheelset is trickier. You have a lower-end alloy-rimmed wheelset. I haven't been able to find exact specifications for your current set. However, you could get a used or new set of higher-end alloy wheels in your price range. The hubs might be more durable, and they would be lighter. Based on appearances, any changes in aerodynamics would be marginal. You have to make massive weight changes to see any meaningful differences in cycling performance.
You could consider getting a set of used carbon aerodynamic wheels instead. Those would make a noticeable difference. I haven't personally checked, but the used rim brake wheel market is likely to be soft, because the industry is shifting to disc brakes. However, carbon rims require special pads (emphasized because you will damage your rims and have poor braking otherwise), and braking will always be inferior to alloy rims. Moreover, if you ever did a ride with long descents, carbon rims are sensitive to heat, and can be destroyed if you drag your brakes too long (Google for carbon resins and glass transition temperatures if you're interested). I don't see this as a good idea for a lower-end rim brake bike, and I think this is out of your price range anyway.


What is the meaning of multiple front derailleur clamp measurements? I am putting a front derailleur on a Surly Long Haul Trucker frame. I know from the LHT specs that the front derailleur clamp diameter should be 28.6mm. However, for the Shimano Deore front derailleur that I want, the online shop gives me the choice of "28.6mm/31.8mm/34.9mm" and "28.6mm/34.9mm". What is the meaning of these multiple measurements, and does it matter which of the two I choose if both include "28.6mm"?

Those are the seat tube diameters that the derailleur will fit onto. Bicycle seat tubes vary in size for a range of reasons (which is also why we have different size seatposts).

In this case it looks as though one derailleur is giving you a list of three sizes that work, the other is giving a range. I suspect they're equivalent, since the maximum and minimum are the same - I'd be surprised if either of them won't fit any tube between those sizes.

What matters, obviously, if that you buy one that will fit the seat tube of your bike. So either of the ones you've found should work.


Disable index shifting to create friction shifting possible? I have a 6 speed freewheel on a Diamondback. I tried to replace some busted shifters with an 8 speed indexing shifter that was on clearance. It appears that each shift's spacing of the shifters is going to be a little smaller than that of the gears.( It takes about 7 shifts to cover the 6 gears ) Can I turn off the indexing in the shifters so that they work as a friction shifter? If not, I will have to check out recycled cycles for and old 6 speed set. Should have done that first. Don't know if 6 speed shifters are even made/sold new anymore. Thanks

Typically not -- a few index shifters (like my Shimano 105SC 7 speed ones) have this option, but its primarily downtube and bar end ones for <=8 speeds. I don't think there exist any other shifters that do this other than possibly some grip shifts since they pretty much are letting pawls catch.

However, you can buy friction shifters pretty cheaply these days from companies like Sunrace.


Why do we need air-filled tires? Why do we need air in bike tires?
Having changed hundreds of annoying flats, carried a change kit for thousands of miles, and pumped up tires before pretty much every ride, I got to wondering: why do we need to fill tires with air anyway?
Why can't we just have a thin strip of solid rubber meet the ground?
I've been told that air-filled tires give a smoother ride, but I think that the same ride can be achieved with springs and shocks between the rider, frame, and wheels.
Is this a conspiracy of bike and wheel manufacturers, to maintain a steady demand for tubes and tires?

Is this a conspiracy of bike and wheel manufacturers, to maintain a steady demand for tubes and tires?

No, because if it worked as well as you suspect, someone would have made it happen and taken all the money tube and tire companies are getting.
The reason pneumatic tires continue to be used is because air itself is a great spring.  Additionally, being a fluid, it has the benefit that all of the air in a tire can work as a spring all the time. The rubber in the tire casing also works great as a shock absorber, and just like the air, the entire tire flexes at once, not just the contact patch, no matter which way the tire is oriented. These two effects mutualistically complement each other, and make the tire what it is.
If you had a solid strip of rubber, only the rubber in the immediate area can do the job, so you'll either have a harsher ride, or a heavier tire. The same problem exists with other air-free alternatives as well.
Now sure, you could make a full-suspension bike with a suspension tuned to make a smooth ride despite solid rubber wheels. But you'll quickly find out that such a suspension, both the changes to the frame, and the components, will be considerably heavier than a regular tire. And bikes are an application that is highly weight sensitive.
Other applications, such as Tanks, have a different set of constraints and trade-offs, and so there tracks are preferred, and they have some pretty sophisticated suspension systems allowing them to drive over bumps and stuff at high speeds, because when hauling around 50 tons of armor, another extra ton for a good suspension is worth it.
Sometimes, things stay the same way forever and ever because they just work.


Will this Retrospec Siddhartha bike suit my needs? This is my first question on here so please take it easy :)

I will be relocating to Surrey (UK) in 2 weeks due to being offered a new job (as a software developer) and I am thinking of (finally) treating myself to a fixed-gear bike.

I usually drive to work due to the fact that the weather is usually quite rubbish where I currently live (UK - north west), and also due to the fact that I can't get to work all sweaty as I work in an office, but have cycled during the summer on a cheap "fat-tyre" bike and although it was very hard work I loved it.

I love bicycles and I have always wanted a bike that looks cool and that doesn't cost an arm and a leg - those that are +£300 are a no-no so I have come across the Restrospec Siddhartha fixie - however they only sell them in the USA (haven't yet found a UK dealer)

So I have three questions:

1- Will this bike be suitable for someone like myself that will use it to commute to work (around 15 miles roundtrip)  and go for rides whenever I feel like it and at weekends?

2- Do you know anyone selling this bike in the UK?

3- Could you recommend me similar style bikes (fixie) that have clean design and are <£200?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice

I love to surf the internet for the ultimate bike. However, I always end up going to my local friendly bike shop and making my selection with their advice. The ultimate internet bike will not be able to compete with getting the attention of a local mechanic. Most of the local guys will also take pride in the bike that they sold you and give you free service for the small jobs.


What's wrong with my gear shifter? The mechanism inside one of my gear shifters is a bit skewiff and I can't lock the cover on properly. Any idea what the problem is? Pictures of the dodgy one and the ok one for comparison with the cover off and then on.

I think a part may be missing from the dodgy one?

Dodgy one:

OK one (with an extra cog?):

This appears to be an EZ-Fire type shifter.  Shimano or copy-cat. One model number is ST-EF29.  That spring is misaligned and you'll need to get that seated properly. Then I suggest a good dousing with WD-40 or equivalent and exercising the shifter repeatedly. You may need to use a toothpick or the like to scrape out old grease and dirt.  After cleaning, follow up with some sort of wet lube and work the shifters again. I've linked to a video showing some work being done on a very similar shifter to yours.
Typically I don't find these types of shifters "broken" but rather gummed up or pieces disconnected like your spring. It's common for the junction to the gear indicator to be disconnected and/ or the little plastic connection broken. This doesn't affect the actual shifting just the gear indicator.
You have a good chance of getting this working sans the "dodginess."


Does Shimano XTR RD-M9000 SGS 11-Speed Shadow+ MTB Rear Derailleur Long Cage work with 10speed XT shifter? I just bought a used bike with a broken 10 speed XT rear derailleur. Would a NEW Shimano XTR RD-M9000 SGS 11-Speed Shadow+ MTB Rear Derailleur Long Cage
( 182006158222 ) be compatible with 10 speed XT shifter & 10 speed Shimano XTR 11-36t Titanium Cassette that I have?

I can say from experience this does not work well at all.

Although as mentioned above the chain does run through the shifting is dreadful. I tried it with a 10 speed shifter but gears would always have a spot where they would jump.

Just get a 10 speed rear derailleur.  You will be glad you did.


Does group riding negate the aero benefit of deep rim wheels? I've been weighing up some options over wheels and in doing my research I've noticed that rim depth may be a bigger factor than I had previously considered. On the one hand, shallow rims are typically lighter and less susceptible to cross winds than deep rims - obviously the choice if doing lots of riding in hilly or windy areas. On the other hand, deep rims offer great stiffness (so more stability/handling improvements) and better aerodynamics, seemingly then the choice for flat low wind areas.

But then I thought about group vs solo riding - when riding solo obviously the deep rims provide a maximal aero advantage. However, when riding in a group there is more slipstreaming going on, so aero performance should theoretically become less important (at least when not leading the bunch). This depends on how much slipstreaming advantage reaches the bike, I assume the biggest "hole in the air" comes at body level and that the bikes only punch a small hole which is unlikely to reach the bike behind unless very close.

My question is, does the aero performance of a wheel become dramatically less important when group riding?

I ask because I do a lot of solo training but want to maximize my speed for big group (~20-30 riders) riding events (vätternrundan and skandisloppet in Sweden), if the aero benefit is not reduced greatly then I think it makes sense to take deep rims.

The aero benefits of deep rims come from reducing the spoke length. Imagine that you're drafting behind a large truck at 25 MPH; you're not experiencing any headwind, but your spokes are still going around in a circle and slicing through the air. So reducing the total length of all the spokes (by using less spokes or shorter spokes) will give you better aerodynamics no matter what.

Look at what the pro road racers do (I mean besides the doping.) They use moderately deep rims on flat races, and only use shallow ones for climbing (when weight is a more important consideration).


Single speed crank chainline calculation I apologise ahead of time for yet ANOTHER single speed chainline/crank compatibility question.
I have a Genesis Day One 2013. According to online sources the crankset for this bike is the Driveline TX-13.
The specs for this crankset are (according to the current Driveline website):

Length - 170mm
BCD - 130mm
Chainline - 45mm
BB Axle - Square (103)

I have measured my bike, and it has the following relevant dimensions:

135mm rear hub spacing
45mm chainline (measured from centre of seat tube to centre of chainring tooth)
68mm bottom bracket housing width
110mm bottom bracket spindle length

This doesn't make sense to me because the Driveline website gives a 45mm chainline on a 103mm spindle, but I have a 45mm chainline on a 110mm spindle. Have I misunderstood/miscalculated something?
Maybe the P1 designation on the Driveline website indicates that the current model is different from the 2013 version used on  my bike?

The most plausible explanation is that the crank design has changed since 2013. Other explanation could be that it is actually a different crank. The TK13 is a generic singlespeed crank that looks almost the same as similar cranks from other brands, so it is possible that Genesis could have changed to different supplier without Cycling Plus knowing it.
In both cases, trust the measurements over specifications.


Can I replace 27.5x2.25 tire with a hybrid/road tire? I am new to cycling. I recently got Jamis Trail X with 27.5x2.25" tires. This is a bit hard (not easier) on city roads. I was thinking about replacing the tires with max 1.5" wide hybrid or road tires. I researched a little bit and learned that 27.5 is not actually 27.5 rim. It's 26.5" or 584mm in diameter. My question is, can I replace these tires with any 584 or 650b tires?

Yes, you can replace your 27.5 tires with 650b tires as long as they fit your current rim. You need to get the internal rim width (B on the next picture) and use the following table to see if you can use the tire that you want on that specific rim. As long as the combination of internal width (in mm) and tire section width (in mm as well), then you should be able to use a narrower tire. Keep in mind that the table is fairly conservative, but when it comes to safety, it's always better to do things properly to avoid personal injury.


Training Wheels for an Adult I have a friend that refuses to attempt to learn to ride a bike without training wheels/being a tricycle, despite being 22 years old and an avid jogger.....

I have an 30 year old touring bike, and a hybrid that is more on the mountain bike end of things.

I've noticed that adult training wheels are horribly expensive, and I don't have $200 to blow on a set.

I've come up with some crazy ideas that I might discuss with a professor from my engineering mechanics class, but does anyone have an affordable way to set up training wheels on a "typical", if you will, adult bike?

Don't.

Training wheels can be effective if someone has balance issues, but for those people a tricycle is normally a better approach.

To someone with reasonable balance learning to ride, using training wheels impedes learning. For infants, the balance bike toys are great, but they are not available in adult sizes. Instead, remove the cranks, bottom bracket, derailleur and chain from a normal bicycle. If you don't have the tools a bike shop should be able to do this cheaply. Ideally choose one that's a little on the small size for the adult so that the crossbar is lower and the handlebars closer than usual. Using a cheap/reclaimed bike means reassembling it afterwards isn't an issue, which is handy since old, cheap bikes are often really painful to put back together (and you'll probably end up buying new cables, chain and possibly bottom bracket anyway).

That setup lets them get the hang of balancing and steering with the safety of being able to put both feet on the ground easily. Do it off the street, obviously, preferably in a park with grass available to deal with the inevitable "what if I fall" question. Answer: try falling on the grass.


Safe countries for touring (without having to take public trasport all the time) in EU? I discussed today foreign ambulance guys and they told stories about sliced bicyclists in an  ex-communist country. The country in itself is not special but rather the fact that it lacks proper roads for cars, it then again means that it is blatantly dangerous ride the zig-zag roads along with 100km/h speed limits or more that are not even designed for such speeds.

So I want to gather here countries that do not have such problems. I planned my road along such zig-zag road with Google Maps but after hearing the story and seeing the conditions, I decided to get a local bus over the dangerous area.

Before I continue towards South, I would like to know which countries to avoid inside EU.

Resources

European Long-distance-paths here
European Cyclists Federation here, some paths suggested
Some research done from Europe

Related questions

political aspect and safety in long-distance bicycling here
evolution of bicycle infrastructure, trying to investigate how/why bicycle infrastructure evolves here

Tricky question to answer.

Is London better because it has lots of official bike lanes, bike stop signs and bike crossings? But it also has a huge amount of traffic and lots of heavy trucks and busses in small streets.

Cambridge has little official support for bikes (it periodically bans them from areas of the city) but because there is relatively little traffic and a lot of bikes it's pretty good to cycle in.


Corroded brake levers I think this corrosion comes from sweat. How can this be removed?

I don't think you can. It looks to me like the anodized surface layer has worn off, exposing the plain aluminum.


9 speed SRAM X5 trigger shifter only clicks 5 times and skips through a lotta gears Mongoose SX 6.5 26" Modified
Was originally a MTB but made it a Frankenstein hybrid build.
Just made the modifications this weekend and I thought it would go over smoothly.
Got parts from a Novara road bike that was due to be scrapped soon because of terminal frame damage.
Was working on it as I typed.
Don't have pictures because I was too flustered to grab my phone to do so.

Your question needs to include a list of all the parts of the drivetrain you use in order to get a clear and precise answer.
However this is most likely an issue of pull ratio incompatibility, especially if you mixed components from different producers, and moreso road components with MTB parts.
Pull ratio differs between producers (SRAM vs Campagnolo vs Shimano), but also between road and MTB components.
You can find here a detailed explanation of how cable pull and pull ratio works, but also helpful tables of pull ratio of various components: Science Behind the Magic | Drivetrain Compatibility

The shifter determines cable pull. Every time you click your shift lever, the shifter pulls in or releases a certain amount of cable. Different brands and different drivetrain speeds (e.g. 9, 10, 11spd) pull different amounts of cable. For the most part, all the cable pulls are uniform for every shift, with the exception of some of the Campagnolo shifters. For example, a Campagnolo 10-speed shifter pulls 2.5mm of cable five times, 3mm twice and 3.5mm twice.
Derailleur shift ratios, also referred to as actuation, are the amount of movement from side to side of the derailleur relative to the amount of cable pulled. Older Shimano derailleurs all have a shift ratio of 1.7. This means that for every millimeter of cable pulled by the shifter, the derailleur will move 1.7 millimeters.

Based on the facts above and the little clues and pieces of information you provide, I can assume you are using a SRAM shifter with a Shimano derailleur, as it fits your description of the problem.
According to the tables in the link provided above, Shimano road components have a 1.7:1 pull ratio, while SRAM MTB components are designed with 1.1:1 pull ratio.
In your case, when using a Shimano road derailleur with a SRAM MTB shifter (trigger, as you call it), this means for 5 clicks on the lever, 1.7/1.1*5 = 7.72 gears will be shifted
A sixth click would mean 1.7/1.1*6 = 9.27, which translates to the chain leaving the cassette.
The limiters on the derailleur will stop the cable from being pulled further to avoid the chain from leaving the cassette (stopping it from jumping below the smallest cassette ring or above the largest one). This is presumably why you only get 5 clicks out of a 9 step shifter.


Lycra and hybrid bicycle I just went for a 50 mile ride on my hybrid (1/3 on an unpaved trail, 2/3 on a paved trail), and I am curious regarding the outfit I'm wearing.

Is it frowned upon to wear a skin tight (road bike style) cycling clothing while riding a hybrid? Would I benefit from a more baggy outfit? What's the "traditional" hybrid outfit?

I would say that it isn't very common to see people wearing Lycra on a hybrid. However most people I see on hybrids wouldn't ride 80 km. At that distance, the right clothes can make a real difference in energy expenditure and comfort.  The people who don't wear Lycra mostly don't know the benefits or feel too self-conscious to wear it. I think that you should keep wearing Lycra if it makes you comfortable.


Can I use an old cog for my new hub? I have an old wheelset with a 16T cog. It's currently a 120mm flipflop hub, and I'm going to be replacing it with a 120mm coaster. The coaster hub that I want doesn't come with a 16T cog (only 14, 15 and 17 for some reason).

Rather than mess around with chain tension, etc, I was wondering if I could just use the cog from the old wheelset on the new hub, or if it's more complicated than that.

More info: old hub is a 32H, 14G, 16T cog. New hub is a velosteel 32H http://www.elegantwheels.net/STORE.html

To quote the page you linked, "Since the Velosteel hub has standard track threads, it can run any fixie/track cog built to Phil Wood/Campagnolo standards." For cogs, this is the same standard as every other cog, but the lock ring will probably be different. Just take the cog from your old hub and keep the lock ring from new one.

Note that this is different from most other coaster brake hubs, the more common Shimano, Torpedo and others use splined cogs.


Why would non-drive side leading spokes break? I've built about half a dozen wheels for my commuter bikes and never had any problems, but the last rear wheel broke some spokes.

Everything on the wheel was brand new, 32 spokes, had only done about 15 miles. I was pedaling hard, probably accelerating from 15mph up to 25 mph, and I broke a few spokes. I checked the wheel and it was okay to pedal slowly to my office as it was only a few minutes away, and I leaned on the bars to keep as much weight off the rear wheel as I could. Ended up breaking six (!) spokes by the time I got there.

All but one broke at the rim, and all but one were non-drive side leading spokes (i.e. the last set of spokes to be installed as per https://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html#leading).

There was obviously something wrong, maybe too much/too little tension, or a tension imbalance somewhere, but what could have caused just one set of spokes to fail so greatly? I would have expected drive side and trailing spokes to break first under stress.

Just so I don't make the same mistake again. In retrospect I should have checked the tension on the remaining spokes after the first two broke, that's what I did in the evening to get me home six spokes down and it was still fairly solid.

Spokes generally break when they are not tensioned enough, because they can then cycle from being taut and being loose as the wheel rolls, and because of this they fatigue and fail. Specifically, as the wheel rolls on the ground, when a spoke is pointing up, away from the ground, it does not carry any of the bike and rider weight and is tensioned, but when it is pointing down, it carries weight and this counteracts its tension, so an insufficiently tensioned spoke will lose all its tension and become loose. This taught-loose fatigue cycle repeats every wheel turn, which quickly adds up to a lot of cycles and breaks the spoke. As the non-drive side spokes of the rear wheel are less tensioned to begin with, it makes sense for them to be more prone to this issue, and the point at which a spoke breaks is usually at the rim, because that is the location of the spoke threads, which cause stress concentraction (they can be thought of as little cuts in the otherwise smooth spoke surface).
I have seen same wheels, one properly tensioned and one not (easily checked by squeezing the spokes together by hand), behave completely differently becasue of this. The tensioned wheel was virtually undestructible, whereas the loose wheel had its spokes break all the time. The owner of the loose wheel thought his wheel was junk, when in fact all he needed to do is tension its spokes properly. The moral is, when you buy wheels, check that they have been tensioned properly out of the factory, it makes a world of difference.


How do I adjust this adjustable quill stem? Any ideas? [SOLVED] I can't tilt lower the stem.

There is a bolt underneath the horizontal stem. I loosened it and am able to tilt the stem up from 30 to 40 degrees. I want to lower it though but for some reason cannot move it down lower than 30.

I don't really understand the instruction label. The bolt on the side is very tight. I tried loosening but was hesitant because some ppl say not to loosen the side bolt but the instructions seem to say to do it.

edit: as a note it's important to remove the locking plate under the tightening bolt beneath the stem.

What should I try?

Your stem has two adjustments.

The first is vertical, this done by loosening the vertical bolt several turns them tapping it down. Twist the bars while pushing down. Center the bars and retighten the bolt.

To adjust the stem angle, loosen the horizontal bolt. Note this may require 2 wrenches one on each side being twisted in opposite direction. The bolt must be turned quite a few turns to be loose enough for it to pivot. You may have to tap the left side bolt to disengage the serrated teeth. Next loosen the bolt under the stem to release the locking plate. Make the required adjustments and retighten the bolts.

You may also have to loosen the handle bar clamp and reorient the bars.


When should you replace tires after getting a flat? A nail punctured my rear wheel tire today while riding.
My question is, how do you know if you need to replace a tire or simply repair it with a tube repair kit?

The hole looks pretty nasty. The cap part of the nail entered the tire, leaving an L shaped hole.

My concern is that water might get into the wheel in wet conditions.

From personal experience, I'd say a larger-than-usual hole in the tire could have these undesireable side-effects:

The tube might get a bit exposed, and the day-to-day rolling over the hole might wear it down until the tire eventually flats out. Chemical aggresion from road grime or mud could also be involved.
The fabric of the tire might get damaged to the point there is a visible bulge. This not only causes a bump while rolling, but most importantly is a weak point that might lead to tire explosion and and accident.

Most of these somewhat larger punctures damage mainly the rubber and not so much the tire fabric (plies). If that is the case, a simple cautionary patch on the inside (with a regular tube patch) is enough to warrant peace of mind.

If the tire is bulging around the hole when it is inflated at the pressure you use, that is a warning indicating the tire is probably too damaged. A larger or stronger patch might be used inside the tire, and some regular observation to see if it stabilizes or grows is needed, but most probably it would be better to get it off the bike (which is very sad when it is a relatively new tire).

Hope this helps


What is the difference between Fulcrum Racing 4 and racing 6 wheels? I know that specialized uses a custom wheel from fulcrum racing that leaves them with a unique numbering system not found on the Fulcrum site.

Backstory is that i have 4's on one bike and 6's on another. As I plan to sell the older of the two bikes I want to keep the better of the two wheel sets.

Theoretically, the smaller the number - the higher up the Fulcrum series.

Fulcrum produce OEM wheels for manufacturers and these are supplied to manufacturers with "even" numbers which do not appear on the manufacturer's site. The number falling between the official numbering series usually indicates the wheel being an amalgamation of wheel series. This would be something like a 3 series rim with a 5 series hub and so on. The other point with OEM products is they are often made on production lines outside of the mfrs normal line of products.


Brake squeal on caliper brakes despite usual solutions Caliper brakes, front ones started squealing. Tried the following:

Cleaned rim with rubbing alcohol and a cloth.
Tightened all bolts.
Replaced brake pads with new ones.
Adjusted to ensure alignment is right.
Toe-ing in the brakes just made the squeal worse.

My rear brakes have no problem, even though I've replaced them myself, so my setup shouldn't be that bad. The only remaining thing I can think of is the front wheel has a very slight wobble, presumably my next step would be to try and true the wheel a touch. Just wanted to get some expert opinions before I spend more time on this, as all the usual solutions have failed.
Thanks!

Replaced brake pads with new ones.

Try a different brake pad material. Don't just blindly replace brake pads with new equivalents of what you currently have. Try a different material.
I used to prefer Kool Stop Salmon colored pads on all bikes I owned. However, on one of my bikes, Kool Stop Salmon pad squealed in the front cantilever brake like hell. I even tried a dual compound Kool Stop pad (consisting of half Salmon and half black compound) but didn't help.
The solution was to use the standard Shimano S70C pad in the front attached to the Shimano brake pad holder.
I don't know if the cause was the different brake pad holder (the Kool Stop pads were integral design, not separate rubber pieces put into a holder), or different brake pad material.
Yet, this Shimano holder combined with S70C pad solved the issue with me. Unfortunately, the Shimano pad does not resist grit intrusion in as good manner as the Kool Stop Salmon pad resists, but it's acceptable.
Keep trying! Experiment with different kinds of brake pad materials and holder designs from different manufacturers.

The only remaining thing I can think of is the front wheel has a very slight wobble, presumably my next step would be to try and true the wheel a touch

If the squealing is continuous around the wheel rotation and not intermittent, fixing a very slight wobble in the wheel probably won't help. Squealing brakes cannot magically know whether:

There is a wobble 180 degrees away, so they should squeal
There is no wobble 180 degrees away, so they should not squeal

The point is that brakes are local. A wobble is local too, and thus wobble will squeal only at the wobble, not all around the wheel. Wobble-dependent continuous squeal would be spooky action at a distance.


Front derailleur range suddenly has become very short For a while when I was riding, there was a stiff feeling changing from medium to high on the crank. Yesterday it wouldn't change at all.

I checked the adjustment of the High and Low screws by following a few tutorials on line (basically, I put it into low and moved the derailleur so that the inside of it was about .5mm away from the chain and adjusting the barrel screw). This was fine, but the problem still exists: the derailleur would not move into high range.

I released the cable altogether to check the gear selecting mechanism on the handlebar its self. All's fine there too - it moved freely.

Next, I moved the derailleur by hand and discovered I still could not get the chain to move to the high sprocket. It's like the derailleur does not have the movement range to move the chain up, even if the chain is rubbing against the inner side of the derailleur.

I checked everything around the derailleur including the two adjustment screws and nothing seems to be getting in its way.

Would anyone know what I could do to fix this?

I had this happen a couple of times. Turned out to be a little rock got in the derailleur mechanism.


Cane Creek Drop V cable compatibility Are Cane Creek Drop V levers compatible with road brake cables or MTB brake cables? Specifically, road cables and MTB cables have different nipples that sit in the brake lever, and I need to know which type these work with.

Anyone have experience with these brakes? I've searched for awhile, and have yet to find any reference to cable compatibility whatsoever.

The website has drawings that show roadbike cable ends.


repair scratches on surly frame I am a happy owner of a Surly Cross Check frame, two years old. Today I put it against a pole, but a strong wind blow made it slide along the pole and fall to the ground. As a result, there is one deep scratch--I can even see some bare steel.

My questions are:

1) Should I worry about the bare steel rust?

2) Is there a product I could use to say, "paint over" the steel and protect it again? Surly itself suggests "automotive touchup paint", but I know nothing about it.

Thanks for any help.

Either find a touchup paint that closely matches (often bike shops have tons of surplus or can order one that matches), or clear coat it. Or use clear nail polish.
Or don't worry about it ;)
As long as you're not storing the bike outside in the elements, you will reach the fatigue life of a weld somewhere on the frame before scratches will rust sufficiently to compromise its structural integrity.
And before anybody says it- yes, I know steel can be repaired. Once again, as long as the bike is being stored out of the elements you'll be able to repair welds many times over before the frame will rust through.


Should I change both tires when I need to change one? I know that it's a best practice in a car to change all 4 tires if you change 1, although in practice, it's only done if 3 need to be changed. Does the same thing hold true of a bike?

No.

In a car, the weight distribution is relatively even and you tend to get a relatively even wear, so that if 2 or 3 tires are obviously ready for replacement, you probably just can't tell that the others are ready. I suspect that also having 1 tire with a different amount of tread wear than the other tires on a car will lead to an unbalanced configuration that causes tires to wear out faster. (especially a left-right imbalance)

With a bicycle, the rear tire gets more weight on it than the front and will generally wear out more quickly.  By as much as 3:1. Because of this, and other reasons, some people will even use a totally different tire on front than on the back.  (could have the narrower tire on the front or on the back, depending on what you want to achieve)  On a bicycle, it's perfectly fine if one tire has worn down to being effectively smaller than the other.  You will never notice if the bike is "leaning" a millimeter or two forward or back.

The rear also tends to pick up more thorns/nails/screws/glass than the front, so there's also that reason the rear may need to be replaced sooner. The usual theory I've heard is that the front tire knocks the sharp things into a point up configuration in time for the rear tire to catch them, but I strongly suspect that it's more about weight distribution: the tire with more weight has a bigger contact patch and will push down harder on something it rolls over.

Overuse of the rear brake instead of learning to use the front brake properly can cause the rear to wear out even quicker.

You also don't want to rotate your tires between front and back.  That's something suggested with some cars, I think because you tend to wear the front differently than the back and can get a longer life that way.

However, if you're using the same type of tires on the front and the back, and it's the rear tire that's being replaced, you probably want to move the front to the back, and put the new tire on the front.

You always want your best tire on the front.  A blowout in the rear is scary and inconvenient, but a blowout on the front is very likely to lead to a crash.  You also need the traction on the front for stopping much more than you need traction on the rear for acceleration. (and because your weight shifts forward as you stop, you just can't get very much traction on the rear for stopping)

Reference: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-rotation.html


Salvaging valuable parts from a broken vintage bike I've got a 1971 Motobecane Club frame which is now about 1cm shorter than it used to be due to an unplanned merging of the front of the bike with the hood of a car which was in the process of turning; What parts are valuable enough to keep and try to sell?

The (already-removed) brakes are Weinmann Symetric side-pulls with Kool-Stop salmon pads which are about halfway used-up (but for salmon pads that means probably at least 1/2 years of daily riding)
The rear lamp is a Soubitez from a similar era ('70s/early '80s) but the front lamp was irreparably damaged
The chainset is an aluminium "Motobecane"-branded model from the '80s and was bought as NOS only a few months before the crash
The front derailleur is a Sachs-Huret Jubilee (i.e. is from the early '80s) which was bought as NOS only a few months before the crash
The rear derailleur is a Huret Allvit which likely came with the bike (i.e. is from 1971) and has signs of heavy use but has no damage
Although it can't be seen here, the saddle is torn so it's probably worthless

Insurers make money by promising the customer coverage and then refusing to pay up

You do not need to accept their statements and valuations as indisputable facts.   Instead - get your own valuations and find replacements that are the same brand, spec, and age.

Answer Don't sell that bike - its evidence.  Take this to the next level and dispute the payout, described by yourself as a pittance.   Depending on your location, that may be a Small Claims tribunal or something similar.

Don't roll over because an insurer has done their damnest to not pay you your costs.

What you do with the payout is your business, buy a new bike or old bike or repair this bike, that's your choice later.


What are these diagonal marks on my innertube? I'm on my second inner-tube in as many weeks and the culprit seems to be the same between them; these diagonal marks on the side around the whole of it—but only on one side (sorry, didn't make a note of what side that was when removing it :().  Some are shallower, some deeper; the second picture below is the one that was actually leaking.

When I took it in to my LBS the guy said I pinched the tube with the tire bead when installing it, but I have a hard time imagining that I somehow managed to pinch the entire tube all along one side, in such a regular pattern (the marks repeat regularly, every 1"), twice in a row.

I wouldn't call myself a bike expert, but I have, from time-to-time, replaced tubes; did my front wheel and it's been fine for months.  Did I just get lazy/cavalier in my tube installs or is there some other explanation?

Those are scuff marks from running the tire flat (or nearly so), and/or from a tire whose sidewall is breaking down.

One suspects that underinflation played a significant role in this tire failure. If you can see "ripples" in the side of the tire while you ride it, it's way under-inflated.  One wall of the tire will tend to fail before the other, based on the rotation and the diagonal cord alignment. The spacing corresponds to where the tire rippled as you rode it -- it repeats in the same location on each rotation since the sidewall gets softer and softer there.


Building bike from scratch: why more expensive than pre-built? I was going to ask about the pros and cons of building one's bike from scratch, but I came to the conclusion that I'm not going to do it (asking and building).

Now my question is: why is it (usually, if we leave the silly high-end prices alone) more expensive to build a bike from scratch?

The sale price falls between what the customer is prepared to pay and cost plus.
(If the cost plus is more than what the customer will accept, it's not worth doing business).

Complete bikes are a highly competitive market, and this drives the price down to very close to cost plus pricing. It's the high volume, low profit part of the business. The accessories and parts are the high profit part that keeps them going.

Bike parts are not competitive. Most bikes sold never get to see a new part except accident damage, and individual parts are relatively cheap, so the consumer cannot save that much by shopping around.  Most parts are sold and installed at shops and the labor cost will not change shopping around. Most consumers do not have the skills or desire to install parts themselves, let alone diagnose a fault. Even for the small percentage that replace worn out parts, shopping around is hardly worth the savings (unless you go online and buy on the world-scale market).

On a world scale, the likes of wiggle show just how much profit is in parts, yet they represent a very small percentage of bike parts sold. Most parts are sold and installed at shops. As such, they have little volume buying power and probably pay more for parts than the manufacturers, or pick up the end-of-life parts the manufacturers no longer make and stock. Have a look at wiggle stock - you will not often get exactly what you want - you will get usually something very close -  unless your bike is a year old - because they are an 'end of run' outlet shop.

Comparing to computers is not correct. If you look at what's happened, laptops and all-in-ones are a lot cheaper than boxes and the modern PC equivalent of the pre-assembled bike. Try building a laptop or all-in-one from parts and see what it costs. Your "custom built PC" is now the equivalent to that "silly high-end"  bike.  Years ago, the market for parts for a PC was a very competitive one with many manufacturers.


Can standard cartridge wheel bearings "shrink" over time? My front wheel has started to wobble a bit at the hub and it's most noticeable when braking at the lights, as the front wheel is doing like a "pulsing" sound when braking - like as if the wheel is off center.
I've pulled the hub apart, but I cannot see any obvious issues, yet when I lift the front wheel off the ground, as it's attached to the fork, the wheel slightly shakes when I tap it. It is not firm as it should be.

Because I cannot see obviously what's going on, could the bearings inside the sealed-cartridge have worn down in size? There is ample grease on them, but I guess even over time wheel bearings do wear down a micro-millimeter or two? That's the only explanation I have as to why the wheel hub has a slight wobble / shake.

Wheel is Campagnolo Vento-Reaction, about 5 years old now.

Here's a video of the wheel, showing how to get to the hub bearings...

The wheel in question uses sealed bearings. They are generally not serviceable. Service consists of replacement. You mentioned they appear to have plenty of grease on them. With a good bearing there should be grease in them and sealed in place by the seal. The only time grease will be visible is if the seal has failed. The seal usually fails because of bearing wear allowing movement.


can anyone help i.d. this bike? I can not find any numbers on frame, only the crown on tank.

After a time on bing it looks a lot like a Vintage Murray Sportcrest or Sears Murray Sportcrest.

There is a pic of one here: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/54465476715653140/

And on ebay here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Murray-26-Boys-Bike-Good-condition-/201618469157?hash=item2ef165b125

When searching for Vintage Murray Bicycles there are others by the same manufacturer pictured with very similar frame shape, the extra top tube that curves down and joins the down tube.

km


Is there a sign that a fork needs hydraulic/lubricating oil changed? What are the signs that a fork needs an oil change?

I'm asking this because lately my RS Revelation (1yo) seems stiff. I checked the sag and found I should increase it... so I did, but it's still using almost the same amount of travel (I check the o-ring at the end of a ride). Moreover, on rough terrain (gravel), I feel an incredible amount of vibrations that hurt my fingers.

Are these the signs? (in other words: will an oil change solve these problems?)

Over time forks become less responsive (move slower basically), but as this effect happens over the course of 12-18 months (the usual fork oil and seal lifetime), it's difficult to notice as you just get used to it.  So most fork manufacturers tell you to change it after so many miles.

This responsiveness loss happens for a couple of reasons on different types of damping systems, on mine (Boxxers) it's because of pollutants in the oil itself - 'dust' from the bushes, dirt, seal flake off, etc.

You can get a rough idea of the state of your fork oil just by looking at it, new stuff is clear tinted yellow.  I've seen fork oil come out looking like mercury from the sheer quantity of bushing dust in it...

Technically you only need to change seals once they start leaking oil, but of course that usually means that they've already failed their job - if you ride a lot in dirty conditions (which you should be!) they want changing every year.

Bushes only need changing once there's excessive play between your stanchions and sliders, this usually takes years but you can test the same way you would for testing a headset.


What bottom bracket will fit the Ribble Endurance SLR? Will a Shimano Ultegra BBR60 bottom bracket fit the Ribble Endurance SLR frame? I cant seem to find any technical information on the frame anywhere?

Per https://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/ribble-endurance-sl-r-series-frameset/

Bottom Bracket: Press Fit BB86.

A Shimano BBR60 is threaded:

SM-BBR60
SHIMANO ULTEGRA - Bottom Bracket - Threaded - HOLLOWTECH II - 68/70 mm
shell width

So no, the BBR60 won't fit.
Something like a Wheels Manufacturing BB86/92 would fit, though.
And it won't start making noises after 4 km.


How do I choose a replacement wheel rim? These are my current rims: Wheeltech TD26 by Alex Rims (can't find much info about these online).  I need to replace the rear wheel as it is cracked (cracks on the rims around a few spokes)
It's a 700C disc brake rim with quick releases.  What do I need to consider other than the size of the wheel when choosing a replacement?  I'll likely migrate over the cassette and rotor (if need be).  My knowledge of rims is limited so any help is appreciated!

Here is my bike: https://www.bikes.com/en/bikes/whistler/2015 (Must select Whistler 70 when on the site)

First, you have to decide whether you want to replace the rim (the ring shaped outer part) or entire wheel. If the wheel is otherwise in good shape, swapping the rim is an easy task and a shop should charge less than for a full rebuild.

For wheel you have to match size, axle thickness, spacing and cassette and brake disk interface. Fortunately, for quick releases there is only one common axle and spacing standard. If you want to keep the discs, you will need hub with Centerlock rotor interface. For cassette interface, the common exceptions are 11-speed road, Campagnolo and Sram XD, and your bike doesn't have any of these. In practice this means you'll want a Shimano hub.

If you swap the rim, you'll need to match size, spoke count and ERD, the diameter at spoke holes. Rim width does not need to be exact match, but if you are using the same tires it shouldn't be changed much. A rim with different ERD requires new spokes and relacing the wheel from scratch.


Thru Axle and Quick Release Fork/Frame Compatability? Without using manufacturer specific parts:

Can I use a wheel with a thru-axle hub on a standard quick release fork or frame dropouts (with an adapter)?
Can I use a wheel with a quick release hub on a thru-axle fork or frame dropouts (with an adapter)?

We may also want to consider that there are also different thru axle sizes, commonly 12mm, 15mm and 20mm.  I think the most common size of thru-axle currently is 15mm.

Simply for your two points:

For a front wheel you can buy or machine a part that will allow you to run a smaller axle on the front than the hub is equipped with. This an adapter to run a 15mm TA hub in 9mm drop outs.

The rear is more difficult as hub sizes get wider with larger diameter thru axles. You couldn't make a 12x142 thru axle hub fit in a 10x135 QR dropout even if you shimmed the space at the end as the chain line would be off.

In terms of frame/ fork design, the design form for through axles offers no backwards compatibility with QR drop out design. I haven't seen and can find no evidence online of an adapter that allows you to run a 9mm hub in 15mm TA drop outs. That being said it could be possible to engineer something that created the required tension to hold the hub in place, but I wouldn't trust a home made solution.


Any fix for a schrader valve that won't open? I have the all too familiar problem of being unable to pump up my tyre :(

It's not a problem with the pump (because it works on the other wheel) so I guess there must be something wrong with the schrader valve. I've done all wiggly woggly poking efforts to get it to release air, tightening, untightening the pump head etc. to no avail (I just keep pressurising the pump instead of the tyre). However the valve doesn't "look" damaged (the pin is in place, straight, not obviously damaged).

Is there any other possible fix to this that I haven't tried? Some clever tip or trick? Or should I just give it up and buy a new inner tyre?

Sounds like the valve has stuck shut, this can happen if the rubber seal at the base of the valve swells up. If the valve core is replaceable just get the appropriate valve tool and a replacement core,  both are really cheap.

Otherwise its likely to require a replacement tube.


What is measured by hub size? When they say 135mm hub I don't particularly understand. What are you measuring? The radius?

They say that a particular hub will be short for fitting gears. I say if I change rear wheel completely, then is the problem solved?


Upgrading the brakes on a Giant Anyroad 2 2015 I am looking to buy some used Giant Anyroad 2 2015. The groupset is already upgraded to Shimano 105 2x11, with cassette 11-34t. Crankset are Tiagra. Everything look fine, except the brake, which still using SRAM Avid BB5. Based on some review, SRAM Avid BB5 is having bad review. So I think, i need to upgrade the brake at least to SRAM Avid BB7. But I'm not sure because the Avid BB5 are using 140mm rotor, can I use SRAM Avid BB7 using these rotor, or I should upgrade to 160mm rotor and do I need adapter to upgrade the brake. Need some input.

You can directly change for BB7 without needing new rotors.

If you want 160mm rotors with BB7, you would need new caliper mount adapters. Changing to 160mm rotors will give you slightly more stoping power, but whether it's worth it, is completely subjective.

It's pretty straight forward to do. Once you get the bike, you can ask a specific question about it.