What are the differences in mountain bike hubs (With wheelset recommendation)? I'm possibly getting a disc brake, 2013 Specialized Camber 29er without the wheelset. I was looking on wheelbuilder to see how much a wheelset might be (to save weight over factory replacement), and I'm a little confused by the different types of hubs available. They have ISO, center pull, straight pull center lock, and then various different brand versions.

I will be doing a lot of trail riding, with some racing (Barnburner 104, Whisky 50), so enduro/cross country/marathon, primarily more towards the marathon side. I'm not big into downhill and extreme technical.

What type of wheelset should I be looking at, and how does that affect the hub that I choose?

I would look at wheelsets that are for your specific riding style. if you're looking to choose a full wheelset from a specific manufacturer (e.g. Mavic) that includes all of hub/rim/spokes and even tire, then go to their websites for more information. These are generally lighter than a normal wheel that you can build up yourself. If you want to build up one yourself, first find a hub that fits your bike. MTN hubs come in various types based on quick release, so check what type of quick release your bike has and then look for hubs that match. as for your question on hub types, here's a quick guide:

ISO: 32 or 36 holes made for wheels that are laced 3 cross. they have a 6-bolt pattern for the disc. see here: https://chrisking.com/hubs/hbs_ISO_disc
in some instances, these hubs can be laced without crossing spokes, but you run a higher risk of hub failure.

Straight(center) pull: this means that the spokes don't cross one another. in other words, they extend straight out from the hub. This lessens weight, but is generally avoided because they place more tension on the rims and aren't as stiff. there are also wheels that will have one side 2/3 cross and one side straight pull. These are for rear wheels and front disc wheels and lessen weight while keeping stiffness on the side with the disc.

Straight Pull center lock: see above for info on spokes. the only difference is that instead of having a six-bolt pattern for the disc mount, they have a shimano center lock disc mount. the advantage of center lock is that they are easier to install (6 individual bolts vs. 1 lockring) which allows them to have smaller hub flanges. The advantage of smaller hub flanges is that wheels are more comfortable to ride (If you've ever ridden a purpose built track bike over potholes, you may know the feeling).

if you have a set of rotors, check what style they are(6-bolt or center-lock) and choose hubs based on those. if you don't have rotors, find the set of brakes you have on the bike, or the brakes that you want on the bike, and determine based on that.

once you have the hubs, choose the rims:
rims come in various styles and sizes based on your riding style. first thing is to check the size of the rim. some models only come in one size (26", 27.5"/650B, 29'er) generally wider equals heavier and more aggressive. most companies that sell rims sell them based on riding style. make sure that the number of holes on the rim matches what you have on your hub.

after that you can choose the spokes and nipples. if you are using standard 32/36 hole rims, and ISO hubs, then just about any standard LBS will have spokes for your wheel. You can reduce weight by getting spokes that are butted/double butted/triple butted, but they are far more expensive. If you get specially designed rims or hubs, you generally need to get spokes that match that rim type. higher end hubs/rims generally require this.

based on your question it isn't clear whether you are against getting a full single-manufacturer wheelset, but I hope this clears some things up and helps you get the right wheels.


Praxis Bottom Bracket Performance on BB30 Frame I'm looking at upgrading the crank (stock FSA to Force 22) and getting a Praxis BB for my Cannondale CAAD10 BB30 frame.

http://www.praxiscycles.com/product/conv-bb-sramgxp-isis-2/

It seems like Praxis espouses an outboard bearing setup because of the increased BB width and rigidity (they claim) this provides.

I'm wondering if it is in fact worth it (noticeable performance upgrade/stiffness) to use a Praxis BB in concert with a GXP crank on a frame that is meant to take a BB30 crank naturally?

One major, non-performance, advantage I can think of is ease of access to the bearings.  I commute daily through downtown Chicago and bike components tend to get dirty and gritty fast in this area, and others too.  I'm thinking it might be worth it just to be able to service my BB at home without worrying about special tools, bearing pushers/pullers, etc.

Has anyone had success with Praxis on a BB30 frame?

I installed that Praxis BB30 converter on my Cannondale and I will never look back. I switched to a Shimano hollowtech II crank because that's the one I had lying around.

Not only does it feel more rigid, but the bb30 was hopelessly noisy no matter how often I cleaned it, and the Praxis BB has been silent so far, the bearings seem to seal better. So yes, it's rigid, quieter, easier to clean, and my frame doesn't seem to mind. Those are my findings.

Just make sure you use the proper amount of anti-seize when installing.


Can I clean out a set of old handlebars with water? I've bought these bars second hand and would like to clean them out before I use them. Right now they're full of dust, dirt, spiders, etc.

Will it do any damage to run water through them? I'll, of course, let them drain and dry before putting them to use.

Its totally fine.  For bars with impacted dirt in the ends I have used a blunt screwdriver to dig as far in as possible, then put water in and leave it to soak though the dirt.  Adding dishwash liquid helps too.

You should be able to poke a wire or string all the way through the bars.

I'll use a hot air blower to dry the whole bars outside and inside through both ends.  Also I hang it up to save burning the fingers.

Once its cooled down again, I sand any imperfections, and then use an aerosol spray can of anti-rust/primer to blast down both ends of the bars in turn.  Its not going to coat all the inside, but should help longterm, specially right at the ends.

Then I prime the outside, wait, sand, top coat, wait, (sometimes I do a clearcoat)  and then reassemble carefully.  Fit new grips once the brakes and stuff are on.


How is bicycle trailer stability affected by hitch position? Bicycle trailers commonly connect to the bike in one of four hitch positions:

A. Rear drop-out (single-sided, usually left/NDS drop-out)

1B. Rear drop-out (both sides; often found in BOB trailers)
Rear rack
Seat stay

How is bike or trailer stability affected by the position of the hitch?

In my experience, an axle mount is most stable compared to a seatpost mount.

With the seatpost clamp, the differences are most evident when braking and when turning.  The contact point is a hefty "shove" from the side/rear, and because its so much higher than your wheels it has enough leverage to be noticed.

Imagine, turning at any speed and for some reason the trailer hangs up on a bump or pothole for an instant.  Your saddle ends up being "pulled" to the inside of the turn.

Imagine when braking, your free-running trailer is shoving you up the seatpost and fighting the brakes.  If you're hard-stopping so 90+% of the braking is on your front wheel, then the back wheel can be lifted clear off the ground and get pivoted sideways by the trailer.

When towing, rear wheel braking increases in importance from "almost useless" to "quite a good idea"

Note I've never tried a BOB-type connector where the pivot is behind the rear wheel.  I imagine these feel like axle mount trailers.

A chainstay clamp might be convenient but mine almost fell off several times, so upgraded to a towball and hitch for safety.


Fracture in folding frame - safe to ride? I cycle every day because I live in a city and I find it a fun, fit and convenient mode of transport. I am not a cycling hobbyist, am only averagely fit and know pretty much nothing about bike engineering. So every year or so I take my bike in to the shop for servicing.

The bike in question is a Dahon Jack - it's a full-sized frame folding model. So the frame design is a bit unusual. It looks like this:

The last time it was serviced, a couple of weeks ago, the man in the shop drew my attention to a small crack in the frame. It's on the very top bar and has originated in the gap in the frame where the bike folds. Here's a photo:

The two white lines on the tip of the crack are scratches I put there to see if it's getting any bigger. It hasn't in the two weeks since it was discovered.

The guy in the shop said that while any frame crack is serious, this probably wasn't a big deal. Because it's a folding bike, the load is carried on the thick diagonal strut instead of the top bar. So even if that top bar does suddenly split, it's not going to cause the bike to collapse or throw me off.

He advised me not to take it off-road (which I never do anyway) but that otherwise I should be safe to ride for the time being, unless the fracture grew significantly.

Is he right? Should I get this bike replaced right away? If not, how long do you think it might be safe for me to continue to ride, and what warning signs should I look for to say it's no longer safe?

Someone has to say live dangerously.  I would ride it.  Don't ride it hard but you should not ride a Dahon hard in the first place.  I looked at how the bike folds and unfolds and that is not a high strength connection in the first place.

Bikes don't typically explode when they fail.  You get a bend and sometimes you don't even crash.

If it does die if you don't need a folder you can find decent used bikes for $400.


Is this cracked rear derailleur safe to use So I've been building up a late 80's steel frame to a modern 11 speed, but still using downtube friction shifters. After doing a few runs up and down my street all felt OK so I decided to take it out on it's maiden voyage.

A couple of miles down the road however something didn't feel right, after pulling in to a cul de sac to try and see what was wrong I was testing going up and down the gears a few times when the pedals jammed. Luckily I was going quite slow and managed to jump off. Anyway it appears one of the jockey wheels became jammed between the spokes. I'm guessing I may have offset the H limit screw too far or something?

Anyway the damage is it's cracked the housing of the rear derailleur hanging bolt (see below). Is this safe to use or should I get a new one?

Define safe.  Are you just worried it will fail or that you will get hurt?

It is going to fail all the way and sooner rather than later.

If it jams into the rear wheel it might damage other stuff (like spokes).

The safe bet is to just replace it now.

If it jams into the rear wheel it might cause you to get hurt.  If pedals jammed might cause you to fall then yes in that respect you could get hurt.

Save it for parts.


Preventing flat spot development on rim When hitting bumps, wheels sometimes develop flat spots. Can this be reduced by building wheels with higher spoke tension, or is this mainly result of strength of a rim?

When I say flat spot, I mean wheel radially going out of true, not small nicks on the edge of the rim.

Yes, stronger wheels will be more resistant to damage and going out of true.

Wheel strength is a combination and balance of of rim strength, number and gauge of spokes, spoke tension and the quality of the build (spoke tension evenness etc.)

If you are denting your rims on bumps, or they are going out of true there are some things you should do before considering new wheels:

Avoid hitting bumps, and use good technique of you have to ride over them. See recent question about this Is it a good idea to lift the front wheel to go through small bumps?.
Tire pressure should be enough so that the rim edges are not hitting the road surface.
Consider running larger tires, if you bike can accommodate them.


I have accidentally removed a front suspension fork - what now? I have accidentally removed the suspension fork from my bicycle (Trek Remedy 8). I was trying to take off just the handlebar, but was distracted for a moment and unscrewed the wrong bolt.

How safe would it be to assemble it back without going to my LBS (it will probably take them some much time, and I would not like to miss riding on my weekend)? I have no experience in suspension fork servicing; my idea is just to use common sense to screw parts back in.

It doesn't seem that the fork has any ball bearings.

I'm assuming this is your bike and you really mean that you've removed the fork from the bike as disassembling the fork isn't really something you do by mistake.

The specs I found say that you've got a threadless stem and sealed bearing headset. This is easy to reattach.

There are 3 or 4 bolts you need to be concerned with. One right at the top, that goes through a metal disc about an inch and a half wide. This is the preload bolt . Also, on your stem there will be either 2 or 3 that clamp the stem to the top of your forks.

To reassemble, find the following bits:

Fork
2 x sealed bearings, one for the top and one for the bottom of the head tube.
Stem
Stem cap
Preload blot
Split washer (sometimes)
Spacers (often)

Start by inserting the bearings into the cups in the top and bottom of the head tube.
Next slide the forks up through the head tube, add the split washer, spacers, stem, top cap and preload bolt. In that order.

Tighten everything down with the preload bolt so there is no unwated play. Rock the bike backward and forward, with the front brake on, and make sure there is no knocking.

When there is no play, straighten the stem and tighten the clamp bolts. Afterwards I usually loosen the preload bolt to finger tight, but some people don't.

Ta-Da! One fixed bike.


What are wheel tension relief machines called? At a San Diego bike shop I saw a machine that is purported to take the tension out of a wheel while it's being built so that the tension won't be released when you first start to ride it.

Description: Machine is larger than a wheel and it has hydraulics that stress the wheel to relieve tension in spokes.

I'd like to find out more about this machine, but I couldn't find the name of it in order to google it. What is this machine called? Links to manufacturers?

I can't find a current reference or photo, but we used to have one at my previous shop. If I remember correctly it was manufactured by J.A. Stein, but that may be wrong. It was a professionally made copy of a popular homemade wheel building tool.

It was called a Stress Relief Box. It consisted of a 6 inch deep box, about 3 inches wider than a 700c rim. There was a a hole cut just about 2" smaller than the rim in the top of the box, so that when a wheel was set on top of it, the rim was supported, but the spokes and hub were not touching anything. There were inserts to allow use with smaller wheels as well.

There was an metal arm that straddled the wheel, which looked like a taller, and wider version of the Park tool dishing tool, with a lever that allowed pressure to be safely placed on the center of the hub.

In this version, there were no hydraulics, but it would appear similar to a hydraulic press, or there could be more versions of them. There were lots of homemade ones, so there is also a possibility that it was a DIY version. I know a guy in Seattle who was working on a Arduino controlled version which was supposed to allow you to set a tension level.

The one we had worked well, and required minimal setup, although it took up space. I haven't seen one in any shop since, and I can't find a current reference, so it may be off the market.

This a very rough diagram of what it looked like:


Sora R3000 STI shifters compatibility Are the new Sora R3000 STI shifters compatible with dura ace 7700 brakes and derailleurs?

Thanks

The rear shifter is compatible with the 7700. The front 2x is only compatible with R3000 2x because of how it pulls the cable. If you're running a triple that you can interchange parts.


How to replace stripped spoke nipples? I have 6 stripped spoke nipples on my rear wheel. Last night I took the tire off, took the, for lack of a better word, rim strip off, and started to try to unscrew the nipple from the rim. Before I knew it I did more damage then good. Is there a special tool to remove spoke nipples that I am not seeing? What is the best tool for removing it if I can't get a screwdriver to work? I tried dropping some grease inside to help me take it out, but that did little if anything.

You need a spoke key of the correct size. See Which size spoke tool. Currently size 14 for some discussion - the short version is either visit your LBS and buy the size that fits your spokes, or just buy the three most common sizes.

Using a screwdriver is unlikely to work - wheelbuilders use them in the very early stages when the spokes are very loose, but as soon as a little tension goes onto the spoke the nipples are impossible to turn that way.

Edit: a couple of links on how to true wheels. If you're willing to spend money The Bicycle Wheel is pretty definitive and it's quite a short book. It's hugely better than anything I've seen on the internet.

And your LBS should have a pile of spare nipples for their wheelbuilder(s) to use. They're only a few cents each, but buying retail like this probably 10c-20c is more likely.


How to choose bar-end shifters for a given groupset? I'm doing a few triathlons this summer, and I'm getting an aerobar for my bike.  I'd like to be able to shift while in the aero position.

I've currently got ordinary road bike bars.  On these bars are mounted a pair of '05  Campagnolo Ergopower shift/brake levers.  The groupset in this specific case is a Campagnolo Centaur, the rear derailleur is a 10-speed, while the front has 2 speeds.

I'm riding with a pair of clamp-on Profile Design aero bars.  I'll be riding solo, so I don't need (or want - my weight is quite far forward!) brakes on my bar ends.  Instead, I'd like to be able to shift from this position.   Currently, my Ergopower shifters are still hanging in front of my drops.  I no longer ride in the drops very often; I'm either on the aerobars or on the hoods when going up a hill or in a group ride.

How do I select shifters for the aerobars?  The photographs I've seen look like the old friction shifters that go on a downtube.  As suggested here, friction shifters would be difficult with a 10-speed for the rear.  Also, I rather like my indexed system: I can adjust at home, and then click and forget while on the road.  Must I use:

Shifters of the same brand as the rest of the groupset? (Shimano/Campagnolo/SRAM)
Shifters of the same product line as the rest of the groupset? (Dura Ace/Ultegra, Record/Centaur)
Shifters of the same model year or generation as the rest of the groupset?
Shifters with the same number of indices? (10 speed, 9 speed, 8 speed)
Indexed or friction-type shifters?

I'm having a hard time finding the shifters for my system at a reasonable price in an exact match. I've found other Campy bar-end shifters, but they're all of the higher-end Record series than my Centaur system and they're usually a newer model.

You do need an indexed, Campagnolo shift set which is set up for the same number of gears that your bike has.

Centaur is 10 speed Campag, if I remember correctly, so something like this:

Campag Record 10 speed bar end shifter

If you bike is 11 speed, then this, or similar:

11 speed Campag bar end shifter

Keep in mind that you will also need a new set of brake levers without shifters, and that most aero brake levers are set up for a bullhorn style handlebar. You may want to change that as well.

You will, of course, lose the ability to shift from the hoods or drops.

As for price, you should of thought of that before you bought Italian components to begin with. :)

Edit:

Must I use:

Shifters of the same brand as the rest of the groupset? (Shimano/Campagnolo/SRAM) YES, They generally use different spacing between gears (Campag/Shimano) or different cable pull ratios (Shimano/SRAM).
Shifters of the same product line as the rest of the groupset? (Dura Ace/Ultegra, Record/Centaur) No. You may mix component levels, if they match brand and index number.
Shifters of the same model year or generation as the rest of the groupset? Helpful, but with a few exceptions, not mandatory.
Shifters with the same number of indices? (10 speed, 9 speed, 8 speed) Yes. No options, unless your shifting is friction.
Indexed or friction-type shifters?
Indexed requires indexed. Friction can work with most things, unless it is designed for fewer gears. Spacing doesn't matter.

Edit 2:

Also, for what it's worth, I can't find any Campag time trial shifters which are any group set other than Record in any of their online available catalogs. It is common to only produce 1 high end model of specialty items like that, so they may only have made Record models. Also Record 10 speed TT Shifters are discontinued, so if you really want a set, get them ordered while there are still some available.


Crank set removal tool too small My crank set removal tool is too small to screw into the arm. You can see the black space in-between the tool and the crank.

Where can I buy the proper sized tool? Seems like all crank set removal tools come in the same size with regards to the threaded component that screws into the base of the arm.

You need a Stronglight or TA crank puller.

To identify which one you need, you'll have to either figure out the manufacturer of the crank or measure the ID of the thread with a caliper (a basic one is under $20 and useful for all sorts of stuff), making the correct allowance for the fact that you're measuring an internal thread. (In other words, that 23 or 23.5 number is going to be the OD of the external thread. The internal threads are a smaller number, i.e. the nominal thread size minus twice the thread height, and the thread height is probably around .5-.6mm, but I don't know that for sure because these are weirdo threads that aren't on standard dimension charts.)


Is this a good source of food for 25-50 mile ride? I like to mix almonds, walnuts, raisins, cashews and dried blueberries together have them as a snack throughout the day. I've never tried this food source on a 25-50 mile ride. I'd like some thoughts from knowledgeable people on how good this would be to eat during a ride. Anything good to add to this?

The EXPERIENCED CYCLIST, who is not, eg, out of shape after a long winter does not need any food for 50 road miles.  This is because his muscles and liver have "learned" to store extra sugar/carbs to provide energy over a long period of time.

But a beginning cyclist who is not, say, already a distance runner or otherwise used to exercising vigorously for several hours DOES need some extra carbs along the way to keep his blood sugar up, not, perhaps, for a 25 mile ride, but for a 50 mile one.  (Note, you DON'T want large amounts of fat or protein -- these do nothing to help your sugar levels and they are hard to digest.)

The form of the carbs is not especially critical, other than the food should be chosen for convenience, neatness (you don't, eg, want chocolate smeared all over your hands), and personal taste.

Avoid foods with any significant amount of fat, and avoid spicy or strongly flavored foods -- these may seem appetizing at the store but do not go down well or "sit" well on the road, especially if you allow yourself to become a hair dehydrated (which of course you shouldn't do, but it happens).  A modest amount of salt is desired, but too much (without enough water) can send your stomach on a spin.  (The nut-raisin snack, by itself, is just a tad "heavy" for my taste, and may be a hair too heavy in terms of fat.  But as one of a small variety of snacks it's fine, and likely a decent source of salt.)

I would say figure on about 500 calories of mostly carb snacks for a 50-mile, 3-hour ride.  This isn't nearly enough to replace the calories you burn, but it is enough to prevent a low blood sugar condition.

And, of course, HYDRATE!


First stage post-rest day in the Tour One of the things that has come up in reports during the first rest day in the Tour de France this year is that the first mountain stage, especially following the rest day, is a shock to the legs.

Why is this, from a physiological level? What specific things can a rider do to more effectively make this transition?

I cannot answer the physiological aspect in any detail, however my understanding is that, given a recovery day with little activity, your muscles will begin the first phase of healing [inflamation etc], this is also coupled with your legs being heavy with toxins from the previous days racing.

To avoid this, the healing part can be improved via active recovery - riding the bike. Everyone is different as to how much riding and how intense it has to be. I have heard Lemond, Fignon & Kelly et al state that experienced riders know what effort they have to do.

Regards intensity: Lemond talks of doing anaerobic efforts on recovery days to trigger testosterone production, the increased testosterone levels aid recovery. Of course some riders have been known to just use illegal testosterone patches.  Getting the amount of intense effort on recovery days is critical, do too much effort on your recovery day and you don't recover, you do more damage.

Regarding recovery ride time: this is about flushing out those toxins by getting more blood flow to damaged muscles, oxygen and nutrients in the blood help the muscle to recover more quickly. This is the easy very low effort part of the recovery ride.

The body becomes used to the effort and if you stop, it can seize up - become stiff; the above factors, intensity and ride time impact that.

With regards to the Mountains vs non Mountains stages, the type of effort is considerable different to flatter or rolling stages; you will use more watts on a long climb, there is less opportunity to coast or get dragged along in the slipstream, and, you use more fluids due to the higher effort and there being less of a cooling effect from the wind as you are going slower.
In the mountains, it can feel like doing weights as the cadence is lower and the effort higher - so the build up of toxins in the muscles is higher; the flatter stages involve more opportunity to spin-out for periods whereby its like a mini recovery ride within the stage.


Why does the rear brake bowden have no housing below the frame of the bike? I observed that the bowden of the rear brake calipers runs "naked" below the bike frame. (Also the gear shifting cables, but let's focus on brake cables for this question.)
(I.e. the section between the lever and the frame is covered with housing, then, below the frame, no housing, and then the section connecting the frame and the calipers, again has housing.)
The question is: what is the reason for this? And more importantly, if I replace the bowden for the rear brake, would it be a good idea to add housing below the frame as well (to protect the whole bowden from dirt and water, rather than leave that naked section)? Of course the housing would have to be interrupted at the suspension points, leaving a little bit of bowden "naked", but at least most of it would be protected?
I tried to come up with some reasons, for why that part is naked:

keep costst down (but that extra half meter of housing would not matter much, would it?)

physically not being possible to add housing, because of how the bowden is suspended: the housing for sure would not fit through the suspension points; however... can't you just cut the housing at that point? Sure a very small part of the bowden will still remain "naked", but maybe even that would be better than having the whole wire outside? (Or even better, couldn't they have just made the suspension points huge enough to fit the housing in the first place?)

if there was a continuous housing (like I proposed above, with the slightly huger suspension points), maybe the rear brake would not work, because the the wire would be too long, so it would easily bend, instead of the bowden sliding inside it: this seems plausible, but even in this case: wouldn't I be better off, by adding housing (albeit interrupted) below the frame? (and still: couldn't there be a mechanism at the suspension points, which presses the housing together just enough to keep it steady, and at the same time allow the bowden inside of it to slide?)

the interrupted housing would be worse than no housing at all, because it would allow dirt and water to enter, but it would collect, and be more difficult to remove: while this seems indeed plausible, don't we have the same problem where the housed section of the calipers and the levers starts?

You do not really need the housing functionally, the bowden runs straight between two fixed points. There is nothing that could compress or deform. It just works well as is. You only could add it as a mechanical protection but it is not customary and could add some additional unnecessary friction.


Used WD-40 on headset and now it loosens daily I've used WD-40 on my bike's headset as it produced some cracking noises. The result is a headset that gets loose after every ride.

I've tried to use a wrench to tighten it, alas, it went loose after a couple of days.

Any recommendation of how I can fix my mistake?

UPDATE - image of the bike.  It has a threadded headset and quill stem.

Using WD40 on a headset should not cause it to loosen.  Something else is wrong.  You need to find out what that is.

First - don't ride the bicycle until the problem is identified and fixed.  Doing so might be dangerous - both to you and anyone near, as you may lose control.

If your bicycle has a new-style "threadless" headset, the stem bolts may be undertorqued.  Or, they may have been overtorqued in the past and crushed the steer tube that the stem clamps on to so that it no longer stays tight.  Those are by far the two most likely problems with a headset that won't stay tight.

Park Tool has a series of good videos on bicycle maintenance.  This one is for troubleshooting a headset:

What you do to fix the problem depends on what the problem is.

Update:

Given the posted photo, this video appears more relevant:


Bike for a shorter rider to do touring, daily commuting and light off-roading? I want to buy a bike. These are the things I'm looking for:

frame that can handle weight and light off-roading (eg, sand, gravel, rocks, roots, but no big drops)
frame can accomodate fatter, treadier tires (for abovementioned off-roading)
road wheels fit for the weight involved in touring
drop bars
bolts for front and rear panniers
good for daily commuting too
fits a 5'4" (162.5cm) woman
around the 1000$ mark (give or take)

What kind of bike would be a good fit?

I think there are three options to look at that meet all your requirements:

A touring bike
A Cyclocross bike
Build what you want starting with an old steel frame. (70s or 80s road, or hard-tailed mountain bike)

Note when shopping that a good rack is going to run you $50-$200 (and you want a front and back, so a total of two racks) and good panniers seem to run $100-$200 for a pair (and you may want two pairs). If a bike comes with good racks and costs more it may actually work out cheaper for you.

In general, you may want to look for bikes that have 26" wheels instead of 700c wheels. Since you're 5'4", fitting the larger wheels on a bike involves some frame geometry compromises. Also, if you're planning to do touring in other countries, apparently the 26" wheel size is easier to find in Asia and south america.

Also consider having the shop replace the stem and handlebars to get the fit right for you. You may find that the bikes come stock with handlebars that are a little too wide for you and a little too far forward to reach comfortably.  (however, fit is tricky since there's a lot of details and height isn't enough)

Touring bike

There's a lot of sub-variants in the general touring bike category, so not all meet these descriptions

Touring bikes are specifically made for carrying heavy loads using a front and back rack. Holes to bolt the racks, heavy duty frame, heavy duty wheels, etc.
Touring bikes are generally heavy-duty enough to handle a bit of off-road paths and many people include fire roads and other dirt or gravel roads in their touring.
Touring bikes usually are designed to handle fairly fat tires (for comfort over long distances and rough roads) and could have knobby tires mounted easily enough. Or fenders, though fenders limit how fat you can go on the tires a little.
Drop handlebars are common on touring bikes, though many people opt for various other bar styles
Touring bikes work great as a daily commuter (I use one that way)
Finding a touring bike for somebody who is 5'4" could be a little tricky
Many touring bikes are above your price-point by a few hundred US dollars.

As far as specific models, a few people have mentioned Novara bikes, which are sold at REI. I ride a Surly Long Haul Trucker which I believe does have a frame size option that might fit you and I think still retails for about $1100 (and since it's distributed by QBP, most bike shops can order it).

Cyclocross bike

Cyclocross is a sport that involves a mix of off-road and on-road. Usually reasonably smooth dirt and/or mud. No jumps. The most expensive cyclocross bikes are optimized entirely for racing and have no rack bolt-holes, but the lower-end cyclocross bikes often have bolt-holes for fenders and/or racks.

Cyclocross bikes are designed for light off-road. Because of that, they're likely to be tough enough for what you want.
Cyclocross bikes usually come with tires that are slightly knobby, and often have clearance for slightly larger tires than that (so that muddy tires can still roll)
Drop bars are the standard on cyclocross bikes
Once you've added a rack (or two, or basket, or rack and basket) and fenders, these make great commuter bikes. I've definitely seen people using them that way. For commuting or touring I would replace the stock knobby tires with a smooth puncture-resistant tire with reflective sidewalls (Schwalbe Marathon something, Specialized Armadillo, etc). For more dedicated off-road usage you might want to replace the tires with something more knobby than the stock tires.

Specific models: The Surly Cross-Check should work, it's very similar to the Surly Long Haul Trucker I mentioned above. I've seen Specialized Tri-Cross bikes for under $1000.

Right now is the very beginning of Cyclocross race season in much of the US, so if you're in the US it's likely stores will have some on the floor to check out.


Can I put pegs on any bike? I'm back, again. I'm buying a BMX bike, its a 2021 Kink Gap XL. I wanna put pegs on it, because it doesn't have pegs, and a lot of the tricks I wanna learn require pegs. So, if I buy this bike, will I be able to put pegs on it? Will pegs work on any BMX bike? I don't really care what brand, just as long as something will work. Are there different sizes too?

To answer your specific BMX Bike
The King Gap XL 2021 will support pegs. It's safe to say that any freestyle BMX bike will support pegs. If you were buying a BMX race bike, there's a chance it doesn't support pegs; BMX race is more focused on being lightweight than freestyle BMX.
Can I put pegs on any bike
No, you need to have a certain type of axle to put on pegs. It won't work on a dirt jumper / mountain bike / road bike for example. The axle needs to stick out from the fork / dropouts to have room to house the peg. There's a nut that screws onto the outside of the peg, so if the axle doesn't have the thread, it won't work.

Now compare that to a MTB axle - this is a 15 x 110 boost axle, which is super common on MTB front wheels.

Words of advice
Buy plastic pegs so you don't ruin skatepark ledges


What is the maximum weight that "normal" racing wheels can withstand? I was recently in a bike-shop where the proprietor told me that the "normal" racing wheels of the more advanced bikes are normally only rated to carry 85kg. For example, he mentioned the Bianchi Maddux RX 5.1 as being unsuitable for a 95+kg person… you could ride on them, but within six months you would be unhappy.

I have never heard this before, and while it is obvious that the wheels will have a designed weight limit, I find 85kg really light.

I am over 6'4", so getting to 85kg renders me as a stick insect, and is unlikely to happen… So I would like to know whether I really need to splash out the extra to get custom made 36 spoke wheels.

So the direct question, for a normal 24 spoke wheel, what is the designed carry load for this wheel?

Edit: I ended up getting myself a pair of Mavic Ksyrium SR wheels. The general reviews seem to have them as being fairly strong...

Edit 2: Having ridden these wheels for a few thousand kms, I can say that they really are strong. I just had a front-on accident where the bike frame had the top pipe literally snapped , and the front wheel is only slightly off true, and with a relatively small dent... still enough to write the wheel off, but I was extraordinarily impressed!

As a sometime wheelbuilder, I'd say yes. Lightweight wheels definitely come with weight limits and you should respect them. It should be in the manual for the wheel, and ideally on the spec sheet as well.

That's not to say you need to obey them, just be aware that when you don't you're much more likely to have problems. But for a race where they matter, it can be worth it. You're likely to get away with them for flat time trial when a steep climb or criterium will see them fail in the first race. But for the TT, those wheels might shave the critical 5s off your time.

It's not just your weight on the saddle that matters. You're also stronger than a lighter rider, and more likely to have a huge amount of explosive power. Those are the things that actually cause wheels to fail because that's when you're side loading the wheel. Throwing the bike around in a sprint is especially bad because you're throwing your weight sideways at the bike on the down stroke.

I've had customers who can't even get a reasonable life out of standard 36 spoke wheels. All it takes is a 100kg guy who races criteriums or rides to work and likes jumping out of the lights, and their wheels start failing after a few Mm. The tricky ones are the 120kg+ riders who are overweight and are riding to lose it. Often we see them only after their first bike has fallen apart under them (and it's a combination of being heavy and poor technique - they don't lift off the saddle on bumps, so the rear wheel takes the full impact of every lip and pothole). Having to explain that no stock wheel will work can be hard - instead of a $500 bike they're going to need a heavy $600 steel MTB with $300 of custom wheels.


What do these headset specs mean? I'm building this frame from the ground up:

https://www.deitycomponents.com/cryptkeeper_frame.html

The specs for the headset say:

IS 52/40 Lower Bearing (Tapered Steerer)
IS 52/30 Lower Bearing (Straight 1 1/8" Steerer)

In my research, I've found that IS stands for INTEGRATED ANGULAR CONTACT.

My fork is an 2014 Manitou Circus Expert (which is tapered)...

What exactly do these specs this mean?  Is the "52/40" a specific measurement?

They are telling you what size of lower headset you need in terms of the Standardized Headset Identification System (SHIS).

This is a naming system that tries to simplify headset standards in part by rounding as much as possible to the nearest whole number.

This frame's lower bearing interface is a very common size known under SHIS as IS52, otherwise known as 1.5" IS. The frame bore size is around 52.1mm and the bearing OD is exactly 52.00mm, hence the simplified name IS52. The /40 and the /30 refer to the crown race. If you were using a tapered fork, it's got a fork race seat OD of 39.8mm and a crown race ID of 39.7mm, simplified to just "40" under SHIS. If it were a straight fork,  the fork race seat OD is 30.1mm and the race is 30mm, simplified to just "30".

What's confusing about what they've done here is that on their spec page, for the headset upper they only say "Integrated Campy Spec Upper Bearing (45x45 degree)." They probably should have also said IS42, which is the SHIS name for the same thing. As for the reason they're mixing standards like this, it's because the Campagnolo Hiddenset standard got an early foothold within the BMX/DJ world and is the standard to this day, and a lot of the headset uppers (key logo display points) people will want to use on frames like this use that standard, but they also wanted to make a frame that could take both tapered and straight forks, which wouldn't have been possible with the Campy standard. So you need a more BMX-y upper. If you have trouble finding just the upper, buying a whole headset isn't too bad of a waste of money because you're mostly just paying for an extra bearing, which you use as a spare when the first one wears out.


Is a custom road frame worthwhile? I've been riding a Marin San Anselmo hybrid for some 13 years and I'd guess I've done over 7000 miles on it almost exclusively on the road (and it's not my commuting bike).

I'm gradually doing more cycling and longer distances and I'm finding myself increasingly uncomfortable (neck and inside leg). So I'm starting to wonder if it's actually suited to the kind of riding I do. I'm already looking to get a proper bike fit, but I'm also considering a custom frame in steel or titanium with higher spec components and (gulp!) drop handlebars.

I'm 5ft 8in (174cm), 30inch inside leg, 10 stone (140lbs/64kg). A bit small for a bloke, but not that freaky for a cyclist perhaps!

At the level of bike I'm looking at, the cost doesn't seem to be much more than something off the shelf, but it is a lot more hassle. Then again I hope this bike to last me the rest of my days, so maybe it's worth the effort to get it right.

So I'm wondering if a custom frame will make me more comfortable and/or faster and what experiences similar-sized people have had.

As a cyclist who had a hard time getting comfortable on road geometry with drop handlebars, I will recommend that you ride as many different bikes as possible for a long time before you consider dropping money on a "custom" bike.

Considering frame material and construction, geometry quirks, wheel sizes, brake types, drivetrain compatibility, tire clearance, frame lifespan, braze-ons, so on and so forth....there are LOTS of different bikes out there. To illustrate this, consider:

A lugged steel touring bike with 650b wheels, cantilever brakes, ample tire clearance, and brazed-on fittings for racks, pumps, bottles and whatnot
A carbon fiber race bike with integrated headset/bottom bracket, tucked in rear wheel, seat mast, 700c wheels with aero-spokes, etc. etc.

These bikes are two very different creatures. You can find shops who can fit you to either with great aplomb, but in reality these bikes are not interchangeable (regardless of whether you think one is better than the other.) The issue is less of fitting a bike to a person's body parts, and more of fitting it to a person's needs and wants.

You're just about my size, maybe an inch shorter, and I usually ride a 56 cm frame - a very common frame size. Being an average size (yes, you are an average size guy) you essentially have the bike world at your disposal.

Some people may feel like a "lifetime" bike exists for them, but I'm of the opinion that there is no need to be wedded to a bicycle because they are so very diverse - bicycles fill more of a use than fitting your body properly (and the inescapable truth is that your body will change just as surely as your cycling needs will.)

My short recommendation is to invest in a good-fitting touring or sport-touring bike with a steel frame. They're comfortable, versatile, affordable, long-living, and easy to service. It'll be way easier to get comfortable on this than an aggressive road bike and it will also be easier to sell down the road (because touring components use pretty much the same technology now as over the last 25-40 years.)


Looking to change from Octalink Claris to Shimano 105, will the frame be compatible with a 105 hub? Since road bikes are sold out almost everywhere. I was thinking about upgrading my current road bike with a new group set. My current bike a Scott Speedster 50 (2015) currently has a Shimano Claris groupset Octalink. I'm looking to change out the groupset to a 105, my worry is that the 105 hub or groupset will not be compatible with my frame. Can anyone please tell me if it is possible to install a 105 groupset on a Claris Octalink compatible frame.
Thank you for all your help!

Octalink is the bottom bracket spindle interface. It's kind of muddying the waters to focus on this. If you have all Claris parts of that era, the commonly understood way of referring to it would be 2400, Claris 2400, etc. (There's a newer Claris now.)
Straightforward modern rim brake road bikes like that generally can have whatever group you want dropped in. Going to 11 will mean needing a new rear hub/wheel in most such cases. It should be fine.


Easton EC90 TKO wheels, tire options Does anyone have experience with tires for these rims? I've been looking at tubulars, and many of them (especially track versions) are listed as being 27x3/4 or 27x1, as opposed to 700x19 and 700x22. Specifically, I'm looking at picking up a pair of Continental Tempos but am unsure if the sizing is correct. Is this simply a case of labeling inconsistency, or will the tires not fit my rims?

To answer my own question, I purchased the tires. It's simply a case of inconsistent labeling. The 27x1 tires are effectively 700x22.


Road bike drag decrease with bulky backback I'm about to increase my daily commute from 5 km each way to 10 km each way. I've been using a MTB converted to a commuter for years. Given the extra distance, regular evening head wind, and aging body, I'm considering getting a road or cyclocross bike or for better efficiency.

I usually commute with a large backback full of clothes, towel, laptop, lunch containers, etc. My question is, would the aerodynamic gain of switching to a road bike be negated by the backback? If so, would panniers or some other solution be better in terms of drag?

Your very question has actually been answered by GCN (below) and Specialized and has been partially answered in  What's more aerodynamic on flat bars: backpack or pannier?
Essentially the in order of fastest to slowest:

Large saddle bag (i.e., bike packing bags)
Back pack
Pannier

By far the panniers will be the slowest option as you are hanging the bag out in the full wind.  Backpacks are pretty fast, but do affect wind transferring over your back.  If you don't have a lot to carry bike packing bags are the fastest option as they are tucked away the most.
Over the last 2 years I have switched completely to bike packing bags and a fast road bike for my 45 km commute (2 way) and probably save close to 10+ minutes per day.
One thing not tested in the videos is a front roll bag.  I have good luck with that setup as I think it acts a bit like a wind fairing for your upper legs which do cause a lot of air disturbance.
What's The Best Bag For Commuting By Bike? Saddle Bag Vs. Panniers Vs. Backpack

Screen capture with the actual data with a suspect y-axis scaling... Come on Emma your are a PhD scientist!


Why do rear pannier racks have a raised "nose"? I am tempted to saw off the raised "nose" on my unbranded 2nd hand pannier rack because it's forcing me to lift the child seat substantially, which obviously has implications on stability. But I feel there must be a reason so many racks have this raised nose thing. I had a look at this article, and it hints towards stability/structural integrity, but I cannot see how the nose would help (I'm in engineering but not a structural engineer). My only other thought is that it's an added measure to stop items sliding forward, but it feels like there's something else I'm missing. Does anybody know what the nose is for? Has anyone cut it off and how did that go?

NB I purposely avoided using "the F word" ("opposite to rear") to describe where on the rack the nose is - this is meant to avoid this cropping up in searches related to f***t panniers.

I think you are correct that it’s only to prevent items from sliding forward and falling off or colliding with your legs/hips. This is only really important if you use the spring loaded clamp. A lot of racks (I think all of them without the spring loaded clamp) don’t have this “nose”.

Since there is still another horizontal bar right below it I don’t think removing it will affect stability. Just make sure to cut it cleanly, remove any burrs, plug the hole and apply some paint to prevent rust.


Are there statistics on cycling trip distances? Prompted by a comment on a recent question about weight loss I started to wonder: for people who ride bikes at least sometimes, what's the distribution of maximum distances?
This has also come up in discussions among distance riders about cycling infrastructure for mass use.
Or, to put it another way, how abnormal are those of us who like to ride a long way?

Ideally this would be a survey of the maximum distance people have ridden/typically ride, but as that's unlikely, it's be interested to see anything that sheds light on the question. While I'm in the UK, an international picture would be more, not less, interesting.

I've seen some UK stats from cyclinguk and some walking & cycling UK national data, but they are either based on acceptable commuting distances or don't capture variation.

Here's an article focusing on some of the most active cycling cities around the world, and this is reporting averages, not maxima. The source data they link to at Strava isn't available to me (redirects to the Strava login page, and I don't have a Strava login).

The data is probably biased towards more serious cyclists--I'd be surprised if the average commuter in Amsterdam is bothering to log in to Strava every time they go out.


How do you repair or lengthen a B&M Luxos Control Cable? Maybe this would be better off in electronics, but since it's bike gear specific, I thought I'd try here first.
I need to have longer control cables on B&M's Luxos U headlight/charger combo. This control cable (not the electrical leads) runs from the light body to a handlebar switch that also features a USB charging dongle.

Our prior 2 Luxos U lights were a longer cable model, but B&M have discontinued this. The only available control cable on current models is 54cm, IIRC, not long enough for my purposes on non-standard bikes. The switch is used to turn the light on and off as well as turn it to higher intensity and flash oncoming traffic, if necessary, to make them aware of you, which is why just mounting the light and putting the switch closer to the light body (and away from the hands) isn't the best alternative.

I am told that the control cable is a simple 4-strand within a round housing. (This information comes from the US importer.) That sounds like regular USB cable, and it would make it seem like a simple job to just splice in a length of 4-strand cable from a donor USB cable, get the right length, seal it well with heat shrink and self-sealing silicone tape, and be done.
I opened it up and the guts are below. The red/black/green/white cluster at the lower contacts is what runs into the cable that runs to the switch/controller. The wires (including housing) measure 1.1mm in diameter.

However, I contacted an OEM in Europe that makes long bikes and asked if they'd tried this, and they said they had, and that for some reason, it didn't work. (They didn't tell me their strategy for dealing with it. They may still have a stockpile of the discontinued, longer cord model.)
I wondered if anyone here had needed to splice or repair one of these, and had experience or success. Obviously, I'm not eager to buy one of these and immediately cut and possibly permanently disable it with a failed experiment.
(I'm aware of other potential workarounds with other off-light chargers and cache batteries, but those are generally clunky and more expensive, and our experience with the Luxos U lighting and charging has been excellent, so I prefer to try to duplicate that if possible.)

I finally got this done. The procedure is as discussed in the chat for this question.

Open the light by unscrewing the two torx screws on top. (Be careful not to lose the rubber washers, they're transparent!
Take a photo of how things are arranged and connected inside. Putting the thing back together is a bit like playing tetris blindfolded.
Disconnect the cache batteries. They carry current, possibly up the switch cable, so you don't want to short something and fry the control circuitry while working on the cable. This light is fairly sophisticated, monitoring changes in voltage, ambient light levels, etc. I suspect it's easy to kill that circuitry with carelessness.
Cut the wire and insert an extra length of 4-conductor control cable, braided. I found some on ebay very cheap, 4 wires, AWG24.
Solder and heat-shrink wrap each individual connection, then heat-shrink wrap the whole splice area. (This means soldering 8 connections total.)

When you put it back together, the light will flash when you plug the battery back in. Don't get spooked. As soon as you connect the battery, you can test the remote (and onboard) switches to see if everything works.
Mine did. :)


Does the valve have to be straight when replacing a tube? I've just replaced the tube on my bike and when I pumped it the valve wasn't particularly straight as can be seen in the image below.

What I'm wondering is do I need to remove the tube and straighten it before use? I assume it wouldn't be any harm to do so but if there is nothing wrong with the way it is I'll save myself the effort. I'm going to be cycling it in the morning so I said I better ask before I do.

It should be straight out, perpendicular to the rim. Otherwise you risk damaging the tube.

When the valve stem is at an angle the valve isn't free in the hole – it is trapped by the edges of the hole where they bind the stem. The edges of the hole may cut the stem which will be moving a little bit as the tire and tube flex over bumps and the like.

There will also be an area of the tube that isn't supported by the rim (or that is stretched more than the rest of the tube) near the valve stem. That area is likely to be a weak point in the tube.

And one more thing! As pointed out in the comments below, there are conditions – such as the tire moving on the rim – that are likely to further stress the tube as it passes through the valve hole. If the valve is initially straight any angle of the valve is an immediate sign that something is happening.


Why do the majority of people on an ebike ride at a fairly low cadence? Around the place where I live the electric bicycle is gaining popularity and it's easy to pick those on such bike from far away not just from posture (rather stiff upper body even on steep hills) but also from their cadence: for some reason the majority (I'd estimate more than 90%) of the people I see on an ebike ride at a rather low cadence. It's hard to estimate how low but I'd say something like 30rpm; in any case: lower than any other cyclist on a normal bicycle no matter what type. So I've been wondering why and I cannot really figure it out (nor if they all do it for the same single reason). I don't really have the guts to just ride next to one and ask, also because I'm afraid to get frowning faces and answers like 'no idea'.

I was thinking it is maybe just as simple as 'because they can'. Maybe they all just think 'if it works ok spinning slowly, why spin faster'. But to me this is counterintuitive as even when I don't have to output a lot of power I'd still go for a decent cadence rather than a lower one as it just seems to work better and science seems to agree with me. And in any case I wouldn't go as low as they do. So I was thinking maybe they all were told to ride like that in the shop and/or there is some technical reason related to the whole drive system? Like it is more beneficial in terms of power usage or so? Or the bikes are just built with less gears and favouring the higher ratios?

There are (at least) two reasons. First, most (but not all) E-bikes use a control system that multiplies the amount of force or torque that you put into the pedals or cranks. Since power is the product of pedal speed and pedal force (or torque), increasing the torque allows the rider to reduce the pedal speed -- that is, the rider's cadence. Electric motors (can) produce full torque at any rpm, so these controllers typically modulate the torque output rather than the rpm.

Second, if a rider on an E-bike were riding at "normal" cadence for his or her speed you would be less likely to notice the rider, so your observational sample is likely to be more heavily weighted to those with lower than normal cadence.


Removing and reseating front wheel makes disc brakes rub I have a brand new bike with Hayes CX Expert disc brakes. When I picked it up at the shop, they had dialed the front brake in nicely so it grabbed pretty quick (i.e. without having to pull it right to the handlebar).

I took the front wheel off to put the bike in my car to bring it home. I was very careful not to hit the disc rotor off anything or lay anything on it as I know they can get bent out of true.

When I got home I put the front wheel back on and re-tightened the quick release, but it now rubs slightly at one point when I spin the wheel.

I found I could fiddle with the barrel adjuster and inside pad adjuster to back them off a bit and stop the rubbing but now I have to pull the lever much further to engage the brakes firmly.

Also, when it does rub, it's only at one point in the rotation which makes me think the rotor is slightly out of true.

Finally, when I engage the brake and look straight down at the caliper, I can see the rotor flex ever so slightly sideways, almost like the pads are coming together at a slight angle relative to the plane of the rotor.

None of this seems to be an issue with the rear, and I have had the rear wheel off a couple of times as well.

What gives?

Ring the bike shop before doing anything.  They may prefer you take it back to them rather than try to fix it yourself.

All it probably needs a calliper alignment. Briefly - Loosen the two bolts holding the calliper so its free to move but is not sloppy. Slowly bring the brakes on while spinning the wheel. Once the brakes are on tight, without releasing the brakes, tighten the bolts a little. Pump the brakes a few times while spinning the wheel then fully tighten the bolts. Look up how to do it on the internet if in doubt.

Use a torque wrench if you have one. If not, do not over tighten the bolts (Pay attention to how tight they were when you loosened them).


Upgrade Specialized Tarmac Pro SL3 with SRAM Force AXS Is it possible to upgrade Specialized Tarmac Pro SL3 with the new SRAM Force AXS group set?

I'm guessing a Tarmac Pro SL3 is a slightly older bike, Google search suggest a 2011 model. There's a Specialized web site page but it does not give a model year.

Rim brake versions are offered. Front derailleur comes in braze on and clamp on. Etap is wireless so there are zero cable routing issues. The AXS groups use SRAM DUB bottom brackets which have wide frame compatibility.

The problem comes with the rear hub I think. The bike referenced above is 10 speed so I'm guessing it has a 130mm rear spacing and a 10 speed Hyperglide type freehub body. AXS is 12 speed and uses a XDR cassette driver body. From SRAM's page on XD and XDR 'XDR maintains the same hub spacing and flange locations used for 11-speed road compatible HyperGlide freehub bodies'. I'm fairly sure a wheel with a 10 speed Hyperglide freehub body will not be XDR compatible.


Have i got the right Derailleur Hello I have just brought a Shimano Tourney 7 speed derailleur for my carrera axel ltd 2015 but I was wondering if I have got the right one I'm not 100% sure. I have put the two links to each  bike and derailleur.  Will this derailleur work with this bike i have ordered this as a mounting bracket and not a direct mount was this a correct choice or should i have gotten a direct mount

Bike http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/hybrid-bikes/carrera-axle-limited-edition-mens-hybrid-bike

Derailleur https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Shimano-RD-A070-7-speed-Road-Rear-Derailleur_61116.htm

You know, from that picture, and from their description, it is very difficult to tell what kind of rear derailleur that takes.  It says Tourney, but there are so many different derailleurs that have been made under the Tourney label, there is no telling from that.  It will become very apparent as you try to replace it whether you got the right one...

A Direct Mount rear derailleur will have a 5- or 6-millimeter recessed allen bolt threading into a hole in a bracket that is bolted to or part of the frame.

A Hanger Mount rear derailleur will have that bracket built into the rear derailleur and will instead tension into the back of a long dropout where you also mount the axle of the rear wheel, usually attaches with a Phillips screwdriver or a 9mm socket, tightening a nut that has a half moon shape.

That derailleur you bought has a direct mount on an extended hanger, and mounts as a direct mount.  Once you determine from the above descriptions which type you have, match the replacement to the same type.


Is my VIS 180 the 50 Lumen or 70 Lumen Version? So, I bought a Light and Motion Vis 180 off of Ebay.  The seller had a great rating and claimed it was in "new" condition, so I thought I'd go ahead and take a risk on it.
What I got was a Vis 180 - of some kind.  Sure, it seems to work, but I have packaging from three different products!
I have packaging from a Vis 180 50 Lumen, a Vis 180 70 Lumen, and a vis 180 micro.  In fact, here is a picture to prove it:

(The white package is 50 Lumens.)
Now I still have a perfectly good Cygolite Hotshot.  I went in a darkened room, and it appeared the hotshot was actually brighter than the vis180 but the vis180 had a vastly larger "throw" - by itself, the vis180 made a bright spot on the wall, and together with the vis180 it made a bright spot on the much larger spread of light from the vis180.  (Confession: Haven't charged it yet.)  Makes me think it's the 50 Lumen, I can post a picture of that too...
Perhaps they would make a great combination with the vis180 flashing to get attention and the Hotshot on steady so drivers can judge where I am?
I ride some really hostile roads at night - broken glass, no sidewalks, where there are sidewalks, I'm shooting across roads where drives are sometimes frustrated they can barely hang a right.
As such, I did want the 70 lumen version.  I paid $70 for it but I could still return it.  I don't truly care about the packaging - hell, I live next to a corporate outlet store and know sometimes underpriced product can be legit, but could someone be so kind as to tell me how to figure out what I actually own?
Thank you kindly.

That is definitely the Vis 180 70 lumen. This is the new packaging that L&M just debuted in late 2014 when the 70 lumen model came out. They sent the new design to the packaging manufacturer just before they got the Vis 180 upgraded to run at 70 lumens, so the white insert says 50 lumens when in fact it's 70 lumens (as shown on the outside sticker there). Another way to double-check is the flash pattern. Does the pulse turn all the way off at its least-bright point or does it only go to about 20% dim? If it goes all the way off, it's the 50 lumen version, if it stays part-way on throughout the cycle, it's the 70 lumen version. You can see a video comparing the old and new flashes on the full Vis 180 review on the bike light testing site I run.

To clarify on the packaging, all of their lights that are in a series come in the same packaging within that series. So if you buy an Urban 350, the inset has info about the whole Urban line, including the 350, 500, 650, and 800. When you bought the Vis 180, you got info about the Vis 180 and the Vis 180 micro, because they're sold in the same package with a different label on the outside.

The Cygolite Hotshot puts out much less total light, but has a more focused, intense beam than the Vis 180. The total output of the Vis 180 is much higher. I personally use the Vis 180 as my primary taillight in steady mode, with a secondary (less bright) light in flashing mode. Your proposed setup could work well too. Having two lights is always a good idea!

So, you almost certainly do have a legitimate Vis 180 2014 70 lumen version. One thing to be aware of is that the eBay seller is likely not an authorized reseller, so your warranty may be void:

  Light & Motion provides warranties against manufacturer defects for 2 year starting from the date of purchase from a Light & Motion Authorized Dealer. While the warranty is non-transferable and does not cover failures from misuse or battery issues beyond one year, damaged lights can usually be repaired for a nominal fee. Proof of purchase required for warranty support.

They have more information specifically about buying from eBay here. I would suggest you inquire as to whether the seller is an authorized dealer – in my experience, L&M have excellent customer support, but you may be SOL if you bought from an unauthorized source.


What is the hand gesture for "I'm sorry"? I usually signal "turn left" and "turn right" and "pass me by, take point". However, there is one more situation that happens to me often and I do not know a widely accepted gesture to convey my thoughts.

How do I express that "I am sorry." to a car driver near me (car driver == probably won't hear me, so a hand gesture is needed). As in "I cut you off, sorry man!".

I use a sort of wave, raising my hand but with no movement in it (so not a 'Hey buddy' or 'I need help' side to side movement).... it works on my bicycle, on my motorcycle, and while driving a vehicle. It's got somewhat of a dual purpose: acknowledgement that I did something wrong, and/or 'thanks for letting me in' gratitude gesture.

The motorcycle I find a very odd case of this. It's 95% not me giving the gesture, but receiving it after being cut off, not seen, turned in front of, etc. People are in general not interested in showing any rage and are quick to apologize when I'm on one, even if I'm not wearing the armored jacket and helmet. I don't get even half this respect in vehicles or bicycles.

That was a side note that I've found interesting, but the point is that it's the same gesture I seem to get from many other people. There's no side/side or waving motion, just a hand up, fingers together, "Thanks/Sorry".


Are there any bike GPS computers / devices that can create routes themselves out on the road? In other words, I would want to be able to be in an arbitrary location and tell the device that I want to go to a specific destination (by entering an address or town name) and it would calculate a route from where I am to that destination and ideally re-calculate if I went off-course.
From researching such devices, it seems that you need to prepare the routes at home and then physically copy them to the device, or download it through an app onto the device. I could cope with having to use a smart phone to create the route (by specifying a destination) and transfer that the GPS device, but I want to be able to do this out on the road.
I do not have any experience at all with any bike GPS devices other than just purely to tell me speed (presumably all bike GPS devices can display the current speed). I only have experience with car sat-nav systems and the above is how they work.

Yes.

The Garmin Edge 530/830/1030 can be loaded up with extensive map data, and can give you live routing, even without a cellular connection.
Wahoo's ELEMNT ROAM can also do routing on the fly.
The Sigma Rox 12 also has extensive navigation functions.
Probably others.

There are some smartphone apps that can do this—I think the best-known are Ride with GPS and Komoot. The idea with these apps is mostly that you would use them instead of a dedicated bike computer, not together with one, but you can do that too. They create a route stored in the cloud that you can sync down to your bike computer (using the phone as a hotspot, of course).


Why are there so many types of mech hanger? I have just stripped the threads on my mech hanger and I'm in the process of buying a new one. There are so many different types, even for one manufacturer, I was wondering what the reason for this is?

I understand why different manufacturers might use different designs but why should one manufacturer have so many slightly different products that all do essentially the same thing?

Some designs are patented, therefore cannot be shared among different manufacturers.

Within the catalog of a single manufacturer I don't know, maybe a mix of keeping compatibility with previous models but also pushing people to "upgrade" and buy more expensive parts.


Front wheel tilted fork alignment problem I have this Dawes Discovery Twin and there seems to be a problem with one, or maybe both, of the quick release dropouts. The front wheel tilts a little to the right and rubs the brake shoe.
I already tried swapping the wheel around to rule out the possibility that the wheel itself might be skewed.
Looks like one of the dropouts is bent a little, but I can't determine which is the bent one and which one is good. Maybe someone out there on stackexchange can spot the problem with the help of the attached photo's. The second picture also shows a little dent on the inside of the left fork arm. Not sure if it is damage or some provision in case you would want to install disc brakes (paint seems fine).
Anyone any idea how to straighten the wheel?

UPDATE 14/7
After your answer and comments I took out the fork and it looks like both arms are a bit skewed to the right (as seen while cycling), am I right? Like the whole thing has suffered a blow from the left.
Also now we have a clear view of the dented left arm. The dent is not very precise, more like a local depression. Made some measurements that appear to show that the left arm is closer to the stem than the right arm - it looks pretty serious on this photo but maybe my perception is biased - and that would account for the tilted position of the wheel. In which case fiddling with the alignment tool serves no purpose.
So I will go find myself a new fork. Thanks to all for your help and comments!

I am 99% sure the dent in the fork blade is damage, and probably part of the problem you're seeing.
The way you set up the two sections of allthread in the dropouts is smart, and is similar to the way dropouts are aligned. You could try to set the dropouts into alignment with the setup you've got, or bring the bike to a shop that has proper alignment tools, that might allow for more leverage and precision. There should be only one position for the two dropouts where the centers meet and both sections of allthread are aligned.
Alternatively, since this fork probably is damaged, you could replace it. An equivalent replacements wouldn't be that expensive.


Doing a 230km / 142 mile cycle this weekend over 2 days, what vital equipment am I missing? This will be my first long distance cycle over 100km's / 62 miles.
Last weekend I did a 60km / 37 mile cycle without too much difficulty, so I'm pretty sure I can get through at least day 1, day 2 will be a struggle but then again I have the whole day on Sunday and can move as slow as I want.

This is the gear I am going with :

Bike: Trek 7.2 FX (2011) (Stock standard, no mods) - recently serviced!

Pants: decent mountain bike cycle pants with pads (not sure on the brand, but a good pair)

Shirt: regular cotton t-shirt (nothing fancy)

Jersey / Jacket : None

Backpack : CamelBack HAWG 20 - holds 3l of liquid.

Nav : Garmin Dakota 20 with heart monitor - and map planned - route broken down into 5 stages routing along cycle paths mainly, no major roads, except for the odd crossing here and there.

Shoes: Beach style summer sandals with velcro straps - no socks!

Contents of backpack:

1x Spare inner tube
2x AA battery spares for the Dakota
1x MP3 player with charging cable
1x Phone with charging cable
Initially 3l of pure cold water in the reservoir
Wallet (cash + credit card + id + medical insurance card)
Puncture repair kit
1 x pump (nice and compact and proven to work)
1 x Camera and charger
1 x Clean underwear change.

Food and additional drinking material I intend to buy on route until I get out far into the country after about 50km's then I'll buy some stock for the road.

What have I missed, and any additional tips for this ride are welcome.

Last thing I would like to add, I've read on some sites that listening to music while cycling isn't advisable, what would you say?

Should I take some form of self protection for the road? Mace or maybe a hunting knife - I mean you never know?

Thanks guys - look forward to the responses.

Perhaps a little late (sorry, I was on a week-long bike trip), but:

You're missing sun lotion.  You definitely need it and should apply it first thing in the morning, since you will likely be reluctant to stop to apply it later.

Despite what the others have said, I've never had a problem wearing the same cycling shorts 2-3 days in a row.  I do use chamois cream, though.

I typically ride with cotton T-shirts and find them comfortable.  Change shirts daily, and have a spare to put on if you get soaked/chilled in a rainstorm.  I have a synthetic (forget the material) soft knit jersey for cooler days, and sometimes wear sweat pants (with double leg straps) in the morning if it's too cool (since my muscles no longer tolerate cold well).

I never travel (any distance) without rain gear -- jacket and rain pants.

You need to carry some ready snacks -- heat-tolerant (assuming it will be hot) candy of some sort, or "energy bars", or "trail mix" or such.  (Whatever it is should contain a decent amount of salt, and potassium is a bonus.)  If you begin to get fatigued, stop (in the shade, if possible), rest for 10-15 minutes, and have a snack plus extra water.  (And, of course, chocolate milk is good for temporal fractures.)

I don't recommend riding with ear buds, but I can understand how others might.  For me the voices in my head keep me plenty entertained.  At the very least, though, keep the volume low and don't use them in traffic or where other cyclists are likely to be overtaking you.

The only "protection" I've ever needed is against dogs, and that is fairly rare.  I used to have a bike with a pump peg, so I could quickly grab the pump and wave it at a threatening dog.  Yeah, the pump weighs all of 8 oz and couldn't hurt the dog, but to him it looks like a big black stick.  With my current bike I must use a pump strap, but have not needed to fend off a dog in several years.

A pocket knife is useful for the odd job on the road, though (if nothing else, cleaning your fingernails).  Beyond that a few basic tools, some small zip ties, and a bit of duct tape or hockey tape.

A flashing taillight is very lightweight, cheap, and can greatly improve your visibility in poor conditions.  A headlight is nice to have but not as necessary.

I personally don't like having stuff on my back.  A handlebar bag is OK, and easily accessible, but distributes the weight poorly and bounces around.  A saddlebag (strapped to your seat rails) is a slightly better choice, though usually of limited capacity.  I've never used them, but there are also bags that strap inside the frame, between the top bar and the down bar, and they should be stable and capable of carrying most of what you need.  (They tend to block the use of water bottle cages, though.)  But if you plan to do much of this a rack and panniers is the way to go.

If the terrain is reasonably flat and the weather cooperates then 142 miles in two days should be easily obtained (ie, I could manage it, and I'm a 63-year-old polio survivor).  Hills, rain, or a headwind could make it unpleasant, but it should still be doable for a healthy younger person.


How to move a bicycle by bicycle I need to move two bicycles from work to home. The route is 5 miles long and car free. My only means of transport is to ride one of the bicycles so my question is this: What is the safest way to get both bikes from work to home in one journey? (without some kind of trailer)

The bikes are a Carrera Virtuoso and a Scott Yecora (dropped handlebars)

If one bike has a rear rack, you can attach the second bike's front wheel with a bunch of bungies and tow it.  I've done this, and it worked fine.

Now I have a cargo bike, and the towing is simpler:


Removing old 531 frame bottom bracket. Where to source a pin spanner etc I've been riding a vintage 531 frame bike which I've stripped and rebuilt. However, I'm having problems with extracting the bottom bracket. This has some play in it, so I really need to remove, regrease and replace the bearings. I've managed to free up the lock ring with the help of a chisel and lump hammer (to give you an idea of how frozen it was) but I cannot now remove the bearing cup as I need the correct pin wrench tool. Has anyone any idea where I might buy a tool for such an old bike in the UK? There are 4 pin holes approximately 2cm (13/16ths)apart. The pin holes are approximately 2mm in diameter. The ones I've found that are readily visible on amazon etc are adjustable, but are for larger pin holes.

Non-cycling-specific pin spanners do indeed tend to have fatter pins, but in the cycling section you should find something.
Park Tools SPA-2, for example, has pins just over 2mm diameter (so you should check), and the spacing is adjustable over a small range about what you need because its a little springy. I bought mine for working on a 90s Raleigh; they're not needed so often on modern bikes.
Hopefully you'll need less force than to remove the lock ring, as it's not a massive tool.
Alternatively it's possible to measure the spacing of an opposite pair of pin holes and make something from scrap metal using M2 screws as pins. That's only worth it if you've got all the tools and materials to hand


Finding which gear on my bike is closest to a single-gear bike I have a 21 speed bike, and I'm thinking of purchasing a 1 speed.  Does anyone know what gear on the 21 would be for a 1?  I'm trying to see how well my bike does on that gear in my area.  Thanks!

We can't tell without more information about your gears.

However, you can figure it out for yourself quite easily, by looking at the ratio of chainring teeth to rear sprocket teeth on the single speed bike (the most common I've seen is 44/18 = 2.44).

Then you just need to figure out the size of your current bikes chainrings, the size of the sprockets on your current bike, and calculate all 21 gear ratios, and find which is closest to the single speed ratio.

If I had to guess, I would say it would most likely be equivalent to your middle chainring (39 teeth?) and somewhere near the third smallest rear sprocket (16 teeth?) because 39/16 = 44/18.

Of course, you can almost always pick and choose the gearing on a single speed bike, so realistically you yourself get to pick "what gear on the 21 would be for a 1".


Glycogen depletion, post-brief-ride recovery, and diet adjustment On a mountain bike I had been working my way to minimize the time it takes me to do a 25-km round-trip.

Then on a road bike I have been trying to do the same for a 40-km round-trip.

My objective on both was to cycle one day, rest the next, then cycle again.

All was well for the 25 km ride. I didn't even need to take a water bottle. Drinking after the ride was enough. For the 40 km ride I was able to maintain the same skip-a-day rhythm as long as I was not pushing myself, though I needed to drink about 1 litre midway, at 20-25C (68-78F). Once I started to race against my preceding time, something went very wrong. After 48 hours I feel too lethargic to hop again on the bike. It doesn't even get better after 72, and barely after 96 hours. I need almost a week to have recovered enough to repeat.

After some searching, the best I've been able to understand is that my 48/72/96-hour lethargy approaching a state of sloth may be caused by glycogen depletion. On multi-day rides, cyclists ought basically gorge themselves before, during, and after with carbs, but I'm not doing multi-day rides.

Hence, I'm guessing, it was a mistake to continue eating the same carb-conscious diet. My calculation for eating steak-and-vegetables, chicken-and-huge-caesar, chickpeas-and-tomatoes at lunch/dinner was that the steak/chicken/chickpeas anyway have large carbohydrate content, in addition to protein, and so I can skip the side of rice/potatoes/pasta, being content that breakfast consists mainly of carbs—bread/oatmeal/..

I was about to experiment with the following classical diet. Eat a (large) plate of pasta 2-3 hours before the ride; eat some more carbs during the ride (2 croissants); then eat protein and vegetables after the ride. The carbs before/during the ride satisfy the needs of the ride, and the protein contributes to muscle repair after the ride.

But this traditional thinking has "largely fallen out of favor as it can also lead to excess water weight and digestive issues."

I realize (I'll soon be patronized and) that 40km is little more than a warm-up for the serious folks. There are several ideas already posted here for longer rides: Gorge on slow carbs post ride, replenish with fast sugars during the ride, snack mid-ride on boiled potatoes + oil + salt; and only one that I could spot for short ones: don't just drink water, drink gatorade. In terms of taste, If find this combination particularly appealing. But rather than experiment on myself over much of the season, I thought I'd ask.

If cycling is seasonal in your area (it's too cold to cycle outside October-to-early-March in my area, and I get bored on a stationary bike after 15 minutes, so I switch to squash and skiing in winter), have you nailed down how to adjust your diet to recover as soon as possible, perhaps even after one day not two?

This is most likely a mixture of fuelling and trying to do too much too soon.

It sounds like you routinely eat a fairly low carb diet, which is not in itself a bad thing, but will mean that it's unlikely your glycogen stores are ever more than partially filled.  This is not a problem at all during low intensity exercise, but when exercising at high intensity for a prolonged duration (racing yourself for 40km), its a recipe for poor performance and and bonking/hitting the wall.  When you fully deplete your glycogen stores in this manner it is normal to take several extra days for recovery.

In terms of your choice of workout, it is also likely you are creating a training load that is far too high for you to handle.  Going flat out for 40km is something an experienced cyclist might do once a week at most - and even then not for a prolonged period.  And after completing such an effort, they would expect to feel sore and sluggish for several days afterwards and limit themselves to low intensity riding.

Assuming you want to continue trying to test yourself over 40km, you might like to consider having much more structure in your riding.  As an example you could do something like the following:

Week1

30km ride with 15km hard
40km easy
rest day
30km ride with 15km hard
rest day
60km easy
rest day

Week2

30km ride with 15km hard
rest day
60km easy
rest day
rest day
40km max effort
rest day

This still gives you an average of a ride every other day.  It includes some shorter and harder efforts which  whilst very hard in their own way, will not create nearly as much training load.  And you have some longer rides to build your engine.


Help a new biker with bad fitness to become a bike commuter I am interested in biking [and always has been] and I want to start biking lot more for fun. It's been long time since I biked when I was in high school and I lost touch. At this point of time, my fitness is terrible and please don't ask about my stamina. I want to fix that by biking to my office which is close to 8 miles from my home. That's a long distance for me to start covering from the day one so I am planning to take it in phases. First, I want to start biking to nearest public transit [a mile] and keep increasing from there. I need some guidance so that I don't cause more trouble than good to myself.

What is a reasonably priced bike that I can buy [first/second hand] that can make it easy for me to bike? I want to be able to bike on that in trails or parks as well so I am thinking of a mountain bike.
How much distance should I start biking on day one and how fast should I increase that distance so that I can bike to my office without using any public transit?
What sort of care should be taken to ride in cold weather [-1 C] and during night time?
What other suggestions would you like to give a new biker?

Thanks for taking time to read and respond!

Others have answered other parts of your question satisfactorily, but I can't recommend Craigslist highly enough for purchasing your first bike.

You can find cheap used bikes anywhere from $50–$200. It doesn't have to be perfect — it just has to be in a reasonable state of repair. Don't spend $1,000 on a bike before you 1) know you're going to stick with cycling, and 2) know what you want out of a bike. Getting a cheap one off Craigslist lets you figure out both at a very low cost.


Crack on bike wheel rim I hit the edge of a cone yesterday when biking and had a pretty hard fall. Was looking at my bike to see what damage it took. Saw this crack on the rim, is this something really serious that I should be worried about? Last thing I want is to take another hard fall
This is the bike I have. https://archive.fujibikes.com/2010/Fuji/roubaix-acr-20

It may be worth glancing at this more detailed answer that discussed how aluminum rims were constructed. But in brief, aluminum rims are first extruded in a flat bar, then they’re cut and rolled into hoops, then the ends of each hoop are joined. One method is to simply pin the ends together, and you’re looking at the seam where the ends were joined. Alternatives include welding the ends together. Basically, this is there by design. Look in the corresponding location on the other rim and you should also find a seam.
The seam looks too straight to be a crack. If you hit an obstacle, a more common failure mode would be for the rim’s bead hooks to get dented or to buckle.


Recommended spoke for enduro/all mtn riding What would be the ideal choice of spokes for enduro, all mtn or freeriding? would it be a double butted, triple butted or just single?

The best spoke is one that is light enough, strong enough to carry you, stays true through whatever riding you do, and doesn't cost too much.

To that end, the more butting on a spoke the thinner and lighter it is in the middle, but that adds to the expense.

You also need to consider whether you want normal brass nipples or aluminium ones which are lighter and cost more.

Other considerations for your wheel build might include spoke head washers, and whether the rim needs special nipples and/or washers.

Costs blow out quickly - you may only be paying 2 to 3 localdollars per spoke but 32 for the wheel and three for spares gives you $70-$105 just for spokes.  Nipples may or may not be included so check that.   Also see if a box of 50 is cheaper than buying 35 separately.

You can also make choices in colour (chrome/black/coloured+anodised/galvanised) and profile (bladed spokes for more aero)  but realistically it doesn;t matter and weird/unusual choices will cost you more in the long run.

Do buy a new spoke tool if your old one is a bit sloppy.  The right tool helps a lot and prevents rounding off.

We don't normally recommend products by name, but if you go into a LBS and buy spokes you'll probably be offered DT spokes, which are perfectly adequate.  Check their website for comparisons, but notice that they don't have specific spokes for downhill vs uphill vs espatchio vs whatever kind of riding you want.  A good wheel is a good wheel anywhere, and the tyre has more variation on the type of riding.

I'd bet a 29" MTB rim in a road bike, or a 700c road rim in a MTB would work perfectly well for either terrain.


What bottom bracket type is this? Can you help me identify the bottom bracket for the following please.
The frame is a Norco One25 (version 3)
It does not appear to have internal threads.
The diameter is approx 6.3cm and the length is approx 7cm
It is an old dirt jump bike style frame - maybe from 2003.
I found a picture of the frame here, https://webimg.secondhandapp.com/w-i-mgl/5af860e8d31b2f5a14ce2cca
Thanks.

It appears to be American. Corroborate 51mm bore. If so that's what it is. It wants a BMX three piece and matching BB, depending on your crank choice. Mid didn't exist in 03, or at least that was a few years before its mainstream emergence.


Rear axle - converting from imperial to metric? I'm working on restoring a bike which I found at a council dump and I've a couple of questions about the rear axle.

I took the rear axle into a hardware shop today to buy a new locking nut (I mislaid the original when I took it out of the wheel - my bad). They said they didn't have one as the axle was imperial and they only stocked metric locking nuts. They recommended another shop which might stock imperial nuts, but I'm thinking it might make more sense to buy a metric rear axle given that they are easier to get hold of. So my specific question is would it be ok to replace my imperial axle with a metric axle of similar size i.e is there a risk that it might compromise the safety of the wheel. The axle is about 6.5 inches long and the locking but has a diameter of about 5/8 of an inch : so I think this would mean a new axle of length 165mm?

I guess this leads to a more general question. If you replace an axle does it have to be exactly the same length as the original.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Chris

A hardware store is exactly the wrong place to go.

Go to a local bike shop (the older/dirtier the better). They should have the right nuts for your bike in their junk drawer. If not, they can replace the axle in its entirety for you.


Can I install the double brakes on the tt handlebars? I have a fixed gear bike. I want install a tt handlebars, but I don't know it can install double brakes?

As long as you can find a way to physically attach the brake levers you want to use you should be able to install a dual brake lever system on your bike. There are so called 'inline brake levers' which you could use for this purpose, they don't require you to buy a brake line splitter which makes them easy to install. They look like this:

Alternatively you could use a 'brake cable splitter', something similar to this:

Another option:

Yet another:

The 'cable splitter' approach is needed if you want to use 2 sets of bar end levers, since these (to my knowledge) don't come in inline versions.


compatibility for a new cassette and chain My cassette and chain have worn so I need replacements, My cassette is a 10 speed 12-30 and it says on it shimano hyperglide cs 4600 - I have struggled to find this and I don't think they make it any more, but I don't know of one that will fit, and my second problem is how do I know what chain to get it to match my new cassette, what matters?

Ok thanks for the replies, I am not too bothered about the ratios a 12-28 or something would do me fine.
I did a bit of looking up on what you said and I found this http://wiggle.com/shimano-tiagra-hg500-10-speed-cassette-1  I don't know whether it would work, what do you think?
And any shimano 10 speed chain you say will work?

4600 is the previous Shimano Tiagra series (4700 is the current version).
As far as I’m aware all 10 speed cassettes have the same cog spacing, so you should  be able to use any 10 speed cassette and chain. More expensive cassettes are usually lighter and maybe stiffer which makes them shift ever so slightly better. They are a wear part, I wouldn’t spend too much money on them.
Note: The current Tiagra 4700 groupset has different pull ratios for the derailleur and shifter, but that doesn’t affect the cassette spacing.


Repair cut in sidewall of tubeless tyre On my latest ride I managed to put a cut in the sidewall of my front tyre (Specialized S-Works Purgatory 26x2.2"). The sealant (Stan's No Tubes) didn't manage to seal the cut, presumably because the sealant lines the tread and not the sidewall.

While I was out on the trail I re-inflated the tyre and lay the bike on its side to seal the cut. Everything seemed fine until I got on the bike to ride it again, as the tyre rolled it deformed slightly and opened up the cut again. I managed to get home but had to re-inflate the tyre a couple of times to get there.

This post suggests the use of a Tire Boot but on the Park Tool site it suggests that it is only good for tubed tyres: "...in any tubed tire...".

As you can see, the cut seems fairly minor but the sidewall is quite thin, is there any chance of repair or is it time to invest in some new rubber?

The solution to fix this was in the Pinkbike article suggested by @Batman in the comments to the question.

If you buy a radial tyre patch designed for a car then chances are it'll be plenty big enough to patch a hole in a bike tyre. I just went for some cheap ones on eBay. Add the vulcanising glue (plenty of it) to the inside of the tyre and stick the patch on. To be extra safe I added some glue around the edges of the patch after it was in place too.

As you can see in the photos below, there is almost no noticeable bulge on the tyre.

I've ridden the bike a couple of times since reinstalling the tyre and it has been flawless, no problems with the tyre and you certainly can't feel the patch when you're riding.

I realise there is no single solution that will work for everyone who finds themselves with a cut on the sidewall of their tubeless tyre but this solution worked very well for me.


How do I fix the comfort of my bike? On a folding ebike with no suspension what’s the best addition to help with uneven roads bumpy surfaces etc?
Whats the best/valued part I could add for comfort please?

The first things I look at to smooth out a ride are:

Least expensive: Tire pressure. Printed on the tire is the recommended maximum inflation. You can experiment with lower tire pressures to smooth out the ride. I'd try reducing tire pressure in 2 PSI increments and then testing at each step. The downside to reducing pressure is increased rolling resistance and at some point you risk bottoming out the tire against the rim on a bump causing a puncture in the tube. If you keep an eye on your tires as you test you can avoid this outcome.
Look for a softer seat. A seat with more padding or springs will soften the ride. Some people like padded seat covers.
Wider tires. How wide a tire you can use depends on your frame. Wider tires allow lower pressure and smoother ride


How do I use the trim function correctly on Shimano shifters I have Shimano SL-4700 Tiagra (flat handle) Double shifters. However the front shifter has 4 positions in this order:

High

High trimmed

Low trimmed

Low

As can be seen in the image below.

However, I can't make sense of how this is meant to work because there is no way to move between the untrimmed settings. For example, if I want to jump to the small cog from the big cog (from H to L), I would expect to simply pull the top lever with my finger, but in fact it just goes down to the Low Trimmed so I have to do a second pull.

Furthermore, one of the trims has little effect anyway, and I find trim useless anyway as I never cross chain. I'm wondering if Shimano intends you to only use 3 of the settings (i.e. (1) H/HT + L, or (2) H + LT/L) by judicious setting of the limit screws, but I can't find any info about this. My old 8 speed Claris had only one trim, which I could bypass when changing. Not being able to go from high to low with one input seems weird, and I can't imagine Shimano would design the system like this.

Finally, when adjusting the cable tension and limit screws is there any special technique to deal with the trim.

H: To be used with the smaller cogs of the cassette.

HT: To be used with the larger cogs of the cassette. You might hear a rubbing noise  of the chain on the inner blade of the front derailleur if there's a large cog in use at the rear and the front is still on H.

L: You'll use it when the chain is on one of the larger rear cogs.

LT: For when the chain begins rubbing on the FD when you shift on one of the smaller rear cogs.

On a safe flat road put the chain on the smallest cog, the biggest ring and start shifting the rear derailleur towards larger cogs. Look down on the FD and not the behaviour of the chain between the two blades of the FD. At one point, you'll notice the chain touching the FD. That's the point where you trim the FD.

Note: when you shift at the front, the derailleur will go to L or H. Depending on the situation at the rear, you'll have to trim at the front right after the chain has fallen on the small front ring or climbed on the big ring.


Shimano sora 9 Speed rear derailleur capacity It's 37T here http://bike.shimano.com/content/sac-bike/en/home/components11/road/sora1.html

But 31T here
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-sora-9-speed-rear-derailleur-1/#prodbullets

Why is the difference?

I want to install a 50/34 rings with 11-28 cassette. I have the cassette and RD already but not sure if the RD has the enough capacity.

There are two 9 speed Sora groups, 3400 (older, with thumb button shifters for upshifts) and 3500 (current, with a paddle for upshifts).

The Shimano RD-3400 SS has capacity 31t and GS has capacity 37t, both with 11t smallest sprocket, 27t largest sprocket (and 16t chainring and 22t chainring difference respectively).

The Shimano RD-3500 has SS with capacity 37t (front difference <=16) and GS with capacity 41t (front difference <=20). The sprocket ranges have to be (11-14)t to (25-32)t for both.

Wiggle doesn't list which one they're selling, but it looks like they have part of a description from 3400 and part from 3500.

In any case, if you were to buy one, you should get the RD-3500 SS or GS. However, in reality, you can likely use any of them (the specs the manufacturers list can be violated by a tooth or two, normally), at your own risk, of course.