When to change road bike I own this Fuij Roubaix 2008 model road bike, its an aluminium frame with carbon front and rear forks. I already did 25000km on the bike and replaced wheels, chainring, a couple of cassettes, chains and so on.

Will the frame wear out? I am only concerned that the frame will ware out and fail during riding, otherwise I like the bike since its suits me, the size is just right and I like the non-sloping frame.

I am concerned about frame because the rear bolts between the carbon seat stays and the aluminium chain stays were lose and there is this mechanic which every time it sees me with the bike says that its going to break.

What do you think? I would avoid buying another bike not because of the cost but because I like my bike and to the new one I would have to adjust a bit.

Basically I am asking how to know when to replace a bike or a bike's frame,

25000 km isn't a lot.

There isn't a time or mileage you should consider swapping out a frame. Instead, you should look for damage, such as dented tubes or cracks. You should be especially wary if you've been in an accident to check your bike out. Carbon fiber complicates this a bit, because its failure modes are generally more rapid than metal and harder to detect damage visually.

The mechanic might be trying to sell you something (most likely) or he might be right. You may want to get a second opinion from another mechanic.


Is my bike chain skipping? I’m new to cycling. I bought Giant Contend AR 1 road. It seemed to be normal the first time I rode it but the second time the chain felt like it was loose. Excuse my ignorance on bike stuff. I really don’t know what the problem is. Or is there a problem at all? Is this normal? On the video I didn’t change gears.

Judging from the sound and the video, your chain is getting stuck in the rear derailleur pulleys. Sometimes it’s loose and not engaging on the pulley, and sometimes the chain is routed  over the metal bit between pulleys so that it rubs against the metal. You can also get this if your chain is way too long, but it looks tight on the bottom. If it’s way too short, you can also get this by trying to force a gear that the derailleur can’t fit, so the chain downshifts or slips off the pulley.


Can I damage a tubeless rim using a wire bead tire on it? This question is very similar to Can I use a standard tyre on a tubeless rim? but while the answers there set out that it's possible I'd like to understand the risks of doing it.

I recently saw a deal for Fulcrum Red Metal 3 factory wheels that was too good to pass on. Unfortunately only a couple of weeks ago I stuck a new pair of Maxxis Igniter wire beads on my bike. The tyres are cheap but I like them and wouldn't mind keeping them. Is there any risk of damaging the new rims if I run the wire bead tires with tubes in them? Also is there any risk of damaging me?

They have a big Only Use UST Compatible Tires sticker on them so thought prudent to ask. Not worried about any liability issues New Zealand has a national no fault accident insurance scheme which covers personal injury.

To answer your question in a word: No.
You can run any tire on the rims you want. The "UST only" sticker is referring to when you're running tubeless. Even then I wouldn't pay it much mind. There are plenty of good non UST tubeless tires out there. Squirt some sealant in there, air them up and off you go. The UST standard is a dying (dead?) standard. Our friend Stan played a big part in making that happen. Before there were many tubeless tires available his tubeless kits converted most, but not all, non tubeless mtb tires to tubeless with no more issue than you would have with a UST certified setup. Some would argue that the NoTubes kits were more dependable than UST.


Do wider tires wear better? I'm interested in road bike tires and how width affects how long they last.

It seems common-sense that a wider tire would wear better, as there's simply more of it to "spread" the wear, but I'd like to know if this is true in practice. Answers based on experience or actual studies/research would both be interesting.

I'd normally run wider tires at a lower pressure appropriate to the load, but this may make comparison harder.

Could braking and cornering have different effects on tire wear? For example, perhaps wider tires wear less in braking, but more due to cornering. If this was the case then the answer might depend on how much braking/cornering the rider does. There might also be a difference between the front and back tire.

While I'm not a road biker, I can speak from experience with mountain bike tires. The first spot to wear is the center of the tread. Why? It's the part that is ridden on the most. Increasing the width of your tire with increase the contact patch (the part of the tire touching the ground); therefore, your wear is going to be the same because that contact patch is still hitting the ground the same amount. That said, the amount of pressure put on that contact patch can change due to width, as the mass of the bike and rider is spread across the larger area.

Tire pressures can affect your contact patch as well, lower pressures allow more of the tire to hit the road or trail. This means your going to expose more of the tire to wear, increase grip (in the case of mountain tires, don't know about road so much), and increase rolling resistance.

Other wear patterns will depend on the type of terrain and riding style. If you ride on very smooth asphalt, you probably aren't going to wear through a tire that fast, but if you ride on loose, rocky, beat-up roads, that's going to eat at the rubber much more quickly. Similarly, if you do more straight-line riding you're most likely going to see the center wear quicker than the sides, but if you turn more (or skid a lot when braking into turns) you can wear down the sides quite a bit too. There are other environmental factors to consider as well (heat, humidity, etc.) that can affect tire wear, but those are much harder to quantify.

I would look more into finding specific types of tire, maybe ones that address the hard/softness of the rubber instead of looking for wider tires. Also try experimenting with tire pressures outside of what you're doing now. If you want some hard numbers, I would recommend looking at specific tire manufacturers who may have testing data available and estimated mileage charts for certain riding conditions.


How to lower gearing on Tiagra 4700 I have a bike with Tiagra 4700 hydraulic groupset and I want to lower the gearing from the present minimum 34/28. The one thing I'd not like to replace is the shifters:

These ST-RS405, while truly not being beauty contest winners, sit in my hands better than many others.
I do not want to move away from hydraulics and do not want to move to 11 speed (or to any non-Shimano shifters).

I know I can replace the derailer with any Shimano road 11 speed long-cage, which allows to use cassette up to 34T according to Shimano specs and I'm sure that it will handle 36T.

How can front gears be lowered? I absolutely do not need 50T. My preferred chainring combination would be 42/28, but:

FD-4700 is rated for min 46T larger chainring (and standard 16T difference). This might allow using 46/30, which I'd be fine with, but does anyone have practical experience with chainrings so different from the "native" 50/34?
What crankset could give me such combination not (much) spoiling the 43.5mm chainline? A road triple with inner and middle chainrings would do it; I'm looking around if there are doubles with that small BCD and road-ish chainline. I do not want to take an MTB double as nearly all of my riding will be on the larger chainring (I'll use the smaller one less than 1% of my riding time - but I do not want to dismount for that 1%).
The shifter is stated to work only with FD-4700. Really, cable pull ratio of Tiagra 4700 looks much bigger than the "Shimano standard". Does someone have experience successfully using any other FD with ST-RS405?

Shimano's most recent compatibility chart is available here. Note that these are official compatibility ratings. It is fine to exceed official specs by a bit.

At the rear, you can get a 10s Tiagra cassette that has a 34t cog, but it does technically require the long cage Tiagra RD. The issue was discussed here. The short cage Tiagra RD is rated for a maximum of a 28 tooth cog. If you have this, you could install a Wolf Tooth RoadLink to increase its maximum cog specification. You would need to be cautious not to exceed the rear derailleur capacity, or the maximum amount of chain that an RD can wrap.

You could also get an 11s GS RD, but be aware that they aren't officially compatible. In particular, if the 11s system is made with a different cable pull ratio (i.e. the length of shift cable pulled by each shift on the STI shifter), then an 11s RD won't shift correctly. You stated in comments that the cable pull ratio is the same, however.

At the front, you can't simply change the chainrings, and these are expensive in any case. Stock cranksets with Shimano's asymmetric 110mm bolt circle diameter can only handle a minimum of 34 or 33 tooth chainrings. Please don't construe any products mentioned below as recommendations; they are given as examples, and aren't an exhaustive list of options. You should Google to confirm.

Option 1: You could get a sub-compact crankset.

The Praxis Alba crankset can handle 48/32 chainrings. It doesn't appear to handle smaller ones. As stated in the dealer manual, this crankset maintains your 43.5mm chainline. However, this requires a new bottom bracket. For even smaller chainrings, you would definitely need a third party crankset, but many would also require you to change your bottom bracket. For example, the White Industries G30 crankset can accommodate an inner ring as small as 24t. This is a premium option. I'm uncertain about this crankset's chainline. Be aware that many sub-compact cranksets are designed for gravel bikes. Thus, most of them may have different chainlines.

The Shimano GRX cranksets are available in 48/32 or 46/30 ratios and they shouldn't require a new bottom bracket. However, they don't maintain your desired chainline. Nonetheless, I have heard anecdotal reports that people are running GRX cranksets with standard road front derailleurs.

Option 2: Get oval chainrings, such as the Absolute Black chainrings. They claim to have designed oval chainrings with average effective sizes of 48/32t and 46/30t that fit standard Shimano cranks.

The issue is that you may not like them, and they do need the front derailleur to be set up properly. I have heard some users comment that this was more difficult. Their purported advantage is that they decrease the length of the lever arm when your pedal stroke is in recovery phase, and lengthen it during the power phase of the stroke. These are claims only, and I don't believe studies have shown that they are generally effective.

The chainrings themselves are about as expensive as a new crankset, and they don't get you all the way to your desired gearing. However, you would be able to keep the rest of your current setup.

As discussed in the second link to a previous StackExchange post, you will need to be aware not to exceed your front derailleur capacity as well as the RD capacity.


Freehub movement on Reynolds hub--is this OK? The freehub on my Reynolds wheel moves a bit horizontally when off the bike.  Is there a problem with it, or is it working as designed?

I think what's going on in that video is either a slip fit endcap has partially slid off, or a threaded one is loose. If they're slip fit than of course it will all be fine once the wheel is back on the bike. If threaded, they should be re-tightened.


Is it possible to increase maximum seatpost insertion length by filing down a seat tube bottle cage mount boss? I have an aluminum MTB hardtail frame with a pair of standard bottle cage holes on the seat tube.
I want to insert a seatpost fairly deep into the frame sometimes, so that the saddle stays low. The limitation of my frame's maximum insertion depth is the top hole position. The bottle cage boss has a part of its fixture protruding into the tube. Thus, while theoretically there is about 20 or more centimeters of the seat tube left down to the bottom bracket, the post can only go so far.

With my current seatpost, I solved this problem by sawing off several centimeters of it. This way, I could have the saddle as low as I wanted it to be. I had to account for the change of minimum insertion depth of course, as the part of the post was not there anymore; I was OK with that. Yet, I want to keep the currently achieved minimum saddle height, or even decrease it a bit.

I am now waiting for a new seatpost to be delivered, and it is several centimeters longer than my current (sawed-off) one. Unfortunately, I cannot shorten it, because it is a dropper; apparently, the trick with a saw will not work on it.

I am thinking about approaching this issue from a different angle. I do not use that particular bottle cage mount. If I manage to remove it, or at least its internal protruding part, I will have enough additional centimeters of clear straight tube (until the second, lower bottle hole) to stick my new dropper post in.

This idea spawns a number of questions.

Is it possible to achieve at all?

Straightforward drilling of the down tube from the outside of the mount hole and making a bigger hole to get rid of the fixture sounds like an obvious but very dangerous option. The frame strength will suffer.
Instead, a careful filing of the mount point inside the tube sounds safer. But it can only be done by reaching from the top of the down tube (with a post removed) with a very long file, or a similar instrument. I do not know if such tools are available to bike shops.

Is it reasonable at all? Is that internal part of a bottle mount supposed to bear significant mechanical load?
I cannot imagine I am the first one to face this problem and to imagine such a solution, but has anyone ever tried it? Are there any documented attempts of such (un)successful operation? Maybe on a steel frame (but even I cannot dream up trying that on carbon stuff).

Drilling the seat tube is a bad idea, for the reasons you've indicated. Very rarely a bike shop will have a tool for reaming a seat tube (more usually framebuilders have those) that can to the task in a slightly safer way.

BUT from my experience with a welded steel frame where I didn't bother to back-purge (lesson learned!), even once you weld an extension onto the end of a half-round file, it's a tedious and difficult job to file down irregularities inside the seat tube. You're trying to apply pressure half a metre away from the part you're holding, and that's hard to do. You need a long, strong extension on that file. This is why framebuilders have seat tube reaming tools (which are expensive).

A reaming tool will probably not help you, because that boss is a single, hard obstacle and will likely damage the tool if you can even get it into position to cut the boss. If you do get it in there it's as likely to cut the opposite side of the seat tube away as cut the boss.

A better approach would be to drill out the boss. It's likely that the boss is actually a separate assemble riveted into the frame - they drill a hole, insert the boss, then compress it so it clamps into place. If you can drill out enough of the boss it will fall out, leaving you the original hole in your frame.

Which is the real problem with this approach - at best you'll end up with a hole in your seat tube, and the BB will fill up with water. You can out tape over the hole, and replace the tape when it starts to fail, but it's not ideal. Welding a cover plate on will reverse the heat treatment of the aluminium, leaving a soft spot in the tube. Soldering a patch on would be better, but soldering aluminium is hard (it's an excellent heat conductor!)

The extra stress from the end of the post should be minimal, most seat tubes are actually butted so that minor bends or dents to the tube don't lock the seatpost in place. You'll find the top 100mm or so is tight on the post, after that you have 0.1mm or so space around the post.


Youth racing 11 speed 16 up cassette I have been looking around and I cannot find anywhere that sells a cassette with a 16 tooth top gear that is Shimano 11 speed compatible. Junior racing requires gear limits and I was hoping to find something similar in spec to Ultegra or Dura-Ace. Please can someone advise?

https://www.velonews.com/2015/10/news/technical-faq-junior-gear-options_388340 - Junior racing requires a maximum rollout, which is often ,incorrectly, interpreted as a 15 or 16 small cog on cassette. A smaller chainring does a better job in most cases. Its probably a 'thing' about size from a sport drenched too much testosterone.

A 34/11 is nearly the same as a 50/16 (I'll let the author do the math for whats legal with his wheel and tire size.) Compact or even MTB cranksets can do this easily.  Drop the large chain ring making it 1x (You probably have closer gear spacing than an adult running 52/36 on a typical road cassette), select a chain ring that gives you the maximum rollout you are allowed on the 11, and cassette that meets your low gear requirements. I'm not up in the play with road/drop bars setup and maximum cluster sizes, but the Gravel bikes will almost certain have gear that's got you covered, certainly 11-36 if needed and maybe even 11-40.


Will a Mishiki Pueblo Mountain 20 in frame hold my weight. I go about 330 I weigh about 330  ...

Will a Mishiki Pueblo Mountain Bike 20 inch frame will hold my weight?

First congratulations for getting back on a bike. As others have stated the typical weak point will be the axles and wheels. I would recommend having the wheel bearings serviced by your local bike shop. Ask them to check the spoke tension as well. I've seen quite a few low end wheels with poorly adjusted bearings and almost no grease in the hub. I would then run the tire pressure to the max spec on the tire sidewall. Even then they are likely only suitable for pavement or bike path use. If wheel problems occur consider investing in a set of wheels designed for a tandem bike. They are capable of supporting 2 adults. While they will cost more then your current bike you can use them on your next bike when you upgrade. Another option is a used LandRider auto shift. They are frequently listed on Craigs List for under $200 in my area. They are rated for 350 pounds


Difference between wet and dry chain lube I was in a bike shop recently asking for dry lube, and the sales guy told me that the wet/dry distinction is just one that Finishline uses for their product lines, not an actual distinction between chain lubes in general.

However, other bike store folks have told me that there is a difference, and that wet lube can be applied less frequently, but will tend to collect grit and sand more, while dry lube is less adhesive to that stuff, but must be reapplied more often.

Are any of these right or close to right?

Wet and Dry lube are pretty much universal terms, they're not constrained to one manufacturer.

Wet lube is suitable for wet conditions, dry lube is suitable for dry conditions.

Wet lube is quite sticky. It will stick to your mech and is less likely to get washed off by rain. The downside, because it is sticky, it can pick up crap from the road, as those guys said.

Dry lube is a much lighter lube. It should keep your mech quite clean, the downside is that because it is that much lighter, it'll get washed off in wet conditions.

As regards use, it really depends on where you live and your climate. Where I am (UK) I tend to use dry lube in the summer and wet lube in the winter. If I think I can get away with it, I'll lean toward dry lube (although I won't put dry lube on top of wet lube, I'm more likely to clean the chain first).

Incidentally if you look at a given manufacturer, they will likely have both wet and dry products, possibly others too. All are optimised for certain conditions. For example, the manufacturer White Lightning makes four lubes (described here). I use Epic (which is a dry-ish lube) and Wet.


Uncomfortable road saddle, how to choose a saddle for my riding? I have a selle royale laser saddle. Its pretty uncomfortable but not bad for pedalling. I would like to change my city road bike saddle. Does anyone have recommendations, and rules of thumb for choosing saddles?

My specific use case is for short and medium trips in the city. For long trips I have a Brooks Champion Flyer. I was using an mtb saddle. A specialized body geometry saddle on my road bike, but I found that its too wide & need a saddle designed for the road bike. Its a vintage road bike so the saddle position and pedalling style compared to newer road bikes might be different (its a 1950s H.R. Bates).

The general rules of thumb seem to be:

Softer saddles for shorter rides, harder ones for longer rides
Width to match your sit bones plus about 2cm.
A large portion of personal preference

Source: Sheldon Brown.

There's some more detailed analysis here.


If I mount a standard (tube needed) tire on a tubeless compatible rim will it be easier to remove when I get a flat? I'm running a tube in my tubeless compatible WTB rim and WTB Byway tire and am finding it nearly impossible to break the seal when I've gotten flats.  If I get standard (non- tubeless compatible?) tires, will make it easier to change flats?  Any advice appreciated.

The difficulty rating varies by tire and rim and which combinations are used. Some tires may come off easier on some wheels and be more difficult on others. In general tubeless rims make it more difficult to break the bead loose. The reason is that tubeless rims have an extra bump next to the spoke holes. The purpose of which is to keep the tire from unseating in the event of a flat. You may want to try putting the tires on and off a few times to find a technique that works best. I recently bought a Crank Brothers Speedier Tire Lever which is different from the standard levers. The rims I have used it on weren't tubeless but it did seem easier to get the tire off.


Surly Ogre thru axle fork options I just picked up a Surly Ogre frame and I already have a set of 12mm thru axle wheels (12x142 rear, 12x100 front). The Ogre rear dropout is thru axle ready, but I'm trying to figure out my options for the fork (I don't have a fork yet):

1) Find a 12mm through axle touring fork (would want IS disk mounts, fender and rack mounts, and geometry similar to that of the Ogre fork, I think its ~448mm axle to crown, non-suspension corrected). This seems like a good way to go, but I'm having trouble finding a fork that fits these requirements.

2) Get a Surly Ogre fork, and install the front wheel with a 12mm to quick release adapter. I think this might be a good option given that the Ogre fork meets all my requirements already and allows me to use the wheel I already have. My only worry is whether using the adapter negates the point of a thru axle, or if it will be unsafe (I have no idea whether this is true)

3) Get a QR front wheel compatible with the Ogre fork. (don't want to have to spend more money to replace a wheel I have already)

Any thoughts are much appreciated!

A 12mm thru axle to 9mm thru bolt adapter (literally just a 100mm long tube that is 12mm OD and 9mm ID) can provide a strong, stiff, and tool-free interface, and I believe is available from the same source as the 12 to 5mm adapter you are considering. In my experience, thru bolts (e.g., the tool free version available from DT Swiss) are much stronger than a hollow 9mm axle with 5mm qr skewer (I have broken a few), and have every advantage of a thru axle.  This would allow you to use the Ogre fork, or any of a number of QR-style forks.


How to true 16 spokes front Campagnolo scirocco 35 I have a wheel which has serious damage in two places. First - there is a huge wobbly-wheel due to side collision (5mm) and second - there is a dent on a braking surface. I'm curious - is there any change to true this wheel? Rim is very strong, I'm not sure if I can bend it with my hands or body weight.

I guess you have an aluminium/aluminum rim, which doesn't take kindly to rebending.  Steel is generally okay to bend, but I have no experience with CF wheel rims.

Tool for rim tweaks is Vice Grips - with layers of padding in the jaws.  If you can find the ones with ~50mm wide clamping surface, that distributes the pressure better and reduces the localised "bottle lid" effect.

As for bending the whole rim back to approximately flat, lay a broomstick on a flat concrete floor, then stand on the high bits.

Kind-of like this but not using the axle, since its a bare rim you will want to overbend it so it ends up straight.  Use the flat concrete floor and look for wobble.

If the wheel is this bad, its dead.  Straightening this wheel is a get-home fix only  Notice in the middle where the join has wrenched, and now the braking surfaces will have a lip?  Also the whole join is stressed and may give way anytime.

Regardless, once you have your rim straight, examine it closely, both sides, for cracking.  Spend at least 10 minutes on this and even use a loupe or magnifying glass on anything suspicious.  Check in the braking surfaces, the spoke side, and in the tyre valley.

Alloy does not bend back very well, so you might be best off replacing the rim rather than rebuilding it.

Aside - don't misplace any spokes or nipples!  On my 20 spoke shimano front wheel, the oversized nipples go at the hub and are $14 each to buy, and the spokes have to be hand made.


Chain slips on low and high gear and sometimes when putting some strain into it I have been running an 8 speed cassette/freewheel, don't which cuz I never checked before it seized the other day.I was using it with a 7 speed shifter, not ideal I know but it worked OK just used 7 of the 8 cogs.

As mentioned above, the other day my cassette/freewheel seized. I had a spare back wheel with a 9 speed cassette on it (I learnt how to check yesterday) so I whacked that on and thought I could just use 7 of the 9 cogs. The chain now slips at both high and low end and sometimes when putting extra strain on it.

So my question is, what did I do wrong and what do I need to do to correct it please? Btw the rear derailleur is an 8 speed and the crank set is 3 rings, if that helps any.

Thanks in advance XD

Both wear of the rest of the drivetrain (chain in particular can be stretched) and chain width mismatch (9 speed chains are narrower, and so are distance between cogs in the freewheel) can contribute to the skipping you see.

In general, 9 speed freewheels work neither with 8 nor with 10 speed chains.


Gear shift adjustments I recently had to replace the shifters on my bike. The replacement was easy enough, but now when I shift the derailleur either jumps too far or too short. I've tried using the adjustment screws on the derailleurs but I feel like I am doing something wrong. I think I'm just going to disconnect everything and I was looking for a guide to do this properly.

Also I don't have a rack to hang the bike while I work so I will be working on the bike upsidedown.

Edit: Yes I have the right shifters. They are the same exact model as the ones i replaced.

Congratulations on starting to do your own repairs. The first step is realizing some thing is wrong (you seem to have got that one). Step two try to fix it. Step three learn why step two didn't work. I use the Parktool BigBlue Book as my guide. I bought mine at a local bookstore but it is available on their website for free.

As for not having a repair stand, I installed two large hooks about six feet apart in the ceiling of my storage area. A piece of rope, nylon luggage strap or cord loops over the nose of the seat and over the hook. A second piece is laced around the headset to the second hook. I can adjust the lengths to vary the height, shorter if I'm working on a brake caliper, longer if I'm working on a brake lever.


Fox Float RP2 shock tuning (rebound, compression/velocity, boost valve) Does anyone have an experience with Fox Float RP2 tuning? I bought a used Giant Reign 2 2011 and it came with "L" - I guess that means "low" - "velocity tune" (earlier called compression tune). The velocity tune is supposed to correspond to the level of ProPedal. So that seems that the Reign has the smallest ProPedal setting from factory. I think I could use a greater level of ProPedal (2 or 3). I just sent the shock for an annual maintenance. Is it possible to change the velocity tune? Do you think it is a good idea. The guy from maintenance company told me it is not a good idea to change velocity tune on a particular bike because it could collide with a frame geometry.

The guy from the "maintenance" company is kinda right, kinda not. Talking to an expert (like PUSH) would be where to go to find out what changes work with your particular bike.


New chain, pedal power seems weaker I'm a commuter cyclist who didn't for the last 18 months really do anything to take care of his bike - though it was stored inside between rides.  Took it to the shop 12 months in for a service, but otherwise just pumped up the tyres periodically.  This was not very clever, I appreciate.

Having decided to start taking my bike a bit more seriously I decided to start by replacing the chain.  My old chain was rusted all over and made a slight grinding sound as I pedalled, so I imagined it was slowing me down by not transferring my pedalling to the wheels as well as it could.

Over the weekend I (eventually) managed to replace the chain with a new one, thanks to Youtube.  The new chain is exactly as many links as the old chain: I counted.

But now I could swear I am cycling slower, and my legs hurting more at the same speeds, than before.  I'm also commuting to work a few minutes slower than last week.  My bike isn't skipping gears, but it is making a noticeable rattling or sliding sound as I pedal (and not when I freewheel down hills).  It also occasionally slips, though not much.

Have I somehow made my transmission less efficient?  Or am I just going crazy?  And if it's the former, does anyone have an idea for what the problem might be?  Some Googling has suggested the cassette might need replacing too, but the fact I am changing gears fine makes me think that isn't the case.

Many thanks in advance,
Q

EDIT: While trying to implement the suggestions below I found the real problem, which would have been obvious if I'd uploaded photos.  I'd threaded the chain wrongly through the deraileur.  See attached photo, with the blue line showing the path the chain used to take (I've since rethreaded it properly).

My chain is still slipping under power, which I suspect is the worn cassette.  I'll replace that this weekend. But the bike feels much better now and my time into work this morning (with not great traffic conditions) was 20% faster than Mon-Wed.

Your symptoms sound like your rear deraileur needs to be re-adjusted.  If that is off you will notice the skipping and "rattling" sound as the chain rubs against the deraileur or jumps gears under various pedal pressures.  That rubbing will also slow you down.

Your old chain will have stretched so counting links will not translate to an exact fit for your new chain.  Your new chain will be slightly shorter and will require some re-adjustments to your rear deraileur.

Additionally, there's a few other variables that you can check/think about.

1.) New chains come with a protective grease/oil that protects the chain from cororosion.  There's some debate on whether you remove this coating and add chain lube or just keep it on.  I've always removed it since the viscosity is higher than my chain lube.  The viscosity of the lubricant you use will affect power transfer enough for you to notice.

2.) You may not get smooth shifting at all if your cassette is worn out with your new chain.  If this is the case the reason is that your old chain has worn into the cassette teeth - meaning the two fit together "perfectly".  When you replace the chain, the chain no longer sits properly within the teeth.  If you look at the cassette teeth and you see that they are shaped like shark teeth it's time to think about a replacement.


Can I use a derailleur hanger in my old frame? I'm trying to adapt an old '83 Fuji Del Rey frame with the parts of my broken '86 Fuji Espree and I'm having problems adapting the Derailleur.

The Del Rey frame doesn't come with the little hook where the derailleur was in the other frame and I'm wondering if I can adapt a derailleur hanger to it.
I've done research but there are a lot of different models and I don't know how to evaluate.

Is there a generic one that can be attached directly to where the wheel goes?

Thanks in advance!

This is a detail photo of the Espree:  http://i.stack.imgur.com/OrfAJ.jpg

And this is a detail of the Del Rey with my wheel on it. (I realized it's not very clear, I'll upload new pics as I get home)

http://cl.ly/IaY5/IMG_2724.JPG

There are replacement hangers to adapt a modern deraileur to horizontal drops. I have never used one and can't say how well they work. BikeParts.com lists this Shimano compatable piece ID#: BPC109497 that  may do the trick. Talk to someone at the LBS (local bike shop) first,if you get it locally you will be able to try it for fit before buy it.


Which bolt to use when aligning disc brakes? I am struggling with a rubbing disc rotor on a new bicycle. Which bolts should I use when trying to align the caliper? The ones I marked in red, or the blue ones?

I tried to use the red ones so far, but could not get rid of the rubbing. The rotor looks true, but the space on each side is extremely tight.

Later I realized that the lower blue bolt is simply not accessible. The space is too tight to fit a screwdriver. However, should I encounter a similar situation in the future, where the calipers are held on a bracket with accessible screws: Should one adjust the caliper on top of the bracket? Or should one adjust the bracket on the fork?

Should one adjust the caliper on top of the bracket? Or should one adjust the bracket on the fork?

For Magura parts, you'll adjust the caliper. It's impossible to predict what would be the case for every brake assembly that will ever be manufactured, so your question about the future cannot be answered with certainty. But if you ever see an intermediate bracket like that, engineering concerns dictate a very high probability that you'll always want to adjust the caliper itself, rather than the mounting of the bracket it's secured to.
The part secured by the blue screws is the QM26 adapter used to allow the caliper to work with a 203 mm rotor:

The red screws then secure the caliper to the adapter. It is those screws that you need to loosen before aligning the caliper:

The diagrams above are from the owner's manual. The instructions that go with the second picture read in part:

Installing brake calliper

…
Screw in retaining screws top (M6x35)(11) and bottom (M6x33)(12).
The brake calliper can still be moved slightly but only wobbles slightly
Pull and release the brake lever several times
Pressure point is clearly noticeable and does not change.
Pull and hold brake lever.
Tighten retaining screws alternately and in stages to a tightening torque of max. 6 N-m (53 lbf-in). [A7][A2]

Note particularly the last two points. Disc brakes in general are finicky to get adjusted right (well, even many rim brake designs are too), but it's important to make sure you are holding tension on the brake lever to secure the caliper in line with the rotor, and tightening the screws carefully so as to not disturb this alignment.
Assuming you've already done all these things, then you may have things aligned as best as you're going to. The brake pads ride very close to the rotor, and minute vibrations resonate well through the brake parts and bike frame, so the tiniest irregularities produce noticeable noise. Often once the pads have been worn a bit, things get evened out and the noise abates or disappears completely.


Matt black carbon bike Just want to ask about the finish of matt black carbon bike. I bought a brand new specialized carbon bike. And the surfaces are like the images. I thought it’s kind of smudges or smears that could be left or made in assembling in the bike shop. When I asked them, they said it’s not any smear or smudges. They said they are the edges of layers of carbon meeting and on raw lacquered frames, These cross over points are then visible through the carbon. It sounds like it’s true. But when i see the frame, still doubt if it’s really what it has to be.
So want to hear anyone’s experience or any photos similar with mine to be assured.
Thanks
J

It's the carbon weave visible through the matt lacquer. it's an attractive finish but not everyone loves it.
That is a UD weave rather than the easier-to-identify 3k, which looks like fabric.


Mechanism to draw rear wheel back and tighten chain stuck; oil not helping, what's next? I have a bicycle with an internally geared hub (Rohloff).  To tension the chain, I loosed the attachment of the rear wheel (dropouts), draw back the rear wheel, and tighten the attachment again.  However, on one side, this mechanism is stuck.  I've oiled it but it's still stuck.  What can I try next?

This mechanism is supposed to move back and forth when the bolts are loosened, but it doesn't.  On this photo, I removed the bolts connecting it to the dropout completely, to make sure that isn't the problem.

Whereas on the other side of my bicycle, it does.

This leaves me with the choice of cycling with a loose chain, or cycling with a slightly less loose chain but a rear wheel that isn't straight.  Not a great choice.  How can I unstuck this mechanism?  I've already tried to oil it.

Edit:

The thing on the left (with a thread visible) is stuck.  It is supposed to be connected to the thing sticking out on the right, but regardless of how much I loosed the thing sticking out on the right, the thing on the left won't move.  Sorry, I don't know the right terminology.

I'm a little puzzled by the threads that look like they should draw the hub's axle back to tension the chain. They don't appear like they can move, but it also doesn't look like there is a nut on them to pull the axel back. Do you know if they thread into the frame, or are they free to slide?

That said, it appears that the load on the mechanism would tend to misalign the threaded part where it passes through the frame. This is very likely to cause it to jam. I think you could try very gently prying up on the loop where the axle attaches or perhaps tapping down gently on the top of the loop. It shouldn't take much force at all. I'm assuming that the frame is not threaded and that the adjuster should slide freely.


Can I use Edge 510 as an indoor trainer computer I'm setting up for the winter (yes it's only October, this is Sweden).

I need to set up a speedometer for my rear wheel while I use the turbo trainer, I have a Garmin Edge 510 with cadence sensor, and wonder can I set this up to feed cadence and speed (with speed taken from the rear wheel) to the Edge head unit whilst on a stationary trainer?

How do I set the edge computer to deal with this (I assume it needs to know to take speed from the sensor and not GPS, and just trying to use it as normal failed).

I'm basing this on my 810 but I assume they're similar.

You can create a new profile for riding on the turbo. For each profile you can select which sensors are used. If you turn off GPS and turn on cadence and speed (and HR if you have it) you can use it indoors. You might need another sensor to pick up wheel speed if you only have a cadence sensor. A combined (speed and cadence) one is around £35 in the UK, not sure what they'd be in Sweden.

I don't have it on me at the moment. If you need more details I'll post instructions based on mine this evening.


Dictionary of regional vocabulary differences (US vs UK) Given that we appear to be about evenly divided between UK and US folks (and given that "Britain and the United States are two countries divided by a common language"), there should be a dictionary of regional differences in bike terms. The main differences seem to be American English and UK/AU/NZ English.

This was discussed on meta a bit, with some ideas there.

Definitely worth looking at https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/784/translating-cooking-terms-between-us-uk-au-ca-nz for ideas how to format well.

I'll make this a community wiki, please simply edit the one answer.

I think we can safely ignore trivial spelling differences like tire/tyre and curb/kerb, and concentrate on differences in terminology that tend to confuse people.
Roads and surfaces

US: pavement: concrete or any hard surface used for vehicles or pedestrians. Suggest using "road" instead.
UK: pavement: a walkway for pedestrians, especially a sidewalk. Suggest using "walkway" instead.
UK: tarmac: road surface, same as US asphalt. (In full, tarmacadam (itself short for tar-bound macadam) but asphalt (bitumen) has replaced tar as a binder.)
US: asphalt: road surface, especially a tar-binder concrete
US: cement: commonly mis-used in US to mean concrete, especially for structures

Components

UK: block, US/rest of world: Cassette, though this is becoming rare.
UK: "mech" short for mechanism, US/Europe/ROW: Derailleur
US/CA: fenders: Devices that fit over the wheels to keep things from splashing onto the rider or the bike, called "mudguards" in the UK.
UK: mudguards: fenders
US/CA: Crankset / UK: Chainset (though crankset is also used in the UK)
UK: Seat Pin (but "seat post" is normal UK usage) / US/CA: Seat Post
Short form for Campagnolo (an Italian component manufacturer); US: Campy, UK: Campag

Tools

US/CA: Wrench / UK: Spanner -- grabs the outside of a bolt head
US Crescent wrench -- Crescent is a branch name, known for adjustable wrench/spanners, but not in the UK.
UK Mole grips/Mole wrench / US Vise-Grips -- Locking pliers (brand names which are used generically, but not across US/UK)
US: Channellocks -- Channellock is a brand best known for their multi-position slip-joint pliers.  Always plural:  "Pass me the Channellocks."
US: Hex Wrench / Hex Key / Allen Wrench / UK/CA: Allen Key -- a hexagonal tool inserted into a bolt head, often L-shaped
UK: track pump / US: floor pump -- In the US, "track pump" is usually only used for a specific style of pump seen at a track, while in the UK it's commonly used to refer to any kind of floor pump.  In Canada both are commonly used, although floor pump may be more familiar to those new to cycling.

Clothing

US/CA: Spandex = UK: Lycra -- They're different brand-names for the same fibre (elastane)
US: wind vest or vest / UK: gilet (said "jee-lay")  These are generally armless.

Accessories

US: water bottle / UK: bidon (said "bee-don").

Other

US/CA: public transit / UK: public transport. Suggest using "public transportation".
US/CA: Yield / UK: Give Way
US/CA: Flat / UK: Puncture -- In the US "puncture" refers only to tire/tube damage from piercing, such as a nail. In the UK "puncture" is also used for pinch flats, valve failures, etc.


Where is the Tricross Sora front derailleur barrel adjuster It's supposed to be on the outer casing (according to the shimano manual) but the Tricross has internal cable routing.

Anyone know where it is? I really don't see it but I might be being a bit simple.

With out a photo it is hard to tell. Jagwire does make  inline adjusters. They have different types, that adjust differently. Check the Jagwire website or ask at the LBS where you got the bike for assistance.


remove "wrench force" floor bike pump from the schrader valve It is embarrassing for me to say the number of tubes I have destroyed removing the chuck. Are there techniques or adapters I am missing? Or do I have a defective chuck?

As you discovered (see comments), your chuck was defective/broken.

(Please consider closing this question.)


Chainring offset - chainline - of Alfine vs. Ultegra/Dura Ace I have a bike with Alfine 11 and belt drive. I think I could use a 175mm crank, certainly a 172.5, rather than the 170 Alfine comes in (height 6'1" frame size 60cm) and going a little lighter and prettier with Ultegra or Dura Ace appeals to me.

All are two-piece chainsets compatible with the Hollowtech II bottom bracket. All have 130 BCD. Seems like a straight swap is possible. The only thing I can thing of that might go wrong is belt alignment - is the offset of the larger chainring mounts on the road sets going to be the same as the mounts on the Alfine?

I was able to find that the quoted chainline for the Alfine chainset is 42.7mm - I can't find that figure for the other options.

new information: Gates produce a bunch of shims and spacers - mentioned in the engineering manual but I haven't been able to find them for sale anywhere. It looks like with this kit an Ultegra chainset will work but it's an expensive experiment without knowing for sure. I'll have to email Gates to try and find the kit, then buy the chain set if the rings look like they will correct the chainline - which from all information must be as perfect as possible.

The Alfine has a chinaline of 42.7mm for a single crank and the Ultegra 43.5mm for the double and 45mm for the triple.

For the double the chainline is measured halfway between the 2 rings so the outer ring will be even further out, but the inner further in.

Sheldon says "With typical 5 mm chainring spacing, this puts the inner at 41 mm, the outer at 46 mm".

1.7mm or 3.3mm both sound like a long way for a belt drive to me. But I'm not an expert there. You my be able to use the BB spacers to offset the whole crankset 1.7mm towards the drive side, but I'd rather not go down that route.

This is all assuming there's no extra molding on the cranks or rings to get in the way.


Picking bottom bracket and chain set for older mtb frame I have  an old norco manik frame from 2006 and I need help picking bottom bracket and chainset.

I have been looking at Truvativ Hussefelt 1.1 DH Chainset at crc but how do I make sure the bottom bracket and chainset fit? The original bike spec just lists Truvativ Hussefelt as chainset, no specific bb is being mentioned.

Aiming at using this mtb as my winter bike not looking for exclusive parts.

There are a few of ways to find out what will fit:

Research websites like Bikepedia and Norco.com and check the original spec. You've possibly done this already and found it's of little help.
Pull the cranks off and remove the BB length and diameter will be printed on it. You're looking to take it off anyway.
Remove everything and measure, this will be most complicated and a last resort.

They're your three options, but with a bit of googling to confirm it's easy to find threads dealing with this. Essentially most North American mtbs of this age run a 68/73mm English threaded BB and a 47.5 or 50mm chain line. 2.5mm won't be a significant difference however.

As you are replacing crank and BB you only need to match what you buy, so if you get a square taper BB you need a square taper crank and so forth. The crank determines spindle length, not the frame. Shimano Hollowtech II cranks come with an external BB so always an easy option.


What's this? Photo of bicycle with pedals by the rear wheel I just stumbled upon this photo of what appears to be a reasonably normal citybike, except it looks like it has a second set of pedals at the rear wheel.

source

Anybody knows what it is?

There are bicycles with a crankshaft that runs through the rear axle. The "Tur Meccanica Bi Bici" is such a bicycle:

I can't tell from your picture if it's the same bike or not, but it certainly could be.


Front panniers for 15 inch laptop I've recently built up a specialized awol with Salsa lowrider racks. I'm using it largely for commuting so I don't need a load of room, just enough for my laptop, lunch and extra clothes. I've been looking at the Ortlieb HR Front-Roller Classics and they look like they would serve my purpose well. The only issue is that my macbook pro is slightly to big for the given dimensions (Panniers: 30 cm x 25 cm x 14 cm, Laptop w/ case: 38.1 cm x 27.4cm x 3 cm ). I know sometimes you can "overstuff" rolltop panniers to fit more in. Could I pull this off with the Ortliebs. If not do you have any other suggestions for waterproof/water-resitant, relatively affordable panniers that would work in my case? Thanks!

I tried a number of front loading setups for an AWOL with a 15 inch laptop (same model).  I could only ever get the laptop to fit in front Ortlieb rollers only with minimal protection on the laptop (e.g., wrapped in a towel). Even then I couldn't roll the top sufficiently to seal for anything other than a very light misting of rain.

I ended up stabilizing on Ortlieb rear rollers and using either a Tubus Duo lowrider rack (as the lower brace is low enough to support a large pannier [unlike the tara], but requires inner and outer mid-leg attachment points [which the AWOL has]) or a Specialized Pizza rack with the same panniers (pictured below).  Most other front racks do not extend down enough to support large ortlieb panniers. You also might be able to mount the computer on the top of a Pizza rack, however I wasn't able to get Ortlieb front rollers to fit well on the pizza rack (the lower support bar is too low for the lower pannier hooks).

Another option is keeping your setup and mounting the computer on the rear of the bike. I found the AWOL quite handled well putting the 15 inch laptop in a rear pannier while keeping food and cloths up front (this setup actually handled better than front loading everything). You could keep your current front setup and look at running a single rear pannier to house the computer. (Probably your best option, but unfortunately requires buying more stuff.)

Some final notes. The Salsa low riders put the panniers a fair bit forward of the front axle which will make the steering feel heavier initially, but will interact with the wheel flop to turn the bike in harder when leaned over (in my estimation). Also avoid running all the weight on the rear of the AWOL, as this makes it handle like an unhinged squirrel mad for nuts.

Example AWOL setup with 15 inch laptop in Ortlieb Rear Roller panniers


Size of Pedal Threading on old German Glockenlager? I removed the pedals of a Göricke bike from 1934 or 1935 (according to the bike number). It has a Glockenlager (What is that in English? Bell shaped bottom bracket?) as seen in the picture. The crank threading for the pedals however is quite messed up and I would like to re-cut it. I measured 4 threads at about 4,8mm (or 4,9mm) with an 14,2mm external diameter on the pedals. The diameter is a tipical 9/16 pedal threading, but the thread steapness only results in about 20-21 threads per inch, and not 24. 24 is the normal amount of threads per inch for pedals.

EDIT: I noticed 20 tpi is normal and not 24 tpi. Therefore it should be a normal threading.

Is this some other threading they used in these days or shall I just cut it with a normal pedal thread cutter? The pedal make is K&B (the logo is in a cloveleaf)

Just try chasing the threads with the normal taps (remember the left side is reverse threaded) then try the pedals. Sometimes just chasing and cleaning will be enough, and what have you got to lose if the threads are already damaged. Some pedals have a longer section of thread than others, certain pedals may work better or contact the intact threads better.

Otherwise there are insert kits that cut a larger diameter hole then insert a brass threaded part that has normal pitch threads on the inside. These kits are expensive and may only be made for aluminium cranks so check that out first.


Recommended settings for Specialized Brain with respect to durability I am seeking the right combination of shock pressure vs. Brain threshold settings for new Stumpjumper Elite (with Specialized Brain inertia valve) with respect to durability.

Are there any recommended settings for the trail/all-mountain kind of riding for the brain?

I found this chart suggesting 3-open setting for the brain:
http://service.specialized.com/collateral/ownersguide/new/assets/pdf/AC0419_2013_air_chart_11x17.pdf

Sure it is affected by personal preference. My concern is to find if there is any significant influence of the settings to the Brain durability/service interval by next extremes:

low shock pressure + hard Brain threshold
vs. high shock pressure + soft Brain threshold

Does any of these extremes has significant influence on Brain durability/life-time? Or is it just a matter of personal preference?

The threshold setup of your shock should have a negligible if not non-existent bearing on its longevity. Run it how you like it.

To give you an idea of what you're concerned about breaking, watch this video that describes how Brain shocks work. About 2/3rds of the way through you will get to see the internals of a Brain shock's inertia valve. They are not as delicate as you may think.


Is my frame cracked? I just picked this frame up for $100. Is this a crack? It looks and feels deeper than a surface scratch. I intended on this being my 1st build, should I continue? I hope I didn't waste my money

Yes, that is a crack, or at least looks to be with about as much certainty as a pic can provide. That's a relatively common place for cracks to occur, with the thick square-edged boss creating a stress riser on the thin tube.

That the line of it continues into the area where a shifter or cable stop would cover the paint adds to my doubt that it's a scratch in the paint.


Can you help identify this road bike frame manufacturer? I searched the internet but found nothing

@Mike is correct, it's an Oryx. Here's an entry in Velobase headbadge collection.


What is a good starter mountin bike? (in France) I have been riding a road bike for the past year. And now, I want to see if mountain biking is for me or not.

Ideally, it would be a bike that could handle a lot of climbs and be reliable for less than 700€.

I live in France if that helps reduce the number of brands/models available.

I want to see if mountain biking is for me or not.
  Ideally, it would be a bike that could handle a lot of climbs and be reliable for less than 700€

I can't recommend products but I can offer some thoughts on buying a new bike.

Most major bike makers have a model (usually more than one) in your price range. The brands keep an eye on each other and usually stay pretty even on features and quality at a given price point. Given the variety of mountain bikes - even from just one manufacturer how do you choose between the styles?

On any bike it comes down to your preferences. In order to know what your preferences are you have to try different things and see what works for you. That's why the ice cream store offers little samples - so you can try it and figure out what you like.

The key is time in the saddle on different bikes.
It would be nice if you could gain experience as cheap as possible.

There are many ways to find the right bike. Here are a few options (in no particular order)

Option 1:
Find someplace that rents a variety of mountain bikes.
- Hard tail
- full suspension
- etc.

Ride a bike enough that you have a feel for what it does and then try a different bike. Figure out what you like and then buy something new.

Option 2:
Borrow a mountain bike from someone who likes you enough to loan you their bike.

Option 3:
If you are careful it is possible to buy a used bike, ride it and then sell it for most of what you paid for it. This can be a lot of work and it takes some knowledge of bikes and the bike market but some people really like wheeling and dealing.

Option 4:
Bike shops will let you test ride bikes and talk with you about what you like and don't like. It's not the same as a day on the trail with a rental bike but it is cheaper.

Once you decide if you like mountain biking and learn what you want in a bike you'll be able to make an informed purchase.

Last thing. How a bicycle is assembled matters.
There is a right way and a wrong way to assemble a bike. In the best case a poorly assembled bike is annoying. In the worst case it's dangerous. Anything you buy should be assembled by someone who knows what they are doing.


Cadence: Belt drives + Nexus 11 hubs So I'm looking for a bike that has the following:
Belt Drive,
11 speed Internal hub,
Mudguards and can fit a rack at the back.
The Contenders
Canyon Commuter 8
BMC Alpenchallenge AC01
Ghost Bikes SQUARE URBAN X7.8 AL

Canyon and BMC have a 50T Crank in the front and 24T sprocket at the back.
Ghost has a 46T in the front and a 24T at the back.
All 3 have Shimano Alfine 11 speed.

On my road bike I normally cycle 28-30 km/hr
and my cadence is normally between 90-100 (maybe on windy days 110).

I'm just wondering
1. is there a system to measure gear ratio / cadence for belt drive bikes?

Not sure if this is relevant but here's someone asking about changing the front sprocket on a belt drive bike: Gates belt drive: installing larger front sprocket

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

A Gates drive belt uses an 11mm pitch between teeth.  A conventional bike chain is 1/2 inch or about 12.7mm.

The upshot is that for the same tooth count, a drive belt component will be slightly smaller than the comparable roller-chain unit with the same tooth count.

Good news - since the front chainring and rear cog use the same size, then the ratio is all that matters, and you can use all the normal formulae to figure out cadences.

The Shimano Alfine 11 has these ratios:

Ratio   0.527   0.681   0.770   0.878   0.995   1.134   1.292   1.462   1.667   1.888   2.153
Step        29.2%   13.1%   14.0%   13.3%   14.0%   13.9%   13.2%   14.0%   13.3%   14.0%

So assuming your sprocket is 24 tooth that equates to an 11 speed cassette with these tooth counts:

12.6, 16.3, 18.5, 21.1, 23.9, 27.2, 31.0, 35.0, 40.0, 45.3, 51.7

I couldn't find a nice calculator that deals with non-whole teeth, so I've rounded to these numbers instead.  Loss of precision detected.

13, 16, 19, 21, 24, 27, 31, 35, 40, 45, 52

I've also assumed a 28mm tyre with a 700c wheelsize.

Poke these numbers into http://www.bikecalc.com/speed_at_cadence  and you'll get this table:

If you put the same info into http://www.bikecalc.com/cadence_at_speed then you get this table:

ANSWER: on a 50:24 gear combination, with an 11 speed Shimano Alfine hub and 28-622 tyres on a 700c roadwheel, you will be doing about:

30 km/h in gear 9 with a cadence of 89
30 km/h in gear 8 with a cadence of 99


Is it possible to convert a single speed rear wheel into a multi-speed rear wheel? If I buy a wheelset that was meant for a single speed bicycle, how could I convert that wheelset to a multi-speed bicycle? Note that I am not asking about converting a fixie ride into a multi speed one, I only care about the wheels. Tutorials and video links are welcome!

Conventional wire spoked wheels don't allow this. All types of conventional singlespeed hub (BMX, cassette, freewheel, track, coaster) take advantage of their one-cog-ness to have center-to-flange measurements that are either symmetrical or close to it, creating a wheel with no or almost no spoke tension disparity, which makes it stronger and more robust. (Non-flip-flop track and all disc singlespeed hubs do give some spoke tension disparity, but not much.) Such a hub offers no space to put a gear cluster.
Certain disc (as in flat and expensive) and mag wheelsets are switchable from track to multi-speed hub guts. They're not subject to the above limitations as their structure is closer to only existing in one plane. To do it you're buying the manufacturer's parts and following their procedures. Zipp 900s are a current example, allowing riders to use the same big money disc for both track and TT/tri. Aerospoke also is/was switchable, and were pretty common in their heyday, so probably represent the most popular singlespeed wheelset you can buy and then convert later to derailer use.


Aerobars on a hybrid I got a set of aerobars for free and decided to install them on my hybrid.

1) I just tried them and feel a bit unstable. After checking it out online, I see this is normal, but I wonder if there is an optimal way to install them to reduce instability.

2) Does it make sense to install them on a hybrid? My hands do get numb during a long ride and I have always wanted to shift between positions.

3) While riding them, I feel more in control when my elbows are on my flat handlebars and thus not on the pads. Could this be because my seat isn't high enough (that's another problem altogether since my aluminum seatpost is corroded to my CrMo frame)?

They are unstable because of how your weight shifts on the bike when you move to the aerobars. Hybrids are not really designed to have aerobars, the geometry doesn't really lend itself to that.

My suggestion would be to get rid of the aerobars, and get handlebar extensions for the ends of the bars, much like you see on many mountain bikes. This will allow you to switch between different hand positions, while still keeping control and weight distribution where it should be.

Bike geometry- The main difference is in the seat tube and head tube angles. As you go from a hybrid (upright riding posture, slack seat tube angle) to a road bike (slightly more leaning forward, steeper seat tube angle) to a time trial frame (leaning on forearms, even steeper seat tubes), you progressively move the weight on the frame further forward.

There are also differences in how the bottom bracket is placed in relation to the ground/seat, etc. that are designed to produce a more comfortable ride.

As the weight shift forward happens, the handling of the bike is different. TT frames are notoriously poor handlers compared to road frames, and hybrids handle much different than a traditional road frame.

So when you move forward on the hybrid like you would for aerobars, you are moving the weight/center of gravity out of the "sweet spot" for the frame, and handling deteriorates as a result.


tensiometer and 2.16mm Ø spoke tension I am trying to determine the proper spoke-tension target reading for a plain J-bend stainless spoke. It has a 2.16mm diameter per the little gauge that comes with the no-name tensiometer I've just bought.
The rims are DT Swiss M442 27.5". According to the DT Swiss manual, for a front wheel with disc brake the M442's max tension is 1200 N (122 KGF) and its min tension is 950 N (97 KGF).
However, the tensiometer's conversion chart doesn't list 2.16mm spokes. It jumps from 2.0mm to 2.3mm
A reading of 24 would be in the sweet spot for a 2.0mm spoke and a reading of 28 would be in the sweet spot for a 2.3mm spoke.
Should I aim for a reading of 25?

Assuming you are right that their actual thickness is 2.1-2.2 and it's not a measurement error, that is an odd situation.
Assuming your chart has data for 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 2.0, and 2.3mm round spokes, the good simple thing to do is plot the curve of the reference numbers on the chart for a given tension in the relevant range, say 100 kgf or 1000N. Then find the appropriate spot on that curve where the average measured thickness is for your spokes. That's just a few clicks in any spreadsheet software.
This will give a lot more certainty than fudging it because the formula for deflection of round shafts has the smallest inscribed diameter of the shaft to the fourth power in it, hence the readout curve of tensiometers across different gauges is pretty darn non-linear. You could probably get to the same thing by reverse engineering the chart completely by using the formula to figure out what load the chart is figuring the tool is applying to the spokes, then making your own chart column for your spokes, but that's probably way more work than needed.


Cycling near Hannover I am looking for some routes for a road bike, about 150km - 200km, from Hannover with a come back by train. I will be going to Hannover in about a month for a week, and I'd like to see something. Do you know such routes?

I've been thinking about going from Hamburg to Hannover, and from Magdeburg to Hannover, these routes are about 150km each in straight line, but still, I don't know what exact route would be best here.

I've been also thinking about the route in the Ruhr Valley, it's about 220km, and there are maps on the internet.

Any recommendations?

One fun area is the Harz mountains. The ride to Goslar is around 80 km, and the old town is a sight as itself. From Goslar you can climb to the mountains and finish the trip at one of the several railway stops around the Harz area.


Pedal threads too big for crank? I have a 70's bike with Shimano 600 arabesque components and just bought a pair of Shimano PD-M324. The threads on the new pedals seem to be just a tiny bit too big for the crank arm. I find this weird since (based on some quick research on Google and YouTube) there seems to be just one size for all pedal and crank arm threads, except for small kids bikes.

I'm wondering if anybody else has successfully mounted these pedals on a similar crank arm? Could the pedals be defective?

I can still put the old pedals back on so I don't think the threads on the crank arm are damaged.
Any advice would be great!

You have the version of those cranks that came with French pedal threads (M14x1.25).

I believe there's enough material to tap them to standard 9/16x20. The difference in diameter is very slight. It's important and not trivial to get the tap going in square.


I am having trouble identifying the manufacturer of this bike What brand is this logo? Can anyone identify this?

The headbadge says K2. Here is the K2 website


Does asymmetric rim go with dynamo hub? I'm building a dynamo hub wheel.
I see there's symmetrical and asymmetrical rim and not sure which one I should go with.
I'm using son dynamo 28 if that makes difference.

My front wheel has SRAM Level TL, 2-piston caliper, hydraulic disc.

Asymmetrical rims raise the weaker side tension and reduce the bracing angle disparity on wheels where the hub has a different center-to-flange distance on each side, as long as the amount of offset at the rim in question brings the dish closer to center than the offset at the hub moves it away from center.
SON28 disc hubs have smaller and closer to symmetrical center to flange numbers than most disc hubs. As you can see in the numbers from Schmidt's site below, the difference in center to flange is only 2.5mm for 6-bolt and 2mm for centerlock.

Therefore, you have to be careful with the golf-ball type generator hubs about not running into the mostly fringe situation of an offset rim doing more harm than good. You (or at least I) really need to run the numbers to figure out if it's beneficial. We'll use a WTB 29" Asym I29 with its 4.5mm of offset to demonstrate, with the KOM Light to compare with. Being able to do this easily is one of the reasons the nerdier spoke calculators are superior. I will use SpoCalc here.
6-bolt SON28 with WTB Asym I29 29":

6-bolt SON28 with WTB KOM Light I29 29":

Centerlock SON28 with WTB Asym I29 29":

Centerlock SON28 with WTB KOM Light I29 29":

130%-ish is further away from 100% than 91%-ish, and the bracing angles are way less disparate on the KOM. So in none of these example cases would 4.5mm offset be beneficial. It would be all downside. You'll need to do the math yourself for the parts you're using, but among contemporary mountain asymmetrical rims this is probably about what you'll see with the SON28 in particular.


My Road bike pedals locked up tonight. Why? I was riding my road bike and my pedals locked up and I couldn't spin anymore. I got off the bike to check the gears and chains and while fiddling with them I heard a loud POP and my rear tire popped and kind of tacoed the bike rim. Why did this happen? What did I do and what can I do to prevent this from happening again? I am new to road biking and I absolutely LOVE it!! I just want to learn more so I can no have the fear of going farther away from my house than I can run home!

If you didn't notice any broken spokes, it could have also been that the bead of the tire popped off the rim and caught on the brakes, preventing the wheel from moving and then ultimately dragging on the ground causing a blowout and maybe warping the rim.  Once the tube popped, it would no longer be pushing the tire in to the brakes and allowing your wheel to spin freely again.


Any detriment to hanging a bike by its front wheel? I came across the below image today and thought it a great idea for storing bikes. However I wasn't sure if literally hanging a bike by its front wheel might cause undue stress to either the wheel itself or the front forks. Has anyone else done this to no ill effect? In the image below the back wheels don't even seem to be touching the floor, which I would have thought would take some of the weight.

You'd have to calulate the actual forces to be 100% sure but it's not going to be a problem: forces on front wheel/fork/headset while e.g. just sitting on the bike, braking or landing jumps will be (much) higher than the force applied from hanging it.

That being said, I do note at least two problems with this setup: first, good luck getting one of the center bikes out without touching or getting stuck in another bike. Second: from the picture it seems like you'd have to hold the bike with one hand then use the other to attach it. Ok for a roadbike, but for anything heavier that is just hard. Usually these systems have an open 'C'-shaped fixed hook into which you simply hang the bike which is much more convenient.


Better 7-speed chain for Trek Allant? Bought a Trek Allant for cycling to work (ca 10 miles). Now, after exact 512 miles the chain is worn out and starts damaging the cassette and chainset. Cheap crap material!
Is there anything out there that will last a bit longer? - SRAM-7 chain?
Or shall I look out for an offer for a 8-gear set and change?

Thanks in advance.

Response to comments below:

Many thanks for your replies. I bought the Trek Allant brand new (2011) and I am using the bike for daily commuting to work, tarmac all the way. Most of it is flat apart from a bridge that has two 'medium steep' slopes. I clean the bike (incl chain) every two weeks and also give it a 'health check'. The chain gets lubricated with PTFE. I used the chain wear indicator (park tool) to check the chain and it's well over .75%. In addition the chain cassette shows signs of wear too. My cycle style is 'higher strokes' in a lower gear. I cycle for years and also have a Cannondale T1000 Touring bike that I bought back in the 90s. With that I do about 800-1200 miles on vacation, and have to change chains about once every two years.

I expect the parts used on the Allant being of somewhat lower quality than those of a high-end bike, but I was just very surprised that the chain life is that short. Apart from the hassle of changing, the price for a 7-gear SRAM chain and cassette comes to a total of ~$30 (together) here in the UK. I may build up some stock ;)

Thanks again for your comments.

First: based on your measurements, your chain is not worn out. The park tool gauge measures a 8 1/2" links, or 4 inches of chain. It looks for wear between .5 and 1mm of "stretch" in the chain.

If you read the label on the tool, anything up to .5 is what a new chain wil read. A chain is not worn out until it hits 1mm of wear, which is when it usually will skip teeth on a new cassette or chain rings.

To protect you old chain rings and cassette, it is usually recommended that you change the chain at around .75mm of wear.

Second: Shimano's recommendation is that a new chain up to the .75mm mark is good for 880 miles on average. I assume that recommendation is conservative, because it often goes to double that in my environment, but speed of wear is based on maintenance and environmental factors like heavy wet weather, and can vary wildly.

I hope that is helpful.


Chainline on a trek 660 fixie conversion I am converting an old Trek 660 frame to fixie. It takes a 68mm bottom bracket and I'm putting in an SKF bottom bracket (like this) with both a BMX profile racing 110mm 46t and redline BMX cranks 165mm (like this).

Now I talked to my friend at my local shop and he says these older frames run 110mm. I've looked on the internet and I believe he is correct in that I can use a 110mm bottom bracket and use spacers if need be to get the correct chainline. But I've also read that I may wanna run a 113mm bottom bracket.

I was wondering if there were any gurus out there that could help me out? I know that it's only a matter of 1.5mm but I just wanna get it right because the bottom bracket I'm getting is mailorder only and $129, so I'd like to limit my mistakes on this build.

There seems to be a bit of confusion in your question about how chainline is measured, and it's relationship to bottom bracket spindle length and the rest of the bike - you haven't given enough information to answer your question.  The rear hub and sprocket's chainline measurement is required to decide how to adjust the chainline in the front.  Even then, the published information about chainline for most cranksets (including the one you have linked) is scare at best.

The easiest thing for you to do would probably be to acquire a used/cheap sealed cartridge bottom bracket in your desired length and see how things measure up.  Once you've made measurements, you can lock in the size for your SKF.


Is it possible to fit full coverage fenders on a road bicycle with V-brakes? I would like to get a used road bike on a budget. However, I need to ideally fit full coverage fenders due to frequent rain.

Do I simply need to save up for a bicycle with disc brakes, or should I look for a particular type of fork, frame, gap between the wheel and fork, that would allow the fitment of full coverage fenders?

I'm trying to avoid making this an opinion based question -- surely this must be a well-known problem with an equally well-known solution? It seems like most road bicycles have V-brakes, hence many would experience this exact problem?

It would help if you clarified what you mean by "road bike", since I've never seen a road bike with V-brakes. "Road bikes" are what many people would call "racing bikes" and they come with either disc brakes or caliper rim brakes; bikes with V-brakes tend to be either mountain bikes or hybrid/city bikes.

Nonetheless, it's perfectly possible to fit full fenders to a caliper-braked (or disc-braked) road bike, and also to a bike with V-brakes. Many road bikes don't come with the mounting bolt-holes for fenders but you can still fit fenders using other types of mount (e.g., clips or zip-tie-like straps around the forks).


Why ride a fixed-gear bike? I must confess, I don't know much about bikes.  Until fairly recently, a bike was just that thing that I rode to work each day.  I've been slowly learning more about bikes but I still have some newbie questions.  This is one of them.

If I recall correctly and have got the terminology correct, a fixed-gear bike is a bike with only one gear (so you can't change it) and no freewheel (so if the rear wheel is turning, so are the pedals).

Why do people ride fixed-gear bikes?  Isn't it either hard to get started (if fixed in a high gear ratio) or hard to get to a good speed (if fixed in a low gear ratio)?

I'm not trying to insult or flame riders of fixed-gear bikes - I'm just curious! :)

Your understanding is correct.

Why do people ride them? Some random answers:

Maintenance is very, very low. You have to keep the tires and chain in good working order and, on a bike you ride on the road, hopefully some form of a brake. That's it.
On most velodromes, you have to ride a fixed gear bike, so if you race track, you have no choice.
There is something to be said for how a fixed gear will force you to develop a smoother pedaling style since you simply cannot stop. Due to this, they are somewhat popular for 'off season' training by serious road cyclists.
(Hesitating to mention this...) There is a certain segment of the population that loves retro and simple things. In addition to being possibly the most efficient people moving device that exists, the fixed gear bicycle can be an important fashion accessory.

Hard to get started/Hard to go fast?

Yes. Generally someone who has a road worthy fixie will have selected a gear that works well for the terrain and speed that they like to ride at. I've only ridden fixed gear bikes on the track, but I'd imagine for a city fixie, you'd optimize for a fairly low speed but someone who takes these more seriously can answer better.


Are tubeless tyres an upgrade from tubed tyres, or just different? Bicycle tires have reached a good degree of practicality with clincher tires as used with inner tubes.
Unless riding over sharp objects that have a tendency to puncture the tire, punctures are extremely rare. When an inner tube is punctured, most of the time the damage is limited to the inner tube, which can be repaired to be nearly as good as new in 99% of the cases with glue-type patches. The cost of such a patch is a fraction of a dollar. In very rare cases, the outer tire is damaged necessitating sticking an adhesive tire boot to it as a temporary solution and replacement as a permanent solution. Most outer tires do not die of damage but rather of old age, i.e. worn tread. Thus, the fact that a tire boot is only a temporary repair and not a permanent one is not a big monetary issue.
Inner tubes with factory-installed sealant "slime" are available, but because of the rarity of punctures, such "slime"-type inner tubes have not reached major acceptance. Nevertheless, the slime tubes can be found for sale for those who absolutely hate patching tubes.
However, nowadays tubeless tires seem to be arriving. A true merit of tubeless tires is avoiding one type of user error: pinch flats. The user error requires the presence of three conditions: (1) the tire must have a narrow cross section, (2) the tire must be underinflated, (3) the rider must go over a bump at too high speed. I have recently not had pinch flats because I try to avoid every one of these conditions.
However, it could be argued that this merit of tubeless tires is false sense of safety. When one learns to ride at high speed over obstacles with underinflated narrow cross section tires, the probability of rim damage increases. Thus, the possibility of pinch flats (that can be repaired easily with lightweight tools you carry with you) is very good in preventing the possibility of rim damage (that might be tricky to repair at roadside).
As I understand it, tubeless tires are often (always?) used with a sealant "slime" that seals some of the punctures. However, I have some suspicions about the merit of tubeless tires:

What if the puncture is not adequately sealed by the sealant? Can I patch a tubeless tyre in a permanent way with a glue-type patch? A permanent repair without a slow leak for inner tubes is easiest when you always carry one spare tube so that you let the glue dry before using the newly patched tube. Unless some major form of technology breakthrough has occurred of which I'm not aware, if a tubeless tyre can be permanently repaired at all (which I suspect won't be the case because of the sealant "slime"), you should always carry one spare tubeless tire with you to let the patch glue dry. Carrying a spare tire takes more space and weight than carrying a spare tube.
What if the cords of the tire are damaged? With a tube-type tire, there is no sealant "slime" so I am certain that an adhesive tire boot will stick to the inside of the tire. However, with tubeless tires, the sealant might make it more difficult to ensure the adhesive tire boot stays in the intended place.

So, why should I care about tubeless tires? I see them as a non-repairable solution that harms the use of emergency tire boots and at the same time encourages the rider to cause rim damage.

What if the puncture is not adequately sealed by the sealant? Can I patch a tubeless tyre in a permanent way with a glue-type patch? A permanent repair without a slow leak for inner tubes is easiest when you always carry one spare tube so that you let the glue dry before using the newly patched tube. Unless some major form of technology breakthrough has occurred of which I'm not aware, if a tubeless tyre can be permanently repaired at all (which I suspect won't be the case because of the sealant "slime"), you should always carry one spare tubeless tire with you to let the patch glue dry. Carrying a spare tire takes more space and weight than carrying a spare tube.

No, if the sealant and specific plugs (mentioned in Diado's answer, the same ones that are used for automobiles and motorbikes) fail to seal the hole, but the hole is not extreme, you can just swallow your pride, insert your spare tube, and carry on riding. If the hole is large, you will need a tyre boot in the exactly same way you would need it for a normal inner tube tyre. Then at home, after a good clean, you can indeed use a tube patch or one of the larger tyre-specific one. If the hole required a boot, it may also require some sewing. and then covering by a polyurethane glue and a patch.

What if the cords of the tire are damaged? With a tube-type tire, there is no sealant "slime" so I am certain that an adhesive tire boot will stick to the inside of the tire. However, with tubeless tires, the sealant might make it more difficult to ensure the adhesive tire boot stays in the intended place.

That is unlikely. Quite the opposite, it will make it stick. Or at least be neutral.

So, why should I care about tubeless tires? I see them as a non-repairable solution that harms the use of emergency tire boots and at the same time encourages the rider to cause rim damage.

It is repairable (I repaired several punctures myself) way that makes better riding properties especially off-road (lower pressures) and reduces the number of punctures you have to deal with (no pinched tubes, small thorns are plugged). Small unsealable holes can be plugged without taking the tyre or indeed the wheel off the bike.
Any potential rim damage is the responsibility of each rider, their selection of the tyre pressure and their choice of their riding style.

The user error requires the presence of three conditions: (1) the tire must have a narrow cross section

Pinch flats can also happen with MTBs.

(2) the tire must be underinflated

Low pressures are selected for good riding properties and it is impossible to perform well in certain off-road events (cyclocross, cross-country) with such high pressures an inner tube would require. The other option is a tubular, but that is even more hassle.

(3) the rider must go over a bump at too high speed.

Stones and roots may be hidden by mud, leaves or appear suddenly behind a corner on a trail. Sometimes they cannot be avoided even on a maintained course, less so in unmaintained trails.


Brompton cable & housing replacement What type of cables & housing should I buy to replace them on my 2016 M6R Brompton?
I've put a lot of tough miles since I bought my Brompton, and one of my shifting cables finally frayed and fell out of the shifter. It would be wise to go ahead and replace all of my cables and housing for the first time since I bought the bike 2 years ago.
I'm on a bit of a budget. Do I have to buy the replacement cables & housing from an authorized Brompton dealer, or can I just get them from any-old bicycle parts supply?
What diameter cables and housing am I looking for? And what are the minimum lengths of each of the four cables (which I can cut them to match the size of my old cables)?

The Brompton uses standard gear/shifter cables and brake cables. Flat bar brake levers use the same cable head as a mountain bike (i.e. barrel, not pear).
The handlebar selection could make a small difference to the actual length you need, but if you are able to remove the existing outer casing and take it to a bike shop (or measure it) you can have the new casing cut to length by the shop, saving you a job and saving wastage.
Gear outer casing is 4mm diameter, the inner wire is 1.2mm or 1.1mm(SRAM).
Brake outer casing is 5mm diameter.
Good quality stainless steel cables are not expensive, perhaps £2.50 each and the outer casing is generally £2.50/metre.


Strategy for removing a bottom bracket with plastic retainers? Bottom brackets that have plastic retainers have a reputation for being problematic to remove. Often the tool interface on the plastic retaining ring will shear off if the plastic is old or the bottom bracket is stuck (How can I remove the stripped plastic cups of a bottom bracket?).  I (everyone?) would like to avoid such a situation if possible.

What steps can one take to improve ones chances of sucessfully removing the plastic retaining rings?

Some ideas:

The plastic rings are typically made from Polyamide, which is resistant to attack by hydrocarbon lubricants.  A penetrating oil might work (to the extent that they work anyway).

The plastic rings are made from a thermoplastic so heating is probably a bad idea.  Having said that, it should be possible to heat up the bottom bracket shell with a heat gun or similar to around 100 Celcius.  This would expand the bottom bracket shell by some fraction and make it easier to remove the retaining ring.  Unfortunately the coefficient of thermal expansion of the rings is likely higher than that of steel.  Maybe freeze the rings instead?

Maybe it's possible to attach a metal fastener (by pinning perhaps?) to the retaining rings.  I expect this is in the realm of fantasy.

EDIT:  To clarify, I am asking exclusively about threaded bottom brackets.

Based on my experience with such cups I suggest a rather robust approach:

cut off the external parts of the plastic cups with a hot knife
chisel away material from one side to expose the outer edge of the cartridge
apply penetrating oil to all areas
heat the bottom bracket with a heat gun (bear in mind the heat may damage the frame's paint @Argenti Apparatus)
drive out the bottom bracket by whacking the bottom bracket spindle with a mallet

if that doesn't work
* remove the bearings and the spindle
* uncover the other side of the bottom bracket
* drive out the cartridge with an improvised punch (eg steel tube, hex socket) and a press, apply penetrating oil and heat as before

I'm confident I should be able to remove such a bottom bracket in less than two hours now, if I must. I also shall not ever put myself in a situation where this may happen.


Are there mandatory bike paths in Netherlands? Doing a trip in Europe. I know in UK the bike paths are optional. You can ride on them or you can ride on the road, whatever feels better for you.

Somebody told me that in Netherlands most bike paths are mandatory, not optional, but I can't find any information in English about it.

Mandatory
Mandatory bike paths do exist in the Netherlands (Article 5 of RVV 1990  regarding traffic and signage rules)  and will be marked with a "G11" sign, a round lollipop sign with a white bicycle on a blue background.
Sometimes they will additionally be distinguished from footpaths, parking spaces and other paved surfaces by a red coloring.

Some mandatory bike paths are also mandatory for mopeds and will be marked with the "G12a" sign below, a round lollipop sign with both a white bicycle and a white moped on a blue background.
You will typically find these outside of city limits or along roadways with a speed limit exceeding 50 km/h.

Mandatory bike lanes are not physically separated from the the main  roadway but the lane will be marked with bike (often enclosed by a white circle) , a (semi) continuous white line separating the bike lane from the main traffic lanes and sometimes the red colored riding surface.

Optional
Optional for cyclists are bike paths marked with a square blue sign "fietspad".

Forbidden for bicycles
Probably a bit redundant but cycling is forbidden where and when indicated by the explicit sign, but also by the implicit signs indicating a pedestrian only area, on bus lanes, and on motor- and expressways.

Absence
When no mandatory bike path is indicated and there is no sign explicitly or implicitly prohibiting access for bikes, then bicyles are allowed on the main road.


Can I use mountain biking cleats on a road shoe...? I have an older pair of road shoes that appear to support both two-hole and three-hole cleat systems.
I've attached a two-hole Shimano mountain bike cleat to them and gone for a very short ride to find the bottom of the shoe is taking a fair bit of damage (perhaps I didn't fasten the cleats firm enough?).
Are these shoes simply not designed for these cleats? Or, should I just tighten them right up and expect a little bit of damage to the shoe?
The shoe is a Specializer Sport.

Yes, this shoe also accepts the MTB-style two bolt cleats.

Three-bolt and two-bolt cleat pattern fits all major road and mountain
pedals.

(from https://www.specialized.com/jp/en/sport-road-shoes/p/117510?color=&searchText=61217-3238)
They will accept Shimano SPD, Crankbrothers and other MTB cleats. However, the sole will get deformed or damaged. With some cleats this is expected and even true MTB soles will get signs of use of these cleats. I am not completely sure about SPD, but for Crankbrothers the sole is in a direct contact with the pedal so the pedal directly pushes into the sole and it will certainly make some imprints during the use.
There are sole protectors available by Crankbrothers. I have no idea whether they also work for SPD or whether Shimano also sells some, but some vendors (like Ryder) make SPD-compatible cleats that include sole protectors in the package.


Does it makes sense to buy a women's seat for man's mountain bicycle? We are buying an electric mountain bike, a Specialized Turbo Levo SL, for my wife.  It's a men's bike, and I see, for example, the SCOTT Contessa differs from men's models by having a women's seat, and narrower steering handlebars.  Does it make sense to buy separate a women's seat for 1-3h, 3x/week rides? Do they differ much from men's seats?

What matters is that the saddle is comfortable for the rider given the rides they're doing.
There are obvious differences between male and female anatomy, which aren't to be neglected (here's some in-depth further reading, though the focus is on long road rides).  This can lead to a need for different structure towards the front of the saddle in particular.  This is most true if riding in aggressive (tucked) positions, so road racing, time trials etc.
We can't make any assumptions about how sit-bone width relates to hip/pelvis width or sex, and in a more upright position the sit-bones, which always bear most of the weight, are hopefully the only parts experiencing real pressure.
In technical mountain biking, you're not on the saddle much anyway, so it matters still less.  Still, the longer end of this, if spent on the sort of trails where you'd sit down, can be really rather uncomfortable.
You don't say how much cycling she's done.  If she's coming from very little, some initial discomfort may be expected - try gel-padded shorts/tights and anti friction chamois cream at first.  New riders change quite a bit around the weight-bearing parts, and may even lose some fat, i.e. change shape, so rushing into a new saddle may not be a good idea.
My suggestion is that she starts with the stock saddle.  It may be absolutely fine.  If she's experiencing discomfort, especially numbness or obviously pressure-related discomfort that isn't improved by padded shorts and chamois cream, then it's time to look for a new saddle.  It would be sensible at that stage to consider women's saddles, though not exclusively.


Can I replace a 3-gear crankset with a 2-gear one cheaply and efficiently? My commuter bike (a cheap-ish MTB) is in need of new gears. As I never use the "granny chainring", I was thinking about switching to a 2-piece crankset, to save tome weight. However, I am unable to locate such parts in my favorite on-line bike shop.

Are 2-chainring cranksets direct replacement to a 3-piece ones? Are they affordable or are already some sort of exotic expensive equipment?

On MTB you don't get such thing as 2-chainring cranksets. Cranksets come in parts: cranks, bottom bracket and chainrings.

If you are buying crankset separately, chainrings are not included. This is to provide a better flexibility in chainring selection: different materials, shapes and tooth numbers. On cheap cranksets you can not separate chainrings, and in this case you'll need to replace the whole assembly. So one of your options would be to check if your crankset allows to remove the granny ring. If you have chainring bolts there, you are in luck: take the granny ring off and adjust the front mech.

If your chainrings are moulded into the crankset, you'll have to replace the crankset, and that might be not a simple business. In this case it's quite likely that you have square taper bottom bracket and these days it is not easy to find a descent crankset for square taper. So you'll have to replace the bottom bracket as well... and this can be a world of cash spent just for removing a granny ring. Not really worth it, unless you want a better quality/lighter cranks.


Is it possible to tune a hub gear? I have a city bicycle with an internally geared hub. The problem with it is that all the 3 gears are too small, and I have a few hills around.

Is it possible to tune the gears so that they larger?

This is done by changing the primary gear ratio with your chainring and, if possible, the cog on the hub.

If you make a large change or if the your existing chain is sufficiently worn, you'll likely need to get a new chain as well.

As mentioned in the comments, you need to be careful about making the gearing too small (easy to pedal), as you might end up exceeding the max torque for your hub. It sounds like, however, that you'd like the gear to be larger, not smaller.


How dirty should the chain and the cogs be before I should consider cleaning them? I'm new to bicycling and have been riding for a month or so. I just saw a few questions here regarding cleaning of the chain and thought "whoa, I should clean the chain".

How dirty (visually) should the chain and cogs be before I should consider cleaning them (pictures are welcome)?

UPDATE

I use my bike on daily basis for commuting, 4-6km a day.
As of weather: I live in Florida, Fort Walton Beach. You can take a brief look at the temperature and humidity history on wolframalpha (consider changing range to "Past Year" for better overview).
It's pretty clean here though.

Here are the photos of the chain and cogs that represent condition after a month of riding:

The chain is definitely not dry, I can feel the lubricant if I touch them.
Should I consider clearning/relubricating them?

Ultimately its going to be down to how zealous you want to be.

When you think of cleaning a chain, you need to think of two things. First, there is the cleaning - getting off the dirt and lube that has caked itself onto the chain. Then, there is lubing the chain to make it run nicely, (As part of a lube you'd maybe give the chain a rub with a dry cloth to try and get surface crap off, but wouldn't be soaking it in degreaser).

When maintaining a chain, you wouldn't necessarily do both of these at the same time. You would lube the chain quite regularly, but most likely would clean the chain less frequently. You'd never clean the chain without also lubing it.

For frequency of lubing, the answer is "it depends". We all have different preferences. If its a bike that doesn't get ridden often, you'd maybe lube the chain before every ride. A commuter, ridden daily, you'd maybe lube every week or two.

Also, you need to recognise that there are (many) different types of lube, for different conditions. The viscosity varies a lot between them. So if you're putting a lightweight dry lube on your chain (which you might do in the summer), its going to be far less likely to muck up your chain than a gloopy wet weather lube.

So the answer to "when do I clean it?" is also "it depends".

Ideally you don't want any dirt on your chain. That would improve both smoothness and chain life. So the anal extreme is to clean and lube it after every ride.

But most probably you'd go through the "lube" process several times before you considered degreasing. And, as I say, the lube you use will determine likely you are to pick up crap off the road. A wet weather lube, for example, might be good at repelling water, but it's corresponding stickiness will also attract dirt.

If I were to stick my finger in the air I'd say that personally I give my chains a thorough degrease probably around 3 times a year (on the bikes that I ride regularly). But knowing when to do this, I judge this by looking how much crap is on it as I'm lubing it - it's certainly balanced toward winter/wet riding, but it's a judgement call.

Give the cogs a decent clean at the same time as you clean the chain, otherwise you're just going to transfer muck from on to the other.