May I ignore the frame damage (or should I get a budget carbon frame) I was happily using my Canonndale F5 Hardtail to commute to work and other places (like shopping, going to a swimming pool and the like) until recently I had a very unfortunate accident with a car. To make a story short, I managed to slightly bent the fork and the frame, where the derailleur is mounted. I would not notice the bent except that I was not able to adjust the gears, if this did not go through the insurance (which demanded a full inspection of the bike). See the pictures below.

The official examiner of the bike dramatically concluded that the bike is unusable. This increased the amount of money I could from the insurance, but the real question is how bad it is? Should I really dump the frame and look for another frame? Or I could try to bent the frame back? (I'll have to replace the fork for sure anyway).

How should one look for a budget frame (are there any types that one should try to avoid?) Being a naive browser I type 'carbon frame' in ebay and being left with hundreds of results. Can someone comment on MUSING X Lite Offroad Mountainbike Frame weighting 1350-grams?

Ultimately I am looking for an inexpensive frame/bike. Key optimization criteria here is the safety feel that one gets during lengthy working, shopping, and swimming hours (i.e., when the bike is being locked outside, passed by some questionnable crowed..). I commute some 10-20km every day.

My guess is the alignment was like that before the accident and the reason the gears wont adjust is the derailleur hanger is bent, which is a $10 part and/or a visit to the LBS with a tool to fix it.

Even if the frame has been bent, although less than ideal, it is not a safety issue and would not stop me using it - as long as the derailleur hanger can be aligned correctly.

However there may be other more critical, but less obvious damage (cracks etc), that you are not aware of, and this be the reason for the insurance write off.

As for going to carbon frame, for the same money you are almost certainly better off with a steel or alloy frame. Cheap carbon, like everything, is cheap for a good reason. As Carbon is seen as a material with God like qualities by many novices, it commands a price premium based on that perception at the budget end, its until you are paying mid range prices that carbon really shines.


Front derailleur twist shifter replacement - from small to big ring in one click Replaced front OEM Grip Shift SH-F3 barrel shifter with Twist Grip M25-7 shifter on Vintage consumer-type bike w Shimano GS100 and 3 chainrings (x7 cassette).
Mounting went fine, cable run is clean and clear. Backed off barrel a few turns and with shifter on “1” and slack taken out connected the cable to the derailleur.  Minimal adjustment needed to the L limit.  But the shift from “1” to “2” skips the middle chainring completely and takes the cage all the way to the largest, and there’s no apparent index adjustment - nor instructions or even a product listing on the website (it was an amazon purchase of a “Shimano-compatible” - please limit the chastising). I’ve reached out to MicroShift for support but no response.
I do find it interesting that the new shifter 1-2-3 markings are not equidistant - there is greater spacing between 1-2 than 2-3 which I don’t get. For what it’s worth no amazon comments similar to my problem.
In my understanding Shimano have massive market share and that the mass-consumer bike market is highly standardized in components, altogether suggesting I’ve done something wrong - that’s where you come in - even though the mechanics of these things aren’t rocket science.
Any advice would be appreciated.

My first thought is that the new shifter isn't compatible with the chainring spacing, but unless this group has a super-narrow profile I can't think of one that would be as wide as a typical first-to-third chainring spacing.
In my experience, the markings on twist-type shifters are not always equidistant, and may be due to non-linear throw of the derailleur or non-linear take-up of cable in the shifter. Check that the cable is properly routed through the shifter as well as to the derailleur pinch bolt. I have seen the latter cause this issue.
If you have an alternate derailleur (top swing vs. bottom swing) you can try that if space allows.


Retrofit lockout for a suspension fork? I am new for cycling. I am searching for bikes on which I will ride mostly on roads, but also on terrains/mountains occasionally. After doing a few researches online, I finally decided to buy a hybrid bike.

Mostly people are suggesting to buy a Hybrid Bike which doesn't have suspension and disc brakes (even I'm not worried about disc brakes). So I thought to buy a bike which has a suspension fork with lockout.

My question is, is it instead also possible to get a lockout mechanism from store to add to a suspension fork which doesn't have a lockout itself?

You shouldn't count on it, no. Low-end and touring forks may not have the parts available at all. With medium-to-high end MTB forks, the parts may be available but it often requires exchanging most of the innards, making it a much too costly proposition. It in not just a matter of adding a lever to the top.


Noise from crankshaft spindle and then the pedal falls off In the last 6 months I have been getting really bad noises, creaks, clunks, etc coming from somewhere around the spindle connecting to the crankshaft. Every time I put pressure down on the left hand pedal, either it or the spindle attaching to the pedal creaks, clunks real loud and then the pedal works itself loose. I have tightened it up every time and after a couple of days it becomes loose and almost falls off again. Can anyone help explain why and how I may fix it myself?

Sorry actually being a bit clearer it is the square taper crank arm that comes away from the spindle. The pedal actually is fine. The bike is an Dawes XC 2.2 and the crank arm has "Truvativ" Powered by SRAM on it.

Like I said, by now the crank arm is toast.  Originally the problem was just that the crank bolt was loose (they need to be REALLY tight -- ideally set with a torque wrench).

But running with a loose crank has deformed the socket on the end of the crank to where it no longer fits, and it rocks and works the bolt loose as you pedal.  And by now the crank shaft (which is steel vs the aluminum crank arm) may also be deformed.

There is a vague possibility that a clever person could make the existing crank arm work fairly well with a shim cut from a beer can, but it takes some mechanical aptitude.


Inner tube size and can you feel the slime in inner tubes? I have a bmx bike with the tire size being 20" x 2.4. Will a 20" x 1.5- 2.125 fit or should I get a 20" x 1.7 - 2.25 instead. If I get a slime inner tube will it be noticable on the weight or just a bit.

I see this as a two part question.

A 1.5- 2.125 width tube will fit in a 2.4" tyre fine.

I carry 2" wide tubes in my seat pack when I go cycling as a spare tube for my 2.35 tyres. I do so purely as it fits nicer in my pack and my tyres are tubeless. So if I get a puncture, I put the tube in and fix the tubeless when I get home.

You won't notice the weight but Slime might not work as well with over streched inner tubes.

When you fit a slimmer inner tube in a wider tyre, it streches more. So if you get a puncture with a slimmer inner tube, the slime has to work harder (than with a correct size tube) to plug the hole as it is more likely to burst bigger due to the over streching.

Personally I would rather invest in a more puncture proof tyre than in using Slime.


Remove wheel to clean ball bearings I have heard that one should clean the ball bearing frequently for smooth performance. But how to? ??? I wathed some diy videos which include some tools which I dont have acess to. I want to remove the ball bearings in the wheel hub and clean the dust and old grease . How do I do this? I have a single gear bicycle.

I would not touch the bearings without the correct tools. You may get them apart, and will probably get them back together, but won't be able to adjust them very easily and won't be able to get the lock nut tight.

For a novice, with the right tools, the job can be a but fiddly as getting the adjustment right will take a few goes. Without the right tools,a novice will likely take two steps back for each step forward.

Given you do not have the tools, you have a few choices - by far the best is leave them alone if they wheel is running smoothly.  If you establish the bearings NEED fixing, be prepared to buy new cones and bearings and the cups could be hosed - you won't know till you get them apart what needs replacing. Two ways to do the job are to give it to your LBS, or buy some tools.

If you choose to buy tools, its possible to pick up cheap tool kits that are although a low quality, will give the home mechanic all the tools needed for about 95% of repair jobs.    e.g. here Keep in mind cheap kits cost the same as one workshop quality tool, so be gentle - if things are rusted or over tight, they may do more damage than good.


How many miles should I ride each day to prepare for a 66 mile ride in 6 days time? I have been riding my bike for years and I am a very experienced rider. I am also in great shape.

I am a 15 year old girl. I have one week to prepare to do a 66 mile bike ride with a mountain bike frame and road bike tires (I don't know if that's considered a mutated bike or not).

Please let me know! Thank you.

Honestly?  6 days is a bit late to do anything significant.  You should probably do ~5-15 mile rides for the next 4 days, and have at most a short 2 mile ride on day 5, and then you've got your event.

Try and do your rides on similar terrain/roads if possible.   Ideally you'd do pieces of the real road - they always feel "shorter" on subsequent trips.

Don't get carried away with replacing major mechanical components this close to the event.

Your best bet is to do basic bike maintenance, like lubing the chain and tweaking the gears and brakes, and inflating your tyres.  Check out your spares and on-bike tools, make sure its all good and that the spare tube has not acquired a hole.

Also - if your event is self-supported, you'll have to carry 66 miles worth of water and food.  You'll need to pack that onto your bike in a way that doesn't interfere with riding, be it camelbak or frame bottles or panniers or whatever.

If the trip is supported (ie, feed stops every hour or 20 miles) then its lower importance but still don't run low.  Sometimes the fueling stations aren't there or have run dry, (or blown away!)

Finally, plan on how you're getting home.  Noone wants to ride another 66 miles back home after such a trip!


Can a carbon fiber mountain bike handle cool/cold weather? It is late summer in the US and I am starting to look forward to autumn and winter mountain biking. I have a carbon fiber frame though. Didn't get to ride it last winter due to a broken collar bone (almost landed that jump). So, anything to be concerned about riding a carbon fiber mountain bike in cool/cold weather? I am talking anything from 50°F/10°C down to sub freezing temps.

Did a quick look around... And Zinn in Velonews gets questions like this. Short answer is: no problem. Essentially carbon fiber is a pretty tough material and barring manufacturing flaws should put up with a lot.


Are there any things to avoid when being given a free bike? Someone has just given me a free mountain bike (No obvious branding on it, but its got a 21-speed Shimano gear system and a shock absorber between the front and back of the bike in the middle of the chassis). It's been sitting in a shed, un-touched for about 2-3 years.

It's clearly in need of a service (lubricating, replacing the brake cables as their ends are frayed). But is there anything in particular that I should look for which would indicate that it's not worth repairing and that I should give it to someone else for parts?

It's probably worth riding, if you don't have another bike.

First, of course, simply wipe off the dust (or hose it down and wipe dry).  Then examine for bad rust.  If it's an inexpensive bike that was stored where it wasn't completely dry there's apt to be some rust spots here and there, which is OK.  But gobs of rust around the bearings is a bad sign.  If the chain is badly rusted that's not fatal, but not a great sign.

Air up the tires.  (Once you decide you'll be a bike rider you'll want to get a bike pump of the full-sized "floor" variety.)  Then pick up the bike and spin each tire -- they should spin freely, with no gritty feel in the bearings.  Note that the brakes may drag, but that's not a serious problem.

Pick up the rear wheel (or hang the whole thing from ropes or some such) and then turn the pedals with your hand.  The chain will likely clatter quite a bit, but by adjusting the shifters (and maybe "helping" the chain with your hand a bit) you should be able to get squarely onto gears front and rear and then turn the crank at a fair pace.  There may still be clatter, but you shouldn't feel a gritty feeling in the bearings of the crank.  (Note that if the chain is badly rusted with "frozen links" you won't be able to get beyond this point.)

Next, try the brakes.  If the bike has been exposed to the weather the brake cables are apt to be badly rusted, but that not a big ticket item.  But for a test ride you want at least one working brake.

If you get this far, try to adjust the seat to about your height (this may require an Allen wrench of the appropriate metric size, or a regular adjustable wrench for a bolt head).  (Keep in mind that if anything on the bike is rusted it's apt to be the seat height adjustment, though.)

But if you can get the seat semi-adjusted, get on the bike and try riding a short distance.  If you're brave you can try the shifters, but you're more feeling for a grinding feeling anywhere, in the pedals, wheels, or steering.  And somewhere along the way examine the condition of the tires, looking in particular for cracks in the sidewalls.

At this point you may have no problems at all with the bike, in which case you can just ride it, though you should probably take it to a shop to be tuned up within a few weeks (or buy a good book on the topic and do it yourself).

Or you may have found something (rusted brake cables, bad shifting, rotten tires, etc) that isn't "fatal" but demands more immediate service.  Almost certainly worth paying a shop to fix.

Or you may have found crunchy bearings, severe overall rust, or some other problem that makes the bike at best a "fixer upper".  Only spend money on this one if you've got a "thing" for "lonely" machines.

One thing to note:  If you decide, for whatever reason, that the bike is not for you, ask around for an organization that "recycles" them.  In our area Christmas Anonymous and the Kiwanis Club will take bikes in any condition to be rehabbed for kids and needy adults.  Bikes that are in too bad of shape to be rehabbed are stripped for spare parts and the rest is recycled.


Handlebar slips in quill stem clamp when going over bumps I bought this new Kalloy quill stem, with Sakae 25.4mm handlebars as pictured below. The handlebars were purchased at an eBay auction.

Here's the setup from the side
I've tightened the handlebar clamping bolt (m8 size, 10mm thread engagement) to the maximum torque of 10 N m as printed on the stem, photo here, which does fine when riding on flat surfaces, but as soon as i hit a bump when on the hoods, the handlebars rotate forward. Adding fibre grip doesn't solve this problem.
When looking up the torque values of typical quill stems they range between 14 - 30 N m, Park tool's recommended torque ranges reflect this.
Would it be okay for me to torque higher than 10 N m despite what it says on the stem? As far as I know, Kalloy is a fairly reputable company when it comes to components, so I'm surprised the torque is so much lower, and that this slippage problem is occurring.
My current strategy is to incrementally up the torque until it's at an acceptable level. If that still doesn't work, I'm considering using a shim.
Please let me know if there's anything I should consider!
EDIT:
I've heard back from the store I bought it from and this was their reply:

Good morning, The first thing I would check is the handlebar diameter
just to make sure it is within spec. We see a lot of bars that are on
the low side of the specification, 25.2mm is probably ok, anything
below could be an issue.  If it is within spec you should be able to
safely exceed the recommended torque, just make sure the bolt threads
are greased.  I would have sold over a thousand of these stems over
the past 10 years or so and more than likely the majority of customers
wouldn't bother with a torque wrench, no doubt they have taken them
well past 10 N m I would go up in 0.5 N m increments

I rechecked the diameter of the handlebar, and they are within spec. Bolts are also greased.
I've tested it up to 15 N m (as far as my torque wrench allows), and will try shimming it with a beer can before borrowing a torque wrench with higher torque setting. So far seems promising!

A few things to think about:

Are you using grease or threadlocker on the bolt threads? This will minimize corrosion and galling problems, and means that the same final torque value is actually clamping tighter than if the threads are not lubricated. Personally, I would use grease on this bolt, but others may differ. Ask Kalloy whether their torque spec is using lube or not.
Does the handlebar looseness change over time? Is it the same "looseness" from the start, or does it get looser the longer you ride? (Is the bolt loosening during the ride?)
Does the handlebar indeed measure 25.4mm in diameter at the clamping point (measure using calipers)?
Are the threads on the bolt and in the stem's clamping region in good shape?
Is the bolt used and might have been stretched from being overtorqued in the past?
How do you know your torque wrench is correctly calibrated? You might try a different one, or a visually-calibrated one like a beam-type if that's not what you're using.

fwiw, found this Kalloy/Uno stem online and by zooming in on the photo for the 80mm model it reads "15Nm" next to its clamp bolt. Not sure if it is the same model as yours but it looks very similar:
https://www.performancebike.com/kalloy-road-quill-stem-black-25.4mm-80mm-13-kl-80-bk/p863539


Replacing mountain bike bars & stem with drop bars I have a mid-1990s Specialized Rockhopper. I've trashed the flat bars that were on it previously and I want to install drop bars, but to make that comfortable for me I'll want a shorter and higher stem.

So I need to purchase:

A short riser stem that will fit the mountain bike's nonthreaded headset correctly
A set of drop handlebars that will fit the stem's clamp

but I am lost in measurement purgatory. I've measured the diameter of the tube to which the stem will clamp (with a measuring tape): outside is 28mm and inside is ~25mm. Ok, great! Let's go check out some stems...

...uh.

So the last measurement (80/90/100/110 mm etc) is probably the length of the stem, and the degree is the amount of its rise. What on earth are all of the other numbers? What types of stems usually fit this kind of bike? Are there drop handlebars that usually fit this kind of stem, or do those tend to be a different diameter (because they usually go on road bikes)?

What on earth are the measurements I need to be shopping with?

There are four measurements you need to be concerned with. The two most critical are the fork steerer diameter and the bar clamp diameter.

The fork steerer diameter is normally referred to as 1", 1-1/8", or in some cases 1-1/2". The bar clamp diameter can be 1"/25.4mm (typically MTB), 26mm (typically road), 1-1/8"/31.8mm (commonly called oversized or OS).

The other dimensions are the length of the stem (normally the distance between center of steerer clamp and the center of the bar clamp) and the angle, which is usually stated as degrees from perpendicular. Most stems can be mounted pointed up or down but check the installation sheet first. If two stems are 120mm long but one is +7 degrees and the other is +34 degrees, the 34 degree stem will make the bars feel higher and closer.


Endomondo/Strava +iPhone6 +altimeter Does anyone know if these work together? I see there are dedicated iPhone +altimeter apps for the iPhone, but I can't find info if there is an altimeter built into the iPhone that works with these Endomondo/Strava apps.

So my fear is that my gps is not tracking the correct altimeter information. Should I be worried?

GPS may be accurate +/- 15 meteres.
http://gpsinformation.net/main/altitude.htm

If you have a GPS device with barometric measurement - then this can improve.

Should you be worried? If you're using it for cycling then probably not - it is only an indicative figure of metres gained or lost.

If you're trying to land a plane - then yes. :)


Alfine 11 chain guard I'm planning to invest into a Alfine 11 set (both hub gear and crank+front cog(45)).
I'm also looking for solution for chain guard for Alfine cog for commuting. I've found Curana brand that makes good chain guards for Alfine (C-Lite that makes possible to use original Alfine ring and chain guard together), although I'm not able to find online dealer to buy one.

Would you recommend any online store to buy Curana stuff?
If it is not possible, would you recommend other good chain guard for Alfine?

I recently bought a bike with an Alfine 8 transmission. I plan to add a Chain Glider. It will mean changing the front chain ring to one of the supported sizes, so I will buy the Chain Glider, a Surly chainring and new rear sprocket from SJS Cycles on the basis of this thread. Here and here are some positive reviews.


Help me identify bike model by picture I have a friend which has a friend who is selling his bike, the only picture i have is this one bellow, i know it is a Focus bicycle but i don't know the model.

The paint job matches that of a Focus Raven 2008, not sure about the spec level as this info is hard to find without detailed catalogs and the Focus archive doesn't work for me. Here's a product page on Yandex aggregation service, the bike has the same paint scheme, albeit with different colors. Here's a review that mentions the 2008 model and a similar paint scheme. The 2009 model looks to have a different paint job.


Fixing off-center Caliper brakes The brakes pads of my front brake are off center, so far that when the brake is disengaged the right pad rubs slightly against the wheel even though there is plenty of clearance between the wheel and the left pad.

From what I can tell, my bike has single-pivot caliper brakes. They look like this:

(Taken from Sheldon Brown's Site )

How do I re-center my brakes so that there is enough clearance for both pads?

The bolt that runs through the brake has a couple of flats on it just in front of where it meets the front fork.  You can put a spanner (of the thin variety) onto these and align the brake.

That is the proper way to do it, but this is not always practical. The other approach is to tighten the allen key bolt at the back of the fork and then undo it by a small amount, the small amount required to lift the left-hand-pad (as seen from the front) off the rim.

Before doing any of the above it is worth considering the wheel - is it in the fork properly? The best way to ensure the wheel is correctly in place is to put the bike on the ground with your weight on the handlebars. Now push the quick-release skewer tight.

If you do not have quick release on your front wheel then you can tighten up the nuts on each side bit by bit, again with weight on handlebars so that it does not end up being to one side.


"Lock" brakes so that they are always active I have mechanical disc-brakes on my mountain bike. I am wondering whether it is possible to have the brakes activated without me pressing the levers.

I test-rode a trike that had a parking brake lever.  There was an extra button underneath the housing and when you pull the lever, it clicked in and holds brake lever locked down.
To release parking brake,  you squeeze the lever a bit more and the button pops out.
The brake is to help you load your cargo with the trike not rolling away.
https://www.huskybicycles.com/bicycle-brake-lever-wlock-v-type-left-hand.html looks like it.


How can I get started building a bicycle? Now that I've been riding a while, I'm interested in building my own bike.  In this case, it will be a bike for commuting and getting around town.  It will probably be a flipflop fixie/single gear, but the kind of bike isn't important to this question.

What resources (books, web sites, magazines, shops) do you recommend for information about building a bicycle from scratch?

My main resources for pretty much anything include:

Sheldon Brown
In particular:

sheldonbrown: how-to-fixed-conversion

sheldonbrown: fixed-conversion

Loads of general wrenching info at
Park Tool

And of course a friendly local bike shop.

Look out for a bike co-op or skills-sharing non-profit/community organization. They may run classes and provide parts and tools.


Upgrading crankset on mountain bike - what are my options I have a cheap old rockrider 5.0 mountain bike  also known under the btwin brand. Bit by bit I'm trying to improve it's performance as a road commuter bike. So far I've changed the rear wheel to a cassette type and upgraded the cassette from 14-something T to an 11-28T and changed tyres from 2" semi-slicks to 1.5" slicks. This much improved it as a road bike but after 2000+ miles since the upgrade I'm noticing I often max the speed out on flats and would like a bit more gearing. 11T is pretty much the best I can do on the rear cassette so I'm considering upgrading the crankset from a 42T to a 48T or bigger if I can.

My current rear cassette is a Shimano Acera 7 Speed 11/28T Cassette  CS-HG41-7.
My chain is a KMC Z51.
The front derailleur is a  Shimano TZ30.

I'm aware that the front derailleur will possibly need to be adjustable to get the chain over the larger 48T chain ring. And possibly the chain may need to be lengthened.

The crankset I have in mind is Shimano Alloy / Steel Triple Chainset FCM131 28 /38 /48 teeth ratio suitable for 5, 6, 7, or 8 speed.Is this likely to work ? Can I go bigger? And what compatability considerations do I need to take into account in this upgrade?

It's my first time upgrading a crankset so any advice would be much appreciated.

Probably you have already figured out an answer from the given comments, but here is my answer.

I have a bike with a very similar set up. It is an old MTB with rigid fork that I turned into a fast commuter. Like you, the first thing I did was changing the tires to a pair of "1.3 Continental Sport Contact. Later, I changed the crankset and the cassette, which happens to be the same as yours.

I am using a triple crankset Shimano FC-M171 (48-38-28). You can buy it new for around 20€.

About the required adaptations, I would say:

Don't change the front derailleur, probably yours will have enough room. You will have to move it up a bit. A rule of thumb is to leave 2 mm clearance between the bottom of the outer cage plate and the teeth of the large chain wheel, but you'll have to try to find the best fit. Sheldon Brown has a nice guide about derailleur adjustment.
Replace the chain, which is advisable when changing the crankset and/or the cassette (they all wear out at the same time). Also, the new crankset will require a longer chain. I'd say something between 112 and 118 links. It is preferable to buy it longer and then remove the links in excess.
Probably you will need a wider bottom bracket (larger axle length). This is a requirement for the new crankset, otherwise it may happen that the smaller chainring will touch the frame. E.g., in the case of the FC-M171, it requires an axle length of 122 mm. The diameter of the bottom bracket will be the same of your current one. A low-end Shimano squared bottom bracket (sealed) costs around 10€ new.

I must add that for me this amplitude is great for every occasion, I can climb reasonably well and I can also reach 50 kph with a reasonable cadence (not sure, probably something between 80 and 110 rpm).

Go for it.


eBike winter battery power My Bosch eBike has dual batteries which I usually ride with one battery.  I feel like as the weather drops to freezing the bike power has dropped off slightly and when I ride with the second battery added back on the power is raised back up.  Is this expected?

Obviously I am aware that double the battery means double the range but I didn't think a double battery would provide more power than a single battery which was fully charged.

You're right - a cold battery cannot provide as much power as a room-temperature battery.

I had an ebike based on SLA batteries, and in summer it would get 25 km range, which dropped to under 5 km in the cold frosty mornings of a winter.

It is possible to get battery heaters, common in places like Canada where its cold enough to freeze the water in a SLA battery and split the casing.  But on a bike you're going to be using battery power to keep the battery warm.  A better solution is to store the bike inside at both ends of your journey.

Perhaps a wrap made from a thermal blanket could help keep heat in, but there are downsides to that too.

Suggest you read To what extent should I insulate an electric bike battery during winter?


Pannier for cannondale caad9? Every day I commute on my cannonade caad9 and carry a crumpler bag with my 15" MacBook pro, some work documents and often a change of clothes if it's a hot or rainy day.

After years of doing this I'm thinking it's time I started thinking about my back and am considering panniers for the commute. Yes a caad9 is a road bike and not so much a commuter, I also do road riding and prefer using the 1 bike for everything.

Ideally it would be a pannier that could be very easily removed and be able to sustain the weight and clearance.

Does anyone have suggestions on good kit to get for this?

Thanks!

Heelstrike, which Neil Fein mentioned in a comment, would be my chief concern. You'd need a rack that moves the panniers aft. Axiom makes just such a rack that is designed for bikes without rack-mounting eyelets—instead it mounts to your quick-release skewer (which could make changing flats a PITA). I have seen people touring on road bikes with these, so it can be done. It would also be possible with some racks to mount the rack to P-clamps at the bottom. They also make this clamp-on seatpost rack that supposedly has a 15-kg capacity. Should be more than enough.

You might also consider a large seatbag. This one might be too small and is spendy, but it seems like it's in the right direction (and if you haven't explored Rivendell's website, do so—neat stuff).


Rear wheel at edge of dropouts on a Surly Cross Check The rear wheel on my Surly Cross Check is right at the edge of the rear dropout but the chain is tensioned correctly. If I move the wheel back into the dropout so it is comfortably in the middle, I presume that the chain will no longer be tensioned correctly or will it? Does the rear derailleur compensate for wheel shift fore and aft?

If not will I need to get a longer chain? I asked the bike shop but they didn't seem keen on moving the wheel back into the dropout. They just said the rear dropout screws were correctly configured.

When you have a multi-speed setup, the derailleur handles all responsibility of maintaining chain tension.

The Cross-check frame has the semi-horizontal dropouts so it can be utilized for single speed applications, and it's only for those applications that you control chain tension by wheel spacing.

Where the wheel goes in the dropouts for a multi-speed setup is not super important, so as long as it is completely "in" them, and there is plenty of surface on the dropouts your axel nuts/QR cams ares secured to, you should be fine. Having the wheel nearer the end does make it easier to pull the wheel out without getting too much grease on your hands.


Help with pairing the right headset to a new 3T fork I recently purchased an Aventon Mataro (http://aventonbikes.com/track/) frame and a 3T Funda Pro with tapered fork (1 1/4' - 1 1/8' 1.25 ). I've been trying to figure out which headset I need to fit the fork to my frame. I am still fairly new, and looking at Cane Creek's page of all the headsets is confusing me even more. Can someone point me in the right direction or tell me what I need to look for in the specs?

Measure the inner diameter of the headtube, both upper and lower. These are the key measures in combination with the fork dimensions. You probably want to confirm that the angle of the inner chamfer angles are 45 degrees (and not 36) as well.

Once you have those measurements you can start searching. Note that it says "integrated" (= IS) on the Aventon page, which is also a key. It seems to me that there is a risk that you can not fit a tapered fork straightforwardly into your steering tube though, but Cane Creek can probably help you out there. However, that depends entirely on the measures you obtain.


Lever pulsates while braking I installed a new front float rotor, the ones that you can get from AliExpress. I have Deore XT brakes.

While using the front brake the lever moves back and forth while pulling it. I inspected whether the rotor was bent or the caliper was not properly aligned but everything is okay.

I can't figure out what the problem is or is it expected to work like that for float rotors.  Need help. Please

Assuming that you've already checked that the rotor is true (and out-of-true rotors are more responsible for rub than pulsation), I would take a micrometer and measure the thickness of the rotor in multiple places. You are likely to find that it was not machined correctly. Also, check the surface finish of the rotor on both sides. It doesn't matter what it is so much as that it is uniform, all the way around.


Gates carbon drive on carbon frame It is hard to prove non-existence, but as far as my research goes, there is no carbon frame available for belt drive systems like Gates. My guess is that this is due to the requirement to be able to open and close the frame during belt installation. However, at the same time, carbon frame manufacturers claim that they can tailor a frame's lateral & etc. stiffness by layer density, fibre orientation and the like.
So my question is what is the exact reason why belt drive systems are not available on carbon frames?

...of course, I'd also be happy if my research turns out to be incomplete...

There is no reason a carbon fiber composite frame could not be built to accommodate a Gates drive. CFC can be bonded to a metal split dropout no problem.

CFC frames designed for Gates drives are likely not common because the frame materials and drives are intended for different niches. CFC frames are intended to be light, efficient and fast, are relatively expensive compared to other frame materials and are combined with derailleur drivetrains. Gates drives require internally geared hubs which are a bit heavy and are aimed at 'practical' cycling offering no mess and low maintenance, where CFC frames are not used as alloy frames are perfectly adequate.


Help me understand bottom brackets and cranks I have a Norco Threshold cyclocross bike (http://www.norco.com/bikes/road/cyclocross/threshold-carbon/threshold-sl-ultegra/)
. It has a PF30 bottom bracket and an FSA Energy Cross PF30 46/36T crank.

The BB is making a lot of clicking and creaking noises, and if this cannot be fixed, I am thinking about replacing the bottom bracket with a Praxis Conversion BB (http://www.praxiscycles.com/conversion-bb/). That BB is designed to replace a PF30 BB. It is supposed to work with "Shimano™ Hollowtech II steel spindle road cranks only".  Praxis also offers variants of the same Conversion BB for Shimano Mountain, SRAM road/mountain, Campagnolo. I assume I can ignore the Campagnolo variant.

I am trying to figure out if it will work with my existing FSA Energy Cross crank. I am unable to tell what the difference is between various types of cranks. A lot of websites talk about "24mm standard" but I have no idea what that means. Is it the same as Shimano Hollowtech 2 ?  What characteristics must be the same for two cranks to be compatible ? Diameter, Length, something else ?

This is the crank: http://www.fullspeedahead.com/products/cranksets-cyclocross/energy-cyclocross-crankset-4636-bb30/  On the page, it says "BB30", but it also has a "PF30" logo. Does that mean it works with both types of bottom brackets ?

24mm refers to the diameter of your spindle (the rod connecting the two cranks)

You can look for more details on this chart:
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/images/sizing/FSA___RD_CRANKSET_STANDARD_18x24_20140306_reduced_size.jpg

Hope this works for you :-)


Replacing 'cone nuts' on a damaged coaster brake I'm attempting to refurbish a bike that I was given, it has a (not sure what brand) coaster brake, which according to sheldon brown's site has a peculiar kind of cone nut. The wheel might be 10 years old, it's hard to say.

I've been able to remove the otherwise butchered nuts (see below) using a tap & hammer and an axle vice, now that they are free I'd like to know what they are, so that I can replace them, do they have a special name?

I've only ever seen mention of cone nuts resembling a regular washer, but with two flat sides (sorry for the poor explanation) - these that this bike is fitted with are something different, see below:

Apologies for my dodgy graphics work, the middle is threaded, and sized to fix the (slightly larger than the wheel nut thread) centre of the coaster brake axel, the outsides smooth (very much resembling a washer) except for the two grooves.

The entre part is perhaps 20mm in diameter; unfortunately my bright idea of drawing the part, and then using Google image search has failed me!

In the end, I'm sure this particular bolt is a strange european relic designed as some kind of "security" bolt; not dissimilar to the Apple style 5-point start, or similar, to discourage people against fiddling with their coaster brake. But I would really like to rebuild the brake!

I'm sure I could replace them with regular "cone nuts" - that is the ones with two flat sides, but the term "cone nut" seems to refer more to the purpose than the design of the nut itself.

All information appreciated, thanks in advance!

The term "cone nut", on a bike, generally refers to the nuts that comprise the outer half of a bearing race (the inner half being formed into the wheel hub or whatever).  The "cone" side, which faces inward, has a concave profile so that the balls will roll smoothly in it.

It's hard to tell what you have from your description.  I do vaguely recall some cases of nuts on coaster brakes with slots like that, apparently intended to be operated by a "spanner wrench" (which is a redundant expression in the UK, but means a wrench with pins rather than flats in the US).  Presumably this allowed the nut to be more readily adjusted while everything was assembled.  (Current bikes require a thin "cone wrench" for the same adjustment.)  If this is all it is then a hex-sided/flat-sided nut (with similar thread/profile) should work just fine.

I've also seen, internal to some coaster hubs, various plates and nuts with slots or teeth, intended to engage mirror-image features of the hub or an internal rotating piece.  These would be quite specific to the particular hub.

And it may be that this nut is a cone nut for internal bearings, such that the nut cannot be reached for adjustment with a regular wrench (even a thin one).  In that case you'd have to figure out something.

It's remarkably hard to find a good image of a cone nut.  Here is the best I could find:

This one has a sheet metal dust shield fastened to the outer diameter -- the nut itself is inside of the inner flange of the shield.  On the back side is a regular (though fairly thin) hex nut or (more often) a cylindrical body with two flats, sized to take a thin open-end wrench.

(It should be noted that it's become common to refer to any nut that secures a bike bearing as a "cone nut", even though it may be securing a sealed bearing cartridge and hence lack the conical extension.  This adds a lot to the confusion.)


Can I reuse Jagwire hydraulic brake hose? They were previously filled with Shimano mineral oil. Now they are to be re-purposed for dot 5.1 oil. Any issues with doing so?

Cheers.

Technically you could, but it's a very bad idea.

The two fluids are incompatible and will contaminate each other, forcing you to re-bleed sooner than expected.

Whichever solvent you use to clean out the hose of mineral oil, will also be a contaminant for your dot fluid. In addition, you'll need some serious dedication and resolve to make sure you actually clean it out completely.

Labour + more dot fluid > Cost of length of hose.


How durable are road or hybrid tyre tubes compared to mountain bike tyre tubes? The context here is that I'm using a mountain bike to commute and I'm considering buying a hybrid bicycle or road bicycle.

I'm experiencing various issues that require repairs and maintenance. Perhaps the most time consuming being punctures.

Even if the road or hybrid bicycle is faster, I'm afraid that this benefit will be negated by the time lost on more frequent repairs.

I have no idea how these punctures/tears happen, I try to be careful with curbs and avoid any debris I can.

How durable are hybrid bicycle tubes compared to mountain bike tubes?

Another (and perhaps more correct) way of phrasing the question is to ask, what is faster for city commute where there is a lot of curbs, uneven surfaces, traffic, and similar challenges. A hybrid bicycle or a mountain bicycle, when factoring in the maintenance/repair time cost as well as the speed?

As a bonus question, how much faster is a road/hybrid bicycle anyway? Are there any studies that look at average speeds in typical city commutes? Obviously they would need to look at the exact same route and be somewhat serious, not just being marketing blurbs.

Having ridden both mountain and road bikes, I don't think tire/tubes designed for paved surfaces are actually any more puncture prone than tires designed for dirt or gravel, if used within their intended limits.

If you are getting frequent holes and tears in your tubes but not your tires, and you are not getting pinch flats, inspect the inside surfaces of your tires carefully for debris or small sharp objects that may be buried in the tire surface. if you run your fingers over the inside surface you can sometimes feel embedded objects that are not visible.

It's impossible to say how much faster you will be on different bike types on your commute. Also, speed is only one consideration, you may be more comfortable and happier on a hybrid with relatively wide tires and a riding position that allows better control than a slightly faster but more uncomfortable road bike.


Rotor rubs caliper after every ride I've noticed the rotor on my front wheel rubs on the outer caliper's brake pad after I go for a ride.

I've adjusted the wheel alignment a few times just with the quick release mechanism to get the rotor out of contact with the caliper before I head out but every time I get back from a ride it's rubbing again when I spin the wheel.

Is there anything I can adjust to prevent the rubbing re-occurring?

The bike is a 2019 Giant Fastroad SL-1.

Sounds like you are adjusting the position of the wheel axle in the frame drop outs to move the rotor relative to the caliper. Your weight and the forces generated going over bumps will push the axle fully into the dropouts, that's why you are getting rub after every ride.

The calipers have an adjustment mechanism and that's how you should adjust the caliper to tune out rub on the rotor. The two mounting bolts go through slots on the caliper which allows the position to be adjusted when the bolts are loosened.

I think you have hydraulic brakes on the Fastroad SL-1. They are slightly easier to adjust that mechanical disc brakes. A good trick for setting hydraulic caliper position is to loosen the bolts so that the caliper can just move, squeeze the brake lever and tighten the bolts (it helps to have a friend squeeze the lever for you).

Park Tool Company has great instruction videos. Try this one. It also will point you to instructions on mechanical brakes if that's in fact what you have.


What Gates Carbon Drive parts should I upgrade? A friend gave me his old Trek District 1 bike, which has a Gates Carbon belt drivetrain. The bike's about ten years old.

The equipment

an old-style (pre-centre-line) CDC drivechain
a splined (single-speed) free-hub

The problem

The drivetrain is extremely unreliable and annoying.

However much it's tightened, the rear sprocket (CDC 22T) eventually unwinds the ring that tightens it on the splined free-hub. The nubs on the sprocket that engage with the splines are worn, but whether this is the ultimate cause or effect of the loosening I can't say (the sprocket definitely needs to be replaced, anyway).

Below you can see the step-shape that all the wide nubs on the sprocket have been reduced to.

No matter how carefully aligned, the belt squeaks and rubs on something or the other (this is why my friend lost patience with it, and I've spent a lot of time messing about with it too).

What parts should I replace to try to rescue this bike? Do I need to replace belt, sprocket and chainwheel, or can I start with just the first two?

And, which of the new versions should I choose?

The replacement parts are pretty expensive, so I'd like to avoid wasting a lot of money on a futile repair attempt.

Hard to give a good definitive answer to this. It's impossible to predict of replacing one or both sprockets and the belt will solve the rubbling and squeaking problem, although it's possible that upgrading to the newer type Gates belt would help (presumably they have changed the design because it was better).

If the rear sprocket retaining ring comes loose, something is probably worn badly, probably by riding when the ring came loose the first time.

The retaining ring really needs to be tightened to the proper torque specification with a torque wrench, which is may be way more than you are estimating.

If the sprocket spines are damaged the hub splines may be damaged too. I'd evaluate the hub before deciding how to proceed.


Why are foot-long pedals not widely used? A lot of effort and resources go into making cycling shoes stiff, presumably to keep the foot in a suitable shape and spread the force across the sole.

It seems like it would be possible to achieve a similar effect by making pedals long enough to support the entire foot, with or without a retention system. However I'm not aware of the existence of any pedals like that, so I suppose there must be strong disadvantages to them that I haven't thought about.

I'd wager the two biggest reasons you don't see foot-sized pedals are the increased rotational weight, and the difficulty you would have catching the pedal with your foot before it struck the ground or the front tire. I'm sure someone tried this once and promptly scrapped the idea after the foot-sized pedal struck something.

Pedals need to be stiff and durable, which is fine. But if pedals had to be stiff and durable and large, they would probably end up being heavy, so it makes sense that most pedals you see are small and compact. Shoes already do a great job of interfacing with and conforming to your feet, and it's easy enough to make the sole stiff with plastic, fiberglass, and carbon fiber. All of these factors combined explain why we have small pedals.


Freewheel or Cassette Can someone help me, I currently have a 9 speed cassette on my road bike, I would like to get another pair of wheels with larger tyres so I can swap easy depending on where I'm going without having to take tyre off.
I have found a new set with the correct amount of gears and same brakes but the only difference it says its Freewheel gears. If I have the same number of gears will this work? (Cassette on one wheel set and freewheel on the other wheel set being used on the same bike set up)

Thank you in advance

If the spacing is the same, it should work, although I wouldn't be surprised if the shifting required adjustment every time you swapped, even if the spacing is nominally the same.

The other problem is that a 9-speed freewheel/hub is an inherently bad design, since more of the axle is unsupported, and more likely to bend or break.

It's also possible that the set you found really does have a cassette and freehub, and was simply mislabelled. None of the majors ever made a 9-speed freewheel, or a thread-on hub for a 9-speed freewheel.


Rear wheel rubs frame/cage while pedaling standing up I've heard (and noticed) the rear wheel rub on the frame and front derailleur cage when pedaling standing up. The frame shows some paint wear at one spot. And, in the lowest gear, if I crank hard, I can hear the tire rub on the derailleur cage.

I'm riding a Kona Splice (20", 29er).

In the lowest gear, the front derailleur cage is pretty close to the tire as it is.

Should I upgrade parts? Tighten parts? Or not stand up at all knowing this?

Edit #1

Tires: Bontrager 29x2.1"

Edit #2

2013 specs show Geax Evolutions, 29x1.9"

Edit #3

Went lapping our backyard circuit just now. It would rub when climbing the east and west staights.

Pic of the rubbing on the frame (not as bad as I remembered):

Pic of me essentially pushing with my thumb, the tire fairly close to the frame:

However, if I try to move the rim, it doesn't move really. It would seem that it's only the tire/rubber? Under inflated perhaps? I'm around or below 30psi.

Edit #4

I actually have a 2012 model, confirmed with the color of the frame and the posted pics.

The specs show 29x2.1, and Vittoria Mezcal, why did the shop I bought the bike from swap those out for some Geax?

Also, why did the following models come with 29x1.9"? Also, in 2014, the Splice became a cross bike :/

Any bike is going to flex when you pedal
The harder you pedal the more it will flex

So first the question is if it is flexing too much
Inspect both the wheel and frame for any damage or weakness

If the wheel is not centered then it will rub on one side first
Make sure it is centered

If it is centered and no excessive flex then the tire is too large
If you cannot get the tip of your pinky finger between the tire and frame then you most likely don't have enough clearance
2.1 is extra-ordinary if the bike want not built for it - that is cross
I have a pure mountain bike that tops out at 2.1


Did I pick the wrong bike? I live 7.2 miles from where I work and was rebuilding my life, so no car.  I was walking to work everyday until my son took me to Wal-Mart and said I was getting a bike.  I picked out a Kent 26 Bayside 7-speed cruiser.  I am 5ft 9in tall, 225 lbs and generally a big stocky guy.  Aside from taking a turn too fast in the middle of the night, and having to carry the bike 4 miles home, I have not had too much trouble, but the bike is no longer shifting to all the gears, and when in the highest gear, 7th, the chain slides off the front cog.

I made some adjustments, not knowing what the adjustments actually did, and the derailleur ripped off the hanger.  No damage to chain or cogs, but when I replaced the derailleur, it does the same thing as the first one did.  The guys at the bike shop said I am using the wrong bike because the trails I have to take to get to work are more mountain bike trails.

I guess, the heart of my question is, with proper maintainence and adjustment, can this bike carry me or do I really have to get another bike?  I have no clue why the chain comes off the front cog when the bike is in the higher gears, it did not used to do that, but I do know I am hard on the thing.

Whether the cruiser style bike is suitable for the 'mountain bike trails' you are riding on really depends on exactly what those trails are like. The cruiser has pretty big tires so it should be able to handle rough surfaces just fine. If you are riding those trails and it feels OK, then it's OK.

Cheap bikes from big-box stores with Shimano 'Tourney' level components are not known for durable and reliable drive trains that will work every single day. If you want to try to make it work, learn how rear derailleurs are adjusted, it's not super complicated. Basically there are upper and lower limits that stop the derailleur pushing the chain off the sprockets, and an indexing adjustment that positions the chain correctly for each gear.

To address the issues you are having, have a bike shop check your derailleur cage alignment. The derailleur hanger can get bent which messes up how the derailleur feeds the chain onto the sprockets. This may be why you are can't shift into all gears and the chain is coming off.

Lastly, don't forget the shift cable and housing. If these get dirt inside them or damaged they can prevent proper shifting.

If you are going to get a different bike, invest in one from a proper bike shop with better components, or look for a better quality used bike.


Why do I do the "saddle shuffle" when riding? I was browsing some time trial videos on YouTube and came across a video on saddle shuffling, and I've been noticing that I do the same saddle shuffle a lot when riding hard.  Did not really know it was a problem until I saw a video about it.  Is this common among riders?  My seat is correctly positioned too and it's perfectly level. I wonder how common this is...

To anyone who can't see the video: The problem is that a rider will, over time, shuffle forward on the saddle as they ride, every so often pushing themselves back so they're squarely on the saddle.

Edit: About me:  I'm 5'6 about 145lb and ride a Specialized Allez Apex. I use clipless pedals and have received a BG Bike Fit. The bike size is a 52.  I would consider myself an aggresive rider.

Update: So I thought I would update you with some tweaks I've done so far. I went to my LBS and purchased a shorter stem so I'm not leaning forward as much. I also measured my seat and myself (sit bones) and it showed that my seat was too narrow, though, I have been measured before and have always been told the seat was good (my other two bikes were the same). I was suggested to try the Romin or Avatar saddles. The look of the Romin seems like it will keep me from moving forward as much. I plan on testing the seats out in a trainer and around town. Thanks for all the suggestions.

It all depends on your saddle. As someone who has just been enlightened, some saddles are supposed to be pointed a bit nose up. Take the brooks flyer for instance, it is not the front that is supposed to be level. It is the back making the front point a bit upwards. I think of it less of a seat then a hammock.

I have also had a saddle that was a left over from my fat days that provided extra back support. Because of it's design for bigger behinds, and me lacking one for the first time in a long time, I kept sliding forward which was hurting my taint (for lack of a better word).

Try angling your seat up a bit or maybe moving it forward a bit on the rails. Play around with the fit and see what kind of results you get. If all else fails you can go to your LBS and ask them to take a look at it for you.


How can I treat an aluminium frame ready for restoration? I have an old aluminium framed mountain bike which has developed some 'oxidation / corrosion' underneath the lacquer -- it kind of looks like little white worms!

The frame as original has a nice smooth, ball-burnished finish (it looks like brushed steel but on aluminium), so whilst I could have the frame sand-blasted this would leave it with a dull finish.

Does anyone please know of a way I can treat the frame such that it will strip the existing lacquer, decals and oxidation marks but leave the original smooth finish intact?

Failing that is there an 'easy' way to restore the polished finish after sand-blasting?

I realise that the simplest solution would be to blast the frame and then paint it, the dull finish from sand-blasting proving a good surface for paint to key to.

++ Thanks ++

There's a few approaches you could take...

I'd say that getting it blasted should be the first step no matter what as chemical strippers can damage alloy frames are very messy and really bad for the environment.

Give it a polish with some very fine grit wet/dry paper to polish up the alloy.

Then you could use one or a combination of the methods below to get the kind of brushed look that you are after. Whichever gives the desired finish the best.

Tip Get a scrap piece of alloy to test brushing technique on before commiting to attacking your frame. (if you mess up badly you could always reblast or repolish the brush out of it.)

Option 1. (carefully) use a wire wheel drill bit go over your frame

Option 2. by hand with a scotchbrite / scouring pad to go over your frame to get the desired brushed look

Option 3. 000 or 0000 grade Wire Wool then carefully do long straight strokes down the frame.

Once happy with your finish don't get fingerprints anywhere on the finish or they will show through the lacquer.

Clear lacquer the frame locking in the brushed finish. Thin laquer = no drips

Depending how shiny/durable you want the lacquer increase the amount of coats and let it completely dry. Polish with a clean microfiber cloth between each coat. repeat until happy.

Hope that helps.


Understanding MTB Pedals This question is bugging me for a very long time. Look at the picture below.

Notice the area I have denoted with red circles. What is that? Does it represent something? Maybe something like position! If it represents position, which one is the right one? Should I pedal with that part in front or back? Why is that part on only side and not the other?

That's for mounting straps on the pedal. Here's a picture of a pedal with the straps on it:

Which side of the pedal should you use? On some pedals, one side has an axis that protrudes a bit, and the other side is flat; the latter is the one you should use. However, if both sides of the pedal are flat, feel free to use either side of the pedal.


Chain length is too long It seems me, that the chain is too long.

Probably this is the reason, why the chain falls sometimes.

By how many links I should shorten the length?

P.S. Probably the reason for it, that my 52T sprocket had broken and I replaced it by 50T sprocket.

PHOTO UPDATED after adjusting tension on a B-Screw on rear derailleur.

You can determine the proper chain length by following the technique used to size chains when they are installed - in a modify way, as you will have a joined chain.

Before doing that make sure the B-screw is adjusted correctly so that the upper jockey wheel is not hitting the largest sprocket.

Put the rear derailleur on the largest sprocket, take a couple of chain links and pull the chain taught (it may help if you have someone hold the derailleur cage to remove its tension. You should be able to pull two plates together so that they would be joinable with 2 links (one inner, one outer) of axtra chain between them.

I'd also check the spring tension in your derailleur, both the A pivot where the cage rotates and the B pivot where the derailleur rotates on the hanger.


Which tube will fit a -(700 x 25c) wheel? BF got a fancy new bike, and promptly punctured the inner tube, I’ve been looking in shops for the right size and getting in a right faff trying to find the right size.

His wheel says on it -(700 x 25c)

I know it’s a Presta Valve, and has to be 700, but I’m confused on the 25.

Does the inner tube have to be 700x25c, or would a 700 x 18-23c fit?

There’s a 700 x 35-38c which I’m sure is way too big, but I’m also concerned that the 18-23c is too small?

Does the inner tube specs have to end in 25? Or include 25 in the numbers? Like say 18-28 would? (Just random numbers)

Many thanks for any help

The marking on the tire '700 x 25c' means a 622mm diameter rim, with a nominally 25mm wide tire. ('700c' comes from an older French standard for wheel and tire sizes, it's very commonly used to refer to the standard road bike rims and tire size).

Inner tubes fit a range of tire sizes as they are quite flexible. The two numbers denote the min and max tire sizes. A 700 19-25c tube will fit, as will a 700 25-28c. As long as you tire size fit in the range specified you are good.

Note that tires and tubes may also be marked with 'ISO 622' or 'ETRTO 622' These are both equivalent to 700c.

You also need to get a tube with the correct valve stem length. Tubes come with a range of valve lengths to fit different depth rims. The length is not usually marked on the tube but is easy to measure.

The simplest thing to do of course is take the punctured tube to a bike store and simply ask for new tube that is compatible, for a 25mm tire. Or get your BF to buy his own tubes (or learn how to patch them).


New carbon wheel brake pads after use on aluminum wheel? I have carbon wheels with the appropriate brake pads. During a race I flatted and quickly swapped wheels and finished the race. The wheel I used was aluminum, do I need new brake pads due to possible shards that will ruin my nice wheels or can I just clean them?

You can use them again, but you just need to clean them up. If there are any visible pieces in the pad, then remove those. After that, you just gently sand/file off the braking surface of the pad until you only have fresh rubber exposed.


possible upgrades for merida speeder 200 I have a Speeder 200. (2015). I want to upgrade it's rear derailleur, my problem is I am unsatisfied with its performance. (it is a Tiagra with 9 speed at the moment). If i replace it with a 105 (9 speed) should I replace the other components(cassette, chain, front derailleur etc.) as well? Or can i replace with a ultegra?(does a 9 speed exists) Should I buy a groupset?  haven't tried an upgrade before.

edit: I have been using it for around 400 kilometers, components are still fine, but I was never happy with that Tiagra. I have some problems with shifting, if speed is >20km/h it does not shift properly. I have taken my bike to Merida service twice, I don't think there is a cabling or another problem. It seems OK, but on road i dont like its poor shifting. For example I change it 6th to 7th, after a few cycles I hear a mechanical sound and it decides to change, not on time.

I had another bike with Deore rear derailleur before, never had an issue like this.

All Shimano road derailleurs (2400, Claris, Tiagra, 105, Ultegra, DuraAce) made for 7-10 speeds are compatible with eachother. The amount that the derailleur moves is determined by the shifter.  With 11 speed they changed things up, so as long as the derailleur you chose was designed to work with 7-10 speeds you should be fine. For mountain derailleurs (Acera, Alivio, Deore) 7-9 speed derailleurs are compatible with the 7-10 road groupsets.

A 9 speed Ultegra or even DuraAce can be found at 9 speeds if you find old enough equipment, but all current 105, Ultegra, and DuraAce are 11 speed and will therefore not be compatible with your current 9 speed setup.  If you want to find a 105  9 or 10 speed derailleur, it won't be the current model, although the 10 speed 105 (5700), Ultegra (6700), or DuraAce (7900) is still readily available as a replacement part.

As an aside, are you sure that upgrading the derailleur will really fix your problem? What kind of problems are you having with the Tiagra? Could it be an adjustment or bad cabling that's causing your shifting problems?  Is your cassette or chain worn? 9 speed Tiagra is older equipment and it's possible that your chain or cassette are at the point where they should be replaced. I have 2400 (8 speed) level equipment, and find that it shifts quite well as long as the adjustment is good, and I usually don't need to adjust it very often.


Is there any way i can add progressiveness to my suspension, even though it is not compatible with standard tokens? Off the back of my  last question, is there any way i could be able to add some progressiveness to my suspension, maybe i could retrofit tokens or something of the like.

Thanks.

As @alex commented you need something that takes up some air volume.
Around 10 years ago in the downhill racing scene this was also needed by some heavy riders. The solution was to pour some fork oil into the air chamber to make it take space there. The oil will also eventually get into the negative air chamber when the fork is compressed to the groove on the inside, so the characteristics of the fork will change during a single descent.

The only other solution that comes to my mind (actually it is a bodge) is to use Formula's Neopos volume spacers, and just squeeze them into the fork (its air chamber). Those are foam-based and it might work.

But I think you are better off buying a fork capable of taking proper volume spacers.


Chain replacement - how many links 114/116? I'm replacing an (exact same) Shimano 11 speed chain, the cassette is Shimano Ultegra 11-25T . There are 54 links that look like ()().  What size of chain should I order : 114 or 116 ?

I'm going to take the old chain off and then use the method

thread the chain onto the large/large combination, without running it through the rear derailer. Mesh the two ends on to the large chainwheel so that one complete link (one inch, -- one inner and one outer half-link) overlaps.

It doesn't really matter -- either way, you'll be shortening the chain (this is true for almost any regular bicycle drivetrain). So I'd order whichever is cheaper; You can't really splice 11 speed links back into a 11 speed chain reliably, so having spare links on hand doesn't justify buying the longer chain.

The easiest way to size the chain is simply to count links and match it with the oldchain. Then, break it appropriately and install on the bike. You can do this by putting both of the chains on a piece of newspaper, then pinching the links together to count them. But if you're changing chainring/cassette sizes, you may want to use the largest cog+chainring method (see also this link which also presents a simple formula if you want to just measure the chain with a tape measure).


Is it worth buying used bikes of old models? I am going to buy a road bike, and my budget is about 1300$.

And I'm faced dilemma:
1) new 2015 (next year) road bike, for example Merida (aluminum frame, shimano 105, carbon fork)
2) used 2009-2010 road bike, for example Bianchi (carbon all, system fsa, ultegra 6600, mavic rims).

By photos it seems that the old bike is in a very good state (without scratches, etc), new supplies (chain, cassete, brake pads)

So, if we assume, that the state of bike is good indeed (attentive care, etc), then, is it worth buying 5-year bike?
Technologies progress nowadays, so difference in 4-5 years is a huge gap, or it's OK?

In bicycles, the technological advance is not as fast as you might think. This is due to the UCI, which blocks a lot of new technologies or is slow to allow them in races. So I think as long as the older bike is in good shape, there won't be much difference. Maybe it's a nine-speed instead of the modern ten or eleven, but that doesn't really make a difference, especially not if you're not going to ride pro.

That said, be careful about carbon frames and parts. They might be damaged from falling over, crashing or similar, without the damage being obvious. Look for (deep) scratches in the paint job, hairline cracks (especially around joints), discoloration or deformation.


2 questions: What bike is this? Also is this front wheel too big? I found this bike one morning near my house and figured I'd bring it home to work on it/restore it. But I have no idea what make/model/year it is and I come asking for help. I can make out the word "SINTESI" on the side but that's about it. I tried to take a picture of the brand marks that were still visible but mind you, none of these may be stock. Also I stuck a 700c wheel on it and I was wondering if it's too big?

Cheers

Really hard to tell from the pictures. One thing I am certain of is that almost none of it is stock. A few observations:

The main frame is lugged, has full length brake cable housing and horizontal dropouts and starred bottle braze-ons. All of those date it to sometime prior to the late 80s. Split brake cable housing on road bikes became the norm on production bikes in the late 80s. Horizontal dropouts also largely disappeared from mass production bikes due to the introduction of indexed shifting in the mid to late 80s.
The fork is a unicrown model. Unicrown forks on massed produced road bikes didn't really become the norm until the early 90s. This one has a threaded headset so it mostly likely predates the late 90s by which time threadless became the norm on mass production bikes in the interest of cost savings.
Sintesi is an Italian company who came on the scene in the early 90s and are still around though no longer in the US market (AFAIK). That said, "Sintesi" is also Italian for "synthesis" so it could simply be a model name rather than actual brand (for example, Irio Tommasini offers a model called the "Sintesi" but this isn't one of his)
The stem is likely from the 70s. CB was a common brand back then. The brake levers likely say Universal, Weinmann or CLB. The exposed brake cable date them to prior to the late 80s at which point "aero" levers had become the norm.


Changing from rigid to suspension fork https://whitebikes.com/ax-290-ff-20/b/2461/
This is my bike and I'm planning to use suspension fork on it, I've converted it to ebike. My budget is approximately 100€/120 dollars. Do you have any recommendations what kind of suspension forks I should look at? I've heard that coil forks need less maintenance compared to air ones. I don't ride any hardcore mtb trails etc.
Some that I've looked myself 50-100mm travel ones are these reputable brands?:
Morzocchi txc 2
Zoom Vaxa 30 595S

I don't believe you have much success in selecting a suspension fork. Looking at the bike, a suspension fork with exactly same geometry as yours would have approximately zero suspension. There is simply no room for a suspension fork with unchanged geometry. If you change to a suspension fork, it will change the geometry of your bike which will affect the steering characteristics. For example, the seat tube angle is changed (so you may run out of fore/aft adjustment in your seat post), the head tube angle is changed (so the fork trail affecting the steering characteristics will probably not be what the fork manufacturer intended), the bottom bracket height will change (so you will find it harder to mount and dismount due to increased bottom bracket height).
Every frame will have different requirements for a fork. If you see a fork, you need to carefully look at its dimensions and analyze what the fork trail will be and how the bottom bracket height and seat tube angle will change. Only with such an analysis can you determine if the new geometry of the frame/fork combination is acceptable.
A bike frame designed for suspension would have reduced head tube height from the lower end, making room for suspension below the head tube. For such a frame, the intended fork length is longer.


New Brake Compatibility with Vintage Bike I have a vintage Gitane Sprint from the early '80s which came with Weinmann 405s (single-pivot side pulls). I had been thinking about replacing the front brake anyway and then recently broke the quick release, which has been nearly impossible to replace without buying an entire brake and using it for parts. I was considering putting on a dual-pivot brake to help with some centering issues common to the Weinmanns as well as to increase stopping power.

Would a Shimano Tiagra 4500 be compatible with the Weinmann levers? If not, what type of brakes should I be looking for (whether new or vintage) without having to replace the levers?

Cable pull is the same for most mechanical caliper brakes (though it differs for recent Shimano 105, Ultegra and Dura-Ace which use the new "SLR" scheme).

The things to take into account are the mounting nut and reach. Older brakes use a hex nut to hold the brake in place while newer ones use shorter bolt and countersunk nut. Most of new brakes are for recessed mounting, if your bike has traditional nut you will either need to find a brake with longer bolt and external nut or drill the fork crown for recessed nut.

Whilst it's fine to drill out the rear of the fork crown to adapt an old frame to recessed mounting, it may be more problematic to deal with the (often narrrow) brake bridge at the rear. Instead, you can swap the (longer) front bolt on the front caliper of your new brakeset to the back - so giving the rear caliper enough protruding bolt to use an 'old style' non-recessed nut. Then use a new longer bolt (e.g from J-Tek http://www.jtekengineering.com/other/jtek-dual-pivot-brake-bolt-nut-conversion/) onto the front.

Sheldon Brown explains everything.

Weinmann 405s seem to be short reach, so that should be no problem.


My rear bike wheel is wobbling back and forth when I ride My rear bike wheel is wobbling back and forth when I ride. Nothing that I have done has worked and I was told that it was gonna cost $100 or more to fix. what do I do to fix it properly?

If it's wobbling side to side, there are two problems that are possible; Your cup-and-cone bearings could be loose or your wheel could be out of true (slightly buckled.) Take your wheel off and hold the axle. Wobble it up and down a few times. There should be absolutely no movement besides the spinning it's meant to be doing. If this is wobbling, just tighten the hub cones slightly until there is no play. The rule is No play, No binding. This means having it borderline between perfect no play and perfect no sticking, otherwise it'll make your ride unpleasantly harder.

If it's wobbling at 0' and 180' points of the wheels to make it slightly oval, that is also to do with wheel being untrue and buckled, or trued incorrectly.
This job is a totally different ballgame. This usually happens when the spokes have been tightened more on one side than the other, and is a pain to fix, even for me, after repairing bikes for over three years now.

Worst case scenario, you could be looking at missing spokes or a bent axle. Maybe even some trashed bearings, but are usually rather cheap. A good thing to do if you're wanting to learn to do hubs is look at RJTheBikeGuy on YouTube or Global Cycling Network on YouTube. Both are extremely helpful with their guides.

I really, really apologise if this doesn't help, and I hope you get back to riding again!


Are there two Raleigh bicycle companies? When I go to Walmart and other department stores I find cheap bike like Raleigh!

But when I go to a local bike shop and buy a mountain bike by Raleigh but its a way better quality bike then at Walmart! Is there two bike companies that have the same name or are they the same?

Please help because I have a Raleigh Tokul 2 that I got from my local bike shop and it's not a cheap mountain bike. Its good quality but I see cheap Raleighs that don't last long at department stores. Is mine also cheap and crappy or is it a different company?

There are license branding.
For example Raleigh is sold in Japan through a Japanese bicycle wholesaler that design Raleigh bicycles to be adapted to Japan local trend.
The "Japanese" Raleigh are made in Taiwan and China and have not much to do with the original brand except the name and vintage design inspired by the original models of the 60's and 70's.
Many brands do this.

Your bike is probably of better quality than lower priced model.
You have to compare specification to be able to determinate if your bike is "lower" quality bike or not.


Why ride knobbies on a commuter? For me, riding a bike is often practical, good for my health, the environment, etc., but I ultimately ride bikes because I enjoy it.

I'm curious to learn about others' decisions for riding knobby tires on their commuters, aside from practical reasons, which don't interest me.

I tried it for awhile on my CX bike in NYC, and wasn't in love, but I see so many commuters setup with knobbies I can't help but wonder if there is some unexplored land of fun I've yet to experience.

And yes, the 'answer' is: just try it myself again.

One of my bikes, used as a commuter, is kept seriously cheap. I paid as much for the bike as I've been known to spend on a decent tyre. So it has the tyres it came with (well, one of them, I had a slightly smoother spare in the garage for the other). This bike lives outside 24/7 with a high risk of theft, and does 3km/day. Looking cheap is like a third lock.

That's an extreme example but most people riding around town are riding cheap bikes with whatever cheap tyres some marketing person thought looked good on a bike styled like a mountain bike. Some of these riders are also quite noticeable as they do daft things like running red lights. And it's still much quicker than walking for the same effort.

That accounts for the majority of cases. A few people really like gravel biking and don't like changing tyres. But actually on rubbish roads and with a decent chance of going up/down kerbs even to join official bike paths, a 40+mm tyre isn't so bad, if its smoothish on the centre line


Where can I get a Job that involves bicycles? I was wondering if anyone knows any job or if you could advise as of what I could do to obtain a new job that involves bicycles?

The "dirt" magazine (137/july 2013) has a small article on that. Possible jobs listed are:

working in a bike shop
pro rider
writer (in mags, web)
photographer
guide (riding instructor)
industry related (designer, marketing)

So, you'd need to find out which of the above you are best at and start contacting people, sending cvs etc.


What is this part that came with my eggbeater pedals? I bought some second-hand Crank Bros Eggbeater pedals. They came in the original box, apparently with all the bits except the cleats. (That's fine. CB cleats are effectively a consumable.)
One of the bits is a pair of plastic pieces I don't recognize. I'm still working on getting a photo from my phone in a place I can upload it, but in the meantime, please enjoy these ASCII drawings:
  ___     ,     ,       ___
 / _ \    |__   |__    /   \
( (_) )   |▓▓   |__   (  *  )
 \___/    |     |      \___/
 Front   Side   Side    Back
               Cutaway

Each piece is a plastic disc with a knurled edge. From the disc, a ring is extruded, with threading on the outside of the ring. The ring's inner diameter is 10mm, and the outside is ~13.5mm. The outside diameter seems to be the same as a pedal spindle diameter, but the threading has a different pitch. There's also a very small hole through the centre of the disc, so it can't be used to seal anything.

Without a picture it sounds like the grease port tool

This picture was found in this article on rebuilding eggbeater pedals.

The Crank Brothers Eggbeater pedals, however, require periodic lubrication. A maintenance interval of once per season seems to be the general consensus.
As the Eggbeaters come with a grease port attachment, I purchased a grease gun

Evidently Eggbeater supplies the fitting but someone there does not recommend using it.

It seems like a painless, 5-minute job: remove dust cap; install grease port attachment; squirt in new grease, wipe off the old grease (pushed out from the seals on the inboard side); reinstall dust cap; and you are done.
Call me anal, but I decided to double-check with the manufacturer — and I am glad I did:

Hello,
Thank you for your e-mail.
...we would suggest not using the grease port. We would rather you take the spindle out and  grease it like that. Just unscrew the endcap and take the nut  off -  then pull the spindle out and re-grease.
Hopefully this helps,
Thanks
Anka Martin
anka@crankbrothers.com
Customer Service
www.crankbrothers.com

Here is another article with slightly better pictures.


Tyre popped when going from 26 x 1.95 to 26 x 2.125 My wheel had 26 x 1.95 tyres. I bought 26 x 2.125 thinking it would fit.

While fitting the new tyre, it bulged outside at one location and the tube also came out for about 7 inches. The tube is the one with slime sealant inside so I am not able to take the air out of tube. I ordered the valve core tool to remove the valve. The tube is also relatively new, I bought it about couple of months back.

My questions are

can I reuse the tube after the removing the valve and deflate the tube ?
can the tyre be used or it is not fitting, that is why it bulged in one place ?

I would say, you just didn't put the tire on well. When you inflate the tire to half its recommended pressure you should check that the tire seats well for the whole diameter around the rim on both sides. If it came out even a little, push it back in (may require some deflating). Otherwise the pressure may push the tire out like you had, and then the tube can explode.

For your questions: both the tire and the tube can be used again. But check accurately that the tire's bead is not damaged.


Looking for bike trailer with pedals for a disabled, older adult Is there a way to have a pull-along bike trailer w/pedals (similar to the child sized trailer in the pic above) -- but sized for a disabled adult?

Disabled cyclists are cyclists and so they would like some control over steering, braking, or pedaling.

It's tough to design a strong singlewheeled adult-sized pedaled trailer because of the weight involved (50-200kg; 100-400lb) with adult riders. That's a lot of stress on the hinge-joint that connects the trailer as well as the front rider if  the rear rider doesn't have the ability to balance themselves. As a result, rear adult-sized trailers tend to be two wheeled and not pedaled, but this doesn't meet the requirements for pedaling (not to mention steering and braking). The same goes for designs where the disabled rider is carried in the front but has no control over steering/braking/pedaling. They are just passengers, not cyclists.

Trike pusher: One of the things that my adaptive cycling center does is use a regular recumbent or hand cycle  tricycle  for the disabled cyclist -- and attaches a regular upright cycle onto the rear as a pusher cycle, with a non disabled stoker.

The design is simple. The pusher bicycle is a regular bicycle and take the front wheel off. Then get a truck-bed bike mount (the component in the middle) and mount it on the rear axle of the recumbent. Mount the pusher bike to the recumbent and voila, you have an easy way to create a recumbent tandem that allows a non-disabled cyclist and a disabled cyclist to ride together. The disabled cyclist in front doesn't have to pedal if they don't want to, but they do have control over steering and most of the braking power.

The advantage of this design is that at the end of the day, you can separate the two bikes which retain the ability to operate separately. This also makes storing and transport much easier. It works on adult tricycles as well as delta trikes. Tadpole trikes require a little more work (a solid rear rack).

Another option if you have the space is: have you considered getting a tandem or sociable? I ride a tandem recumbent tadpole trike as well as sociable quad at my local adaptive cycling center. Lots of fun for both riders, who can be of differing abilities and neither needs the ability to balance.

Finally, as I said, my adaptive cycling center places a tremendous amount of emphasis on the control and autonomy of the disabled cyclist. We actively reject the notion that getting passively pushed around in a wheelchair-rickshaw is cycling.

If you google image "adaptive cycling tandem" you can get some other ideas.


Bike creaking (possibly pedals?) When I pedal fairly hard there is a creak coming from the bottom of the bike. I have read several other questions which talk about a similar thing however my situation is slightly different:

The creaking stops when I flip the right hand pedal 180 degrees.

Should I just change the pedals to fix this?

To be clear I believe this is a problem with the pedals.

Related questions dealing with other sources of creaking from the bottom bracket, crankset, or pedal area:

Bottom Bracket Creaking
Creaking from cranks/spindle. How to fix?

I could tell you more accurately if I were riding with you and could hear the noise and where it came from. But, I can tell you these things for certain:

Clean and lube your pedal bearings. Do not skimp and just add some oil. Also make sure your pedals and crankarms are tightened to the correct recommended torque.

Do not delay before applying these maintenance measures. I say "do not delay" because the cause could be that the crankarms are not torqued down properly. This is not likely, but it is possible, and if it is the reason? Then you can ruin the crankset within a few miles of riding. That's right - ruin - to the point of a crankarm or the crank spider cracking and eventually breaking. If it cracks you will see it happening - and it won't be sudden - so in that way it is not unsafe, ok? But it will be relatively expensive to fix.

So the first thing you need to do is to make sure the moving parts involved (pedals, crankarms, bottom bracket) have proper maintenance and lubrication. Your problem is likely somewhere in there.


Saddle choice for long distance rides Every year I travel home to Nice, on my own, from a European capital with my bike ex. Paris, Salzburg, Naples, etc.
Last year I started off from Madrid, and this year from Berlin; both of these trips took me nine days (~1500 kms).

I ride a Giant Defy Advanced bicycle equipped with disk brakes and Zipp 303 wheels.

My current saddle, ASTUTE Skylite, replaced the original Fizik saddle that came with the bicycle; I was told that most manufacturers equip their bikes with 'lesser' versions of saddles in order to trim the overall cost.

Previously I rode a TREK fitted with a Selle Italia saddle.

Sizewise I'm 1,72m and 68kgs

I wear an Assos T.Cento bib designed for long distances (purchased 2015) and apply copious amounts of Assos chamois cream

In preparation, during the year, I cycle once a week 60-80k with at least a 500m climb

My main difficulty during these trips is my back side

The sit-bone area becomes swollen with a sore on each side which gets understandably quite painful; Compeed and Doliprane/Neurofen are my only recourse

Each evening I wash my clothes with shampoo in my hotel room

Having adopted a vegan diet I have also chosen to avoid leather based products.

I'm still searching for THE saddle that will allow me to pursue such trips without the suffering.

I'm currently considering a Brooks C15 (or C13 145) saddle

Should I accept that it is the mileage and duration of these trips, or even lack of preparation, that are to blame for my plight and will remain thus whatever saddle I may choose ?

cheers

Get your sit bones measured.

Bikes are made in different sizes, handlebars in different widths, cranks and stems in different lengths, seat tubes are adjustable.  Why all this variation?  Because people are built differently.  So why just choose a saddle that "should be good" and go?  Get your sit bones measured, then buy a saddle from a company that makes different width saddles to accommodate different riders anatomy accordingly.


Help with setting up Windsor Kensington bike on CycleOps Mag+ trainer I love biking and know basically nothing about bikes. Could somebody walk me through what I need to do to set up this bike with this trainer? I have no idea how to attach the skewer to my wheel. Thank you!

I have a cyclOps trainer.... The way the attachment works is pretty cool and does not require a quick release.  Essentially, each side of the attachment point is a slotted tube that fits around the axel  (the slots are to make room for quick-release scewers) the non-drive side slotted tube can be threaded in and out to get the tension right for your bike width.  The drive side has a lever that pushes the drive-side slotted tube in and then locks into place  (the bike is secured by clamping using the lever and the non-driveside adjustment).

It is pretty universal, you will place you bike on the trainer, adjust the mag (another handled adjustment) such that when the rear wheel sits on it your non-driveside axle lines up with the non-driveside slotted tube on the trainer...  to tighten the bike-to-the-trainer pull/rotate the lever on the drive side of the trainer.

The first time performing the process will be iterative to ensure you get the adjustments just right so the bicycle is secured to the trainer.  Once done it will be good to go.  To remove the bike just release the trainer driveside lever... to put the bike back on the trainer just line it up and re-engage the lever.


Weird sounds from Sram GX crank / shifters? When moving the chain backwards while bike is standing, I hear some weird sounds.. I made a playlist on youtube and would greatly appreciate some help :(. Video titles give more details.
Should it matter, crank and shifters are Sram GX. Rear is type 3 with roller bearing clutch. Crank also has bearings I think.. I am thinking they might cause the sounds :(
Also, the front shifter is badly aligned. However, I was noticing the issues in the 1x7/8 video (frequent sound + chain bump) even if I lifted the chain so it clearly had no contact with the shifter cage.. I think it is the crank's fault.. maybe the bearings.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLyaOLAXFko4YjPCAMDDVqRE6C05b7waA
More often than I would like I also hear a snapping sound coming, I think, from the inside... I thought it is from the crank and might be related to the sounds/symptoms seen in the videos.

All of the rattling and popping appears to be coming from chain rub on the front derailleur, poor rear derailment indexing, and the chain jumping on the rear cassette sprockets.
You seem to have convinced yourself that the noises are caused by the crank bearings. That's highly unlikely and easily disproved. Take the chain off the chainrings and spin the crank - you should not hear any noises. Also check for play in the bottom bracket bearings and any 'notchiness' as you spin the crank.
To address the drivetrain issues, first check the chain is not over-worn (there are ways to estimate this but a $10 chain wear gauge is a good investment). Also check sprocket wear.
Check your front and rear derailleur setup. The Park Tool Repair Help site has easy to follow, comprehensive guides.
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-derailleur-adjustment
https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/front-derailleur-adjustment


Learning to bunny hop on a MTB I have watched many video clips on YouTube on this topic. Also, seen couple of pros do it without clipped pedals. But I just cannot lift the back tire up.

How do you hook your feet on to the pedals and pull it up? The pedal slips and i always end up getting an seriously blow to the knee.

The trick is to remember how pedals are designed to grip.  Decent pedals should grip your foot from going forwards or backwards, as well as obviously holding your weight.  The only direction they don't grip is upwards away from the pedal.  The trick is to rotate the pedal so that it's allows you to grip in the direction you want.  You rotate your feet towards 45 degrees and you will be able to actually grip your pedals to pull up the back end of the bike.

Keep in mind how the pedals grip and you shouldn't go far wrong.  Assuming you've dipped the front of your foot the action you need is effectively pushing backwards and upwards at the same time to lift your rear wheel.  Don't dip it so much that you end up going off the front of the pedal though.  The backwards push should keep you gripped on the pedal while the upwards action lifts the wheel.

As you said, there are plenty of videos out there.  This one explains it in a way that roughly matches how I figured out how to do it.  The relevant part is about 2:10 in.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bike-blog/video/2011/feb/21/danny-macaskill-video


Is there more than one type of tapered steerer? I have a set of forks (Rock Shox XC/30/TK on a Focus Black Raider 2.0 2012) that measure 30mm at the bottom and 28.6mm at the top, (or 1 3⁄16" to 1⅛" in pre-enlightenment measurements). So they're tapered, but they're not 1½" to 1⅛" like a standard tapered steerer.

So are they tapered or straight? I am looking for a replacement because the dampener popped out of them and I need to know what to be looking for.

Official website says that these are the only models available:

  1-1/8" STKM steel, 1-1/8" aluminum (-163g), XL 1-1/8" steel, XL 1-1/8"
  aluminum, 1.5" to 1-1/8" tapered aluminum (-123g), 1.5" aluminum
  (-146g)

Your fork is straight, the taper at the bottom is required for interference fitted crown race. I've measured straight Suntour XCM just in case and it has same dimensions as in the the question.


How to fix an old bike I found? I'm new here and have a few questions if that's OK.

I have been wanting to get a bike to ride around the beach town I'm close to so I mentioned it to my husband he asked what I wanted and I said we could just pick one up at a thrift store and if it needed a few things we could fix it up.

Fast forward one week I was driving to the gas station at night and spotted a bike on the curb for trash pick up .You're gonna laugh but I thought well that's not in too bad of shape I would have bought that at a thrift store and I grabbed it and wrestled into my truck.

I knew something was up when I had to fight it so hard that sucker was heavy (I'm five foot tall ). I expected a Walmart beach cruiser considering where I live and this was way heavier than that.

I got it home and saw it was a JC Higgins bike. I haven't been able to find too much on what model it is so you have any ideas?

The tires hold air which shocked me to death lol and I have cleaned it up somewhat, things seem a little loose, there is something up with the seat it doesn't feel like it's on right so I'll have to figure that out but it's in pretty good shape considering its age and fate as trash. Do you all have any advice to fix it up?

Here's a picture lease excuse he mess we just had a tree come through the roof during Irma and everything is moved and jumbled around lol.

If you don't want to spend any money, just take it slowly at first to ensure that the brakes and steering are working properly.  Try twisting the bars while holding the front wheel between your legs to make sure the bars don't turn with a decent amount of force. Ensure that the wheels spin freely and don't rub on anything. It's ok if they wobble a bit on such an old bike, but if there is excessive wheel wobble you might want to have a professional look at it.

Alternatively, you can take it in to your local bike shop for a tune up and safety check. Looks like a single speed with a coaster brake so there really isn't much to go wrong or adjust but you might be best off having a professional take a look at it and making sure things are in working order.


Garden of stones, that are similar to watermelons There is this trail around my location. Half of it is a rock garden. The stones are similar to the picture below.

The elevation is not extreme - one can ride uphill, at the lowest gear.

My bike has 160mm front and rear travel. It actually goes over any of the stones without help from my side :)

Here is my problem. When I try to descent over them (at some speed) there are times, when the front tire "steps" on the side of a stone, then slides down (and because, unlike the picture, the stones are watermelon-shaped, this is easy, there is no flat "top" to step on).

Because the rear end is moving forward, this attempts to turn my handlebars to the side and throw me from the bike. Both times this happened, I regained control, but the look of the "landing", should I fail the third time, discouraged me from descending at joyful speed.

It doesn't look really difficult, the stones are arranged at a flat pathway, and the slope angle is not steep at all. What should I do to learn to handle those front tire slips on the side of a rock? Or how should I prevent them?

On the type of rockgarden described, you can:

Reduce the slippage tendency by loosening your pressure on front brake. Let's put it this way: the stone surface provides you with little friction. In some circumstances, the friction is just enough to keep the tire rolling in line. Add the friction needed for braking and you overpass the available friction. The tire then will slide to wherever the sum of all other forces lead it.
You can predict where the tire will go when it slips. It will usually go to the gap between two rocks. Thus it is useful to pick a line where you follow the natural trace given by those gaps.
Ignore slippage. This is indeed is easier said than done, it sounds just weird, I know. The point is, if you pick a good line, specially a straight one, the inertia of your body mass is bigger than the one from your bike. This means that your body tends to go in a straight line, so even if your bike slips a few centimeters below you, it will not be enough to immediately tip you off the bike. You will have a fraction of time to react and return to the balance point. For this to work, your bod must be traveling in the direction of the line you have selected.

Finally, the general idea is to feel like you "float" over the rock garden, get used to the feel of the bike sweeping a couple of inches below you while keeping a good, firm but not stiff grip on the handlebars.

If you don't feel comfortable at certain speed, reduce it, and practice. Have patience. Sooner or later your speed will grow and you will master these sections. Also, with practice, your line selection abilities will improve, you will do it faster and find ways of sticking your front wheel in strategic points where it wont slip and those points will serve you to improve control, switch lines or change course. Remember: practice and patience.

On a side note: Did you ever as a kid played running and suddenly stiffening your feet so you slid on the floor for a couple of yards? You weren't afraid of such slippage right? Why? You already knew how to predict it, you actually enjoyed it, so relax and enjoy your gardens!