What to look for in a good entry-level CX bike? I am in the market for a new bike. It is really my first bike, I am borrowing an old 1980's Cannondale road bike from a friend currently. I have an 8-mile daily commute (1-way, 16 total miles put on 4 or 5 days a week) and I am looking for a bike that I can put some racks and fenders on.

However, I am also super interested in getting into CX racing, we have an awesome local community for it and I have been getting to know some people in it. I also don't have a ton of money (recent college student, I am buying a bike so I don't have to buy a car and spend money on fuel and expensive repairs).

For example, there is a Trek Crossrip Elite near me for sale for $650, and I was thinking about jumping on that, but I don't want to be too hasty. I know people say that they would rather have the 105 set rather than the SORA, but I hope to save up some money for a dedicated CX race bike in a couple years, or something similar that I wouldn't be using for commuting, but I need something now.

So what features ( geometry, component level ) should I look for in a good entry-level CX bike that would work for racing as well as a general purpose commuter?

A CX bike does make a great commuter.  It is stable and strong and still pretty efficient on the road. Just put some touring tires on it.

So your question boils down to a CX bike that has mounts for racks and fenders.
You don't find many racing bikes designed for racks and fenders.
Would never actually race with fenders or rack.

You almost never see rack mounts on carbon bike (road, mtn, or CX).
So you are limited to aluminum, steel, or titanium CX.

I know of just a few true CX bikes that come with rack and or fender mounts.
Moots is a high end semi custom that you can order with mounts.  The titanium La Crux comes with mounts (see picture). The Cross Check has mounts and is a designed as a CX but I have never seen a Cross Check in a race as it is heavy.

Given not a lot true race CX have mounts then you can open up your options by looking at CX like commuter bikes - drop bars and take CX size tires.  Look for a compact crank (34T or 36T small).  You might be giving up some ground clearance compared to a true CX but as a beginner you are not going to be hopping obstacles.

CX or commuter look for a bike that will take 38mm tires.  Higher end riders are on 33mm but start with big and soft. If you have only ridden a borrowed road bike those down hill switchbacks are going to be scary.

Unless you are Cat 1 or 2 road or mountain racer you are not going to be competitive your first season.  Focus on having fun and getting better.

You will see people riding mountain bikes in local races - I get beat by mountain bikes.
Until you develop technique you are probably going to be faster on a mountain bike.

That Crossrip Elite would not be a bad starter CX.
I has a CX type geometry and will take CX sized tires.

This is a legit CX racer I use for commuting on the off season:


Speedplay pedal grease problem I’m trying to grease my speedplay pedals, but the little end screw on one of the pedals just spins.  It will not unscrew, thereby allowing me access to the grease port.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Scott

If the screw is just spinning in place, then the thread that it engages in inside the pedal body is worn-out (metal screw and plastic thread aren't a great combo). This means that the screw is no longer apllying pressure to hold the cap into the pedal. Using something small and sharp, you should be able to lever it off to get access to the grease port.


Cost of maintenance of a roadbike I am going to buy a bike and ride upto 1000 km or more in a month. Adding them, I think it will come to 12 k to 15 k per year on an average.
I will be riding on highways, so there won't be any off-roads. Nevertheless, the roads in my country are not well maintained.
Let us consider that initially the bike is comfortable and everything fine at the time of purchase.

What are the different problems (repairs & maintenance) that occur?
Among those which ones will cost me and which ones will be free of cost.
Also if it is possible, answer them with 'high, medium, low' cost of maintenance.

There are a few things that are going to cost you more, simply because you are not used to working on a bike and will have to have them done for you.

Tuneups - You generally get one free at about 30 days after you buy the bike. Mostly this consists of readjusting the derailleurs (shifting mechanisms) and the brakes as the cables stretch. Tuneups in my area (Phoenix, Az) cost between $50-75 depending on shop and any replacement parts. Avg 2-3x per year
Tires/Tubes - Ongoing. I recommend a tougher tire such as gatorskins ($50 each) for training, and then switching to a performance tire (Conti GP 4000 - $65 per tire) for racing. Tubes range from $7 to $15 each. I would just stick with butyl, even latex for racing is a bit overkill to start. Avg 6-8 tubes per year, 1-2 tires (per wheel).
Chain/cassette - $50-100 per cassette, $20-50 per chain depending on quality, plus shop cost to install/change. 1-2x per year depending on maintenance and mileage.

Those are the major ones that I would consider regular expenses. Other expenses such as new rings for the front crank happen, but they are much less often. Same with changing out the seat. Now, you have to start looking at your own personal maintenance habits. Are you going to be cleaning and oiling your chain on a regular basis? If so, then you can add cleaning/degreaser solution, and chain lubricant to your ongoing costs. Poor maintenance/dirty drivetrain will cost you both power and lifespan of your components.

Other incidental costs (Generally less than $10 for item cost, plus possible shop time for install) are brake pads, cables, bar tape, cable housing.

Now, you can get top of the line components and wheels, just realize that your ancillary costs will go up as well. For example, if you get performance wheels with carbon brake tracks, then your brake pad cost goes up from $10 to in the neighborhood of $50.

Finally, the initial cost for tools and other items to be able to do your own work is high (A complete home type set of park tools can be assembled for $100 on the sparse side to $200 for almost everything needed), the payoff is that you save shop costs forever. It's all a matter of what you personally feel comfortable taking on.


How can I pedal in circles? I couple of years ago I switched from using a normal pedal to using a clipless pedal. It takes a little while to get used to. Now, to be able to use it optimally I need to learn how to pedal in circles instead of in squares, eg applying the same force during the whole rotation "orbit". What do I need to think of to be able to pedal properly?

A technique which may help you get a more efficient pedaling stroke is an exercise called isolated leg. With your bicycle on a trainer or on a slight uphill, unclip your left leg and pedal using only your right leg for 30-60 strokes. Then switch and do the same for your other leg. This exercise will give a very natural feel to how your legs should be rotating to achieve an efficient pedaling stroke.


How does one upgrade a bicycle? I am a total bike novice, I can ride them but have never done much as far as maintenance. Recently, I got my old bike out of storage, it is a 1991 Trek Multitrack 700, and I want to know if I can "restomod" the bike.

The chain, chainrings, cassette, and crankset are all fairly rusty but the derailleurs are both fine. Aside from that both of the wheels need to be replaced.

Do I need to replace the chainrings, cassette, and crankset with contemporary parts? If I install new components, how would I know that they'll fit? Would contemporary parts not get along with a new wheel?

And if I wanted to install a new gear change mechanism, would I need to get new derailleurs?

Cranks and chainrings are made of aluminium, which does not rust. You'll probably be fine with cleaning them and new cassette and chain. This isn't that expensive any more. From quick googling, your bike uses 7-speed cassette, which are still available.

Upgrading to modern parts would require replacing all transmission components, shifters, derailleurs and the rear wheel. This will be expensive and probably not worth the trouble.


Can shimano di2 be programmed to be automatically readjust shifting for different hub/wheel types? If I purchase a bike with shimano di2 will it be able to readjust its rear dérailleur to accommodate different rear hub types? If this is possible is it a quick and easy process that can be done before a ride or does it require the shifters to be plugged into a computer?

Quick answer:

You would need to use a PC, and you would need to make sure that the wheels had reasonably close original chain line positions for this to be possible. If not, then no, you can't do this.

Long answer:

Shimano's E-Tube software does allow you to save presets for adjustment and switch settings.  That means you could have multiple presets saved for the electronic portion of the shifting adjustment.

However, if the difference in required settings between the wheels is more than could be adjusted for by adjusting cable tension on a mechanical system, then you will still need to adjust the limit screws on the rear derailleur.

Since those are still a manual adjustment, there is no way to ensure that swapping between wheels on an electronic system is possible using only the preset system.

Also, there is no way at present to swap between presets on the fly with the road Di2 system, so you would need to plug the system into the E-Tube software on your PC.

There is the the possibility that this might change, since the new 2015 XTR Di2 system has the ability switch between shift maps using the SC-M9050 Display Unit. At present, though, shift maps only affect the order of shifting for XTR's Synchro shift system.  They do not allow shifting between preset shifting adjustments.

Since the Display Unit is functional with the road Di2 systems, it is possible that a firmware update could enable the ability to swap between presets.  Without the ability to make the manual adjustments the preset swapping would have limited utility for this purpose.


Winter is here, what type of trainer should I get? Well, it started raining today and I'm not much of a road cycling in the rain type of guy. Given that this weather will last for a few months, I was wondering what type of trainer should I get. I would like something that works with my Garmin Edge 520. My rear tire cannot fit the little rubber Garmin tracker thingy, so should I try to get an Ant+ trainer? Do those even exist? If not, what are some decent recommendations that won't break the bank? Are there certain features I should look for?

Do you have a wheel sensor on the bike that connects to your gps?
like this: here

I use this one for my garmin 405. With either of these set ups you can use whatever you like best for training. Go to your LBS (local bike shop) and ask to try their trainers (mag or fluid) and their rollers. I personally use rollers since it is less wear and tear on just the rear wheel. Though it does take a bit to get used to it before you can ride it without fear of crashing down! If your in the states then the rollers I would get are Nashbars reduced radius rollers. I have used mine for a few seasons and they are very nice!


What luggage carrying options exist for an e-bike I am planning to build a DIY e-bike for my work commute and have the electronics already figured out (which motor, ESC, battery).

After work I want to go directly to my other activities. Until now I simply threw a backpack or two into the trunk and it was no worry. But now I am not sure how to transport my equipment comfortably as I don't like wearing a backpack during cycling.

The bike I will convert does not have a pannier rack yet, so I am open for options. Are there some backpack mounts to the side of the rear wheel? Or some saddle bags one can use as a backpack? I don't know what my options are on this end.

My requirements are more or less simple:

waterproof storage for my equipment during commute
should have about 60l of storage volume (I used two about 30l backpacks before)
easy to take with me

Also I am not quite sure yet where to put the batteries (they are 3 cuboids, about 17.5 x 7.5 x 4.5cm and 1.3kg each). I fear they will be too bulky to be put inside the frame triangle and then also a bit unconvenient to remove for charging. My fallback plan is to put them inside whatever containment I use for my equipment.

I hope you can point me in the right direction, because I have no idea what bike luggage transportation options are out there. :)

Many people who are hacking their own ebikes either use bottle shaped batteries that fit inside the diamond frame but are limited in capacity due to size, or they use some of the rear rack solutions pictured. Note that many of these rear racks are designed around the batteries and are a package deal. This arrangement isn’t ideal because they give your ebike a high center of gravity but sometimes you don’t have a choice.

You could also try to emulate how the Sondors ebike has a hard triangular shaped box in the diamond frame that is quite capacious - here it has a bottle battery but many people have stuffed them with RC type square lipos:

For your luggage, 60liters is a lot.... That’s a cube of 40cm (15.8”) in each dimension. You could split it into two panniers of 20x40x40cm but it’s still quite a lot.

Have you considered pulling a small trailer? Or using a Dutch style cargo ebike? Both options have considerably more cargo space than a standard bicycle.


What is the correct way to close roll-down Ortlieb panniers? What is the correct way to close Ortlieb Front Roller or Back Roller panniers?

There's a black plastic piece of plastic near the opening on the bag that is facing back if it is opened and unrolled that suggests to me that there is a correct direction. Should I roll them toward the back of the bag so the tab is covered with the very first roll or toward the front? Does it matter?

If you rolled it to the front it would not look like that picture.  Yes you roll it to the back.  I have some Front Roller - not making this up.


(Dis-)Advantages of "push-in" to expandable handlebar end plugs I just discovered that my extension type handlebar plug was almost impossible to remove, at least without lasting damage/complete destruction. Until now I only ever encountered "push-in" plugs, which have a slightly bigger, but flexible part that holds the plug in place when pushed in. Currently the only difference I see is the former is potentially not removable, the latter is unproblematic in that respect. However there must be a reason for the existence of expandable plugs.

How do push-in plugs as handlebar end caps compare to expandable type ones, i.e. what are the respective advantages and disadvantages?

All the simple plastic bar end plugs I've ever used simply fell out at some point.

On a road bike drop bar I find it utterly impossible to tuck bar tape into the end of the bar and secure it with a simple plug.

There are better designs of expansion plug than the ones you had trouble with. In some expansion plugs the wedge is built into the cap. The bolt pulls the plug against the cap/wedge. When removing, pulling on the bolt does not tighten the plug.


How to Prevent Cramping When I increase my riding routine I end up getting bad cramps in both my calves and also my thighs and hamstrings.  Does anyone have any tips to reduce cramps when your riding gets more serious.

I had problems with cramps in my legs after about an hour of exercise. A friend of mine that is a physical therapist said that if you sweat a lot this can cause loss of potassium, calcium, and magnesium. These minerals are used to signal the muscles to flex and relax. I started eating vitamins with these minerals in them. Since then my problems are gone.

Stretching and a good warm up is also important to prevent cramps.


Does a rear derailleur guard provide effective protection? I recently caught my rear derailleur on a log and snapped it in two. I have done some recent work on some department store bikes and noticed that some come equipped with an axle mounted guard around that surrounds the derailleur. Does anyone have any experience with these. Do they work or is it just something else to get snagged by brush and vines?

I had a mate fall off with one attached it got bend and jammed the derailleur so bad we had to walk home, as the tools we carried were not good to get it off. I have seen many prangs where the derailleur took bigger hits with no problems. Most that I have seen (Department store ones) are too light and cheaply build to be anything other than cosmetic.

It also depends on the bike - better bikes have a derailleur hanger that is sacrificial and bends, protecting the derailleur in many common prangs. Department store bikes often don't have a hanger, hence the derailleur takes the full impact.

I have though about it, but with years of Mountain biking, many falls (some big), only ever bend a hanger. They may work, but I asked - why do no mid/high end bikes them. Is it purely weight, do the want to sell more parts, or is it just not worth weight and money required to make a bike so strong it cannot be broken in a fall.

I decided (for me) they a not worth while.....


Which bikes come with SRAM Automatix I rented a bike with SRAM Automatix once and it was a pleasure to ride. I'm not sure what the brand was and I couldn't find any information online as to which bikes come with this hub.

I guess I could buy a wheel set and put it on any bike but I'm wondering if somebody knows a few popular models that ship with it. Thanks!

Update: I found IKEA Sladda that is available pretty much anywhere in the world and comes with Automatix along with other nice features

For those who aren't familiar, a SRAM Automatix hub is a 2-sped internal gear hub which shifts automatically, with the shift mechanism and everything contained in the hub. The mechanism is mechanical, and there aren't any batteries or anything involved. So, no cables to the back of the bike needed except for a brake cable if you have a freewheel Automatix (rim brake), disc brake Automatix or roller brake automatix. The coaster brake variant will not need a brake cable, obviously. There are in some sense similar products from Sturmy Archer (Sturmy Archer Kickback, which you backpedal a bit to shift), but the Automatix is the leader of the pack since shifts automatically without any user intervention.

While Automatix hubs are  pretty reliable and work well, they aren't very popular in the grand scheme of bicycles. And whats available is highly market dependent.

You're primarily going to find automatix on things marketed as city bikes or something similar. Major manufacturers like Specialized have had them in the past, but you might end up having to go with a more boutique manufacturer (e.g. Mission Cycles). Your bike shop should be able to help you.

The swapping in of an automatix wheel is straightforward but not necessarily trivial; you have to sort out your rear brake situation (coaster, disc or roller in the hub, or have the hub freewheel and use a rim brake), have the right hub spacing for your frame and an appropriate rim size. I'd say its not significantly easier than getting a bike with automatix in the first place.


The brake lever of Shimano's BL-MT200 is too long for me, can I modified it to a shorter one? The brake lever of Shimano's BL-MT200 is too long for me, can I modify it to a shorter one?

MT200 has what is called  Reach Adjustment - which brings the level closer to the handle bars. To do this you need  a small hex key (Can't remember i its 2 or 2.5mm).

Also when mounting the brakes you are best to mount them inboard with about 2-3cm from the handgrip. I prefer to have the shifters mounted outboard of the brake lever, but thats personal preference.


Getting local businesses to install bicycle parking I live in the far southern community of Nashville, Tn. If any of you know Nashville, it is very late to the bicycling movement. They have some good efforts currently but they are focused in the high rent downtown areas and super cool East-Nashville.

The fact is cycling is much better where I live but there are a lot of older people who would not think of cycling the half mile to the store.
 I have this idea that if we could get all the retail and mall owners to switch out the parking benches for smokers to bicycle parking, it might make the prospect of cycling more inviting.
Anyone have the experience int heir community where bicycle parking was soundly embraced?
How did you do it?

I wanted to update contributors and thank you for the input.
The biggest grocer stores, namely Publix and Kroger has Media Relations staff that gobbled up the idea.
 Bike parking is low investment and has a big payback in PR!
It helped ripping this image from the latest NACTO Bicycle Design Guide and emailing it with my communications (email, phone call followed with a letter) and copying my councilwoman for endorsement.


Balance of leg muscle usage while riding out of the saddle Minor changes in cleat and saddle position can greatly alter the amount of glute, hamstrings, quads and calf muscle that are used when cycling while seated. But is the same true of positions when riding out of the saddle?
While climbing I tend to be on the hoods and fairly upright, letting my weight assist in pushing the pedals round. Whereas while sprinting (of sorts) I'll be lower, on the drops, back much more horizontal, and it feels like my bum is further back and nearer the saddle, although this may be due to the flatness of the road; on a climb the back wheel and saddle will naturally be lower than normal in relation to the front wheel.
I tend to like using my glutes more (because they're massive) and my calves less, so what kind of climbing and sprinting position would achieve this? Or does it not really matter because being out of the saddle is a dynamic position in relation to the bike, as opposed to a static seated position?

I suspect your glutes are working harder than you think. Because they're big muscles, and cycling (seated) uses quite a lot of their range, but excludes the extremes, they'll be late to fatigue. This is even more the case if you do a lot of squats or leg press.
That's not to say that you can't recruit them more. When I get out of the saddle for climbs, which I don't do very much, I tend to be overgeared. That certainly seems to make them work harder; it also makes the quads work harder, but not by as much.
I reckon - and you'd have to test this - that a lower torso position while standing would help. That would suggest hoods, but with your arms bent and taking some weight on your triceps - just a little to steady you at certain points in the stroke - the vast majority still needs to go through your pedals, even more when climbing steeply. It's also going to be more aero than a more upright position in sprints. I assume standing while using the drops isn't an option. I sometimes do for short rough patches but it doesn't really work for long, for neck and wrist (brake) angles. Or maybe it would work for you.
You sound almost like you're over--using your calves. If that's true when seated and not just out of the saddle, there may be some room for tweaking.


Winter cycling clothes in full black I searched and tried the Gore Windbreaker Jacket today on. It fits me very well and I like the look of the jacket in black.

The white one looks good too, but I am afraid that it is harder to clean if it gets dirty.
Is it a bad idea to cycle in full black clothes because of visibility?

I think there is a case to be made that you will be less visible in dark colours. Anecdotally whenever I look down the road at a group of cyclists, it's the ones in large blocks of bold colours (not necessarily fluorescent) whom I can spot first. Bright but mixed patterns of colour are also less visible from a distance. I'm not saying anyone should be berated for wearing black - plenty of cars are black/grey/dark blue and certainly it's not cause to blamed in the case of an accident, but I do believe there's an increased risk. For something better than my opinion, consider the accident statistics for black cars.

  During daylight hours, black cars were up to 12 per cent more likely
  be involved in crashes than white vehicles, while at dawn and dusk,
  the figure rose to 47 per cent.

It's not a huge stretch to extrapolate this to cyclists.

As others have pointed out, how easily others can see you depends on the lighting conditions. Any time cars will have their lights on you should have as much reflective material (Scotchlite or similar) as possible. This isn't limited to clothing, you can buy tape for your bike in a variety of daytime colours (including black!).

Finally, whatever colours you wear, I would suggest using been-seen-by* lights at all times. Yes, even during the day. In many situations I believe this will make more difference than the colour of your clothes. Lights can be noticed at a glance and instantly identify you as a vehicle moving on the road, rather than a pedestrian or part of the scenery. However, be aware that even lights which provide side-visibility are often not bright enough to make you more visible from the side in daylight. For side visibility in daylight the best thing is to wear large blocks of bright colour.

* Be-seen-by lights - not necessarily bright enough to allow you to see the road ahead, but to make you visible to other road users)

Cleaning

I'd suggest that black will show the dirty less easily than lighter colours. Most of my bright-yellow clothing is spotted with muddsplatters and the occasional oil stain which would hardly show on black. Either way Goretex does require careful washing to keep its waterproof and breathable properties. I prefer not to use these additional products and just rinse in clean cold water instead.


Affordable security nuts and bolts I don't ride particularly fancy bikes, but I do ride in New York City, so I'm interested in securing the components on my bikes without using a ton of locks. Most security bolts products cost a bunch of money, though.

Anyone know of affordable sources for security button-head or socket-head M5 and M6 bolts, or M10x1mm nuts, especially in stainless steel? McMaster-Carr only has them in English thread.

If you can find some ball bearings that just fit into the allen key sockets, then you lube them up with thick grease, it's quite difficult to remove them. Use a magnet to get them out.  Although I imagine a good bike thief would carry a magnet because this trick is quite common.  You can also replace your quick release skewers with allen key skewers.  They wouldn't be the most secure solution, but they would work better than quick release skewers.

If you use nutted wheels, you can pick up some security nuts for a lot cheaper than you can buy security skewers. Check you local professional tool supply store and you can probably buy them by the piece for a couple bucks each.

They also sell security skewers which are cheaper than pitlock. The disadvantage over pitlock is that they all use the same specialized tool to remove whereas pitlock has 256 differently shaped pits available.  So they would be safer than quick release, allen key or hex nut, but less so that pitlock.  And almost definitely safer than the bike next to yours.


Safe to shorten a dual-pivot caliper mounting nut? I have a 2006 Specialized Langster. Unfortunately the brake bridge is not deep enough to insert the shortest caliper mounting nut I could find (10mm). The head of the nut should insert all of the way into the brake bridge, and the head of the nut should be supported on the interior shoulder of the brake bridge.

Instead the nut sticks out and won't insert all of the way into the brake bridge hole, and the end of the nut rests against the thin rear shoulder of the brake bridge. This means the head is completely unsupported. ie the nut is too long for the brake bridge.

I could potentially fix this by grinding down the mounting nut so that it is about 8mm long. This would allow the nut to insert fully into the brake bridge and be supported at the head of the nut. But I'm wondering if grinding down the nut is safe to do? Do you think it would weaken the nut or cause it to crack over time? Also the threads would have to be chased.

This might be hard to visualize but take a look at the mounting nut on your rear brake caliper. You will see it fits nicely into the brake bridge and inserts all the way, with the head of the nut resting against the brake bridge creating a secure mounting point.

I contacted Specialized and they won't treat it as a warranty issue. Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.

Edit: Actually, I am talking about the mounting nut rather than the bolt. Modern brake calipers mount using a 10mm or longer cylindrical nut with a larger diameter "head" and smaller diameter inner hollow "cylinder" which is threaded on the inside.

The outer diameter is the "head" of the nut and it presses against an interior shoulder recessed in the brake bridge which acts as the load bearing surface. The inner diameter is a cylinder which fits through the brake bridge and threads on to the caliper mounting bolt coming through the other side of the brake bridge.

Everything works on most bikes. But in this case it appears the brake bridge is not deep enough to fit even the shortest available (10mm) nut. So as far as I can tell the brake bridge is simply built wrong -- the brake bridge has a square center drilled out "box" section welded on that is simply not deep enough. Since Specialized won't warranty the frame, I am stuck with figuring out how to grind down the nut safely, while preserving its threads and hopefully keeping it from getting overheated, brittle and developing stress cracks over time. This is what I am hoping you can help with!

To shorten a bolt, get two nuts with the matching thread.  Screw them onto the bolt and "lock" them together (tightened against each other) such that the nut surface farthest from the head lines up with the place where you want to cut.

Place the bolt in a vice (taking care to not mash the threads) and use a fine-toothed hacksaw or other cutting device to cut the bolt off flush with the nut surface.

Then unscrew the nuts and dress up the bolt threads with a fine triangular file.

If instead you want to thin out a nut, again fasten two nuts to a matching bolt and lock together.  Have the nut face you want to cut away facing "out", and have the nut screwed onto the bolt to the point that the bolt end is nearly flush with that face of the nut.

Use some sort of grinder to grind away the desired amount of the nut.  Then "unlock" the two nuts and screw them farther onto the bolt (to clear the threads), then off.  Work a fresh bolt through the nut several times from both directions to assure the threads are clear.


Max cargo weight for Gazelle HeavyDutyNL What is the maximum allowed (cargo) weight for the Gazelle HeavyDutyNL (dutch)? This (german) store page suggests the max weight for driver+cargo+bike is 135kg; assuming an 80kg rider and 22kg bike would leave 32kg of cargo. This (german) Amazon review suggests 25/10 kg for rear/front rack, i.e. basically the same amount.

These numbers seem low for a steel bike that is marketed as "heavy duty", and the only advantage over e.g. an average aluminum trekking bike with the typical 25kg rear rack limit would be the additional 10kg for the front rack.

So, are these numbers accurate and does a reliably source exist?

The limiting factor when it comes to durability and cargo on a “normal“ bicycle are the wheels. The Ryde Zac 19 rims used on this bike actually list
“MAX. SYSTEM WEIGHT (KG): 110” in the specifications. They also don’t recommend it for “HIGH LOAD 130KG” usage. Though that seems to be a rather conservative estimate considering the weight, number of spoke holes and symmetrical rear wheel (possible because of the internal gear hub).

I think the 135kg limit is reasonable.

I think in daily usage the bad center of gravity of the cargo will be a much bigger problem than a lack of durability. The cargo is sitting very high and the middle of the rear rack is behind the rear axle. If you are loading the rear rack only the whole bike will tend to rear up.

So even if the bike had stronger wheels (e.g. tandem wheels) it would be quite unwieldy. At some point overheating of the brakes and lack of very low-speed gearing could become an issue.

To me it seems to be a very heavy bike without any real advantages. Other bikes like the Surly Long Haul Trucker can do the same at “just” 15kg of weight.

If you want to transport more cargo get a real cargo bike or a trailer.


Can I ride a Trek Crockett (CX/gravel bike) in a road race if I have a road wheelset and tires on it? I’m looking to buy a Trek Crockett and I am wondering if I could use this bike year round, even as a race bike for road criterium.

Yes definitely, I raced all of last years criterium season on my Ridley X-bow (rim brake) with slick tires.

The thing you may also want to consider is your gearing, if you have a 1x you may want to use a different cassette.

Also if you your bike is disc brake equipped you may not be able to use it in some races. If you are racing in the UK then your in luck as British Cycling have recently announced there allowing of disc brakes in 2018 for road racing and crit, if you are racing somewhere else you will have to check your local stance on disk brakes.


Ease of servicing brifters How easy are "brifters" (e.g. Shimano Total Integration or Campagnolo ErgoPower) to maintain and adjust as a hobby cyclist at home?-- Although quite a lot of road bikes have them (including even light touring-oriented/adventure bikes such as the Salsa Vaya or Genesis Croix de Fer 10), I have often heard even from competitive cyclists that they are extremely fussy and hard to keep working optimally. How true is this?-- I keep hearing that, for example, long-distance tourers and others focused on dependability avoid them due to their apparent fickleness and complexity. However, are brifters really that unreliable, or are these people just in the "tail" of the distribution of cyclists, those who cannot afford failure in even the rarest of cases?

There was a questionnaire on Bikeforums on this topic and here you can see the results: Brifters - how reliable are they?
39 people gave their votes and obviously for most people brifters did not break at all.

The second question is about working optimally. To be honest I am yet to see a brifter which does not work optimally. Brifters have very little to no setting up, so they either work or don't work, no middle line there.
Campagnolo brifters are known to be easily serviceable (assuming you have the parts), but Shimano are serviceable to some extent as well.


Serial numbers on bottom bracket housing from a 50s era Schwinn? Can someone please explain what these three numbers mean on the pedal crank housing?
I believe this to be the pedal crank housing from a 1956 Spitfire Ladies Bike.

The Schwinn Serial reads M0D502 (hard to see but top left)
The next number reads 46772 (medium right)
The large number reads 13 5 124
One of my concerns is this... The Schwinn serial numbers that date the bike to the fall of 1954 or 1956, but I believe the Serial numbers for 54 and the 56 were located on the Left Rear Dropout - not located on the bottom bracket of the pedal crank housing.
Why would this be?
Additionally what does the 46772 indicate? and what does the 13 5 124 indicate?
Thank you so much for all of your help!

Are you sure that this is a Schwinn bicycle?

None of the numbers on the BB match the Schwinn serial number formats of the 1950s.

With all the numbers stamped on the BB it looks like Sears-Roebuck.

The 46772 might be the Sears catalog number.


How do I put grips on mountain bike handlebars? I just spent the last 10 minutes trying to put a new set of grips on to my mountain bike handlebars..

The old ones came off fairly agreeably and I've got the new ones 80-90% of the way on, however, at this point both my hands are stinging from the aggressive twisting and pushing - I have tried gloves, but I feel it's best left till my hands don't hurt anymore.

Is there a tried and tested way of doing this? Or is there a knack to this that I am missing?

Two solutions I've used:

Spray the inside of the grip with hair spray. Slide it on immediately, and then when the hair spray dries, it will glue the grip in place.
Use rubbing alcohol. It does not do as good of a job at locking the grip in place, but it does evaporate quickly and doesn't leave any lubricant inside the grip.


Does the Brooks Cambium C17 Saddle rub off? I use a brooks B17 leather saddle now for nearly 12 months. It's quite comfortable, has a great design and looks very neat on my bike. I use my bike for my commute every day.

There is something that bugs me with the saddle. It rubs off. Every time when it rains or when I sweat a little bit more my jeans looks dirty after a ride. Unfortunately sometimes more than that. I cannot say with certainty when the saddle rubs off, it depends on moisture but I don't know how many. The result is, that I use a cover since I noticed that.

Yesterday I read about the Cambium C17. Does anybody has already experience with this saddle, especially with rubbing off?

If you're at all concerned, just go for the natural colored cambium saddle, which I don't think is dyed, so it shouldn't be an issue with that one.  I have not had any issue with colors tranferring from the slate colored saddle to my lighter colored synthetic shorts. However, After riding the slate colored saddle, the gray faded and now appears more brown.  So I would avoid the slate colored saddle if you're concerned.

I actually had the reverse problem using the natural colored cambium saddle which I was demoing from a local shop.  The dye in my dark indigo colored jeans transferred to the saddle and turned it somewhat blue.


What is the maximum safe storage temperature for a bike? I like to keep my bike in the car on days I drive to work, in case I need it to get to a meeting in another building.  However, I'm concerned that it gets too hot some days.  Is there a temperature at which bike components might overheat or be damaged?

I've heard of tyres exploding if inflated close to their limit when cold, then left in a hot confined space. But unless you're running your tyres at 100 PSI and up, I wouldn't be too worried. But perhaps someone with more knowledge will chime in; I'm just hazarding a guess about that. I don't think there's anything else on a bike you'd need to worry about though, not as far as temperature goes, anyway.

Carbon fibre doesn't like UV. Most if not all carbon fibre products use UV-protective resins in their construction to avoid delamination from prolonged exposure to sunlight. I'd be a bit suspicious of cheap n cheerful carbon parts.

To be on the safe side, let your tyres down a bit and keep a white sheet over the bike when it's in the car. Probably a good move anyway; a bike is a good reason for a car thief to break in... it doesn't matter if your car's alarmed; they're stealing the perfect getaway vehicle!


Knee feeling after long ride with road bike During the last 2 months, I rode on my road bike for a few times (about 7 times) a way that is about 60 km (37.282 mi) long. Two days before, when I did this ride, after the midst of it, I started to fill very comfortable regarding the effort that I needed to put on pedaling, even though I started to pedal on the harder gear speed. Almost the hardest on my bike. The ride was beautiful and amazing, I did it in a very good time. Now comes the problem - I don't really think it's a problem, but I want to meet any possible bad thing that can happen if I can do this.
After I rode, my feet feel a kind of weary, but especially my knees. It's not pain. I'm just weary on my knees. When I sit on chair or bad (before to sleep), I feel very comfortable with my knees, it's a sensation of total relaxing on my knees. I have to underline that I'm not very trained, and this is the majority of time in the last two months that I spent on my bike. Before, I rode only on my little town with my city bike.

I'm interested if anyone experienced this before, and if this is due to the lack of train mostly or if it's due to bad saddle fit. Any other possible issues?

N.B. I know I must check for saddle position. Actually I'm searching for the best fit that I can have, but because in my town I don't have a specialist in this area, I have to document myself for getting the best fit.

If you ride further or faster than you're used to, then some weariness in the legs is normal and should pass within a couple of days. I rode my biggest ride to date a couple of weeks ago and when I got home I nearly lost my balance walking around the house as my legs were a bit weaker than I expected. With a couple of days rest they were back to normal, however.

Besides rest, what can help your recovery is static stretching (not bouncing or bobbing). Here are some suggestions for knee stretches.

As others have suggested, a higher cadence (therefore a lower gear) may help, even if you can't measure it precisely. I have a knee injury from running, so I change down a gear the moment it gets uncomfortable.

For bike fit, trial and error can work well, here's a link to some simple bike-fit tips which may help you move in the right direction.

All that said, if discomfort becomes pain you should obviously stop doing what hurts and get advice from a physio, ideally one with cycling expertise.


Will I cause any damage with a mismatched wheel set? This might seem like a silly question but I would just rather confirm. I recently bought a new wheel set to replace my front wheel, as I was in an accident. However, I was unaware that Id need special tools to remove the cassette from the rear wheel frame.

I'd still like to be able to use my bike in the mean time, whilst I wait for the tools to be delivered. Would that be okay to use a mismatched wheel set for ~2 days (50 miles) until the tools arrive?

For clarification, the spec is the same, just weight and branding is different.

You can run different wheels in the front and back (different brands are fine). Heck, some bicycles have different sizes in the front and back (and are sold that way; 96ers and 69ers are examples)!

The only thing you need to make sure is that the wheel fits in the frame and the brakes work.


Correct frame size, will 56 and 58cm work? I'm new to bicycling (I have a 7 speed HEAVY beach cruiser I use for 10-20 mile rides). I am looking into used road bikes now. I checked several places to measure what size frame I should get for a road bike. Most recommend 56cm for me but some suggest a 58cm might be fine.
Inside Leg: 31.75" (80.6cm)
Height: 5'9" (175.2cm)
I'm looking to buy used and a listing I'm highly considering was wrong and is 58cm instead of 56cm (it's a Cannondale SAECO). Should I stop pursuing this bike and wait for a 56cm frame or am I overthinking this?

You have a few things to consider. First a Cannondale 56cm geometry is not identical to a Giant, Specialized or likely any other brand. Each brands designer has a specific goal in mind when they design a frame. So you can make a generalized statement that you may usually ride a 56cm it is not a hard and fast rule. One thing to consider is with the advent of compact frame designs the dimensions become virtual. This means that measuring the frame will yield a number other than 56cm. If the frame isn't marked for size you have to verify manufacturers dimensions to determine size or ask the owner how tall they are.
The most important thing to remember is not size but fit. The most critical is stand over height. If you can't comfortably straddle the frame it's too big. It also has to be comfortable, if you haven't ridden a drop bar bike before it will likely feel awkward for the first few miles. I would test ride a few 56s but don't overlook a 54 or two for test rides. Similar to buying a house or car try not to fall in love with the first one you ride.


Do I have all needed for flip flop swap Forgive my ignorance, but I have a 2011 Bianchi Pista that I've always ridden fixed. I knew that it had a flip flop hub, but now that I'm looking at it, it appears that I need to actually buy a freewheel to switch it over to freewheel since there is no cog on the other side. Attached photos of each side of the hub.

Yes, you need to buy a freewheel. It's almost certainly a standard one so you can go into any LBS and grab whatever they have.

The main thing to know is that it should screw on easily by hand. If it doesn't you've either not got the thread started properly, or the thread is the wrong size. Ideally put a tiny bit of grease on it so it'll come off more easily when it wears out. Chain lube is better than nothing if you don't have grease.

This is one of those things where it's a trivial task that takes less than a minute, but if you stuff it up you have to live without a freewheel or buy a new hub, which usually means a new wheel. So it might be worth paying a bike shop to do it (they should do it on the spot if you bring in the wheel rather than the whole bike, since it's quick and easy).

Getting it off is where you need a special tool. The ratchet mechanism means that putting it on the wheel is the non-rotating direction, but getting it off means having a tool that locks on to the central, non-ratcheting part of the freewheel.


Frame with bottle cage boss ripped out - how serious is the damage? I'm a huge fan of Greg Lemond so naturally when this frame showed up in my local Facebook page with just the frame and headset, no fork. I got very excited. The seller says that the bottle cage boss was ripped out, and that it wouldn't be a big problem for the frame's structural integrity. This is the only issue with the frame.

Is this a major problem? Would it be an expensive fix? The frame is a 2000 Lemond Zurich in Reynolds 853 55cm x 57cm.

You'll need to very carefully inspect the area around the boss that's been ripped out, as well as your usual second hand frame check. If the bike was ridden after the damage cracks could easily have spread and you might be well on the way to a two piece seat tube. This groove could be the start of a problem, but it's probably just a scar from where the cage was ripped out:

I suggest that before you think about buying it, ring a local framebuilder and ask whether they will fix it for you. Then ask what they will charge you. Then work out what parts you're going to need and roughly what they'll cost. Adding all that up will help you answer "is this bike worth that much to me?"

My expectation is that brazing a diamond of old tubing over that hole would fix the problem, assuming there's no real cracking. You'd want to wire brush the paint off most of the seat tube, or possibly start by having the whole frame sandblasted clean. That will save the framebuilder charging you for the work, and once it's clean you can more easily check for other damage. After it's brazed you will be repainting it anyway, so this step just tweaks the order a little to make life easier. Note that after blasting it will rust very, very easily, and also soak up oil, so try to not touch it with your greasy paws any more than you need to.

Once it's clean I'd take it straight to the framebuilder. Your inspection will mean nothing to them, they will want to check everything themselves. Not least because once they work on it, it's their problem - any failures of the frame are likely to end up on their doorstep. So be prepared for them to say "nope, not touching it, despite what I said on the phone". Ideally with a reason, but how much have you paid them so far? They may want to sleeve the tube for this reason.

If it was my bike I'd just hit the area with a wire brush in the grinder to clean off 5cm each side of the hole all the way round the tube, check for damage, flex the frame to see if that opens up any cracks, then braze a chunk of old tube over it. Then I'd post it off to my local blast'n'paint shop, with the BB and other threaded holes plugged (I have a set of old BB cups that have been blasted and painted/powdercoated about 10 times so far). That would take me maybe an hour if I was charging for it, excluding the blasting and painting. But for a difficult customer I'd charge 2-3 hours because if you waste my time you're going to pay for my time.

The basic issue is that it's an old frame that's not worth a huge amount, and after the repair it'll be worth even less. As in, you probably won't be able to sell the bike, full stop. So the question is: do you want the bike after the repair?


Choosing a road pedal system - Focus on durability What road pedal system can you recommend? They should be durable (pedal and cleats), have no tendency to fail hazardously and work well (a bit of float, support against rotation around the forward axis (unlike SPD), fast and reliable to enter (I can click into RXS faster and more reliable than into SPD, mostly because the pedals are in a predictable angle. I miss the Xpressos more often that not)

I'm especially curious about SPD-SL and Look Keo, since I have no experience with them.

Backstory: I'm currently riding Time Xpresso 4. The cleats wear far too quickly to be acceptable (5 month / 4 Mm to get uncomfortable, after a bit more I rip the cleats out the pedal on hard acceleration). So instead of replacing the cleats I tend to replace the system. I had Time RXS before and switched over to Xpresso because the RXS were good while they lasted (~30 Mm) but one broke and caused a near-accident as well as a nasty scratch from the exposed axis on my shin. I hoped Time had addressed this in newer pedals, since others report the issue as well.

I realize similar question have been asked, but I still could not find one that answers the aspect of durability.

I'm a hugely biased exponent of speedplay pedals. The cleats are metal and I would say reasonably durable. I just walk around in mine for short distances like cafe stops, to/from the bike racks at work, but you can also get little covers for them. Or they make a walkable cleat (although I have no experience of these).

They have plenty of float with adjustment for heel in/out right the way down to no float at all. The pedals are double sided so clicking in doesn't require you to rotate the pedal to find the right side.

You do need to grease them though, there's a little screw on the side that you have to undo and squeeze grease in through every month or so - depending on your mileage and riding conditions. I've ridden several pairs into the ground before buying the grease gun to do it with, but my current pair are coming up to three years old.


Replacing rear solid axle with skewer Hoping someone can advise.

I recently ordered a Saris Fluid2 trainer, which requires me to use a special quick release skewer on the rear wheel.  However, my regular road bike is an old Acapulco Giant and the rear wheel is not on quick release hardware at all (photos below). I am not much of a cyclist and even less of a mechanic, under normal circumstances I'd just bring the bike in to my regular shop and have them do the switch, but at the moment we're completely isolated here at home.  Would really appreciate whatever advice you can give on doing the switch. Do I need to worry about the gears coming apart when I disassemble? Do I need any adapter hardware? What else do I need to know?

Thanks in advance

edited to add: I see that someone has already asked about using a trainer with an existing solid axle.  That is a super helpful question and answer but my original question - now also very well answered - was about swapping out the existing axle for a different one.

Leave the wheel in tact and see if you can order some 'turbo trainer axle nuts', pictured below, to replace your current nuts on existing axle. If these don't work for you then start disassembling the wheel but research first; you need skinny spanners called cone spanners (£?) to do the job properly and risk dropping ball bearings (annoying). Not normally a huge problem but if bike shops are closed and we're all social distancing atm, then you want to reduce the risk of messing up, temporarily, in case you are left without a functioning bike or help to fix.

Trying to patiently find a solution with low risk atm is reasonable.


Power washing a bicycle I'm moving from the UK to Australia later this year, and shipping most of my stuff, including two bicycles (simply hybrid bikes, nothing fancy).

Australia has strict biosecurity rules about what you can bring into the country, including cleaning requirements for things like bikes. They want to avoid you bringing in any foreign seeds or bugs that could cause problems.

I have a cheap power washer that would certainly do a good job of cleaning the bikes, but I'm concerned that it could blast water into bearings and whatnot, potentially causing issues.

What do you recommend?

Power washing will clean your bike, followed by closely after forcing you to replace all your bearing compartments.  This means your headset, bottom bracket, pedals, and wheels (hubs, freewheel or freehub).

Do not powerwash your bike.  At all.  With all the effort it would take to properly "cover" all the bearing compartments, then had washing all those areas after, you could have just cleaned the entire bike by hand properly.


I mistakenly put WD40 for my disc brakes and now pads not anchoring as well as before. Any solution? I heard it wears off after a few rides but it is still not gripping firmly. Is there any solution for this? I also saw using rubbing alcohol. Is that sufficient?

Disc brake pads are very sensitive to contamination. You can clean the disc rotors with rubbing alcohol, but that's about it. Anything else will contaminate the pads.
You may not be able to restore the pads. The easiest and surest thing would be to replace the pads.
If you want to try to restore the pads, get some "drywall sanding screen", remove the old pads, use the screen to remove the contaminated layer from the pads, and reinstall them.
Make sure to clean the rotors with rubbing alcohol before reinstalling the cleaned pads/installing new pads so no contaminant gets onto the restored/new pads.


Can I use my nitto campee rack on my bike? I just purchased a Nitto Campee 27R rear rack. It seems like it's not wide enough to mount on my All-City Space Horse, which has rack bosses and 130mm rear wheel spacing.

Has anyone tried to install these racks?  Should I just try and stretch them out to make them wide enough or should I buy a different rear rack?

Yes, you can stretch a rack, but not by very much. Whether you can stretch these out to fit depends on how much you need to stretch the rack. This rack is made from steel, which flexes a bit, but take care not to stretch it too much or that could put too much stress on the welds.

Another thing to be careful of: With the rack stretched a bit, are the allen screws into the bosses on the bike frame going in properly? If the screws and the threads in the bosses are clean, the screws should go in very smoothly. Be aware that lateral stress on a screw can cause damage to the boss threads in the frame. Since you're screwing into the horse, this is less of a concern, but it's still an issue.

Also, for troublesome screws, try cleaning the threads of the screws, and the threads of the rack bosses. It's amazing how many problems are caused by dirt in the threads. A drop of lube on the threads may also be a good idea.


Preventing downtube cable stops from sliding out of place I've got a vintage road bike with no braze-ons for shift cables: Instead, it's got a cable stop holding the cables against the downtube and parallel to the chainstays. Unfortunately, it seems to slide up the downtube with use, which not only causes the shifting to get all wonky and eventually fail but it also has created a nasty, long scratch along the underside of my downtube:

Moreover, I'm not sure if this is aggravating the problem or not, but the shift lever for my big cog only travels through half of its whole motion before the cable becomes so taught that it doesn't go any further — If you apply enough pressure at this stage, it makes some angry creaking noises, which I assume to be the cable stop moving (but I can't be sure without methodically trying to reproduce it, and thereby causing even more damage to the frame):

How can I fix my shifting setup so that it doesn't go out of whack due to the cable stop moving under stress? — I've tried putting rubber tape between the cable stop and the frame, but that doesn't seem to accomplish much (as visible in the photo above).

That calls for a shim. Cut a narrow strip from a drinks can, about 3-5cm long and lay it under the cable stop before re-tightening the screw. Make sure all the surfaces are clean and degreased. The soft aluminium of the shim will 'absorb' the remaining roughness of the tubes and the cable-stop and make slipping more difficult. (I've solved the problem of the brake lever rotating around a steel handlebar in this fashion.)


Stuck throttle open on specialized turbo electric pedal-assist bike The throttle is stuck open on my 2016 specialized turbo.  How do I adjust or fix?  Note there is no throttle switch, and is a torque pedal assist mechanism. (it senses how hard you are pedaling to turn on the motor). Is there a screw I can turn to adjust the sensor?  Where is the sensor located, is it in the axle/motor?  Will adjusting the tension on the derailer help?

There is no 'throttle' control on pedal assist e-bikes, just a setting for the amount of assistance, so there is nothing to 'get stuck'.

If the motor spins the wheel aand delivers max torque regardless of pedaling force or speed, there is an electronic control problem. Most likely a sensor is broken, or even just come loose.

The only thing you can do is take it to a Specialized dealer bike store. Only they will have the knowledge and tools to diagnose the issue and fix it.


How much aerodynamic drag does each component contribute? Obviously numbers will vary based on the specific bike, but what are some approximations of the drag contribution of individual components in a typical (non-aero) road bike?

I have read in many places that the rider accounts for most of the drag. So obviously, riding in a more aerodynamic position is free speed. But after that, what are the most significant upgrades to the bike itself, and how large might those gains be?

I believe this is a hard question to answer because there are many interactions between different parts of a complex shape like a bicycle and rider.

At a guess, I'd rank components by frontal area and position toward the front on the bike. For instance the rear wheel has less effect that the front wheel  because it is moving through disturbed turbulent air.


Do I need to protect my bike from jostling around if I put it under the bus? I'm rather new to the world of road biking, having only gotten my first road bike a few weeks ago. It's a (secondhand) carbon Fuji SST 3.0, I think from 2012 (not entirely sure).

As part of my training, I have to take my bike over to a teammate's house, where they have a trainer that I can hook my bike up to. To get there, I usually end up taking a bus. It's only a twenty-minute ride or so (each direction), but the roads here aren't in the best condition, and all the stuff in the bottom ends up bouncing around a bit, sliding around, and generally bumping around.

The space under the bus is something similar to this:

Do I need to protect my bike in this case? Is it bad for the bike to be jostled around like this? Am I at risk of snapping my frame?

Riding to my teammates house isn't an option - the roads aren't safe for cyclists here, so I'm stuck with the bus.

With other items sliding around I'd suggest a case where you don't need to take the bike fully apart to pack it. I think there are some you can just take the front wheel off of and pack it. If you can't do something like that you could use bungie cords to secure it and go to the hardware store and get some foam padding to put around the frame and drivetrain. It's not 100% but it'll manage the risk a bit more. I'd be less concerned about the frame snapping or bending and more about derailleurs breaking or spokes breaking.


Chain getting in between sprocket and rear dropout My girlfriend has a vintage Nishiki womens road bike, and recently there have been instances when shifting, the chain sometimes falls off the smallest sprocket and ends up stuck between the rear dropout and the sprocket. It has to be forcefully pulled out and placed back on the cogs. Do I need to readjust the derailleur? Are there other possibilities that might cause this to happen?

Yes, you need to adjust the limit screws of the derailleur so it can't pull the chain farther over than the last cog.  There are various videos on YouTube, such as GCN's:


Can I fix a bad tube patch? So I did a hasty fix this morning when I had a puncture. It got me to where I needed to go, but by the evening it was flat again.

I checked under water and there is that tiny little air bubbles coming out from under the patch. Is there any way for me to save this tube and patch well, or will I just need to replace it?

My last 26" tube cost $8 NZ, so not a lot.  Depends how much time you want to invest, and how much patches cost.

Poor abrading/sanding/scouring ot the area before applying the rubber cement will leave an area of bad adhesion, and the pressurised air can find its way out.   I bet you were in a hurry and didn't give the cement 10 minutes to cure before fitting the patch?

Bad patches can be a waste of time too - if they're particularly poor quality or excessively cheap, or old or battered then there's a fair chance you'll get poor adhesion.  To be blunt, 48 patches for a dollar from Ebay or alibaba is not generally going to be a good patch.  Old, watery or stale cement/glue can be an issue too.

If your leak is because the patch straddles a ridge then you might be able to shove some rubber cement down there, and then spend a couple minutes pressuring the patch on.

Problem is that a good patch becomes chemically welded to the rubber tyre/tire.  You often cannot remove the well-adhered patch and do it over.  Your best bet would be to abraid the tyre surface, then push cement into the leak and around the area, WAIT 10 MINUTES, then fit another patch and press it down firmly with a spoon edge or a roller, or a large round coin.

If the patch adhesion is really poor it will peel off in one piece, and you can attempt to buff the tube to remove traces of glue.

If that fails, fit a new tube.   For the cost, its not worth fitting $10 of patches to fix a $10 tube.


What tool do I need to remove this Joytech freehub? I have tried 10mm allen: too small, spins freely, with very little grip.

Hub brand: Joytech

On the outer side it has 9 ball bearings.

Video showing right/drive side:

Video showing left/non-drive side:

It is a low-end (BSO-ish maybe), 170USD hybrid bicycle, bought from Decathlon.
8 gears;
Bicycle model: B'Twin Riverside 120;
Derailleur model: B'Twin.

I'm not a bicycle expert, this is my first freehub removal attempt.
I'm not sure how this freehub is secured to the hub; any details are greatly appeciated.

I believe this one is a 12mm allen inserted through the non-drive side. 11mm is out there too.

Usually what I do is clamp an L-type one in a vise, long end up. A long socket would also work but it would need to be very long.


Fixie/Single speed frame information for beginner I don't want to buy a ready made bike because singlespeed or fixed gear bikes are way expensive due to their popularity.

I want to make my own bike, I haven't build a bike from scratch before. I want a light, simple bike, a fixie or a single speed, maybe a flip-flop. I am going to use it in city which practically doesn't have a single hill.

It seems that first step is to find a frame. What kind of frame should I get? How do I understand that a frame is compatible and good? When buying a second hand frame, what should I look for? (most common stress points to check, or similar...)

Building a frugal dumpster/secondhand singlespeed or fixed gear is definitely one of those tasks that has become much more difficult with their growth in popularity.

So, let's say you've found a frame that's in your relative size range.  You've figured this out already by riding other bicycles and visiting bike shops and figuring out a rough range of acceptable seat tube and top tube lengths.  And you obsessively carry around a metric tape measure (probably not that hard in Europe).

The first thing to check when selecting a frame is its suitability for conversion.  For a fixed gear or singlespeed without chain tensioner that means it needs to have horizontal dropouts or track ends.  (Expensive options like an eccentric bottom bracket or sliding dropouts would work here as well, but those are rare to find on inexpensive frames.)

The next thing to consider is completeness relative to your parts supply.  A frame with fork is almost always better than a bare frame - finding compatible road forks, particularly threaded, can be annoying as there are a number of odd old sizes out there.  If you've got no parts to start with, a complete bike makes a good base point.  Singlespeeding a complete bike is relatively trivial - remove the chain, remove the shifters and derailleurs, and then shorten the chain and reinstall it over your preferred gear combination.  As you find additional parts you like you can replace them piecemeal.

As far as damage goes, the main stress points to look at are going to be where the rear dropouts meet the chainstay and seatstay and where the seatstays meet the seat tube.  But give it a quick gander at all the joints to look for any obvious cracks.  You'll also want to check just behind the headtube for any sign that the bike has been in a front end collision or roof rack crash.  In general, any kind of bunched-up paint is usually a sign of a bent tube and a compromised frame.


Bottom bracket replacement I have an old '89 Trek Singletrack 950 with the original Shimano Mountain LX group bottom bracket. I'd like to replace the bottom bracket with something new. Can anyone help me determine what will fit and what I should best replace it with for touring and single track? Would a new Shimano Deore xt BB-MT800 fit/work? Anything I need to know before I attempt this project?

You need to know the type and axle length of your previous bottom bracket. If the BB is original, it is very likely BSA JIS square taper and needs to replaced with JIS square taper of similar length. You can either measure the length or just uninstall the old one and read what is printed on it. BSA bottom brackets have left handed threads on drive side. Just searching for "bottom bracket replacement" should find enough instructions.

BB-MT800 is completely different type and requires different crankset to work.


Mountain Biking And Clipless Pedals I have never been seriously off-road on a trail with a mountain bike.
I am curious; for any mountain bikers, do you ride clipped in on trails, and when if ever do you proactively clip out (e.g. like on a dirt bike you sometimes have people use there foot to add stability)?
For me, it would be a less-than-comfortable experience being clipped in off-road. What benefits are there to be had clipped in when off-road?
How common is it for serious mountain bikers to ride with flat pedals or is it taboo like it is on a road bike?

For context, I ride in the North Shore of Vancouver, BC, Canada, which is an area famous for its steep and technically challenging trails. I'm comfortable riding black diamond-rated trails. Here's an example of one (not my video):

Personally, I ride SPD. I've tried Crankbrothers for six months, but I didn't like the feel, and I wanted more tension. Clipping out with CB is akin to walking up a ramp, where the resistance smoothly and gradually increases until you suddenly reach the release threshold. In comparison, SPD is like jumping up onto a ledge; there is no resistance whatsoever until you hit a definitive "wall" of resistance right before you clip out. I like to be in control of my clip in/out and didn't like the ambiguous feeling of CB. Unlike Shimano, CB also lacks a tension adjustment.
I almost never proactively clip out. I rarely ride in loose enough conditions where the foot out technique is greatly beneficial. I'm always clipped in unless I'm crashing or losing my balance during a technical climb (known as a "dab").
At the recreational level, riding flats or clips on mountain bikes is mainly a matter of personal preference. If you feel better riding clipped in, go with that. If you prefer riding flats instead, then you should do that.
Some of the benefits:

Foot stability. Especially with the stiffer soles typical of clipless shoes, your foot has to do less work to keep itself rigid and held in place, especially during repeated heavy impacts.
Sprint power. MTB involves a lot of sprinting, and the increased number of muscles you can engage by pulling up when riding clipped in helps significantly.
Pedaling smoothness. This is not critical for downhill-focused riders, but if you're interesting in riding technical climbs, you can get a smoother pedal stroke with clips which will help you to not lose traction.
Foot retention. This is the obvious one; riding clipped in means your feet are less likely to inadvertently fly off the pedals.
Pulling up. Although this should only be used once proper weight transfer skills are learned, riding clipped in means you can "cheat" and pull up occasionally instead of having to do a full body movement every time you want to hop/ride over a small obstacle. This is more efficient and saves you energy.

Downsides:

Foot retention. This is one of the biggest sticking points for clipless beginners, who are often frightened by the prospect of being mechanically latched onto their bike during a crash. By training your reflexes, you can clip out during crashes no problem, but it is ultimately going to be harder to some extent to clip out than it is to simply step away like you can with flats. This can be a major detriment towards confidence. Sometimes, riders will not try to ride a challenging feature because "I'm clipped in".
Skills development (mostly for beginners). Being clipped in means you can procrastinate on learning weight transfer skills, which are mandatory. Instead of being forced to shift your body weight to perform maneuvers such as bunny hops and riding jumps, you can just pull up on the clips instead. This façade will be inadequate someday and you will immediately realize that you are unable to progress as a rider because you lack those basic skills.
Makes riding the bicycle more complicated. Now you have to put on special shoes every time you want to ride, and you will have the additional cognitive load of controlling clip/unclip decisions. Additionally, your non-cyclist friends will struggle to try riding the bike and you'll have to explain the clipless pedal system to every single one of your (curious) friends, family, spouse, children...
Fixed foot placement. Current clipless shoes don’t allow you to adjust the cleat position on the fly. This means that you might not be in the best foot position for every situation; for example, you might want the pedal spindle farther forwards during a climb or sprint for more power, while you will want the spindle farther back while you are descending. Flats allow for this flexibility. Another factor is how many pairs of shoes you own: I can only afford one nice pair, so I have my cleats slammed all the way back for MTB riding, which is a position that isn’t always best for road riding. Flat pedals would allow me to place my foot wherever I want.

Of course, your local trails are a factor. Someone whose trails are long, mellow singletrack routes may benefit from riding clipped in, while someone whose bread and butter is absurdly steep technical features or jump trails might have a bias towards flats.
At the professional level, the benefits of clipless in terms of power transfer outweigh the confidence-related side effects because the riders are all extremely experienced. They're not going to be scared of riding something just because they're clipped in. There are notable exceptions to this generalization though because of people who use the confidence boost to ride faster than having the power benefits could.
And again, the type of riding needs to be considered. Hardly anyone rides flats at XC races, while the opposite is true for dirt jumping or other stylish jump disciplines. If you plan on racing or doing any other kind of competitive riding, I would recommend trying both clips and flats for a decent time each (several months minimum) and doing timed runs as a comparison.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with learning how to be proficient and confident in riding both pedal systems either.


Winter boots or neoprene covers? I'm looking at options for new winter footwear and am split between buying new boots (must be look/3 bolt, which seems to constrain options somewhat) or buying covers, specifically the neoprene style which zips up the back and exposed ones' cleats through the bottom.

I'm weighing pros and cons and would like to get others' thoughts as to their own experience with boots vs. covers.  Also, I have wide feet and would need boots that fit accordingly (like a Lake wide or Sidi Mega) - not asking for a product recommendation but this constrains options and is an important consideration for me.

Covers

Pros:

Cheaper than new boots

Cons:

They must be taken on and off
Aesthetically, they aren't pleasing
Durability is a question

New Boots

Pros:

Durable
Possibly more cold & water resistant
More aesthetically pleasing

Cons:

Cost
Possibility of hard break in
Possibility of worse fit than ones regular shoes
Limited options for Look compared to SPD

For pure road-riding: Neoprene covers over normal road-shoes are the best as long as you don't have to put a foot down too often. The cleats are prone to clogging in snowy conditions. But then you wouldn't certainly get on a bike. On the other hand, ankle hugging covers keep the rain running down the legs into the shoe, which could happen with insulated boots.

For cross-country riding or commuting: Specific insulated and waterproof (membrane-type) shoes with profiled soles for MTB-cleats and MTB-pedals are a very reliable solution. MTB-cleats and pedals by design cope better with adverse conditions like mud and snow. And the shoes are more wear resistant than covers if you need to walk longer distances and there is less trouble to put them on and take them off.


What are the conditions for removing training wheels? I have children who I'm trying to get stoked about riding bikes. I am prone to letting them try and fail, and learn from mistakes, gaining confidence as they go, but this doesn't work perfectly with their personalities. I was wondering if there was some community consensus on what what conditions should be met for removing training wheels.

What should I look for in the rider?
Are there any activities that we could do to build confidence?
Should I remove both training wheels at once, or one at a time?

I am looking for consensus, not necessarily the "right" answer, but a widely-accepted one.

Consensus seems to be more and more this:

  Do not use training wheels.

The most important part of cycling is not the pedaling, but balancing and steering. Steering is mostly done by leaning (therefore balance) and not by turning the handle bar.
Training wheels do not help in learning to balance the bike and actively prevent leaning.

Therefore it might be better to start with a balance bike (no training wheels, no pedals) to learn the essentials and add the easy part of pedaling afterwards.


Converting from 7-speed to 10-speed rear wheel My Bridgestone MB-5 currently has a 7-speed rear wheel. I'd like to convert it to a 10-speed. Is this possible? Is it practical?

You may be interested in this .. The 1992 Bridgestone catalogue (8meg PDF)

The bike is the lower end of the range (MB-6 being lowest), meaning its not worth that much and never started out as a great bike. As its steel (one redeeming feature), its possible to cold form the frame to widen the rear drop outs to take a 10speed, so technically its possible......

Practically its not worth it. The bike is old and low end. To upgrade to 10Speed you would need

Complete Wheel (at least a new Hub and cassette)
Dérailleur
Shifters
Chain rings

Probably

Shifter Cables
Chain


The best way to connect aerobars with Di2-shifters to bike w/ Ultegra 8000 Di2 and the junction box in the bar end? The current installation (performed by the supplier) of the junction-box (EW-RS910) results in only one port left at the levers for what's usually used for sprint or climbing shifters. This port is found at the left lever (ST-R8050 L).

Can I get Shimano's four-port junction-box (SM-JC41), plug in the aerobar shifters (SW-R9160), and connect one of the remaining two ports of the junction-box with a wire (EW-SD50) to the available port on the left lever and thereby make it work?

Is there a better way, even if it works?

Yes, you can. You can have as many SM-JC41s as you like. It's basically just a 'dumb' connection box.

Each shifter has 3 ports, so are you really in need of more ports?
I think your current setup is:

Left shifter => EW-JC130 => right shifter
EW-JC130 => Junction A (EW-RS910)

That would mean you still have 4 ports available, right? (2 per shifter)

A climbing shifter usually only takes up one port, but I suppose if you want to add sprint shifters you might need two free ports.

Note that you can have only one of the Junction A boxes (EW-RS910, SM-EW90-A/B) as the Shimano compatibility charts state: https://e-tubeproject.shimano.com/pdf/en/HM-CC.3.4.0-00-EN.pdf

Also note: max 6 shifters.

The B junction is not mentioned(just like EW-JC130 and EW-JC200) because they're just connectors and you can have as many as you like ;)

I'm not sure what the best setup would be, but think that is your only option if you want to connect that many devices.


Are these extra holes on the frame for disc brakes? My mtb (SERIOUS Rockville), which currently has rim brakes, has these holes at the back of the frame and I am trying to understand their use. Are these for disc brakes? Are these for disc brake converters?

You’ll find similar decorative holes on the opposite side, which is an indication that they are not for disc brakes because those get mounted on the left hand side only.

The holes are mostly through quite a thin section of metal, recessed, which is probably too insubstantial to do anything useful, so no disc brakes.

The ‘Street’ model comes with mudguards and a rack ready mounted through the lower hole, which you’ll see is in a place with thicker metal and presumably the hole is threaded for this:


On a SRAM AXS MTB drivetrain, can you add satellite shifters on an aerobar? If I have an Eagle AXS set (for MTB) and an aerobar.
What would I use to shift gears from aerobar positions? Can I add a shifter to aerobars?
Most Google searches show setup for road bikes.. (I guess using aerobars on MTB isn't common)

I am not, among other things, a bike mechanic, and I haven't touched SRAM's stuff. From what I am seeing, this should be possible in theory, but it may involve giving up the Eagle shifter in place of SRAM's clics.
For readers unfamiliar with SRAM, Eagle AXS SRAM’s wireless MTB groupset. I believe that SRAM designed AXS (pronounced "access") a bit like a system architecture. Physical limitations like derailleur capacity aside, components compatible with AXS should work seamlessly together, e.g. some gravel bikes have Force AXS cranks and shifters, but an Eagle AXS rear derailleur and a 10-50 Eagle cassette.
You are correct that aero bars on MTBs are not common, although some long-distance off-road riders may use this setup. Just for general interest, Pete Stetina used aero bars on an MTB to set a Fastest Known Time around the White Rim Trail in Utah, in the US. This is a 100 mile (160km) course that's not friendly to gravel bikes. Of course, he appears to have mechanical Shimano shifting, and hence his setup isn't going to help you.
SRAM offers satellite shifters for its road groups. You plug these directly into your shifters. For time trial bikes without the usual integrated shifter/brake levers, you would set up brake levers on the base bars, place satellite shifters on the bar ends and wherever else you want them, then plug all the shifters into a Blip Box. That item is a bit like a Shimano Di2 A junction box (usually mounted under the stem or in a handlebar end), only the Blip Box communicates wirelessly with the derailleurs. In contrast, the current Shimano Di2 version is wired to the battery and the derailleurs.
This Bike Rumour article about Eagle AXS says that you can replace your Eagle shifter with a Blip Box and a bunch of Blips or Clics - there are several different types of satellite shifter with different model names. The Clics (or at least the ones I linked) appear to be designed for mounting on aero bars. I believe the Eagle MTB shifters themselves lack plugs for satellite Blip shifters, probably because this setup is rare in MTBs. So, to reiterate, I think the proposed setup should be theoretically possible, but I think you would need to ditch the Eagle shifter. That, or find out if your derailleurs will work with both an Eagle shifter plus a blip box wired to your aerobars, i.e. will they correctly interpret the shift signals if both components are installed.


How to calculate gear range mean step? On this wikipedia article, all the mean steps in the gearing range chart appear to be wrong, but my guess is that I am misinterpreting something:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_gearing
180%/3 != 34.2%
250%/5 != 25.7%
300%/7 != 20.1%

etc
How are the authors arriving at these mean step figures?
Edit:
Looking at the source of the page, I see this:
{{#expr:(1.8^(1/2)-1)*100 round 1}}%

So it appears that the formula they are using is:
mean_gear_step = ((gear_range/10)^1/(number of gears - 1) - 1) * 100

No idea why this is though.

100 x 1.34 x 1.34 = 180.
With three gears you've got a starting gear (100%) and then two change-ups of 34%, leaving you at 180% of where you started.
You'd probably find similar sums work for the other two examples you gave.


Are there any Male to Female DI2 wires / exetensions? I know you can use a junction port (ie: SM-JC41 Internal Junction Box B) for this, but are there any Male to Female extension cables?

Root Cause: R600 to 5 port junction for a TT setup near the base lever (Magura's so can't use the standard integrated TT brake/shifter)

No, there are not any male-to-female "extension" wires available for the Shimano Di2 E-Tube system.  You can use a junction as you said, or you can use the two-port ANT module.  You could also modify an E-Tube wire to lengthen it yourself, if you are handy with a soldering iron.


Will an 11-speed SRAM shifter work on an Alfine 11? I'm building a bike, got an Alfine hub for cheap, but the shifter feels like garbage. There're lots of new 11 speed shifters out this year, like the SRAM X1, do they work with the Alfine?

No. SRAM shifters (and regular Shimano shifters) don't have the right cable pull to deal with an Alfine hub.

You need the Alfine shifters or ones marked to be compatible with Alfine (Jtek barends and Versa brifters are two of the 3rd party options for road bikes, for example).


Bottom bracket needing repacement more often in a single speed bike I used to live in quite a hilly area but managed well with a single speed Mango aluminium bike on most of these hills. I wanted to know if it is possible that due to extra pressure being exerted on the pedals and therefore on the crank and bottom bracket system, the bottom bracket might need replacing more often than a bottom bracket in a bike with multiple gears? I feel like I do damage to my bottom bracket way more quickly than I should. Perhaps the bottom brackets I have had were of low quality? I don't currently know what of bottom bracket I have installed.
In general what factors are involved in the usual degradation of the bottom bracket?

It is inevitable than with more radial load, bearings will have lesser lifespan. The only alleviation to this is to get good quality bearings.
If you notice a decrease in your bearings' lifespan, check if you've fitted your bottom bracket properly and specc'd everything to more or less proper torques indicated. If bearings fail regardless, there may be misalignment either on your bottom bracket unit or the BB shell itself. (more likely the latter)
Due to the larger forces inputted, the misalignment's effect of degradation is aggravated.
@juhist 's option for outboard-bearing bottom brackets only serves as a non-direct solution and masks any genuine issue the drivetrain has.


How do I tell the difference between bike brands I have a 20 inch BMX bike. It was given to me with no stickers or identifying marks on it. How do I tell the difference between brands?

You can try to find a serial number engraved somewhere on the bike. For road bike it is sometime under the bottom bracket, so you can try to look there first. Manufacturers might have different serial number pattern so you can start your search there.

Other than that, posting a picture on a forum or here might be a good idea since some people might recognize which  bike it is.


I have 2 chainrings in the front and I think 3 gears for the LHS shifter. How do I know visually if I'm in the middle gear when looking down? When I look down when I think I'm in the middle gear, I see the chain on the big chain ring but isn't the big chain ring for when I'm in downhill mode?

Basically, what does middle gear look like on 2 chainrings?

Bike details: Giant Contend 2, The front is a FSA Tempo, 34-50T

I'm really new to cycling be gentle.

For someone new to cycling you're doing well with the terminology!

The simple answer is that you only have two chainrings, so there's no "middle". With luck there will be a wee display on the top of the shifter, but that's not always present. And with only two, eventually you'll just remember which you're in (link is to a "how do I know" question).

If you're asking about gear selection, it isn't really about "uphill gears", "middle gears" and "downhill gears", it's about what's comfortable for you. Different people are more comfortable at different pedalling speeds, and as you cycle more you're likely to find that that changes. So the "middle gears" are the gears you feel comfortable in at your "middle speed" :) It's hard to expand on this because it really is as simple as "whatever works for you".

For now, I suggest not worrying about which chainring you're on so much, just focus on getting comfortable changing gears. The next step is trying to avoid cross-chaining (the big chainring with big cogs at the back, or small-small). This question has some tips on that, and this one has a different view. After that people tend to worry less about which gear to be in and more about optimal cadence, muscle efficiency, how fast bike parts wear out and other stuff like that.


Is there a way to completely deflate an inner tube? I had a flat tire and replaced the inner tube. I just didn't realize that the tube was a thorn-proof tube when I bought it. It was the only spare one I had, so I used it anyway. Just now I replaced it with a regular tube. I figure I can keep this thorn proof one around just in case I get another flat.

The problem is, I can't get all the air out of the thorn proof tube to store it in the closet. It's schrader valve. I push the pin in and air comes out, but there is still a lot in there. I'm trying to fold it up like a tube of toothpaste while pushing the pin, and it's not working so well. I could cut it and patch it, but then I may as well throw it out and buy a new tube. Is there maybe some way to get my bike pump to work in reverse or otherwise completely deflate this thing?

According to Yehuda Moon (google it), you can take a properly-sized ball bearing (or even a pebble) and put it inside the valve cap, then screw the cap halfway so that the ball/pebble will keep the valve open.

Then, you roll the tube like toothpaste, and when you finish you remove the cap and the pebble to avoid the natural elasticity of the tube to suck back some air.

Hope this helps


Back wheel rubs against the back brake pad when riding My aging 26" Nishiki 10 speed is still a great bike and ride and well maintained. 25yr warranty ended in 2009. I am 6'7" and 280lbs now and was 250lbs when I purchased it. For some strange reason now when I ride the back wheel pronates over left and rubs against the back brake pad and the fork. The moment I get off it's okay. What gives??? Has anyone had an issue like this?

If it's rubbing while riding, but not when you're off the bike, it's either a spoke tension issue as noted by @earlgrey, or, you could have loose bearing cones that are allowing your wheel to flop around. Either way, a dangerous condition that you should have a local shop look into.


Do hybrid bikes break/misalign easily? Hi I recently bought a Brodie hybrid bike from a local bike store for ~$600 and as I know nothing about bikes I just trusted their recommendation to buy it. However on the way home today I made a mistake and fell. I was right next to my garage when I fell so I wasn't going very fast, but now the front wheel is misaligned with the bike frame to the extent that it almost will not turn anymore.

I've only had this bike for one day and I know nothing about bikes so is it just expected that a light fall can render a bike useless or are the parts bad or is this an easily fixable problem or anything else? I know I could probably just return the bike for a free repair since I think it was covered in the warranty so if this is a problem with the bike itself should I be wary and try to exchange it for a new bike?

Thanks

EDIT: Sorry I realized I should've attached a photo. By misaligned I meant more like off center compared to the frame. When I looked at the handlebar alignment it seemed straight to me so sorry for the confusion.

Thank you for posting the photo. It’s a bit clearer that the front wheel is touching the side of the forks. This can be caused by one of two things:

1) the wheel “tacoed” or bent slightly when you had the accident. If the bend is slight, your shop can straighten it back out and tighten the spokes

2) or the front axle slipped a bit in the front dropouts so that the wheel is no longer parallel to the forks and centered. Fixing this just takes loosening the axle bolts or quick release, setting the wheel back in the dropouts, and then tightening everything back up.

There’s a lot of forces involved when you crash, even at a low speed. Suddenly, hundreds of Newtons of force can be concentrated on just one small part of the bike. It’s impossible to build a bike that would survive all types of accidents especially as people want lightweight bikes. And many parts of a bike are designed to either pop out of alignment or sacrificially break so that more expensive parts of the bike are saved.

In any case, take the bike back to the shop to get it fixed. Most shops I know of would fix it as a courtesy fix — not because they or the bike are at fault, but as part of good customer service for a minor repair.

///——-////

included for historical reasons:

My first guess before you posted the photo was that the handle bars twisted so that they are no longer perpendicular to the wheel.

This can happen with any bike but hybrids have wider handlebars than many so they’re particularly easy to make crooked. Also, I hate to say this but hybrid bikes tend to attract people who are relatively newer to biking and so there’s more chance they’ll do things the bike isn’t designed to do, like run it into the ground.

You can easily fix twisted handlebars by holding your front wheel between your knees and straightening or forcing the handlebars to be perpendicular to the bike and wheels.

And you can ask your bike shop to tighten the fork bolts so that they’re tighter but a big enough spill will twist them — it’s better that it twists out of alignment given it’s so easy to fix — rather than the wheel bending out of shape.


clarks m2 hydraulic disc brake problem I bought a pair of Clarks m2 Hydraulic disc brakes, pre-bled, and installed them on my bike. The rear brake worked great, good stopping power, but the front feels more like the mechanical disc brake that I replaced. Lever is hard and the stopping power is not nearly as good. I bought a bleed kit after being told the brake may not have been pre-bled properly. Went through the procedure (first time I have bled a brake) and now the brake works even worse than before. The lever is firm but the stopping power is lousy. I noticed when removing the bleed screw from the caliper that the screw was very tight and the o-ring fell off when pulling the screw out. Perhaps the seal is not good, allowing air to enter the system? Any help would be appreciated.

If the lever is hard but there is no stopping power, two things it could be (there may be more of course):

Brake fluid was spilled on the brake pads/rotor when bleeding. This is pretty easy to do if you dont take the pads out when bleeding. If you bled them again yourself for the first time you may have done this again (which could be why they are now worse).  Check the brake pads and rotor to see if the have fluid on them. If so it is easiest to clean the rotor and get new brake pads. (This happened to me last week) some people clean the brake pads in an oven but that seems tedious.
Brake pads need to be broken in before they work very well. My guess is that your front brakes could have used thise before you bled them. Easiest way is to get up to high speed and lightly hold the brake for a while the press if hard until you stop. If you have a long hill nearby you could do this there. Or just on the street in front of your house.

And If the o ring near on you bleed screw is busted you should replace that


Shoes for oddly shaped feet I have somewhat oddly shaped feet; They're very wide and my big toe on either foot points slightly inwards. Shoes with pointed toes generally cause me a lot of pain, so finding a road shoe has been somewhat difficult.

Typically, I buy shoes that are slightly too big, and I'm wondering how this will affect cycling shoes. I'm looking at a leather pair that has an extra inch of room in the toe, and lacing them up very tightly seems to do the trick for now, but I'm worried they'll stretch with time and become too big to hug my foot tightly.

Has anybody had similar problems finding cycling shoes? Any recommendations for a wide-toed shoe, or some brand specifically known for conforming to your foot over time?

You should look at using mountain style Shimano SPD compatible shoes.  In general, mountain shoes have a little more room and give and there are a lot of brands that are SPD compatible.

Keen has a line of cycling shoes and sandals that you can find at larger outdoor retailers like REI or many places online.  I mention REI specifically because in the past I have ordered two sizes of clothing and footwear online and returned the one that didn't fit with no hassle.

My experience with Keen footwear is that the run a little wide all over and are especially wide in the toe box.


Training for sprints / short races How do I train / fool my body to go anaerobic for intervals?

I entered my first cyclocross race a couple weeks ago and have since been training on the course.

What I found during the race and my training is I get gassed (can not even talk) on the first lap but after that I settle in and breathing is just heavy.
But my times lap to lap do not change.
Day to day I will get different lap times as I am trying out different set ups and the ground may be softer or harder but in a session in the 6 laps the times will be within 3 seconds.

I am in a health study and take a treadmill every 6 months.  At a certain level the Dr will tell me this is your target training level and it is not very hard.  I have trained my body for that level and it is kind of stuck.  They did not tell me I could not train at a higher level - just train at least 50 minutes at that level of higher.  Dr told me he would rather I went with perceived exertion rather than heart rate.

Also I live in a large flat city where I don't have road routes that I can readily do interval type training.  We have some bike paths but with turns and other riders it is just not safe to ride full out.

At the gym in a kick boxing class of other interval type training I do gas out.
On the bike I seem to have some type of governor.

Lets just start with the last lap.
How do I train / fool my body to go anaerobic on the last lap?

Anaerobic training is without oxygen, so you are using the lactic acid energy system. This means to be going above 80% of your Max Heart Rate MHR (or above 8 on perceived exertion table (can barely talk)). If you are solely in the anaerobic region, you can only go for 2 mins (ish) at that intensity. This means you will need to be in between regions, so you are using both major energy systems (with and without oxygen) to last 7-8 mins (of last lap).

If you are to use perceived exertion rather than heart rate you basically have to go hard out the whole time. You have said that you get gassed on the first lap i.e. perceived exertion is high, this could be due to an insufficient warm-up as Slovakok mentioned. This is where heart rate is helpful, it is accurate and tells you exactly what you are doing. Other wise, you could do one lap and get gassed then once you settle in start to go a bit harder to match the perceived exertion of the first lap.

A good way to get into the anaerobic zone is to do interval training, maybe once a week you could do three laps with a rest in between each lap, go as hard as you can for one lap, then rest until your heart rate feels normal again, or you think you can repeat the effort (might be 5-10 mins rest), then next lap go hard again, then rest a similar time... The next week try to rest for less time and continue decreasing rest until you can do 2 laps at that intensity or something like that. Other things to try are hill sprints, plyometrics, time trials, and just training in the anaerobic zone as much as possible, also training's work differently for different people, so you need to find something which works for you.

Basically you should set some goals for where you want to be in x weeks, and remember that  to be able to race at anaerobic level you must train there as well. So just go hard or go home on that final lap i guess (in both training and racing).