Choosing a tool to take off the front cassette My bicycle is Merida Crossway MD 40. It uses Shimano Altus derailleurs. The front cassette looks like this:

I measured the central circular element, that must be holding the whole construction. It looks like this:

What instrument should I buy to disassemble the front cassette from the bicycle? Does this ebay item fit?

It's hard to tell whether your crank is a classical design or something new and weird.  For the classical design you use a "crank puller".

or

These look sort of like what you show, but you notice the "barrel" is threaded.  You remove the bolt holding the crank on (using a standard "Allen" hex wrench) and then thread in the outer barrel of the puller, into the female threads surrounding the bolt head.  Turning the arm (or using a wrench on the inner part) then "pulls" the crank off.

Some cranks are "self pulling".  You leave in place the dust cover over the bolt, insert an Allen wrench into the hole in the dust cover, then unscrew the bolt against the dust cover.

If your crank is not the "classical" style then you will need whatever specific tools the manufacturer calls for.

Once the crank is off, of course, you may want to remove the "bottom bracket" cartridge.  There are about 6 different wrenches for this, for different styles.

Park Tool has an excellent web site with instructions on how to do all this stuff.


Are there penny-farthings with an internally geared hub? Has someone built a penny-farthing (high-wheel/ordinal) with a gearbox in the hub? If not, are there obvious reasons one cannot do such a thing?

(I recognize this is silly, but that never stopped people from doing all sorts of other things.)

Yes, there exists at least one which was made/improvised with a Schlumpf Innovations bidirectionally-fixed internal-gear unicycle hub.  If I recall correctly, it had a 36 inch unicycle wheel, giving an effective diameter in high gear of around 54 gear inches, fairly typical for larger penny.
The structure and silhoutte of course were odd, with the relatively small physical wheel it might be termed a "mini-penny", the actual fork was an old Nimbus Nightfox unicycle frame squeezed to fit the 100mm bearing spacing of the Schlumpf hub vs the 125mm spacing of the Nimbus Unicycle hub it was designed to hold.
Edit: build description from the creators, alas, no pictures.
There also is/was the "bicymple" which has a fairly small difference in wheel size for a "penny" but does have the bigger wheel up front. It freewheels, but one of the models incorporates a freewheeling version of the Schlumpf hub.


Machining a 9000 series inner chainring to fit on a 9100 series crankset I'm using a Shimano 9100 crankset currently, with 53/39 9100 series chainrings, but on my last bike I had 53/38 and I loved that combination. I have a 38 tooth chainring to put on, but it doesnt currently fit. While the change from 9000 to 9100 didn't change the chainring bolt position at all (I've checked and they line up perfectly) or the interface with the crank on three of the four arms, the fourth has been trimmed down, to make room for some more material on the crankset. This seems to have been done entirely to force consumers to purchase new chainrings, but they no longer make a 38 tooth in the current series of Dura Ace. Would it be safe to modify my chainring and where would I find someone who would do this?

Here's the difference in the chainrings.

Shimano might have modified one attachment point to ensure that the ring is oriented correctly. There does not seem to be any differences in the teeth though.

As Shimano removed some material, it's obvious that you can. It would be possible to simply mark out the profile of the modified arm, hand file away the extra material and test fit as you get close to the line. Filing with reasonable precision is not as easy as it looks but there are many videos online that show you how it's done.

If you need to get someone to do it for you, look up local machining shops.


Do Left handed bikes feel different to ride? Want to buy a BMX bike but they only have left hand drive ones in stock. Does it feel the same as a right hand drive?

Pretty much yes. Depending on quality and material of the cranks you might feel the slightest difference when engaging because the stiffness of left crank+sprocket isn't exactly the same as just right crank. But practically: yes, the same. And, pretty much the main reason left hand drive exists on bmx in the first place: with the advantage that if your prefferred grinding side is right there's less chance of ruining the sprocket and chain.

With regard to pricing/options: the vast majority of BMX brands today sell both RHD/LHD parts and do so for the same price. At least I checked the major brands on a couple of websites and found none which had different pricing and none which didn't offer both options.

Hubs usually are available as either LHD or RHD for the same price; in the production process there isn't anything intrinsically different apart from e.g. thread direction, and LHD doesn't seem uncommon enough to be more expensive due to lower demand. The so-called flip-flop hubs work both for LHD and RHD and are more expensive due to needing more manufacturing/material. Hubguards these days are non-threaded so the exact same for left and right, idem for sprockets and chains.

Most of the cranks sold today are symmetric with the threaded slot for the sprocket bolt available on both cranks. Which also makes sense because that means apart from the different threading for the pedals the production process for both cranks is the same.


How do I compare seemingly equal wheelsets? I'm trying understand how to compare wheelsets which in many cases seem virtually identical but based on their prices I gather are significantly different.

Here are two pairs of wheels as an example to demonstrate the question:

HED Eroica GP Disc $810

Weight: 1,640g
Rim Depth: 24.5mm
External Rim Width: 30mm
Internal Rim Width: 25mm
Tubeless Compatible: Y
Hub: HED Aluminum, 4-pawl
Construction: Hand-built

Specialized Axis Elite Disc $250

Weight: 1,625g
Rim Depth: 23mm
External Rim Width: 26mm
Internal Rim Width: 21mm
Tubeless Compatible: Y
Hub: Axis Disc SCS, 3-pawl
Construction: Machine-built

The things that stick out to me are the rim width's vary a bit and the construction technique.  If I'm planning to use a tire that I believe would work well with either rim (38c), is there any advantage to the HED wheelset priced at over 3x the cost?

The Hed wheels may be slightly better in an objective sense, but the absolute difference may be small. Additionally, as a consumer, it may be hard to tell where they're better, and by how much, just from the specs. As outlined below, a lot of differences may appear in areas that consumers can't see on their own.
You might get a general sense of quality by asking around on internet forums or in bike stores, but these responses will inevitably be prone to the responder's own confirmation bias, placebo effects, and other subjective issues. I recall a podcast (Marginal Gains) where the author (Josh Poertner, who's worked at Zipp wheels before) relayed a story: he was working with the US Postal Service team, and the riders complained that his carbon wheels were too flexy (that is, they flexed side to side when ridden hard). Josh had tested the wheels' lateral stiffness, and they objectively measured up to competitor wheels. He got in touch with an aluminum anodizing company, and asked them to anodize a batch of the hubs for the wheels in a very bright red. He swapped out the hubs ... and lo and behold, everyone said the wheels were now very stiff and fast. Most responses on the internet will be plagued by issues like this, and the fact is that the Hed wheels could be prone to this because they have a very nice finish (see below). This response tries to outline objective factors that might differ from rim to rim in general.
I’m not able to see a price attached to the Specialized wheels, and I suspect they’re OEM wheels (I.e. they come stock on a lot of Specialized bikes, and aren’t usually sold aftermarket). I suspect that a $250 price might just be for a front wheel, but I could be wrong. Either way, the Hed premium may or may not be worth it.
Tolerances - rim, hubs, and build quality
All components have some manufacturing tolerance. For example, a manufacturer's site might say that X rim weighs 450g. In reality, that means the mean weight is 450g, with some standard deviation or variance around the mean. Good rims will vary less. Poor quality rims will vary more. The rims can be more or less round. Relevant to tubeless tires, their internal diameter may be on the high side of the industry-specified tolerance, or it may be right on the tolerance. (Side note: aluminum rims are extruded from a die, but the die wears as time goes by. Hence, a rim's mean weight actually creeps up over time. All manufacturers are likely tempted to understate their mean weight, but perhaps the poorer ones might have a greater incentive to do this.)
I have not patronized November Bicycles, which builds custom wheels, but I trust their analysis. They have spoken very highly of the tolerances and overall quality of Hed rims in general. Here’s their review of the Eroicas.
In contrast, the Specialized wheels are likely to have a rim from a generic Taiwanese manufacturer, e.g. Kinlin or Alex. By itself, this is not a detriment. In fact, if you go through November’s blog, you’ll see they’ve spoken favorably of many Kinlin rims, and they’ve offered some in wheel builds. Many companies selling wheels are in fact using some combination of Taiwanese rims and hubs. In fact, I've had wheels with Kinlin rims and generic Taiwanese hubs before, and I've been quite satisfied. The potential issue with the Specialized wheels is that we don’t know what rims and what hubs. Their rims might be lower quality and higher variance in various tolerances than the Heds. In practice, this might mean that if you buy a pair of Specialized wheels, the probability that the rim wasn’t as round as it should be is higher than on the Heds - albeit the chance of an issue should still be low, and we consumers can't estimate that chance reliably. The same issue with manufacturing tolerances applies to hubs.
The issue with tolerances also applies to the build quality - that is, how true and round (I.e. lateral and vertical tolerance after building) the finished wheels are, and how even the spoke tension is. This affects the wheel’s lifespan. Most mass-produced wheels are machine laced, and finished by hand, and the build quality varies. The issue is, there’s no reliable way for us to estimate that tolerance for Hed and Specialized wheels. I note that you said the Hed wheels are built by hand. In principle, I think that a skilled wheel builder can achieve better results than the usual mass production technique, but I don’t necessarily know that what the average skill level is at Hed, and I can’t confirm from their site that all wheels are built by hand.
Some other places to look for differences between wheels are as follows.
Spokes
Type
The Specialized site says that they use DT Competitions, which are 14/15 gauge, or 2.0mm/1.8mm butted spokes. The Hed site isn’t informative, but they said round steel spokes, and they’re very likely to be similar to the Competitions. It’s possible that Hed used a super light butted spoke (e.g. DT Revolution or Sapim Laser, both 14/17g, where 17g is 1.4mm), but they would have said. Many wheels at the Hed price point use a bladed spoke, which results in a small aerodynamic advantage (November bicycles calculated the advantage at 11 grams of drag at 30mph, which is about 1 watt; comparison was a 38mm carbon rim with 20 Sapim CX-rays, which are 14/17g bladed spokes, vs the same rim, 20 Sapim Lasers, 14/17g double butted round). Wheels at lower price points may use straight gauge spokes (e.g. 14 gauge, or 2mm, through their whole length). These are heavier, and possibly less durable, than butted spokes.
Count
The Specialized wheels are 24 spokes front and rear, and the Heds appear to be equal. Heavier riders may want 28 spokes on the rear, or both front and rear. Fewer spokes are lighter and more aerodynamic, but the differences should be small.
Other spoke and related characteristics
Related to the spokes, many wheels use alloy nipples. These are a minor savings over brass nipples. Alloy nipples have a slightly higher chance of corroding and breaking, particularly if ridden in poor weather. It's also possible to round out an alloy nipple when truing the wheel. With the best quality alloy nipples, I believe that these issues are minimal. An issue might present if you're on a wheel that uses poorer quality alloy nipples. Otherwise, brass is a durable choice, and will penalize you by a mere 20g per wheel (or less).
Rim characteristics
Internal width
Another point of differentiation you need to pay attention to is the rim internal width. The Eroica is designed for big tubeless tires. I have no personal experience yet, but I think you would need at least a 28mm tire on that rim, and the Eroica is really a gravel rim. The Specialized rim is more typical in width, and can support road or gravel tires. Also see what November wrote about the Eroica’s bead lip, which is designed to improve tubeless tire retention.
Side note: for someone buying aerodynamic carbon wheels, you want to make sure that your tire width is a bit less than the rim's external width. If you want to run relatively wide tires (e.g. 25mm or 28mm nominal width, which may stretch to 28-30mm when mounted and inflated on a 23mm+ internal width rim), then you will incur an aerodynamic penalty if you exceed the rim's width. The average user might quite fairly ask, what do I care? However, if you've gone and bought an aerodynamic carbon wheelset, then you do want to at least consider this - you've gone and offset some of the aerodynamic benefit you just bought, so you may not want to do this unless you've got a good reason (e.g. the race course has some gravel sectors that are better handled on 28mm tires).
Depth
In general, rim depth may be a point of differentiation. Both these wheels are roughly equal in depth. In general, alloy rims tend to go up to about 30mm deep. Generally, the deeper rim, the more aerodynamic the wheel is. However, between 20 and 30mm deep, I believe the aerodynamic differences are small.
Construction
Cheaper rims may use a cheaper means of construction, e.g. a sleeved joint on many entry-level wheels versus a welded joint on more premium wheels, maybe even a pinned joint on a really cheap wheel. There's some discussion on rim joining methods here. NB that it's possible to produce high-quality pinned wheels. Cheaper rims may not be as smooth at the rim joint, so if those are rim brake wheels, the rider might feel a pulsing sensation each time the brakes pass the joint. Altenatively, cheaper rims might have the sidewalls more poorly machined, so rim braking doesn't feel as smooth. Obviously, this doesn't apply to disc brake wheels like the ones in the original post.
Last, more expensive wheels may use better alloys. I recall that aluminum alloys with niobium were slightly lighter and stronger than some other alloys - although, in 2017, niobium alloys were used by only one Taiwanese manufacturer, Kinlin. There are likely some points of differentiation between other aluminum alloys. However, I'm not familiar with metallurgy, so I can't provide further detail. In principle, if we were talking carbon wheels, similar differences would exist between both the carbon fibers and the resins used. Again, I'm not familiar enough with carbon wheel construction to give an opinion here.
Tubeless issues
Both rims in the original post are certified for tubeless use. However, at the time of writing, tubeless industry standards are still evolving. Not all tires may play perfectly with all rims. Reading November's blog, Hed's other rims seem to have good general compatibility. It's possible that other rim brands will not play as nicely with some tubeless tires, or even that one brand might make a few rim models that don't play as well. If the wheel's manufacturing tolerances are loose, especially around rim diameter and the diameter of the center channel in the rim, it's possible that some rims of a particular model will be on the loose side of the tubeless specifications, and they won't seat tires properly.
If this happens, you could be more vulnerable to burping your tires unexpectedly - this is where one of the beads comes loose from the rim temporarily, and you lose pressure and sealant. This is not good on gravel. If you are running road tubeless, this is really bad. Road tubeless is run at high pressure, so you will lose air much faster than on a gravel tire. This can cause people to crash. At speed.
Again, this is something that's hard for consumers to know and to measure. At best, you could ask mechanics if they've had problems with a wheel or rim brand or model. One possible issue with asking about that Specialized wheelset is that in the US, many shops will mainly sell Specialized bikes, and thus they may have an incentive to play down problems with the brand. Or mechanics may simply not have had enough experience with that wheel to give you a good answer.
Finish
Last, the finish of the rims is one area of differentiation. Rims might be done with a more polished or a matte finish, but either way, the good finishes should have consistent color across the rim and from rim to rim, as well as more durable clear coating. Additionally, good finishes will just look better. November has said previously that Hed wheels tend to have very nice finishes, and that the prices for the rims and wheels reflect that! In a purely objective sense, there is no point paying a premium for finish. November has commented elsewhere that there are rims that are high quality in other aspects and that are cheaper than Heds. But not everyone makes decisions purely on objective factors, and you are not obliged to do so either.
Hubs
Some name-brand hubs are known to be high quality (e.g. White Industries, Chris King, DT Swiss, Industry9). Some of these are quite expensive, but some are relatively good value for money (e.g. DT Swiss 350 or 370, although NB these versions are made in Taiwan whereas the 240 is made in Switzerland; a number of OEM wheels use DT Swiss 350 or 370 hubs, and I suspect these tend to be good value for money). Some premium hubs are also available in pretty anodized colors, but I won't focus on that because it's a purely subjective consideration.
I can't confirm, but I suspect that both the Specialized and Hed wheels have generic Taiwanese hubs, as I alluded to above. Many Taiwanese hubs are decent, but some are lower quality. It's impossible to tell which is which just from sitting here. Better quality hubs will tend to have better tolerances in their bearing bores, and better quality bearings. They may also have wider spacing between the wheel bearings. These should lead to longer bearing life. Additionally, bearing spacing, and other geometrical aspects of the hub (e.g. spacing between flanges) may affect the stiffness of the wheel. Remember that many generic Taiwanese brands are fine; in particular, I've heard that hubs made by Novatec and Bitex are good, as are the DT Swiss hub models made in Taiwan.
Elsewhere on this site, I've suggested avoiding hubs with particularly small bearings (especially 688 bearings for front hubs), as these aren't big enough to bear the sort of loads you take on bicycles, and will quickly wear out. That doesn't appear to be an issue with the wheels in the original post.
On the other end of the price range, one might encounter hubs with ceramic bearings. Good ceramic bearings may have lower rolling resistance than steel, and ceramic bearings are frequently used in industrial applications. Many bicycle ceramic bearings also have relatively low-contact seals, so these might be vulnerable to contamination. They'll need more regular maintenance than you might otherwise do to your hubs. In addition, they may need or may benefit from special low-friction grease. Objectively, the price per watt gained here is very high, and many of us won't notice the gains here. That said, I suspect ceramic bearings are more sensible in hubs than in the bottom bracket (hubs rotate faster than your cranks).
Degrees of engagement
The Hed hubs have 3 pawls, and the Specialized hubs have 4. Chances are that you will have to turn your cranks a smaller radius before your free hub engages with the Specialized wheels. That is, the Specialized hub may have more points of engagement than the Hed.
I would not care about this unless you are riding very technical gravel. Cyclingtips has a good discussion of points of engagement here. It does objectively matter for mountain bikers. They frequently have to stop pedaling, reposition their feet, and then pedal, perhaps while on a very steep hill. In that scenario, you obviously want your freehub to engage immediately.
Roadies will not objectively benefit from this. In fact, more points of engagement may mean more drag while coasting. Many gravel riders will not benefit either, unless they're on very technical terrain. There are some gravel bikes that have geometry similar to mountain bikes and that can handle terrain approaching what MTBs can handle. The OP's wheel choice and comments suggest that he's using these wheels on a gravel bike, so this might be something to consider.
The Gestalt
Overall, wheels will vary in their claimed weight. Lighter rims, hubs, spokes, and nipples will all reduce the wheel's overall weight. Some words of caution apply, however.

Small reductions in weight will only minimally reduce your time on a
given climb.
Furthermore, manufacturers often under-state the claimed weight on a wheel. It could be that the smaller, less well-known manufacturers have more of an incentive to under-state their weights. After all, weight is easily measurable, and 100 grams sounds like a lot of weight. It is not; see the first point. You will naturally be able to feel a 100g difference between two sets of wheels when you lift them with your hands, but almost all of us are not pedaling our bikes with our hands.
It's possible to sacrifice durability if you go too lightweight on some components. For example, a manufacturer might build their hubs with small bearings that aren't sufficient to take the load. They might use an axle that is too light and gets bent in regular use. Rims that are too light can be prone to cracking.

Wheels will also vary in their lateral stiffness. In the worst case, it's possible to actually (i.e. not a placebo effect as discussed in the introduction) flex a wheel side to side when you pedal hard, such that you rub the rim on the brake pads. Stiffness is a complex phenomena affected by the rim, the geometry of the hub, and the gauge and number of the spokes.


Fenders that will work for swapping between 650b and 700c wheels History

I'm a bike commuter that rides 23 miles round trip. I usually quit once the winter weather gets bad, but I'd like to move towards commuting year round. In addition, I've been wanting to give gravel riding a try.

Since I don't want to do either of these things on my "nice" bike. I found a 2014 Diamondback Haanjo Comp that was essentially brand new. My thought was this would be great for both goals - a cheap bike I can get dirty and snowy but still a nice ride.

I want to run studded tires for winter commuting because the ice gets crazy here. My LBS had a cheap set of wheels I picked up so I could easily swap wheels for the right conditions. The kicker is, the new wheels are 650b while the stock wheels are 700c. Not a big deal, I prefer 650b for gravel riding anyway. So the plan is to put studded tires on the 700c and some GravelKing SKs on the 650b. The final piece of the puzzle is fenders.

Question

Assuming I'm swapping back and forth between 700c and 650b wheels...

Is there a certain brand of fenders that would better accommodate swapping?
Should I install them differently to help with swapping?
How big should they be?

I'm planning on putting 38mm studded tires on the 700c wheels and 43mm tires on the 650b wheels, but I haven't bought any tires yet.

Great idea - smaller 650B wheels with winter tyres will be easier to swap than swapping tyres on your only set of wheels.

As long as your fenders / mudguards are wide enough to cover your wider tyre, and large enough to not touch your larger tyre, then they'll work fine for the smaller and narrower tyre.

Note that we consider specific brand recommendations to be off topic.  Most Cycling shops have the well-reputed brands who will have suitable models.   If your guards are rated for CX tyres with ~43mm tyres in 700c (ie, etrto size 622 wheels) then it will work fine for smaller wheels, but with a little more gap.

Another option is to get two sets of clip-on fenders and change them at the same time you swap wheels. Though this could get tiring quicky.


What headset/radio products exist for bike-to-bike communication? I commute to work by bike, sometimes I share the journey with a co-worker. The problem is because of the wind and distance between the bikes, it's very hard to hear what the other person says.

It would be great to have some kind of hands-free radio headset to communicate while riding.  For example, one solution might be a bluetooth headset, like the ones used with mobile phones, coupled with some kind of mobile phone or radio.

The best I could find were wired units meant for two people sharing one motorbike. The radio based units I found were again for motorbikes and also seemed very expensive.

Do units like this exist for cyclists?

Years ago, when my wife and I started riding together, we got a pair of cheap two-way-radios, with headsets that included VOX.  This allowed us to talk even when we weren't riding side-by-side.  And since we weren't trying to talk from a mile away, it didn't matter how cheap the radios were.

Of course, this requires you coordinate with your co-worker, both have radios set up and tuned to the same frequency.


Buy a bycicle - total noob? I'm currently in Finland, I got a bit of cash and I want to buy a bicycle because the one I had blew up and it wasn't exactly mine anyway; now I have never in my life bought a bicycle, or anything similar, I don't know brands or anything.

My question is, should I buy a new one or an used better one? which one? I plan to use to commute everywhere, most way are streets, some other ways are dirt pathways, sometimes both are covered by ice, sometimes snow, and sometimes an insane amount of small rocks. That's why the previous one got completely wrecked.

Any advice?

========

Most of the sidewalk has this texture

that's to avoid people falling when there's a layer of ice. Sometimes it is completely covered by ice    very slippery, and machines remove snow from the ways you use to commute and travel so 5 cm of snow is the most even if everything else is covered on a meter of snow; a lot of people don't use bikes on winter, but I'm crazy so... but anyway it's the little rocks that represent a problem, some of them are pointy.

My budget, it's hard to explain, I have around 500 to 1000 eur to say, biking has been my primary transport mechanism after walking, so I want something that resists; however I'm worried what would I do if I have to leave the country.

You're not a total noob, you have ridden the first bike and know what you like and don't like about it.

I'm unfamiliar with the weather in Finland, but I guess winter means snow.  How deep a snow would you ride through before its too much ?

Your budget will determine whether new or used - anything new with a price tag under ~$500-600 USD will be a BSO, and while that might be okay, they're not built for lots of riding.

If your budget was $500, I'd spend $100-$250 on a nice tidy used bike, and use the rest for lights, helmet, vest, etc.  Save any leftover for repairs.

If your budget was $1000 I'd go for a new commuter bike (a rigid MTB with no suspension) with bigger wide tyres for $600-$900.  If snow and ice is a significant part of winter, then consider spending some of the difference on some studded snow tyres, and keep your smoother commuter road tyres for summer.  Also, you'll need a helmet vest and lights.

A Yowie is also good for cold weather riding, as are gloves and overshoes.  You may have some of this already.


new tires for schwinn phocus 700C Was wondering what heavy duty tires someone would recommend.  I have been using stock tires and they have blown a leak a number of times in the last six months.  Love the bike, just want more sturdy and fatter tires.  I live in pothole central and want something that can handle it.

http://www.amazon.com/Schwinn-Phocus-Bicycle-Black-18-Inch/dp/B00AWNI07K/ref=cm_cd_ql_qh_dp_t

Any recommendations?  Thanks!

Potholes cause impact punctures (also called pinch punctures or snakebites) when the force of an impact is sufficient to compress the tyre all the way to the rim.

Options to reduce the risk:

Increase tyre pressure
Reduce impact energy by reducing weight or reducing speed
Use larger tyres, which would increase the distance between the rims and potential hazards and could also be more comfortable.
Use your arms and legs as suspension to absorb some of the impact force.
Ensure your weight is not excessively biased to the front or rear of the bicycle.

Measure your frame and fork to check your maximum tyre size:

Slick bicycle tyres tend to have circular cross-sections so the tyre should be as high above the rim as their width. (Unless your chosen tyre has a thick extra layer of rubber to prevent penetration by glass and thorns, e.g Schwalbe's "Plus" models)
Regulation EN 4.10.2 "Wheel/Tyre Assembly - Clearance” states a minimum tire clearance of 6mm between any part of the frame or fork. I suggest you maintain this clearance.


Credibility of my Bike fit I have been an cycle enthusiast from my school days and I got a merida scultra 901 road bike recently.
However I am facing difficulties while I go over 60-70kms in a single go. Though i complete a 130km ride I end up getting a bad headache, neck pain and muscle cramps in my calf(when I rotate at high cadence).

In order to counter attack the neck pain, I did get a 60mm stem but the issue though mitigated has not resolved.

I'm 175 cms in height and I own a 52 cm frame size. I ride about 40 kms on my hybrid everyday without any problems.

Any info/guide for the above problems would be greatly helpful.
Thank you.

I would suggest your frame may be a bit small for you. I'm slightly shorter than you and I have a Scultura 906 in a 54 cm frame (size on the frame sticker says S/M). The longer stem may assist, however it may put you in a more race position which could lead to the neck pain. As for the calf cramps this could be a couple of things; 1) seat height too low, 2) lack of magnesium.

To check the seat height, hop on the bike and put the pedals at 12/6 o'clock. Rest your heel on the 6 o'clock pedal. If your leg is fully extended your saddle height is probably correct. If your knee has a bend then I'd suggest raising the saddle height until the bend is gone.

As for the magnesium, that comes down to trial and error.

On the neck pain, I'd suggest seeing if you can lift the stem (if your fork steerer is long enough) or maybe flip the stem to give yourself a little more height at the front of the bike.

As always, when doing a longer ride, make sure you're staying hydrated, as that is the only thing that causes me headaches when I ride a long distance. Too much heat, and not enough fluids. Let us know how you get on.


bicycle pedal design specifications for threads Where can I get information on the various different types of threads used in bike pedals as each manufacture has its own specifications? Different manufactures of pedals have different threads and I need the design and specification for the pedals to not strip the threads, etc.

Just about all pedals for bicycles will use the same threads. According to Sheldon brown the standard size is 9/16" x 20 tpi threads. One piece "American" cranks use 1/2" x 20 tpi threads, but these are only found on low end bikes and children's bikes.  There's been a couple other sizes used in the past, but almost all modern bicycles will use the two above sizes.

It's also worth noting that the left hand pedal uses a reverse (counter-clockwise) thread to prevent it from loosening on it's own when pedaling.  The right hand pedal uses a standard (clockwise) thread.


How do I fix sticking/tight hydraulic brake calipers? I took my wheel off my front forks to repair a puncture.  I had the bike upside down when I removed the wheel.  When I came to replace the wheel back into the fork slots, the hydraulic disk calipers were too tight to accept the brake disc. I had to use something to prize open the calipers so the gap was wide enough.  When I span the wheel it's still to tight and the calipers still make contact with the disc. Is there any reason why the calipers are now tighter and how do I fix the problem?

Thanks.

Most likely, while you had the wheel out, the brake lever was pulled, and the piston position was reset too close to the disc.

You need to remove the brake pads, and very gently push the pistons all the way back into the caliper.

Then replace the wheel, and pump the brake lever. It should take 2 or 3 pumps to feel normal again.

Hope that helps.


Are New York pedestrians allowed to use bike lanes? In NYC, some street bike lanes (specifically, one on 8th avenue in midtown) are typically full of walking pedestrians.

Is this legal? (e.g. are the pedestrians doing it actually jaywalking or violating some other law?)

If it is not legal, is there any evidence that NYC enforces this law in any way?

If the lane you described is marked clearly for bicycle use, then I'd say the pedestrians are clearly in the wrong. There has to be numerous security cameras in the area that should catch these "jaywalkers" if the police ever have a reason to view security footage for some reason. I wonder how the "real" pedestrians on the sidewalk would feel if 5 or 6 dozen cyclists decided to trade the bike lane for the sidewalk for a day!? Bet that would cause a stir AND get the police department attention!


Neck and shoulder discomfort I have a Raleigh Strada hybrid with flat handlebars.

Have recently been getting some discomfort in the neck and shoulder area which I suspect is down to poor posture on the bike.

Are there any excercises I can do to improve things?

Possibly your position on the bike is putting too much weight on your hands, or making you lean a little too far forward than you want. Moving the handlebar up and back may help. You may want to check that your saddle is placed correctly. If it's too far forward it reduces your ability to support you body with your legs as much which places more weight on your arms and hands.

You can also try moving your hands into different positions while riding to avoid aches from staying in one position for a long time.

You can try neck and upper body stretching exercises, they might help and it's unlikely they'll do you any harm.


Changing cranks from Praxis to Ultegra (BB advice) I purchased a Specialized Roubaix Comp 2018 last year, I was not intending to purchase this bike but Evans had a 40% off sale and the deal was too outrageous to pass. I was originally looking at bikes with Shimano 105 groupset because I was given a friend's old stages 105 left hand side power meter. This power meter has been sitting around for months and months. I recently got an indoor trainer and have started 'properly' training. Reading power has been a big step up in my understanding of pacing and I'm very keen to get a power meter on the bike for when I'm out and about (once the world lets us out of lockdown...).

My problem is that I have no idea if my bike will take an Ultegra crankset. The currently fitted crank is a Praxis Zayante. The bottom bracket is not explicitly stated, most sites say "Included w/ crankset" (source: specialized).

Looking on the bike itself, the BB has external cups and say M30, so it looks like the BB is the M30 THRU BSA Threaded.

Now I understand very little about bottom bracket standards and honestly reading about them has confused the situation for me more...

Do I simply just unscrew the Praxis and fit a Shimano Ultegra BB such as the 6800?

Will my frame fit a different bottom bracket? I could not find any numbers for my frames BB sizing. Do these bikes adopt a standard or are they all slightly (stupidly) different?

The Shimano BB looks very cheap, this is a luxury/performance bike and I'd expect such a crucial part to cost a little more, are there better (less creaky) options than the vanilla BB for not much more?

Authors note: I recognise an Ultegra crank with 105 LHS is scuffed but cheaper than getting a 4iii for my Praxis (which is seemingly unavailable)

Edit: Here is a picture of the external cup on the LHS

If it is an M30 Thru BSA, then the cups will say 'M30 THRU'. As they say M30 and only M30 then they are the M30 BSA version. The latter suits crank spindles which are 30mm drive side, 28mm non-drive side, as the Zayante crank is.

If they say anything else (like press fit) then (future readers) can match that to other models on the Praxis website before proceeding. For example, it's possible to get thread-together units for pressfit frames which don't look that different but have different wording on and are not BSA.

If BSA is confirmed, then the frame is threaded to the BSA standard. As the Shimano spindle is a smaller diameter (24mm) then yes you would need to change the bottom bracket, but this is trivial with a BSA threaded frame. That is to say, yes you unscrew the Praxis and screw in a Shimano.

It does look like the Praxis BB may require a different tool to the Hollowtech II items, but the shop can check this and take care of it, maybe make them aware beforehand to avoid delay if they need to get a tool in. I think having the shop do the whole job is a fair idea, it represents minimal risk to your wallet, even if parts are more expensive at retail.

Happily you can mix and match the Shimano BB, new chainset and 105 LH crank.

I know of no reason to distrust Shimano BBs; the more expensive ones are lighter and smaller items which might make them look less 'rugged' perhaps, but they are tailored to perform a certain way, i.e. light and racy.

If the bottom bracket cups say anything additional to "M30" then it is a different model.  As Weiwen Ng has sleuthed in a comment above, it seems 2018 Roubaixses may have either BSA threaded, or pressfit bottom brackets, so measure twice, order once if reading this in the future.


Does anyone know what model/approximate year this Giant bike is? Does anyone know the model and approximate year of this Giant bike? Thanks!!

It looks a lot like a 2011 Giant Cypress ST

Giant used this frame with a variety of components over several years.
I tried to match components and graphics to the correct year
This bike falls into the "comfort" bike category. Giant still makes a bike with the "Cypress" label but the frame is different.


How to remove spoke twist I just built my first wheel following the excellent ebook from Roger Musson.  The build turned out great, but as hard as I tried, I couldn't master the technique to eliminate the spoke twist.  I've definitely ended up with a lot of spokes twisted from tightening, a few spokes twisted from loosening (in the final truing) and a few spokes that are fine (when I got Roger's technique right).

I know that the twist can release when I first ride the wheel, but I used Wheelsmith spoke prep (instead of light oil that Roger Musson recommended), so I'm wondering if the spoke prep will keep the spokes twisted.

Can anyone recommend a technique to remove the twist?  I think I read something about adding a piece of tape to see the twist, turning the spoke wrench one way to full twist, the other way to full twist and finally turning to the central neutral point between those extremes.  I'm happy to take the time to do this or any other technique that might be suggested.

There are two things I generally do to help eliminate most of the twist.

When tightening spokes, get in the habit of slightly overturning and then turning back. (i.e. If I want to tighten a spoke 1/2 turn, I'll do 3/4 and 1/4 back. )
At regular intervals once the wheel is "close", take the wheel out of the stand
and place the wheel vertically on a soft surface like a piece of carpet or wood.
Lean your full body weight on the on the top of the rim. Turn the wheel slightly and repeat until you've done at least one revolution of the wheel. This simulates the load the wheel will encounter during the first ride. You should hear the same kind of pings. It's important that whatever you put the wheel on is softer than the rim material, you don't want to put any dings or dents in the rim.

Neither of these techniques is perfect, most wheels I've built require a bit of initial tweaking after the first week or so. But they will get you much closer.


What do I need to look out for when replacing rear thru axle? Got a new-ish (used, but barely) Cube Nuroad 2020 recently. It has 12x142 mm thru axle (a one that you're supposed to screw in rather than tighten with a QR lever). But it lacks a lever with which it can be unscrewed. It only has a wrench adapter. So I can still take off the wheel but I need to have a wrench which is not optimal for when you get a flat.
I tried finding a lever but couldn't. Now I want to buy a new axle (which will have the lever). Is there anything I need to know to not make a mistake and for example avoid buying something incompatible?

Unfortunately, thru axles are not as standardized as quick release skewers. So there are a number of basic measurements that vary by bike. Drawing from the Robert Axle Project, they are

Axle diameter and hub length. For drop bar bikes, this is usually 12mm diameter x100mm width in front and 12mm diameter x 142mm width in the rear, but exceptions exist.
The actual length of the axle shaft. Confusingly, this does vary from bike to bike, even though most drop bar bikes conform to the nominal dimensions above and most current MTBs are on Boost spacing!
Thread pitch, or distance between the threads on the threaded
section. They can be 1.0, 1.5, or 1.75 pitch.
Length of the threaded section.
Shape of the axle washer on the non-threaded side - I think they're usually flat, but conical ones exist.

And now, the problem: you also specified that you want a thru axle with a lever. These are more rare. I know that DT Swiss is one company that makes thru axles with levers, but they only have some specific dimensions. They may not fit your bike. You could check the dimensions of your axle, or you could call Cube or a local dealer if there are any in your area.
The objection to needing to carry an Allen key with you does not seem well-founded. It's usually recommended to have a mini-tool plus tire levers. Saddle bags are designed to fit a tube, a mini-tool, and tire levers; smaller saddle bags might require a small mini-tool, but carrying a mini-tool won't preclude you from having a pair of tire levers. Thus, I don't understand the objection that you need to have a wrench, but that this is not optimal when you get a flat.


What saddle rail clamp should I get? I just got a new supercycle bike that came with everything, including the saddle rail clamp (the part connecting the double-railed saddle to the shaft beneath). After riding about 20km on it, the bike seat began tilting backwards randomly, without me adjusting it. I took it apart and found that the ridges on the insides of the saddle clamp had been ground down, and that the whole thing was useless. So far, I've only found one rail clamp that fits with both my saddle and the shaft underneath, and that's the exact same clamp as the first one. Is there another better clamp that won't wear down as fast as my initial one did?

Those style of saddle clamp only slip like you described if they’re loose. Make sure you tighten the side bolts really good (it’s hard to break those things) and use threadlocker.
A better option is to buy a 2-bolt (also known as “infinite adjust”) seatpost. Those use a better design where that slippage is not possible. Simple aluminum posts are not too expensive. Make sure you get the right diameter and length for your bike.


Proper spoke tension when dishing to the side of the hub I am building wheel with 7 speed freewheel so my rim dishing needs to be towards the side of the hub.
Using 281mm spokes on both sides of the hub except for side close to freewheel used 12mm nipples and for other side 16mm nipples.
I have tension 160 kgf for spokes at hub side and about 90 kgf for spokes on opposite side.
Somewhere i read "tension for spokes ideally needs to same prevent breaking" is that same tension for all spokes on one side of the rim or every spoke on the rim needs to be same tension?
If i set same tension i will loose dishing, so if i say use 181 mm spokes on one side and 184mm spokes on other side then i can set equal tension and rim still be centered over center of fork?

1600N is a lot. Check your rim’s specification, most rims are limited to 1200N. You can go slightly above the 1200N, especially since pressurizing the tyres will de-load the spokes by 50N or so.
The non-drive side will end up somewhere around 700–800N.
The most important thing is that you don’t have single spokes with very low or very high tension. In an asymmetric wheel ideally you’d have all spokes on each side at the same tension.
Using longer or shorter spokes won’t really change anything of this. The problem is simply that the spoke angle on the drive-side is steeper to make space for the cassette sprockets while keeping the rim centered.


Is there a way to convert the Park PCS-12 to PCS-10? I have the bench mount PCS-12 but am looking to convert it to a floor mount.  I haven't been able to find the base for the PCS-10, only the entire unit.  Any suggestions?

thanks

You're not going to be able to buy just the floor stand without the clamp unless you chance to buy one at a yard sale or on ebay, you might be able to contact Park Tool and ask them if they can send you just the floor stand without the clamp as a replacement part, but I doubt it for that particular stand.

My advice would be to just buy the new stand, amazon sells them for $90 less than their listed price. And you can get them for even cheaper than that on ebay. Then you can keep you bench mount for spare parts or just leave it where it is and have two stands.

You could try building a floor stand out of chain link fence parts depending on the size of post you need to fit the clamp. The cheapest solution would probably be to buy one post (or borrow one from a local school) and a floor flange, and either bolt it to your garage floor (permanent) or to a big piece of thick plywood (which will eventually break). I don't recommend looking at getting piece of plate steel like the PRS Deluxe stands have, because I've looked into it before and the size plate you's want would cost almost as much as a new PCS stand would. If you can get anything free by chance or from a junker/someone you know then that's a bonus.

But like I said, I think you'd be better of just to buy a new stand.


Scott Mountain bike. Problem with pedaling Last 2 runs out my bike I have as suffered from what I can only describe as the pedal free wheeling ie pressure put on pedal does not drive the bike, but after a couple of turns it then drive the bike forward. New cassette and chain installed by bike shop 2 years ago, only used once a week but in a fairly steep inclined countryside on short outings ie mountains. advice appreciated.

This can happen easily when a new chain is installed with a cassette that is worn, but you would likely notice that it's the chain skipping in this case.

It sounds like the culprit is the engagement system inside of the hub of your rear wheel. The engagement system has teeth that lock when you pedal, and if too many of these teeth become worn you won't get any power transfer, it sounds like this is your most likely culprit. I've had this happen before, and it tends to only get worse. If it seems like this is what's happening, take the rear wheel into the shop and see what they can do for you.


Brakes periodically make "finger nails on chalk board" sound Both my rim brakes --- front and back --- have started to make a periodic noise when I engage them. They will be silent for a little bit, then gradually start to make noise. As I brake, the noise will increase and eventually culminate in a very loud noise, and then be quiet again to restart the cycle. This is definitely independent of speed or how much I've been riding that day. The cycle seems to repeat itself every 1-3 days.

The noise is best described as finger nails on a chalkboard. It is definitely not a squeal.

Why does this happen? I suspect my pads are getting worn, but they are not past the indicator lines yet. The bike is a little over a year old and has gotten "medium" use.

Sounds that bikes make are difficult to describe.  "Fingernails on a chalk board", so sort of a high pitched dry scraping noise, not a squeal, squeak or scream?

That sounds like something ceramic, stone or metal rubbing against the metal rim to me. The last loud noise where it then goes quiet could be whatever it is getting turned just before getting entirely dislodged. Does that sound about right?

I'm not an expert, but my best guesses:

Poorly made brake pads made with chunks of stuff in them.
You're picking up some sort of grit that's getting stuck in the brake pad.

The consistent pattern points much more to the pads being manufactured that way. But I've had similar kinds of sounds when I picked up a bit of sand on the rims.

Brake pads aren't solid rubber/poly-whatever, the're actually a compound, typically with a sort of ceramic or metallic material embedded in the rubber-like material.  Poorly made brake pads can have large chunks of that material instead of consistent fine particles.

Either way, when the noise starts, examine the brake pads. You'll probably see something embedded in the pad that you can pry out with something pointy (screwdriver, tip of a knife) or scrape out with a razorblade. It's quite possible it's something the size of a grain of sand, not a huge chunk.

And if it definitely looks like it's something that the pad was manufactured with in it, consider replacing the pads with a different brand; It's likely that your rims are getting worn faster.


Can you change the rear hub on a tubular cyclo cross wheelset with out riping the tubular tyre off? I recently bought sram cx1 for my cyclocross bike and was hoping it to put it on tonight.

I didn't do enough research before purchasing the product to realise that 11 speed cassettes will not fit onto 10 speed hubs.

Can the rear hub on my tubular race wheels be changed with out ripping off the tubular tyre (and saving the expense of buying a new one)?

It is almost impossible to rebuild a wheel (i.e., new hub and new spokes) without removing the tire. Leaving the tire on, would mean leaving the spoke nipples in place.  (It is a good idea to replace the spoke nipples when rebuilding a wheel.  You will also require new spokes).  It is a big hassle threading the spoke into nipples that are stuck in one position.  Almost all wheel builders will first remove the tire.  It should be possible to carefully remove and reuse your tubular tire anyway, so this may be less of an issue than you think. (What adhesive did you use?)

11-speed compatibility options

In terms of replacing your hub to get 11 speed compatibility.  There are a few different options to consider.  Custom wheel builds are not cheap.  If your rims are not in pristine condition or insanely expensive it may be more cost effective to sell your wheels (or wheelset) and buy purchase a replacement wheelset that is 11 speed compatible. (Note an 11-speed rear wheel can take 10-speed cassettes with the appropriate spacer). You may also check what rear hub you have, some more recent hubs that started their life as 8/9/10 speed hubs were designed to allow the cassette freehub bodies to be changed in order to enable 11-speed compatibility (although this is not a common feature, it does exist and you may be lucky enough to own one).