I've ordered small and large parts from bike-discount.de. 100% satisfied and cheapest price for those specific parts at that time after comparing with at least 6 other known e-shops.

Regarding cheap german bikes, I don't know about Radon (they don't seem to be well known to the rest of the EU), but I own a canyon torque for the last 3 years and a pal of mine owns a yt noton (both companies well known around the globe). Both are cheap german bikes with high end specs at lowest price possible. We are both 100% satisfied with the bikes, the build and 90% satisfied with after market support.


As long as you're not adding larger cogs than you've got on right now, your existing chain should be a functional length.

One more thing to consider is that if your current chain has significant wear, running it with a new cassette can damage the cassette (effectively very rapidly turning your "new" cassette into your "old" cassette), so even though your old chain should work fine with your new cassette, it may be worth it to replace it anyway.


Yes, you can absolutely run two tail lights off a hub dynamo, and a few people do. I've done it, but only as an experiment when I happened to have two tail lights. Modern LED rear lights draw much less than 500mW, because otherwise they would be unreasonably bright. My "500mW superflash" battery rear light draws about 100mW continuous, varying from about 80mW to 150mW (I was going to run it off the dynamo but it all got a bit hard so I gave up and just use batteries in it).

Typically with a dynamo the design used to be 5W with 0.5W going to the rear light. But these days dynamos are more accurately thought of as current sources, with 500mA and about 50mA going to the rear light. However LED front lights will be able to take 500mA since with LEDs they have an internal current limiting circuit (and they have to work if the rear light fails or isn't installed). In practice the voltage limiting is often missing specially so that people can draw more power from the dynamo than the 5W traditionally available. This is how you get front lights with USB out (which draw 6W or more), and why if you're running two headlights you typically put them in series rather than parallel.

The design issue I see is grit getting into the female plugs when you don't have the trailer on the bike. You might need blanking plugs of some sort of avoid that (if those are common 5mm banana plugs you could use cheap plugs for that).

What gets me about this setup is the hassle of the extra wiring, since it's most often the wiring that fails with dyno lights. I would be more tempted to buy some Eneloop NiMH batteries for the low self-discharge feature, and use battery lights. Or buy some with built-in lithium batteries for the same effect. The lights on my trailer are just my last-generation bike lights put on the trailer and basically ignored. Eneloops will last most of a year without charging and still be usable, so I just recharge them when I remember.


Don't.

Training wheels can be effective if someone has balance issues, but for those people a tricycle is normally a better approach.

To someone with reasonable balance learning to ride, using training wheels impedes learning. For infants, the balance bike toys are great, but they are not available in adult sizes. Instead, remove the cranks, bottom bracket, derailleur and chain from a normal bicycle. If you don't have the tools a bike shop should be able to do this cheaply. Ideally choose one that's a little on the small size for the adult so that the crossbar is lower and the handlebars closer than usual. Using a cheap/reclaimed bike means reassembling it afterwards isn't an issue, which is handy since old, cheap bikes are often really painful to put back together (and you'll probably end up buying new cables, chain and possibly bottom bracket anyway).

That setup lets them get the hang of balancing and steering with the safety of being able to put both feet on the ground easily. Do it off the street, obviously, preferably in a park with grass available to deal with the inevitable "what if I fall" question. Answer: try falling on the grass.


Fady listening to music while riding is probably the most dangerous thing you can do so do not explore that idea please.. With that said I use the edge 500 and it has loads of functionality and will most likely support all your needs. You will usually need to purchase a speed/ cadence sensor with it. Battery life is great so long as you have it set to turn off with inactivity. I do still carry my phone in my jersey pocket when out alone just in case somethin happens.


If you are getting multiple clicks per revolution wheel trueness (relating to even spoke tension) is not the issue here.  A bumpy ride in a car will not damage a wheel - spoked bicycle wheels are actually pretty strong.

Wheel trueness is easy to check though. With wheel held off the ground spin the wheel and watch the rim relative to a convenient point such as the brake caliper pads. If you have disc brakes s piece of tape or a zip tie on a chain stay works well. Some wheels will have a little lateral or radial deviation, but if the rim isn’t hitting anything it’s not causing this problem.

A loose spoke would create a click once per wheel revolution so that’s not the problem either.

I strongly suspect you have a problem with a bearing. Hold the wheel off the ground, grab the tire/rim and rotate the wheel. If you feel resistance, grinding or 'notchiness' there is a problem. Also try to push the rim back and forth laterally, there should not be any lateral movement or play. You can also take the wheel out and turn the axle by hand to feel for resistance, grinding, notchiness, or play

Next step is to determine what kind of hub you have and how to disassemble it to find out what broke.


From your question, I'm getting that the bead of your tire is slipping off the rim. I'm assuming you've looked at the sidewall of the tire and you know the rated pressure but you are not able to pump to max pressure. With skinny road bike rim/tire/tube combos this can get frustrating... Inner tubes can twist or worse get pinched in-between the tire bead and the rim. Pinched inner tubes can hold and blow with a load "crack!" causing violent flats. Or sometimes push the tire bead off as you increase pressure (my assumption for you). Here's my process for installing a tire/tube on a rim:

As always inspect everything. Use your fingertips to inspect inside the tire (don't get cut on the tire bead). I've missed staples and bits of metal here, finger tips are your best friend. Also run your finger on the rim channel where the spokes are. Inspect rim tape, all good? Proceed...
Put enough pressure in the tube to barely have it hold a shape. This is critical as it prevents twisting when installing.
Load the inner tube in the tire. Optional, line the valve up with the tire label or obvious marker, makes it easier to find to fill up with air.
Always start at the valve on the tube, valve hole on the rim. Load the valve into the valve hole.
Hold the wheel in your hands, valve at the top. Push one tire bead on, starting at the valve. Now center up the inner tube check to make sure nothing is twisting. Halfway there.
Again starting at the valve, close up the inner tube in the tire with the other tire bead. Use your thumbs and working from the top 12 o'clock position, slide the tire bead on. Move your hands equally down each side of the wheel attempting to evenly put the tire bead on. It will get tighter as you go and close opposite the valve. This method gives the most slack and helps with that last piece to close up the tire.
With practice you can push all the way on with finger tips. Sometimes I find using the crease where the base of your middle finger and top of palm helps too. If a new tire is too tight, gently use a tire lever under the tire bead to close up the tire. Make sure when using levers you don't pinch inner tube on the rim. If you have to when using a lever slide it a bit along the rim wall to feel for inner tube, if you don't feel metal reposition it.
Last I start at the valve and gently pinch the tire to inspect the outside of the tire bead and the inside of the rim wall. If you have inner tube caught here hold your hands approximately 4 inches apart and gently pinch, pull up and attempt to roll the inner tube inside the tire.
Now fill your inner tube approximately half way. Inspect again, also you can spin the tire slowly to compare the edge of the rim to the tire, check both sides. Do you see any big dips or wobbles? You might need to roll the tire bead up or down on the rim wall to get it to seat correctly.
Last, take your tire to full pressure, install valve cap, you are done.


Before we get into axle breakage, let's discuss your axle spacing, which probably isn't going to work going from a 6spd to an 8spd cassette unless you install a new, longer axle with more spacers, and you'll need to re-dish the wheel slightly.

In terms of breakage, I've seen all speeds of freewheel axles break over time. Freewheel hubs' axles are just more likely to break because of the leverage you can get over the axle. Here's a great diagram that illustrates this point:

The red circles are where the bearings brace against the axle. The drive side of a freewheel hub has a lot more axle acting as a lever than does a cassette hub, and this is the primary reason they break.

Is an 8spd spaced freewheel hub more likely to break than a 6spd spaced freewheel hub? Yes it is, but marginally. Even working in a shop for years, I cant say that I saw a statistically significant sample of broken axles come through to say that 8 speeds broke more often than 6 speeds- probably the opposite as the 6 speed hubs were older and had seen more use. The bigger comparison here is freewheel vs cassette wheels, and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that cassette hubs hold up better.

Since a cassette hub isn't what you're looking to use though, I would say don't concern yourself with the increased likelihood of axle breakage when going from 6spd to 8spd. You're probably going to be less likely to break the axle, assuming you buy a new axle for the conversion as you'll be starting over again on the fatigue life for the axle.


When down-shifting my rear derailleur (Campagnolo 10spd) is skipping multiple gears.

The correct answer to your query depends on the model and age of the system.

If it's an older system from the Record or Chorus ranges, when they were still 10s (pre 2009), then yes, the G-springs are a possibility.

If it's from pre 2007 and is from the lower Campagnolo ranges (Xenon, Mirage, Veloce or Centaur) then it could possibly be a G-spring issue - all of these ranges pre 2007 used a lever mechanism basically the same internally as a Record or Chorus 10s lever - Xenon moved away from that mechanism in 2004/5, Mirage etc in 2007 to a system called Escape.

The G-Spings (AKA the P springs - it depends what letter you think they resemble) are two springs which engage a ratchet. The ratchet is what sets the index interval and if one or both springs fail, or if the mount ring that holds them in place fails, you can get the problem that you describe although normally in these types of lever, if tou have a system that "falls through" all of the gears, the shift in the other direction won't "hold" a gear reliably either.

Levers of this type can be repaired as others have noted. If you don't want to tackle it yourself, we offer the service here at Velotech Cycling Ltd - please drop me an email at the address below, for more info.

Post 2007 and Pre 2009 Xenon through to Centaur all used "Escape". These levers have no G springs, but an escapement mechanism. If that is proving troublesome in the way you describe, the only relaible & long term fix is a complete lever body, Campagnolo part number EC-VL100.

Veloce and Centuar 2009 - 2011 used an UltraShift mechanism. These are serviceable but this kind of issue is very rare - I'd suggest a call in to a Campagnolo Pro-Shop (see the Campagnolo website for a listing) or drop us an email at Velotech - we are the main UK Service Centre - email us at velotechcycling"at"aim"dot"com.

Veloce and Centaur 2012-present - again, a system that works basically like Escape, called PowerShift - the only relaible fix is a new lever body complete, part number EC-CE300.


Should I buy average tires with puncture resistant tire liners or just puncture resistant tires?

Exact center of the outside of the tube (and no debris) indicates a pinch flat.  Why do you assert not a pinch flat?

My experience with tire liners is they abrade the tube.  I would wear out a tube a year riding about 500 miles.

Puncture resistance tires work better for me.

Why you are not seeing debris in the tire is a mystery to me.

You might also try tubes with sealant for small punctures.


How can I protect components from being stolen off my bike?

There's no way to 100% secure everything, but there are things you can do to make it more difficult or time-consuming.

Don't lock up your bike. Bring your bike with you instead of leaving it outside. Mine goes into my office.
Choose a location where you or other people will see thieves messing with the bike. Not a super-high traffic area (in that case everybody assumes somebody else will do something), but a moderate traffic area. A thief will be more reluctant to do something obviously shady if there's people that might stop them. When I'm at a cafe, pub or restaurant, I try to lock up where I can see the bike from inside. Or use bike lockers of some sort where it's hard for thieves to get to any of the parts.
Use locking skewers such as pitlock or pinhead. There are a lot of variations on the concept, but the ones I've seen can secure wheels (via skewers), seat post (seatpost collar), fork (headset cap) or some brakes. A locking skewer would protect the casette from being removed, but not the rear derailer.
Replace the bolts with unusual bolts. Bike thieves are likely have a variety of sizes of allen wrenches (possibly in a single multitool) and maybe a T25 Torx (commonly used for disc-brakes). Also Phillips and flat-head. But they're unlikely to have other sizes of Torx or other more unusual types of bolts. Getting proper "tamper-resistant" bolts is difficult unless it's something like the pitlock stuff.
Mess with the bolts so that they're harder to undo.  One technique I've heard of is to put a ball bearing into the hex head and melt some wax/paraffin into it. Tilt the bolt, heat it with a small flame and the wax runs out. Or a bit of time prying and scraping with a small screwdriver.

Personally, I do #1 and #2, and have considered investing in #3.  #3, #4 and #5 all make your bike harder to work on, but at least #3 bike shops are used to and you just make sure to bring the special tool with you all the time.


What are the ESSENTIAL tools to do a basic strip and rebuild?

What you have is a pretty good start... specialty tools needed depend on how far you want the strip-rebuild process to go.  I would recommend the following

If you are changing your cables and housing get a cable housing cutter.   I use mine to also cut the cables but a normal (sharp) wire cutter will do that trick as well.  You may be able to get by with a dremmel tool for those cuts if you have one
Chain tool.  It you have a bike with gears, removing and replacing your chain can have dramatic effect on shifting performance
Crank Arm removal tool.  If you are going to change/repack the bottom bracket you will need to get the crank arms off
Bottom Bracket Removal tool
If you are planning on replacing (or tightening ) your cassette you will need to cassette removal tool and a chain whip
Cone Wrenches... these wrenches are needed for repacking the wheel hubs.


132.5mm dropout spacing with a 130mm hub AFTER it has already been used with a 135mm hub

Short answer: Don't worry about it!
Steel is inherently a springy material and you will find the dropouts spring back to their original location once the wheel is removed.
In order to permanently re-set the dropout width, you need to bend the steel past its elastic limit. You can look up "cold setting" by Sheldon Brown or whoever you like if you're interested.


Are black bikes really stolen more than other colors?

Finding statistics is extremely difficult, but one set of data was located from the Chicago Stolen Bike Registry http://chicago.stolenbike.org

Their statistics page (http://chicago.stolenbike.org/report-statistics) is now dead/404-ed but if you go to the WaybackMachine, you can get archived data from September 2012.

And tada!

This one is probably a bit less than scientific, but seemed interesting.
Also, unlike all of our other stats, it's based on a free-form text entry,
rather than a select-box type field.
Color
Black   14.23%
blue    7.60%
Red 5.28%
Silver  5.21%
White   4.87%
Green   2.30%
Grey    1.63%
Yellow  1.26%
Light Blue  1.17%
ORANGE  1.15%
Gray    1.09%
purple  0.91%
Gold    0.83%
Black/Silver    0.80%
Brown   0.74%
dark blue   0.74%

However, to make sense of this data we'd also have to know what proportion of colors are the most popular amongst bike sales because if Black bikes make up 25% of the market but only 14% of thefts, then black bikes would be proportionately less likely to be stolen. So some further research is needed.

Screenshots:


Part name: what is this attachment point for on my new Cube carbon frame?

It is for mounting a front derailleur. A standard clamp on front derailleur will not fit on that seattube, so an alternative mount point is needed.


Brake callipers not long enough to allow adjustment of pads

Those pads do look ever-so slightly too high on the rim, the main danger being that any slight vertical eccentricity could result in the pad contacting the tire and causing a blowout.

There are two main solutions:

Firstly, you could use a round file and simply file out the bottom of the slot slightly to increase the clearance.  This works best if you only need a very small amount of additional reach and are willing to accept permanently modifying your brakes.

Secondly, you could buy a set of brakes with a longer reach.  The Shimano 105mm calipers are 39-49mm reach; if you instead purchase some higher-quality dual pivot calipers that are 47-57mm reach you'd have plenty of room for adjustment and should be able to achieve equally good braking capability.


I-spec is a Shimano-proprietary mounting system for Shimano parts. Its supposed to make mounting and adjusting brake+shift levers faster and easier by putting them on one mounting clamp.

I couldn't find a blurb on what it does / how it operates on the Shimano website, but the equivalent for SRAM is SRAM Matchmaker, which from their website:

"The MatchMaker X clamp is more than just a clamp. It’s like having Martha Stewart tidy up your cockpit. Since each clamp accepts up to three controls, you can put everything from your XLoc suspension lockout, your SRAM shifters and AVID brake levers as well as your Reverb XLoc remote, all on two clamps. Short of genetically engineering longer thumbs, it’s the ideal way to put everything within easy reach. Just like Martha would."

If you're running a mix of SRAM MatchMaker and Shimano I-Spec components, you can use a Problem Solvers MisMatch adapter to mix them up.


It looks like this is the owner's manual for your fork which has a chart on page 3.  Please, however, make sure this is the correct guide for your fork.  I am not familiar with this brand, so I cannot be certain, but it looks right.


It largely depends on the usage you want to make of them and the particular tire/rim combination you use.

Plastic levers are usually small and lightweight, and if they are of good quality, they are enough for most tires that are properly fitted to the rim. I mention this because sometimes, rims and tires can physically differ from the nominal size they bear in their labels, so a tire may fit way too tightly in a rim. Other times, the wire collar in the bead may be too stiff. These two situations make them very hard to pry out, thus a tiny plastic lever may break, however, this is a rather rare case.

Small and light tire levers are ideal to carry in the emergency tool set for on the road or on the trail repairs. And for most cyclists that may now and then perform a tire swap at home.

Metal tire levers may be heavier or more expensive (due to being manufactured from fancy metals), and usually are bigger and better suited to shops where several tires are swapped or repaired by the same user each day. In this situation the large lever makes the work easier by providing (you guessed it) more leverage. They are also well suited for the situation described above, specially if for any reason you are forced to almost always use a tire that "almost fits".

Another reason to prefer plastic levers is that it is very difficult to damage a rim or a tire bead, while a poorly polished metal tire lever, or a poorly used one may easily damage the rim or the tire.

In the other hand, I would advise not using plastic levers that are too flexible or too thin and brittle.

Keep in mind that there are also levers made of a metal core covered in plastic. They are kind of in the middle of both sides.

Note: I consider tire levers survival equipment, along with patches and glue and/or an extra tube, thus, if first time buying tire levers, or first time buying that brand/model, I strongly advise testing them at home before engaging on a long tour alone or you being the only one carrying emergency items like these, so you don't get stranded in a far place with a puncture and a pair of failed tire levers...


What's the quickest "boost food" whilst riding in a fast bunch?

Some personal thoughts/opinions:

If you're not riding much longer than an hour or so, you might not need much. Perhaps a sports/electrolyte drink that contains sugars will suffice and be convenient.
I use mainly cheap gel bars for a sugar hit, but they get quite boring and eat away at your teeth. Flapjack, oats, etc are good for a bit of variety but perhaps more appropriate for longer rides as they release energy slower.
Cereal bars can be quite dry and difficult to get down especially if you're a bit dehydrated.
Something with caffeine may be of benefit (caffeine on its own doesn't have energy, but it can give you a boost). I'd drink some strong coffee before the ride. Caffeine has a half-life of approximately 5 to 6 hours.
Trial and error is key!


First thing to do is check all the pivot bolts are tight. If that doesn't fix it, figure out where the play is. Is it in the swingarm pivot, or the shock bushings? You can figure it out by holding onto each joint in turn and moving the swingarm. You shoukld be able to feel which part is loose. If it's been like it for a while, it might be all three points.

Once you find the source of the problem, I guess you'll need to go to your local bike shop (or the place you got the bike - Decathlon?) and see if they're able to source the spare parts. Shock bushings should be easy enough to get, but I don't know about the pivot hardware. You'd need to open it up and have a look what's in there!


Can storing bicycles upside-down damage hydraulic brakes?

From Shimano Service Instructions:

  When turning the bicycle upside down or on its side the brake system may have some air
  bubbles inside the reservoir tank which are still there when the reservoir tank cover is
  replaced, or which accumulate in various parts of the brake system when it is used for long
  periods. The M755 disc brake system is not designed to be turned upside down. If the bicycle
  is turned upside down or on its side, the air bubbles inside the reservoir tank may move in the
  direction of the calipers. If the bicycle is ridden in this condition, there is the danger that the
  brakes may not operate and a serious accident could occur.

  If the bicycle has been turned upside down or on its side, be sure to operate the brake lever a
  few times to check that the brakes operate normally before riding the bicycle. If the brakes do
  not operate normally, adjust them by the following procedure.

  < If brake operation is sluggish when the lever is depressed >
  Gently depress the brake lever several times and wait for the bubbles to return to the
  reservoir tank. It is recommended that you then remove the reservoir tank cover and fill
  the reservoir tank with brake fluid until no bubbles remain.
  If the brakes still operate sluggishly, bleed the air from the brake system.
  (Refer to "Adding the brake fluid and bleeding air".)


While I don't speak Dutch, the link you provided seems to be for a 46t outer ring from a 2x system. If you look closely enough at the photo you linked, you can also see "46/33T" etched on the ring: that's the smallest chainring option that standard Force AXS offers (Force AXS wide goes down to 43/30). You can see that more clearly in the photo below taken from this retailer. In addition, you can see the shift pins (two pairs of two silver pins, each pair separated by 180 degrees), and a black chain drop pin. All that gives the first ring away as a 2x chainring.

The narrow-wide teeth of 1x chainrings do really help keep the chain on. If you use the 2x chainring, you lose that protection. Back when I used to race cyclocross in the early or mid 2000s, I recall that many people would use 1x systems there without the benefit of narrow-wide chainrings - but we would either run chainguards on each side of a single ring, or else run an outer chainguard plus some sort of chain catcher on the inside. Cyclocross-style chainguards were just plates you mounted in place of the chainrings with some spacers. An ad hoc solution was to take a worn chainring and dremel the teeth off.
It does seem like on mountain bikes, chain guards might be accepted as either an alternative or a supplement to narrow-wide chainrings. It's an alternative if you're converting an old bike. Some MTB riders may add a chainguard to an existing 1x setup for extra security; this practice may originate on the gravity side of the discipline, and it may be tricking down to some enduro and XC cyclists. This style of chain guard is something like a front derailleur minus any shifting capability. You'd clamp it on like a regular front derailleur.
If you are determined, for whatever reason, to use the 46t 2x chainring, I would see a chain guard as mandatory. While I don't have personal experience, I'd imagine that even on a road bike, I would not trust a clutch RD alone to retain the chain. The clutch merely stops the RD cage from moving forward as the bike travels over rough terrain. That reduces the amount of chain bounce you get over rough terrain.


TLDR; Essentially the same answer as Argenti Apparatus, but with more background explanations.

  Which among the two is a more performance oriented geometry and which one is more comfortable?

It depends what you mean by "comfortable", if you are referring to fit then
geometry that works well for one body proportions may not work well for another.
I would be careful at interpreting stack:reach ratios as there isn't a single golden ratio, its really person specific. For example, individuals with long legs will want a frame with a taller stack and shorter reach (long legs implies a shorter torso and therefore shorter reach). People with flexibility issues will also want a taller stack. People with shorter legs (and long torso) will want a less stack and more reach to get ideal weight distribution and fit.

I would also be careful about comparing reach numbers between hybrid and endurance road bikes. Road bikes use drop handle bars necessitates a shorter reach compared to a flatbar hybrid (what you are looking at) which will have a longer reach for the same final body position.

Finally, because the head tube is angled reach changes with stack, therefore when comparing two bikes with the same reach numbers, the bike with the higher stack would have a longer effective top tube.  That is, to get the same final body position on both frames you would need a shorter stem on the bike with the higher stack numbers. Note differences in effective top tube length impact weight distribution which impacts handling, it also impacts stem length which also affects steering response (see below).

  Which among the two is a more performance oriented geometry and which one is more comfortable?

Wheelbase is one indicator, but it is not the indicator, as indicated above there are many factors in balance that predict handling.  The Cannondales have longer top tubes (and a shorter stem), more front wheel offset, which contributes to the longer wheelbase numbers you are seeing. Interestingly both the Merida and Cannondale have the same chainstay lengths, which is much longer than road bike or even an endurance road bike chainstays. Both also have similar similar bottom bracket drop, as such the only real difference is in the front end geometry, Merida has a steeper head tube and shorter front end, while the Cannondale a shallower head angle, but more fork offset.

Longer front centers tend to handle rougher conditions a bit better, so I would hazard a guess that the Cannondate would be better here. There will also be less toe overlap with the front wheel which can mean easier low speed handling and better accommodation of fenders (Who hates hitting a fender when turning? I do!), The shorter sharper approach of the Merida would likely be better suited to smoother roads.  That said the Merida will also have a longer stem which can also calm down handling, as longer stems tend to subtle the steering response, which then can be used offset or to tune other geometry decisions (like fork offset and head tube angle).

 Image Source: How does stem length affect a bike’s steering and handling?

What should you do?

In the end both will probably handle similarly. Also neither have the chainstays or headtube angles of a road bike so they will be a bit more toned down compared to a dedicated road bike.

In practice there probably won't be much practical day-to-day differences between the bikes.  Ultimately, I would go with what fits best as my primary criteria, as this will likely be the biggest predictor of whether or not you will like the bike. After that I would other things like slight geometry differences or components, even then these are only minor considerations.

Over the years I found it is really hard to get a feel for how a bike will be by comparing geometry numbers. There are so many different inputs that are balanced together to produce the final feel of a bicycle (even frame tubing selection, a basic unknown, can have a huge impact). Even then, I find it often takes extended time riding (e.g., months) on a bicycle before I really get understand its characteristics. My best advice follows others: Go out and ride them.


If I understand correctly you want to buy a new chain and re-use your previous masterlink. I'd strongly advise against.

The reason for NOT re-using an old masterlink with a new chain makes sense. Chains are commonly replaced because they are worn. The links are lengthened with time and above a 1% lengthening the chain is considered over the top. The masterlink is worn at the same rate. Now if you use an old masterlink on a new chain you'll have ~110 links of the correct length and one that is longer. The smallest annoyance may residde in a noisy drivetrain. The worst will have the chain skip at each time it reaches the sprockets and once again it reaches the rings.


ideal dérailleur height for a Deore on non-round/oval Cranksets (e.g. a Biopace)?

The bottom of the front cage on your front derailleur should be about 2mm higher than the chain ring, when the derailleur has no cable tension.

That is, when it is in the smallest front gear position.

On Bio-pace rings, that doesn't change. but it must be measured at the point when the chain ring comes closest to the derailleur cage. (The hardest part of your large ring.)

Some older derailleurs may have had different expectations. But not that I am aware of.


Is an SLX M7000 crankset compatible with the rest of my drivetrain?

I'm not sure if there would be any problems mixing SRAM and Shimano per se. The SLX crank is a higher end component than the X5, so you would be buying more than you need, and you get problems mixing 9 and 11 speed components.

The 11 speed SLX crank uses a narrower chain than 9 speed. The 11 speed chainrings are slightly closer together which may give you shifting problems and chain rub as your front derailleur is designed for 9 speed chainring spacing.
By choosing a 24/32 crankset instead of 22/36 you'll be loosing high and low ratios. The smaller chainring gap on the SLX is made up for by a wider spread of sprocket sizes available in 11 speed cassettes.

Upgrading one component several steps - even something major like the crankset - does not make a significant difference to the bike overall, and here you'd be introducing other problems. Better to play it safe and get a SRAM crank. I think all SRAM X-5 through X-9 cranks are now nominally 10 speed but each line includes 9 speed rear derailleurs so they should work fine for you.


Eliminating chainslap on a 90's Stumpjumper

Let me introduce you to the B-Screw...

Look at how that derailleur is hanging. The parallelogram is angled skywards rather than downwards. This is because the B-Screw at the back of the derailleur is not screwed in enough. This screw contacts the derailleur hanger's little 'spur' and you may want to twist the derailleur body clockwise to make it easier to do up the screw. Tighten it all the way, then go into the big cog and back it out so that the top pulley is close but not touching the sprocket. This will put the B-Screw in its correct position, putting a sensible amount of tension on the chain.

As for your front derailleur not making it onto the big cog, the problem may be with the bottom bracket. These come in different lengths and if the cranks or b/b have been repaired/upgraded over the last decade, due concern for the chainline may not have been given. Take out the one that is in there and put in a cartridge b/b of the same shell size with a shorter length. The next size down may be all you need but, without seeing the gap between the cranks and the chain stays I can only guess. Obviously you want the cranks to be an equal distance from the chain stays on each side with enough room in there for the triple chainset. the derailleur (front) will probably need adjusting by then, this has the outer plate parallel with the chainring and 1mm above the outer chainring teeth.

To make the bike look really good and eliminate chain slap problems in style, consider going on eBay to get a genuine Shimano 'Shark's Fin':


The following exploded diagram for something called SR Suntour SF15-M3010-A-P-26-50 lists a "CONTROL ADJUST SYSTEM" as part number FKE007-11 . Depending on whether your fork is a compatible one or not, this might be the part your are looking after.


A road bike with bad tires to gravel bike upgrade

How much clearance do you have?
The rear tire has to fit between the rear seat stays, chain stays and rim brakes (if you have them). Front tire has to fit through fork and rim brakes (if you have them). A wide front tire can also increase toe overlap (i.e. your toes hitting the wheel in tight turns).
You’ll probably want to go as wide as you can. If you plan to ride in mud you’ll need more clearance.
Take a look at cyclocross or gravel bike tires.
On soft surfaces like mud or snow you’ll need knobby tires. On gravel tread is not that important. For maximum grip you should lower your pressure as much as possible.


My new bicycle skids laterally, especially in the wet; what can I do about it?

After looking at your pictures, reading the description of the roads you ride on and looking at the comments here are my suggestions:

Riding Style
Change your riding style based on the surface you are riding on.

For normal cycling on surfaces with good traction a rider will lean into a turn. When the surface you are riding on is less than optimal you need to adopt riding tactics to prevent falling.

Choose your path. Bike tires are skinny, make sure they are on the best and safest part of the path. Notice the road condition in front of you. If you see loose sand/gravel/dirt is in your line of travel seek to safely avoid it. Pay particular attention to the condition of the road when making turns. If possible make turns on the dry gravel/sand/dirt free part of the path.
On gravel / sand / lose dirt change your riding style so that you don't lean into turns. Reduce your speed and rely on turning the handlebars to make the turn.
If there is wet metal in your path seek a safe way around it. Wet metal is very slick. If you have to ride on wet metal reduce your speed and avoid leaning.
If you are on dry, dirt/sand free pavement ride normally.

The key is to be aware of your riding conditions and adjust your riding style to stay safe.

Tires
It might be possible to find a tire that will improve your traction on gravel or adjust the air pressure in your current tires. There are three tire characteristics that improve traction on gravel:

Tire width - Off road bikes have very wide tires to help with challenging traction issues. You won't get much - if any - wider tires on your bike so this won't help much. The good news is that your tires are not super skinny now.
More aggressive tread. You might be able to find a tire that fits your bike designed to get more traction on gravel/sand/dirt. It would be good to have a conversation with someone at your local bike shop on what is available.
Tire pressure. Every tire has a maximum rating that works well for good traction situations. You can experiment with different tire pressures and see if a lower than maximum rating pressure helps. Try running the tires 3 PSI lower than max and see if that helps. Don't get carried away with reducing tire pressure. If the pressure is too low the tires can slip and tear valve stems.

Summary
I think your best solution is to adopt riding tactics that fit the road surface you are riding on. Avoid poor traction situations. When you can't avoid a poor traction situation slow down and don't lean.

If you don't have one already make sure you ride with a helmet.


Can you use SRAM 11-spd trigger shifters such as NX and GX with Shimano 11-spd derailleurs such as SLX and XT?

SRAM and Shimano use different cable pulls and derailleur actuation ratios, so their shifters and derailleurs are nominally incompatible with each other.

This Art's Cyclery blog page documents derailleur pull ratios, sprocket spacing and cable pull for a variety of derailleurs.

SRAM and Shimano 11 speed mountain use the same sprocket spacing - 3.9mm, so for shifters and derailleurs to be compatible they would have to designed for the same actuation ratio.

Shimano 11 speed mountain derailleurs have an actuation ratio of 1.1. SRAM has two 11 speed mountain uses two actuation ratios: 'Exact Actuation' is 1.3, 'X-Actuation' is 1.12.

NX and GX use the X-Actuation ratio, so maybe the ratios are close enough with Shimano 11 speed mountain that they are compatible. The difference between 1.1 and 1.12 is about 2%, so if you indexed the middle sprocket correctly the high and low sprockets would be out by 3.9mm x 0.02 x 5 =~ 0.4mm.


Dismounting/mounting the back wheel on a "Eurobike"

On a bike with a full chain case, any operation that requires removing the rear wheel is a bit of a pain. That would include replacing a spoke or a tire.

Repairing a roadside puncture, on the other hand, can usually be done without removing the wheel; and that is indeed the traditional method in countries where this sort of bike is common. Henry Cutler of Workcycles describes the procedure as follows (source):

  Set the bike on its handy parking stand.
  Try to find the source of puncture and set it in an accessible spot.
  Open the tire from the left (non-drivetrain) side.
  Pump a little air into the inner tube to locate the puncture(s).
  Remove (all of) the offending objects and remaining air.
  Patch the inner tube.
  Refit left tire bead onto rim, making sure valve sits straight.
  Pump tire up and continue cycling.

The traditional Woods valve (aka. Dunlop, English, Dutch, blitz) adds an extra dimension to this, as you can effectively replace the valve as well without removing the tube from the wheel. In Norway where I live, a replacement valve is often included in patch kits to this day, even though most new bikes come with Schrader or Presta valves.

This all makes sense, I think, as practices developed at a time when rubber was rather expensive. Make your tube last as long as possible by patching holes and replacing valves as needed. With such practices established, the advantages of a full chain case may outweigh the added complications in the remaining cases where you do have to remove the rear wheel.


Are road brakes designed not to brake too much?

I'm not sure "designed" is the correct word, evolved comes much closer. Current dual caliper brakes actually stop a lot better than previous single caliper sidepulls. There has always been a compromise between weight and braking power. The designers have focused on how light they can make a brake that stops "enough". I don't think there has been any effort to deliberately reduce the performance.

Older centerpull brakes such as the MAFAC Racer actually compare quite well to current dual calipers, but they are much heavier and more complex to install. Designers switched
to sidepulls to save weight, but then compromised braking performance.

The problem is that you can only do so much with a rim brake without risking locking up the wheel. You get the most effective braking by stopping just short of the point of locking up the wheel. ( This is called modulation). Given the nature of rim brakes it's very difficult to increase the braking force while still maintaining sufficient modulation. This is the advantage that disk brakes common to MTB provide.


On ground, after shifting, look at your bike from the back. The sprocket into which you have attempted to shift, and the pulley in the derailleur should be aligned. If the pulley is more to the right than sprocket, you need to get it aligned to the sprocket, by tightening in the screw on shifter or on the rear derailleur. As you tighten the screw, you should see pulley moving horizontally.

If that does not help, other problem might be that your chain hanger is bent, but that happens much less often, and typically after some crash or hard hit on the rear derailleur. If that is the case, taking your bike to LBS sounds like a good idea.


Rear index shifting not staying in middle gears

Something to keep in mind, it's not unusual for a SRAM chain to not play well with a Shimano cassette. A lot of times you'll get lucky and the two will work well together, I used to run SRAM chains with my Shimano cassettes all the time without much trouble. But there are just some combinations that just cause problems, even intermittently from run to run.

Or, you said you gave it a lube bath, I wonder if you managed to displace the grease inside of the derailleur.

When my rear derailleur just won't cooperate, I use my two favorite articles to troubleshoot and properly lubricate and adjust it. Study these thoroughly and meticulously and you'll likely happen upon your solution:

http://sheldonbrown.com/derailer-adjustment.html

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-derailleur-overhaul


The zero benefit will theoretically only appear in infinity. In practice, it will of-course be non-measurable in a finite distance. The wake of a bluff body (like a bus) will consist of a recirculation zone, where the  Reynolds-averaged streamlines are closed and the flow is actually reversed (in the coordinate system fixed with the bus) in some volume, and the rest where the flow is only slower. The benefit will be decreasing the most at the boundary of the recirculation zone. It will be relatively constant within the zone and it will be slowly decreasing in the wake farther behind. The length of the recirculation zone will be comparable to the lateral dimensions of the bus.
I do not have time nor resources for a proper literature review at the moment but I recommend looking at Figures 3 and 4 in Longa et al. JFM 866, pp. 791, https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2019.92 that show typical wakes for two lorry-like bodies.

(© 2019 Cambridge University Press, CC-BY 4.0)
The figures show that the region of decreased wind velocity can reach far behind the depicted region but is the strongest in a small blue region with dimensions comparable to the lateral dimensions of the vehicle, where the U velocity component is actually reversed. That means that the bus traveling in the still air effectively sucks the particles in that region towards its rear wall. The flow in that region can be complicated, the paper itself is about that (bistability etc.). Be aware that the details strongly depend on the shape of the rear of the body.
For a cyclist we have to consider the dimensions of the cyclist too because the low-momentum region is becoming lower and lower, see Fig. 4a. That means that it is difficult to predict the drag of the cyclist in that complicated region. It would be a difficult simulation. But we can still look where the flow is fast and where it is slow.


What's easier to change: largest or smallest tire for rims that support multiple sizes?

I actually run two tyres identical except for the width, and when I first fitted them it made no difference at all to the difficulty. My situation is a little different: they're marathon plus 28 and 32 mm (700c).

There's much more variation between brands, types, and maybe even batches, with anti puncture tyres generally harder to get on/off than cheap multi purpose tyres and some coming up big, some small (which makes a big difference)

To be honest though, if the time to take a tyre off and change the tube is significant, something else is wrong. I've just had my first puncture in over 3000 miles on fairly rubbish tarmac, for example.


Length is measured center to center, and as you guessed, 110mm is roughly 4 1/4 inches. Angle is measured as difference from right angle, so a 0 degree stem will be actually pointing at 90 degree angle from the steerer tube. Yours looks something like 5 degrees.


Can I use brake pads for carbon wheels with aluminum wheels?

In short yes you can, carbon brake pads will stop you but you shouldn't. Firstly the brake pads will not be as effective on the alu rims. Secondly the change between alu and carbon rims could be risky to your carbon wheels, a tiny fragment of alu from the training wheels could damage your carbon rims (source: Swiss stop website).

So to answer your question yes you can, but is it worth it for the 2 minutes it would take to switch between the correct brake pads when you change wheels? Personally, I think no but it is down to you.


Where to get the short wire of the cantilever brake?

I know an answer has been selected, but I wanted to post this here for future reference.

First - the common name for that type part is a "straddle cable" or a "link wire" depending on the variations or the manufacturer.

Second - my primary source (after my LBS) for less-common parts, especially parts for older bikes or the bike-shaped objects the neighborhood kids want me to fix is Loose Screws.

Here is their Straddle Cable page.


How do I stop my bike tires from puncturing?

Its unlikely that the problem is your tire quality. Stump jumpers are not cheap bikes and come with pretty decent tires. Although a Kevlar belted tire might help, its likely to be a waste of money.

First up is what you are riding over. Bark, twigs and trees themselves are not going to puncture a MTB tire. Thorns, particularly dry ones, will. Even relatively small thorns (a couple om millimeter) will puncture a tire.

If you have punctured and have not removed the offending pointy thing, you will puncture again, this might be what has happened. Are the holes in the same place each time? This is the most likely reason for four in quick succession.

Are your punctures one or two holes? If two, you are getting "snake bites" from too low tire pressure - (well covered already, use search)..

If you are riding over thorns, then you need to buy thick heavy tires with a Kevlar belt. Light tires puncture easier. Also install thick, heavy tubes. This extra weight wil slow you down, but not as much as fixing punctures does. Consider going tubeless (the sealer also helps seal up puncture holes). You could also ride different trails - I have some locally that I avoid for this reason.

It could always be you just had a bad run of it......


A mirror is a great addition to a cyclist's toolkit. While all cyclists should be able to look around behind them without one, a mirror lets you do this more often and safely. And a mirror is no substitute for looking behind you anyway. Here's a summary of the kinds of mirrors I've used.

Glasses-mounted mirrors like the take-a-look mirror are great for giving you a wide, easily adjustable field of view. Pivoting your head means you can "sweep" the area behind you, and the mirror is close to your eye so it's a fairly wide field of view. However, they're only usable if you wear glasses or goggles, and some mirrors won't mount to some glasses, particularly glasses with thicker temples like some non-prescription sunglasses.

I find that the take-a-look is a great mirror, but it tends to pull my glasses off just a bit over time. Adjusting it is merely an annoyance that I've decided to live with, since the mirror is otherwise excellent. (My glasses are also extremely light, and this would happen with any mirror, although the take-a-look is fairly heavy for a mirror.)

Upside: Great field of view, keeps the mirror off the bike. Inexpensive.
Downside: A little more finicky to adjust than bar-mounted mirrors, easy to forget.

If you don't wear glasses, or prefer not to put a mirror there, you can get a helmet-mounted mirror instead. Most of these attach to your helmet with adhesive pads. The only one I've had that I cared for attached to a helmet's visor that was designed to accept it. Look at helmets specifically for commuters if you want one of these, I loved it but had to get rid of it when I replaced the helmet.

Upside: The mirror is always there.
Downsides: More vibration, smaller mirror, and you're locked into that helmet if you want to keep the mirror. Harder to adjust than any other kind of mirror, since your head is always moving and your helmet moves a bit on your head - unless your helmet is really tight.

Handlebar-mounted mirrors are generally larger in area and have a curved surface. (Think "objects in mirror are closet than they appear".) The ones meant for drop bars usually mount with velcro or another attachment system, and the ones for flat bars will generally be screwed onto the side of the bars. I've never found one I liked for drop bars, but the flat-bar mirrors work quite well.

Upside: The mirror is always there, and the permanently mounted ones are easier to adjust than any other system.
Downside: A little clunky, they make your bike wider (an issue if you need to take your bike on the train or if you have a folding bike), and you need to look down to see it, taking your eyes off the road. Can be snapped off if the bike falls or grazes a wall. (Some are advertised as "folding on impact", though.)

Recommendations

Outside of the ubiquitous take-a-look mirror, it's difficult to give specific product recommendations. But there are only a few kinds of mirror available, and even the most expensive mirrors are still fairy cheap.

I'd avoid plastic eyeglass-mounted mirrors, as they tend to break. But a good eyeglass mirror will give you the best rear visibility.

If you want to avoid eyeglass mirrors: In your situation, with flat bars, I recommend a mirror that screws into the sides of the bars. You can put on one or two mirrors, depending on your situation. For example, in countries where you ride on the right, a single mirror on the left side of your bar will cover almost all situations. Having a second one on the right is nice, as it covers your "blind spot", I consider it a luxury.

In the end, everybody has different preferences with mirrors. You really need to try a few different kinds and brands and see what you prefer. There is a silver lining, though; many cyclists have unused mirrors. Chat up some cyclists if you have a club or friends who cycle, and someone will likely offer to lend you a mirror of give it to you outright.


How to replace hub motor cable in e-bike?

I had a similar problem with a motor broken during shipment (luckily the manufacturer sent me a new one). I tried to fix the broken one by replacing the cable, but it's quite hard to do, because the space inside the housing is quite small, and when I tested the motor it worked for a while until the housing, by rubbing the cable, shortened the sensor cable, and broke the sensor board in the motor. I could reasonably run it sensorless, but you need a sensorless controller if this happen. Long story short is not easy at all, I'm quite good in soldering but failed in this regard. And disassembling the motor, at least with my geared unit, is not so easy as well, so if you have nothing to lose you might try it, but be prepared for a long evening of struggling.


I'd recommend learning to do arm signals.

Arm signals don't run out of batteries, and are plenty visible in most cases. They're certainly bigger than the turn signal lights you could put on a bicycle (which as Moz points out in a comment, makes distinguishing the 2 turn signals a possible issue), and the distance you need to see a bike turning is a lot smaller than that which you need to see a car turning.You also have to worry about running wires from the back to front if you only have one power source (and the indicator switch isn't wireless) and worry about bags or other things obscuring the lights. Your handlebar area also becomes a bit more cluttered for a turn signal anyway, esp if you have trigger shifters. And you have to deal with the potential of the lights getting stolen.

At night, the primary value would be moreso the extra light rather than the fact that it was a turn signal light, and you can get that just by putting on a bigger head and tail light.

You'll get used to balancing while doing them after a few weeks of riding, typically. And in any case, you need to know how to do them when your batteries run out.

IMO, the primary use of turn signals on a bike is less-so that you know which way a turn is happening, but moreso that the drivers know the cyclist is going to do something and be prepared for it (a sentiment echoed by one of the comments).


No, mechanical disc brakes do not auto-compensate for pad wear like hydraulic brakes do. They will fully retract every time, pads or no pads.


How should I lubricate my Shimano freewheel?

I love ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid) for freewheel (not free hub) lube. What I do is lift the bike-- if someone can help you with this, it's a bit easier-- so that you can rotate the pedals (and make the back wheel spin). Ideally, the bike should be tilted to the non-drive side about 45-60 degrees. With the back wheel rotating, you can see where to lubricate. As Sheldon puts it:

  Look inside the smallest sprocket. The sprocket will be stationary,
  since the wheel is coasting, but you'll see an inner part of the
  freewheel that is spinning with the wheel. Drip oil onto the crack
  between the turning part and the stationary part. Gravity and
  capillary action will help work oil into the freewheel.

BTW, thought I should add what I keep my ATF in for cycling purposes. I have some old plastic bottles that once held printer ink. They look similar to this:


No.

Those tubes are what stop you hitting the ground - hard. If your modification fails you could have a very bad day, or a very bad (even brief) rest of your life. A competent frame builder could modify a frame if it's steel, but would probably find it easier to purpose-build a frame.


Should I buy this bike with a dent in the top tube? Is it safe?

A small dent in a steel frame should not be a problem. However, It's hard to see how big that dent is in the pictures provided. Damage to the top tube may indicate that something heavy fell on the bike. If the top tube is bent then the frame will be weakened.

Don't buy this bike without inspecting it bike personally. If the dent is small use it as leverage to negotiate the price down. Check for other damage too.


What is my bottom bracket spindle length?

The only measurement for a bottom bracket you can do with the bottom bracket still on the bike is to do the shell width, which is the width of the frame where the bottom bracket installs.

In order to measure the spindle length, you need to remove the cranks and then measure the spindle length. There is no guarantee that the spindle is symmetric or the width of the cranks on both sides is the same. In any case, you'll need to pull off the cranks to replace them.


Rims are designed, built and drilled for a specific number of spokes.  The engineering that goes into the rim thickness, profile, and use case depends in part on the number of spokes.

I've seen a pair of 96 spoke wheels (which was build for a lowrider and was mostly for show)
I've owned a 48 spoke rear wheel on a touring/racing tandem- two 90+ kilogram riders need extra load support
I ride a 36 spoke rear on my road bike, because I value reliability.

On the other end, lower spoke count wheels exist but they tend to be built on special spokes.

16 spoke front wheels are common on road-racing bikes.
Spinergy wheels had 8 carbon "flats" functioning as spokes.
Some fancy wheels have 4, 3, or even 2 spokes, but they're a lot more complex than the conventional metal wire spokes we're used to.

There are disk wheels made out of one piece of carbon fibre (this is not wheels with covers over normal spokes)   These might be construed as one single spoke, as wide as the wheel is around.  But that's getting extreme and expensive.

Why?  The lighter your bike, the faster it is.  Removing spokes saves weight (but the remaining spokes have more work to do, sometimes requiring to be thicker negating weight savings.)

The fewer spokes on your wheels, the less disturbed the airflow gets as you ride.  32 spokes would cut the air twice as often as a 16 spoke front wheel.

Thinner spokes disturb the air less, and bladed/aerofoil shaped spokes are even better than round ones.

So the wheel you saw was probably a low spoke count racing wheel.   Sometime Cafe-bikes are low spoke count for appearance.

Downsides of fewer spokes means that there is less load carrying capacity, one spoke breaking can untrue your wheel suddenly to the point it won't spin (happened to me!)

And the spokes cost a lot more to replace.  I was paying $15 for a bladed spoke when a normal quality DTSwiss round spoke was about $2.

As for your bike, you can fit any wheel that matches your axle specifications and brake requirements, and fits in your bike without rubbing.  Do check that the wheels are rated to carry your weight plus your bike's weight plus anything you might carry in a backpack, plus some tolerance.

Note that you don't have to have matching wheels - for a year I rode a 12 spoke rear wheel and a 32 spoke front wheel, it just looked odd but worked fine.


Changing my crank on a track bike and it wont turn

The problem was embarrassingly having a JIX crank and an iso BB. Seemed to fit fine. You live and learn


Was this likely caused by my stupidity?

I wouldn't go that far, but play in the stem/headset assembly certainly could have been a contributing factor. Just take a second to imagine to torque and force applied to that small area below the weld when you hit a curb or pothole if the assembly is not tight. The bottom of the headset is somewhat wedge shaped, and if the whole assembly is loose it can be like pounding up on it with a hammer each time you hit a bump. That said - it's a 10 year old aluminum frame and there can be myriad reasons for that failure.

  Is this a dire mistake or should I ride it cautiously and check regularly it to make sure it's not spreading?

Considering that if this fails catastrophically at any speed you are likely to end up going head first into the pavement, I would personally not ride a frame with a crack like that.

It is possible to have a crack in an aluminum frame repaired by taking it to a specialty welder. That said, you could encounter a range of quality and durability issues with that repair. Add to that the fact that after the repair and repainting you will likely have spent at least as much as you would on a used but good condition frame, I would just replace it.

  Is there anything I should consider doing to reinforce or protect further damage?

I would not trust my face, head or life to a homemade preventive repair. Junk the frame.


Replaced v-brake pads too late - how to check if rim is damaged?

One way to check is placing a straight edge, for example a ruler, against the braking surface. If the surface is worn enough to be concave, there will be a visible gap in the middle.

Small scratches are not a problem, as already mentioned in a comment, many rims have pre-machined grooves to serve as wear indicators and even these do not cause any structural problems.


Why are riders allowed to draft behind cars in Grand Tours?

It is not allowed by UCI rules, but comissars usually allow it if it is due to mechanical reasons and used to get back to the peloton, since they have discretional ability to decide. Time penalties or disqualification if used to gain advantage over the peloton. So, rule enforcement may vary depending on many circumstances, and I guess they don't want to lose stars like Froome, that could also be important when turning a blind eye on some minor issue


How to get more tire clearance with caliper brakes?

This is an interesting question, well suited to this site! The problem is a common one for touring cyclists wanting a 25-32mm tyre and mudguard, where the solution is to 'get a bike with cantilever bosses'. You have a compound problem of short reach, a measurement you could do with measuring.

The dual-pivot brake doesn't offer a lot of tyre clearance, but do you need dual pivot anyway? Campagnolo groupsets have the dual pivot on the front but single pivot on the back, here is the affodable-style Veloce option:

A high-end Campagnolo brake may just about work for you and be a classy addition to the bike, giving vastly improved stopping power over the Tektro efforts, but you still might struggle to get a big tyre on there.

You can mitigate against that by using a slightly thinner 16 * 1.35" Marathon Plus tyre - this will give you more puncture protection than the 16 * 1.75 Marathon and would be my preferred option. Note that the 16 * 1.35 Marathon will have a lower profile than the 16 * 1.35 Marathon Plus, so more room can be gained at the expense of puncture protection.

Also worth investigating are late 1980's era Weinmann and Dia-Compe side-pulls of the short-reach flavour. These will not have the stopping power of today's side-pulls, however, how much stopping power do you need to lock up the rear wheel? A bit of flex won't be the end of the world on the back brake, and these early brakes can be had for a good price. The shape of the arms on these brakes did allow for a reasonably fat tyre, the only real problem is getting the recessed allen key rather than bolt attachment. That said, the main bolt on the Weinmann brakes can be interchanged as they were available to suit recessed, Allen key fitting. Here are some Weinmann 500's, from centuries ago,but with compelling tyre clearance:

These were available in black. Another beauty is the 605. This one does not have the hex-bolt exposed to aid centering, but I don't think you can beat the combination of short reach and tyre clearance:

Ebay is going to be your friend here, another option you might want to investigate is center-pull. Sticking with Weinmann, here is the 999, seemingly available in short reach flavour:

You could run it U-brake style with some cable stop for the outer bolted onto the underside of the b/b, or investigate if that sort of thing is possible...


Schrader inner tube gets cut by Presta sized hole in rim

The cheapest solution is to try and remove the burrs or sharp edges that are cutting the tube. This can be done with a small file or a piece of emery cloth cut into a small strip and pushed through the hole. If the rim is double walled it will be difficult to get at the inner edges. The alternative is to purchase a set of schrader to presta adapter sleeves. While they are available on line a trip to your Local Bike Shop will verify that the drilled holes are large enough to accept the adapter. Then use Presta tubes and you should be trouble fee.


Front gear issues with middle ring (not always making it over)

On the shifter handle, get the adjustment nut all the way in(where cable connects to the handle). Now get yourself some new brake outer and inner cable. Lube it very well, with oil(not grease, nor WD-40)

Now for derailleur, one screw is for the lower limit, the other one is for the upper limit. This is to ensure that the chain will not go out of the gears

Now shift into the lower gear, and fix the cable on the derailleur as tight as you can but without moving the derailleur. Once this is done you just need to use the adjustment nuts on the handle or the derailleur. I like adjusting it from the derailleur as the first fine tunning and any other from the handle, so I can keep track of how much wear the cables have.

Also check out if the derailleur is straight and parallel to the chain rings.  If it's not, it will not shift properly.


Train cycling legs for a long walking trek

I'm with you on this. My summers often include a mix of cycling and hiking/backpacking, where cycling is the dominant activity.

Two things that have helped me. The major one is to use trekking poles. I discovered trekking poles one summer after breezing through some difficult rides, and then being devastated on a not too serious hike. The poles significantly reduce the leg impact, especially on the descents. The second thing is to cross-train between hiking and cycling; but that depends on your personal time constraints and goals.


How to fix front gear taking 2 shifts just to move onto next cog

I think Shimano integrated shifters ("brifters") for the front derailleur on a triple normally have 5 indexed positions: 1-3-5 are the main positions that match the chainrings and 2-4 are intermediate spots to avoid chain rub for some chainring+sprocket combinations.  If you give the front shift lever a short pull it will click once and the front derailleur moves one position.  Give it a full pull and it should click twice, moving two positions.

Normally going up to a bigger ring requires a 2-click upshift;  sometimes you need to give it a one-click downshift afterwards to eliminate chain rub if you're in a larger rear cog.  Going down a ring may only take a 1-click downshift, depending on what position the derailleur is in.  All of this is based on my experience with a triple, but should work the same for a double.

If shifting problems are more noticable going up to a bigger ring (needs more clicks than before) then this is probably due to cable stretch.  If you have a barrel adjuster on the front derailleur cable, try turning it counterclockwise (looking at it from the side where the cable housing enters it) to tension the cable a bit.

If the problem is when dropping down to a smaller ring, then either the cables are sticking somewhere (worn cables/housing) or the front derailleur is sticking (needs lubrication or has a worn spring).


Spokes break for the same reason any other material does: they are subject to stresses they are unable to withstand.

In the case of a wheel, it can be overloaded by rider weight, cargo, or forceful impacts. Additionally, the presence of loose spokes results in other, properly tensioned spokes bearing more of the wheel's load. Spokes are under tension, so loose spokes are subject to larger swings in stress as they are loaded and unloaded as the wheel rotates. This cycling fatigues the spoke material and can lead to failure.

All of these can be compounded when the spokes are materially compromised from corrosion or other forms of damage.


Does tire pressure affect rolling resistance on pavement?

This study:  William M. Bertucci, Simon Rogier & Raoul F. Reiser II (2013) Evaluation of aerodynamic and rolling resistances in mountain-bike field conditions, Journal of Sports Sciences, 31:14, 1606-1613, DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2013.792945
is very far from comprehensive, but it reports rolling resistances for two pressures (2 and 4 bar - 200 and 400 kPa) for wider tyres. Of them, Vittoria Radonneur could be considered reasonably slick. They report slightly higher speed and slightly lower rolling resistance, but with a large uncertainty, with 2 bar on 5.9% road slope. The uncertainty is larger than the difference 12.6 ± 3.4 N at 2 bar vs. 13.5 ± 2.2 N at 4 bar. Be aware that this is the force, not the power required to overcome it at the given speed! The study did not really concentrate on the effect of inflation pressure and they conclude that the difference is not statistically significant. Interestingly, the idealized measurement in the link I already gave say "When using these tires, you should monitor air pressures very closely. Don't let these drop under 60 psi EVER.". (60 PSI is 4.1 bar)
Another study used a smooth treadmill:  Yves Henchoz, Giacomo Crivelli, Fabio Borrani & Grégoire P. Millet (2010) A new method to measure rolling resistance in treadmill cycling, Journal of Sports Sciences, 28:10, 1043-1046, DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2010.498483
It found that for two tyres (23 and 28 mm) the rolling resistance decreased uniformly with the inflation pressure. For the third tyre (22 mm) the lowest inflation pressure was achieved at 6 bar (600 kPa) and then it rose slightly. I stress again that this was not on the tarmac but on a smooth treadmill.
Very comprehensive measurements of various tyres with several different inflation pressures are regularly published by https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com . They test a single wheel in a dedicated machine on a rather idealized surface. The rolling resistance mostly uniformly decreases with the inflation pressure in these conditions although the curve is often quite flat at higher pressures.

An example of the dependence of the rolling resistance (as a power required) to the inflation pressure on the idealized test bed of https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com for four road tyres.
However, a study by SILCA indirectly mentioned in the comment by R. Chung considers real asphalt concrete surfaces and found that the suspension losses/transmitted losses/impedance are quite substantial at higher pressures and cause turning of the resistance curve upwards. It isargued that a tyre that is "too hard" suffers from high resistance when overcoming and jumping over the small bumps that create the tarmac surface.
A schematic  explanation by SILCA, more in the study:


Chain getting stuck between large chain ring and front mech when changing into big ring

So what's happening is the chain is not climbing the inner edge of the big ring as the derailleur cage pushes it outboard.

I'd suspect worn chain and chainrings, but I'd work through a systematic front derailleur adjustment process to see if I could get it working before buying new parts. The derailleur may have been rotated, or the cage bent slightly.  Park Tool has great videos for derailleur adjustment with a set of steps to go through, here is the front derailleur one.

You should be able to change chainrings, not the whole crankset. FYI the bottom bracket standard from 15 years ago was BSA threaded shells with cartridge bearings (outboard bearings just arriving at this time I think?) which is still very much in use and available.

If you do end up replacing chainrings and chain you should replace the cassette as well. And for good measure replace the cables and housings so you have a completely refreshed drivetrain that will shift well.


As long as you existing rotors are in good condition and thicker than 1.6mm (minimum safe thickness) you should have no issue with using them with the Shimanos. There doesn't seem to be an industry standard specification for rotor thickness but it is generally taken to be between 1.8mm - 2.0mm. The new callipers will self adjust to the rotor width.

Clean your existing rotor up with some rubbing alcohol (or similar solvent which doesn't leave a residue) before installing the new brake system to ensure there's no contamination.


Suggestions of a good video on intermediate Mountain Biking skills: getting up (and down)  1' obstacles

It isn't included on your list, but the motion used for bunny hopping applies. I watched the following a while ago and thought it was informative:

For 'getting up', you can combine a manual and bunny hop. What I normally do when approaching an obstacle that I want to hop over, is shift my weight back, then pull up on my wheel (just before reaching the obstacle). Getting your front wheel up is accomplished by pulling back evenly with both arms while making a hard pedal-stroke (you'll need to be in a small enough gear). Right before your wheel(s) come in contact with the obstacle, 'un-weight' your rear wheel and gently push your bars forward. Even if your wheels don't leave the ground, once you learn to un-weight your rear wheel, you'll naturally ramp off the obstacle, even if it's square like a curb. With practice you'll eventually start hopping before you contact the object.

If you have trouble putting it all together, try not to get frustrated. It can take a while to develop the co-ordination and strength required to complete each motion. I find that one of the best ways to ease your learning experience is to ride your local trails with riders that are a bit better than you. Watch what they do and try to follow their lines when you're comfortable. Pay particular attention to 'how' they ride certain obstacles/corners/descents.


Ultegra 2X cranks with M8000 group and 11-42t cassette?

In general 'road' cranks don't work on mountain bikes (I assume that's what you are trying to do here).

Road cranks have a shorter axle than MTB cranks to work with narrower bottom bracket shells.

Also, MTB chainstays are designed to accommodate smaller chainrings than road bikes. Larger chainrings will interfere with the drive side stay.


Unidentified items in bicycle tube repair kit

They are tube patches. Here’s the contents of one of my kits:

From top to bottom, we have,

plastic container
tyre levers to remove the tyre
crayon to mark the location of the puncture on the tube
sandpaper to roughen the tube surface prior to ‘gluing’
rubber solution to attach the patch
tube patches with a black front and a white backing. Remove one patch from the sheet then peel off its backing before you apply.
chalk to sprinkle over the finished patch to prevent sticking to the tyre after reinstalling

Now you know what they are you can get instructions online or in my case on the back of the tube of rubber solution


Internal hub gear suddenly stopped shifting

Almost certainly the gear cable has come off the hub at the point where it's adjustable. Without knowing which make and model of hub you have I can't be more specific than that. If the bike is new take it back and get them to show you how to fix it, or at the very least fix it for you.

If not, work out what hub you have (the manufacturer plus five speed will probably be enough) and search for a diagram of how it's supposed to be set up - probably if you find a photo of the rear wheel/hub area from the right hand side that will be enough, as you'll be able to see how the shifter mechanism attaches.

If you can edit your question to have more details, or include a photo showing that area, we will probably be able to make more suggestions.


Is Shimano the only company with a sealed ratchet mechanism in their freehubs?

Do any other manufacturers use internal ratchets in their freehubs?
Many other companies manufacture freehubs with internal ratchets, both clones that are Shimano compatible and variations of their own. Specific branded examples include the Giant FH06 freehub or the Bontrager Select freehub, but like most hubs and freehubs these are likely OEM and sourced from Taiwanese manufacturers such as Joytech
Shimano did not invent but was/is the patent holder for that design of freehub. Trying to find the specific patent is hard as Shimano has many many patents even just relating to hubs, the closest example found was this one. The word Freehub is also a Shimano registered trademark. There is more information and references on this wikipedia entry
Although unable to find specific data to verify it, the sealed internal ratchet design freehubs are usually relatively heavy, especially compared to the exposed ratchet designs, and you tend to find higher spec/higher priced hubs use the exposed ratchet design. The sealed internal design is also usually a consumable item, you just replace the entire freehub when required rather than servicing it as you can with the exposed ratchet designs.
What is the largest diameter hole in such freehub cassette bodies for through axles
I remember, so not conclusive in any way, having to get hold of a large (19 or 20mm) Allen key to remove a freehub from a hub that used an oversized axle.


Can an upright bicycle be modified to deal with deteriorating balance?

If your balance might be an issue now, then a trike makes a lot of sense.  The front end is like a regular bike, so you can have a basket.  And the rear has a low platform or tray between the rear wheels for carrying other things.
I would not recommend any bolt-on stabiliser wheels (big training wheels) because 3 wheels can all touch the ground, whereas 4 wheels only touch the ground when its perfectly flat.  So you can loose drive.
The "best" bike is the one you find comfortable and will ride.  That's totally subjective, so you would be best-served to try out some bikes in person.  Mail order doesn't tell the entire story.
One side note - some trikes have only one rear wheel connected to the pedals, and other designs have a rear differential to split power between both rear wheels.  If you can test ride both sorts that may show some differences to you.
Lastly, electric assist is possible nowdays.  The bonus, it saves your knees, but the electric bike should cost around double what the non-electric bike costs.   Otherwise the bike parts have been cheapened to hit the price point.  Also, an electric bike can get you deeper into trouble, faster.  Depends what level of "assist" you set.


The real star here is the Bendix Red-Band hub.  They re-popped those racks and most of the original type parts for this for something like 30 years.  I've seen new racks like that as of about 10 years ago they kept making.  The part that really shows the age of this though, is that hub.  If that's an automatic 2 speed kickback, that dates it between 1960-1964.  So that would put it right in your estimate.  I take it there isn't anything on the other side of that chainguard?  I'd say it could very well be a Hornet.  Those tanks are removable, and someone could have done just that.


Are the rear brake mounts on my Boardman Team HT post-mount or IS?

You should be able to look at the bike and take a look:

It should be pretty straightforward to identify how the brake caliper is bolted to the frame.


Security wheel skewers for front facing horizontal dropouts

This may be too late (just joined StackExchange), but the reason that Pitlock does not recommend using their skewers in any horizontal type dropout is in the configuration of washers between the "cup" of the rotating end, and the Pit inside the "cup".
Please refer to the photograph below; all numbers begin from the left side of the image.

The toothed washer (3rd) grips the hex flats on the end cap (6th), which passes through both the cup (5th) and the nylon washer (4th). If the Pit (2nd) is torqued down too much, it can cause the toothed washer to deform to the point where it no longer grips the end cap. It can also dig too deeply through the nylon washer and eventually secure some purchase against the cup. This would allow a would-be thief to be able to grip the cup with some sort of pliers and potentially loosen the Pit.
To avoid this (and this is not common, but any locking skewer only works correctly if used correctly), Pitlock does not recommend any torque on their skewers above 10Nm. A wheel held at this torque in a horizontal or semi-horizontal dropout, under heavy load, has a much higher chance of slipping. They also recommend replacement of the toothed/nylon washers over time to avert this.
You can over-clamp a skewer to avoid this. If you still want security skewers, I would go with Delta locking skewers, and white-glue a ball bearing into the 5mm hex head opening. You can torque them down to your heart's desire, and still have a good measure of security.
pitlocksecurityquick-releasehub


You're asking should you try to ride 33 miles or 65 miles when your longest training ride is shorter than either?

I think you'd be much better off trying a 60 mile training ride before the event. Sure, you could probably do that on the day, but you could easily end up either failing or struggling through and feeling miserable.

If you think the "supported" part will make a difference perhaps try carrying a bit of cash and choosing a ride that lets you stop a couple of times at shops where you can buy snacks and drinks. Personally, I'd carry both on the ride. A extra couple of pounds isn't going to make any difference unless you're right on the line before complete exhaustion stops you. And you shouldn't be there.


Bottle dynamos aren't actually as bad as often claimed. They are usually cheap, lightweight, have less resistance than people think and zero resistance when not in use. There are some bad parts, though:

Most of available dynamos are complete rubbish and won't last in use. High quality dynamos have been superseded by hub dynamos and battery lights.
Resistance is still higher than with decent hub dynamo
They are noisy and the pitch depends on speed, making any slowing down obvious
The cable connections are often very unreliable (see "complete rubbish")
The clamps damage finish on the fork. Some systems use fork and frame for ground and depend on puncturing the finish, preventing putting any protection between clamp and fork. This also doesn't work with carbon forks.
The dynamo is in perfect position to fall into spokes and can cause serious accidents if not properly installed. It is also easily knocked into spokes, so you have to check every time if you leave your bike in public place.


Is it a good idea to buy a 7-year-old MTB?

Being the owner of a 2004 dirt jumper, and a 2007 full-suspension, I can say it's just fine. However, be prepared to solve problems...creatively. Certain things that are specific to the bike may not be available anymore, but there's usually an after-market part to fill the gap.

The main reason not to buy an older mountain bike is the difference in how it's made, what it's made of, and what it can ride.

How it's made: Newer carbon, and even alumninum, is much stronger and prepared in different ways.

What it's made of: New steel is generally lighter than old steel frames, this reflects both material and manufacturing changes. Some things like carbon and titanium have come down in price, but are still worth more even on older bikes.

What it can ride: The downhill of yesteryear isn't what it is today. 3" of travel back then was more than enough for some serious trail riding, but now that same style of riding might require 4", 5", or 6" of travel.

However, these are just general problems that can arise or should be taken into consideration. I've had zero trouble with my older bikes (although the full susser is pretty heavy and not the greatest to pedal!). So, I would recommend that test ride and then compare to what a new model would cost and make a decision. Good luck!


Putting a front Derailleur on a carbon frame

Carbon compound can definitely help. As the following link points out, it helps you avoid 'over torquing' to ensure that the component doesn't slip.

http://www.finishlineusa.com/products/fiber_grip.htm

In my personal domain, if there is carbon and carbon, or carbon and some other material, thou must use fiber grip. And a torque wrench. No questions.


Mountain bike tyres unreliably lose and keep pressure?

Sounds like the butyl rubber inner tubes have perished a little, and you have either a very slow leak, or a valve that lets the air out slowly.
Just buy three new tubes from an online supplier - they'll cost about $5 each.  Two to fit, and one to carry as the spare.  You should also have two/three plastic tyre levers, a working pump, and whatever tools are needed to get a wheel off the bike.
The old tubes can be used to hold plants to stakes in the garden, or as a chainstay protector, or sliced up into rubber bands.
Also, I'd suggest having a close look at the tyre's surface, and decide if they're getting a bit old.  Rubber is attacked by ozone, UV, and heat, so if your bike was stored in a shed/garage then they can slowly deteriorate.  If you're doing strictly road riding then its a good chance to change to more efficient tyres too, compared to MTB knobblies.
Finally, check your brake pads.  Rim brakes have rubber blocks which can harden with age, so your brake performance can suffer.  Disk brake pads are not rubber so don't deteriorate in the same way.
These are all consumable items, so don't get put off by some costs.


Fork travel for 16" frame size, 26" wheel hardtail

Acceptable fork travel is primarily defined by particular bicycle frame design, not by rider's height or other parameters. More specifically, it is important to maintain the same or close distance between the front wheel's axle and the fork's crown, as stipulated by the manufacturer, when changing forks or changing travel.
If your fork is the original one that came with the bicycle from the factory, then recommended travel for the bicycle is 100 mm. Otherwise, if it was replaced by you or a previous owner, you can try to figure out what was the travel on the original fork.
There are several models that I can find by the name "Merida HFS 1000", and the fork travel range for them varies from 80 to 120 mm. You'll have to be more specific with the model name and frame year to figure it out.
Lastly, if you feel that your current bike handles fine, there is no point in experimenting with a shorter fork, unless you can easily swap back and forth between them to find the best one that suites you.


Rear derailer shifts fully only in middle of cassette and loses alignment with cogs over time

There's not much that could happen to cause the shifter to pull and hold an incorrect amount of cable when you click it.

A simple test to see what the shifter is doing is to loosen the cable anchor (or slacken the system by pulling a housing out of a stop), pull the housing away from the shifter, pull the exposed cable there gently taut with pliers, and shift back and fourth through the range. You'll be able to see if it's working normally, missing shifts, releasing too many steps at once, etc.

Once they're this old, Rapidfire/STI shifters are prone to issues with lubrication around the pawls getting gummed up, causing engagement problems. From your description it sounds like this may be what's going on. This is common and easy to fix with some cleaning and relubrication. However, it's also the primary mechanical problem with these shifters that's fixable at all. If there's a broken spring involved, which is also pretty common, there's not much you can do.

To service them, the important thing is to never under any circumstances take apart any part of the mechanism itself. Depending on the shifter, there are usually covers that can be removed or nudged aside to let you spray the guts and/or work the pawls around. The usually recommendation is to use a silicone spray lube because it won't degrade plastic. If possible I like to put a small dot of grease at the pawls, roughly emulating how they come new.


The splined retaining ring is standard for internal bearing cassette type bottom brackets.

You need a bottom bracket tool such as the Park Tool BBT-32. Googling 'bottom bracket tool 20 tooth' will yield other options. You will also need a suitably  large wrench of course.

Be aware that the right hand ring is a left handed thread. You also need to remove the left hand ring first as the right hand ring is integral to the bottom bracket cartridge.

Check out this YouTube video that shows how to remove the rings and bottom bracket cartridge.


Are road-bike suspension forks still manufactured, if so, where?

The Rockshox at Paris Roubaix were a Greg LeMond thing. Whatever Greg competed in a few 'out there' cycling innovations came along with him. Remember those tri-bars that gave him the aero tuck position to beat Laurent Fignon in the Tour de France? On that event he also had his own road bars that had an extra position, where the drop handlebar end plugs would be, his bars turned in 90 degrees to give an extra lower position. Anyway, it was his Team-Z that introduced the Rockshox on Roubaix. Seems that your well chosen pic duly notes his special handlebars, the Rockshox and 'Team Z'.

Greg's bars and forks were not widely adopted although his time-trial bars most certainly were. In any evolutionary process some mutations just don't work. As for the forks, the problems with them were that they were heavy, the brake touched the rim and they introduced 'sloppiness' in the front end. Imaginably these problems would be overcome but they were not. I don't think UCI regulations had anything to do with it, the product at that time was just not that good. MTB forks were a bit dubious too back then, only when the disk brake came along did the 'brake rub' problem get properly solved.

There are plenty of 700c forks on hybrid bikes from mainstream manufacturers, generally of the low-end 'Suntour' variety with a spring that does the work instead of any sophisticated oil/air arrangement.

You might want to go to a bike shop and do your own compare and contrast of the bikes with 700c suspension forks. The travel is around 50mm or so and there generally is no adjustment on them. I think Trek do a few models with them, Giant did too on the more expensive 'Expression' models. Although experiences are subjective, I found that along gravel trails the hybrid with no suspension felt better than the efforts with suspension. I wondered if the suspension was doing anything at all, it did not float over the bumps like a full-suspension mountain bike does and there was no real cut in handlebar vibration.

Here is a Suntour offering with coil spring, preload adjuster and lockout. This model is typically found on things like deluxe Trek hybrid bikes:

The brakes are V-brake, the hole in the top of the brace is for mounting a reflector and you cannot put a nice set of road brakes on there. Other versions of this low end fork exist for roller cam brakes, which you obviously do not want!!!

There are some more desirable models made by Suntour for cyclo-cross and the hybrid market with 'proper' air adjustment and rebound, maybe even remote lockout. I am not sure if these models are OEM only or if you will be able to get hold of them locally:

As for Cyclo Cross, checkout the Suntour NRX models, with disk and all the sophistication you could wish for in 700c:

http://www.srsuntour-cycling.com/dstore/products/Forks/2845/NRX/SF11-NRX+S+ELD+700C+LTD.html

That fork should give you the ultimate in comfort for the front end of your road bike. Although for cyclo-cross it has the makings of a very tidy commuting machine...


I have seen similar happen with my Garmin 500, regardless of duration/distance of the ride. For me, it occured when I had the Garmin plugged in to my Mac. I would delete activities from the Garmin and then safely remove (will also happen if you unsafely remove) the device. How to avoid this on Mac operating systems:

Delete your activities on Garmin
Empty trash via finder menu
Safely remove your Garmin device

I haven't tested if similar occurs on Windows or Linux.


Low power while maintaining high cadence

64 watts is well within the margin of error of 60w target.

Don't be afraid of going to your lowest gear on the trainer.

You should be working up to your target cadence, if you can't hold 90 without bouncing then you should aim for something lower. It will take time to get up there.

60w is relatively low for most people, it may become easier for you to hold a higher cadence at more watts.

Trainerroad philosophy is to focus on the power, especially in your intervals.

Bouncing and poor form won't help you get faster.


Have old bar end shifters which don't seem to fit in the new handlebars

I think your picture shows that the expander wedges are riding up on the ridged part of the shifter pod, which keeps them from being able to get small like they're supposed to, hence not fitting the bar they just came out of. You need to twist them around so they're not riding up. Also at the very least grease inside the bar, but ideally grease the threads and every surface of the expander wedges.


What are the advantages or disadvantages of different spoke styles

Yep, there are various types of spokes, as already explained.  There are also various ways of "lacing" the spokes, and various spoke counts.

When picking a spoke lacing scheme, there are six basic considerations:

Strength
Flexibility
Torque resistance
Air resistance
Weight
Appearance/sex/stupidly spending money

Strength is determined by the number of spokes, how they are arranged, and how they interface with the hub and rim.  If you look at a normal "three cross" wheel, the spoke leaves the hub at an angle nearly tangential to the hub circumference.  This way the stress on the hub is minimized.  A "four cross" lacing (commonly seen on heavy touring bikes an the like) goes that one better and causes the spoke to be truly tangential to the hub circumference (plus the increased spoke length gives the wheel more "spring").

You rarely see "two cross" and probably never see "one cross" lacings, but "radial" lacing (where the spokes leave the hub at right angles to the circumference) is becoming fairly common, especially on front hubs of "mountain" or "cross" bikes.  Radial lacing places considerable stress on a conventional hub, and with radially laced wheels you'll often see the spokes reversed, with the nipples on the hub end, because the hub must be redesigned to stand the stress.  Additionally, both because a radially laced wheel is so stiff and because usually radial wheels have low spoke counts, the stress on the rim is higher, such that the nipples would be apt to pull through.  So you'll sometimes see the bent end of the (reversed) spoke engaged in a slot in the rim or some such.

Note that while radial laced wheels are stiffer against radial forces on the wheel, they don't resist torque very well at all -- if a rear wheel were to be radially spoked the torque of the drive train would cause the wheel to twist into a sort of spiral, hindering the transmission of power to the wheel circumference.  Similarly, if disk brakes were used on a radial front wheel the wheel would twist severely when the disk brakes were applied.

[However, it should be noted that some people like to lace their rear wheel with a cross pattern on one side and radial spokes on the other.  This provides the needed torsional rigidity while permitting half the wheel to be radial, but it's not clear that there's any real advantage to the scheme.]

Air resistance obviously increases with spoke count, and is affected by the profile of the spoke as well.  Although air resistance is important to pro racers because the top of the wheel is moving forward at twice the speed of the bicycle, it's probably safe to say that the air resistance due to spokes on a standard 32-spoke three-cross wheel would not be noticed by most average bikers, even at fairly high speeds.

The ultimate low-wind-resistance wheel is the disk wheel, of course, and there are other exotic designs with 1, 2, or 3 broad, flat "spokes" made of high-strength composites bonded to rim and hub.  But generally you'll only see the disk wheels on rear wheels because the disk becomes a kite if it gets cross-ways to the wind as would happen on the front wheel.

Weight is reduced by using more exotic materials (especially for the rim), and by reducing spoke count.  The more exotic the rim, the more intimately the design of the rim ties into the spoking scheme.  Some slight weight reduction is also possible by reducing the "cross" of the spoking (and hence reducing spoke length).

And, of course, sex.  Many of the above schemes (especially things like the low-spoke-count radially spoked front wheel with reversed spokes) have little practical benefit for the average cyclist, add cost, and reduce reliability.  (Ever heard one of those fancy high-tension spokes go?  It sounds like a gunshot.  And if one breaks you're likely dead in the water until you can get to a bike shop, whereas with a standard three-cross 32-spoke wheel one can usually "limp home" if a roadside repair is not possible.)


The bike might be the a 1981 Rekord "W" Strada, at least this catalog page shows a very similar photo, but no exact parts list:

It might also be another Bianchi mixte-style frame with components swapped, i.e. flat bar to drop bar, which makes identification harder.

Or it might be a late '80s (possibly 1986) womens Bianchi Strada, as shown in this question. Note that serial numbers on both bikes are very close: 51027534 vs 51027563.


How can I not break my sprocket next time

It was set up without a spindle adapter. There can't be any wiggle between the sprocket and the spindle, or else something like this will happen.


Source of John Deere line of children bicycle tires?

Very inexpensive rebranded bike with very inexpensive tires which you can't source individually. Nothing wrong with that given that it's a child's bike, but that is the situation. Your chances of finding that exact tire are slim, and there's no really compelling reason for you to hunt it down anyway.

The product you can get off the shelf is going to be at least as good and likely better. There's no issue with mixing and matching different tread patterns front and rear beyond aesthetics.