When learning to ride my first two wheeled recumbent, and when teaching someone else to start riding on it, I first rode without trying to pedal.
Using it as a balance bike, learning to steer and balance before you add the unbalancing effect of getting your feet on the pedals.

Not all recumbent bikes do allow that, as some have such a sitting/laying position that you can not get your feet on the ground and still be properly in the seat. But if you can get it to work it will help your muscle memory to get the right information to remember later.

When you are ready to start pedaling or if you can not use your feet on the ground while properly in the seat, find a post/hedge/person to hold onto while you put both feet on the pedals and give a shove (or get a shove from the person) trying to keep the bike as upright as possible.
If you have pedals into which you clip your feet, in the early stages of riding do not use that option, you will want to put your foot on the ground a bit too often for that.

If you have a wide path, empty car park or other safe and wide area to practice you can get going quite a bit off the expected angle.

Going down an incline will make it easier. Going up an incline, even a very tiny bit, makes it harder to start riding, even people who can get away easily on the flat hate to stop at traffic lights as you need to go a bit up (over the road camber) while going slow. So help yourself while learning and find a slight angle down to get started.
Not down a hill just a small incline, almost flat will be the best.

Start at 'the easiest' gear but as soon as you make any speed, gear up, go to a harder gear when you make some speed, that will help you to get stable, but do not try to get to the higher gears just yet.
It depends on the gearing on the bike whether you need the easiest but it should be a low gear.
When you start riding you will want to steer a little, to adjust for the bit of unbalance you are bound to get. If you tend to fall over in one direction you should steer to that side. Using one leg to start riding will make it more predictable which way you need to steer. (Only steer by a little bit, you should not expect to go at 90 degrees to how you stand.)

Check out (if you can) whether you over or under react when you balance. I found that on my recumbent bikes I tend to overdo on the balancing, they react very fast on the slightest change in position.
It is not easy to think how to adjust how much you change your position, but when you know what you do wrong you will adjust.

When the bike is set up right and set up to your measurements, it should not take long to get started. The recumbent bike sellers in the Netherlands all take new riders on a day tour in which they can try out a few different recumbent bikes, they allow half an hour at the start of the day for the people to get through the first stage, and after swapping over bikes (they adjust them on the road for this) it will be a few minutes to get used to the new bikes. I have never been with one of these rides, I learned on my own.
But I did start with a recumbent trike, so when I bought my first 'bent bike I was already used to the sitting position.
My first recumbent trike does not react at all on change in balance.
Now I own a Flevo trike and a Flevo bike, which required a new learning process as they have a different steering method. (Both mostly steer by balance, and are very fast in reacting on any change in position.)

I wrote this answer not going into what you already do/did right, more as a general guide than as a 'just for the OP' answer.
You do a lot right already, I think me mentioning them is more for the general picture and it did help me to name all parts of riding a 'bent.


Firstly, 11 or 12 mph isn't that slow, especially if you're still working on improving your fitness. Try measuring speed in kph instead of mph, as it feels better. You can laugh, but we all do it!

The main thing you should look for in a new bike, IMO is that it fits you. This will improve your comfort. If you're comfortable you'll be able to go faster. Drop handlebars will help with aerodynamics, but probably still less than wearing a less baggy jacket. The weight of the bike is likely to be negligible compared to the weight you've already lost, so don't blow the bank for the sake of a few pounds/grams.

If a road bike fits you properly and doesn't have the handlebars too low compared to the saddle, you ought to be able to get comfortable. That said you can still go pretty fast on a hybrid. Some of my personal records are set on my hybrid rather than my road bike, just because I happened to feel fitter the day I took the hybrid out.

So get a bike that fits and is comfortable. Obviously that means trying them out and making notes. If you are really serious you can go for an independent bike sizing/fitting or follow an online measurement guide rather than relying on the guy in the shop who will want to sell the bike in front of you.

If you're comfortable on your bike you'll enjoy riding and ride more often. This will make you faster. Have fun!


I'd say it must have a good sturdy build and should be stable.

It must have a good pressure control and display; it should have a proper pressure range.

It should have a good connector with detachable/replacable plugs.

It should have a long hose, so you're not too close to the bike and make full control strokes on it.


What type of saddle doesn't hurt the pelvic bone?

Saddle comfort can be tough to get just right and is very individual. You might just have to try a few saddles out...

Sheldon Brown has a lot of great information about saddle comfort here: http://sheldonbrown.com/saddles.html

Are you just getting back on a bike after not having ridden for a while? Your backside has to get used to a saddle. If you haven't ridden in a while, do some short (1 or 2 mile) rides and slowly increase the distance. Try that before you try replacing the saddle.

Those short rides in the saddle won't just help your backside break into the seat, they'll help get your riding strength up, so that more of your weight is on your feet and less on your pelvis.

How wide or narrow a saddle depends on your anatomy, your flexibility, your riding posture and your riding style. Basically you want the saddle as wide as you need it to be, but no more. Any extra width is likely to lead to chafing or soreness from the saddle pushing into things.

Your pelvis has two knobs at the back of a triangle with the point forward (essentially). Sitting down on a stool or chair, you tend to have your weight on those knobs. If you're sitting with your lower back fairly straight, you'll want a saddle that supports those two knobs, probably with a bit of padding right there. If you have your pelvis rotated forward so that you're not sitting on those knobs and are instead resting your weight on part of that triangle, you'll want a narrower saddle. You want just enough that whichever pelvic structure you're sitting on is on the saddle, with fairly little saddle to the sides of that.

And don't just go for the saddle with the most padding. A lot of people like a little padding on their saddle, but too much padding will just sort of squeeze into all the other sensitive tissues down there, which can be uncomfortable and cause nerve pinching or circulation issues. Get a saddle with just enough padding.


Can I remove dropper seatpost of the Lapierre Edge 327 plus?

Photos on google look like internal hose routing. If the hose from the lever at the handlebar goes inside the frame, that’s going be slightly more difficult for a thief to remove the dropper post. It will also mean you can’t quicky remove the post for peace of mind.

But don’t underestimate thieves, they don’t care if they break your bike, they are normally intelligent and possibly desperate. If they cut the hose and steal your stuff, they’ll probably know someone who can buy it and fix it. So assume they’ll take it if they want it.

Better to leave your bike somewhere you feel safe.


What are the consequences of riding a bicycle tire backwards?

If it's a road tire, i.e. a slick, it makes no difference. The tire direction marks are usually printed on road tires because mechanics are so used to looking for them, that the makers may as well put them on there so as not to confuse or waste the time of the installer.

http://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#direction


Cannondale Topstone Tiagra Upgrades - Musts, Must Nots, and MustArd

We can't tell you what upgrades you should make, because we are not you. We don't know what your preferences or priorities are, what kind of rider you are or what riding you want to do (apart from knowing you have a long distance goal in mind).

Go ride the bike. Make a training plan for your long distance ride. Go ride the bike more. Figure out what works and what does not. Decide where your money is best spent. Consider that money may probably better spent on gear and accessories (clothing, shoes, computer, tools etc) than on bike upgrades.

Addressing some things you mentioned:

Replacing the FSA crank with a Shimano one. Yes you could do this, but why? Is the FSA crank actually deficient? Crank sets are relatively expensive so see my point about where to spend money above.

If long distance riding is your goal then switching out the saddle is a definite possibility. Stick with the stock saddle and see if you have problems with it first though. Saddle choice is unfortunately down to experimentation with different brands and models. You also want to make sure you saddle is set up right for you, some people like a little more forward tilt than others.

If you are thinking about a suspension seat post, good saddle fit and adjustment is far more important for 'saving your perineum'.


What is the logic to the order of Shimano Components?

For road components Shimano has the following quality ranking, from top to bottom and from (very) expensive to cheap: Dura Ace Di2, Dura Ace mech., Ultegra Di2, Ultegra mech., 105, Tiagra, Sora and Claris.

What trickles down from year to year are the innovations. If some innovation appears with the pro-groupset Dura Ace it will appear in the following or second year in the Ultegra group and so on downwards while the the Dura Ace components have some further improvement.


The "natural" riding position would be one with the following criteria:

Your knee never fully extends (locks out) when the crank is at "dead bottom center"; basically in line with the seat tube
You can sit mostly upright when on the flat part of bars.  You have a comfortable slight bend in your elbow when on the hoods.  You can reach the drops without your knees hitting your chest/stomach/elbows.
When in either the hoods or the drops there is little upward or downward bend in your back.  Its just in a neutral, comfortable, position.
You feel no uncomfortable pressure on your perineum
Your knees are (relatively close to) over the pedal spindle with the crank arm level.

Obviously there are millions of ways to get this position depending on frame size, geometry, seat post height, stem length, handle bar drop, etc.  Not to mention your personal flexibility and level of fitness.

To answer your second question, you generally know a fram is too small if you must extend your seatpost beyond the manufacturers limits or you must use a stem that is longer than about 130mm or with a rise of more than about 12 degrees.

Any of these things should signal that you are trying to make the bike "bigger" by adding length to parts.

edit:  In regards to your comment about a "set back" seatpost, I would add this to the list of "ways you know a bike isn't the right size".  You are effectively trying to lengthen the seat tube.  Unfortunately, this will put your weight heavily on the back wheel and will effect steering/control.


Why forward-facing spokes should be "heads in", except on the drive side of the rear wheel?

When you accelerate, the backward going spokes of your rear wheel are put under additional stress; and when you use a disk brake, the forward going spokes are stressed. The lacing guide you cite tries hard to put all the spokes that get these stress peaks on the outside with their heads facing inwards.

Why is this important?
The flange of your hub typically makes a right angle with the axis of the wheel, but the spokes do not. Instead, they angle away towards the center plane of the wheel. This angling of the spokes relative to the hub's flange puts an additional bending force on the spoke's neck. For inner spokes that have their heads going outwards, this bending force adds to the bending force that is caused by pure spoke tension. For the outer spokes, the two bending forces are in opposite direction, partially cancelling each other out. Thus, inner spokes are naturally under higher danger of breaking at the neck than outer spokes.

Putting the spokes which are stressed by accelerating and braking on the outside (head facing inwards) avoids them getting the structural stress that the inner spokes are subject to.

I learned this the hard way, because I used to lace my wheels without considering this effect. At some point, I realized that it was always the inner backwards facing spokes on my rear wheel (stressed in acceleration) that broken when I accelerated hard. Learning from this, I laced my rear wheel with the backward going spokes on the outside, which significantly reduced the frequency of broken spokes.


What cassete do I need to run with a compact crankset (50/36), to equal the same gearing as running a standard crankset (53/39) with a 11-28 cassete?

It's not possible. You'd gain lower gears, but lose your very highest gear. If you want to keep that highest gear, maybe you should look at a wider-range cassette to get there, instead?

If you were switching from a 53/39,12-28 setup to a 50/34,11-28 setup, it would work out well.

Switching your largest chainring from 53 to 50 basically shifts all your high gears about 1 notch lower.

11 teeth is the smallest cog you can get on a road bike cassette, currently. I've seen BMX bikes with a smaller gear on the back, but they're not cassette based.

You can compare gear ratios on a given bike (where wheel diameter, tire width and crank length can all be assumed to be a constant with simple division.

Assuming your 11-28 is 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-28, or similar:

53:11 = 4.8
53:12 = 4.4
53:13 = 4.1
...
39:21 = 1.9
39:24 = 1.6
39:28 = 1.4

50:11 = 4.5
50:12 = 4.2
50:13 = 3.8
...
36:21 = 1.7
36:24 = 1.5
36:28 = 1.3
... or if it's the more common 50/34:
34:21 = 1.6
34:24 = 1.4
34:28 = 1.2


Can't push lever to shift into big ring, lever will not move all the way

Check the limit screws -- if you set them in the wrong way they might stop the full movement of the cage, irrespective of the cable.  If the cable is disconnected and if you cannot move the cage so that the chain goes on the front outer right that is either because of limit screws or the bottom bracket is so far out the outer ring cannot be reached by the cage.

Check out this page and see whether you get something out of it:

Park Tool front derailleur adjustment

PS as PeteH mention in his comment, if you cannot 'click' the levers, check whether you have installed the cable correctly -- I personally think this is a very unlikely situation, because cables can normally be installed only when the shifter is in one specific position.  Worth a check though.


What's the benefit of a titanium skewer?

Aside from weight, there is no real benefit. Titanium is an alloyed steel, and has no limitation on weight or riding style, generally, although there are likely ultra light versions which do have limits.


1970's Gitane Gypsy: Brakes and types I can Use Shimano: ULTEGRA R8000

Long reach brakes are often used on bikes designed to fit larger tires, or if a bike that was built to fit 27" wheels (iso 630 mm) is adapted to 700c (iso 622mm). Based on a quick Google image search, it looks like you might be in the former category, in which case the short reach r8000's probably won't work... But you should measure it yourself.

To tell which brakes will fit your frame/wheels, you need to measure the distance (in the up-down axis) between the center of the bolt that holds the brake to the frame, and the center of the braking surface. If you have brake calipers that work, and you're not changing wheel size, you can just measure your caliper from that bolt to the center of the brake pad. It's kind of a rough measurement because you have to hold the ruler straight up and down and just eyeball it.

As long as that number (the "reach") is within the range of the caliper you want to upgrade to (Shimano ultegra r8000 is 39mm - 49mm) it should work.

Also see this answer: https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/a/29362/37296


Help! My Campagnolo Record 11 shifters get stuck on my bar tape

The answer was obvious.

Reset the cable tension on the brakes! Problem solved.

Well in my case I bought new cables and due to the fact I had to take the old ones out and set the new ones with correct pressure settings, the lever does not touch the bar tape anymore.


Please do the following experiments:
Release the brake cable, pulling (1) apart from (2) (no tools needed). Swing the brake arms one at a time, making sure they have nice spring-y reaction the last 2-4 centimeters of their travel towards the rim.

If the movement feels "rusty" and the swingarms don't readily return, there is mud and rust inside the breaks. Replace them.

Now check if both push back with the approximately equal force, when at equal distances from the rim.

If one arm pushes back significantly more than the other, the coarse setting is wrong.

With the brake cable still disengaged, squeeze the brake lever a few times.

If there is any resistance, or if the cable looks rusty, it should be oiled/replaced.

When the brake arms are pressed against the rim, the brake shoe should rest fully against the rim (in contrast with only half the pad touching the rim or touching the tire). If this is not correct, the brake shoe can "latch" when pressed, sticking to the rim by friction.
Most probably the brakes and cables are rally old. You can disassemble those parts, wash them under pressure, let them dry and re-install them, or you can replace them with more modern parts.


Is it safe to remove "lawyer tabs" on a carbon fork?

Depends on the fork and the brake type used. With disc brakes, don't do it.  A disc can generate enough force to pull a wheel.  That's why most, if not all new MTB forks come with a burly, deep recess for the QR and the dropouts face forward. With the caliper on the back of the leg, it wants to drive the hub downward when the brakes are on.  If the dropout is closer to horizontal, then it pushes the hub axle into the fork instead of out of the dropout.  It's another reason why fork manufacturers are switching to thru axle forks.  Stiffer, yes, but also less chance of a lawsuit.

On road and cross forks, you are probably okay, especially if the "lawyer lips" are tiny. A couple of little bumps missing aren't going to do much.  If the fork has a recessed area for the QR molded into the dropout, then the effort needed to remove them is going to suck and you might affect the integrity of the dropout.  Of course, you will void the warranty.

Something to think about.  Pro teams file them off and there are no reports of riders crashing because the wheel came out.  Of course, all of the equipment is top shelf stuff, maintained by some of the world's best mechanics, and gets replaced instantly if there is a hint of an issue.  Also, no Pro is on any fork older than a year, if that.  Most likely, the bike they race on is less than 6 months old.


I can't extract sealed bearings out of the wheel

The bearings are out! After cleaning and inspecting I realized my guess in the UPDATE was baseless. Again the punch didn't work, but feeling confident I tried with the thru axle and the bearings jumped. The question is now: Which is the orthodox and/or convenient way of extracting the bearings in this type of assembly? What is the best tool to use to hit the bearings from inside out? At first time I was reluctant to use the axle to avoid damaging the sealing of the bearing (which finally happened), considering my intention is to reuse them.


Is it possible to upload ZWO file on Android?

Unfortunately workout files are not accessible on Android but there is a way you can get them onto your Android device.
To get a custom workout into the Android app you will need to import the workout into Zwift using your PC, Mac or iOS device. This will save the workout on Zwift's servers which in turn will make it accessible in your Android app.


Gates belt drive: installing larger front sprocket

On Gates' site there's a free spreadsheet called Gates Drive Calculator  that you can use to determine your belt length needed. It's  a weird tool in that instead of plugging in your desired gears and chainstay length, and minimum/maximum adjustment range and outputting what belt length you need, which would have been the smart or at least more intuitive way to do it, it makes you plug in your gears, then plug in a given belt length, and it outputs the resultant center-to-center dimension, minimum installation center-to-center, and minimum center-to-center for tensioning, which you then check whether it's in your adjustment range, and you have to repeat until you find a belt that fits.

Gates lists the pitch for their belts as 11mm and wants you to have an adjustment range of X-10 on the slack end and X+2 on the tight end, where X is the calculated center-to-center. So you could alter a magic gear calculator spreadsheet by replacing the 12.7s with 11s and that would be another way of figuring it out barring the Gates tool.

CDN and CDX belts have the same form factor and only differ in construction and materials. According to Gates they're cross-compatible.


Yes. 11-speed chains are still 3/32" chains, which means the inside width of the inner link is 3/32".

However, consider that we're now living in the age of narrow-wide rings. They make one-by setups run way better.


I wear MEC Roubaix Tights down to about -15 and they work quite well.  The fronts and backs are different material, so they block the wind, while still allowing your legs to dissipate some of the heat.  They aren't so great in the wet, because the backs aren't waterproof, but once the temperature drops below zero, that usually doesn't matter. Although if you have fenders, you might not have to worry at all.

That jacket looks good. You probably want to wear another layer or 2 or 3 underneath. I find that it's all about using lots of layers.  Lots of thin layers can keep you warm, while still allowing for a lot of mobility.


Why are post ~'80s bike finishes so "dull"?

This is not a complete answer, but one factor certainly is that nowadays bikes often use powder coating as their finish, rather than liquid paint.

Powder coating has signifcant advantages over paint (more resilient coating, no risk of running, no solvents required), but the surface characteristics are different. In particular, the sparkle effect of metallic paint can not (easily) be achieved with powder coating, and I believe multi-coloured finishes are also more difficult.

So check whether the new bike has a powder coating - that may explain the difference in apperance.


My friends and I have hiked a lot while carrying our bikes. What I've found that works best is:

go to the non drive side of the bike
drop the non drive side pedal down
left hand on the left fork lower
right hand on the non drive side crank arm
lift whole bike and place bottom tube behind your neck

This works because:

bike is central on top of you and you can easily remove one or both hands whenever necessary
you don't get dirty because the drive side is away from you

To lift the bike, your hands should go to the two red spots:

Also see How to shoulder a bike?


What went wrong with my bottom bracket spindle length calculation?

I went to take pictures of the BB installation as @Batman suggested. After removing the crank arm, I actually noticed an offset of 1-2 mm on the drive side, like @mattnz anticipated. However, I also noticed that there was a gap of about 1 mm between the frame and the BB lid:

After this observation I googled a little bit, and learned from this forum thread that the drive side main body of the BB should be installed before the non-drive side cup. I had installed the parts in the wrong order. I loosened the non-drive side cup a little bit, I was able to screw the main body in a couple of turns more. This eventually resulted as a chainline of 50 mm, which I find totally acceptable, as my target was 49 mm. The non-drive side cup sticks now out about a 1 mm or so, but the above mentioned forum thread suggested that this is OK as well.

After the corrected installation, I can assure (for future reference), that at least this my UN55 70x122 bottom bracket does not have any offset at all; length from end of the spindle to the center of the frame is equal on both sides.

I think that I've found answer to the math side of my question as well:

By combining info from pages 16 and 34 of this PDF I was able to find out that 122 mm Shimano BBs should give a relative chainline of +8 mm compared to the 110 mm ones. So if 110 mm BB should give a chainline of 42 mm with my crankset (as was the assumption), 122 mm should give 42 mm + 8 mm = 50 mm which is exactly what I'm seeing now.


The feeling of notches is just the resistance you feel from moving the magnets past the coils in the hub.  That's what generates the power.  The hub is fine!  When you actually ride the bike you won't feel a thing. Well, at least I don't feel anything. Some people have said they feel vibrations from their dynamo hub at lower speeds.


About two years ago I converted my 2011 Dew to drop bars. I opted for Avid BB7
Road mechanical disc brakes as they are compatible with short pull road brake levers. For shifters I chose to use bar ends because of their lower price and more simple design compared to STI levers.

I ended up with a cost of about $325 for my 8 speed bar end shifters, Cane Creek short pull road levers, Avid BB7 Disc brakes, Salsa Cowbell 3 handlebars, and bar tape. I would expect to pay that much for the shifters alone if you opt for STI shifters as opposed to bar ends (the economical choice).


Rear derailleur cage bigger than cassette necessity

An RD-5701 rear derailleur should work just fine as a replacement for an RD-6600.  I've used an RD-5701 with an 11/28 cassette for the last 6-7 months with no issues, including swapping my crankset from a 50/34 compact to a 53/39 a few weeks ago.


mountain bike freewheel hub stopped rotating

Personally I think you have somehow managed to tighten the outer bearing cup that is part of the freehub body. It has two notches on either side, take the cassette off and see if you can knock the notches back to let the freehub spin.

If you have a Shimano hub you might want to also consider putting a new freehub body on there. These are LBS stocked parts albeit not an everyday request.

The bearings in the freehub can survive a bit of abuse, so long as you don't get too much dirt in there so consider DiY and, if that fails, pop a new freehub body on.


Lube substitutes for Phil Wood lubricant

Vegetable oils such as "olive oil, castor oil, or peach kernel oil" are entirely inappropriate for lubricating anything except your salad and steak (or in the case of castor oil, your digestive system).

The problem is that vegetable oils quickly oxidize and get gummy. Think about the residue that accumulates on the bottom and around the cap of a salad oil dispenser. That gummy stuff accumulates dirt and grime and accelerates wear.

The best thing to do is to go to your local auto parts store or hardware store and ask for a good teflon based dry (chain) lube (for the chain), motor oil, or regular auto grease (for the axle). Some people also swear by chainsaw bar oil for bike chains (I find it's kinda sticky and prefer dry lubes, but you might be a rainy area). Here are some lubes that a regular auto/hardware store would have that would suffice:

p.s. There's nothing super special about Phil's -- it's just a good general purpose oil. I actually don't like it, as it is a grit magnet but it has its followers.

FINALLY: Note that your trike is pretty much (sad to say) a Walmart BSO. In many cases, these are very poorly constructed and assembled - so your axle/chain noise may also come from it being poorly constructed and assembled rather than a simple lack of lubrication. If lubing it doesn't work, you may want to try to take it in to a real bike shop for an overhaul -- and because of its construction, it may in fact (even with professional assistance) be impossible to tune to the point where it operates without noise/friction.


Shimano 10 speed mountain rear derailleurs or 11 speed road derailleurs work with Shimano 11 speed road shifters.

Shimano 7,8,9,10 speed road and 7,8,9 speed mountain derailleurs work with Shimano 7,8,9,10 speed road shifters in terms of cable pull.


Everything you could want to know about tire sizing is here, including recommendations of how wide a tire should go on how wide a rim. In your case, you will look for tires made for 26" rims (ISO 559), but generally, narrow rims should have narrower tires than wider rims. These tires will be marked 26 x decimal number (by decimal number, i mean a number written with a decimal point).

Schwalbe makes a 26 x 2.00 inch Marathon Plus which would probably make a good replacement (the fatter the tire, more cushioning), as well as 1.5 and 1.75 inch variants. A bit smaller of a tire will technically reduce weight (and lower the bike slightly) and give a bit better handling. If you go down to your bike shop, they probably have a bunch of tires which work for the road well. Look for kevlar belting for puncture protection.

Also, if you're pretty much always on the road, and are running a suspension fork, you may want to swap it out with a suspension corrected rigid fork, since you don't really need suspension beyond the tires on the road unless you have a back problem or something.


restoring the finish of an oxidized polished aluminum frame?

I think that polishing paste like Mother's Magnesium and Aluminum should be your first choice. If the result is not good enough, at least you will be sure that you didn't do any damage to the surface like you can do with wrong sand paper or metal wool. I would use sanding of any kind only when some scraping of the surface is necessary, to remove nicks and dents for example.
Last time I used bathroom cleaner Comet first which made the whole surface evenly gray, light and clean, I guess oxidation free. It was very matte but very evenly. Then I used Mother's Mag and it became shiny, not luster but nice.


Are there any suitable alternatives to alcohol/brake cleaner for cleaning brake rotors?

The main question is why are they needing cleaning, as this drives the need for chemicals.

If its normal road and trail mud and grime, as suggested in the comments, hot water and a nylon scrubbing pad (even a "goldilocks" type metal one if used gently). If you remove the wheels to be safe, then use a bit dish washing detergent and rinse well with hot water and dry off with a cloth. If you need a bit more "omph" the toothpaste is mildly abrasive and easily washes off afterwards. Try not to touch the rotor once cleaned.

If you have oil contamination, and the above has not worked, you will need a solvent  - anything volatile that does not leave a residue should be OK as long as it does not get on the pads, bearings or or tires. White petrol is ideal.  However if there is oil on the pads they should be replaced.


Leaking Slime inner tube valve after opened for first time since install

You might want to remove your Schrader valve's stem (innards) with a stem removal tool and check the valve's rubber seat, located on the part that you remove. There may be debris lodged in the valve seat such as grit or sand or some dried slime that would cause it not to seat and seal properly. Also consider switching the valve stem core from another valve from say an old inner tube and see if that does the trick. Unless the valve was damaged or the old tube you take it from is real old, the valve stem core will usually last much longer than the actual tube. Many years ago when my bike had Schraders, I'd keep a couple of valve cores from old tubes in my patch kit in case I experienced a valve problem when out on a trek.


Not to worry! Get yourself a part time job in the local bike shop in a supporting role - maybe not sales (unless you have the product knowledge), maybe not the workshop but something in between.

Start with what you can do - punctures, wheeling bikes in and out the yard, keeping the place tidy. A couple of weeks later have a go at assembling bikes. You will know if you are going to like it by then.

The cycling season has started it should be all hands to the deck in your local shop, show confidence and enthusiasm and you won't go wrong.


What is the maximum weight could 26 1 3/8 tire and tube could withstand?

You are not putting 80 kg of weight on either tire; you're putting 80 kg + bike weight (say, 15 kg) on both tires combined, probably about 60% on the back, 40% on the front. So, about 57 kg on the back. In any case, I doubt very much that your weight is making you more susceptible to flats.
The quality of the inner tube doesn't affect puncture resistance very much. The tire does determine puncture resistance. Some tires are engineered for light weight, some for flat resistance, some to meet a price point.
One important cause of flats is under-inflation, which can happen with any kind of tire or tube. This permits the tire to bottom out against the rim when you hit a bump, causing what's called a "snakebite flat." So a first step towards preventing flats is ensuring adequate inflation. Here's an inflation calculator.
The other main cause of flats, as you might imagine, is road debris. There's not a lot we can do about that other than try to avoid it. If I unavoidably ride through a patch of broken glass, I'll try to wipe down my tire with my (gloved) hand immediately after, but realistically, the damage is probably already done. If you think this is a likely culprit, you might try tire liners, which fit between the tire and inner tube and provide an extra layer of protection.


Aero bike vs climbing bike for running in Crits

Revised following clarifying comments

OP is / will be racing in the US
USA Cycling has looser rules for bikes than the UCI, unless the event is qualification for a non-US event.

With these updates, the answer is simply that people rarely race on ideal equipment. Most people I know who race Crits do it either on the same bike they use for road races, Gran Fondos, or other big rides, because they don't have a more suitable bike for the purpose. Those who can afford to drop $5K to $10K on a specialist bike usually don't see Crits as the target: too many crashes, and they tend to see Crits as training rides.

Regarding the bikes you mention, they both appear on a quick glance to meet the USA Cycling Rules 2017. I was initially concerned that the curved top tube was non-compliant, but this guide and the rules already mentioned show that concern to be unfounded for racing in the US. I suspect the FM098 would not meet UCI standards, but that's irrelevant to you.

The earlier version of this answer follows and may be useful for international readers ...

ARTICLE 1.3.011 (and related articles) of the UCI Technical regulations essentially says only a general purpose bike can be used for road racing (criteriums are road races).

I interpret your aero bike to be a time trial bike. The rules explicitly ban such trials bikes from road racing.

The reason for this is the lack of maneuverability.

In practice you'll get much more benefit from sitting on the guy on front.

See UCI CYCLING REGULATIONS PART 1 GENERAL ORGANISATION OF CYCLING AS A SPORT

Especially 1.3.022 and 1.3.023.


The Jtek bar end shifter claims to work with both Nexus and Alfine 8 speed hubs, so I don't see why other shifters wouldn't.

A comment on this review of the Alfine hub backs that up: "Apparently the Shimano Nexus Inter-8 twist shifter can be used with the Alfine hub if you want to avoid endless button-pushing."


Find or fabricate a metal bracket for bicycle trailer

I'm curious about why you bought a trailer without checking that it would attach to your bike. It would be better to return it, taking your bike(s) into the shop, and get them to find something that works. You're already suffering from the sunk cost fallacy (you bought something that doesn't work and your proposed solution is to spend more time and effort on it). Will a half-arse bodge job really be better than just buying the right tool for the job? You want a bike and trailer to tow your baby daughter. Try to work towards that, rather than getting caught up in "I have a banana, a bicycle and a trailer"... this isn't a logic puzzle.

If you can find a longer QR skewer you could put a spacer between the frame and trailer hitch. Longer skewers are made, the people who make BoB Trailers sell a setup to attach their trailers to QR bikes for example. At the very crudest level, a stack of 10mm or 12mm nuts will work, but a bike shop should have axle spacers that will work slightly less badly. You should keep the trailer hitch as close to the bike as possible, preferring more spacer on the outside of the hitch.

Since you don't own any relevant tools, I think designing or fabricating an adaptor would be a bad idea. You don't have the necessary skills. If nothing else, when it fails you will be left with two objects, each of which is easy to move, but moving both of them at the same time will be very difficult. How will you wheel the bike at the same time as dragging the trailer once the hitch breaks?

Too many comments, time to edit them in:

Expecting a racing bike to fit a child trailer is a bit like asking the same of your Ferrari. Don't buy a sports car then take it to the boat dealer and ask that a tow bar be fitted for the boat you want to buy. They have completely different purposes. At least with bikes you can buy a cheap second hand mountain bike to tow the kiddy trailer and you only have to spend $100-$200 (obviously you can spend more - but again, don't buy a $5000 racing MTB)

In chat someone pointed out that if you are new to cycling, towing a trailer is not ideal, and if you care about the contents it's a bad idea. Kids move round, even babies, and add to the number of things to need to concentrate on while riding... if you're not a confident rider you may be better off with a proper load/child carrying bike.

You'd be better off with a single part spacer than washers. They will work, just badly, they will slide on each other so there will be more slop. You're increasing the leverage, making it more likely you'll break the skewer. If you have the budget a proper cargo bike will work much better than any trailer, a "long john" style design is more likely to be available and they work really well for kids. Slightly more like a "normal bike" are the long-tail designs, but they're not great for babies (we have a pile of longtail "mummy bikes" locally, as you can carry two primary school children on one).

Also, buy at least two long skewers. They're fairly cheap, and very likely to break. Carry the spare, so when it breaks you can slot the replacement in and ride home. Assuming your bike hasn't been damaged, anyway.

A search like "carry baby" here will help you get ideas of what's possible. Several of the regulars in chat (link bottom left of every page) have kids of various ages and I expect they'd be willing to help. See also "touring with little kids" and search for "baby seat" (which mostly talks about 1 year olds and over, since that's when you can start to expect them to actually sit up in a seat and not break their necks)


Mudguards can be measured in a few different ways, so different brands may vary. And it seems the SKS model numbers and names have recently changed, so some websites may still refer to the old names.

For SKS Chromoplastic, 'P35' refers to the width of the mudguard. For it to fit, the guard has to be a bit wider than the tyre, probably at least 5mm more. From the SKS website, the Chromoplastic 35mm is designed to fit a 700 x 20-28 tyre.

So for a 40mm tyre, you should look for a 50mm mudguard. Or a bit wider if your tyre is particularly wide or knobbly. SKS do make a Chromoplastic P50 (also known as 'Hybrid' size), designed for 38-45mm tyres, so that would fit fine. Or another option would be the SKS Bluemel B53, which is 53mm wide so fits 700 x 38-47 tyres.


Did SRAM change/update their 10 speed PowerLink?

The new ones for 10-speed and 11-speed are frequently single-use. I buy KMC chains and half-links these days to avoid the possibility of that happening.


All gears are going one over to the right

As Criggie said in his answer you basically just need to adjust both the front and rear derailleurs. This is well within the capabilities of a home mechanic if you know what you are doing. Trick is knowing about limit adjustments (prevents the derailleur moving too far in or out) and indexing adjustments (aligns the derailleur over the sprockets or chainrings. What really helps is a article or video that walks you through the process step by step. Park Tool has particularly good ones that are clear and easy to follow.

Rear derailleur (do the rear first): https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-derailleur-adjustment

Front derailleur: https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/front-derailleur-adjustment


Looks like a Nishiki Arrow Speed

I had one of those while in college in the early 90s.


Reduce Resale Value to Avoid Theft? (Uglify)

The first thing is to note that vibrant, brightly-colored objects are by nature more attention-getting, so I hope your bike is not bright red, light orange, yellow or bright green. I have noted that gray bikes are less noticeable and even hard to see in some conditions. Dark blue, dark gray, pale or dusty white, and brown are also favorable colors to make a bike less noticeable.

I have seen many bikers disguising their machines by wrapping the frame, or parts of it using duct tape. Some types of duct tape are less shiny than others, and some have a rather weak adhesive that won't be too hard to remove. The advantage of duct tape is that being skillful, you don't need to take apart the bike.

With bikes that have straight tubes, you can find some PVC leftover piping that you can cut lengthwise in order to make a sleeve to be inserted around tubes. Depending on the pipe fitting it can even look very cool, but the point is, PVC is very easy to paint with spray paint or many other types, so you can "uglyfy" the pipe as much as you want, but you can remove it from your bike if you want. Having more patience you can make covers for the joints in the frame and make the PVC piping fit really well so it won't be obvious that it has a cover.

As for the components, you can cover then with a lot of materials, for example I use a sleeve made out of old inner tubes to wrap the crank arms, held in place with zip ties. I made that for protection actually, but it cleverly covers also the brand name tag. This very same technique can be used in chain stays, seat tube, handlebars hubs and even brake or shifter levers. Just make sure that the tube isn't "too black" nor shiny. This material can be almost invisible in twilight conditions and cluttered environments, so almost any other bike will drag more attention than yours.

For other components, like derailleurs, shifters, levers, I would recommend to partially cover them with "hot glue" and let the glue become dirty. The hot glue won't stick too hard on metal, so it will be easily removable. There are transparent and non transparent types, I recommend the latter as it disguises branding better. Use it wisely to cover badges and the like, but don't make it get into pivots or anything. You can stain the glue with black oil, grease or dirt making it look even uglier. You can add dirt and dust when the glue is still warm.

I give this advise based on experience and what I've seen other riders do in my city. I use some of these tricks, not all of them. I personally commute on a dark blue bike that is not so shiny, and most my components are matte black or matte gray and generic (so I don't have brand badges to cover). I have left the bike unlocked among a lot of motorcycles at my workplace and nothing has happened to it without making it look like trash ;) but I can assure you that this bike is hard to see, to the point that to myself, when I'm approaching the parking lot it's hard for me to find it from a distance, even knowing where it is!

Finally a note of advice on safety: Disguising your bike and making it less noticeable is dangerous in traffic, so make sure you use bright of reflecting clothes, reflective straps on ankles, elbows, wrists, etc, a bright helmet, a bright backpack or whatever you find useful, so you are easily seen by drivers and pedestrians! You can attach the blinking lights to your backpack instead of the bike, as long as they are correctly positioned and oriented, they will serve their purpose.

Good luck with your project!


Trying to figure out which tires/tubes I can use

50-559 means 50mm wide tire, for a rim that measures "ERTO 559mm" in diameter. This is a very common size.
The "inch" equivalent is a tire for a 26" wheel, with a width of about 2 inches. Any "26 inch" tire that's about 2 inches (or 50mm) wide will fit your bike, such a 26x1.95. The difference between 1.85, 1.95 and 2 widths is not large.
You could potentially get a wider tire, like 60mm / 26x2.4 inch, and it will fit your rim, but you would have to check if the wider tire will rub on your frame or fenders. Wider tires will ride better, but be heavier.
You could also get a narrower tire like 35mm / 26x1.5, and if should fit too, but the current trend is towards wider tires. Narrow tires will ride worse but be lighter.
Tire pressure that you should use is relative and will depend on your weight and the tire size. The number printed on the tire is the maximum tire pressure not to exceed. Usually, you will run less pressure than the max. On my cargo bike I run 26x2.5 tires with a max of 60psi. I actually run 35-40psi.
Tubes will work for a range of tires and you don't need to be exact. Practically any 26 inch tube between 1.5 and 2.5 inches will work for that whole range of tire widths. So you can use a 26x1.95 tube for a 26x2.25 tire, for example. The important thing is the correct wheel size (26") and a width that is reasonably close to rhe tire width.


Sorry it doesn't look like anything particularly special.

The rear wheel is very likely a freewheel as opposed to a more modern cassette and freehub.  That means you're unlikely to find a replacement that has much bigger or smaller gears, so its hard to ride up steep grades, and its easy to spin out riding fast in a tailwind.

Fortunately it appears to have normal plastic platform pedals.  Many Chinese folding bikes have folding pedals, which are okay for gentle riding.  You shouldn't stand on folding pedals, and they have a disconcerting flex under load.

The frame looks like steel, confirm that with a magnet.

The hinge clamps look to be threadded, which is a bit more reassuring than a bifold clamp like some bikes have.

In short it looks like a loverly bike, ride it and enjoy it, and you can use busses or trains or cars for part of your journey, and then ride the last bit.


Help understanding effect of Crankarm length on gear ratios

I think the article you reference is in error. Obviously a longer crank arm gives more leverage, requiring less pedaling force to move the bike but requiring a faster pedaling cadence the pedal to moved faster around a larger circle (same angle/unit time, more distance/unit time). The rider's leg must therefore extend further and more quickly.


What tool do I need in order to remove these pedals?

Depends on the pedal exactly how to remove, but there are two main methods.
You need to look closely at your pedals and see what they have.  I've searched but its not visible on any website/review.

Wrench flats on the side of the axle allow a spanner.  These are often 15mm apart, so a 15mm open-ended spanner may work, but a proper pedal spanner (wrench) is thicker than a cone-spanner but thinner than an adjustable spanner/crescent.  They're often longer than a normal hand tool, for added leverage.  See photo:

Hex driver in the end of the shaft - this is common on clipless pedals.  The size is often 8mm or 10mm, with bigger providing more torque and also more weight saving.  A pedal thread is 9/16" or 14.3mm, so a 12mm socket is very unlikely, that doesn't leave a lot of metal.  You might find weird sizes like 9mm or 11mm, so make sure the tool has a good tight fit before applying leverage.

Some pedals have both wrench flats and a hex socket, doesn't matter which you use.
If you don't own hex drivers, then buy a decent set of P-handle ones with 2/2.5/3/4/5/6/8/10mm.  Avoid buying one tool at a time, that's the most expensive way to acquire tools.  Personally I've never been able to remove a pedal with a multitool - there's simply not enough leverage.

The single most important thing to know when replacing pedals is the THREAD is left-handed on your LEFT hand side of the bike.  So the common "righty-tighty lefty-loosy" is opposite when you remove the pedal from the non-chain-side of the bike.
And the followon is that if you use a hex driver on the inside of the crank, its also reversed.  So slow down and think before you add a lot of torque, lest the problem get worse by stripping a thread.

Reassembly/refitting a pedal:

Use grease or assembly lube on the threads.
Make absolutely sure you're putting the right pedal on the right crank, and the left pedal on the left crank
Make completely and utterly sure you're not cross-threading.  Easy to do, and will ruin the crank arm.

Further reading: https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/pedal-installation-and-removal


From what you say the chain tension is now too high.

There should be a screw that adjusts the tension of the tensioning spring. Sorry I can't tell you where it is: none of the images I can find show it. Check out these sources.

Before adjusting anything take note of the position of each screw, then find the one that you think adjusts the tension and turn it one whole turn and test the result. If it messes up something else, it's the wrong screw so turn it back again. If it changes the twitching and clicking it's the right screw, so adjust it until the it's as good as you can get it. Keep track of how many turns you make, in case you need to start again. If that happens try adjusting in smaller steps.

Edit: see also the links in this answer.


Is it worth swapping two front-wheel hubs?

"Worth it" is opinion-based, but no, probably not.

Possible, yes, but it's more technical than it might appear, and much more complex than building normal wheels, because the Bontrager wheel in the pic has paired spokes and the other does not. Normal hubs have spoke holes on the two flanges that are interleaved evenly with one another, to match the evenly spaced holes on the rim. Hubs for paired spokes have holes on one flange staggered a certain amount ahead of the other, also to match the holes in the rim. That's why your radial paired spoke wheel has spokes that still all radiate outward from the center of the hub.

If you were to do what you propose with these two hubs, you wouldn't be able to use the standard spoke length calculation formula. You'd have to do some measuring/math and rework the formula for the unusual spoke/hub angles that would result from doing this. You'd then be left with double-grooved hubs because the spokes wouldn't fall along the same path as original on either, which is never a good thing but should be avoided at all costs on radial wheels, because it sometimes makes the flanges blow up.

(Also, if it's not obvious, even if not for the issue of one being paired spoke, you'd still only physically be able to swap just the hubs and re-use the spokes if the hubs were close enough to the same dimensions, which they may or may not be, and that's putting aside all cautions against re-using spokes.)


Seat tube dents from Front Derailleur band-on. Is this gonna get worse over time?

It's fine, no issue at all on a 4130 bike. Could have been caused by putting an FD on a weird diameter tube that was close to but not quite 28.6. It's safe to ignore.


Upgrading the crankset - Scott Aspect 960

You have 2 choices: upgrade to a Shimano 2 chainring crank, keep the left shifter, or upgrade to a 3 chainring crank and replace the left shifter with a 3x version.
In both cases the crank must be compatible with '8 speeds'. Sprocket spacing in both the rear cassette and chainrings get progressively narrower as the number of sprockets goes up, and chains get progressively narrower too.
Before you purchase a crank, you need to check that you have clearance between the chainrings and drive-side chainstay. All bike frame have a maximum chainring size they can accommodate. Also check that you can move the front derailleur up slightly to align with the larger rings.
Replacing just the large chainring is not a great idea. Front derailleurs are designed to work with a certain size difference between the chainrings. If you exceed that upshifting will be poor or will not work at all.
Chainring replacement is tricky, there are many ways for rings to be incompatible with cranks. Many lower end cranks do not even have replaceable rings, the rings and spider are a single stamping and riveted together. The crank you linked to has this construction.


You're simply overtightening the valve caps. These caps do nothing to keep the air in the tube, so there's no need to do them up tightly at all. In fact most road cyclists just throw them away instead of using them.


What is the difference between Spray lubricants and non-spray lubricants?

You want a lubricant that isnt sticky. If it is sticky, dust will collect on your chain and form the gunk you are used to. This means: no oil.

In my experience, spray lubricants can be more runny than bottled, because they can be formulated to evaporate the solvents more efficiently. It seems this is because the bottle seals arent that tight and the lubricant would dry out in the bottle. This leads to the chain feeling more dry when sprayed. I spray every few hundred miles.

Some spray lubricants are available in smaller, 150ml spray cans.

The 450ml spray bottles last for years. I ride a recumbent with a long chain, and after two years the 450ml bottle is still half full.

No experience with the paraffin thing. Unchaining a recumbent is no fun.

I used to use bottled teflon based lubes, but by now I am fixed on sprayed, because it isnt as sticky, and seems to last longer. Just cheap lubes may not pay, depending on the price of the chain etc.


Weird gear ratio for a couple of seconds after crash

The crash made the chain drop from the currently selected front chainring to a smaller one (i.e if you have 3 rings and you where on the middle, it jumped on the 1st - lefmost- smaller one).

The crash didn't change any gear on the shifter though, it just made the chain pop to a smaller ring. Maybe not fully, but partially.

Afterwards cranking a couple of pedal strokes made you feel that the pedals where "moving fast". After a while though, and since the front deraileur was still in the original position (maybe middle ring), the chain moved again back to the middle ring making the gearing ratio as previous.

Dropping the chain is common in MTBs without a chain guide. What happened to you is normal.


If you're never walking on the cleats and can track-stand at junctions and traffic lights they should almost never wear out.

There is minimal wear clipping in and out. The reds are 9 degrees of float before unclipping which may increase the wear though. I use the black cleats (0 degrees) and I wear out the bottom of the cleats through walking and stopping/starting long before I wear them out from riding. In fact, I'm on only on my second pair in 4 years.


Adapter for a Shimano 7000 Crankset to BB30 Pressfit

Whoever wrote their product specs was probably confused, because "BB86.5" isn't really a thing.
You have an FSA 386EVO crank. All the bikes in this series seem to have come with them.
You probably have a BB386EVO shell.
If not that, then it's probably a BB86 shell. This would require a fancy adapter bottom bracket to work with those cranks, which would be unusual for stock parts, so I doubt it's what you've got.
The internal diameter of BB386EVO is 46mm vs 41 for BB86. Pull your cranks and put a ruler or caliper up to the shell. 5mm is a pretty big difference so you should be able to figure out which you've got.
In the likely case it's a BB386EVO shell, a bunch of companies make adapter BBs for 24mm cranks for them. The thread-together type linked is nice because it adds a natural hedge against creaking, but they're pricier than some options. Cheap reducer adapter bushings exist too, which in my opinion are a compromise because they waste space that could have been used on bigger ball bearings, and add another set of surfaces that can creak. Those could adapt your existing BB to your R7000 though, in the event it still has life in it and you want a simple installation.
If it's BB86 you just need any Shimano press fit road bottom bracket.


Yes that chainring is noticeably worn.  When comparing the two photos, focus on the top and you can see the tips lean to the right in one shot and to the left in the other shot.  Flipping between them looks like someone waving.

That, along with the slack test shows there is wear.   Since you're getting chain slip, that wear shows its time for a new chainring.

As for Aluminium vs Steel vs other materials like carbon fibre, well its all a cost/weight/durability triangle.  (the old Pick Any Two conundrum)

A related aside...  If you never ever use the inner chainring, this might be a good time to consider a 1x setup so a narrow-wide single chainring.

Personally, I've seen chainrings in much worse state, working perfectly well.  It comes down to your power, your chain state, and other variables like chainline/angle etc.


The diameter measurement in an ETRTO specification is the rim bead set diameter in millimeters. You must use a tire with the same bead diameter as the rim of it will not fit.
If you have a 622 rim you must use a 622 tire. A larger diameter tire will simply blow off the rim when you try to inflate the tube.
With regards to width, there is a maximum tire width depending on the width of the rims but the frame clearance is usually the limiting factor. See What is the maximum or minimum tire width I can fit on my bicycle.


Reoccurring Bent Axles, any reasons or upgrades?

The reason for the bent axles is primarily due to your riding a bike with a freewheel. Freewheels (as opposed to a freehub) have a length of unsupported axle on the drive side of the bike that is vulnerable to bending. That is the primary reason why freehubs were invented. As the bike industry moved more and more gear sprockets (6, 7, 8) this meant a wider cog and longer unsupported length of axle. It is amazing how many cheap modern bikes (Schwinn sold out their name for use on low quality bikes long long ago) are still using freewheels which are an obsolete technology at this point. http://sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html

Improperly adjusted or worn bearings are not considered a major factor in having a bent axle unless the bearings are very destroyed and the wheel is not working normally. Bent axles are due to load. So, you using a heavy trailer and being a larger than average rider, the axle is more likely to bend.

Get a strong well build wheel with a freehub. If you want an axle of CrMo then make sure you are getting it. There are OK inexpensive wheels for $40 so at $15 per axle replacement (excluding labour) it really makes more sense to not be replacing axles. Joytech is a cheap hub. Buy a good quality wheel that is worth >~$100 and you will save time and money in the long run.

I'm curious what you mean by "bearing was catching...just burn it up" That sounds like you may not be adjusting things properly. Maybe review some insructions on doing a hub overhaul or go down to your local recycle a bike shop for some hands on learning?

I'm also curious how you could tell specifically by the mile when your axle bent? Normally a bent axle is hard to notice unless the wheel is removed.

I find that rear wheel axles even of freehubs can be hard to keep straight. My old parallax hub with an 8spd freehub would always have a slight bend when I took it off to examine it and this resulted in uneven bearing wear. Probably due to me carrying very heavy trailer loads, passengers etc. North American bikes are often designed for sport rather than long term utility so even a tall person may be outside of the design for the bike. My solution was to get an old new XTR titanium axle that was laying around in a parts bin at a shop I did business with. Since then my rear wheel hub has stayed well adjusted :-)


Do I need better "springs" on my disc brakes?

The problem may be in in your cables. If the cables are dragging inside the housing the pads may not fully release. You can isolate the problem by disconnecting the cable from the brake. Then manually cycle the arm on the caliper. If it doesn't drag or stick after you release it, the problem is the cable. You can try lubing the cables it may help. It may also be time for new cables.Are you adjusting for pad wear with the cable adjuster or with the adjust screw on the caliper. If you are using the cable adjuster you may be pulling the caliper arm to the point of binding.


I can only say "probably not" as while I've borrowed an e-bike a few times for rides similar to my current commute, it doesn't really suit me and doesn't come close to spoiling my normal riding. Commuting is quite different to riding for fun and most pedelecs are quite heavy and handle very differently.  You may even find that your regular bike feels more nimble (though I'm basing this on uprights not recumbents).  If you're in Europe (or at least most of it) the motor is required by law to cut out above 25km/h -- which isn't very fast.  Similar rules apply in some other countries. Given stopping and starting you'd be unlikely to make your 40km in under 2 hours, which you could probably do on the recumbent under the same conditions.

A few things to watch out for:

The range isn't always as good as stated even with a new bike.  Do you have plenty of reserve  between charges?
Make sure you get a good test ride, not just 5 minutes in a car park. Many aren't optimised for long periods in the saddle and use unusual components making geometry changes harder.
Decent electric bikes are expensive.  If you spend as much as for a reasonable hybrid (call it £1000/€1000/$1000 within rounding error) you'll end up with something very heavy, with cheap components.
Most bike shops will struggle to get e-bike specific parts; I've had to hunt down spokes and motor cut-off switches myself.

You might also look into electric front wheel kits (for your existing bike).  They're certainly available for 26" and 700C wheels; maybe your recumbent has smaller wheels which might require a custom solution.  You would then have a choice of battery pack sizes as well.  If you really like the recumbent then this might prove worthwhile.


What is the benefit of fat tires on pavement?

What you're witnessing is probably a mixture of convenience and all-around-increased popularity of fat bikes, rather than actual 'benefits'

A lot of people don't have the luxury of owning multiple bikes: one for the road, one for grocery trips, one for cross country, etc. If someone only has the resources for one bike, and they chose a fat bike because they like the versatility, you can understand why they would take that bike to the store. It's easy to argue that a fat-bike can go off-road, on the snow and sand, and of course to the store. A road bike cannot do all of that.

Also, wide tires are generally more comfortable. I could shed some weight and increase my speed a little by running ~30mm tires, but I choose to run 40mm tires most weeks because they handle bumpy roads and gravel with comfort and ease.


Elastomer in bicycle trailer hitch: is it important?

A spring, of course, is just a piece of wire.
When you bend a spring, you're just bending a piece of wire.
In a perfect world, the wire would bend evenly along it's entire (coiled) length.
In the real world, particularly during sharp or extreme bends it's possible for the wire to kink.

Either way, the kink becomes a weak spot and as with all metals when you flex them repeatedly in one place, they will break.
The flexible insert allows the spring to bend a small amount on it's own before the insert comes into contact with the spring's interior. That has the effect of spreading the bending forces across more of the spring's coils ensuring the spring bends more evenly along it's length and preventing a kink.
You could try replacing the broken polymer with a length of stiff hose filled with expanding foam. It might be weaker than the original, depending on the stiffness of the hose and foam, but they're common materials and easily replaced.
Just keep in mind: you or someone else, turned the bike so sharply you snapped the original material. Try to avoid doing it again.


Electronic shifting for planetary gear hub

Rohloff has developed electronic shifting for their hub; Shimano offers an electronic-shifting add-on for Alfine. I'm not aware of any such from SRAM or Sturmey-Archer.


Yes, recumbents are good for your back, and backside.  They provide support for the length of your back, which may be as little as a tailbone paddle, or right up to your shoulders.

The longer seats generally have the option of incorporating a headrest/neckrest too.  Getting the angle of seat and neck right is significantly important in your comfort.  Getting the length of the seat back right for your spine is critical for comfort.

Storage at work becomes a problem too - depending on your workplace, it might not fit in any bike racks or sheds.   My bike storage is on the first floor (the second floor) so all riders carry their bikes up a flight of steps.  Can't imaging a recumbent making it up the stairs.  Update: I carry it up the stairwell fine.  Have to be careful going around the corners, and opening doors is a bit of a balancing act, but it works fine.

So if you end up parking it outside, there is the risk of theft and damage.

I've tried one SWB 2-wheel recumbent, and it was horrible to start with.  Took a good 30 minutes to acclimatise to the seat and the steering, and having to balance differently to a DF bike.  Getting started was a mission, so I started trying to time the lights rather than stopping for reds.

If you don't know what you want, you really need to try both a trike (either a delta or a tadpole) and a 2 wheel design.

The differences between "normal" steering, tiller steering, under-seat steering and steering wheels also need to be experienced to see which one you like the most.

Try and find a local HPV (Human Powered Vehicle) group and pop along to any event.  Recumbent riders are often happy to talk, and might give you a test ride.   Don't jut buy one sight-unseen, there are too many variables.

Finally, you probably want something with rear suspension and a padded or string seat.  There is no way for a recumbent to unweight the bike, so you will go hard into any lump or pothole that your tyres find.   This would be bad news on a sore back. This is totally true - its hard enough on chipseal, but any kind of broken ground would be a nightmare.  That said I'm using 1.25" 26" commuting tyres at 60 PSI.  Big Gooshy balloon tyres would be beneficial.


Based on the image, I will assume this is some kind of 61-63CM or XL to XXL trekking/hybrid bike. If true, no, your head tube is not unusually long for the size and type of bike you have.
You also say you want ligher. Replacing what you have with any suspension fork, but especially with a basic one, won't do that.
If you really want to go with a cheap suspension fork, the main way to handle this situation I know of would be one of the RST 300mm steerers, which to my awareness can be transplanted into most or all of their straight 1-1/8" 700 hybrid/trekking/urban type forks. (It's been a while since I've had to mess with this so I don't know the current compatibility rules in their lineup for what can and can't take the 300mm aftermarket steerers they sell; you would need to do that research to be safe.)
Otherwise your off the shelf options would be various rigid forks, which are easy to find in 300mm.


How do I prevent the rear derailleur from slipping gears?

If your derailleur is adjusted properly, and you are slipping gears, it's usually a worn chain and rear cog. Take the bike into your local bike shop, and they can help you get replacements.


Broke my fork, how can I know if another one is compatible?

Not fixable. (Or more specifically, not for anything like the cost of just replacing it even if it is theoretically fixable, which with broken magnesium/aluminum parts like this is a black hole of a metallurgy/welding/machining/heat-treating/fatigue/etc question.)

There are two layers to this question - physical compatibility with the frame and parts and whether the resulting bike will have the geometry, handling, and suspension qualities you want for your application. The nature of suspension forks is that there will probably be some degree of change in the latter area when changing models. Some riders have always chosen to dabble with choosing different travel numbers, using forks to tweak geometry, going with something heavier and more aggressive, etc. That is a big conversation and not what you're asking about, so I'll leave it alone other than to say that unless you want to change the bike pretty radically, you're looking for an all-mountain/enduro fork made for the same wheel size and with a travel number in the same ballpark (140-150). Uncompressed axle to crown dimensions are also something to look at, especially on forks with lockout, but they don't tell the whole story.

For the physical part, you're looking at steerer length, steerer type, axle type, wheel size, tire clearance, and brake mounting. Steerer length is measured from the crown race seat (where headset meets fork essentially, looking at an assembled bike) to the end of the steerer. You can get an approximate measurement on the bike by taking the stem off and running a tape measure from the crown race seat up and eyeballing. You tend to need to take the fork and ideally the crown race off to get an exact measurement you can stand by (it's all coming off anyway). Steerers on new forks come very long and are cut to fit the frame they're being installed on for all but the biggest bikes. The headset, spacer stack, and stem being used are also factors in determining fork length. A star nut has to be installed afterward. Both of these operations are easy with the right tools and easy to botch without. If you're looking at used forks that have already been cut, you're basically just seeing if they're your current length or longer, unless you're also dropping spacers.

Steerer type is going to be a key point for you here because your fork is straight 1-1/8" and most similar forks from recent years have had a tapered steerer (1-1/8" on top, 1.5" on the bottom). There is not a way of making a tapered fork work in your frame since it takes traditional external cups for 1-1/8. (There are lower conversion cups that let 1-1/8 zero stack frames take tapered forks, but that's not this bike).

You need another 26" fork, which are also fairly uncommon these days.

I can't tell whether your axle is 15mm or 20mm, but you have to get a fork that matches, unless you happen to have the ability to convert the hub. The brake compatibility part shouldn't be a problem, but you'll probably need an Avid post mount adaptor for your rotor size since most forks are now post mount. Also, your lower radiused brake washers appear to be installed in the wrong order and reversed.


'Crankshaft' if not the name of a bike component and is somewhat ambiguous (some people don't know the proper component names - no offense meant by pointing this out). You could be talking about the bottom bracket, which is the spindle connecting the cranks and its bearings; or you might mean the cranks themselves.

It's probably not worth upgrading components on an older inexpensive bike unless they are worn out or broken. Such a bike can benefit from a good servicing though.

On an older Tourney equipped bike you most likely have a bottom bracket with a square taper spindle that the cranks attach to. The bottom bracket will be an adjustable or cassette type.

On an older bike the bottom bracket may well be worn. If it does not spin freely or there is any play in the bearings it's worn (or needs adjusting). There are some guides available for servicing or replacing adjustable and cassette bottom brackets. Be aware you'll need special tools for removing the cranks and adjusting or removing the bracket. If you need to replace a cassette type (or replace an adjustable with a cassette) you need to know the bottom bracket shell with (68 or 73mm) and the spindle length. The shell width and threads are standardized.

If you are thinking about replacing the whole crank, consider replacing just the chainrings as they are the part that wears. If you really want to replace the crank you need one that is for the square taper bottom bracket. Any triple crank for square taper should be compatible.


If you aren't using many of the gears, then you should definitely go for something with a smaller range. The triple crank will give you plenty of range even without a wide range cassette. They sell 12-25 and 12-23 cassettes which may be closer to what you are looking for. I have an 8 speed cassette with a 52-42-30 crankset and I opted for the 12-23 cassette. I find there is plenty of range for climbing hills. The nice thing is that the gears are so much closer and I find that it's a lot easier to find the right gear in order to maintain an optimal cadence.


Assuming you don't have fixed gears, i.e. the wheel can roll forwards without the pedals turning, the best way to corner is with the outside foot down, and weight on that foot. The thing is that you don't have to hold this (outside foot down) position for more than a few seconds per corner. If you can pedal without trouble you should be able to hold it briefly without trouble. And actually if you're cornering at modest speeds you can hold your pedals with the cranks horizontal and avoid the ground.

I suspect that your comfortable coasting position is mostly a learned habit - I know that I habitually unweight the saddle for bumpy descents with my right foot back, for example, and don't even notice for a few minutes. A conscious effort to hold a more appropriate position is worth trying before anything else - that would be a useful start even if you do find you have to do something else.


If I interpret the images correctly, that dent is in the upper tube of a diamond frame. This tube only has to withstand pressure, not tension. (When you have a frame failure, it's usually the lower tubes that fail, they are literally torn apart.) As such, I don't think that dent is critical. I'd be more worried if the dent were in the lower tube that connects the bottom bracket with the front.


How long does it take to deflate a tube for a 26" bike tire?

I wouldn't bother removing the valve core - assuming its a schrader/AV/car valve, press something pointy into it for ~20 seconds and most of the air will come out.
If you want to roll the tube up, it is convenient to have a deflater tool, essentially a valve cap with a pin that presses the valve's stem and lets the air out.   Convenient but not necessary.
If you have a presta valve then pressing the stem with your finger works fine too.


Gravel and MTB: What film to use to protect for rocky riding? and what parts?

Helicopter tape. Underside of down tube and bottom bracket shell, plus anywhere your bags or housings rub.


What effect does changing the stem length have on my bikes handling

A shorter stem does make your steering quicker, it also enables you to sit more upright and gives more leverage on the handlebar.

The longer stem gets you more forward and in a better position for climbing but I think it makes low speed steering awkward and is uncomfortable for long stretches on the bike.

I went from some ungodly long stem (100+mm) with a flat bar to a 50 mm stem with a small riser bar on my Rockhopper and I'm much happier riding it now.  Pulling up the front wheel is much easier (and of course this helps big time with hopping/jumping).  Also riding off larger drops is easier since you it is easier to hang over the rear of the bike as well.

If you're primarily dirt jumping and free riding, I'd say go with the short stem.   Honestly the only scenario where I would consider going back to the long stem is if I decided to start doing a lot of XC riding involving lots of climbs (NO THANKS!).


Schwinn Meridian Adult Tricycle not easy to turn left. Turning right is fine

Some trikes drive only one rear wheel, so that when you're turning with that wheel on the inside, it will handle differently than when you're turning with that wheel on the outside. So that might explain it. If so, that's just the nature of the trike. Have someone hold up the back of the trike while you turn the pedals to see whether one wheel turns or both.
This trike looks like it should be driving both rear wheels and letting the outside wheel freewheel through turns. If that's the case, it may be that one of the freewheels is sticky.


How can I update the brake system on this vintage Universal La Riviera ladies bike?

The brake pads are almost certainly hardened and need replacing, and the cables probably rusted and stiff, so also need replacing. Both these items are considered consumable and relatively cheap.

Before going out and buying new ones, I would remove the cable and check the levers are free. Also check the brake calipers are opening and closing freely and spring back when released.  A spray of WD-40 or penetrating oil may be needed if really stiff, but once freed up a squirt of a light oil or chain lube will provide lubrication.  If you can get these moving then install the new, high quality pads and cables and they should work better than new.

Replacement brake levers and calipers are easy to find if you're not after exact, era-accurate replacements.  Your local bike co-op or recycle center is likely to have brakes or a donor bike.

Installing cables is best done with a proper cable-cutting tool. It's possible to cut cables with other tools (such as a Dremel), but it's probably better to hand it over to the LBS if you don't want to purchase a tool and cannot get access to one.

As suggested by @Daniel, the bike is not worth a lot, and you could very quickly end up spending more on the bike than it is worth. Before spending too much time and money I suggest looking very closely at the tires, as if original these are likely perished and in need of replacement.


Safe countries for touring (without having to take public trasport all the time) in EU?

Tricky question to answer.

Is London better because it has lots of official bike lanes, bike stop signs and bike crossings? But it also has a huge amount of traffic and lots of heavy trucks and busses in small streets.

Cambridge has little official support for bikes (it periodically bans them from areas of the city) but because there is relatively little traffic and a lot of bikes it's pretty good to cycle in.


Derailleur tension causing chain friction?

An un-lubricated chain will definitely cause losses in the drive train. Problems with the jockey wheels may also cause some losses, but probably not as much as the chain

You should properly clean the chain, sprockets and derailleurs and drive train before lubing the chain. There are numerous guides on how to do that on-line that you can easily look up.

Servicing the jockey wheels is reasonable easy and again there are guides available on on-line. The Global Cycling Network YouTube channel has a good  video.

General drive-train wear may also be an issue. so check the chain and rear sprockets for wear when you are cleaning them. There are inexpensive chain wear checking tools available such as Park Tool Company's CC-3.2. Checking sprockets for wear is more difficult as you have to examine sprocket teeth by eye. Worn teeth become asymmetrical and look like curved shark fins.

You say you disassembled the derailleur. If you disassembled the cage and took the jockey wheels out, is there a chance you swapped them around?  The top and bottom jockey wheels are different.


Bonking occurs when your body cannot metabolise stored fat (and muscle protein) fast enough to replace the glycogen reserves, you deplete the reserves in your muscles and liver, and eventually you run out of glycogen. Fat conversion requires high levels of oxygen, and is slow, so once those reserves are gone, your blood sugar plummets.

I suspect your body has adapted to your regular routine of 18 miles, after an overnight fast, on an empty stomach. You will not only have large glycogen reserves, you will have also adapted to convert fat efficiently while exercising.  Therefore, your observation of what happens for you is based on how you body responds to exercise rather than the amount of fat you have in reserve.  Additionally, 80 miles is only twice your daily commute distance (presuming you ride home), so its not a big increase over your normal weekly workload.

Even the slimmest person has more than enough fat to keep them going provided they are exercising at a level that fat conversion can keep up with. Therefore "bonking" or not is less about how much fat you carry and more about how adapted you are to endurance sport.

Another aspect of this is how fast you are riding. If you are riding at your aerobic threshold, as people who are racing do, you will almost certain bonk on an 80 mile ride unless you consume food, however, if your 80 mile ride is a leisurely pace and you can hold a conversation (implying plenty of blood oxygenation), you probably won't Bonk.

Don't give up hope of ever experiencing it. One day, it will happen. :)


Flat mount brake caliper and rotor tolerances

tldr: my road disc bike has tight clearances too and nothing rubs, so "it works for me".

Tolerances are always hit and miss, especially when multiple parts are involved like with fork/caliper/hub/spokes/rim/rotor combinations. That's a lot of parts to multiply tolerances by. There are no standards for caliper to spoke clearance besides what original manufacturer deems appropriate. Some calipers might protrude further inside than others (TRP Spyre is notorious), some do not.

Here's some personal experience: my road disc bike has less than 2mm clearance between caliper and spokes, both in the rear (Hope RX-4 caliper, post mount, 140mm rotor, bladed spokes) and front (RX-4 flat mount, non-stock fork, 160mm rotor); rotor to fork is about the same; this did not cause any issues as of yet. To compare, clearances on my MTB are a tad bigger at ~3-5mm.

  Here's my question: since I have no other disc brake bike to compare,
  is it normal to have such tiny clearances on a gravel bike?
  My original project would be using a 140mm rotor, will it rub the
  spokes when pedaling out of the saddle or climbing?

Nobody can say for sure, it depends on various factors like your weight, pedaling style, power output, frame stiffness, if rotors are true or not, how stiff the wheels are, etc. You might want to confirm that no interference happens to be sure, but I think clearances you describe are on the lower end of acceptable and as long as nothing rubs in stand the bike should be fine.


The 1/8" refers to the width of the rollers in the chain (also the width between the side plates of the links). All bicycle chains have a 1/2" pitch (length of a link) which is ANSI standard.

Therefore your Park wear checking tool can be used with both 1/8" and 3/32" (derailed) chains as it checks for stretch along the length of the links.

All info on wikipedia:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_chain


Imagine a theoretical new bare rim made to perfect tolerances with perfect uniformity of materials and construction. Without spokes, it is perfectly round and flat.
Add spokes and tension them all the exact same amount per side. It will still be perfectly round and flat.
Make it a real, good quality rim. It now has a seam that makes the radial runout repond to tension a little different in that area, depending on how the seam is constructed and how good the cuts were, and it's made of real material that has minor deviations from perfect uniformity, and it's being built by a human or machine that's not practically capable of getting all the tensions precisely the same. So instead of the theoretical rim with 0% deviation from average tension per side, this one has +/-10% per side. That's about what most good wheels are built to, and is about what it takes for a wheel to reliably live its life without going out of true, although tension balance is only one of the criteria wheel builders need to check off to achieve that. If the wheel were overbuilt for its application, it could have a less dialed tension balance and still be okay, but in most cycling disciplines that's here nor there because it means excess weight. It is possible to achieve up to around +/-5% on some rims, but in practice if we're being honest it's pretty common for seam quality to get in the way.
An okay quality machine built wheel is more like +/-15% by the time a responsible shop puts it in the hands of a customer. A lot of such wheels are going to be somewhat overbuilt from what the rider could get away with given a perfect build quality. This is about the limit of how out the tension balance can be and still be somewhat reliable for most applications. Again, note that if it's a super heavy rim and/or a dishless wheel like a rim brake front, there's fewer penalties for poor tension balance, because the low ones won't necessarily be all that loose if the overall tension is the maximum the rim can take.
Take a tweaked rim. You stack it on top of your perfect rim and you can see all the spots it has deviations from flat and round. You apply uniform tension to it, and those deviations are still there. Usually it takes a pretty bad total per side tension balance number to make it look true in the stand, and at that point you'll have either spokes that are very loose or very tight or both. Either make the wheel unreliable and prone to going out of true repeatedly and/or failing.
The ultimate corroboration of whether a messed up wheel is fixable is to carefully detension it incrementally until there is zero spoke tension acting on it, unlace it all the way if you want to really be thorough, check it against a bare known good high quality rim, and then retension/rebuild it if its issues really are minor or nonexistent. Anything beyond about a 1mm air gap laterally when viewed this way, with one rim laid on top of the other and no forces acting on it, is where I would call it toast, or 0.5mm radial dip or bump, except maybe up to 0.75mm at the seam. When you're learning, this is a good thing to do. Those numbers are conservative but represent what I would be willing to do for a customer as a shop mechanic. If I was putting a wheel together for myself out of trash or a discarded rim, probably add 50-100% to those values.
Another approach is to use a tensiometer to simply tension balance it from where it is now and then you'll have a look that way at whether the rim is damaged and how severe of a tension imbalance needs to be introduced to get it straight. This is a way of doing largely the same thing as above, but in practice for a beginner it's too advanced and too easy to make missteps.
Proper working mechanics can typically detect a tweaked rim within seconds of handling a wheel in the stand; there are characteristic spots where to get it radially and laterally true, you're forced to make one or more spokes way too loose and opposing ones way too tight and where tension balancing techniques aren't able to help without introducing other problems. Bike mechanics have a lot to do and we had all our long nights wrestling with wheels like this early in our careers. Whether mechanic #1 did enough to earn your trust on the matter before starting the "sell job" is a philosophical question, but being unwilling to go further fixing your wheel is well within their right, and not being interested in charging you to do so was them having integrity if they felt they found evidence of significant tweakage.


Why are cycle components so heavily branded?

Up until the mid-to-late-eighties bicycles were not heavily branded. Frames bore the manufacturer's badge on the front, had the manufacturer's name on the frame and had the model name on the frame. Components did bear their manufacturer's respective names, however, these were just stamped on. You could read them if you wanted to. In rare exceptions these secondary brandings were anodized on.

Then a company called Shimano came along with the innovations that were to define the mountain bike in a groupset - indexed gears, cantilever brakes and so on. None of these parts were branded as before, with a simple stamp into the alloy/steel. Alloy parts had big anodized logos, plastic covered gear levers had stickers on them carrying the Shimano name.

The success of the 'Deore XT' groupset led to the introduction lower down in the market of Shimano's 'Exage' groupset. This had even more plastic parts and lots of 'Shimano Exage' branding.

Shimano brought in practices that today are deemed to be 'anti-competetive'. They made bike manufacturers wanting to use their superior indexed gears also use whole Shimano groupsets. They were not able to mix and match components until SRAM came along with their 'GripShift' rival to index gears. SRAM took Shimano to court and thereafter got a foot hold in the market.

Until the SRAM challenge, almost every bike at a given price point had identical components from Shimano. High end bikes had 'Deore XT', lesser models had various 'Exage' parts. Due to how good indexed gears were from Shimano the competition practically did not exist. The Yen was low at the time and European brands could not compete on price, even if they could make a half-decent set of indexed gears.

With every bike being practically identical mechanically, how was a bike manufacturer to command a premium for their products? One way was to go for a better finishing kit (seat, handlebars, grips etc.) Brands such as 'Syncros' came along to offer better handlebars and they adopted the big sticker branding pioneered by Shimano rather than go for the subtle stamp of yesteryear.

Thereafter the die was cast. Even though today bikes don't have to be identikit Shimano, they have the rash of stickers pioneered way back in the days of the mountain bike boom years.


I can't comment on whether or not your bike is suitable for use on trails.

As for trail in Manchester, Clayton Vale has some blue and red routes. They're not the best trails in the world (or the UK for that matter) but they're the best you'll get anywhere near the city.

They're right by the velodrome and the Manchester City FC stadium. Here:


What other parts might need replacing if I replace an old freewheel gear set for a modern freehub cassette?

You probably have the right drop out width.
Unless it has down tube shifters you have cable routing.
The chain size must match (e.g. cassette number of gears) and chain ring width.
Your existing chain rings are probably too wide.
But I think you would be better off finding a newer used bike with the stuff you want.

If you stay with the same number of gears and get different gearing (number of teeth) you can get better climbing.


Are there any disadvantages to running a stainless steel bike chain?

Your question doesn't clearly state your criteria in choosing a chain except that your competitors are using stainless steel and you use an alternative rust resistant chain, so I'll answer generally on the assumption that corrosion resistance is the main criteria.

As far as I know there are no bicycle chains that are completely stainless steel.
You will note on the Connex Wipperman stainless steel chains that only the inner links are stainless steel, so you won't get complete rust or corrosion resistance by using them. You will still need to lubricate and clean the chain to avoid corrosion and increase the chain's life.
The stainless steel in those chains may give you longer wear, with a slight weight penalty as seen in this review.

You will have noticed from the Connex page that I linked to before, that there are a number of other corrosion resistance mechanisms including nickel and brass coatings. Other manufacturers also have a variety of means of corrosion resistance.

The main disadvantage of stainless steel would probably be the expense and possibly a slight weight penalty, although the review I linked to suggests the longer life will offset the expense for their purposes.

Overall though, there is no zero maintenance bicycle chain that I know of that is completely rust proof and maintenance free. Only a belt-drive bicycle transmission will not require lubrication and will not rust and it is claimed they will not stretch. Yet there are other issues with belt-drives, which you can research separately to this question if you are interested.


How to solve issue with self-unscrewing Praxis Convo BB for Shimano?

Check the obvious things, which are that you have the cups in the right sides, and the expanding rubber collet parts are present and in place. It may be helpful to take the BB all the way out and then take before and after measurements with a caliper to confirm that it's actually expanding as much as it should.
This problem could be caused by the frame bore or shell width being out of tolerance, by the Praxis conversion BB being out of tolerance or not doing what it purports, or any combination thereof.
Since the Praxis BB is probably going to readily fall out of the bike when you remove the cranks anyway, there is not much oppurtunity cost in this case to doing so and taking the basic measurements of the shell.
It is easy to measure the shell width from point to point and take a sampling of simple point to point measurements of the bore with a vernier caliper. That is usually sufficient to find most problems with tolerances if something like this is indeed the frame's fault, although there are some other ways a BB30 shell can be out of tolerance that need more sophisticated tools to pick up, i.e. the alignment of the bores relative to each other. Here are the official numbers BB30 shells are supposed to conform to:

It is pretty common for frames in practice to be out these tolerances. But, I also have no experience with the Praxis BB in question.
A likely way to make the bike functional is put in a normal BB30 bearing set (not a conversion bottom bracket, just the set of bearings and snaprings that numerous companies sell interchangeable versions of), use retaining compound on those if indeed there is a problem with the bore being too large, and then use the plug-in type 24mm to BB30 adapters. The downside here is you could be letting Specialized off the hook in some sense if in fact there is a problem with the frame, you're giving up on the promise of a screw-together bottom bracket to mitigate creak problems, and the bearing spacing is unnecssarily narrow for a 24mm crank, which is another nice thing about the screw-together concept. The positive is that it's likely to work and it's likely what you'll get sooner than you would a new or reworked frame if you try to warranty it through a Specialized dealer anyway. There are a lot of problems in the world right now with out of spec BB30 frames, and slathering bearings with retaining compound has become the de facto solution to many of them.
You could also try another company's similar screw-together 24mm-to-BB30 product. This would be reasonable to do if you found the problem was with the Praxis unit, i.e. you found that it wasn't expanding like it should when you measure it out of the frame. To my awareness, most of them pinch rather than expand, and so it would be hard to see them having this kind of problem.


The amount a wheel will flex will vary greatly depending on front/rear, spoke count, rim material and rider weight.

The pedalling force that drives the bike passes through the rear wheel, so it is not uncommon for carbon rear wheels to flex significantly when a stronger/heavier rider is climbing.

For an aluminium rimmed front wheel with spokes that are correctly tensioned and a rider not exceeding the weight limit for the wheel then several mm of flex are not normal.


Probably not

If you have a 10 speed 105 group it will be either 5600, 5700 or 5701 series. Looking at Shimano's archived specs from here, 5600 appears in 2006, 5700 in 2011 I believe, 5701 is in the 2014 doc.

The RD-5600 has a max rear sprocket of 27 for both short cage SS and long cage GS versions. The RD-5700 has a max rear sprocket of 28 for both SS and GS versions.  A bigger cassette would likely exceed the total capacity as well unless you have a GS which has a higher capacity for use with triple cranks.

RD-5701 SS has a max sprocket of 30, GS max sprocket of 30 with triple cranks and 32 with double, so if you happen to have 5701 GS double you'd be OK.