Can hydraulic disk brakes be incrementally upgraded?

The M395 are a pretty basic but totally adequate brake set. Their benefits (very little setup and maintenance) are also their short-coming: you really can't adjust much in terms of engagement or lever free-pull. You're not going to be able to change much to adjust the feel.

It's also important to recognize that different manufacturers' brakes have different characteristics. Shimanos are known for their binary engagement - they have great stopping power but many people feel they are either on or off. SRAM generally get praise for modulating braking power but maybe not as much pure stopping power. I don't have much experience with Magura but they are know for their setup and adjustment options. Within a single brand the models are also going to differ (a 4-piston brake has lots of stopping power regardless of manufacturer).

I wouldn't recommend trying to upgrade an entry-level brake set piece-meal. As far as options for replacements - first: are you happy with the braking performance? can you live with or adjust to the amount of lever pull or engagement? If maybe, give this set a bit of time and you may be fine as is.

I like Shimano because they use mineral oil vs. SRAM that use DOT 4/5.1 oil (it can be a little nasty to paint and other surfaces) - it's a whole different argument over which is "superior". If you stick with Shimano you can re-use your rotors; if you switch brands you may have to replace them as well.

At about x2 the price of your 395's ($35) is the SHIMANO SLX ($70). It is excellent quality for the money that has a shorter "pull" and tool-free contact adjustment (like your Maguras). I almost always step up to the SHIMANO XT ($90) which is only a few bucks more. The entire M-8000 line (brakes, drivetrain, etc) hits a real sweet-spot for me in terms of price vs. performance. If you go SRAM I'd suggest looking around the GUIDE price-point which is going to be much closer to $100. These are all per-brake prices.

Whatever you decide, replacing brakes is a job you can do yourself with only a hex or torx key (depending on brand). Brakes all come pre-bled and usually are good to go (sometime you need a bleed to remove the spongy feel). There are two exceptions: if you need/want to run the brake lines internally you'll need to remove the hose and then bleed the brake and sometimes the hose is ridiculously long and needs to be trimmed (and the brake bled). Neither is super hard but you require specific tools that the average mechanic doesn't own.

Brake upgrades are one of the best value for money things you can do for your bike. I'd also suggest wider bars and an adjustable seat post. All three upgrade the enjoyment and level of your riding!


New rear wheel to 8-speed Shimano Citybike, don't know what to look for

In general here we don't give specific product recommendations, so instead let's look at what your options are:

Replace The Wheel

Based on your question you know the spacing of the hub, and you know the size of cassette. You should be able to easily find a replacement online or at your local bike shop. You may have to chat with someone for a bit to make sure you get the right thing. The main things you need to be concerned about are either transferring or replacing your

8 speed cassette - if you do that yourself it's easy but does require a special lock nut tool and chain whip.
Brake Rotor - I don't have a bike with disc brakes, so I can't say for sure, but you would likely only need a set of hex wrenches to do that.

Or most bike shops will swap the parts for you for free when you buy the wheel.

Rebuild The Wheel With a New Hub

If the hub is truly shot, but the rim and spokes are in good condition, you can talk to  your shop about having the wheel rebuilt with a new hub. You may have to replace spokes as well if the flange of the hub sits higher or lower. Depending on the labor cost and how nice a while you would have picked above, the cost of rebuilding a wheel can approach or exceed the cost of buying a new wheel outright. But you would have the satisfaction of not contributing to our throw-away society.

Repair The Hub

It's possible that there is a simple bearing issue or some other easily repairable problem with the hub. Steps to rebuild a hub would be a different question, and if you search here you will find several posts of advice. But if you are going to the shop anyway to explore Replacing or Rebuilding, you might as well take the wheel with you and see if you can get out on the cheep with a simple repair.

As far as tools if you want to attempt the overhaul yourself, I can't see the hub clear enough in the pic to make sure, but you would likely need:

Cassette lock nut tool
Chain whip
Cone wrenches in the right size (these are flat/skinny open end wrenches)
Adjustable/Crescent wrench
Bearing grease

You may have cartridge bearings, in which case your overhaul job is simpler. But note that if the problem is the freehub and not the hub bearings then the freehub overhaul job is much more complicated.


How much do components really matter for a non-competitive rider?

Here's a little bit of information that's in contradiction to "higher end equals better"  Lower end components can sometimes last longer and be less problematic than the higher end components.  In order to shave off every single gram they sometimes have to skimp on materials.  Also, the tolerances are much tighter, and high end components can often be difficult to tune because fractions of a millimeter matter.  An 8 speed derailleur can be quite a bit out of tune before you'd notice. The same can't be said for a 10 speed.  With so many gears, there's very little room for error. 10 speed chains are thinner, and therefore stretch and break more.

Don't go for very low end stuff, because it often will be made bad, and will break faster.  But different components are built with different goals in mind.  Very high end parts are often built for racers, who have professional mechanics who can ensure that everything is tuned properly, and parts are replaced more frequently.  If you buy decent components and maintain them well, you'll get plenty of life out of them, and you'll be able to replace them when it's necessary, instead of waiting until it's too late.


Do bike manufacturers use stock/shelve components or do they have access to special parts?

Bike manufacturers generally equip their bicycles with non-proprietary common components. The components I have in mind are the drivetrain components (crankset, chain, derailleurs, shifters, hydraulic hoses and shift or brake cables). With press fit bottom brackets, some BB standards are unique to only one manufacturer (e.g. Trek's BB90, albeit this is being phased out, Cervelo's BBRight, which they seem to want to stay with). They aren't quite proprietary, in that many aftermarket component manufacturers will make BBs for those standards. In the past, all forks weren't proprietary, but this has changed substantially, and it is harder to find aftermarket off the shelf replacements.
This is changing for some components at the higher end for performance-oriented road and gravel bikes. For drop bar bikes, aerodynamic considerations are leading to hidden cables, wires, and hoses. Many high-end bikes may have proprietary handlebars and seatposts as a result. Even among D-shaped seatposts, there is no one standard geometry, so each D-shaped seatpost would be proprietary to the manufacturer and often to a bike model as well.

When looking at the specs at the Giant Roam 1 2021, I noticed some inconsistencies in the spec sheet: the rated capacity of the derailleur is not sufficient for the proposed drivetrain (46/30 in the front, 11/42 in the rear -> 48T vs 41T for the proposed RD-M5120-SGS) ...

Addressing this, I haven't verified your capacity calculations, as the Giant US website didn't specify the derailleur model and I'm not familiar with MTB drivetrains. Shimano's official specs are known to be conservative, so Giant might have exceeded them by a bit. I would be slightly surprised if they did this, but I would assume that Giant tested the setup. (NB: note that I said "assume"; I don't work in the bike industry and I don't know this for a fact.)
Wheels are a bit more complex. The spokes and hubs of wheels sold as OEM on bikes are usually not proprietary. I can name some exceptions, e.g. Campagnolo and its captive wheel brand Fulcrum use proprietary spokes, hubs, and rims, Cadex (a captive brand to Giant) has some proprietary wheelsets, etc. Higher end rims may be proprietary to a company, although you can replace a broken spoke with any spoke of the correct length (barring some unusual construction like carbon spokes (e.g. Cadex, Hunt), aluminum spokes (e.g. i9, some Mavic wheels in the past). The hubs on these OEM wheels are often proprietary as well, although  replacement cartridge bearings are almost always non-proprietary. (For loose ball bearings, steel balls aren't proprietary, but the races are a different story, as would be ceramic ball systems like Campagnolo uses in some wheels.) Barring some unusual spoke count (e.g. some Campagnolo wheels use a triplet lacing system, and some have odd numbers of holes), you could lace an off the shelf rim to a manufacturer's hub if you wanted to and you were willing to put up with the aesthetic mismatch.
Derailer hangars are proprietary to each model of bicycle, but Wheels Manufacturing does stock aftermarket hangars for most bikes. Thru axles are also proprietary to each bicycle model, but there are also aftermarket replacements (e.g. Robert Axle Project).


Rear mech cage stuck, how can I take it apart?

Get some WD40 or PB blaster and just shoot the heck out of it. Do this a few times while manually moving it with your hands and it should start moving again. Throw some chain lube in there afterwards to keep it moving nice and clean.


Changing from a triple ring Shimano Sora chainset to a double ring chainset

You won't need new wheels, but you'll need a new cassette in back. Also, I'm assuming that you've updated your shifters and rear derailleur from 9 to 10 speed? The minimum you will need to switch out going from 9 to 10 speed is the rear shifter, rear derailleur and cassete.

As far as swapping out the triple to a double you don't need a new front derailleur, but you will need to readjust it by bringing in the limit to accommodate the change from 3 rings to 2 so your chain doesn't drop inside when shifting down to the inner ring. You don't absolutely need to swap out the front shifter, but adjustments are a little more tricky as you currently have 3 clicks instead of the 2 needed. You can either limit the clicks to two or just use 2 clicks for shifting down. Be sure to check the outside limit as well. Once the limits are adjusted you'll just need to readjust your front shifting. There are plenty of instructions here and videos online that spell this out completely.

You might also need to adjust the length of your chain, so be sure to check that.


Proper lateral rear hub position (with spacers)

It really depends on the situation. You're balancing chainline, frame clearance, spoke angles, and in some cases q-factor (the distance from the pedal mounting face to the frame centerline). How you have to weigh each thing can depend on the bike and what you're doing.

It may be helpful to look at a situation where you have tons of freedom, almost too much. Let's look at the example of putting together a singlespeed road bike starting with an unbuilt standard-axle cup and cone freewheel hub, which you'll be re-configuring to run a BMX freewheel, and some square taper double cranks with all the choices you could want in spindle length.

Using a vernier caliper or rule, and measuring the best you can looking down at the hub shell with one eye closed, you make a simple diagram of the immutable points of the hub with the freewheel screwed on. Left to right, these points are the face of the left cone, the center of the left flange, the center of the right flange, the centerline of the freewheel teeth, and the face of the right cone. Mark the distances from one point to the next. (I've had bad experiences putting freewheel spacers on singlespeeds so I'm discounting their existence here.) Also measure the thickness of the hub locknuts you'll be using.

You then plug in a bottom bracket of any spindle length, put the right crank on with its chainring installed on either side of the spider, and measure what front chainline that spindle length is giving you. Then you measure the spider tab thickness, the chainring thickness, and the amount of frame clearance you have between the ring and the chainstay. Finally measure the frame spacing, aka over-locknut dimension.

In theory and usually in practice, that's all the data you need to figure out the rest.

Well put-together singlespeeds must have essentially perfect chainline, so that's your first priority. When I put together a singlespeed in this manner, usually I decide I want the wheel to be dishless (rim centered between the two flanges, so no spoke tension disparity and maximum strength due to maximum total tension). I let the q-factor fall where it will, as long as it doesn't cause a clearance problem. So the first order of business is to see what things look like to have it set up for perfect chainline and dishless at the same time. To do that, look at your diagram. If the wheel were dishless, the distance from the center point between your two flanges to the center of the cog would be your chainline. You then look at your crank/chainring/clearance data and see if you can achieve that chainline with an existent bottom bracket. Remember you measured the spider and ring thickness so you can see what each position on the crank would give you. Also remember you can use chainring spacers to fudge it up front.

If up front is good, all you need to do is set up the hub. Go back to your diagram and look at the flange-to-flange spacing. Take half of that number and add the left flange to left cone face distance. Let's call that L. Then take half of the over-locknut dimension and subtract L. From that subtract your left locknut thickness. The remaining number you have left is how much spacer you need to have on the left side. Do the same for the right, and that's your ideal hub configuration with the priorities of perfect chainline and dishlessness.

From this example you can probably see how things would change if, for example, you wanted to prioritize a certain q-factor over having the wheel be dishless, or if you only had one BB spindle length to work with and you needed to make the chainline right at the expense of the wheel being dishless, or if you were working with a built wheel and weren't able to re-dish it based on a new hub spacing or if its spoke lengths were limiting how much you could viably re-dish it. The process is the same for multi-speed freewheels and cassettes, only you get much less freedom, and in the case of cassette hubs you sacrifice wheel interchangeability once you start tweaking the hub spacing (relevant for riders that want or need to swap wheels with minimal adjustment.)

When it comes to configuring hubs, in most cases chainline is boss; it really can't be sacrificed without performance suffering so its always the first priority. The exceptions are extremely long-chainstayed bikes (like recumbents for example), where the long chain run makes it matter less, or if you have a triple and decide you're willing to make the small-small combos unusable in exchange for narrower q-factor. But there's not a lot of overlap between those situations and ones where you'll be messing with hub spacing configuration.

If one is just overhauling a rear hub and loses track of which spacers go where, it's true at that point that as long as the wheel dish was correct to start with, the spacer arrangement that makes it correct again will generally be the right one. If the wheel dish wasn't necessarily correct to start with, one will have to do some figuring.


Adding suspension forks to rigid bicycle

You can most likely switch to suspension forks without much trouble at all. The shouldn't be any real difference in how hard it is to pedal as you're still putting in the same amount of energy with the same number of turns of the cranks. The only thing i would suggest is to Stick with the Smaller Travel Forks as that will minimize the amount of difference that you notice in how the bike handles.


A month in Italy (May or June) on a bicycle - advice needed

ad 1 and 2: I'm not really aware of any completely researched cycling routes from Rome to the South. These guys (in dutch) have almost all guides that I know about. (click "Zuid europa" and then "Italië" to get to their italy selection). The "fietsgidsen" section has some books in dutch and german that are reasonably easy to follow just from the maps without working knowledge of dutch or german. They also carry a very comprehensive selection of maps suitable for cyclists. The European Cyclists Federation also has some nice routes, I don't know how far into the south though.

ad 2: The Touring Club Italiano maps are by far the best for cycling in italy.

ad 3: The train is by far the best option for alternative transportation. Italy has a pretty extensive train network. Take the time to buy tickets, make sure you tell them you're taking bicycles. Sometimes you'll have to buy a bicycle ticket, sometimes you won't, they are not very expensive. Busses usually don't have the cargo capacity for bicycles, but this may vary by locality. This looks like a good site to get an idea of the italian train system.


You need a hydraulic shifter to use a normal hydraulic disc caliper as there is a piston that moves fluid which a mechanical shifter will not have.

There are mechanical to hydraulic systems where the cable from a regular shifter actuates a hydraulic system on the caliper itself. They are usually a little more bulky looking. This would probably be your best option if you can't get hydraulic brifters but must have hydraulic calipers.

You can however use your mechanical shifters with cable pull disc calipers as you noted. This works well. You don't have the hydraulic advantage of nearly zero friction in the system. You don't get that with cable to hydraulic either but you may or may not get better modulation with a cable to hydraulic.


Can I fit a 105 crank arm (stages) to a Claris 2400 crankset?

Not a modern 105 - Claris cranksets are octalink, 105 cranksets are hollowtech.


There is no tool that I know of that solves your problem for you.

The way I solve the problem of finding out what a road is like, is to

use Google maps to find a route.
then use Street View to check the roads at important points. Of course, if the road is gravel, Street View is probably not available.
if the route is not what I want, drag the route line to another road, and check that.

In addition (I didn't know about these and haven't tried them) there's Gravel map and similar sites that perhaps could be used to see where the gravel is, so you can avoid it.


I would think that concerning the rim there must have been a misunderstanding. You should be able to run a narrower rim, and simply adjust the brakes, unless there is a reach issue with the brakes.

It's possible that the hubs on your wheels are MTB style, which have a different width than road hubs. You would still have the option of buying new rims and having them laced to your existing hubs if you are serious about running narrower tires.

That said - as a long time recreational rider/commuter - I don't see much benefit from running any tires narrower than 28-25 unless you are planning on racing (which isn't really a target use for your bike).


I got to fix it just pushing back the pistons with a plastic card. Once they are in their position there was space enough like to set the wheel and the disc brake in it.


Can I use Shimano 105 rear derailleur from 11-speed bike with 10-speed Tiagra shifters?

TLDR: no that won't work. Tiagra 4700 was introduced in 2015 (see here), so your 2013 Allez will have 10 speed Tiagra 4600 series which is not compatible with any 11 speed derailleur.
Shifters pull a certain length of cable per gear, derailleurs have an actuation ratio. Cable pulled x actuation ratio needs to match sprocket spacing. All Shimano road groups up to 10 speed (excluding Tiagra 4700 and GRX RX400 series) used the same derailleur actuation ratio so derailleurs of different 'speeds' could be mixed and matched.
At 11 speeds the actuation ratio changed, so 11 speed derailleurs could not be used with 10 speed shifters and cassettes. The newer 10 speed Tiagra 4700 and GRX RX400 series groups are said to use the 11 speed actuation ratio so an 11 speed derailleur will work with them.
11 speed chains have slightly narrower external plates that 10 speed, so there is the possibility that a 10 speed chain will rub in a 11 speed derailleur cage.


How much do you need to concentrate when using rollers?

Rollers are awesome! At least I think so. I have used both a trainer and rollers and I much prefer using the rollers. Once you are used to using the rollers you will be more than capable of doing things like watching a movie.

One of the best things about rollers is they magnify issues with your cycling form. Once you have trained enough on the rollers your body will figure it out and it will start to be second nature. It's fairly entertaining to do a youtube search for bicycle roller tricks. I don't suggest doing any of those tricks but worth a few minutes to watch and laugh.

There are several different kinds of rollers, so I would suggest learning about some of the pros and cons of each discussed a bit in another question => Should I buy a PVC or aluminum roller?


Just throwing out something I found - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpdTKzgoVGk. my apologies if this missed the mark.


How do I convert a Shimano Selecta to something more modern and quality?

I see that this is a year old, but just wanted to share in case others are still looking up the topic.

Today I replaced a Shimano Selecta with a new, cartridge style Shimano BB (note: the bike is a late 70's or early 80's Apollo Custom Sport road bike).

The weirdest part was removing the old one, but came down to three steps:

Remove both crank arms with 6mm Allen wrench (they pull themselves off, no crank extractor required!) and remove the chainring by hand.
Remove the lock nut on the non-drive side with a 23mm wrench. (I think it was reverse-threaded), then remove washers, bearing rings, cone, until the axle pulls out of drive-side.
At this point there's just the "cups" left, they kind of dish out the end of the BB shell, and then curl inside where they have a splined inside. Using the old Shimano freewheel tool (I think it's called FW30) remove the 2 cups separately (remember which side is reverse threaded!) and then give it a good swipe inside with a rag.

At this point, I went to the shop and bought a Shimano cartridge 68mm x 117 (BB shell width x spindle length) and threw it on with some grease on the threads. Of course, the spindle length will be determined by your crankset (they usually have a specific one that they're designed for) and the cranks from the Selecta will not fit, so if you went for the cheap, simple,

A few hours of tinkering, and then $15 for the BB and another $5 for a crankset from your local community exchange. I think the end result is worth it, instead of having to switch to a one-piece crank, as it leaves you with more options for future uses of the bike (double, triple chainring, SS, etc).

Good luck to all future Selecta removers. Your struggle is not in vain!


It seems that from their photos, you have the correct setup.

Structurally, it also makes sense as the longer rear of the clamp supports the part of the saddle that you'll sit on, though it would also make sense to rotate the top clamp to assign its beefier 'claw' to the front, which also undergoes a larger vertical cantilever force.

If you want to be sure, you can contact Canyon themselves. As for my opinion, I'd just rotate the top clamp for the aformentioned reasons and it'll likely be good to go.


Fluid trainer works with quick release rear axles, I have a standard nut fixie

Assuming you have the Cycle Ops Fluid 2 trainer, which is what I have, you can use it with nutted wheels.  The skewer that comes with it is just for bikes with fancy quick release skewers that don't fit into the trainer or if you have nice skewers that you don't want to scratch up.
For nutted wheels, the retaining mechanism should fit fine over top of the nuts.
Update
Thanks for the picture.
That isn't the Cycle Ops Fluid Trainer, so it looks like my previous info isn't really applicable.  Some trainers aren't designed to work with nutted wheels.  Looks like it's not only a problem with the way it mounts, but that your hub is too narrow.  The mechanism looks like it's screwed all the way in, but it's still too loose.  How much axle/bolt do you have sticking out from the nut? It looks like the part that's supposed go around the nut/skewer isn't very deep, and is probably meeting up with the end of the axle.  You could probably cut it shorter to alleviate this problem, but that's probably not an optimal solution.
There's a couple different adapters that I was able to find for using nutted axles in trainers linked below. It's difficult to tell if either one would work with your specific trainer.
Forza Bolt Axle Adapter
TACX axle nuts
Even if you do manage to get it mounted properly, it might not work that well. I mounted my fixie on my trainer once, and there wasn't enough resistance. Fluid trainers generally don't have adjustable resistance (maybe yours does) and required that you change gears to adjust the resistance. I found that the gear on my fixie (46x15, which is higher than most) wasn't hard enough to give me a decent workout on my trainer.


On my Shimano FC-6800 right crank arm, is that a QR code imprinted on it?

Its not uncommon for items to have serial numbers, to track them through the manufacturing process and out into the retail world.

QR codes can be read by cameras no matter which way around they are, compared to traditional 1-Dimension barcodes that can only be read in one direction, with some tolerances.

You're looking at a serial number for that item - if you still have your receipt it might be logged on there too.

If the QR code bothers you, you could remove it with light+gentle sanding or a solvent and touch up the surface afterward.


How do self-adjusting hydraulic disc brakes work?

I think the answer he was looking for was how they adjust as the pads get worn.  There is a check valve in the master cylinder, that will allow enough fluid from the reservoir when the lever is pulled.  If more fluid is needed because of pad degradation, it passes it into the active system.  Therefore with more fluid in the system, the piston is pushed out slightly more and the pad is the same distance from the rotor.

That is why your res. needs to be topped off occasionally.


Replacing rear hub, beginners advice required

There's two general types of wheel bearings: cup and cone and sealed cartridge bearings.

Cup and code bearings were very common years ago and are even still used on some high end Shimano hubs (dura-ace). http://sheldonbrown.com/cone-adjustment.html. These bearings are easily replaceable with minimal tools. If you have these bearings and have worn them down too much, they can damage the bearing race in the hub. In that case you'd need to replace your hub.

Cartridge bearings are more common today. (http://www.pinkbike.com/news/To-the-Point-Cartridge-Bearings-2013.html). The advantage of a cartridge bearing is that even if it wears badly, it's not going to damage the hub. The disadvantage is that they are pressed into the hub shell and require more (and expensive) tools to service.

I'd be surprised if your bike had cup and cone bearings, but the only way to know is to do a little investigation. If the races aren't worn, replacement is quite easy. If you have cartridge bearings, any bike shop can easily press out the old ones and press in the new ones.


This is normal for using different wheel sets. Not all wheels are precisely the same.

I have a similar thing with wheels on one of my bikes.

Learn to align calipers quickly it's a simple process (with wheel on):

Loosen calliper
Squeeze brakes twice
On third time hold brake in
With brake held in re tighten calliper

With practice should be about a minute a wheel.


Mounting Shimano Acera Derailleur: Supposed Gap?

I think the yellow landing is for the B tension screw to press against.  That will adjust how hard the derailleur pushes away from the cassette, essentially adjusting the gap when its at the big cog on the cassette.

Small chance that your new derailleur is for a different style of hanger ?

Do you still have the old derailleur to compare?


Should cheap suspension forks be oiled often?

Lubricating the forks wont affect performance by may increase life and preserve cosmetic looks. Cheap forks typically have a coil spring and a sealed damper unit, neither will perform any better with lubrication.

Oiling the stanchions and dust seals (by Vorac's method above) will prevent dust and water from entering the lower, which over time would cause the fork to stop working, and will help keep the stanchions from rusting.

More expensive forks are different where oil dampers can get damaged if seals are not well maintained. The oil can become contaminated (different viscosity = different performance) and leak oil. Also any metal on metal could cause scratches which would allow to leak through.


Hydraulic brake not retracting sufficiently off the disk?

You should indeed start by just loosening the caliper mounting bolts and trying to do a simple adjustment of the brake. Try to center the gap either by eye or by squeezing the lever while tightening the bolts back down, which sometimes works great and other times not at all. Tighten the bolts to about 8nm, which is firm but not super tight.

If that doesn't work, remove the wheel, remove the brake pads (careful never to touch the pad surface), clean around the pistons with alcohol and a rag, then stick a tire lever in and push the pistons firmly back in place. You've now reset the automatic centering of the brake. Put the wheel back in and re-adjust the brake. You have to work the lever a couple times until it firms up.

If none of that works, you probably have a sticky piston. If it's fixable, it's done by re-lubricating the piston seals with Shimano mineral oil.


carbon seat post to carbon seat tube - necessary to loosen periodically to prevent seizing in place?

A carbon seatpost will not freeze in a carbon tube much unlike metal to metal contact. So there is no need for the procedure you envisioned.

Using the carbon paste is highly recommended in your situation and also with metal/carbon contact. However you should never ever use any kind of grease or fat which might damage carbon components.

Consider investing in a torque wrench because it is near impossible to 'measure' the correct value with the wrist-o-meter. The recommended applicable torque is often printed on the clamp, like 3-5Nm. You should apply the lowest value first and increase the torque only of the post slips.


What is the convention for highlight colors on cue sheets?

There's no convention for it, it's entirely down to personal preference.


Sizing guide for road bikes vs mountain bikes

There does not seem to be a universal standard for bike sizing. Due to the variety of designs and geometry size will vary between manufacturers and intended use, touring, racing, commuting are all slightly different. You often hear about the importance of fit and it's relation to performance and comfort and this is where a good relationship with your LBS is key. Most brands will have a guideline to get you in a range. One brand may place you solidly on a 58cm frame a different brand might place you between a 58 and a 60. You really have to test ride several sizes and brands to see what fits. A proper fitting will take into account your geometry and the bike geometry and try to get a match. It may involve swapping stems, adding headset spacers adjusting saddle setback. These adjustments make the frame feel bigger or smaller to get you comfortable.


The big thing about this brake that differentiates it from everything else is you must not under any circumstances use the barrel adjuster to do anything but take out slack from the cable. If you use it to pre-actuate the arm, or in other words to take up pad gap, the brake stops working right. The automatic piston advancement doesn't work correctly anymore and I believe this can happen too.

This is the whole reason they have the lockout knob on the arm. You engage that, pull the cable tight, undo the lockout, and the automatic pad advancement should take care of the rest of the adjustment. The pistons will then also be able to be retracted manually when needed.

So what you should likely do is undo the cable anchor, push the pistons back in as you were attempting to before, screw the barrel adjuster all the way in to its starting point, engage the locking knob, pull the cable tight with a plier, anchor it, and then use the barrel adjuster to get any last little bit of slack out such that when you pull the brake lever, the brake arm immediately starts moving, but not so much that the brake arm's static position is away from its own starting point (you can test this by trying to engage the lockout). Squeeze the lever a bunch of times and the automatic pad advancement should make the system firm up.


Soma Wolverine: Ultegra crank with Shimano XT cassette?

The Wolverine is a road bike (or 'monster cross') not a MTB. The Soma web site says that the rear spacing is 135mm, I assume the BB shell width is 68mm. If that is the case you can run a Shimano road crank and road chain-line.

Compatibility between the crank and cassette is not what you need to deal with. Presumably you are either thinking of installing an MTB drive-train with an Ultegra crank, or a road drive-train with a MTB 11-42 cassette.

An MTB front derailleur will have trouble with a road 50-34 crank. Most road derailleurs will not handle a 11-42 cassette.


Panasonic/Tange brake cable guide removal and replacement

This is going to be hard work given you want a bare frame.

If it were a simple swap of cables, you'd feed the new outer onto the old inner, and pull that up.  The new outer would follow the end of the old outer, and it would find the top exit hole because its on the old inner wire.

Once the new outer is in place, you whip out the old inner, and then feed the new inner through the new outer and connect like normal.

You basically don't know if the outer that passes through the frame is encased in a guide tube of some description, or if its just bare in there.

The only way to try this would be to hold the outer at one exit point and try and shove more outer in at the other exit point.

If there's a constraining tube it will be impossible to push any more outer into the tube.
If there's NO guide tube in there, you should be able to push several centimetres of additional outer into the tube where it collects in a mild corkscrew shape.

Finally - it might be a good excuse to go buy one of those endoscope cameras... I've wanted one of them for a long time but never had a justification.   You could whip out the headset and look along the tube to see what you see.


Why is one cruiser easier to pedal than the other?

-brakes rubbing?
-quality of the tyres
-quality of the bearings


How much steerer tube length do I need on my suspension fork

No, there is no way to look up the lengths of tubes. According to quick web search, both bikes have 1 1/8 threadless headsets, so that is the diameter you should shop for.

What you can do is measure the head tube of the frame, add a couple of centimeters for headset, around 5 centimeters for the stem and room for enough spacers to get the handlebars at the height you want.

Typically threadless forks come with very long steerer tube to fit the largest frames, and you are supposed to cut it to correct length yourself. When in doubt, leave some extra length and fill it with spacers until you are sure that you want to keep the bars at lower height.


road bike - how to choose chainring (crankset) and cassette size?

The main reasons your combination is avoided are as follows:

It would require a long cage derailleur. The maximum a Shimano short cage derailleur can handle is 33 teeth, and your combination would require 37 teeth. Long cage means extra weight, wind resistance and cost, none of which the manufacturer wants.
34/28 is already extremely low. Not many people who ride racing bikes need gears lower than that. Compare that until few years ago, the standard used to be 52/39 and 12-23.

Of course, since you are building a custom bike, you can just order a long cage derailleur and build what you want.


Climbing techique with panniers and cleats

One thing that may help a lot is shifting some load weight forwards.  In other situations I've found that a surprisingly small amount of weight shifted from behind the back axle to the front forks improves handling a lot.  For example rather than mounting a D lock behind a child seat, I put it on the front forks. That's something like 1% of the total weight, or 4% of the non-rider weight.

This may lead to a bar bag, bar/fork-mounted bottle holders, or front panniers, though I'm trying to avoid the latter (as it seems are you).

Even loading differently within the panniers might make a difference.


Well, the freewheel/freehub is frozen, apparently.  Generally nothing to do but replace that component (repair is possible but difficult).

But there are two other possibilities:

Look between the big gear and the hub to make sure there's nothing (eg, a pebble) jammed in there.
The nuts on the axle (including some you can't see) may have somehow become overtightened.  You can try loosening the nuts you can see and see if that improves things, but you might as well take the wheel to your local bike shop since they have the tools to take it apart and know how to adjust it.


How to adjust SR SunTour M3020 AND product manual

The entry level SR Suntours don't have a lot to offer as far as adjustability. I think most of the lower level ones such as the one you have are preload adjust only. Some may not even have that. Basically if it has a knob on the top of one of the legs turn it all the way to the right. Squish the fork a couple times, then turn it all the way to the left and do the same. That is your range of adjustment, this will change the "sag", which is the amount the riders weight alone makes the suspension dip, it should be set to about 15 - 30% depending on conditions and preference, find what suits her best.

Unfortunately mushy perfectly describes SR Suntour's entry level product. I'm pretty sure the stanchions are just filled with mashed potatoes and sent out. They work for small bump compliance but that's about it. Although there is a big step from the M series to the XCR & XCT series, they are by no means great forks but they seem to be a lot more fine tuned than the M series. You can find one for about 100 bucks in the states.


It certainly doesn't look healthy to me. I'd recommend getting that check out professionally by someone with experienced in carbon frame repair. Better that than it snap later on you.


What is a good formula to translate a Google Maps cycle time estimate into a reasonable trip time for very long distances?

That is a reasonable estimate, however there is more to it than that. First of all, you are not going to be cycling the way you would drive, i.e. on the Interstate. For your particular plan you are most likely to be wanting to follow Highway 1 up the coast. This road is bicycle friendly whereas the Interstate is not. This comes at a price - more miles and more hills.

If you look at Highway 1 you will notice that it passes through some areas where nobody lives. The Big Sur coast down to San Simeon is rather remote, and, if you are looking for somewhere to stay over in that stretch then there are not a lot of options. Obviously San Luis Obispo and Monterey have motels, youth hostels and camp grounds to choose from so you need to do that stretch in a day.

Pushing on from Monterey into San Francisco is doable in a day if you are fit, however, you might kick yourself later for not going round the aquarium in Monterey or not having a snoot around Santa Cruz. Therefore you may want to stay over in Half Moon Bay where there is a Youth Hostel in a lighthouse. Staying there obviously means you have a manageable trip into San Francisco and you will not have to arrive there in the dead of night, as you would if you had cycled 'robot style' all the way from Monterey.

I would recommend that you budget seven days and base your individual daily rides on where to stay. You also need to bear in mind that lots of cyclists ride the entire Pacific coast route so, if you stay over in a cyclist-friendly place en-route, you may find yourself meeting up with others that are taking your exact same route. They may have started off in San Diego and have already found their cycling legs, they may also appreciate having you for company, particularly if you can set pace up hills or do turns at the front to give them a slipstream. You then might prefer riding with them and decide to do the route with them all the way, throwing your existing plans out of the window.

I advise that you buy the map of the route from the Adventure Cycling Association. This will provide you with the information you need to make the most out of your ride, that is if you are doing Highway 1. That includes bike paths, where there are good places to stay and where the nearest bike shops are.

http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/pacificcoast.cfm


Does ideal cadence depend on a rider's weight/size at all?

Individual "ideal cadence" is probably more closely related to muscle composition and comfort than it is to size.  While someone could probably "maths out" an ideal cadence for a rider based on all the variables necessary (height, weight, power, muscle composition, etc), that won't matter one whit if the rider has spent the 2500 hours over the last 3 months practicing at a different cadence that they are now comfortable at.  Riding is largely a practiced unconscious act (spinning) that is developed over time.  Making major (or even minor) changes has the potential to ruin the whole unconscious part, making the act tedious and draining and overall less efficient for an individual.  Developing the unconscious act of riding with pedal drills or cadence drills is a difficult task that most recreational riders don't have the time or patience for.


Yes you must get something like a strap to hold the bikes in place. Something that you can tighten down to retain the bike and will not loosen. Nylon webbing straps with a tensioner are usually supplied with the rack when new.

A bike lock could do double duty in retaining and securing the bike, but something that can be tensioned is preferable. Consider a strap and a lock for true zen-like peace of mind.

Bikes on these kinds of racks are surprisingly stable, but must be secured; when transporting anything on our vehicles we must ensure very little can go wrong.


We've tried at the local bike coop, and nothing really works.  A shim or boot on the inside helps but putting anything on the outside won't last.

Even using rubber cement and a puncture plug (like a car tyre) doesn't stick very well because bike tyres are not very thick, so there is insufficient "meat" for the plug to bond to.  If you make the plug longer, it becomes a spike aimed at your tube and pressing in every rotation.

Prevention is the only option, and that's not always a viable answer.

Narrower tyres could help too, you're sweeping a thinner ribbon of roadway with your rubber.

Someone else might like to comment on tyre sweeper wires, but I've never used them and to my mind the damage is already done once your wheel has ridden over the sharp thing once.

Later: I have successfully extended the life of a holed-tyre by adding a boot on the inside of the tyre using one of those horrendously thick patches that we all seem to have but dislike using on tubes.

The trick was to invert the tyre, and buff the inside very well with an abrasive like a file intended for buffing the tube.  Otherwise I treated it like a normal puncture repair.

The only ordering change was to return the tyre to its conventional outside-outness after applying vulcanising fluid and while it set-up, and before applying the patch.  I also used the biggest thickest patch I had.

I do not recall if I attempted to add a second patch diametrically opposite the wheel to offset the weight, might be a wise plan.

If your hole is under 2mm in diameter, give it a go.  Your only loss is a patch and some fluid, and your time.   If the hole is bigger than 2mm then sorry, its new-tyre time.


Shimano cleats, Exustar shoes: Which bolts to use?

Measure to make sure they are long enough. If they are too long, screw a nut on then cut it with a metal saw at the right length. Use a file to make it smooth then unscrew the nut to make sure the threads are nice and clean.


Why is there a gap between my crank and bottom bracket?

Space for squirm, plus tolerances.

Firstly, cranks are made in many different shapes and styles, and not all are the same thickness.  So some slack is left to allow for this.   Imagine how annoyed you'd be if changing cranks meant a new BB cartridge or axle?

Secondly, modern funny-shape crank/axle joints are less prone to this, but a square taper fitment would creep further onto the axle over time.  The more times the crank was removed, the further the crank can move up the square taper.  We're only talking fractions of a millimetre.

So if your previous crank was original on the bike with the bottom bracket, they may have been better matched and the gap could have been smaller.

No you don't need a spacer - the axle does all the load bearing by itself.  A spacer would simply add to friction and weight and provide no benefits.


Does anyone still use the old Brooks-style saddles?

Yes, people still use them and swear by them.

I've seen them for sale in most of my local bike shops. The breaking-in thing (that they mold to your backside over time) is the big feature that everybody who uses one seems to love. They're very popular amongst the touring crowd, especially the B-17. Yesterday, I was volunteering at a huge road ride event and even saw some Brooks saddles on fancy new carbon bikes (though I think that was one with titanium rails).

Brooks' Website - where you can find out that the design dates to 1882 and that maybe part of why they seemed to somewhat go away and then resurge was that they were part of Raleigh and are on their own now...
Velo Orange's copies of Brooks saddles
Cardiff another company making copycat saddles


The easiest way to find the correct length is to measure the existing spokes. Note that the front and rear typically use different lengths and rear has different lengths on left and right side. If there is a disc brake in front, the different sides may have different lengths too. The nipple threads are usually same size, but the middle of the spoke may be thinner, again the easiest way is to use a vernier caliper to measure the thickness.

Shopping questions are frowned upon here, so I'll just leave a hint that spokes are available in most specialized bicycle stores, both online and brick and mortar. You can sure find one.

Replacing the spokes is not very advanced skill but takes some patience at first. There are many instructions online, read at least one set before doing anything and decide whether this is something you want to attempt.


Why don't bikes by auto manufacturers make it into bike shops or onto the streets?

The simple answer is market forces. Most bikes done by auto makers are built as an add on to a vehicles' sport package.

They are not manufactured or offered to bike shops at all. This tactic can be quite effective. Look at the VW Jetta Trek, or the Ford/Kona partnership.

The problem is that they are generally very basic bikes, offered at a much higher price than the value of the bike.

In the Ford/Kona case, it was a 500 US dollar bike offered as a 3000 dollar add on with the car.
No reputable shop will do that.

The Jetta Trek was a very similar package, but it was a $5000 add on and included a Thule rack for the car.

Mercedes' offerings are a piss poor design, offered again at a ridiculously high price, although they at least have the excuse of a unique in house design and low production numbers to blame the price on, since they didn't just rebrand a cheap bike shop bike.


Why don't Tour de France riders always ride their TT bikes?

There are 2 good reasons for this.

First, a TT bike is the most efficient machine for flat, fast course racing, where there are a minimum of hills. It is not the most efficient machine when it comes to climbing. The body position is far too aggressive for even professional athletes to use in a non-TT style event. A bike with more a more upright body position, a more stable weight distribution, a lighter frame, and far, far lighter wheels, is a more efficient choice for that style of ride.

Secondly, a TT bike sacrifices bike handling for that extreme power and aero efficiency. The TT stages are controlled events, where there are either one rider, or one team on the course at a time, and so limitations on stability and handling are acceptable. Take the same bike in a 150 rider peloton, where riders constantly jockey for position, and where even on a stable bike losing focus for 1 second can cause a major crash, and all of a sudden, those same sacrifices in bike handling and stability are no longer a benefit for the rider or the team. They become a hazard to the team's chances of winning. And not just for the stage or the day, since a bad crash can take a rider out for the season. Or God forbid, permanently.

For these reasons, the UCI has seen fit to ban the bikes in non-TT events, in order to ensure rider safety. And for once, their decision makes sense.


Should I get an air sprung or a coil sprung rear shock FS mountain bike?

You're mixing up two different concepts.

The damper, which is what slows things down.
The spring, which is what holds the weight and absorbs shocks.

The damper is usually hydraulic, oil being forced through a small hole.
The spring is either a coil or pressurised air.

Without a damper, you'll have a very bouncy ride and without a spring, you'll have a very stiff ride. The 2 work together to provide a nice ride.

Also, those 2 bikes target different styles of riding.

The Slash is an Enduro bike and the Voltage a Freeride bike.


Low-profile button-cap socket screws do have a design weakness. The button reduces the amount of material around the head and the recessed hex or Torx socket also does the same, exactly at the interface of the screw body and head.
In this zoomed in portion of your larger photo, you can see just how little material connects the head to the rest of the screw:

You have to be careful with following the torque recommendations with low-profile heads, especially if you're using a torx bit in a regular socket wrench. As a side note, this is a great guide for bike component torque specs. Rotor bolts shouldn't be overtorqued -- and need to be torqued to the same amount -- to prevent the rotor being warped.

Two things you can do:

Torque wrenches are cheap and you should have two: one low-range (<11 Nm) and one high range (20-6 0Nm).  Beam-type torque wrenches are more accurate than uncalibrated, cheap clicker-type torque wrenches. In terms of the low range, many automotive torque wrenches don't read low enough for bike componentry, especially carbon frames. Brake rotors are supposed to be torqued only to 6.2 Nm for Avid, 2-4 Nm for Shimano. This is a cheap US$25 wrench that goes from 2 to 10 Nm (88 in/lb, you have to do the imperial correction manually). It's great for the smaller components on bicycles or for carbon frames. I used it for my own recent disc brake upgrade.

If you can  find a Torx or hex screw where the threads don't go up all the way to the head, it's a bit stronger. But you have to be careful that this doesn't limit the depth of material that is being retained. Disc brake rotors I believe are 1.6~1.8mm thick when new so you should only have about 1.25~1.5 mm of unthreaded shank. This one is too long:

Note that you may not be at fault. The drunken lemur who initially assembled your hub and rotor might have applied too much torque at the factory, fatally weakening the screw. So when you redid the brakes, you were working with a weakened component.

As an addendum, even though button cap screw heads are inherently weak, the zoomed-in photo at the top and here seems a bit extreme in just how little material there is -- the torx socket seems recessed even further than normal. So don't rule out a manufacturing defect in the screws themselves... although one also shouldn't rule out that it may be a design feature and not a bug -- designed to prevent you from overtorquing the rotor bolts and warping the rotor.


I have never build BMX wheels, but used the TM-1 a lot. There is no need to really center the meter on the spoke. The meter functions on the principle that if you apply a force perpendicular to a beam at the center of two support points, the deflection is dependent on the applied force F and on the force pulling in the axis of the beam, on the distance L between the support points (about L^3 ; L= 105 mm for the TM-1), on the beam diameter (about D^-4) and on the elastic modulus of the spoke material. The length of beam outside the support points is less important (except less than 5 mm).

You can check this by taking a common 28" bicycle wheel and take readings while moving the TM-1 from close to the nipple to close to the spoke cross.


Convert MTB mechanical disk brakes to hydraulic

Worth reading, not a dup - What is the difference between I.S., post, and flat mount disc brake mounting standards? -

The calipers are (mostly) standard mounting, its the mounts that determine the size of the disk used. Therefore you can 'just' (that infamous trivializing adjective) buy a new set of brakes, bolt them on and start riding.

When buying, you can buy prebleed brakes ready to bolt on with hoses attached. This is easy but the hose length is usually a bit too long - however no bleeding is required. Its possible, in theory and if done with care, to shorten the hoses without needing a bleed the brakes afterward.

If you go with pre bleed brakes, be sure to get the correct 'handedness' of the levers. Different countries have the brakes on different side, the front brake will have a shorter hose and rear brake a longer hose.


What is the name of this small component inside Shimano Tourney STI

This part is officially called "cable hook" and "cable hook unit" in Shimano docs. See attached image (I won't link it because the PDF is not hosted by Shimano) and this document (page 7).


How practical is an unicycle on uneven surfaces?

If the word "practical" ever enters your vocabulary, then you really have no business messing around with unicycles.

Unicycling over rough terrain can definitely be done, but it ain't easy.


What tools are required to replace a spoke?

A spoke wrench is required, the stand and tension meter are optional but can make your job easier. You can use the frame of your bike and the brakes if you have rim brakes as your truing stand. If you have disc brakes you can use wire/zip ties wrapped around your frame tubes and poking toward the rim then trimmed to measure true (assuming the wheel is aligned in the frame.)

If you are replacing a spoke on a rear wheel you will likely need a lock ring remover and chain whip to remove the rear cassette.

Note that each time you break a spoke, the others become a little more fatigued, and a little more likely to break. Over time you may find yourself breaking spokes with more frequency. My rule of thumb is that if I've broken 5 spokes on a wheel I get it rebuilt, or at the very least professionally trued and tensioned.

Like most things the late Sheldon Brown is a great resource as is http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/wheel-and-rim-truing.


The difference in weight is there, but hasn't really been significant for the last few years. Scott, for instance, is building a complete, disc brake hardtail with a 4" travel fork. Bike weight: 7.45 Kg, or roughly 16 lbs. That's 2 lbs less than my road bike.

The weight comparison only becomes truly significant when you look at more basic bicycles, i.e. the $600-1500 market, because the cost penalties for premium parts, like truly light weight disc brakes and hubs, don't allow use in that market.

If you are looking at an aftermarket upgrade, expect to spend $1500 on new wheels and brakes, and often more, for quality, lightweight kit. The weight penalty has gotten down to only 50-100 grams in most cases, between a bike built with a high quality disc setup and a high quality V-brake setup.

In my opinion, the advantage in brake modulation and power, not to mention consistency in all weather conditions far outweighs the the addition of a few grams. No pun intended.


Reinforced pin replacement with a missing/quick link

You are correct, the pins have an interference fit in the outer plates only.
When a regular pin is forced out the hole in the outer plate is enlarged. The reinforced replacement pin has a slightly greater diameter than the regular pins and so forms a interference fit in the outer plate again. This is why you cannot replace the reinforced pin.
If a outer link with a reinforced pin is replaced with a quick link the deformed outer plates are discarded.


Why haven't Shimano or SRAM internal hubs had as many gears (or as much range) as Rohloff?

There are a couple of likely reasons IMO.

First, Shimano don't make anything like a Rolhoff and that's intentional. Shimano market strategy is all about mass sales to bike manufacturers, and expensive, complex IGH are not part of that. Even their spare parts - those sales are not a huge profit centre, but they do take a lot of staff time (even though their staff supply wholesalers). Their whole importer/wholesaler/retailer supply chain works like this, it's about supporting the sale of new bikes.

Whereas Rohloff stock spares for everything. Ring your Rohloff importer and ask, they will almost certainly go out of their way to help you, because that's the company ethos. But then, Shimano sell more top level groupsets than Rolhoff sell hubs. Rolhoff have chosen a market that Shimano ignore: the "buy it once" market. Few sales, at a small price premium. But loyal customers.

Second, the engineering is hard. This is not simple commodity manufacturing. Rolhoff make the machines to make the parts to build the hubs.  They also have a really smart IGH designer who has been working on this one thing for twenty years. Shimano would have to put one or more of their really smart engineers on the design for a couple of years too. Instead of those people working on products that might actually turn a profit.

Note that you can't just copy a Rolhoff or any other complex machine. What goes in to the process is not what comes out. For, say, a gear, they start with a blank. How big? Only the maker knows. Then it's machined, with a special gear-cutting machine. Do Shimano have a machine that can make this gear? Maybe, maybe not. But they definitely don't know the exact  design dimensions and tolerances. Then it's likely heat and chemically treated before final machining/polishing. Again, the details are important but you can't work them out from the final product.

Finally, given shitmanos reputation for briefly making short-lived crap, the Rolhoff market is going to look at a $1000 14 speed hub from Shimano (or 15, 16 etc) and say "how long is the warranty" and if it's the standard shitmano two years... They're going to snigger. Shimano would have to work hard to convince customers that they're even capable of offering a competitive warranty to the Rohloff one.

(I have owned a Shimano 8 speed hub... It failed after 5000km. Three times. So arguably 3 of them. After the last failure it couldn't be fixed because Shimano didn't support that model any more. A new wheel would have cost about a third as much as a new Rolhoff-equipped wheel. If I was stupid enough to fall for that trick again, anyway. By contrast, I have a low 5000's serial Rolhoff - 16 years old - that has been cheaper per kilometre and obviously much more reliable. The two hubs are not even trying to do the same job, except in the very broad "both are bike parts" sense.)


Unable to get into a 'TT' position, is my bike fit wrong, or am I just fat?

A bike fit is not intended to make any position you can adopt on your bike work.

If the bike fitter did their job correctly, then would have set you up for your current level of flexibility, strength and desired riding style. You say you are 'very comfortable', presumably in the position you ride in most of the time, so the bike fit should be good.

If you have only been cycling regularly since the summer, starting from less than ideal physical condition, I would not be at all surprised that getting into a slammed position on the bike is going to feel pretty horrible.

The good news is that you can lose weight and improve strength and flexibility over time, and you will be find it easier to adopt a more aggressive position.


Why does my front shifter take so much effort to get into 3rd?

It is difficult to say without physically seeing the bike and the integrity of the cable to the derailleur. One thing, I can think of is that there could be too much slack in the cable, which is why there is the need for an extra push. However, with a triple chain ring if you have a good shift from inner to middle that perhaps is not the case.
Also to go from the inner to outer chain rings you are putting tension on the cable, which is why you feel the effort more as you go from inner to outer chain rings.
I will say on my road bike and a long time ago on a kids mountain bike with triple chain rings I do recall when going to the largest chain ring it was not like a click + shift, but a longer push and shift similar to what you are describing (i.e. I shifted and had to almost push the shifter more to put enough tension on the derailleur to move into the new chain ring).
Most local bike shops will be able to do a quick safety check on the bike and perhaps can tell you if it is normal. That is probably where I would start.
Hope that helps.


From what I remember (it's been a while since I've torn one apart), the "up" shifts on SRAM shifters are a mostly passive affair. You click the trigger, and this essentially gets a pawl out of the way of a spool inside the shifter which holds the cable. This spool unwinds one "shift" worth of cable due to the spring tension on the rear derailleur pulling on the cable. The rotation of the spool is stopped by a sear of some sort which catches the spool when the trigger is depressed, and resets when the trigger is released.

The only "hack" I could imagine is to remove or modify that sear, but more likely than not, what would happen is you'd down shift as normal, but pressing the up shift trigger would immediately release all of the remaining cable, shifting you from wherever you are down to the smallest cog. Which sounds completely miserable to me.


Tightening steerer expander/compressor and spacer positions with a carbon fork

how is it possible that it was completely loose?

It's impossible to tell.  Since the compression plug really doesn't do anything other than hold the stem in place until the stem's pinch bolts are tightened (it's the stem's pinch bolts that hold a bicycle's fork in place), it's likely that the compression plug wasn't assembled with sufficient torque to remain tight.  Given you stated, "I only remember the cap was very loose once soon after the purchase."  I'd say that's a very likely cause, although it's really impossible to know for sure.

  Another point is that the referenced manual recommends a 2 mm spacer above the stem. There is no such spacer in my setup, nor there is one in other pictures of bikes of the same manufacturer. There is a 4 mm spacer below the stem. Should I move it above the stem? Is it connected with the fact that the there is no gap now at the upper pinch bolt?

That's almost certainly direction from the manufacturer intended to ensure the steer tube isn't cut too short.  A spacer above the stem allows the steer tube to extend above the stem, ensuring the steer tube/stem interface is strong and stable.  If the steer tube is too short, the stem might not have enough length of steer tube to grip to.  If the steer tube is too short, the top portion of the stem's clamp won't have anything underneath supporting it, making the stem clamp prone to failure through distortion and cracking.

From the looks of your stem, if the steer tube has been cut so that it's only a mm or two short of the top of your stem, you should be fine.

But take the cap off and look, because it seems as if whoever assembled your bike didn't properly torque the stem cap and may not have put the dust cap in place.

If the steer tube is cut so the it ends below the level of the top bolt, I'd definitely say you need to remove the spacer from underneath the stem and lower the stem.  I personally would lower the stem if the steer tube doesn't clearly extend past the level of the top edge of the top pinch bolt so that it's very close to the top edge of the stem clamp itself. A steer tube that long means the pressure from the top pinch bolt can't collapse the stem's clamp. (Well, without the pressure being enough to collapse the steer tube too - don't overtorque it!) But I've seen steer tubes cut a bit shorter than that and not present any problems.

You may have to loosen the stem's pinch bolts to get the stem cap off to look.

  Is [the dust cap] important for keeping the dust out of the headset?

No.  It just keeps debris/dirt out of the hex head.  The cap and bolt will keep dust out of the headset.  (Or not - the gaps necessary to allow the fork to rotate will allow dust/dirt in to some degree in any case.)


27" x 1 1/4" back flip flop wheel or track wheel(rear)

The critical measurements are that you have to match the rim diameter to your brakes, and the width of your hub to whatever your frame needs.

A 27" wheel may be several different sizes.  Its best to use the ETRTO number which is 622-xx for a 700c wheel and 630-xx or 635-xx are nominal 27 inch.

So your existing tyre/tube will fit because the new wheel's rim has to be the same size as the old one.  Nothing else will do unless you want to risk needing a brake replacement.  If you have disk brakes then its a little more forgiving, but still not a good idea.

Also the new rim's internal width should be pretty similar to the width of the old rim.

If your existing rim's okay then you might choose to replace the hub and rebuild the wheel.  Its possible you need shorter/longer spokes at this point, and there's certainly no cost saving over a complete wheel if you can find one.


...why do male cycle commuters outnumber females?

Oddly the well publicised bike counts down here don't seem to be quite so free with their results.

I did a bit of counting back in 2001 and got about 20% female cyclists. Fewer on major roads, more on bike paths. 1300 cyclists over 3 months in a perimeter count (because the official stats only counted 5 major entry points). Interestingly despite the compulsory helmet law only 74% wore helmets (I didn't count "helmet on handlebars" as wearing a helmet).

In Melbourne there are stats here, the "cycling to work" and "cycling in Melbourne" pdfs. First graph shows approx 25% female, and in the outer suburbs mostly under 20 years old, with a broader peak in the inner suburbs (interestingly, fewer school age kids than the suburbs)

and a second chart showing that as cycling percentage goes up so does the proportion of female cyclists - women are more likely to ride if a lot of men do.


Just estimating from the picture it could be late seventies early eighties
I see similar bikes for sale at around 150 €
With a bit of effort it coud be turned into a robust, efficient commuter, but it is not worth too much as antique. The frame is the best part, but equipping everything else new might get expensive. But the front wheel doesn't look that ruined, you could put new spokes. A thorough cleansing and lubing and new cables and that and the bike could go as it is. I'd put wider tires but that could be a problem with the fenders. Also old brakes like those can be weak, so that could prove a necessary change.


Best option to upgrade 7-speed bike to higher gears

Adding two or four teeth to the largest chainring will not improve you high gear very much.  Right now your highest ratio is 48/14=3.429.  Going to 52 will get you to 52/14=3.714, which is not much of an improvement.  It is better to focus on the rear, where 48/11=4.364

Going to a new wheel set you need to check that the wheel is the proper width for the frame.  The space between the lugs might be 126,130, or 135 mm.


How long is the life cycle of a bicycle?

Let's try to steer this into some kind of sensible question with the perspective as seen from a typical bicycle shop workshop and what is on the road.

In a bike workshop you can find yourself working on bikes that can be up to fifty years old with a large quantity of them being more than ten years old. Some of these bikes have not been out of the garden shed for the last five years and have suddenly came into use because the owner's son or daughter has started riding.  Therefore this question very much depends on how often the bike gets an airing, how it is stored and how much it gets maintained.

For the person using their bike every day for commuting, the lifetime of the bike is an economic question. After five years or so, even with brake block changes, new cables, maybe the odd new set of sprockets, new tyres, replacement chains and plenty of t-l-c, the bike will suffer all-over wear that costs almost as much as a new bike to put right. Wheel rims will wear through, saddles will get torn,  bits of 'Shimano plastic' will go missing and the whole drive-train will get worn.

Fixing these problems will typically necessitate another round of consumables, e.g. chain, cables, brake blocks and tyres. All of these are more expensive as spares that you have to put time into fixing or pay a shop to fix. Meanwhile, at OEM prices, pre-fitted to a new bike, a better deal can be found. The existing bike has 'depreciated' to become a liability much like how an old car does.

If you look at the cars people drive you will notice that there are not too many 'Ford Cortina' models on the road. (UK) There are not too many 'Ford Sierra' models on the road either. Yet, there was a time when every other car was one of these models. There are one or two of these left and you do see them once in a blue moon, so clearly it was possible to service them and keep them on the roads forever. However, that did not happen for 99.9% of these once popular Ford cars.

Now have a look for what people actually ride. There is a reasonable selection of twenty year old models on the roads used by people on the commute or taking the dog for a walk. However, depending on where you live, the majority of bikes are recent, i.e. less than ten years old. Half of those are very new, less than three years old. Most of these 'daily riders' are well on their way to being used up as a 'mechanical resource'.

As for your point 2), in the UK many bikes get abandoned by their riders when they take up driving. Before people get to that age they do go through a series of bikes that they grow out of. Competitive riders are different again, typically they have a fleet of bicycles and a ludicrous amount of spare parts left over from upgrades.

To summarise, a bike will have a lifetime of approximately five everyday-riding years before it gets shot to pieces. This lifetime can be extended indefinitely through new components and diligent maintenance (or instantly shortened in the case of a crash). In reality people can ride bikes long after the bike is past its best, they can also put the bike into storage for long periods of time and they can also get into the sport (to purchase many bikes that don't necessarily get worn out).


The pictured fork has an integrated crown race along with another crown race stuck on top that it doesn't need. Take that away and it hopefully should all be good.

The lower cup in the picture overhangs the headtube by an unusual amount, but I presume that's just by random chance because if that's an SHIS ZS56 lower cup then there's not really anything else it could have been crammed into.


How do I deal with a dog chasing me when I'm touring?

Oh... where do I even start? I love dogs, I am crazy about them, too. I have 3 labs of my own. I am from a place where street dogs are very abundant. If you don't see any dogs in the next 100 yards, consider yourself lost! :D

I am barked at often, chased often, even confronted sometimes. I used to run away before, because it is what a normal guy does.

I learned a very big thing about dogs.

They chase wimps. It's like what a bully does, going after the weakest target. So, don't you dare run when you are bullied. Take a bite instead but stand your ground.
They sense fear. If you are scared while approaching a dog, he is sure to suspect you and bark/chase you.
They love challenges. If they think you are a worthy adversary they will confront you either to be protective or to see who is stronger in the area.

Me, for a guy, who was constantly afraid of dogs, was suddenly in charge, after learning a little of these dog psychology tips.

Therefore, please believe me when I am saying this

I have never run away from a dog. (Unless I am very very late)
If a dog is chasing me, I hit my brakes hard, and stare right at it. Mostly he will not come forward, and bark from a safer distance, kinda like maintaining a line. So I can finally get moving slowly.
If dog is coming towards you even when you are standing ground. Get off your bike, show him You are not going to wait around, when he is coming towards you.

  Show them, you are ready. Call it like "Bring it on"

After a stare down, do not make a hasty move. (Got bit once by a shepherd this way.) Take it real slow. Be calm.
Suppose that, despite your confrontation, the dog is heading towards you, accepting the challenge. Still, you have a big weapon: Your Cycle. Lift the front wheels high and start swinging it, right and left. That is sure to stop his pace to think a bit.
If a dog passes this point, and still heading towards you then you are in a serious point. Where there are only three things to do.

Surrender: Another  psychology of dogs, if they pass that point, they are challenging you head on. So, better lower your body, sit down. Let the dog be taller than you. Don't care about him, or look at him. Instead hook a headphone in your ear and listen to the music.  Music will calm your nerves down and send positive impulses for the dog to sense. Let him smell you. After few moments, just get up calmly grab your bike, start walking with it (but don't ride off) I have tried this so many times, its freaky but works
Call for help: If the dog has an owner, (s)he may hear you if they are nearby. Or somebody might help you get out of this trouble.
Get ready to fight: When nothing works, better get yourself prepared for the fight. From my own experience, dogs love to tear limbs. If they grab your limb, you just feel helpless. Avoid this

more on fight situation ....

Don't forget its an animal. Could be your last fight.
Pepper spray is handy as well if it comes to a fight - it's also useful for any muggers that might try for your wallet :) @Credit: Nate Koppenhaver
Protect your neck, hands and calf muscles at all cost. If they are hurt you have very slim of escaping.
Be defensive, rather than offensive: Let him make the first move and on retaliation you can do whatever you want. Effective targets are nose and eyes they will buy you a lot of time and you can make a run for it.
If you are lucky try to find a long stick. They are greatest weapons against dogs. Don't hit them. Just point it right at them and show them you will do it. Even a mini pump works, if you find nothing.
Don't let him corner you, keep the motion going,

  Normally when this happens, me and dog are generally circling each other

Make a little cage out of your bike. When you are cornered, this just might save your life.
Grabbing tail, makes him more angry, try to avoid that.
Grappling is only safe on the back of its neck. He can reach every other part.

How to avoid all this?

Dogs are very friendly creatures, you can be friends with them, no matter what. Treat them with respect.
Don't give them any reason to confront you.

If speed is the problem, slow down
If big size is the problem get off your bike
If he suspects you. Let him smell you.
Friendly look, with lovely hello, calms most of domestic dogs.
If you see a dog that is sure to bark on you, change your approach. Get off your bike, start walking with it

If the dog has a owner, better complain to them to have better control.
Report to the law, if owner is not helping you
Pack some treats, they are better as friends than adversaries.

BIGGEST SUGGESTION

Do not scare a dog and run away. They become enemy for life.

Update: Rabid Dogs

Getting into a fighting situation with a rabid dog, is more harmful than it should be.

One of my little story:

  One of my friend got into a similar situation with me, on a village cycle trip. A rabid dog was being chased by locals (its not abnormal here) and the dog out of fright ended up attacking us. My friend was a pretty agile cyclist, he immediately changed to defense position with his bike covering his entire body stopping the first attack. But, at a moment when dog was jumping at us, he used his elbow to hit the dog, but it bit him very badly.

Very torturous and painful moment we were in.

  Worst part than the wound was the infection.

So, I suggest full defence no offence as much as possible, but if you are a fighter/ Martial Arts Expert or know how to protect yourself very well, then yes, sick dog are very easy to knock down just aim for the nose.


Chain length. how long or how many links

Usually there is just one length available with a bit over 100 links. Of course you have to shorten it so that it’s not slack on the smallest gear combination and not too tight (i.e. breaking the rear derailleur) on the biggest gear combination.


I bought a bike last year and after a few rides, I found the saddle very painful. I resisted on riding it, assuming that I'll get used to it, but it never happened, and I was even concerned that I haven't got the right size of a bike. However I got a silicon gel saddle cover and since then the pain stopped. I didn't need cycling shorts or pants either.

Over time I was thinking that it probably is not the gel cover, but just me getting used to the saddle, till the cover got stolen a couple of months ago, and since then, every time I want to cycle, the pain is back, and I can remain painful even for a few days after an hour of cycling.

As I had read various articles about choosing the right saddles, and based on my own experience riding different city and mountain bikes, the bigger, wider and softer (ladies') saddles work better for me, and possibly for most of the women; (Tip #3 from 7 tips to find the perfect saddle also mentions this), but if she's not willing to spend money on the saddle, you can just get one of those silicon covers to fix the problem, and it's less hassle than wearing the pants/shorts if you're using your bike as a means of transportation in different outfits, rather than just cycling.


Can a Shimano XT (mountain) hydraulic disc brake caliper be used with an Ultegra STI road brake lever?

Shimano recommends a totally different mountain brake levers for the 2-piston XTR brake (the M9100) vs the XTR 4-piston model (the M9120). Why would you need a different brake lever for these different calipers with the same size hose?

The key is that there are two brake options available: "race" and "trail". "Race" features 2-pot calipers and lever without Servo Wave™, which yields different modulation curve (more linear?). The "trail" version is 4-pot and with Servo Wave™ levers, which has more of an on-off modulation.

As far as I know, all Shimano calipers/levers have very close displacement/pressure values to be deemed compatible. On one hand, I did not hear about incompatibilities between any pre-9100 parts, and on the the other there's a lot of reports of mix-matching working with great success. Unless there are reports stating otherwise, I'd bet on compatibility trend. In the end, calipers are not that expensive to experiment with and there are cheaper options (BR-M520, BR-M640).

  How could you know which post-mount caliper (the M9100 vs M9120) would work with an STI ST-R8020 brifter?

What Shimano "recommends" and what actually works are not necessary same things. Shimano is a conservative company bound by legal responsibilities. If you want 4-piston calipers to pair with STIs, take a look at Hope RX-4 SH (explicitly compatible, I run these) or Shimano calipers mentioned above.

As with all things new, there's not much feedback, you might as well get that caliper and report results here as an answer.


What criteria should I be looking for in selecting a new hybrid bike model?

For the frame, I suggest a bias towards strength over weight, epsecially if you're adding luggage which puts the weight up.  The other issue for frames is fit, which on a flat-bar bike can be quite forgiving so long as the frame is broadly the right size.  Selecting and setting up the bike is something any bike specialist should be able to do, though some are more competent and willing than others (a less-than-ideal experience with Halfords and a road bike a few years back).

All modern bikes have gears controlled from the bars, though the actual shifters vary.

Any bike in your price range is likely to have V-brakes.  Changing and adjusting them is something you can learn to do in less than an hour assuming you've never done anything like it before but can use hand tools.  By the third time it will be a 5-10 minute job.  NB you might find cable disc brakes at that price, but entry level V-brakes seem better than entry-level discs.

As you appear to be interested in it just working rather than maximum speed or ability to handle rough terrain, I strongly suggest anti-puncture tyres.  I ride a similar (marginally more expensive a few years ago) bike so a few ideas:  I wore out a set of Schwalbe Road Cruiser 35s (over ~5000 miles) and liked them, and am now on the tougher, more expensive marathon plus, which I find less grippy, but I've also gone for narrower tyres.  Continental comfort contact are similar to the road cruisers.  Mounting anti puncture tyres can be hard work -- get the bike shop to do it when you buy the bike.

Depending on where you are you may have access to one or more single-brand bike shops (I could easily get to Giant and Specialized).  They are worth a look even if only for comparison on price/range/service with someone independent.


Where can I go to change the vertical drop out for a horizontal drop out?

You don't necessarily need horizontal drop-outs to make a fixie. You could also get an eccentric hub such as this one.  This allows the chain slack to be taken up without using horizontal drop outs. They also have eccentric bottom brackets but I think they require a special frame.


Changing Shimano 105 triple chainset to compact

To go from a triple to a compact, you generally need to switch the front derailleur for one for doubles (make sure it can be attached to your frame and the right cable pull; front derailleurs have different cage shapes between doubles and triples), the front shifter (if indexed; you need a double shifter rather than a triple shifter, and it needs to have compatible cable pull with the front derailleur) and if you're using a bottom bracket with a spindle (like a standard JIS/ISO bottom bracket, Octalink, etc.), you may need to have a different spindle length (to get the right chainline). And of course, you need the compact crankset (which is compatible with your bottom bracket).

In your case, you have a hollowtech II bottom bracket (with a Shimano road group), so you need:

Compact Crankset which fits hollowtech II bottom brackets (reasonably common; Shimano, FSA, etc. make them)
Shimano road double FD (cheap; you can get tiagra or higher for only 20-50 USD)
Shimano road double shifters (Expensive; you only need front shifter for a double, but you may end up getting  a set in which case you need to match the rear number of speeds as well).

I'd suggest trying the triple for a while -- you may end up liking it despite it not being in vogue.


Is it possible to date Shimano components?

All Shimano components have a series number (not serial number) embossed or engraved in the component.  While it is possible that the numbers may be worn off or scratched over on older components, the theory you are working under seems to indicate that you would be looking for newer, lower level components, rather than older higher end stuff.

Check the back of the inside front derailleur plate for a number like FD-6700, for example, (which would indicate current Ultegra).  There is a number on each component, with the first 2 letters indicating the type of component, and the number indicating the series.

For Example:

CN = Chain
ST = Shifter
BR = Brake
FD = Front derailleur
RD = Rear derailleur
HB = Hub
WH = wheel
BL = Brake lever
CR = Chain ring
CS = crank set

The higher the number the higher the component level.  Current 11 speed Dura Ace is 9000 series. Last year's 10 speed Dura Ace was 7900. The series prior was 7800.

For Ultegra, the upcoming, not yet released group for Ultegra will likely be 8000.  The current is 6700 for most components. 6600 was the prior group, and 6500 before that.

If the 3rd number is a 5, as in 6650, (ususally only noted on the crank) then the group came with a compact crank.

If the 4th number is not zero, it is either a revision, in the case of CN-6501 or 6502, or designed for a triple crank.  This will be noted on all parts, as shifters and derailleurs also must change for a triple geared crank, in most cases.

If the 3rd number is a 7, i.e. FD-6770 the part was designed for electronic shifting.  This will be on derailleurs, batteries, wiring, and shift levers.
If you find a number on any single component, it can be used to date the whole group set.

I hope that is useful.


Frame differences between 700c and 29er?

Since both the bikes you link to are mountain bikes, you seem to be primarily concerned with wheel size or frame size.

But the two wheel sizes are the same = 700c is, more or less, a rim size, while 29" is the outer diameter of the tyre (except that obviously you can get different width "29er" tyres and that affects outside diameter). That confusion is why tyres are now actually sold by ISO rim diameter - specifically the bead seat diameter. If you get that right the tyre will go onto the rim (it may not fit into your frame, or it may be far too fat for the narrow rim, but it will go on).

Frame size matters when you convert one of those to ride fast on sealed roads, you're going to need to do more than just switch the tyres. Most obviously, the 29er is generally lower than the cross frame so when you put the seat and handlebars up to get a better position for fast riding you may find that the 29er can't do that with the stem and seat post that come with it. So you'll probably have to buy a rising stem and possibly a head tube extender, and (less likely) a longer seatpost.

The gearing is also different, 48-11 top gear on the cross bike and 42-11 on the 29er. For both bikes you're probably going to want higher gears, but for the 29er the jump is going to be significant meaning you might need to change the front derailleur as well. I suggest allowing for a 50T or 53T large chainring, which on the cross bike is a small change and may not be worth while. It depends on how fast you ride and pedal.

Both frames are aluminium, just like most mid-range road bikes. I don't think that matters for what you're doing.

On that site the touring bikes (TREKKINGOWE?) would probably be an easier conversion to what you want, but I suspect you might prefer a cyclo-cross bike (drop bars, disk brakes, slightly heavier/stronger than a road bike). Cyclocross bikes are or were made in Poland, but the website for 'Scattante' is gone. Here's a German manufacturer instead :) They won't carry as much weight as a touring bike, but as a result they're lighter. And they're usually designed for more speed.


Do the benefits from Cycling outweigh the harm of pollution

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2920084/ - "On average, the estimated health benefits of cycling were substantially larger than the risks relative to car driving for individuals shifting their mode of transport."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22124913 - "We estimate that beneficial effects of increased physical activity are substantially larger (3-14 months gained) than the potential mortality effect of increased inhaled air pollution doses (0.8-40 days lost) and the increase in traffic accidents (5-9 days lost)."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21816732 - "Public bicycle sharing initiatives such as Bicing in Barcelona have greater benefits than risks to health"

(Maybe your Arizona dust is an exception though. And dust masks do make it harder to breathe hard comfortably.)


I sent trek an email and they responded . They say the correct headset has article number 423140 and costs 29.99€


Which rotor, Steel or Titanium comes with Avid CODE brakes?

If a magnet sticks, it's steel.

Happy riding.


Mountain bike, one road bike tire. Front or back?

For efficiency I would put the road tire on the back, as the rear carries more weight. However, front would be best if cornering traction was important.

If the MTB tires have an aggressive MTB tread pattern the mismatch would be best addressed by matching tires and getting another road tire.


In the UK, is there any (legal or similar) limit on bike+trailer length?

I can't find a legal requirement specific to bicycles anywhere.  There are width restrictions but not height or length restrictions for bicycles.

It would be "reasonable" to have a trailer no-longer than a trailer towed behind a motor vehicle so there's an existing precedent already set.

Basically length is governed by the corners you want to go around.  So a silly-long trailer combination becomes impractical on a bike path with chicanes or a small road.

Taking reasonable precautions with flags and additional lighting (even in daytime) will mitigate risk.

From https://can.org.nz/node/12541

From https://www.cycletrailers.co.nz/

(I know the maker of these trailers personally but have no other connection)


How to release Planet Bike fender safety release tabs

The only purpose of the tabs is to be the weakest link in the chain so that, if something gets stuck between the wheel and the fender, the tabs will break, allowing the fender to come loose. If you didn't have the tabs, the debris would wedge between the fender and wheel, locking the wheel and throwing you over the handlebars.

You never need to release the tabs deliberately. To detach the fenders, pretend the tabs don't exist and just unscrew the bolt that holds them near the axle.


Is there a way to rest at an intersection without (partially) dismounting the bike?

It called a track stand. It originates in track racing on a velodrome, where in the opening stages of the individual sprint event you sometimes need to come to an almost complete halt. Tricky and dangerous to do if not well practiced, it can end in a 'sprawl of shame' if your technique is not perfect.


Chain skipping on upper pulley of rear derailleur

New chains are not sized out of the box (i.e. they are usually several links too long). Part of installing a new chain is to size it by removing links prior to installing it to match the length of the old chain.
I suspect you may have mis-sized the chain. Otherwise it is possible that your jockey wheel on the derailleur is worn. Those can also be replaced individually.
I am not expert on sizing a chain, but Calvin is so here you go:

Also, no shame in going to a LBS to have them look at the drivetrain, size the chain, adjust the B screw as they do it day in and day out plus it requires a few special tools. You probably could get all of that fixed up for $20-$30 plus parts if any are required.
Hope that helps.


You can do a couple of things to accomplish using just the middle front chainring: 1) set the front derailleur "Hi" & "Lo" limit adjustment screws so that the side to side travel of the derailleur cage is stopped from moving the chain onto the smallest and largest chainrings (you should still have some lateral cage movement in order to "trim" the front derailleur to avoid cage chain rub. 2) Remove the front derailleur and manually position the chain onto the middle chainring (you can remove the front shifter mechanism and cable if desired; if a grip shifter I would keep it mounted). 3) Remove the large and small chainrings from the crank arm. The derailleur can be removed or left in place, but see option #1 for proper set-up if left in place. You will more than likely have to obtain new chainring hardware to effectively mount the middle chainring due to now having a missing ring(s) that would have taken up the extra space in the mounting hardware.
Because your rear gearing is designed for use with 3 front rings you may find that you do not always get to ride in the most appropriate gear ratio when only having the middle front ring available and riding on varied terrains (hills, soft surfaces)
I highly recommend that you become acquainted with the proper methods for shifting both front and rear derailleurs, and become proficient at utilizing the full range of gears on your bike. After all, I assume that is why you have an 18 speed bike; unless it was given to you and you just want it to function like a basic 6 speed bike.


How to properly thread (textile) pedal straps

Doing it like the first picture shows is definitely not a good idea. The strap should be the other way round with the buckle as close as possible to the pedal's body. Reason 1: it can be tightened by pulling the end up and released with a the flick of the thumb on the buckle. (The reason for this black plastic end of the buckle) Reason 2: The end of the right strap falls over the foot and may be caught between chain and chain-wheel. The end will hardly drag on the ground.

In the days where I used straps I used waxed string to tie the part going through the pedal to the thin post which is more reliable than a 360° twist. Today I would use a small zip-tie.

The strap in the second picture isn't properly routed over the roller of the buckle. It may just be a promotional picture with the end of the strap photo-shopped away.

And last but not least: if the strap is really too long cutting off the excess is still an option.


Is it possible to have a 11-42 cassette with a 3x9 drivetrain?

Yes it is possible.
It will be a nightmare on your chain and arguably not a good idea.
If you want to use a 9 speed rear derailleur with a max tooth of 36t, you can make it fit a 42t cassette with a derailleur hanger extender such as the Wolftooth Goatlink

Your biggest problem will be the front 3 rings. You will find that if you may have problems when crosschaining. Although, you could argue that you should never be doing that anyways.


Does wearing a backpack weaken your jumping technique?

You have more control over weight on you than on the bike, so long as the pack is fitted nicely and doesn't bounce around too much. This doesn't just apply to jumps but all the time, as your bodyweight is part of your control but weight on the bike is passive.  Imagine rolling over a tree root on a hardtail or even rigid forks.  Weight attached the bike must lift over the frame, but if you're off the saddle and riding properly your body and backpack float over the obstacle, barely rising.
Moving a few kg/10-20lbs between frame and body is noticeable. I'm a perpetual mountain bike novice but ride a lot on road.  On the MTB (hardtail)  I either use a hydration pack similar to you, or copy my road kit: a litre bottle of water, tool bottle in a 2nd cage, and saddlebag on the bike.  Even at my level (no big jumps, but the effect holds even for bunny-hops) bike handling is easier with the weight on my back, though it's fatiguing on a very long ride.  This makes sense.  When your weight is on your feet and hands rather than your saddle (i.e. most of the time when riding technically) your bodyweight is sprung on your legs - so is the backpack.  When you jump, you launch your body into the air and the bike follows you.  You launch a backpack with you, but extra weight on the bike has to follow you.


How do I attach this pump head to my Schrader valve?

That's a quick chuck commonly found at gas stations. There's no locking mechanism.

You just push the quick chuck head firmly onto the schrader valve and squeeze the air release. Hand pressure alone keeps the valve seated against the chuck. With car tires (see photo below) it's easy as the schrader valve is solidly affixed to the tire rim.  With bicycle tires, it's a bit tricky as the schrader valve isn't fixed and can push into the rim, so sometimes you have to gently push or hold the other side of the schrader valve with your other hand to steady it.

Note that it's VERY easy to overinflate a bicycle tire with these car inflators as they commonly don't have a max pressure setting. I've blown a tire off a rim using a gasoline station quick chuck. So be very careful and fill using only short, quick spurts of air.


You need to bleed your hydros when they get a squishy feeling. They should be pretty close to the rotor, but if they are rubbing a lot, then you could try to recenter the pads around the rotor.

To do this:

Loosen the bolts attaching the brakes to the fork (or the adapter).
Grab the corresponding brake lever and hold it in place. You can use a rubber band for that, and it will free up your hand for the next step.
While the lever is held, the pads are pressed against the disc. Now tighten up the bolts you just loosened.
After you have tighten them back up, release the brakes. Spin the wheel to test if the discs still rub.  You might need to do it again, but this should minimize the amount of rubbing.