Chain skip options on vintage 'frankenbike'

First, I'd trouble shoot why the chain is skipping. Does it only happen under heavy load? Does it always happen in the same place (maybe a stiff link)? Does the derailleur do something funny?

If the BCD and bolt pattern matches, stick whatever chainrings you want in there (subject to front derailleur constraints on chainring size + tooth gap). As for if your chainrings are worn or not, the picture isn't there, but there are plenty of other questions (see sidebar or search) on this SE to check if your chainrings or cogs are worn beyond.

While using a 9 speed chain on a 7 speed cassette should work, it will likely be a bit sloppier than using a 7 speed or 8 speed chain (they are narrower than the chains that the 7 speed cogs were designed for). They're also pricier. So, I'd also go back to a 7/8 speed chain in the future.

The change from Suntour freewheel to Shimano freewheel shouldn't really have caused any problems other than maybe some minor adjustments (unless you're running a microdrive drivetrain).


I suspect that your seatpost is graunching inside the frame as the rider's weight moves about while pedalling.
By inserting the post much further than normal, it will apply a different less-worn part of the post to the clamping area of the bike.  But you've tried this and the noise continues.
So the next cause is that the frame is slogged out already in the clamping area, because of movement of the seatpost and the leverage afforded by the long unsupported length.  You could do the seatpost clamp up tighter, but this is likely to be a short term fix.
Try unclamping the seat post, removing, and then do up the clamp without adjusting it.  Then measure the hole with vernier calipers in multiple directions.  You want to see the same number in all diagonals.  Also feel inside with a finger - it should be flat in-line with the seat tube of the frame, with no detectable curve.
If there's physical damage, you should talk warranty with the seller as soon as possible.
Personally the super-long unsupported seatpost is a recipe for disaster IMO.  I've cracked three frames in decades, and bent multiple seatposts by having them too long and/or too little inside the frame.


Why is this ring used near the Crankset?

You have an older pre-cartridge bottom bracket. The bottom bracket is the axle and bearing assembly for the crankset. Rather than sealed bearings it has either loose ball or caged bearings. While the bottom bracket is assembled  the cup is adjusted to the correct preload. Preload determines how much movement there is between the bearings and the axle. It should be adjusted so there is a minimum free-play but still spins freely. Once the adjustment is made the ring is tightened to hold the adjustable cup in the correct position.


I keep getting flats. What's wrong with my tire?

It could just be bad luck.

Or, there may be a piece of glass, a tack/nail, or caltrop stuck in your tire in a way that wasn't visible to the shop that replaced your inner tube. It may be deeply embedded in the rubber tread, invisible on both sides, and only pierce the inner tube when under both air pressure and the weight of a rider.

When you or the shop changes the inner tube yet again, they should keep track of the orientation of the inner tube to the outer tire and where the puncture is. They should triple-check the outer tire casing at the location of the puncture.

Or it could be bad luck.


When the spokes break, do they snap at the J bend?  Or elsewhere?

If the little mushroomed cap is gone at the hub end and there's a spikey "claw" then your spoke tension is low which is stressing then tensionining the spokes on every wheel revolution.

I'd start by lightly tapping the wheel spokes with a screwdriver, key, or something light.  And then compare that TINK sound with other bike wheels.
Or if you're a hands-on person then gently squeeze two spokes somewhere outboard of where they cross.  Compare that hand-feel with other people's bikes of similar wheel size and construction.

I think you could probably tighten every spoke nipple by a half turn or even a full turn all round.  Be aware that a weak spoke might choose this time to let-go.

If you don't feel up to all the messing around, there's no shame in taking the wheel to a LBS for a professional build.  A good wheel is the ultimate outcome here.

Do you know what pattern its laced with?  Radial spoking is rarely if ever done on the back wheel, so you're likely to have some cross pattern.   2-cross or 3-cross are most likely.  If you have a 1-cross then the spokes don't leave the hub at a great angle, and are not far off radial, so this stresses the spoke's J bend more than 2/3/4 cross.

No idea how large the nuvinci hub is, but I've put an alfine11 in a 26" wheel and had to go 2 cross.   I guess you'd be best with 3-cross on a 700c (29") wheel.

Thicker spokes is always an option too, but if you do this then the whole wheel needs relacing.  I wouldn't mix gauges on the same side, though I might accept having a different gauge on the left vs the right.

I'd probably go with straight spokes.  The cost of butted, double and triple aren't worth it, they're more for weight saving than adding strength.  Butted spokes have a thinner piece in the middle which can stretch a little more under impact, leading to a "better" ride.

Aside, 95 kilograms is not ridiculously heavy - I was there only 6 months ago.
 Sure we're more than a GCN rider in their 60s and 70s, but more mass means more muscle, right ?

You might not be good on a svelt road bike but I'm guessing you're on a rigid commuter/hybrid bike.   Your weight is not the root problem here, though it will make potholes much harder on your bike, and brakes will wear a little faster.  On the upside, more weight means more exercise per metre travelled.

The hub is probably not really helping, given its a lot of weight compared to a 100 gram hub and a 400 gram cassette etc.  The hub's position means it has the least "suspension" effect and can make the wheel harsher.  If your bike has rear suspension, the hub is still unsuspended weight and that contributes to the impacts, stressing those spokes.

Basically don't ride off kerbs/curbs and don't bulldoze your way through potholes or speedbumps.  Learn to unweight your saddle, then "ballerina" your bike as it passes over the obstacle, effectively halving the weight for an instant.  You're not trying to get air or off the ground, just unweight for a brief instant.  Timing is everything and cleats can help a lot.

The eyeletted rim is only relevant if you're causing damage to the rim.  If the nipples are pulling through the rim holes then you would benefit from eyelets.  I doubt this is required in your case.

A bigger tyre would be great if you can fit it in the frame.  I rode 23mm for a while, then went 28mm and then 32 for a short while  Each step was an improvement in comfort, but other changes meant I had to return to a 25mm on the current road bike.

The pinch points are your chainstays, seat stays, and rim brake bridge or calipers if you have them.  Sometimes mudguards can be limiting too, but they're easier to adjust than the frame.


Can I patch a tire (not a tube) that has a hole?

To get you home, you can use a tyre boot. This is essentially a non stretchy patch that sticks on the inside of the tyre. They're not recommended for long term use but people do run them long term (for example relegating them to a commuting bike/wheelset). If you do use them long term it's a good idea to check then occasionally. This assumes tubed tyres.

Boots also don't work next to the bead as there isn't enough material for them to stick to and resist the considerable load.

I've improvised a boot from a glueless patch (and run the tyre soft). Crisp (chips) packets, gel wrappers and strong banknotes are also used. Something sticky to hold it in place while you reassemble and inflate is a good idea.


White stripe is ground. Consistency is a virtue, and Schmidt's obvious decision tells us the industry default. In principle, the two conductors are interchangeable, because AC. However, in the reality of bicycles, there are practical considerations. Some dynamos ground one side of the circuit through the axle and some don't. Some lights ground one side through the mounting screws and some don't. Some bike frames are conductive and some aren't (and headset bearings are intermittent). So it is important for all deliberate connections to have compatible ideas of what is ground. Otherwise you have a short circuit. When a mechanic replaces your dynamo or light with a unit that makes an assumption about what's grounded, the assumption better match your wiring.


What are the hazards and risks if I keep using a worn rear tyre?

If it’s just the rubber tread which is worn down and thinner: Keep using it. With treadless tires you’ll only suffer from increased susceptibility to punctures. Of course with knobby/treaded tires your grip on soft surfaces will gradually decrease.

If the tire’s structural integrity could be compromised: Don’t use it. It could fail catastrophically at any time. Things like bulges, abrasions of the sidewalls, cuts or large cracks are all bad signs.


Can dropout break due to a faulty cassette or a bad installation?

It is possible that the rear derailleur low limit screw was misadjusted such that holding the shifter down allowed the RD to get snagged by a spoke. That is a fairly common cause of what happened.
Another possibility, also common, is the hanger (what you are calling the dropout) got bent inward for whatever reason, usually uncareful handling of the bike or crashing, after it left the shop, and the RD was able to get snagged that way
Unless something like a stick or vertebrate got caught in the wheel while riding and was able to reach over and snag the derailleur that way, it's likely one of those two scenarios. If you knew what click the shifter was on when it happened, that would be a clue.
It would be weird if the derailleur was unscathed enough to not need replacing completely. They're unobtainable for shops in a lot of cases right now, so that could be a factor that led to some kind of decision to de-mangle rather than replace it, which is idiotic in normal times but can now legitimately constitute good customer service. If this is what's happened, it could be causing the current bad performance and noises, as they usually wind up too misaligned and sloppy to work great. It's also of course possible they just did a bad job.


If you look at bike literature from the early 29er years it was the best thing to buy. There were some issues that showed up after they became common enough for recreational riders. Recommended frame sizes tended to put people on a frame that was actually to large. It seemed that they forgot about the top tube being raised 1 1/2 inches by the larger wheels. Another issue when 29 inch wheels were put on small frame sizes was toes striking the wheels while turning and pedaling. So while a small size 29er may seem odd now they were a one point common. Manufacturers seem to have learned a lesson from all this and now put 26 inch wheels on the smallest frames 27.5 on the less small frames and make larger frames in both 27.5 and 29. All this is just to explain why you have a small frame with 29 inch wheels. The good news is that with the 27.5 boom 26 inch disc wheels are available with steep discounts. I don't see any reason it wouldn't work. It might be cheaper to buy an entire used bike if  you add in tires and tubes. Use the wheels until she out grows them, put the 26's back on the used bike and sell the whole bike for likely close to what you paid for it.


On frame geometry: does it matter so much?

Yes, geometry matters. If you're happy with your bike, then you don't need to worry about it.

There are a lot of different cycling disciplines and sub-disciplines: for example, within mountain biking, there's cross-country and downhill and others. Within road racing, there's criterium, point-to-point, time trial, and so on. And there are bikes with geometries, material selections, wheels, tires, and other components that are optimized for each of these disciplines. Sometimes the differences are tiny, and the sort of thing that very few need concern themselves with.

Consider, for example, that a bike with very sharp handling will be beneficial in some situations (like criteriums), but if you don't need that, you're just going to expend more energy keeping your bike going in a straight line, which at the end of a long ride would leave you more fatigued. Or that some touring bikes are designed so that they handle better when panniers are mounted on the forks. Or that using a racing bike for touring may leave you with your heels hitting your rear panniers because the chainstays aren't long enough.

Bike fit and geometry are intertwined, and different sizes of the same model bike can have different geometry to produce similar "feel" for the intended rider. If you were on a mis-sized bike, in addition to having poor fit, you'd also be getting geometry designed for a person of a different size.

If you were buying a new bike, I'd suggest that a mountain bike probably isn't the best bike for you, since you don't sound like you'll spend much time riding in the dirt, but like I said, if you're happy, don't sweat it.


Tubeless valve leaking, what exactly is wrong & what do I need to do to fix it?

When I screw the valve cap around past max tightness it slips & lets out a hissing noise.

The most likely thing happening here is that your valve has a removable core, and you have slackened it off.  You can get special tools for the job, but usually the valve core has a small flat area that you can grip carefully with some pliers to tighten it again.


How to choose protective cycling gloves?

Look at Downhill MTB gloves, they are meant for folks who are likely to crash in the brush and often have padding on fronts of fingers and knuckles and leather palm protection.


This might sometimes happen. The quick release is usually enough to make the pads wider than the tire, but this doesn't happen in every case.  The pads should usually be about 2mm from the rim when everything is set up.  If there is not enough room to remove your wheel after the quick release is used, you will have to loosen the cable. You can try doing this by loosening the barrel adjuster to see if that gives you the needed clearance, if not you may have to actually undo the cable, this is the least desirable solution as it makes things take a lot longer to get set up properly again.

In most cases, people only remove their wheel when the tire is flat, and so, there shouldn't be any problem getting the tire past the brakes, as the tire can be squeeze and made narrower. If you have the tire fully inflated, it can be quite firm and hard to squeeze between the brake pads. Depending on the situation, you might want to remove the air from the tire before removing the wheel, or if you are fixing a flat, don't fully inflate the tire before you put it on the bike.


SRAM 11 speed road and mountain shifters and and rear derailers are not cross compatible. They work on different actuation ratios. A Jtek Shiftmate 9 can be used to convert them in the road shifter on mountain derailer direction.

SRAM says there is no compatibility between road and mountain hydraulic brakes. I believe they're probably right because the road levers push way less fluid, but I haven't actually tried it.


Why do my tires keep losing air, even after having the tubes replaced?

It's not unusual for narrower tires to need pumping up every day or two, but if they really are losing air after "a few minutes" then the tubes have been holed somehow.

Did anyone check the tires for small pieces of wire, etc, sticking in them?  A tiny piece of wire can puncture a new tube within minutes.  Did anyone check the rims to make sure that the rim strips were intact, and no spoke ends were sticking out?  A missing or miss-positioned rim strip can cause a tube to puncture in short order.

At seven years old your bike is a mere adolescent, and there's no need to replace it on account of this problem.


Pitted Cups - Can I get away with this level of pitting?

My life has been such, living in this corner of the world, where it simply hasn't been an option to buy new.  And growing up here in a world before internet, if Lakeside Cyclery or Sears didn't have it, you weren't getting it anytime soon no matter the cash-flow. So...

One can often at least ease the pitting with the use of fine steel wool, fine grade sand paper, or a rotary tool spinning a ball-shaped grinding stone or felt cloth wheel & polishing compound.  It's always best to be conservative so I'd start with the steel wool first, and if I feel the benefit would out weigh the risk of damage that wrecks the piece, I move up the list I've put forth. I'll add here for general knowledge sake that regarding grinding or sanding a finish onto a work piece, the technique i advise is reversed.  One would typically start with more aggressive measures and work down to the finest finishing techniques. In fact that's what we'll end-up doing here---i finish a deal like this with #0000 steel wool.

I've had decent results getting pitted cone nuts and wheel cups into shape.  I define decent results here as grinding and rough feeling hubs spinning smoothly and quietly.  Reports from others whose bikes I've worked on reporting, "that wheel's still running great!" months after repair and repacking.  The times I've had occassion on my stuff to do this repair, ride for a few hundred miles and then dissect the hub, there hasn't been any real hints that it was doing more damage (wheel spun smooth, no appearance of unusual wear, the bearing balls came out looking quite the same as going in).  Anyway, this is obviously not as ideal as replacement, but I'm confident your cup will do fine for some time after this.  Quite frankly, cleaning and repacking a hub or bottom bracket with good clean grease (and new bearing balls if at all possible--there a dime a piece or less) is probably the chief reason for these successful out comes.

Here's a few tips:  Take locking pliers (ie: hemostats) or a needle-nose pliers and from a pad of steel wool (#0000--very fine), rip or cut a 2.5 cm wide strip. Fold and roll this strip to a general shape of a cylinder. Grasp with the pliers the ends of the cylinder causing it to bulge into a hard, round tip. Continue to hold this shape while working it aroun the inside of the cup. I go all around the cup, working the pitted area a little more.  Same technique if sandpaper required. No lower than 220 grit.  Care should be used to not involve tip of pliers into the cup. Also, prior to repacking CLEAN! out the cup or hub of all grit or steel wool fibers.
If you use the rotary tool, practice before hand and just barely touch the cup. I only do the pitted areas with this and then finish whole piece with fine paper then wool.
For cone nuts I'll have a thick piece of steel wool over an axle spacer, and with the race of the cone nut, I pinch the wool into the spacer hole and turn.
There've been times that I've paused in this endeavor only to find the pits were growing larger and more appeared where the already stressed metal had flaked away under the addition abrasion applied.  If you note this i would stop and just proceed with repacking and new bearings.  There's not a great deal of thickness to a cup (as compared to a cone nut)which makes it much tougher and riskier to hand-machine a cup's race smooth again.
Get er done.


You've hit the major repair options in your question. I've heard of people filling in spots on a fork stanchion before and having it work OK, so I'd assume a rim would probably work too. The only difference might come from when the rim heats up due to braking, the filler could expand/contract differently than the rim material and get dislodged again.

I wouldn't recommend sanding as removing more material will make the braking surface uneven anyways. If it were me, I'd leave the damage as is and only address it if it starts to cause the brake pads to wear very quickly.


25 mm would be at major disadvantage on dirt canal towpaths.

32 mm with touring or road type tread is only at minor disadvantage on the road.  Slightly more rolling and air resistance but you pick up softer ride, more traction, and less pinch flats.

You can put smaller tires on the adventure bike but I doubt you could put 32 mm on the road bike.


HED Tomcat disc, 24h, 21mm internal width

Welcome to StackExchange Bicycles.

That is a good question - and one that is answered very well already in this post: What is the maximum or minimum tire width I can fit on my bicycle
.  Have a look at that and see if it helps.


Is it possible to mix the rings in the crankset?

I'm going to answer with regard to putting smaller-than-stock small rings on a triple crank in order to get lower climbing gears. Doing it with the middle and large rings presents other challenges.

It's possible, and a lot of people ride setups like this. Here are some hitches you may encounter:

You may, and often will, exceed the rear derailer's 'Total Capacity' number. One of a rear derailer's jobs is to keep the chain tensioned over all the gear combinations. Total Capacity defines how wide of a gear range a given derailer is able to do this for. What this means in practice is that when the chain is long enough to cover the large/large combination safely, which it always should be, it will be slack in some number of the small/small combinations. Riding in these gears introduces a risk of derailment or jamming since the chain is more free to bounce around. A lot of cyclists decide they're fine with that risk and just stay out of those gears, which works well with the habits of most touring and utilitarian cyclists in particular since for them the small ring is mostly just for steep climbs. The exact same concern arises when you try to get your lower gears by putting on a bigger cassette, only in that case you also need to lengthen the chain.
Current (I'd say 'modern' but I hold out hope for the pendulum swinging back the other way someday) triple front derailers can have pretty specific chain contact points sculpted into them, and they correspond with the ring combinations they're designed to be run with. And middle chainrings have shift-assisting features (ramps and pins) that expect the chain to come off a specific inner ring. When people talk about how getting smooth front indexed shifting relies on all the components being designed to work as a system, these are some major pieces of that. You will tend to lose some shifting performance for these reasons if you put on a smaller inner ring. Usually it will be in the realm of still working, but just being more sluggish, clunky, and finicky to adjust and keep adjusted. It is definitely something of an experiment every time, which is a reason shops may be reluctant or unwilling to do it.
Friction front shifting handles this kind of setup much better because you have more freedom to finesse it. STI in particular is clumsy to intentionally overshift. It can be easy for performance to feel mediocre or compromised when you do this on a bike with STI.
I don't know all the reasons, but bikes set up this way are often more prone to chain drop on the downshifts. Using a simple plastic chain catcher of the dog-tooth variety is a good idea and usually solves the problem more or less completely.


Trainer bike tire does not go on nicely, am I doing something wrong?

Make sure you are fitting the tire correctly. Examine the bread all the way around the rim on both sides and make sure it is seated evenly.

I wonder if the inner tube is not properly inside the tire near the valve. The reinforced area around the valve can get stuck under the tire bead. Before inflating, push the valve into the rim to make sure the tube is properly inside the tire.

If you still have problems try marking the tire where it popped off the rim and mounting the it rotated 180 degrees around the rim. If it comes off the bead in the same place the issue may be damage to you rim that the loose fitting tire is revealing. If the same section of tire pops off the tire bead may be damaged at that point.


It is possible, but only in certain conditions. I live in a tropical country, so, 20 degrees centigrade is considered cold here. My conmute to work is almost flat, with only one climb, something a very steep 300 meters. If it were not for that, I'd be able to get to the office almost completely dry.

What's the trick? I use a hardtail mountain bike with a small rack in the seatpost. The bike has a sporty position, but the trick is to pedal in the easy gears and making very little effort, accelerating very slowly. The effort should feel comparable to a moderate walk. Also, take as much advantage as I can from the downhills (Update: later on, I changed the tires to slick ones, that reduces the effort needed to move).

However, ideal conditions are an exception. I have already told you that I have to climb a very steep hill, so I just put the easiest gear and pedal like a grandmother for that hill (While in "sports mode" I can climb the same hill in 4 gears higher and a quarter of the time). I sweat the minimum and I manage to avoid clothes changes, but there are other things I do to minimize body odor:

Drink more water than actually necessary: urine then turns colorless which is a practical indication that the urinary system has got rid of most waste substances. This helps because some of these substances make their way into sweat and contribute to body odor. The practical point is that even if you sweat, it won't stink that much. *(1, 2, 3)
Apply a little deodorant in other parts of the body besides armpits. (I recommend a little in the chest and in the back)
Carry a clean hand towel and use it to dry the sweat when you get to the workplace. First the face, then the hair, then the neck, arms and last, armpits. This helps because part of body odor is caused by bacteria(2) that reproduce and feed in the warm, humid environment provided by the sweaty body, so cutting the time the humidity lasts reduce the growing of bacteria. The towel can be pre-scented with a suitable cologne if you want. Rinse the towel thoroughly and twist dry it as much as you can. It won't be smelly if you do it right, so you can discretely hang-dry it near your desk without disturbing anyone.
Leave home early enough so you can take your time getting to the office, also, plan to get there 20-15 minutes prior to the time you have to be there, so you can spend those "cooling off". Sprinkle your face with fresh water, moisten hair (and apply hair gel, if you use to do so) which help against "helmet hair".
Avoid carrying backpacks or anything similar. Any strap that makes your clothing tight against your upper body will wrinkle the clothes, will restrict airflow around your torso, preventing sweat evaporation thus avoiding its cooling effect(1), so it will make you sweat more. They will also cause curious sweat marks in your shirt.

All those tips are easy to implement, and can keep you from needing to change clothes. After you cool off and clean yourself with the towel, most people won't even notice a difference on you if you hadn't commuted by bike.

As per anecdotal stuff, my grandfather used to commte exclusively by bike, in a small city located in the Valley of Sula (Valle de Sula) near the city of San Pedro Sula in Honduras. A valley in a tropical country has a very hot weather all year round. He used a bike similar to the "Flying Pigeon" (Google Flying Pigeon Bike for images). That is a heavy steel bike with 28" wheels, a very high gearing and a very comfortable seating position. I remember that he was never sweaty, even if he commuted from workplace to his home for lunch, right under caribean sun at noon. Two elements had a big role in it: 1) the city is completely flat, no climbs, no downhills. 2) The bike he used is almost impossible to pedal in an sporty way, it kind of 'forced' you to pedal in a smooth fashion, with slow cadence, but after a while, you get some speed that is really easy to keep. It makes you feel you can go for hours without getting tired.

(1) Perspiration (Wikipeia)

(2) Body odor (Wikipedia)

(3) Urinary system (Wikipedia)


Is there a practical gain from elliptical/oval chainrings?

In theory they are more efficient.

Throughout the pedal stroke your leg doesn't give an equal amount of force - ideally you want to spend most of the time pushing down with the big thigh muscles and a minimum time in the horizontal movements at the top and bottom of the stroke.

Elliptical front cogs give you a more up-down leg motion, so more time with the big muscles and more power - not sure how much it actually works in practice, or how much practice it takes to make it work.


After going over the photos again, and then googling "Vicini Special Pro" (as is seen on the seat tube), I found this frame on eBay, going for over 200 Euros:

Even though the frame isn't exactly the same (the rear brake cable doesn't go inside the frame's top tube), the logos all look the same.
Another link shows a complete bike (with the same frame (brake cable internal)) going for 400 Euros (original image):

I think that the whole bike for ~50 Euros (equivalent to 2500 baht) is probably worth it...
There's even an interesting Wikipedia page about Mario Vicini with the following information:

You can tell his frame and fork sets by the Vicini name stamped into the top end of the seat stay flutes and the V in the top of each side of the fork crown.

As DavidW states in his comment, the original logo was in lower case, like so (source):

So, the logo appears to have had a "recent" revamp.


When I am pedaling hard my chain jumps but doesn’t go to higher or lower gear

Your chain may slipping over the teeth of the cassette sprockets if they are badly worn. This seems the likeliest as the problem occurs when you put increased force on the pedals. Slipping is more likely to happen when on a smaller chainring at the front because the greater leverage is putting more force on the chain. The solution is to replace the cassette.

Another possibility is that you are getting incomplete 'ghost shifting'. The chain is catching the shift ramps on an adjacent sprocket. This should be fixable by indexing the rear derailleur properly.


The easy answer is a wide-brim hat or long visor on your helmet. This does work, at least at low speeds. You will have to experiment with options, as nothing like this is sold for this purpose as far as I can tell.

Over about 20kph the length of brim you need gets silly, and by 30kph you need half a metre or so (there are some velomobile owners that do this). But if you're willing to slow down, the brim will work.

I wear glasses, and haven't found a water-shedding coating that works well enough to be worth the hassle. In practice I use a clip-on visor on my bike helmet, extended a little so it's about 10cm in front of my forehead. That keeps the worst of the rain off. Then I ride fast enough that my glasses get wet anyway. But not as wet as without it.

The visor/brim also reduces the amount of water running down my head and into my eyes, especially as that always seems to wash stale sweat out of the helmet pads and that stuff stings. A sweatband or headsock helps there.


Whatever you have to hand.  Generally chains are filthy, so I use cloth rags whose next stop is the bin.  I don't wash rags for reuse - by the time they're down to cleaning chains, they're pretty dirty already.

I do use a clean paper towel for the last wipe of excess lube.

I've never bought rags in my life.  I simply recycle old towels and clothes.

Great

Towels/towelling
Cotton
Calico
Corduroy
Cheesecloth / muslin
Linen
Paper towels
Velour
Natural fibres are generally pretty good for cleaning.

Adequate

Polyester
nylon   tends to repel water, and be quite thin
Lycra
sacking / burlap     tends to be quite thick and somewhat scratchy.
Wet Wipes

Poor

Fur     - drops fibres like wool
wool    - tends to be dropping little fibres when its old and worn down.  Better to compost pure wool, or unpick it to a string (see below)
lace    - too many holes
silk     - too thin
leather   - not very absorbent.  Reuse in other ways instead.
Tissues / toilet paper      - can't handle the water and break down quickly.
Sailcloth    TOo hard and not absorbent.  Better reuse elseways.
PVC and other waterproof layers - not absorbent
Most artificial fibres are poor for absorbing.

Yarn / wool - has use as a "gear floss" for getting dirt out of your cassette between the cogs, but is less useful elsewhere.

Feel free to raise comments with corrections, or just edit directly.


Experiences of the Cannondale Headshok system?

I only know this system from older times, perhaps current (2013) systems have different qualities.

It uses a wider head tube, because the shock is placed in the steering tube of the fork. Usually, you can install adapters to the frame, so that you can use a normal suspension fork.

The main difference is that, instead of using telescopic stanchions, it has a squared tube with needle bearings. When new, this system has virtually no static friction, so it will be VERY responsive to minor and/or high-frequency road irregularities, such as cobblestones, rough gravel, and rooty trail sections.

If something goes wrong it's usually the needle bearings themselves, which develop progressive "play", thus needing service/replacement, which in turn can become "complicated" since only Cannondale can service them or provide replacement parts, as far as I know. I have seen some problematic Fatty forks in the past, but I have also seen A LOT of people happily using Fatty and Lefty (which uses the same principle) without issue.

Hope this helps!


Help to find the right tyre for my Scott ebike

There are many questions here about this topic, but: bicycle tires (mostly) all have both an official ISO designation, which is a pair of numbers "XXX-YY" where XXX is the diameter of the bead and YY is the inflated width. If you look, you'll probably be able to find something like "622-45" somewhere on your tire.
Tires all also have at least one nominal or colloquial name, and usually more than one, and there are many instances where one of those nominal names looks similar or identical to a different size's nominal name. There is some geography and chronology at play with the whole thing.
622 is the bead diameter for 700C, 29", and the more common of the two 28" sizes. Some countries are still hooked on the 28" naming convention for what the rest of us know as either big 700C tires or in some cases little 29" ones. The other 28" size is a different bead diameter (635) altogether, and is regarded as fairly common in some parts of the world (Netherlands) and totally weirdo in many others (North America). Tires are not usually made in market/region-specific versions, so ones that might wind up sold in northern Europe and thereabouts often have all the pertinent size labels on them, the stereotypical examples being trekking, touring, and urban models from Schwalbe and Continental. It is confusing and that's why your startled shop person was confused.
The 622x25 on your rim is telling you its internal width. Internal width is the most important determinant of what your width options are that will fit on your tire.
There are many tires now made in the 700x40s "monster cross" category that should work well for you. Your bike may or may not be able to take something larger, like a 29x1.95 or 622-50 or whatever the heck, depending on its clearances. Your wheels can take them. It is wise to stick with ones that are intended for e-bikes; while not mandatory, the distinction is meaningful because those tires are overbuilt to take the constant high torque of ebikes. There are sufficiently burly tires that don't necessarily call themselves out as ebike tires that would also be fine, but there are some that would be too light and supple for the application too.


No knot is required - you just need to take up the slack in the bungee / elastic.  Something like this:

That way you can unhook the bungee for strapping over a large thing but its still tense enough to hold itself down when empty.


To use older 10-speed Shimano shifters such as Ultegra 6700 with cassettes larger than 28t, you need to use a 9-speed MTB derailleur.  You'll be able to handle cassettes up to the largest specified for the MTB derailleur (and likely a bit larger).

Shifting won't be as good as a full Ultegra 6700 drive train, but it will work.


BB30 and Press Fit 30 (PF30) are technically different types of BB Standard. Yes they both use 30mm bearings and 30mm spindle cranksets but the difference is that PF30 bearings are contained inside cups and these cups are pressed into the frame. This means that the two standards are not interchangeable.

Also, i have a horrible feeling that the FSA MegaExo actually uses a 24mm Spindle which will further limit you options unless you change out the whole crank.

Best bet, take it to an LBS who will ID the BB for you and offer some good alternatives


My experience is that they help minimise the damage.

By being malleable and typically having a foamy backing (for shock). Usually only good for a few impacts.
By having ~1mm foam and being somewhat rigid it may help with less aggressive sucks.
But if they were stiff and had no tolerance toward the frame, it would mean all the force would transfer through and damage the frame at the edge of the protector.

Chain suck typically has a range of causes and is very noticeable and should be addressed straight away.

I wouldn't see it as a weak design part, more in line with something like a crumple zone of a car that is meant to give way, if that makes sense.


Park Tool recommends their own product:

I used to hate gloves for anything (car, bike, whatever) until I got used to wearing them while in Iraq and Afghanistan. Originally I used the Mechanix Wear gloves and I still like them for working on my car:


What are the benefits of going from 25mm to 28mm tire?

Here are some benefits:

less chance of snakebite flats
increased ride comfort on rough terrain
less frequent tire inflation to maintain pressure (because of greater volume of air)
ability to carry greater weight


It's not clear from your question whether you ride regularly a bike, but really the best way to understand the requirements for a product like this is to get on a bike and do a bunch of riding around at night.

When you do this you'll find that the visibility of signalling at night is not as big a problem as all that. First, the proper approach to making a manoeuvre is look–signal–look–move: that is, you always check that it's safe to move and never presume that anyone has seen your signal. Second, bicycle position within the carriageway is a clear signal to other road users of your intentions: if you are positioned towards the left side of the carriageway, you intend to go straight on or left, and if you are positioned towards the right side of the carriageway then you intend to turn right. (Assuming drive-on-the-left as in the UK.)

Nonetheless, there might well be people who would like to buy lights to improve the visibility of their signals, so I'll make a couple more comments:

A device that clips on to clothing depends on you wearing long sleeves and so will not be usable in the summer.
If you're going to wear a light on your wrist for signalling then the light ought to be visible from all directions (so that it does not matter which way you put it on or how you hold your arm while signalling). The best shape would be a bracelet with lights all around.

So if I needed a device like this, I'd buy a SlapLit LED bracelet.


Can I use ZZ (steel seal) ball bearing instead of RS (rubber seal)?

The industry term is shield versus the traditional seals. Rubber seals are usually in at least partial contact with the inner race. Bearing shields (as denoted by the ZZ suffix) do not contact either race, so contamination enters more easily than with a seal.
No bicycle manufacturers that I'm aware of spec bearing shields on any bearings. If you put a ZZ bearing in, it would quickly get contaminated, which would accelerate bearing wear.


Change from 2 chain rings to single chain ring on a MTB. What size should I take?

Currently the gear ratio of your lowest gear is:

26/40 = 0.65

The Shimano XT cassette with the largest range is 11-46.
To get the same lowest gear with this cassette you would need an chain ring with 46*0.65 = 29.9 teeth

You would need a 11-46 cassette and an chain ring with 30 teeth to get the same lowest gear with an 1x setup.

But your highest gear will be lower.
At the moment the gear ratio of your highest gear is:

36/11 = 3.27

With the setup from above it would be:

30/11 = 2.73

This is approximately the same ration as the second largest gear you have at the moment with

36/13 = 2.77


Best solution for additional (dual) battery for E-bike

I'm going to assume that the question is:
Where is the best place to put an extra battery that will:
- Optimize weight distribution
- Be out of the way / not interfere with general bike operation
All three areas you have identified as options are used on touring bikes to store luggage and are reasonably interference free.
The two options inside the front triangle make sense because those locations tend to distribute the weight of the battery to both wheels.
Having an extra battery on a rack over the rear wheel will put all of the weight on the rear wheel only and it will take up space that could be used to carry other things.
I recommend mocking up something inexpensive that mimics the size and weight of the spare battery and trying it in different places. You may need to make a couple of mock ups but experimentation is the best way to learn.
When you have found the best location, size, shape and how to attach it for your use case you can spend money on actual hardware and know what you need.


The clamps most probably got a bit squished in the mail. You should be able to make them a bit larger with a pair of needlenose pliers.

I would try expanding them (without the tightening bolt) so that they fit over, then bringing the two arms together with the pliers and putting the bolt in.


Is the Power Pilot the only speedometer / computer that will work on a LeMond Revolution Trainer?

No it looks the Power Pilot is not your only option. It may be the case that any standard magnetic bicycle speedometer can be made to work with the Lemond Revolution trainer. The Lemond revolution does have an embebed magnetic sensor in it's flywheel. So all that is needed is a way to position and attach a speedometer sensor, so that it can read the magnet embedded in the flywheel.

My Experiment which resulted in a working and realistic reading from my low cost speedometer setup consisting of the following ingredients:

Bell Platinum Series, Bell Wireless Cyclocomputer
Four zip ties
Sturdy heavy gauge steel wire
Electrical tape (to wrap around the wire to protect the bicycles paint)
Pliers to bend and shape the wire such that the sensor lines up properly with the magnet.


Minimalist setup for a "travelling bike mechanic"?

I'd be very tempted to make a tool roll. You'll need access to a sewing machine that can handle 2-3 layers of canvas, but even most home machines will do that if you're careful (and buy a canvas needle!)

You see them mostly today with sets of ring spanners, made of cheap plastic. But in the older days people would generally make them out of canvas, often double layer with oilskin/oiled cotton on the inner layer (before chrome plating meant most tools don't rust very easily).

The extra material at the top of this pic lets you fold the "flap" down to stop tools falling out when it's packed up.

A reasonable sized roll will also let you lay out parts if you need somewhere less dirty than the floor. And it can be roughly rolled up with tools and parts loose inside it if you want to carry it a short distance, or just to make it less inviting to thieves.

Make the first one any old how, because there's a bit of a learning curve in what works for you.

As a secondary thing, I carve my name into tools with an engraver. Those are fairly widely available these days, or most key cutting places will have one. My decent/valuable tools I keep with me at all times, or just don't take to places where I'm worried about losing them.

I also still lose tools at events like this, almost always by lending them to someone who doesn't return them (often innocently, by giving a tool to someone else and saying "it's Mσᶎ's, give it to him when you're finished with it"... and after a few people have passed the tool on it's impossible to trace). I'm in a financial position where I can afford to hit bargain bins for cheap tools, because the ones that go missing are usually adjustable spanners, 15mm or 10mm ring spanners, and 5/6mm allen keys. All of which turn up in bargain bins for under $5. So every 4-10 trips to community events I spend $50 on new cheap tools. Often tools I wouldn't personally use if I had a choice :)

I'm thinking of buying 10 or more of the "S shaped" double ended 5mm/6mm allen keys because I expect I could get usable ones for about $2 each, and I'm willing to spend that to not have to worry about losing them. I expect that I could probably sell them rather than lending them at that price.


Is the cable pull of Shimano GRX FD-RX400 same as the one of 10- or 11-speed road groups?

11 speed GRX 810 and 600 are compatible with 9000, 8000, 7000, 6800, 5800 etc. 11 speed road groups - so it obviously uses the 11 speed cable pull ratio.

10 speed GRX 400 is compatible with the Tiagra 4700 10 speed road group only, so it uses the ‘11 speed’
cable pull ratio as well.

Shimano is nice enough to publish very comprehensive (if complicated) compatibility info: https://productinfo.shimano.com/#/com?cid=C-453&acid=C-454.

Look for Drivetrain for ROAD, Gravel/Adventure, URBAN (METREA) components then Rear drivetrain compatibility and
Front drivetrain compatibility.


You do not indicate if this is the SX ("tadpole model" weighing 48 lbs) or the USX HD (weighing 65 lbs.)  (Either curb weight is a challenge but if you've been spinning away at 80 or better rpm, I say "reward yourself with a lighter trike." Review the archives at http://www.rtrmag.com   - Recumbent and Tandem Rider Magazine or The Recumbent Journal for alternative rides.)

Alternately, ask your LBS for an install of a 28 or 26 tooth chain 5-bolt chain ring that could provide 5% lower gear to pull hills. The Microshift FD will accommodate a granny gear change down to 26t ring but will not shift nicely with a 24 t. IF this EZ-3 is the USX HD, do not expect much improvement or success on inclines as the drive applies only to the right rear wheel and you'll be frustrated by its "crabbing to the right" while you're spinning frantically and working to redirect the steering.


Is my bike any good?

It depends on what you mean by "good".

There are many definitions of the word "good". Definition 2.3 and 2.4 in the dictionary are a good fit for this situation.

Good
Lexico

  2.3 Useful, advantageous, or beneficial in effect.
  ‘a little sun is good for you’

  2.4 Appropriate to a particular purpose.
  ‘this is a good month for planting seeds’

If your bike is useful to you and appropriate to your purpose then yes, your bike is good.

  I wanna use it for proper mt biking but I wanna know if it will hold up or if I should sell it and get a new one. thanks :)

We can't know how hard you will be on your bike and there is no data on how much abuse your bike was designed to take. How you ride is a key factor in how long a bike will last no matter how rugged your bike is.
In the absence of critical information we cannot make a determination on how well your bike will hold up.

My recommendation is that you ride what you have.

Time in the saddle will tell you what kind of riding you like. This information will be useful when or if you move to another bike.
As you ride things will break. This will tell you what features to look for when or if you move to another bike. For example - suppose you are unhappy with the braking capability of your bike. You can look into modifying your current brakes (better brake pads for example) or make sure that better brakes are on the list for your next bike.
Selling your current bike won't offset the cost of a better bike by much.

Everyone has to start somewhere. What's important is that you get out there and ride and keep on riding. Only you can determine what meets your needs and is "good".


Formula to calculate Single Speed Chain Length from Chainring Size, Cog Size, and Chainstay Length

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/chain-length-sizing

Scroll to the bottom, equation is there, you want the "Rigorous Equation".

Better solution: start with heltonbiker's question on the math stack and ask how to convert to chain length.

Happy Riding.


Anyone know the pull ratios of Zee 10sp and XT 9sp Mechs?

Shimano’s Dyna-Sys (10 speed MTB) products are only compatible with components in the Dyna-Sys lineup, from XTR to SLX. They are not compatible with any other parts. Use of a Dyna-Sys derailleur with 9-speed shifters is contraindicated.


Road bike sizing seems harder to get right than more upright bikes. Your dealer may be right, but only as a starting point - that's a good size to test ride first. If your dealer wants you to buy the next size down without trying it first, you don't need a new bike, you need a new dealer.

You have to think about your goals. Road bikes are more aerodynamic and therefore more efficient. So you'll get less exercise for the same distance, or go further in the same time. You may want to go further if you enjoy it more.


CB Roubaix upgrade to Shimano Tiagra - brake problems

The measurement that is important here is the caliper reach. As always, there's a great article on Sheldon Brown's website

Reach is the effective length of the arms of a caliper brake. This is measured from the centerline of the center bolt diagonally down to the middle of the brake shoe. Reach is commonly expressed as a range (allowing for the fact that the brake shoes are adjustable, typically 10-15 mm.)
Reach dimensions can run anywhere from 39-108 mm. There has been a historical trend toward shorter-reach brakes, as newer bicycles, particularly racing-style road bikes, are designed for use with narrow tires and without clearance for fenders.

So it sounds like you've purchased brake calipers with the incorrect reach for your bike. You'll either need to put your old brakes back on, or purchase some calipers with the appropriate reach range for your bike.


Is it the pedal or the crank arm?  I'm presuming the crank arm, since you wouldn't tighten a pedal with a socket wrench.

If the crank arm is coming lose regularly then most likely the "socket" in the arm, where it attaches to the crank axle, has become deformed from riding it loose.

But it's possible that you've just not been tightening the crank bolt tight enough -- it needs to be VERY TIGHT.  (The Park Tools website has torque specifications for many brands, if you want to look there.)

You can lessen the chance of the bolt loosening by using a removable thread lock compound on the bolt.  Also, if the crank axle has square (vs splined) ends and the crank arm socket has become badly deformed, a clever person can make shims from a pop/beer can to eliminate the "play" -- not a permanent fix, but enough to squeeze a few more months of use from the setup before you must replace the crank arm (and possible the crank axle).


Cycling computers fits on any wheel size?

Every bike computer you'll ever use has some initial setup where you choose the units, set the time and enter either a wheel size or circumference.

Cateye's take a circumference and there's a handy chart in both manuals to help you choose one, or you can measure it.

Micro Wireless
Velo 7


Crapshoot. You may get something fantastic for your money, or you may get something that will leave you feeling burnt. Worse yet, you may get something that will fail catastrophically and get you really, really hurt. I have personally seen all scenarios play out with friends and former customers.
I recommend you try to find reviews for whatever parts you're looking at from folks who have owned the product for years- not months or weeks, or the "I just ordered it and when it gets here it's gonna be awesome!" guys.


Can I clean out a set of old handlebars with water?

Its totally fine.  For bars with impacted dirt in the ends I have used a blunt screwdriver to dig as far in as possible, then put water in and leave it to soak though the dirt.  Adding dishwash liquid helps too.

You should be able to poke a wire or string all the way through the bars.

I'll use a hot air blower to dry the whole bars outside and inside through both ends.  Also I hang it up to save burning the fingers.

Once its cooled down again, I sand any imperfections, and then use an aerosol spray can of anti-rust/primer to blast down both ends of the bars in turn.  Its not going to coat all the inside, but should help longterm, specially right at the ends.

Then I prime the outside, wait, sand, top coat, wait, (sometimes I do a clearcoat)  and then reassemble carefully.  Fit new grips once the brakes and stuff are on.


Shimano Sora 3500 (3x9) and Alivio front derailleur

I'd say that based on the fact that you have a standard KMC-9 chain, and that you're keeping it 9-sp all round, you should be all-right.

As noted in the comments, you'll need to change your bars too else you'll not be able to shift and brake correctly, but you said you are.

Only thing I am not too sure of, is the FD. If I were you, I'd just try to use the Alivio you have, and if you have any issues, just replace it with a Sora FD-3503.  They are cheap enough.


What are the disadvantages of more suspension travel?

Although this isn't explicitly part of your question, I'll go ahead and throw it in as it's one of the most important factors to consider in terms of increased suspension if you plan on pedaling your bike- the basic principle behind propelling a bike is to convert a mostly downward force (pedaling) into forward momentum (the drivetrain turning the back wheel which in turn moves you and the bike). The more suspension you add, the more difficult it becomes to transfer the energy of pedal strokes into the drivetrain. The better circles you spin the less you'll suffer from this, but the fact remains that even with clipless pedals the majority of the power input to the drivetrain is coming from your glute, quad, and calf pushing down on the pedal during the powerstroke. Extra suspension soaks this up- it's like running on a trampoline.

Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about how additional suspension affects handling... after we briefly cover the benefits of adding suspension travel. Additional suspension will not only smooth out bigger, abrupt bumps (rocks, roots, your riding buddy that crashed in front of you, etc), but it will also smooth out more gradual terrain changes at higher speeds. Additional suspension basically allows the bike to track better and for the rider to maintain better control of the bike over rougher terrain and at speed. More suspension also helps the bike and the rider absorb bigger drops. Combined with a slacker headtube angle and longer wheelbase (all 3 tend to come as a package) you're also given a larger margin for error; mistakes that may have sent you over the bars on a cross country bike may be recoverable on a bike designed for bigger hits. These benefits come with tradeoffs, however.

Additional suspension will cause "muted" handling- that is that the bike won't feel as sharp or as connected to the trail. It will not turn as quickly or as precisely. This is due to a multitude of factors that come along with longer travel bikes:

Wheelbase is longer because chainstays are longer. This is partially by design and partially because in order to make more room for more travel in the back, the rear wheel typically has to be moved out so it doesn't buzz the seat tube at the bottom of the suspension travel. Longer wheelbases make for bigger turning radiuses. Think of how much room it takes to turn a truck around vs a sports coup. You'll suffer the same sort of effect in tight turns. For a little more detail on how chainstay length affects bike handling, see my answer to another question here.
A slacker headtube angle almost always goes along with more travel. There are exceptions to this rule, but as you move from cross country to trail to all mountain to downhill and freeride bikes, the front of the bike will get more and more raked out. This stabilizes the bike at higher speeds but makes the bike handle "slower" at lower speeds. Slacker headtubes also make for more margin for error in terms of rider input through the bars, but in trade it takes more input to make the bike actually turn.
Weight increases. Bigger hit bikes use bigger tubes to make up the frame, more rugged components, and bigger, heavier duty forks and rear shocks. This is pretty much inevitable as it improves durability and stiffness. That extra weight equates to extra inertia that you have to move around under you, and in general that slows down bike handling.
More travel equals more time to change directions. One of the biggest reasons for this is that it takes a while to load all of that suspension up. You have to push against the shocks hard enough that they start push back harder than the forces of inertia in order to change direction, and this becomes especially noticeable in tight turns on long travel bikes. Other factors play into this, but suspension is the biggest one.
Brake dive goes up as suspension goes up. If you're not familiar with brake dive, it's when the front compresses down (and for full suspension bikes the rear typically comes up), which changes the geometry of the bike. The more suspension, the more dramatic the change in geometry under braking. Modern high end forks have a multitude of adjustments to combat this (slow speed compression adjustment, threshold adjustment, etc) but there's currently no technology that will fully make up for this, and the longer the travel in the front, the worse this will be.
As travel increases so does bottom bracket height which, as Vincent pointed out, raises the bike's center of gravity. Obviously this isn't a 1:1 ratio in terms of additional suspension and additional bottom bracket height, but it is pretty much unavoidable and does have an effect. As is the case with most of these points, there is typically some form of compensation for this. Some trail and all-mountain bikes come equipped with dropper seatposts (hit a lever on the bar and the seapost telescopes down) and DH/FR bikes have their seat height set much lower than a standard XC bike. Dropping seat height allows the you to drop your center of gravity, but ultimately your feet are on the pedals and that height is set, so the you will start out higher off the ground on longer travel bikes.

I'm sure you've noticed that I've talked a lot about other factors beyond purely the travel of a bike's suspension alone, but it is important to take into consideration the whole package as all of the factors mentioned here work in symphony to create the ride quality of a bike as a whole, and each factor attributes to the ride quality in its own way- both positive and negative. You can't consider suspension travel alone because you can't find a bike where all else is equal beyond travel. You can't take a cross country bike and give it 8 inches of travel and call it a downhill bike anymore than you can take an F1 car and add 3 feet of suspension to it and call it a Baja truck- Each is a purpose built platform in nearly every aspect.


Sounds like you tightened them too tight.
You did everything else right - pedals on the right side, threaded the right way, grease.
So, if you had to use a 6 foot cheater bar you might have used a little too much muscle when tightening.
According to bikeride.com pedals should be torqued to something between 276 and 354 inch pounds or 29 to 40 Newton Meters depending on the crank arm.
Campgnolo = 40 Nm or 354 in lbs
FSA = 29 to 34 NM or 257 to 301 in lbs
Ritchey = 35 Nm or 307 in lbs
Shimano = 35 Nm or 304 in lbs


Lost bearing on disc brake for Kona Jake The Snake 2016

You have not lost the bearing. Bearings are pressed into hubs and don't come out easily. What you see in the middle of the brake rotor is the bearing - you can see the black plastic dust seal. What has gone missing is the hub end cap. Many wheels have replaceable end caps that allow conversion between through axle and quick release forks or frames.
Finding a replacement end cap might be difficult. The web page you linked to says the hubs are Novatech. Try contacting their customer support and asking of they can supply an replacement part.


There are more factors involved. Gearing being a major one - it is much easier to skid on a 38x18 compared to a 50x14 which is more like a track ratio.
Other major factors include road surface, rider strength, dry/wet, tyre width, tread pattern, rubber compound and inflation.

Indeed, as others have mentioned additional weight might actually make it easier to skid given increased momentum and pedal resistance provided they shift their weight appropriately.

I would say there is no practical upper limit for rider weight but gearing and tyre characteristics (a really fat slick tyre with a big contact patch on dry tarmac) could prevent it. Nevertheless, skidding the rear wheel is an ineffective way to slow or stop your bike even if it is good fun.


What are early signs of failure in forks/stem/handlebars?

You are well past the point where I would have told you to throw the bike away and buy a decent one. But IME the frame and fork are usually better built than the components on a bottom-of-the-range bike. There's no real corners to cut on a frame and fork, where they can shave component quality endlessly. Well, they can switch to mild steel tubing but that's rare above the $199 price point. You may well find that the only difference between your bike frame and one on a bike twice the price is the paint.

There's no non-destructive way to tell whether the frame and fork will fail that doesn't cost (a lot) more than the bike is worth. Especially since in this case the bike is worth less than the sum of its parts(1). You could try pulling on the frame/fork to see how flexible it is, but that tells you nothing about how likely it is to fail suddenly (unless it fails while you're testing it). Or you could xray it and have a competant metallurgist examine the images for defects (a single rock climbing carabiner can be thus inspected for perhaps $US200, but a bike is a lot more complex).

If you like the feel of the bike try looking for something similar, probably from the same manufacturer. But looking at their site, you have the mid-range model. I suggest test riding better bikes until you find one you like the feel of. Or do what you have done - replace everything on the bike with better components and hope for the best.

(1) you have replaced most of the components with ones bought retail. So you've paid more markup (and probably labour charges too) than if you had bought a bike with those components already on it. You're probably also suffering from the sunk cost fallacy - you've spent all this money and are reluctant to throw it away. I can't make that call for you, but look at what's left of the original bike and work out how much it will cost to replace it all - especially the wheels. It might be cheaper to buy a better bike and strip the current one for spares.


This is a good question. As detailed below, there is reason to think that mineral oils are unlikely to be compatible between brands. I can't unequivocally show that Shimano oil will damage Tektro brakes. However, if the tradeoff is possible damage to the seals in the Tektro brake, then it would seem better to use Tektro oil.

First, mineral oil is, per Wikipedia:

  Mineral oil is any of various colorless, odorless, light mixtures of higher alkanes from a mineral source, particularly a distillate of petroleum...

Higher alkanes are molecules with 9 or more carbon atoms. Per the table in the link, their boiling points range from 150.8 (C9H20) to 286.8 (C16H34) degrees Celsius. Their density varies less, their viscosity varies more.

We don't know the mix of alkanes in Shimano and Tektro oil. Their compositions and resulting physical properties may be close enough for them to be mutually exchangeable. Some posters on bike forums have reported interchanging oils for Shimano and Tektro, e.g. this poster, this poster who said their LBS said the oils are interchangeable, and one poster here who put Shimano oil into Tektro Hy/Rd cable-actuated disc brakes. This article on Juiced Bikes seems to imply that either oil is fine.

Bikerumor interviewed several brake manufacturers, and one of the questions was interchangeability. Some brakes (e.g. SRAM, Hayes, and Hope), use DOT brake fluid (of which there are several types). We can categorically say that DOT fluid should never, ever go into brakes designed for mineral oil. DOT fluid is corrosive to things like paint. If the seals are specifically designed to resist it, this is fine. If they are not, you'll corrode the seals and then your brake will fail.

Shimano said that their brakes could only take Shimano oil:

  I can tell you with absolute certainty that Magura fluid will destroy Shimano brakes in a very short amount of time. I’ve seen it happen several times. The rubber seals in the system have to be specifically designed to interact with a specific brake fluid. If you use a different fluid, the seals will interact differently. Specifically, when you put Magura fluid in Shimano brake, the lever feels spongy and the pad contact point changes because the square edge seal at the caliper is breaking free from the piston at a different time.

  There are third party companies that make mineral oil brake fluid and
  it says right on the bottle that it is compatible with all mineral
  brakes. Shimano has never approved a third party brake fluid to be
  compatible with our brakes and we never will. How is it possible that
  one fluid can work in both Magura and Shimano brakes if Magura fluid
  destroys Shimano brakes?

Magura simply said to only use Magura oil in their brakes. However, both manufacturers have a commercial incentive to say that, and Tektro didn't respond to the interview. This leaves open the possibility that Tektro's oil is similar in composition, chemical, and physical properties to Shimano's oil.

Nevertheless, even considering that issue and the forum posts, I don't consider the tradeoff to be worth experimenting. Brakes, after all, stop your bike.


Studies comparing motorway vs bike lane costs

https://activelivingresearch.org/sites/activelivingresearch.org/files/Dill_Bicycle_Facility_Cost_June2013.pdf

For example, the City of Portland calculated that the city’s
entire bicycle network, consisting of over 300 miles of bikeways would cost $60 million to replace (2008 dollars), whereas the same investment would yield just one mile of a four-lane urban freeway.

...bicycle lanes can often be added to streets as part of planned maintenance or re-striping projects at a cost of $1 - $5 per foot (excluding right of way acquisition and engineering costs). Bicycle boulevards... generally cost between $9.50 and $27.20 per foot.

Assume values are US Dollars from 2008.  Portland is fairly close to Canada, and the 300:1 ratio is mentioned, fortunately the units cancel out.
The only niggle I can see is that a 4 lane freeway has four lanes, whereas the bike lane's width is not stated.  So it could be 75:1 ratio, or 1200:1 if the boulevard could take 16 bikes side by side.


Cannondale carbon synapse rear cassette size increase.

These are serious climbs:

Cycling in the Lake District – Leave the big ring at home
Eight iconic climbs of the Lake District

Not high, but hard, some with gradients of 25% and even 33%

Kudos for Mont Ventoux. It's long, but the gradients come nowhere near these climbs!

For such climbs, you'll want the lowest gearing you can possibly get. If your front rings are the stock compact 50/34 ones then the 38 rear you are considering is a good idea.

But if you have the Shimano 105 5800 GS rear derailleur  (or similar), then you're out of luck, because 32 teeth is the most it can handle.

So, you'll be needing either

a new rear derailleur, and / or front derailleur, or
borrow a bike with seriously low gears  (a carbon MTB with road tires would be good).

The next thing is training. Although you didn't ask here are my suggestions ... but firstly the good news ... hauling your body mass up a hill like Mont Ventoux means you have a serious level of strength and fitness. The key is to loose some of the mass while keeping the strength and endurance.

From my observations for most males (it doesn't work the same for females) the best thing for weight loss is a 40 minute training ride before breakfast. To maintain strength, do hill repeats or efforts on gradients of 8 to 15% Find a steep and climb it once a month to track progress. Mix these rides with Long Slow Distance rides to maintain aerobic condition. Be careful not to overtrain; 3 rides per week is enough.

I'm sure you don't need advice for the actual climbs, but for others who read this, such climbs should be started slowly, they get hard enough soon enough!

Enjoy!


What are optimal fabrics for cycling clothing?

Wool, particularly Merino wool, is tough to beat. It's partially hydrophilic, cooling you by wicking sweat away from the skin while also retaining warmth when wet. It's lightweight, soft, and has natural mild antibacterial and antifungal properties that reduce the amount of funky odors.

The main downside compared to synthetic fabrics is probably cost, especially for cycling-specific apparel.


Tank tape for tire patching - Enough friction?

Friction between tyre and tube is almost irrelevant to the normal situation. There's only movement at that interface at the contact patch, and it's normally small enough that it's done by stretch in the tube rather than sliding. Tubes don't abrade away over time. But when you have big splits in the sidewall friction does play a small part, in slowing down the rate at which the tube buldges out the sidewall before bursting. You're more likely to have a problem caused by the sharp edge or end of a fold in the tape grinding through the tube and causing a puncture.

In your case, it sounds as though you're going to a lot of effort for a temporary solution. I'm not sure why - if it's just to get you to the bike shop to buy a new tyre then maybe, but I'd be walking rather than spending time with tape on a solution that may not work.

All you really need here is tape that's reasonably strong and at least slightly sticks to the inside of the tyre. I prefer a boot made from part of an old tyre, and have seen someone use an entire old tyre to reinforce one like yours. That is a fair bit of work, you have to cut both beads off the inner tyre, but it does work.


Trek Fuel ex8 - has hydraulic disc brakes.
Hydraulic disc brakes do not require adjusting - they are self-adjusting.
In that, as the pad wears - the distance between pad and disc is adjusted automatically.

The squeaking and squealing of disc brakes is a common complaint.
My first advice would be to
- bed the pads in
- make sure the discs and pads are clean (small contaminants - especially oil will cause serious braking problems)

Bed the pads in by taking the bicycle up a long hill and coasting back down whilst lightly dragging the brakes. This causes the discs to heat up and bed the pads in.

Hydraulic disc brakes should have a "snappy" feel to them. If contaminated - they will lose power.
If you have dropped any oil (even the smallest amount) onto the disc caliper - clean the pads and rotor thoroughly. Pads will have to be removed and can be baked (facing down) in the oven on top of grease proof paper.

Hope this helps.


I have a pump with what looks like an identical head.  Here's the instruction pdf that they provide. The instructions provided are as follows.

Remove the dust cap from the tire valve.
For Presta valves, unscrew locking nut at the
end of the valve.
Wipe off any mud or dirt from the outside
surface of the valve stem; this ensures the pump's
Clever Head will work properly.  Also, release
some air from the tube by pressing the air release
tip on the valve to clean its inner parts.
Press the Clever Head on to the Presta or
Schrader valve stem as far as it will go and open
the thumb lever to the locked position.
The pressure gauge has a red arrow on the
bezel that you can rotate to the desired pressure
for easier reading.
Infate your tire by lifting the pump handle up
and pressing down.  Do not over pressurize tire;
see side wall of tire for maximum pressure value.
Use the pressure release valve to lower and
adjust tire pressure.
Move the thumb lever to the unlocked position
and remove the Clever Head from the valve stem.
For Presta valves, tighten the locking nut at the
end of the valve.
Replace dust cap

For presta valves, I usually don't undo the locking nut the entire way, as I've had problems with them bending and snapping.  Only undoing it half way seems to prevent this for the most part. Also, After I've mounted the pump in step 4, I press the air release button. If you hear air coming out, then it ensures the pump head is seated properly.


Do high and narrow seat and back bending provide good bike riding posture?

You don't have to do any of these things to commute. If you value safety over speed I'd recommend a more upright bike (Dutch style) which
helps improve visibility and makes it easier to look around. They also allow you to ride in the clothes you want to wear at your destination. What you call old-school is current every-day practice in a lot of Europe.

You could lower your saddle so your feet can touch the floor but this isn't an ideal riding position usually. What would be more ideal is learning how to stop and set-off properly. You need to hop out of your saddle as you come to a stop and put your non-dominant foot down. Then use your dominant foot to put its pedal near to front and top of the stroke. When you set off you push down with your dominant foot on the pedal and at the same time lift yourself back into the saddle.

The saddle should support your sit-bones (at the bottom of the pelvis) which in men aren't all that far apart, hence the narrow saddles you see. However a hunched over riding position also means less weight is put on the saddle and more on the hands and feet than when using a more upright bike. Wider saddles can be more comfortable when you have more weight on the saddle but can be detrimental on longer rides. Your saddle type may depend on your commute length. Generally cheaper squidgy saddles are made to entice people by looking comfortable but are actually worse than a firmer, narrower saddle which is designed to support your sit bones properly.

You also mention riding in the debris-strewn area of the road. Another advantage of Dutch bikes is that they're designed to be robust, with heavier, wider, reinforced tyres.
I would recommend looking into various techniques for positioning yourself in the road, but I can't offer advice on the US since the streets are designed very differently from Europe. Hopefully there are US-specific resources out there.
Edit: I forgot to mention mirrors. I recently changed bike and my new one came with a mirror mounted on the end of the handlebars. It's helped enormously with being aware of my surroundings and traffic, so I'd thoroughly recommend one. Presumably a helmet-mounted mirror would be the same.


It depends on the beam shape. My commuting head torch has a narrow beam. While I mainly use it in addition to a handlebar light I have ridden with just the head torch, and found that I'm constantly scanning the beam. You can't do that on the bars. Other head torches aren't much use for illuminating the road in front, as the light pattern is too wide, but some would be perfect (often the more expensive ones).

Unless your access to a 3d printer is free, a cheap light might be more cost effective and then you'd still have the head torch. The mount would have to be quite robust and well fitted to avoid vibrations misaligning the light.


You must use a Crank Arm Puller tool:

Park Tools Crank Arm Puller

Here's how to use it:
Video


Can I rotate cleats between left and right shoes?

I see from your other question that they're Look Keos.

As they're plastic, they're going to wear quicker than a metal cleat, and yes, you could swap them around.

However, I think a better strategy might well be to replace them one at a time as they wear out.

Plastic stuff doesn't really like being repeatedly removed and reattached in most situations and you need to keep them in the correct positions.


Should I change V-brake pads if they are old and dry?

A rough rule of thumb is that if you press a fingernail hard into the raw edge of the pad, it should deform the pad and go in some.

If your brake pad is hardened by age, ozone, or UV exposure then braking performance suffers.

Your rims will also wear down faster because the pad is harder than it should be.

If the pad is black on the black bits (or a good healthy looking colour if its red or somethign else)  then that suggests its okay.  If a black pad is grey, or worse faded to light grey or white, then replace them.

For a bike I care about, I'd just replace the pads with known-good brands like Kool Stop and ride it.  For a bike that is only a parts donor, I'd throw the pads away and only store the bare brake calipers/arms.

If you choose to keep using old pads, then at the bare minimum pick all the detritus and debris out of the pad - you will be astonished at the amount of metal particles that the average brake pad can hold, and these metal flakes are what contribute a lot to rim wear.

I had an old 80s road bike for a short time, it had single pivot brakes and totally unworn but hardened pads.  It braked "okay" on the flat, but a hard brake when on a downhill led to some terrifying oscillations as the brakes grabbed and let go, as the fork flexed.   I ended up walking down that hill it was so bad.

Change your pads - they're important safety items.


How does this brake calliper securing nut arrangement work?

IIRC, the cover slides off by pulling on it, the two locknuts are locked against each other to adjust the caliper play (usually with the goal of creating as little slop as possible with no binding of the arms), and then the cover is pushed over the two locknuts. I believe the idea is its got lots of little notches inside so it can grip both nuts at once, making it impossible for them to vibrate loose.


Halfords just replaced my chainset and it is a 10 speed one, but my cassette is 8 speed. Am I ok?

In my experience this is a non-issue. The only difference between 8,9,10 speed chains is the exterior width not the interior. That matters a lot on the rear cassette, but not much if at all on the front. From this article the difference in the exterior width of 8spd chain vs 10 spd is 0.9mm. On the front that just doesn't make any signficant difference.

If you had a triple crankset and really short chainstays, you might run into some issues, but with a double and your bike, it should just work.

I'd say take the bike for a test ride and if you're happy with the way the front derailler shifts and it is capable of cross-chaining then I wouldn't worry about it. At this point insisting on an 8spd replacement will only get you a very low quality crankset.


Is there a lock rating system in the US?

The simple awnser to your question is no.

However their are a few other nations that have well established bike lock reviewer's, including "Thatcham and Sold Secure in the United Kingdom, ART in the Netherlands, SSF in Sweden, and VDS in Germany" (1)

With this in mind I'd suggest considering that individual bike lock brands will likely have their own security rating, which you should take into consideration depending on how much you value your bike.


The compatibility charts don't deal with physical compatibility of replacement freehubs. They're for more broadly which components are compatible together. Replacment freehub compatibility has to do with overall length, shell interface, axle type, and the profile (shape) of the races and the sealing parts. There is a lot of cross-compatibility within Shimano but there are stumbling blocks too. They do not make it easy to figure out.

Here's the basic procedure:

Find the exploded view document for the hub model. Usually this
starts with just googling 'fh-rs505 ev'. In this case that works
fine, the first result is currently a third-party site that as a
public service puts up all the ev pdfs from the yearly technical
manual releases.
Find the 'freewheel body unit' part number, in this case Y31F98080. That is the Shimano part you want if you can get it.
See if you can find someone selling that exact part number. This is hit or miss. Here it's a relatively less commonly seen hub model. I do see a couple sellers around the world that have it, so maybe that's the end of the trail for you. That also implies that Shimano is selling it aftermarket to vendors, or at least did at some point, and/or at least in some countries, which means check in with your bike shop who can login to Shimano's b2b site and see if they can order it for you.
One of the things that gets tricky is that for some insane reason, the part number listed on the ev pdf sometimes has a hyphen or a space inserted in other mediums, so you kind of have to search for it a couple different ways to know you're going to see it if it's there. For example sometimes Shimano would list the same part number as 'Y31F 98080'.
If you can't get hold of the exact part number, then you get into the world of finding a replacement that's physically compatible with the shell and the axle type (standard M10x1 versus proprietary oversized), and jumping through the hoops required to make the other parameters work. There are some other questions that cover this, but basically you have to worry about whether your existing FH-RS505 right side axle hardware (cone, spacers, seals) are going to play nice with whatever freehub body you find that can go on the shell, and then when it's all done you have to worry about the spacing and dish of the complete wheel, which will change a little if certain dimensions of the new freehub are not physically identical to the old one. Often this just means buying all new drive-side axle hardware to match the new freehub body. That can be overkill but it's usually what I do for people to ensure there aren't problems down the line. There are aspects to it that aren't really possible to judge reliably by eyeball. In some cases you'll be able to use the ev documents to find a surrogate freehub that uses the same cone and seals as the old one.


Is there any available Strava statistics regarding rider's distance compared to others' per year?

http://www.marcellobrivio.com/projects/strava-toolbox/?logout=1

This online app will let you connect to your Strava account and compare pretty much anything you want. It allows you to see some fairly interesting comparisons. You’ll want to connect your account and then scroll to “Strava Distance Ranking”. I’m not sure if there’s an option to narrow your search from “Worldwide” to “Sweden”, but hopefully this will help.


Can I get smaller tires without changing my rims?

Most 700c rims will work with essentially any size of tire. Yes, smaller tires generally reduce rolling resistance a little, but unless you're road racing, it's rarely worth going below about 700x23c, IMO. Also note that just being smaller doesn't necessarily mean lower rolling resistance -- one brand of 700x19c might have higher rolling resistance than another brand of 700x20c, for example.

The big change (if any) happens when you switch to slick tires (and most 700x32c tires have fairly substantial tread if not outright knobs).


Increasing length of seatpost on a foldable bike

I have a 20" folder, long legs, and exactly the same problem.

I strongly advise you to put the seatpost to the minimum insertion mark at least, if not further.  I've personally cracked and broken my frame at the seat clamp, and fortunately it was weldable being steel.

As for your parts - maybe.   The combination of dimensions looks good, but the risk is that a thinner seat post, will be weaker for the same thickness of wall.   If its a thicker wall then you're probably good.

Also, the thinner seatpost will have a leverage focus/maximum right at the point it enters your adapter, so if its going to bend it will bend there.

Another solution is to take your old seat post to a machine shop and ask for a price for "one of these, but 700mm long, please"

Mine's got an old-fashioned 2 piece saddle clamp so all I need is a piece of steel tube, necked down at one end to the right size.  Your sample has an integrated saddle clamp, which would make it more complex.   If you do go this route, buy a cheap seatpost with the right clamp and tube size, and ask your machinist  to cut off the clamp and fit it to a longer tube.   If you're brave you could offer up your existing seatpost, but that leaves you no bike for the duration.


Since nobody so far has posted weights, I'll leave "one" data in case it's useful for somebody.

                   | 105 5800 | Sora 3500 |
-------------------+----------+-----------+
Levers             |     486g |      496g |
Brakes             |     388g |      357g |
Front Derailleur   |      89g |      105g |
Rear Derailleur    |     234g |      246g |
Crankset           |          |      844g |
Crankset (with BB) |     808g |           |
Cassettes          |     269g |      343g |
Chain              |     257g |      270g |
-------------------+----------+-----------+
Total              |    2531g |     2661g |

105 is average weights with BB, and Sora is one actual weights without BB.
The sources of 105 are multiple shops (Not in English). I think they just list what Shimano claims but doesn't make it available online for whatever reasons.
The source on Sora is this blog (not in English too, but with photos of each part on a platform scale).
Actual weights will vary depending on the crank length, the gear size, the cassette combination, the derailleur capacity, or even quality of individual parts (yours may be slightly lighter or heavier than average).


I would say any 8 or 9 speed will work (same brand), you just need a 7sp shifter.
The pulling ratio is controlled the by the shifter, so as long as the shifter has the same number of speeds as the cassette you should be ok.


How to clean sticky brake dust from carbon fiber fork?

These are what I've used in the past to clean oil grease and brake dust from my Argon 18 Matt finished frame.   using any sort of polish will eventually make your bike shiny. Find this a quick and easy way to keep my bike clean


I love my Oakley Fives.

Pros:

The frames are relatively cheap
They're very light and comfortable to ride in
They provide good coverage and keep out dust/grime and breeze
The arms are designed to detach when under pressure rather than break
I think they look good

I have transition lenses and they are fantastic. I never have to worry about changing lenses or having the wrong tint. I just chuck them on and go and they're always spot on.


It looks like the issue for one brake stemmed from a ferrule on a cable outer pinching too much. And the other brake seems a little better after checking/straightening the routing and lubing.

All inners and outers look to be in perfect condition which is why I hadn't stripped them down up to now.

Thanks for the pointers chaps.


Seeing the pistons extended a little is expected on hydraulic disc brake calipers. As the pads wear fluid is slowly drawn from the reservoir and the pistons extend to take up the space left by the pad wear. The pistons should retract slightly when the lever is released to back the pads off the rotor though. It sounds like that failed to happen with your calipers.
You should be able to push both pistons back. This can be be tricky as you have to put opposing force on both pistons. I have a set of tire levers that work well for this, but y9u may have to search for the right tool.
Dirty pistons and seals may be the cause of the pistons not retracting properly. You can try cleaning them and see if that helps. Park tool has a good video showing how that is sone, and it also shows how the automatic pad wear adjustment works.


Why does my gear slip when going uphill / standing?

In order of least expensive to most expensive, you either have

a misadjusted derailleur,
a very worn out cassette, or
a crack in your frame.

If you're not noticing any problems shifting under normal circumstances, I'd odds are good that your cassette is worn out and your chain no longer meshes with the cogs correctly.


How to choose a frame to be sure it fits to the owned components?

This is pretty broad, and it depends on how much stuff you want to move over. I'll assume the fork, frame  and headset itself are not being moved, so you're getting new ones of those.

Brakes: Mounting, reach for rim brakes (can the brake, when mounted, reach the rim properly?)
Wheels: Frame spacing and brakes (if you have to switch brake types you may need to switch wheels). Also, axle type (can't put a thru axle wheel in a regular frame, for example, though some hubs are convertible).
Stem: Threadless/threaded depending on the new frame. If you switch stem types or stems, make sure the new stem can clamp on the new bar.
Handlebar: See stem. Also, anything that mounts to the handlebar will need compatibility checks if you change diameters.
Front derailleur: Same type of mount (E-type, etc.). These are cheap though, so replacing them is no big deal.
Bottom bracket: Depends on the frame. You'll probably end up installing a new one though.
Crankset: Depends on the bottom bracket.
Seatpost: Depends on diameter.
Saddle: Probably will.
Rear derailleur: Probably will.

Note that you'll likely be using a shop to move some (all?) of the parts, and at least for prepping the new frame (e.g. chasing and facing the BB and what not).

So, you might as well go through them to get the parts and double check compatibility.


How to determine if a decline is too steep for safety?

Ultimately there is no limit to what you can ride beyond your own skill. Many people say "too steep" is a cliff, but some riders just look at that like a drop and ride it anyway.

You need to evaluate whether the places you are walking are because you lack the skill to ride them, the confidence to ride them, or improper equipment. Yes, you could theoretically ride an entire downhill track on a fully rigid, carbon XC bike, but wouldn't it be a lot easier on a 8" travel, full-suspension bike?

Looking at the steep section that flipped you over, see if you can find why you flipped. Too far forward on the bike? A big rock/root in the way? Application of too much front brake? Remedy each of these things and you might find yourself riding steeper and steeper hills.

So how do you fix it or get better?

Practice! Hours in the saddle is the best way to get more confidence riding these types of things. Find a smaller decline and practice shifting your weight back, feathering your brakes, and keeping your eyes scanning for obstacles.
Ride with someone Don't underestimate the value of riding with someone better than you. Politely ask them if they could show you how to ride some of things you're struggling with and watch them do it and have them watch you.
Speed is your friend I know it seems counter intuitive but like riding over rocks/roots on flat terrain, a little speed goes a long way. Again, practice this, don't just go charging over the edge of a super sketchy hill and hope for the best (although that can be really fun).

Lastly, what type of riding do you want to do? A lot of XC trails are relatively tame in regards to steep downhills because the bikes aren't really meant for that. But if you're looking to get into freeriding or downhill you'll need to get comfortable with this.


What would short distance training do for my endurance performance?

You can improve metrics like FTP, VO2Max, etc, with shorter workouts, and those improvements will carry through to longer rides. Your body doesn't draw on a completely separate set of capabilities when you go for a long ride.
But at some level, you need to prepare for a long ride by going on long rides. A saddle that is comfortable at 40 miles might be uncomfortable at 80 miles. Likewise for shoes, etc. Small positioning problems get magnified.
Also, your body can generally store enough energy to carry you through about 2½ hours of riding, after which you're at risk of bonking. Going for longer rides gives you practice refueling, figuring out what works and what doesn't. You can also train your body to run on stored fat more efficiently (even if you are very thin, you have enough stored fat to get through days worth of riding).


How can I fit this bottle holder to this bike?

That does not appear to be a attachment for mounting a bottle cage to a frame tube. The two holes in the mount appear to match the two holes in the upper plate of the cage, which orients the mount incorrectly for clamping a frame tube. My guess is that it's for mounting to handlebars - which have a standard diameter, unlike frame tubes.

mounts for frame tubes do exist. They typically use two adjustable straps of some kind to accommodate different size frame tubes. You want something with a beefy strap that can be tightened sufficiently to stop the cage rotating on the frame tube.


Fasted training - is it worth it? Is it different when the focus is endurance?

I'll preface this answer by saying i don't have any formal qualifications or education to answer this, but it is an area I'm particularly interested in, and have spent a lot of time reading about (and trying out in practice).

With the above out of the way, the short answer to your question is yes.

In fact, the primary reason to be undertaking this type of training is for endurance/performance reasons rather than weight loss.

Your body is perfectly able to burn both carbs (either stored glycogen, or from recent intake), or fat.  Burning carbs is easier, therefore, as you increase the intensity of exercise the proportion of carbs that are burnt is higher.
Fasted training is about teaching the body that carbs aren't needed, and that fat should be its preferred fuel source at low intensity.  By burning fat for energy, we are preserving our stored glycogen (and therefore energy levels) for longer.
By starting off in a low glycogen state, and not providing any more carbs, we accelerate this learning process, and very much replicates the latter portion of a long ride when our glycogen stores are getting depleted.

I experimented with this type of training (and continue to use it) with great success during 2017 as an attempt to improve my endurance before undertaking the NC500 route in Scotland.

You need to be disciplined to get the most out it, and stick to HR/PZ2/3.  It can be very dull, especially if you aren't used to it, and requires some advance planning to avoid prolonged steep climbs.  For your example of commuting to work, this would mean no traffic light sprints etc.

For me, after trial and error, I found this was more convenient to achieve by 'low fuelling' rather than dedicated fasted rides.  I would do my two interval sessions each week fully fuelled to get best quality.  I would do shorter endurance rides (up to 2hrs) on only water.  And for longer endurance rides I would ride the first hour on water alone, and then take half my usual carb intake for the remainder of the ride.

The process is very much like bringing yourself to the edge of a bonk in a slow controlled manner, without ever actually bonking.  For this reason, i'd always recommend taking a couple of emergency gels on these rides just in case.
It is often fairly unpleasant, with slightly increased breathing rate and a tired/lethargic feeling, but if things are going well, you should still feel you are applying the correct power to the pedals.


Bike chain "skipping", but only when not continuously pedaling

Posting this to help others who may stumble upon this.

Took my bike into a local coop, armed with my roommate's hunch about the freehub body, and I removed it, and the guys there said that it had too much play and wasn't ratcheting correctly. Either damage to the pawls or gunk.

Put a new freehub on, and it's as good as new. The take away here for me was: if you're able to stand up on your pedals while going up hill no problem, and your chain only feels like it's skipping after the freehub disengages (coasting) and then reengages (starting pedaling again), it's probably not the chain or cassette/chainrings.

I think this is a weird problem since I had brand new gears and chain, but a very old freehub, which I doubt happens too often, but this worked for me, for what it's worth


Yes, the weight of you + your bike + your load should be a factor. At 200 + 28 + 30 lbs, your looking at close to 300 lbs. Consider 32h in the front and 36h in the rear.

For 32mm tires, look for rims that are 15-19mm wide inside, and for 35mm tires look for 17-21 mm wide.

I'm the same weight and have chosen 32h/36h but ride 38mm tires both front and back on 22m wide rims.

The wheels you link to meet those specs, so good choice (except for them not being in stock yet).


Trainers that clip onto your rear wheel aren’t a good option if you’re over their weight limits. They support much of your weight on your rear axle quick release and this can put a lot of stress on components that aren’t designed for this type of static loading. If your bike breaks or the trainer breaks, you don’t have any grounds for a warranty claim or a liability claim if you hurt yourself.

A stationery bike is a much better option as they’re often built more sturdily. Check on Craigslist, they’re often quite cheap especially in the spring when people are clearing out their garages.

Or, go bike outside. There’s almost no unbikeable weather, even Minnesota in the winter — or Minnesota in the summer. (Wink)