One of the cogs on my freewheel is bent and I have an assumption of how it happened

So the damage happened at the same time you shifted to a lower gear ?  I'm guessing you were pushing hard because its a steep grade, and the chain was not fully engaged in the bigger cog when you pushed hard.
 Notice the top 6 teeth are not engaged on the biggest sprocket, but are also not meshing with the next-smallest sprocket?
Image shows a 28 and 32 tooth, so this could be exacerbated by a larger tooth difference, like it the final cog is a "megadrive" than can be a 10 tooth difference from the next cog.
 Trying to show a view from the rear - the chain veers to the right-hand side at about the 11 oclock position.  Both photos are the same chain lay.
So this chain lay, combined with

a lot of leg power because you're going up a hill
probably the rider is out of the saddle and leaning forwards for more power,
a smaller front chainring working to multiply the leverage
a chain that has no particular weak spots

could twist a part of a cog.  And it would look like a twist too.  The other option is a fold, which would have some other kind of cause.

Also, what "groupset" or level is the cassette?  If its non-groupset shimano, or some pot-metal quality cheese-grade steel cog then that increases the likelyhood it failed.
As for fixing it, you may be able to straighten the cog.  Likely its all secured together into one block so you're working around the other parts.  Be aware that if you do get it straight, the metal will be permanently weakened and more likely to do this again.
The best option is to replace the damaged freewheel, which can be galling if there's significant life left in it.


Replacement crankset SRAM 3x for 10 cogs

Chainring to chainring spacing does generally become less over the different speed generations. There is no exact standard for it. As for the actuation of the shifter/FD, I believe in this case how it works is that the 9 and 10 speed triple Shimano and SRAM shifters pull the same amount, and there's a very small difference in the actuation ratio of the FD to go along with the difference in ring spacing.

Usually combinations like you're proposing here work fine, but it's in the area where nobody can really tell you 100% in the abstract that it will. Carefully test that the chain can't drop between rings, but I doubt that will be a problem. If you encounter any problems, what it's likely to be is that the system doesn't have enough total throw, i.e. you can't adjust it so that the chain doesn't rub on either the inside of the FD cage in the lowest gear or the outside in the highest gear. You may be able to either use an alternate FD cable anchor position or bend the FD to overcome this. Using a 9s FD isn't a good solution because then the cage width doesn't match your chain.

The SLX 3x10 crank should work totally fine presuming no snafus with ring size/FD compatibility.


Resources for suspension setup and tuning?

General for fork and shock:

pinkbike Tech Tuesday - Suspension Setup part 1
pinkbike Tech Tuesday - Suspension Setup part 2
pinkbike Tech Tuesday - Suspension Setup part 3
pinkbike Tech Tuesday - Suspension Setup part 4

troubleshooting a shocks behavior with the dials (it's from cane creek but applies to anything):

https://www.canecreek.com/resources/docs/DB_Quick-tune_Sheet.pdf


Can I run a Schwalbe Marathon 26" on a Mavic CrossLand UST rim?

If tires are nominally compatible with the rims, it may still sometimes frustratingly hard to put them on. There are several tricks that helped me on many occasions.

Make sure that tube does not get in the way. Sometimes it means using a narrower tube. In your case, having a tube marked for tires 26"×2.0" inside tires marked as 26"×1.5" will add extra to the torture (the tube will be "pushing" a partially installed tire away). Instead, find a tube marked as 26"×1.5" or approximately so.
Use liquid soap on tire's bead before installing. This would remove extra friction along the circumference of the rim.
Keep an eye on the first bead. Installing the first bead into the rim is usually not hard; it is the second, final bead of the tire that is stubborn. When installing it, keep an eye on the first (already installed) tire's bead. Try keeping it pushed inside, closer to the centerline of the rim, rather than allowing it resting on the hooks of the rim. This way, the tire will relieve a bit of maneuver for the second bead.
Do not rely too much on your tire levers. It should be possible to install a tire without using levers, only with one's fingers, a lot of swearing and sometimes toes to give a final push to the last 5 cm of the bead.
Sometimes, if nothing helps, it is worth starting over by releasing the bead completely. This way, you'll have a second chance for the bead to sit properly right from the start. Keep an eye on the first bead when pushing the second one!

Good luck!


What kind of handlebar should go on a fixie to sell it?

Handlebar type and shape is largely a matter of personal preference - especially on trendy fixed-gear and single speed bikes.

I would sell it as is. If you change the handlebar there is a likely possibility that you will also have to change the brake handle. That's a lot of needless expense. Let the buyer swap it out if they want something different.


When buying new wheels, make sure the spacing matches up. Road wheels typicall use 130mm rear and 100mm front spacing where as most mountain bikes use 135mm rear and 100mm front. Hybrids vary, but it looks like this one has Shimano RM30 hubs which are 135mm spacing like a mountain bike.  However, if you find a 130mm spaced wheel you like, you can add spacers to make it fit the 135mm spacing of your bike if need be.

I think it's worth a shot trying out a 700x28c tire on this bike without changing the wheels, which would be much cheaper than switching the wheelset.

FYI, I got my spec information for the wheels from here: http://www.firefoxbikes.com/hybrid_Trek_73FX.html


This sounds like a issue in your freehub/freewheel (both are mechanically the same for this question).  This is what allows you to coast without pedaling.  Inside these bodies are a set of "pawls" which will flip down and engage a series of splines when rotated "forward", and propels the bike forward.  Then, if you move them in the other direction "backwards", the pawls are designed to be pushed out of the way of the spline.  Given how old your bike is, there is probably a build up of dirt and drying out of grease inside these that are causing the pawls to be stuck in the "up" position and not able to grab the splines.  In this case, your local shop should be able to fix that right up by replacing the part.


Here are some things that can cause that:

The cable needs to be adjusted either at the derailleur or at an adjustment on the cable. This is the most common cause.
The chain, cable, and/or derailleur may need to be lubricated.
The chain my be worn out (stretched). You can check it with a special tool, at a bike shop, or by seeing how much you can pull off the large sprocket.
The cassette (rear sprocket) may be worn or have teeth missing.
There may be a problem with the cable routing, or maybe it's about to break. Make sure then ends of the cable guides are in their proper place.
As Argenti mentioned, the derailleur or derailleur hanger may be bent.


What's the maximum tire width of a Cannondale Bad Boy 6 2014?

You'd have to test it out - theres enough variation in tires (esp. studded tires) for two tires to be marked the same size and one fit and one not fit.

This thread indicates that for an older Bad Boy with rigid fork was able to clear a 47 mm tire (which looks to be the largest possible), so I'd guess the answer is yes, but YMMV.


10 cm from the saddle would be possible if you are talking about XC saddle height and the handlebars are lower than the seat.

One way is to do this:

Another way is to bend and go very deep:

knees bend pointing outside
hands totally straight to the bars so your body moves backwards
back totally straight
position your body so the saddle goes exactly between your head and your left or right bicep (whatever works best for you)
look ahead


As long as you're putting on the same size stem (steer tube size, not length), which you should be doing unless it came with spacers/shims, then yeah no problem.

If the clamping area is taller, you may need to get a longer bolt to reach the star nut, but then you'll also have some stem above the steer tube and that's no good either. Odds are though that you'll be just fine switching over.


While pedaling standing up, bike crank gives in as if shifting, what is causing this?

Since it only happens when you stand I would say it is definitely a combination of a worn chain and worn chainring, and nothing to do with shifters or derailleurs.

As a chain wears, it 'stretches', meaning the distance between the pins in the chain grows. This is a result of the side plates wearing into the pin. Once the chain starts to 'stretch', it starts to wear on the teeth of the chainring. If you look at it close you will likely notice that the valley's between the teeth on the chainring are not uniform, and the the tips of teeth are wearing down, compared to a new chain ring.

When you apply torque to the crank, each tooth of the chainring pushes against the roller on the pins of the chain. On a bike with a rear derailleur, there is a spring which keeps tension on the chain. As the chainring teeth wear out, and you apply a certain level of torque on the cranks, it becomes possible to exceed the tension applied by the derailleur and the chain will simply 'roll' up and over the teeth on the chainring, effectively skipping a tooth. This usually happens very suddenly.

The only right solution is to buy a new chain and new chainring (or chainrings). Putting a new chain on a worn chainring or a worn chain on a new chainring will only accelerate the wear on the new item. The bicycle shop should have sold you both.


Are there any 'anti-car' bicycle companies or shops?

Well, there's the Cars-R-Coffins website, but i don't know of any shops that are actively anti-car.

It's pretty counter productive, and even if you push the green dream pretty hard, it's generally recognized that positive input is better than negativity.

For example: Most people respond better to, "I ride my bike because it's good, cheap transportation, and environmentally sound." than they do to, "Stop killing the planet with your 6 mpg Hummer H2, you inconsiderate #$@%!*..."

There are advocacy organizations that will push the line pretty hard, but retailers and wholesalers have to maintain balance a bit better than that.

FTR, I don't think you are insensitive to this, i just think it's an answer that you pretty much stated in your question.


Can a bike have both Schrader and Presta tires?

Short answer, it's not common at all and probably wasn't like that when the bike was new.

The valve that you need is determined by the rim rather than the bike. If the rim is drilled out with a big enough hole for a schrader valve, then that's what you should use. If a schrader valve doesn't fit through the valve hole, then you should use a tube with presta valve. If one of the rims on the bike has been replaced (or drilled out), then they may no longer match and you would need one of each.

The more likely scenario is that at some point one of the tubes was replaced and instead of getting the correct schrader valve tube, a presta was used instead. This is easy to check as the presta valve will not fit snugly in the valve hole. If this is the case, it will work well enough in the short term, but I'd still recommend replacing it with the correct tube with a Schrader valve. Over time, the rubber around the thinner presta valve will rub against the edges of the larger diameter valve hole in the rim and eventually wear out.


New chain, skipping off small sprocket in front when under load

The small chainring in your picture looks fairly worn - not bad but not good.
I can't see much of the big chainring to make a judgement there.
Here's a silhouette of a sector of new chainring, with this one piece mirrored left-for-right.

Compare this with yours:

The top photo has a definite "up and to the right" look while the flipped second image has a "up and to the left" look.
its not a straight-on photo but you get the idea.
As a test, you can try flipping the chainring, but this will mess up the horizontal offset so can't really be ridden like this with indexed gears.  If you have friction gears this may work.   Also the chainring bolts may not seat very well against the other side - this is only a suggestion to help test the wear of the chainring teeth.


Road bike drag decrease with bulky backback

Your very question has actually been answered by GCN (below) and Specialized and has been partially answered in  What's more aerodynamic on flat bars: backpack or pannier?
Essentially the in order of fastest to slowest:

Large saddle bag (i.e., bike packing bags)
Back pack
Pannier

By far the panniers will be the slowest option as you are hanging the bag out in the full wind.  Backpacks are pretty fast, but do affect wind transferring over your back.  If you don't have a lot to carry bike packing bags are the fastest option as they are tucked away the most.
Over the last 2 years I have switched completely to bike packing bags and a fast road bike for my 45 km commute (2 way) and probably save close to 10+ minutes per day.
One thing not tested in the videos is a front roll bag.  I have good luck with that setup as I think it acts a bit like a wind fairing for your upper legs which do cause a lot of air disturbance.
What's The Best Bag For Commuting By Bike? Saddle Bag Vs. Panniers Vs. Backpack

Screen capture with the actual data with a suspect y-axis scaling... Come on Emma your are a PhD scientist!


How to inflate a tire with a Presta valve?

Those valve stems are too short for those deep deep rims you've got on there. You can tell just from the photos that the valve stem isn't sticking out far enough from the rim for the pump to fit all the way on it. Hence, it's not contacting the valve enough for you to inflate your tires.


Shoe covers/booties will help keep your feet dry, but there's really no such thing as "waterproof" shoe covers/booties.  The best of them merely delay your shoes filling with water for maybe 20 or 30 minutes in any decently heavy rain.

Even if the material itself is waterproof, there are too many ways for water to get in.  First, water is going to run down your legs into your shoes. Shoe covers won't help that much if at all. You can help keep water out of the tops of your shoes by wearing tights or some other clothing that fits over your shoe tops and directs water outside the shoes.  But even that won't keep all the water out. ("Hey, I'll just wear waterproof pants!"  isn't an answer - after a few minutes that can be like cycling in a sauna because waterproof works both ways...)

Water is also going to get in through the soles via the cleat holes, unless you have specially-designed shoes such as "winter cycling boots" that are designed not to have this problem.  Or don't have cleats at all...

And even then, if you don't have fenders with a good mud/spray flap on the front, the spray from the front wheel will rapidly soak your lower extremities anyway.  Spray enough water onto your shins and your shoes will be filled no matter what they're made of and no matter what you do to keep water out of the shoe tops.

So, if you want to keep your feet truly dry, you need to start with fenders with a good mud/spray flap to keep most of the water off your feet and legs in the first place, and leg coverings/tights/pants that direct most of what does get on you away from getting inside your shoe tops.  Then, you need to prevent water from coming up through the sole - and that requires special shoes, or not riding with cleats at all.

Shoe covers/booties are in the "keep your feet from getting totally soaked for just a few more minutes" category.  If that's all you need, that's fine.  But they won't keep your feet dry.  To do that, you need a lot more help.


Wheel keeps going out of alignment and loosening the chain

The short answer is the axle nuts need to be done up tighter than you are doing them up it now. If you can't tighten them more, you need a longer wrench to be able to apply more torque.

There are tension adjustment devices that fit over the axles and in the dropouts that make tensioning the chain and aligning the wheel easier, and help prevent the wheel moving.

According to Park Tool, the nuts should be tightened to about 25Nm; see their video on single speed (or IHG) bikes for how to estimate that torque if you don't have a torque wrench.


Why does rear tire lose 35 psi in a week with new innertube and tire?

A possible (even likely) cause is a leaking valve. The simplest thing to do first is to see if blowing air out if the valve (by depressing the pin) solves the problem. You wouldn't see the dust if it was there; the only way to know is to inflate the tire and wait a few days.

If that doesn't solve it, or you are less patient than that, go straight to the next step: remove the tire and tube.

When removing the tire, use some chalk or some other means of knowing how it was mounted on the wheel (regarding the valve position and which is the drive side). With the tube, also take notice of which way around it is on the wheel. Now, if you find a hole in the tube you know where to look for the cause in the tire.

Remove the tube and check for the leak by immersing the entire tube in a tub of water.

Be patient, because the leak is slow.

You could have pinched the tube when replacing it (common, but usually leaks faster). But more likely, you still have some glass in the tire. Line the tube up with the tire and check carefully. Patch the tube.

But I really suspect the valve. From my limited experience with Schrader valves they a more prone to leak, especially if used without valve caps.

Other possible causes are a foreign body onside the tire or something (eg a spoke) protruding from the rim.


Too much info for a comment, I've checked the suggested duplicate and this is slightly different.  This question is about effort and approach, not climbing technique.

Answer You're going at the hill too hard.  Learn to PACE your efforts.

Medical rule of thumb, your maximum heart rate should be 220 minus your age.  I'm 40 so my heart rate should not exceed 180.  However my HRM in strava shows peaks in the high 170s.
So 200 BPM might be a maximum heart rate for a fit 20 year old.

If you're doing decent flat speeds, then don't expect to travel uphill at those same speeds.  I think you're trying to keep the same speed and blowing yourself up.

Instead, find a quiet grade of about 8%, and start by riding up like normal.  Note how high you get before you have to stop.  Then turn around and go down, resting and recovering.

Second time - go up the hill in your bottom gear (that's the small front and the biggest rear cog)  Focus on keeping your pedalling cadence at "normal" and avoid pedalling too fast.  Also avoid bouncing in the saddle, but stay seated.  You will ride slower, but see how high you get before you have to stop.  I bet it takes much longer, but you will well exceed the turnpoint of the first attempt.  And you'll be less shattered passing that point too.

Climbing is all about PACING your effort.


According to Trek's website :

Wheels: Alloy hubs w/Bontrager Approved alloy rims

And according to Bikeradar's website :

Front Wheel Weight: 1370g
Rear Wheel Weight: 1970g

I fear that you won't be able to replace the wheel with exactly the same thing since they seem to be generic wheels built for this bike. You can try the dealer you bought them from, they might have a replacement available or you can look for a different set elsewhere. In that price category you might have to buy a set (front+rear wheel) thought, but at least that means they will match.


Trying to figure out what brand this frame actually is

With a lot of patience (i.e., if your time has no value to you) you can try to match partial parts of the serial code (you probably find it under the bottom bracket) with serial codes on the site bike-index.org. This way you may (I stress, you may) have a clue about the original manufacture/assembler of the bicycle you are interested in.
My suggestion is to let it go, it may look like a S-Works, it may have parts that looks like a S-Works, but there is no guarantee that it is even properly assembled. In my opinion, it is likely to be a zombie-bicycle that will let you stranded in the middle of an intersection and consequently being maimed by a truck.
Good luck!


First of all, if the bike is new and there is a problem with it, just take it back to the store where it was bought and ask them to fix it. Most bike stores in the US offer some sort of tune up after a few weeks to deal with any problems that crop up, re-adjust as cables stretch etc.

If you need to diagnose and fix it yourself:

You have ruled out the shifter, so the resistance must be in the cable or the derailleur itself. I doubt it's the derailleur spring being too stiff. The derailleur lever mechanism and springs are designed to have approximately constant  return force across the range of movement. The inexpensive Tourney line is has some stamped sheet metal parts, there may be a burr or defect that is preventing the derailleur from moving freely.

To check the cable, disconnect from the derailleur at the pinch bolt. While holding it taught at the end work the shifter and make sure the cable moves freely and is not hanging up at all.

With the cable still disconnected, you can manually push the derailleur cage from the small ring to large ring position to see if there is any resistance. It helps of you can pop the chain out of the cage, there should be a small screw that you can undo to open the cage and slide the chain out.


Shimano publishes archived Portable Document Format (PDF) documents on their website at:
https://productinfo.shimano.com/#/archive
For example, the 2019-2020 specification is at:
https://productinfo.shimano.com/download/?path=pdfs/archive/2019-2020_Specifications_v034_en.pdf
Early in the document there is a table of word definitions. The following is the list of word definitions for 2019-2020:

BB - Bottom bracket
BC - Brake cable
BCC - Battery cable
BCR - Battery charger
BH - Disc brake hose
BL - Brake lever
BM - battery mount
BR - Brake caliper
BTC - Battery case
BTH - Battery holder
BTR - Battery
CB - Coaster brake
CD - Chain device
CG - Chain guard
CJ - Cassette joint
CN - Chain
CP - Spoke protector
CR - Chainring
CS - Cassette sprocket
CT - Chain tensioner
DH - Hub dynamo
DU - Drive unit
EC - Battery charger
EW - Electric wire
EWC - Cord cover
EWEX - DI2 adapter
EWW - Wireless unit
FC - Front chainwheel Crankarm
FD - Front derailleur
FH - Freehub
GM - Grommet
HB - Front hub
HP - Head parts
HRB - Hub roller brake
I-SPEC - Integration mounting system of brake and shifting lever
ID - CI-DECK
JC - Junction
LP - Light
MF - Multiple freewheel
MU - Motor unit
O.L.D. - Over Locknut Dimension
OT - Outer casing
P.C.D. - Pitch Circle Diameter
PCE - PC Linkage device
PD - Pedal
PM - Power modulator
QR - Quick release
RD - Rear derailleur
RT - Disc brake rotor
RTAD - Disc brake rotor adapter
SB - REVOSHIFT shifter integrated with brake lever
SC - Cycle computer System information display
SF - Single freewheel
SG - Internal geared hub
SL - Shifting lever
SPD - Shimano pedaling dynamics
SPD-SL - Shimano pedaling dynamics-SL
ST - Dual control lever/shifting lever integrated with brake lever
SW - Switch unit
WH - Wheel


Possible cause for Google Maps / bicycle odometer divergence (tire size setting correct)

Google maps probably treats roads as not having any width, and corners as point turns. Unlike bends, if you zoom in you tend to see a sharp 90 degree change in line on a curve This will cost you the length of the arc you really take.

It certainly omits all the lane changes, obstacle avoidance and similar manoeuvres.

However there is some variation in tyres - particularly some of the anti-puncture tyres have a bit of extra thickness; inflation vs. weight on the wheel will also have an effect. So you're better off seeing the wheel circumference based on counting the wheel revolutions over an accurately-measured straight line.


Front Derailleur stays on smallest chain ring

If this is an older bike with a standard friction shifter, you need to adjust the friction.

On the shaft where the lever pivots is an adjustment knob of some sort.  Simply tighten that knob until the lever is "stiff" operating but can still be moved with reasonable ease.

If, on the other hand, you have an indexed shifter then the procedure to correct this problem depends on the specific type you have (and how repairable that particular type is).  A picture of your shifter would be most helpful if it is not the standard friction style.


This bike is a really nice piece of kit.
I'm not sure it's the right bike though, even though the price is good (these are well regarded and sought after).
It is not the right bike for $100 bicycle man.
It's a high spec, aggressive all-mountain bike from Cannondale's final manufacturing years in the US (subsequent years were made in Taiwan). The Lefty fork is awesome and has many unique features that make it so, not just the single sidedness of it. People say the "Geometry is outdated" but this is more of a fashion thing -- there are limits within which the dimensions of a bicycle work and give the desired handling and the newer trend is for slacker head angles.
I see the bike has all top-level XTR components. As parts wear and need replacement, you will find that the costs are in line with a top level bike. Suspension should be serviced with use and this could be $100/year depending who does it.
It's a beautiful bike but you may not be putting it to the right purpose by buying it for your husband who may be better off with a lower spec bike that is a little bit more general purpose, unless his intention is to ride the trails hard every weekend. It's not an ideal bike for riding around town.
But that's only my opinion. There are other red bikes out there.


I could tell you more accurately if I were riding with you and could hear the noise and where it came from. But, I can tell you these things for certain:

Clean and lube your pedal bearings. Do not skimp and just add some oil. Also make sure your pedals and crankarms are tightened to the correct recommended torque.

Do not delay before applying these maintenance measures. I say "do not delay" because the cause could be that the crankarms are not torqued down properly. This is not likely, but it is possible, and if it is the reason? Then you can ruin the crankset within a few miles of riding. That's right - ruin - to the point of a crankarm or the crank spider cracking and eventually breaking. If it cracks you will see it happening - and it won't be sudden - so in that way it is not unsafe, ok? But it will be relatively expensive to fix.

So the first thing you need to do is to make sure the moving parts involved (pedals, crankarms, bottom bracket) have proper maintenance and lubrication. Your problem is likely somewhere in there.


Do tubeless tires offer significant benefits for a cyclocross bike?

So I decided to take the plunge and try the tubeless wheels.  I've got about 80 miles of road and gravel riding on them now, and figured I should start formulating an answer.  I ended up using the stan's alpha 400 rim because of my weight and the lack of rim brake compatibility in their cross specific rim.

So far it's been as advertised.  The tires can run at much lower pressures than I was able to run with tubes, to the point that if I come back onto the road I actually feel like the tire is going to tear off the rim when taking tight corners too fast (these are corners on neighborhood trails and such, it is not nearly as pronounced when riding on real roads).  The lower pressure lets the tires hook up really well off road - probably not as well as a wide set of tubulars but much better than the tubed tires I've used in the past.  So I would say yes, there are significant benefits.

There are a few gotchas to be aware of though, namely the lack of tire selection - the tires I wanted to run would not lock into the bead.  Even at low pressures they would blow off.  I ended up going with a set of (non-tubeless) continentals that my shop had lying around.  It took a while for sealant to permeate the tire, but they are working great now.  I think there are only a handful of tubeless specific cross tires at this time, but feel certain more will be coming.  With the alpha (road wheels) you also need a special rim strip (in addition to the yellow tape) for higher volume cross tires.  With some tires this is not needed (or even detrimental), but it ended up being needed for mine.  I'm sure you could jury-rig something but I would just plan on spending another $40 or so on these strips (just a rubber strip with a valve stem built in).  I've been told this is not needed with the iron cross rims.

All things considered, I think it was worth the hassle so far.  The stans wheels are great - very stiff when cornering, and I saved almost a pound at the rims off what my factory wheels weighed.  I will come back and post more once I've done some singletrack riding and a race or two.

edit - so I've done some singletrack riding and one race, and now I'm really starting to see the benefit.  The stans wheels don't really allow super low pressures (I burped at about 22 psi while preriding the race course) but they feel great at 30.  This is for a 220 lb rider with 35mm tires, using the rubber strips.  The wheels hooked up really well on the slick grass course, and held up well to dismounts/remounts.  At this point I'm ready to call the experiment a success.  Looking back the only thing I would have done differently is go with a tubeless-specific tire (it took a long time for sealant to sufficiently permeate the non-tubeless tires I used).


The real problem with carbon is that it only has two modes -- not broken and broken.  When stressed beyond its strength limits the carbon fibers break and the frame is seriously weakened.  Plus, once this has happened, the "threshold" for further damage drops lower and lower.  And, except for cracks that MAY OR MAY NOT be reasonably visible, there's no obvious warning sign of impending failure -- nothing is "bent".

Steel, on the other hand, will (unless it's super-hard stuff) "yield" ("plastic" deformation) before it breaks, and "yielding" (within limits) only slightly reduces the strength of the metal.  Thus the frame will visibly bend before it breaks (unless, of course, it's run over by a truck or some such), and catastrophic failure is very rare.

(Aluminum is somewhat in-between the other two.  It unfortunately has a tendency to "work harden", and thus can, over a long term (years of rough roads), develop cracks that lead to catastrophic failure without obvious bending before-hand.  But it reacts more like steel in the face of short-term impact-type forces.)


Is a Roadie with wider tyres still faster then a MTB with slicks?

I'd recommend a Cyclocross bike (also called CX).  That's a robust road bike frame, configured to accept tyres up to about 40mm wide.  You won't need 40mm unless you're doing proper off-roading, but a nice 30-35mm file tread such as a Specialized Trigger or Schwalbe Sammy Slick will run nicely on smooth pavement, will handle cobbles and bad pavement, and will also handle mild gravel/dirt.

I have a setup like that, and the thing that I love about it is that I can ride pretty much anywhere from road to gravel to bike paths to rail trails to single track (except for MTB trails with lots of rocks!).

Have fun.


I usually gift them to people who need them.

Edit: To expand more on my answer, I use rather expensive tyres and I want them in mint condition. So after a couple of months I'll most probably change them. The old tyres can still give 6-12 months of quality riding time to someone. So I'll post on local riding forums with closeup photos of the tread and usually people will get them.


Perhaps your chain is too long by a few links and/or an adjustment of your b screw could allow you to shorten the chain.


It's going to depend on several things:

The controller
The type of pedal-assist detection
How good you are with electronics
Whether you can get a full kit for that model

If you can't get a suitable kit, you either need to be good at electronics (design and assembly), or pay someone who is.
I've sketched out a design in the past (on paper - I don't have them any more).  Here it is, with some other options.

One plausible and not too invasive idea involves faking the input to the pedal sensor with a throttle that gives pulses at a suitable rate.  This is what a former colleague was going to do after discussions, but analysing and generating electronic signals is the sort of thing we both do for a living.
Replacing all the controls and motor drive circuit may be an option, but how could you be sure the new bits would fit and be compatible with the motor and battery? Is the charging controller integrated into the same module?
The existing control circuit may have an unused throttle input (throttles are popular where they're allowed so it's not unlikely.  It may be very easy to interface or very tricky, depending on how much is present.


Brake fluids are more viscous when cold
Water absorption can increase the viscosity

But only until heat causes the water to become gas, which is compressible. When this happens, the lever feels a lot less stiff and pressure at the pad is drastically reduced.

Your system may have originally been poorly bled.

Tilting and vibration of the bike during use can encourage bubbles to travel upwards. Assuming you have an "open" hydraulic brake system, pressing the lever opens and closes a valve between the pressurised volume in the hose and the free fluid in the lever reservoir. Bubbles at the top are displaced into the reservoir through the valve until it closes, fixing the volume and allowing lever pressure to be transmitted to the caliper. When the lever is released, the valve has another open phase during which (hopefully) fluid is drawn into the volume. This behaviour is easy to observe in designs like Shimano's XTR BL-M975.


You can probably make up the extra room for the long crank with spacers, normally 5mm worth for a mtb crank in a 68mm shell.

I would want to find out if the bottom bracket shell has been 'faced', which is more important for external-cup bottom brackets than it was/is for cartridge square taper BBs.

Facing is removing any paint or imperfections on the sides of BB shell, where the cups sit against it. If the bearings of the BB are not perfectly parallel to each other, they will not spin as freely and it's those imperfections that cause a lack of parallelism.

This isn't so bad with 'cartridge' BBs because the unit was made perfectly parallel in the factory and you just have to thread it into the frame. Being parallel also helps with the wear life of the bearings, one reason cartridge square taper BBs are still the darling of touring cyclists, where reliability is crucial.

This video shows the whole process in detail so will explain better what needs to be done, but it is one of the few jobs that make clear economic sense to have done at a good LBS. The tools are expensive and aren't justified to purchase as a one off, so check whether the BB shell looks like it has been faced, and if not, find a good shop that is able to do this for you.


Best long distance padded shorts for tall man

I assume given the distance, that you're doing this journey on a road and on a road bike?

You'll be pleased to learn that, as Criggie says, your height is pretty much irrelevant.

You will need to decide between shorts and bibshorts (which come up over your shoulders). Many riders prefer bibshorts because they dispense with the line of elastic around your waist, leaving your stomach "unpressured". But it does really boil down to personal preference.

You also need to remember that there's no silver bullet here. Many experienced cyclists will choose a particular brand of clothing because they tried it in the past and it worked for them. And, not all brands of clothing work for all riders.

Having said that, if you are looking for high-end kit and are prepared to pay for it, I would suggest you could do a lot worse than to look at the kit that the professional teams are using. Not the replica kit, but the team issue kit. You'll pay for it - I'm guessing a ballpark of €200 for a pair of bibshorts - but you are at least getting kit that has been designed to be worn for 5-6 hours over a few hundred kilometers.

Alternatively, you could go to a good (online?) cycle shop, and to start looking at the most expensive kit they stock.

It is a bit of a crass argument to say "best == most expensive", but really until you develop a taste where you can say "such-and-such a  brand works well for me", you have to make a punt of some kind.


Why do cyclocross/touring bikes seem to have longer top tubes than road bikes?

On touring and Cyclocross bikes usually the handlebar is higher than a road bike. When the handlebar is higher the reach will be longer (like when you lift your hands they are getting further away from you body). In order to compensate on that longer distance, you can either have a longer stem or, in that case, a longer top tube.


Buying mudguard and pannier together vs separately

If your bicycle and riding style will permit it, I would certainly recommend getting "proper" fenders / mudguards which are close to the wheel and cover it a good portion of the way round.  These will do the best job at keeping spray away from you and from the rest of the bike.

You say old standard frame - so that sounds like it may well have the right attachments for fenders / mudguards.

I spent many years commuting year round in London - 12 miles each way, and spent a great deal of time and bitter experience optimizing my set up.  I tried different bike set ups and a variety of fenders / mudguards and by far the most effective were the SKS thermoplastic ones which sit very close to the wheel.  They stop the most spray going up your back / butt and over the bike.

If the weather is reasonably inclement the difference between ok and good fenders is a lot…in my experience of riding through driving rain, sleet and snow!


Why is a proper road bike pedal preferred for road bikes?

Hmm, we're kind of hitting most of the answer but not all of it (in my opinion that is!).

Its probably better to ask this the other way round - why not use a road pedal on a mountain bike...

On a road bike you're generally going to keep your foot in the pedal, you're only going to take it out to stop so therefore you want it to be as simple and as light as possible.

On a MTB you're liable to have your foot on and off more often, you're also likely to want to be able to stomp your foot onto a MTB pedal and have it stay there so it needs to have a larger platform area. You could also make an argument about MTB shoes being softer but the designs tend to be driven by competition and so that's probably more coincidence than anything else. If we're talking about using toeclips then clearly you'll need bigger pedals and clips for MTB boots than road shoes.

And weight does matter - it may only be a few 10s of grams but a few here and a few there will add up and all other things being equal less weight will make a difference.

I use clipless pedals - which I recommend - and I have one pair of shoes that I use on all my bikes, some of the pedals are fairly minimal for road, some clearly MTB, some hybrid but more MTB than not and all work with the same SPD cleat. Paradoxically my current setup has double sided pedals on the "road" bike and single sided on the MTB type pedals on my shopping bike...

So why road pedals? Assuming clipless and further assuming that you will only wear cycling shoes then you don't need the "complexity" (no difference in my pedals) or the weight of a full platform - so why have it? But the real difference will be in the shoes you chose to use.

(As I final thought I actually have two pairs of shoes - one waterproof - and a pair of sandals and they all have the same cleat so that I can use whichever is appropriate to the weather on whichever bike I happen to be out on.)


The differences between the bikes are small, and mainly will relate to durability. The quality of several key components is higher on the Analog Disc, which should equal smoother, faster shifting and better longevity of these components.

In addition the Analog Disc is a 9 speed bike, and the Aim Disc is an 8 speed bike. As the current high end models are 10 speed, and 8 speed mountain components are expected to go away in the next year or so, I would recommend the Analog Disc.

They aren't showing pricing, but I wouldn't expect more than a 100-150 dollar or so difference between the 2 bikes.

I hope that helps.


Are there adult bicycle passenger trailers for adults in Australia?

There are recumbent trikes available here in Australia which link together so that one tows the other - if the back person chooses not to pedal then it would effectively be a trailer, with the rear person just sitting like in chair.   These would be much lower and more stable than having a scaled-up kiddie trailer or wheelchair.

For slow speeds and a smallish adult have a look at a 'bakfiets' style cargo bikes, there are Australian brands.

A longtail cargo bike might be an option too, if the passenger is able to sit up on one. (I use one of these for larger kids)

Here are some of the specific brands and shops in Australia:
Linking recumbent trikes:
Hase Kettweisel

Bakfiets style:
Kangaroo Bike (May or may not be that brand specifically ... I have seen this style bike ridden in Australia with a kangaroo logo on the side)

Longtail cargo bikes:
Kona Ute
Yuba Mundo
Surly Big Dummy
Xtracycle conversion kits

Recumbent shops:
Flying Furniture (Canberra dealer for recumbents and other interesting machines for cargo and multiple people)
Trisled (Manufacturer in Melbourne, might be worth asking them about something custom built...)


Is there a good resource for helping to discern the cause of pain / soreness?

It sounds like you want a web site similar to WebMD that you can put in symptoms and get an answer. I'd recommend against going down that route. With all endurance events, you can have resultant pain in the same areas caused by entirely different things. Trying to solve for problem (A) may actually exacerbate problem (B).

Instead, I'd recommend seeing a physical therapist or sports medicine doctor. Both can help you correctly identify what is actually injured and the PT and often the doc can help you identify how it got injured and what you need to change (setup of bike, strength in particular muscle, etc) to prevent it from occuring.

In the meantime, RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation. Ice baths aren't fun, but they really do work.

Happy Riding!


What's the correct term for a 700x23c disc wheel?

A search for cyclocross disk wheels turned up plenty of options.  Maybe this wheel would work for you.


2003 Giant Rainier MTB Leaking Shock Fluid?

The spec fork on that was the Answer Manitou Axel Super -  information here

From the 2003 Axel user manual....

  CHECKING OIL LEVEL IMPORTANT: Setting the proper oil level in your
  Fluid Flow damped fork is critical. Fluid Flow damping is located in
  the right leg of your Manitou AXEL fork. Not enough oil will allow
  foaming and reduce the performance. Too much oil will restrict travel
  and may cause damage to the system and create an unsafe riding
  condition. Finish reading this entire section prior to altering the
  oil level. To check the oil level on the Manitou AXEL, remove the
  compression assembly located in the top of the right leg (as you are
  looking at the fork from the rider’s position). Leave the left side
  spring stack in place to keep the fork fully extended. Use a tape
  measure or “dip stick” to measure from the top of the fork crown down
  to where the oil sits (Figure 2). The oil level for the Manitou AXEL
  should be per following table. Fork Model Oil Level Manitou AXEL
  115-125 mm (4.5-4.9”) NOTE: Use SAE 5WT fork oil suspension fluid
  only.

  Forks need regular servicing - anything as often as every 25 hours
  with seal replacement commonly being recommended at 100hours riding (I
  think Manitou had relatibvely long service intervals . Seal
  replacement and lower leg service is not too hard, but is a bigger job
  than many owners are prepared to tackle themselves.  A shop secive
  with seal replacement will be around $US100 (various with you location
  in the world).

The seals have gone - possible just from old age and wear. Given the age and value of the bike, its likely not worth the cost of new seals, especially if you are getting a shop to do it.  If you don;t want to pull the fork apart, replacing the oil is straight forward, but I would be tempted to do a lower leg service and then top up the oil regularly.

The oil leaking is a messy problem, but no causing functional issues as long as there is oil to leak out. If the leak stops its time to worry.


Why is one screw in V-brake a lot tighter?

I suspect the brake arm with the tighter screw needs a good cleaning of its internals. Try spraying some penetrating fluid like wd-40 in between the brake arm and the pivot and see if that helps at all. If cleaning (thoroughly, when taken apart) doesn't solve the issue I can think of a few alternative reasons your brake arm might not be properly moving:

The cable and housing can pull the brake arms to one side (adjust cable routing)
(suggested by @Argenti Apparatus in the comments)
Mount bolt too tight on 1 side
Spring incorrectly installed (unlikely)
one of the o-rings seen in the diagram below is incorrectly installed/seated

Are you sure your rim is properly centered in between the two brake arms? If not your wheel might need dishing or it might need to be centered on it's axle.


Are chainring bolts alone strong enough?

I assume by 'ridge machined into the spider to hold the chainring centered' you mean the edge of the shoulders machined into the spider arms.

The edges are not there to position the chainring nor transmit torque. The chainring bolts do that. Remember the force transmitted to the chainrings by the bolts is perpendicular to a radial line drawn through the spider arm.
The chainring bolt holes in your spider need to be accurately positioned and sized to accept the bolts. I doubt laser cutting will achieve the required accuracy for the holes and these will need to be machined.


I agree with @Daniel R Hicks.  Those pads aren't terrible, but they're obviously not new either.  New pads are cheap, so go ahead and throw a new pair on and see if it helps.

It's also possible that the pads are worn enough that even when you pull the lever in all the way they fail to make good contact with the rotor.  Are they mechanical brakes?  That problem is especially common with mechanical brakes.

Lastly, is it possible that you got some sort of oil/fluid on your rotors?  That can severely lessen braking power, and it can happen with an invisibly thin film of oil.  If you think that is the case, clean the rotors with a non-detergent solvent like goo-gone.

Also, can you describe what you mean by "shuddering"?


How much food should I carry cycle touring and what factors affect this?

I fear that the only useful answer is also the trivial one: you need one days food for every day between food supplies. Eat whatever you can get, and as much of it as you need.

My practice on longer tours is to have a "standard days food" made up of long-lasting items. Usually rice with milk powder, sultanas and sugar for breakfast (it's compact and keeps well) and noodles, beans and dried veges for dinner, then some sort of cracker biscuit with spread for lunch. These are bought wherever I can, so vary depending on where I am. But that's my fallback stuff, and I often carry the same 3-4 days worth of those for weeks at a time. But it means that as long as I have or can find water, I can cook and eat. I'll increase the stock if I think I'm going somewhere that doesn't have supplies, aiming to always have 3-4 days spare. Remember that a days riding is 3-5 days walking if your bike fails and there's no-one around to give you a lift, so plan to be able to get yourself out on foot if you have to.

Wherever I can I buy a day or two worth of fresh food and live off that. I'll buy muesli, milk, bread, fresh fruit and veges and eat them in whatever combination works (usually the more fragile or fast to go off first, leading to "watermelon, lettuce and avocado salad" for breakfast). Expect to eat local food, and be ready to live off local staples if you can - that will make your trip more interesting as well as cheaper.

I also carry small, robust gift items that are relevant to my story to give to people who provide hospitality along the way. I find that especially where I'm unusual local people will often be happy to talk to me and invite me into their homes. I will often trade an evening of story-telling for a meal and bed, then leave a thank-you card (cards are a photo of me with my bike, in a scenic location, and have my contact details inside). In the first world that's generally all I'll leave, because that's more than most people expect. They stick it on the fridge and it works as a conversation starter for months :) I find personal business cards very helpful too for giving to random people who are interested in you. Get them plastic coated or whatever so they last a bit longer and can survive a bit of dampness.


Old bike - what can I use for crank replacement?

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like a cottered crank. I don't think anybody makes them anymore, but not all hope is lost. You can likely replace the entire crankset and bottom bracket assuming the bike has a bottom bracket which is still available, which is somewhat likely. It may cost more than you are willing to spend on the old bike though.


New MTB makes it feel like too much weight on arms? How do I make it better?

What I can tell you is limited without knowing further details like the model of both the new and old bike. But, looking at the geometry chart, seems like the new bike is most likely an XC/backcountry bike. The geometry on XC bikes is optimized for going fast on flat and uphill, so the stems are longer. However this bike seems to be halfway between a trail bike and an XC bike, as it has 120mm of travel and has a slacker headtube angle than most XC bikes.
So, without being able to look at your old bike to figure out what it was that made you more comfortable, my best guess is that you are used to a shorter stem. Try switching to a smaller stem, but make sure you also get wider bars or the steering will become very awkward. The longer the stem, the skinnier the bars should be and vice versa. Also, as stated in the comments, the bike may just take some getting used to. When I made the switch from XC geometry bikes to trail bikes, for a few weeks it felt like everything was off. But now I'm used to it.
I hope this helps. It's the best I can do without seeing both bikes.


In general, you can't replace rim brakes with hub or disk brakes unless the frame is designed for that.  In particular, hub or rim brakes place too much stress on the front fork unless the fork is designed for them.  You're probably better off buying a new bike with the "right" (for you) brakes factory-installed.

But I'm surprised that you have so much trouble with rim brakes.  I just had my rim brake pads replaced for the first time last year, after putting about 10,000 miles on my current bike.


Technically yes, economically no.

You obviously need to obtain a multi sprocket cassette, rear derailleur, shifter, and cable and housing. Additionally you need:

Singlespeed frames have dropouts designed to provide a mechanism for adjusting chain tension by moving the rear hub, so you would need dropout adapters to fit a rear derailleur.
Single speed frames lack shifter cable bosses, so you have to get bolt on ones.

Those might be difficult to obtain. The real problem is that many other major components would need to be replaced:

You would need a new rear wheel with a hub designed for a multi sprocket cassette.
Derailleur chains are narrower than single speed chains, so you would also need a new chain
Because you have a narrower chain you need to replace the chainrings, which as this price point are integral with the cranks and cannot be swapped out, so you need a new crank.

Basically, you have to replace too many of the bike's original major components to make it worthwhile.


Bike pedals turning when coasting (not a fixed gear)

Most likely it is drag in the free hub / freewheel.  You can start with breaking it down and cleaning it and lubricating.  There are videos on YouTube.

Saw the update to the question.  Does the freewheel spin freely.  Of the bike if you spin it will it make 3+ revolutions.

What is all the brown stuff?  Clean and lube in general.


Some components have clearly been replaced, but it looks a lot like a 1970's Schwinn Varsity Sport

More info here

The fork rake didn't look quite right, so I kept on googling and found an ebay advert with what claims to be a 1983 model that looks an even better fit


If I understand the problem correctly, it sounds like you're sitting too far forward on this bike. Whether you're too tall for your frame or not is difficult to diagnose without at least pictures, but you might consider that this bike is simply too small for you. (If you're having trouble getting the handlebars far enough forward, that's a sign that this could be the case.) Are you able to get the saddle high enough so your knees are locked with the heel of your foot on the pedal?

You might also consider simply moving your saddle back on the rails. That might give you a little more room.

I'd also repeat Wadelp's suggestion - toe clips will help you keep your feet correctly positioned on the pedals.


The disc rotor size is 160mm as engraved on the rotor (160mm is a common size rotor).
The mount type for the disc brake calliper is Post Mount (which should be 74 mm spacing between the mounts, center-to-center), which is the most common standard for mountain bikes.
You can purchase a single Post Mount calliper and matching lever, separately or as a set.  My understanding is that 160mm is the standard size to be used without an adapter, meaning only larger rotors would require an adapter.  The selected calliper for purchase should have a  specification that confirms it is compatible with 160mm rotors.


Shimano Steps E6000 battery charge percentage falls abruptly

This is a sign of an unbalanced pack. One of the cells is weak and under load its internal resistance is increasing and voltage decreasing.

Normally this only happens with an old, worn out pack that hasn’t been balanced or has mismatched cells.

If your pack is new, I’d get it replaced ASAP under warranty.


V-brake / cantilever pad alternatives for carbon rims?

It turns out the best way to go about this is to buy threaded cyclocross brake shoes that take regular road pads. A few:

Avid Shorty 6 TRP
TRP Inplace Adjust M
Jagwire Cross Pro
Kool Stop Cross Threaded
Clark's CP453CV
Tektro 720.12


Safety data: Which is safer, head/tail lights which blink or emit a steady beam?

The short answer is that 'safer' is subjective and depends on your requirements.

You are both correct.  Movement attracts the eye, so your blinking light is noticed.  It is easier to judge the position of a steady state light.

For a motorist to pick out your tail light, particularly, from a sea of noise is very difficult.  The surface area of the light is tiny, and it's all on its own.  Your light is just not important enough to notice amongst the jumble of signs, traffic directions and other cars unless it does something to stand out, like flash.

My understanding is that the reason it's easy to see cars (apart from bulk) is that they have 2 lights moving together.  Something to do with your brain automagically resolving the connected pattern.  That's why it's hard to see a car with one working taillight, or a motorcycle or bicycle.

In terms of safety, my policy is always 'be seen and misjudged' rather than 'not seen'. So I always set both front and rear lights to blink at night.  If you need illumination for the road, I'd strongly suggest a second forward light for that.

From Rear Lighting Configurations for Winter Maintenance Vehicles

  Flashing lights will be perceived as having higher brightness than steady-burning lights, up to a flash frequency of about 15 flashes per second. Such brightness enhancement can aid in conspicuity, and several rear lighting systems have been designed to have a flash rate between 5 and 9 flashes per second in order to maximize their perceived brightness. While conspicuity may be greater with such configurations, an observer’s ability to make accurate judgements of relative speed or distance may be compromised when flashing or strobing lights are used. Croft observed that the judgments required in tracking an object were difficult to make under strobing conditions, yet very easy in steady-lighting conditions. Observations made during a study of service vehicle lighting for maintenance operations similarly pointed out that strobing and flashing systems designed for maximum conspicuity can at the same time reduce one's ability to judge relative speed and distance. Periodic sampling of the field of view in another study resulted in deterioration of one's motion-tracking ability that increased as the distance to the object of interest decreased.

Also from Selection and Application of Warning Lights on Roadway Operations Equipment

  Flashes are bursts of light which, by definition, are unexpected
  because they do not occur in nature (save for lightning).
  This characteristic is their most important feature and
  why they are so good at capturing attention.


Disadvantages of using QR->Thru Axle Adapters?

This is a deceptively complex question because it touches on many aspects of hub design, and answering it properly would also require taking some kind of survey of what design choices have wound up getting made for the various convertible vs. dedicated size through axle hubs, particularly in terms of what bearing sizes are used. Furthermore, for practical purposes the story is quite different for convertible road vs. mountain front hubs, because within mountain many of those hubs use bearings with a 20mm ID so they cover 20mm all the way down to QR, whereas the size variance involved with a 15mm/12mm/QR hub is much less.

But, broadly speaking, the main potential downside to convertible hubs of this style is that even if you're fine with it being as big and heavy as it needs to be to have good bearing durability, the person who designed it might not see things that way. They'll probably see it instead at some level as a trade-off that has to be made. And while usually in practice that may only make a marginal difference (I don't think I've met any convertible hubs with extraordinarily teensy bearings), the bike industry is quite good at occasionally turning out products that shave grams in unfortunate ways, on things like bearings and spokes where a little weight spent goes a long way towards durability.

Again, this applies more to fronts than rears, because the variance in axle size is so much greater. I doubt it applies to rears much at all, but determining that is where the aforementioned survey of bearing choices used across hubs would come in handy.

Some companies (I'm thinking of White with their Venti front hub, but there are others) have wisely taken the pressure off to make compromises here by making the 20mm in their lineup a dedicated design, and the others convertible. That makes even more sense now that 20 is firmly DH/FR, where there are going to be other aspects of the design you want more usage-specific, but for a while it wouldn't have been as easy a choice because before 15 came out, 20 was seeing use on trail and even XC bikes.

Another aspect is cost, particularly when there's a rear hub like the one in question involved. The endcaps and axles cumulatively make a pretty big pile of precision machined parts you're paying for but maybe only using some of. Not a huge deal, especially if you're going to actually use the convertibility, but for example with Novatec hubs like these being high quality Taiwanese stuff, you are paying something for the extra parts, and what's really going on is if you're buying a wheelset/hubset that just comes with all the conversion parts, you're paying for a manufacturer's decision to simplify things by just giving everyone everything and letting the costs tick up accordingly. (When a bike brand or wheel manufacturer orders hubs from hub manufacturers, it's entirely up to the buyer whether to get the extra conversion hardware. Hub makers most commonly wouldn't be sending all that stuff out since most of their hubs wind up OEM on bikes.)

In cases where a hub is convertible across axle standards where one reason for the new standard was to change hub geometry to create a strength increase, such as hubs that can work on both 12x142 and Boost 148, you get none of the advantages of the new standard.

Finally, it only gets harder to create effective sealing when you're designing around multiple different axle adapters that might be used. That doesn't necessarily mean sealing will be deficient, but it is at some level a downside.

To be clear, there are no major categorical downsides to hubs like this. A lot of them are out in the world performing very well. But there are subtle downsides that get incurred as a result of adding more factors to the design criteria.


Derailleurs will last almost indefinitely. The jockey wheels will wear out in time (tens of thousands of km) but the rest of the mechanism shouldn't see significant wear.


Can I carry my folding bike by using the rack as a handle?

You probably would be alright. But just take into account that the 50 pound carrying limit is for your rack and what it can carry, not the four screws that attached the rack to your bike and what they can carry.

In essence, it would be like taking a 4000 pound winch, securing it to a high position, and lifting an f250 into the air with it. The winch itself would probably be ok, but the mounting area where you attached it to the vehicle would probably fail.

I would suggest being very careful if you choose to carry your bike by the rack. Personally, I would find a grip on the actual frame itself.

Hope this helped!


Trouble with tension adjuster screws on 2012 Kona Unit

I ended up taking the frame into the LBS, and they removed the old bolt from the frame using my work-around. I purchased some replacement bolts from the hardware store, and with some lubricant, they slide into the frame nicely. It seems like the old bolt was damaged, and the frame is fine.


Is it normal to wear out the rear tire with in a few months when using a trainer?

This is common and is a result of the constant friction and increased heat of the small roller on the trainer. Larger diameter rollers will see lower degradation of the tire, but it will still be a problem.

Most riders I know use less expensive tires, or older tires that they no longer trust for use on the road when they switch to the trainer.


Derailleur/Gears Locks Up/ Freezes Up/Stalls

This is most likely an issue with your bottom bracket.

To diagnose, remove your chain from the chainwheel so you can spin the cranks without the rest of the drivetrain being involved.

The easiest way to do this is to use your left hand to pull the rear derailleur's cage towards the front of the bike, creating slack in the chain. Then with your right hand pull the chain off away from the bike. You don't want to drop it in between the crank and frame as it's likely to get jammed.

If the cranks spin freely, with no "bad spots" and without creating a "grainy" sound, then your issue isn't with your bottom bracket and is likely a damaged/worn chain or rear derailleur cogs.


When truing a wheel, is it enough to only use a tension meter, and not a truing stand?

A wheel could theoretically be trued by tension alone if you started with a perfectly manufactured rim, hub, spokes and nipples and you were building a perfectly symmetric wheel.   The reality is that there are minute differences and that tolerances are not all that tight.  Not to mention that ultimately the wheel has to go into a frame that also may not be perfect (dishing).

The short answer is no.  I've had many sets of hand built wheels that were beautifully crafted and never saw a tension meter because the tension was hand checked.  But, they were built in a truing stand and were incredibly close to perfect.  Your initial presumption is incorrect.


What else will need replaced when I replace my wheel set on my vintage KHS road bike?

You don't say what components it has now (Shimano or Suntour and which specific parts, right shifter indexed or not, etc), what the rear end spacing is (probably 126 if it's a 6spd cassette), and whether you care about indexing if you do have an indexed right shifter.

But, if you have a 6-speed Shimano Uniglide cassette, all but the smallest cog can in fact go on a modern Shimano-compatible wheel. More info on this here and here. You'd then get a modern smallest position cog and a lockring, and spacers for behind the cassette to take up all the extra room. You'll also need some very thin spacers to get the cog-to-cog spacing right on the small cog. Again according to Sheldon's numbers, you need .5mm worth there if you use a cog from a 7spd Cassette, since that cog will have a built in spacer for 5mm cog-to-cog and you want 5.5. Shops do have cassette spacers that thin, but they're very seldom used now so you may have to hunt.

To be clear, the main point of doing this would be an interesting and esoteric bike geek project. After you go through all the trouble of setting it up, you'll have to get another vintage cassette when you finish wearing out this one. (Although it may be possible to make a new one by re-using the spacers from your old one on a new 7spd cassette, or machining your own spacers, etc... again, esoteric.)

The simpler thing by far in a lot of cases is just going to be use a new 7spd cassette and 7/8-speed chain, which will still need a 4.5mm spacer, (plus a 1.8mm spacer on an 11spd freehub, if you're looking at other wheels too). That plan may or may not work seamlessly depending on what else is on the bike, but it probably will, and for cheap. You'll be running it friction unless you add a 7spd indexed shifter, but those are available both new or used/vintage for not much either.

If this is a 126mm spaced steel bike then it's more or less okay to just jam a modern 130 wheel in there and go. If you want to take the best care of the frame possible, you should respace it though. If it's 120 you should definitely respace it, and if it's not steel you shouldn't do it.


When to tune/replace brake cables for optimum tension

Normally you replace a cable when it becomes too badly rusted, or the cable inside begins to break.  The first condition you notice because the cable does not move freely, and the second you notice because the brake levers "give" (and don't bounce back) when you squeeze them hard.  If not rusty, a set of cables can easily last 10-20 years.

In your case it seems likely that the brake pads are simply wearing rapidly.  With V brakes, for 1mm of pad wear you'll need to take up about 3mm of cable slack.  If you're having to adjust the cable too often you may wish to change out your pads for something harder (though note that this will reduce braking power).


I believe that's the logo for Dyno which was acquired by GT in the '80s.


The pump looks fine. You should fiddle with the pin in the valve (tap it a bit with a screwdriver) until it leaves some air out (dose your tapping from "just a bit" to "try to firmly push the pin inside the tube").

If nothing cames out, try to spray some wd40 on the valve.

If nothing, it may mean the valve is really stuck ... did you use some foam or similar products to fix a puncture?


Perfect pedaling is actually on the rare side and generally takes a lot of work to develop.  That being said many people pedal in an unbalanced way (I tend to have a much stronger downstroke on my right and upstroke on my left).  I use clipless however, so my feet are always in the proper position (for me).  If your foot position varies or isn't correct (for you) you may experience uneven pain.  It's also possible you have an unbalanced stroke.  Either of these could contribute to single sided pain.


Can rubber hoods be used on a different brand of brake levers?

No. The rubber hoods are designed to closely match the lever's shape and are not stretched when installed. There are some third party replacement hoods, but they too are designed to fit specific lever models.

If you can't find the correct part locally, there are many mail order shops that have good selection of even uncommon or old spare parts.


Installing a rigid fork on a commuter MTB

Unless the correct fork is chosen , the bikes geometry will change. A rigid fork built for a bike designed for rigid forks has a smaller axle to crown measurement than a suspension fork. If your bike is designed for 100mm travel suspension, and you put "any old" rigid fork on, the front of you bike will be 100mm lower than it is now. Even if you correct this in the Steerer/stem/handlebars, this will be enough to upset the rake and therefore alter the handling of the bike.  (refer @Benzo for the answer to this problem)

The bike will (should) be significantly lighter with the benefits that go with that.

If you are riding smooth pavement, the changes will be you feel more bumps, and need to use you arms to absorb and control the front of the bike if you hit small bumps in corners. Tyre choice and pressure becomes more important, as does attention to the surface ahead of you. The big gain is that you bike is more efficient - no soft squashy absorbing energy in the front end (even locked out suspension moves) - you will go faster.

Off road riding is a completely different ball game. If you are used to suspension and riding bumpy ground hard, you will need to change you style. Expect a few prangs along the way. When riding suspension, you weigh it in corners and let the shocks hold the front wheel on the ground over the bumps. Without suspension, the same technique will lead to the front wheel bouncing and loosing traction, with predictable consequences..... You need to learn to let your arms become the suspension, and your arms need to control the front wheel no only in direction, but "height" and "pressure on ground". The term "loose" takes in a new meaning. It requires more skill and concentration, and far more attention to detail than riding a suspension setup give, as well as being physically harder, but also in some ways, more rewarding.


Shimano Steps ebike E010 and E012 errors: DIY fix possible?

The E012 error means that the torque sensor is misaligned. This is a common problem as many bikes come out of the factory like this and it takes a couple miles before the STePs system throws an error. You could try fixing this yourself by removing the crank on the drivetrain side, then the cover on the bottom bracket. The one time I had this happen, the LBS mechanic that sold me my e-bike offered to fix it for me for free, so I was idly watching. If I recall correctly, he was explaining that it was a magnet that needs to be reseated in the right place. Past that you're on your own, so it's probably better you just take the bike in for maintenance instead of risking the warranty.

Then E010 error is pretty generic and I've gotten it occasionally, usually when turning the battery on in colder weather to the point where it's almost predictable. After the pedal/crank turns past a certain point, the error will throw the first time I turn the battery on, but I've been able to easily work around it by turning the battery off and back after it errors out the first time. Likely, it is a firmware issue, but Shimano hasn't fixed it (yet). Until they do, it's not too much of an inconvenience.


If you really want to paint it, you can try to wetsand it to remove the clear coat, and then refinish it with some matt finish clear coat. This is a risky move if you're not experienced with painting cars or stuff. You can ruin your bike real quick.

The safe method, and easiest one, would be to wrap the bike with some matt/satin finish clear vinyl (here is an example). It is often used on cars by people with the same issue as yours, and would perfectly do the trick on your bike. Plus you can remove it whenever you want, and it will protect your frame. It's a win-win.


Apparently George Behring used to be a framebuilder in the St. Louis area, and was a racer and a member of the Saint Louis Cycling Club. Unfortunately, like many small builders of the 1980s, there's very little information about him or his bikes on the web.


I need help adjusting Marzocchi dj3 2011

I might not understand the question correctly but I don't think you can make that fork longer. The manual for the Marzocchi Dirt Jumper 3 (click the "Tech" tab) has a lot of great information but does not indicate a way to make the fork longer.


Is it possible to upgrade a rear derailleur with an other model, same company Shimano and the same speed

Replacing the Acera rear derailleur with the RD-M591 is possible.  Despite being marketed as a "9-speed" rear derailleur (the 9 referring to the number gears/sprockets/cogs--all mean the same thing--that make up your rear cassette), the M591 will work.  It is of a higher class/quality of components that Shimano named "Deore."   So this Deore derailleur will work with your 3x8 drivetrain because all Shimano 7, 8 & 9 speed rear derailleurs share the same "actuation ratio," meaning these rear derailleurs move the same amount per mm of cable pulled by the shifter.  Thus, your 8 speed shifter will pull an amount of cable to make an 8 speed spaced shift and the Deore will move the correct amount--the same amount the Acera or even a 7-speed, Tourney-class, rear derailleur would.

Conventional wisdom states that upgrading components on a new bike (& even more so, on a used bike) is more expensive than paying a little more for a bike that comes equipped with a higher class of components already.  Especially if labor (your own or a bike shop's) to replace components is considered.  In addition, the trend in mountain biking is going to a 1x drivetrain (expressed, "one-by") where there is a single chainring in the front and 10, 11 or 12 rear sprockets in the back.  This eliminates the weight and maintenence of a front derailleur and shifter, and two chain rings.  As your biking develops and you learn how u like to ride, open it up to different things.

Your derailleur upgrade is reasonable. It will work.  One other thought is that you'll require the SGS caged (the longest option) M591.  While it's still the rear derailleur we're discussing, the reason for needing a long cage (the lower part of a rear derailleur that houses the two small pulley wheels) is related to having a triple chainwheel up front.  There's more chain to take up and keep tight between the large ring and the small ring and rear derailleur's cage must be able to handle that range.


Difficulty maintaining power at recommended cadence. Is recommended or preferred cadence better?

GCN did a couple of videos on the subject (1, 2) . In the first linked video, the presenter said that "what current research seems to point to is that is that people ride at their energetically optimum cadence when they're toward their maximum power output. However, they tend to ride at too high a cadence when they're riding at lower intensity." Also that everyone's different, leg size factors into cadence, etc.

Sounds to me like you should do what your body is telling you to do. You're obviously experienced enough that you're not going to blow your knees out riding stupid-low cadences.


Should a link opened/closed by a chain-breaker be stiff afterwards?

Only if you didn't relieve the link after putting it back together.  It's standard procedure (if you read the instructions that came with the tool) -- you stick the chain tool into the "stiff" link so that the anvil is BETWEEN the sides of the link and only catches the near face, then crank the tool's pin down VERY SLIGHTLY against the chain pin, just enough to create some play.


If this chain has been on it for nearly 9000 miles - I'd suggest a new one!

You could shorten it, but the wear is on the link connectors, so the sapcing is going to be wider than it should be - thus wearing the sprockets!


How can I carry a heavy bag without a rack?

Depending on your backpack you may be able to lash it to the outside.  I've carried bike wheels this way. I've also carried 10-15kg backpacks while riding, so know it takes some care.  You might have to ride quite gently but that's OK over 3 km.  I'd probably have the sack sideways across the backpack, rather than vertical, as it's less likely to slip between the straps.

Buying a bigger backpack might be a good idea if this is going to become a habit.

The backpack I used has straps on the outside running from bottom to top, so a big load can be held between them and the backpack itself.  An additional side-to-side strap/rope is a good idea.  If you think it feels like it's started moving, get off and have a look.

Alternatively, don't take the bike, walk with the sack on your shoulder.


How can you remove the interrupter (top bar) levers from the Giant Avail 5?

To remove the crosstop levers from the bar tops you will have to:

Remove the inner brake cables

Remove the bar tape

Remove the brake cable housing between the main brake levers and the crosstop levers and the crosstop levers and the front brake / frame boss.

Remmove the crosstop levers from the bar (they should be held on by a simple clamp with 1 allen bolt).

Install new lengths of cable housing between the main brake levers and the front brake / frame boss.

Re-install the inner brake cables and re-wrap the bars


What the difference between k050 and k124

Those are not sizes, they are both the same size. The K050 and K124 are Kenda's designation for tread pattern.

K124:

K050:


Is commuting 10 km on an empty stomach harmful?

As far as I can tell, no. I've been riding 30 minutes or more every workday before breakfast for more than 10 years with no detectable ill effects. When I was riding an hour to work I'd sometimes have a small snack before riding, but only rarely. When I'm cycle touring I'll often ride for an hour before I have breakfast, as that wakes me up and gets me warm, then I can stop and eat somewhere pleasant (I usually stealth camp so I'm not always sleeping in a nice place to hang round during the day). But an hour isn't an unreasonable ride before breakfast. For me!

What matters is being aware of your body. If you're feeling bad, stop and work out why. If you're hungover... what did you expect? But if you normally feel fine and one day your stomach hurts, or you feel weak, or something else changes, worry. Stop, work out what the problem is. Eat, drink, pee, whatever. It's the same as if your bike feels funny or starts making a weird noise.

Normally I carry breakfast to work, so I have it with me if I need to stop and eat. I also have money, which is surprisingly useful for solving problems :) If I need to I can get a taxi to work, buy food, whatever.

FWIW I was vegetarian for most of that time, of late I've gone back to eating meat every couple of weeks (I'm getting older and meat seems to help me maintain muscle mass). I don't know if being vegetarian helps, but it doesn't seem to hinder the ride before breakfast.

(ok, I've been doing this for more than 15 years, possibly more than 20)


Narrow means whatever was derailleur chain at the time, as opposed to wider singlespeed chain. The actual chain type is determined by the cassette and is very probably 7-speed.

The inch designations listed on Wikipedia are not commonly used except to distinguish between 1/8" singlespeed chain and narrower derailleur chains that are all lumped under 3/32" and distinguished by number of speeds in cassette. Note that on Wikipedia 7.1mm and 7.3mm both become 9/32".


Is it possible to replace a MTB crankset to a Roadbike crankset on an MTB frame?

Sure you can, but its not going to do a lot for your overall speed.

As long as the BB to crank interface is the same, you can put whatever crank on you like.

Any older bike will have a square taper interface.  Newer bikes can have Octalink or something newer again.  You will require the same interface, and a crank puller to suit.

Another option is to change the chainrings for larger ones, but that can have issues with too-large a jump between chainrings.

You can also change the rear cassette for one with a smaller-small cog.  11 tooth is the common minimum size.

Downside of all this is that the bike is still about the same weight, and you're not putting in any more power.  So the bike's going to go about the same speed but you'll be pedaling fractionally slower.


Will disc brakes aggravate the problem with spokes pulling through the rim?

The rear wheel doesn't see more abuse solely due to forces from pedaling. It also supports much more weight, and they are dished (except single-speed wheels), so spokes on one side bear significantly more load than the other.
As Sheldon Brown says: "If you have the same number of spokes front and rear, either the front wheel is heavier than it needs to be, or the rear wheel is weaker than it should be. "

Surprisingly, a disc wheel can actually be stronger than a non-disc wheel, because it will have less dish.

Disc braking does create some forces that require some consideration when building a wheel, but that is solved by proper selection of spoke gauges.

Disc brakes can offer a significant advantage over rim brakes for touring, as you can have a pretty badly damaged, out of true wheel, but still be able to brake reasonably well, as the wobbly wheel won't affect your braking, which can be the difference between riding vs walking to the next town.

There are many ways wheels can fail in the wild, but spokes pulling through the rim on high-quality rims should not be one of them. What kind of rim does your touring bike have?

So ultimately the answer is no, not necessarily. Like all bike part selections, they have upsides and downsides, and whether it's a net positive or negative depends on application.

Lastly, spoke holders on bikes have been around for far longer than disc brakes.


Answering this: 'but a full Ultegra system 2x11 can be placed on this frame, right?'

Yes. Frames are not made specifically for either SRAM or Shimano groupsets.

As mentioned in comments you will have to swap out the shifters, rear derailleur and hydraulic brake calipers. Shimano rotors will be compatible I believe.

For the 1x option the SRAM crank can be left in place. The only difficulty I see is that I'm not sure if Shimano makes an Ultegra non-shifter front brake lever unit. You could use a regular shifter/brake unit of course.

For a 2x11 you will need a clamp on front derailleur, and a compatible crankset. It does not have to be a Shimano unit, you could use another vendors products such as FSA.

One thing to consider. Swapping out a whole groupset is expensive (taking into account cost of components and installation). You may find that selling the Crocket and buying a Ultegra equipped bike is the better option.


Planning on building a fixed-gear/single-speed from an old Schwinn World. What new parts will I need?

Fantastic ! Building a fixed gear conversion is a lot of fun.

tommy_o gives a great list of all the parts that go on a conversion, but when I try to imagine what it's like to have an old bike that you want to hack on, I think it's helpful to imagine what you'll have to change about your bike, so I'll give that a shot.

As long as the existing bike is in decent shape, you actually have a lot of freedom in deciding whether to get new parts or reuse existing ones. At a minimum, though, you'll need a new rear wheel, and then from there it gets more and more up to you.

Wheel

You can either buy a wheel, or build one yourself. I've found that buying is actually cheaper, but I think it's a good exercise to build at least one yourself to see how it's done. Either way, like tommy_o mentioned, you'll need to pay attention to the size of the rim that you want to get. If your bike has 27" wheels and you decide to get a 700c rear replacement, then you'll need to be ok with having different size wheels, or you'll also need to get a new front wheel.

If you decide to build, you'll need to buy :

hub
rim
spokes
nipples
rim tape

You'll also need a spoke wrench, but that's a good tool to have around anyway.

I highly recommend reading a copy of The Bicycle Wheel by Jobst Brandt. The obligatory Sheldon Brown link is also in this section, because his description of wheelbuilding is a great read.

Hub

For the hub, there are indeed different sizes, both in terms of axle length and flange size. However, for the axle length, there are really only a few different standard sizes, so you should be good to go with a road hub.

For the flange (which only matters if you're building a wheel), pretty much anything will do, but the flange will have a significant impact on the length of the spokes that you'll need. I always take my rim and hub to my local bike shop and get the folks there to cut spokes for me, since it seems like some sort of black magic.

Drivetrain

Once you've got a new rear wheel, you need to connect it to the pedals. At a minimum this means you need a cog on the rear wheel (typically hubs do not come with cogs), but depending on what size you get, and personal preference regarding the chainring, you might also need a new chain and chainring.

Cog

You'll definitely need a cog, the gear that goes on the rear wheel. You should also get a lockring.

Getting the cog is actually a little tricky, because it turns out there are two different widths of bicycle cogs, and they are not interchangeable. (There are actually two different widths of bicycle chain, but the chain, chainring, and cog all need to work together.) The wider setup, usually seen on track bikes, is 1/8", and the narrower one is 3/32". Here you'll need to decide if you want to stick with the 3/32" setup that's already on your bike, or move to the 1/8" ; again, mostly this has to do with personal preference, but be aware that whatever you pick will affect your options for the other items.

If you get a flip-flop hub, you should probably get a freewheel cog as well as a standard thread-on one. Typically the freewheel cog has a higher tooth count than the fixed one, since you won't need to pedal like a rabid gopher while you're coasting downhill on your freewheel side.

Chain

You'll definitely need a new chain if you go with a 1/8" drivetrain.

Sometimes it's a good idea just to get a new chain, even if you're sticking with the existing sizes. New chains are really nice.

Chainring and crank

There'll already be a crankset on your existing bike, which can probably be used just fine for a conversion (provided it works with the chain/cog). There are a couple things to think about it however :

You should make sure that one of your existing chainrings has a tooth count that you can use with your rear cog. The important thing here is the ratio between chainring and cog : a lower ratio makes acceleration easier but limits your top speed. Also if you plan on skidding, it's easier with a lower ratio.
If the chainring you want to use is on the inside of your crankset, then you might want to remove the outer chainring so your pant leg etc. won't get torn up on it.

Also, on a fixed gear, the length of your crank could be important : If you're taking a tight corner, you might lean over far enough that the bottom of the crank scrapes the road as the pedal turns, which can lead to a wreck. You can get a crankset that has shorter arms to avoid this, though if you're not into tight cornering it might not be a problem. It's something to be aware of though, since you never really know when you might need to pull an emergency maneuver.

Other stuff

Once you've gotten the rear wheel and drivetrain set up, you're technically good to go. You can opt to switch many other things on your bike, but chances are that it already has a seat, headset, fork, handlebars, etc.


Why did the chain on my kid's bike slack after I changed his tire?

Move the wheel back in the dropout.  Equal on both sides.  Go for 1/2 to 1 inch of play in the chain.

And that valve stem might be leaning a bit.  Probably not enough to matter but ideally it is straight.


Putting 8-sprocket cassette on a 18-speed bike

As long as you're running a narrow six speed chain, there shouldn't be any issues as the width on those is the same as a seven/eight speed chain. You may want to adjust the rear derailleur and you can probably hit all eight speeds on your cluster. If you have index shifting you will need an eight speed shifter.


Trigger Shift equivalent to SRAM MRX 21 speed on Btwin Rockrider 5.0

The MRX twist shifters are 3x7 Shimano-compatible shifters, so you can use any 3x7 Shimano shifter set from the mountain-type group.

Unfortunately, the only trigger shifters which are 3x7 Shimano compatible still made are from the Tourney line, such as the Shimano Tourney ST-EF40, which are of rather low quality. You may be able to find an old Shimano Acera or Alivio or Altus 3x7 shifter set if you look on Ebay or something.

I had a 3x7 drivetrain on my commuter, and ended up swapping the rear freewheel (yes, freewheel and not a cassette) with a 8 speed freewheel, and getting some Shimano Alivio 3x8 shifters which were easy enough to find and of good quality. I wasn't able to get the Tourney shifters to give good shifting performance, and I don't like twist shifters (for the 3x7 drive trains, I suspect SRAM's Shimano-compatible twist shifters are the best of the indexed shifters which are still on the market in terms of reliability; they're all cheap pieces of junk these days).

Another alternative is to use a friction shifter. Very cheap to buy, though you just have to get used to shifting into the right position by feel. This is what I'd likely have done if I didn't upgrade to 8 speed.


Could someone confirm my assumption about Btwin Original 520 Hybrid front wheel?

Your friend's bike will have the same size wheel on the front and back. If the rear wheel is 700c then the front wheel will be that size. The imperial equivalent of 700c would be 28 inches.

Finally, I'd suggest going to Decathlon or use their website and buying a replacement wheel with a dynamo. The price difference is minimal (less than a set of lights would cost).


I alternated tubulars and clinchers (different wheelsets) on my commuter bike for over a year and it was clear that I had fewer punctures with tubulars.  In fact, I have so few punctures that I have to reglue tires after a year or so since the glue dries up.  YMMV.

when a tubular does flat, you almost never get a catastrophic deflation (bang), you get slow leaks.
if you're careful you can ride on a flat.  I finished the last mile (uphill) of a race on a flat.
they are more comfortable, especially when cornering because of the suppleness of the side walls.
you can get a sub 1500 gram wheelset for well under $500 (Campy Record and Mavic Reflex).  Try that with clinchers.  Tubular wheelsets are generally much lighter than clinchers.
if you do get a slow leak, tufo or stan's tire sealant will almost certainly fix it.

Now all of my bikes run tubulars.  For my commuter bike I use Tufos which last forever despite the broken glass that you inevitably see on roads. For racing Veloflex are superb.  And as was mentioned tubulars dominate the cyclocross scene.

Once you get the hang of gluing, it's not really a big deal.  The main disadvantage in cyclocross is that you need multiple wheelsets to be able to shift tires on short notice due to weather changes.  Dry vs mud, say, requires two completely different treads.

Finally, for most places in the US you have little choice but to buy your tubulars off the web since the LBS is unlikely to stock them.  See: http://www.worldclasscycles.com/tubulars.htm


If possible, borrow a second bike, and perhaps a trainer. There is very little that you can do to effectively warm up in a cycling effective way, other than ride. A light jog, and some stretching is the second best option.

It is a short enough ride for that to suffice, if it is your best available option.


Can a bike frame be retrofitted with internal cable routing without Disassembly?

No. If nothing else you'd need to strip the frame to have it repainted after the guides are brazed into place.


The first thing to note is that v brakes need their own levers (long pull), as they don't use the same cable pull as standard cantilever brakes, so that may add an extra expense (unless you have one of the few levers which are switchable between V-brakes and regular brakes). Thus, if you want to switch to V-brakes, you need either {a V-brake compatible lever (long pull) and a V-brake} or {a regular lever (short pull) and a travel agent (essentially a pulley) and a V-brake}. The option of a V-brake compatible lever and V-brake is typically the better and cheaper one if you want to go V-brake (unless you need to use an existing lever, such as Shimano STI levers with a V-brake, in which case you need to take the other option). Note that if you have an integrated brake and shift lever, going to V-brakes would also mean buying a new shifter as well. (*)

As for what to buy, we don't do product rec on this site. However, for drop bars, the Tektro RL-520 brake lever is pretty much the only model (aside from a rebadged Cane Creek) out that I know for V-brakes. For flat bars, the options are pretty much all there - Avid, Shimano, Tektro, etc. all make levers marked for V-brakes (or equivalently, non-road mechanical disc brakes) - pick one which feels nice. Similarly, those 3 companies also make a wide variety of V-brakes. My personal setup is Shimano Alivio brake levers with Avid Single Digit 5/7 V-brakes on a bike with flat bars.

Trying new pads (esp. if the old ones are worn/dry) may help. Adjusting things like the mechanical advantage may also be necessary - this link may be of use, and new cables may be in order for an old bike as well. Certainly, a new set of pads or even a new cantilever will be cheaper than switching to V-brakes (and may be perfectly adequate), but you'll likely get better stopping power easier with a V-brake setup.

(*) There exist mini-V brakes which work directly with short pull levers, like Paul's Mini Moto. These are generally not cheap though.


As far as I've discovered, the alfine oil is the same stuff in both the small and large jars.  So the large jar makes sense for high-mileage gearboxes, but you don't "break even" till you're doing your fifth oil change.

The downside is that the ongoing oil change intervals are "every 5000 km or every 2 years" so I don't know if the oil will spoil in the same way brake fluid spoils once opened.   I'm not prepared to risk that.

The Alfine 11 does come apart for repair, but it is not lubricated this way.  I understand that there's grease inside, and this oil somehow "feeds" the existing grease.

The proper Alfine Oil came in a bottle in a bag.  The labels are:

Instead you need to buy the proper Shimano TL-S703 tool, which is a bit of pipe and a fitting.  And you need a disposable syringe to fit the tube.  Instead, I built a replacement.

  The later version has a 50 mL barbeque syringe on it instead.  10 mL was too small.

In the middle is the bolt that normally seals the gearbox filler hole.  Its really quite short.
So I scrounged an old bolt that had the same thread.  Using a combination of drill press, a drill vice, and a small spirit level I drilled a tiny hole right through the center of the bolt.  This was widened out to about 5 mm using a series of drill bits.  Once that was done, I cut the head off just where the blind hole stopped.Then I flared the very ends of the holes using a larger drillbit.  This was to help the oil flow in better.
The two nuts are tightened together leaving the same amount of thread exposed as the original bolt.  Ideally this would be flush with the inside of the casing, but I have no way to tell.
The O rings were simply what I had around.  They are optional.

 Extracting old oil.  Later on I shortened the tube to about 30mm total.  A long tube was unhelpful.

Adding the charge of new oil.  Here this shows the short tube, and injecting with the hole rotated to the top.   Adding 25 mL with three separate shots was a bit silly, hence why V2 has 50 mL BBQ syringes.

To limit cross-contamination, I have a "clean" and a "dirty" syringe, each with their own hose and attachment.

The oil itself goes in a vivid translucent green when new, and comes out grey and stinkier.  The old oil is still viscous, and a 5000 km change interval probably  reflects shimano's cautious limits, same as tooth capacity counts for their derailleurs.

The oil's odour is hard to describe - its not like any motor oil I've ever used.  I'm also familiar with the tang of EP90 gearbox oil, and its as strong in smell intensity but otherwise different.

This gearbox oil smells waxy, with strong hints of vegetable.  I cannot think of any other fluid that smells the same.

An oil change takes HOURS mostly because the syringe can only suck the oil that has pooled at the bottom of the housing.   So going for a bike ride beforehand is a good idea to warm the oil and make it less viscous.

Disposal: I haven't disposed of the oil yet - not sure that it could go in an oil recovery tank.  The quantity is quite small that landfill may be a valid option.


This sounds like a situation where you should have a professional bike mechanic look at the problem.  If you have attempted to resolve the problem by adjusting both the correct limit screw (you did make sure you were adjusting the correct limit screw, right?) and the indexing via the barrel adjuster, then something else is wrong.  One possibility is that your derailleur hanger is bent, although without seeing it I could not say that is the problem for sure.  Whatever the issue is, if you can't find it yourself, you'd be best served by pulling in some additional help rather than floundering and potentially throwing everything else out of whack.