Drivetrain replacement or upgrade - 2009 Cannondale Six 6

Personally I am a fan of a regular, low cost maintenance,regime and not a fan of 'upgrading for upgrade sake - its a great way to overspend because you inevitably throw away perfectly good parts. A 2009 bike with 12Speed drive train might be better than original, but it is not a 2019 bike.  If you sell the old bike and take the upgrade money and put it into a new bike, you will often end up with a better bike.

9 Speed is pretty good for longevity and lack of maintenance. Replacing whats worn will be cheaper - probably only chain, cassette and maybe chainrings. If you decide to stay with 9 speed you should still be able to get parts for many years and there are 3rd party manufacturers making some very cost effective 9speed parts  (Microshift).

The other option is replace the entire drive train, which adds the cost of shifters, derailleur, and to make it worth while, chain rings and maybe cranks and front shifter.

I would only consider replacing the entire drive train if the bike was failing to meet some requirement - not enough gear range, too much spread between shifts etc.  If you have big hills to climb, strong winds to battle and you are reaching for a lower (or higher) gear, it may be time for an upgrade.

Ultimately the question comes down to you budget, and tolerance for spending money.  There is no need to spend money for an upgrade, if you want to spend the money, go for the upgrade.


Who grants ebike-ready certifications for tires (aside from manufacturers)?

For the name brand tires that are certified 50km/hr there is an actual international standard that the tire manufacturer is certifying against.  These are tires that are built to the UNECE motor vehicle tire specifications instead of bicycle specifications.

For example all Schwalbe tires (at least for 2019 product line) that bear their  "Energizer" badge printed on the sidewall are certified to that standard.

For tires that are recommended for 25km/hr it appears to be purely manufacturer's recommendation.


Can anyone help me identify my bike please?

The heart cutout is De Rosa logo. You can probably find out the exact model by matching lug styles and which lugs have the cutouts.

The link from other answer mentions that there were De Rosas among the bikes used in the film.


Does cycling without stretching make you shorter?

Everyone gets shorter during the day as the spine compresses under the influence of gravity.  This is then reversed as you sleep at night.  Yoga and stretching that improve core strength and posture can counter this effect.  However it is not clear that cycling will make the effect any worse - in fact the extra exercise may actually help!


Can anyone tell me how pedelec sensor in PAS bicycles work?

From my experience working with electric bikes, most of what I saw were sensors that were mounted on the crank which measure your biking cadence. A sensor would be fixed around the bottom bracket, and then a ring of magnets would spin with the crank, 'tripping' the sensor every time a magnet passed.

They're called hall effect sensors and should be easy to integrate into your design as buying just the PAS sensor is relatively inexpensive.

You can find a Wikipedia page that covers Pedelec sensors here.


Typically, the front brake is more important if not as important as the rear brake, so you'd be better off swapping to a front disc (plus, if you are buying genuine Avid BB7's, they're sold as a front and rear kit IIRC). If you don't have a disc ready wheelset, you just need to get a disc ready wheel set (the front wheel is relatively cheap compared to a rear wheel) - I don't really see the point of reusing a rim in this case, since it will likely not be cost effective [and I never approve of reusing spokes].

Also, check the condition of the levers and use new cables + cable housing when replacing the brake.

Good luck!

P.S. It is spelled "brake", not "break".

(Note that this will all be significant in cost relative to putting on a new V-brake (Avid Single Digit 5's are under 20 dollars a piece. If you put in a new FR-5 lever and new cable housing and cable, you'll still be under 40 dollars - this may be a better option if you were satisfied with v-brake performance [obviously, you can opt for better V-brakes, pads and levers for not much more, but the point still stands that a good V-brake is significantly cheaper than a disc conversion, and decent levers really aren't that expensive]. Make sure this replacement is economical on the bike you're using - in some cases, with cheaper disc-ready frames, you're actually better off selling the current bike and getting something with disc brakes on it already!)


Many manufacturers tend to use them secondarily for stiffness and performance reasons and primarily because if you don't have it, it's probably harder to sell that bike these days.

It's not a terrible issue (bikes make noises anyway), and can be fixed/tamed down in a decent number of cases by re-installation.

That being said, you can still find good bicycles that do not use press-fit bottom brackets, if you so choose; most bikes I think of as first road bikes would not be press fit at this point.


When I put my bike on the repair stand and turn the pedal, is the rear wheel supposed to spin freely

Could be as simple as the wheel rubbing on the brakes - rotate the pedals and listen for a scraping noise as the wheel contacts the pads. If this is the case, check that the wheel is true by observing for any wobble side to side as the wheel rotates. If that looks ok your brakes probably need adjusted away from the rims.

Start here for brake adjustment http://sheldonbrown.com/canti-direct.html#about but it very much depends on your particular brake type.

Wheel truing info can be found here - http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/workshop-truing-a-pair-of-wheels-19199/


Knee issues are mostly a symptom of bad pedalling mechanic (over extension, misalignment, imbalance, that sort of thing). Low cadence "grinding" does not fundamentaly change that unless you start altering your pedal stroke as your cadence goes down.

Note that for fixed gear riding, you also need to consider how very high cadence (descending) may also alter your stroke. In terms of knee problems, fixed gear skids are another potential knee pain inducer as most people will bend one leg inward to get leverage against the frame.

So in short, if your pedal stroke is sound, riding at low cadence should not represent a higher knee injury risk.


You may not have opened up (manually reset) the brake pistons sufficiently.  Typically, I remove the brake pads and use a plastic tire lever to push pistons back as far as possible. If do not push hard enough you will not fully reset the pistons and the pads will still rub.

Aside - for those new to hydraulic brakes, most systems automatically set the pad rotor distance to accommodate for wear whenever you activate the brakes.  If remove your wheel and squeeze your brake lever, the pistons reset for a closer distance because the rotor is no longer there to stop the pads.  As a result, you cannot get your wheel and rotor back in.  You fix this by resetting the pistons as described above. Also if you change your brake pads you will also need manually reset the pistons.

You may also find this Shimano tech document on resetting Shimano hydraulic brakes useful.  Most other hydraulics will operate in a similar manner.

http://bike.shimano.com.sg/publish/content/global_cycle/en/sg/index/tech_support/tech_tips.download.-Par50rparsys-0005-downloadFile.html/Resetting%20Disc%20Brake%20Pistons.pdf


Buying first hybrid bike; better to put $ into components or disc brakes?

Typically, you don't need disc brakes on a bike which lives on the road or other nice surfaces. The primary advantage on the road is that you don't have to deal with wheel true-ness as much, and that they look cool. For wet weather riding, they can stop you a bit quicker, but with properly adjusted V-brakes, you can stop pretty damn quickly once you learn to feather the brakes. Discs also cost significantly more than rim brakes, and lower quality disc brakes (which you'll get in the ~500 dollar price range) will perform about as well as decent rim brakes. Your rims will last longer with a disc brake, but this is rarely to never an issue with a hybrid rider who doesn't put very high mileage.

The disadvantages of disc brakes are many -- for example, the front fork will be heavier since it needs to be more robust to handle the forces of disc brakes, and they weigh more than most rim brakes (weight weenie-ing isn't a big deal on a 500 dollar bike). Also, you'll have to take a lot of money (probably 20% of the budget) for the disc brakes, versus well less than half of that for rim brakes.

I think this article from John Allen makes a good summary with a nice point-by-point list of advantages and disadvantages. Generally, for most people, the rim brakes in this price range are the better choice and enjoy the better components all around (these days, you'll probably get 1 level up in the drive train and a carbon fork, which is nice). And your dollar will go a lot farther on a used bike than a new bike (another post recently described a used Trek 7.5 FX for ~450 dollars, which would be a fantastic non-disc option for a hybrid).

If you do want to get discs in the future, you do need a disc compatible frame and fork (excluding solutions like BrakeTherapy), as well as hubs on the wheels, so if you think you'll want them in the future, you probably should just buy the disc brake version (or buy the non-disc version, sell it and then buy a disc bike).

Side note: Hybrids generally have two distinguishing options between models from a given manufacturer: with/without suspension and with/without disc brakes. Generally, you should choose no suspension (unless your doctor tells you otherwise (i.e. you have severe back problems)) and fit decently large tires, and without disc brakes since for most riders they wont see an advantage unless the disc brakes are high quality and their riding conditions require it. Usually, cheaper hybrids run mountain bike groups on a flat bar setup, while more expensive ones run road bike groups on a flat bar setup. You also get carbon forks after you spend a bit of money, which is nice.


You could always try making your own. There are lots of different ideas for designs over at Instructables the one below uses the bracket off an old reflector plus a phone holder (ie for mounting your phone on a car dashboard) screwed to it. More details here. I particularly like the rubber bands for extra security. My main worry would be the rain though and the danger of getting the phone wet (but then I do live near Manchester in the UK).


Is there a trick to inflating a flat tire with deep section rims?

The real answer is you need inner tubes with longer valve stems. Tubes come with various length stems to accommodate deep section rims.

There are screw-on valve stem extenders available for both Presta and Schrader that you could use to extend your stems. (I think some Schrader ones are actually for car tires, but they would still work for a bike.)

With out an valve extension, to get started, try pressing down hard on the tire and tube where the valve stem is to press the it out of the rim so you can get the pump nozzle attached. Having someone to help you will make this easier. You can also thread a valve stem nut onto the stem to retain the stem when you try to get the nozzle on.

Another approach to getting started, before getting the second tire bead onto the rim, reach inside the tire, press the valve stem out of the rim, clip on the pump, then fit the second tire bead.


Is it harmful to store a bike in a repair stand when held by the seatpost?

I don't think that this should be a problem. The force that is transferred through the seatpost to the bike when you sit on it and ride some bumpy road is vastly more than the stress that your bike might get from hanging on the bike stand.


I think you should go to a (bigger) bike store and try different brands.

Are you looking for women shoes to fit smaller feet or bigger feet?

Depending on what you are looking for, sometimes getting a man's shoe might be better (for wider/bigger feet)

If you have weird feet, you should look into custom made/fitted shoes.


Rim brakes out of alignment and are unfixable

That looks like the wrong-sized wheel:  a newer 622 mm wheel in an older fork designed for 27" (630 mm) wheels.

Per the great Sheldon Brown:

27 x anything except "27 five" and 609 mm Danish        630 mm      Older road bikes.


How to measure the size of a suitable tire for my bike?

Measure the diameter of the bead seat (i.e. the place where the tire bead will sit).  It will most likely be one of these:

559mm = MTB 26 inch tire.
622mm = 700C (a.k.a 29er)
630mm = 27 inch that is old enough to remember the Bee Gees.

If it's not one of those, look it up here:  http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html#iso

The new tire will have a marking on it like 28-622.  That second number is the diameter.


Recommendations for inconspicuous helmet-mounted video camera

I bought a DOGCAM Bullet HD Wide camera, on the basis of a decent camera at a good price. The Contour HD is a nice camera but too expensive for me.

The DOGCAM Bullet is compact unit, 80mm long and 22mm diameter. Waterproof so strapped to my helmet for kayaking, on the bike I tend to strap it to the bars. It'll last a couple of hours on a battery charge, it's an internal battery which is charged via the mini USB port in the back of the camera. Plugging in via the USB it just appears as a removable flash drive on the computer to copy the video's.

My only real gripe with it is the on/off switch, there's very little tactile feedback to know if I've pressed the button. It does have a small LED at the front to indicate when it's recording or the memory card is full but in daylight conditions it's not the easiest thing to spot. When it's on my bars I really have to lean forward and squint to see the LED.

There is a fair review and example video on Cycleseven


Honestly i have 2 of what you describe with a few variations - for gearing you don't need more than 2X11.  Light i would consider looking at a dynamo hub like SON 28.  Rear rack look at Thule, bike pannier rack (use to be called Freeload).

Suspension and dropper post these days come almost standard on most bikes and you don't need to go spend $7k plus to get one either.

I would buy an out of the box bike and change that you want to change by sourcing parts from Chain Reaction Cycle or get your local bike shop to custom build you one.


What I'd do:

remove the pedal
thoroughly clean the pedal threads
thoroughly clean the crank threads
let both dry
apply 2 drops of thread locker on the pedal threads (e.g loctite blue)
fasten pedal on the crank well (e.g 40 Nm)

If it comes loose after that I'd temporarily try another left pedal just to find out whether the pedal or the crank arm is problematic.

Before step #5 you need to inspect:

try to see whether the threads of pedal or crank look worn
screw pedal in crank by hand (or tool without applying a lot of pressure) until the end
was the threading smooth until the end?
does the pedal have any serious play within the crank arm? (which can only be eliminated if you screw the pedal very hardly in?)
if yes, then the threads may be worn

Sometimes people screw pedals in crank arms with no care or patience and the pedal may not be positioned correctly to be screwed all the way in because its threads overlap badly with those of the crank arm.


There were many brands of bikes sold all over the world with the same parts and the same lug work as this bike. I can't find anything distinctive enough to positively identify the brand.

The parts and the forged rear dropout indicate that this bike was not a bottom of the line bike. It has:

Stronglight 99 bis crank in a double chain ring configuration
Simplex LJ1000 T rear derailleur
Simplex SJ6011 shift levers made from 1979 to 1980
Simplex SJ A102 front derailleur 1979 to 1989
I can't see the brakes well enough to tell which Mafac Racer model they are.
The stamped fork drop out (at least it looks stamped from the angle I can see) does not match the rear drop out which makes me think the fork is not original.

Using Peugeot (link to U.S. Peugeot brochures) as an example (not saying this is a Peugeot) this component list in 1978 would put you at a top of the line PX10LE. The PX10LE in those years had chromed rear stays so a much less than perfect match but it's in the ball park.

Sheldon Brown has some advice on restoring French bicycles along with a list of makers (not that this bike is for sure French.)

Bottom line, it's a wonderful bike no matter what maker had their name on it. It has been long neglected and needs to be carefully restored.


Can any bike crankset be exchanged for another?

The main intercompatibility issues with cranksets are the connection between the crank arms and the bottom bracket spindle.

Most bikes from that age (not to say all mountainbikes) use square taper bottom bracket, for which is very easy to find good quality cranksets.

These look like the leftmost spindle in the picture above (which also show newer types, that are less likely to be what you need):

You might also take a look at the page from where that image came, in the excelent website of Sheldon Brown:

http://sheldonbrown.com/bbsize.html

Other compatibility issues might be related to the length of the bottom bracket and the length for which the crankset was designed. Using different-sized bottom brackets and cranksets might result in a misaligned chainline, an ill-working front derailer, or in extreme cases a chainring running too close to the frame. This is so for tapered square, but I am not sure about the other types.


Lubricate when needed.  I don't think it's possible to put a mile marker on when to lube.  I think most people add chain lube too often.  Too much can cause debris to build up on the chain.  Too little lube can cause unnecessary friction; but you'll know pretty quickly by the looks (and possibly sound) of it if you have too little lube.

Hints:

Wipe your chain off before you add
more lube.[*]
Is the color black?
Is it greasy?
Wipe all that schmutz off until it's
looking dry.
Add lube while rotating cranks.

Tips:

Lube the night before you ride: this
gives the lube a chance to 'spread'.
Wipe the excess off immediately
before you ride - but not until dry
as above.

^ [*]. Wiping off the chain is best done in a work stand or while the bike is in a position where you can rotate the crankarm such that you can hold a rag to the chain while the chain is moving.


Can one replace double chainrings with a singlespeed chainring on the original crankset/spider?

Indeed It should work.

The other answers address chainline correction options for the rear end, but I know at least two for the front side:

Usually two big rings in a triple, or the two rings of a double would be fixed by a single set of bolts. That means the chainring bolts are long enough to hold 2 chainrings. When going to hold only one, it may happen that the bolts are too long, so you may need spacers to fill up the gap. These spacers can be used to fine tune the chainline in the front side.

Also, if the bottom bracket is the old cup and bearing style, the cups can be adjusted to provide a few millimeters of adjustment. Shimano sealed BB's can be shifted side to side by adding Bottom Bracket spacers, which should be really cheap.

I will mention a third one, although the OP clearly states that wants a lean budget approach, chainline can also be altered by swapping the bottom bracket cartridge or axle. (Can be done low budget if using secondhand parts).


Tyre has a 'dip' in it after fitting to rim

I used to get this a lot on my old 29er with Continental commuter tyres, large rim with tight tyre made for tough work getting the tyre on and off and often got similar flat-spots.

Check the max psi first but pumping up as hard as possible can ping the tyre beading back on to the rim wall, then deflate back down to your proffered pressure. If its still reluctant you can buy rim lube type stuff (could be a risky Google that, sorry) which is basically washing up liquid, so try that. Add a bit around the tyre wall / beading while its off rim and it will help ping on when you pressure up the tyre.

Track a pump will be your friend here.


You have the normal standard omnipresent pedal type with a 9/16 inch thread. If the size is not specifically indicated, it almost certainly fits. You canfirm it by some crude measurement.
The manufacturer speaks about a 7 mm boron steel axle, but that is hidden inside, it is not the thread diameter.
The number on your pedal might be a date of manufacture or some batch number.


Where can I look up voting guide for better bike infrastructure?

The closest thing I know of nationally is the League of American Bicyclists I Bike - I Vote page, but that is not going to really give you a clue about for whom you should vote. It's more a resource for issues before Congress that you could use to question candidates.

I don't know where Dana Point is, but I know many counties in CA have bicycle advocacy groups like the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.  Here's a page with links to other CA Bike Advocacy Groups.  Your best bet is to contact your local group and talk to them about issues and recommendations. While you are at it, join, donate and become active. Like stated in this post on bicycling advocacy, the best way to be involved is to be active locally.


How to select bottom bracket spindle width?

You will have an easier time selecting the correct spindle once you have already selected a bottom bracket, because the spindle size is typically specific to each bottom bracket. Once you have the bottom bracket, you should be able to nail down the spindle size either from the manufacturer's instructions or on Sheldon Brown's database:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/bbsize.html


Unfortunately your plan will not work.
The compatibility issue is the spacing of the cassette/freewheel sprockets. I'm doubtful that SRAM uses the same spacing as older or cheaper 7 speed drivetrains. (If I were designing for them I'd make the cassette as narrow as possible to allow the drive side hub flange to be moved out for greater wheel strength).
However, even if the sprocket spacing were the same the GX DH 7 derailleur would still shift awfully on your 7 speed freehub because it does not have the ramp and tooth profile design of the GX cassette.
It's a better idea to save your money and purchase a better bike. Trying to put higher end components on cheaper bikes almost always just does not make economic sense.


Here are springs and pawls. They don't have anything called "ratchet ring"
Stan's No Tubes has them in stock.

They also sell a kit with a retaining ring that holds the pawls in place.


Shimano Front Chainwheel FC-MC19 Replacement?

The problem is not clearance between the crank arms and frame. You need to look at the clearance between the chainrings and frame, which is likely to be much tighter.

You also need to consider chainline - how for the nominal centers of the chainrings and sprocket cluster are from the centerline of the frame. You will be moving your cranks 6.5mm inboard, that's significant. I checked the specs of both cranks [here and here] and they both have a nominal chainline of 50mm, so you need the correct spindle length to get the correct chainline.

I think you'll probably get chainring - frame interference with the shorter axle, and I'd get a new bottom bracket with the correct axle length  to avoid chainline problems anyway. A 17 year old bracket probably needs replacing in any case.


Chain falls off all the time when I want to shift from small to big front ring

Your front derailleur limit screw is not adjusted properly.

Limit screws literally limit how far the derailleur can travel in each direction, and are independent of the cable adjustment - I recommend checking the limit screws are correctly set before making any cable adjustments,and on the rear derailleur it is best to disconnect the cable before adjusting the limit screws. (do not disconnect the front derailleur cable as it is needed to move the chain guide)

There are 2 limit screws on each derailleur, marked L and H. The H Limit Screw stops the chain guide from going to far away from the frame, so in your case it is the one that needs adjustment.

To make the adjustment:

Put the  real derailleur on the outer most (smallest) cog.
Using your hand, pull the front derailleur cable away from the frame to move the chain guide as far out as possible. Do not rely on the shifter alone as it may not be adjusted correctly, if necessary use a rag to protect your fingers.
Check the derailleur chain guide is approximately parallel to the chain and sits 1-2mm above the height of the large chain ring. If it is not then your derailleur angle and height need adjustment before adjusting the limit screws.
Whilst keeping tension in the cable, adjust the H Limit screw so there is at least a 1mm gap between the chain and the guide. Tighten the screw if the gap is larger, and loosen it if the gap is smaller or the guide is touching the chain.
Rotate the pedals a full 360° and check this minimum 1mm gap is maintained at every point of the rotation. Many chain rings are not exactly straight, a small deviation is nothing to worry about, but a large deviation means the chain ring or crank may need replacing, or the bottom bracket needs maintenance.

Your H Limit Screw is now properly adjusted. You should now check the L Limit Screw and then set the cable tension so you shifter works correctly.


In general, if a bike path (lane) is on a road, follow the direction of traffic on that road. If there isn't a bike path on the other side, then bike carefully in the road if permitted, or find a different route.

If a bike path is separated from the road and there aren't directional signs, stay to the appropriate side of the bike path depending on where in the world you are (right for most of the world, left for fans of the queen typically). If there are bike paths on both sides of a road, use the direction of the closest bit of road.

Do not go the opposite direction of what is marked!

(*) In the original post, there was an arrow indicating what direction traffic on the bike path was to go; in this case, it should be obvious -- follow the marked direction.


Remove lubricant from seat tube and seat post

A thorough way to do it would be to:

Remove the cranks, bottom bracket and seat post.
Make sure there is a decent hole between the seat tube and bottom bracket shell (might depend on the frame).
Ram rags down the seat tube with a broom handle and extract them via the bottom bracket shell.
Once the bulk of the grease is removed (or pushed to the bottom of the seat tube) soak a rag in degreaser (WD40, white spirit, citrus degreaser etc) and ram it through to remove the last traces.

This would be a bit of a pain though and you might not have the tools or knowledge to remove and refit a BB.

You could instead try tying a strong cord to the rag so that you can ram it down the seat tube then pull it back out. If the cord breaks or slips though you'll be back to removing the BB or you will just have to leave the rag there.

You should also ask why the seat post is slipping, as they shouldn't do so even when greased. Actually, it is normally recommended that you grease seatposts lightly so that they don't seize in place. Could there be something wrong with the seat clamp? Alternatively, seat posts tend to slip when they are slightly too small for the seat tube. It seems annoyingly common for manufacturers not to spec the seat tube diameter properly but it could be that the previous owner replaced the seat post with one that is too narrow?

If you are dealing with a screw-type seat post clamp (as opposed to a quick release) and you are doing it up as tight as you can in an effort to stop it slipping then I would strongly recommend that you carry a spare one with you. I have broken a seat post clamp doing the same thing and it was quite a miserable cycle with no saddle to the nearest bicycle shop 10 miles away.

If you have a quick release seat post clamp my gut feeling is that you could improve your clamping force by moving to a screw-type one. Get one with a large diameter screw if possible but make sure that screw is made of steel! Some use aluminium for the screw which is garbage. Also preferably get one where the screw threads into a steel insert rather than into the aluminium body of the clamp.

Edit: As the commenters have said, carbon frames should not be greased. They use an anti-slip or 'carbon assembly' paste. This paste might help you even if your frame is not carbon; I've never managed to get a straight answer on whether it works for metal-on-metal contact.

Also the double seat post clamp linked by Carel Looks brilliant. I've not seen such a thing before.


Can I use brake pads designed for linear-pull brakes on my side-pull cantilever brakes?

Linear pull brake blocks come with a stack of washers designed to provide toe-in (a gap at the back of the brake block to reduce squeal) and different thickness washers to get the cantilever arm vertical to the rim.

Side pull brakes have none of that, just a simple washer for the outside surface of the brake arm.

Put the linear pull brakes in to your side-pull brakes with the whole washer stack on the outside, tighten it up and you should be good to go. You can experiment with putting the extra washers in for that toe in or omit the concave/convex toe-in washers entirely. But do use at least one washer on the outside.

Just make sure that when you have tightened them up that you cannot twist the brake block around with your hand and that the brake blocks meet parallel with the rim neither touching the tyre or falling off the bottom of the rim. Test before you go down any big hills.

Hope that helps!


Are road bikes capable of being ridden on gravel?

Google 'cyclocross'.

The primary difference between a road bike and a CX bike is the size of the tires. You can ride your road bike anywhere your skills will allow. There are some gotcha's though.

Skinny tires only have so much traction. Gravel flats won't be an issue for all but the lightest of race tires, but pinch flats from hitting larger rocks at high speed are a problem.

Dirt and high end road components don't mix well.

But seeing exactly how far you can take a road bike has a long history and many local clubs have "grasshopper" rides that link up old gravel roads. Your bike is capable of much more than you might think. Look up the races Paris-Roubaix and Strada Bianca.


Will a 9-speed Tiagra shifter work with a 9-speed cassette and a 10-speed Ultegra derailleur?

In general, parts should be compatible between Tiagra, 105, and Ultegra.

As you mentioned, the 10-speed rear derailleur should work with 9-speed shifters:

  Within a given brand/style of rear derailer, all "speed numbers" are generally interchangeable. This applies to all indexable models, basically everything manufactured since the late 1980s. There are a few exceptions. -- Sheldon Brown  (6-speed, 7-speed, 8-speed, 9-speed, 10-speed, 11-speed?)

However, switching from a triple crankset to a double crankset will be a problem unless you also replace the front shifter with one that is designed to work with a double front derailleur.

Edit: It looks like the Tiagra ST-4400 and ST-4500 are actually compatible with both double and triple front derailleurs:

ST-4400: http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/TIAGRA/ST-4400/SI_6CT0C_En_v1_m56577569830607060.pdf
ST-4500: http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/SI/TIAGRA/ST-4500/SI_6LP0A_En_v1_m56577569830607086.pdf

Apparently it's been designed so that with two chainrings instead of three, the levers click twice instead of once.


Some people claim that warming up a torque wrench necessary, but I've never seen it actually seen a manufacturer (Park Tool, Snap On, etc.) recommend a warm up procedure (*) so I don't see it as necessary.

I just use torque wrenches/keys directly. As Zinn notes (see for example, Appendix D of Zinn & the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance 5e), you have a lot of things that can affect a torque reading:

Lubrication (or condition in general) of threads
Position of using the torque wrench, extenders, etc.
Choking up on the torque wrench (your hands will be more sensitive, and on many wrench designs it doesn't affect the reading)
Corrosion
Materials
Bolt turning vs starting from stuck (static vs kinetic friction)
Calibration (which can be thrown if you use it to loosen bolts or drop the wrench repeatedly or just through (ab)use)
Etc.

If you're working with carbon fiber or light weight materials, you have to be careful, but for most parts, its not the end of the world if you over/undertighten by a bit (though of course, its better to be at the right value). Having a sense of what the torques feel like is a good thing to have -- most people do just do these things by feel on normal grade parts. Using torque = arm length * force (assume force is applied perpendicular to the arm), you can get a rough sense of how much force you need. A liter of water has 1 kg mass, so its weight is about 10 Newtons. So, if you apply it at on an arm of about 20 cm (roughly the length of many small torque wrenches), you get a torque of 2 N-m.

(*) Life's full of these sort of things: For example, waiting for your car to warm up in winter before driving, rather than just driving gently after you turn it on.


Can I mix and match cogs from 2 different SRAM cassettes and still expect it to work?

absolutely, I do it all the time. just make sure they are sequential. (ie. 11t 13t, 14t etc)


Leave the wheel in tact and see if you can order some 'turbo trainer axle nuts', pictured below, to replace your current nuts on existing axle. If these don't work for you then start disassembling the wheel but research first; you need skinny spanners called cone spanners (£?) to do the job properly and risk dropping ball bearings (annoying). Not normally a huge problem but if bike shops are closed and we're all social distancing atm, then you want to reduce the risk of messing up, temporarily, in case you are left without a functioning bike or help to fix.

Trying to patiently find a solution with low risk atm is reasonable.


I would say that it isn't very common to see people wearing Lycra on a hybrid. However most people I see on hybrids wouldn't ride 80 km. At that distance, the right clothes can make a real difference in energy expenditure and comfort.  The people who don't wear Lycra mostly don't know the benefits or feel too self-conscious to wear it. I think that you should keep wearing Lycra if it makes you comfortable.


How do I make my rim brakes stop squealing?

Squealing can be reduced by "toe-in" - making the front part of the brake pad touch first.

Check out Park Tool's instructions on servicing side-pull brakes: http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/dual-pivot-brake-service

  Squealing is the result of a harmonic resonance from a slip-and-stick phenomenon, similar to how a violin bow resonates on a string. The brake pads grab the rim and are pulled forward by the force of the wheel. The arms must at sometimes jerk backwards, but if you are still braking, the arms are flexed forward again. This is repeated again and again many times per second, and this creates the squeal. Because of this, flexible and less expensive arms tend to squeal more than stiff calipers of better brakes. It is possible to reduce squeal by having the leading edge of the brake pad strike first. This tends to reduce the back and forth jerking of the arms.

But before you go trying to toe-in, make sure you're working with parts in good shape:

Examine your brake pads. If they are old and hard, worn deeply, or full of junk, replace them. Otherwise, use coarse sandpaper to take off the surface to bring out fresh rubber. You only need to take off a tiny bit.

Clean your rims. Road grime, bike lubes, and brake material all collect on your rims. Rubbing alcohol, vinegar, Simple Green, a product marketed as "degreaser" can all work. Don't let any get on the drivetrain or in the hubs. Also, you'll need rags.

True your wheels. There's no point in trying to adjust brakes on a wheel that isn't true (round and dished is good, too). And you can't true a wheel if the hubs aren't in good shape.


I make a little list of the nearby shops at each end of my daily commute. Then I visit them. I actually try to visit 4 or 5 regardless of how much I like the first one, just to have an idea of what they're like in case I need one.

What I look for:

decent range of product in the shop. Stuff that's relevant to me, but also a reasonable range of other stuff. Shops with few accessories for sale are usually either just starting out, or just about to fold.
more than one mechanic. Sorry, but a one man shop is going to suffer from not having anyone to bounce ideas off and having to close when the one mechanic is out learning new stuff (or more often, not out learning at all).
approachable staff. Do I feel comfortable dealing with the staff? Do they know about bikes or just about sales targets? Are they surly, minimum-wage grunts or are they happy working there? I don't want my bike serviced by someone who's doing the minimum possible to avoid getting fired.
decent workshop. A corner of the back office with a portable stand is not a workshop. I have a better workshop than that at home (I realise not everyone does). Working in poor conditions means doing a poor job.
decent range of tools. They should have the expensive bottom bracket taps and so on hanging on the wall next to the usual allen key sets and so on. Those tools are too fragile to drop in a tool drawer, and if the bike shop doesn't know that (or worse, doesn't have the tools at all), I don't want them working on my bike. If they don't have the tools to do the job properly I don't want to risk them trying to bodge it.
sensible opening hours. Look, I know it sucks having to start work at 7am, but that's when the customers start riding past the shop. And closing up at 7pm makes for a very long day, another reason to avoid single-staff-member shops. But if I can't drop my bike off in the morning, grab a loaner bike and pick it up that night, I'm not very happy.
loaner bikes. To a bike shop a restored second hand bike is cheap. They're a useful place to train or evaluate new staff, and customers love them. Expect to see rare or strange parts, because customers do steal stuff off those bikes. But that's ok, it just has to work.
does not have a standard service price. A standard $50 service sounds great but if you're doing any maintenance on your bike at all most of it's going to be wasted. They will replace your 25% worn brake pads because that's in the service. They will not tighten the loose spoke because that is not. And the service will probably be done by an unsupervised 15 year old being paid per bicycle serviced. Sure, if every shop in your area offers it the good shop might have to play along. I'd still be skeptical - and ask them why.
demands a way to contact me if they find something ugly. A shop that can't ring me to say 'Cthulu lives in your seatpost' hasn't got enough experience to be allowed to pump up tyres.

Specific to me is that they have to at least know what a Rohloff is, and a Schmidt hub dyno. I have both, and both can be expensively damaged by monkeys with hammers. But also, selling the high end stuff means they have customers who care about their bikes a lot. Few rich louts buy Rohloffs, they just don't have the bling factor. Instead, it's people who really care about their bike. Where I worked for a while it wasn't the rich customers who bought them, it was the "saved up and got the special treat" ones. The rich dudes were the ones with a Mercx frame who wanted an all period restoration and would go "a Phil bottom bracket? Whatever makes it go". Or they would go somewhere that had a selection of $10k carbon fibre road bikes in stock. Our customers were more the "I'm going to ride around India for a year, I want...", and had a detailed list.

Anyway, bike shops with that lot are more likely to be off the main road where rent is cheaper, might not open on Sunday, probably cost a bit more but to me are well worth the effort.


Where can I buy a Cannondale saddle or parts in general for that matter?

There are certainly parts which are specific to certain brands of frames, and to specific models too.  Examples:

Aero seat posts.  Being non-round, they could be any weird shape, which has aerodynamic advantages, but also lets the frame maker copyright their profile, so that there are no cheaper alternatives.
Integrated stem/bar combinations - same as seat posts
Hangers - every other frame seems to have its own special hanger setup.  There are manufacturers of aftermarket hangers.
Odd little covers, to match Di2 holes or similar.  These tend to be too small and low profit for aftermarket makers to bother with, so original tends to be the only option.

While there are special designs for saddle mounts, the vast majority of them are the standard two-rail design.  The rails are almost always 7mm in diameter whether they're made of steel or carbon fibre.

However some saddles come with 8mm or 9mm round rails, or 7x9 or 7x10mm oval rails. These tend to be expensive MTBs.  Some older saddle designs have four rails (eg, some Brooks leather saddles)

Here's a single-rail I-beam - again super-expensive bikes:

And there are doubtless custom-proprietary saddle mount systems too - I'd suspect expensive Tri bikes have a range of mounts.

Upshot: your bike has a normal dual rail system, on a normal two piece, two-bolt clamp.  Back off the two visible hex-bolts, remove saddle, and fit the new one.   The hardest thing is finding one to buy that you find comfortable, and then dialing it in just right can take time to get perfect.  But its eminently do-able.

Any LBS can help you out, or buy online.  You do not need to buy a branded bike saddle from the maker of your bike.


As other people said this is difficult to answer within the subjective field of "decent" "good quality", etc.

There are two main components to the price of bike(part)s:

Weight (lighter is generaly more expensize)
Quality (which is a catch-all phrase for durability, the technical sophistication needed to make a part, complexity of the part, extra effort made to enhance comfort, etc. anything other than lowering weight.)

Increasing price will get you a bit of either, or mostly the first or the second, depending on what the supplier of your bike considers important. From your question I think that you want to focus on quality more than weight, so don't go spending on carbon, titanium, and other exotic stuff. This rules out most bikes above about $2000 - $3000, so there is your upper limit.
I'm not sure what you expect from your bike in terms of features, and when and how you'd expect to use it.

You can get a pretty decent quality no-frills single speed bike for the price you paid for your bike, but it will be bare. No fenders, lights, no chainguard, no luggage rack, coaster brake.

If need more than that the price starts to increase, and all I can say is: "it depends" but you'll stay within the upper limit I gave above even if your definition of "decent" can compete with my "very good" as long as you mostly ignore weight.

To give you one last pricepoint: For a decent daily use commuter bike (15k one way, mostly flat, wet/cold winters, full time riding) I need fenders, a rear luggage rack, a full range of gears, lights, leak-proof tires, low maintenance- high durability components, a comfortable saddle, mountainbike handlebars with bar ends, and very good and dependable brakes. I would expect to pay about $800 $1000 for this bike. I would expect to ride this bike for 5+ years, only replacing brake pads, tires, chain, chainrings and cogs, and maybe the occasional brake- or shifter cable, or spoke.


Is this a good bike light? And should I give these people my money?

OK so I do a lot of bike light reviews. I originally started writing them for this very site's community blog, and now I run a separate website called The Bike Light Database.

  Has anyone used one? I can't seem to find a review of the dang thing on youtube, as popular as they are supposed to be!

I've reviewed this light specifically, and can say that while it is cheap, it's not a good choice for someone who seriously bikes at night. The build quality is poor, it doesn't put out much light, and the optics are crap. There's no side visibility. The mount is annoying to use and bulky. The light dims quickly as the non-rechargeable batteries drain, and the contacts are of poor quality so sometimes the light just stops working unexpectedly.

  Is this marketing practice unethical? I don't want to reward unethical advertising with cash, but in the grand scheme of things it's probably more important that the are selling a quality product if they say they are.

I think their page makes a lot of dubious claims. The taillight in the video isn't the taillight they include. My rule of thumb is, if the Amazon product title says anything more than the name of the product or is more than 1 line long, I don't buy it. They're trying too hard to sell it and it's probably crap.

Furthermore, some of those pictures are very obviously other products. This is a real beamshot of the light that I took. You can see an interactive version to compare it with other lights on the site.

  Could the ratings have been (partly) faked?

Looking through the reviews on the page you linked, many of them are verified purchases, but not all are. I think it's unlikely that most would be faked, but there may well be some fakes. The real issue is that to a lot of people, it seems like a perfectly good bike light because they've never seen a good bike light. It's cheap, it does what they expect (lights up), and it doesn't have any immediately obvious problems, so it gets 5 stars.

For people with a small budget and simple needs, this light is just what they want. That doesn't mean the advertising is truthful, and it doesn't mean the light is any good. It's the same as asking somebody who bought their bike at WalMart if they like it. "Oh yeah, 5 stars, it's great! Totally has pedals, moves forwards, even stops when I use the brakes!" And yet we know better here than to buy a bike at WalMart.

I've also addressed the issue of "eBay China lights" in my FAQ. While on the surface the specifications look just as good as any other light, it's the details of the design (not to mention the ethics of the company and their marketing) that make the difference. There's also a lot of lies in the specs that companies list - I highly doubt this light actually puts out 200 lumens, for example.

Hopefully that sort of answers your questions. If you'd like to talk more about lights, ping me in the site chat or leave a comment, I like discussing lights! And if you're looking for a better light to choose, I have some pretty detailed suggestions on my lights site!


Modify a normal bike to suit my disability

If you using a flat handlebar, something like this would handle your braking needs:
Problem Solvers Double Barrel


You have an SRAM X4 8-Speed shifter. The description says:

  Featuring our proven ergonomics and award-winning 1:1® Actuation

and adverts in e-shops say:

  Compatible with ESP (1:1 ratio) rear derailleurs only.

The pull ratio for Shimano rear derailleurs is 1.7. It is not compatible. You need a different shifter or a different rear derailleur (like the X4).


Chain length differences between 1X and multi-chainring setups

Regardless of the derailleur or drivetrain type in question, the purpose of a chain sizing procedure based on large/large plus one link is to find the chain size where the rear derailleur is so extended that if it were one link shorter, the frame, hanger, and/or derailleur would be destroyed.
Using that as your target chain length has different amounts of merit on 2x and 3x depending on the specifics or your application and the parts used. There is little reason to use that length with a 1x-specific RD if you have the option of making it some amount longer, which you do in most cases.
If ridden in the large/large combo, bikes tend to shift badly and operate with increased resistance from the rear derailleur if the chain is sized this way. The advantages are minimizing chain slap/derailment and saving weight, and marginally better shifting throughout the more useful part of the range (on a 2x/3x) than if the chain was a link or two longer.
Bikes with 1x specific RDs need their large cog combo to be a fully functional gear. And, extant 1x RDs all or mostly all have clutches, so chain length anywhere within the possible lengths that could work will have next to no effect on slap. Chain sizing instructions for 1x-specific RDs tend to target the length to be around the point where in the lowest gear, the center of the tension pulley is modestly ahead of directly below the guide pulley. There is some variance in that, but it will be some positioning of the lower cage that the manufacturer has chosen to perform as intended.
Bikes with non-1x RDs that are being set up 1x start to ask some questions of the mechanic, and the answer will be different depending on the parts and application in question. That could be either someone setting up a parts-minimal 1x commuter or it could be a cyclocross or DH/freeride bike from before clutches and the mainstreaming of 1x. Generally speaking, aside from slap/derailment concerns, that kind of drivetrain is set up to have the longest chain possible that still allows the chain to be tensioned in small/small, but slap/derailment can and often will cause you to shorten it from there depending on the application, to the point where more rough stuff bikes with that kind of drivetrain would often have the RD extend pretty far forward in large/large, i.e. something pretty close to the large/large +1 method. Chain length sometimes requires tuning on that sort of bike in real life regardless of what any manufacturer instructions say.


Fitting questions - Effective top tube vs horizontal

If you look at the full resolution it is clear.
BS is center to center (head to seat) along the (sloped) top tube.
Since the seat tube is slanted that is a shorter distance.
Geomemtry C2C

Cathetus and hypotenuse apply to a right (90 degree) triangle.  There is not a 90 degree triangle on the BS.


Double-walled rim's what difference depth makes?

Strength, and image of aerodynamics. A deeper rim is stiffer and can get away with less spokes or sloppier build than a low profile rim. Aerodynamic wheels have typically deep rims, and all deep rims get part of the glamour, even though bad design can make a deep rim just draggy as a low profile box section rim.


Shimano 105 5800 mech compatibilty with 5700 shifters

No -- you need to match the number of speeds on the cassette and the number of speeds of the shifter. The 11 speed shifters are designed to use dyna-sys cable pull (which is different than the 10 speed road cable pull; its the same as 10 speed mountain) as well.

I'd recommend picking up either {a 10 speed road or 7-9 speed Shimano rear derailleur and a 10 speed cassette} or the 11 speed Shimano road shifters. The former (e.g. a 9 speed Deore RD and a 10 speed cassette) is likely going to be much cheaper.


The chain looks a little bit too taut for what I use in my fixie. But I don't rely on my chain to stop the bike, as I am of the sissy kind that rides with brakes, so dropping the chain is not that bad of an issue, although it has never actually happened.

But from your video, there basically does not seem to be any slack in the chain, I try go with 1-2 cm (1/2-1 inches) when pressing on it. That means that you see some curvature on the bottom side, yours appears to be running straight.

This other question may help you get the tension right.


Is it safe to ride a racing road bike in very wet weather?

They're fine. I live outside of Vancouver so I'm already riding in wet a few days a week some weeks. Just this morning I was coming down the backside of a climb at 70km and they were totally secure.

Since the tires are so narrow they don't suffer from hydroplaning. The biggest thing to worry about is painted lines and manhole covers (or other metal covers on the road). Both are very slick when wet. I've always been careful but I know a number of other riders that have gone down cornering hard on both types of surfaces.

You're right to leave yourself extra room to brake. Also don't forget to account for reduced visibility for both you and cars.


Identify old bicycle w/locking steering column?

Could be a Aluminium Monarch Silver King.
Good luck!


How easy is it to remove a seat with a dropper post?

I just installed my own 2016 Giant Contact SL Switch dropper post in the internal cable routing mode this week.

The simple answer is you would be best advised to just remove the seat itself by undoing the clamp bolts with the appropriate hex wrench, leaving the post itself installed in the frame. If that solution does not sufice, then opt for external cable routing, or give the folowing a try...

Long answer (Not recommended):

To remove the post you would have to loosen the set screw on the handlebar switch that fixes the inner cable. Since the set screw tends to crush the cable, it may not thread out of the housing well or thread back in easily (requiring replacement of the cable...).

If the cable end isn't totally crushed/unusable, then pull the section of housing away from the switch and put the short section of adjustable length housing in your pocket. Now you have to simultaneously lift the seat post out while pushing the housing through the frame from the handle bar side, ensuring the housing does not get pushed through the internal routing port into the frame downtube. If you don't have sufficient housing length between the handle bar and the port, then try pushing the cable through as much as you can for a little extra wiggle room. If the post is now completely outside of the seat tube, then you can just disengae the cable from the bracket on the post (no tools required).

The problem then is reinstallation of the post. You would have to re-engage the inner cable to the post (possibly having to invert the bike to get the bobbin to slid to the end of the cable), and then reinsert the post and reverse the earlier process - this time pulling housing/cable back through while lowering the post in. Then you have to put the length of adjustable housing back on and clamp the cable at the switch. Of course, as stated earlier the cable may need to be replaced it the end is too crushed.

All in all, much too much work to repeat. Hopefulyl just removing the seat from the post is sufficient, and you don't have to remove the post entirely. Because with the internal cable routing removing the post is cumbersome/likely something you only do once. External routing of the housing/cable would make the job easier.

In that situation you could get away with leaving the cable a bit long, taking up tension with the adjustable housing section, and then just loosening the adjustable housing and un-clipping the cable from the post to remove the post. Probably. You'd have to try it and see!


How to find the cage length of a rear derailleur?

If you have a reasonably clear photo from the seller you can measure directly. This only works because there are known-size elements in the same plane as the cage that you want to measure.

What I would do is measure the derailleur you have, and count the teeth on the idler gear you'll be using as a reference just to make sure they're the same on both your one and the on you're considering.

This is a random image I chose because it has the cage flat to the plane of the picture so it's easy to discuss. If you can get the seller to take a similar photo it'll make your life easier (eg by pressing the cage flat on a table, then taking a photo looking straight down at it).

The red lines show the size of the idler. Measure in pixels if you have an image program that shows you the length of the line you're drawing in pixels, or use a ruler on your screen if that's all you have. The yellow line is one possible option for measuring the cage length, but it's not ideal because it's going from the back side of the cage to the front, so if there's any tilt to the cage your measurement will be off. Or you could measure from the text on the cage to the edge of the bolt. But for best accuracy make the line as long as possible - measuring the text size is likely to give a huge uncertainty because there are so few pixels available (read up on quantisation noise in wikipedia or this introduction if you're interested). So I'd try to use the green line instead.

You need to get four measurements.

size of the idler you have (in millimetres or units of your choice)
size of the idler you might buy (in pixels)
length of the cage of your derailleur (millimetres or whatever)
length of the cage of the one you might buy (in pixels)

From that you can calculate the pixels per millimetre of the idler gears, then divide by the pixel length of the cage in the picture to get the millimetre length of the pictured derailleur. Compare that to the one you have and decide if it's the right size.

If you are really concerned you could do this for the reference pictures on the Shimano website to get an idea of the lengths that are available. That way you can guess which actual derailleur is for sale, rather than possibly rounding incorrectly (eg if you calculate 100mm from the picture and the actual options are 95mm, 102mm and 115mm you can either guess it's the 102mm one or compare the pcitures more closely to get a feel for the correct choice. Without the reference pictures you're left with "my one is 103mm, the seller pictures gives 100mm... that's close enough)

This all substitutes effort on your part for effort from the seller, but it also means you know more about how accurate the measurement is. I find it's often easier to measure the picture than the derailleur - note that the green line crosses through the pivot in a way that a tape measure can't do. To fake that lay the tape or ruler parallel to what you want to measure and as close to it as possible while keeping it in the same plane, then take the photo. (it's probably easier to buy a cheap vernier caliper and learn how to use it)


This is normal. There's oil that lubricates the inside of the air chamber and a little will come out when you let the air out. The Fox service manual mentions this and recommends that you put a rag over the schrader valve when relieving the pressure in the shock.


Use a really long tube as leverage on the end of a pipe wrench for example (used to grip and twist the seat post (around it's axis). combined with wd40, should get it out, if not the seat post will snap off most likely, if so you can either saw it into pieces using an iron saw blade and take the pieces out individually or as a last resort use chemicals to dissolve the aluminum.

If it's not too stuck you can use the seat for leverage but if it's quite bad you'll destroy the seat (pull out the seat rails) this way. Next step could be to install two big screwdrivers/Allen keys or something similar in place of the seat rails (after having taken off the seat) and tighten it back up again. Then you can use the screw drivers/Allen keys etc. for leverage without damaging the seat post.

Hitting the top of the seat post with a heavy hammer (in axial direction of the seat tube) whilst putting twisting force on the seat post can also help 'loosen' it.

On some seat posts (for example some older SR seat posts) you can use an adjustable wrench to grip the seat post after removing the hardware for mounting the seat. I've tried to illustrate how to place the wrench on the seat post in the image below (forgive the terrible drawing):

Using this method you can potentially get great leverage on the seat post without damaging it so far you'll have to throw it away (the same method can be used with a bench vice (as suggested by @Criggie ) if you have one (grip seat post on the same 2 planes with the bench vice)).

There is a guy on YouTube (RJ TheBikeGuy) who has some good videos on it... example:

Here is a video of the 'sawing out the seat post' method:


Do I need to have this thread screwed all the way in on bottom bracket BB-UN53

As long as the BB is being held in place properly the stick-out of the cup shouldn't be an issue. Make sure the BB can't move from side to side when putting axial force on it.
Also make sure the crank arm on the side of the cup that sticks out isn't rubbing against the cup. As long as those conditions are met you should be fine.

The forces on the bottom bracket in axial direction will be quite low under normal use conditions so I'm pretty sure the plastic cup will work fine but if you want to play it safe use the metal cup since the threads won't strip nearly as easily as on the plastic cup, also the tool-interface (the grooves that the tightening tool falls into for tightening the cup) can more easily be damaged on the plastic cups (I've had cases where they have become very stuck in the frame).

Do make sure to apply some sort of grease or anti-seize product on the threads especially on an aluminum frame to prevent the metal cup from seizing. They can be very difficult to remove in some cases

I have seen bikes which have spacers/rings in between the non-adjustable cup of the BB and the frame, similar to this:

You could consider using such spacers to properly center the BB in the frame. Do keep in mind this may mess with your chain alignment a bit. The difference should be so little though that it shouldn't cause issues. if you find that it does cause issues you could potentially solve it by using a BB with shorter or longer axle length.


What’s happened here is that you have expanded the diameter of the top of the seat tube, in the process it looks like you have made some small cracks on the top edge, and created a number of burrs. That’s why the original seat post clamp will not fit anymore.
The larger clamp obviously does not work as its diameter is too large to clamp down on the tube with enough force.
Given that there is a reasonable length of seat tube above the top tube, I’d say that this is rescuable by carefully cutting the deformed area away. Removing 5mm from the top of the tube and smoothing the area below to remove burrs may be enough. The slot in the back of the tube may also need to be extended to allow the seat clamp to compress the tube.
No offense meant, but given that you’ve made a big mess of the seat tube with your own efforts, I’d enlist the help of experienced bike mechanic, who will also be able to assess whether the seat tube can be cut back safely.


Can someone help I don't know brand of bike mine is?

It looks a lot like the logo for BlackEye bikes.
They seem to have two different styles of the letter "B" in their logo.
The one that looks the most like the logo in your picture looks like this

BlackEye Killroy
The other style of "B" appears on the header of their web page. The backwards facing arrows are more pronounced

Here is a bike in the wild from bmxmuseum.com with the same logo


Barn Bicycle Find Information appreciated

Can't tell a great deal from that picture alone... Can you supply some clearer pictures?
in daylight side on view looking at the chainring side would be best.

The tubing looks a bit too angular to be a Western Flyer - but some of those did have dual top tube.

Those slim rear stays look like Raleigh or RMI Roadster.
Maybe even a Humber... although, I've not seen one with twin top tube.

What size are the tyres? it doesn't look old enough but if they are 28" there's a possibility it could an old Elgin.

If you can provide more information I can try to provide a better identification.

Thanks


What tools do I need to carry when riding tubeless?

Anchovies and a fork.

I don't mean that as a snack :) They are actually small "rope plugs" made of butyl rubber that can be plugged through the help of a "fork" when the puncture is more nasty and when you see the air is leaking from the tyre. They are called anchovies in the MTB circle, but they can be used on road tubeless tyres as well. You can read up more about that in this review, where they were tested on road Schwalbe One tyres: https://road.cc/content/review/183575-genuine-innovations-tubeless-tire-repair-kit


That doesn't sound good...  My fluid trainer has a pretty steady increase in resistance as I gear up.  The noise also increases steadily with resistance.  But there is no "wall".  Vibration isn't really noticeable while on the bike either.  It's normal for the fluid to heat up quite a bit -- it's what absorbs much of the energy you're putting out -- and the fins on the casing can get hot enough to burn after a long workout.

Can you get it checked out by the shop you bought it from?  The fact that your tire is slipping sounds like something might be wrong with the unit (could also be the tire skipping on the roller that causes the noise/vibration?).


Not enough information can be seen in your picture.

What you are looking for currently is a red herring. Whether a line from your knee cap does or does not cross any point on the shoe or on the pedal is strongly affected by the seat tube angle (and also the crank length). In the extreme case of a recumbent bike there is no way those could intersect - but the position setup is no less important there.

And not just the (for some to far-fetched) recumbent bike example, check this racer

(from https://www.slowtwitch.com/Photos/Products/Winners_and_Losers_Helmets_4712.html)

Due to his seat-tube angle the guy cannot ever fulfil the rule.

What you should look for are the smallest and the greatest angle your knee makes. For that you need the pictures of you pedalling made from higher point, best completely perpendicular to the knee. That's what bike fitters are looking for (among other stuff). A bike fitter can do that for you or you can try to do that yourself, there are instructions available on the internet (e.g., https://www.ludd.ltu.se/~torger/bikefit/ - the site also discusses the KOPS method you have used, for most common bikes and average riders it works quite well but the site does also offer better methods).

(from https://www.ludd.ltu.se/~torger/bikefit/)

To answer your actual question about your own position, taking your edit into account: I cannot see any obvious problem in your seat height and I would indeed try to search a problem in the cleat position. You can also try flat pedals for a while and check whether they change your situations. The may help to narrow down the problem. It is less easy to assess your forward-back seat position but considering the KOPS method it is not way off but may be slighly forward. Or it may not, I would still try to measure your min and max knee angles, it is more accurate and considers the actual piece of your body that hurts.

Ad Edit 3: It can and it can be due to many various gate issues. For example, I have problems with my hip and knee orientation and resulting duck feet which is worse on the right leg. Some issues are more obvious and some less. A professional eye will know better (a physiotherapist or bike fitter, but not just any, but some that actively deal with similar problems). Consider cleats that allow some float and try to find out what Q-factor may be the right one for you.


What do I do when I don't trust my LBS to repair a problem they caused?

First thing always is to take it back to that LBS and talk to the manager or owner. At the very least that way you know that they know you're unhappy. Probably they will offer to fix the problem for you (or get one of their mechanics to do it). From working in a bike shop we always took those return/re-repair jobs quite seriously, because one angry ex-customer will tell 100 people but a happy customer might tell 2.

Getting them to pay a competitor to fix your bike is harder, especially if you want to take it there yourself and get reimbursed. Generally they will get a better price than you will just because they're another bike shop, so it's better for them to send the job through. Which they will do if they can't do the work themselves. Small shops often do this with stuff like suspension rebuilds that require specialised tools and knowledge. But for a simple wheel install? Unlikely.

(edit)But now that it's an axle replacement you might have more luck. This is likely to be tricky anyway, since axles for some older SA hubs aren't made any more (AFAIK), so it might come down to who actually has the part. Your best bet might be to find a shop that does deal with older hubs and get a quote from them. Tell them you're going g back to the first shop, so they don't write "replace type 253a axle in SA 3xHD hub" on the quote (because that would let any monkey buy one on eBay). That way you're just doing work you'd have to do anyway, and you might get the actual repair done free. At the very least you have some idea of how hard it's going to be to do the work and what it will cost, for when you're negotiating with original shop.

The question for the shop is whether you be significantly less annoyed if they do this than if they just offer to fix it themselves, and how will that story play out to people you tell it to? Unless you lie you're going to be telling potential customers "they screwed up, and when I took it back they offered to fix it but I wanted to have them pay another shop to fix it and they wouldn't do that". Not something that would put me off using that shop.


It should be "The Cyclist's Training Bible: A Complete Training Guide for the Competitive Road Cyclist" by Joe Friel.

It is considered one of the best books about cycling training, even if you are a mountain biker - endurance training needs to happen on road as you need to maintain reasonable heart rate for lots of training types.

The book has been published several times, the most recent edition in June 18, 2009

After reading it, you can also read Friels blog.


I wouldn't use silicone spray to waterproof leather, I'd use a leather boot proofer like Nikwax (the original product, not the brand). The spray is unlikely to damage the shoes but isn't very effective on smooth leather. Shoes that aren't designed to be waterproof often don't get perfectly waterproof even with treatment - stitching may leak and you'll certainly get water in around the tongue.

Whatever you use, be sure not to get it on the soles, as it makes them slippery.

I've found waterproof shoes to be a bit of a pain on the bike - water runs down my legs and fills the shoes. Shoe covers help with this but then you don't need waterproof shoes. In hot weather free-draining shoes can also be more comfortable.


Are there brands that sell weather-resistant chains?

Lube your chain frequently. As in every time it rains if you need to.

Depending on the drive-train, you can get Shimano or SRAM chains at places like Nashbar or Performance Bike, but even top-of-the-line, expensive chains will get rusty if they're out in the rain all the time. The same will hold with a Brooks saddle. No matter how awesome it is, if it's exposed to poor conditions without proper maintenance, it will deteriorate quickly. So lube your chain frequently, and dry it off whenever you get a chance before storing it.

Disclaimer: If you go riding around with tons of lube on your chain in dry, dusty conditions, you'll pick up lots of dirt in your drivetrain.


Does group riding negate the aero benefit of deep rim wheels?

The aero benefits of deep rims come from reducing the spoke length. Imagine that you're drafting behind a large truck at 25 MPH; you're not experiencing any headwind, but your spokes are still going around in a circle and slicing through the air. So reducing the total length of all the spokes (by using less spokes or shorter spokes) will give you better aerodynamics no matter what.

Look at what the pro road racers do (I mean besides the doping.) They use moderately deep rims on flat races, and only use shallow ones for climbing (when weight is a more important consideration).


My pedals are forced forward when the back-pedal brake is on

What I'm guessing is happening is that your reaction arm (the thing on the left of the diagram) is not fixed in place.

When you brake the shoes of the brake are pushed out from the axle into the shell of the wheel hub. The idea being that the axle is fixed in place and the shoes drag against the shell.

If the reaction arm was undone, the friction of the brake shoes against the hub shell would be greater than the friction of the axle in the dropouts and so the whole unit of hub, axle and cog (fixed to axle) would turn under the rotational momentum of the wheel.

My guess is the 3 seconds followed by a noise is the time it takes for the reaction arm of your hub to overcome the friction and force its way past the chain stay.


Improving turning radius on an under-seat steering recumbent?

For a start, I would suggest you loosen the indicated pinch bolts, and push the bars forward a little, and rotate them outboard a little.

This is an adjustment, not altering the curve in the metal... the sketch is misleading.

By moving the bars forward in the indicated pinch bolts, you'll get more wheel-turn for the same movement of the handlebars.
Rotating the bars so they're further apart will give you more space before the bars stop on your seat.

And the best part - all that is completely reversible if you don't like it.

Modifying the push rods is going to be a lot more brutal and permanent.  I'd start with a mock up using something cheap and disposable, perhaps plastic pipe or cardboard roll-centers temporarily.

I'm hedging a bit here but I THINK moving the pushrod at one or both ends will alter your steering like you want.

Downside is the width of the straight-ahead window will be much smaller, so you're going to have to actively steer a lot more when not turning.

Since its going to be very hard to change the steering arm on the wheel's hub, you might be better off checking with the supplier in case they offer any options to achieve your goal.  A steering arm replacement with a hole that is closer to the kingpin would be much safer than you attempting to drill a new hole for the swivel.  Note that the swivel will be a tapered hole too.

The safest solution would be to make an adapter plate that attaches to the main bar, and make two new shorter pushrods.  That way you can revert to stock with no changes.

Also, consider making a scale model of the steering, using cardboard and pins to get an understanding of the relationships between your ideas and their effects.


How can I stop an Adult trike when both front brakes fail?

Answering for completeness:

Don't get in this situation and Prevention is better than cure

You should have picked up that the brakes were not as good as they were by feel (poor braking) or on visual inspection noticed that the inner cables were starting to fray.

Most bikes have two independent brakes.  For yours to both fail at the same time is quite unlikely.

And even if you did successfully add a rear brake, a continuous lack of maintenance may leave that in as bad a state as the other two brakes,

A basic M check should be done weekly.


Post cyclo cross race bike cleaning and lubrication for you bottom bracket?

Modern Cyclo-cross bikes typically used  bottom brackets with sealed cartridge bearings.  No real maintenance required, except to replace when worn out. When cleaning your bike, be careful as high water pressure can force debris past the seals and into cartridge bearings. Once a year replacement is pretty typical for bottom brackets with outboard bearings.  Sad, but true.

As an aside, why are you lubricating he sprockets?  This will attract dirt.  The only place you want lubricant is inside each bushing on the chain and really no where else.  This is why everyone talks of wiping a chain down after lubing (and allowing time for the lube to penetrate the bushing assembly).  The only reason I can see for leaving lube anywhere else on the drive train (e.g., sprockets) is if you have inexpensive components that rust easily.  Even then, a little bit of surface rust doesn't really affect drive train performance, it just doesn't look pretty. (Surface rust being the key, a chain rusted into a giant block is of course pretty inefficient to pedal on.)


Help me identify downtube shifter boss type

Those look like standard shimano-style downtube shifter bosses.  You would need some downtube shifter levers ending up something like this:

If you want to use brifters (integrated levers) then you need a pair of bosses to stop the outer, which look something like this:

With these, the outer cable continues up to the levers either in a graceful arc, or to the bars so it can pass under the bartape.


What pieces I can deduce from the looks of it.

It was designed for a single speed drivetrain.
No mounts for rim or disk brakes means it was likely meant for a drum rear brake
Ashtabula cranks mean it was old and/or cheap bike.
A curiously shaped "integrated" rear fender means the bike was unlikely to be designed to take part in competitions. Most likely it was a cruiser/utility/novelty bike.
Judging from relative diameters of head and seat tubes, it likely took a 1 inch fork, but it is hard to tell.
Wheel size as well as frame size are unclear as no reference measurements are provided. I can guess it was designed for wheels from 20" to 26".


When shifting to the 1st gear the chain shifts up to 3rd derailleur(rear)!

A stretched cable is one possibility. Has the cable been replaced recently? They stretch most when they're new.

A second possibility is that you removed the rear wheel and when you put it back on, didn't get it seated the same as it was before you took it off. That could change the position of the derailleur enough to make it impossible to shift onto the largest or smallest gear in the cluster.

A third possibility is that you need to adjust the high-low limit screws on the derailleur. Here's what Park Tool has to say about that... http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-derailleur-adjustment


Are there any differences between Shimano 10-speed connecting pins?

Yes, despite other differences between chain models (directional vs not, IG vs HG, etc), there is only one model of Shimano replacement pin for each speed generation of Shimano chain.


installing 11-40T Sunrace cassette with Sram Rival 22

SRAM Rival 22 mid-cage derailleurs work with 11-28 to 11-32 cassettes. Rival 22 cranks come in 52/36,  50/34 and 46/36 so I'm guessing the total capacity is
(32-11) + (50-34) = 37.

If you will be running as pseudo 1x setup by not using the big ring, you will have plenty of capacity in the rear for a 11-40 cassette. Derailleur hanger extensions do apparently work but you may find you have some shifting issues.

Consider disabling the front derailleur, changing to the big ring by mistake could wreck the rear derailleur.


How do I achieve a lower gear on a Norco Bigfoot with a 9 speed cassette?

Looking at the spec, your bike has a double front chainring.  Are you shifting into the smallest front ring when climbing?  If not, then do so.

You can possibly buy a smaller front chainring too, that will leave the higher gears alone for faster/road usage, like downhills.

The single cheapest solution is to pace yourself by slowing down, harden up your muscles and climb at a rate that you can sustain.   This is the most economic option.

Is the grade steep enough that you physically can't ride it?  Consider taking an alternate route, or changing a straight climb into a series of switchbacks.

A 9 speed cassette is still available to buy - simply look for one with the biggest big cog and see how it goes.  You will need a new chain too.  Converting your existing cassette won't work if its a one-piece unit, or if the smallest cog is the lockring.

Example http://www.wiggle.com/shimano-alivio-9-speed-cassette/ is a 11-34 tooth for quite cheap.


I'm perplexed, why is my cloth rim tape not sticking?

I've had rim tape before that didn't stick to the rim, but did stick to itself - which is all that matters really.  As long as the rim tape won't separate from it's ends, it's doing it's job, plus the valve will stop it sliding around.


A bicycle in and of itself is a half of the equation.  If you want to eek out as much speed as you can you also need to consider how you interact with the machine.  This answer focuses on the human/bike interaction rather tweaking bike specs.

Bike fit is a continual compromise between power, comfort, and aerodynamics (Bike Fit by Phil Burke). Simply plugging specs into a worksheet will not give you insight into these types of compromises.  New high-end bikes can be problematic as they are often very aggressive.  As you get older if you compromise the comfort dimension too much your power can drop of substantially.  You may be more aerodynamic, but you can end up slower due to a drop in sustainable power!

Flat Land Speed

In terms of absolute speed on flat cutting down your frontal area (i.e., aerodynamic drag) will go a long way to increasing your speed. There are lots of little tweaks you can do to your current setup if it is currently fitting you well.

Tighter fitting clothing (any flapping clothing = aerodynamic resistance).
TT bars are another big aerodynamic gain (don't use on a group ride though).
Supple fast rolling tires pumped to the appropriate pressure.  (This isn't always the max pressure and can change from tire-to-tire.  You really need to experiment here)
Tweaking your current position to further optimize the aero/power/comfort relationship.
Drive train gearing

Tighter  gearing ratios (aka a smaller range in the rear cassette). This can let you fine tune your cadence more.
Big/big combinations are more efficient that Big/small gearing combinations for a given chain line.

Maintaining your drive train!

Climbing

Here a lighter bike will help, but also more appropriate gearing is very important (aka low enough to spin up all the climbs).  As Andy256 suggested you an play with some calculators.  But again I will harp on bike fit. Do you have the hand positions available to put you in a open upright climbing position so you can breath properly? Are your shoulders, neck and back relaxed on climbs.  Do you have enough hand positions (i.e.,drops) so that you can comfortably get in the drops on decent and faster sections.

Going up to get down

One day I finally admitted to myself that I could not ride the slammed positions of my youth and revised my cockpit putting myself in a more upright position.  The result of this is that I am much more comfortable on the hoods and can crank out the climbs at a harder pace.  I can also use my drops a lot more now as the higher hood position this give my back a change of position it now needs. My drop position is still quite aerodynamic position and I can spend a lot more time in the drop position than I have been able to in the past.  Overall I don't think my aerodynamics has been too adversely affected as I am using the drops a lot more than even when I was younger (then I used to just use them in crits, sprints and pursuits).  I wish I had taken more measurements when I was younger to confirm or refute this thought.

I suggest taking time to investigate how bike your current fit compliments your bio-mechanics before delving into the quest for new gear.  You might be surprised how many gains you can find!


Fork oil spilled out. Rebound Damper Assembly is missing

According to the 2004 Six service manual, the rebound damper screws into lower casting, just like on (I think) any other Manitou fork:

  From the right leg dropout, use a 6mm hex wrench to turn the
  compression rod counterclockwise until it screws into the casting. You
  may have to apply pressure from the top of the comp rod using a long
  6mm hex to start screwing it in.

For some mysterious reason, your lower rebound compression rod has unscrewed and let the oil in the leg out. Did your fork have a rebound adjustment knob down there when you put the bike in? Was it even there prior to that? If later, there's no "lost screw" to look for. And, as I said earlier, the rebound assembly won't fit through the hole.

At the very least, you'll need to perform a complete fork service, maybe ask your local bike shop if you aren't feeling up to task (oil can be super messy). If you did lose the knob, I'd try looking for a second-hand option or email Manitou and inquire about replacement part, their customer service is great.


Front tire & downtube clearance - extremely dangerous?

Yes, extremely dangerous, as evidenced by your falling over the handlebars
It's evident from the photograph you linked, that the fork is pushed backwards, bringing the wheel much too close to the frame. The most likely reason for this would be crash damage, given that the fork is facing the right way.
There are two hazards then, one is locking the front wheel instantly under braking, while the other is hidden (or even visible) damage to the fork, risking structural failure. This is likely repairable with a new fork and inspection of the frame, but happily you've passed on purchasing this time. Caveat emptor I suppose


Can I use Kerosene for lubing the cogs and the chain

No, Kerosene won't leave behind enough of a layer to protect the chain.

It might be useful as a solvent to clean the chain before applying a proper lubricant.


full suspension whole/frame only mountain bike box dimensions

Depends how broken down / disassembled it is.  Normally a new bike is shipped in a box with the front wheel removed or sometimes both wheels removed.

The front wheel is beside the bike.  The rear wheel is left in here, probably to stop the chainrings from carrying the weight.

Its not unusual to have the forks both protected and extended by packaging, again to keep the pressure off the more delicate parts, and to protect paintwork and disc caliper.

Saddle and post are often removed for height reasons even though the width there would be okay.

Bars and stem are normally completely disconnected, which can cause issues with pre-charged hydraulic brake lines.

Pedals always come off too.   All these small parts are stored around the bike, either between the chainring and the forks, or sometimes in packing and then cable-tied to the frame, which also wears packing.

So reading into your question, you feel like you're being overcharged on shipping for a bike?

Remember the shipment may be coming from another country.  Not uncommon in these days of globalisation.
Shipment cost may include

insurance
import duties
customs fees
cleaning/fumigation fees (yes sounds silly for a new item)

This may be how the super-cheap bike seller recoups some of their costs, by moving some of their markup onto the freight cost.

  You should re-evaluate the cost of buying from your Local Bike Shop, given they have paid for all the transport costs already.


Converting a KHS FLITE 223 into a freewheel fixie?

Based on the photo from your link, this bike will be difficult to convert because of the dropout having no adjustment at all.

Effectively this means you will need some other way of tensioning the chain.

Eccentric bottom bracket (expensive)
Chain tensioner (looks like a derailleur) This also means you cannot use fixed gear, because the chain will go slack on the top run if you forget and try to coast.  Also means skid-braking is impossible.
Half-link chain (expensive, heavier, somewhat uglier)

Also in your shopping list will be a single-speed conversion kit, which is a single cog and a bunch of spacers to replace your rear cassette.

Its probably advisable to fit a new chain at the time of conversion, to help keep track of mileage on components.

You might choose to replace your chainrings too, but that's more for aesthetics.  Its reasonable to pick a chainring, run the bike on only that ring by locking off the front derailleur.  You might choose to remove the inner grannie chainring for weight/appearances.  Removing the middle or large chainring will probably require a different set of chainring bolts, or some washers added to make up the missing thickness.

Brakes - For other future readers, just leave them on.   I am of the opinion that two brakes are mandatory on any road bike.  And that skid braking is not an effective emergency brake.  So don't strip off your rim brakes in the pursuit of appearance.   This doesn't apply to OP because the cassette conversion kit does not remove the freehub and the bike will just coast, if you try to skid stop on a single speed.

UPSHOT  compare the sum of cost of parts, with the loss of versatility of your quite-nice road bike.  Compare that with the cost of a second bike, and make a decision yourself as to which is more suitable.

I'd recommend N+1 if you can afford it, and would only consider conversion for a bike that isn't being used.


How to disassemble pinned sprockets from a freewheel

How do you take apart the sprockets?

This is not a freeweel but rather a cassette.
By removing the pins, by drilling or angle-grinding them away. This won't cause any damage. You will have your cassette, but with loose sprockets and spacers.
However, do note the sprockets are matched to the neighboring ones in Shimano hyperglide (HG) cassettes. If you customize your cassette, then the matching doesn't work anymore and your shifting suffers. It is not a fatal deficiency, because bicycles were ridden for decades without neighbor-matched side-cut sprockets.


Alfine 8 crunching/grinding in highest gear

I was all set to return the Alfine hub to the manufacturer and when I went to take it off I realised the wheel nuts were loose. Tightening the nuts solved the problem. It seems the hub not being fixed in place was causing it to be moved in the wrong direction and shifting to the lowest gear was pulling the mechanism too far inside the hub.


What could have caused a rear derailleur to end up in the back wheel suddenly?

Every time I've seen a correctly adjusted rear derailleur go into the spokes while riding it was because something made the chain jam in the rear derailleur and the force of pedaling tore it off and put it into the spokes.

a few possibilities:

broken chain - if the chain breaks in such a way that it won't go through the pulley cage.
Foreign object in the chain - something gets caught in the chain in such a way that it won't go through the pulley cage.
Incorrect chain installation. If a chain was installed such that the pin wasn't seated correctly the chain can pull apart under stress and get stuck in the pulley cage.
On an abused chain (not like your well oiled chain) links can get tight or rusty and fail to make the sharp bends between the pulleys and get stuck.

Do a careful inspection of your chain when putting your bike back together.


What is the proper way to store tires to prevent cracking?

A lot of this is guesswork on my part.

Entire bike: I would deflate the tires, keep them on rims if possible, and hang the bike up. Putting weight on the tires when they're deflated is probably bad for the tires -- and for the rims.

Rims with tires: I would follow zigdon's answer and hang up the rims and deflated tires.

Bare tires without rims: I'd store the tires on their sides, not stacked too high. Perhaps putting them in something like a pizza box, or between pieces of cardboard, would help avoid the tires crushing each other.

In general: I would also flex the tires every so often, to stop them from getting brittle. Also, ozone is bad for tires, so I'd not store them near anything that generates ozone (furnaces or electric motors), and I'd store the tires away from extreme heat or cold.


Can I change the cage on a Campagnolo Chorus derailleur?

Daytona and Chorus use different cage fixings, so swapping a Daytona cage in in place of a Chorus 10s one is not possible.

Daytona used a circlip, Chorus uses a tubular bolt to secure the cage to the lower pivot assembly of the rear derailleur (RD).

Unless the RD has been crashed, or the cage has been "snagged" by the spokes of the rear wheel, it's unlikely that the cage is deformed.

More likely is that the rubber o-rings that set the amount of float on the top pivot have softened with prolonged contact with mineral oil and the RD is no longer hanging dead square - this assumes that you have done a full & correct RD set-up.

If you want to send us the RD for checking, we can do this ...

HTH

Graeme

Campagnolo main UK Service Centre

www.velotech-cycling.ltd.uk


Yes you can.
You could need a new cassette screw too, the current one you have will be too big for the 11T cog.
Realistically, the 1T different will not make as much a difference as improving your techique, muscle/power, tyre and air pressure choice and even nutrition.
Make sure the new 11T cog is for Shimano 10s cassette, it might not fit otherwise. Worst case scenario, you can get a complete new cassette, Like a 11T-25T or 11T-28T etc. Plenty of brands available with them.
I don't think you can get a 10T cog on it.


What do I need to make this new fork aesthetically pleasing?

You are facing the as-old-as-fashion question "How can I look slimmer?", albeit on a very small scale.

Decades of empirical research and design tell us that wearing clear (possibly white) horizontal stripes color against a darker color will make the person looks like it is slimmer.

In your case, you can experiment with some matte white tape, make a ring around the fork, covering the brake mount and then paint in matte white the crown seat (the shiny, "excessive" part).

OT about the empirical knowledge on horizontal stripes: there is some peer reviewed research backing it

  Thompson, P. Mikellidou, K. (2009). The 3-D Helmholtz Square illusion:
  more reasons to wear horizontal stripes. Journal of Vision,
  9(8):50, 50a, http://journalofvision.org/9/8/50/, doi:10.1167/9.8.50


Well, this probably sounds gross and I'm kind of reluctant to say it, but I'm able to blow the snot out of my nose without hitting myself or my bike.  I try to only do it when there's no one around, but occasionally that isn't possible.  Basically, I turn my head so my nostrils are towards the ground and exhale forcibly through my nose.  I'm not sure it will work for everyone--perhaps I have remarkably straight nasal passages?


Bike temporarily feels like it switches into a lower gear when rapidly braking?

This seems very much to be a case of freewheel/freehub pawls (the mechanism which allows the wheel to rotate without turning the cassette and pedals) sticking and not springing back into drive mode immediatly, after coasting.
You say when braking, but it might be when coasting or backpedaling before a corner, which happen alongside braking.
It usually happens when the lubricant in there gets old, thick and sticky. Or if it's been contaminated somehow.
"I suddenly need to pedal faster temporarily otherwise I will lose my speed" - this may be a sign of some partial pawl engagement, or it just seems like engagement because of excessive friction in there.
I'd analyse this carefully with the bike in a bike stand or upside down, or have it checked at a local bike shop and get the faulty part serviced or replaced. You can do it at home, there are instructional videos on Youtube on how to service freehubs and freewheels, but you'd need special tools, and sometimes they are not worth servicing.
I don't think the bike actually shifts gears. You say the bike "feels like" and "acts as" if it is in a lower gear, and I'm pretty sure you'd have noticed the sound and feel in the pedals if actual shifts were taking place.


Can I fit a 32-622 tire on a 32-630 rim?

No.

You would need to stretch the tire circumference by 25 mm for it to fit. If the tire has steel beads (cables at the edges) stretching them is theoretically if not practically possible but the rest of the tire structure is fabric that does not stretch.


Can I fit larger rotors on a Surly Karate Monkey fork?

You will need an adaptor, but those are common. The only trick is which exact one you need, basically which way you need to move the caliper. The really simple ones just lift it straight away from the mounts like this Hope one:

You might want to move it up instead:

I expect that the 180mm Shimano adaptor is what you want but you should check carefully to make sure the mount spacing is correct.

The process is not tricky, but this blog post explains it in more detail.


Can I use a SRAM PC850 chain on a 6-speed bike?

You may want to contact them to see if they have changed their design. I am currently using a PG 850 on a six speed. I seem to remember when I bought it, that it was labeled as a 6,7,8 speed and at the time the 9 speed was unique. Perhaps they have made changes to  make it a more popular 7,8,9.


Can I use Rockshox RS1 with Mavic 15X110?

The RS-1 is supposed to be used with a predictive steering hub, which has special teeth to engage with the fork - a standard boost hub will not have these.

You can see more details in this answer from zenbike:
https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/a/39048/14027


For a carbon-fiber disc fork the difference is almost certainly purely aesthetic. Both curved and straight forks will be designed around equivalent rake values, so the direct handling and performance will be identical.  The only other difference between curved and straight blades - mostly discussed in terms of standard steel forks - is a minimal amount of shock absorption, and much of the distinction there will be excised by the additional reinforcement required to handle the stresses of a disc brake.