Certainly, old tires get stiffer as the rubber dries out, and this makes them harder to remove and install.

But what you've probably experienced is the difference between brands and styles.  Some tires are a hair oversize and slip onto the rim quite easily, while others are a hair undersize and are much more difficult to deal with.  It's hard to predict which you will encounter unless you are familiar with the brands involved.

(The leak you experienced after replacing the tube was probably due to damaging the tube while installing it.  Unless you really have to, DO NOT use screwdrivers to lever the tire off/on, but use plastic "tire irons", or, better, a "Quick Stick" tire lever.  Using screwdrivers frequently causes tube damage.)


MTB 9 speed sram shifters/rear deralier, shimano 9 speed cassette (HG?) only shifts to 8 cogs

If you've already checked the lower limit screw of the derailleur, and also checked for a bent derailleur hanger, another thing to consider is cable friction. To get to the smallest cog, the derailleur spring has to move the derailleur all the way to the outside. While it's doing that, the spring is pulling the shifter cable out of its housing.  If there is a lot of dirt/oil/gunk buildup inside the cable housing, that would make it difficult.

Given that the bike is fairly old, it's worth removing the shifter cable and lubricating the inside of the cable housing. Then you could either reuse the old cable if it's in good shape, or better yet, get a new shifter cable (should cost just a few dollars).


Angled in drop bars like Salsa Woodchippers with slightly less angle in?

The Salsa Cowchipper! http://salsacycles.com/components/category/road_handlebars/cowchipper

Handy comparison image from the salsacycles.com website, in case it ever vanishes from the web.

More information here: http://salsacycles.com/culture/introducing_cowchipper_handlebar

On a sidenote: Maybe your current bar is too narrow? It should be about as wide as your shoulders.


Frequent punctures, is my weight the problem?

Increased load (i.e rider weight) on a pneumatic tire does not increase the pressure in the tire. The contact patch on the ground just increases in size until the contact patch area x pressure = load (or the rim contacts the ground).
What might be happening is you are getting pinch flats when hitting bumps or holes. This is when the tire and tube are deformed so much by the impact that the tube gets pinched between the tire and the rim often resulting in two symmetrical holes in the tube.
You can try running higher pressure which will stop the tire from deforming as much. 70-80 psi is on the low side for a road bike 28-23mm wide tires.
If you have clearance in your fork or frame run a wider tire. Also if your wheels will support it consider running tubeless tires, which are of course not susceptible to pinch flats.
Trying to avoid bumps and holes in the road, and standing up slightly to absorb impact through bent arms and knees can also help avoid pinch flats.


How to remove the visor of a POC Trabec helmet?

You sure that's removable?  On the POC website, it lists that as "Adjustable visor", not "removable visor"...


Difference between road pedals and MTB pedals

There are differences of opinion regarding what you are asking here. Some people are insistent that a road bike has to have proper road pedals, others think that for non-competitive riding over short distances the mountain bike style pedal is just fine, so long as you don't go all day in them and expect to win the Tour de France in them.

Let's look at the difference in shoes first. Road shoes have a huge cleat on the bottom of them that makes them not suitable for walking in off the bike. Meanwhile, mountain bike cleats are embedded in the sole and you can walk all day in shoes with them, just so long as you avoid polished wood floors that don't need to be scratched.

Cycling shoes have an upper and a sole. If you look at the market leading Sidi shoes the same uppers are available on both the mountain and the road versions. The soles are also remarkably similar, or at least the upper part of the sole. They have different rubber attached to the sole and different holes in them for the respective cleats.

Because of the different soles, with more rubber on the mountain variant, the best option for town riding is to get the mountain shoe. This is because you can ride them quite easily without being fully clipped in. With road soles this is not so easy to do, particularly in the wet, as you have to clip in properly before putting in any power strokes to get across that junction. They are also one-sided so you need to be adept to get into them. By contrast, you don't have to clip in with mountain bike pedals at all (if using Time Atac) and the cleat is always there for you as they have the cleat on both sides.

For where you are now, consider getting the mountain shoes, they have the same uppers and stiffness to the sole, if you pay for it (e.g. Sidi). You can also get more pliant shoes such as the Shimano affordable models that are stiff but not super-stiff. These can also be more presentable off-bike.

Remember that whatever pedal system you use the pedal, big or small still attaches to the same size hole in the chainset. Shoe stiffness with glass fibre or carbon fibre is huge so the platform size is not the be-all-and-end-all.

There is another choice to be made with the actual pedals. Shimano are the market leader with their SPD system, this has been earned not because it is a better pedal system. The other pedal system to look at is the Time 'Atac' range. This uses a smarter spring system that allows your feet to 'float' a lot more naturally. The 'Atac' pedal system is patent protected, the designer was the guy that designed the original road 'Look' pedal cleat system and I think it has a lot more going for it than the clunkier Shimano efforts.

Have a good look online for opinions regarding pedal choice/reliability and remember that most people defend their pedal system choice less than objectively. Generally shops will only stock the Shimano pedals or the 'Crank Bros' pedals and people that buy these will swear they have the best system.


Does every drink bottle fit into every holder?

The inexpensive bottle cages can be bent to make them a little smaller for a tighter fit. If the type you have is a closed  loop type you can add rubber bands to the bottle for a more secure fit if it is loose. There seems to be a lot more size variation with generic "sport bottles" than the bottles marketed to cyclists.


Which size spoke tool. Currently size 14

I found these sizes from various shop pages which are not worthy for linking here.

So in answer to my own question:

8G = ?
10G = 5mm
11G = 4.4mm
12G = 3.96mm
13G = 3.7mm
14G = 3.45mm
15G = 3.3mm


What should I do about a tensioned/trued wheel that lost significant spoke tension after first use?

Yes, it’s normal for spoke tension to decrease when the tire is inflated.
First of all I’d use much more tension and try to get it more even. Currently you have about 30% difference between slackest and tautest spoke, which is a lot (I’d aim for ~10%, but I’m a perfectionist in that regard).
540N on the slackest rear spoke before you’ve even inflated the tire is very little. I’d get the drive side spokes to slightly over the allowed 1200N and hope that the non-drive side ends up around 700N.
I’d also aim for 900N on the front wheel.
All tensions assuming zero tire pressure.
Considering the low spoke count and the high tire pressure you are using you could go for even higher (initial) spoke tension.
I’ve had good experience with using grease on the spoke nipples (on contact surfaces and thread). Makes truing much easier, avoids wear from truing and also avoids deforming the spokes or nipples from all the tension force.


Front brake is nearly impossible to squeeze, and and the brakes also wont release

I assume your bike has rim brakes, not disc brakes. It is most likely that the brake cables and brake housings have rusted. This creates a lot of friction inside them, making it hard to affect the brake arms by pressing the levers, or reverse.

If this is the case, you should replace the cables and housings with new ones. It is cheap to do. Their regular replacement is in fact a part of bicycle (bi-)yearly maintenance check-lists.

Given that the housings are in such a bad condition, I would also pay attention (and money, to a bike mechanic) to other consumables on the bicycle to make sure nothing is excessively worn or plain broken and thus creates safety risks. Check shifter cables/housings (most likely as rusted as the brakes), brake pads, chain, tires.


I've heard once: if a person offers you a gift and you don't accept it - it remains the property of the other person. And it's the same with criticism. And thus, if you engage yourself into a discussion you most likely end up in a fight over the colour of your bar tape.

Assuming that you are not the only one hating the rules try not to get into the discussions. You can use some responses to the comments on your gear (socks, bike, etc.), I've sorted them out from the least offensive:

if it goes about the socks and such, go "laundry day, sorry, I'll do my best to match them next time"
remarks on how old/outdated your equipment is can be replied with "gets me going but I'd be glad to try yours if you say it's that great. I know what to upgrade."
general remarks can be replied with "don't worry, next time I'll go slower so I stay behind you and don't fall into your field of sight"

Whatever you say, don't engage into further discussion. Simply don't and stand your ground - you're there for the ride and not for the looks.

This will most likely introduce a split in your group to those who blindly follow Velominati rules and those who, like you, want to enjoy the ride. Only the time will tell if the division remains or dissolves.
Of course some basic rules apply concerning safety and correct gear (road bike).

And worst case scenario is that you become the only outsider. In such case this group wasn't meant for you.


Your wheel is out of true, this happens under normal conditions as spokes stretch.

You're going to need a truing stand, some lubricant, and a a spoke wrench. (I've heard you can use zip-ties attached to each side of your wheel fork, facing inward, then cut to size, but I don't think this makes for very accurate measurements.) Most bike shops I've worked with will let you borrow their stand for a few minutes. If not, find a co-op or make new friends.

Put your wheel in the truing stand and start by lubricating each spoke nipple. Once lubricated, use the guides on the stand to determine where the wheel has been skewed to one side. Select a spoke at that site, opposite the side of the skew, and tighten the spoke to pull the wheel away from the truing stand guides. Also lightly tighten spokes that are next to this initial position (but still on the same side) to even the strain on your spokes.

A word on which way to tighten the spoke - remember that you are probably going to view the spoke nipple from across the wheel axle - therefore the directions to turn for tightening is reversed from normal. Also, it is preferable to tighten spokes rather than to loosen them, as the main cause of a wheel being out of true is/are a stretched spoke(s). Even so, be aware that spokes can occasionally be over-tightened, it may be better to loosen a spoke to compensate for a wheel pulling to that side. As  you tighten spokes, you will hear lots of popping/straining sounds of the metal. This is normal, and may continue for a few miles of riding after adjustment.

As you adjust areas of the wheel that are out of true, slowly tighten the guides on the truing stand to find the next area that needs adjustment. Also be aware of the differences between getting the wheel perfectly in true, as opposed to good enough in true. You can spend an hour truing a wheel, but it probably won't be much better than it was 10-15 minutes in.

Re-install you wheel on your bike and adjust your brakes as normal.


Whats the difference between a cyclocross and cyclocross-commuter

A cyclocross bike is designed for cyclocross racing. This typically involves riding as quickly as possible around a muddy field.
So for a cyclocross bike:

Lightweight frame and forks, usually aluminium or carbon
More 'aggressive' riding position, with lower down bars
Nearly horizontal top tube, to allow carrying it over your shoulder
Knobbly tyres, and plenty of mud clearance

Whereas a commuter bike is designed more for comfort, and carrying luggage as required. So it may have:

Heavier frame and forks, may be made of steel.
Mounts for fitting a pannier rack, and full mudguards.
More 'relaxed' riding position, often more upright.
Mostly slick tyres, often heavier, with extra puncture resistance.
Components may be heavier, but more durable, so they last longer without much maintenance.


Road Bike or Hybrid Bike For Paving Stone

Those paving stones look fine - you could take just about any bike along them.  it's worth considering that there are bike races on far worse pavements - the Paris Roubaix famously.

So you don't need to worry about that.  I would say that the bike you linked to in Decathlon is also a hybrid - it's not a 'road bike' in the traditional sense, which would imply drop handlebars, more like this one:  http://www.decathlon.co.uk/triban-3-road-bike-white-id_8239800.html

(I have no idea what that bike's like - it's just the first one which came up)

As to which one you would buy.. well try them out, see which styles you prefer.


How much easier is it to go fast on a road bike and why?

Aerodynamics are very important in cycling, and the faster you go, the bigger a factor aerodynamic drag becomes, because it increases with the square cube of your speed, but other sources of drag (mechanical resistance, rolling resistance) increase linearly. So putting your body in a more aerodynamic position is important, and not something you can really replicate on a mountain bike. At the speed you're going, aerodynamics are not trivial, but not overwhelmingly important.
Rolling resistance is the second-biggest source of resistance. You could put high-quality slick tires on your bike and get faster right now.
If you are commuting in a city, your travel time has more to do with the number of stoplights you hit than your top speed. If you race from one stoplight to the next and then spend more time at the stop, you won't reach your destination much faster. Your "light-to-light" time would need to improve enough that you would beat the stoplight.
"does it even make sense to think about a more efficient bike until I regularly spin out on my current one?" That's not a good way to look at it. Bikes will generally have top gears that you'll never use except on a downhill or with a tailwind. If you regularly spin out in your top gear on level ground in still air, your top gear is too low for your riding conditions.
You would probably be faster on a road bike, or you'd ride the same speed for less effort. How much faster is hard to say. 25 km/h is a pretty good speed for urban riding.


Bicycle Components: What's The Real Difference?

There's a couple of things here.

First there are the physical properties of the groupsets. As you move up the groupsets, what you're buying into is essentially smoothness and lightness.

But for a recreational rider, you'd basically need the groupset to hit a certain minimum level of quality, and anything beyond that would be lost by the rider. And my guess is that for many of us the minimum level of quality is probably even lower than 105 - Tiagra and these days maybe even Sora.

In terms of reliability, you could also argue that there is an advantage to a lower-level groupset, because you're riding tried-and-tested technology rather than the "leading edge" technology used by the higher level groupsets (Dura Ace, Ultegra).

So why do shops sell the top-end groupsets? I think there is a big psychological aspect to this, and this is my second point.

On the one hand they are serving the interests of the top-end riders. But on the other hand, they are also catering for a huge bunch of riders (and I include myself in this category) who ride these groupsets simply because they can afford to do so.

As @mattnz says in his comment, it is all about vanity. It's exactly the same reason a guy will drive a Ferrari when he could get get from A to B just as quickly (assuming speed limits are observed) in a Ford.

Last, on a practical note, its worth saying that groupsets cost a lot less when bought as part of a bike, than they do when bought standalone. So if you're the type of rider who will say "if only I had a better bike I could smash my pb", you're better off by going for the superior groupset straight away - it will be cheaper in the long run than getting the lesser groupset and upgrading parts piecemeal.

However, upgrading piecemeal is possible (albeit as I say at a premium). Just note that the current range of Ultegra (6800) is 11-speed, whereas the current 105 (5700) is 10-speed. So to upgrade a 105 part to an Ultegra part, you'd need to look at older (10-speed) Ultegra ranges (6600 or 6700) or even 10-speed Dura Ace (7800). But certainly 6700 is still widely available.


The paint job matches that of a Focus Raven 2008, not sure about the spec level as this info is hard to find without detailed catalogs and the Focus archive doesn't work for me. Here's a product page on Yandex aggregation service, the bike has the same paint scheme, albeit with different colors. Here's a review that mentions the 2008 model and a similar paint scheme. The 2009 model looks to have a different paint job.


How to remove existing fluid before bleeding disk brake

You don't need to remove existing fluid prior to bleeding. Unless you use two incompatible fluid types (for example replacing DOT 5.1 with 5), mixing an existing fluid with new one is completely normal and part of standard procedure. The only situation where you may want to remove the old fluid completely is if you know it has ben heavily polluted with water. But even then normal bleeding procedure is enough to have satisfactory results.

During a standard bleeding procedure you push the old fluid with a new one and they don't have even enough space to mix together. If you do want to remove the fluid before, just push the old one with air instead of new fluid. It may take a few attempts to get rid of everything, but the result should be satisfactory.

And if you're going to fill the system with an incompatible fluid, such procedure is not enough anyway. In this case you would have to take the brake apart, clean everything with alcohol, let it dry out and put back together (paying particular attention to rubber parts). Also note, sometimes a given brake won't accept other kinds of fluids because of its design. In some cases o-rings can be damaged if wrong fluid is used, even if they are clean and dry.


Where can I find vintage hardware to mount a Raleigh 3 bolt chainring?

Based on the "three bolts"  you have something similar to this image, which appears to use three simple bolts, although I can't find what the threading is.

  TL;DR, there's an updated answer below all this waffle.

Sheldon's relevant page is at https://www.sheldonbrown.com/raleigh26.html and specifically fingers the Nottingham factory for making up their own standards, and did this right through to the 1990s.

If you have access to one of the bolts, then its possible to identify it using some basic machining tools.

A Thread pitch gauge will tell you how many turns per inch (TPI) (aka the "pitch")
A micrometer or Vernier caliper will tell you the outer diameter.  It will probably be a straight thread - if the diameter changes along the length, then it could be a tapered thread
Eyeball the thread form - is it an even triangle (most likely) or something weird.

More info at https://www.classicfasteners.com.au/content/Identifying_threads.pdf and

A couple of useful thread identication charts are

http://almetal.nl/en/techinfo/gti/ticas.htm
https://www.portlandbolt.com/technical/thread-pitch-chart/
https://www.boltdepot.com/fastener-information/printable-tools/default.aspx

I'd just about guarantee its not a metric thread, but it could be Imperial,  UNF, UNEF, or something older and weirder like Whitworth.  Heck I even have some "BA2" bolts in my British Landrover from 1973, that standard dates from the days of steam boilers!

Still possible that Raleigh were completely alone and used their own standard bolts too - which may need to be made specially.  You could potentially retap the holes to a normal metric standard bolt too.

Finally if you don't have the bolt, all this is possible to measure using the threaded hole in the crank too.  Just a lot more fiddly.

If you do buy commercial bolts, try for stainless steel or high tensile (or both if you can) and use antisieze.  Try and avoid using the cheapest low-carbon chinese cheese bolts from the local discount store.

UPDATE

  I believe the 3 chainring bolts are 9/32" Outer Diameter and the thread is a 26 tpi whitworth thread.

From https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vintage/703071-chainring-bolts-cottered-3-arm-crankset.html

There is also some discussion that a metric M7x1.0 thread will "fit"

The observant will object and point out that

Metric flanks have an angle of 60 degrees whereas Whitworth is 55 degrees,
Metric pitch of 1.0 translates to 25.4 tpi while Raleigh's propriety threading is 26 tpi
and 9/32"= 0.28125 " = 7.14375 mm which is pretty close to a 7mm bolt.

Add some thread locker to help stop it walking out, or you might have room for a jam-nut on the other side, maybe.


Some rub is OK. No rub is optimal. Normal riding can bend the rotors, so the "no rub" situation never lasts forever. This can be fixed though.

You can adjust the caliper to reduce rub (or completelly eliminate it). The bolt holes are not very tight so you can play around with offseting the caliper accordingly. Just unscrew the 2 allen bolts a bit and start playing around with offsets. Looking through the brake pads and disk to a bright coloured floor (e.g white) makes this process very easy.

If the space of the pads is not enough to allow zero rub then you can try to straighten the disk. Use a clean rug/paper towler to grab it and give it slight push or pull on the spot it's bent. Never touch the rotor with your hand because the hand has a bit of oil which can reduce the performance of your brake.

The fact that your brake is new doesn't mean that it should be 100% rub free. There is a small possibility that the hub 6 bolt platform is slightly off. So a new disk will always look bent when rotating between the pads.


Should replacing the rear derailleur on my 80s road bike with a Campy Nuovo improve shifting?

Take the shifter cable out and lubricate it, or replace it if it looks like it needs to be replaced. If the pivots are as well maintained as you say they are, it could be the cassette that needs to be replaced. Most of the time you change an old chain, you need to change the cassette for things to continue to be smooth.

From what you describe, the SX410 is super old, it might be worth it to have a mechanic take a look at it to make sure its properly greased. Once you've properly ruled out those problems, then try the Campy.


Is it safe to ride on cracked carbon rims (Zipp 404 Firecrest 2010 edition)?

Sorry to hear about your damage.

I don't think the crack is due to impact.

Maybe, maybe not, but regardless of a reason the wheel has become damaged. On the two sided likeness of damage — things are not symmetrical in practice, especially pot holes, and a crack does not have to be symmetrical.

Is this repairable and worth repairing?

It depends on whether a specific shop agrees to repair it. A wheel after such a repair essentially becomes warrantied by the repairing shop and not the wheel manufacturer. In a case the repair won't hold and you'll crash because of that, the liability will be on the shop. For this reason, many carbon repairing shops won't risk fixing such a critical part of a wheel as the braking surface. Other shops are more willing to address the problem.

I'd like a more thorough answer on what caused this crack and whether or not it is still rideable from a scientific perspective.

The wheel is certainly rideable now because you have managed to get back home on it. For how long it remains rideable before it fails, that is something nobody can tell for sure. There is likely not enough public statistics of people riding cracked carbon wheels to make any scientific predictions.


Yes you're missing a barrel adjuster.  There are two common threads, and its hard to tell which yours are in the photo.
If you have a shifter on the other side, it should have the same part in the right place.
Probably looks something like this:

and most bike shops should be able to order the part.


Which direction should axle lock nuts face?

The rough side should face the frame dropout.
The roughness is designed to increase friction with the frame dropouts. This type of knurling works because the frame dropouts are un-hardened, either low-allow steel or aluminum. On the other hand the knurled washer is probably hardened (or at least harder) steel. Thus the knurling can 'bite' into the softer frame steel and increase friction.
The rough side facing against the other axle parts serves no purpose. Not only is the extra friction against the hub parts un-needed, but axle hardware like bearing races is often hardened, and such knurling will not work against other hardened parts.
That said, the knurling itself is unlikely to be critical for the function of the bike. If the axles are done up correctly, there will be plenty of friction even without the knurling against the frame. So I think it was assembled wrong, it shouldn't cause a problem.


To identify the wheel from the serial number you will probably have to contact Zipp customer support.
However they do have some useful pages on their website with quite detailed descriptions to help identify their products.

Hub Timeline

Wheel Timeline


What's the longer-valve, metal-ring inner tube style called?

You can see some images of alternative valves at the Schwalbe page.
Your local bike shop is certainly familiar with Schraeder (aka "Auto") and Presta (aka Sclaverand) valves.  It's difficult to tell from your description, but it's therefore likely either a Regina or a Dunlop valve.


Is it normal to have pins in the cup of "cup and cone"?

Thank you for the clearer photos.  From them we can clearly see that the pinheads are not in the way of the bearings as they roll around the bearing surface.

To test that, grab a single bearing and put it in the race so the visible wear band is straight down.  (ie hold the hub at an angle)
Then use your finger to roll the bearing back and forth around where the pinheads are, but stay on the visible wear track.  If you feel the lumps as the bearing rolls over, then I'm wrong and they ARE interfering.  If not, they aren't interfering.

Note I'd choose to run bare ball bearings in this hub, not a pre-assembled bearing cage.

If the marks really bug you, consider using a Dremel or some super small tool to buzz off the lump.  You might be able to scratch them off with a flat screwdriver.  Would be very hard to get a file onto that surface.   Clean the bearing surface well to remove all metal dust once you're finished.


difference between rack mounts and fender mounts?

There's no difference that I'm aware of.

My bike has 2 sets of eyelets, and I have a fender screwed into one set, but I could just as easily use the other set. I suppose the same could be said of using either set for rack mounts.

Looking at it from a structural point of view though, it would probably depend on the bike and the materials it's made of. But if it's in the right place, I'd probably give it a go :)


1970s era Huffy 3 speed Sea Trails chain

Any 1/8 inch width bicycle chain will fit.


Quick Release Rack with Horizontal Dropouts

It will likely work fine and you wouldn't need additional hardware so long as your skewer has enough extra space to accommodate the extra width of those mount plates and still secure snugly.

As far as what you need to be aware of, I'd be conscious of how often you remove your rear wheel.  If you do so with any frequency, this could be a nightmare.  I have a axle mounted trailer hitch mount that I recently had to deal with whilest changing a flat.  Even without the trailer attached it added a level of complexity I didn't want to deal with while being screamed at by toddler fury and being soaked by rain.  Trying to hold a rack in place and get a skewer through in similar circumstances would have been even more unpleasant.


The Mega is not a single mass-start race. There are qualification stages on the days preceding the main event.

You might get an entry into the Mega, but if you don't qualify, that's a very expensive learning experience!


Can I replace a middle chain ring with one with different number of teeth?

Assuming that the bolt patterns match:

This will work, as long as your new 36T ring has the right kind of pins and ramps to assist shifting the chain.  However, the shape and pattern of those pins and ramps is quite mysterious, and it's not guaranteed that you'll get good shifting performance from the 22T ring to the 36T ring.

The fact that both the crankset and the 36T ring are Shimano probably helps.

Since you already have all the parts on hand, it's very easy to try it out. If for some reason the 14T difference prevents shifting, you'll find out within the first minute of your test ride.  If it works at that point, it will continue to work.

The only other thing I can think of that might cause a problem is releasing the chain from the middle ring when you shift to the big ring.  I've seen some chainrings that had 2 teeth that were shorter than the others, to help release the chain at the right point, relative to the location of the ramps and pins on the larger ring.  But that was on a SRAM 2x10 chainset, so you probably don't have this problem.
If you do have those 2 shorter teeth, then the alignment between the chainrings is important.  If you install the 36T ring and it doesn't shift right, try removing it, rotating it 90 degrees, and reinstalling it.


Regarding original question: I have personally drilled out approximately 6 wheelsetsto convert them from prestato schrader valves. I have not yet had any of these rims break even though I use them to drive down flights of stairs and such. Mind you I am a lighter rider (approx 80kg), these (aluminum) rims were used on hardtail mountainbikes. Make sure to debur(remove sharp edges from ) the drilled hole properly.

To try and decrease the amount of flats you get you could do a few things:

-make sure the rim tape is in good condition (no tears/holes, make sure it's properly aligned in the rim)

-remove rim tape and check if any spokes protrude more than approx 1-2mm past the top of the spoke nipples, if they do consider shortening these spokes with a file, dremel or the like or adjusting the spokes such that they are no longer protruding (if possible whilst keeping the wheel true/round)

-check rim bed/edges (where the tire contacts the rim) for damage (sharp/pointy spots which could potentially damage the tire), if you find any sand/file them down so they're smooth

-check your tire for pieces of metal/glass/other objects embedded in/under the surface (by rotating the tire whilst removed from the wheel and pinching it every 2cm approx to reveal any splinters, do this on both the inside and outside of the tire

-check if valve hole has any sharp edges

-whilst installing inner tube make sure it is not pinched in between rim and outer tube (inflate inner tube just a bit, check if it is not pinched anywhere and if all is good inflate the rest of the way)

For fixing flats I personally find it useful to clamp the inner tube with patch in between a bench vice (potentially with some pieces of wood in between the vice and the tube/patch for wider inner tubes), you could also use screw clamps for this purpose.

If you're a heavier rider you might want to refrain from drilling the hole larger but as mentioned I have had no issues with it so far and have been using the 'converted' wheels for considerable time now.


Bicycle slipping gears on middle sprocket gears 4-7

This sounds of cable stretch. For new bikes I like to completely retune the rear dérailleur after a couple of weeks of riding. For used bikes having this problem I also check that the hanger is straight. Checking the hanger requires a special tool, so a trip to your LBS is probably in order if tightening up the cable doesn't do it.

Some folks will tell you to just turn the barrel adjuster for a stretched cable...my $0.02 is that the barrel adjuster is to allow you to make adjustments if needed during a ride. If you "use up" all the turns the adjuster has before your ride...well.

Adjusting for tension is pretty easy. Shift all the way to the smallest/hardest gear. Look at how the cable is routed...you aren't going to take it off, but just in case it gets loose, you want to route it back the proper way. Now loosen the hex bolt holding the cable. It should be a 5mm hex, just a bit should do it. Pull the cable tight. You can use a pair of needle nose pliers to help, I prefer to use fingers. If I'm not getting it tight enough, you can push the derailleur in a gear (or two depending). Tighten bolt onto cable. If you pushed on the derailleur for extra tension, pedal a bit to make sure it drops back to smallest cog (if not, loosen cable and try again...this time pushing derailleur less or not at all). Make sure it shifts all the way through...you shouldn't have to change stops, but check them. Shift to center of cog and adjust (you can use barrel adjuster here) chain so it's centered on cog (moving chain is easiest to see). Shift up and down several times, everything should be smooth.

If the cable tension doesn't work...it may be a bent hanger...stop by your LBS. The other possibilities are worn chain and/or worn cassette. Check the chain with a gauge. Cassette your LBS will be able to tell you...I'm guessing it's not this because it shifted good when you first got it.

Happy Riding.


What is the maximum safe storage temperature for a bike?

I've heard of tyres exploding if inflated close to their limit when cold, then left in a hot confined space. But unless you're running your tyres at 100 PSI and up, I wouldn't be too worried. But perhaps someone with more knowledge will chime in; I'm just hazarding a guess about that. I don't think there's anything else on a bike you'd need to worry about though, not as far as temperature goes, anyway.

Carbon fibre doesn't like UV. Most if not all carbon fibre products use UV-protective resins in their construction to avoid delamination from prolonged exposure to sunlight. I'd be a bit suspicious of cheap n cheerful carbon parts.

To be on the safe side, let your tyres down a bit and keep a white sheet over the bike when it's in the car. Probably a good move anyway; a bike is a good reason for a car thief to break in... it doesn't matter if your car's alarmed; they're stealing the perfect getaway vehicle!


Can I install a double chainset on a bike that was originally designed for a triple chainset?

You'll need a new bottom bracket with a different axle length, a new crankset of course, front derailleur and matching shifter. Since you'll probably need to buy a complete set of brifters it will be quite an expense. And while you're at it you'll probably have to get new cable housings and cables for the brakes. Not to mention new bar tape. At least you can keep the rear derailleur  and  the cassette if the resulting new gears suit you, but you may need a new chain.

And if your triple has less than 10 gears on the cassette you'll probably have to find an older double crankset and matching shifters.

INMHO I would keep the bike as it is because the expense will be quite hefty.


Should I ask for my money back - crack in Titanium frame

As you're in the UK, the Consumer Rights Act applies. It would seem that a £5,500 bike that lasts less than two years isn't of "satisfactory quality", but I would be surprised if the shop simply gave you a refund. I think you have to give them at least one attempt at repairing the frame (I don't know how feasible that is for titanium), and take it from there. If you can, I'd talk to the Citizens Advice Bureau and/or Trading Standards if the shop gets difficult. All this will be easier if you have proof of purchase, of course.

If I were you, I would want a refund, but would settle for a high-quality repair (and if it failed again in less than several years, I'd want the cash back).


How do I determine what kind of replacement shifters I need?

You are correct that 2x8 refers to 8 speed cassette or freewheel and a crank with 2 speeds. The one that can be confusing is 18speed which can be an older 3x6 or a more modern 2x9. The other concerns is mountain or road drivetrain and Shimano, Sram or Campagnolo  compatible. You can search this site for compatibility questions that may match your specific circumstances.


FEM: How to Design weight-distribution in bike prototypes?

What do you mean by weight distribution? Most of the mass is the rider, and the rider moves.

Bicycle construction is very experimental. Analysing dynamic forces is complex, partly because most of the mass is only loosely coupled to the bike. With most mechanical structures the loads are more predictable, for a bicycle you only have to look at flatland bmx riding to see what a bicycle has to handle. A simple case to think about is the rider leaning into a corner. The forces are not vertical with respect to the bicycle, but at an angle. So you have side loads on the wheels and frame.

The usual approach for commercial bikes is to overengineer and test. Manufacturers of racing bikes sponsor riders partly to have crash test dummies to ride experimental bikes. They keep making them lighter until something breaks, then add a bit back. Or not, they might just choose lighter riders or replace the frames more often.

For homebuilders you can deliberately build light and see what happens (as I did with One Less Ute)

Simulating the loads in software will be complex and I think you'll end up trimming your Monte Carlo parameters to the point where you're not getting a very representative sample (or you're buying a lot of supercomputer time). The extremes that I have done on a rigid diamond frame bike include: dropping ~3m onto a gravel road at ~40kph horizontal speed; riding down a twisty gravel road (~10cm high to low points) at 60kph with 15kg on the front panniers and 30kg on the back; riding 450km of sealed road with 20kg front, 40kg rear, 20kg backpack. I weighed about 80kg when I did those, the bike weighed less than 20kg.

My approach is to assume that the entire weight of the bike + load can be applied to one wheel with the bike anywhere from horizontal to vertical. Then allow for some bouncing. I try to get roughly 60% of the weight on the rear wheel when the ride is seated and there's no extra luggage for normal road use. Load bikes don't obey those guidelines at all.


How much water flies forward to the drivetrain

That rear mudguard/fender is definitely better than nothing, but its not a good full-coverage guard.  As you note, water will fly off the tyre and hit the frame and underside of your legs while riding.

A good rear guard will start low at the back, perhaps even with a mudflap. Then will go over the whole outside circumference, with its lowest point below the BB/chainstays.

If your roads have any dirt on them it will be picked up an ddeposited on the rear of your seat tube, and possibly on the top of the kickstand bracket if your bike has one between the chainstays.

Most-all full guards have stays that support and brace the rear of the guard.  I can't see any in your pic, but I bet the guard's a bit floppy and perhaps even buzzes on the tyre while riding.

Related - the tread on your tyre has a lot to do with how much water is carried around the wheel.  A blocky MTB knobbly will throw road water like a rooster tail, but a road bike in the same conditions and at the same speed will throw far less water.

Separately, that front mudguard is okay but not great.  It could go down further, again with a mudflap to protect the BB and chainrings and your feet from road water.


Adjusting saddle angle on a road bike (drop bars)

You should have a fair amount of fore/aft adjustment on the seat rails without changing seatposts, unless you're already at the limit. I might try sliding the seat forward a little before giving up on that seatpost.


Where to get replacement bolt for rod brakes

I guess that's an adjustment nut of rod brake.

Not trying to recommend a product but if you search for rod brake nut, and look for something with this similar shape, you will find them being sold on-line (still).

http://www.highnelly.ie/brake-parts/rod-brake-lock-nut.html


Go to your local bike shop and ask for something used out of their parts bin. They’ll often have shifters left over when someone upgraded.

My bike shop would throw in the part for free if I paid for labor, but in either case the cost would be trivial. It’d be worth it to get the derailleur cable (both inners and others) replaced at the same time.

Reading Sheldon’s page on Sachs/SRAM IGH it appears that the cable pull for that particular seven speed internal gear hub may not be standard. It may be better to just replace like with like. Again, your local bike shop may have the spare part in their parts bin. A local maker space may be also able to fabricate the part out of nylon or abs using their 3d printer.

If you just need it to work, a friction shifter will work with just about anything. Your bike shop should be able to give you one for free or close to free.


Is there a way to calculate the correct bicycle tire pressure?

I looked into it and found this PDF: 2004, Berto: "All About Tire Inflation",
where the optimal tire pressures were found experimentally from a Tire Drop test, where

  Tire Drop is the distance that the tire sags under the weight of the rider and the bike.
  For a given tire size and load, the optimum inflation pressure for comfort and rolling
  resistance produces a Tire Drop of about 15% of W (the Section Width) or about 20% of
  H (the height from the ground to the rim).

For my case, that document shows the minimum tire pressure somewhere around 25 psi / 172 kPa for a 26"x2.125" tire.


Adjust rear derailleur - strange behavior

From the video it does indeed look like the derailleur is being prevented from moving properly. You need to determine where the cause of that is. I think that most likely it's the cable or housing that is the problem.

1) Examine the shifter cable and housing, make sure there are no kinks, tight radii bends etc. Make sure the housing is fully inserted in any bosses, including shift levers and derailleur barrel adjuster. Make sure there are no obstructions to any sections of uncovered cable.

2) Remove rear wheel, shift gears at the levers and check the derailleur is going through its full range of motion and not sticking, especially on upshifts (cable loosening).

3) Disconnect the shifter cable from the derailleur, move the derailleur through it's range manually. Check there is no stickiness and the parallelogram spring is positively returning the derailleur to the high (outer) position.

4) Hold the shift cable at the derailleur end and put a little tension on it, run the shifters through all the gears. Check the cable is moving freely as you go through all the gears.

This should make it obvious if it is the derailleur itself that is sticking, or the cable, or possibly the shifter.


Your tire tube is still subject to the basic laws of physics and logic on this Earth. If air is leaking out of it, then there is a leak somewhere and it is perforated.

There is probably something in your tire causing the damage, especially if this continues to happen. It's also possible that the leak was close to the valve, and whenever the valve was up against the rim of your wheel, it was bent just so to allow the leak.


Which electrolyte is most important for century rides?

Most likely sodium.

However, a lot of it depends on the person. One person might need more of one electrolyte than another, so it's difficult to make a judgment on the order of your "most critical" electrolytes. A sweat test would be a great way of testing which it might be.


Looking for advice - cracked rear hub along bearing races - How to buy a new rear wheel?

The bearing cup is toast from being ridden with a bent axle. The hub shell does not appear to have structural cracks.

With a new axle you could potentially get some life out of it, but you're probably on the right track with replacement, especially if this is a bike you're riding indefinitely.

With either the freewheel or cassette route, the sort of wheel you'd need are very common repair items that are easy to get from a shop or internet retailer. You need any rim brake 135mm 700c hybrid freewheel rear wheel, or any rim brake 135mm 700c hybrid cassette rear wheel plus a new 7 speed cassette and a 4.5mm cassette spacer.

Replacement hybrid wheels with 7-speed freehubs used to be commonplace and are a little technically superior when applicable due to their wider flange spacing, but aren't made by any large wheel producers I've seen in recent years, in part because those bikes are aging and in part because of the explosion in repair wheel compatibility permutations shops and wheel producers have had to deal with in the last decade. Hence running an 8/9/10 with a spacer has become the norm for replacements.

Given it's bent axle problems that got you here, there's a case to be made for switching to cassette. In almost all cases it makes sense to start out a new chain at the same time, and the potential gotcha then becomes the wear state of your chainrings.


What if I choose replacement tires narrower than my current tires?

2.8 is bigger than 2.10.

When you run a bigger tire, you have to worry about the tire rubbing on the frame or fork.

Running smaller tires are usually simpler.

Tire sizes have to be appropriate for the rim width; wide tire on narrow rim could have some control issues/sloppiness (and if you had rim brakes, that could also cause some rubbing). Narrow tire on wide rim could increase risk of damage from hazards. See this page for details: http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html


Cassette compatability regarding Shimano 9 speed

The published max large cog for both RD-6700-SS and RD-6700-GS is 30. They can sometimes work acceptably with 32, but they're not designed to and it's hit or miss. The variance is because dropout design is not universal. Putting in a longer b-tension screw or running it in reverse can help. You can also get something like a Wolftooth Roadlink.

Total capacity is 34t for SS and 40t for GS.


What type of terrain makes an MTB mandatory?

I think you would find the bike handles reasonably on single track, 4x4 tracks and dirt paths but there are a few things to bear in mind.

I'd ride single track but stick to trails graded easy.

Where an MTB would be mandatory would be anything above that. The following features would require a MTB (or at least no gear or being on a short ride ie. mud).

Gradient (up) - fine on a short ride, horrible on a long ride carrying gear.
Drops and Jumps - wrong bike type and not worth risking damage.
Rocks and Roots - you could do it but wrong bike type and not worth risking damage.
Switchbacks - more difficult when on a loaded bike.
Mud - infinitely more annoying when you can't have a shower at the end of a ride, worse if the options days away.
Gradient (down) - what impact will extra weight have on your brakes.

Upgrades wide to handle more off road riding I'd look at disc brakes and 32mm + cross tyres. Play with pressure until your happy.


What is this fox fork front axle part called and where can I find a replacement?

The one you have pictured is called a "pinch bar" or an "axle pinch bar"

I was unable to find a vendor who sells a 2006 version like yours. The one on your fork appears to be rounded. The newer ones appear to be square - like the last picture in your post. Here is a link to a vendor with a 2015 version (not a recommendation).
Here is a link to a 2005 manual for your fork. Sadly it does not list the pinch bolt anywhere but it has other information that may help.


What happens when a bike has not had maintenance for a long time?

When I was doing bike rehab for Christmas Anonymous I saw many bikes like this.  It can be good or it can be bad, depending on how much weather it's seen.

First thing is to do the obvious -- wash it (we used a power washer), clean & oil the chain, clean and oil the derailers.

If it's been in the weather enough then the cables will rusted solid and will need to be replaced.  Otherwise, squirt spray lube (not WD-40, but something that's more of a lube) into the ends of the cables and work them well.  Also lube the brake lever pivots and put a dash of lube on the brake caliper pivots (but take care to keep oil away from the brake pads).

The bearings are the biggie.  From the sound of it yours may be OK, but exposure to the weather for years contaminates the lube and washes some of it away, so it's best to repack all the bearings, starting with the wheel bearings.  (I've seen bearings where all the lube was washed out and there was nothing but bare (and rusted) metal.)  If you've never done this before, start with the front wheel, after studying instructions on the Park Tool site.  And if, when you open up the front hub, the bearings look good and the grease appears reasonably fresh (it will always be dirty) then you can defer work on the other bearings.

Another thing to look for would be dry-rot with the tires and tubes. Cracking in the tires is a bad sign. Be ready to replace the rim tape if you have to change tubes.


For maintenance and reliability, you can probably rank them in approximate order of the White freewheels being best at everything, then the premium singlespeed cassette hubs (King, Profile), then after that I'd put the nicer BMX freewheels, then the nicer generic-brand singlespeed cassette hubs (Novatec), then the junkier singlespeed cassette hubs, then the cheap BMX freewheels. It's all opinion based but that's my experience being around all that stuff.

Note that rate of engagement is a major distinguishing factor between the options (kind of the major one as far as a lot of riders are concerned), but it doesn't really follow the above order because there are some pretty nice freewheels in terms of construction with pretty bad ROE, and likewise there are any number of junky, gimmicky freewheels and cassette hubs with high ROE and bad durability.

Generally speaking, non-BMX singlespeed cassette hubs come in 130mm or 135mm, not the "trackier" 120mm, and won't be able to be respaced to 120mm because if it's well-designed then its flange-to-flange spacing will preclude that. There are BMX race cassette hubs that can be respaced up to 120 (from 110), and I'm under the impression that the Profile 120mm cassette hubs, which is the main off the shelf one that exists, are essentially a manufacturer-provided version of such a hack, but there's downside there that because the flange-to-flange was designed around a 110mm hub, you're sort of giving up strength for no reason if you space the hub 120.

I'm just going to flagrantly disregard SE rules here because the really good products in this category don't change much over time, and say that if you really want durability and reliability here you should take your pick between White, Profile, and King and call it good.


How do I pack a road wheel for shipping?

Wheels generally come in a cardboard box with plastic caps over the hub ends to protect them and a bit of other padding (for skewers and the like) added in.  Your LBS may have a few of these laying around for whatever size wheel you are sending back.  They may even be willing to do the package job for you and save you a bit of time for a reasonable amount of money.  If you just want the materials, I have known some shops to simply give them away (especially to known customers).

The stresses a wheel endures in a cardboard box during shipping are less than what they would endure properly installed on a bike.  Any damage more than that would completely destroy the cardboard box and be evident as a shipping mishap.  I recommend insurance from your shipper to protect against such mishaps.


What is a good camera arrangement for city riding?

I've had good success with the Go Pro cameras for whitewater kayaking. We generally mount them on our helmets. They stand up to quite a beating and you can get more on a card than the camera you ask about above.

If you can mount it on your helmet then it will be pointing where you look and I think you'll have better success getting shots of any collision since you're often looking at it as it happens.

Here's a blog of someone doing the same thing on his daily commute. http://cranks-on-cam.com/ Looks like he's using a Drift Inovation (http://www.driftinnovation.com/x170-action-camera.php) and there is a video of his mount on the gear page.


Usually spokes don’t break because they are too weak but because they have too low or uneven tension.

Even tension will distribute the load among several spokes. High enough tension will make sure that spokes are never unloaded completely since spokes should always be under tension. When a spoke is unloaded it can come loose or rub against the hub or other spokes. Even if it rubs or unscrews only a teeny tiny bit on each rotation it adds up. To ride 1000km you need about half a million rotations of the wheel.

Mixing spokes is a bad idea: The stronger spokes will stretch less, which contradicts the goal of distributing the load.

If the wheel is worth it, have it properly rebuilt (or learn to do so yourself, at this point you can’t make it worse). If the wheel is cheap it usually makes more sense to get a new one.


Koga touring bicycle bottom bracket loose, does it need replacing?

Hard to say without knowing a bit more.

The BB could use a cartridge or could use loose bearings.  With loose bearings the situation you describe would generally only happen if one of the cups came loose, in which case the balls could slip out of their races, leaving you grinding metal-to-metal.

With a cartridge, if the cups retaining the cartridge get loose the cartridge can slip-slide around a bit, but a real problem would only occur if a cup came loose enough to let the end of the cartridge slip out, at which point the cup would be nearly ready to fall out anyway.

Either of these loose cup scenarios would be immediately obvious to the trained eye of the service tech, without having to take the BB apart, and either could be simply rectified.  So more likely there is a cartridge and it has come apart internally (though along the lines of the loose bearing scenario).

Normally a bottom bracket should last a long time.  Loose bearings can be repacked every 10-20 thousand km or so, and cartridges may need replacing at maybe 50,000 km.  The type of failure you describe (absent the involvement of a clumsy mechanic) is unusual.

If indeed the cartridge has disassembled itself internally then probably no great harm would come from riding on it, other than it could lock up suddenly without warning, or at the very least leave you stranded somewhere.  But with a loose cup scenario you should not ride the bike, as this could damage otherwise-repairable parts.


There is another option that is preferable to either of the ones you mention: P-clamps. These are small strips of sheetmetal bent into a P shape and covered with rubber. They fit around the seatstays to create mounting points. You'll be able to attach both of the top rack arms that way. This will be much more secure. P-clamps are cheap and you can probably find them at any decent bike shop or online store.

Once you've got P-clamps on, I would mount the top rack arms as pictured in B1, more or less, but that's mostly a cosmetic thing. B2 wouldn't really be different in terms of load transmission.


Back wheel started moving backwards when pedalling backwards

It's pretty normal for a bicycle with a freewheel/freehub to turn the wheel backwards a little bit when pedaling backwards a bit (i.e. if you turn the pedals backwards pretty quickly, you get some very slow backwards turning of the wheel) when the bike is in a stand/lifted in the air. You can sometimes get rid of this by servicing/replacing the freehub/freewheel.

If the wheel is turning backwards reasonably quickly when pedaling backwards, the freehub/freewheel is shot and you need a new one.

As for the chain becoming loose when backpedaling, there could be several causes:

Freewheel/Freehub is sticky (you'd need to service it)
Stiff chain (make sure all the links are flexing freely)
Grimed up derailleur (clean it. Jockey wheels sometimes cause this, for example)

That being said, if you're backpedalling like a maniac, most bikes will do this even if they work fine. But at slow speed backpedalling, you shouldn't really see this.

Finally, I see you didn't say you ever replaced the freewheel/cassette and chain or lubricated the chain in your maintenance for a 10 year old bike. Depending on the wear of the freewheel/cassette and chain, you may want to replace one or both. This does need a few tools (chain breaker, freewheel tool if you have a freewheel / cassette tool + chain whip), but they're relatively cheap/a very quick job for most bicycle shops.

Your bike probably has a freewheel.


A 1980s Fuji should have an English bottom bracket with a left-hand threaded fixed cup.

A few methods I have used to remove very stuck bottom brackets:

Use the Stein Fixed Cup Wrench Clamp (FCC-2) to secure the wrench onto the fixed cup.  This will allow you to apply more leverage without the tool slipping off.  It also allows you to pound on the tool with a mallet which sometimes helps.
Clamp the flats of the fixed cup in a vise and turn the frame.
You mentioned keyed rings - if the fixed cup does not have flats on it, you could flatten the sides with a grinder and then stick it in the vise.
If there's any chance that thread locking compound was used (probably not likely) then applying heat would help move it.


I haven't done it, but I am pretty sure it's doable without purchasing a new crank.
SRAM shows that switching between AXS 2x and 1x is as simple as changing the chainring:

However, if you have AXS Wide 2x, it's 94mm BCD (vs. 107mm), so you will need both a new spider and a new chainring (AXS narrow-wide 1x chainring with 107 BCD).


Does "Carbon & Aluminium" really mean cheap plastic coated aluminium?

No, in this case it means that the steerer tube is alloy, but the fork blades are carbon fiber. About the only products where you may see a layer of carbon over an aluminum core are stems, which is usually to make a cheap stem to match a good quality carbon handlebar.


Drivetrain changed - new cranks further from bottom bracket

I think what is going on here is that you were running a 47.5mm chainline (standard for MTB triples, see here) with the FY301 crank, but the M361 crank gets you a chainline of 50mm.

When switching out three-piece cranks you have to pay attention to the chainline and you also have to look at cartridge bottom bracket axle lengths and potentially replace the BB along with the crank. Different model cranks require different BB axle lengths as the axle interfaces of different models are not in the same position long the axle axis relative to the chainrings.

Shimano helpfully provides extensive specification documentation for their products but figuring out the proper BB for a crank is somewhat complicated. We can find the crankset ('chainwheel' in Shimano parlance) specs here.

Do a text search on that page for 'TY301' and 'M361' and you should find the entries we want. Note the TY301 has a chainline spec of 47.5mm (normally, there is a 50mm option too)  and the M361 has 50mm. The TY301 should be paired with a BB-UN100 or BB-UN26 bottom bracket, axle length code D-NL (for 47.5mm chainline). The M361 should be paired with a BB-UN26 bottom bracket, axle length code LL123.

If we look at the bottom bracket specs here (search on the page for 'UN26') we see that the LL123 code means 123mm, D-NL means 122mm (if I read the specs correctly). 1mm difference isn't enough to worry about.

I think if you measure the chain line with the M361 crank on (distance from the center of your frame seat-tube to the center of the middle ring) it will be about 50mm. If your measured chainline is about 55mm, you must have had the 50mm option on the TY301 crank, so you definitely need to replace the BB with the correct one for the M361.

If your original chainline was 47.5mm, you could replace the BB with one with a 118mm axle to drop your chainline back, or you could just run 50mm. If you derailleur can reach the big ring OK I'd be tempted to leave it as it is. If you plan to replace the BB make sure there is >5mm of clearance between the  rings and the chainstay - presumably there should be, unless you got larger rings with the new crank.


a carbon rim cost only $169 is real carbon?

I would be very careful with a deal that sounds too good to be true.  Take a look at what happend to this carbon wheel in another question: Carbon Wheel Heat Bending

I wouldn't buy from a company I've never heard of before and will never hear from again (like when the wheel deforms from the heat of braking and I'm trying to get a refund). Even the tagline on that website ("Welcome to carbonbikeoem.com , enjoy the great savings now!") is a red flag to me.  It suggests that the only point of their products is that they're cheap. The generally poor grammar of that website also suggests that it's not a serious company, but just someone who can cheaply produce things from something resembling carbon fiber.

It would be much better to get a decent set of aluminum wheels, then you don't have to worry about how long they last before they snap.  For $85, you can get a Mavic XC 717 Disc rim that weighs 395 grams.  Mavic is a well-known manufacturer and you are guaranteed that this is a good product.  It weighs 35 grams more than those carbon rims.  Who cares about 35 grams ?


An upgrade to the drivetrain on this bike is very likely not possible.

A 7 speed drivetrain either has a old-style freewheel, where the sprocket cluster and ratchet mechanism are in a single unit that threads on the hub. These can't be upgraded to more sprockets.

The hub may have a newer style freehub design where cassette sprockets slide on a splined cylinder, but 7 speed freehubs are narrower than those designed for 8 speeds or more.

The wheel might have a 8+ speed freehub and a 7 speed cassette installed with a spacer, but this is unlikely.

When answering questions about upgrading the drivetrain, most of the time my advice is that's it's not worth the cost. Separate drivetrain components are expensive, changes in one place have a knock-on affect that require other components to be replaced. Sometimes the entire drivetrain including shifters, crank and rear wheel need to be replaced (although not in your case). Also, you don't get the full benefit of better quality components when they are installed on a lower quality frame.

Personally, as this is a kids 24" wheel bike I'd leave it alone and save the money for your daughter's next bike.


What should I do when my rear derailleur cable guide is too narrow?

You need a stepped shift ferrule. You have no reasonable options if you're using compressionless shift housing. On the left is a picture of a 5mm to 4mm one, which Jagwire is the main remaining producer of. On the right is the Shimano 4mm one, which in my experience is the commonly encountered one for 4mm housing. There are Campy ones too, but I think they may only come in the Record cable sets - I don't cross paths with them very often and I kind of forget what they're like.

Shops should have them. They're still readily available new in bulk and many shops will have all they need leftover from installing the various cable kits and STIs that come with them. I believe Dura Ace shift cable kits have always had them and at least some generations of boxed D/A STIs too. Googling "5-4mm stepped ferrule" and "4mm stepped ferrule" yields some results too.

Note that there's another kind of stepped ferrule, for using 5mm compressionless brake housing on brakes and brifters that can't take a normal ferrule, which is not the kind you're looking for. The most common example of this is the Jagwire POP ferrule.


Upper pulley on rear derailleur (jockey?) very close to cassette?

Several things coming to mind when I read this.

a) If the wheel is not centred, its not sitting in the drops correctly. If its not sitting in the drop-outs correctly, the axle to derailleur mount distance and the angles of the derailleur to cassette are off.  There is little point looking at derailleur adjustments unless the wheel is centred.

b) Smallest smallest is cross chained. Performance of derailleur in this state is relatively unimportant

c) The derailleur was properly adjusted before the wheel was removed.... The thing that affects the clearance of the jockey wheel is the B screw - was this changed?

The first thing to do is put the wheel on straight, remove the cross loading by putting the dérailleur onto the largest rear cog, and if needed, adjust the B Screw.


Are public bicycle rack providers liable if your bicycle is stolen from their rack?

IANAL.

Almost certainly no, for the same reasons that a parking deck owner is not liable for the theft of a car inside. Unless you can prove that the bicycle rack was installed improperly due to gross negligence, and the improper installation allowed the bicycle to be stolen even while locked properly, you would have no case whatsoever.

Locking a bike properly is the owner's responsibility. To prevent your next bike from being stolen, follow this advice:

Do not use a cable lock to lock your frame.
Use the smallest U-lock that will work (the larger the U-lock, the more easily-defeated by a bottle jack).
Use the U-lock to lock the rear wheel to a fixed object, through your rear triangle (the one formed by the seat tube, chain stay, and seat stay). See the picture below.
Optionally use a second U-lock, or a cable through the first U-lock, to secure your front wheel.

Sorry to hear about your bike being stolen. Good luck finding it (check Craigslist ads and/or eBay) or replacing it!

Thanks to Sheldon Brown for the image.

Update: As an addendum, if you lock up your bike at the same location daily, you can use a much heavier chain lock to lock up your bike. At work, I use that lock through the rear wheel and the rear triangle, and I have a cable that I loop through the front wheel and attach to the chain. The chain lock is prohibitively heavy to carry around regularly, but if you leave the bike at the same location frequently, you can simply leave the chain lock and cable there as a permanent fixture.

Update: My use of a chain and cable lock at work.


Okay, thanks for everyone's time for commenting but I solved the problem.
After getting home, I immediately rechecked the bolts and disassembled the crank and boy oh boy, found out that I put the inner chainring the other way around. In my excitement when installing the new chainring, I didn't realize that I'd put it the wrong way and also didn't realize anything weird during my ride because I haven't actually used the 34T ring yet.

So, my stupidity costed me a bit of paint on my chainstay that I ended up covering with electrical tape, but all good now.


Shimano TOURNEY FC-TY301 crank arm material

The crank-arms are aluminium as of any Shimano cranks but the chain-rings in this case are steel. The axle is always steel.

If you have a unit at hand, it's easy to check with a magnet.

(Anyway, a magnet may be a useful item also in shop for a discrete test of a component or a metal frame for material.)


Should I replace my 10000km Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour with a 2000km Schwalbe Marathon Winter Plus?

I don't think the holes in the winter tyres will be prone to punctures without the spikes in them. They're a very small target. I have had damage from the inner end of the spikes themselves wearing through the belt on tarmac (occasionally icy).
These winter tyres aren't as tough as the marathon plus (tour) though, both in terms of overall puncture protection and wear - winter compounds are softer. They still probably have more life than marathon plus with 10000km on; at least at the back that's about how much I get.


The "Correct" way of doing it would be to replace the tire.  All of the methods you mentioned are just patches and not foolproof methods of permanently fixing a tire.  If the tubeless sealant successfully stopped the initial flat and you aren't slowly losing air, it should be fine and replacing the sealant should be a sufficient measure.  Anything more and I'd look into replacing the tire.  I have never seen a puncture small enough to be sealed with latex develop into something bigger.


I would at least put road tires on your mountain bike - they really improve your efficiency on pavement.

If your commute is urban w/ lots of stops & traffic navigation, the mountain bike handlebar setup can be more maneuverable for tight situations than a road/touring bike. I do miss the maneuverability of my mountain bike since switching to a road bike. A commuter or hybrid bike may be a very good option, with the handlebar & fork designed for more urban situation vs. being tuned for long-haul riding.


Unable To Adjust Mechanical Disc Brakes Properly

Mechanical disks almost always operate one side only. Setting them up correctly is not hard but needs care.

Refer http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/avid-mechanical-disc-adjustment#article-section-3 for detailed instructions for Avids - technique should work for other brands.

Essentially, slack of the cable and caliper mounting bolts,  Undo both pads (counter clockwise) then tighten the outer pad 1/2 turn. Tighten the inner (non-cable side pad) until the disk is clamped tight and then tighten caliper bolts to set the caliper. Tighten the cable, loosen the inner pad 1/2 turn and outer 1/4 turn, then adjust as needed for modulation.

Although this sounds difficult and long winded, its actually only takes a few minutes once you get used to it.


How to clean rubber and plastic parts with sticky, thick teflon-based lube stains?

Try Dawn Dish soap its a little bit of scrubbing but it seems to work the best, its chem resistant so everything I have tried only makes it more sticky but dish soap hot water and work gets rid of it the best.  Good Luck


It appears to be a standard square drive sealed cartridge type bottom bracket. It looks as if it came apart. Normally  the bearings are not removed from the shaft but are removed and replaced as an assembly.  If you measure the width of the frame where the bearings were removed you should measure 67mm or 73mm. Measure the length of the square driveshaft. The length will vary depending on the bike type, drive train etc. The other option is English or Italian thread. Most likely it is English but you can't tell from the photos. The options are to look on-line for a bottom bracket that matches your measurements or bring all the pieces to your LBS (local bike shop) and have them measure and match to something in your price range.


Will my drivetrain freeze if left outside in the winter?

Frequently lubing your components (especially your chain) is crucial in cold weather. Lube (which won't freeze) pushes out water (which does). Besides the protection against freezing, it also will help extend the life of your components even in the face of sand, salt, and gravel debris from cities deicing the roads. Fenders with mud flaps are useful as well, as they will protect your drivetrain from slush. Basically, anything you can do to keep the bike's componentry dry is crucial.

To this end, I would bring the bike inside overnight every day in order to warm it up. This lets water drip off of it, and you can wipe off any that's left with a pile of used rags before you take it on the road each day.

The temperature flux might cause wear on the components, but I suspect the amount pales in comparison to the damage done by freezing (ice expands, putting pressure where it shouldn't go), salt (which corrodes steel), and sand (which prematurely wears components due to grinding).


There are a few things you can do. I would be very surprised if the XL is that much too large it cannot be setup to be ridden by you reasonably comfortably, if not ideally. A bike that is too large may make some technical trails a bit more challenging, so how successful you are on that bike will depend on the type of trails you ride and what you expect to be able to achieve.

Aim here is to reduce the effective top tube length. Here a few $0 Cost, completely reversible things you can try.

Move the seat forward on the rails.
'Slam' the stem - put the stem on the steerer first and put the
spacers on top (can arrange stem and spacers any way you like).
If riser bars rotate the bars a little.
If really wide bars, as is popular these days, move the controls and grips inboard. This narrower position effectively 'lengthens' your arms.

Other things that might help if the above fails that cost a bit, but not a lot of money.
 - Flatter bars
 - Higher bars
 - Shorter stem
 - Longer seat

If the seat won't go low enough, trimming the seat post will help. If you find a position that works, you may consider trimming the bars or replacing with narrower ones. I would hesitate to recommend trimming the steerer as unlike bars and seat posts (which can be relatively cheap to replace), The forks are an expensive bit of kit.

Personally I suggest play with the above setups, get the bike as comfortable as you can. If you find after a few months its limiting your riding, it probably best to sell it and book this one up to experience. A bike that does not fit well is never a bargain.


How to cover a bicycle left outside for extended periods

Don’t worry about it. A bit of rain or dirt won’t harm your bike.

Regularly lube and clean your chain (even if it’s not yet rusty) and everything will be fine.

Salt can be quite nasty but unless you ride close to the coast it won’t be an issue in the UK.

If you want to save yourself some trouble, make sure you grease the contact area of parts such as the seat post or pedal threads before installing them so that they don't rust in place and you are still able to remove them at some point in the future. The bearings of some parts (e.g. pedals, headsets) can be re-greased which could be a good idea to do every year or so.


Speed improvement from hybrid bike to road bike over 9km at 30 kmph?

I'm not sure that anyone is going to be able to give you a definitive answer... especially since you are asking if your commute will improve by 30 seconds when the commute time you give has a range of 60 seconds. But 30 seconds out of 17.5 minutes is about a 2-3% improvement, which seems reasonable...

The more interesting question would be "what can this speed up be attributed to?" There are 3 factors I can think of: rolling resistance, weight, and wind resistance.

Rolling Resistance: How much friction is produced by the wheels? Moving to skinnier tires, and inflating them correctly, will reduce your rolling resistance dramatically (not always a great thing when it comes to stopping time / cornering). The Merida Crossway Striker looks like it has fairly skinny tires, so this won't be as noticeable as moving from say a mountain bike.
Weight: I include this because it is one of the properties often touted by expensive bikes. But mass is only a factor when you are trying to change velocity. So, especially on a flat course with few stops (and thus little acceleration), reducing the weight of the bicycle will have little effect. Not to mention that the rider's mass dominates the total weight... and it is much cheaper to shave off ounces on the rider than the bike!
Wind resistance: this is likely the biggest factor, especially since wind resistance increases exponentially with respect to speed. The smaller profile of an expensive bike will play a small role... but like weight factor is again dominated by the rider. However, the rider's position when "in the drops" is far more aerodynamic, so switching away from straight handle bars will likely have a noticeable effect at high speeds. That is assuming that you are not wearing parachute pants.

Surely there are other factors, such as the damping effect of the Striker's shocks, or maybe the efficiency of the components in transferring power from pedals to the wheels, but I think rolling and wind resistance are going to be the only noticeable factors.


Does using a DH fork reduced to 150mm (6") make sense on an ebike?

eBike manufacturers seem to think that single crown forks are strong and durable enough. Double crown forks are likely too heavy and overbuilt for use on an eBike.


How much does tire pressure affect the weight of the wheels

The ideal gas law (which is a good approximation in this case) says PV=nRT where P is pressure, V is volume, n is mols of gas, R is the ideal gas law constant, and T is temperature in Kelvin.

Thus, solving for n, we see n = (PV)/(RT). Then, assuming air is made up of {gas1, gas2,...} with fractions {p1,p2,...} (so p1+p2+...=1) and corresponding molar masses {m1,m2,...}, the mass of air in a tire is (PV/(RT))(p1*m1+p2*m2+...). So, what we see is that the mass of air in a tire is directly proportional to the volume of the tire and directly proportional to the pressure in the tire, and inversely proportional to the temperature of the air in the tire.

We will make the following (reasonable) assumptions: Assume the temperature is around room temperature (293 Kelvin) and the volume of the tire regardless of pressure is the same (primarily determined by the shape of the rubber, assuming not severely under/over inflated). For convenience, air is about {nitrogen, oxygen} with {p1,p2}= {0.8,0.2} and molar masses {28 g/mol,32 g/mol}. Thus, under these assumptions (V is fixed, and T is fixed), the mass of the air in tire grows linearly with pressure.

So, the mass of air in a tire of volume V and pressure P and temperature T is about (PV/RT)(0.8*28+0.2*32) grams. It may be better to write it as "P ((V/(RT)) (0.8*28+0.2*32)) grams" noting that V/(RT) is a constant for us.

Since I don't want to put the units into wolfram alpha carefully, you can put in the entry "(7 bar* 10 gallons)/(ideal gas constant*293 Kelvin)*(0.8*28+0.2*32)" and read the result off in grams (ignoring the unit it says there) to get an estimate for the weight of air in a 7 bar (~100 psi), 10 gallon volume tire as around 313 grams. Is 10 gallons reasonable? No.

Lets be crude about estimating the volume of a tube using a torus. The volume of a torus is V=(pi*r^2)(2*pi*R) where R is the major radius and r is the minor radius. Google will calculate it for you (and has a picture of what major and minor radius is).

I can't be bothered to actually go outside and measure these things, but lets be crude and use a massive tire. Say the minor radius is 2 inches, and the major radius is 15 inches (this is probably larger the size of the tire on something like a Surly Moonlander). This has a volume of about 5 gallons. If you were a nutcase and running this at 7 bar, it would be around 150 grams of air. At a more reasonable 1 bar or 2 bar, youd be at 45 or 90 grams.

What about a thin road bike tire? Lets also assume the major radius is around 15 inches, and the minor radius is around a half inch. Thats around 0.3 gallons of volume. Plugging into our formula, at 7 bar, we see that this is about 9 grams. At 10 bar, a whopping 13.5 grams.


105 BR-5500 an improvement over Sora BR-3400?

Would 105 BR-5500 brakes be much of an improvement over what I have?

What could the improvement be?
Lighter weight would mean the brake arms are less stiff, causing flex in the brake system. Thus, you cannot reasonably reduce the weight of the brake arms. Besides, most weight reduction "upgrades" are not worth it, giving only few tens of grams of savings at most, the benefit of which is infinistesimal but occurs at great cost.
Stiffer brake arms (less flex) would mean the brake arms are are heavier than necessary. Weight being unacceptable in a bicycle, the manufacturers are reluctant to do this.
Higher mechanical advantage (more power in brakes) would mean the brake lever runs out of travel very quickly, requiring frequent turning of the barrel adjuster, and the free spacing in the brake pads is so low that they cannot track a wheel with a broken spoke. However, do note that current trend of high mechanical advantage in dual pivot brakes with their forced centering and current trend of less than 36 spokes per wheel may mean you may run into problems if you break a spoke anyway.
Higher free spacing (allowing to track a wheel with a broken spoke exceptionally and not running out of lever travel quickly) would mean the brake has little mechanical advantage and would require unacceptably large lever force to stop.
Sometimes, a design is a compromise that has been perfected decades ago.
If you want an improvement in brake technology, there are three options (or actually two really as you cannot find hydraulic rim brakes):

Better brake pad material. The Kool Stop salmon-colored compound works exceptionally well in varying conditions, not picking up pieces of sand that work as an abrasive compound to cause early rim wear. This is the cheapest approach and I highly recommend it.

Better actuation mechanism. Cable actuation can be replaced with hydraulic actuation. However, you probably won't find hydraulic rim brakes easily.

Better brake type. Rim brakes can be replaced with disc brakes. However, disc brakes are heavier (because they do not reuse the rim as the brake disc but rather require a separate brake disc) and require a heavier fork and a more sturdy spoking pattern in the wheel. On the other hand, disc brakes do not have brake lag in the wet, unlike all rim brakes. The cost is more frequent brake pad replacements. I don't recommend this approach because in practice it requires getting a new bicycle, as forks not having disc brake mounts cannot support disc brakes.


It may not have to do with sensors or wheel diameter. My gf and I go on rides together both using Strava via phone app. Every time, without fail, the data will claim she rode about .15 per mile more than I, even though we stayed together during the ride. I've tried it with my Garmin and get similar results. I think GPS technology is just jankier than we perceive it to be. I have looked closely at some of the map data after rides and often, my path on the map looks like a squiggly line when I know I wasn't swerving THAT much. Gps is just not perfectly accurate. If your wheel and your dad's wheel are the same diameter and you get different results, this is probably why.


What luggage carrying options exist for an e-bike

Many people who are hacking their own ebikes either use bottle shaped batteries that fit inside the diamond frame but are limited in capacity due to size, or they use some of the rear rack solutions pictured. Note that many of these rear racks are designed around the batteries and are a package deal. This arrangement isn’t ideal because they give your ebike a high center of gravity but sometimes you don’t have a choice.

You could also try to emulate how the Sondors ebike has a hard triangular shaped box in the diamond frame that is quite capacious - here it has a bottle battery but many people have stuffed them with RC type square lipos:

For your luggage, 60liters is a lot.... That’s a cube of 40cm (15.8”) in each dimension. You could split it into two panniers of 20x40x40cm but it’s still quite a lot.

Have you considered pulling a small trailer? Or using a Dutch style cargo ebike? Both options have considerably more cargo space than a standard bicycle.


Assumptions: the bike is a geared bike with a rear shifting mechanism that works okay.  You're looking to replace the chainring(s) on the front because they're rusted.

If you keep the same number of teeth, then everything else will continue.

However if the chainring is worn, there's a good chance you'll need a new chain and new rear cassette as well.   Old and new parts don't play nicely on bikes, because they bed-into each other.

Also, if the cranks have rusted you might find the bottom bracket is in similar condition.  If you want it going and don't care about originality, just replace the whole bottom bracket with a cartridge.  So much nicer and easier, and often more water-resistant too.

The thing that will decide whether you want the same or slightly different sized chain rings is the front derailleur mechanism, in how far it can move and what differences it can cope with.   If you intend riding the bike on hills, a smaller inner ring might be a good change. Likewise, if you top-out then a bigger big ring might help.

The rear mech doesn't care so much about the front, it only cares about chainline.


Which road shifters will work with Shimano Deore (M)610 Groupset?

Unfortunately, you can't use 10-speed Shimano road brifters with 10-speed Dyna-Sys mountain bike drivetrains. They just have different cable pull ratios.

You're limited to a few options if you want to run drop bars with 10-speed Shimano:

Mount your existing MTB trigger shift on your drop bars. This means you have to take your hands off the hoods and drops to shift.
Get 10-speed Dyna-Sys compatible thumb shifters from Microshift. You must take your hands off the hoods and drops to shift.
Get 10-speed Dyna-Sys compatible bar end shifters from Microshift. You must shift from the drops.
Get Gevanalle GX brake/shifter kit, you must shift from the hoods using indexed bar end shifters mounted on front of brake levers.
You could try road brifters and a long cage road derailleur with a 10-speed mountain cassette. Definitely unsupported by Shimano. May be limited to 11–32 cassette instead of 11–34 or 11–36. YMMV.

However, you can mix and match road and mountain components with most SRAM 10-speed drivetrains. So you could use something like force shifters with X9 derailleurs with less trouble.


Torque for Shimano Alfine 8/11 Speed Internally Geared Hub Axle Nuts?

Here is how I found the answer (30-45 N-m):

Followed the link in the first comment on the question (or I could have done a search for something like "shimano alfine hub service pdf").
The link Gordon provided was led to several Shimano products identified only by part number, so I did another search for "shimano alfine 11 hub" and found a listing on Amazon with the part number (SG-700). Shimano's part numbers are pretty transparent – if you know the two letter code that they use for different components – so you might be able skip this step with a lucky guess.
From there I opened up the service manual and scanned it for the step where the cap nuts are tightened.


Alfine 11-speed - what is needed to install it? What are common problems when installing?

I've not set up the Alfine 11 specifically, but it's quite similar to it's less-geared cousin.  You might also consider the Alfine 8 - it's rather cheaper and is a well-regarded hub with only slightly less total gear range.

In either case, the main things you'll need will be the hub (the SG-700-L is for disc and rim brakes), a 26"/559 rim of your choice, and spokes to match. In addition you'll need the Alfine 11 small parts kit, which includes the anti-rotation washers and other bits needed for installation. It's kind of annoying, really.

Alfine hubs also don't include a cog, so you'll need to to select one. You can continue using your current crankset, using only one chainring.  The Alfine is rated for a ratio of 2:1, so a 16t cog would work well with your 32t middle chainring and give you a good range of 26" to 107". (107" is ~50kph at 100rpm cadence).  If you want to consider other gearing options, check out the Sheldon Brown IGH gear calculator. One note for installation, the Alfine has a fairly narrow chainline, so you'll probably want to line up with the middle ring. You can remove the inner and outer chainrings; replacing the outer with a simple bash ring / chain guard can be a nice touch.

As noted in other answers, you'll probably need a chain tensioner since your bike has vertical dropouts. The Alfine Chain Tensioner or the Rohloff Chain Tensioner are both rather good, basically just being derailleurs with stiff springs and no cable adjustment. If you feel like getting hacky, you might be able to succeed with a magic gear, especially if you're willing to do a little filing. Running the chain through a tensioner adds a little bit more drag and a little bit more slop than being able to tension it directly, but otherwise should be fine.

Lastly, since you've got flat bars, you'll want the Alfine SL-S700 rapidfire shifter.  Since you don't have the integrated shifter-lever pods, it should be a simple swap.

Installation should be fairly straightforward, since it's mostly removing stuff: extra chainrings, current derailleurs and shifters, rear wheel.  You'll install the wheel using the "vertical" antirotation washers (8R/8L, green & blue), install the shifter and chain tensioner, run the chain and then cables and housing.  There's a bit of adjustment but the techdocs do make more sense when you have the hub in front of you - you're basically adjusting cable tension to line up the pair of yellow lines that mark the middle gear.

On the retail side, I'd recommend looking at some of the big German resellers - I've dealt with Starbike and Hibike and somehow they seem to undercut Shimano pricing pretty reliably (something about buying directly from Shimano Europe without a distributor? I don't entirely understand it); I just ordered a dynamo hub and it was cheaper including euro-shipping than I could get domestically in the US even from the deep discount sites online.


Shimano 105 FD-R7000-F front dereailleur chain rub

I don't know about the R7000 in particular, but your FD most likely has a 'Trim' function to help with this.  This is usually activated by light/half click as if you were going to the small ring but not actually doing so.

I'd say if you are getting rub on the lowest 5 gears in the big ring, but no rub at all on the small ring your FD position is slightly out.  It is common to have rub in the 2-3 gears at the extreme ends (small ring high gears, big ring low gears) of the gear range.


Shifter won't click and cable doesn't move

It's likely a very simple issue - the cable broke. Possibly the head of the cable detached so that the shifter cannot grab the cable. There is a remote possibility the shifter itself broke where it holds the cable.
You can verify this by detaching the cable from the derailleur, you may find that end of the cable is loose and can be pulled out of the housing. Find a manual for your particular shifters and find out how to remove the cable. You may need to remove a cover to get access.
Yo should also verify the derailleur can move by pulling the cage carefully outwards - it takes a bit of force. The derailleur is robust enough that you will not break it.
The likely reason the shifter is not clicking is that it relies on the derailleur spring pulling on the cable for tension, so the internal parts are not moving when you work the thumb and finger levers.


Tips for first time cyclist on 9W in NJ/NY

An additional resource is Stava. You can join for free, and there is an Android app on the Google Play Store.

To start planning your ride see this Stava map; zoom for more detail. Maybe you'll need to have signed up to see it.

If you set up (or find a route) for your ride, you can download or print cue sheets like this one.

There are several Bicycles.SE members with local knowledge; hopefully they'll post more explicit answers :-)


Reverse center pull cantilever brakes (how to set up and issues)

You can't do this with traditional cantilever brakes, because the straddle wire has to be pulled from above to tension it - attempting to pull it from below would pull into the wheel.

You could pull from the side by using direct pull cantlievers, a.k.a. v-brakes. A Problem Solvers "Travel Agent" could probably be hacked up to work, and a clean implementation could probably be done with one of the no-longer-produced World Class "V-Daptor" adapters, if you could find one.

That said, both of those approaches are probably less elegant than the already-existing pulley method that it sounds like already works on the frame.


Your 48 volt motor probably uses some modern flavour of lithium battery.  It will probably refuse to run on anything less than 44-46 volts (actual numbers may differ) and this will be in the controller's manual.

If you're using 12 volt SLA lead acid batteries, then they must not be discharged below 10.5 volts per battery, which would be 42 volts in your scenario.

To get 48 volts, you will need 4x 12V batteries in series not parallel.  12V batteries in parallel will still only give 12 volts, just a lot more current for a lot longer.  Since your motor is 48 volts it won't even start on one 12V battery.

I recommend you use the fattest wires you can to link your batteries.  Electric cars eschew wires in favour of busbars for added cross sectional area.

If this sounds like alien gibberish, you should enlist the aid of an electrically-minded assistant.

As an aside, you'll need to change a lot of how you ride once you have that much power on tap.  Riding in the door zone becomes a game of Russian Roulette, and you'll have to ride much more defensively, which means scanning ahead, eyeballing possible threats, and anticipating what might happen.

Also some locations would call a 1000 watt motor an electric motorbike, not an assisted pedal bicycle.  You may need to check this out.


Rear Shimano Acera derailleur skips chain ring after replacing cable

An impact hard enough to bend the hanger is likely to have also distorted the derailleur.

For each index of the shifter pulling a consistent length of cable, the derailleur normally moves a certain distance along a path angled to be similar to the cone angle of the cassette, that distance corresponding to an axial (sideways) distance which matches the cassette spacing.

If the derailleur is deformed between the mounting bolt and the parallel plates, the angled path will be flatter, meaning the same movement along the hypotenuse will be a larger axial movement. There is a tolerance designed into the widths of the sprockets, chain and cassette gaps, so when you shift far enough from the point where you indexed the gears, the total excess movement from the flattened path will exceed the tolerance.

If the derailleur's inner plate is bent such that it's shorter than the outer plate, the distance moved along the angled path will be inconsistent, but the impact on shifting will be more extreme in the easier gears regardless of which gear you used when indexing.


As a cyclist who had a hard time getting comfortable on road geometry with drop handlebars, I will recommend that you ride as many different bikes as possible for a long time before you consider dropping money on a "custom" bike.

Considering frame material and construction, geometry quirks, wheel sizes, brake types, drivetrain compatibility, tire clearance, frame lifespan, braze-ons, so on and so forth....there are LOTS of different bikes out there. To illustrate this, consider:

A lugged steel touring bike with 650b wheels, cantilever brakes, ample tire clearance, and brazed-on fittings for racks, pumps, bottles and whatnot
A carbon fiber race bike with integrated headset/bottom bracket, tucked in rear wheel, seat mast, 700c wheels with aero-spokes, etc. etc.

These bikes are two very different creatures. You can find shops who can fit you to either with great aplomb, but in reality these bikes are not interchangeable (regardless of whether you think one is better than the other.) The issue is less of fitting a bike to a person's body parts, and more of fitting it to a person's needs and wants.

You're just about my size, maybe an inch shorter, and I usually ride a 56 cm frame - a very common frame size. Being an average size (yes, you are an average size guy) you essentially have the bike world at your disposal.

Some people may feel like a "lifetime" bike exists for them, but I'm of the opinion that there is no need to be wedded to a bicycle because they are so very diverse - bicycles fill more of a use than fitting your body properly (and the inescapable truth is that your body will change just as surely as your cycling needs will.)

My short recommendation is to invest in a good-fitting touring or sport-touring bike with a steel frame. They're comfortable, versatile, affordable, long-living, and easy to service. It'll be way easier to get comfortable on this than an aggressive road bike and it will also be easier to sell down the road (because touring components use pretty much the same technology now as over the last 25-40 years.)


Plastic insert damaged when tried to open gravity wheelguard ixow

For completeness - this is a part custom to your brand and model of frame.  It doesn't seem to be related to your choice of wheel skewer.

So your best option is to contact the manufacturer of your frame directly, or their authorised agents in your area.

Based on the linked question, you have a Canyon Commuter, and their contact information for you is based in Koblenz, Germany.  https://www.canyon.com/en-ro/contact/  You can use telephone, live chat, or email.


Perhaps its obvious, but maybe the tube has a leak? Is it an old tube that has perished and is just letting air out as fast as you pump it in?

Perhaps try taking the tube off the wheel, put it in a bucket/tub of water, and then pump.  Can you see bubbles somewhere?


Can a counterfeit Shimano chain be used on an authentic Shimano drivetrain?

You can normally use chains from other legitimate vendors, be it SRAM or KMC or something else. You do not need to use Shimano™® chains only.
But no-one can tell you whether your chain is of sufficient quality. Only you can inspect it, measure it and try it. We cannot do that.
I am not even 100% convinced it is actually a fake chain, but I will just take is as a premise I am answering to.


What kind of wheels need different nipple for front vs. rear?

Those are Motorcycle spoke nipples. Bicycles can have different spokes and nipples between the front and rear wheels but there is no standard.