What are important items for a touring first-aid kit?

I bring enough to dress small cuts and stop bleeding, at least until 911 could get to me. If you're riding in areas you might not be able to be reached by emergency services, or if you have particular medical issues that need specialty supplies, a kit like this would insufficient.

Bandages/band-aids of a few different sizes
Gauze -- usually a small roll
Tape -- small roll, enough to tape a skinned knee and a little more
Small tube of antibacterial gel (like neosporin) See GaryW's comment, below, liquid may (or may not) be more appropriate
Advil -- I usually have this in my handebar bag anyway
Alcohol wipes -- one or two individually-wrapped

Other things you might consider are snappable heat packs, a knee brace, and something to put on bug bites or poison ivy for rides in the woods. If you're allergic to bee stings, you might bring something for that.


Can I use a hardtail for MTB trail riding?

First and foremost... Yes, you can definitely ride trails on a hardtail and it will help you get lots of technical skills that a full suspension bike wouldn't give you, unless you jumped class (enduro) on a trail bike. Plus, it will be way more comfortable riding in the city. Secondly, given your budget, i would suggest you didn't make a custom one. Buy a new one. There are lots of good ones on that budget.


Ultegra 6600 right shifter lever alignment

The misalignment may be caused by damage to inside of one of the shifter mechanism components you circled on the photo. They all stack up on a center post, and some have interlocking components to align everything just right.
If one of these components is damaged (i.e. stripped out, chipped, etc.) it would not stop at the correct position, and keep rotating past the intended "stop" position. This is the most likely scenario, since the area you circled is not part of the 10spd detents; those are the smaller teeth closer to the front of the shifter body. If it is a little floppy when you first push it (no cable attached), this may be the case.
There may also be a damaged bit of plastic that stops the lever in the correct position. I'm not 100% on the 6600 levers, but the mechanism is very different from what is in 6700+ levers that are currently out on the market. This was the last generation of this design before Shimano redesigned it completely.
Echoing the advice above, I would not recommend trying disassembly/repair, unless you already have  a backup shifter ready to use. Most shops, as a rule, will not attempt to repair this either. If something is broken, it will probably fail  completely at some point in the future.
WD-40 is definitely not great for the shifter. The grease Shimano uses in them hardens up if they sit for too long; you basically have to disassemble these shifters and scrape off the old grease with a pick or flathead screwdriver. WD-40 won't dissolve the grease; it's a hydroscopic solvent that will absorb water and anything dissolved in it, and eventually gum up again. Plus, it gets everywhere!


11-46 cassette with 48 chainring for commute bike

The advantages of 1x11

11 fairly evenly spaced gears
Can use narrow-wide chain for decreasing chain jump.
"lighter" by some small amount
mechanically simpler

The disadvantages

Gaps between gears are larger than on a 2x10 or 11
you need a really big back cog for low gears rather than having a smaller secondary front chainring.  This adds weight and its at the back.
You need a fancy rear derailleur capable of handing all this spare chain.
This all increases cost.

I believe theres a 10-50 cassette in the sram line now - marketted as "Eagle"


Why are recumbent bicycles and velomobiles illegal in UCI bicycle racing?

This seems like a pretty good history of the circumstances around the UCI's banning of the recumbent. Your guess seems to be about right: recumbents were perceived as too weird. It's interesting to note that Faure had been racing on recumbents with success and official imprimatur for a while before they were banned. According to that article, there were safety concerns about fairings even back then.

The UCI has generally gotten more and more restrictive about what qualifies as a "bike" (although they have relaxed some rules after creating them—read the Wikipedia article on the hour record for some insight into the back-and-forth) and their current rationale is basically that a member of the public should be able to look at a racing bike and recognize it as a regular bike. There is certainly a chicken-and-egg aspect to this: if more people rode recumbents (or other configurations of bike), those would look like regular bikes. There is also the argument that achievements in cycling should be more attributable to the cyclist than the bike.

I can speculate about other factors playing into these decisions, but that's all it would be—speculation.


Dangers of commuting outside town to work

I live in a rural area, and I am always looking for new roads.  Most of the roads here have no shoulder, and there are some cliffs.

The first thing that I do when I'm deciding whether a new road is too dangerous or not is to do a test-drive in a car.  I look to see where there is a shoulder and where there isn't, I look for blind curves, I look at the pavement quality, and I look to see how much traffic there is.

Next, I try riding the road when there isn't much traffic.  For me, the most dangerous thing is a blind curve where there is no shoulder; around here, people in cars like to pass me illegally in the blind curve.  The danger is that there will be a head-on collision between the car passing illegally and another car coming the other way; I don't want to be hit by the shrapnel.  If there are blind curves and no shoulders, then the traffic must be light or I won't use that road.

I would recommend that you have a look at your route in a car, and then try riding part of the route as a test when traffic is light, maybe early in the morning on Sunday.  If riding part of the way doesn't seem too risky, then try riding the entire route the next weekend.  If riding the entire route on early Sunday morning doesn't scare you, then try riding it early in the morning on a weekday.  If that is OK, then try your plan of riding to work two or three times a week.

I would also recommend that you find some local cyclists with more experience, and ask them about your route.  Maybe they can recommend some alternatives around the most dangerous parts.  Also be as safe as you can: wear bright colors and have flashing lights, use a mirror on your helmet, carry identification, and tell someone about your exact plans when you ride.


I ride aluminum frames almost exclusively and have had no problem with them.

The welds are what tend to break first on most bike you hear these horror stories about, but this can happen with any sort of weld (though some forms of welding are more effective than others), so if a bike seems to be too good of a deal to have an aluminum frame, make sure to check out the welds, for those could very well be the deal breaker.


The stem connects the handlebars to the...?

That's the fork steerer.
The fork has to be replaced if you want it taller. That, or perhaps, you could add another spacer to gain a marginal 10/20mm.... Replace the forks if you're desperate.

Once you unbolt the stem, the forks can just drop out if you're not careful. Replacing the forks may not be economical to replace, and if so, I'd replace the whole bike. Good luck. :)

Actually, having said that, the steerer is already ridiculously high; I'd recommend time to replace the whole frameset, as making it too high can be dangerous, if not deadly depending on when and how it breaks. If you're going downhill and the steerer snaps from being too high and too much force going through it, it can shatter or snap, and if you fall on that, it will seriously injure you, if not killing you. Replace the frameset rather than just the forks. The whole bike looks too small for you.


Training involved to ride 175 miles (281 km) in a day

I'm in the do it this year camp.

In comments you say you can currently ride probably a painful 60 (miles).

In general, a conservative plan is to extend your ride distances by 10% per week. But it's important to realize that marathon and iron man athletes do not train by running a marathon each week. The aim of their training is to build deep core fitness and endurance, so that on the day they have the resources to push beyond their normal levels.

You have 15 weeks to RAW day. If you start now, with a 30 mile (50 km) ride, and do a 50 mile (80 km) ride at the weekend, you'll be on your way. See this answer to a somewhat different question for the kind of plan to follow. With such a plan, in 7 weeks you could be riding 100 miles (160 km) in one ride on the weekend. Yay! All being well, health and injury wise, you could keep extending the distances, but that would be unwise. I suggest that when you can ride the century, that your long ride should be every other week, and as you extend the long ride, reduce the distance of the rides in the next week, to keep the training load constant. Limit the maximum ride to 8 hours in the saddle. At your pace that would be about 120 miles (close to 200 km). That would be about 16-20 hours training per week in the final weeks before you taper over the last two weeks. Oh, and remember to factor in recovery rides for the day after the long rides, especially when they are longer than about 90 miles (150 km). At that point you would be training 7 to 8 times a fortnight (light weeks and heavy weeks).

The RAW website is still being built, so everything is not clear yet. It seems likely that this will be a supported ride, but as I write this it doesn't say that. If it is supported, then the ride will be much easier. You can stop for refreshment at each station for just a few minutes (not too long, you don't want to cool down). One thing to work out on your long training rides is what food and drink works for you. Since you are not aiming at extreme performance (15 mph, ~25 kph), you don't need to use fancy / exotic food and drink. You must, however, eat and drink small amounts frequently, and right from the start.

Another thing to consider is your bike and other gear. Does it need maintenance? Can it carry two drink bottles? Are you practiced with tire repairs? Do you have a variety of cycling garments, especially a lightweight rain top? The latter is valuable as a windproof top, eg if the morning start is cold.


If you want something utilitarian and practical leaning, the closest thing to your "Thinkpad and not a Macbook" analogy is going to be something from one of the spare-parts-bin-oriented frameset companies like Surly, Soma, etc.
If you want something more mainstream and performance-oriented, you'll just want to avoid bikes with proprietary gimmick type features and proprietary standards. There are more companies doing that kind of thing than there used to be, but it's not ubiquitous. What is fairy ubiquitous now is brands adopting new standards at a rate fast enough to cause confusion because things have been changing relatively quickly in the era we're in, but they're still standards.

20 years ago, there were a few resources that did a decent job at being all-inclusive compatibility references. Sutherland's Handbook and Barnett's Manual were what shops used, and sheldonbrown.com was available for free and also could answer most compatibility questions. Sutherland's was the big kahuna of these. In the time since then, the speed of change in the industry has outstripped any such efforts on seemingly anyone's part, free or not. There are no singular and definitive resources for bicycle technical information anymore. Those who used to be in that game have quit. If you're into old bikes or want to learn about some of the foundational ideas, these are still good sources however.
You have it pretty close; in many cases choosing the Shimano offering will keep you out of trouble as well as be solid value, but it really depends on what kind of bike you're talking about.
Steel bikes lend themselves the most to someone that even cares about long-term maintainability and parts interchangeability. Avoid cranks with proprietary bolt patterns unless you have good reason not to. Figure out what high gear and low gear numbers you need access to and let your component decisions flow from there. Use friction front shifting if you value the ability to do what you want with your components.


BV-217 Antler bottom bracket service or replacement

What tools do I need to remove the bracket?

There's a plastic cap on the sides of the crank that you can pop off or unscrew, and inside there will be a Hex socket of about 6~8 mm , or a 6 sided nut to remove with a suitable socket.  A spanner will not work.

Then you need a crank puller to remove the crank arms from each side of the BB axle.  This tool threads into the crank, and exerts pressure on the end of the axle to lever the crank off.  These threads are normal right-hand threads.  And you will need a large 200~300mm spanner to turn the crank puller.

Note that if your BB is not a visible square when you've removed the bolts/nuts then the crank puller will need to suit the "octalink" or "ISIS" interface.

Now with the cranks off you'll probably see two different ends.  The left side of the bike will have a lockring and someting like this:

So you ideally use a hook spanner

along with another spanner like this:

You can use a slipjaw pliers to back off the lockring, and with care you can get away using the large spanner from earlier on the flats.  Risk here is that the metal flats are not large and can round off easily.  Depending on how your bike was assembled, whether there is thread locker or some kind of never-sieze lubricant in the threads, and whether you ride it in the winter wet will depend how much force is required to undo this side.  Sometimes they're barely finger tight.

The left side (non-drive side) is generally conventionally threadded too, so "right-tight/lefty-loose"   Check here for better info https://bicycles.stackexchange.com/a/50365/19705

At this point the axle should slide out the NDS along with a cage of bearings or some loose bearings.

To get the drive side off is harder because it seems to get tighter.  Also note the drive side is LEFT HAND THREAD so you have to turn it backward to get it off.   There is no lockring on the drive side, just the cup.

Engage the end plate with two flats like this:

Once its all clear, use something to clean out the housing.  Rags, degreaser, even an old toothbrush work well.   Do watch out for slivers of metal which can hurt.  Take the opportunity to clean and wash the whole area hidden by the cranks, and check the frame.

Moving on to reassembly, the only extra tool not already mentioned is a BB tool which looks like this, and engaged the splines on the cartridge you bought.

BB cartridge fitting tool

Then fitting this is a matter of greasing the threads,  insert cartridge from the Drive side, tighten quite a lot, then put the little ring part in from the left side.  Then refit your cranks with the new bolts that come with the BB
 cart.

  Can I strip it or is better to just replace, if so, with what?

Just buy a new cartridge BB and fit it up.   An old cup and cone bearing may be rejuvenated with new balls, but any damage to either bearing surface and you're replacing the whole thing anyway.

Cartridges are adjustment-free and a lot nicer to ride.  You should get 50,000 km out of a cartridge.

You need to make sure the various specs are right.  That's the overall length of the BB axle, the interface of the BB to the cranks, the diameter of the large threads, and the handedness of those threads too.

Notice the different fittings on the end.  Your has to match your cranks.

  What should the torque be of the nut to hold pedal arms?

I'm sure there's a figure for torque, but in my experience its got to be "Quite tight" to stop fretting between the two metal surfaces.  Try to gauge the pressure required to undo the fastener, and replicate the same level of tension when refitting.

To give words, I'd suggest a hand on each end of a 25cm spanner, but not using any kind of hammer or impact.

If you're unlikely to do this sort of work often, then there's little benefit in buying tools.  Either pay your LBS to do the task, or search around in your location for a bike cooperative who will have all the tools.


That's definitely a Japanese frame and my guess is the wheels were an upgrade somewhere along the line.  The mix of Shimano and Suntour also is unlikely to be how the bike was sold. My guess is the Cyclone derailleurs were an upgrade, but since it's friction shifting it all plays fine together.

A web site with a lot of experts is the "Vintage Cream" Facebook group.  I would suggest adding more closeup pictures of the lugs, fork and bottom bracket. Tange #2 and Shimano forged dropouts are clear indicators of a very well made frame.

Vintage Cream FB Group

Good luck in your search,
Greg


Couple of points:-

Firstly, yes they are compatible.
Yes they do shift better of standard cables, this is due to cable drag. Cable drag is basically the friction between the inner and the outer. This friction causes slower and less accurate shifting. The polymer on the inner decreases the coefficient of drag between the inner and outer, this increasing shift performance. Now that seems like a lot of marketing BS, but having used both, I would now always opt for the new polymer cables.
Next to having to scrape the polymer off, this is easy and honestly, just clamping the cable breaks it away. Its pretty fragile stuff.
Next to your point of using WD-40 to keep things running properly, WD-40 acts as a degreaser, this actually strips the silicone grease off, and will dramatically decrease shift performance and cable life. You would be better off not trying to lubricate the cable at all rather than using WD-40. Lubricating the cable with a touch of silicone grease however is well worth it. When I clean or service bikes, I put a touch of silicone grease where the cable exits the outer at all points. This helps two fold, firstly it stops water/dirt getting into your outer, secondly it will work its way into the outer and help keep them lubricated.


Tubeless tire deflating through sidewall

I've found Contis in general to be a bit harder to seal and take up to a few weeks of riding before they settle down.  I've tried Mountain King II and XKings both the "Protection" versions I also have friends who have tried this.

Two things that might help

Before fitting wipe the inside of the tyre with Isopropyl Alcohol.  The theory is it removes the "release compound" which the sealant might have issues with.
Put lots of sealant in (like 150-200ml) and ride for a couple of weeks.  You can then remove the excess sealant if they've settled down (either using a syringe through the valve or by pulling one side off the rim).  Riding generally seems to be much better than wheels sitting in the shed for sealing.

I've fitted 3 new Mountain King 2s and an XKing and the last two I fitted seemed to be better using the techniques above.  Obviously I've not done an "A/B" test so this is just my experience.  My current fix is to buy Maxxis instead which seem to go up no problem.


What would cause variable air resistance on a day with no wind?

TLDR; assuming my calculations below are correct, there's roughly a 10% increase in air resistance between hot, humid days, and cool, dry days. Add in a slight but imperceptible tailwind or headwind, and it's conceivable that you could experience a 4–5mph difference in cruising speed between two days.

Air resistance is the primary force a cyclist must overcome at typical cruising speeds. According to one online calculator, assuming a typical road bike, a relaxed riding position, and a cruising speed of 18mph, 75% of a rider's power is used to overcome drag.

According to your profile, you live in Melbourne, AU, which is essentially at sea level. Using another online calculator, the air density when it's 50˚ and 0% humidity is 1.24kg/m³. When it's 90˚ and 100% humidity, the air density is 1.13kg/m³. So, on a cold and dry day, there's roughly a 10% increase in air resistance when compared to a hot and humid day.

According to the drag equation,

the drag force scales linearly with air pressure. 10% higher density equals 10% higher force necessary to overcome drag. Instantaneous power is determined by the equation

Assuming constant power output, and 75% of that power is dedicated to overcoming air resistance, you end up with roughly a 7% reduction (1 / 1.075) in overall speed. We started with a cruising speed of 18mph, so simplistically your speed on a cold and dry day would wind up being 93% of 18mph, or 16.75mph. I'd say that's enough to notice.

Of course, it seems unlikely that these two days would occur closely together. But if you're comparing a midday ride just before or after a storm to a late evening ride on a dry day a few days before and/or after, it's conceivable that you could wind up somewhere in the ballpark of a 1mph difference.

That said, even a small headwind and tailwind can make a significant difference in your speed. Sheldon's site has graphs showing wind tunnel tests. In particular,

shows that as the wind angle changes from a headwind to a tailwind for a 5mph wind, a rider traveling at a "normalized" speed of 25mph (assuming no wind) would go from roughly 22mph to 28mph. The difference in rider velocity as wind velocity changes seems to be linear, so extrapolating backward, even something like a 2mph headwind vs. tailwind would cause something like a 3mph difference. That's definitely noticeable. Being in a wind tunnel, these tests weren't done with rolling resistance, so 25mph in the wind tunnel is probably equivalent to our earlier assumption of 18mph on outdoor roads.

If you combine the effects, and compare a late evening ride on a dry day with a slight headwind, to a early afternoon ride on a humid day with a slight tailwind, you could conceivably have a difference of 4-5mph between the two days. That's huge.


How about a DIY route by making a tire scraper mounted to the seat stays?  Use a old milk jug or some other sturdy plastic cut to fill the space between the seat stays.  Put a notch (with some gap obviously) in it to slide down around the tire.  Zip tie it in place and go.

The milk jug plastic probably won't hold up by itself (but maybe layers or a zip tie running between the stays for a brace), but it is a starting point (or a good template).  Plastic may get too brittle when cold, but you could try some cheap washable plastic plates (dollar store fine dining, not the throw away kind).  Maybe those "for sale" signs (paint it or turn it around face down, don't want to get bugged).  Just about any flat piece of it that will lay on the stays, and easy to shape.

I thought about a metal solution but I'm not a fan of sharp edges, and it may weigh more.  I'm not a metal worker so I couldn't tell you if filing would work well enough.  An old license plate (with painted numbers instead of raised), some discarded duct work, cookie/popcorn gift tin (ah, they do have a purpose!).

Make a note how far the wheel comes up the seat stays (mark with some painters tape), then take it off.  Take some heavy paper and template it out.  Shape it to lay on the stays without sticking out too far (or fit between them, your choice) and have it go past the wheel mark.  Mark out the space the wheel will need.  Take it to your material and cut it out, drill out some holes for zip ties, and attach.  I bet it wouldn't take more than an hour to get a good enough solution.

This is a close idea to what I'm thinking.  Here is a photo search  of the bridge between the blades of a front suspension fork.  In these the tire is really close to it.  Now imagine creating this and putting on the back tire.


Is an e-bike more of a bicycle or more of a scooter?

There are different electric bikes with different experiences.

Some are heavy and powerful, and move with a push of a button. Their pedals are more about legal status than about human power. I'd call them "scooters".

Some are designed to supply power only when the pedals are turning. In that case you have to do a little work for the electric motor to kick in. These are usually called pedelec (from "pedal electric cycle").

Some use sensors in the drivetrain to decide when to apply the power. Those often have a switch so you can get them to drive the motor without pedaling, giving them a "scooter mode".

Some (like the StokeMonkey) apply the power directly to the drivetrain, so you always have to pedal to get them to work. If you're looking for exercise this is a good idea - no temptation to just cruise under power alone.


Could I have enough chain retention on a 1X system with just a narrow wide chainring without a clutch?

It depends on the terrain you are riding. If you have lots of rocks on your trails, like in Mediterranean countries your chain will fall here and there. On the other hand, if your riding terrain similar to nice flowing Alps singletracks, having narrow-wide chainring will probably be enough.
Also consider installing a chain guide, it costs about 10$, weights little and can save your chain from falling quite a lot. And don't forget a beefy chainstay guard, otherwise the sound of chain hitting alloy can drive you mad :-)


Cheap cycling shoes feel 'sloppy' when pulling up

Visually it looks like a velcro issue to me.
Basically, velcro straps are fine to maintain regular together because of the relatively low mechanical constraint on them.

When riding a bike however, the vertical constrains due to the pedal-locking are way more important. This causes your straps to extend slightly (because velcro straps are a based on a fabric ribbon and when you stretch a fabric ribbon it extends) thus causing a lack of adherence because the little hooks unhooks themselves. This is why after a while your strapping seems to get looser, it's because it actually get looser.

Unfortunately there is little to do against that with your shoes.

This problem is pretty common and explains why in higher end shoes you got complicated hybrid strap+lacing systems in order to balance the benefits of each.

So ideally for bugdet I would say : switch to full lacing shoes, it's a pain to put on and off but it stays in place pretty good.

The other technical solution to the problem is to buy some fiberglass reinforced strapped shoes. It's more expensive, I myself have an old pair of Carnac Quartz (it's composed with four fiberglass straps instead of three) that where somewhat expensive at launch (around 200dollars) but with it you can hammer the pedal, it won't budge at all because of the fiberglass which prevent the velcro to expand.


How much maximum force can be applied by fingers on the brake lever?

If your question is about the maximum hand grip can applied to brake so that the braking system will not be broken apart, then it is as another answer.

However it has little value on designing a braking system.

How I interpret the question is: how much force is typically applied to the brake lever to stop the bike.

There are many designing considerations and I only list a few main one:

Maximum force on to lever that a person feels comfortable at gripping for a long duration (for me it's about 5-7 kg or 50-70N)
Modulation how well the spread between the the force at which the bike starts to decelerate, and the Maximum force. This depends on the braking technology, the pad/rim surface/rotor. But in general, disc brake is superior because of the (more) linearity in braking.
Linearity: how linear the stopping power versus the force applied by brakes? This is interesting and thus somehow explains why road bike is equipped with caliper, hybrid with cantilever, and mountain bike with disc brake. Linearity improves as we go from caliper-cantilever-disc. The discrepancy is large when higher stopping power is required. But at smaller (required) stopping power, a caliper is not that much different front disc brake for a given braking range.
Maximum stopping power This is safety feature, but it should not be easy to flip the bike with too little gripping onto the brake lever. This has to take into account the bicycle geometry, and that is why road bike is normally equipped with caliper brake. Even some (supposed-to-be) road bike has disc brake, the rotor/leverage/cylinder was designed so that it has much less stopping power than a mountain bike disc brake.

Well, it depends on type of brake and how fast you would like to stop the bike, at what speed, and at what momentum.

If you just want a number to work with (for your home work?), I can give you.
A normal cable brake on flat handle bar would need about 40-50 N (3-4 kg) for hard stop, about 20-40N (1-2 kg) for normal deceleration.

Same stopping power with drop handlebar and caliper brake would need about 1.5 to 2 times as much (comparing Figure 1 and 2), depends on hand position (leverage). Typically hands at hood position requires more force for same stopping power in comparison to hands at drop position.

Same stopping power with hydraulic disc brake needs about 0.5-0.7 fold. This depends on the rotor size/pattern and type of ceramic and thus it is hard to quantify. But the general still holds, if you are designing a disc brake that has an enormous stopping power for normal stopping, you actually degrades the modulation ability of said brake.

Figure 1a. Normal barking force on drop position of drop handlebar

Figure 1b. Braking force required to lever on emergency stop on drop position of drop handlebar

Figure 2a Braking force required onto lever in cantilever brake for normal stop

Figure 2b Braking force required onto lever in cantilever brake for hard stop


Convert single speed, steel framed, vintage track bike to geared

Yes. Absolutely. Simply install an internal gear hub.
Prices for internal gear hubs are basically what you want to spend: You can buy decent second hand IGHs (SRAM 7 speed, 300% gear spread, super reliable) for as low as 25 Euros, or you can invest roughly a thousand euros into a new top-of-the-list IGH (Rohloff, 14 gears, 500% gear spread, super reliable, no-delay switching, losses similar to a chain-shift bike), and there are quite a few models in between these extremes.
In any case, with an IGH you get much more robust gear shifting than with a chain-shift bike, and you won't need to dish the rear wheel or widen the stays of your frame(*). It's really the worry free solution.

*) Unless the frame was built for axles shorter than the standard 135mm that is common for single speed and IGH bikes. But even if that's the case, you won't need to widen the stays nearly as much as you would need for a large cassette. You'll most likely be able to do it with your hands alone.


Return the bolt. You need to turn it out only for a half inch, then easily strike it with a hammer. (Don't make a strong strike, to not drive in the quill stem if it rusted!) Usually it will be enough, Yet it can be a little rusted, so hitting with your hand on the handles will help. Sometimes it's very rusted, so you will need to use some oil to deal with it. Very rarely it rusted so much, that nothing will help.


I recently bought a bike with an Alfine 8 transmission. I plan to add a Chain Glider. It will mean changing the front chain ring to one of the supported sizes, so I will buy the Chain Glider, a Surly chainring and new rear sprocket from SJS Cycles on the basis of this thread. Here and here are some positive reviews.


Safe is a relative term in this instance. A shirt might protect you in a fall, but only just. You'll know immediately whether a shirt can protect your skin from sticks, branches, and prickers dangling into the trail. If you were going fast enough flying insects may even make an impact, though I can't imagine it'd be terribly painful.

Shirts do offer some protection from two things: sunburns (and subsequent skin cancer) and bites from insects (potentially carrying disease.) For lightly complexioned people, skin cancer is a huge danger and can develop even without having been sunburned. Insect-borne diseases are also a big deal in most places. Having been treated for Lyme disease, I can attest to the importance of wearing insect repellent and, yes, shirts.

Additionally, that thin layer of material actually keeps you cooler by blocking the sun from reaching your skin - this is the same reason why desert dwelling peoples wear lightweight material all over their bodies. Having a shirt on also keeps you from sweating all over your bike and other gear.

In terms of etiquette: if you're out in the woods and there aren't many people around, go for it. If you're bumping elbows with people on a multi-use trail, maybe consider some modesty.


Why has my inner tube enlarged after moving from bicycle to repair

You can just stuff it into the tire. It will be fine.

Get one of the tire's beads on the rim.
Put a little air in the tube so it holds its shape.
Put the tube's valve through the valve hole and work the rest of the tube inside the tire.
Work the other bead onto the rim. As you get close to the end, you may need to deflate the tube. Make sure none of the tube is pinched between the tire and rim.


Tire slips off the rim when inflated to 8bar

Especially when seating a new tire for the first time (and probably more so on a "virgin" rim) it's wise to inflate to about 1/3 or 1/2 final pressure and then roll/bounce the wheel around quite a bit, to work the bead into position.  Then deflate, break the bead loose all around, and repeat the process.

Then, as you're doing the final inflation, watch the joint between tire and rim all around.  Usually there will be ribs in the side of the tire that should be a constant distance from the rim.  If you see the ribs moving up or down relative to the rim, stop inflating and manually work that section of tire back even.

Generally once the tire has been ridden a few miles it takes a "set" and will then reseat relatively easily if you have to repair the tube.

But do note that there are variations in tires and rims, some due to spec differences and some due to manufacturer differences.  It's possible in several scenarios to have a tire and rim that are simply not compatible.


Chain keeps skipping - did I cut it too short?

The cassette does not look worn out

A cassette that is worn does not look worn.
It'll skip anyway despite not looking worn.
I suspect your cassette is simply too worn.
(Interestingly, for chainrings the opposite is true: a chainring can look very visibly worn due to the non-even wearing at different crank orientations, and still work.)

The new chain barely skips at all, except for in the highest gears/smallest three cogs on the back cassette. The skipping comes progressively often as the gear increases.

This is exactly the symptoms of a worn out cassette. The skipping happens at the smallest sprockets. The smaller the sprocket is, the more likely it's to skip.
The skipping always happens when putting a new chain. With the old worn out chain, it won't skip unless it's practically destroyed as the cassette wear matches the chain wear. After a new chain is put in, the wears no longer match and thus the skipping starts.


If you know you are doing this and accept the risk there is not really any reason not to do it.

At the least you may get increased bearing wear. However, what I would be worried about is cracking the bottom bracket shell because you are moving the bearing and therefore the leverage point further outboard. That is going to increase the stress on the edge of the shell, even though the GXP cups are longer and have more threaded area than the Hollowtech units.


What is the difference in shifting performance between Campy rear derailleurs?

Performance wise the largest difference is that mid- and higher level derailleurs have ball bearings while low end has nylon sleeve bearings. That and better quality materials together make more durable product.

Paying for high end gets you carbon fiber parts which mainly save weight and ceramic ball bearings which are mostly useless in bikes.


Do you think I can put road bike handlebars to this bike?

Let's assume that by 'road bars' you mean drop style handlebars.

You can replace the bars, but you will also need to find some drop bar brake lever / gear shifter units that work with the existing brake calipers and derailleurs.

Looks like someone fitted a riser bar and stem and some inexpensive twist shifters. We can't see if the derailleurs have been replaced as well. If you add info about the derailleurs (or pictures) we can provide more specific advice.

A drop bar bike would typically have a longer stem, so you will want to replace the current one. you can choose a stem length to get the riding position you want.


I think Daniel's trying to say that in an effort to reach the largest audience motor makers opt for a hub design because it is the cheapest. They're certainly the cheapest after-market upgrades. Motors that interact with the drivetrain can be more efficient but require solving engineering problems and so the cost goes up. Using the bike's transmission allows the motor to stay within an RPM range that can maximize power output for the energy used.

All motors have a sweet spot of efficiency vs power output and RPMs. Check out this article by Todd Fahrner of Clever Cycles describing motor performance. His choice to make Stokemonkey an external motor that drives the cranks is to allow you to shift normally and keep the motor RPM in the sweet spot of the efficiency curve of the motor.

Here's a great simulator that'll let you play around with different setups.

The Endless Sphere forums are a good place to check claims from manufacturers. Here's a thread where a large grain of salt is being applied to the claims from Busettii

Good luck!

Full Disclosure: I used to work at at Clever Cycles.


Is it possible to increase travel on Cannondale Scalpel?

If you get a fork with longer travel, it'll result in a less-steep head tube angle, and a higher BB. I'd say it's worth trying, but in your case there is a major complication: the Lefty fork. So you have two options:

Get another Lefty with longer travel. And I don't think they sell those separately, so that's probably impossible.
Get a normal fork. And this will means replacing the parts that are designed to work with the Lefty: the front wheel, the stem, and the headset (you'll have to get a special reducer headset to make it fit in the over-sized headtube.) This is definitely doable, but you'll be better off just buying another bike.


Sun Tour Cyclone brake levers and brake cable housing

Generally, if you were to roll the shroud back, remove the cable, squeeze the lever all the way, and then look, you would see that, with the lever squeezed, there is a sort of hole in the lever arm exposed where the barrel-shaped cable end fits.  You need several inches of slack in the cable to get it into/out of that hole.

On re-reading the question: It sounds as if your complaint may be that the ferrule on the end of the cable housing has slipped out of the hole on the end of the brake lever assembly (vs the cable inside coming loose from the moving lever).  If this is the case, that housing is held in place by "habit" -- there's no crimp or anything that holds it there, except that tension from the brake cable keeps it in place.  If the tension is gone, either because the cable has been loosened at the other end, or because the cable has developed too much friction inside, then the housing end will be pushed from its resting point as you operate the lever.


Why do my rear caliper cable becomes loose after some squeezes in the brake lever?

If you fasten the cable anchor with the quick release at its "tight" position and then it's able to slip into a "loose" position, that sounds like a likely culprit to me. I haven't encountered a misbehaving BR-5800 QR yet so I don't actually know what to tell you there, but I think either the silver part in front comes off and is covering a bolt head that holds the whole thing together, or the whole anchor assembly threads in and out of it. I would investigate that and get the issue you describe taken care of either way. You want those dots to have zero ability to come unaligned unintentionally.

Other possible causes of the cable slackening issue:

The cable is slipping from the anchor bolt.
You've got braided    housing that's bursting through a ferrule,
possibly the hidden one    going into the brake lever. Or it could have been installed without a ferrule. (Coil housings
don't need a ferrule here    but braided/compressionless ones do.)
Someone installed a poorly fitting ferrule at the brake lever end
and it's gradually getting wedged further in.
The cable is in the process of fraying apart    somewhere.
There's a rubber cable doughnut or three caught in a    housing stop
getting gradually squished more and more.
The piece of housing going into the brake lever isn't long enough, and as you squeeze the brake, it's getting worked in further as it gets increasingly kinked where it leaves the tape.


Basic troubleshooting steps

1) Is there power coming from the dynohub?  Use a multimeter on AC 6V (possibly 20Volt setting required on a standard meter)

2) Is the power capable of flowing to the lamps?  Use a meter on continuity-beep or on resistance setting to check.

3) Does the lamp fitting carry power to the lamp?  Same as #2

4) Does the lamp work?  Use continuity or resistance test again.

Replacing the wire is a good idea if it looks manky, and new lamp holders will give you more light for the same input.  The hub is the most expensive part.


Do tire / tube / valve combinations that don't leak air exist?

You assume the whole leak is the valve.  Rubber is not air tight.  Most of the leak is through the rubber.

Clearly can create a near airtight valve.  And with enough rubber a near air tight tube.  But it would be heavy.  Just pump your tires once a week.  I see the link said pump daily.  OK, at least once a week.  On my road bike I pump before every ride.


Front chainring issues + can I install Falcon Friction thumb shifters to an Shimano STX derailleur set?

The beauty with friction shift levers is they're compatible with almost every derailleur.

The greatest challenge is to get the rear shifting dialed in with the closely spaced rear cassette cogs on 10, 11 and 12 speed setups. But your Hilltopper was probably sold with 7 or 8 speeds in the back which will work perfectly for friction shifters. If one over or under shifts a bit the chain will be noisy, so be prepared to have to make minor adjustments to quiet any noise. That's just how thing work with friction shifters, but again with a 7 or 8 speed system this shouldn't be a problem.

Oh and yes, with many (most?) friction front shifters one must push and hold the shift lever until the chain actually engages with the chainring teeth. As soon as the chain engages it will begin to climb onto the big ring and the shift is essentially done.

That said, it sounds like the FD HIGH travel limit screw needs to be unscrewed (counter clockwise) a bit to all the FD to push the chain up onto the big chainring.  I would suggest a half turn. Check to see if this helps and incrementally unscrew the limit a 1/4 turn until the FD shifts quickly.

If you find the FD overshifts (i.e. drops the chain onto the crankarm) simply reduce the FD limit by turning the limit screw 1/4 turn clockwise.

A couple other things to check:

Make sure the cage of the FD needs to be parallel to the chainring. To improve shifting to the larger chainring one can slightly angle the cage outward (i.e. the rear of the FD cage is pointed out very slightly).  This however will reduce the shifting performance to smaller chainrings.  If you do this just make certain the crank arm does NOT contact the FD cage.
Ensure there is at about 1 mm and definitely not more than 3mm clearance between the bottom of the FD cage and the top of the chainring teeth. Too much clearance and the chain & FD can flex which will slow shifting.

That vintage Hilltopper is a great bike. Enjoy!


How useful/valuable is internal cabling?

One difference that internal cables make is if you transport your bike by car or have to haul it around by hand.

Because the cables are inside the frame, they are less likely to get pinched by the clamp on your car-mount (especially if you use a trunk mount that clamps the top-tube). This is also true for car/bus bike mounts that clamp the down tube.
If you are carrying the bike up flights of steps, having internal cables means your hand/shoulder isn't rubbing the cables when you carry it by the top-tube.
If you have external cables on your downtube, they can get banged a bit if you lock your bike with a U-lock through the front wheel and triangle. Nothing critical.

These are all really, really minor. Internal cables are more about the aesthetics than anything else.


Tool/proceedure to remove Shimano direct mount rim brake bearings (Ultegra in this case)

I would probably leave them alone unless you have a lot of confidence in yourself as a mechanic. Those are the brake posts that are pressed (not threaded) in at the factory, and serve as the brake mounting posts (since the frame doesn't have posts).
If you must disassemble these, you can watch a video of someone with very shaky hands pulling a slightly earlier generation of direct mount brake apart here:
Shimano Direct Mount Rear Brake Repair and Mods Tutorial Guide How To DIY
You'll have to make a couple of tools yourself, and if you're lucky, you won't scratch up the caliper or accidentally break any of the parts. The caliper posts aren't sealed at all, so if this is a chainstay-mounted break, it's likely that a bunch of grit got in there and is making the post/brake body interface gritty.
This newer generation of brake may also be flange-riveted at the back of the brake body, meaning it's a one-way fit; once disassembled, it will not fit back together properly at all.


Cost of converting to tubeless tires on MTB

If you have older rims that you can't set up tubeless for some reason. ( i.e. pinned not welded joints), there is the rather unfortunately named "ghetto tubeless" setup option. There are two main methods for this:

use an inner tube from the next smaller tire size (i.e. 24 in for 26 in), inflate, mount on rim and then cut along outside diameter so the tube folds over the rim. Trim and then mount tire so that it overlaps.
Use layers of gorilla or similar packing tape to completely seal the rim up to the side walls.

Neither of these is a complete description, I suggest you google for more detailed methods. I wouldn't use either of these methods for tire pressures over 40 PSI.

For any MTB rim/tire that has been made in the last 5 years or so that I have tried, I've had good luck setting them up tubeless for low PSI just using sealant and a standard rim tape/valve kit. The sealant does a reasonable job of sealing the sidewalls on even non tubeless ready tires.

There are a bunch of tricks to getting "standard" tires to setup and seal enough for the sealant to do its magic. If you want things to just work, tubeless ready tires and rims make the whole thing much simpler.


I can't identify my bike... Serial number ACM05F006119 20 inch bmx?

Serial number is quite useless, but still, a bike with a similar serial number can be seen here:
https://bikeindex.org/bikes/633505

Serial number may be similar by chance, or it may come from the same factory.
If your bike is similar to the bike depicted there, you may have got a bmx branded MCS, unlikely it is from 80s, likely to be some mass produced aluminium thing similar to a bicycle. The bike in the picture above is from 2005.
Check this models gallery:
https://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/mcs/
to see if yours is similar to any of them.


Your frame is designed for the type of cantilever brake you already had, which has pads closer to the pivot than modern brakes. Unfortunately it looks like you are stuck with your old brakes.

The old brakes can be improved with new cables and pads and lubricating the pivots.


mtb hubs why is his hubs louder but on paper they are the same

Something happening inside the freehub is different. Possible variants that I can think of:

One hub has more or different thicker grease on its pawls (or equivalent parts responsible for  enforcing the one-way rotation). The grease adds "liquid" friction between the parts, preventing them from smashing as fast against each other with every step of the ratcheting mechanism. Without enough kinetic energy present in pawls to be dissipated as heat/sound, the clicking is not as loud.

One hub is older/newer, and its pawls are worn/fresh. Again, the pattern of the pawls striking against their counterparts may affect how loud the sound will be.

Hubs have slightly different internal design even if they are marked with the same model name. Their internal components may be from different production batches, or minor revisions can be made without changing publicly visible names of products.


Period of adaptation between a mountain bike and a road bike

I'm an MTB rider who occasionally got into a Road Bike for 60 km rides. (5 hours aprox). From experience I would advise several short rides before a very long one. Ride until you feel uncomfortable and keep going for another 10-15 minutes but don't let yourself get into [severe] pain.

For example: Get two 30+ minutes a week for 2 weeks, then grow to two 45+ minute rides a week for another two weeks. So in a month (+/-) you'd be ready for a 1.5 hour weekend ride. After that you grow as you see fit. (These numbers are just a rough reference).

Also, if you are a casual (read non competitive) rider, do not set the bike for the most aggressive position, that is, set the stem angled upwards and choose a short one, place the stem spacers bellow the stem to raise the handlebar.

As you get more used to the bike, you may want to progressively make changes (adjustments or component swaps) towards a more aerodynamic position, but for starters, I recommend setting the handlebar such that the flat part of the handlebar is at the same distance and relative height from the saddle as your MTB (or as close as possible).

Indeed MTB and Road bike geometries are very different, but the measurements I found to be more relevant (regarding pain from not being used to them) are the effective distance from the saddle to the grip point, and the height difference among them.

That means that measuring top tube, stem, etc. is a bit fuzzy and of less practical value for the casual rider. Instead, Measure the distance from the center of the saddle (roughly where your sit bones rest while riding) to the point where you actually grip the handlebar.

For MTB you got only one grip position, but for road you have at least four: On the flats, on the drops, on the hoods and on the "corners" of the handlebar. Most frequently the rider that comes from an MTB geometry would spend more time on the flats and will progress towards the hoods.

With that in mind, if the road bike has the chosen grip position further away from the saddle and/or lower (compared to the MTB previusly ridden) then the torso will be at a lower angle, puting more weight on the arms and needing more effort to keep the head up.

Regarding this last point: Use a road specific helmet or remove the visor from the MTB one. This is because the visor usually found on MTB helmets is designed to be used with an upright head. On a road bike you would have your head leaned forward, so helmet's visor, if any, gets in the way, forcing you to raise up your head, putting additional strain on the muscles of the back of the neck.


Is it fine to clean bearings with gasoline?

Gasoline was used for many years as an inexpensive readily available solvent. There are a couple of real life issues with using gasoline for a solvent. It is very flammable thus a fire hazard. It is absorbed through the skin and it is toxic when inhaled in high concentrations. You have to find a way of disposing of the remaining dirty solvent. Pouring it on the ground can contaminate drinking water. If you have no other means of cleaning the bearings you can wipe them with clean rags. That still leaves the issue of disposing of the dirty rags .


Exertion time vs heart rate or %LT(Lactate Threshold)?

Source - Metabolic Factors Limiting Performance in Marathon Runners

(While the above paper is aimed at marathon runners, I'm not aware of any reason it can't be applied to other endurance sports such as long-distance cycling.)

Exercise is fuelled by a combination of fat (plasma free fatty acids plus muscle triglycerides) and carbohydrate (plasma glucose plus muscle glycogen). The proportions used vary depending on the intensity of the exercise.

Exercise at a particular intensity can be maintained until you run out of carbohydrate - "hitting the wall" or "bonking". Intensity is expressed as a % of VO2max, which can be estimated from heart rate.

In order to work out how much carbohydrate you have available, you need to estimate how much glycogen you can store in your leg muscles, how much glycogen you can store in your liver and how much carbohydrate you can take on as food (gels, sports drinks, etc) during exercise. The methods section of the paper goes into this in detail.

In order to apply this practically to cycling you should take measurements of the power you can produce at various intensities (heart rates). If you don't have the equipment to measure power, then measure speed on a flat course and estimate the power from that.

Having done all that you should be able to calculate the total energy required for a particular distance at a particular speed and what proportion of that energy will come from carbohydrate. You also have an estimate of how much carbohydrate you have available and that will tell you if you're likely to hit the wall / bonk.


Is there a way to merge tracks within a GPX file?

I'm not sure how the Edge 1000 works, and whether or not it allows showing multiple tracks. Some other Garmin models can do this (ie Etrex), but they work differently in a number of ways.

Yes, joining tracks in a GPX file is possible, there is a wide variety of software to do this. One option is Garmin BaseCamp, which is available as a free download for Windows or Mac OS. Or you could try EasyGPS or QLandKarte GT. Or GPX files are just XML, so you can edit them in a text editor. If you remove the </trkseg> and </trk> tags from the end of one track, and the <trk> and <trkseg> from the start of the next, this will combine them into a single track.

Note there may be drawbacks to this: A GPX track is just a list of points. So a single track needs to be in order, and continuous from the start to the end. So a single track would work for a single mountain bike path, or a continuous loop. But it wouldn't work if the paths splits into several alternative routes, or if you have several unconnected paths. Also there may be a limit on the length of a track you can load on the Edge, ie the number of trackpoints. I'm not familiar with that model, but some Garmins are limited to 10,000 points in a single track. Tracks in a GPX file can have names, but I don't think these will be shown on Garmin.
Better solution
Instead of loading GPX tracks on the Garmin, a better solution could be to produce a map, in Garmin IMG format. Probably the easiest way to do this is to use Javawa IMGfromGPX. You can give a number of GPX files as input, and it will create a map. Advantages of this are you can have as many paths as you want, they don't all have to be continuous or connected. And you can set different styles and colours for each.
Then load this map onto the Edge. It can be used instead of any other maps you have loaded, or as a transparent overlay on top of other maps.
OpenStreetMap
You could also try OpenStreetMap. If your bike trails are not on OpenStreetMap, you can add them - using aerial imagery if available, or GPX tracks you have recorded. Then you can use OpenStreetMap data to produce maps in Garmin format, or download some ready made OSM Garmin maps. Then these can be loaded onto the Edge 1000, and it will show your trails.


As @Kibbee stated give a little time. Don't expect to be able to do a one hour ride and be painfree the next day. Try to increase your saddle time gradually over a couple weeks. You can do several short rides a day to toughen-up the sore spots. The saddle may not be the only issue. Did you consult with anyone about bikefit? The bike may need some adjustments to fit you correctly. If after a few weeks your body is still complaining take your bike to your local shop. Have them look at your bike and the saddle. Explain to them where the pain is and ask for help in choosing a saddle that fits your body. Most shops will give a fit or comfort guarranty for a certain number of days.`


Does a Tern Cargo Rack fit on a Bike Friday NWT (whilst accomodating Ortlieb Backroller Classic Panniers)?

Yes, a Tern Cargo Rack fits on a Bike Friday NWT and a Bike Friday NWT can be equipped with both, the Tern Spartan front rack (see Bike Friday NWT with Tern Spartan Rack (front)) and the Tern Cargo Rack (rear).

However, one should be careful if the Bike Friday is equipped with a SRAM Dual Drive. The Tern Cargo rack may not be wide enough to prevent large panniers from touching/sitting on top of the clickbox (blue) of the internal gear hub. A modification of the Tern Cargo rack can solve this problem (the green line is the height between the bar to which the panniers are attached and the clickbox of the internal gear hub):

To prevent the panniers from touching the clickbox of the SRAM Dual Drive internal gear hub I widened the Tern Cargo Rack at the bottom. For this, I choose wider screws to increase the distance between the screw thread in the bike's frame and the bars of the Tern Cargo Rack. To maintain stability I inserted a second perforated steel sheet. I don't really know how to describe it very well but I hope my pictures do the job of explaining:

The Tern Cargo Rack also does a very good job in terms of protecting the fenders when folding a Bike Friday NWT.

And finally, a photograph with mounted panniers which shows the gap between the clickbox of the SRAM Dual Drive internal gear hub and the mounted pannier.


BSA refers to the diameter and thread pitch of the threaded bottom bracket shell in the frame. Square Taper and ISIS refer to the crank interfaces on the ends of the axle of cartridge bottom brackets (that fit in BSA threader shells).

See this Sheldon Brown page for info on cartridge bottom brackets (pictures near the bottom).

A quick look at the Cyclone page shows they make kits compatible with 120mm MTB BSA BB shells. If you are using your existing cranks you'll need the kit with the axle that matches your cranks.

Note there are 5 crank-axle interface standards: JIS an ISO square taper, 2 versions of Octalink and ISIS, so make sure you know what your cranks are if you plan to re-use them.


how to increace the friction between tyre and road

Reducing friction (or grip in layman's terms) would cause your wheel to simply spin in circles when you pedal and you would fall down.  Increased friction between the tire and the riding surface is the goal of nearly every tire manufacturer.

You could easily coat your tire in oil to accomplish the lower friction you are talking about.


Steel vintage bike restoration and modification, troubleshooting help

I had a Schwinn World Tourist and those had the freewheel system, too. It might... might be because you have two freewheels. The bikes that had those, had fixed gears on the wheel, since it was the crank that coasted. And yes, the whole point of the system was so you could change gears by coasting.


If the image above is correct, the frame-bag is great if all you're carrying is a credit card and a puncture repair kit. It's light, cheap, unobtrusive and doesn't add much air resistance. But if you're carrying even a rain jacket, it'll be hard to find a frame bag big enough. The frame-bag is not waterproof either, so it would be best not to carry a phone or cash in it (unless your currency is plastic).

Even if you found a big frame bag, the capacity is limited by your frame size and the width you can fit between your knees as you ride. So a triangle perhaps 500mm on a side and 100mm thick (it will overhang the bottom bracket a little, but most cranks allow that). Call it 12 litres. Bigger than a handlebar bag, but not by much. That's enough for a change of clothes and lunch if you choose wisely.

The advantage of panniers is they come in a range of sizes, from much bigger than a frame-bag to really quite large. You can find waterproof panniers as well as back-pack converting ones, front and rear panniers, and multi-compartment panniers. The disadvantages are that they're big, obvious, expensive, heavy and require racks on the bike as well.

People carry ridiculous amounts of gear in, on, and around panniers. I've toured with people who had 80kg/150 litres of stuff on their bikes, and I've toured with four 60 litre panniers on my bike. There are limits to what you can get into panniers, but compared to the 12 litres in a frame bag the real limit is how much weight you can deal with.


I found out that the trike is a 1975 Free Spirit.


Are disc brake rotors interchangeable between brands?

tldr: be sure new rotor works with metal pads or get a set of resin pads.

Generally, disk brake rotors of same diameter are thought of as cross-compatible, but there are some edge cases when this might not be true:

Rotor thickness might not be the same across manufacturers and disk brake calipers might be designed with thicker/thinner rotor in mind. Examples: Tektro TR180-16 / TR203-16 has thickness of 1.85mm and TR180-17 / TR203-17 is 2.3mm thick; also, see Lennard Zinn's piece on the subject.
As you already noted, rotor manufacturer might require or recommend to use certain kind of pads. Examples: Shimano SM-RT56 is compatible with resin pads only (literally written on the rotor) while SM-RT64 can work with both resin and metal pads. More exotic rotors might also require a matching set of pads.

Let's put all of the above to your case:

A relevant quote from Zinn's piece:

  Shimano rotors are made 1.8mm thick and should be replaced when the
  thickness has been reduced to 1.5mm.  Since 2010, the 1.5mm minimum recommended rotor thickness has been printed on Shimano rotors.

Based on published TRP rotor thickness, I assume TR160-35 is most likely 1.85mm thick. According to Shimano, a 0.05mm thickness difference is in a range of expected rotor wear, as per quote above. So, no problems here.
Tektro HD-R310 comes with "Metal Ceramic Compound" pads. That means the new rotor should either support metal pads (like top of the line SM-RT900) or you should get a set of resin pads if new rotor requires these.


There are several reasons for muscle spasms/cramps, but they basically boil down to one of two causes:

Some sort of bogus nerve activation
The inability of the muscles to "reset" themselves

The bogus nerve activation situation can occur because of some sort of nerve irritation, or due to one of several somewhat rare and rather serious medical conditions.  Given that the latter are unlikely, nerve irritation -- either in the spine or where the nerves pass through the piriformis muscle in the butt -- would be the possibility to be concerned with.  But if you had this you'd likely be complaining of "electric" sensations running down the leg.

So most likely the problem is with the muscles being unable to "reset".

It's important to understand how muscle cells work.  They do not need (new) energy to contract.  Rather, a muscle cell is like a stretched spring that's been propped into the stretched position -- it's ready to contract as soon as the "prop" is removed.  To remove the "prop" and allow the muscle to contract, the associated neuron causes calcium to be released into the muscle cells.  This triggers a cascade of chemical reactions and the muscle contracts.

To "reset" the muscle the calcium must be "pumped" out of the cells and energy (glucose converted to ATP) must be used to mechanically re-extend the muscle fiber.

A cramp occurs when something prevents this "reset".

The two likely causes of this inability to reset are a failure of the calcium "pump" and the simple absence of sufficient energy to do the reset.  This can be more than a simply unpleasant situation, since if a muscle cell is fully "depolarized" for long enough (more than a minute or so) it dies.  (Thankfully, this full depolarization occurs fairly rarely in healthy individuals, though it's not uncommon in football "boot camps" when run by clueless coaches.)

Several factors are involved in the calcium pump mechanism, but, in addition to glucose/ATP, the "electrolytes" sodium, potassium, and magnesium play important roles.

(There are also several genetic disorders such as myoadenylate deaminase deficiency and McArdle's Disease that can cause "reset" cramps in susceptible individuals.  And MADD is actually fairly common, affecting about one individual in 50.)

So basically a shortage of glucose, sodium, or potassium can lead to failure to reset and associated cramping.  A shortage of glucose will generally affect a small portion of the muscle being most strenuously exercised, vs causing a cramp of an entire muscle group.  So if your cramp is widespread and not isolated to a small portion of muscle then it's probably due to electrolyte imbalance.

In particular, when major muscles are being exercised to the max and the body is running low on electrolytes, it will "borrow" them from muscles that are not being so vigorously exercised.  So you may experience, eg, cramps of the muscles along the inside of the legs, even though you're not exercising those muscles to any significant degree.  (But you might also experience cramps of the muscles you ARE exercising vigorously, depending on a number of factors.)

A widespread cramp is thus generally a sign of a electrolyte imbalance, and ingesting more sodium, potassium, and/or magnesium is probably called for.  (The body has substantial stores of calcium in the bones, so a short-term deficiency of calcium is unlikely.  Plus, a localized shortage of calcium causes a sort of paralysis vs cramping.)

Note that what you experience a day or two after the cramp gives some clue as to what happened.  With a simple cramp the affected muscles are apt to be sore the next day (and for maybe a day or two thereafter), just as if you had overworked them in the gym.  But if the pain takes 36-48 hours to appear (and the pain remains for weeks) it's likely some degree of rhabdomyolysis -- actual muscle injury due to depolarized muscle cells.  This would be a clue that you're doing something seriously wrong.


Electronic bicycling ranking for the office cyclists?

Strava has an API so if you all use it to log your rides, you could pull the data for each rider and do any analysis you want.

There are heaps of people (including me) using the API for additional statistics and analysis.


Is it possible to use a tailgate pad and hitch mount rack at the same time?

You have a truck with an open utility bed?  You can put at lease half a dozen bikes in there, the problem is getting the bikes to not damage each other.   Some people build racks inside the bed to hold bikes, alternate front and rear facing, and then hold them down with rope or a strap.
The tailgate covers are more for getting bikes out quicker when shuttling up a climb where the riders won't/can't ride up.
The other problem is how do you intend to carry five people in a ute - is it a double cab with only a token-gesture load bed ?  If so, the smaller kids bikes can go in the bed and the two biggest bikes can go in the towball hitched rack.


Do tubed tires fit all rims, or is there anything I should watch out for?

If it's 25 years old, it's a tubed tire. 26x2.125 is a very standard MTB tire from that era. If you get any MTB 26" tire in the 2.2 to 1.5 in range that should work just fine on your bike.

For any tire made in the last 20 years there should be an ETRTO number on it as well, this is a number like 50-559. Its' designed tire width and rim diameter. So 26 x 2.125 would be 26 inch ( or 559mm ) rim and 2.125 inch width ( or ~55mm width).

I would put some money in your budget for new tubes as well.

For more on tire sizes check out Sheldon Browns Tire Sizing Guide


Is klunking the father of mountain biking?

Klunker as a term is synonymous with early mountain bike (as it is currently known). Klunkers were developed by customising early beach cruisers on 26" wheels (Schwinn predominantly) by spreading the rear dropouts to make them multi-geared and adding moto handle bars and brakes due to their durability and strength (brands such as Magura were initially moto brands).

The term klunker was used to describe these built up bikes on cruiser frames.

This style of bike and mountain riding first appeared in Marin County, California in the mid 70's prior to the first purpose designed mountain bike appearing in 78. If you look at the proponents of the early mountain biking movement and design; Gary Fisher, Joe Breeze, Charlie Kelly, Tom Ritchey and Keith Bontrager (there are going to be many more....) all were active in Marin and it's surrounding counties at the time.


I'm not sure what kind of 'crunch' you experience, but I have a possibly similar behavior of my Alfine 11 hub when I switch gears and I apply some force on the pedals.

Resting my foot on the pedal while standing and shifting is enough for the internal gears to not complete the shift, when I start pedaling, the gears engage in the speed I shifted giving a noticeable crunching noise.


What is an asymmetric wheel and why would you use it?

The "asymmetric wheel" terminology is a little misleading. This particular wheel has an asymmetric rim.

Any bike with a rear derailer setup will have an asymmetric rear wheel, because the gears take up space.

The usual way to handle this is that the spokes on the gear side have less of an angle (closer to vertical) than on the non-gear side. (That is, they have different dish angles) Since an angled spoke also pulls outward slightly and the horizontal forces need to balance, the gear side spokes also have higher tension.

That more vertical angle and higher tension makes the gear side weaker. Combined with pedaling force tending to apply more on the gear side, the most common spoke failure is on the gear side of the rear wheel.

In other words: the gear side of the rear wheel is the limiting factor in the strength/lightness balance when engineering and building a rear wheel.

When a rear rim is asymmetric, what that usually means is that they've moved the line that the spokes all connect into away from the gears. This allows the angle to be slightly further from vertical while forcing the non-gear side a bit closer to vertical. That is, both sides will have closer to the same spoke angle. That means that the tension on both sides can be closer to matching.

Having the dish angle and tension closer to matching allows for the hub and spokes to be stronger and/or lighter. (but may require strengthening the rim slightly)


Dog Trailer Wheel size - for commuting/touring

I don't have a dog, but that means my trailer passenger can speak.

Specifically she can complain about the rough ride compared to the child seat on the back of my bike.  That's with 16x1.75s pumped up to a pressure intended more for her comfort than my ease of riding (compared to a seat with minimal padding over the top of a 700x28 at 80psi).  Trailers are much rougher than bikes, so you want to minimise that.  Go for the bigger wheels.  The higher centre of gravity isn't nearly as much of an issue as it would be on a bike, because trailers  are so much more stable.

In addition to the choice of wheels, remember that it's much harder to avoid bumps when you've got 3 tracks to keep off them, two of which are behind you and not in line with your body.  With cars around you often can't keep the nearside trailer wheel out of all the potholes. Your passenger, whether human or canine, is likely to get bumped around more than you.


Get an adjustable wrench and a small piece of cardboard. Smash the cardboard as flat as you can and fold it over the bead of the rim- this keeps the wrench from gouging the aluminum rim. Adjust the adjustable wrench down as far as you can while still able to slide it over the cardboard that's protecting the rim. Now, very gently torque the dent back straight with the wrench- it won't take much effort.

This will work for small deformations only. If you see any further indication of damage after doing this, such as a crack in the rim, don't ride it.


Having a look at the link provided in the comments the wheel make and model is pretty clear. Following a swift Google search the same wheel is advertised on Amazon as a 26".

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hybrid-Front-Wheel-Knives-Dx3000/dp/6254401010

So, any 26" tyre  should fit you fine, although I'd be questionable of the seller, as mentioned in the comments above.


Are out of date energy gels bad for you?

I don't think this is problematic. Those gels consist mainly of sugar which is a good preserving agent and are sealed air-tight which means they shoudn't get easily contaminated. So if none of the following conditions are fulfilled, I wouldn't mind using such a gel that is some months over their "best before" date:

The sachet hull is intact, i.e. there are no signs that unwanted air could have gotten in. Look for unwanted openings like deep scratches in the foil, rips, or signs that the package has been havily compressed or worked.
The gels have not been stored in extreme conditions. As long as they were at moderate temperature and not exposed to sunlight most of the time everything should be fine. Also having carried them in your backpack for the weekly ride in summer should not be a problem. I would be somewhat concerned if you had had them with you on a two or three weeks tour in hot climate.

So basically you should be safe and even if you have a spoiled one you should notice that as soon as you taste it – I don't think they will spoil in a way that you cannot notice but will get sick from it. If you are unsure or have to rely on your food on a longer ride do the following: Try one of them at home to see if it's OK and take other food with you on tour as well, so that you can leave the gels alone in case you are not sure about them.


Is it normal for a bike to skid even after both brakes are applied?

To answer the question shortly: yes, it is normal.

When braking, the inertia of the rider (and the bike) causes the load on the rear tire to decrease. It leads to lower friction against the surface, and possibly skidding. In extreme cases, when braking with the front brake, the rear tire is lifed off the ground completely.

Especially in fast mountain biking, the rider must lean back or "hang" as far back as feasible when braking, to maintain better traction and prevent possible falling over the handlebar.


1 Is there a consensus that renovating a classic bike from a reputable company is fair play, or would I be breaking a tacit bicycle commandment by doing this?
2 Has anyone regretted carrying out such an operation?

Question 1:
There is no consensus on renovating vs. conserving
There are no global tacit bicycle commandments.
There are localized tastes and peer pressure. Localization may be just the group of people you know. Some attitudes may be city, county or country wide.
The role tacit bicycle commandments should play in determining what is best for you in your situation is questionable.
Question 2:
Yes, there are people who have regretted carrying out such an operation.
I have regretted both conservation and renovation.
There are also people who have enjoyed and have been happy with both operations.
Here's my story
Renovation - once it was all done, time and money spent, I rode the bike every day. The lovingly painted frame chipped up, the new parts dinged up, and common usage took it's toll.
My conclusion was that it's better to ride a dinged up bike than to renovate it to new and ding it up again. I began to see the wear and tear as a sign of a well used bike and not something to feel bad about.
Conservation - once it was all done, time and money spent, I had a bike I couldn't ride for fear it would get dirty or more dinged up. It became a museum piece. Now it collects dust in my basement.
Before you start on either project ask yourself "What will I do with this when I'm done"
Do what meets your needs and your aesthetic.


Can I combine narrow wide chainring in triple chainring?

Narrow-wide chainrings are specifically designed for single chainring drivetrains and cannot be used on double or triple derailleur cranks. A 50 tooth ring won't work on your setup either.

Narrow-wide chainrings are designed specifically to stop the chain coming off them, which is exactly what you don't want in a derailleur drivetrain. The derailleur likely will not be able to pull the chain off of or onto the ring at all.

Regular chainrings (and cassette sprockets) have ramps on the inner surface and specially profiled teeth which help the chain hop on and off the ring. A narrow-wide ring lacks those features that and has taller teeth that protrude further through the chain links.

Narrow-wide rings of course have alternating narrow and wide teeth that fit between the alternating inner and outer plates of the chain. If a derailleur were able to shift the chain into a a narrow-wide ring, half the time the teeth and chain links would be mis-aligned and the chain would not be able to drop onto the teeth.

Front derailleurs have a total capacity limit, which is the difference in number of teeth (and hence diameter) between the smallest and largest rings. if you put a 50 tooth ring on the crank you'll have to move the derailleur up on the frame, and the cage will not reach the smallest ring. Additionally the 32-50 tooth size difference between the middle and outer rings would be too large to get the chain to shift properly.

And, mountain bikes typically don't have chain-stay clearance for a 50 tooth ring.


Can I add a triple crank to my old signet centurion road bike?

You probably could, but it is not clear if you should. You could get some compact (50-34) or even subcompact (e.g. 46-30) double crankset. That looks like a better option to me. A different front derailleur might but does not have to be necessary depending on what you can put up with. Witj a triple you almost certainly need a new front derailleur (although again not completely strictly) and most likely the shifter although a friction shifter could stay.
With a six speed freewheel you do not have that much choicein the back. You can try to get some Megarange freewheel 14-34 or similar. It has the biggest sprocket (granny gear (much larger than the other ones).
Modern cassettes with large ranges would require much bigger changes including a new wheel (just changing the hub is unlikely to be worth it) and widening the rear frame spacing (there is some leeway with steel).


Pros and cons of mixed hydraulic/mechanical brakes vs pure hydraulics

Background

For most of cycling history, we've actuated derailleurs and brakes by pulling cables. One of the possible disadvantages of cables in general is that as the cable housing exerts a bit of drag on the cable as you pull it through. Also, housing can get contaminated with dirt. You could ameliorate the latter problem with full-length housing, as is done on many modern mountain and gravel bikes, but more housing = more drag.

More recently, disc brakes actuated by hydraulic lines emerged. The advantages of hydraulic lines over fully cable-actuated disc brakes were discussed in this previous SE answer: it's possible to brake hard with one or two fingers, and the calipers self-adjust as the pads wear. Also, they have a lot less drag than cable actuated systems, even though you (obviously) have to run a full length hydraulic hose to the brake. Last, that sealed system doesn't get contaminated in normal operation. The best hydraulic disc brakes are better than the best cable-actuated disc brakes. To my knowledge, almost all mid to high end mountain and gravel bikes have hydraulic disc brakes.

Quick note: Hydraulic brakes need a master cylinder. This converts force (e.g. you pulling a lever) into hydraulic pressure; in full hydraulic systems, the master cylinder is located in the integrated shifter/brake lever. This is why there are two versions (rim brake and hydraulic disc brake) of most mid to high end road bike groupsets. (There are more versions if the groupset has an electronic shifting version.)

Cable-actuated hydraulic disc brakes

Some cable-actuated hydraulic disc brakes exist. Here, a hydraulic master cylinder on the brake itself is actuated by a cable. Examples include the Tektro Hy/Rd mentioned by Argenti in comments and the Yokozuna Mokoto. Also, Giant's Conduct system is installed on some of their mid range bikes. This system's master cylinder mounted under the stem. Any type of cable-actuated hydraulic disc brake system pairs with traditional mechanical shifters (i.e. they use steel brake cables).

I have no personal experience with any hybrid system. However, from reading reviews, there seem to be two advantages. One, they're actuated by cables. If you have mechanical disc brakes, you have mechanical shifters (i.e. on a road bike, shifters for rim brakes). You can thus upgrade the bike to have hydraulic braking without changing shifters, which saves some money. Two, they are likely to be easier to install than full hydraulic systems. You would often have to bleed the brakes after running the hydraulic lines in full hydraulic systems. Three, people who travel frequently often have to bleed their hydraulic brakes on arrival. With cable-actuated disc brakes of any sort, one can install a splitter in the cable that disconnects for packing. There may be decouplers for hydraulic systems that accomplish the same thing, but these don't seem to be well developed yet (see some of the author's statements in [this review] of a travel bike that used mechanical disc brakes)6.

Additionally, there are probably the usual pros of disc brakes over rim brakes: you have increased braking power (conditional on having a good pad compound), and the brakes may work more consistently in all weather conditions.

Do note that some semi-hydraulic brakes may self-adjust (as the pads wear) and some may not. Yokozuna's system does not, as stated in its Cyclingtips review, but Tektro's system does, as stated in the Road.cc review.

Hybrid hydraulic systems do appear to retain some of the cons of cable-actuated disc brakes: you are pulling a cable through a housing, so there will be cable drag, and even more so if that's a full-length housing (from the brake lever all the way to the brake, as you would have to do on bikes with internal cable routing). They may also need more lever pull to produce the same braking force than in a full hydraulic brake system.

So, why is Giant equipping some newer bicycles with its Conduct system versus just giving them full hydraulics? I'd speculate this is to hit a price point and/or to provide partially hydraulic braking options to bikes equipped with Shimano Tiagra and Sora groups, which are relatively low end road groups that lack hydraulic brake options to begin with. Once you get up to a bike equipped with Shimano's 105 groupset or the equivalent, I would question why not just equip the bike with regular hydraulic brakes.

As a side note, it appears that Giant is selling the Conduct braking system at retail for $200, which includes the master cylinder mounted to the stem, both calipers, hydraulic hose, and cables to go to the shifter/brake levers. It appears that the master cylinder needs to mount to a Giant stem as well, and that is not included in the kit. I can't think of a reason to recommend that anybody buy this at retail.


How do you determine which cassette lockring tool you need?

In general you will need to know the brand of the hub and whether it's a freewheel of free hub

This page may help as a start:  http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/cassette-and-freewheel-removal-and-installation

Don't forget if it's a free hub you will need a chain whip tool as well as the correct cassette lock ring tool

Might be worth removing the rear wheel and taking it to your local bike shop if you're really not sure


What do I need to change to avoid 'bouncing' in my bike seat at high RPM?

Always have in mind that: Due to the mechanics of a bike, pedalling fast doesn't always mean you are biking faster. In fact this is the very same reason why changing cogs of a crankset or cassette renders the bike easier or harder to bike uphill.
From your comment I would assume you may be pedalling too fast, i.e. you are not maintaining your cadence within your optimal "speed" (60-100 RPMs depending on your fitness, technique, etc).
As far as I understand - I am not a pro - when pedalling, you try to find a balance between strength and cadence. Bike too fast with little load on your legs and you will be bouncy, bike slow with too much load and you will exhausted faster than needed.
Therefore I would suggest you ask yourself: Are you using adequate load when biking "fast"?
If not, I would suggest you pedal a bit slower but with more load (be that by shifting the front or rear speeds).
Hope this helps


What is the maximum or minimum tire width I can fit on my bicycle

Maximum tire width is dependent on two main factors, clearance at the frame/fork, and the width of the rim.
As for the frame clearance this can usually be visually inspected and easily distinguished if a larger tire than the present tire will cause issues. Brakes such as V-brakes or cantilevers may also cause clearance problems with some tires so attention should be paid to them as well.
Mud or other debris should also be considered for mountain bikes and applications with fenders/mudguards. You should not run clearances so tight that one little pebble caught in the tread will hit the frame, fenders or other parts.
Think of the difference between both sizes you are considering and then split that number in half, that is the distance you will need to be able to clear on either side of the tire at the chainstay essentially. So if there is a 4 mm difference in road tires, the new size will roughly add an additional 2mm onto either side of the existing tire is one way to think about it, but the top of the tire needs to also be checked as the new tire may also be taller in addition to the increased width.
Knobs on MTB tires can also vary greatly and play a part in your decisions and fitment as well. One 2.25" tire may come out to be shorter than another more aggressive 2.25" tire due to the shape and size of the knobs.
As for rim to tire interface there are multiple guidance charts available online that give a rough estimate if a tire is compatible with a certain rim width, such as this one from J&B Importer's, a bicycle parts distributor's catalog.
As an example you can see that a rim width of 19mm (top row) should be compatible with tire width of 28mm/1.10" through 62mm or about 2.5". But seeing as 28mm is the lower end of that column somewhere in the 2.2/2.35 range would be a safer bet.

However just because it will fit on the rim does not mean it will not rub on the frame so that is what is most important.
For small changes such as from 26 x 1.95 to 26 x 2.125, or 700C x 23 to 700C x 25 you are almost certainly safe from a rim standpoint if the bicycle was factory equipped with 1.95"/700x23 tires.
To be certain, the model of rim should be referenced and the width noted.
Please also note that the same applies to going to a smaller tire size, too small of a tire on the same rim could not seal well and potentially cause flats or blowouts when the tire bead cannot seal against the rim well enough.
Edit: July 2020 - Suggest reading the the answer posted by @Weiwen Ng which contains updated information.


What 5 speed freewheels are compatible with a Sun Rims M13II rear wheel rim?

Freewheel thread sizes are standardized to an ISO standard which is 1.375" x 24 tpi. See https://www.sheldonbrown.com/freewheels.html. That means any new freewheel you can buy will be compatible with your new rear wheel.

The original Schwinn freewheel might have a different thread (I'm sure others will correct me on this if I'm wrong), but if you are replacing the wheels it's a good idea to replace the freehub too.


Are shifters compatible with different derailleurs?

No, different maker or different model with different number of "speed" shifters have different pull ratio (i.e. the length of cable pulled by a single shift).
Usually it's safe to use different model with same number of gears from the same maker.


Yes it's possible.

No it would not cause any technical issue to the bike. How well it handles can only be determined by experimenting.

However:

The 27.5+ tyre has a similar diameter to a 29 tyre. If you want to maintain the geometry and handling of a bike move to 29.

Either way moving to a 27.5 or 29 will require a new wheel set. The plus rims are too wide for a standard tyre, although it may work it would give the tyre a bad shape. You could reuse the hubs you have which would save you money but that would make the conversion back more difficult. But you'd only have to buy rims. In NZ I'd say about 40%the cost of a wheel set comes from the hubs ($800 for a wheelset, $200 for rims, $100 for spokes, $200 for labour and $300 for hubs). Unfortunately boost hubs and the xd driver will be at the steeper end of the market.

Then you'd need tyres on top of that.

If you'd want to retain interchangeability you'd need a new wheelset, rotors, cassette and tyres. Then you'd have options.

Not sure why you're planning to move away from 27.5+, nothing suggest any benefits of 27.5 over 27.5+.


How to minimize damage from pitted cones?

I would recommend doing two things:

Reassemble the hub with the thickest grease you can find (within reason). It might slow you down a little, but it will help the bearings last as long as possible.

Make a mark on the back side of the cone that corresponds to where the damage is. When you're putting the wheel on, rotate the axle so that the damaged side of the cone is facing up. Then (assuming you adjusted the hub perfectly), there will be no pressure at all on the damaged side of the cone, and all the pressure on the good side.


Are unicycles more, or less, efficient than walking? (or are they just for fun, entertainment and exercise?)

With a competent rider, a unicycle is far more efficient than walking. As evidence of that consider for example:

World 24 hour distance record on a unicycle : 453.6 km
One hour unicycle record : ~30 km
Record unicycle time on Karapoti Classic race : 4:11:43 (50 km off-road MTB ride with ~1500 m of climb)

These feats are all well beyond anything anyone could complete on foot.

For comparison

24 hour walk (on a track) 216.621km by Claudio Sterpin (Italy) on 19 Oct 1986 in Milan
24 hours walk (on the road)  228.930km by Jesse Casteneda (USA) 19 Sep 1976 in Albuquerque
1 hour walk 15,577 metres by Bernardo Segura (Mexico) 7 May 1994 in Fana

24 hour ride (indoor track) 941.872 km by Christoph Strasser (Austria) 14–15 October 2017 in Switzerland
24 hour ride (road) 915.39 km by Ralph Diseviscourt (Luxembourg) 11 July 2020 in Luxembourg
1 hour ride (track) 55.089 km by Victor Campenaerts (Belgium) 16 April 2019 in Mexico
Record time in Karopoti MTB  2:07:57 by Anton Cooper from Woodend, New Zealand in 2014.

 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cycling_records#24_Hours_record and http://www.karapoti.co.nz/files/3915/8322/1936/20_Fastest_Karapotis_03.03.20.pdf no times found for walking the route.
It appears that in terms of distance-covered-in-time, or time-to-cover-distance, unicycling is very approximately twice as efficient as walking and half as efficient as bicycling.


I did exactly this with my cheap $50 folder.   The purpose was to expand the useful gear range, to get more hill-climbing gears and more top-end gears.

Its still not a speed demon, but it can do 40 km/h with a tail wind.  Normal cruising speed is 25-30 km/h depending on wind and load and freshness, so slower than the road bike but faster than it was.

It started as something similar to yours, with a 1x6 setup consisting of a single ~42 tooth chainring and a 14-28 freewheel.  Had to use a grinder to get the freewheel off being cheap chinese junk.

It now looks more like this with a 3x8 setup.  The rear wheel was rebuilt onto a 8 speed freehub and I fitted am 11-32 cassette.  Shifter needed replacing too, but the cable and chain was left as-is.  The front chainring was replaced with a triple that I had laying about, so its 26/36/48 tooth.  I did NOT change the bottom bracket at all other than a quick inspection, clean and grease.  All up this gives a lowest gearing of 15 gear-inches, and a maximum of 80 gear inches.  I did not change the rear derailleur mechanism.

Downsides I've never found a front derailleur mech that fits, so for now its running as a "norailleur" and the front chainring is selected by hand, or using a scrap of cardboard for cleanliness.  I have twice changed down while ascending a slope without stopping, using a screwdriver!

Other comments  Cheap plastic folding pedals are dreadful.  As a racer you're likely to put down more power than a simple rider.  Refer to this question and note in the pics I swapped out for some short normal pedals.

The bike gets very dirty too, even with full mudguards as pictured.  I think its because the chain ends up so close to the ground.  Or because it has full guards, this is the one I ride in the rain.

Because of the available low gearing, I use this as the tractor for my bike trailer, which works quite well.

The folding mech clamps are tuned by two grub screws.  Get these exactly right and use loctite to hold them in place.  Else the two clamps develop play, which is a horrible feeling while riding.

Finally - I tend to accelerate this out of the saddle, pushing the bars to raise the opposite pedal.  Almost BMX styles.  However it flexes something chronic so I periodically inspect up close.  It gets stiffer if I ride with the seatpost way down (like top picture)  vs up at "road bike" height for me.

Outstanding plans:

Buy a much longer seat post or get one fabbed
Clipless double sided pedals
Mount a water bottle cage somewhere that doesn't interfere with folding
Find a front mech derailler and shifter


What is the purpose of greasing BB threads?

To prevent galvanic corrosion. When grease is appied, there is a thin film of grease that prevent direct contact between two different metal.
To prevent water and contaminants, especially salt in the winter season, that would otherwise accelerates corrosion as discussed in (1)
This will not work with plastic or carbon fiber (+epoxy as matrix) materials as grease will reduce the material's strength over time, i.e. epoxy on carbon fibre is weakened.


Matching BB is one of the hardest jobs as a paper exercise compared to eyeballing them side by side.  As suggest in @Batman comment, length and offset are both critical, yet most sellers only specify length.

As far as matching Cranks go, there are a  number of systems - square taper was (an probably still is) the most common - there is some confusion over the compatibility between a couple of different standards, but it does not seem to be a problem in reality. Spline cranks come in a couple of different flavors, which are incompatible. Have a read of Sheldons webpage on the subject.


Why do the majority of people on an ebike ride at a fairly low cadence?

There are (at least) two reasons. First, most (but not all) E-bikes use a control system that multiplies the amount of force or torque that you put into the pedals or cranks. Since power is the product of pedal speed and pedal force (or torque), increasing the torque allows the rider to reduce the pedal speed -- that is, the rider's cadence. Electric motors (can) produce full torque at any rpm, so these controllers typically modulate the torque output rather than the rpm.

Second, if a rider on an E-bike were riding at "normal" cadence for his or her speed you would be less likely to notice the rider, so your observational sample is likely to be more heavily weighted to those with lower than normal cadence.


Custom/universal clamp/attachment for light on rear rack

Some hackish ideas I have:

Why not just use zip ties? If your rack doesn't have 3 posts, you can make 2 or so loops (one or two horizontal, and 1 or 2 vertical) to make a makeshift mount. Then, attach something like a binder clip or two to the light. Alternatively, you could cut a bit of the light's plastic and use something like a velcro loop on the back. _v_v___v_v_ where the _ denotes the back of the light and v denotes entry & exit points of velcro (if it doesn't need to be removable, you can even use zip ties instead, and seal the light a bit with a little bit of caulk).

If you want to be fancy, you can always take the mount of some manufacturer (e.g. Planet Bike), and then get a piece of plastic / other stiff material, and rabbet the appropriate thickness ridge to fit into the mount (or glue a thin piece of material to a thicker piece material) to get the rabbet-ing effect. So, the thin part would be thin enough to slide through the mount, and the thick part would be attached securely to the light (through some adhesive, or screws). Then, you'd make the top a bit too wide for it to slide straight down through the mount. If you have an arts and crafts store nearby, you can pick up some thin but rigid plastic, screw in / glue a block of some other material narrower than the ridge of the mount and then put a screw through the light into the block. Then, on top of the block, put a lip so the light doesn't jump out. If you cut the block so that it conforms to the notch in the light mount, that would help too. Alternatively, you can cut a slot in the light mount and thread some velcro through it.

You can also cannibalize another light with matching mount by simply cutting off a bit of area around where the mount is, and then adjoining it to a new light (screws/adhesive).

As for the general problem:

Typically, mounts are isolated between manufacturers (certainly, on front lights. on rear lights, it seems to primarily be a width thing). So a universal solution is going to be hard to find / doesn't exist. For cheap lights, I'd be inclined to just get a new light.