Are New York pedestrians allowed to use bike lanes?

If the lane you described is marked clearly for bicycle use, then I'd say the pedestrians are clearly in the wrong. There has to be numerous security cameras in the area that should catch these "jaywalkers" if the police ever have a reason to view security footage for some reason. I wonder how the "real" pedestrians on the sidewalk would feel if 5 or 6 dozen cyclists decided to trade the bike lane for the sidewalk for a day!? Bet that would cause a stir AND get the police department attention!


Pedal doesn't rotate freely; occasionally comes with grinding / clicking

The pedal bearings are failing in some way. This may range from a ball or race physically broken to a simple lack of grease.

Depending on what kind of pedals you have you may be able to service or replace the bearings. The video linked at the end of this answer shows what's required to do so. It's possible but somewhat of a pain. You have to have the correct tools, if you have to replace balls you have to figure out what size they are etc etc.

If you have simple flat pedals the easiest option is to simple replace them as this type of pedal is inexpensive and easy to get hold of. Pretty much any bike shop should be able to sell you a pair and install them.


What would cause a pedal to loosen from its spindle while riding?

Sounds like you'd lost the locknut, allowing the outside cone to back off slowly, then walk right out the end pushing the dust cap with it and freeing all the ball bearings.  Perhaps you didn't tighten the locknut against the conenut and they moved as a unit?  Mismatched balls can push on the cone too, specially if there's spalling or pitting developing already.
Another less-likely possibility is that the cone nut was too tight against the balls, and they manually unwound the cone nut as you rode.  However this would be a tight feeling, not a loose feeling.
Given the cone nut is lost, its going to be less work to find a pair of replacement pedals, grease the threads, and fit them to the correct cranks.  This will get you riding again.
You might choose to save the old pedal remains as spares, or recycle them in some way.


What benefits does a tapered head tube afford?

Lighter and stronger are the real gains. Also there is coolness factor. In a rare move I wish to cite Richard Cunningham from Road Bike Action for points 1 + 2:

Look, who has the longest unbroken history of carbon fiber frame making in pro road racing, uses the tapered fork steerer design to eliminate the narrow waist at the junction of the fork crown and steerer. This allows their all-carbon HSC6 fork to be laid up as one unit and in a manner that keeps the unidirectional carbon filaments that support the structure flowing from the fork legs, through the crown and up the steerer tube in a smooth, unwrinkled matrix. The more uniformly that the fibers are aligned where the crown flows into the steerer tube, the stronger the fork will be in its most highly stressed area.
Look’s engineers also developed a tapered lower bearing interface that eliminates the stress concentration that a conventional notched-type crown race would cause. The bottom line for tapered road steerers is that, done correctly, it streamlines the manufacturing process and makes for a better one-piece carbon fiber fork.


How to determine my bike's seat post clamp size?

Easiest way without access to calipers is to lookup the bike specifications online. What make/model/year is the bicycle in question?


How much faster can my commute be if I use a power meter?

With that many interruptions your own performance is unlikely to make much difference to your commute times. Sprinting for the lights, when safe, is much more likely to help. If it's mostly stop signs rather than lights, getting going fast might help but you don't need a power meter to tell you that. For me, leaving a few minutes later in the morning makes much more difference - not only are there more cars going my way and holding me up, but there are more coming the other way on narrow roads so passing the queues becomes harder. Bin day or a badly parked delivery van jump out of a list of timings.

You don't say anything about the distance and time but I assume you measure it. Have a look at the variability over recent rides, and try changing a few variables - can you even tell the difference between holding back until the fast bits, and going at everything hard?

A power meter is a training tool, and while you can incorporate commutes into a training plan that doesn't sound like what you're doing. Personally I prefer not to have a screen when commuting in case I look at it; I'd rather keep my eyes on the road. But maybe your commutes are in more benign conditions.


What type of bike does this text refer to?

There is at least some evidence findable via google that 'Wheel size' here is interpreted with the vernacular 'outer diameter of the tire' rather than the bead seat diameter.

e.g., a common 26" Mountain Bike from the era is described as having '66.4 cm wheels' not 57.1 or whatever they would have been.

  Model ATB-S is the Rebel 10 speed mountain bicycle. The frame size is
  48.26 centimeters (19 inches) and the wheels size is 66.4 x 5.397 centimeters (26 x 2.125 inches). This bicycle weighs 17.3 kilograms.

If we accept they mean the vernacular outer diameter "wheel size" then it's simply describing the Time Trial 'Funny Bike' that was popular 30-40 years ago.


Is it safe to use a spacer that reaches above the steerer tube?

You actually need something sticking up above the top of your steer tube. It can be either a spacer or the stem itself. This is because the top cap squeezing down onto the stem/spacer stack is what keeps the headset bearings snugly in their cups. If the top cap is flush with the steer tube, there will be play in the headset which is bad.

Park Tools has a very detailed set of instructions about headsets that you might want to look over. The following image is from those instructions and shows the amount of space that you need. More than that is acceptable as well, as long as it's not so much that the stem or spacer at the top is barely holding on. In your case, as long as the steer tube protrudes 2/3 of the way through your top spacer, you're probably ok. If you shuffle it around and put the stem on top of the stack, you'll want to make sure that the steer tube is well above the pinch bolts.


How are these plastic rings used on my Shimano disk brake mount adapter?

The stop rings go over the head of the bolt.  The grooves on the ring line up with grooves on the bolt head and encourage it to keep from rattling loose.  They are simply snapped or pushed over the head of the bolt once it is tightened in place.

I suspect that in some country, they may be a requirement for manufacturers.  However, I haven't ever actually used them on any of my rigs.  Some loctite and regular maintenance are what I tend to rely on.  But, if you have had a bolt rattle out on you before, perhaps they could make you sleep easier at night.


Are Shimano components compatible with each other? Do I have to get a specific chain?

As long as you use a ten speed chain it shouldn't matter which group you take it from. Normally the higher priced ones are bit lighter but the additional price often does by far not match the lower weight. Also the higher priced ones might last not that long due to the lighter material.

Therefore if it's for a bike where you know that it will see some dirt and wear, better get some mid-priced stuff. It might last longer and if doesn't it won't drill as big a hole into your budget.


Mystery grease source - Alfine 11, Gates Belt drive, Shimano bottom bracket

Oil leaking from the hub has been an ongoing problem for me too.
When the bike was still new there was an oil leak from the gear changer side which went to Shimano (twice) before the internal seal was replaced (the external seal was replaced the first time to no effect.

Over a year later the leak started again and this time Shimano have had the wheel for almost a month and I'm starting to get frustrated. The decent thing to do would be to replace the hub and apologise for all the time wasted.

(Móż: edited in from comment because it seems useful, thanks OverTheRainbow)

On their "how we maintain your Shimano hub" page RideYourBike.com says:

  It is our experience that Alfine 11 speed hubs seep oil out of the main seal.
  we now consider this normal! simply wipe off any excess and add more oil periodically.
  Newer hubs seem to leak less than previous.
  If the seal is over-torqued it will deform and leak.


Suspension locks out in cold temperatures

What’s more likely is that your damper oil is thickening in the cold. If you can find a service manual for your fork, it may be possible to open it up and change the oil for a higher quality one. It’s probably not worth it though, you highly risk messing something up.
Maybe try contacting SunTour? That certainly doesn’t seem normal.


If the wheel fits.....

If you have been using it, then no, you won't have problems. Its not that uncommon for people to shoe horn a 27.5" wheel into a 26 fork or frame. just running a front wheel will slightly change the bikes geometry, but not enough to make a big difference.

Where you can run into trouble is if clearances are not enough and you ride in muddy conditions, causing build up and blocking.

When you replace the tire, you will need to be careful to get one that fits. Most 27.5" "upgrades" require a smallish (2.1) tire, and you will want to avoid ones with aggressive side lugs unless you can try before you buy.


On Shimano disk brakes, are both pads supposed to move?

Many mechanical cable-actuated disc brake calipers do indeed move only a single pad when the cable is pulled. I believe Shimano mechanical disc brakes use this design. Unlike rim brakes the disc pads can be adjusted to run very close to the rotor, so the active pad does not have to move very far to pinch the rotor against the static pad.

Hydraulic brakes typically move both pads. If you have hydraulic brakes one piston may be stuck. If your bike is new the shop you bought it from should sort it out for free or as part of a post-purchase tune-up. As you mention a pad adjustment screw I'm fairly certain you have mechanical brakes though.


When is a bike frame considered too tall?

You can go as tall as you like. Have you seen those tall bikes that people must climb up a ladder to use? However practicality is another thing. As the comments have said - enough room to stand-over is a good start. Try getting a bike-fit, adjusting certain geometry (saddle hight, stem etc) may help in your circumstances.


How to remove a stripped bottle cage mount?

If the threads in the rivnut are okay, you may be able to re-compress it using a matching threadded bolt and some matching nuts.   Or you can buy/borrow the proper compression tool.
A temporary repair might work to force some JBWeld down the sides, and have it essentially "glue" the rivnut in place.  This may last for ages or fail on the first ride.
If your rivnut is stripped, you'll need to remove it and replace with a fresh one. The problem here is that there may be enough damage to the frame that getting the old one out is hard, and a lack of "meat" for the new one to attach to.
The solution then is to silver-solder in a new threadded insert (not a rivnut)  This will doubtless marr the paintwork to some extent.
As for costs, we can't tell you.  Instead, ring up your LBS and ask directly about a bottle cage boss repair.
Lastly - do use antiseize compound or grease on your bolt threads in the future.  This is where it shines.


Sounds like you have a ~60mm stem   Quill stems are available in lengths from 20mm up to over a hundred mm.

Your other option is to rotate the handlebars so they get a bit closer, or possibly pull your saddle further forward on its rails.  These might be worth trying anyway - they're free fixes and you can always revert.

If you want, you could replace your quill stem with a quill/threadless adapter and then fit a modern stem.  There are many more threadless stems available nowdays, including adjustable ones which might suit you.


Securing a bike on a car rack against theft

The Simplest Option - Passive Lock Strap

By far the simplest and easiest way to do this is to use a "trunk lock strap" or "passive lock strap". Searching in Google for either of those phases should turn up suitable products.

The idea with these is that they are a flexible cable that you loop around your bike and then close a thicker stubbed end inside your vehicle either in your trunk if you use a rear rack, or inside a passenger door if you use a roof rack.

You should note that no product is completely theft-proof, and you will ideally want to use more than one locking/security mechanism. At a minimum, if leaving the bike on the rack, I would remove the front tire and put it in the car as well as using this strap. That way they can't just cut the strap and ride away with the bike.

More Complicated - Tow Loop

A more complicated and likely far more expensive option is to look into the installation of an external Tow Loop. Many modern cars that are not equipped with a towing package, still have some kind of loop or bracket either directly under the bumper, or beneath some removable cover in the bumper. You can have an externally accessible tow loop retrofitted to the car and then you could lock the bike with a cable through that loop.

Google your vehicle make and model and add the words "tow hooks" or "tow points" for ideas, or talk to a qualified auto mechanic/dealer.


What's more aerodynamic on flat bars: backpack or pannier?

A back pack is faster than a single pannier.  This exact scenario was tested in the Specialized "Win Tunnel" in their "The Brew Master" episode. They suggested the time savings was 2 minutes over 40 km, which isn't that much for casual cycling considering how uncomfortable a heavy back pack can be!   Also see their "Areo at Slow Speeds" to understand how the results can be generalized to a wide array of average speeds.

Extrapolating to the "real world"

Answering @JPMay comment request

  In the "Brew Master" video they don't really quantify things in the most helpful way (if you are not racing). In terms of percentages, the least aero option they tested is only about 2% slower than the fastest (assuming you go between 20-30 km/h). – JP May

The time difference would likely be more useful as a percentage so it could be applied to different speeds.  Drag (what you have to overcome by pedaling) is directly proportional to the drag coefficient:

drag = CdA * p * v^2

where drag (and the power required to ride a speed) goes up by the square of velocity (v), but scales linearly by the drag coefficient (CdA). Whether you ride with a back pack or panniers impacts the CdA value only.  For example, reducing your CdA by 5% will reduce your required effort by 5% whether you are riding at 20 kph or 40 kph.  This is why aerodynamics still matter at slower speeds (its just harder to "feel").

What we don't know is how fast the hypothetical 40 km was ridden in the wind tunnel testing. Assuming a race pace of 40kph, this would work out to about 3.33% longer for a single pannier vs a backpack.

Therefore, to understand the impact on real world conditions take your ride duration with a backpack and multiple the time by the following to determine the time it would take to ride with pannier(s):

one small rear pannier multiply the time by 1.0333  (3.33% longer)
two small rear panniers multiply the time by 1.0667  (6.67% longer)


Eccentric bottom bracket click clack on each pedal revolution?

Diagnosis
If the clicking is happening during the power stroke of the pedalling, it is most likely bearing related.
You need to figure out if the chain/chain tensioner/drivetrain is involved or if it is the bearings. two quick checks would be:

Check chain tension throughout the pedal stroke to ensure it isn't overly tight at a particular point. Rotate the pedals very slowly and check the tension by deflecting the chain vertically. A safe starting point is about a 1/2" of movement. if the chain gets significantly tighter at a certain point, the chainring is not concentric, see chain tension below.

With the bike on the ground, stand next to it drive side, put the drive side pedal at the bottom of the pedal stroke and push it downward towards the ground while holding the bike against the force (by the seat and/or handlebars). this should deflect the bottom bracket out of line from the axis of the bike (similar to when you apply power to the pedals). As @criggie mentioned below, it would be a good idea to remove the chain from the chainring before doing this. While it's off, rotate the cranks and push side to side to ensure they spin smoothly and don't have any play. Any clicking or resistance here should be from the bearings/bottom bracket adapter, see bottom bracket clicking below

Chain Tension
It could be that the chainring isn't perfectly concentric on the spider. if the chain was tensioned at a slacker portion of the pedal stroke, the tension on the chain would be too high in the other portions. (Assuming there is no chain tensioner involved) This could cause a lot of force pulling on the chainring/bottom bracket and force one of them to click or creak.
from http://www.sheldonbrown.com/singlespeed.html#tension

Centering Chainwheels
Ideally, a singlespeed should have a frame with horizontal dropouts or track-style horizontal fork ends. With this type of frame, the chain tension is regulated by moving the rear axle back and forth in the fork ends. If the chain is too tight, the drive train will bind, perhaps only at one angle of the pedals (chainwheels are not usually perfectly concentric). It should be tight as it can be without binding. If the chain is too loose, it can fall off, usually at the most inconvenient possible time.
Set the rear axle so that the chain pulls taut at the tightest part of the cranks' rotation. One at a time, loosen up each of the stack bolts, and tighten it back just finger tight. Spin the crank slowly and watch for the chain to get to its tightest point. Strike the taut chain lightly with a convenient tool to make the chainring move a bit on its spider. Then rotate the crank some more, finding the new tightest spot, and repeat as necessary.
This takes a little bit of your hands' learning how hard to hit the chain, and how loose to set the stack bolts, but it is really quite easy to learn.
Tighten up the stack bolts a bit and re-check. Tighten the stack bolts in a regular pattern, like the lug nuts on a car wheel. I start by tightening the bolt opposite the crank, then move clockwise 2 bolts (144 degrees), tighten that one, clockwise 2 more, and so on. Never tighten two neighboring bolts in a row. You may prefer to go counterclockwise, but try to get in the habit of always starting at the same place and always going the same way. This reduces the chances of accidentally missing a bolt

Bottom Bracket Clicking
Ensure that all threads and contact points are greased appropriately. Ensure they are all tightened to the proper torque - bearing preload on the cranks (non drive side cap and pinch bolts if pplicable), bearings in the eccentric adapter, adapter in the frame. If the clicking continues, slightly tighter is probably OK.
Bottom Bracket Installation
Another possibility I just thought of is that the bottom bracket was installed with the proper spacer configuration. I believe for Shimano on a 68mm shell there should be 3x2.5mm spacers which get installed 2 on drive side, 1 non drive. Without all the spacers there would be a significant amount of play and it's unlikely you would have made it this far, but I felt it was worth mentioning for completeness.


Should I replace my bicycle tires if they have not been inflated in multiple years

If the bike has been hanging rather than sitting with weight on the tyres (and hence damaging the sidewalls), there is a good chance the tyres are still ok.

You can check the tyres by going around and looking for hairline cracks in the rubber and feeling if the rubber is brittle/flaky.

If they look ok then go ahead and inflate them and recheck the following day.  If they still show no obvious signs of damage then I would go ahead and ride them.


Following up on Andrew's suggestion, I found that the cable head was not frayed, but had become dislodged from its seat, and was preventing the mechanism from rotating.
Putting some slack in the cable and getting it reseated solved the problem.


Combining a Dynamo hub with a single speed geared hub setup

I was going to boldly say "no-one has made a rear hub dynamo" but then I did a google search and I'm glad I didn't say that, because I would have been wrong.

Shimano make the FH-C810 which despite the FH suggesting "front hub" is actually short for "freehub". In full it's the "Shimano Nexave Di2 FH-C810" (page via searching their site for the short code). It's 8/9 speed compatible, and seems to be fairly commonly available online. Sadly I don't think it will take a disk brake directly, only the non-user-serviceable roller brake. ProblemSolvers make an adaptor that will let you fit a disk.

A company called SunUP make a dynamo that attaches to the spokes, and they sell it mainly as a rear wheel dyno but also show it attached to a trailer. The advantage of that appears to be that you can fairly easily pull it off one wheel and mount it elsewhere. The disadvantage is that it mounts where a disk brake would go, so you're forced to use rim brakes.

I strongly suspect that you could build a SON dyno into a rear wheel by making a fixed gear cog or freewheel assembly that bolted onto the disk rotor mounts. You could probably whip one up on a lathe in less than a day. That would give you the advantage that you could use that wheel as front or rear in any bike, albeit at the cost of the rear wheel being mounted off centre. The disadvantage is that SON would rightly laugh at you if it broke, and of course you'd void the warranty the instant you did that.

You could easily fit a single speed adaptor kit to the Shimano, although changing it to fixed would again void the warranty. Quite why you'd want to fix a touring rig including a trailer I'm not sure, the only people I know who've toured on fixies have regretted it, and most have gone to gears very quickly (after less than 1000km). Towing a trailer with a fixie is challenging, I did it once when the guy who started it got sick so I swapped bikes with him. Would not do it if I didn't have to.

For remote touring I would be more inclined to rely on solar, unless you're touring a long way north (if you were that far south you'd be paddling not pedalling). A bottle dyno won't work, and I suspect you really want disk brakes. I would also be inclined to use a Rohloff if you want reliability, but I think you'd need to be slightly nuts to take three of them (one in each wheel). Buying a set of the Shimano rear hub dynos is quite practical, with the minor limitation that you're only going to be able to have a 9 speed cassette (you may already have decided to do that for reliability reasons). The guy I know who's riding the Canning Stock Route is using derailleur gears (although he is also meeting a bit of traffic, so it's perhaps not as uninhabited as its reputation would suggest).


Yes, this has been done and is very often done for the exact reason you mentioned: far greater tire selection.

In a general sense, the important considerations you must make stem from the difference between a 700c wheel and a 27" wheel. If we look at a more precise measurement than the common nomenclature, the bead seat diameter, the difference is more obvious:

700c wheel: 622mm BSD
27" wheel: 630mm BSD

This means that the former is 8mm shorter in diameter than the latter, and when you mount a 700c wheel to a bicycle with brakes set for a 27" wheel, they will be mis-aligned by 4mm (a significant amount).

Depending on what type and variety brakes you have, you may or may not be able to reposition the brake pads correctly. In the case that you can't, you will be able to replace them with brakes designed to have a longer 'reach'.


How do I know if I can replace the 27 inch wheels with 700c wheels on my MIELE bike?

There a lot of charts posted on the internet explaining the complex data of bicycle wheel sizing. In your case you likely have standard 27 inch wheels that equate to a 630mm iso wheel. A 700c wheel is iso size 622mm, slightly shorter than your current wheel. The primary concern is if your brake pads can move close enough toward the axle to contact the brake surface of the wheel. Then you need to match the axle mounting type, basically bolt-on or quick release. Then comes hub width. Ideally you would like to match your old one however there are articles about drop out spreading on steel framed bikes. Definitely not recommended for aluminum or carbon frames.


Can different size feet be a cause of knee pain?

Foot size difference is unlikely to cause pain directly, but having an oversized shoe on the smaller foot may provide insufficient support or too much movement.  Try additional socks on the smaller foot, or an extra inner sole.

Given one foot is smaller, is it possible that leg is a bit short too?   You'd need to consult a sports physiologist, or possibly get a professional bike fit.   You can use longer bolts on your cleat, and some packing between the cleat and the shoe.

Finally, could it be a simple cleat mis-alignment?  I have recently gone clipless, and its shown me my left foot prefers a different position to my right foot.   Mind you my saddle always feels wrong unless the nose is 2-3 degrees to the left.


Can tubes be used in tubeless rims as well as tires?

Yes - take off the tire and the tubeless valve, clean up the rim, put on some new rim tape and then install a tube + tire.

If you're running tubeless and you have a failure, you can always just pop a tube in and continue your ride. And tubeless has its advantages (lower pressures since you can avoid pinch flats), so you may want to embrace it.


Disk brakes swap on a new road bike with rim brakes

Can I put disk brakes on it?

No. You cannot effectively convert a rim brake frame or forks to disc brakes.
(Alternative answer:

do I need to replace parts?

Yes, the frame and forks.)
Seriously though, if you are buying a new bike, buy the bike you actually want rather than planning to convert or upgrade. There are disc brake road bikes available across a wide range of price points theses days.


A clean bike is a happy bike. No, cleaning every speck.of sort off the frame after each ride isn't necessary.

However, wiping down the frame, and wiping any extra dirt or crud from the hubs, brakes and chain can only help keep your bike in good shape for as long as possible.

Make sure to lightly lube the chain once a week or so. And every couple of weeks, take a set of Allen keys and check that none of the bolts on your bike are coming loose.

Take it in for a tune every 6 months to a year, and you should be good to go. :)


Chain clicks when the back wheel is in highest and lowest gears

You may need to adjust your derailer limit stops (see here).


Shimano STI shifters: do they come in different sizes?

Yes.
Shimano introduced the 3300 STI in 1999, which has a downshift lever on the hoods, and reach adjust via screw (the main models had only rubber shims to adjust reach). This continues today as Tourney ST-A070. Generally people are quite rude about this as it is 'not pro' but it will suit some people better.

The third release of Dura-Ace brifters was 7800, and these reduced the grip circumference by 5mm compared to earlier releases, to fit smaller hands, as such products tend to be designed for average-sized men, not women or men with small hands.
7800:

vs 7700:

R700 was then a specific 'small hands' short reach model

The introduction of a hydraulic master cylinder complicated the design. The first one was Di2, which meant no mechanicals and buttons for shifting so these weren't too huge

Shimano has a habit of making clunky shifters for the low-end, and because they were charging exorbitant premiums for hydraulic brifters, came out with ST-RS405 as a cheaper version, which caused many complaints because of its bulbous shape

The pointless (and now cancelled) 'urban' groupset Metrea also experimented by moving the bleed port around which resulted in this monstrosity

Eventually Shimano settled on a hydraulic design which was not too ugly and which is now basically standardised across the range (small differences for gravel, and a bit smaller for Di2):

The one above is ST-R7020, there is also ST-R7025

which is the same but with 4mm less reach, for smaller hands (these brifters all now have screw adjustment as well). Similar models are R8020 vs R8025, and 4720 vs 4725
So several different current sizes:

Di2 (because no mechanical shifting) + cable brakes
Di2 + hydraulic brake
Tourney A070 hood shift type
Mechanical hydraulic brakes (plus various discontinued versions)
Closer reach version of the above
Mechanical cable brakes (plus various discontinued versions)
GRX Di2 hydraulic (higher hood because 'gravel')
GRX mechanical hydraulic


You can train inside your house with a trainer stand. Is quite cheap compared to stationary bike and it can be stored more easily.


Right hook accident scenario: who is at fault?

You will likely be found at fault. Bicycle lanes are considered a lane of traffic that supports only one type of traffic for extended periods of time (i.e., bicycles). As such, by your description you signaled your intent, then turned right across another lane of traffic and collided with another vehicle  already occupying that lane. It is your job to ensure a lane of traffic is clear before entering it.

If you were talking about two car lanes I think there would little if any questions regarding fault, but because we are talking about cycling many motorists assume it is the job of the cyclist to get out of the way because they are more vulnerable. While true from a practical perspective, this perspective is not supported legally.

Further confusing matters, in some areas  (e.g., North America) drivers are required to merge over into the bike lane (when safe) before turning, while other areas of the world do not allow any merging and instead give the cyclists the full priority at all times. Regardless, both approaches would find legal fault with the motorist turning across another vehicle lane (i.e., the cycling lane) when it was not clear to do so.

So what should you have done (North America)?

Generally in most North American jurisdictions if the bicycle lane is clear you should first merge over into that lane before making a right turn (see diagram below). This merge area is often indicated with dashed lines separating the car and bicycle lanes. If you safely merge over, then you have physical position over the cyclist and they should wait until you complete your turn before passing if they wish to remain in the bicycle lane, otherwise they will need to change lane into the main traffic lane to the left to pass (assuming of course a jurisdiction that drives on the right).

While you had your signal on you were still in the lane to the left of the cycling lane (i.e., left of another vehicle lane) and as such you had only signaled your intent. Until you safely enter the cycling lane, to complete your right turn, it is expectant upon you to check for traffic before moving to the right.

From San Fransisco Bicycle Coalition

Other North American Jurisdictions supporting this approach

I chose the figure above because it clearly communicated the concept. Some might be concerned that this only applies to San Francisco, but similar rules apply in many other North American regions. Some further examples are given below:

Ontario, Canada

  Diagram 2-12

  Bike lanes are reserved for cyclists. They are typically marked by a solid white line. Sometimes you will need to enter or cross a bike lane to turn right at a corner or driveway. (See Diagram 2-12) Take extra care when you do this. Enter the bike lane only after ensuring that you can do so safely, and then make the turn.

  -The Official Ministry of Transportation (MTO) Driver's Handbook

British Columbia, Canada

  Where there is a broken line marking the cycle lane at the approach to the intersection the driver may move over to the curb into the cycle lane prior to making the right turn in the way that most people are used to. Drivers doing so are making a lane change and must yield to cycle traffic in the bicycle lane before moving over! In this situation, the cyclist must wait behind the vehicle until after the turn is made to clear the cycle lane.

  -DriveSmart BC

California, USA

  21717.Whenever it is necessary for the driver of a motor vehicle to cross a bicycle lane that is adjacent to his lane of travel to make a turn, the driver shall drive the motor vehicle into the bicycle lane prior to making the turn and shall make the turn pursuant to Section 22100.

  California Law

European Jurisdictions

European jurisdictions give bicycle lanes legal vehicle status, but what seems less clear is if there is support for motor vehicles merging across bicycle lanes before a right turn (if driving on the right). From the comments it appears most European nations give cyclists the absolute priority (i.e., the driver needs to wait until there is no cycling lane traffic before turning).  Explicit examples are still needed.

Germany (by sleske)

In Germany, you would be at fault (probably fully). If you make a turn (no matter whether right or left), the traffic behind you in other lanes has priority, and you must make sure you do not obstruct or endanger it before turning.

This is based on §9 Straßenverkehrsordnung (German traffic code):

  Abbiegen, Wenden und Rückwärtsfahren [...]
  Vor dem Einordnen und nochmals vor dem Abbiegen ist auf den
  nachfolgenden Verkehr zu achten; vor dem Abbiegen ist es dann nicht
  nötig, wenn eine Gefährdung nachfolgenden Verkehrs ausgeschlossen ist.

Translation (mine, no guarantees):

  Turning and reversing [...] Before changing lanes and again before turning,
  drivers must look out for following traffic; this is not necessary before turning
  if a danger to following traffic is not possible.

Southwestern Pacific

New Zealand (left hand traffic)

In New Zealand cyclists appear to have absolute priority as turning motorists are not allowed to merge across the bike lane to make a turn and are required to wait until the bike lane is clear:

  When there’s a cycle lane at a set of lights, you must not wait in it for the light to turn green, and you must not drive in it as you approach the lights (unless you’re riding a bicycle). Motorbikes must not use this lane, either, but they can filter between stationary traffic.

  Cycles have the right-of-way in this lane. If there are cycles waiting to go forward, you must give way to them before you can turn left.

  The car is waiting in the wrong position, blocking the cycleway

  This shows the correct position with the left-hand wheels of the car not encroaching into the cycle lane

  -Driving Tests NZ


When did Square Taper Bottom Brackets retire from racing?

"First alternative" is a little tricky because if you looked hard enough you could potentially find a pro riding Sweet Wings cranks in the early 90s, which use a spindle and bottom bracket design thats very much a forebearer of external bearing cranks. And if you're not just talking road, you'd be able to find plenty of examples of MTB/DH and of course BMX riders riding Profile and other splined spindle tubular chromoly cranks also in the 90s. There were other 90s high end non square cranks too made by Bullseye and Tioga that could have found their way on to pro bikes.

Campy held out on ditching square taper for a long time. I want to say Ultra-Torque wasn't released until 2007 and before then all their cranks were ISO square. I would suspect the last square cranks in the peloton were on all-Campy bikes.


For a very amateur rider, is Specialized or Trek worth it?

The quality of the bike is in the sum of the parts.
The heart of the bike is the frame and what carries the brand is more often than not - the frame.
The manufacturer then hangs various components off the frame to complete the build.

(Big brands) It could be argued - the quality of the frame (design and build) & warranty back-up is better. Other factors could be frame material and design.
At the lower end of the market where you are looking for a hardtail frame - it is a fair bit harder for manufacturers to make their product standout from their competitors (such are the complexities of welding 9 pipes as opposed to designing suspension). And its probably where the brand name will have greater weighting in the buying decision. Markups are also lower at this end of the market and manufacturers will use plenty of own-brand / OEM components to keep their margins higher.

Have a look closely at the component spec. as well as the brand. Manufacturers are great at hiding the down spec of a component ie. cassettes or brake calipers being common examples.

Google for reviews. If you intend to keep the bike for years and not intend to go on the upgrade path - than perhaps you should be looking at the overall package (component level) as well. If you'll upgrade eventually - than the typically better resale value of a bigger brand like Specialized will be a bigger consideration.


Are there any bluetooth speed sensor with data logging ability?

I have used cheap bike computers for several years on three different bikes. These are the simplest solution for tracking mileage. I never remove them from the handlebars when I park and none ever got stolen; I don't think they are very attractive to thieves. (If you are worried about theft, note that your fancy Bluetooth-enabled speed sensor might also get stolen...)


No, that won't work! 8-speed and 11-speed systems use different chains. The 11-speed chain is narrower and doesn't fit the teeth of an 8-speed chainring.

Unless you get the 105 parts for very cheap, the usual advice here is not to perform this kind of upgrade. You'd probably find a whole new bike for the price of the items you'll need for a switch from Claris to 105.


Crank arms are not parallel to each other. What could have caused this?

Like you said, they are cottered, what makes them aligned is that pin through a hole, which at the same time tightens the crank arm around the axle.

If you google "cottered crank", you can see the spindle, which has a slot in each side.

My hypothesis would be: or the cottering bold got deformed, or the spindle slot itself got deformed, or both.

A bolder hypothesis would be twisting of the spindle due to deformation or cracking, but most probably the bearings would not spin freely (how are the cranks spinning, by the way?)

The side which appears on your photo looks OK from outside, the other side we cannot tell.

But for sure this is a VERY irregular situation, which demand a full disassembly of the system, and absolutely no use before that.


I suppose 'every bit helps' but, in a nutshell, 'no'.

Having reported my bike stolen and having handed in a lost/stolen bike (so I could recover it under finders/keepers rules) I am familiar with the backwardness of the whole Police process of dealing with stolen bicycles. Last time I went through the hoops the concept of 'mountain bike' was new fangled - you could specify rod or caliper brakes but not cantilevers, never mind disc or 'v'. Frankly it is a miracle they ever repatriate bikes due to visual identification. Given this one would expect that the 'Datatag' would be exactly what everyone apart from the thief needs...

I also know that 'Datatags' are definitely not what you might call a hot seller in bicycle shops - they might be in the motorbike world but bikers only put them in because they have to be insured. If they were that good then people would be queuing up for them, as it is they just collect dust in bike shops that actually stock them. This means that they are not in common circulation. This affects the likelihood that the Police will check for them as well as their deterrent effect to thieves.

The likelihood of your tagged bike being found by the police is going to be slim, only if it gets handed in are you likely to benefit from the Datatag and that is assuming the Police have one of those scanners anyway. I have not heard of these things working - there is a complete absence of anecdotal evidence on the internets too. I think that 'Datatag' stickers are a bit like car alarms in that nobody takes them seriously except for insurance companies. This is no criticism of 'Datatag', the product they make and the goal of the product, it is just that there is a big difference between the marketing theory and the practice.

That said, I do have faith in the new Bike Register scheme and have my bike tagged by the Police. Most Police do have days in the town centre where they mark bikes up for free.

Given that the scheme is free and endorsed by them you have to wonder why bother with any other scheme, particularly if there is practically no evidence of it having ever worked.

http://www.bikeregister.com/

You get stickers with Bike Register and you put all your details with them, an improvement on postcoding.


Check that the rotor is true. If the rub occurs at a specific point of wheel rotation the rotor may be slightly bent. You won't be able to adjust the caliper position to eliminate rub if this is the case.

Rub is not caused by the pistons being advanced too much, so there is no point pushing the pistons in. As soon as you use the brakes they advance again. However, a piston might be sticking, so that it is not retracting from the rotor when the lever is released. You can try to unstick a piston by carefully advancing an cleaning it.

These Park Tool videos may help you:


Why does my cantilever brake squeal *nearly* all the time

I have cantilever brakes on my bike so I know the feeling. They just seem much more likely to squeal than any other type of brakes I've owned.  In the spring I had a bit of squealing. I cleaned off the rim, readjusted everything (cables, toe-in, etc.), and sanded down the brake pads a bit and everything seemed to be pretty good.

I also think it's something to do with the temperature.  Ever since the temperature started to drop, my front brake (also cantilever) has been squealing a lot. Even during the summer the first few times I would use my brakes they would squeal, but once they warmed up they seemed to work fine. I wonder if anybody makes a special brake shoe using a different rubber for cold weather braking.


It's going to depend on your preferred riding position and on the ratio of your torso to leg length. Without being able to test ride, it's very hard to know for sure. If you like feeling a bit more stretched out horizontally then go for the M. If you like a bit more upright compact sitting position, then probably the S.


The crank removal tool has two threaded pieces. The larger threads into the crank (after you've removed the crank-bolt with a wrench).  Tighten it all the way down, as these threads will take all of the force that is required to remove the crank.  The smaller threaded piece screws into the larger.  It has a flat end on it which goes into the crank.  Turn this until this flat end makes contact with the end of the bottom bracket spline (the bit that you removed the crank-bolt from).  Then keep tightening it.  The flat end will push on the spline and pull the crank off--remember that this piece is threaded to another piece that is threaded to the crank itself.

It's an excellent example of a simple machine--the jackscrew. I'm sure that Sheldon Brown has a great description with photos, line drawings, etc... @gcb provides the link.


Does the term "domestique" have negative connotations?

To an extent, yes it does have negative connotations.

  The word was first used in cycling as an insult for Maurice Brocco, known as Coco,[4] in 1911. Brocco started six Tours de France between 1908 and 1914, finished none of them, although a stage he won in 1911 caused the coining of domestique.
  -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestique

In road racing, if you are young and unproven you often get your start as a "domestique" on a team.  You are the cycling equivalent of the chore boy. The job of the domestique is to sacrifice his or herself for the leader and team.

If one of the stars an your team needs some food, you have slip out of the peloton, and go back to the support cars pick up the food, then work your way back up to and through the peloton to deliver the goods.  Likewise if you are in a situation where either the domestique or the star gets water, the star wins out.

If the team is worried about a break getting away, it will often fall to the domestique to set the pace and do all the work to close the gap.

Basically, the domestique is an expendable asset of the team.  Their final race ranking is of little to no concern, other than to remain in the race so that they can provide their services.

That said, as you prove yourself as a domestique (ability to ride hard and survive) you will be given more opportunities,  eventually working your way up in the team.  If you are a fan of the sport, following the domestiques may give you an idea of who may be the upcoming stars.


Shimano 105 FC-5501 chainrings replacement

Shimano might not say it's okay, but you can use any 130BCD chainrings that you can find with that crankset1. You'll get the best shifting performance if you pick a matched set of chainrings from a single vendor. The one thing to avoid is any chainrings that say Narrow/wide in the description, these are 1x specific and won't work well on a double crankset.

When replacing chainrings, it's important to line them up with the crankarm for best shifting. There will be a mark or bump in the chainring that indicates where the chainring should be installed relative to the crank arm. The outer chainring generally has a small metal pin to prevent the chain getting wedged in the crank arm in addition to this bump. The whole process will be much easier if you get a chainring nut wrench like the Park
CNW_2.

If you've ridden the bike long enough to need new chainrings, you will likely need to replace the chain and cassette as well. Chainrings are generally the most durable of the 3 drivetrain components.

While you are buying stuff, get a chain checker. Replacing your chain before it wears will greatly increase the life of your chainrings and cassette.

1- I know that everything up to 11 spd will work fine, I've no idea about 12 spd stuff as I have no experience with that yet.


It's probably a Phillips brand English roadster. The lugs on this example do not match the picture, but the strange looking rear fork and BSA bottom bracket are typical on English 3 speeds.


Why would a manufacturer change chainring sizes drastically between years?

Well, in 2010 there's the S1, S2 and S3.  S1 is lower-end and has 50/34.

In 2011, they dropped the S1 and there's only the S2 and S3.  (based on what's up on their website right now)

The lowest end of the line is probably considered something like "entry level" or at least "not for racers", so it gets the "slower" chainring setup.  They've kept the chainring size on the cheapest bikes in the line the same, they just moved the labels for what the cheapest bike is.

And it's probably all about marketing and whatnot, nothing to do with any real solid technical reasons.


Fixing/replacing rim/wheel with Internal Gear Hubs (Nexus 3)

I don't think you're going to be able to swap the guts of an internally geared hub on to a prebuilt wheel that doesn't have the same hub on it to start.

If you buy a new rim, you should be able to do a rim swap relatively easy if you have a truing stand.  Simply tape the rims together and swap the spokes over to the new rim one at a time.  Then you'll need to re-tension the wheel from scratch, but you won't have to worry about re-lacing the wheel.  If you're not comfortable with this process, you may want to take it to a bike shop and have them rebuild the wheel for you.

Here's an overview on how to do a rim swap in more detail.
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?doc_id=4888


What is the best gear combo for me on road bike?

It's a question about physiology first and hardware second. The people that really are better off with a high gear higher than you have now are some combination of pros and/or low-cadence pedal mashers. Figuring out what cadence is really right for you given adequate conditioning is one of the key questions in cycling, and one that you can read endlessly about.
A closer cassette will give you the benefit of closer intervals between gears. If you don't need the 34 with the terrain you ride, that is all upside. The 50/34 compact, 11-34 cassette setups are good for a certain kind of cyclist and terrain, i.e. casual or beginner road cyclists with major hills or mountains to deal with, but can be serious overkill for other use cases, like rolling terrain and/or a stronger cyclist.
If the Apex group you have is still in good shape and you're finding you don't need gearing as low as you have, there's a lot to recommend just getting an 11-28 or 11-25 cassette rather than completely reinventing the bike, plus a new chain. I'm fairly certain that the WiFli type Apex RDs can handle whatever large cog you want to go down to and not have overly large gap.
A good way to begin to learn how to answer this question for yourself is when you're on your rides, keep track of what gear combination you use to climb the hills you work with, and, on the opposite end, if you find your high gear isn't high enough, what gear combination is that (50/11 for you). Then go home and plug those numbers into a gearing calculator and you will know what your ideal range is. If you need or really want to switch groups, you can let that be your metrics.


Are rear derailleur cable intervals equal?

Your assumption is that there is an unlimited number of clicks in the indexing inside a shifter. There aren't. For rear derailleurs shifters there is one click for each gear in the cassette. (i.e. a 10 spd shifter has 10 clicks). If you mis-align the clicks, you only get 9 gears not 10.

Often the indexing is setup to pull a larger amount on the biggest cog ( or lowest gear) in the rear cassette. It's tuned by the manufacturer to get the best shifting performance based on the typical cassette used in the group.

I suspect the issue from your older bike was not due to indexing, but due to a worn cog in the cassette. One gear in the middle just being flaky is a common symptom of a worn cassette and chain.

Cogs don't get the same amount of use or force through the chain so they often wear at different rates, especially if you don't replace your chain often enough. If you want the best shifting, get a chain gauge and check your chain for wear at regular intervals. My strategy is to buy the cheapest chain that works and replace it often.


Power output on rollers doesn't seem to match perceived effort

Perceived effort isn't determined only by power output. That is, power output is certainly one of the things that affects perceived effort but there are others. There are (at least) two other possibilities:

First, you may be overheating during indoor riding, so the perceived exertion is high compared to riding outdoors. In that case, a large fan can help you maintain convective cooling and reduce your perceived exertion.

Second, crank inertial load on rollers is quite different to that on the road. You can think of crank inertial load (CIL) as related to how much momentum is maintained with each pedal stroke. Outdoors on real roads CIL is high while on a trainer or on rollers CIL is relatively low: that means when you're on real roads you can coast or pedal softly and maintain speed while when on rollers as soon as you let up the wheel speed drops. Some riders are more sensitive to low CIL than others; some riders are initially sensitive but with training get used to it. If you're relatively new to roller riding, your muscles may not be attuned to having to spin at high cadence and low torque, so your heart rate and perceived exertion may be higher than when riding on the road. Some trainers have a large flywheel, so although the CIL may be less than on the road, they will have higher CIL than rollers.


How to estimate the speed of cyclist with given parameters

The cyclist has three main opposing forces, if riding at a steady speed:

The air drag is determined from 0.5*rho*v*(v+w)^2*CdA where rho is the air density in kg/m3, v is the speed in m/s, w is the headwind in m/s, and CdA is the drag area in m2.

The rolling resistance is determined from m*g*v*crr where m is the mass of cyclist and bike in kg, g is 9.81 m/s2, v is the speed in m/s, and crr is the coefficient of rolling resistance (usually between 0.003 and 0.02 with slick tires having low values and knobby tires having high values, pressure also affects the rolling resistance -- with higher pressure the rolling resistance is lower)

The hill resistance is determined from m*g*v*grade where grade is the grade of the hill (example: 0.05 for 5% hill) and m, g and v are defined as previously.

The terms (2) and (3) can be combined to m*g*v*(crr + grade), demonstrating that rolling resistance of tires is equivalent to always going up a small incline.
How to numerically calculate v using GNU Octave (might also work in Matlab but haven't tested):
m = 70+15; % 70 kg rider, 15 kg bike
g = 9.81; % gravity at surface of Earth
mrr = 42.5; % mass at which rolling resistance is measured
vrr = 29/3.6; % speed of rolling resistance measurement in km/h -> m/s
Prr_GP5000 = 10.3; % Conti GP 5000, 28-622, butyl 130gr tube, watts
crr_GP5000 = Prr_GP5000/(mrr*g*vrr);
Prr_gatorskin = 20.2; % Conti UltraGatorSkin, watts
crr_gatorskin = Prr_gatorskin/(mrr*g*vrr);
CdA = 0.4; % road bike, touring position, Cd*A in meters squared
rho = 1.2; % air density, kg/m3
P = 150; % power of cyclist in watts
grade = 0; % grade of hill, example: 0.05 for 5% hill
w = 0/3.6; % wind in km/h -> m/s, positive headwind, negative tailwind
v_GP5000 = fsolve(@(v)(0.5*rho*v*(v+w)^2*CdA + m*g*v*(crr_GP5000+grade) - P), 9)*3.6
v_gatorskin = fsolve(@(v)(0.5*rho*v*(v+w)^2*CdA + m*g*v*(crr_gatorskin+grade) - P), 9)*3.6

Running the code should show that 70 kg rider + 15 kg bike, at a power of 150 watts, at a temperature around 20 degrees Celsius where air density is 1.2 kg/m3, and a touring position with 0.4 m2 air drag area gives speed of 29.285 km/h for Continental Grand Prix 5000 tires and 27.856 km/h for Continental UltraGatorSkin tires.
The data for the example tires was obtained from https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/


Can I use a Shimano RD-M735 rear derailleur with road shifters like the SL-6400 (7s) or the SL-6401 (8s)?

Yes, it will work perfectly. Every pre-10-speed Shimano MTB rear derailleur will index with every road shifter prior (chronologically) to the beginning of 11-speed road, except for 7400/7410 Dura Ace.


Cockpit tech: ANT+ Power meter → Android phone?

Several suggestions in the comments helped steer me in the right direction.
The suggestion from Andrew about switching off Bluetooth on the phone and seeing if the phone still 'saw' ANT+ IDs was the clincher (I already knew that it saw nothing, but Andrew's comment made me ask WHY).
It turned out that the ANT+ Radio service on the phone required an additional permission.
This Reddit thread concerns a different phone (a OnePlus 5; I have a Samsung), but it was exactly the right solution.
ANT+ Radio must be given an additional permission to use ANT hardware.
This must be a relatively new thing, because back when I had a OnePlus One, there wasn't any hardware permission required (the only ANT+ device I had back then was a cadence sensor).
When I granted that additional permission, the hub was detected by the Wahoo Android app.
I just went for a brief ride to make sure that the app was receiving power numbers: it was. The hub is detected and data is being sent to the Wahoo app.
Problem solved - thanks to all.


I have seen that done with monocycles, but I am afraid that doing it with a bicycle is going to be more difficult if not impossible.

The reason I think so is that when you stand up and pedal you are also unbalancing your bike right and left. If you do it while holding the bar, you can compensate it in a certain way. (think cyclist standing while going uphill or sprinting, see how most of the cyclists in this picture are standing and their bike is tilted)

If you are not holding the bar, your bike will start zig-zagging and the only way to control it would be using your hips. But that can happen if you sit and can transfer your hips movement to the frame via the saddle.


Officially, you would need to use the corresponding GRX front derailleur.
This is because the GRX crank uses a wider chainline, which is the distance from the center of the bottom bracket to the midpoint of the crankset's rings (hat tip to the late Sheldon Brown for the link).

Shimano road double cranks use a 43.5mm chainline (for example, the R8000 crankset specification page reports this). As reported in the first link by Bikerumor, GRX spaced the chainline out by 2.5mm. Velonews reported (Lennard Zinn's column) that Shimano did this to better accommodate wider tires.
Unofficially, you might be able to use your existing front derailer, as Shimano's specifications are often conservative. You would move the limit screws accordingly. However, it isn't guaranteed that you would be able to move the derailer's range of motion outwards enough to shift, and it's possible you might experience more chain rub than you otherwise would. Given that front derailers are cheap, I'd recommend just buying the corresponding FD if you must go this route. Alternatively, you could consider a third party crankset, but these tend to be pricier than the corresponding Shimano option. Also, rider feedback tends to indicate that Shimano chainrings have better shifting than most alternatives.
It may be worth considering if you actually want an endurance road bike like the Endurace, or if you want a gravel bike. Many of these bikes do just fine on the road, and they are more versatile than pure endurance road bikes. Naturally, the answer could certainly be that you want an Endurace with sub-compact gears.
The type of front gearing you're trying to achieve is called sub-compact gearing (where "compact" usually means 50-34 chainrings, and "sub" denotes anything smaller, including 48-32 rings). Shimano has not yet addressed this niche of cycling, i.e. road bikes with sub-compact cogs. Campagnolo offers this type of gearing in one groupset (12-speed Chorus), and I suspect they plan on trickling it down to Potenza and Centaur (but I have no inside knowledge). SRAM appears to be moving to address this with their new Force AXS wide-range gearing options.


Can a headset base spacer ring be removed?

The tapered spacer is usually for water proofing the headset (dust cover), you can remove it as long as there is enough pre-load tension when assemble back the stem.

It is actually quiet useful to keep all the dirt and water away, especially if you leave the bike outside the rain. There usually is a set of O-ring(s) inside to keep the water dripping down the steerer tube.


Upgrading the brakes on a Giant Anyroad 2 2015

You can directly change for BB7 without needing new rotors.

If you want 160mm rotors with BB7, you would need new caliper mount adapters. Changing to 160mm rotors will give you slightly more stoping power, but whether it's worth it, is completely subjective.

It's pretty straight forward to do. Once you get the bike, you can ask a specific question about it.


Im going to a 1x is there a freewheel with more than 34 t on the large gear/cog?

The largest freewheel I found was a 10 speed with 14-36 teeth, or Shimano's "megarange" ones that generally go 14-32 or 14-34.
The rear mech will probably have a model on it.  Searching for "brand model spec" will often give you a manufacturer's specifications page.  To use an arbitrary example, a Shimano Tourney RD-TY300-SGS  google returns https://bike.shimano.com/en-NZ/product/component/tourney/RD-TY300-SGS.html
That page says in part:

Item
Value
Comment

Low sprocket_Max.
34T
The biggest cog should be no-larger than 34 tooth

Low sprocket_Min.
28T
and no smaller than 28 tooth

Max. front difference
20T
Not relevant to a 1x drivetrain

Top sprocket_Max.
14T
The smallest/hardest cog must be 11-14 tooth

Top sprocket_Min.
11T

Total capacity
43T
And this is also irrelevant to a 1x

Aside - your rear derailleur doesn't care if you have a freewheel or a cassette on a freehub.  But it has to match the rear wheel's fitment.
So find your model, search for the specs, and see what its capable of.  You may choose to push the published stats by a little, and probably get away with it.  Something rated 34T will probably be fine at 36T, but 40 would be pushing it.   50 is right out.

Instead of going big at the back, you can also choose a smaller chainring at the front, with the natural consequence of not having a high-enough gear for a big-tailwind or a downhill.
Another option is to have two 1-by chainrings, and use a mechanical system to change from one 1by to the other 1by.  I've heard its possible to have three 1by chainrings on the same bike, potentially giving a sub-1:1 gear ratio at the lowest gearings.
 Seriously though, there's no shame in a double or even a triple chainring if you ride a lot of hills, or even just the occasional steep one.


9 speed 11-36 is a common maximum cassette size.

42 would probably be too large for a 9 speed dérailleur to work reliably (Only 11 are specified to cope with 42 ). You would likely have trouble with the B screw adjustment, requiring a longer B screw or other hacks to get the dérailleur to clear the large cog. Even if you did succeed, the chain wrap would be minimal, increasing wear on chain and cogs.

You don't say what the chaining sizes are on your MTB, or your wheel size. A better option would be a smaller chain ring.


Difference between Cyclocross, Touring, and Road Bikes?

Road

Road bikes are designed for performance on (mostly) well paved roads. They are the lightest weight of the 3 categories, have the shortest wheelbase, lowest bottom bracket, and the steepest headtube angles. These geometry features allow the bike to react to rider inputs quickly and to have a low center of gravity which is beneficial when turning.

Wheels are almost invariably 700c - sometimes smaller wheels are used on very small frames. Tire sizes will typically vary from 20-25mm width but the most common width is 23mm, thus the 700x23 that you'll often see. Road frames can be made out of just about any material but the most common ones that you'll see are aluminum for budget oriented bikes and carbon fiber for high end bikes.

Gearing will be the highest and narrowest on this type of bike. Road bikes are designed to carry the rider and his/her water bottles and not much else, although some are drilled for fitting racks - usually on the less expensive side.

Road bikes still make great commuters if you want a light weight, fast reacting machine to get from point A to point B.

Touring

Touring bikes are designed for long, multi-day excursions on the road. They are usually the heaviest bikes of the bunch as they are built for durability and to carry a lot of stuff beyond just the rider. They will maintain a relatively low bottom bracket but the wheelbase will be longer and the head tube angle slacker when compared to a road bike. This adds to their stability, especially when fully loaded.

Wheels are often 700c but many are actually designed for 26" - some will accept either, though this will make for a higher BB with the larger wheel. Stock tire sizes will run wider - usually 28mm or above. This makes of a more comfortable ride since the air pressure can be dropped.

You may see touring bikes made from other materials, but the most common is steel due to its forgiving nature and durability. Drillings for back and front racks are standard, and drillings for extra water bottles are common.

Gearing may be a little lower, but will certainly be wider on a touring bike. Sometimes mountain bike components are used for rear gearing to give the rider extra low gearing. This is very welcome when ascending with a fully loaded touring bike.

This type of bike makes an excellent commuter as it is stable and when fitter with racks/panniers gives you lots of places to put your stuff besides on your back.

Cyclocross

Cyclocross bikes are designed to travel both on and off road. Cyclocross is actually a race discipline that evolved as something for road racers to do in the off season, but the bikes have become very popular outside of racing due to their versatility. Cross bikes will typically be heavier than a comparable road bike but lighter than a comparable touring bike. The wheelbase will be in between that of a road bike and a touring bike while the bottom bracket height and headtube angle could be on either side of that of a touring bike depending on the manufacturer's philosophy.

Wheels will be 700c and tires will typically range somewhere in the 30-40mm width range with small knobs to grip loose surfaces as opposed to the slicks you'll see on dedicated road tires.

Frame materials vary widely just as with the other bike types, but for high end cyclocross frames carbon fiber is becoming a more prevalent material. Aluminum and steel are also common, especially amongst mid level bikes and below.

Traditional cyclocross gearing is a little odd as they typically come with a very close ratio double crankset but this may be compensated for by a wider cassette.

Race dedicated cyclocross bikes may have drillings for water bottle cages in the front triangle though you'll often see them with no bottles mounted so they don't get in the way of shouldering the bike over obstacles. On the other hand, many cross bikes are drilled for racks since they can double as a touring bike due to the similar geometry.

Cross bikes make wonderful commuters due to their versatility and durability. You can often run racks or not, and swap the knobby tires with slicks should you so choose.


Often, dirt gets between the seat post and seat tube. Remove the seat post. Clean the post. Clean inside the seat tube. Grease the post and re-install. Hopefully the noise will be gone. You say the post is close to the max mark. For a little added safety, longer seat posts are available.


What bike for a long distance tour. What to change on current set up?

Focus on your points of contact and your positioning on the bike. The butterfly handlebars are a potentially good option due to the extra hand positions. Are you totally happy with your saddle? If you're considering days-on-end touring you'd better be. Pedals aren't as big of a deal if you're already riding clipless- brand is just a matter of preference there, but are your shoes in good shape? any discomfort or hotspots after long days on the bike? Finally, if you have any discomfort or pain when riding the bike, it might be worth moving some things around, especially stem length/rise. I'm assuming you have your saddle height + fore/aft where you want it. If not, play with it a bit or better yet go see a fitter with a good reputation.
Most importantly, don't change any of these things immediately before you go on a tour! You need a few long days in the saddle to test them out first. Also, if you're happy with all of the things I mentioned, don't second guess them just because I pointed them out. Be happy with what you've got and how you've got it and have an awesome ride.


Should be fine in almost every case. The exception would be tubes that say "700x32-35 (27x1-1/4)", or anything else that has a 700C range where the starting number is larger than 28. That would be bigger than you want. (Would still probably work, but it wouldn't be ideal.) In other words, there isn't usually a difference, but only in the sense that most 27x1-1/4 tubes have that width on the top end of the range they cover rather than the bottom.

If you can't find one that just says 27x1-1/8, use anything that has 700x28 in its range. That's the answer you won't go wrong with. It's a tire for a different and more common rim size, but the tubes for it are interchangeable with 27x1-1/8. Make sure to get the right valve type.


Removing old fashioned saddle from seatpost

I found that the GMC Denali 21 speed uses an HL Aluminum Micro Adjust 27.2 X 300mm, so I assume your seat is very similar to those found on the Denali. In this case you will need a small crescent wrench that will fit between the guts and the side of the saddle. Some bolts are square and will stay put when loosing the nuts, but some are not and might require an opposing wrench on the other side. You only need to loosen each side a half turn and you can slide the seat off the post. The problem is that you will only be able to replace it with similar guts. You might be able to swap out the saddle itself if the rails match, but my recommendation would be to switch the whole saddle/post with a more modern set.


What is the rear hub of a Giant ATX 2 2019/2020?

Freewheel have almost completely been superseded by freehubs and cassettes, however the Giant ATX is an inexpensive bike with a Tourney level groupset, so It could conceivably have a freewheel.

It's simple to look up the bike's specs and find out. This is the ATX 2 page at the giant site. The site says it has a Shimano MF-TZ500 14x34 'cassette'. The 14 tooth small sprocket gives us a clue that this is a freewheel.

Looking at the Shimano page for the MF-TZ500 we see that it is indeed a 7 speed freewheel.


Why is Shimano's 105 groupset called 105?

This is a non-answer because I've been looking at Japanese bicycling sites and blogs and no one really knows. The closest answer is found here:

105の名の由来とは？
最後に、各グレード名の由来についての豆知識を紹介します。1971年に誕生したデュラエースの名は、素材のジュラルミン（Duralumin）と耐久性を意味するデュラビリティ（Durability）に、世界一のコンポという願いを込めた「エース」を組み合わせた造語です。1976年に誕生のアルテグラは、Ultimate（究極）+Integrate（統合）を意味するコンポーネントです。1982年に誕生した105については、当時のダブルレバーSL-A105の型番を継承し、現在では105というグレード名になっています。

which google translate translate (with some clean-up) as:

What is the origin of the 105 name?
Finally, I will introduce my knowledge about the origin of each grade name [in the Shimano series]. The name of Dura Ace which was born in 1971 is a combination of Duralumin of the material and Durability meaning durability combined with "Ace" which wish of the world's best component. The birth of Ultegra in 1976 is a component that means Ultimate + Integrate. Concerning 105 which was born in 1982, it inherited the model number of the double lever SL-A 105 at that time and now it has become the grade name of 105.

So it's a non-answer answer. The author of this article, Kenji Hashimoto, is a sports journalist in Japan and so it's about as close as one might get unless you ask Shimano.


8.5 or 9bar is a usual maximum recommended pressure for road bike tires (23mm width). Depending on your weight and demands on comfort something between 7 and 8.5bar is usually right. Just be aware that road bike tires lose pressure pretty fast so you have to refill them every week or so.

They should feel very hard at 8bar. If you can pinch them it’s way too little (though it’s hard to gauge pressure by hand).


how to translate MTB wheel specifications?

Rear wheels have never had 9mm axles, they have always been 10mm. For all but "downhill" MTB[2] and fatbikes[3], they are  either 135mm 10mm or the new 12mm 142mm maxle standard.

http://www.pinkbike.com/news/12x142-explained.html

Unless it specifically states otherwise I would assume that the rear wheel of an MTB wheelset is a 135mm 10mm axle. Anything that "looks" like a standard QR should be 135mm 10mm. But the vendor should make that pretty obvious, and if they don't it should be easy to ask. Wheelsets are expensive, it should be simple to get the answer to what dimensions are used in the rear hub.

[2]- Downhill MTB has a 150mm thru-axle standard.

[3]- Fatbikes use asymmetric 135mm axles (hub shifted to the driveside, relative to the rim) 170mm symmetric axles and 190mm/197mm thru-axles


Where can I find a Shimano cs50 stopper fixing bolt?

Those are M5 button head cap screws (the entire name is needed to specific the exact part), usually 8mm or 10mm long. You can buy them from any fastener supplier, and many hardware shops as well as bike shops.


Not sure if you are having problems with the front derailleur or rear, but the answer is really the same.

Derailleurs have 3 adjustments:

High limit
Low limit
Indexing

High and low limits stop the derailleur from pushing the chain off the inner and outermost sprockets. Indexing lines the derailleur up with the individual sprockets. It sounds like you have both a limit and indexing problem.

If you are unfamiliar with bicycle maintenance the easiest option is to have a local bicycle repair shop do the adjustment. It's a straightforward process and inexpensive.

If you want to attempt adjustment yourself, there are many good 'how-to' articles and videos available that walk you through the process. My favorites are those produced by the Park Tool Company.

Rear derailleur adjustment is relatively straightforward, front derailleur adjustment is more complicated chain enters the derailleur at different angles depending on the rear gear selected.

https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-derailleur-adjustment


I don't know the exact model (probably is Trainer as shown on the top tube decal) but it was likely built sometime right around 1984, most likely 1984-1986 judging by the parts. The brand was known as Motobecane for most of their history. They went bankrupt in 1981 and were bought by the Japanese (Yamaha or Suzuki, I forget which) who relaunched the brand in 1984 as MBK (like many other French bike companies, they made more than just bikes - see also Peugeot).

The other giveaway is the Sachs-Huret rear derailleur. Sachs and Huret were separate companies - one German, one French - prior to 1980. In 1987 they introduced an indexing system to keep up with SIS which had come out the year prior from Shimano and was a massive hit. In the late 90s the combined company was bought by the American SRAM company. The shift levers look to be friction so that dates them to after the Sachs/Huret merger but before the advent of indexed shifting.

It is an entry level bike. The big giveaway is the tubing decal which says "Hi Tensile". Hi Tensile (or Hi-Ten) is the lowest grade of tubing used in bikes. Pretty much the same stuff used in Huffy and other department store bikes. That said, not all Hi-Ten is created equal and there are actually some Hi-Ten frames that ride quite nicely even if it's far from being the lightest tubing. Nicer level Motobecanes of the era would have been made using Reynolds 531 or various grades of Vitus steel tubing.

As you've probably discovered by now the bottom bracket is a regular taper with English threads. Most French bike companies stopped using French threads in the late 70s/early 80s much to the relief of bike shop mechanics everywhere!


I suspect the jockey wheels are the culprit.  You said you lubed the jockey wheels without removing them.  Likely the bearings or bushings didn't get lubed sufficiently this way.

Typically you will need to remove them and clean and lube the bushing or pry the dust shield off of the bearing so you can clean and lube the cartridge bearing (depending o the derailleur).  If you are dealing with a cartridge bearing you need to take  care when prying of dust shields so you don't damage them.

When reassembling the derailleur ensure you use loctite (blue 242) so that the derailleur doesn't do a RUD (Rapid Unplanned Disassembly) at a later point in time.


2015 Fox RC2 160/36 (650b) fork - negative air pressure problem

Thanks, moderators, for asking contributors to answer the actual question! So different from the millions of unmoderated, often tangential and perfunctory answers found on MTBR.

This problem occurs on both new and serviced forks. Fox's 40 mm downhill fork has pressure release micro-bleeders near the top of the legs, just below the dust wiper seals that get pushed in to activate. Since these are on both legs in the same location, and since sliding a zip tie past the wiper seals on both legs can usually release the pressure and return the stanchions to full extension, I find this statement,

  air negative spring becoming over pressurized due to air migrating
  past the seal separating the positive/negative sides of the FLOAT
  assembly,

confusing, at best. And again, it's not just Fox Floats having this issue, Rock Shox users do, as well. I'm doubting there's an answer to how to prevent this, but hope in near future that Fox puts those micro-bleeders on the 36 if they can't engineer the problem away.

Posts #104, 106 & 108 on the link below has a contributor who shows how to modify your fork with your own micro-bleeders:

http://forums.mtbr.com/shocks-suspension/air-pike-lowers-psa-929695-3.html


Your symptoms sound like your rear deraileur needs to be re-adjusted.  If that is off you will notice the skipping and "rattling" sound as the chain rubs against the deraileur or jumps gears under various pedal pressures.  That rubbing will also slow you down.

Your old chain will have stretched so counting links will not translate to an exact fit for your new chain.  Your new chain will be slightly shorter and will require some re-adjustments to your rear deraileur.

Additionally, there's a few other variables that you can check/think about.

1.) New chains come with a protective grease/oil that protects the chain from cororosion.  There's some debate on whether you remove this coating and add chain lube or just keep it on.  I've always removed it since the viscosity is higher than my chain lube.  The viscosity of the lubricant you use will affect power transfer enough for you to notice.

2.) You may not get smooth shifting at all if your cassette is worn out with your new chain.  If this is the case the reason is that your old chain has worn into the cassette teeth - meaning the two fit together "perfectly".  When you replace the chain, the chain no longer sits properly within the teeth.  If you look at the cassette teeth and you see that they are shaped like shark teeth it's time to think about a replacement.


For an actual fit, you can't really do it yourself without extended riding and testing, usually with a powermeter or other method to measure performance, and someone willing to take video and still shots of you on your bike.

What a fitter should be doing is measuring your body morphology (shape and structure), and then using that to get you into a correct sized frame (whether it's road, mountain, time trial, etc), and then adjusting the fit using different length stems, handlebar widths, seat posts/seats, etc. to get the bike comfortable.

There are several different methods, including Fit Institute Slow Twitch (FIST, usually used for time trial/triathlon frames), GURU, Retul, eyeball and a few others. Many of these use fit bike mechanisms where the "frame" that you are sitting on can be lengthened, shortened, raised/lowered, etc. Some (Such as the Retul) also have cameras that can pick out and measure all the different lengths and angles and provide a printout.

A fit, however, is only as good as the person doing it. There are good and bad fitters, and if you really want a good fit, I would do some research on the local fitters and their experience/certifications and word of mouth reputation.

A "good" fitting will probably cost between $150 - $500 US dollars, depending on the type of fit, follow up sessions, and number of bikes being fitted.

Part of the reason for the variance is that frame manufacturers (Especially in time trial/triathlon frames) do not really follow a "standard" measuring convention, and a 54cm top tube bike from Trek may fit very differently than a 54cm top tube bike from Specialized. Also, someone that is 5'10" with a 34" inseam will fit a bike very differently from someone that is 5'10" with a 30" inseam.

If all the guy does is have you stand over the top tube and say "Yeah, that'll fit ya", I would definitely seek a different shop.


https://shop.mavic.com/en-gb/ksyrium-disc-rr0889.html#1028=3283

Compatibility
Rear axle: 12mm thru axle, convertible to Quick Release with optional adapters (not available in Germany)

This listing offers various adapters, including a QR option, which may fit your hub:
https://shop.mavic.com/en-gb/rear-axle-adapters-oc0672.html#1040=3808


Cycled through pothole on carbon frame - damaged?

CFC frames are not as fragile as many people seem to think they are. If you got a heavy jolt but didn't feel like you were going to be thrown off the frame is probably fine. I'd be more immediately concerned about the wheels than the frame, and that may be the source of the rattle.

You can examine the frame closely looking for cracks. If it's dirty clean it first. Using a bright light will help.

Is the rattle coming from the drive train? Does it happen when pedalling only? Does it happen when coasting? Or does it happen when you go over a bump and seems to be something loose on the bike? If the latter, a good way to track it down is to pick the bike up and bounce it on the ground fairly hard on it's tires. By carefully listening you can track the noise down. Trying to locate a source of a rattling noise is almost impossible when actually riding.

Check your wheels are running true. Check spoke tension by systematically going around the wheel pinching pairs of spokes. You may have a spoke broken at the nipple end that is hanging on in the rim.

It's a good idea to learn some bump-mitigation techniques. for smaller bumps raise your butt off of the seat, keep your knees bent and absorb some of the impact. For bigger bumps it's useful to know how to pull off even a small bunny-hop.


Here in the Toronto area, you can find these bikes either at a spring bike show or (more commonly) fall bike show. They are generally priced aggressively to clear out stock and you won't find many in the stores in the coming years.

Most shops will not have previous model years around as they make money selling bikes and want to move stock.

I also managed to find my girl's bike on Kijiji the same way that a shop just wanted to clear out last years model. 40% off.

The final option is a few bike stores that sit on stock for years and they won't move on the price regardless and you won't convince them.


Can the HED Tomcat wheels be made stronger?

When building a wheel, there are two main things the builder does to prevent spoke breakage: set the spoke line at the hub flange and rim when the spokes have little or no tension, and stress relieve the spokes once they're at nearly full tension.

Setting the spoke line means to cold set the material into the final shape it would otherwise be pulled into by the tension on it. This reduces fatigue, which is the most common cause of breakage. It also helps keep the wheel true.

To do it, ideally the spokes would have little or no tension. Jobst Brandt in "The Bicycle Wheel" favors doing it with a little tension. I find I can tell what I'm doing better if they're pretty slack. At the hub end, push  each outside spoke hard against its flange. You're trying to get them to lay flat against the flange when not under tension, as opposed to bowing out. (There are other techniques, but doing it with your fingers works fine). At the rim/nipple end, you're trying to prevent any bowing where the spoke enters the nipple. Many wheels don't need any attention here, i.e. the rim hole allows the nipple to swivel naturally into an angle that allows the spoke to run straight, but for the ones that do, just grab pairs of consecutive pushing and pulling spokes that make a "V" (the intersection of the V being the spoke crossing nearest to the rim) and squeeze them together hard to cold set the spoke. I like to do this once the wheel is near its final tension, so that there's only minimal thread movement left to go and you're not pulling the section you just bent up into the nipple.

Stress relieving is a process of temporarily overloading the material to eliminate residual stresses left in the spoke elbows. Most breakage is caused by these stresses putting the elbow area above its fatigue limit in use as the wheel rolls along, each spoke getting loaded and unloaded. To stress relieve the spokes on a cross-laced wheel, find pairs of nearly parallel pushing and pulling spokes on each side of the wheel and squeeze them together hard, as though you're trying to break them. (Brandt's terminology). I would recommend doing this at around 80-90% of final spoke tension.

Because your spokes are having fatigue problems already, these steps are no guarantee because they can't fix fatigue that's already accumulated. But if there's a way of getting the wheel to stop breaking spokes without replacing all of them, this is it. Also, make sure the final tension is nice and high.

In the end these wheels are probably not strong enough to be trouble-free for a 300lb rider, on-road or off. That's due to what kind of loads they can structurally take. Whether the spokes are operating within their fatigue limit is a separate concern, and that's what determines whether you'll break spokes. It's also true that the margin for error in how well internal stresses have been relieved is going to be little if any here, possibly to an extent that exceeds practicality.


Appropriate oil viscosity for the inside of a freewheel body

The only freehub-specific lube I have found is from Dumonde Tech. They offer a freehub lube in both oil and grease form; depending on your preference. Those are what I use when servicing my rear wheels. Cleaning with WD-40 isn't bad practice as it's just a water displacement solution (Thus the "WD") and only imparts a very, very light lube to whatever surface it covers. I use it for cleaning bike and motorcycle parts all the time and to add some protective covering to parts with exposed raw metal.


A 100 watt solar panel is nominal watts under ideal situations. You'll be lucky to get 25 watts/hr tied to the back of your bike - and this would be only for a few hours of the day, from 11a to 3p.

Given that your bike is likely using at least 100-200 watts/hr even on low pedal assist, you're only going to gain 5-10% more range over the entire day. From experience, even with low pedal assist, its highly unlikely you'll get anywhere near the maximum (or even middle) advertised range of the ebike.

There is a further complication that  your battery management system won't allow you to charge while biking. Many if not most don't.  So you can only charge the spare pack and you'll have to figure out how to convert the solar panel to the right D.C. voltage and amperage for your charger. If you overcharge or overvolt, a poorly design lithium pack can go up in flames.

It'd be much easier and safer logistically to just bring another spare battery pack or two. I assume you'll be pulling trailers and as a result your mileage will be even further reduced but it means you can carry more. Just load up your trailer with spare packs and bring multiple chargers. Forget solar, it's not worth the hassle. The one exception would be to use solar to charge your iPhone/iPad and other electronic devices -- it's relatively easy to find small solar chargers that have USB leads.


To quote Sheldon:

  Older French bicycles used a different, smaller diameter where the
  pedal screws into the crank, 14 mm x 1.25 mm.

  The vast majority of French bicycles imported into the U.S. used
  standard 9/16" x 20 tpi crank threading, but if you find an older
  bicycle that was bought in France, you may run into this problem. The
  French-thread cranks can be tapped out to 9/16". This is much easier
  (and more worth the trouble) with aluminum cranks. Start the taps from
  the inside of the cranks,so any possible thread damage occurs where it
  doesn't matter. French pedals will often be marked "G" (Gauche=left)
  and "D" (Droite=right).


Which pulley is which on my Shimano STX RC derailleur?

From your photo, the left pulley (beefier, with metal bushing) is the top one, which goes closer to the cassette.

I know that because that's how things were in every shimano derailer I had over the years, and I think that makes pretty much sense, since the beefier pulley (the upper one) actually shifts the gears, while the bottom, thinner one is only an idler that keeps the chain tensioned.

As for the "centeron G" stuff, I have no idea what this means...


Will a "700 x 25-32cc" inner tube fit my "700Cx28/38c" / "ETRTO 622x20" rim?

It looks as though you're confused about the range of allowed tyres on the rim vs the tube. What connects the two is the size of the tyre you actually have.

There are two independent ranges. The rim is rated to take tyres in the range 28 to 38mm wide. Your tyre will be an exact size, and ideally should be within that range. You can measure the width or guess, because it's not critical.

That's because the tube will be rated to fit a range of tyre sizes. The one you're looking at will fit any time from 25mm to 32mm wide.

As long as the tyre you actually have is more or less the size of the tube, you'll be fine.

In practice a thinner tyre will be fine, it might just be hard to stuff all the tube into the tyre when fitting it (it's more obvious if you're trying to fit a 55mm wide tube into a 22mm wide tyre... and that example might not actually work because there will be so much rubber filling the tyre that you might not be able to get any air in).

The same applies to tyres, BTW. You could probably run 25mm or even 23mm tyres on that rim without problems, and likely 40mm or 45mm wide as well, if the tyre cleared your frame. I dont suggest you actually do run wildly out of spec tyres, but people do (I have run 55mm tyres on narrow rimes before).

Also, tyres fit a range of rim widths :) One guy I met ran narrow tyres on wide rims because he was convinced it lowered the rolling resistance. He may have been right, but it made hard cornering quite exciting when the rims hit the ground.

I suspect you're over-thinking this. It's straightforward once you understand it. (rim takes a range of tyres) + (tyre is one exact size size) + (tube fits a range of tyres).


Will Stans No-Tubes (or other tubless tire sealant) work in a standard tube to prevent leaks?

Are you having problems with flats too frequently for comfort? If not, leave them alone.

If you are, whats causing the flats? Punctures? Too low tire pressure? If its the latter, sealant won't help.

But, people do put Stans sealant into tubes to do the same purpose like Slime to deal with punctures. It comes with the usual caveats just like Slime (possible gumming up of the valve which can cause air leaks at the valve, the movement of the sealant, etc.), but for people who get punctures which are sealable by Slime frequently enough, it can be useful. Stans has a different viscosity and drying time to Slime, so its probably not as good (and its probably more costly to use Stans for this purpose than Slime).

So, yes it would work, maybe not as well as Slime-like sealents, but it would probably be more economical just to buy Slime and use the Stans for your tubeless applications. I think if you're not getting punctures frequently enough to be annoyed, its probably more trouble than its worth to use a Slime-like sealant in the first place.


How to choose bar-end shifters for a given groupset?

You do need an indexed, Campagnolo shift set which is set up for the same number of gears that your bike has.

Centaur is 10 speed Campag, if I remember correctly, so something like this:

Campag Record 10 speed bar end shifter

If you bike is 11 speed, then this, or similar:

11 speed Campag bar end shifter

Keep in mind that you will also need a new set of brake levers without shifters, and that most aero brake levers are set up for a bullhorn style handlebar. You may want to change that as well.

You will, of course, lose the ability to shift from the hoods or drops.

As for price, you should of thought of that before you bought Italian components to begin with. :)

Edit:

Must I use:

Shifters of the same brand as the rest of the groupset? (Shimano/Campagnolo/SRAM) YES, They generally use different spacing between gears (Campag/Shimano) or different cable pull ratios (Shimano/SRAM).
Shifters of the same product line as the rest of the groupset? (Dura Ace/Ultegra, Record/Centaur) No. You may mix component levels, if they match brand and index number.
Shifters of the same model year or generation as the rest of the groupset? Helpful, but with a few exceptions, not mandatory.
Shifters with the same number of indices? (10 speed, 9 speed, 8 speed) Yes. No options, unless your shifting is friction.
Indexed or friction-type shifters?
Indexed requires indexed. Friction can work with most things, unless it is designed for fewer gears. Spacing doesn't matter.

Edit 2:

Also, for what it's worth, I can't find any Campag time trial shifters which are any group set other than Record in any of their online available catalogs. It is common to only produce 1 high end model of specialty items like that, so they may only have made Record models. Also Record 10 speed TT Shifters are discontinued, so if you really want a set, get them ordered while there are still some available.


Does this trike have a spoiler for downforce?

According to this post from an owner the wing is for looks:

Earlier models came with an aluminum ‘wing” over the front axle, probably more for looks than anything, and a bullet-shaped, sports car-styled rear mirror on the left side.

According to the post the trike was made specifically for on track racing against like trikes.

MASA was a Japanese company, but targeted the US with this form of racing. In 1975 they finally brought a few of these over here and did some exhibition races between their own staff. It never really caught on, but they still imported about 1500 of these into the US over a three year period.

and later

Since these trikes were focused on track racing only against like trikes, the lack of braking and their size was not a problem. Their wide, long front end was thought to be better protection for the rider.


Rims are worn out when the groove disappears. If the groove is clearly visible, well-defined and of uniform depth all the way around, the rim is not quite worn out and certainly not dangerous.

New brake blocks will cause less wear as they will be free of hard particles of grit and metal that get embedded in the relatively soft rubber over time.

Given the repair shop's bad advice on the state of the rims and refusal to replace the blocks, I'd disregard all of their other advice about needed repairs. I suspect they just saw a well-used bike and decided they could persuade you to purchase a new one. Find a repair shop with a better reputation and get a second opinion.

Replacing and adjusting brake blocks yourself is relatively easy if you have basic tools. Park Tool has an excellent web page and collection of videos that walk you through the process.


Allen Coggan power profile table for Cyclo cross riders?

That's some wattage, but lower than Coggan's charts for an international pro road racer (5.78w/kg+ for FTP), I guess due to:

the fact that this is race data and not best efforts from testing/training;
and because perhaps it's less important for cyclo-cross riders as they don't tend to do as long climbs as you might expect in a Grand Tour.

Yeah, I agree with the comment above: probably closer to an All-Rounder; maybe a hint of Pursuiter in there too. Would need data for 5s, 1min and 5min maximum best efforts.


What is the loud screeching noise coming from my bike?

So you are saying that you have a time windows of 10 minutes more or less, so this indicates IMO that expansion by heat is causing the friction and sound.

Also you said it only happens when you pedal, and it stops when breaking, but you didn't say if it happen when coasting. Assuming that it doesn't sound when coasting, that means when you load the drivetrain(wich is asimetrically loaded when pedaling). On this scenario I will be checking the back hub because it can be a number of thing, like: Broken/twisted axle, broken bearing wall(sealed), loose open bearing cones, gunk on the ball seats, etc.

Then if that fails, could be the Bottom Bracket. Had a couple Oddisey Sealed Bearing BB, with 4 Bearings(2 on each side), that had one of the bearings exploded and that made a horrible sound when pedaling. Altough I can't remember if it was hearable all the time while pedaling, It could be felt throught the pedals, tho.

While checking the stuff, clean and lube everything.

Cheers

EDIT: Commuting I've thought of another thing you can check on. The cassete(freewheel, cogs, etc) Depending on what kind of cassette you have, can also mean that broke a prong and is dragging. But this is like the ultimate problem. Probably, you should know that you pretty much destroyed the hub.

And also, if you had a double suspension bike, could be some of the pivots fricction with small rocky dirt, not helping to slip that constraption.

Have a day...


Small Tear in Michelin Pro4 Tire, Does It Need To Be Replaced?

I folded a dollar-bill and placed it between the tube and tire on my last set of tires.  That lasted about four months before the tube finally pushed it's way out the tear and popped.  Safest bet is to replace the tire.  But in a pinch, the dollar-bill trick will at least get you home/to the bike shop.


Carrera Crossfire 2 Hybrid Bike to a road bike

it is possible, but in most cases does not worth it.

Components cost more if sold separately, so usually you end up spending a same amount of money or even more than buying a new bike.

if any seller does discounts on bike - consider you have all the components discounted

planning and implementing conversion is not easy and time consuming


Wheel Wobbles and Rubs on Brand New Bike?

The issue you are having is the wheel is "out of true".  This is caused by uneven spoke tension.  It can be adjusted, but it's easy to go wrong here and make it worse if you don't know what you're doing.

Most good bikes are bought from bike shops.  This allows the shop to properly assemble and adjust the bike.

If you know someone who can do it (and possibly teach you) that would be your cheapest option.  (six-pack of beer?).  Otherwise, I recommend you take it to the bike shop.

If you do decide to do it yourself, you'll need a spoke wrench and a lot of patience.  There are youtube videos that can show you how.

I still recommend a bike shop.  Most bikes from stores are not properly assembled at all.  Many times the bearings have not been greased.  The "cheap" bike seldom is actually cheap.