Which lubricant/grease to use for ball bearings?

First, to remove a cassette freehub does require a specific tool. The Park Tool version is called the FR-5.

There is no need for more than one kind of grease. Use any light bearing grease like the Park Poly Lube 1000.

There is a good set of instructions here on how to do the rebuild.

From Park Tool's repair help site:

Hub Overhaul and Adjustment

Useful Tools and Supplies

Cone wrenches, see DCW and SCW series wrenches. Always use the smallest size that fits.
Bench vise and axle vise AV-1, or AV-4. Holds wheel secure for easier work.
Combination wrenches to fit, or adjustable wrench
Pencil Magnet
Grease, Park Tool Polylube® 1000
Wire ties
Solvent, such as CB-2 Citrus ChainBrite
Rags
Hub Overhaul and Adjustment
This article will discuss the adjustment and overhaul of "cup-and-cone" hubs. These hubs allow for access to internal bearings, and are adjustable. See related article for

Freehub Service.
Bicycle hubs may be either the adjustable cup-and-cone type or the non-adjustable cartridge style. The adjustable type bearing surfaces can be adjusted for bearing play. The cartridge types typically cannot be adjusted for wear or play. Both types can come in either the freehub type or the thread-on freewheel style.

A basic bearing system is seen below. The cup is normally a permanent press fit into the hub shell. The cone traps the ball bearing. The locknut is tightened against the cone to prevent the cone from moving. If there is looseness from bearing play, the cone can be move closer to the cup.

The modern freehubs tend to be more complex. The hub will have a freehub mechanism attached to the hub. The cassette cogs attach to the freehub. It is possible to remove and service the freehub in a separate operation. See Freehub Service. A typical rear hub with freehub is seen below.

Cup and cone type freehub

Cartridge Bearing Hubs
Hubs using the cartridge type bearings are not serviceable in the sense they can be dismantled and adjusted. As cartridge bearings wear and develop play, the entire cartridge unit is replaced. Cartridge hub service is not covered in this article.

Common cartridge bearing type hub

Hub overhaul
For rear hubs, begin by removing rear cogs. Remove quick release skewer. If it is a solid axle type, remove axle nuts.
Inspect axle ends. Measure and note the amount of axle protruding past locknut. For quick release hubs, counting the number of threads is an adequate measurement.

(OPTIONAL) Mount in axle vise, if possible. Mount right side down with left side facing upward. Generally, dismantle from the left side.
Remove any rubber cover. Use a tie or string to hold small parts in the same orientation as they came off of hub.
Hold cone using cone wrench, and loosen locknut counter-clockwise.

Remove locknut and any washers, placing them on the tie.

Remove cone by turning counter-clockwise.
Place hand below right side, and lift wheel slowly. Be prepared to catch bearings that fall from hub. Place wheel on bench.
If inspecting bent axle, remove right side locknut and cones. Note that left side and right side cones, washers and locknuts may be different. Do not confuse left and right side parts. Use tie method to keep track of parts. Also note axle thread may be asymmetrical. The side with more axle spacers gets more axle thread.

Count the number of bearings on each side, and then use pencil magnet to remove bearings from hub shell.

For many hub models, it is possible and recommended to overhaul with the pressed dust caps in place. Dust caps may be fragile and removal may result in damage. Work around dust caps when cleaning and inspecting.
Wipe and clean all parts. Parts must be dry for assembly. Wipe freehub mechanism out using damp rag. Do not soak freehub in solvent. Freehub bodies are lubricated internally with a light lubricant, and soaking them with solvent will remove lubrication. For freehub service, see Freehub Service.
Hub and Parts Inspection
View hub cups and cones for pitting or damage. Also use a ballpoint pen to trace the bearing path. Roughness and wear will be felt as the small ball of the pen passes over pits.

Inspect ball bearings for shininess and brightness. If balls are dull looking, they should be replaced. If the cup is damaged, it typically cannot be replaced. A new hub would be required. Cones are typically available as replacement parts.

If inspecting axle, roll axle on flat surface. View axle close to surface and watch for gap appearing as axle rolls. Bent axles cannot be re-bent. A new axle is required.

Hub Assembly
Grease axle threads.
Grease heavily inside hub shell cups.
Place ball bearings in both cups and cover with more grease. Make sure balls are seated flat in cup. For rear hubs, the common number is 9 balls of 1/4-inch diameter per side. For front hubs, the common number is 10 balls of 3/16-inch diameter per side.

If all parts were removed from axle, install right side parts. Use care to install in the same orientation as they came off. Return axle protrusion to the original measurement, as noted earlier. Tighten cone locknut fully.
Install axle through right side of hub.
Install left side axle parts, using care to install in the same orientation as they came off. Do not set axle protrusion on this side and do not tighten locknut at this time.
For quick release type hubs, snug the cone down until it contacts the ball bearings, and turn back counter-clockwise one quarter turn (90 degrees). This will purposely make the bearing adjustment too loose. Hold cone with cone wrench and tighten locknut fully. Proceed to HUB ADJUSTMENT below.
NOTE: For quick release wheels, it is critical the axle end sit inboard or recessed inside the frame or fork dropout. This allows the quick release skewer to secure onto the frame or fork end. If the axle end protrudes even a very small amount, the wheel may not properly secure and may come out during use. In the image below the axle end is only slightly too long. If the hub is the correct width, check the axle is centered between the locknuts. It may be necessary to grind off the axle end until it is safely recessed.

Hub Adjustment
Quick release hubs have hollow axles that flex slightly when the quick release is closed. Hub bearing adjustments must account for this extra pressure. When a quick release hub is not clamped tight in the frame, there should be a slight amount of play in the axle. This play disappears when the hub and wheel are clamped in the frame.

To test if a hub in your bike has an adequate adjustment, grab the wheel while it is still in the frame and pull it side to side laterally. Turn wheel and test again, feeling for a knocking sensation. If no play is felt, remove the wheel. Grab the axle (not the skewer) and rock it up and down to check for play. If the axle has play when the wheel is outside the bike, but no play inside the bike, the adjustment is adequate. If there is no play in the axle when the wheel is outside the bike, the adjustment is too tight, even if the axle seems to turn smoothly when out of the bike.

Bearing Adjustment and "Feel"
Bearing surfaces are made from hardened steel. The surfaces are cut typically by grinding. Round ball bearings roll on the curved surface of the cup and cone. Even the highest quality bearing surfaces will have slight grinding marks. In the left image below is a high quality cone magnified two hundred times. Notice the parallel marks from the grinding stone. Also note a slight pit from wear. The right hand image is a bearing magnified the same amount. It does show some surface marking, but is generally smoother than the cone or cup. Bearing surface smoothness will vary between manufacturers and between models. Some bearing system will simply "feel" smoother because they are smoother. This is why it is difficult to adjust by using a subjective feeling of smoothness. Generally, adjust bearings for the loosest setting that has no knocking or play, regardless of this relative smoothness.

The following adjustment procedures simulate the on-the-bike compression while still allowing access to the left side cone and locknut for adjustment. The bicycle frame and skewer act as a holder for the wheel and the axle. The set up of the wheel on the frame may seem unusual. Follow directions carefully.

NOTE: Some frames and dropouts will not allow clamping the wheel as described. The hub or spokes may contact the frame. It is possible to find spacers to simulate the dropout. Additionally, an alternative to the procedure below is to adjust the bearings with the wheel unclamped. Mount the wheel in the frame to test the adjustment. Remove as necessary, adjust, and re-test.

Mount bike in repair stand.
Remove rear wheel from bike. If adjusting front wheel, remove front wheel as well.
Remove quick release skewer and springs. Remove any rubber boot covering left side cones and locknuts.
Insert skewer through cog side of hub. Install quick release adjusting nut on non-cog side. There must be a gap between the skewer adjusting nut and the locknut. The quick release nut must press only on the axle, not on the locknut.

Place cog side of wheel into left rear dropout. Non-cog side sits outboard of the bike, and is accessible to mechanic. If the cogs touch or interfere with the frame, remove rear cogs. Front wheel: either left or right side goes to rear dropout. Adjustment is done from side opposite clamped side.

Adjust quick release until tension is same as when normally clamping wheel in bike. Resistance to closing should begin half way through swing to fully closed. If in doubt see Wheel Installation.

Check bearings for play. Hold end of axle on non-cog side with one hand and rock rim laterally with other hand. Play in bearings will be felt as a knocking in the axle. If play is felt, proceed to step #9 below.

If no play is felt, adjustment is potentially too tight. Purposely create excess bearing play as the first step to proper adjustment.
A. Use a cone wrench and hold cone from moving. Note position and angle of wrench.

B. Use another wrench on locknut. Turn locknut counter-clockwise to loosen.

C. Loosen cone by turning cone wrench counter-clockwise about 1/4 turn, or 90 degrees.

D. Hold cone from moving with cone wrench and tighten locknut. Locknut must be fully tight before play can be checked.

E. Test for play by holding axle and moving rim laterally.

If play is felt, adjustment is too loose. Tighten adjustment:
A. Use a cone wrench and hold cone from moving. Note position and angle of wrench.

B. Use another wrench on locknut and loosen by turning counter-clockwise.

C. Recall angle of cone wrench and tighten adjustment by turning cone clockwise 1/32nd of a turn. Imagine cone wrench extending to the rim. Move end of wrench only the distance from one nipple to the next at the rim. This approximates 1/32nd of a turn for thirty-six and thirty-two spoke rims.

D. Hold cone from moving with cone wrench and tighten locknut. Locknut must be fully tight before play can be checked.

Test again for play by holding axle with one hand and moving rim laterally with the other hand. Rotate wheel and check for play all the way around wheel rotation.
If play is still present, repeat adjustment step above until play just disappears. Remember to make small adjustments clockwise one at a time. Check for play at rim after each adjustment. It is likely it will take several small adjustments.
Once play has disappeared, test final adjustment. Open skewer partially (about 45 degrees) and check again for play by rotating wheel and checking several points. If play is felt during this test, hub is adjusted.

If no play is felt during final skewer check, the adjustment is too tight. To adjust, first CLOSE SKEWER, loosen locknut and loosen adjustment only slightly. Tighten locknut and check adjustment for play, then test again by opening skewer to 45-degreee. Adjustment is finished when there is no play felt when skewer is closed, but some play is felt when skewer is partially open.
Remove wheel from bike and return skewer and springs to normal position. Replace any rubber covers. Notice there is play in axle. This play disappears when wheel is clamped in place for use. You must use the same skewer setting for riding as for adjusting the hub.
Remount cogs, if removed, and install wheel into bike. It is necessary to duplicate the quick release setting of hub adjustment when installing wheel.
Misc. Notes: If hub will not adjust smoothly, the bearing surfaces may be worn out. If play does not disappear until bearing adjustment is very tight, right side locknut may not be tight against cone, or cups inside hub shell may be loose.

HUB ADJUSTMENT- SOLID AXLE TYPE
Non-quick release hub systems use axle nuts and washers on the outside of the dropouts to hold the wheel in place. Adjustment of solid axle hub bearings is similar to the hollow axle quick release type, but there is no need to allow for axle flex. Mount the wheel in the frame similar to quick release hubs as described above. Tighten the axle nut inside the dropout that is holding the wheel. The axle is now held tight. Check for bearing play. If no play is present, create play by loosening bearing adjustment, then adjust in small increments until play in gone. The goal is to find the loosest adjustment that has no play. Remove the wheel from the bike. The adjustment for solid axle hubs does not change when mounted in the bike.

HUB-CARTRIDGE BEARING TYPE
These types of hubs use an industrial type-bearing unit. The inner and outer rotating races and ball bearings are installed as a unit. These hubs are not serviceable in the sense they are overhauled and adjusted. When the cartridge bearings are worn, rough, or have play, the cartridge should be replaced. The bearing unit is then removed and a new one pressed in. This requires special tools and is best left to professional mechanics.


What is the difference between these styles of helmet?

During longer periods of fast road cycling, the venting in the first helmet will make more and more of a difference. It's impossible to lose trapped heat otherwise and then you'll have sweat pouring down your face..

If you're commuting then the shell helmet is fine.


Why don't frame manufacturers ream/face their frames?

First thing that comes to my mind is labour costs.

Second thing that comes to mind is that once you break that paint seal by reaming/facing you are allowing contact with the air and elements.  As a good practice you should coat the threads with a little grease before assembly, meaning that when you get that new frame, you tap out the mounting holes and then screw in the mounting bolt with grease that will re-seal the exposed metal.

Third..tradition.  New frames never came faced in the old days as it was expected that the professional bike mechanic would be doing all that as it was their job.


I think your best bet is to do what research you can to find shops that were stocking that bike who might have then bought spares of the dropout kits, and then see if you can get one to sell you some remotely and send them in the mail. There's a good chance there's some shop out there that still has them, because they were the way you replaced the hanger on that bike.


This looks like the Syntace 142 mm X-12 axis bolt that also serves as the derailleur hanger.

See https://www.pinkbike.com/news/syntace-142mm-12-norco-2011.html

Syntace catalogue (there are several lengths):
https://www.syntace.com/en_GB/products/liteville/accessories-spare-parts/630/x-12-screw-for-derailleur-hanger-28.5mm

Photo Syntace

In shops (be sure to buy the right length):
https://www.bike-components.de/en/Syntace/X-12-Derailleur-Hanger-Bolt-p24466/
https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/syntace-x-12-screw-for-derailleur-hanger-28.5mm-44555


different types of rear shock suspension and their uses?

Here is a very rough answer to your very generic and open ended question:

A rear suspension (or shock), together with the front suspension (fork), allows the bike to handle more terrain roughness. This gives you:

safety
traction
ability to go faster

The main two types of rear suspensions are:

air sprung
coil

Generally air suspensions are lighter and better for XC, all mountain, enduro. Coil shocks are heavier, more linear and better for downhill. See What's the difference between All-Mountain, Cross Country, Freeride, Downhill bikes? for a reference on mountain bike types.


You can make a slightly lighter, slightly stronger wheel, and depending on your priorities, it's a cheaper manufacturing process as well (hopefully to be passed on to the consumer), especially when we're talking about carbon fiber.

Bead hooks serve virtually no purpose for lower pressure tires. They're designed to bind clincher tires into the rim only when used with a tube. Without a tube, once you get above ~65-75PSI, a kevlar or wire bead will stretch over the rim and blow off because there's no tube binding the tire bead into the rim hook. That was the biggest hurdle in creating a tubeless road tire, and why the ultimate solution was a carbon bead with virtually no elasticity.

Since road tubeless hasn't really taken off and you wouldn't be able to use a standard clincher tire with a hookless road rim(1), you're unlikely to see a big push towards hookless road rims anytime soon. However, anyone interested in running a mountain bike tubeless setup isn't interested in running that sort of pressure so the stretching off the rim simply from being inflated becomes a non-issue. That combined with the reasons listed above are why you're seeing more and more mtb rims going with a hookless design.

(1)I've read that Alex has a prototype road rim in testing that's for tubeless and standard clinchers, but I just don't see how the latter would work.


Asymmertric Wheel Valve Stem Hole Placement

Yes, it's normal, a quick google gets many hits dating back several models/years

It's mentioned in this review:

https://road.cc/content/review/234000-fulcrum-racing-5-disc-brake-wheelset


I hear that there are books and papers that discuss the shape of the teeth and they also have equations used to determine the shape using the pitch and roller diameter dimensions from the chain...  if anyone has any information on this or has a website/book/technical report where I can find more info about this topic please let me know.

This is a huge topic I'm going to bucket the conversation into two groups.
1. Information on products currently being manufactured.
2. General roller sprocket and roller chain design - this is the best source of detailed information. Google and/or search Amazon books "roller chain design" or "roller sprocket design".

1. Information on currently manufactured products.
Bicycle drive train makers (Shimano and others) have spent a great deal of money trying to make chains and cogs that shift better in hopes of giving them a competitive advantage in the market place. The details of their design are proprietary and patented. They will not publish enough details for you to re-create their designs.

There are people who have spent the time reverse engineering products.

For example:

Peter Verdone has a page that details a Shimano hyperglide 9 spd cassette interface.

Konstantin Shemyak spent some time examining the teeth of hyperglide sprocket teeth and has posted his findings.

GRABCAD has drawings of cassettes and chains.

Here is a deep dive into some Shimano chainring designs using information from the patent office from BIKERUMOR!.

Chasing the patent trail - Google has a nice patent search engine. Here is an example of a "bicycle sprocket assembly"

2. General roller sprocket and roller chain design
The roller chain / roller sprocket drive mechanism is over 100 years old. If you look for information that is not specific to current bicycle drive trains and generalize to sprocket and chain design you can find a world of technical information on the web an machinist handbooks like this document on Gears Educational Systems.

Or an article on designing a single speed cog as just two examples of the mountain of information available.


Yes, typically you will obtain an improvement in speed by adding clip-on aero bars to your bike.

How much extra speed is dependent on many variables though (mostly how it changes your aerodynamics) but a couple of km/h faster is certainly possible.

One of the several compromises of adding aero bars to a road bike versus having a dedicated time trial bike is that the clip-on bars are set up fairly high when clamped onto the tops of the road bike bars. They also take up space where you might wish to rest your hands at times and of course unlike a TT bike you need to move hand position to access gear shifters. It's not a big deal if the road is of a very consistent gradient, but will become a bit of a pain if the road is a little more variable.

Another factor to consider with such bars is how they affect your saddle position as sometimes it helps to bring the saddle forward a little when stretched out more on bar extensions.

Be careful with the clamps and be sure not to over tighten and damage the handlebars, but also don't have them too loose so that they slip when you are riding / go over bumps!

If you do try them then take some time to practice riding with them and stay safe!

Edit: Since the OP wants some specifics, I'll provide an example.

I did some analysis of my own TT performance over a course I raced twice in 2009. It turns out the wind and air density were very similar on both days which meant a direct comparison was reasonably possible. I use various analysis methods to account for variations in environmental conditions, power output and pacing (some of which are derivatives of original work of R. Chung).

The first race I rode on my standard road race bike, the second on a borrowed TT bike and using the same clothing and helmet for each ride. I accounted for differences in pacing and power (only 1W difference) and calculated the difference in coefficient of drag area (CdA) which is the primary measure of an object's "aeroness". My CdA reduced from 0.334m^2 on the road bike to 0.286m^2 on the borrowed TT bike, a 14% reduction.

Now a 14% reduction in CdA does not mean a 14% improvement in speed. In this case it meant an improvement of 3% in speed or a little over 1km/h. Keep in mind that this wasn't a totally flat course, so on flat ground that would equate to a speed gain of ~1.9km/h. Had I simply added TT bars to my road bike, the speed gains on flat road would have been less.

Here is the link detailing the impromptu assessment and data:
http://alex-cycle.blogspot.com.au/2009/04/new-skool.html

Now these things are individual, so YMMV, and what sort of speed gain is possible for anyone depends a lot on the aero characteristics of the starting position, the ending position and what if any power change is experienced when riding with the TT bars (often riders experience a loss of power when riding in a more aggressively tucked or stretched out position).

Further edit:

Here's some more sample data, this time showing the difference in CdA for four continental professional riders between their road bike (hands in the drops) and their TT bike. Again it's not clip on aero bars, however it's a good example of the variance in aero improvement between riders when position changes from road position to TT position:


There are two dimensions that matter:

Axle diameter. 10mm is the standard, but you'll also find models designed for 9.5mm (3/8") and 14mm axles on BMX bikes.
Dropout thickness. This is the thickness of the metal plate comprising the dropout when looked at end-on. The tensioner cups the ends of the dropout, so must be large enough to fit over them. Steel dropouts are typically 5mm thick, while aluminum frames can have 8mm thick dropouts.

In both cases, you can use a caliper to determine the dimensions precisely, but a simple measuring tape or ruler should be sufficient.


Can I use a 9-speed shifter with a 8-speed cassette?

Unfortunately you cannot do that. The COGSET and the SHIFTER must have the same "distance", or more correctly, the same lateral distance (on the pulley) for each lenght of cable pulled (on the shifter).

When you go from 7 to 8 speed, the distance between cogs is the same (because the freehub shell is longer), so you could use a 7 shifter with an 8 cogset and one gear would be unreachable;

But when you go from 8 to 9 speed on the shifter, the expected distance between cogs change (because the freehub shell for 8, 9 and 10 speed is the same). Then you need a 9 speed cogset too, so that EACH shift will correspond to the CORRECT DISTANCE of lateral movement in the derailer.

If you move from 9 to 10, the same problem happens. That's a perverse kind of programmed obsolescence, in my opinion, since even cranksets end up being incompatible due to the chain being narrower and narrower... (look for the Sheldon Brown "Nanodrive" system).

So the bottomline is: if you want to replace shifters, you'll have to replace the cogset, and probably the chain and cranks. I would not advise you to do so only for the sake of shifter change. Consider doing it only as a last resouce.

(I for one never changed to the 9+ speeds framework. I have 5 bikes in current use, all of them with the "7/8 speed framework", and I can easily find spare parts like cogs. My 7 speed shifter (a very old Alivio) still works fine, and it seems to me it is very rare for the shifter to have a poor working only because it got old).


Which winter road cycling shoes are rated for sub-15° F weather?

The vast majority of cycling shoes (road and mountain) are well ventilated and not suitable for cold weather riding.  Lake makes an excellent winter boot (I have several pairs).  45NRTH makes the Wolvhammer, which I haven't tried, but have heard good things about.  There isn't a market for cold weather "road" shoes since generally road bikes become unsafe/unuseable after there is ice/snow on the road.

As far as getting the most out of the footwear you are using, I recommend NOT putting thick socks in your summer shoes.  Most people's summer riding shoes are close fitting, and adding extra thicker socks make keeping your feet warm harder since it compresses your blood vessels and restricts circulation.  If you can't stay warm with normal socks and booties / chem packs, you may need to look at purchasing a set of winter shoes with extra room for thicker socks.  My summer shoes are all 44s.  For winter, my shoes/boots are all 46s and 48s.  The 48s allow me room for two thick pairs of socks comfortably.

If you are going to using chemical heater packs, I suggest sticking them to the top toe of your shoe under the bootie.  The won't compress your toes that way and will get better air circulation / stay warmer.


Don't cut it. The patch is thinner at the edges and cutting leaves a thick sharp edge where it can tear. Roll the tube sideways and you can glue first one and then other edge. There are smaller patches that are made for narrow road tubes.


Is a leather saddle appropriate for all-weather riding?

I've used a Brooks saddle in a similar climate (Vancouver, BC) without any major issues.  Treat the topside with Proofide every 6-12 months and keep the underside dry (fenders, wedge bag, etc).  Store the bike in a dry place between rides so that the leather can dry out naturally.  A saddle cover would probably help but I've never used one.


Can I use an "8 speed compatible" crank such as Shimano FC-2303 with a 7 speed Shimano MF-HG37 freewheel?

The FC-2303 is a non series road crank set. It will work, with some shifting degradation, but it is not an ideal match.

8 speed road shifters, and 8 speed mountain shifters pull a different amount of cable, because the spacing of the chain rings on a road crank is different than that on a mountain crank set.

If you want it to work well, you need to also change your front derailleur, and front shifter. Depending on your bike and the direction of cable pull, you may or may not be able to put a road dérailleur on it, but you can get a touring dérailleur. And you'll need an 8 speed flat bar road shifter which will pull the correct amount of cable for for an 8 speed road crank set.


Could this cause me to have brake problems

Yes: The weight of your bike will pinch the cable and slowly cause the cable to lose its structural integrity and become damaged: They are designed to take stress along them (tensile strength), not laterally (shear strength)... hence how they can withstand huge amounts of force from braking yet can easily be cut with cable cutters by most healthy people.

  what can I do to mitigate this?

Don't pinch the brake/shifter cables between anything. If your rack pinches them, adjust the rack or get a new one.


How do I know if mudguards will fit my 2009 Carrera Kraken?

For your bike I would probably recommend a 'moto style' front fender that uses an expansion fitting in the steerer tube to remain fixed in place. My reason being that it does not look like you have eyelets on that fork for easy full fender installation.

http://bontrager.com/model/06254

A seatpost clamp style rear fender is my recommendation. Again, it looks like a full fender set w/ struts would be difficult to mount to your bike (not impossible, just a little finicky) and quite frankly, it would look a wee bit weird to put a full fender on the rear and a moto style on the front. Just sayin'.

http://bontrager.com/model/06255


Why does this hollowtech crankset have play?

The marks on the splines look about normal. It's hard to tell absolutely from the pics. You're looking for any sign of deformation or rounding, which occurs if the pinch bolts are loose while riding. Always make sure the pinch bolts are nice and tight, 14Nm or about as much as you would ever put through a long-handled 5mm L-wrench.

You need to be able to torque-check your BB cups to go further. If one is loose that can cause all the issues you're experiencing. Replacing the BB entirely at this mileage is within reason too, although if it still works and feels great then by all means keep with it. Note they can have issues with looseness that's not accompanied by poor bearing feel. For example, the black plastic "top hat" of an HT2 BB can get cracked or come apart and preload will be erratic like you're experiencing even if the bearing feel is good.


Triple chainset to single chainset; BB compatability?

Yes, this will be a straight swap (although you will need a cartridge BB tool, crank remover and HollowTech II BB tools)

The M980 bottom bracket is compatible with 68/73mm English threaded frames and HollowTech II cranksets such as the M640.

You would not have to change anything else on the drive train unless they were worn as running worn chain on a new chain ring can accelerate wear. However there are other things:

You will need to consider a narrow/wide chain ring or some form of chain retention to avoid chain drops once you remove the FD. As the Avalanche doesn't have ISCG tabs an option would be similar to this guide from Bionicon.

You will need to shorten your chain by removing links to fit the new set up. Use a chain equation such as this from Park Tools to get the correct length.

Your current set up will also be running a long cage derailleur which will now be redundant and you could move to a medium length RD. The longer cage could exacerbate chain slap so may be worth changing if that is important too you.


If all other gears are working fine, then probably you should adjust H screw only. If doesn't help, then you should adjust INDEX barrel. See Rear Derailleur Adjustment


This picture shows a slightly better angle. You need to first loosen the lock nut slightly, then spin the adjuster barrel until it unscrews right off the threaded rod on the chain. When you re-assemble you reverse that, and have to re-adjust the tension so that it shifts properly.


Help ID this Chris King NoThreadSet Color

From Chris King: This is their SteelSet (stainless steel version of their popular NoThreadSet) in Brown. They release limited quantities every year.


Why do the front and rear brakes work independently?

I see several reasons:

Redundancy of an essential safety feature is good.  If there's a problem with one brake lever you still have the other brake. Being totally unable to stop could be disastrous.
It is a legal requirement in some places to have two independent brakes for a bicycle used on public roads.
Limited human hand strength. One hand can't pull the brakes as hard as two. If you need to stop really quickly this could make a difference.
Separate control of braking.  The rear brake is much less effective and prone to skidding. The front brake is more effective for quick stops, but locking up (skidding) the front wheel will lead to a crash. @Stephen Touset wrote up a detailed answer covering the control issues.
Allows signaling with either hand and stopping at the same time.  Sometimes you need to be slowing down to prepare for a stop or turn and signaling at the same time. If you can take one hand or the other (but not both) off the handlebars that can be useful. (I prefer the arm straight out in direction of turn signal instead of the left arm hooked up to signal right turn)
Simplicity of design.  A single lever controlling both brakes (via two cables?) would be tricky to adjust right, and if it wasn't adjusted exactly perfectly you'd probably end up braking with one wheel and the other never really happening. The longer cable (rear brake) would get more stretch (housing compression) just because it's longer, so you'd probably need to be fiddling with barrel adjusters on that cable quite frequently. One lever controlling both brakes just seems difficult to engineer right and likely to need much more frequent adjusting/maintenance.

Personally, I tend to use the rear brake for controlling my speed (slowing down just a little) and either the front brake or both brakes for stopping (especially a fast stop). An awareness at any given time of which tire is more likely to slip and using the other brake is good, though.

Worth noting: it's a specialty item, but you can get a brake lever that controls both brake levers at once.  This is mostly popular with bike polo players (who use one hand for a mallet) and people with physical conditions that limit their ability to use the brake with one hand. If you don't have any special reasons to need just one lever, you're probably best off with separate levers. http://www.paulcomp.com/duplexlever.html


Should I replace all wheel bearings when only some are worn?

According to Lennard Zinn's book 'Zinn and the Art of Road Bike Maintenance', you should replace all of the bearings even if only one is obviously bad. That way you ensure round, smooth, consistent bearings. I've been using his repair manuals for years and he's pretty much never steered me wrong.


Is it worth buying a second hand classic road bike for commuting?

A (decent) bike from the '90s would not be significantly different† from (a decent) one only a few years old except for a small weight difference and possibly lacking brifters, which are de facto standard on road bikes these days. This statement is of course excepting top-of-the-line superbikes made of carbon fiber and dragon's blood.

Check it for stuff like rust in hard-to-see places (small bolts etc.): This is a good sign of how well (or rather poorly) the bike was taken care of. If there is no or minimal rust, it's probably been taken care of well enough.
Look over the frame for any signs of crashes: Big dents, cracks, fissures, etc.
Check if the headset wobbles or not: It shouldn't, and if it does, it might need to be replaced, which would be very expensive.
Check how worn the chain is: If it looks horrible and probably has never been changed, that's a warning sign.
Check the teeth on the front chainring(s): If they are starting to look like shark fins, the chainring will need to be replaced.
And of course, just ride the thing and see how it feels.

† "Significantly different" means from a mechanical/engineering perspective: IMHO, some of the ugliest bikes I've ever seen were from the '90s.


Which traffic light do I have to follow?

I received an answer from the traffic guidance department of the city. They told that I can either ride on the car lane (left) and then use the regular car traffic lane. If I take the bus lane (right), I do not have to stop at any light at all.

There is no cycle traffic light on the right post because cyclists on the car lane then might interpret that as their light for the left lane as well and get in conflict with a bus on the bus lane.


Front Wheel axle (Quando) with 1/4 bearings

I've recently overhauled a Quando front axle with pitted cones. Fortunately, I do have a Quando hub with the common 3/16" and not the unusually large 1/4" ball bearings.
However, the bearings had standard sized balls at 3/16 in. I replaced them with with Shimano Y00091210 balls.
I couldn't find the exact cones as replacement. However a standard set of axle + cones did fit with only a marginal increase of distance between fork ends.
Since Quando hubs are not good at all, and usually built into low quality wheels, perhaps a complete wheel replacement would be a better offer to customers?
A 1/4" ball bearing front hub is hardly serviceable. What is more, Quando hubs need servicing very often because tolerance are awful. (My well maintained one was done for in less than 1000 km.)


You need to tighten the cable. Also, check that you're not missing a limiter screw, because that looks plain dodgy.

Once the limiters are set up, follow these steps:

1)Set the gear shifter in the highest number (6/7/8 whatever your maximum is).
2)Undo the bolt pinching the cable, the bolt with the spanner on it. This will allow the cable to move freely (if it's not seized up and if you've loosened it enough. But, don't let it go all the way through!
3)Then push the derailleur manually to the biggest cog whilst turning the pedals and wheel. Push on the 'O' of 'SHIMANO' on your particular derailleur, and it will move the derailleur, and in turn, chain onto the biggest cog.
4)Allow the slack of the cable through and make sure it's sitting in the inset. Then set the clamp bolt down tight. About as tight as you can with a small 1/4" ratchet from the head of the ratchet. Note, it'll work the same with your nut-style pinch clamp like this pinch-bolt style.
5)Then, let go of the derailleur and hopefully it'll drop down near the smallest cog. In this image, this is what the bike mechanics where I work call 'Non-Limited'.
(source: mountainbiketoursthailand.com)

If it DOESN'T sit on the smallest or second-smallest cog, keep repeating steps 2,4 and 5, pushing the derailleur up to the second largest cog, and then the one next to it each time until it sits on the second cog when you let go. If when you let go, it goes to the second smallest cog, screw in the barrel adjuster until it aligns with the very smallest cog. Then proceed to tighten and loosen it as you need until the gears shift into each cog accurately and easily.

Very good luck, and if you cannot do this yourself, give it over to a mechanic. I'd personally give it a go if I were you. If you manage it, great! You've saved yourself some money. And if you mess it up, there's not much that can go wrong, nothing is going to really break. You'll just be stuck at square one and need to take it to the mechanic, which is the position you were already in anyway. :)


Does this abandoned 1976 Murray Alpine 26 I found have any significance or worth?

Murray was a pretty cheap brand to begin with, and the bike in the pictures is clearly rusted beyond the point of reasonable repair, even if you found suitable wheels for it.

It's only value is as steel scrap, or perhaps as an "art object" for a local sculptor.  There are no usable parts visible in the pictures that would be worth salvaging.


Can I upgrade a Norco Yorkville for a 260 pound rider plus cargo?

One solution for getting the load off the bike is to tow it in a trailer.

This would be overkill if you're carting around a waterbottle and a pocket of keys, but if you're loading the bike with 20+ kilos (44+ pounds) of stuff then moving it to its own axle could help.

Downside, trailers aren't cheap, and they will slow you down while riding.


Is there a way to attach a safe box to a bike?

There's a product called a Northcore Keypod which is essentially a combination padlock with a key box built in.  I've got one (it's meant for locking under your car with the car key in while surfing etc.)  I strongly suggest that if you use something like this you make sure your address isn't marked anywhere on the bike or in the keybox.

Combined with a looped cable you could use it to lock up your bike, but only somewhere quite secure.  I'd use a D-lock as well, locking the helmet and front wheel with this and a cable.

Anything like this will be a bit of an ovious target.

Something I've considered for emergency cash is hiding it in a screwed-shut rear light (the sort that's screwed to the bike's rack).  A mini penknife screwdriver would then open it up. Most of my lights would take a key, but there's a difference between losing (accidentally or by theft) a little cash, and losing your house key.  Further downsides: the screws aren't really meant to be used that much; it's a bit tedious.  But it could be good for a one-off if you're otherwise stuck.


remove chainguard (?) lockring on fixed cup bracket

The tool is called lock ring wrench, or in non-bike contexts hook wrench or hook spanner. There are a few different sizes, measure the lock ring before buying one.

EDIT: The inner part is locked by the lock ring. Once the ring is loose, the inner part should be finger tight. If it's stuck, penetrating oil and pipe wrench or the pin spanner from other answer should help.


Road positioning when stopping at an intersection with stationary traffic

I'm from BC, you have the option of taking the centre of the lane and waiting like a vehicle, or you can stay to the right if there is room (at least 1.5m or 5ft). If you stay to the right, basically you ride in an imaginary bike lane if there isn't one painted on the road, so you ride all the way up to the light on the right hand side of a line of cars at a red light. I do this pretty much every single day on my way home from work. Some intersections even have a button for cyclists to push, like the kind pedestrians push when they want to cross, but for cyclists waiting at the intersection.

When you stop however, do not stop beside the car at the front to the line, you never want to be in a vehicles blind spot. Pull up just ahead of it and make eye contact with the driver so he knows you're there. If the first car in line is signalling to turn right, then stop just behind them and wait for them to turn in front of you before proceeding to the front of the line.

Motorists are supposed to shoulder check when turning right at intersections to check for cyclists, but it's my experience that most motorists don't even know that bikes are allowed to ride on the road, so always drive defensively.

Rights and Duties of Cycle Operators - Section 183 Motor Vehicle Act
Passing on the Right - Section 158 Motor Vehicle Act
The British Columbia Bicycle Operator's Manual


Do Shimano disc brakes need post mount spacers?

If your fork is a post mount, and your rotor is 160mm, you will not need additional adapters or spacers to fit a Shimano brake.  The image from the manual you posted is correct.


Is it OK to ride in the drops almost the whole time?

Cycling is a non-natural activity (i.e., homo sapiens did not evolve bio-mechanically over millions of years to ride bikes). As such, the only real rule is whether or not it works for you.  Many road bikes are set up for racing, where the effort is high and the change in position small. Here the drops are often used for sprints and hard efforts. Because modern races are quite short most people spend the majority of time in some sort of aggressive position and as such getting up tall  wasn't really needed (contrast this to historical races which were generally much longer so having a very upright position was important).  For the few times where an upright position is required  (e.g., extended climbs) the bar tops now fill this role.  As such, over time the hoods have evolved into de facto position, with now a short distance to the drops (i.e., compact bars).  It doesn't have to be though.  If you go back and look at road cycling photos from the 1920-1950, the drops tended to be used more and the hoods less so.  In fact the brakes were really designed to be optimally actuated from the drops. Drops were also much deeper (compared to modern road bars) as there was more of a need to have a bigger range in positions then.

I would ask the following:

Is your position sustainable? (i.e. comfortable over long periods of time)
Can you use all your controls effectively? (i.e., shifters and brakes)

If you can answer yes to both then you are doing reasonably well.

Can you optimize further?  Potentially, but you won't know until you experiment. I would suggest keeping a log book of your bike set up along with notes on how you feel. This way you can always revert to a previous setting. If you want to ride using more of a modern form (i.e., you have a modern road bar and a modern set of shifters), then try flipping your stem down.  The hoods will likely  become the go-to position and the drops for harder efforts.  Ideally, you should still be able to use your drops, they will however feel best during harder efforts.  See if you like it, if not try a different change. Also note that hood angle plays a huge role in comfortable when riding on the hoods.  Modern hoods should be angled up slightly.  I actually use a digital level to ensure even settings.  You can also pull the bar tape and measure with a ruler against the edge of the bar to get the same result.

Good luck!


Anyone able to ID and provide information about this mountain bike? (DK, Club Roost, FSA)

It’s a custom bike.

It’s a Saracen team M.A.D frame from late 90’s early 00’s
with as you correctly say dk stem and club roost bars
The Rear Mech looks like Shimano Deore.
The Forks: RST - most likely, Cranks - Gusset pigmy perhaps? And Pedals are Tioga
Shimano Stx RC brake levers
And that looks like a Mavic D521 rim on the rear.

Hope that helps.


Big Shot Bikes Polo Bikes are interesting and rather small. It does appear these are discontinued now.

However, Mixie bikes and the Salsa Mini-Velo are other small bike alternatives.


Are these chainrings the reason my chain skips/hops?

The large chainring in the picture looks very worn out. Usually by the time teeth on a ring are "shark-toothed"- or very pointed- the chainring is completely shot. However, it's likely that unless you've been replacing your chain regularly that all the other drivetrain components (chain and cassette) have been worn beyond use as well.
You should get a chain gauge and a cassette gauge to check this, or go by your local bike shop as they should have both tools. Chain gauges are very reliable tools for measuring wear. Cassette/sprocket wear gauge measurements are usually to be taken with a grain of salt. If your chain is completely hosed you can bank on needing a new cassette as well. If it's worn out without being beyond expected tolerances for a worn chain, you might try replacing your big chainring and your chain and see if you get any skipping in the back. If you don't, good for you and enjoy your ride. If you do then replace the cassette as well.
Next time, before your chainring gets as worn out as it is, you can check chainring wear by visually inspecting "chain lift" off of the chainrings. This is especially useful when changing to a new chain on used chainrings. Chain lift is the amount the chain rises out of the dips in the chainring under torque. Hold your back brake, and while off the bike step on one pedal at a 3 oclock position. Look to see if the chain appears to be coming off the chainring. This will be a useful trick if you want to try to save your small chainring, which doesn't appear to be as worn out as your big one.
In the future, check your chain's wear monthly if your ride occasionally or weekly if your ride nonstop. Changing your chain when it needs it will increase the longevity of the other components that come in direct contact with the chain- most importantly your chainrings and cassette sprockets.


At the time that 69ers came along, 29ers were still struggling to gain mainstream acceptance and 69ers simply didn't offer enough benefit, if any, to really interest the masses. I always felt that 69ers, especially hardtails, did more to combine the disadvantages of each platform rather than the advantages and so did many others. There just wasn't a compelling reason to mess with such a niche bike at a time when you could count all the 29er suspension forks and tires combined with just your fingers.
Ultimately as we all know, 29ers did gain mainstream acceptance, and when there was room for a "middle ground" platform 650b's filled the gap. It doesn't mean the configuration wont come back- I think it still offers potential benefit in a full suspension configuration, but the first wave of 69ers was not a success. At the time it was an untested platform based on an untested platform that typically cost more than all the other comparable bikes due to the small production runs.


What you are hearing in my opinion is the squeak of the rubber pads gripping the rim.  Notice that the pads do not close into and on the rim from a perfectly lateral, 90° approach.  The path of the pad takes a slight arc into the contact point with the rim.  At the contact point as one continues to squeeze the lever and modulate the braking force, the pads continue that slightly arc'd path which leads to some slight sliding on the rim.  The displacement of the rubber and the arc'd path of the pad combine to cause a brief squeak as the rubber settles into the rim.  This is a normal observation and actually an indicator that the rubber of the pads is in good shape and not weathered or hardened.  Some might infer there may be some contamination that's causing the squeak.  Possibly, and this can be corrected by cleaning the braking surface of the rim with alcohol and roughing up the pads' braking surface with some sand paper or bastard file.  At any rate, this is a fairly common sound and a normal finding that does not affect braking performance in any way.


Evidence on "Uglify Your Bike: Effective Theft Deterrent?"

I would guess that hard evidence is going to be difficult to come by -- doing anything resembling a controlled experiment would be enormously expensive, and cyclists are too disorganized (by this I mean lacking unified organizational structure) to do some sort of sampling-based measurement or epidemiological study.

I would just observe that, in my opinion, bike thieves come in several varieties, with differing motivations, and the likelihood that a particular bike will be selected for theft depends a lot on the type of thief:

Glitter-attracted impulse thief.  Someone sees a fancy/shiny bike (by their standards) that catches their attention, has low self-control, and so just rides off with it, on a lark.
Necessity/opportunity thief.  Someone is in an immediate situation where a bike would be handy (eg, it's raining, or they're in a hurry), sees one, and rides off with it.
Theft for personal acquisition.  Someone sees a bike they like, feel that it would be a good bike for them, and takes it.
Theft for resale.  Someone steals bikes to sell for money.

In the last two categories there's also the division of theft for the whole bike and theft for parts (or removing parts from the sitting bike).

Of these categories, the first will probably be put off by "uglification", but it will have relatively little effect on the second type of thief.  (In fact, the second thief may be apt to pick a less-expensive looking of several equally available bikes, to lessen the seriousness of their crime -- at least in their own minds.)

The third thief will have specific attributes in mind for a bike and may or may not be put off by the obfuscated appearance, depending in part on how perceptive he is.  (But keep in mind that of the four he's the most likely to spend time studying the fine points of the bike.)

The fourth thief will likely know how to recognize a valuable bike, even obfuscated, but may choose to pass over one that has been permanently defaced or which would take too much effort to clean up.

You can also evaluate these categories based on how effective locks will be.  The first thief is apt to be deterred by a halfway secure lock but may (or may not) have at hand the wherewithal to defeat a lightweight one.  The second thief will almost certainly pass over a bike that is at all encumbered with a lock, even skipping a bike locked only by the QR-attached front wheel.  The third thief may be willing to spend some time defeating a lock on a bike he desires but may not be especially skillful, while the fourth thief will have the skills and tools to defeat many locks quickly.

The character of the neighborhood, time of day, etc, will affect the mix of these different thief types.


Ball size is ideally measured either with a caliper or, more commonly in shops, with a purpose-made tool that has a hole for each size to compare against. 5/32" is the most common size for headset bearings by far, but 1/4" and 3/16" are also around. (So it's not a silly question, and it doesn't have any relationship to the headset size per se.) There aren't any oddball in-between ball bearing sizes used on bikes, so to get the size you're safe holding an individual bearing next to a ruler and eyeballing the 5/32" or 3.97mm.
It's likely to be the most common of them, 5/32x22 (22 balls). 5/32x20 also exists so it's wise to count or compare the old alongside the new. Both are common and super cheap bike shop items.


I found This site about welding to be somewhat helpful. There's an image near the bottom comparing a good weld to a bad weld on aluminum.  The good weld is actually the one that isn't smooth.  The type of weld used differs on the type of material used (steel vs aluminum).  A lot of the information on this site talks about coloring, so you can tell if they went too slow and burned the material, but this would often be covered up by the paint on a bike.


How to estimate how long a tour will take? (UK to Greece)

It's more or less a math question. A way from Athen to London without using a ferry if not absolutely necessary (Canal), it is approximately 3200 kilometers.

So if you have an average speed of 15 km/h (mountainbike) or maybe 25 km/h (racing bicycle) it would take approximately 214 respectively 128 hours to cycle the route.

As always for such rough approximation I would add at least 20% time buffer. So you would have 257 hours (32 days) respectively 154 hours (19 days).

I also generated a tour profile for you:

Here you can see that the route is more or less flat, expect for one or two passes that you would have to climb. But be careful, on such a large scale, all steep climbs aren't visible. The red line indicates Zagreb (Croatia).

The largest mountains on the road are between Graz and Wels (Austria). But with a few extra kilometer you could avoid them when traveling over Vienna.

Then also the evalation profile looks much nicer (unfortunately I can't draw it in the same scale):

Here the first red line is Zagreb and the second Vienna (Austria).

Traveling over Budapest (Hungary) would be even more flat, but now the distance is really longer:

Here the first red line is Zagreb (Croatia) and the second one is Budapest (Hungary).

In order to draw all the profiles, I used GPS Visualizer. It is a online tool, that can plot profiles from various sources (e.g. GPS tracks). In this case I just created a tour in Google Maps and then used the static link to this tour as input for the GPS visualizer.

Just for the fun of it, I created you a very alpine route:

The first red line is Brindisi (Italy), the second is Vaduz (Liechtenstein) and the third is Sion (Switzerland).


Shimano groupsets don't get upgraded every year. Each line gets major upgrades every four years or so. Have a look at the Shimano Wikipedia page, road groupsets section for a good overview of generations and when they became available.

You should be able to ask any bike store staff what generation of groupset is fitted to any bike they offer and get an honest and accurate answer.

If you want to check if a bike is fitted with the current generation, take pictures of the read derailleur, cranks/rings and shifters. Compare them to the pictures of the current generation on the Shimano web site. Each generation is fairly visually distinct.

Older generations can be identified by Google image search for specific component identifiers, e.g. Shimano RD-5700 for the previous gen 105 rear derailleur. The number of speeds in the cassette can help identify the generation too.


Why are there no team breakaways in road racing?

While a breakaway could be organized by a team, the peloton would not allow it to succeed. The mechanics of 8 or 9 riders, even excellent riders working together, are such that the maximum sustainable speeds would not be high enough to stay away from the peloton for long enough to matter, and every other team would develop a vested interest in ensuring that the breakaway was caught.

The GC advantage of a team that succeeded in such a maneuver would be all but impossible for other teams to recover from, so any every other team would work together to make sure it didn't succeed.

Breakaways are often allowed by the teams in the peloton as it gives the GC teams a lever to play rivals against. Which team will have to expend the energy and manpower to reel in the break? How is that going to affect their chances tomorrow?

Edit:

And to add... An entire team breakaway would be a waste of "specialists" energy. For example, a entire team breakaway to win a single stage, could ruin a climber's chances in a mountain stage the next day. – Courtesy of *wdypdx22*


Play between axle and bearing inner ring

I know this type of hubs a Open Bearing hubs. You can have a "basket", a sort of ring that holds the ball bearings in position, and just ball bearings sticked with grease.

The way the axle sits on them, fully asambled should be like, from left to right: LockNut(quick release if you have one),dropout,Counter-Nut, Cone,hub, Cone, Counternut, dropout, locknut.

So, your problem is that you have play, but when you mount the wheel it goes stiff.

For this problem you have to tight the CounterNut and Cone, together on one side. Then tight the other cone, just enough so you don't have play and runs smooth. Grab a thin wrench, if you have a cone wrench will be better, hold the cone with it and then with a second wrench tight the counternut.

Don't overtight the nuts, as a cheap axle is really easy to stripe. If the nuts keep loosing themselves get some preassure washers(the spiky ones) and put one beteween the cone and the washer.

cheers.

EDIT: Probably the black thing is just a dust seal, which makes seem like a sealed bearing.


Can a Shimano BL-M425 brake lever be used with a BR-M615 caliper?

Because the hose attachments are the same, you can do it, but the performance of the brake is going to suffer for the following two reasons:

As pointed out by Nathan, the hose inner diameter is different for the recommended hose for each component
The desing of the levers of both types of brakes are a bit different as well, the newer master pistons at the levers push a bit more oil.

So you can assemble the brake and it will work, but the feeling at the levers is going to be a bit weird, and you migth not get the full stopping power out of them.

Finally, you migth also want to update the rotor, the newer ones are designed for the narrow type rotor, you can check the "Disc brake caliper and Rotor compatibility" on the following link:
Shimano docs


You probably don't have to change the chainset at all. An 11-speed chain and front mech will run fine with a 10-speed chainset.
A good article by Lennard Zinn who is the last word on mixing and matching drivetrain.
10 / 11 speed drivetrain compatibility

Dear Lennard,
I was really interested in your recent Tech FAQ columns where you mention compatibility between various 10- and 11-speed systems. I would like to make the move to 11-speed in the most efficient manner, cost-wise and in terms of using components I already have.
In a recent column you wrote that one can use the old SRAM Red 10-speed rear derailleur in an 11-speed set-up, as long as it is matched with 11-speed shifters. That makes sense, as the derailleur lateral movement is determined by the cable pull per shift and ratchet mechanism in the shifters, not by the derailleur. I wonder if an older 10-speed generation front derailleur will be compatible with the current generation SRAM Red left shifter (i.e., is the cable pull and leverage in the front derailleur the same between the current and earlier 10-speed groups)?
I do hope the answer is yes, as I have sitting in the basement NIB SRAM Red derailleurs (10-speed), that I bought and intended to use in a build, but time and work demands did not allow at the time.
— Sebastian
Dear Sebastian,
Actually, this statement you made is incorrect: “the derailleur lateral movement is determined by the cable pull per shift and ratchet mechanism in the shifters, not by the derailleur.”
Rather, the lateral movement is most definitely a function of the design of both the derailleur and the shifter. The rear derailleur’s shift-activation ratio—the amount of lateral movement of the rear derailleur divided by the amount of cable pull to generate that amount of lateral movement (i.e., the number of millimeters of lateral displacement of the rear derailleur per millimeter of cable pull)—is built into the derailleur. It is akin to the leverage ratio in a rear suspension system (i.e., the magnitude of rear wheel vertical travel per unit of rear shock travel).
The design of the shifter determines how much cable it pulls with each click. If you multiply the derailleur’s shift-activation ratio by the amount of cable pull per click of the lever, the product will be the distance the derailleur moves laterally with each click. In order for the rear derailleur to shift properly on a given cassette, that resulting product must be equal to the lateral spacing between the centers of adjacent cogs in the cassette (the “cog pitch”).
You interpreted correctly that a SRAM 10-speed rear derailleur (road or mountain) paired with a SRAM road 11-speed shifter will shift properly with an 11-speed chain and cassette.
As for the front derailleur, a SRAM 10-speed road front derailleur will work acceptably with a SRAM 11-speed shift lever, but a front derailleur is perhaps the least expensive part of the drivetrain, and SRAM’s 11-speed Yaw front derailleur is a significant improvement over its 10-speed predecessor. Since your SRAM Red 10-speed road front derailleur is new in the box, you might consider selling it and getting the Yaw FD.
― Lennard
Read more at http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/03/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq/technical-faq-10-11-speed-drivetrain-component-compatibility_362722#Lr6GsYmPACvo8CY7.99


Anyone tried to brush mud/snow in rear-wheel while on ride?

I prefer not using anything in the snow to block the snow. You risk the snow packing in the snow blocker (e.g. fenders) and freezing, which can be dangerous. A brush against the tire (depending on the stiffness of the bristles) could also damage your tire.

If you want to use something, a seatpost fender and a downtube mudguard are probalby the safest options.

If you want to keep your bike clean in winter, good luck (especially if you ride on salted roads). The best course of action is to bring it in when you have time (e.g. 24 hours), clean the bike indoors, let it be completely dry then take it back out. Or, if theres a warm day, do a quick (light) wipe down and dry the bike off as you go. You could also try a stiff brush which may get rid of some of the salt.  Or just deal with a dirty bike, and clean it in the spring.


What did you clean the pads with? If there is residue left on them, this can cause the stuttering that you speak of. The angle of the pads also matters. You should toe them in so that the front edge hits first, to minimize squeaking.

Another potential problem is a loose headset (as mentioned by a commentor). Grab your stem in one hand and fork in the other. See if there is play by shaking back and forth. If you feel something loose, you may need to adjust your headset.

One more possible reason for your issue is that your pads have not been tightened enough.

Note that usually pads need some time to wear in, and match the rim. Until this happens, you will probably experience sub-optimal braking.


What tools will I need to remove sprocket/what type will I need to order?

That will be a BMX freewheel tool you will be needing. Order a BMX style freewheel, count the teeth or get one with less/more teeth depending on how you want to be pedalling - higher cadence will need more teeth.

If you have access to a big vice then you can put the freewheel removal tool in that. Otherwise a really big adjustable spanner from some pound-shop will do nicely.


What information is available on these models make it appears to be an lower cost Big Box Store quality bike. It has non descript components. These bikes typically have a very simple suspension. The shocks consist of a spring and plastic sleeves that act as bushings. The dampening rate can be adjusted by removing the plastic caps on the fork crown and inserting a long 5mm allen wrench. Tightening the screws preloads the springs and makes it stiffer. There is no rebound adjustment. Parts to rebuild these are usually not available. You can (with care) disassemble them to clean and lube the plastic sleeves. If this doesn't improve anything, a new fork will likely cost more than replacement cost of the whole bike. These types of bikes can be used as short term commuters, they won't last long if used for aggressive off road riding.


Sturmey Archer SRF5W lateral axle adjustment

Hmmm, I think I may be able to answer my own question with a negative.   After browsing some more I found Aaron Goss's post about stripping down a very similar hub.  The axle has a raised portion in the center which would prevent lateral movement.....

I'm going to have to figure out something else.

Perhaps just sourcing a longer axle.
EDIT: Unfortunately I have the longest axle available (see p.56 of S.A. catalogue 2012-2013, which indicates 175mm is max axle length)

Alternatively having a framebuilder cut the dropouts off and replacing them with something saner.

EDIT: Or perhaps bodging up a replacement for the fulcrum arm with it's integrated locating washer ( HSJ905 on p.41 of catalogue).


Cracking/Creaking noise when pedalling hard or standing on a pedal

Where did you buy it? I'm guessing that your local bike store, unless they were the place where you purchased it, probably has little if any interest in working on the bike, unless you are willing to pay a good amount.
I looked at the specs on this bike and the crank/bottom bracket is not precisely described. Pictures would be helpful, but if the bottom bracket has cups that attach it-- the manufacturer only seems to sell that kind-- my guess would be, you need to remove the cups, put some anti-seize compound on the threads, and torque them down properly.
I had a creak like this on my bike, which was assembled in Taiwan, and upon disassembly, found the BB cups were barely lubricated with a minuscule amount of some all-purpose grease. I put in a proper amount of anti-seize compound, reassembled to spec, and all was well, no more creak.


Source for statistics from pro cycle races

Depending on what you're looking for, a site like trainingpeaks.com might meet your needs. You can often find power meter data files for riders collected during both the Grand Tours (the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, and the Vuelta a Espana) as well as many one-day classics (like the Ronde van Vlaanderen (the Tour of Flanders) or Paris-Roubaix). From these data you can extract speed, power, cadence, gear ratios, pedal force, heart rate, and slope over different segments of a race. In certain circumstances you can estimate aerodynamic drag and other parameters of performance.


Can hydraulic brake levers get hot when brakes overheat?

No, the thermal conductivity of brake hose/fluid is way too low.

I've run the numbers on this -- very roughly to make the calculations simpler.  I've assumed the hose isn't cooled by airflow for some reason and a solid hose or equivalently that the fluid has the same thermal conductivity.  Even the lever is assumed not to lose any heat to the air.  All these assumptions maximise the amount of heat delivered to the lever.

Lets assume the hose is PTFE, which decomposes above about 200°C and has a thermal conductivity of 0.5 W/m.K (the highest value I saw).  I'll take a hose outside diameter of 6 mm, length 1 m.  To feel warm the lever would have to get to something like 40°C, giving a temperature drop of 160°C at the point where the caliper end of the hose got so it it would be giving off toxic fumes, i.e. the absolute maximum.

Working this through, you'd be conducting 2 mW of heat to the lever.  If the lever is 100 g of aluminium with a specific heat capacity of 900 J/kgK, this 2 mW it would take 12.5 hours to warm by 1°C.

Some steels have 100× the thermal conductivity of PTFE.  Brake cables could conduct 200 mW for the same caliper temperature, and only take 7.5 minutes to warm by 1°C - but still an hour or two of non-stop braking to get from ambient to warm.


My rear brakes squeal like crazy, but not when they are wet!

You probably need to toe in your brake pads. That is, adjust them so that the end of the pad closer to the front of the bike touches the rim slightly before the back end of the pad.  There are plenty of videos on YouTube explaining how to do this, and it's not at all difficult. The quick summary is that you loosen the brake block's retaining bolt slightly, then apply the brakes with a piece of cardboard between the back of the brake block and the wheel. Then tighten the retaining bolt back up again, and repeat on the other side.

The squeal is caused by the reverse set-up, where the back end of the pad contacts first.

To see an example of what's going on, hold your hand flat, a few centimetres above a slightly rough surface such as a wooden table, and tilt your hand downwards so that your fingertips are pressing quite hard against the surface. If you move your hand away from yourself (so your fingertips are at the front), you'll feel a vibration as your fingertips alternately grip the surface and release from it; if you move your hand in the opposite direction, you'll feel it slide much more smoothly.  What's happening is that, as you move your hand away, your fingertips are being pressed harder into the surface, which increases the friction force until it gets too much and they slip and jump. When you move your hand towards yourself, the movement doesn't cause your fingertips to be pressed harder against the surface, so you don't get this alternate slipping and jamming.

It's this repeated jamming against the rim that causes the squeal.  Why are they quiet in the rain? Because the wet rims have much less friction, so the forces don't build up nearly as much.


Can I use a hollow rear axle without a quick release shaft?

The skewer is not a load-bearing component of the hub axle. It serves only to tightly clamp the dropouts around the sides of the hub. If you have an alternate method of doing so (e.g., threaded nuts), you don't need the QR skewers.

I'm concerned that an axle designed for QR skewers probably isn't also capable of having a nut tightly threaded on both ends, so in practice this probably isn't possible. If threads extend out past the dropouts for nuts to be installed, I don't see how the ends of a QR skewer could press against the dropouts, without a specially-designed skewer. But if you can clamp your hub to the dropouts, whether or not the axle is hollow shouldn't matter.


How long do Garmin's cycling GPS devices take to get an initial GPS lock?

All of the Garmin/Cateye devices have similar GPS hardware and will take similar amounts of time to get a lock. I don't think upgrading to another device is going to help you there.

Your cell phone is faster because it uses A-GPS, which uses the cell tower data stream to download GPS ephemeris and almanac data.

I asked a question a while ago about how to optimise getting a lock which might help you out.

I've found it best that after the GPS is turned on, it's best not to move until it gets a lock. If it's downloading and constantly getting interrupted by moving buildings, it takes a lot longer to get a lock.


Spinning vs city bike riding to keep tone

I'd say riding outside is always better than a spin class or turbo-time. I ride a hilly commute to work throughout the winter 10x 30mins each way, but do intervals too - and ride fixed gear for extra effort. Commuting through winter gets a bad rap (depending on where you live). Sometimes, here in the UK, the weather can be pretty crap, but you do get some absolutely wonderful mornings. Better a bad journey on the bike than a good one in the car.

I'm much happier out in the real world than on Zwift or in a class - although there's certainly benefit to those. If you think that's the most realistic option for then do that. I have no car, so I have no choice. With that being said, it does keep me in good shape for the season.

TL;DR: Commute. Makes you fitter, stronger and more road-aware ready for the season.


This is a very good question, and one that a lot of people get wrong or approach thoughtlessly.

The answer is no, it's not significantly different in terms of safety whether your stem got where it is using an extender versus an uncut steerer.

The spacer stack restrictions on carbon and aluminum steerers are concerned with limiting the amount of leverage applied to the steerer right above the upper bearing contact. That's their entire purpose. You can't use an extender to cheat the restriction, because the amount of leverage generated will be virtually the same.

However, another side to this is that manufacturer spacer stack restrictions are (or at least should be) specified with the worst case scenario in mind in terms of rider weight, stem length/rise, and rough usage. So in the scenario of, say, a light rider with a short stem who needs to get up higher, the argument can be made that the restriction can be cheated some amount on that basis. Unfortunately there is no magic rule that will tell you by how much, because the manufacturer is always the only one that has actual data on material, heat treatment, etc. What it boils down to though is that there are many light riders on aluminum-steerered road bikes with stem extenders that get away with it just fine, although it is an at-your-own-risk thing. Extender manufacturers tend to be weirdly blase about this issue.

Steerer extenders should never go on carbon steerers because the stakes of the steerer failing without warning are too great; even in the case of a carbon steerer that was cut too short, they should be avoided because of the extra stress their pinch bolts put on the steerer. Carbon steerers should be handled exactly as their manufacturers specify, and none of them would condone an extender. Manufacturer instructions for extenders do also tend to say they should never go on carbon.

With normal wall thickness (1.5-1.6mm) chromoly steerers (as opposed to the more exotic steel ones a few companies have put out over the years, and those are generally pretty tough as well) you can make it as tall as you want and it will be fine.


Maybe.

Two considerations:

Is the interface between the crank and bottom bracket the same? It seems they would be if both cranks have a Hollowtech II 24mm spindle. Googling pics of FC-R8000 and FC-M8000 cranks the interfaces look the same.
Do the cranks have the same pedal offset from the axle? I.e., how far outboard does the crank arm push the pedal? You should be able to compare the crank arms directly.


The CycloPsycho 2016 ("A major test of skill and nerve") takes place on Sunday, 30th October 2016.

  Where is it?

  Starting and finishing at Cyclopark in Kent, this killer sportive takes in some of the most feared and steepest climbs Kent has to offer. All routes start with a lap of the circuit and head straight out into the surrounding country side.  Avoiding busy main roads is a real bonus compared to many sportive routes.

  Why ride it?

  Not one for the faint-hearted, with 13 categorised climbs and over 7,500 feet of climbing, on the long route, this ride is sure to test the legs of any rider.

  The Long Route> 88 miles  Start 8:30am

  The Medium Route> 67 miles Start 9:00am

  The Short Route> 28 miles  Start 9:30am


What make road bike is this vintage 1980s bike?

The head tube logo is a match for the one on a Schwinn World Voyager

on this bike for sale on ebay
However, the parts are not an exact match.
The parts and chrome are a better match for this 1980s Schwinn World Voyager

But, you have what looks like a high flange front hub and the Voyager is low flange front and rear. It's been a few year so maybe wheels were changed?
Here is a history of the Schwinn Voyageur
Looks like the bike came with bar end shifters from 1975 to 1980. In '80 they switched to down tube shifters. Full chrome is available in 1980 and 1981

According to the wiki article on Schwinn they were made by Panasonic

  Schwinn soon had a range of low, mid- and upper-level bicycles all imported from Japan. Schwinn's standard road bike model from Panasonic was the World Traveler, which had a high-quality lugged steel frame and Shimano components. Schwinn also marketed a top-shelf touring model from Panasonic, the World Voyager, lugged with butted Tange chrome-molybdenum alloy tubing, Shimano derailleurs, and SunTour bar-end shifters, a serious challenge to the Paramount series at half the price


Yes, you can use that fork and mixmatch components. Of course you'd have to check parts compatibility, here's what to look for:

Stock and replacement fork rake/axle to crown measurements. Pro Carbon Road #2, which is offered as a stock option for that frame, and Pro Carbon Road #5, which you want, both have rake of 45mm and axle to crown of 368mm, so everything's good.
Then make sure the frame accepts you fork of choice steerer type (i.e. 1-1/8 to 1.5 Inch Tapered). Again, these match, so good here too.
Fork crown shape. Totally not the issue in your case, but some frames/forks have weird crown shapes that pretty much lock you into specific vendor options.

The rest comes down to components choice:

What brake levers are you going to run? Options are: a) full mechanical, b) one mechanical and one hydraulic (but the shape might be too different) and c) full hydraulic (there are hydro rim calipers, but make sure those will work with the frame).
You'd have to build a custom wheelset or purchase front/rear wheels separately. Rear QR and thru-axle in the front is no problem at all, I run the same and some bikes come with such a setup out of factory.


I think you are saying that the brake housing has come out of the lever. It can simply be re-inserted back into the lever, however, if the cable was slack enough to allow this to happen in the first place, the brake needs to be adjusted properly.


Options on converting away from the cotter pin cranks on bsa wayfarer bicycle

That's probably going to be an issue. Sheldon Brown has this page about BB standards:

https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-bottombrackets.html

From that I'm guessing yours is probably 71mm x 1 3/8" X 26 tpi which is not going to be compatible with much of anything. I don't know if someone like Phil Wood makes cups to fit that size.


On a budget:

Get slick tires with low rolling resistance (maybe with some puncture protection if you’ll ride a lot in the city).
Lock the fork and optimize your seating position for better aerodynamics and power.
Maybe get cleatless pedals and shoes.
Get cycling clothes. More comfort, better aerodynamics.

For commutes you might want to add a rear rack, mud guards and good, street-legal lights. Don’t forget to get a strong lock (U-Lock or high quality folding lock) if you plan to leave the bicycle unattended in the city.

Changing the gears to 1x10 or 11 will be expensive since you’ll need a new  rear hub, cassette, shifters, chain and crankset. It doesn’t gain you a lot, except maybe some convenience and weight reduction (on a bike which is so heavy that it doesn’t really matter). So I wouldn’t go for it. If you want faster or slower gears it’s relatively easy and cheap to change gear ratios. Just get chainrings or a cassette with a different number of teeth. For example if you need faster gears you could change the large 42 teeth chainring for one with 48 teeth or even better change all chainrings together from 42-34-24T to 48-38-28T.

If you’d pour a lot of money into this cheap mountainbike you’d end up with a mediocre road bike with a heavy mountainbike frame and strange (for a road bike) wheel size.


My brakes get mushy under heavy pressure

As @Batman has suggested brake fluid is hygroscopic. Over time moisture from the air is absorbed by the fluid. When the brakes get hot enough the  absorbed water will boil. This results in air bubbles forming in the fluid. While brake fluid is not compressible the air bubbles are. This results in a mushy or spongy feeling to the brakes. Once cooled the bubbles may be reabsorbed allowing the brakes to feel normal.
+


I patched both tubes yesterday, partially inflated them, and let them sit overnight (without being in a tire).  One of them was flat today, so I tossed it as probably having an unseen slow leak not worth finding.  The other one I remounted and rode 40 miles today without problem.  So apparently either: 1) I somehow damaged the second tube mounting it, or 2) there was something in the tire I never saw or felt on inspection and it fell out without me noticing.


My chainstays have been eaten by rust, can something be done?

The only thing that can be done to save the frame is to have patches welded over the holes. You would need the expertise of a professional welder to get it done properly so that the frame is made structurally sound.
Unfortunately, you may find that this repair is more expensive than simply finding a similar replacement bike or frame. The welding repair job will involve removing the wheel, crank, bottom bracket bearings and other components to in the area to be welded. The frame will need to be repainted as well of course.


Cassette, chainring, chain compatibility

Will the Ultegra cassette work with the Praxis chainrings?

This is not quite the right question. The rings have to be compatible with a 10 speed chain that you'll be using on a 10 speed drivetrain. The Praxis web page for Buzz chainrings is unhelpful but other pages I found said that they are compatible with 11 and 10 speed systems.

Presumably you are putting these on a Dura Ace 7900 series or Specialized FACT 10 speed crank which will ensure the ring spacing is correct.

As long as the Ultegra chain is a 10 speed then it's compatible with the rest of the drivetrain. A Dura-Ace chain will be slightly better (and more expensive), as will a high end KMC or SRAM chain. Wear the Ultegra one out then make a decision about whether to upgrade.


What fork size is 32mm (inside diameter on the frame) considered?

If you have a 32mm approximate head tube inside diameter, this is an 1 1/8" frame, assuming it is a standard headset design.

An 1 1/4" head tube would have approximately a 35mm inside diameter.

Here is a link to a PDF from Cane Creek detailing most other styles of headsets fitment for non-traditional options.

These have become very common also.


How to carry sunglasses, so that I can easily put them on or off?

If you are lucky/careful with your combination of sunglasses and helmet, you can store them quite securely in helmet's vents, which makes it easy to put them on/off with a single hand:

(quite hard to find a decent picture of this, screen-capture is from the Vuelta a España 2013, stage 14)


installing brand new cartridge brakes, something seems fishy

The brake labels are correct, please don't ignore them.

When you're moving along the top of the wheel, where the brake is, is moving forwards. When the brakes touch the rims, the rims are trying to pull them further forwards, were the holes in the front, they'd be pulled straight out.


I'm a CAT 4 racer, will I be suspended from racing by UCI / USAC if I participate in non-sanctioned races?

The UCI has subsequently clarified that the rule extends to ALL
  UCI-licensed riders, even those not associated with a UCI team. This
  rule only pertains to those riders holding an international/UCI
  license.

See Reference on Rules Clarification from UCI/USAC:
http://www.usacycling.org/clarification-of-uci-rule-12019-and-related-sanctions.htm

So, what it boils down to  is that if you're just a USA Cycling licensed rider, but do not hold an international UCI license, then this rule does not apply. If you do hold an international UCI license, then it does.

Update:

It appears that the rule will not be enforced this year, 2013 and is planned to be enforced in 2014.

  The UCI listened to the feedback from the various groups involved and who feel affected by a strict and immediate enforcement of rule 1.2.019 and its associated sanctions. The UCI has decided to postpone strict enforcement of rule 1.2.019 in 2013 with the expectation that all stakeholders (National Federations, race directors, teams and riders) will discuss and do what is necessary to prepare for the rule’s full enforcement in 2014.

Reference: http://www.usacycling.org/update-on-uci-rule-12019.htm


What is a sensible user service schedule for a professional work bike in non loaded applications such as food delivery?

There is a similar question (but not the same question) here and here.

The short version is that regular upkeep -- chain replacement, cassette replacement, lubrication, brakes (modulo say rebleeding a hydraulic set), tires & tubes you should do at home as needed (and I've given some guidelines for the first two), and you should be familiar with basic adjustments for shifting and brakes. The shop should do repacking of the hubs (every 7500 - 10000 miles) and making sure the wheels are in good condition (this may be more often). Replace other things as they go. It'll likely be faster once you do it a time or two at home for the regular upkeep to keep doing it at home rather than taking it to a shop. You just need a few basic tools on hand (hex keys and a few special tools mentioned below).

I'd suggest investing in a chain checker (e.g. Park Tool CC-3.2) to check chain wear. Expect a chain to last, say, 1500 miles (this is conservative if you ride in clean conditions; use the checker to see if its worn or not). Replace when worn. You should be able to replace the chain yourself faster than a shop since all you have to do is pull the old one off, size a new one (e.g. by using the old one as a guide, its just pushing out a pin) and put a new one on (usually done with a quick link). Oil your chain and things like derailleur pivots and pulleys weekly.

You'll get a few chains per cassette/freewheel (maybe 2-3 of them). You should see this page on how to identify worn cassettes. Again, I'd suggest having a few cassettes/freewheels at home (depending on what your bike uses) and just changing them yourself. It's a quick job (less than 10 minutes) and just requires the appropriate freewheel/cassette tool, a big crescent wrench/vise and possibly a chain whip.

Chainrings generally last a long time -- I'd expect 15000+ miles if you don't dent them up on road use. Again, check for wear or dents periodically.

Brakes are important. If you're running rim brakes, make sure your rims have good braking surface (they last a very long time) and the pads are good and the brakes are adjusted. Again, wear depends on riding conditions and you can replace your rim brakes faster than taking it to a shop. You will also need to do adjustments if you have mechanical disc brakes (and replace pads periodically). Hydraulic brakes do need pads and occasional rebleeds/new fluid (if air gets into the system, for example; this should be on the order of year(s) though) but they do some amount of self adjustment.

Learn to adjust your shifters and brakes as necesssary.

At the mileage you're putting, I'd repack the hubs and have the wheels serviced in general (making sure they're true and what not) every 6-12 months (so lets say 9 months). I'd leave this to the shop.

Replace tires and tubes as needed (so when you get flats/slightly before they start giving you flats). You'll likely be going through a set of tires maybe every 8-12 months. Again, something you can do quickly at home.

Everything else, I'd say replace as they go (e.g. bottom bracket, saddle, pedals). If you want to be cautious, you could get a new set of cables yearly or something, but its not really necessary unless you live somewhere where the cables rust up and get ruined.

Finally, I'd suggest having a backup bike on hand if possible. Something a bit crappy, but will get the job done if your regular bike needs some upkeep (e.g. if for some reason theres a week turnaround on some repair, you have something to work with).


Replace 27.5 x 3" MTB tires with 27.5 x 2.1"

It mostly depends on the width of your rims. If, for example, your rims are 50 mm wide (internal bead distance), then 2.1" tires (nominally 53 mm wide) would sit very awkwardly on them. Instability at cornering and overall tire stability are likely to be problems. There are answers on this website about best tire width/rim width combinations, look them up if you are interested.

A better move would be to find tires which are just a bit narrower (2.8" or 2.6") and have lighter casing, or just plain lighter. The tires that you have right now may be just excessively heavy because they are cheap.


Is there 28 hole front/rear drum brake hub

I've seen 36 and 48 hole brakes, but not 28. 28 strikes me as an unlikely number because hub gears/brakes are not usually made for especially lightweight bikes. Harris Cyclery only have 32 hole and 36 hole in their parts list, and I can't really make enough sense of the Shimano web site to really be clear on the options. Note that Shimano make "roller brakes" rather than drums, and those clip onto the side of the hub. Sturmey Archer drums all seem to be 36H.

If you are willing to really work at building the wheel you could cross-lace a 36H hub into a 28H rim, but you wouldn't get an especially strong wheel and it would take a lot of work (I expect you'd have to do it experimentally and that really means having a range of spokes sizes available on a "pay for what you use" basis).


What is the standard diameter for BMX brake mounts

I measured several sets that I have and got the following results. These were used with Shimano, Tektro, Avid and one with "no name" brakes.  This not to say that some other brands don't have a unique size. The male threads that go into the frame were either M6 by 15mm long or M8 by 10mm long. The shaft or studs (part labeled as C) were all just under 8mm, 7.93, 7.90, 7.89 etc. The threaded female hole were all M6. The M8 by 10mm posts all came off of rear brake mounts. The use of the larger diameter and shorter length may be due to the smaller diameter of the seat stay tubing.


On a bmx headset could an integrated bearing set be replaced with a caged bearing set?

Pictures would help here, but I am 95% sure that you won't be able to do that because there is no race for the caged bearings to ride on.  Sealed bearings have the race built in and the frame/headset will have a shoulder that the bearings butts up against, but not a race.
The other issue you will run into is that most sealed bearings are press-fit and the fork tube and headset will be sized accordingly.  You can't press-fit a caged bearing...
Bottom line:  No.


Smartphone app that alerts when a rider is left behind

I don't believe there's such an app, so here's an app-assisted approach.
It doesn't alert but both clubs I ride with have used WhatsApp location sharing to meet up on the road. Other location-sharing tools exist too. If you use a back marker (a role I've often taken in the slower of my clubs, being fairly strong and well equipped, with maps and a loud voice), their job is to stay with the slowest rider and they could share their location with the leader. With big groups, designating a back marker (or pair of back markers) is worthwhile. They should have the route and good lights if darkness is an issue.
You could run location sharing all the time, or you could rely on starting it if you're dropped - this would be more suited to mechanicals when you're stopping anyway, as I can't really recommend that much fiddling with your phone while riding, even with it clamped to the bars. Setting up a group for the ride (or series of regular rides) would be necessary.
In fact the messaging alone is useful - I've received a few "you ok ChrisH?" messages when I've been dropped from a faster group for reasons including cramp, a last minute reroute, and of course simple slowness. These are best if the leader says where the group is waiting (assuming they are) as you don't want to stop to reply, then come round a bend and see them.
Location sharing relies on a data signal, which is fine for local road rides, or my nearest trail centre, but not much use for wilderness cross-country. Without it there may be push-to-talk radio apps that use a WiFi signal. That should give you enough range. Whether any can display location is another matter.
Update October 2020: If the group (or more likely a leader and back-marker) all use IpBike on their phones as bike computers, IpPeloton (under development) shares the riders' stats across the group - but only if they're in range.  This would work for a tight group, but not for a loose one.  You'd need to test what's shown when someone drops off, and how far away they have to get. The inherent range limits of this technology mean it's probably not the way to go; either a proper data connection or a WiFi network between riders would be necessary.
Further evidence for the unsuitability of Bluetooth Low Energy is given in this  preprint which (in the context of contact tracing) discusses proximity sensing using Bluetooth beacon signals and only being able to the read signal when <10m from the other device.


Anyone know what brand this emblem is from?

It's Rapid, I seem to recall, but I don't know if it's the supermarket brand of that name.

The blurry pic shows 'RA' as the first two letters, but both Raleigh in UK and Raleigh USA have consistently used the same tall heron logo as the head badge on their products.

The model name of this bike as given on the frame would help pin the company name down.


How do hand signals vary between countries?

Both question linked by Neil are rather comprehensive for the US and UK. Wikipedia (though not the greatest resource) seems to have a nice, even if short, list of arm signals in various countries.

I live in Denmark, and while I couldn't find a trusted resource for it (there are a number of blog posts, though), I'd say the convention is to use straight left and right arm signals. And in reality they are something between a straight and a bent arm, so it only matters which arm is used.

Finally, Lithuanian traffic rules (note: it's in Lithuanian) indicate the following:

To turn right, use straight right arm or bent left arm
To turn left, use straight left arm or bent right arm
To stop, use either left or right arm straight up


Upgrade Options for Shimano Crankset Tourney FC-TY701

What you have is a basic 3-speed square taper crank arm built for an 8 speed chain. The important parts to consider when replacing it is the BB interface (square taper) and the chainring spacing (8 speed). If you don't want to upgrade the bottom bracket, then you will have to get another square taper crank arm.

The chainring spacing is less strict, there are differences between 8, 9, and 10 speed crank arms in the chainring spacing. You can be off by a gear or two but the shifting will be a bit less than optimal. Here's some more discussion about it. Personally I have no problem using a 10 speed crankset with an 8 speed chain/cassette on my mountain bike, but I've also been riding it long enough to be sensitive/responsive to mis-shifts that might happen because of it. I consider it an upgrade, as the 10 speed crankset is quite a bit lighter and stiffer, but if you are prioritizing reliability over eeking a bit more efficiency out of the bike, I'd stick with an 8-speed crankset.

FC-M3000 This is meant for 6/7/8 speed drivetrains and is square-taper, so it would be an exact replacement and you wouldn't have any issues or have to upgrade anything else, but it's not much of an upgrade.

FC-M430 Alivio This is a square taper 3x9 crankset, so it would work even though it is not specifically 8-speed, and looks like a solid upgrade from the most basic model.

FC-M610-L Deore This is a nice crankset. Also 2-piece BB and 10-speed spacing. I have one like it on my bike. It would work with a new BB but would be sub-optimal shifting with 8 speed. FC-MT500-3 is basically the same.

You don't need to stick with Shimano either, something like the SRAM S600 would work also, as it is 8 speed and square taper.


Is it OK to use pedestrian phase of pedestrian crossing to join/leave the carriageway? (UK)

I doubt the Police would stop you for doing so if you're not causing a nuisance or danger to pedestrians or other road users. I've seen it done plenty of times by cyclists and done it myself.

The Highway Code rules that apply to this are:

Rule 64:
You MUST NOT cycle on a pavement.

Rule 79:
Do not ride across equestrian crossings, as they are for horse riders only. Do not ride across a pelican, puffin or zebra crossing. Dismount and wheel your cycle across.

At the start you should wheel your bike on to the road and start riding. If you're not on the crossing you are just taking advantage of stationary traffic.

At the end, you are allowed to get off your bike and wheel it across or onto the crossing. Pedestrians regularly enter crossings from the carriageway. Just make sure you have time to do so.


How do half link chains perform for long term use?

The only experience I have had with half link chains was on my single speed mountain bike conversion. On the upside the chain looked really good on the downside the bike started to creak like you wouldn't believe. After dismantling and greasing hubs, bottom brackets, seat posts, chain ring bolts, saddle bolts... I finally tracked it down to the half link chain, new chain and the bike was once more silent.