walkable clipless pedal shoe to replace normal shoe?

I just leave a pair of shoes at the office and change shoes when I get there so I don't have to take them back and forth. It's amazing how much space shoes take up in a backpack/pannier. I think that even the "walkable" shoes aren't that comfortable to be in all day.  And any cycling shoes that you did want to walk around in all day would lose a lot of the advantages for having a dedicated cycling shoe, such as a stiff sole. My office shoes are just cheap ones I picked up at Walmart.  This also has the added advantage that if my cycling shoes get wet from the rain that I always have a dry pair to change in to.


Just stop at Huffy.

If you must, look for a serial number on the bottom bracket (not sure if Huffys have one or not) and call them. I'm not sure what knowing what kind of Huffy it is is going to buy you, though. The parts that are missing should be readily available- or at least orderable- from your LBS.


looks like plastic or rubber plugs in the braze-ons. Try to remove them — I think there are a threads under them.


What are the causes of rear derailleur chain noise?

Check for hair, grit, etc caught up in the derailleur wheels; most likely the guide pulley wheel; remove both wheels: attach the tension wheel last after cleaning/oiling.
Make sure you pay attention to which wheels go where; and the direction arrow on the tension wheel. A google search will show you a diagram of both wheels labelled and the turning direction of both wheels. eg. guide wheel is the largest wheel located nearest to the cassette. Both wheels should have labels `etched' on them.


Smallest sprocket doesn't fit on freehub?

It doesn't really matter if your freehub body is made for 10 speeds, since Campagnolo has the same body for cassettes between 9 and 12 speeds. The body does not go through the smallest sprocket.
The splines on freehub body are not identical and there is one position where the cog fits properly. The lock ring should be not tightened if the cog is not in correct position. The easiest way to find the position is to rotate the loosely sitting cog. Once in correct position, it clicks into place.


Type of Shimano "PlusMinus" (slot & Philips) screws

As far as I know, every cross-type Shimano screw is JIS, or at least they are in the sense of being designed to mate correctly with a JIS screwdriver. The limit screws you mentioned just are extended a bit to handle a flat screwdriver if that's what's handy.


Are Hollowtech II bottom bracket normal?

Assuming you have the BB installed properly (no cross threading) it is normal to have a little bit of resistance when they are new.  But honestly they don't feel as "free" as a square taper BB because of the resistance from the bearing seals.

Also, be sure to check the drive side cup of the BB every 3-6 months.  If you ride in wet conditions aim more for the 3 month side.  That cup has a tendency to seize up.  It happens with all steel ball outboard/hollowtech BB's and the only answer is a ceramic bearing model or a Chris King BB.


Oval p-clamps for front rack mounting in fork

P-clips are designed to bend into shape, whether made of steel or plastic.  The steel kind are really quite flexible and will pull into th right shape as you tighten them.  However I suggest using a (fairly large) washer under your fastener (a square washer would be even better) to make sure that the sharpest bend is away from the fastener and supported.


Road bike raises my heart rate more tahn my MTB?

Heart rate is not an indicator of effort - its an indicator of fitness.

The best tool for measuring effort is a power meter, but they're not cheap.  Everything else is an estimate of power, rather than a measurement.

Your heart rate and your breathing rates will rise as your muscles demand more oxygen.

Could be your cadence is higher on the road bike and you're spinning, where-as you're mashing on the MTB which leads to different muscle fibres being used.


20 yr old specialized rockhopper needs new crank gears

The "front pedal crank gears" are called chainrings. Just searching for the word should find several options.

There are several different bolt circle diameters for 5-bolt mountain bike chainrings. It's best to measure. Aftermarket parts from brands other than Shimano are fine, look for chainrings designed for 8 speeds or less and correct bolt circle diameter (BCD).

For changing the chainring, you need a chainring bolt tool to keep the other side of bolt from spinning.


What is the purpose of the 'tire guide' screws on shimano brakes

The 'tire guide' screws are for deep section carbon fibre rims.

The idea of the brake shoe holder is that you replace just the rubber bit, not the entire shoe. In this way you do not lose your settings, as happens when you replace the entire brake block, not just the rubber bit.

For speedy wheel swapping, i.e. in race conditions, the 'tire guide' exists. These have been round for a few decades and were originally conceived with square, box section rims in mind, e.g. original 'Mavic' rims such as the MA40.

The problem with deep section rims and tire guides is that, when the brake wears down, the rim can come in contact with the tire guide. The last thing the rim needs is to be scored all the way round by the metal tire guide. This could damage the rim beyond its cosmetic appearance. As for the brake block, the last thing it needs is for the tire guide part of it to be damaged by being worn off onto the rim. This would not be a problem if the whole brake block was swapped out when worn, but, nowadays, it is just the rubber bit that gets swapped out.

Enter the 'tire guide screws'. These are made of a plastic that wears away quicker than metal does. So, when the brakes are worn, the plastic shoe hits the deep section of the aero rim instead of the metal tire guide. The rider notices this through what the brakes feel and sound like, to hopefully cotton on that it is time to put some new brake block inserts in. Instead of the brake block holders and the rim getting damaged, these simple plastic screws get worn down. Replacement plastic screws don't come with the R55C carbon rim brake pad inserts, although they do come with the replacement brake blocks:

http://techdocs.shimano.com/media/techdocs/content/cycle/EV/service/EV-BR_SHOE-Road-1326N_v1_m56577569830698525.pdf

Personally I think it is interesting how patents like this work. There is 'prior art' with tire guides covered in a plastic coating from the pre-deep rim era, Shimano update the concept with nothing more than a plastic screw and get a patent out of it.


Coach lines (stripes) are a type of thin stripes you saw on (typically British) cars. They were a hallmark on high end cars like Rolls Royces.

See this image from from this article:

The coach lines are the lines under the guy's hand.

See also the wikipedia article on Pinstripes.

My guess is that this bike may have had some sort of pin striping.


Is a garmin oregon series GPS useful as a bike computer for navigation and ride tracking?

Yes, you should be able to use a Garmin Oregon that way. A Garmin Oregon can do almost anything that a Garmin Edge (GPS bike computer) can do. The exact details will depend a lot on exactly which Oregon and Edge models you're comparing.

Most of the current Oregon models actually can connect to a heartrate or cadence sensor via ANT or Bluetooth.

They can definitely log a track and show you a route.

The biggest downsides to using a Garmin Oregon on your bike are:

You'll have to buy a bike mount separately. That's maybe $10 extra.
There aren't quite as many mounting options. Garmin Edges have a (purchased separately) mount option that sticks out in front of the handlebars, with an Oregon your only options will probably be handlebar or stem.
The Oregon is physically larger and heavier. (but not a ton)
It's likely that the controls will be a tad harder to use without looking down, since an Edge is purpose-made for bicycling. This is likely to be very minor, though, and I'm sure the Oregon will be fine.
No power meter or speed sensor options. For your described use, I'm sure those don't matter, though. A speed sensor connected to a GPS will be more accurate than just a GPS, since the GPS isn't perfectly accurate and will tend to cut corners a bit.
You'll probably want to load a different map onto it. Oregons usually come with a topo trail map that's perfect for hiking, but if you'll be riding on roads you'll probably want a road map of some sort instead.

The biggest advantages to using a Garmin Oregon on your bike:
 - It's cheaper (than Edge models with maps). Well, maybe cheaper. MSRP range right now for Oregons is $400-$550 and map-capable Edges go from $250-$600 (but I think the $600 Edge only has mapping capabilities as good as the cheapest Oregon). Looks like there's now some "Edge Touring" models for $250-$300 that might do exactly what you want, though...
 - It's more capable than any of the Edges.
 - The screen is bigger and the maps are prettier.
 - If you hunt around on Geocaching forums and such things, you might be able to buy a used older model Oregon for much cheaper.
 - The highest end Edge models have some cool cell-phone integration stuff, like alerting about incoming calls, uploading your track as you're riding, etc...

As for the battery: I carry a separate little rechargeable battery pack that I can use to power my GPS or phone if one runs out of power. You have to do a lot of riding in a day to run out the battery in a day. Personally I prefer rechargeables over alkalines, and the Li-Ions like what's in an Edge are the best battery life to weight+size ratio available. Looks like some of the Oregons actually have an option for a rechargeable battery and AAs to get the best of both worlds...

Here's a reasonable review comparing a specific Oregon to a specific Edge: http://forums.mtbr.com/gps-hrm-bike-computer/garmin-oregon-450-vs-edge-800-a-650537.html -- few years old, but the basic ideas are still the same.

Side Note: I use the lowest end Garmin Edge (200), and find the route stuff in it sufficient for pulling a route out of ridewithgps and following it. It doesn't support a map (like the Edge 800+ or any of the Oregons), but I can load the track in, pick to follow that route, and set the display to show the track (well, just the next 100 meters or so). That way if there's an upcoming possible turn I can glance down and see if it's the turn I should take, and I'll get an alert if I go off the route. There's no maps, so it doesn't know the difference between the road veering right and needing to turn right onto a different road, and therefore it can't alert about upcoming turns. With an Edge 800 or Oregon that's loaded with decent maps of where you'll be riding, you could download just waypoints instead of a full track, and you'd be able to get turn alerts and a map that shows your track on the roads. Still, for only $130 instead of $400+ it's worth considering...


The key thing, is that you never want to be to the right of cars that are turning right.

Depending on the exact lane setup and traffic amounts, I would do one of these:

Merge left into the go-straight (left) lane, so that anybody turning right is in a separate lane to the right of me.
Be in the center or left third of the right-turn lane, so that anybody turning right is blocked by me and has to wait for me to get into the intersection
Split the lane, riding in between the left and right lanes.

Exactly which I actually do depends on the traffic levels and what the far side of the intersection looks like. I would only do the 2nd or 3rd options if right-turning traffic is low and there's clearly space on the far side of the intersection for me to be to the right of the going-straight traffic (2 lanes, or 1 lane with a bike lane or wide shoulder).

To repeat: the main thing is to not be to the right of cars turning right. Get to their left or directly in front of them.


How often should the headset be tightened?

To check your headset, sit on the bike, lock the front brakes, and push forward/backward with your feet. If you can see any looseness in the headset it needs to be tightened.

Since it's so easy to check one should check a few times a year. But no real "schedule" is needed.

I've seen headsets that were remarkably loose.  Though looseness affects handling to a degree, most people don't notice the problem until (in the old threaded headsets) it gets so loose the ball bearings fall out.  Then the bearing grinds and makes handling difficult.


Does anyone make a dynamo light buffer battery that will keep it going at full power?

There are standlights, which are essentially supercapacitors combined with LED headlights. They're designed to be charged from the dynamo while riding and give you a few minutes of extra lighting when stopped at a stoplight. However, all the ones I know will self-dissipate after a while, so they're useless for your purposes of starting off the day with full beam strength (unless you want to bike around on the flats for a few minutes charging them).

For full strength lighting at any time, you really need a battery.

I don't know of any commercial battery-charged dynolights. I built my own circuit that takes the AC from the dynamo, rectifies it, uses the DC to charge an 18650 that then powers my LED headlights and taillights (and charges my cellphone). The circuitry is trivial by itself, but you'd have to know enough about soldering small circuitboards and I can't do any customer support, so I haven't shared it.

The reason I built the rig was that I wanted more powerful LED night lighting (10+ watts) than my dynamo could reasonably deliver at one time. So I charge my 18650 by riding during the day; and then at night, I have instant full power.

My assumption is that if you know enough about electronics to solder it, you should know enough to design it. All parts are available from sparkfun in terms of rectification and smoothing, lithium batter charger, battery, switch, LED current limiter, breadboard, and so forth.


These units are simply not meant to be serviced. The end of the bolt looks stamped like a rivet anyhow.

It may be a bit short as an answer but it's the (bitter) reality.


Rebuild Gary Fisher Mullet rear derailleur

For explanation of bicycle parts see: Terminology index - a list of bike part names and cycling concepts

The problem you describe may be caused something other than worn sprockets. It may be 'ghost shifting' where the chain hopes back and forth between two cassette sprockets. This may be caused be misalignment or bad adjustment of the derailleur or gear shifters.

I would take your bike to a good local bike shop, have them diagnose the problem and find out what components - if any - are worn out. You may find that you simply need a good tune-up.

Good news is you can replace the cassette and chain, derailleur etc. individually without having to replace the whole drivetrain (unless the whole drivetrain is worn out of course!)


Rear tire has started rubbing frame at one spot

Check the spokes - its likely one or more has broken ("I felt a shock, like a snap....".). The ones to check are ones that got from the rim, where the rubbing is occurring, to the hub on the opposite side of the rubbing (in your case, the right side of the hub). If these have let go, there is nothing stopping the rim being pulled to the left.

It may be that these are loose, not broken, although it unlikely. If the spokes are not broken, you might be able to straighten the rim by tightening the right side spokes and if needed, loosening the left side ones. It's not too hard if the rim is not too far out of true, but needs patience for a novice.

If there is a broken spoke, or the rim is a long way off and cannot be "tweaked" it will be worth taking to your LBS to get them to look at it. As it's only a year old, spokes should not be breaking.


Effect of helmets and other impressions of the bike rider on driver behaviour?

Seems there are studies showing both:

2008 Walker study - "Cars get closer to cyclists wearing helmets"

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-helmets-attract-cars-to-cyclists/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/5334208.stm
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457506001540

  when Walker wore a helmet drivers typically drove an average of 3.35 inches closer to his bike than when his noggin wasn't covered.

However in https://helmets.org/walkerstudy.htm  in 2013  this was refuted.  Also https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3783373/

  After re-analysis of Walker's data (2006), helmet wearing is not associated with close motor vehicle passing. The results, however, highlight other more important factors that may inform effective bicycle safety strategies.

I don't have my own data, merely subjective anectodes about how much room I receive when riding a tandem, or towing a 2-wheel trailer, or the two times I trialled a recumbent and had cars crossing the road to go around me. I'm NOT that wide.

Locally, milk tanker drivers are awesome at passing with extreme room. They don't slow down from their permitted maximum of 90 km/h but they will give me a full lane of passing space where possible, which is 5-6 metres.


Do one-sided clip-in pedals have a bit more friction and inefficiency than alternatives?

Likely two things.

Bearing seals will slow down free spinning. In actual use the added resistance from the seals is minimal and the seals ensure the bearings remained greased and in good working order despite the weather conditions (e.g., from dry and dusty, to wet and gritty).
SPD-SL are weighted so that the single sided pedal platform faces you (i.e., the rear of the pedal settles in the downward position), making engagement after a stop much easier.  Without the weighting the pedal would likely present either side (cleat platform or backside) when you start pedalling making consistent and easy cleat engagement a no go. Anything that is not evenly weighted will not spin as freely as something that is balanced (e.g., unbalanced loads in a washing machine). In use the uneven weighting isn't an issue as the pedals orientation remains static in use.

In short, the test you derived for old style pedals worked well for them, but hold less meaning for newer Shimano SPD-SL road pedals.


What is the actual diameter of our current bicycle chain's rollers?

I've measured three well-used chains with vernier calipers.  Below are the method and measurements.  I'm assuming you mean External diameter of the roller in the chain.

TL,DR 7.66mm +0.04mm -0.02mm measured.

KMC X10 10speed chain with 4223 km 7.64mm

Old Shimano CN-HG93 9 speed chain with 3800 km 7.70mm

8 speed folder with cheap Clark chain, around 2000 km  7.64mm

Method - my calipers were binding on the inner plates, so to get a good reading I had to make the chain slack and then pull up a roller

BAD

GOOD

I used an old spoke as a hook to take the tension off while taking that photo.


Are there any drivetrain components designed and sold to last longer?

This doesn't help with the longevity of parts, but if you are doing 100 miles per week, you may want to learn to work on the bike yourself, and invest in your own tools.  Let's face it, at 100 miles per week, you'll probably be working on the bike at least a couple times a month (bearings, brake adjustments, flat repairs, etc).  So why not add in the tools to do your own drive train, and lower the cost down to parts alone?

For your drive train, you would need a good set of hex wrenches ($19.95), a chain breaker ($15.95), a cassette tool ($5.99), a chain whip ($21.95), and a crank puller ($13.95).  After tax, this would come out to ~$78 (according to JensonUSA.com), but would give you everything except parts you need to do the work.  I have a hard time imagining that this wouldn't pay for itself within the first year of regular maintenance.

I would also invest in a chain cleaner, as they can increase chain life depending on your usage.


If you look up SRAM S350-1 (single chain ring) on SRAM’s website it says that it is a direct replacement for Rival 1 and compatible with 130, 135, and 142 OLD frames.  Rival 1 should be a straight swap assuming you get the correct axle variant (i.e., GPX).


Cruiser bike weird pedaling problems, feels like back tire moving

There is something seriously wrong with your rear hub. From your description I think the bearings have collapsed, and the freewheel mechanism is failing also. This is possibly safety issue - and obviously the bike is not working right, so you need to have it seen to immediately and don't ride the bike until it is fixed.

You will either need a hub rebuild, or a completely new hub. Having one built into the wheel is expensive (it's labor intensive to build a wheel), so it's often easier and cheaper to buy a whole wheel.

It's absolutely impossible to tell you how much this will cost, as we don't know what make/model of bike you have. Do some research, find a reputable bike repair store and they will not rip you off.


Pedalling efficiency/difficulty is related to the ratio between your front and rear gears.

Front :

The big crown is the hardest one
The small crown is the easiest one

For rear gears this is the opposite.

In general, you should avoid crossing the chain, which is:

Putting the small front and rear gears at the same time
Putting the big front and rear gears at the same time (especially this one that might break your chain)

After that, the terrain you are riding pretty much determines the front gear to use:

For flat, you should be either on the biggest or on the middle front gear
For uphill, you should use the smallest front gear
For downhill, you should use the biggest front gear

Then, you tweak the difficulty with the rear gears.

For reference, the ideal number of rotations per minutes (of the cranks) is 90 in road cycling (that looks fast, but is efficient).


You need

Leather washers in between the metal fender and frame.
a washer and locking nut to secure the fixing bolt.

For detailed instructions on metal fender install see the detailed Velo Oranges fender manual.


Blood sugar spikes from high GI foods - a problem?

During a short ride you mostly fuel with pure sugars and as simple as possible - so mainly glucose in gels. For longer events you also want more complex sugars that take longer, but still mostly carbs - rice cakes, croissants, sandwiches, musli (granola) bars.
You are correct that you cannot sustain a long ride (a road race) just from the glucose gels, you will get hungry. But it is possible for short two hour or slightly longer events. Professionals in Ski Classics mostly only use energy gels and drinks for the long-distance skiing. Cyclocross events are one hour or less and you won't see any eating during that, just some drinks or perhaps a gel.
It is impossible to overeat when going full gas. Your concern is to give your body enough fuel in frequent small doses.
Large amounts of proteins and especially fats are too difficult to digest during the race, you have them later for dinner.
You were asking for studies and this one should be of interest for you: International society of sports nutrition position stand: nutrient timing
I select just one paragraph:

Extended (> 60 min) bouts of high intensity (> 70% VO2max) exercise
challenge fuel supply and fluid regulation, thus carbohydrate should
be consumed at a rate of ~30–60 g of carbohydrate/h in a 6–8%
carbohydrate-electrolyte solution (6–12 fluid ounces) every 10–15 min
throughout the entire exercise bout, particularly in those exercise
bouts that span beyond 70 min. When carbohydrate delivery is
inadequate, adding protein may help increase performance, ameliorate
muscle damage, promote euglycemia and facilitate glycogen
re-synthesis.

They recommend every 10-15 minutes.
It is supported in the article body:

For example, Fielding and colleagues [50] required cyclists to ingest
the same dose of carbohydrate every 30 min or every 60 min over the
course of a four-hour exercise bout. When carbohydrate was ingested
more frequently, performance was improved.


It appears to be American. Corroborate 51mm bore. If so that's what it is. It wants a BMX three piece and matching BB, depending on your crank choice. Mid didn't exist in 03, or at least that was a few years before its mainstream emergence.


I run a bike light testing and review site called The Bike Light Database which started as a series of blog posts for the Bicycles Stack Exchange community blog. I've personally tested dozens of lights, and have read lots of info online about countless more. I also speak with lighting companies regularly, have visited a bike light factory in person, and have experience in manufacturing engineering (albeit in a different industry).

Simply put, most cheap imported bike lights are not safe. The batteries and chargers are the biggest safety issue, although the overall design of most of these generic lights is inherently flawed as well. I'll address the batteries first because that's the foremost issue.

The battery safety issue

Most high-powered rechargeable bike lights (and flashlights) use 18650 batteries.  These are a standard size and voltage, and are interchangeable if the device is built in such a way as to allow access to the battery cells. They're found in everything from lights to electric cars to laptops. Standard 18650 batteries have a nominal voltage of 3.7 V, and a fully charged cell is about 4.2 V. Most people consider any voltage below 3.2 V to be unsafe. Capacities go up to around 3600 mAh, but are usually somewhere between 2300 and 3200 mAh. As of spring 2016, there are no commercially available over 3700 mAh, so if you see anything labeled 4000 mAh immediately dispose if it in a safe manner; it's a fake and probably dangerous.

It's important to understand that these batteries hold a lot of energy, and if released in an uncontrolled manner, will explode, burn, release explosive vapors, and yes burn your house down. Used safely, they are an awesome technology which has enabled the high-powered lights with long runtimes available today. These too-cheap-to-be-true Chinese products do not use the technology safely though.

You can get "unprotected" or "protected" 18650 cells. A protected cell has a tiny circuit board on the top which monitors the cell voltage and ensures it doesn't get too high or low. It prevents overdischarge, overcharging, and short circuits. Unprotected cells are considered safe to use in lights designed for them as long as you aren't using more than two, preferably in series. Cells should also be charged individually or in matched sets to ensure the voltage is the same for all cells in a pack. Otherwise, if one cell is already charged and another is not fully charged, the charger could over-charge the full cell causing it to fail.

The batteries sold with these cheap lights tend to be the lowest possible quality to achieve the desired price point. Even the "replacement" battery packs are often of dubious quality. For example, I took apart one such battery pack for a review of a generic Cree U2 "5000" lm light (widely marketed as the Solarstorm X2). Here is a picture of the battery pack:

Two of the cells are dummies - they aren't actually wired such that they could deliver any power. That's "OK" though because the voltages of those cells were 0.0 and 0.3 V - far below the safe cutoff of 3.2 V. The other two cells were mismatched, at 4.0 and 3.8 V. While those voltages are in the typical range, you always want your battery voltages to match. This pack was likely constructed from recycled laptop batteries, with the two disconnected cells being completely dead batteries which were added to give the pack heft and feel like it was legitimate. None of these are protected cells.

Not all cheap imported bike lights are this bad, but the problem is that you don't know how bad it'll be until you actually get it. Quality control is practically non-existent, and because hundreds of vendors sell visually identical products it's impossible to be certain if you're getting a "good one" or not. Make sure to avoid like the plague anything with "fire" in the name, like UltraFire or TrustFire. These brands are known to be widely counterfeited and often dangerous.

Design flaws

Suppose you buy a replacement battery pack which you trust – although again, I'm not sure how you would trust one without opening it to see for yourself. There are still a number of design flaws with these products:

The specifications are almost universally exaggerated, often by 2-5x. I talk about this in more detail in this Outdoors.SE post.
Poor voltage regulation. On these generic lights the output usually drops as the battery voltage drops. Some brand name lights do this too, but you can get brand name lights with good battery voltage regulation.
Cheap material and poor build quality. These lights are built to be as cheap as possible. You'll see terrible hand-soldering jobs, lights that aren't even water resistant, LEDs with inadequate thermal management, plastic lenses instead of optical glass, etc.
The optics quality are typically horrid. You get a very bright hot spot, with uneven spill. This ruins your night vision with the bright spot while not giving you enough light to the sides to see well. You can get diffusing lenses for some models, but the result is a hot bar instead of a hot spot... it's not a significant improvement.
The mounts are weak and hard to use. These lights usually have either a wimpy rubber band mount, or an enormous, over-designed plastic clamp contraption. Neither is convenient if you ever want to remove the light quickly so it doesn't get stolen while your bike is locked up. Speaking of which...
The disconnect cable between the battery and light is usually about a foot from the light head. This also makes it hard to pop the light off before running inside somewhere.

You get what you pay for...

...in support

Reputable lighting manufacturers have a brand to uphold, and I think that most of them do in fact care about their customers. I've met these people, and they're all passionate about biking. If you call them, a real person helps you with your problem. Good luck contacting somebody who was involved in the manufacturing of any of these generic lights. A handful of online sellers have earned a reputation for good service by immediately refunding or replacing failed lights... which is nice, until you realize that a product with hundreds of reviews saying "mine failed but they replaced it, they're so nice 5 stars!" still means hundreds of people's products failed!

...and in features

If you're on a tight budget, maybe "price" is your only feature requirement. But seriously, name brand bike lights offer many features which you won't find on cheap generic lights. Things like carefully designed optics, USB fast charging, well designed mounts, specifically designed daytime and nighttime flash patterns, side visibility, and more.

So, what are your options instead?

First of all, just to be clear, there are cheap Chinese lights which are safe to use. The problem is, these are widely counterfeited, so it's best to buy from a reputable dealer in your own country. Single-18650 lights are usually safer than multi-cell lights. Buying quality batteries is always a must. I have some recommendations on my batteries FAQ page.

I also maintain a frequently updated list of recommended bike headlights. Product recommendations are a bit outside the scope of Stack Exchange, so keep an eye on the website for recent suggestions, or come chat about it.


Gash where valve meets tire tube; How could this happen, and can I fix it?

Most likely this is a result of riding the tire while the pressure is too low.  When you do that the tube tends to slide around in the tire and can get cut against the edge of the rim.

However, this could also be the result of using a hand pump, which, if you don't "buck" it against something or hold the head steady will move the stem back and forth rather violently.  A "floor pump" prevents this sort of damage (and also makes inflation much easier).

The tube is toast.  However, this is not a particularly expensive repair.  A new tube will run you $5-10, and replacing it is something you need to learn to do anyway.


You could use ridewithgps to build your map. It allows you to drag waypoints off the main route and re-routes (can be used without auto routing as well if you prefer).  You'll have to pay if you want to print from their site.  However, you can print a cue sheet free or export the saved map in GPX or TCX format to print with another application or website that accepts these uploads.


You first have to remove the quill stem. To remove you undo the bolt from the top (blue arrow), and then you will probably need to tap it lightly with a hammer to push the bung nut out the bottom so it's loose enough to remove.
Once you remove the stem, you need to remove the headset lock nut (red arrow). Once this is removed, you can remove the headset nut/race (yellow arrow).
Watch out for the bearings inside the headset, they may be in a cage, they may be loose, or they may be in a worn out cage that doesn't hold them properly any more.

Here is a general quill stem diagram for you to understand what locks it in place

And here is a general threaded headset diagram.


What can one damage by bending the wheel?

There is probably no damage.

In wheel-building, one of the ways to relieve torsional stresses in the spokes is to lay the wheel flat on the ground, so that it rests on the hub. While you press the rim on the ground at the 6 o'clock position by your knees, you put all your upper weight via both arms on the rim at about the 10 and 2 o'clock positions. You feel the elastic deflection, which depending on spoke tension and number may be about 1 cm. The spokes on the de-stressed side are able to unwind the torsional stresses. You rotate the wheel in small steps on both sides. There is no damage to either rim or hub.

Look how this process was cleverly implemented on a luxurious wheel truing stand (at about 2:10)

As long as you keep within the elastic deformation range, there is no damage. The characteristic of the elastic range is that the wheel returns to its original shape if the force is removed.


Generally, there are a few wheel sizes for adults on the market now:

700c: This is the standard adult road bike wheel size. For mountain bikes, this is often sold as 29" and is also the standard (where they're said to roll over bumps easier than a 26" but at the cost of manuverability and weight). The rim diameter is 622 milimeters.
650b: This is becoming more popular with shorter riders for road and mountain biking (where its often sold as 27.5", as a compromise between 26" and 29"). It is smaller than 700c with a rim diameter of 584 millimeters.

Less commonly, you'll find:

26": This was the old standard size for mountain bikes. The rim diameter is 559 mm.

All these wheel sizes are available for a wide range of frame sizes (usually reported as some number of inches or centimeters, e.g. 58cm for a road bike or 23" for a mountain bike, or small/medium/large/etc.). My guess is that you're reading the frame size and thinking it is the wheel size.

Note that frame sizes are not standardized between bike models or even related models (e.g. a bike that is sold in both a 26" and 700c wheel version), so you need to try the bikes to see if they fit you well, and/or compare their geometries (e.g. standover height, top tube length, etc.).

Useful links on tire sizing: Rivendell
Useful links on bike sizing: Sheldon Brown


The shifter/brake units have to be angled outward on a flared bar, because the part of the bar where the shifters are attached is angled out. This should not affect reaching the levers when your hands are on the hoods though, because your hands will also be rotated along with the shifters. Think of super flared bars as halfway to flat bars.

If you don't like that rotated hand position, but want useful drops, perhaps look at bars with a small flare like the Salsa Cowbell or a very shallow drop.


Advantages of mounting bottle under frame

Other?  I would not count protection as the first.  The cage is a lever and some edges.  A water bottle is not exactly an impact attenuator.  And you have the chain ring to get past.

You pretty much only see a third on touring bikes. It is the least convenient location but it is a third location.  Three bottles or a frame bag and one bottle.  Pretty much impossible to access while riding.  Typically don't have the clearance in the  bottom position for a long bottle.

Someone commented on pull downwards.  Notice I used solid loop cage below.

I give center of gravity zero points.

On a mountain due to a small triangle it is typically the second cage so naturally it is going to be more common on mountain.  Still the least functional position. On a mountain bike you can shake out a water bottle. I tried it on my mountain and gave up.

My best use of the last position is margaritas on Critical Mass. You give up volume to insulated containers. That is a large frame and that is 70lb dog.


How to handle vibration (big bumps, etc.) on flat bar when touring?

There are two things that come to mind. Grips, and gloves.

Depending on whether or not you use gloves, they do make some that have gel in the palms that may help reduce vibration some if you're not already using them.

Secondly you may try different types of grips, a couple worth mentioning would be the ESI grips. They're essentially made out of silicone foam and have several different thicknesses. I have yet to try them for an extended period of time, but they feel nice and I know a lot of people who ride them and have also heard good things. They can be seen here. They may be just the sort of thick soft foam type you are looking for.

You may also consider an ergo grip if you haven't. They won't help with the vibration as much as other styles but they may help by keeping your weight in the correct areas of your hand.

One other thing that came to mind that you may or may not be able to use are gel inserts. They're made for putting beneath road bar wrap but you may be able to use them for something if you get creative. They can be seen here but again, you would have to get creative on how to adapt it to a flat bar.

If your budget allows, you may also try out different brands or styles of tires, some thicker puncture protection (the 5mm rubber band rather than a fabric sheet) may help to alleviate some of the vibration as well. Depending on what you're riding I'm a big fan of the Freedom ThickSlicks. They have about double the thickness of rubber on the tread side compared to a standard road tire.


Ultrasonic cleaner power requirements, for cleaning chains before waxing

Probably not, especially if some of that power is shared with heating, which may not be mentioned in a straightforward manner in the product description. According to Adam Kerin of Zero Friction Cycling, small jewellery cleaners won't cut it either, and there is also the possibility of getting a too strong cleaner that may damage the chain. Nominal transducer power is 70-120w, although no mentions of frequency are made. More specifically:

  Like all things there is a right tool for the job. A jewellery cleaner is likely not
  powerful enough. I have had customers using auto parts cleaner at work that have
  pitted chain metal – this would stripped low friction coatings and plating’s off chain –
  too strong. Somewhere between around 70 to 120w max cleaning power is about the
  right cleaning power for bicycle chains. Note this is not total power consumption – a
  US cleaner may use 100w but only 35w of that is cleaning power – check the specs.

Additionally, you can preheat the water and use a kitchen thermometer to get to a good temperature range, saving a lot of time from waiting the cleaner to heat the water. This is also mentioned in the same document.

Source: https://zerofrictioncycling.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Ultrasonic-Clean-Race-Chains-Quick-guide-v3-converted.pdf


Consider using rust converter before repainting the said area. From the picture, the rust doesn't look to be that bad since pinholes haven't formed and the surface is smooth.
Sand the rusted area down and apply a bit of rust converter. For primer, you could use epoxy which works better and is a lot better for wet conditions. Polyurethane paint also works well for steel bikes exposed to harsh elements.


Can the belt drive on a Trek 1st District be replaced with a chain drive?

I have not worked on one of these bikes so I've gone online to find documentation around what parts are on that bike and what might be compatible in chain drive parts.

I think that bike comes with a Shimano 9 spline freehub. If this is true you should be able to:

Replace the chain ring
Replace the rear sprocket
Get a chain to match

and you'll be chain drive.

Let your local bike shop take a look at it. They should be able to give you a free estimate on what parts and labor will cost and verify the freehub type. Even if you will do the work I always like to know how much I'm saving.

Given your previous issues with the lock ring it would be good to have that looked at. No sense spending the money to go chain if the lock ring isn't going to tighten.

If the local bike shop confirms that they can get a chain drive sprocket for your freehub and a chain ring that will mount on your current crank here are some things to be aware of.

Gearing
If this is your bike then it has a 22 tooth rear sprocket and a 55 tooth chain ring which is a ratio of 2.5. If you like your current gear ratio you will need to go with the exact same size sprocket and chain ring

If you don't like your current gear ratio you'll need to decide what ratio you would like and select the sprocket and chain ring you need.

Chain Alignment
You want the chain to be as straight as possible.

You can mount the chain ring 2 to 4 different ways - depending on the chain ring type. If the chain ring is flat it can be on the inside or the outside of the crank spider (the five arms that hold the chain ring). If the chain ring is not flat you can flip it over and get different alignments.

On the rear sprocket you can use the spacers to get different alignments.


What are the pros and cons of internal gears?

The main advantages of hub gears over a 1xN derailleur system are reliability and being able to shift while stationary. Since there's no derailleur or chain tensioner it's easier to add a full chaincase which means chains last a lot longer and with mudguards added there are no dirty bits accessible on the bike. They're heavier and harder to maintain if you have to maintain them.

There's a whole style of bike that uses those advantages (and others) and from a US perspective is called a "european" or "dutch" bike. Broadly, it's a bike built for someone who is not a cyclist, rather they are someone who uses a bike for transport. It should just work, no special clothes or rituals required.

Compared to a 3xN derailleur system a hub gear is much simpler to operate and maintain. All the gears are in order and you only have one shifter. The compromise is a smaller gear range (Rohloff being the obvious exception), ranging from a little smaller for the Shimano Alfine 11 down to "yes, there are two gears" for the back-pedal-shift 2 speed hubs. But in return you get extremely long life for the chain and cogs (10,000km or more for the chain, 20,000km+ for cogs) and a general low-fuss maintenance requirement. That also makes it practical to put a hub gear in places where derailleur gears could go but you wouldn't want them - under my load carrying quad, for instance, where the derailleur hung down between the rear wheels just waiting for a rock to break it off, and turning the thing over for maintenance is a pain.

Removing the rear wheel on a hub geared bike ranges from nigh on impossible (some of the Shimano hubs, and some dutch bikes have chain cases that are just irritating to work on) to almost trivial (a Rohloff with QR). The problem is the shifter cable - you have to detach it to remove the wheel. Good ones just unhook, poor ones you have to undo the adjuster barrel and re-adjust the gears on reassembly. Shimano are getting better, but Rohloff and Sturmey Archer have it down pat.

Servicing hubs is not often done these days. The manufacturers generally allow bike shops to swap out the internals for new, saving the hassle of building a new wheel, but that's about it. I had three Shimano Nexus 8 hubs fail at 5,000km intervals, and every time I just got replacement internals rather than the hub being repaired (the last time, of course, Shimano had stopped making the hub so I had to throw away the wheel). With Rohloff the same thing might happen, except after 150,000km or more... most people don't ride that far in a lifetime. Also, with Rohloff you change the oil every 5,000-10,000km, at a cost of half an hour of your time and about $20 for an oil change kit (or $10 for just the oil).

I usually run a Schwalbe Marathon Plus on the rear of my hub geared bikes, which trades a little extra rolling resistance for huge puncture resistance. It's part of the "my bike just works" philosophy. I'd rather reliably take an extra 30s to get to work than at random intervals be 5-10 minutes late and dirty due to a puncture (because you know that you'll only get punctures when you're in a hurry and it's raining).


The wheel that finally worked for me is a Mavic A719 with Sapim Strong spokes and a spoke freeze as well as the thickest Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyre they could fit on the wheel. It was built by Mamachari Bikes in Dalston, London. I've been having no problems with it since a few months now.


Different size cassette for the trainer?

Should I get a different size cassette?

Probably.  You'll need one eventually, as they do wear out.

  Which one should I use on the trainer (given that Zwift has Alpe d'Huez etc) and which one should I keep for my road use?

Having a cassette more closely-spaced than 11-30 is probably good for a trainer, as you can more closely target specific power levels and cadences - as long as they're within the narrower range of a tighter cassette.

  Is there any point in getting Ultegra (my bike is 105)

IMO, no.  I've raced on Tiagra cassettes as well as 105 and Ultegra, and I never noticed any performance difference between even that cassette and any Ultegra or 105 cassette.  And I have quite a few of both - 11-23s, 11-25 (IIRC, that's the Tiagra one), 12-25, 11-28s, and 12-27s.  I'll swap cassettes as needed.  When racing, I'd chose the narrowest cassette that, if possible, allowed me to stay on the large chainring the entire race.  For training, I tend towards wider cassettes such as 11-28 or 11-30 to enable hill climbs at low to moderate levels of effort, should that training ride be a longer, lower-power ride.

  and I clearly don't care for the weight on the trainer, but I've heard reports that Ultegra is more durable?

Meh.  In my opinion and in my experience, the only real difference between 105 and Ultegra cassettes is the color.  Ultegra is darker.  The minimal weight difference comes from 105 cassettes having a steel lock ring, and Ultegra cassettes having an aluminum lock ring that cuts an entire gram or two from the weight.

So no, don't spend more for an Ultegra cassette over the same 105 cassette.  Only spend more if you need a specific gear range only available in Ultegra.


Is a bigger wheel likely to get fewer flats?

One possible mechanism that occurs to me is that the larger tyre may hit fewer small pieces of glass because it rides higher over corrugations on the road.

Using my well-renowned skills with paint.net I give you the following conceptual diagram:

The black is the road surface, magnified and exaggerated to show the normal corrugations. Not to scale (or in proportion) are two different sized bike wheels. Note that the green one hits the red shard of glass while the larger one doesn't.

The puncture mechanism being affected is that contact with the glass adheres it to the tyre either through moisture on a wet road or just a tiny point entry to the rubber as shown below. Once adhered every further contact with the road might push it further into the tyre, eventually resulting in a puncture. But the larger wheel rides higher over small bumps, so comes in contact with fewer small shards since they tend to sit at the bottom of the corrugations.

But the size difference is small. Assuming 23mm tyres on both the ISO 622 and 630 wheels the outside diameters will be approximately
668mm   and 676mm (via BikeCalc), so at best the larger wheel will be 668/676 = 98.8% as likely to get a puncture by this mechanism. But compared to a 406 wheel at 497mm OD (with a 23mm tyre, unlikely though that is) the ratio is 73.5% (less than 3/4 as many punctures... of the ones that happen by this mechanism).

I doubt that a 1% reduction in frequency of one particular mechanism would be detectable, even if that was the dominant mechanism for getting punctures. I ride about 1.5 hours a day, 5 days a week, and get 2-5 punctures a year. Dropping that by 1% would mean I'd get one fewer puncture every 20 years (at best) making it 39-99 punctures instead of 40-100. The effect is so far down in the noise that it would be undetectable.

Further minimising the effect, most of my punctures are via bigger objects. Recently they've been the shaft of a pop rivet (622x28 non-puncture resistant tyre) and a carpet tack (406 marathon plus), with the last glass shard puncture being late last year (406 marathon). So in real life it's might only be a 1% reduction in 1/3 of the punctures.


What should I do to get an older bike into good condition

I've done a bit of work on old, neglected bikes at our local community bike shop. It's rewarding to bring a forgotten bike back to life. There are usually a lot of things that can be improved, so it's important that you prioritize carefully. Fix the most important things, get riding, and then fix the rest as you go along.

You haven't told us much about your specific bike, so I'm going to write generically.

bearings

The most important thing to do when reviving an old bike is take care of the bearings.

Normally bikes have bearings in 5 places:

front hub
rear hub
freewheel
bottom bracket
headset

If bearings are too tight or too loose, they will will crack and chip. The rough edges will cut in to the races, and you'll have to replace them. In the case of wheels, that can mean a new hub, which can mean a new wheel.

The freewheel is difficult to check, and less likely to need immediate care, but the other 4 deserve immediate attention. Check that they turn easily, without much resistance and without a "gritty" or "notched" feeling. Headsets are particularly susceptible to notching at dead center. Also check for play in the bearings. If you try to rotate against the axis of a bearing, there shouldn't be any play, or maybe a very tiny amount.

If the bike has been neglected, especially if it was left out in the rain or ridden in the rain and not serviced, you should overhaul these bearings. Basically, you open them up, throw out the old bearings, clean the races (the paths the bearings roll in), fill with fresh, clean grease, insert new bearings, reassemble, and adjust to be "just tight enough". While you're in there, it's a good idea to examine the races to ensure they are smooth.

cables

Pop out the brake and shifter cables from the control levers. Slide the housings back and forth over the cable. Look for rust, frayed wire, and sharp kinks. Any are signs that you should replace the cable, but if the wear is light, you can get away with deferring that replacement. For now, drop some graphite- or teflon-based lube in to the housings, and slide them back and forth to spread it out. Avoid getting lube on the rims, where the brakes need to grab well.

brakes

The brakes are the most important piece of safety equipment. Ideally the brake pads hover close to the rims, but don't rub. Pads are clean, as are rims. Brake action is smooth and easy. Both pads contact the rim at the same time, and are centered on the rim's braking surface. They especially don't hang off the inside (where they could pop off the edge and jam) or the outside (where they will rub the tire and cause a blowout). When you release the brake levers, the brakes quickly snap to open.

You'll need the wheels true before you can reach brake Nirvana. (See below.)

For now, just make sure that both brakes work - that you can stop in a hurry with either one.

drivetrain

If the bike has been neglected, your chain is probably rusty, and will need to be replaced. If it's ridable, then clean and lubricate it carefully.

Examine the wear on the chain and the front and rear gears. As chains age and stretch, they place force unevenly on the gears, which causes them to wear to match. If you then put a new chain on old gears, the chain will wear out before its time. Similarly, new gears with an old chain will wear fast.

If the chain is mildly worn and the gears are healthy, replace the chain now. If the chain and gears are both very worn, you can keep riding, but plan to replace both soon. They may slip under heavy loads, too.

An easy way to check the health of a chain is the Park Tool Chain Wear Indicator CC-3. Keep one of these on hand so you can check your chain regularly.

Check that the gears shift smoothly under load, and the chain doesn't try to come off the gears when you shift to the shortest and tallest gears. You'll need healthy shifter cables before you adjust these.

wheels

When wheels are neglected or abused, they will go out of true, go out of round; the rims will get bent or dented; the spoke tension will be uneven, making the wheel weaker.

The first thing to do is evaluate the state of the wheel. You'll need well-adjusted hubs to do this. Spin the wheel and watch the gap between the rim and the brake pad closely. If the gap stays pretty constant, you're in luck. If it wiggles, you have work to do. Spin the wheel again, and let a screwdriver or your fingernail bump in to each spoke. Listen to the sound. If the pitch jumps around, spoke tension is uneven. Listen to good, new, hand-built wheels to teach your ears what to listen for.

Even if you're not going to true your wheels yourself, it's a good idea to lubricate the nipples now. Give the oil some time to work in now, so a mechanic has an easier time with truing later. Put a drop of oil in the crevice between the nipple and the spoke.

Also check your tires. Look for cracking in the rubber, wear in the sidewall, and depth of tread. If you can see threads anywhere, you're close to a blowout.

Pump the tires up to somewhere in their rated range. Personally I like the lower end of the range, but each person is different.

miscellany

Stand over the front wheel and grab it tightly with your legs. Try to turn the handlebar. It shouldn't budge. Try to rotate the handlebars in the stem; it also shouldn't budge.

Pull the seat tube out and make sure there's some grease on it, so it doesn't try to fuse in there.

Take the wheels off and put them back on, and make sure you know how to use quick release properly.


Ballpark would be ~2 hours, possibly down to 1 hour 45 minutes.  If you set a mental goal of "sub 2 hours" then you'll be on track.

You will be astonished by the "wind suck" produced simply by being on the road with a bunch of riders all going in the same direction.

You don't have to draught/draft and if you've never tried before then a large mass of people is utterly the wrong time to start.

Given there are thousands of riders, it sounds like more of a mass participation event than a race.

If you know the route and have time in the weeks leading up to the event, you should definitely ride the whole route.  This will teach you the corners and points to look out for.  However your time will be increased by intersections and road traffic.

If there are climbs in this route you will want to try them at various powers and see if your physique and endurance allows a high effort, or if you need to rein it in and get to the top with reserves for the next piece.

There's a good chance you'll find other people practising the route too.  So observe them and see if your actions are different.  Try it their way and see if it feels better.   Also this is the chance to set some strava times for segments.


Is it safe to mount fender stays and disc brakes on the same bolt?

Do not do that. That's dangerous because those stays are often made of soft steel and it's easy to bend or damage them, which means they'll pull out from under the bolt head. In that case you end up with a loose bolt on your brake caliper. Which is bad.

Two alternatives spring to mind: fenders that mount directly to the fork via clips or bands (or hose clamps if you're DIY), or the short fenders that only attach to the fork crown (I think the latter are decorative rather than functional, but enough people disagree that you can still buy them). I would just use cable ties to attach the fenders to the fork and see what happens. I think that will work, but if it doesn't I'd use hose clamps instead. Careful not to overtighten the clamps - you can crush the fork tube which will damage the suspension.

If you're committed to attaching to the brake the safer way is to make a plate that links both bolts and has a tab to bolt the mudguard onto. That way the plate can't rotate and is fairly solid so it's not likely to shift or deform and leave to with a loose front brake mount. The failure mode will be that extra tab bending or breaking, and with a little thought to the design that will be annoying rather than dangerous.


Hill riding: What gears are usually the most comfortable?

It's not about numbers, it's not about this many teeth should be in the front and this many teeth in the back. There's no right answer here, and no one on this forum can say what your best fit is. It's 100% your responsibility to find out what works the best for you and what lets you achieve your ideal cadence and beat your mates up the mountain.


One extra position on front derailleur besides trim

Presumably it is a further trim position if you have double (not triple) shifters, and previously the limit screw was preventing the cable movement. Now you’ve installed a new cable and changed limit screws a bit maybe you’ve allowed access to a high gear trim position.

My 105 5700 double shifter does the same thing, and I can prevent it from happening by tightening the high limit screw


Use a local bike shop (LBS) who can give you good advice and proper servicing.

Don't be tempted to get a big that is too big for you; reach is more important than height. I often see people over stretched. Also go for a bike that is well built rather than a Walmart 'bargain'.

Good bikes last for years and years and are fixable. Modern bikes with decent wheels and brakes are often cheaper than buying an old boneshaker. Spend the extra for reliability and make sure you get a decent lock so it isn't stolen the first time you turn your back.

Keep you tires properly inflated (60 psi minimum) and take advantage of your LBS's track pump for a top up every 2 weeks or so.


How much of a mark-up do you pay building your own?

It’s hard to give a general figure for how much more expensive a self built custom bike will be, but it’s relatively easy (although time consuming) to figure out how expensive your build will be. Just make a spreadsheet of all the components you will need, and research the best prices online.

Don’t forget to factor in all the minor components like grips, cable and brake housing. Also factor in all the special tools you will need to buy (or rent from a local bike co-op).

The other thing to consider is the investment you’ll have to make in learning all about component compatibility. There are some compatibility things that are not trivial to figure out.

You will also have to learn how to install and adjust every single component on the bike. That's a fairly significant investment in time, both in research and learning and the fiddling around trying to get stuff working right.

If learning all that is part of your goal (and it’s a completely reasonable one) all well and good, just know what you are getting into.

It’s also possible to scour Craigslist, EBay and local forums for parts, but you really have to know what you are looking for to make sure you get compatible components that are not worn out.


Lowering my Tour bike gearing to MTB gearing

To change from 8 to 10 you will need an upgrade to 10 speed shifters and likely a new derailleur. Almost certainly it would be cheaper to sell the bike and buy another, I would recommend against spending that amount of money on that bike.

The rear derailleur should be OK, the Altus have a capacity of 43 and max cog size of 34. The front is rated 48MAx, 20 Capacity.

A 8 or 9 speed 22/32/42(e.g. Shimano M361) crankset would be ideal, but are not that common in better quality sets.  22/30 is a seriously low gear, you will be riding slow enough maintaining balance will be a problem. You can also get a 11/34 8 speed cluster, giving an even lower 22/34 at the expense of wider gear inch gap.


Inner elbow/bicep tendon pain from drop bars?

Tendonitis (tendonosis) is one possibility, however I would expect some pain during riding especially during the beginning of your ride. When you say biceps tendon I assume you mean near your elbow.

That said, the first things I would investigate are ulnar nerve irritation or compression at the cubital tunnel a/o the ligament of Struther's. The ulnar nerve weaves through several fibrotic "soft" tissues in the upper arm where entrapment can occur including the medial portion the triceps. The vibration of the road (absorbed by hand, triceps, and FCU muscle mentioned below) coupled with wrist extension and wrist radial deviation can put sustained tension on the ulnar nerve which can cause entrapment and damage.

The flexor carpi unlaris muscle can also contribute or cause this problem.  Repetitive inflammation of any tissue in the body results in the development of scar tissue which can occur between muscles, fascia, and within the sheath through which large nerves travel. As scar tissue continues to develop, the restrictions or fibrosis will increase in these areas.

Go see a LMT or chiropractor who is certified in Active Release Techniques so they can help break up the scar tissue and get that nerve moving more freely.  Surgery should be a last resort in this and most other repetitive use musculoskeletal injuries. This is related to and can be exacerbated by cyclist's palsy, and Tunnel of Guyon entrapment of the ulnar nerve. I experience this problem as well, mine is worsened by core weakness and too much pressure on the hands. Higher handlebars will help get some pressure off your FCU and triceps as well. They are ugly as sin, but those long tall quill stems are helpful.

Ride On.

Eric Poehlein DC


Amazon web pages says

  Stop-a-flat tubes are "Size Specific" to a tire and care should always be taken when matching the tube to the tyre.

But then

  Please note that the 1.75 sizes will fit a 1.90 standard tire.

So that's confusing. You'd really have to check with the manufacturer,

Bicycle tires vary in actual size for a nominal width specification by quite a lot, so if the solid inner tube needs to exactly fit the inside dimensions of the tire it will be difficult to get a match.

Personally, I would not use a product like this as I suspect they could negatively affect tire grip in a dangerous manner.


How do you decide your route to commute to work?

If you really would only feel safe riding on the dirt shoulder, I'd keep that route as a last resort, since dirt will probably slow you down more than traffic lights and 55 mph traffic is likely scary and dangerous. On the other hand, lights might be more annoying than an overall slowdown from dirt.

Try one, then try the other. Time yourself. Weigh how pleasant the ride seemed. Try each of them each way. Pick the one that was faster, or the one that was more pleasant, whichever matters more to you. It's likely the faster one will also be the one that felt more pleasant, since losing momentum is a major annoyance for most of us cyclists.

Personally, I find stop signs slow me down more than traffic lights, especially on a route that I take frequently. With a traffic light you can learn the timing and either stop pedaling or pedal harder in order to avoid hitting the red.

I can tell you how I chose my routes:

Look up routes on maps. Google maps has some decent cycle route data now; turn on the "bicycle" and "traffic" overlays. The Strava Heat Map is a great way to see what routes are popular locally. Your local bicycling advocacy group likely has maps highlighting the best routes. It's likely your local government has an official map of where bike paths/lanes/routes are. Get multiple routes figured out. Look for side roads, bike paths, etc. Small residential roads you'd never consider in a car often work great on a bicycle. And google maps may not suggest that awesome side road because it's not designated as a bike route.
Pick the top few routes.
Ride the best seeming one.  You can do this as a test ride on a non-work day, especially if you're concerned about timing. Keep your eyes out for possible side roads, bike paths, etc.
Ride a different one. Repeat until you've tried all the reasonable seeming options.
Try them in the reverse direction. Sometimes what you don't like on a route won't be there going the other way.
Take what you've learned and adjust.

I have two basic commutes, a mixed-mode with 4 miles of bicycle ride, or a 12-mile ride all the way to or from work.  In both cases, my favorite route to work is very different from my favorite ride back home, except for the half mile closest to my house and a few miles in the middle of the 12-mile trip.

Roughly ordered priority of selection criteria for picking routes, based on thinking about why I take the routes I do:

One bad spot can ruin a route. All perfect smooth bike lane except for that intersection that you feel like you're going to die in half the time? Terrible. Try a route that avoids the bad spot.
Avoid bad road positions. For instance, a busy narrow 55mph road that's one lane in each direction with no shoulder would be bad. But if it's plenty wide with a wide shoulder that would be fine. Or a narrow low-traffic 25mph street would be fine.
Avoid difficult turns. Needing to merge across multiple lanes of busy fast traffic is what I find the worst. There's other ways to make a left turn, but they're usually slower.
Avoid long waits. Signals that don't pick me up (or just have a very long cycle), stop signs facing busy road that doesn't have to stop.
Avoid annoying traffic patterns. Signals or stop signs that always have a long line. Places where everybody makes a right turn and I want to go straight but it's hard to merge into traffic, etc.
Avoid difficult hills. I don't return home on one road that I love for getting to work because it ends with a short steep hill with a left turn. I prefer long gradual slopes over short steep ones, but you might find you have the opposite preference.
Find bike lanes. Or a good shoulder with not too many right turns across your path. I believe most of the US classifies these into 3 classes: class I is dedicated bike-and-pedestrian-only ("bike path"), class II is a bike lane, class III is a route/suggestion (but might have sharrows or other measures). I usually prefer class II, since class I usually involves dealing with pedestrians and most of the class III stuff around here is a joke with better side-street options.
Find smooth pavement. Avoid potholes, badly maintained road, etc. Hopefully obvious why. I find sometimes the pavement going one way is much better than going the other.


What are the advantages of the different clipless systems?

I have used SPD and Crank Brothers (I have a set of Mallets on my mountain bike, and Candy SLs on my road bike). Both the Mallet and the Candy are built around the egg beaters.

I have to say I greatly prefer the Crank Brothers.

Entry/exit is very easy.
They have a decent amount of float, which is great for mountain biking, because it allows you to move around on the pedals if you need to. It's not as great for road biking, but I have the cleats on my road shoes set for the "less float" and the easy entry/exit makes it worthwhile.
No tension screws to adjust, and fewer moving parts to maintain. Just a spring, basically.

This is not to say that the SPD system is bad. Your mileage may vary.


SRAM X01 Eagle 12s RD adjustment to work with 11s cassette + shifter?

There are two things that must be correct to move the derailleur  the right distance for each shift.

Cable length pulled per shift
Derailleur actuation ratio - ratio of lateral cage movement to cable length pulled.

The 11 speed shifter will pull the correct amount of cable for the 11 speed cassette sprocket spacing through a matching 11 speed derailleur.  If the 12 speed derailleur has a different actuation ratio the cage will not move the correct distance. There is no adjustment for this.
The X01 Eagle uses what SRAM calls ‘x-actuation’ ratio, GX seems to use x-actuation and ‘exact actuation’ ratios for different components. The Exact actuation ratio is a little different and not compatible.
Check which exact model I’d grip shifters you have on the SRAM site. If they use x-actuation your proposed setup will work. If they use exact-actuation the setup will not work.


Will a Shimano MTB 9 speed derailleur work with 10 speed cassette?

With Shimano MTB components the short answer is No, it won't work, the 10 speed shifters and derailleurs have different pull ratios.

The long answer is it can be made to work. You just need to define what you mean by work. When I buy XT, I want and expect it to 'work, just like XT should' - reliably, for the life of the components. Its silly to spend XT kind of money to get Tourney performance. Mixing components from different speeds, even when using 'problem solvers' often leaves a less than ideal version of 'works'.

That said, a few people seem to have magic hands and/or the patience of saints and get these frankeinsetups working smoothly and reliably.


Does anyone make a spacer for SPD cleats?

As Kibbee said, making your own out of a milk jug or soda/beer can is probably the easiest way to go.  The spacer doesn't need to have the exact same footprint as the cleat to work, so you don't need to be too concerned with the sizing/shape.


Two brake positions on fixed gear/single speed

You can use cross top levers without the main lever with some hacking. There is a thread about it here: https://www.bikeforums.net/singlespeed-fixed-gear/108969-how-install-inline-brake-lever-primary.html

You can also replace it with a 'normal' brake lever. If your bar is oversize (31.8 mm) it can be hard to find a brake lever that fits, but it's certainly doable.

Having two levers might not be such a bad idea though, since it means you have a brake lever within reach from all hand positions. But I'm planning on installing just a 'top' brake lever on my fixie, so I can certainly see your point. You can also put a TT bar end lever at the bottom of the drop and use the cross top lever as well. That will look 'cleaner' than the usual road hood thing.


I would look to stop at least twice and take on protein as well as carbs.  Try an omelette if you can get one on the road.  I would look to take some protein bars as well as energy gels, it will give variety as well as restore what you will blow through in 170 miles.

You are also going to need to stretch, so suggest you plan on a 1-hour middle of ride stop...


After many years of riding in foul weather, I rarely use overshoes for above freezing temperatures.  They are NEVER waterproof.  The opening for your cleat and heel allows water into the setup which inevitably makes it's way up to your ventilated upper.  For them to actually be waterproof, they would need to seal to the bottom sole of your shoe.  Additionally, the cleat attachment area of your shoe would need to be waterproof (many are not).  More than occasional walking tends to wear them prematurely.  I've owned several brands and never had a set make it through more than three seasons (fall, spring and perhaps part of another fall) before they are coming apart at the seams.

Several companies make foul weather shoes.  They range from truly insulated winter boots to versions of the companies regular offerings with no ventilation holes and a sealed bottom around the cleat area.  I've had several pairs of these from various companies and all have lasted longer than 4 seasons (2 years).

In my opinion overshoes are only appropriate as an insulation layer when it's too cold to be wet or when you are a pro doing a time trial and they extra 0.75 seconds they afford are worth it (they are free from your sponsor at that point anyway).


Generally can I fit 650b wheels on a modern CX frame?

Wheel size swaps in bicycles are generally not possible, but this particular  rim and tire size swap is possible with disc brake equipped bikes, if you have the lateral tire clearance.

700c rims are 622mm in diameter at the bead seat. 650b rims are 584mm. The difference in radius - what has to be made up by a bigger tire - is 19mm. Assuming tire width is approximately tire height, going from a 28mm tire to a 42mm tire makes up most of that difference (42mm-28mm=14mm).

As an aside, changing rim diameter without a change in tire size is not recommended. Frames are designed around a certain wheel size and fitting a smaller rim size wheel negatively effects steering geometry and crank-ground clearance.

See this Sheldon Brown article.


Yes and no.

Yes, that’s how they’re constructed - as two concentric pipes for strength.

No, as in they shouldn’t come apart that easily. You may have lost a retaining screw that keeps them together. You could also just glue the two shells back together with some metal epoxy, taking care not to foul the locking mechanism. Just a little epoxy is all you need as the strength of the lock is in how the lock shackle passes through the external cylinder. You could even flex- or duct-tape them together, again the lock strength is in the shackle passing through the two shells.

If you’re under warranty, you should get it replaced though.  That’s what a warranty is for.


How to avoid showering twice when cycling to and from work?

Very good antiperspirant for the morning ride can work, dressing as cool as possible and changing clothes when you get in. Everyone has an upper limit for effort/distance/temperature for which this works, and if you work at the top of a hill, forget it.

Slowing down for the last bit can help. You may even be able to take your helmet off for the last couple of hundred metres. This can make a big difference but only you can judge the riding conditions.

I didn't find that baby wipes made for a good freshen up.


I would agree that a short ride on Saturday is useful to keep things ticking over, resting on the Friday, so long as the substitute commute isn't too stressful, might be more useful. Your body needs some down time and a 'clean' 24+ hours is quite important for genuine recovery.

The thing to do on the Saturday is to use the short ride as a dress rehearsal, use all the kit that you plan to take with you - you've probably got more time to do this on the Saturday.

So, if you're going to drive to the start line, then do that on the Saturday too. At least, pack the bike and bits into/on to the car and drive somewhere to do the test ride. Do your best to mimic game day. Just to let you relax knowing you haven't forgotten anything. This is especially important if there's anything new in your setup - nothing new on the day is a crucial mantra (not new shoes, socks, tyre, nothing!).


Is there a bicycle designed for slow riding?

Any bike with a comfortable seat, upright riding position and low ratio gears.

This is pretty much the definition of a 'cruiser' style bike.

Many hybrids, less expensive mountain bikes and fatbikes would fit the requirement too.


When should you replace tires after getting a flat?

From personal experience, I'd say a larger-than-usual hole in the tire could have these undesireable side-effects:

The tube might get a bit exposed, and the day-to-day rolling over the hole might wear it down until the tire eventually flats out. Chemical aggresion from road grime or mud could also be involved.
The fabric of the tire might get damaged to the point there is a visible bulge. This not only causes a bump while rolling, but most importantly is a weak point that might lead to tire explosion and and accident.

Most of these somewhat larger punctures damage mainly the rubber and not so much the tire fabric (plies). If that is the case, a simple cautionary patch on the inside (with a regular tube patch) is enough to warrant peace of mind.

If the tire is bulging around the hole when it is inflated at the pressure you use, that is a warning indicating the tire is probably too damaged. A larger or stronger patch might be used inside the tire, and some regular observation to see if it stabilizes or grows is needed, but most probably it would be better to get it off the bike (which is very sad when it is a relatively new tire).

Hope this helps


Inconsistent headset tightness and squeaking

STOP RIDING THAT BIKE

I'm concerned that your bike has internal problems and that something may fail rapidly (ie, you're experiencing the warning now)

You need to inspect the front steerer tube and head tube looking for anything wrong.

Firstly, clean and inspect the frame area around the headtube.  You're looking for cracks or any damage.
Take photos of how its assembled before starting, as a visual guide.
Start by removing the stem, either quill stem if its an old style or the top cap and stem if its more modern.
Hang the bars out of the way so there's no pressure on the brake/gear cables.
Remove any spacers, or undo the lock nut and crown nut.
pull out the bearings.  They may be in a cage (easy) or there may be dozens of tiny loose ones.   Put them aside to wash in degreaser.
Drop the fork down and out the bottom.  Be aware there's more tiny ball bearings in the bottom, again may be caged or loose.
Clean grease off, and inspect the

steerer tube - the "handle" of the fork.  It should be straight, with no cracks or deterioration.  You should have a good look under a bright light, and use a steel ruler to look for any bends
fork crown - the bit that joins the tines/legs/blades of the fork to the steerer tube.
Ball bearings (look for non-round ones, discoloured ones, or chipped ones)
Bearing races - the running surface that the balls roll on.  These should be clean, smooth and bright.  There should be no dents or dips or damage.  There will be four, two in the bike's frame, one on the bottom of the fork, and one on the top big nut.
Head tube - use a torch/flashlight, and look down inside the frame for anything wrong.

If everything seems fine, clean and grease and reassemble in the reverse order.  You might like to fit new ball bearings at this time, they're pretty cheap from the nearest LBS.  Getting the tension right on the bearings can be a bit fiddly, but it should be smooth with no play when fully assembled.

You might benefit from removing the front brake or its cable.  Removing the front wheel will make it easier too.

Once completed, it should be perfect steering, provided there's no damaged parts gone back in.  If you find damaged parts please update your question with clear photos.


Do I need to change my tyres for a week of riding around Loch Lomond

Light rides on cycle routes?  I think you're OK....just bring a spare tube and repair tools!


Can this damage to my brake mounts be repaired?

Problem Solvers makes a kit that is usually worth a shot to see if the post is completely shot and needs re-welding:

Cantilever Stud Repair Kit

You could probably even fabricate one yourself if you could find the right tubing diameter. We used these frequently at the shops I managed, and they have a roughly 50% success rate. Having them work properly is largely dependent on ensuring that the base of the original stud is cut and filed very flush and almost perfectly perpendicular to the bolt's orientation.

If you install it successfully, great! You've only spent a few dollars, and you've got the bike back up and running. It's much cheaper than trying to get a new boss re-welded on.

If this does not work, it's only a few dollars spent, and you can explore alternatives.

Installation Instructions

I would not really even recommend trying to have it re-welded, because it's pretty difficult for a welder (unless they're an experienced framebuilder with the correct jig setup) to get the boss lined up to the point that the posts are equidistant and oriented to exactly the same angle.

Your second best option would be the long-ish caliper brake that RoboKaren suggested. Don't even consider those disc brake adapters; the chances for failure or misalignment (that leads to failure) is very high. Disc brakes are not a one-size-fits-all solution, and require much more precision than those adapters can supply.


How do I adjust my rear derailleur (Shimano SIS) when it is only slightly out?

Adjusting the rear derailleur is a matter of tightening or slackening the shifter cable so that the chain runs smoothly for all rear cogs.  The easiest way to do this is using a barrel adjuster -- there's normally one where the cable runs into the derailleur and you may have another where the cable runs into the shifter or on the downtube for a road bike.

If you look at the barrel adjuster from the point of view of the cable housing (not the bare cable) running into it, turning the adjuster clockwise will slacken the cable and counter-clockwise will tighten it.  Adding slack to the rear derailleur should adjust the chain towards the small cog, tightening moves it towards the large cog.  If the barrel adjuster doesn't give you enough range, then you'll have to adjust the slack where the cable clamps into the derailleur.

With your bike in a stand, or flipped upside-down, change to your middle chainring (for a triple) and try it out.  You should be able to see small movements in the derailleur as you tweak the barrel adjuster.  I like to get the middle cog dialed in really well (change gears in/out this cog) and then check that this setup works for all of the others.  You'll probably have to adjust this slightly once you ride the bike.  (Once you get comfortable with this, you can actually tweak the derailleur mid-ride without stopping if you have a barrel adjuster on the shifter or down tube)

After tweaking the derailleur setup, you should also double-check the limit screws just to be on the safe side.  These are two screws on the derailleur that adjust how far it can move.  One keeps the chain from going past the large cog (sometimes marked L?) and the other does the same for the small cog (H?).  Make sure that the derailleur cannot move the chain off of the end cogs.  Turning the appropriate screw clockwise should push the limit in towards the center of the cassette, counter-clockwise normally gives the derailleur more freedom.

Of course, there are a whole range of other problems that can affect shifting (worn chain, worn cogs, bad chain line, worn cable/housing, sticky derailleur, etc.), but try this first.


With "be seen" lights good ones have a very wide beam pattern so they can be seen from all angles, which makes precise orientation less relevant. If you look at Nathan's bike light database most of those lights are about 180° horizontal beam spread and 90° or more vertically. Again, the better ones have a more even beam spread so there's really no "hot axis" that gets more light.

So I mount them for convenience. I look for somewhere I can attach them where they won't get bumped and point more or less along the axis of the bike, and more or less horizontally. Clipping them into the back pocket of my jeans rather than my belt, for example :)

If you have a poorly made "be seen" light that has a real beam and poor spread, the only real solution is to buy a better one. If you're using an old "see by" LED light in flash mode for this, I suggest setting it up as a "see by" light (per answers to your other question), and using it that way.

If it's particularly bright, the polite thing to do is turn it off or use a lower brightness setting when you're on the bike path. On roads the oncoming traffic should be some way out of your path so blinding shouldn't be an issue. If it is (really narrow roads, for example), I point mine down when I see oncoming traffic. Or turn them off. I have dyno lights that are always on, so turning the blinkie off doesn't break the law or make me invisible.

With my "see sense" lights that are designed to mount to a vertical tube and are annoyingly bright, I mount the front one to my head tube right under the stem so that I am shaded by the stem. That also helps a little with the upward part of the beam, but the real solution is to turn them down at night. It seems a bit odd, but a "daylight visible" flashing light is scary bright at night. So I run them on the lowest power setting at night (maybe ~30 lumens rather than the ~200 lumen peak). I can still see it lighting up reflective signs at 100m, so it's visible enough.


How to deal with fog, condensing on the outside of glasses?

Dishwashing liquid, cheapest and best way to lose that extra liquid.

If you have a yellowish lens they make a difference with seeing contrasting low light.


What is special about 1x11 - why not just big cassette and single front ring?

SRAM have emphasized the 1x configuration, but 1x systems can be built from Shimano components too.

You are right that a 1x system is pretty much a wide ratio cassette and a single front ring. Double-wide chainrings are commonly used to help chain retention as there is no front derailleur cage to guide the chain. Clutch derailleurs are also used to tame chain slap on rougher trails encountered when gravel riding.

You can use a double crankset with a single ring on it, but it's a hack and as you say you will have cross-chaining problems. Dedicated 1x cranks align the ring with the middle of the cassette so the chain deflection is minimized.

You will not be able to use a XT MTB derailleur with a road drop bar shifter. Shimano MTB and road 11 speed use different derailleur actuation ratios (see here) so MTB derailleurs and road shifters are incompatible. The largest cassette that Shimano long cage road derailleurs can take is 11-34, but, if you are coming from single speed that is going to feel like a huge ratio range.


Brand new bike, motor conversion, crank moves when the wheel moves

This is usually caused by the back hub. There is preassure on the outer side of the driver(freewheel,cassette, cogs, etc;), so when the wheels moves, the driver moves and pushes the cranks, thus not doing the "freewheel" thing.

So you need to check if the nuts, cones and bearings, are grinding anywhere by taking it appart. And just because you are doing that, clean it good and regrease everything while you are it, just to be safe.

When putting back your wheel, check for movement on the nuts, sometimes on frames with small room to play they like to tight themselves up to give you a challenge.

Cheers

Edit:

As I can see from some pictures, you have to install a sprocket on the other side of the wheel. Check for spacing issues, washers, spacing issues on your freewheel and hub.


9sp/10sp compatibility in Shimano SLX drivetrains

The difference in chain width between 9s and 10s is less than 1mm so it won't make much of a difference once the mech is adjusted correctly. I have M660 on my bike and M665 on brother's bike and they aren't so much different, so if 10s is proven to work on one, it should work on the other.
Front shifters have the same cable pull, but front derailleurs have different travel rate between 9s and 10s. Therefore if you want to use a 10s shifter with a 9s crank it's actually better to use a 9s derailleur. Although both would work, a 9s would be more accurate in this case.


How to properly remove bearings from shouldered-axle track hub

With a trapped axle like that you use a hammer, ideally a soft face one or I use a bit of wood as a pad. Hold the block against the axle, tap the block with a hammer. Holding the wheel in your hand rather than blocking it against a solid surface also reduces the impact. You will still probably damage the bearings, so preferably don't do this until you have the replacements.

Arts Cyclery have a video tutorial and the hammer appears about 70 seconds in.

In my experience this is actually easier than the removable axles, because even a decent bearing puller often doesn't work, or work any better than just using a hammer and punch. The small hole in a bike wheel bearing (10mm) is often too small for the puller.

Press the new bearings in carefully making sure you press the outer races not the inner ones.


How can I make better use of the dead space under my bottle cages?

Good question - I've wondered the same.

I looked at the Specialized SWAT toolbox for inspiration, but it only fit certain models of frame.
https://www.specialized.com/us/en/equipment/bike-accessories/swat-technology/c/swatstorage

Another option is to mount things directly to the waterbottle cage mounts.  Here's another specialized product to do exactly that:

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/emt-cage-mount-mtb-tool-for-right-zee-cage/p/132369

Downsides of this is that it only fits their multitool and nothing else.  Also exposes the tool to a lot of dirt and muck that it wouldn't see if higher up.

I have tried a solution of using a frame mount bag right at the front of the main triangle.   Advantages are that its forward weight so helps me keep the front wheel down on a steel climb, and I can put a USB battery in here for powering my gopro on long rides.

Alright this bag was measured for another bike so its a bit saggy here.  The pump hook gets in the way, and the downtube is much smaller and a different angle from the designed bike.  Flaws - the zip is the wrong way around, and should close forward so cables can come out easier.  Velcro is all wrong for this bike.

I also use a top-tube bag for more storage when on a long ride.   That holds snacks and my phone running on another USB battery (because its annoying when strava stops recording.)


There is not that much load on the light - just add spacers or bend the mount as @super proposed, you'll be fine.


How efficient is string bike? Is this really a revolutionary bike?

The general idea of "lever drive," or a reciprocating pedal motion instead of a rotary pedal motion precedes even the invention of the modern diamond-frame bicycle--consider the Special Star from 1886. More recently, there was the Facet Biocam,  the Alenax, and the Wall Walker.

Within the world of reciprocating drivetrains, the String Bike is interesting in its use of materials (dyneema to transmit power) and the ability to vary mechanical advantage on the lever arm (although the Alenax was able to achieve this simply using hub gears).

But check out what Jobst Brandt had to say about the Alenax. His basic point is that you're converting reciprocating motion to rotary motion, which is mechanically less efficient. I haven't been able to find any studies of the biomechanics of lever-drive bikes.


New disc brake frame feels heavy at the back

Cube Attain SL Disc in 2018 weighs 9.8 kg according to the maker, and has disks front and rear.  The brakes are

  Shimano BR-RS505, Hydr. Disc Brake, Flat-Mount (160/160)

The Felt is 9.54 kg and has rim brakes. Sadly is a little vague.

  Dual pivot w/cartridge brake pads, Sora STI levers

Shimano hydraulic calipers are 151 grams each, compared to 175g for dual pivot rim brakes.
Brifters are 200g heavier each than the comparable non-hydraulic brifter
A rotor is about 112 g plus bolts
Front hub for discs is 353g compared to 210g for the same thing without a disk mount
Rear hub for disks is 368g compared to 350g for a rear without disk.

Assumptions

Hose and Oil is probably on-par with inner and outer cable weight.
Caliper pads and hydraulic pads are probably about the same

RESULT: The cube's disk brakes weigh approximately 850 grams more than the felt's rim brakes weight.  That the whole bike is only 350g heavier will be down to weight savings elsewhere.

Another point is that the disks are both slightly further forward and further aft than the rim brakes, if everything else was equal.  The lengthening of the weight on the Cube will help on a fast straight, but will slightly resist turning more than the Felt.

But I feel there's something more to it than "heavy back end weight"  Lets look at the other significant difference.

Geometry

Here's a blinky between the felt and the cube.  I've tried to position the two wheel axles together, and the ground as the consistent third point.

Break that down more - here's the older 2013 Felt with a wire on the centerline of the frame:

And the same for the more recent Cube

Finally, here's the two wire frames superimposed, kinda.

From that, we can see the seat tubes are pretty much identical.  Downtube and chainstay are very similar (allowing for distortions in two different photos)
The seat stays are significantly different line, but that's probably going to have more impact on compliance over bumps rather than handling.

Sherlock Holmes once said something about eliminating all the possibilities and whatever remains must be the cause.  So if its not the backend, perhaps its the front?

Notice the head tube on the felt is steeper.  And quite significantly at 72.5 degrees on the felt vs 73.5 degrees on the Cube.  (assuming a 56cm frame on both)

This leads to the Cube having just about double the trail.  And we know that:

  More trail equates to slower steering. Making a bike feel more stable like it’s steered ‘with your hips’ (leaning).

Upshot

The newer bike's geometry at the front makes for more stable and solid steering.  You'll be more planted and confident at speed and on descents.  The trade off is slightly more effort is needed to turn, with slightly more commitment required to initiate the turn.  But the bike will want to straighten up by itself.

I suspect the Cube is much easier to ride no-hands than the Felt ever was.

Go with your gut - either return it now if you think you'll never like it.  Or give it a 500-1000 km of riding to get acclimatised.  I know I take double that and more to get really at home on a bike.   Check out some hill descents that you may have logged in Strava or whatever from the Felt, and compare them with efforts on the Cube.

Links

Cube https://www.cube.eu/en/products/road-race/attain/cube-attain-sl-disc-blackngreen-2016/
Felt 2013 http://2013.feltracing.com/South-Africa/2013/Road/F-Series/F95.aspx


Here's a rack that will do six. I have no personal experience with this one and the fact that neither of the top two rack companies (Thule and Yakima) do a six bike rack makes me think you should approach with caution.

[Link removed due to the old link being expired/stale. The link was to a "Northshore 6 Bike Rack"]

I have seen, with mixed success, 4-bike bike racks where folks have strapped an additional bike into the mix. Again, proceed with caution.


I was able to get the Rear Deraileur model number as 4500 and also the brakes were Tektro R350 which both seem to again point towards a late 2000s model. It is possibly the 2007 model which was sold with upgraded components, like what @mikes mentions


Suggestion for rigid fork to replace 100mm-travel RST suspension fork on 26" Trek 4300 MTB?

That is a very big axle to crown number for a 100mm 26" fork. 490s for 26" is more associated with dirt jump/downhill/etc, hence the lack of options you're finding for a mass produced rigid conversion fork. What you'd want if you could get it is something around 465-470mm, which represents what the front end ride height would be with around a quarter of the travel used up statically, which is kind of the baseline rule of thumb that manufacturers go by to figure out what the axle-to-crown is going to be on their rigid conversion forks. Most 100mm 26" forks, say an F100 or Reba, were in the 470-475 range, so most of the rigid conversion forks for that sort of bike are around 445-455. It's all a game of approximations.

There were a few rigid suspension corrected canti post forks in that era that were kind of in the dirt jump/"BigMX" genre, with long, heavy, non-tapered chromoly legs. There was a Redline one in particular I'm thinking about that I'm unable to find numbers on currently, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was longer than everything else. It was very long and heavy.

If you can find a 1x1 canti fork, at 453mm they're on the longer end of what exists for this. That plus a 10mm extender headset lower gets you about where you'd want to be - maybe a little shy if the bike really is designed around a 492mm fork, but it really shouldn't be a big deal riding. Even without the extender it would still be perfectly rideable, but the rider position change would probably come into play more.


New brakes need to be "bed-in" (not bled), with their rotors: Get up to speed, then drag the brake for 5-6 seconds (builds up heat) and then increase lever pressure until the bike stops. Do this about 10 times.

More on bedding-in brakes here:
http://www.bikeradar.com/us/gear/article/how-to-bed-in-disc-brake-pads-31337/


What's the loss of effective output, with a worn chain?

This extensive IHPVA article about chain drive efficiency shows a model of how you might empirically test the losses, and describes the efficiencies of a new chain. Their test suggests that lubrication and chainline matter very little, while chain tension is of significant importance.


The pain at the top of the kneecap is classical patellofemoral pain syndrome -- the most common knee problem.  The most direct treatment is simple strengthening exercises for the secondary muscles supporting the knee joint so that the kneecap remains properly positioned -- such exercises can provide relief in 48 hours or less in some cases.

But you should probably consult a sports medicine doc first.

(My personal experience has been that some sort of toe clip or clipless pedal arrangement helps this condition, vs plain pedals, though there are probably arrangements that can make it worse.)

(And probably the easiest way to make the condition worse is to lower your seat too low and pedal too slowly, in too high a gear.)