Can anyone help identify this "retro" muddyfox frame?

OK I've searched a lot and can't find anything that matches.  Muddyfox made a lot of bikes over time, so this is less of an answer and more of a dump of observations:

Points to note

Overall the bike looks "thick" - the chainstays are chunky, as are the seatstays.
Having trackends for rear dropouts is quite unusual on a MTB, but less unusual on a BMX.
The frame reinforcing gussets behind the head tube are unusual for a MTB.
The front suspension looks newer than mid 2000 because it lacks the stanchion boots which were common on earlier forks.
Paint on forks looks identical to frame so its likely to be original, making the bike a 26" hardtail
downtube

From a distance, it looks like a BMX, with a relatively low seatpost clamp.

I bet there's no brazeon mount for a front derailleur - and it may help to look closely for any paint marks where a bandon derailleur might have mounted.  If nothing found, I'd say this was a 1x setup from new.

At the rear, you have an electric motor now.  Was there any indication of a rear derailleur at any point ?  If not, this suggests the bike was a single speed OR it was fitted with an internally geared hub from new, both of which need trackends to set the chain/belt tension.

UPSHOT I think its a mid 2000 bigger kid's frame, designed to "evoke" the BMX, so possibly intended for teenage boys who have outgrown their 20" BMX.

It might even be called a 26" BMX in the right light.


"As it slowly died, and i bent the rear axle (Don't ask me how, i don't ride it hard) i debated buying a new bike"

Hmmm… If the bent axle is the only major problem the bike has (by "it slowly died" I take you to mean that it was developing other less-serious problems too), if I were you I would do an overhaul and continue with the hybrid.

I don't know if you have the knowledge/experience it would take to do such an overhaul, but if you were willing to put up $200 in quality components and elbow grease, you could probably turn your hybrid into something that's significantly better than any new $200 bike.

If you decide to purchase a bicycle, definitely buy used. Don't get the Denali. A used $200 road bike will last longer.


What are some red flags to look for when buying a used road bike?

Make sure that the frame is not compromised. Looks for cracks or big dents, or any asymmetry in the forks.
Make sure that there is no rust through the paint anywhere. If there is any chrome, make sure that any rust is only on the surface.
Make sure that the seatpost isn't seized. This is pretty easy as you can just loosen the seatpost bolt and give the saddle a squiggle. If it moves, you're golden.
If the bike has a quill stem, make sure it isn't seized up. This requires loosening the stem bolt, and whacking it with a hammer or preferably a soft-ended mallet.
Check that the bottom bracket and hubs turn smoothly. If the motion is stiff or jerky it probably means the bearings or races are shot, and that they'll need work.
Ensure that the cables work. Try the brakes and try the gears.
Check the braking surfaces. Most wheels will have an indicator groove along the center of the braking surface. If this looks quite worn it means that the wheel is on its last legs.
Don't worry about dust. Dust is a good sign, in my opinion. It means that the bike was probably stored indoors and by an owner who didn't use it much. These are good things.
Don't worry too much about brakes pads or tires. You can replace those fairly cheaply.
Some old road bikes have really gummy brake hoods that can be a pain to deal with. This isn't really a deal breaker though.


Navigating to a saved location on a Garmin Edge 530 results in a ludicrous circuitous route

My guess is that "popularity routing" is weighted quite heavily in the choice of route, and "minimise time"  is a secondary weighting.
I see Google has routed you on the A541, which  is definitely more direct, but may be less "compatible" with cyclists and therefore less popular.  The Strava route has used B5429 which is even narrower, but seems to have less traffic, based on Street View.
Strava and presumably Garmin can access their pool of data about where people ride.  I'd posit that the climb out of Y Groes Fawr is rather popular, having 200 metres hard climb after a 100 metre of more-gentle climb.  That's the kind of effort where pacing is critical, and it sorts the rabbits from the tortoises (the go-hard-and-blowers from the pacers)  Specifically https://www.strava.com/segments/6671074 the Moel Arthur climb.
Putting that to the test - here's strava's heat map showing both google and your routes.

Visually you can see that the Strava route highlighted in Blue is brighter than the other three google routes, so while people do ride all those paths, the one you rode is more travelled by Strava users.
My first version of this had bright magenta for the google highlight, and it seriously obscured the point.  The green and blue are chosen to both have similar low luminosity levels.  So ignore any stray hot-pink dots please.
Search around more at https://www.strava.com/heatmap#12.14/-3.32479/53.25998/bluered/ride  and see how the results match your personal experiences - the good riding roads should be more-ridden than the horrid roads.


Distance discrepancies between Strava and bike computer

It might have to do with how frequently the computer writes your GPS location to file.  To optimize storage some write out a location to file once every few seconds, but carry out its own calculations on a higher resolution dataset in-memory before purging. If your route is quite twisty this can result in a shorter distance as Strava (and everyone else) assumes a straight line between locations in a .gpx file (this is really the only workable assumption).

Check your bike computer settings, some allow you to specify the recording resolution (e.g., once per second). The downside could be that your computer may not be able to store as many tracks as a lower resolution setting (e.g., once every 5 seconds).


The technology is called hydro dipping or water transfer printing. A quick search will find several companies that do it. I would expect you can find one that handles the production and shipping when you provide the design.


Shimano SPD-SL pedal tension adjustment not clicking, possible counterfeit?

The "click" you are referring to is inherent to the design of Shimano's SPD, SPD-R and SPD-SL pedals. Each click signifies an increase in torque of the spring which tightens the retaining jaw.
Broadly speaking, there are two general possibilities. The first is that the tightening mechanism has worn out and the clicks are now overlapping with one another. The pedal in question however, is assumed to be genuine, but worn out.
The second is that you have acquired/purchased a counterfeit and hence, the poor attention to quality resulting in the lack of "steps" or clicks in the tightening mechanism.


How do Mini V-brakes compare to cantilever brakes for Cyclocross bikes?

Correctly set up V brakes don't make feathering any harder or easier than correctly set up cantilevers.  What you give up with V brakes is clearance--for things like mud.  If you ride in dry conditions, the V brake is likely superior.  If you ride a CX bike mostly on road or gravel, the V brake is likely superior.  If you ride in gloppy sticky mud, a wide-open cantilever will take longer to cake up...and will be superior.


Easy build, high weight capacity trailer for Burning Man

It's not too hard to build a trailer that will handle 300lbs / 150kg, but moving the trailer and staying on the bike in front of it are very different problems.

First, moving the weight. The playa is not smooth, so you're going to need more force than you might expect just to make it move. But since you'll be going slowly you can simply gear down to deal with that. It will help if you have bigger wheels and fatter tyres, so the 24" wheels would IMO be a better option. Those are not as strong when dealing with side loads, but again you're not going fast so the big problem will be people jumping on the trailer rather than fast cornering. Try to load the trailer so it's not inviting to climb onto.

Second, staying on the bike. The simple part is balancing at low speed. If your bike is geared low enough that should be doable, I'd put the seat down so you can put feet on the ground easily and stand to pedal if you need to. The more difficult part is when one wheel hits a bump or pothole and the 150kg trailer decides to throw you sideways. The trailer might also be able to lift your rear wheel off the ground, at which point you're going to fall over. The other obvious route to the ground is someone stepping onto the back of trailer. You can reduce that problem by putting a bit of weight on the back of the bike - maybe put your battery pack there. That will also help with traction, especially if you're standing up to pedal.

If you can mount to one axle of the bike you'll be more stable. The higher up the attachment point on the bike the better leverage the trailer has to push you sideways. Ideally the hitch would be below the axle, and with a 26" wheel mountain bike doing the towing and 24" wheels on the trailer that will also help make the trailer level. Even dropping it an inch or two will help.

Hitch

If you can get access to a welder/someone to weld for you, that spring-and-chain hitch is very robust and unlikely to break or fail. It's pretty easy to make and if you prep it there's only 4 or 5 small welds to complete it.

But for a week of BM you can probably get away with just about anything. Even just cutting up a truck inner tube to make giant rubber bands and using them to tie a flexible lashing on the rear rack would probably work (test it well before you go, because if it doesn't work on site you're going to be grumpy).

Wheels

I think you underestimate the cheap wheels found on kids bikes. For a couple of weeks with 100kg on them, most 20" wheels will do fine. And kids bikes are often thrown away, so you can probably get them very cheaply. You will pay more for decent tyres (or a supply of puncture repair kits and tubes, if you decide to spend your time fixing punctures instead).

I think the main issue you're going to have is the dropout area. You need to distribute the axle load along the bamboo somehow, so it might be worth using MTB front forks on the wheels (running horizontally) as the attachment points for your lashing. If you use "recycled" kids bikes just cut the forks off at the fork crown, or even leave the steerer tube in place. That way you have a fairly long section to lash to (albeit all the load is at one end.

Design

I suggest a basic design like my megatrailer, scaled to fit your requirements. You could lash that up with bamboo, the main addition will be cross bracing of the bed so it doesn't turn into a non-rectangular parallelogram (wire or rope would also work). I've seen this rough design made of lashed bamboo before and it seemed to work.

A chariot design would also work - make the towing arm 2-4 metres long to reduce the forces at the bike end of it. That would simplify everything except getting it to the event. The more I think about that idea the more I like it. You can just use 2-3 lengths of thick bamboo as the towing arm, strap the front end to your bike rack and even just run one length down each side of the trailer. If you did that you'd want 4-6m lengths of bamboo, but it would look quite cool IMO.


As the mnemonic goes: "Lefty loosey - righty tighty"

The indicated way to turn is always relative to the object the screw / the thread is fixed to. Examples:

If you turn the barrel on th rear derailleur towards the wheel, it's loosening. It tightens away from the bike.

The same goes for your STI: in this case loosening is towards the bar, tighening towards the front of your bike. If this was the STI on the right, it would be the other way round.


Rear dropout adjustment screws on fixed-gear conversion

They aren't necessary, but they are a great help to properly aligning your wheel in the dropouts in an efficient manner. If these screws are adjusted correctly, you'll be able to just put your wheel in, pull it all the way back and tighten your axle nuts and your wheel will be arrow straight in the frame. If not, You'll need to manually align your wheel each time you take your wheel off to change a tire or do maintenance.

To solve your chain problem, you can either adjust the screws out so you can get your wheel further back in the dropouts or you can remove a link or two in your chain.

Either way, you want to make sure that the axle nuts have a good bite on your dropouts. This means that the entire nut is in contact with the dropout (save for the portions that are aligned with the openings)


Calculate suspension oil needed for a fork?

I can't find a specific source, but in my shop we use a chart from RockShox that can be applied to almost every front suspention. Here is a link


Cannondale super v 700 with a bad Headshock

There are companies which service forks (like the Shock Treatment Center at QBP). Chances are your local bike shop has an account with QBP and might be able to arrange something to get it fixed, provided QBP services Headshok forks (if not, another non-Cannondale company might). Of course, the reason why your fork went bad may have something to do with servicing it / preventing it from going bad further, and given how old this bike is, they might (probably) won't service this fork. But you might find a different company that does service old Headshok forks.

As for replacing a Headshok (or Lefty for that matter, I think), you'll need a Problem Solvers Headtube Reducer for Headshok forks which will convert Headshok to 1 1/8". You can read the instructions, but basically, you pull out the Headshok, remove the bearings, press in the reducer and then install your headset and fork. Other manufacturers also make parts for converting from Headshok to 1 1/8" (e.g. Cane Creek's Double Xc).

You'll need a shop to install the Problem Solvers reducer (or other manufacturer's options), since it requires a bearing press (which home mechanics don't have; its about a 150 dollar tool that you will probably use once in your life). So, while they're at it, they should be able to set you up with a compatible fork (by measuring axle to crown and what your other needs are) and everything else.

All that being said, this bike is close to 20 years old (maybe a bit more, maybe a bit less) -- the parts you need and labor will likely make it more favorable to buy a different bike; before the fork, you may be spending 50-100 bucks on the parts to get a standard fork to fit in the first place. I'd probably bet that a basic hard tail today would be better across the board than a 20 year old full suspension bike, too.


Too bad the first picture is so backlit. I can't zoom in very well- amazed you have determined its a Columbia! The chain guard is by Wald, purchased sometime in the distant past from an IBD. The fork has most certainly been damaged from a frontal impact. The pedals were most likely installed after 1973; the year the CPSC mandated pedal reflectors. The frame itself is so weird- it looks as though the spot-welded dropout attachment had failed (common failure) and was repaired with bolts and nuts (common "field repair"). The rack, if "homegrown", it ingenious, if a little raw. The surviving decals, if original, suggest an homage to the popular Schwinn American of the early '60's, but also remind me of the mass market Columbia 10 speed bikes marketed about 1975. The more I look at it- the bizarre rear dropout, which stands incongruous to the rest of the bike- and the way the rear rack braces were installed (one "out", one "in")-I suspect the bike was damaged and repaired "at home" by a good lay mechanic. He did the best he could with what he had, and kudos to him. I suspect the bike may have stared life about 1973-1977 as a lifestyle model. Cool bike!


How do I correctly set the angle of my drop bars

I will post my "non-specialist" way to do this setup, considering:

I have no current bicycle with drop bars;
I've been bred on bicycles riding flat-bar mountain bikes, no tape;
I have more than one bicycle, and the following method is the only one I use for any bike (currently use a lot of riser bars, have used some albatross-style bars).

The method:

With your chosen stem already tight in place, and your saddle the height you usually ride, install only the naked bar(bare metal), and don't tighten it too much.
Install the brake levers in a "starting position" (but not the bar tape) and attach them to the brakes so they actually brake.
On an empty parking lot or the like, ride the bike while trying a lot of handlebar positions, rotating the dropbars forwards and backwards until you can grab a good and comfortable grip either in the drops, or in the upper parts. Don't overemphasize the brake lever position for now. Instead, focus on the bar position itself. Let the clamping bolts a bit loose, so you can get the "sweet spot" with precision and without too much effort. When done, tighten the stem bolts.
Repeat previous step for the levers, clamping them lower or higher. Find the ideal balance between comfortable "in the hoods" position, both for hand rest and brake reach, and a good brake reach in the drops. You can use the "classic position" (whatever it might be) as a reference, but not as a measure of quality. Your comfort, functionality and safety should always be the measuring rule. When done, tighten the brake levers clamping bolts.
After tightening everything in position, go out for a short ride "in the field", perhaps in light traffic, or in the road (a rolling terrain with crossings would be perfect), and perform some final adjustments;
Get back home and wrap the tape.

Of course, these steps might be adapted freely.

Hope it helps.


The main disadvantage to either toe clips or (even moreso) clipless pedals is that until you get used to them you're likely to have a few rather inelegant falls (like pulling up to a stoplight and just falling over).  There are other cases where they can contribute to falls (or exacerbate falls that would have occurred anyway), particularly in off-road conditions (which is one reason that off-road bikers often don't use them).

To me (being partly disabled) the main advantage is that I expend less energy keeping my feet on the pedals.  This isn't as trivial as it sounds: Without some sort of retention system you must constantly work to keep your feet centered over the pedals -- get off-center and your foot slides off.  Of course, people mostly manage this unconsciously, but it still takes considerable effort/energy, especially when you're tired or struggling against a hill or headwind or whatever.

The ability to "pull" on the pedal and gain energy on the upstroke is probably not significant in the general case, but can be important when you need a brief burst of power/torque.  More important, and somewhat related to the previous paragraph, is the fact that you can extend your power stroke slightly, beginning a few degrees earlier and ending a few degrees later.  You don't get more peak torque, but you do get more energy per unit time.


Salesman: Certainly you should upgrade you bike. You will go faster, further and leap tall buildings in a single bound. Woman will throw themselves at you, men will be intimidated by you masculinity.

Financial Advisor: Buying a bike worth 5 times as much to do the same job your current bike does is not a prudent financial investment. You should stick to the bike you have that is working perfectly well for you.

I cannot tell you who to listen to. What I will say is  £120 is a pretty cheap bike (BSO) and it would almost certainly be better to spend money on a better bike than upgrading it further. If you are happy with your current bike, I suggest start saving for a new one then ride the old one until buying a new bike is less about worry about what it costs and more about looking forward to riding a better bike.


There's every reason to suspect that problems with the bore tolerances and/or alignment are causing it. That's become a common theme of creaky BB issues.

It's a good idea when the cups are out to take what measurements you can to see what's going on. Bore tolerances are easy to measure but alignment for the most part is not.

The thread-together models from various manufacturers can sometimes help mitigate the effects of misalignment. Either retaining compound or, in some cases, very light abrasive work in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing can help with tolerances.

At the far end of the spectrum are the custom-for-your-frame's-misalignment BBs a la Hambini which can solve bore alignment problems that nothing else can.


Brompton: where to find the higher supply of second-hand bikes in UK, or anywhere in Europe?

If you'll be in the Netherlands any time soon, many used bikes are sold via www.marktplaats.nl. There are also a lot of addvertisements from shops, including these to:

Advertisement 1

Advertsiement 2

The second one has some 2013 M6R Black bikes.
I don't have experience with these shops. I do often use marktplaats.nl.


Is it realistic to fuel a long ride with NO sugar?

Most sources I've read suggest that your body can process at most 300 calories per hour during exercise. And a lot of sources suggest that you only attempt to replace roughly 200 calories per hour at best. You should be able to do this easily without any simple sugars. Your initial budget is much much larger than 1500 calories, you don't need to do a one for one replacement. In endurance events
your primary energy source is body fat, not muscle glycogen. You've easily got
a 10K calorie reserve.

I've done a fair number of Road Centuries and 8 hr MTB races over the last 10 years and overeating is just as bad if not worse than undereating. There are some companies/groups ( Hammer Nutrition ) that recommend avoiding simple sugars altogether and only consuming complex carbs.

There's nothing that works for everybody and everything works for somebody. The only way to know is to try. One thing I've found that works really well for me is steamed mini potatoes with a little salt and olive oil.

Eating and drinking a little bit as constantly as possible works the best. For a 6 hr ride, I'd focus more on proper hydration and a good balance of electrolytes. Unless you're at less than 5% body fat, you've got plenty of reserves for a long ride. What eating does is allow the body to use it's reserves[1].

Getting all this right is very tricky, most people err way too much on the side of over consumption. ( I know I've been guilty of this and it's led to some pretty terrible results. ). It's very easy to overthink and over plan all this, ( and there are certainly a lot of companies that will gladly take your money along the
way. )

What you eat or drink is generally far less important than that you eat and drink
something that agrees with you and that you like eating and drinking. You need water and electrolytes, enough calories to make them enjoyable is really all you need to worry about.

[1]- This is just my own theory based on 35+ years of long days in the mountains, but often even just a tiny intake of food will yield a big jump in energy. I'm convinced the body "hoards" reserves until it detects an incoming supply of energy.


DBS 10 Speed Conversion - Bottom bracket?

This may be one of those bikes with a weird scandanavian bottom bracket, called a fauber bottom bracket.  Not even sheldon mentions this style on his site.

You may need to get an adapter to adapt this to fit english thread bottom brackets
http://fixedgearbikes.blogspot.com/2010/04/fauber-bottom-bracket-adapter.html

The link will send you to a finnish website, so you may need to call (the owner speaks english) to place an order.

After putting in the adapter, you should be able to use any standard english bottom bracket. Just want to make sure you get the right spindle length on the new BB.  107mm should probably work if you're running the chainring on the outer facing side of the crank spider, 110mm if you're bolting the chainring to the inside of the crank spider. Probably wouldn't be bad if you got a longer spindle than you needed though.  Your crank may come with specs for a preferred spindle length.

See wikipedia entry about bottom brackets for more details.

Here is another link to fish for info:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/372038-Swedish-Norwegian-Bottom-Brackets-One-piece-cranks


What are the disadvantages of wearing an aero helmet?

They're heavier, hotter (vents would do the opposite of what you're trying to do with an aero helmet, which is to route air up and over the helmet), and it's more difficult to turn your head (it doesn't completely prohibit turning your head but you lose the benefit of the shape as you turn it off-axis) so you have to depend on peripheral vision more.

Plus, if you wear one on a bike path while towing a kiddie stroller federal law requires all other riders (including small children riding Huffys) to treat you with "derision and scorn".


How do I know if the chainset is compatible with my bottom bracket cartridge?

Look at the type of the bottom bracket to crank attachment. Most likely it is square taper. Then look at the bottom bracket spindle length. For example if you have 110mm spindle yet the new crankset requires 130mm spindle, the chainline will be affected by half of the difference, i.e. one centimeter. That's a lot! Also it's possible that the cranks hit the chainstays of the frame so not all cranks fit with all spindle lengths. Also, there is a difference between JIS vs ISO square tapers. So not only does the length have to match, the standard of the square taper should also match. (It might be possible to use a JIS taper with a slightly differing length on ISO cranks or vice versa.)

Are all shimano cassettes compatible if the speed matches?

Based on the information, you do not have a cassette but rather a freewheel. The freewheel will be so tight you'll hurt yourself if trying to remove it, if the bicycle has been ridden as opposed to being only parked. And you can only replace it with a new freewheel rather than a cassette, unless you change the hub (which is the second most difficult part in a bicycle to change -- unless you replace the entire rear wheel).

Am I right that replacing a 14-34T cassette with a 11-28T cassette will result in less gear range on the higher and lower ends, with more similar gearing?

You'll have a new higher gear with 11-28T cassette but the lowest gear you used to have with 14-34T freewheel won't be available. Of course if changing the chainrings, you can compensate and besides 28 tooth chainring and 28 tooth sprocket is so ridiculously low gear it should be enough for most purposes.

Is it a bad idea to buy a chainset instead of individual chainrings? It seems like a cheap component and might be a simpler process?

There's a reason for being cheap.
The cheapest cranksets have rings made of steel. They are heavy and often times the steel used is also quite soft so not necessarily that durable. The slightly more expensive ones have aluminum chainrings but made of a soft alloy. They wear in no time. Only the very best chainrings are made of high-end aluminum alloy such as 7075T6. By purchasing a cheap crankset, you won't get the very best chainrings.
If your bicycle is a 2009 bicycle that has a freewheel and not a cassette it's probably a very cheap bike so not necessarily a good idea to throw a lot of money at it. So you might want to either use a cheap crankset or much better yet, reuse the old crankset. Old chainrings usually work with a new chain if they worked with the old chain too. Only for rear sprockets is the failure mode such that they refuse to work with a new chain. So you don't necessarily need to change the chainrings or the crankset.

Any other compatibility problems I've not spotted?

Yes. The freewheel vs cassette compatibility problem.


First decide what you want the rack to do. There are a few styles:

lowrider which hold panniers low down each side of your front wheel. Great for stability and load carrying ability but poor ground clearance. Most common rack for tourists on diamond frame bikes.
platform looks just like a standard rear rack, but over the front wheel. Great for strapping a tent or something lightweight on top as well as a couple of panniers. Less stable but more ground clearance. Occasionally used by mountain bike tourists.
porteur is a platform rack without pannier mounts, usually much larger than a platform rack. Occasionally extends up to the handlebars. Still mounted to the fork rather than the frame, so weight on these racks has a dramatic affect on stability. Uncommon for tourists, more an urban load carrying rack (often used by postal services).
frame mounted. Usually similar to a porteur rack but attached to the frame. Much more stable but now you get interference with cables and handlebars when you try to turn. On a diamond frame bike these usually attach to the down tube and headset. Rare. The real hard-core end, but usually if you're going to this length you'll build a load-carrying bike instead. David Hembrow sells both frame and fork mounted porteur racks (the frame mount ones are not easy to find outside of Europe).

I suggest looking mostly at low-riders, and I think the Tubus Tara is the one to get if you can afford it. In general, aluminium will be cheaper but not last as long, and racks built using both materials should weigh about the same.

If you want to build your own Alex Wetmore has a useful series of blog posts


How to install the cable for this rear derailleur?

As you noticed the derailer moves when you push at the arrow. That is the spot where the rear cable housing sits. In the photo below the rear cable housing is the black loop that runs from the bracket on the chain stay just forward of the dropout to the barrel adjuster on the back of the derailer.

The housing is flexible, but it doesn't compress (much), as a result when you pull on the cable the housing presses where you were pressing with your finger and moves the cage to shift. All you need to do is to add a length of housing similar to the one in the photo.

If you have a length of housing you can cut it to fit. There are cutters that are designed for cutting bike cables, but if you don't have them you can use regular side cutters or a hack saw. After cutting look carefully at the cut and and use a pointy device to open up the hole where the inner cable goes. Sheldon Brown has a post where he describes how to cut cables. If you don't have indexed shifters (and it looks like you probably don't) you can use helical cable which will be a bit easier to cut and clean up the ends.

One thing I can't tell for sure from the photo is if there is a stop for the cable or a barrel adjuster on the derailer. Usually there will be a part called a barrel adjuster where the loop by your arrow is (in the photo below it is the silver part where the black cable housing ends at the derailer) that lets you fine tune the derailer adjustment. Some of them thread into a tapped hole in the body of the derailer, others use a nut on the threads of the barrel as a stop that rests against the derailer. I think that is how yours may be set up (either that or the loop is a cable stop and there is either no provision for fine adjustment on the derailer or it is somewhere else). If the adjuster is missing then there will be nothing for the end of the housing to push against and it will just pass freely through the hole. Your LBS would probably be the best source if yours is missing.


How much light is enough for year round commuting?

Going fast on unlit roads you definitely want a decent light. Personally I find the combination of my 100 lumen dyno headlight plus another 100 lumens on the handlebars to be enough, but I ride relatively slowly and on a manoeuvrable bike. On a faster bike with handling and brakes designed for speed you want more. Perhaps not 2000 lumens - that's off road singletrack territory. And price. If you get a better quality 200-300 lumen light that actually puts out 200 lumens you'll be much better off than with an off-brand "500 lumens" that is actually 200...

One consideration is how people coming towards you. While it's annoying to hit a small, dark-coloured lump and end up on the road, it's worse to blind an oncoming motorist and end up as a hood ornament. It's not as bad on bike paths, you're more likely just to get beaten up if you blind someone. Paying a little attention to how much light, and where you're pointing it, is important. With a high powered helmet light it's really important not to look at people's faces... when normally you should be looking there. My preference is to have a relatively low-powered helmet light for that reason - I can still look at faces, and people will see me but not be blinded unless they're already very close.

Nathan's Bike Light Database is a good place to start.


Clicking with each pedal stroke, warranty?

It's hard to diagnose the problem remotely, though the suggestions in the comments are good things to try.  Normally, I try to give "educational" answers that show people how to fix problems on their own, but I don't feel I have the expertise in this case, so I'm going to make the non-educational suggestion.

Your bike is brand new, so you should take it back to the shop you bought it from. New bikes almost always need a little adjustment after a few weeks and your bike shop will be happy to fix the problem for you. There's probably nothing seriously wrong and it won't even be treated as a warranty issue unless parts need to be replaced.  They'll just make the necessary adjustments, very likely without charge.  From a purely mercenary point of view, they want you to be a happy customer so you come back and spend more money there. But, actually, my experience is that bike shops seem to be full of genuinely nice people who want you to be happy cyclist because they care about cycling.


Where do you leave your bike on cafe stops and water breaks?

There is such a range of answers.

A lock mounted to the bike is going to be more comfortable.

A decent light ulock is going to be 1.5 lbs.

A cable lock is going to be more like 0.5 lbs, but not as strong.
But, for a quick in and out it that may be the best trade off.

The weight of the bike plus the weight of the lock to protect the bike is typically a wash.

In a group you could have one lock and a cable, or just have one person at a time stay out with the bikes.  Alternately, you could just have the cheapest bike in the group.

Some establishments may let you bring the bike in.

If you can see the door then you can remove a wheel and bring it with you. I will loop my helmet through the rear wheel. Not much but you pick 5 seconds. You can run down someone carrying a bike.


Is the KMC X8 a better quality option for an 8 speeds chain?

The KMC X8 has, I think, nickel plated outer links.

Doesn't matter except for looks. The plating of outer links is not what wears in chains.

Other than that, it claims to have mushroomed rivets

Every chain today has "mushroomed" rivets. These rivets prevent joining the chain again with its own rivets, a clear drawback. However, they make shifting possible under load. You don't need to shift under load on bikes powered by human power only, but for e-bikes the mid-drive doesn't turn off the torque quickly enough when you stop pedaling, so shifting under load is something that is unavoidable. So you want "mushroomed" rivets on e-bikes. On non-e-bikes, you probably won't want "mushroomed" rivets so you can re-join the chain again using its own rivets, but oops, "mushroomed" rivets are only type of rivets you can find.
Fortunately, Shimano has solved the rivet issue with reinforced rivets that are single use only. They allow you to break and re-connect the chain over 100 times (assuming the chain is over 100 links long). It costs some amount of money to buy enough of these reinforced rivets for your emergency toolkit, but they weigh next to nothing.
With other makes than Shimano, you can only use "quick" links, a misnomer since they should be called "slow" links instead. The reason is that although a joining link of this type is quick to be installed, and quick to be removed from a chain that is clean, if you go out and actually ride your bike the chain becomes dirty and the dirt makes joining link removal so difficult that it's almost impossible without special pliers.
Because Shimano allows you to use reinforced rivets, whereas other makes demand you to use these "slow" links, I recommend Shimano chains. A mini chain tool is smaller and lighter weight than joining link pliers. Besides, a chain tool is something you in every case need because you need to shorten the chain to its proper length prior to installation, so you can't omit owning a chain tool. But you can omit owning joining link pliers.

and the X-Bridge outer plate.

Nothing in the outer plate affects the property of interest, how fast the chain wears. Only the half-bushings that are integral to the inner plates, and the chain rivet, affect chain durability. So you are definitely interested in the quality of steel used in inner plates and rivets, but the quality of steel used in outer plates doesn't matter.

Does that make it a better quality or more durable chain?

No, not any more durable.
Focus on the quality of steel on rivets and inner plates. The steel should be chrome hardened. That makes the chain much more wear resistant.


Crank pedal spindle hole thread stripped

You can get parts to fix this, like the helicoil that work by cutting a new, larger thread into the crank then adding a spacer to bring it back to the correct size. They parts are relatively cheap, but the tool to cut the new thread is expensive. Which means that if you can find a bike shop with the tools it's going to cost quite a bit to have them do the work.

It's almost always going to be cheaper to simply find a second hand crank that fits, or if that fails buy a new crank.

As far as the rest of the tools, it might be worth buying a cheap bicycle tool kit rather than buying one tool at a time or travelling long distances to a bike shop. There are a number of specialised tools needed if you you're going to completely strip down a bike, and buying them one at a time adds up. My suggestion is buy the cheap-but-reasonable-quality set, then as you wear out the tools replace them with decent ones. That way the tools you barely use or where the cheap tool works well enough never get replaced.


Can't setup shifting on Shimano Nexus 7 after unscrewing wheel

4th gear and lining up the dots is only necessary when you are setting the cable length (during installation). You do not need to deal with that if all you did was remove the wheel. Shift so that you have enough cable to slide into the proper groove and hook the cable fixing bolt to the shifting pulley mechanism. I sometimes use one thumb to rotate the attachment point on the pulley forward to make it easier to slide the cable into place. See page 26 here https://si.shimano.com/pdfs/dm/DM-SG0003-00-ENG.pdf

Your wheel appears to be in the correct location based on the bite marks from the now-removed axle nut

Check all points on the cable to make sure a ferrule is hanging you up.


What length do my spokes need to be for DT Swiss hubs and rims?

They are straight pull and Disc Brake Centre Lock. You can take measurements when you have the hubs if you are uncertain.


what is so special about salt water

Pure water when it dries is gone, there's no residue.

With salt water when it dries you get salt crystals, which are hydroscopic (they suck up water from the air). This means that even if the air is dry where you are now, the salt will attract water as soon as you put the bike somewhere more humid. And the water will form rust in contact with steel, since steel reacts more vigorously with water than salt does. In other words, the salt sucks water out of the air, then exposed steel sucks water out of the salt.

There's a second problem that salt water gets sticky as it dries, and that attracts dust. It's like an oily chain lube in that regard, fine as long as you clean it off frequently. But that grit grinds away any protective coating on the steel, and any protective layer of rust as it forms. Then the salty water makes more rust.

Chains are especially vulnerable to this as water wicks more easily than chain lube (especially in cold weather). So it will be drawn into the inner workings of the chain. Then when the chain dries a bit the salt is already in the middle of the chain and ready to soak up more water and keep the wear surfaces of the chain links wet. So they'll rust faster.

Solid salt spread on icy roads will work the same way as salt water, but probably more so since the lumps of salt will be saltier than actual salt water.


Replacing mountain bike bars & stem with drop bars

There are four measurements you need to be concerned with. The two most critical are the fork steerer diameter and the bar clamp diameter.

The fork steerer diameter is normally referred to as 1", 1-1/8", or in some cases 1-1/2". The bar clamp diameter can be 1"/25.4mm (typically MTB), 26mm (typically road), 1-1/8"/31.8mm (commonly called oversized or OS).

The other dimensions are the length of the stem (normally the distance between center of steerer clamp and the center of the bar clamp) and the angle, which is usually stated as degrees from perpendicular. Most stems can be mounted pointed up or down but check the installation sheet first. If two stems are 120mm long but one is +7 degrees and the other is +34 degrees, the 34 degree stem will make the bars feel higher and closer.


Should V brakes be able to lock the front wheel?

Regarding locking the front wheel, they are sort of correct: on paved surfaces and tires with decent grip the rear wheel should lift off the ground before front wheel locks.

However, it sounds like you can't lift the rear wheel either. A decent set of brake pads should last much longer than 200 miles and brakes should not be adjusted every week (unless you ride 2000 miles in a week), so it's probably best to switch to a different shop. It might also be that the brakes are just garbage and could be replaced with a better set. As mentioned in a comment, a brake booster arch might also help.


The secret with Handlebar cleaning and also with brake hoods (I have white ones, it's cool but it never stay clean more than 10minutes ^^) is to use some hospital-grade ammonia based cleaning products.

Since your stains are essentially composed of handfat and dirt you will clean your tape with minimal effort.


This sort of component-level repair is rare in cycling.  Generally speaking a shop would fit a new replacement brake lever and clamp.  Moving sub-components around would be the realm of someone valuing a period-correct part over functionality.

I'd replace both brake levers with either new or a good quality used replacement.

Why both?  So they feel the same when in use, with similar action and pivot distances.

Brakes are a critical safety component, and I'd think very carefully before twiddling internal parts around and using a generic item as a replacement.


The tracks do not have many long stretches and so cornering and getting ahead of the pack is a lot more important than going fast in the flats. The gearing on a race BMX is higher than on one you will buy out of the store. Most BMX will come with 44:16 gear ratio where racers will use 46-48:16, and I have seen higher. (There are different rear sizes but the standard is 16 when talking about Gear Ratios, even if you ride 9t or 14t rear you almost always know the conversion to 16t.)

Most racers will start with 44/45:16 then move up when they build their leg muscles to handle the higher ratios, but even then you really need that hole-shot a lot more than you need the higher end speed.

If the tracks had longer straights like a mountain bike course you might see more bikes with multiple gears and even higher gearing. As it stands, the berms are where you make your moves and getting in and out of the berms require more power than raw speed. I raced 44:16 against guys with 46:16 and never placed lower than 3rd. You want more power than over all speed on a race track.

On street or in park you want even lower gearing, especially when you are trying to get that last pop before jumping up onto a rail.


Which knee / shin pads for XC mountain bike riding?

As @Slovakov said, these kind of protections are never seen in XC, the main reason being that XC is a low risk activity. You usually go at slower paces and you never put yourself in situations where there is a likely chance you can loose control and have a high speed crash in a dangerous zone (as you do in downhill or freeride, for example).

Of course you can fall and hurt yourself, but you can fall and hurt yourself if you are trail running, you can twist an ankle if you are playing basketball, or hurt a tendon weightlifting. You have to understand physical activity isn't without a certain degree of risk.

The only reason why helmets are highly recommended is because, even in the unlikely event of having a crash, an impact in your skull can have huge consequences for yourself - much more than any other part of your body.

Also, if you are concerned with your safety, it is my belief training yourself and learning to ride a bike in a technical situation is a very valuable skill. Lower your saddle, move your ass right to the back, learn to control and feel your brakes, etc. Start with easy areas and progressively advance to places which are more rocky and have more inclination. Being comfortable around these situation plays a big part in your safety.

With that said, if you still want knee protection, the most lightweight I know of are POC VDP Air Knee and Elbow Pads, Dainese Trail Skins or Race Face Charge Leg Guards. Six Six One also makes pads with various densities. You will easily find all of these with a Google search.

Have fun and safe riding :)


When your chain "stretches" beyond a certain point, typically .75mm per 4 inches links, it will begin to reshape the teeth on your cassette and chain rings.

At that point, replacing your chain will not help unless you also replace your cassette, and possibly your chain rings.

Check the answers on this question to see how to know when your chain is worn.

If your chain measures beyond 1.0mm per 4 inches, then you must replace chain, cassette and chain rings, or it will skip as you are describing.


Got a new frameset, don't know why I need this split ring collar?

That looks like the compression ring for a threadless headset.

Images by keithonearth on Wikimedia Commons, reproduced under Gnu free documentation license
More information found at Sheldon Brown


For Biking do Sneakers offer any advantage over Sandals?

1 advantage is in an accident it's harder to rip a toenail off.


Has anyone had success mixing and matching cassette sprockets for custom ratios?

As far as I’m aware there are no 10 teeth sprockets for normal Shimano hyperglide freehub bodies because the freehub diameter is just too large. That’s why SRAM created the XD Driver standard and Shimano created the Micro Spline standard.

Can’t you install a larger chainring and use a 11–30 cassette?


It depends

Belt drives require some mechanism to prevent the belt slipping off of the sprockets sideways.

Early generation belt drives have guides on both sides of the sprocket to keep the belt from sliding off. This can definitely lead to snow, mud or other debris getting trapped in the sprockets, getting packed in tighter with every revolution, and eventually rendering it inoperable.
Later designs started compensating by adding mud ports, a guide on only one side of the sprocket (with other guide on the other side) and other mechanisms to allow snow or mud to be squeezed out of the system.
The most recent design has a guide that runs down the center of the belt instead of on either side (so the teeth on the belt have a gap in the middle), which should squeeze snow or mud out the sides of the sprocket and belt. From what I've heard, this is supposed to be the most difficult to clog design.

(doing a little research, number 3 is the "Gates Center Track" that just came out at Interbike 2011 and the bike I saw with it was probably one of the first production bikes of that model off the assembly line)


Raleigh 300 Crank Bolt specs for replacement

You lost one crank bolt.  So there's the correct bolt on the other side of your bike.  They should be identical.

Take it out and go to the bike shop with that.  Its likely you'll need a 14mm socket to remove the bolt.

Talk nicely to them and you might just get one out of the parts bin, specially if you're a regular customer or buying other stuff too.  These bolts generally don't wear out.


Since you say you have a heart rate display, you can use one of the various online calculators to convert heart rate to calories.

Such calculators can only give you an approximate answer, but they will be better than nothing. And they're free.

Be careful not to overheat using a stationary bike.


What can bald guys do to prevent helmet sunburns?

Get a thin, tropical-weight wool cycling cap.  It'll keep the sun off your head but still breathe and wick sweat.  I have one from Walz that's been just wonderful.


There are several things that I can imagine to achieve what you want.

Use frame bags that have "grippy" straps, such as those with silicone strips or similar. This should suffice unless you ride in very aggressive conditions. But in that case, your bike would become scratched all over the place enough to not worry about just the effects of the bag.
For simpler velcro straps, you might put a protective layer between the frame and the bag. There are clear coat frame protection sets, both generic and bespoke for specific frames.
You can be inventive and create your own sort of protection. Wrapping a short section of inner tube, or applying a run of duct tape would work. Or you can apply liquid silicone to add grip to the back sides of existing velcro straps.
Certain frame bags are actually bolted to the frame at the connection points, instead of using a band to wrap the tubing. These are mostly custom bags for specific frames.


Please describe what an integrated bottom bracket is

There is no such thing.

The only mention I can find is the Wikipedia article where it is used to describe the setup that is commonly known as two piece crankset. Wikipedia does not cite any sources for the term, so it is most likely that the editor simply invented a word to describe a setup similar to external bearings where the bearings might be inside bottom bracket shell.


Putting a Presta stem nut inside the rim?

It is a commonly used quick and dirty fix when you don't have a purpose-built grommet to install in a rim cut for a Schrader valve. It may also not be a terrible idea if, for whatever reason, your Presta-hole rim has a burr or sharp edge and you want to avoid any possibility of problems with that.


I kind of doubt it. The hub will still be 10-speed and I'm pretty sure that a 10-speed cassette is wider than a 7, so you won't get back all of the width (in fact I'm not sure you'll get any of it back). Even if you got some back, putting it into a 126 mm frame likely means that the wheel would be "over dished" (there would be a poor bracing angle on the right side spokes).

It seems like you'd do better to go looking for a NOS 7-speed hub so that you could build up a proper 126 mm wheel. If the flange sizes are the same you could probably reuse the existing spokes.


Your best bet would be to contact the manufacturer for specifications or even replacement parts. Failing that, your next best thing should be to measure/learn parameters of your current shock, and then finding another ones that matches closely these parameters.

What you need to measure/find out are:

Eye-to-eye length
Stroke length
Mounting hardware used to mount it into the frame and related parameters. such as diameters of mounting holes
Air pressure or coil firmness values

See e.g. this article


Specialized Hardrock - How to stop disc brakes from squealing?

In my experience disc break squeal is typically a result of excessive vibration caused by one of three things:

Contamination - Brake disc and pads should only be cleaned with isopropyl alcohol.  Give them a thorough wipe down.
Poor adjustment/loose components - Try looking at the manufacturers web site for adjustment and torque specifications.  Installing and adjusting brakes is one place where a torque wrench can be helpful.
Lower end brake components - A lot of lower end disc brake sets have variations in the pads and rotors that just naturally encourage a squeal.  Sometimes as they wear it will diminish, but often you are stuck with the sound unless you want to fork out the money to upgrade.

Note that especially in case 2 and 3 you will see the behavior you describe where the squeal is worse when the brakes are applied lightly.  As you apply more force you remove the ability of the involved parts to vibrate.


It's at your own risk, doesn't always work, and may be a waste of time, but burning it out is the way to go if you have to do it. Looking past the global northy sort of time/money/risk/hassle equation, it's a pretty reasonable fix. I have no idea what the potential ill effects on braking power or trustworthiness of the pad material might be, but this approach is fairly common and major issues don't seem to result.
If possible, clamp them in a vise gently by the tabs, then use a heat gun or hair dryer to apply slow, even heat. Because the whole problem is the pad compound has some porosity to it, you're trying to heat it evenly all the way through. You'll get some smoke and are basically trying to heat it until it stops smoking.
Clean the rotor with something suitably nasty. In these cases of known mass oil exposure, it's good to take the rotor off completely and do something like a hot water and dish soap type bath, followed by thorough rinsing, followed by whatever sort of zero-residue reproductive harm spray. If it doesn't get a bath it can be hard to make sure everything is cleaned out of the windows.


You have a sealed cartridge type bottom bracket. You can take it out but you can't disassemble it, clean or service the bearings. If the bearings are running smoothly without excessive resistance leave it alone. If you do need to replace it new units are not particularly expensive.

The cranks fit on square taper or spined interfaces on the axle. The bolt in the crank pulls the crank onto the axle.

To get the cartridge out first you need to remove the crank bolts and use a special tool to pull the cranks off the axle. The cartridge itself threads into the shell in the drive side and is held in place with a locking cup on the non drive side. You need another special tool to interface with the splines in the cartridge body or cup and a large wrench to unthread them from the shell. The drive side thread is left handed.

Chances are you have a standard cartridge with ISO shell threads, and JIS square taper axle. See https://www.sheldonbrown.com/cribsheet-bottombrackets.html and https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bbtaper.html.

To replace the cartridge you need to know it's for a road bike with a 68mm wide bottom bracket shell (check this) and the axle length. Axle length is critical to make sure the chainrings are spaced from the centerline of the bike correctly.


This may be closed due to asking for opinion, but CST makes a tire called the Super HP in a wide variety of colors. I live in the states but am 99% sure you could find them across the waters as well. Another option from them would be the Czar:

http://www.csttires.com/int/bike/road-bike-tires/czar-c1406/

From my experience they are a decent affordable tire.


Can lock on grips go with carbon fiber handle bars?

You need to check with the manufacturer of your bars (and the grips you're choosing), but in most cases its not a problem. As with all things carbon fiber, don't over tighten anything.

Some manufacturers have specific grips which are marketed as carbon fiber friendly. For example, Easton's lock on grips are marketed as being friendly with carbon bars.

Note that this is a bit different than using bar ends - Ergon notes that their bar ends are not safe for CF bars, but their non-bar end grips are safe for CF bars (they also have some suggestions on what to do if your grips slip).


Can I use a 1" stem on a 1 & 1/8" steer tube?

I've done the opposite (but drop bars before and after), and have a quill stem adaptor to use a non-quill stem with a threaded headset. My fork is 1", but the adaptor came with a similar shim for 1 1/8" steerers. I've also used quill stems with threadless headsets, but only with matching sizes.

I don't see any reason the product you link to won't do the job it's designed for though.

To replace a non-quill stem with a quill stem you'll need something like
http://problemsolversbike.com/products/locking_headset_spacers, cf. "Threadless Without Spacers" at http://sheldonbrown.com/handsup.html#threadless

I assume you are replacing a 1 1/8" quill stem on your trek though?


What size rotor does the Cannondale CAAD10 2015 have?

The frame comes stock with 160mm rotor in front and a 140mm rotor in rear and uses a spacer for the front post mount only.

From this link, it looks like you need the 20p spacer, which Avid says is OEM only. However the spacing dimensions are 12.5mm top and 7.5mm bottom. You can probably find spacers of those dimensions to mount it without the OEM spacer.

I have the same bike with a 160mm rotor in front and I can confirm the dimensions are 12.5 top and 7.5 bottom and it looks like spacers would work as well.

Here is what the spacer setup generally looks like - 160mm with OEM spacer on front, and 140mm mounted with no spacer on rear.


I owned a Ritchey steel frame from ~1999 and this doesn't look like a Ritchey of that era to me.

The cable stops are welded to the top of the frame.  Mine were welded underneath.
There are no lugs on the frame.  All the Ritcheys I have seen from that time had lugged frames.

My guess is that the frame was built by someone else using Ritchey dropouts.  I would think those unusual looking cable stop clusters might be a clue, but maybe they're more common than I am guessing.

There's more info here that seems to indicate (though not definitively) that the serial number doesn't match the pattern of that time for Ritchey, and that the company was in fact selling parts to other manufacturers.


The problem won't be the number of gears. Even 3 could be enough - if they were the right ones and you don't mind being slower. More important is the range, the difference between the lowest and the highest gear.

The range of the Alfine 8 speed hub is higher than what you would get of a traditional chain derailleur with only 8 gears (1 front, 8 rear). But its lower than the range of an Alfine 11 speed, a Rohloff hub or a common mtb setup.

I use an Alfine 8 speed on my commuter. I only really use gears 4 to 8. 4 or 5 are perfect to start from traffic lights, 8 is perfect on a slight descent.

The cog can be replaced to shift the gears in one direction (I plan to install a smaller one to get the used gears more to the middle, leaving the highest gear for faster descents or tail winds). That is not however something you can easily do on the road.

Whether the gear range fits your needs can be simulated with your other bike. There exist some gear ratio calculators online, most of them include the common internal gear hubs. Plug in the values of your Trance (wheel size, cassette sizes, ...) and find the ratios that correspond to the gears on the Bianchi (I think my Alfine came with a 20 teeth cog ... might be 22). Then try if those gears are right for what you expect on your trip.


the pads are likely trash, but you can use isopropyl alcohol to clean the disk rotors (say, to remove grease BEFORE it gets into the pads).


'Micro adjust' saddle clamp not allowing fine enough adjustment (on SP12 suspension seatpost)

Although the damping effect of the seatpost is quite nice the clamping system dates from the 'medieval' period of cycling. Modern systems rely on friction between the surfaces. Instead of a silicone or rubber washer try with a thin aluminium shim that you may cut from a beer can. But take care that no sharp edges protrude from the sides.

If this doesn't work there isn't much else that you can do except bringing in the heavy machinery if you dare and remove at least part the of the splines with a Dremel or by filing them down. I'd do that on the blue bit with the fine file held in a vice and running the 'blue' clamping part over it.


Should I ring my bell before going around corners?

You are from Germany so German laws are relevant. In this case §16 I StVO.

(1) Schall- und Leuchtzeichen darf nur geben
  1. wer außerhalb geschlossener Ortschaften überholt (§ 5 Abs. 5) oder
  2. wer sich oder andere gefährdet sieht.

Attempt at translating to English:

(1) Sound and light signals may only be used:
    1. when passing (overtaking) outside urban areas (§ 5 para 5) or
    1. when seeing yourself or others at risk

So if you see a danger you may use it.

For practical terms it depends, as always, on the situation. I like ringing my bell, but I'm cautious with it. Too often I have seen that people are confused and stop or go to the wrong side or something. There are a few corners though which are quite narrow where I can't see what's coming where I make it dependent on my speed whether I ring or not. If I'm slow enough to stop in the case of something coming my way I'm often silent. When I'm faster I warn people who might hide behind a corner. Often it is better to ring once too much and annoy some people than not ringing and having an accident.

Greetings from Munich, btw. :)


It's a bike sharing scheme in London, the "Boris" part comes from the mayor's name.

Wikipedia article on Barclays Cycle Hire
There's also a small Boris Bikes community forum

(Photo credit)


What's the checklist when buying a second-hand frame?

Best in sunlight. Bring towel so you can wipe it down. Inspect all tubes and welds. Any crack is bad. Some times a surface crack on a weld is OK. Press and pull on the dropouts. Check the bearing surfaces. Take a seat post with you to be sure it will insert.  Ask questions about the history.


Need help identifying an old bicycle, unusual frame

Looks like a generic beach cruiser - not very old either.  The brazed lugs on the downtube suggest it was a geared bike, converted to single speed.

The V brakes say its no older than the 90s, and probably post-2000.

Its doesn't appear to be anything specifically Italian.  Still if it rides nicely, then ride it.   There's likely no museum or vintage nature there.


Changing the front chain ring to a 40t is easy and requires only to swap out one SRAM part for another.
A 10t sprocket is too small for a regular freehub. A special hub body that is compatible with SRAM XD cassettes is needed.
There are many hubs that allow you to swap the driver body. For example, the DT 350 hubs on my bike can be converted to XD standard with a part that costs about €40.
That may or may not be the case for the hubs in Giant's PX wheels. AFAIK these are, or were, available for mountain bikes with XD hubs as well. I couldn't find anything in a brief search on the web however. Perhaps I simply confused something.
If you plan to replace the stock PX wheelset, which isn't all that great anyway, it will be an easy conversion to a XD driver. Then you could mount any SRAM XG 11 speed cassette. A 10-42 XG-1150, for instance.
alternatives
As Criggie remarked, you may consider buying a bike that fits your specs better. A similar Canyon Inflite has a 40t chainring, and DT380 hubs. For these a switch to a XD driver is easy. Otherwise the specs and geometry are very similar.
If you get a 44t chain ring at the front, you will have the same transmition ratio to a 11t sprocket as with a 40t to a 10t. (A Focus Mares, for example, comes with 44t and has nearly the same frame geometry.) You might then simply choose an humongous last cog. For example, up to a 11-42 cassette instead of the 11-32 that comes with the TCX (which is geared for cyclo-cross where you carry and run up slopes when it is too steep for 32/42).
A 10t cog is by principle inefficient (chord losses). In a nutshell the chain doesn't wrap properly around a circle when the radius is small compared to a link's length. Thus 40/10 is less desirable than 44/11.


Pashley Pickle child's tricycle wheel rims to buy?

I edited the question so it wouldn't be a strictly sourcing/shopping question.

It appears these use the 16" size with bead seat diameter 349. Look carefully around the tires and old rims to try and find the number 349 to confirm. It will likely be on the tire and say something like "38-349". If you don't find it and find some other 3-digit number instead, that's also your answer.

Sometimes there's no such marking. If that's the case you can identify what BSD you're dealing with via measurement.

349 is the Brompton size. Rims for it are readily available but are a niche product you need to get from Brompton shops/dealers/etc. You also need to match spoke counts. Many or most Bromptons use 28h and it appears this trike also does.


First of all, IMHO, when you buy an old bike you should always change inner and outer cables (cable housing) for the brakes and shifters. This will ensure that the cables have low friction and won't get stuck somewhere

Then this part "It's ~8mm from lowest to 2nd and ~5mm from 2nd to highest" makes me think that someone got the order wrong. I think the highest and the middle sprocket are on the wrong side or the crank(outer side). Or the smallest sprocket has spacers that shouldn't be there. Or maybe the middle one is lacking spacers.

99/100 Sprockets are equally spaced, because that's the way the shifter handle pulls.

Lastly, check the "front" dereaullier alingment. It should be parallel to the sprockets.


Good tires for road riding in winter weather?

Different tires for different conditions.

For bare/wet roads I've been real happy with my Continental Grand Prix 4-Season with Vectran tires.

With snow, it depends on the clearance through your brakes...
On a typical road bike with standard brakes, you may not have enough room to add tires with traction. If you have a cyclocross bike or bike with V styled or even disc brakes, you can put on something with a bit of traction for snow and packed snow conditions. I like the Challenge Grifo 700x32c Black/Brown Clincher. On my mountain bike, I love to ride in the snow and use Kenda Nevegal tires.

I tend to not ride in icy conditions, but you can create your own 'studded' tires with zip ties. About every 2 inches cinch up a zip tie around your tire and rim.


SRAM Rival 1x: Hestitant shifting in middle of cassette when going to larger cogs - causes?

I have tried replacing the few months old cassette with a brand new identical cassette. While the shifting still isn't 100% perfect it has noticeably improved with no specific problem cogs anymore.
Update: I installed the original SRAM PG-1130 cassette (11-32) and a new PC-1130 chain (replacing a PC-1110 chain) sized around largest cog and the chainring bypassing the rear mech - plus three extra inner links and three extra outer links and the power lock link.
Now the shifting was crisp and flawless across the entire cassette. However, I was missing the crucial, "sweat spot" 16T cog.
So, with the same chain and length, I swapped the cassette back to the 11-28T (also PG-1130 series).
And the shifting remains flawless!
I think the main issue has been too short a chain all along - although I initially followed the official advice from SRAM with two extra inner links and two extra outer links for a 1x setup (They need to update those recommendations...)


Is it possible that a too tight rear wheel quick release can cause shifting issues?

Yes, this can happen as a result of variance in how hard the QR is tightened causing variance in the alignment of a replaceable rear derailleur hanger. Typically this relates to lack of precision in the manufacture of the hanger and/or dropout and consequent poor fit of their interface. Sometimes by taking the hanger off and studying the interface you might observe spots of paint or material to remove that are clearly making the interface not lay flat. Other times one of the surfaces isn't flat.
Here's what I would typically do:

Make sure the QR skewer is working well and easy to get to a high clamping force. This can mean lubricating it if it's an external cam type in good condition, or, the best plan of all, replacing it with a good quality internal cam type such as Shimano.
Remove, clean, lubricate/loctite, and tighten whatever hardware holds the hanger on.
Get the wheel back on with the skewer as tight as you'd normally have it. Usually when bikes have this problem you can see the hanger flex around and chane alignment as you tighten the skewer.
Align the hanger to be aligned in that state. The reason you want a good skewer in this situation is that they easily get you to a high clamping force range, and the way it tends to go with bikes having this problem is that you won't see the variance once it's in that range, more only with skewers that are barely doing their job, as in many external cam ones and especially unlubricated or in poor condition.
If that doesn't work, replace with a CNC hanger such as Wheels Mfg, which will tend to help make the fit better. (It's not a sure thing because some or all of the issue can be in the dropout though.)

Fatigue from repeat alignments is its own concern but will not itself cause this problem. I can imagine a replaceable hanger getting bent in a way where the mating surfaces weren't flat anymore after aligment, and this problem resulted. I've also seen brand new bikes do this.


Daily: check the tyres and chain. If you need air or lube, apply them. This really falls under the "when riding, be aware of your bike". Rather than thumb-test my tyres I look at the bulge in the sidewall when I'm riding.
Weekly: pump the tyres, lube the chain. Regardless of whether they "need it", I'll put the pump on and check the pressure, then use a bit of lube on the chain. Swap rechargeable batteries in my bike lights (LED lights use so little current that it's easy to overdischarge batteries, and weekly is about as long as I can space this before I forget. Otherwise I think "did I do this last week? Probably"). Also pick the broken glass out of your tyres. An old spoke, sharpened at one end and bent into a handle at the other works well for this.
Monthly: fix the niggling things that aren't really faults that stop the bike working, so I never actually fix them. Lube and adjust the gear cables, adjust the brakes, tighten the mudguard bolts, repair or replace the loose reflective tape. Check brake pads for wear etc.
six months/seasonally: make sure the lights are all there and working. Check and lube the shifter on my Rohloff. Check girlfriend's bike and fix anything she hasn't bothered to. On derailleur bike (ick!) check chain wear. Check for frayed gear/brake cables.
annually: change Rohloff oil.

There's a whole heap of other stuff that I do when necessary, like putting new tyres on. If I get a puncture on a Marathon Plus I generally replace it, because that only seems to happen when they're quite worn. Lesser tyres I check whan I'm fixing the puncture (since I have to inspect the whole tyre to find the puncturing thing anyway). If shifting gets hard or braking reels funny I check the cables, since a fraying cable is often the cause of those problems. And so on.

Edit: what would a bike shop do in their checkup?

The main thing is that they are not you so there's a second set of eyes, and partly they have no interest in "oh, that's not right but it's a pain to fix so I'll just live with it".

So the mechanic will start with the obvious stuff I listed in my "evaluate a second hand bike" answer. The mechanic will be test riding the bike, so they want to be sure it's safe to do that. And anything that needs fixing, they will note down and either fix or ring you and ask if you want to spend the money.

It's probably easier to present as a checklist of functions. For each item mentioned there's an implicit "is it there, attached securely, in working order" check as well. This is all done in a proper work stand, with good lighting. Most of the tools are the ones you'll find on a compact multitool (but they're good quality separates). All cable replacements mean replacing the outers as well, and fitting end caps etc.

frame and fork. Check the bearings in the headset for slop and the grinding feeling of dirty or overtight bearings (crash damage sometimes comes through there when the bearing races have been pushed out of alignment or the frame is ovalised where it's supposed to hold the bearing race). Look for dents, holes or other frame damage. If in doubt pull out the frame alignment checking tools and go wild.
wheels. Spin them checking for bearing play and broken/loose spokes. Look for rim wobble too. True wheels if necessary in a proper wheel truing stand (they have to be true so we can set rim brakes later, and they're expensive to replace if they're wrecked which means sometimes the whole job stops here). Check rim and tyre wear and tyre inflation. If the valve is at a funny angle let the air out, straighten it and reinflate. Inflate tyres to marked pressure so later we can check for slow leaks.
saddle. Tight and in usable condition.
handlebars. Lots of stuff happens here, but for now just twist against the wheel to make sure the headset and handlebar clamp bolts are tight.
crankset/bb. Spin the pedals by hand and feel for slop/grinding. Check pedal bearings too. Eyeball frame clearance (is the BB the right length, are the cranks bent?)
gears. Change through all gears. Check shifters and cables.

Replace cables and outers if there's any suggestion that this might become necessary in the next year. Poor cables means poor shifting and customers hate that.
Pop cables out of the frame, slide the segments of outer along so you inspect the cable and at the same time lube the cables with a grease+solvent chain lube.
Lube the chain. If the chain is filthy or worn (use a chain wear gauge), replace it.
New chain means new cassette/freewheel. Eyeball the cassette anyway, if worn replace.
(Bike shops very rarely clean chains, it costs more than fitting a new one because of the time taken. If it's your bike you aren't paying for the labour so you would clean the chain at this point.)

brakes. All that gear testing means using the brakes. But now: squeeze each brake lever to the handlebars. This should take considerable force. Adjust the brakes so it does, the recheck. New pads and cables if there's any doubt (you'd be surprised how many cables snap at step one). Fine adjust brakes to just barely clear the braking surface. New disk rotor at this point if it's too bent.
mudguards/fenders, racks, lights, soft toys and other accessories. Make sure snything else on the bike is at least properly attached.
check the tyre pressure. It should still be whatever you inflated them to at the start. If this is your bike the check is unneccessary because you already know there's a slow leak and you will fix it now, won't you?
put the bike in the "to be test ridden" area for someone else to test ride (I lied above). They will check that the gears and brake work, and that the bike rides ok with no odd noises or anything. Mudguards especially can be a pain here because flimsy ones rub on the wheels at the slightest excuse. But yes, this is where you see the mechanic sprint to 30km/hr then do an emergency stop.

There are specific checks for other stuff. The rubber pad on the steering arm of Long John bikes gets replaced, roller brakes get greased etc.

If you're doing this at home you will probably need a spoke key to do basic wheel straightening on the bike where a mechanic will use a spoke tensiometer and truing stand. If you're going to send the wheel to a mechanic don't play with the spokes first. That just causes problems because your efforts will make the spoke tension really uneven. Fixing that takes time. You pay for the time...

A new bottom braket requires a crank puller and the right tool to grip the BB. It's not worth buying these for most people. It the BB has slop just get the shop to replace it.

Aside from those two most of the special tools that bike shops have make the job faster, easier and more consistent. You're never going to get "consistent" with one or two bikes, and it's not worth paying for tools you use once a year.

This should take ~30 minutes to check and lube, plus whatever repair time is required. At $100/hour charge-out rare it's $50. If your bike is clean and in good order it'll be significantly faster (5 minutes if there's nothing to do), if you bring in a rusty old "vintage classic" bike from the tip it could take days.


If you have an idea of what model of frame it is, it would help. Otherwise, your best bet is to take it to a bike shop and try an ISO bottom bracket (gently) to see if it fits, or measure the threads and their orientation to match to this chart.

There are also universal threadless BB's like this one from Velo-Orange which skirt the issue by expanding to fit. In this case, the thread condition doesn't matter and you can reuse the threads for the proper bottom bracket provided they're in good enough condition. These are a good bit more expensive than your typical Shimano ISO bottom bracket, though.

The spindle length needs to be selected in conjunction with the crankset to achieve the appropriate chainline. I'd suggest going to a shop to pick up a proper bb and crankset at once.


Can you use slime (brand) auto tire "tubeless" sealant for a bicycle tube?

According to Slime's blog,
"The red label line of Slime products is designed specifically to stop flats in tires with tubes. Tubes are the key word here. Your bicycles, dirt bikes, hand dollies, wheelbarrows and jogging strollers with tubes are perfect candidates for the red label product."

I get the impression, and am doing more research into slime, but in a lot of these companies, the difference in the product line is more label and less chemical.  but according to info I read about the three lines they have, red is for tubes, blue is for everything else except highway-speed vehicles and yellow is for highway-speed vehicles.

https://www.slime.com/us/blog/which-slime-sealant-do-i-need.php

According to the Safety Data Sheets for the products, the three are identical, with the exception, MAYBE, of using different percentages of the three ingredients. Logically, I can see how a different amount of a chemical can make enough of a change to determine what type of tire we are fixing.  So, after researching, I would stick to the red for a tube, blue for all tubeless non-highway speed vehicles and the yellow for highway speed.  Let me know if I missed anything.


How high should be the handle of a balance bike for a 35 inches tall kid?

In general you should adjust a balance/strider bike so that:

When sitting on the seat their feet are flat on the ground with a
slight bend at the knees.
The handlebars are at about mid-torso height.

I usually tell people to worry about saddle height first, then handlebar adjustments.


9 miles should not require any changes to your diet, excluding extreme temperatures or excessively mountainous terrain. Your knee hurting is likewise not normal. Your bike may be a poor fit, or you may need to learn to use a lower gear: spinning the pedals faster, with less force required on each stroke.

Neither fatigue nor knee pain should be an expected outcome of a short, low-intensity cycling trip, particularly for someone of typical university age. If either of these persist, I would strongly recommend consulting with a physician.


How often should I charge my (lithium) e-bike battery?

I presume Lithium Batteries.

TL;DNR - Charge them as often as convenient for you, always making sure you have more than enough to the next ride.

Battery chemistry makes a big difference - Older lead acid requirements are complex and there is a lot of mis-information and FUD on the internet, some spread by people who don't know what they are discussing, and some by those that do know and stand to make a profit from it. Why am I mentioning Lead Acid - because much information regarding lead acid is incorrectly used when discussing Lithium technology, just adding to the confusion and confusion means profits selling people things they do not need

Lithium - Lithium actually last best if left partly charged - not flat, not full charged, but the difference is not practically significant.  Therefore when deciding if you should charge the battery the question is about what suits you.

Lithiums are very sensitive to over charging and over discharge - so much so, humans cannot be relied on to do the job. The chargers are designed to so that they will not overcharge your battery, and the bicycle so it  will not over discharge the battery. Despite what some say, you do not need to disconnect the charger as soon as the battery is charged (although its best to turn the charger off to save power, and disconnect the battery from the charger to stop it going flat), and you can ride the bike till the engine stop working.

Worrying when to charge you battery is like worrying about when to fill up you car with gas because driving with more gas in the tank adds weight and wears out the tires quicker. In theory it matters, in practice, stopping to fill up is inconvenient and running out of gas more so, so you fill up when you need to.


The protective layer is known as "rim tape". The old tube shouldn't remain within the tire - the only thing inside the rim should be the rim tape and the new tube.

You may have different tire pressures than before - have you tried playing with them?


Change gear cables for Shimano Tiagra 4603

manual is here
https://si.shimano.com/api/publish/storage/pdf/en/dm/ST0001/DM-ST0001-05-ENG.pdf
exploded diagram here
https://si.shimano.com/api/publish/storage/pdf/en/ev/ST-4603/EV-ST-4603-3155.pdf
all via si.shimano.com
Video for similar shifter


Will an innertube for 700x35c-44c be ok for a bike that says it needs size 700x45c?

44c versus 45c is not enough to worry about.
You can use it.

Not that you would need to do this but after you have stretched it you should not try and put it in a 35c as it would be hard to do so without a fold in the tube.


You can see in the video how the teeth on the cassette rotate quickly at the moment it slips(at :05 seconds), while the spokes of the wheel actually stay slow, then jolt forwards to catch up. This means that the freewheel mechanism in the rear hub is failing to engage.

It's actually quite dangerous because as it gets worse it could cause you to lose control, fall off etc. in the worst case.

It shouldn't be like that on any bike, especially a brand new one. So take it back to the shop and have the freewheel, or freehub replaced (whichever type it is).


If the bolt in the photo is the same as the one that’s missing, it’s to preload the bearings before tightening the pinch bolts on a HT2-style crank.
If that’s the case, I’m not sure what consequences, if any, are likely from riding with just the pinch bolts and no preload bolt. I would think it’s similar to riding without a headset cap in that once the pinch bolts are set, it’s not completely necessary, but I’m not 100% sure it’s safe for the parts on a crank- there might be some repercussions I’m not thinking of.
I wouldn’t deliberately ride a HT2 crank sans preload bolt any longer than it takes to get to the shop for a replacement, but the implications of riding without it are not the same as for other styles of cranks where the fixing bolt torque actually holds or presses the crank onto the spindle.


First of all, to reinforce what Daniel pointed out, do NOT approach such an obstacle at an angle unless you want to eat pavement. Hit step ups, step downs, and especially railroad tracks as perpendicularly as possible. If it's a right turn you're taking, assuming you're in a country that drives on the right side of the street, signal, take the lane, and take a wide turn so you're hitting the lip at a 90 degree angle or close to it. Left turn you should offer you a little more room. That's the first half of hitting such an obstacle safely without dismounting from the bike.

Part two: if you want to get over the step "as safely as possible" then you want to hit it as slow as possible. That's great if you're not in traffic, but even if you aren't it sucks to lose your momentum. What you need to practice is something akin to a bunny hop, however having both wheels leave the ground simultaneously for small bumps typically isn't necessary. Practice pulling up your front wheel and immediately after gravity takes back over pulling up your back wheel with your feet and legs. Practice this in your driveway or on a quiet street over small obstacles. As you become comfortable with this maneuver you can practice on bigger obstacles and at higher speeds. If and when you feel comfortable to do so you can hop both wheels at the same time at high speed- whatever you feel comfortable with.

How big an obstacle you can handle totally depends on how comfortable you are with doing this and how high you can pull the wheels off the ground.


How do I increase braking power and "touchiness" of Sram Guide RS Brakes?

Are they new brakes that you installed or you've had them for a bit and this is a new development? It sounds like they need to be properly bled, with that much lever pull your not getting the pressure that you should be. There could be a leak in the system or if you bled them yourself may not have got all of the air out.

I own the RSC's and their awesome, I have also heard very good things about the RS as well so you should be having no problem with them from a braking standpoint.

Although the "touchiness" you seek may have some to do with the brand. I much prefer Sram over Shimano but many do not. Shimano has what some refer to as an on/off feel meaning they either bite or don't. Sram has a much better modulation where the brakes ease into the slow down rather than just locking up the wheel.

Also if the pads were contaminated or not properly bedded then it could be the issue but it sounds like you have air in the lines still. Guides are typically pretty easy to bleed compared to some others.


Looking for a 29x2.25 tire for my first sprint tri-athlon

Yes, there are tires out there that are smooth and will fit that rim.

Your rim diameter is 622mm. Same as most road bikes, most cyclocross bikes, many touring bikes, many hybrids, and some cruisers.
Figure out your rim width in millimeters. It might be printed on the wheel somewhere, it might be in the specs for your bike, and you might have to borrow some calipers to figure it out. You're looking for the inner rim width that fits outside the beads.
You should now have figured out the ISO size of your rims.
Work out what the acceptable tire widths. Something like Sheldon Brown's tire width to rim width chart should help.
Look for tires within the range you've worked out. I suspect 45-622 will be your smallest acceptable size and 60-622 is probably a tiny bit bigger than your current tire. If you go a bit smaller (35-38mm), you'll be risking pinch flats and rim damage, but there's a lot more tires available.

You'll probably find that tires marketed for comfort hybrids, cruisers, touring  or "urban/trail" bikes are were you'll find a big enough smooth tire.

Schwalbe makes the Super Moto in 60-622, which is specifically marketed as a competition-appropriate smooth tire for a 29er.

If you're willing to spend a lot more, consider replacing the wheels with Cyclocross wheels, some other 622mm wheel with a slightly narrower rim than a 29er usually comes with. That would allow you to get into the wide end of regular road tires where there's a ton more choices made for competition on paved surfaces.

Note: smaller tires will change the handling and lower the bottom bracket closer to the ground, so don't get too crazy.


Looking for solutions to shorten warm up time

Simplest solution would be to ride to the start of the ride, with a detour if you live/work too close to the start of the ride.


How do I re-attach a crank that has fallen off?

First off, got to a bike shop and get a new crank bolt.  They're a fairly standard item.

Can't tell for sure if your bike had "self removing" bolts or standard ones, but it doesn't matter that much, a standard style should fit.  The large threads in the crank arm are for holding a removable trim plug over the bolt (or holding the "self-removing" part of a self-removing bolt) and for facilitating a crank remover (which is kind of not needed at this juncture).  You can ask for a new trim plug at your LBS, but it's not really needed.

Once you have the bolt, you can try reattaching the existing crank arm.  It will need to be really tight -- look up the torque specs on the web if you have a torque wrench, otherwise just get the bolt damn tight.

But once a bike has been ridden with a loose crank arm the arm is usually damaged beyond repair -- likely it will keep working itself loose, and will eventually damage the crank axle (if it hasn't already).  So you probably need to replace the arm, and you might as well replace the crank cartridge at the same time, since it's probably cheaper than the new arms.

(So I'm guessing you've figured out by now that you should never ride a bike with a loose crank arm.)


While cleaning I found the part number printed on the inside of a crank handle. It is a FC-M191. This part seems not to be available in the UK anymore so I decided to buy the MC-M411, which has the same teeth number for all three cogs, is suitable for 8-speeds and has the same Shimano rectangular axle fitting as the FC-M191.

I also bought a Tl-FC10 crank pull to disconnect the cranks from the bearings.

It appears that the derailleur is an Altus but other parts have been used for the Chainset in the front. This makes it difficult to find the matching parts.


Which waterproof overshoes would you recommend for use with clipless pedal shoes?

For serious winter riding (I rode for 12 years all year round in Toronto, Canada, and while we had reasonable weather, it did get wet, cold, and icky a lot) I gave up on clipless, and just used platforms with a pair of hunting boots!  Canadian Tire sold -40C and -70C versions.  (I rode in -35C in the -70C pair, and I gotta say, my toes were quite comfy!)

Tuck a pair of ski pants or waterproof pants over the tops, and that was the driest I ever attained in bad weather.

They bend surprisingly well so pedaling is not the issue, and you have good stability in bad weather.  You know, if you are sliding, and put down both feet with those big boots, you might still slide a distance, but you can control it better.

I never tried anything like you suggest, as based on other waterproof clothes, once it gets wet enough, nothing is water proof.  Everything has holes, seals, zippers, seams, etc...  They help, no argument, but not all the way.


skewers - how to measure length of existing skewer?

It is the internal distance between rear dropouts that defines the replacement QR skewer. The existing skewer can be used as a supplementary information. That distance also matches the hub locknut-to-locknut distance, but the latter is harder to measure because it is hard to insert the caliper between spokes.

The image taken from Sheldon Brown's page.

Make sure to read that page as it has tons of useful info. A quote from there:

  Typical quick-release axles are 11 or 12 mm longer than the spacing of the hub locknuts. This gives 5.5-6 mm of axle protrusion on each side.

Measure the distance with a caliper up to 1 mm accuracy.
The most common modern values for QR-designated rear dropouts are 135 mm for mountainbike and 130 mm for road bikes. Other things I've heard of are 170 mm and 190 mm for fat bikes and 132.5 mm "gnot right" specific to Surly bikes.

For a new QR skewer it is important that its unthreaded length is not too long, otherwise you will not be able to thread the locknut tight on it.


Changing major features of a bike (e.g., drop/flat handlebars, gears/no gears) is rarely an economical option. There are all kinds of compatibility issues (e.g., different drop-out width, nowhere to mount a derailleur, etc.) and overcoming these takes time and money and tends to leave you with a worse bike.

Usually, the most economical and most effective way of making this kind of major change is to sell the bike you don't want and buy the bike you do want, possibly second-hand.


Can I use a shock pump to inflate a tube?

Note: this calculation makes many assumptions, so it's only useful in an 'average use case', not some sort of exact measurement. If you find better information, please post it and I'll update the answer.

How many pumps you would need to fill up a tire depends on many variables. First, the volume of your inner tube, which can be approximated as a torus (doughnut-shape) atop the rim size of a given diameter. You can find yours approximated on this graph.

26" Mountain Bike, 2.1" tire width = 4.8L
29" Mountain Bike, 2.1" tire width = 5.2L
700C Road Bike, 35mm tire width = 2L
20" BMX Bike, 1.85" tire width = 3L

I'm finding pump specifications quite difficult to find (I need piston diameter and stroke length), but here's a comparison of some shock pumps on an empty shock cylinder of a 2007 Fox 36 RLC 160mm Fork.

Average Accu-Gage Pressure Reading after 100 strokes: 77.2 psi
My best guess at RC2 air chamber specifications: 1" (25.4mm) diameter, 160mm length (max travel). If someone can find accurate specs or the true volume, I'd appreciate it.
Fox RC2 Air Volume (estimated): Vcylinder = pi*r^2*h = 81 mL

So then, IF pumping air into different volumes is linearly proportional (it's not, but somewhere in the ball park), and you wanted to inflate the tires listed above to ~77.2psi, it'd take about this number of pumps with the 'average' shock pump:

                                           Tire Volume Ratio of Tire to Air Shock  Number of Pumps to ~77.2 psi
26" Mountain Bike, 2.1" tire width 4.8L             59:1                                   5,900
29" Mountain Bike, 2.1" tire width 5.2L             64:1                                   6,400
700C Road Bike, 35mm tire width 2L                25:1                                   2,500
20" BMX Bike, 1.85" tire width      3L                37:1                                   3,700

So, perhaps if it was a life or death situation, you have a lot of time on your hands, or you just can't afford that gym membership, you might want to pump a few thousand times to fill your tire. You probably don't.

By contrast, if you're just looking for this functionality in one device, you could just use a dual purpose model, such as this Specialized Pump, that can inflate both high pressure, low volume containers (like your shock) and low pressure, high volume containers (like your tire).

(source: bikeradar.com)

You twist the handle to select between uses, and save yourself a few thousand pumps.


Should I drink more water the day before a tough ride?

"More"  - more than what - if you are already an '8 litre a day' person, no it will not help. If you are like me (too much coffee, drink when I am thirsty), an extra couple of litres spread evenly over the day will be a good thing.

Be careful not to over hydrate as it will change the balance of electrolytes in you system and could lead to problems such as cramping. A litre extra over a day won't be an issue, but more than that, use a proper electrolyte drink (Not the lolly water sold at supermarkets as 'sports' drinks - if it tastes good, its not electrolyte).

Watch out for too much water causing you get up for the toilet all night and miss out much needed sleep.

In summary - a little more than usual is probably good, too much more is not so good.


First of all: You mention that the placement of the bottle mount is bad. There are adapters which allow you to mount a bottle cage without frame holes. E.g. SKS Anywhere, Minoura or this set. All look rather flimsy though. Mounts for the handlebar or behind the saddle usually look more sturdy, if you have space there.

There is also the Salsa Anything Cage which allows you to mount and tie down anything anywhere.

If a better, more vertical mounting point for your existing bottle cages doesn’t solve the problem, maybe you should get better bottle cages. For example I use these Elite bottle cages with various normal ~800ml bicycle bottles on my cyclocross and I’ve never lost a bottle (except in a 40km/h crash, but that doesn’t really count). They also seem quite popular.


Have you thought about cutting an old inner tube across its length. Various thicknesses of cut give more or less stretch. Rubber versus latex, too many different size tubes to mention. Cheap as chips and your LBS will have an endless supply.


Yes, you can order replacement parts from an LBS who is, or has access to a Shimano distributor.

You are unlikely to find that rim or those spokes in stock, because they are unique to the wheel, and it is not cost effective for a shop to keep them on hand given the relatively small chance that someone will need them.

Ordering them, though, should be straightforward, and cost less than 200 dollars.


Add/remove sprockets on cassette to customize gear ratios

If you want sram cassette (which should be compatible):
Sram PG1050 and PG1070 come in a 12-28 configuration matching what you need
12-13-14-15-16-17-19-22-25-28

https://www.sram.com/sram/road/products/sram-pg-1050-cassette
https://www.sram.com/sram/road/products/sram-pg-1070-cassette

If you want shimano
Buy two Shimano 105 ten speed cassettes (well, you already have one, so you're half way there). The 12-25 version has a 16t cog and the 11-28 has the other cogs you will need. Might be able to find a used cassette that has the cog you need.

Here's the options for Shimano 105 CS-5700 series
11-25 = 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25
11-28 = 11-12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-28
12-25 = 12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-23-25
12-27 = 12-13-14-15-16-17-19-21-24-27

See Shimano 105 cassette details:
http://bike.shimano.com/content/sac-bike/en/home/road/drivetrain/cassettes0/cs-5700.html

Shimano Tiagra Range has a 12-30 cassete, but it also does not have a 16t cog.
12-13-14-15-17-19-21-24-27-30T