You can definitely do this. Take a look at something like the Nitto Albastache bar that Rivendell sells – or peruse their handlebars section and see if there is something that looks better to you.

The tricky parts are the size of the center clamp area of the handlebars and the areas where the brake levers clamp to the bars. There are many choices… Older road bikes tend to have a 25.4 mm center area, newer ones may be either 25.4 or 26.0 mm, your stem has to match. Some stems are 26.0 mm with a shim to take them down to 25.4. Brake lever clamp sizes are also different between mountain and road bikes. You'll want to pick your bars and then select brake levers that will fit them.

The other thing you'll need to be aware of is that brake systems have two varieties of "pull" – how much cable movement it takes to actuate the brakes effectively. Caliper brakes like you have, and cantilever brakes (which are common on mountain bikes) use a "short" pull. V-brakes use a "long" pull. It sounds like you need short pull levers. They may also be described as levers for cantilever brakes.

If you like the Albastache bar it has the advantage of being sized to take road levers (23.8 mm diameter where the brake levers clamp on), so you avoid the expense of a new set of levers. It also has the possible downside of a 26.0 mm clamp area, so the money you save on levers may go towards a new stem.

Ditto also makes a bar they call the Albatross which has a similar shape a 25.4 mm stem clamp and takes takes brake levers with a fairly standard, for mountain bikes, 22.2 mm clamp size.

It seems really likely that you'll be able to find something that works without having to spend a big pile of time or money.


How can I prevent rubber handlebar grips from melting/disintegrating?

I remember this would happen to me as a kid while on my bmx bike especially in humid summer weather.

So you are buying new grips already - I'd say make sure they are a harder compound than whatever your current ones are. Seems like harder rubber is less likely to deform/melt away.

With your current grips you might try wrapping them in bar tape. There are many kinds. I use cork - is good for wicking away moisture from sweaty hands but it is thick. Synthetic bar tape that's thinner might wrap tighter and be less bulky around your grips. If you don't have any bar tape, maybe try the clear plastic wrap from your kitchen. It should keeps the little bits off your hands. Could be more slippery so be careful.


Fixie vs Road Bike - the right fixie bike for bunch rides

Disclaimer: I am a fixie hater. I'll try to answer this as if I was impartial.

Proper road bikes (Including the Moulton) are the machines for speed, and always have been (unless you're on a velodrome).

Looking at it through a speed lens, a fixie has a slight weight, aero, and drivetrain efficiency advantage over a road bike, but this usually doesn't come anywhere close to offsetting the disadvantages...

It does not have the top end speed and can't accelerate like a road bike because of the gearing. It is horribly inefficient at climbing. If you're hardcore and you ride with no brakes, you have to ride more conservatively because of your poor stopping ability.

On long rides, you will find yourself tiring sooner because you won't be able to ride at your optimal cadence.

The guy on the orange fixie has good legs. He would have been just as fast (if not faster) on a road bike.

Whatever you do, don't "sell all your bikes for THE ONE fixie".


I see you don't want to buy the proper tool - do consider that while some are silly expensive, there are also reasonably priced alternatives.  Brands like Birzman and X-Tools are a third the cost of a Park or Pedro's tool.

Another option is to use a rotary cutoff disk in a tool like a dremel, or even a full-sized cutoff wheel in a grinder.   If you have one already, then this is a no-cost.  To buy one would cost more than the right cable cutter tool as already suggested.


How accurate is the 'calories burned' figure on my GPS device?

By order of magnitude if you mean by a factor of 10 then most likely yes.

You have wind, rolling, and gradient resistance.

It is going to be spot on for gradient resistance so if you have a hilly ride it will be more accurate.

Clearly it does not account for wind.

I expect it assumes a mid level road bike on decent pavement.

At speeds over 10 mph rolling resistance is the smallest of the three.
So it is going to be off on what is typically the smallest factor.
See the graph in the link:
http://www.schwalbetires.com/tech_info/rolling_resistance

On a hilly road ride with no wind it is probably with 10% overall.

Riding flats drafting in a group it is going to be off by a lot.
Trail riding it is going to be off by a lot.


trek road bike puncture and then gears stop working advice needed?

The lever not clicking when moving makes me think your shifter could be broken, but that does seem like an unlikely coincidence.

Shifter broken test: The way to test this is follow the cable down from the shifter and at the first place where the cable emerges from the housing, put your left hand under the bare cable and pull on it so there is tension on the cable.  With your other hand, shift up and down.  The clicks may get more audible, and hopefully you can feel the cable tighten and loosen with each shift.  If you feel the clicks in the cable tension, your shifter is fine and you can move to the next steps.

Housing popped out of cable stops test:  The way to find out is first "shift" your shifter into the hardest to pedal gear to release cable tension, then follow the cable from the shifter down to the derailleur.
Check that the beginning and end of all the little plastic-covered pieces of housing are in their cable stops (the metal cylindrical pieces attached to the frame that hold the housing in place).
If one of the housing pieces has popped out, pop it back in and it should shift again.  You may need to manually push the rear derailleur cage towards the spokes to release the tension so you can get the housing back in.

Cable slipped test: Another possibility is the cable has slipped and pulled through the derailleur fixing bolt (the bolt that attaches the cable to the derailleur).
In this case, you would again "shift" the shifter to the hardest to pedal gear to reduce cable tension, loosen the bolt, pull on the end of the cable till there is no slack and re-tighten the cable.  The shifting should begin to work again.

It should be one of those cases, although a piece of housing could have splintered and you'll see small wires popping out of it.  If so, replace the housing.

Worst case, take it to a bike shop :)


What kind of convex washer goes on the brake pads?

Buy yourself a set of new brake pads.  They come with all the washers and nuts.  When the current pads wear out, move all the washers and bolts to the newer pads, which you keep safe till you need them.

Or just fit new pads now.


What powder is used inside an inner tube?

It is talc, and it is used in the tube making process to prevent the inner tube rubber from sticking to itself.


Link between bottom bracket and rear wheel widths

Yes, if you're going to a 130 rear end, the chainline moves in about 2.5mm so generally you'll want to get a 5mm shorter spindle.
Ideally you would measure the front chainline with the current spindle and do the math from there based on what rear chainline you want and whatever your clearance needs are. In some cases you would find you might want to go more than 5mm.
How much it matters depends a lot on the chainstay length.
You still need to be mindful of clearance with the frame.


My LBS does not carry fixed-gear/single-speed parts. What next?

Your local bike shop may not get it with fixed/single speed but do not discount them entirely. They can sometimes compete on price better than a mail order company simply because they will not be charging you shipping even if they have to get parts in specially for you.

Most bike shops have at least a couple of regular suppliers and these suppliers will almost certainly have what you need. Also, there is always the option to get spare parts for a particular bike. If you like the wheel set that comes with a a e.g. Specialized Langster and the shop do Specialized then you can ask them to quote you for a replacement wheelset. The same goes with Kona/Giant or whatever it is they do stock. With some brands these replacement parts are surprisingly competitively priced. Give the local shop a go even if they do need extra prodding and, if they are any good, they will give you service that the online box-shifters never can.


I have a Schwinn Tempo which has a 6 speed freewheel

A 6 speed bike has 126 mm rear spacing while more modern wheels will need 130 mm rear spacing (which you can fix by cold setting the frame). If you're getting a new front wheel too, you will need to do this to the fork as well (likely). If you go 7 speed and up, you can get a cassette wheel, but if your Tempo has indexed shifting, you'll need to use friction mode (or get new index shifters) and adjust the derailleur accordingly.

The Schwinn Tempo has 700c wheels and there are decent 700c freewheels with 126 mm hub spacing made by Velo Orange under their Grand Cru line.


changed the chain a few times

Have you also changed any of the corresponding drive-train ie. cassette and / or chainrings?

Check the wear on your cassette. If the teeth are thinned-out the cassette is also worn and you will need to replace this also.
Check the chain-rings - if these resemble shark-fins these are also worn out.

Unfortunately drive train wears together and replacing one part of them often creates a skipping gear where the chain no longer sits comfortably on the drive train due to previous wear.


Busting on inflation - is the issue the tube or the tire?

This has happened to me on occasion (especially if I bought a cheaper tire). Mark the tire and rim before dis-assembling the wheel. Any temporary marking will do. When re-assembling the tire line up the tire/rim marks. If the tube pops in the same, or near, place - then it is (most likely) the tire.


What could cause a screeching noise when going downhill without brakes?

Could be one of a number of things.

Hub

If you grab the wheel and shake it from left to right is there noticeable play? If you hold it by the axle and spin it does it feel gravely or gritty? Does it make any noise when you do that?

Brakes

Are the brakes dragging on the rims? Is the rim buckled enough for the brakes to drag for only part of it? Is it worse in the wet?

Wind

Is it the wind in your ears, helmet or frame. Unlikely.

You

Are you going too fast ;)


Bottom Bracket Press fit to a square taper

I'd say no. If the frame had a screw-in BB shell you could simply fit a tapered axle and bearings. Looks like you'll need a new chainset (that comes complete with axle) - however you could get rid of the cheapo BB71-41A (MTB type - why would anybody fit this?) and fit whatever bearings suit the chainset of your choice


How to (safely) navigate a four-way stop

US law is state dependent, but generally, if you're a bicycle on the road, you're considered equivalent to a motor vehicle. If you're a bicycle on a sidewalk, you follow the rules for people on sidewalks (this isn't always permitted depending on area). For example, to quote the New Jersey driver's manual, for a controlled intersection:

An intersection is controlled if there are traffic signals or signs in any direction. A
motorist must obey the signals and signs. At a controlled intersection, a motorist
must yield for certain conditions. At a multi-way stop or stop intersection, a motorist
must yield to the motorist on the right if both motorists get there at the same time.
A motorist should also yield to another motorist already stopped at the intersection.
At an intersection controlled by a yield sign, a motorist must slow down and yield to
traffic on the intersecting roadway, even if he/she has to stop. When making a left
turn at an intersection, a motorist must yield to oncoming traffic and to pedestrians
within the crosswalk.

and from the same source, for an uncontrolled intersection,

An intersection is uncontrolled when two or more roads join and there is no traffic
signal or regulatory device. A motorist must be very careful when approaching
these types of intersections. Most of the time there will be a warning sign prior to
reaching the intersection. As a motorist nears a crossroad that is not controlled,
he/she must reduce speed and be ready to stop if any traffic is coming from the
right or left. A motorist coming from a private road or driveway must yield to all
traffic on the main road (although a motorist can never be sure that will occur). As
a general rule, the vehicle on the left should yield to the vehicle on the right. When
a traffic signal is not illuminated because of a power failure or other malfunction,
the traffic signal is observed as a 4-way stop signal.

Unfortunately, people are different in their behavior to bicycles and you need to be vigilant. Following the law by yielding to people who have already arrived generally works well (even if you have to wave them to go yourself even if they have the right). If they're waving, check and proceed with caution -- there are a decent number of people who will also try to gun it with a cyclist, and there may be both types to yield and gun at the same intersection.


Flex causes this and it's not going to hurt anything. However, it's frequently the case flex is just the contributing factor that pushes the system into rubbing.

Look down at the gap between your rotor and pads, and slowly spin the wheel. If you were to see consistent .2-.4mm-ish gap on both sides, a true rotor (no warbles), and good parallelism between the pad and rotor, there's not really anything you could do to improve things at that point, and you'd know it was just flex causing the rub.

If you see an out of true rotor, off-center pads, or very minimal gap all around, then that means the rotor is getting closer to the pads in certain spots than it should be able to, and while it may not rub unloaded (in the stand etc), adding flex is getting it there. So to solve it you may need to true the rotor, face the frame/fork, reset the pistons, and/or adjust the caliper position.


If you still have the old spoke and both/all its parts then that can be used for measuring the length.

If that's not possible, as per Daniel's comment, then remove the next spoke that goes to the same side of the hub as the broken spoke - this is important on the rear wheel because the two sides can vary by several millimetres.

If you're buying one spoke, get three and clearly label the spares.  There's a non-zero chance that others will break having been stressed a bit more, and a ~40 year old spoke has probably been around a while.  You don't need a whole box of 50, but they can come in lots of 18 which might work out a good deal. Owning at least one spare spoke helps protect the ones on the bike :)

You'll also want to find the same:

overall shape - its probably an unbutted spoke, meaning its the same width all the way down the length.  Some spokes can be described as double butted or even triple, depending on how they taper.
Ends - the thread at the nipple end is universal, so that's okay.  The hub end is very likely to be a J bend with a mushroom head, this is 99% normal too.
Profile - its also likely to have normal round spokes, not fancy bladed or aero spokes.
Finish - spokes from the 80s could be shiny chrome or polished finish, or utility galvanised finish.  Black spokes weren't very common.  You might choose to match the finish.
Nipples - they can round off over time, faster with a slack-tolerance tool.   Consider getting some new brass nipples with your new spokes.  That said, I've often reused the old nipples without issue, other than the risk of rounding.
Spoke prep - Almost a paradox, spoke prep is an assembly lube and friction increasing agent at the same time.  It helps ease the two together, and assists the nipple to not back out under use.   Personally I've never owned the right stuff but some spokes come with threads pre-dipped in spoke prep.  I've used copper-clay assembly paste and it works fine for me.

Regarding tools, check the Related questions on the right.  There will be ~2 special ones you require, maybe 3, and some optional ones.

It is possible to calculate spoke length using a calculator like https://leonard.io/edd/  but there are a lot of measurements needed, which can be hard to do when the hub and rim are built into a wheel already.

To err on slightly too long is better than slightly too short, IMO.  You can always file a spoke end flush with the nipple, you can't make them longer.

Aside - consider adding some of the new-style clip-on spoke reflectors.  They can help balance your wheel when put in the right places, and more importantly, they work a lot better than the yellow rubbish plastic ones.


I find them useful on the street during the winter. Here in Minneapolis it gets pretty cold and the streets can get pretty icy. Their studded-ness plus their aggressive tread pattern give me good traction in snow and on ice.

However, studded tires are really slow. The majority of the time, even in winter, there isn't much ice and I am completely fine riding on slicks. For days when its snowing and icy, I have a spare front wheel with a studded tire mounted on it. I'll swap that in for those days, leaving the slick on the back. Traction on the back is less than optimal, but it is a good speed/stability tradeoff. I can handle my backwheel slipping around, but if the front wheel slips I am going to end up on my face.

Also I did this when I commuted daily, so I didn't skip very snowy days. In fact very snowy days made me want to ride more.


Rear derailleur has trouble switching gears on the way up, but works perfectly on the way down?

This sounds like classic derailleur cable friction. The cable gets stuck inside the housing and stops or delays the derailleur moving to smaller sprockets. This is caused by dirt contaminating the housing, or perhaps corrosion of the cable.

The fix is to remove, clean, re-lube and re-install the cable, or replace the cable and housing altogether.


Why does my bike feel slow, hard to ride and wobblier now?

If your headset was replaced due to crash damaged, well that's a pretty intense crash. I'm going to assume they adjusted it. They also adjusted your brakes. My guess is your problem is two fold:

1) The headset is adjusted too tight, making the bike feel like you have too put too much input into it to turn, and when it does it happens all at once. That would give a wobbly feeling.

2) Check to make sure your brakes are not touching the rim, nor are too close to the rim (less than 3 mm from rim to braking surface). The drag will make you feel like you are constantly pedaling harder.

Good Luck!


Why does the rear hub (cassette) moves on the axle when I pedal?

It's almost certainly a bent rear axle.  I'm willing to guess that you have a freewheel design, where your rear chainrings have the freewheel mechanism integrated.  The assembly then screws onto the rear wheel.  This design was universally used from the mid-80s back, and is still used on low-end bikes.  The design works ok for single-speed bikes, but as you add more gear sprockets on the back, the drive-side wheel bearings (at the edge of the wheel hub) must be further and further away from the frame.  The resulting forces are notorious for bending axles, even with good quality axles.  I've broken one axle cleanly through because of this issue.  On a low-end department store bike like yours, the axle is probably even weaker, so it's not surprising that it would bend, even if you haven't been abusing the bike badly.

You should be able to replace the rear axle, assuming that there is no additional damage.  It's probably best to take the bike to a bike shop, since the work is a bit messy and is a little finicky with reassembling and adjusting the hub.

If you wanted to do it yourself, you should do a bit of reading on how cup and cone rear hubs work (Sheldon Brown's site has some nice diagrams and advice: http://sheldonbrown.com/cone-adjustment.html and http://sheldonbrown.com/tooltips/hubs.html).  Then you could disassemble the wheel bearings, pull out the axle, find a matching replacement, then reassemble.  You would need wrenches to remove the rear wheel nuts, cone wrenches and grease to reassemble and readjust correctly.


Google maps tries to do this in biking mode to begin with: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/biking-directions-added-to-google-maps.html

Mapquest is also hill aware to some extent: http://blog.mapquest.com/2011/04/21/cycle-route-planner-aerial-languages/ (I have tried this, but I don't think its particularly great. But I haven't tried it in SF).

Specific to SF, but http://amarpai.com/bikemap/ exists. http://bikesy.com/ is another SF specific one.

http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/ isn't directions, but gives you topographical information.


Should I buy this (gently) used, 15 year old, helmet?

No. It is safety gear – buy a new one.

The old helmet might make a good pot for a hanging plant but it is more likely to fail dramatically in your moment of need.

The straps would probably come right with a soak in water, but the polystychrene is the functional part and it has failed with age.

It might fill a legal requirement if your location mandates helmet wearing, but it probably won't provide sufficient protection.


Is there any objective downside to riding a women's bike as a man?

If the bike fits, ride it.

The average woman has different dimensions to the average man, so the make bikes with different dimensions to better suit the avenge woman and call it an womans bike (and, as you have noticed, they paint them a different co lour). Problem with all these averages is very few people (if any) are average and the range of sizes of men is significantly more than the difference in size of the average man and average woman.

Probably the biggest difference is an easy one to change, the saddle. You may want to go for a narrower saddle than the bike comes with.


The Bontrager AT-550 rim is a standard 26" mountain bike rim. A typical MTB 26" tire, including the narrower 1.25" should fit, yes.

You should compare the bead diameter on the original tire to the new tire.  it's the three digit number on the tire that matters.  Usually, for these tires, it would be 559mm.

You should make sure that the tire width is a minimum of 1/8" or 5mm wider than the width of the rim.


Will 0.5mm gap/play in a seatpost shim work without cracking the seatpost tube?

To answer the question of whether you can get away with the .5mm gap, absolutely not. It probably won't be able to clamp securely, and even trying it once could destroy the seattube opening. Bikes are essentially never tolerant of this type of mismatch.

I presume you are in this spot because you want to use a seat like a double-rail Brooks or similar that requires a pipe-style seatpost, as opposed to a more common cushy seat, most of which come with a usually-superfluous clamp that can be removed in the case of a post that has its own clamp. If that's the case, I think all you need is a 27.2-31.4 shim, which is oddbal but does exist.


This can be done two ways:

Easy way: Purchase a new 700c wheel with coaster brake hub from your Local Bike Shop or the internet. It may be hard to find this as it is not a particularly popular option, but it's not uncommon to find one at a well-appointed bike shop.
Hard way: Purchase a new coaster brake hub, and rebuild your existing rear wheel (or have it rebuilt--wheel building is a complex process) with the new hub. One advantage to rebuilding your existing wheel is that it will be easier to find a new or used, unbuilt coaster-brake hub. Additionally, you'll be sure to have matching front & rear rims.

Other than that, there are no other steps or considerations you'll need to take.


You are correct that there isn't anything intrinsically different between bikes designed for preteens and adult bikes. Kids bikes tend to have lower end, inexpensive components and drivetrains with a single front chainring only.

A adult bike will come with multiple front chainrings and front derailleur and shifter, so your daughter will have to learn to use those as well as the rear gears, but that isn't particularly difficult. Less expensive mountain or hybrid bikes will come with a triple front crank, if you want to simplify gear shifting  to start with put the chain in the middle ring just shift the rear gears.

One concern would be the wheels may have quick releases instead of nuts on threaded axles, which might become unsecured with obvious bad consequences. The quick releases would have to be tightened enough so they couldn't be undone easily, and your daughter would have to know to not ride the bike if one or both come loose.


148-to-141 conversion effect on spoke length?

The PCD of the hub flanges cannot be changed. but the flange offsets might be. What might happen is the hub body is shifted left or right relative to the centerline by the axle conversion.

The offsets are easy to measure, a millimeter scale ruler gives sufficient accuracy. Try this page: https://leonard.io/edd/howtomeasure. I'd personally check the published measurements anyway.


Freehub comes free from wheel with cassette attached

You usually can't remove the freehub body on most hubs by hand, as is probably obvious. However, on at least some hubs, the freehub body does slide right off. Mountain Bike Rider mentions this about DT Swiss star ratchet hubs in general, and I am able to do this on a DT Swiss 370 hub (a lower-end hub with pawls). Consider that while you are riding, the hub is under some compressive force from the thru axle or quick release. The freehub should be unable to just back off out of the hub.


What holds back refinement of self-energizing bicycle brake designs?

Power assisted brakes that amplify the amount of force applied to a bicycle wheel hasn't taken off because the idea doesn't provide a large enough a benefit of increased stopping power and saved energy required to stop to counter the cost of R&D.

Cars have mechanical assistance because of the amount of force that is needed to bring that much mass to a stop is not possible with the amount of leverage and force a human can safely do alone.  To get the vehicle to stop in a safe distance, you need to exert a huge amount of force onto the wheels to get the car to stop.

Bikes with their human passengers require much less force to stop.  Stopping power is sufficiently amplified through mechanical leverage and friction materials - enough to easily lock up a front or rear wheel with a slightly tighter squeeze of your hand.

My impression of an enhanced brake system on a bicycle is that your range of power application would be narrow due to the limited range of motion in your brake lever. Your brake lever already moves so slightly from no-braking to full lock that a device that amplifies the amount of power applied throughout that range would send your brakes from 0 to 11 near instantly.  Of course you could tweak the device to be more sensitive - or - just use mechanical brakes and not worry about a more complicated system.


Turning the lever will not tighten or loosen the clamp.

The lever is a handle to allow you to twist what would normally be a nut by hand - instead of using a wrench.

Using the lever as a handle twist push down on the lever and move the "nut" counter clockwise until it comes off.

Put just a tiny dab of grease on the threads of the bolt and re-assemble.
The grease will make it easier to get the clamp tight enough to hold the seat post - and protect against rust.

While you are there it would be good to remove the seat post completely and put a little grease on the seat post in a super thin coat and then re-assemble. This will protect the seat post from rusting to the inside of the frame.

If you have no grease a little oil is second best.


If you are coming back from a long layoff, I'd fix the Cannondale, then if you keep up riding in the future, spend some time considering if you want to upgrade and what to. It's never a good idea to be choosing a new bike under pressure to get riding.

Make sure the things the repair shop wants to replace are really needed. Cables and housings - yes that's a good idea and relatively inexpensive, but you could do that yourself.

Chain and cassette - make the shop prove they are worn out to the point of needing replacement. If not ride them until the do.

Definitely get the shop to explain why exactly they want to replace the wheels, and what they want to replace them with. You might be able to get a better deal on the used market through Craigslist or Ebay.


SRAM Force 22 chainset in an otherwise 10-speed SRAM setup

If you are prepared to move down to the SRAM Apex model, you can still get a 50/34 172.5mm version http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/au/en/sram-apex-white-gxp-compact-10sp-chainset/rp-prod83674

The first question and answer here indicates that an 11 spped chainring will work with a 10 speed chain: http://velonews.competitor.com/2015/03/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq/technical-faq-10-11-speed-drivetrain-component-compatibility_362722


According to French wikipedia, automatic pedals seem to be clipless pedals.

A wide range of manufacturers make waterproof shoe covers (also known as overshoes or booties), for use with both clipless pedal systems as well as your usual set of sneakers (be sure to check out the particular model to see if they're compatible. One designed solely for clipless pedals may be too small for your regular shoes unless you just wear Chucks. Ones which can be used for regular shoes are often marked to work with mountain bike shoes and leisure shoes). They just go over your shoes, and look something like this (not endorsing this particular model necessarily):

But a lot of people commute with their galoshes on regular old platform pedals for a very long time, so maybe you just need a better pair of galoshes?

A big part of not getting your feet soaked is avoiding water getting to them in the first place, which you typically do by using fenders.

Full fenders with mud guards - a lot of water gets kicked up by your wheels, and this prevents a lot of it getting to your feet in the first place. They also help dirt from the road not get into your drivetrain in the first place which is a nice touch.

If you're commuting on a race bike or full suspension mountain bike something, you may not have the brake clearance or mounting points to run something like these fenders (they're some set made by Planet Bike, but a lot of manufacturers make similar ones). In this case, you can get something that mounts solely on the down tube on and on the seatpost:

which will go a long way to keeping you dry (but not as much as full fenders).


You have three hazards.

First, there is some danger that the fork could fail catastrophically.  But if you are religious about inspecting the fork for cracks on a regular basis (and taking action of some sort should a crack appear) then the danger of this is low.

Second, having the wheel pushed back reduces your toe clearance, which can result in nasty spills if your toe hangs up on the wheel.  But there are many bikes designed with less clearance than yours, so this is a personal choice kind of thing.

Third, and possibly most significant, the damage affects the delicate geometry -- the "rake" and "trail" -- of the front wheel.  This affects handling and stability in subtle (and not so subtle) ways.  But if you've been riding the damaged bike for 5 years and not noticed this you've either become accustomed to this or the effect is not strong enough to worry about.

The bike looks like a reasonably popular one in the US, though I can't say about the specific model.  It's possible you could find a damaged one to scavenge parts from, but you'd have to be sure the "donor" bike did not have front end damage.


How much can bike shift cables spool, and over what radius?

How do you design a shifter and stay on the right side of this?

You don't.
You design a shifter that with repeated use breaks the cable. Then you expect the user to change the cable whenever it breaks, limping home without gear shifting function if the cable fails during a ride.
David Gordon Wilson has written a text about cable fatigue. According to it, the diameter ratio should be 72 for long life and 42 at a minimum. With 1.2 mm gear cable, it means 50.4 mm diameter or 25.2 mm radius at a minimum. Bicycle shifters have a far tighter cable bending radius.
The reason this works is because shifting is not safety critical in the manner brakes are. Bicycle brakes too have small bending radii in their cable path, but not as tight as shifters. In brakes, some design effort is needed to not immediately fatigue the cable. The brake cables still fail despite this.


Voodoo Bizango: Will the Schwalbe Marathon Almotion fit?

Yes, the new tire will fit.

When checking the tire fit, see what's already on, it's generally safe to assume that narrower products will be good to go. Your current tire is marked as 2.25 inches wide, so a narrower 2 inch would be OK.

There are cases where you have to take into account various factors like rim width, bottom bracket height, amount of travel, crankarm length, frame clearance, but not in your case.

  change the tyres because they are fat and feel very slow on the
  tarmac.

Feeling slow does not necessary mean going slower. But hey, it's up to you to decide what to put onto rims.


What to consider when looking for a chainguard?

I bought 2 of these half chaincases:

One of them is fitted to my wife's commuting mtb and does the job of keeping trouser legs and shoe laces out of the chain rings (with a guard disc fitted to the cranks as standard). I just couldn't get it to fit my hybrid without rubbing on the chain (and it was fiddly on the mtb). Both have 28-38-48 chain rings and i don't think it would fit anything bigger.

I think the reason I couldn't get it on mine was the length of the chain run (it's an XL frame) possibly combined with the 11--32 tooth cassette. The shape of the crank arms might have something to do with it as well -- clearances are tight. You should consider ease of fitting/opening/removal for working on the chain, compared with how often you need access to the top of the chain run. You may find that it's more total effort than a clip or tucking your trouser leg into your sock every ride.

There are similar chain guards out there. She's got an e-bike with one on. It looks like it would fit 2 chain rings but not 3 and has not branding on it.


I noticed the same thing when I first got a B17. I fiddled with various angles and so forth, but in the end I found it's mainly just a matter of getting used to the smoother feel of leather as compared to the plastic you're used to. You slide over leather more easily, especially if you wear typical bike shorts, and this gives you the sensation that you're going to slide forward since you're not used to a smooth surface. But you won't. Your position in the saddle is maintained by your arms and core no matter what sort of saddle you have, not the saddle itself. The smoothness of a leather saddle is actually a benefit, not a drawback, and you'll come to appreciate it if you give it time.

Yes, breaking in helps a bit but it's not necessary. Just getting used to the new feel is all that's necessary.

After a lot of trial and error, I ended up setting my saddle perfectly level just as I had with my plastic saddles. The temptation to tilt the nose upward just because the material is smooth should be resisted, as you've already discovered.


Slight Difference in Spoke Tension Between Inner and Outer Spokes on Straightpull Hubs?

Yes, it's normal and you correctly understand why. Some straight pull hubs can create more variance in bracing angle per side than a j-bend hub would. Other straight-pull designs (Velomax/Easton comes to mind) put the spokes in a straight line, creating the least of this variance possible.
On a j-bend hub, there is also some amount of this effect. But, it's usually very minor. How minor varies with flange thickness and rim diameter. In other words, it's at its least in a road wheel (big rim, dainty flanges) and greatest within BMX (little rim, sometimes thick flanges). You see the same thing where it's almost never a noticeable phenomenon building road wheels that the true optimal spoke length varies with the side of the flange, but if you look at nipple thread engagement on most BMX wheels the difference in engagement is readily observable. In almost any case with a j-bend hub, the effect is minimal enough and the rim is stiff enough that you can have all the spokes at the same tension and the wheel will still be visually true, because the rim stiffness is enough to make it that way. But, using a dial indicator on a very light, low spoke count rim built to near-perfect tension tolerance, you will be able to see the effect on the indicator.
Another way to think about it: the classical spoke length formula reduces the wheel to a bunch of circles and triangles between points in 3-dimensional space. It doesn't account for flange thickness unless you run the formula once for each side of the flange. It also doesn't account for the thickness of the spoke, i.e. the distance between its surface and center.
In practical terms, for bikes, once in a very great while, if you build a lot of BMX or ebike wheels, the whole thing can result in running out of threaded length on one side of a flange but not the other. I've seen it a few times. The importance of understanding this effect is actually in resurgence, because small wheel motor hub rebuilds are an increasingly common shop task, and they have some of the thickest, shortest spokes on the thickest flanges of pretty much any bike wheel genre in history.


With that in mind - can I put a 10/11 speed cassette on my existing
  (15 yr old Chris King) rear hub?

9, 10 and 11 speed Shimano MTB cassettes all use the same freehub body, you can keep the old hubs.

  It has come time to replace the rings (3rd set) again but Im guessing
  that I need new cranks.

Given a 15 years mark, you run FC-M950 or FC-M952. If that's true, try looking for an aftermarket directmount spider that accepts more readily available chainrings. Personally, I find it quite cool to own one of a kind crank like that.


One fun area is the Harz mountains. The ride to Goslar is around 80 km, and the old town is a sight as itself. From Goslar you can climb to the mountains and finish the trip at one of the several railway stops around the Harz area.


Using Nylon vs. Silicone Washer on Bafang BBSHD BBS01 Mid drive E-bike Motor Assembly

Nylon melts at a low temperature, but probably not gonna happen there. That is a worthless, free guess for you. The bearing looks to my unschooled eyes like a ball thrust bearing?  The "silicone" washer would be an aid to prevent ingress of dirt and egress of lubricant.  (PT Barnum famously led dalliers out of his mid-1800s New York Museum via a street door labeled, 'this way to the Egress,') ha ha!  Well, that Bafang sure has served you well. I vote that the slightly damaged old seal should remain on duty.  It is a known success and its job is not vital. It is a trained seal. I mean experienced seal. If it were a trained seal it would be playing toot horns in Barnum's American Museum.

          ------------> this    way    to    the   Egress

On second thought, it is not a seal, is it?  It's a deformable washer that smashes between a bearing adjustment nut and its locking nut. I don't understand its purpose but I don't know much.  That the motor has lasted so long is a great testament to the designers' skill.  Too bad, we can't ask them who really know.  Again, I would not replace it at all.  Nylon is low temperature, slippery and deforms (flows away) from pressure. IF that is a lock nut system, a nylon washer between the adjuster and the jam nut would not be a good idea.  The original "silicone" washer will serve just fine again, remains my opinion.


Would a Shimano 105 R7000 left side crank fit on an Utegra 6800 crankset?

Yes, you can use the left crank arm of your choice from the Hollowtech II road series. (105, Ultegra, DA)
It is quite commonly done, especially using a newer generation arm on an older chainset where the older style is no longer available.


How much can I expect to improve in 1 year?

Without knowing any more detail, the goal is probably achievable but you won't do it by riding harder, you need to train smart(er).

Given you just started cycling, if you have not had any coaching, you are probably close to fit enough to do it with improved techniques. You should therefore focus on training, not riding.  If you train to ride, rather than ride to train, you will become a stronger rider.  How much training vs riding is up to you - no point spending all you time training, especially if you don't enjoy it as much.

I suggest getting involved with a local cycle group, and maybe seek advice from a cycling coach. If you don't want to use a coach, look around the internet for training ideas and plans.  Be careful not to overdo it.


You can get racks, what you get will largely depend on the load. The two styles that work are a seat post mount rack or once that clamps to the seat stay. Seatposts often have a low load limit, and can be prone to swinging around, but are generally very popular. Using on on a carbon frame would have to be done with caution - ensure a long seat post insertion.  For heavier loads, a frame mounted rack such as the Thule Pack'n Pedal is best.

A post rack puts all the extra weight on the rear suspension, so has the advantage its suspended, but you might need to adjust shock settings for an ideal ride. A rear triangle mount is un-suspended weight, and will not affect shock settings as much.


How to select cog for emergency single speed conversion with a broken derailleur

The recommendation of Calvin Jones of Park Tool for a trail/road-side conversion to a single speed is:

If you have multiple chain rings, put the chain on the 2nd-to-largest chain ring.  I.e. if you have two chain rings, this will be your smallest.
For the cassette, put the chain in a straight line back from the chosen chain ring.  If in doubt, use the smaller of the two choices.
Join the shortened chain outside of the rear derailleur, and as tight as is reasonable.

This setup will give you a versatile gearing that you can get going without blowing out your knees, and neither the chain ring nor the cassette will be likely jump down to a smaller gear.


Do I need to replace my rims to move up to a larger width tire?

You're in a bit a predicament because of the age of your bicycle. If I remember correctly, your rims are S6 (Schwinn's designation), and therefore are ISO-597mm. This size was used by Schwinn are their mid-range to high-end bicycles in the 60s and 70s, and on a few British bikes. It is not compatible with nearly every modern tire. However, Kenda does make a 1-3/8" tire in that size. It's not bigger, but it could be a viable replacement when they inevitably need to be.

If you want a better selection of tires to choose from, I'd recommend taking it to your local bike shop. They'll be able to assess how you'd like to proceed. You'd likely be replacing your rims, and possibly the whole wheels. The prices could range widely and will depend on your area, so I don't want to comment on that.


What are the advantages and disadvantages to chain wax?

I suspect that it's cheaper for the manufacturer. Or if they're advertising it, it may just be a market differentiator. Regardless, leave it there rather than trying to remove it because it's right inside the chain where you need it. By all means wipe off any excess on the outside, but don't use a chain cleaner.

The different types of chain lube have been discussed at length on the web and elsewhere, and to the best of my knowlege the definitive answer is "it depends".

Broadly: oil-based (wet) lubes are more water resistant but attract gunk and turn into black sticky goo on your chain, grease-based (wet) lubes are more water and mud resistant but attract even more gunk, and wax (dry) lubes attract little gunk but wash off more easily. You also get various additives (usually teflon) to reduce friction. Then there are solvents used to remove gunk, like WD40 and kerosene. Despite sometimes being called oils, they are not useful as lubricants except in the immediate "stuck bolt" sense - they evaporate very quickly.

The consensus seems to be use wet lubes in the wet, dry lubes in the dry, and caution when discussing the subject.


I have steel pieces after using my turbo trainer? How can I solve this problem? Is this is a problem?

So after Googling your model of trainer, it appears the dust is likely coming from the resistance mechanism.  With the wheel off the only bicycle components I could see generating it (and depositing it in that area) would be the chain or cassette, which seems unlikely.  There are a couple of reasons I could think of for the dust.  One could be dust that was left over from manufacturing in the trainer, vacuuming or air washing the unit could help determine if this is the case.  A second could be dust created by metal parts on the unit which are possibly breaking in and would theoretically lessen after a few rides (I'd check with the company's customer service on this front).

Personally, I'd clean the unit (with a vacuum and/or air compressor) to remove the pixie dust and if it is still appearing after two or three hours of riding I'd contact the manufacturer.  It's normal to expect some break in period for mechanical products, and an issue like this goes away after a brief period of time and the unit continues to function, it should be fine.  If not (it doesn't go away or doesn't continue to function) then the manufacture should replace it or provide a refund.


The first is a Shimano M950 chainring:
https://si.shimano.com/pdfs/ev/EV-FC-M950-1591.pdf

The second is a Shimano M952 chainring:
https://si.shimano.com/pdfs/ev/EV-FC-M952-4-1757.pdf


Mountain Biking with Heavy Rider and Rigid Bike

The Multitrak is really a hybrid designed for light off road, on road and touring. You are right not to try and upgrade the bike parts. As long as you stick within its limits it will be fine. Enjoy the ride you have. If you enjoy it enough to justify it, save up for a new(er) bike.
Your legs and arms are the suspension.  If you learn to 'ride lightly', there is no reason the bike will not handle moderately rough trails. You need to unweight the wheels as you come up to bumps like roots and ruts, stand on the pedals and let the bike 'float' under you. The geometry is more aligned to road use, so its agility and stability won't be that of a full mountain bike.
You will need to pay close attention to the tire pressures - too much and you will have problems with traction, too little and you will have problems with punctured (snake bites from pinching the tube).  With no suspension its unlikely to can run low enough tire pressures for best traction and completely avoid snakebites, a tiny mistake can result in a heavy hit onto a trail feature (root, rock etc). I suggest starting with higher pressures and lowering them a little at a time if you feel the traction is too 'sketchy'. If you get a snake bite puncture, think about why, and decide of you need to bring pressures back up.


Do good tires lessen the chances of your innertube bursting?

Its extremely unlikely for an inner tube to just burst.

It sounds like you are suffering from punctures.
There are two types of puncture; the first is an object penetrating the tire and inner tube, and the second is a 'pinch' puncture where an impact causes the inner tube to be pinched between the tire and rim.

Many bikes (even expensive ones) come with poor quality tires as standard, and yes, changing them can make a big difference to penetration punctures.
No tire is 100% puncture proof, but something like a Schwalbe Marathon Plus is very close, but is heavy and can give a harsh ride.
Continental Gatorskins are favored by many as a good compromise between puncture resistance, rolling speed and comfort.

Pinch punctures are usually caused by hitting an object (such as a pothole) with too little pressure in the tire.  Adding more air to the tire (don't go over the maximum limit) usually prevents these.


Except for the steepest of hill climbs, aero wheels will almost always improve speed; however, the choice among race wheels will depend on the types of races you do, your strengths as a racer, how important small improvements in aerodynamic drag are to your goals, and the size of your bank account. For short individual time trials, .0025 m^2 savings in CdA (roughly, one-sixth the size of the difference between a very aerodynamic front trispoke wheel and a "standard" box rim) is worth 10 seconds in 40km and can mean the difference between standing on a podium or grinding your teeth on the long drive home. For citizen-level crit races where crashes are common, you may not want to risk expensive wheels unless your riding style is so dominant that you spend the entire race off the front and turn the crit into an ITT. For a long TTT like the Styrkeproven, aero wheels certainly won't hurt but the benefit of a deep set of rims may not be worth the cost if your team time is determined by the 10th rider to cross the line (in fact, in that case, a cheaper and potentially more effective strategy is to have everyone of the team use tight clothing and low rolling resistance tubes and tires).

Purely from an aerodynamic drag point of view, several of the larger wheel manufacturers (such as Zipp or Hed) provide information on aerodynamic drag differences (in grams of drag "force") between their various models and standard box rims. Most of these differences in grams "force" are measured at either 30 mph or 50 km/h. You'll want to convert this to the average speed you expect to maintain in your various types of races (the aero drag varies with the square of air speed) to make a rough estimate of the benefit you'll reap from switching to better rims. Exact calculations will depend on yaw angle but a handy rule of thumb is that a savings of 50 g of drag "force" at 40 km/h is roughly equivalent to a savings of 0.5 seconds/km at the same power output. Thus, the difference between a box rim and a trispoke front wheel could be around 1.5 sec/km, or about 1 minute in a 40km ITT.


Can I replace a Shimano MF-Z012 (freewheel) with a MF-TZ510?

Both of these models are freewheels not cassettes. They are for the most part interchangeable. The only area of concern would be the size of the largest cog. Too large a difference from you original model may necessitate a longer or shorter chain. You may also need to make some small adjustments get the shifting optimized.


Giant Rack-It Front Rack experience + bow vs. "bow-free" front racks

Stability of load will likely be quite different between the Tubus and giant racks.

For the Tubus racks the Tara had a cross brace to help stabilize the load.  The Tubus duo does not, but if you look carefully it mounts to both the inside and the outside of the mid fork eyelets, while the Tara mounts only to the outside.  This adds stability lost by not having a cross brace.  Note however that most forks today only have the outside midpoint eyelet (cost), so the Tubus Duo is not compatible with many bikes, which is why the Tara is their most popular model.

So why does the Dou even exist?  Tire clearance.  You can run massive tires without worrying about rubbing the cross brace.  In terms of performance I have used both racks and couldn't tell any difference between Tubus models in terms of stability.

Now this gets us to the Giant rack.  From the picture it appears to only mounts to the outside of the fork and has no cross bracing.  As such, it will have worse load stability compared to the Tubus models. If you are only running a light load, then it probably won't matter.  If you want to run a heavier load, but want to try and maintain steering responsiveness, then look for a low rider with cross bracing.  Note however that both manufacturers rate their racks as having the same max capacity.


How does a quill stem without a front bolt work?

At 10 o'clock there is a wedge that holds the handlebar. Taking off the plastic cap at the end of the stem reveals the bolts for tightening the stem and handlebar.


No return spring in SRAM Rival 1 brake lever?

By design:
https://road.cc/content/review/31892-sram-s900-singlespeed-carbon-brake-lever
" Feel at the lever would make Goldilocks proud, not too baggy, nor too snappy, in fact just right, but there's no return spring which might be a problem for those that prefer gritty cables."
https://www.amazon.com/SRAM-Rival1-Pair-Brake-Lever/dp/B017EET2TE
"I like these levers, please note, they do not have a return spring... thus the 4 stars. Also, people are telling me these are the same as the 500's but just with fancy graphics. But I like fancy graphics, so that's cool. But really Sram, why not add a return spring??"
https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/337133/
https://www.retro-gression.com/products/sram-s500-brake-levers
"The S500 features a composite body with adjustable-reach aluminum levers.
These don't have a return spring so you'll need to get creative if you only run a front brake and don't want the unused lever rattling around. You can do it!"


Is the frame material of Specialized AWOL Comp and Elite the same?

Same frame material. Not sure why it's not more detailed on the Elite specs, but there are several shops marketing it that reference the same frame materials as the Comp, like this one.

Makes sense when you think about it. The Comp and Elite ultimately refer to different component packages (just like those annoying and less meaningful letters that come after car models), though I'm not sure why they don't just call the frame an AWOL!


Do Miche bottom brackets require a special tool, or is this one damaged?

The OP notes: "Shop agreed that this part is defective, was happy to swap with another one. FWIW the guy there said he'd never seen another Miche bottom bracket with this issue. –  spacemanaki Mar 29 '14 at 21:56"

I just tried a google image search to see what they look like because I'm not familiar with Miche. The pic isn't perfect, but does give an idea that the splines don't have a taper on them like yours. Glad you were able to sort it with your LBS.


Using bikecalculator.com, I have a 165lb rider on a 15% grade at 12kph (units, oy!) needing roughly 500W. I'm pretty sure that most decent trainers can generate that, including the SuperMagneto Pro that I use. (My power meter and trainer road have told me that I've hit those numbers, however briefly). Like you've indicated, the progressive resistance is generated by speed, so you need to use an appropriate gear combination (big/small) that lets you pedal slow, but spin the wheel at a greater multiple of pedal stroke.

Power Curves:

RoadMachine: http://www.kurtkinetic.com/powercurve.php

SuperMagneto Pro: http://blog.trainerroad.com/cycleops-supermagneto-pro-added/


When is a good time to change tyres due to age?

You can tell a tire is ready to be changed when the rubber is brittle or when you're losing tread. I've found that tires that haven't been used or many years can sometimes get cracked and the rubber loses its flexibility, particularly in the sidewalls. If a tire is decades old, still has tread, and the rubber feels flexible, there's no reason to not use it.


Shimano Nexus 8 Hub Alignment Mark No Longer Visible

You can flip the bike over; there is a second set of alignment marks on the bottom of the cassette joint.

Shimano Nexus Hub Adjustment

Scroll down to "Gear Adjustment"; there are drawings that are helpful. This page in general has great information on Shimano's internally geared hubs; worth the read.

You can also purchase a new cassette joint. I've never seen the adjustment marks become completely eradicated; if you cleaned the bike with strong solvents or cleaners, this may have lightened them.


Checklist for Gates Beltdrive conversion...

The biggest hurdle is definitely engineering the split dropout or the separable chainstay. S and S Machine doesn't sell their S&S couplers to amateurs, so the most elegant method of splitting the chainstay proper isn't really available to you.  Other methods - using flat stock or other threadings - are likely to provide endless headaches there. Gates publishes a spreadsheet containing engineering documents for a few different dropout designs, you could possibly make them or get them manufactured to your specification by a local machinist and braze them ion, but once again you're looking at some significant expense and complexity.  There are a few other dropout designs as well, but they appear to be proprietary.

Ultimately you're looking at a sub-$300 frameset; you might be best off finding a Gates-compatible mass-produced frameset and moving all your parts over to that.


What type of bicycle is closest to European city bike?

"Dutch bike" is a good answer, but it won't necessarily find you all the possibilities; "transpo(rtation) bike" tends toward the Dutch. Besides what you already mentioned in your question, these bikes typically have:

mixte or other step-through geometry
internally-geared hubs for ease of maintenance
simple shifting, typically 3 or 7-8 gears (though with today's internal-hub selection, 11 can be found)
clothing protection, from chain guards and fenders to (less commonly) skirt/coat guards on the rear wheel
racks or rack braze-ons, minimally in the rear but sometimes front as well

US bicycle brands that offer bikes of this sort include Electra (Amsterdam, perhaps the Townie), Civia (Twin City), Linus (Dutchi, perhaps the Mixte), Breezer, and Public (mixte and step-through models). Trek made one called the Belleville that was discontinued (it was a heavy and inflexible beast; I considered buying one) but might still be available used.

In the UK, Pashley makes several models of Dutch bike (e.g. the Princess and Roadster models). A few US distributors will import a Pashley, I believe.


I want to upgrade my 2020 Allez from Claris to Shimano 105

To go to 105 you would have to do the following:

Front + Rear Derailleur
Cassette, Chain Rings
Chain
STI Lever (at least the right one) - This alone is like $150 per lever if I recall correctly.
Possibly new rear wheel

Overall most people will not make a jump from Claris to 105 because the costs usually end up being almost the same price as 50% or more of the value of the bike.
Now 105 to Ultegra/Dura-Ace is more common and cost effective (e.g. As I wear out components in the drivetrain I am replacing them to Ultegra).
What you can do or at least what I would do is this:
Check your current number of teeth on your largest gear on your cassette and count the teeth on your chain ring. If you are struggling on climbs I would try the follow in this order:

If your cassette is not 11-34 Claris I would spend the $20 or so and try that: Link
If you are still struggling on climbs replace your chain ringings to 46-34T. This will not necessarily make the climb easier because you still have a 34 T chain ring and max 34 T cog in the back, but it will make flatter portions feel easier, which can make the climb feel more doable: Claris Chain Ring
Save the money you would have otherwise spent on a 105 upgrade and use it towards a full carbon bike with 105 or Ultegra (e.g. Trek Domane SL5 and I think Specialized Roubaix not sure of which trim though).

Here is the important thing to realize though it will not get easier even with 105 or another bike (assuming both bikes are of equal weight/aero/etc.) if your cassette already is 11-34. The reason being is that 34T is the max size rear gear you can get whether it is 105 or claris and the smallest inner chain ring on both sets is 34T.
Also, are you sure the gradient is 20%. That is pretty steep for a bike - Link. Many cyclist will have to walk that:

Here is what 7% or so looks like as a reference near the end:

In that clip, I am in a 34 T chain ring and the 4th cog of a 105 11-34 cassette. So to your other point with training climbing 7-10% is possible even for an amateur.
Hope that helps.


Pannier rack bag for a not suitable suspension fork (Btwin Rockrider 5.1)

While I am not familiar with your bike or its front fork. I would think a front pannier rack like this may work. http://www.zefal.com/en/racks/118-raider-front.html

Please note that weight on the front fork makes the bike even easier to fall over. Please be very careful when the baby is on the back. I am not a fan of rear baby seats and would just buy a trailer.


Bicycle trainer tyre - understanding the sizing

You're on the right track buying a trainer-specific tire- trainers generate a decent amount of heat and eat tires.

Your current tire is a 700c x 37, so out of the list, I'd go for the 700 x 32. The 26 options won't fit on the rim.


Over the years I've dealt with a variety of puncture inducing issues ranging from desert thorns to broken glass to nails and tacks and metal shards.  While I agree with the other replies here that you shouldn't expect a puncture proof tire, there are some things you can do.  Below are some of the tips and tricks that I have picked up over the years.  The best answer for you is going to depend on what kind of bike you are using.

Start with a high quality, puncture resistant tire.  I know you asked for other options, but a quality tire can make all of the difference.  The Schwalbe Marathon Plus HS 440 is easily the most puncture resistant tire that I have ever used.  I have arrived at work with ~50 desert thorns stuck into these tires without losing any air.  More details available here: http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/Marathon_Plus_HS440.  Less industrious options (that are more suitable for road bikes where weight may be a concern) include the Continental 4000s and Continental GatorSkin tires.
Ensure that your tires are properly inflated.  And double check the pressure at least weekly.
Inspect and replace your tires frequently.  When your tires get too thin, they are more prone to punctures.  While there is no exact science as to when you should replace a tire, I tend to do it sooner than later and have found that this significantly reduces the number of flats that I get.
Consider using a sealant inside your tubes.  This is a liquid that will help to patch small holes in your tube as punctures happen.  The two leading options here are Slime and Stans.  Slime is thicker and is sold both pre-installed in a tube and separately (for injection into any tube). Stans is thinner and only sold separately (as far as I know).  You can use an inexpensive syringe kit to inject the sealant into a tube through the valve stem.  As a tire rotates the sealant will disperse throughout the tube.  In the event of a puncture, the air rushing out is mixed with sealant, which results in the puncture getting patched on the fly.  When it works properly, you might only lose a small amount of air and not even have to get off your bike.  Of course you should replace that air when possible.  And, depending on the size of the puncture, you may opt to replace that tube soonish as well.  Typically Slime is recommended for lower pressure tires whereas Stans works well in higher pressure tires, due to the tradeoffs inherent with the thickness of each sealant.
Finally, when I was living the the US Southwest with lots of desert thorns, some people used a setup they liked to call "the system".  This involved taking an old tire and cutting off the bead.  Then installing this old tire between your tube and your new tire.  The second layer of rubber provides a powerful barrier against punctures.  Of course, it is also heavy and a large pain to install.  I'd suggest that this is somewhat extreme, but I know people that love it so I figured it was worth mentioning here.

After taking all of these precautions, you should always carry the parts and tools needed to change a flat.  With luck, the suggestions above will significantly reduce your need to use such items.  But, it is always better to be prepared.  Again, depending on your bike you may want to carry 1 or more tubes, a portable pump, tire levers, CO2 cartridges, a tube patch kit (I personally don't like these because I find that getting a good patch is often a game of chance, but some people love them), and some nitrile gloves.


Why choose a traditional frame over an aerodynamically streamlined frame?

Aero frames are generally slightly heavier than the standard frame you'd compare it to, though the difference might not even be enough for the average person to notice. Someone who regularly competes in time trials might want the increased speed on relatively flat ground, competitors will certainly notice the difference.

If you're not competing in time trials or triathlons and you don't have an extra couple thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket, you would probably choose the standard, more compatible, traditional, and lighter frame that is going to perform perfectly well on your average terrain. If you frequently ride on hilly terrain, the added cost and weight of the aero frame isn't likely to be worth the trade off.


What's the difference between mechanical and hydraulic brake rotors?

There is no distinction between mechanical and hydraulic in terms of rotor compatibility per se. The manufacturer may be trying to get at something else in a clumsy and arbitrary way. They could be saying it's a direct replacement for the rotor that comes in some other brake set they produce, or they could be falsely equating mechanical brakes with using only organic pads, or it could be a dainty ultralight rotor and this is their way of cautioning against subjecting it to the generally higher (debatable) temperatures that might be encountered in a hydraulic system being used in a more demanding brake application.
The compatibility distinction you want to make sure you're not on the wrong side of is using metallic/semi-metallic pads on a rotor for organic aka resin only. But it's not clear that's what you have if that's the only verbiage they give you to work with.


The most accurate way to do it would be with a pitot tube to measure wind velocity and then to contrast that against speed-over-ground from your GPS or wheel speed sensors.

Before one laughs about the science-fiction nature of this, there's a product that does so: The PowerPod (link is to DC RainMaker's review of it). The Isaac software that comes with the PowerPod allows you to extract effective wind speed and direction amongst other things.


Are derailluers always or usually compatible with any cassettes?

No.

It's best, though not always entirely necessary, that the number of speeds match. There are some cross-compatible options, but if you're unsure it's better to just stick with a derailleur and cassette that were designed to work together.

It's also important to consider the size of the cassette in comparison to the amount of chain slack that the derailleur is capable of taking up. A road derailleur will often not work with a mountain bike cassette because it can not take up enough slack to account for the size of a mountain bike cassette.

Generally speaking, a cassette and derailleur that are the same number of speeds, made for the same type of bike, and made by the same manufacturer will be just fine.


There are multiple types of valve extension:

The extenders you have relocate the valve core.

The other kind are a plain tube which tapers with a similar profile to a normal valve, and screws onto the valve, over the existing valve core. Once the tyre is inflated you can remove the extension and tighten the valve-lock-nut.


The little rubber tubes are for repairing Woods/Dunlop valves. The valve core does not have any valve mechanism in itself, but relies on the little rubber tube to seal. The tube fits over rounded end of the valve core shown below.

Most of new tubes come with similar-looking valve that has a ball and spring mechanism instead of the rubber tube.


I am an avid reader, and while I agree that the best way to learn is get on your bike and ride, I like to have a book to refer to and enjoy when riding isn't an option.

I have three recommendations:

Riding Skills: Mastering Mountain Bike Skills by Lopes and McCormack - great descriptions, photos and diagrams. Can really help you become familiar with terms and techniques.  Now in it's second edition, so if you get it from the library you may want to see if they have the newest.

Maintenance: Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance - unless you are interested in shelling out $200+ for a shop quality repair guide, this the 'bible' of mountain bike maintenance. Again, there are multiple editions of this book.

Training: The Mountain Biker's Training Bible by Friel - A little dated now, and a lot of crossover with Friel's book The Cyclist's Training Bible.  Really designed for someone who wants to coach themselves to better performance; it requires some work on your part to develop the plans.

Hope you enjoy one or more of these.


Here's a link to the to a website that discusses how to determine from the serial number what year your Cannondale was made.
http://vintagecannondale.com/info/serial_numbers/
Then you can  cross reference that year's catalog, determine the model you have and then be able to get a list of parts/part numbers. The relevant letters and numbers should be stamped on the underside of the bottom bracket shell. Between 1993 & 1999, a two letter code stamped in one corner of the underside of the BB shell represents the year and month of manufacture. The letter F happens to represent 1994. See website.
Once you've determined the year made, a Google search (example: "1994 Cannondale catalog")  will turn up hits that link to a PDF file of that years catalog. Utilizing color scheme and component clues, you then locate the correct model.  With this knowledge you can call up the correct part and part numbers. This may sound convoluted but in just a couple minutes, I had a catalog downloaded and was ready to find a match. Bear in mind that the bike may be manufactured in the year prior to it's model year (the first 2019 bikes were being produced as early as last summer). So one may have to look at, 4say, a 1995 catalog for the correct bike despite sporting a "born on" date of 1994.
Here's another helpful link on the subject:
https://derailleurhangerstore.co.uk/pages/how-to-identify-your-derailleur-hanger
Good luck!


What does a "dished" wheel mean? How to tighten spokes on such a wheel, without a spoke tension meter?

If the wheel is symmetrical the spokes should all have the same tension. If dished (what you've called "skew" the bicycle world calls dished), the side closer to the centre of the hub will have more tension. All the spokes on the same side of the wheel should have the same tension.

Since you have derailleur gears the wheel will almost certainly be dished (it's possible to build a frame such that this isn't necessary, but that requires other compromises, so if it's a mass produced frame with derailleur gears it's got a dished rear wheel). With hub gears it is almost certainly symmetrical, and with a singlespeed it's probably symmetrical.

In general, the spokes should be as tight as the rim allows. Jobst Brandt in "The Bicycle Wheel" is quoted in this question as saying:

  With tensioned wires as spokes, the wheel can support loads only to
  the point where its spokes become loose. At this point the wheel will
  collapse. Therefore, for greatest strength, spokes must be as tight as
  the rim permits. Structurally the rim supports spoke tension as an
  arch that is compressed by the inward force of the spokes. The load
  limit for most rims is far less than what the spokes could deliver if
  they were tightened to their breaking point.

That book is short and cheap (but densely written) and well worth buying if you're interested in wheelbuilding.

edit: You don't need a tensiometer, you can probably do it by ear. This question discusses truing by ear and links to a useful article. Like Daniel  said in the comments, focus on getting the wheel true, stress relieve it, re-true it (repeat as needed),  ride it for a day or two, then check it. The closer you can get the spoke tension to even the less the wheel will go out of true when you stress relieve it/ride it, so the faster that process will go.

But if the rim or spokes are damaged you won't be able to get the tension even, and the older the wheel is the less likely it is that you'll get it even. The advantage of a tensiometer is that it speeds the process up and is more reliable (doing it by ear is very sensitive to the exact length between the rim and the first cross of the spoke, and you can change that by pushing on the spoke)


Will disk brakes fit on the Apollo Verge

From the pictures I was able to find online, the Apollo Verge I agree with the commenters that it does not appear to have mounting holes for disc brakes.  It has a couple holes on the rear above the dropout where the stays meet, but those appear to be for fenders and a rack. They cannot be used for mounting disk brakes. The fork does not appear to have any kind of mounts for disk brakes.  The hubs of your wheels also require mounting holes for the disk.  It's hard to tell from the pictures, but it appears the hubs don't have mounting holes, and I can't imagine that they would be present on a bike of this quality that didn't come with disk brakes to begin with.

Finally, the Apollo Verge appears to be a very low end department store bike. It's probably not worth the money you would put into it to convert over to disk brakes, even for just the front as you would have to get a new fork and wheel/hub.  If you are unhappy with your braking performance, the first thing you should do is make sure everything is adjusted properly.  After that, if you are still unhappy, consider upgrading to a higher quality v-brakes. The equipment that comes on low end department store bikes is often of extremely low quality and often cannot be made to work well no matter how well it is adjusted.   Even a lower end, but still decent set of brakes will probably cost you close to $40, or £30, which is about a third of the current price of the bike.


Is it possible to remove a coaster brake from a preschooler's bike?

Short answer - no, not easily.

Kids don't have the hand strength to use handbrakes properly, so a coaster brake is going to function better, once he gets the hang of it.

He's activating the brake by pedalling backwards.  So don't do that.  Instead encourage him to push off with pedals level instead of optimal angle.  That will discourage the rear brake from kicking in.

If you do want to remove it, you're better off finding another rear wheel that fits and lacks the coaster hub.  The local recycling shop here has plenty of bikes for $10, great parts donors.

Can Mister Four ride a 2 wheeler or is he on training wheels?  Has he had time on a balance bike?  He might benefit from "scootering about" on a two wheeler with no pedals first.


Increasing e-bike battery range by limiting speed

Depends totally on your bike's Battery Management System and what options it offers.

Generally speaking, a battery has a certain amount of stored energy, which is its capacity in watt-hours, which may be expressed in amp-hours (at a known voltage).

Functionally, a battery could put out energy at half the maximum rate, for twice as long.  If your bike's BMS lets you choose a lower level of assist, then it will get you further on a charge.

Excessive speed also costs you in power - at 15 km/h roughly 10% of your power goes into aerodynamic drag, with the bulk as rolling resistance and friction.   At 40 km/h your rolling resistance power loss remains about the same in terms of watts, but the aero losses are now 75-80% of your power usage.    So you're using 5× as much power to cover the same distance, at 3× the speed.   (figures are for a road bike; it's worse for a less aero bike)

If your bike has a throttle and not pedal assistance, then get it up to a safe riding speed and stop using the throttle.  Pedal to keep it at that speed, only use the motor to accelerate or to climb hills.

Remember in the end it's an assistance system, not a replacement for pedalling.  If you're treating it like an electric motorbike, then start pedalling and that will extend your range incredibly.


Are CO2 cartridges feasable for use on fat bike tires?

The short version: Yes, they are feasible.

The long version: You can do a minor adjustment of my answer in this question by changing the molar masses involved.

The molar mass of carbon dioxide is 44.01 g / mol. The ideal gas law says PV=nRT, where P is pressure, V is volume, R is the ideal gas constant and T is temperature (in an absolute scale, e.g. Kelvin). Rearranging terms and converting from mols to grams, we see (44.01 grams/mol)*PV/(RT) is the grams of carbon dioxide you need to achieve pressure P for a tire of volume V at temperature T.

Lets be crude about estimating the volume of a tire using a torus. The volume of a torus is V=(pi*r^2)(2*pi*R) where R is the major radius and r is the minor radius. Google will calculate it for you (and has a picture of what major and minor radius is). We'll use an estimate of 15.25 inches for the major radius and 2.25 inches for the minor radius giving 1524 cubic inches, or V=25 liters. Assume a temperature of T=293 K (room temperature) and asking for a pressure of 1 bar (14.5 PSI) gives 44.01*1.02 g which is about 45 grams. We'll also assume the volume of the tire is independent of the pressure (which is reasonable).

You can use this wolfram alpha link to play around with the numbers. Note that this calculation is linear in the pressure for fixed volume, so asking for half the pressure requires half the CO2.

Alternatively, rearranging the terms, if your cartridge has M grams of CO2, you can rearrange  (44.01g / mol) *PV/(RT) = M to see P = MRT/(44.01 g / mol * V). Thus, the pressure you can achieve changes linearly with the mass of CO2 you use provided temperature and volume remain fix.

So, if you want to go to up to around 14.5 PSI, carry a 45 g cartridge. A 20g cartridge will give you 14.5*(20/45) PSI = 6.4 PSI, and a 25 g cartridge will give you 14.5 * (25/45) = 8 PSI. 16g gives you 5.2 PSI, 14g gives you 4.5 PSI and two 16 g cartridges (i.e. 32 g) would give you 10 PSI.

Note that these numbers are a bit rough -- you might lose some pressure connecting the CO2 inflator, and we used an estimate of the tire volume. With more accurate numbers you can improve the estimates (and they should be quite good with a good estimate of the temperature, volume of tire). Overall though, I believe this calculation gives a bit overestimated amounts of CO2 required -- the volume is likely a bit smaller than the volume we used as an estimate.

But they should be good enough for determining the right size of CO2 cartridge to use.

Note that increasing temperature means you need less CO2 (while holding pressure and volume fixed). Increasing volume (i.e. using a bigger tire than what you calculated for) means more CO2 (while holding pressure and temperature fixed). Increasing pressure means you need more CO2 (while holding volume and temperature fixed).


Disc brakes are generally more effective in the rain than rim brakes, but using rim brakes properly in the rain has served people well for many years.

You need to feather the brakes to remove the water+crud from the rims. Softer brake pad compounds can also help you brake more easily. Also, having good quality brakes that are well adjusted is always a good thing too. Remember that you also need to brake earilier in the rain, regardless of the type of brake, and be more careful than in the dry.

If you have small hands, make sure also the small hand inserts are in for your brake levers (if it has them).


I'm a bit confused on bike shoe terminology. Particularly regarding Look KEO Plus Pedals - what is required to use them?

Cleats are the bottom attachment to shoes. Most road shoes use a 3 hole attachment, which is a standard size. Most pedal manufacturers have their own cleat style, but all 3-hole cleats use the same spacing as far as I know.

Your pedals may come with suitable cleats if you're buying them new, if not make sure you buy 'look keo' compatible cleats. There is another (old) style of look cleat that is incompatible. So long as it says keo you will be fine though.


Cheap MTB with future upgrades v/s costly fully ready MTB

The basic issue is that with most any new bike, if you were to add up what it costs to buy all the components and a comparable frame individually, you get a total much higher than the bike's price tag, even without including costs associated with getting those parts installed. Parts bought at retail get a whole different level of markup. That makes it hard to recommend buying a bike with the plan to upgrade it as you go. People usually get better value by buying in at a level of bike that's well-matched to their actual needs.

The other thing with full suspension bikes in particular is that the suspension designs are far from all being created equal, and the cheapest forks and shocks are extremely mediocre to actually ride. There are a lot of bikes out there where you're more buying the idea and look of full suspension than anything else - watch out for those, because no amount of upgrading really makes sense on such bikes.


Size 29×1.9/2.125 inner tube into my 700×40

2.125 is about a 54. That's enough mismatch that over long term use you could see the thing where the surface of the tube picks up a crinkled texture and it could maybe split and fail under pressure, especially if you're running high pressure, I.e. 55+ PSI. For this reason it's not really optimal, but it's a long term issue (probably years) if anything ever did happen.


What steps to take to replace bike frame

There are many issues for the new frame:

Fork drop out (front wheel spacing) might be wider, 100 mm for most modern bike
Frame dropout (rear wheel spacing) might wider, 135 for most modern bike
Headset likely to be wider, so you have to buy new headset with compatibility to a 1" fork (I guess?), 1-1/8 inch to 1-1/2 inch for modern bike
Bottom bracket is likely to be ok
Front derailleur clamp may be too small
Seat diameter might be different

Rules of thumb is that if the bike has no sentimental values, it is always more economical to use that money and buy a second-hand bike. Unless you would like to spend extra money to tinker and have fun with the bike in your own time.


Can I replace a Shimano RM30 8-speed freehub with an RM33 without any fiddling?

The freehub should fit fine, the RM33 is for the updated/higher end disc hub version but it is backwards compatible to RM30.  Actual part# for the RM33 freehub is Y30V98050


Ultegra 6510 shifter broken - upgrade to 10 speed?

Shimano groupsets get better over time so the latest R3000 Sora shifters are probably not as bad as you think. Certainly better than worn out Ultegra 6500 series.

You could upgrade to Tiagra 4700 10 speed, which again is probably actually better than the older Ultegra 6500. I test rode a couple bike with it and it seemed to comparable to the mix of Ultegra 6700 and 105 5700 I was running at the time.

I thought that 11 speed required a wider freehub body to accommodate the cassette, but I've read on this site that that is not always the case, so you might be able to go 11 speed.

About mixing and matching components:

The difference between 9, 10 and 11 speed cranks is the spacing of the rings. Higher speed chains have a narrower outside width (inside with is the same) so the rings are slightly closer together. Opinion on this site seems to be that you can run a 10 speed rear and chain on a 9 speed crank without too many problems.

You can in fact run 10 speed rear shifters with a 10 speed cassette and 9 speed derailleur because Shimano 8, 9 and 10 speed road derailleurs do all use the same actuation ratio (except Tiagra 10 speed which used the 11 speed actuation ratio), so it you can find some used 10 speed Ultegra or 105 shifters in good shape those will work.

Unfortunately my knowledge stops at front derailleur compatibility, I've yet to figure out the actuation ratios for those.


Is it possible to predict when roads will have less traffic?

Generally speaking, Saturdays and Sundays are quieter than weekdays.

The Department of Transport collects various statistics on road use. This table (TRA0307) shows average traffic by time and day of the week.

There's also this table (TRA0306) which shows average traffic by day for different road types and different vehicles.

Finally, there are statistics for average annual traffic on every major road in the UK. There's an interactive map here.


How do I bend my rear derailleur hanger (part of frame) back into place

There is a tool specifically for this. For example, by Park Tools. Might that help?


How does stiffness affect experience and performance?

A Wikipedia definition is pretty much applicable. Stiffness is how much things resist bending.

Stiffness is measured by measuring how much stuff bends when lateral force is applied. So, in the example of frame stiffness, you could put one end of the frame in a vise, horizontally, then hang a known weight from the other end and measure how much it sags.

Because bending takes and dissipates energy, the stiffer stuff is, the less energy it robs from the rider. In general, you want everything in the system to be as stiff as possible, except the elements that are specifically designed to be flexible, like tires and shocks. Also, stiffer bikes (or any type of vehicle really) are more predictable in handling, because they have less degrees of freedom, are less prone to vibrations etc.

All that being said, the effect of stiffness is generally felt only by the performance oriented cyclists and is typically secondary to other considerations, like weight. For instance, for years MTB XC racing cyclists used the lightest forks possible like RockShox SID, even though they had the reputation of being "flexible like maccaroni" because weight trumped all else. Only in recent years, and especially in the road world where there is a fixed lower limit for bike weight in competition, manufacturers started to focus on stiffness as one of the main differentiating factors of their components.


First Number = Nominal Outer Diameter of tire, including tread.

Second Number / Letter = Nominal width of tire at the start of the tread.

Tire size is determined by the outside diameter of the tire, as regards the 26 inch or 700c number. The 2.125 inch number is the nominal width of the tire at the point where the tread starts.

These are nominal measurements, though, and there is no universal standard applied consistently other than bead diameter.

700c x 23 tires from Schwalbe will measure 28mm in width, and about 5 mm extra in diameter. From Conti, its about 24mm and 1-2mm extra. There is no stadard for point of measurement. It is left to the manufacturer to decide, even before the marketing department gets involved.


If original, this is an old bike - the Trek 8500 went to shocks before 1998.

The 1996 is listed as having a 1 1/8" head set, so technically it would be a straight forward swap with a fork with the same headset (Most are now tapered). A shock will lift the front of the bike, changing the geometry. A smaller travel shock (under 100mm) might be acceptable and not change handling significantly.

You would need to find a 9mm qr fork with brake bosses for V brakes - (hard to find now unless very cheap model, although possible to find used ones in good condition, theres not certainly of it.)  The 1996 had V brakes, but earlier bikes might have had canti's. Upgrading brakes to discs (new front wheel) would be an option if you cannot find a fork with bosses for V brakes (requires a new front wheel).

Overall, unless you have a real affection for the bike or it is in exceptionally good condition, the cost will be prohibitive. Most people (myself included with a similar spec 1996 KHS I now really miss) end up doing the home work and opting to upgrade the entire bike.


Unable to push oil in when bleeding Shimano brakes

I had opened the reservoir of the front brake caliper instead of the rear.


Bike for a shorter rider to do touring, daily commuting and light off-roading?

I think there are three options to look at that meet all your requirements:

A touring bike
A Cyclocross bike
Build what you want starting with an old steel frame. (70s or 80s road, or hard-tailed mountain bike)

Note when shopping that a good rack is going to run you $50-$200 (and you want a front and back, so a total of two racks) and good panniers seem to run $100-$200 for a pair (and you may want two pairs). If a bike comes with good racks and costs more it may actually work out cheaper for you.

In general, you may want to look for bikes that have 26" wheels instead of 700c wheels. Since you're 5'4", fitting the larger wheels on a bike involves some frame geometry compromises. Also, if you're planning to do touring in other countries, apparently the 26" wheel size is easier to find in Asia and south america.

Also consider having the shop replace the stem and handlebars to get the fit right for you. You may find that the bikes come stock with handlebars that are a little too wide for you and a little too far forward to reach comfortably.  (however, fit is tricky since there's a lot of details and height isn't enough)

Touring bike

There's a lot of sub-variants in the general touring bike category, so not all meet these descriptions

Touring bikes are specifically made for carrying heavy loads using a front and back rack. Holes to bolt the racks, heavy duty frame, heavy duty wheels, etc.
Touring bikes are generally heavy-duty enough to handle a bit of off-road paths and many people include fire roads and other dirt or gravel roads in their touring.
Touring bikes usually are designed to handle fairly fat tires (for comfort over long distances and rough roads) and could have knobby tires mounted easily enough. Or fenders, though fenders limit how fat you can go on the tires a little.
Drop handlebars are common on touring bikes, though many people opt for various other bar styles
Touring bikes work great as a daily commuter (I use one that way)
Finding a touring bike for somebody who is 5'4" could be a little tricky
Many touring bikes are above your price-point by a few hundred US dollars.

As far as specific models, a few people have mentioned Novara bikes, which are sold at REI. I ride a Surly Long Haul Trucker which I believe does have a frame size option that might fit you and I think still retails for about $1100 (and since it's distributed by QBP, most bike shops can order it).

Cyclocross bike

Cyclocross is a sport that involves a mix of off-road and on-road. Usually reasonably smooth dirt and/or mud. No jumps. The most expensive cyclocross bikes are optimized entirely for racing and have no rack bolt-holes, but the lower-end cyclocross bikes often have bolt-holes for fenders and/or racks.

Cyclocross bikes are designed for light off-road. Because of that, they're likely to be tough enough for what you want.
Cyclocross bikes usually come with tires that are slightly knobby, and often have clearance for slightly larger tires than that (so that muddy tires can still roll)
Drop bars are the standard on cyclocross bikes
Once you've added a rack (or two, or basket, or rack and basket) and fenders, these make great commuter bikes. I've definitely seen people using them that way. For commuting or touring I would replace the stock knobby tires with a smooth puncture-resistant tire with reflective sidewalls (Schwalbe Marathon something, Specialized Armadillo, etc). For more dedicated off-road usage you might want to replace the tires with something more knobby than the stock tires.

Specific models: The Surly Cross-Check should work, it's very similar to the Surly Long Haul Trucker I mentioned above. I've seen Specialized Tri-Cross bikes for under $1000.

Right now is the very beginning of Cyclocross race season in much of the US, so if you're in the US it's likely stores will have some on the floor to check out.


FWIW, the mechanical engineering analysis that I have read about the mechanics of chains states that almost all the load is spread across the first 3 links that are in contact with the sprocket. So as long as you have 3 links in contact with the sprocket, you aren't increasing the load.

But this is all largely arguing in a vacuum. Set your bike up so that it shifts well, check the chain wear frequently and replace the chain when it starts to show signs of wear. Gears don't "wear" significantly until the chain starts to wear and elongate and increase stress on the gears. If you always have a "fresh" chain, your gear cluster will last a very long time,
regardless of how the B-tension is adjusted.


Is "touring bike" a common term in the USA?

It seems that the manufacturers themselves may be a bit confused as to what to call them.

Starting from a known set of bikes that I (and you) would consider touring bikes, I found:

The Trek 520 is categorized under "Adventure & Touring Bikes"
The Surly Long Haul Trucker is under "Touring" (someone got it right!)
The Kona Sutra is listed under "Road / Gravel"
The Specialized AWOL can be found by a search, but doesn't show up in any category listing!

(Cannondale makes a bike they claim is a touring bike (the "Touring Apex 1") but it's an aluminium frame, so I discount it.  But they also don't have a proper category for it, and it only shows up in the total listing of all road bikes.)


What is a good small bicycle bag to store your gear and/or personal things?

Saddle Bag

It may seem too small at first. But check what I can fit in with my Specialized Saddle Bag:

Two spare inner tube boxes
Cell phone
Keys
Money
Train travel card
3 tire levers
Small toolset


How to measure sit bone distance if I am very fat?

Many bike stores have a foam cube that you sit on for a few minutes. When you get up, the impression of your sit bones is etched in the foam and can be measured. The good bike stores will walk you through that before selling you a new saddle.


If you are just tightening it up, you should not have a problem keeping the same rules as the front. When you are assembling the when is when the hard part comes, as far as keeping the hub aligned properly.

I wouldn't suggest doing a 1/4 turn all the way around on either wheel. The spokes all come lose at different rates and for different reasons. My suggestion is to go through and get all the spokes evenly snug, barely past loose. If there are snug ones don't turn it at all, if they are loose, turn it 3 or 4 full times if it needs it, just get them all roughly even, but no need to loosen any if they feel too tight, that is for later.

Once you have them all barely snug, go through another time and tighten them up to proper spec tension. In the bike shop we had a torque wrench for the nipples, but if you don't have one, just tighten it up to what feels right. They don't need to be nearly as tight as your axle nuts, they will strip pretty easy if you over tighten them.

If you want to true them, it is best to use a stand, but you can tape a stick to the forks, or just use the breaks as a rough guide. Tighten the 4 spokes opposite the wobble. Just don't go over board, you could "egg" your wheel.


A good folding bike should ride just as well and last just long as a traditional bike. BikeFriday has a reputation for bikes that feel "normal."

As far as maintenance goes there is very little difference. From my experience the only thing that needs more frequent maintenance are the cable housings. This is because cables usually have to make more complex cable bends on a compact folding frame. This causes the housing wear out a bit faster. From my experience about 33% faster than my traditional bikes.


8 speed shimano claris cassette on Campagnolo Calima C17

A road 11 speed compatible wheelset will have a freehub body that is 36.75mm wide. A 8/9/10 speed compatible wheelset will have a freehub body that is 34.95mm wide - 1.8mm narrower.

You can fit 8, 9 and 10 speed cassettes on an 11 speed freehub body with the addition of a 1.8mm spacer.


The B-screw controls the body angle of the derailleur. It pulls the pulleys away from the sprockets, so you don't rub against them. If you set it in the largest rear cog (as you should), when you're adequately clear, you don't have rubbing.

Its a somewhat insensitive adjustment once you clear the cogs, but the closer you are to the loosest screw value which works (i.e. the closest pulley to cog), the better your shifting will be. If you set it too close, note that a bicycle moves, so you need to allow some tolerance due to vibrations and what not. Set it too far and your shifting won't be as crisp as it should be: "Since a derailer shift is caused by forcing the chain to run at an angle, the greater the angle, the sooner it will shift. The closer the jockey pulley is to the cluster, the sharper the angle will be for a given amount of sideways motion of the derailer. Thus, the looser the angle adjuster screw is, the better the shifting will be." (from Sheldon)


What could I do with a damaged helmet (other than wearing it)?

The straps are probably the best bit. You should be able to reassemble them into a short luggage strap perhaps to use with panniers or a rucksack.

If any removable pads have survived wear and tear up to now, they might fit your replacement, and a spare set of pads is a good thing for when the other pads are destinking (mine need a periodic soak in bleach).

I keep an old (but not visibly damaged) helmet under my desk in work, because I also keep a bike near work and in theory could end up wanting to use it and not having my current helmet.

The shape and size are too awkward for many potential uses - while you could probably make one into a lunch bag or something it would take more materials than it's worth. I wondered about keeping it as a jig or stand foe use when tinkering with helmet-mounted lights or cameras (something I do more than most people) but helmets are all different and what mounts securely on one won't necessarily work on another.

You may have recycling for the foam in your area if you can get the outer shell off.


Front derailleur adjustment can be tricky. It's worth following a step-by step guide.

I follow Park Tool's process. The process recommends adjusting the derailleur position so it is parallel to the chainrings, but I find I need to toe-out the rear of the cage slightly to get reliable upshifts to the big ring on my bike.