the 'there's no such thing as a stupid question' bike maintenance thread

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117766011#Comment_117766011

Thanks for that. I was actually referencing a previous post of mine, where I couldn't find it because...it was hidden by the clamp on the bike stand🙄🙄🙄🙄

S_D

Lads, does anyone know how to help... I seem to have the loudest brake squeal this side of the continent in wet weather and its driving me bonkers.

Ended up putting new pads & discs recently. Always cleaned with 'muc off brake cleaner' etc. No oils getting near the components. The braking noise is like a train coming into station, its painful!! I've never heard anyone else with the same horrendous squeal. Any suggestions to help stop it?!

magicbastarder

my routine is to get some fine sandpaper and sand both the pads and the disc. and hit the pads with a heatgun; bike brake pads don't reach the heat required to burn off contaminants. usually works for me.

ARX

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117758792#Comment_117758792

€16 in Joe Daly just now.

Benny Cake

Whar width rim tape do I need for my tubeless wheels? They are Giant SLR1 wheels. Been googling all evening to no avail!

tomasrojo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117738492#Comment_117738492

Not sure if anyone has answered you. I've never seen individual replacements for rubbers seals on headsets. Nor replacement caps; I have a cap and a seal on one of my bikes.

But threaded headsets often don't have a rubber seal at the top. If you service the headset every year or two, I think it wouldn't make much difference not having the seal. The top only gets rainwater, the bottom part of the headset usually wears out long before the top, and which point you can replace the headset anyway, if you still have a kid in the age range for the bike at that stage. For the lower part of the headset, mudguards would be more important than a seal, I think.

jebidiah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117747212#Comment_117747212

I went with 700*28 Schwable Marathon Plus tyres and I am just barely clear in the front, but there is enough rub on the rear (under side of brake caliper) to cause the wheel to slow down.

Not sure if it's the increased thickness of the model, it could just be the mould line... But I'll try return them to Halfords and get 700*25 instead.

ARX

A year ago I bought a set of Shimano RS500 SPD-SL pedals. I fitted them recently and the left pedal is binding on the axle, making it hard to clip in as it doesn't hang toe upwards. When I turn it by hand I can feel the roughness characteristic of an over-tightened cone.

The retailer is telling me that even though I have only just put them into use, maintenance is still necessary.

I don't see adjusting over-tightened bearings on a new pedal as maintenance. Bearing maintenance to me is adjusting the cone to remove the play that occurs with wear.

In my view they are asking me to rebuild a pedal that was assembled incorrectly at the factory. I'm surprised that they assume that I have both the time and the competence to do so.

I would expect cheap unbranded pedals to have over-tightened bearings, but these are Shimano. Even if they are the cheapest Shimano SPD-SL pedals, I still expect them to be correctly assembled. I have a pair of low-end Shimano SPD-SL pedals from 2010 that have had no maintenance and are still perfect.

What do you think? Am I being unreasonable in expecting new pedals to be correctly assembled, or is the retailer unreasonable in expecting me to rebuild them?

In other words, AITA?

EDIT: The Shimano warranty excludes claims where "the Shimano Product if it has been modified or repaired by a person other than an authorized Shimano dealer" so I'll be voiding my warranty if I rebuild the pedal.

magicbastarder

pedals are not the sort of thing most people would have the time or competence to maintain, but if they've only been put into use and are graunchy, i'd consider that a warranty issue; i've a pair of five year old SPDs which have never been maintained, and are used on my winter bike (which was used for commuting), look very rusty and tatty, yet still run true.

cletus

Back to the shop for one of the R's (replace, repair, refund).

There's no way you should need to do anything to a new set of pedals other than install them

jebidiah

Is there a difference between the height of 700*25 and 700*28 tyres? Or is it just width?

loyatemu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117775130#Comment_117775130

yes they'll be higher as well (but at the end of the day every brand is going to be slightly different, some 28s will be smaller than others).

Idleater

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117775130#Comment_117775130

There can be, also rim width and the profile of the inner surface of the rim.

jebidiah

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117775239#Comment_117775239

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117775191#Comment_117775191

I installed a set of 28s on my bike yesterday and the rear tyre rubs just a bit on the brake caliper (not sure if it's just mould line) So I'm assuming I'll be safe switching to 700*25 of the same model?

Squidgy Black

ST-5800 right hand lever is extremely stiff for braking, no matter what the tension is on the cable (unless it's completely slack), have ordered a replacement cable to try that first and sprayed a bit of gt85 inside the pivot, is there anything else I need to check?

loyatemu

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117775405#Comment_117775405

you should be fine with the 25s - what did you have on before the 28s?

I had the same issue with 28s and I put an extra spacer on the rear brake caliper so it's slightly further away from the wheel. This resolved the rubbing (though it's still very tight and debris keeps getting caught in the gap, so I think I may go back to 25s).

magicbastarder

i'm getting a faint buzz off my left shifter while my hand isn't on it, on roads with a rougher texture; it's three years old, 6800.

anything obvious to check for looseness?

Wildly Boaring

Had similar, turned out to be brake cable frayed slightly wasn't allowing the shifter spring retract fully.

RunDMC

I need to replace a centrelock disc brake rotor, but the Shimano cassette tool I have seems to be too short to engage on the disc rotor. That is to say the splines on the tool are too short to reach the rotor because the hub is in the way. Is this possible or am I missing something.

Cheers

R

mosstin

I have a major issue with my Shimano Ultegra rear derailleur (it snapped, basically) and as it's less than 2 years old, I'm assuming it's still covered by warranty. Anyone returned items directly to Shimano before? Bike shop I bought the bike from is now closed so can't return to them.

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117779165#Comment_117779165

Might be a stupid question to ask, but did the derailleur snap, or the derailleur hanger snap. If it's the latter, that's a cheap and easy fix

mosstin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117779239#Comment_117779239

No, the derailleur itself snapped unfortunately.

magicbastarder

where? is it possible to see based on the break, why it broke?

zinzan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117770898#Comment_117770898

Thanks for that. Given it's a kids bike and the speed they grow, I'll leave it as it is so!

nicksnikita

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117775432#Comment_117775432

Would the issue be in the brake as opposed to the lever?

Try squeezing the caliper together by hand and see if it springs open again by itself.

Squidgy Black

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117787660#Comment_117787660

Yeah the caliper was a bit on the stiff side, but replacing the cable seems to have done the job for now fortunately.

Richard Hillman

Had a flat on my front wheel, changed the tube and but the tyre was tough to get back on (Continental). Now the tyre is wobbly. There is not an even line above the rim. I have taken it off and refitted a couple of times and it just won't set on the rim.

I have looked at a ton of YouTube videos. Soap & Water to lube it up, even used coconut oil. I half inflated to fix it and overinflated to fix it. Tried to cycle it out over a couple of Km whilst fully inflated. Even did a half inflate up and down the road to see if it sets. Nothing is working.

It's a relatively new bike, about a month old. Help......

magicbastarder

my routine is to pump to about 25psi and them manipulate the tyre into place - you can usually see where the bead of the tyre has not seated up into the rim, so you can push it inwards and there's usually enough pressure to push the tyre up into place. not sure if that's what you meant by half inflating it.

mosstin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117779670#Comment_117779670

Nope, no evidence at all. Had Ultegra derailleurs for years and never seen anything like this.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117790152#Comment_117790152

Where did it break? Did the cage plate come away or something further up like the pivots?