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

.red.

Type 17 wrote: »

What size is your tyre?

Tyre is a Bontrager 700x23. The valves on the front and back were different lengths so didn't know if one was better than the other.
I fixed a puncture today only to have the valve break in my hand as I went to attach the pump after putting the wheel on.
I won't be on the bike anytime soon so was gonna go online and get 2 tubes and a pump for on the bike anyway and won't be near my LBS.

Type 17

If the bike is on 23's, it's probably an older model (assumption), and so is likely to have relatively shallow rims (another assumption), so 700 x 18-25 (ETRTO size 18-25/622) with a 48mm valve will suit fine.

crosstownk

Measure the valve length on the old tube. If in doubt, get the longest one.

MadYaker

I got a Speialized allez elite a few days ago. Its the nicest bike I've owned so far and I want to maintain it properly, what basic stuff should I be doing? I commute by bike so I'll be doing about 10k a day on it. In the past I've had cheap bikes and just brought them to a shop when the brakes went or whatever but I want to look after this one properly.

MiskyBoyy

MadYaker wrote: »

I got a Speialized allez elite a few days ago. Its the nicest bike I've owned so far and I want to maintain it properly, what basic stuff should I be doing? I commute by bike so I'll be doing about 10k a day on it. In the past I've had cheap bikes and just brought them to a shop when the brakes went or whatever but I want to look after this one properly.

I have this saved as a word document on my PC. I copied it from here I think so sorry whoever posted it. I can't remember who, to give you credit.

A quick excerpt from a basic bike maintenance class i've done with a few groups... Bear in mind this is a simplified list for people who have never picked up a spanner in their lives!


BICYCLE CHECKS SCHEDULE
DAILY SAFETY CHECKS – BEFORE YOU RIDE
· Give your bike a shake! Rattles mean something is loose!
· Check tyre pressures – pump if necessary.
· Are brakes working?
· Wheels secure and turning freely?

WEEKLY CHECK
· Handlebars straight and secure?
· Saddle straight and secure?
· Check brake pad alignment – pads squeezing the rim = good; pads touching the tyre = bad!
· Clean wheel rims where brake pads touch rim.
MONTHLY CHECK
· Check your tyre treads – any bald spots, cracks or bulges are unsafe and require replacement of the tyre.
· Check your brake pads for wear (wear indicator), replace as required.
· Check gears are changing smoothly, not jumping or rattling – if so, bring to your bike mechanic.
· Check brake and gear cables for corrosion (rust) or fraying.
· Clean, degrease and re-lubricate your chain.
ANNUAL CHECK
· Once a year, you should bring your bike to your local bike mechanic for a full service and safety check – he/she can answer any queries or concerns you may have.

magicbastarder

first one is chain maintenance. lube your chain every week or two (you can go longer if you're cycling in dry weather, shorter if cycling in the wet), and importantly, always wipe the excess lube off the chain. if you don't, it attracts grit and grime which will act like an abrasive.
is that a disc brake bike? or rim brakes?

Tony04

cletus wrote: »

I'm hoping to change this to a single speed, so indexing shouldn't be an issue.

Dishing is another matter. Is there a simple way to check this?

Seth's bike hacks does video where he builds a wheel without any tools and had a method of checking the dish without any tools. If you cut the axles evenly it shouldn't be an issue though. Does the hub have a freehub or a standard shimano hub if its standard you can go 1 x 10,11 and even some sram eagle 12 speed.

ironictoaster

Hi All,

Sorry if this isn’t necessarily maintenance but I recently got a bike and I am absolutely loving it. Sense of freedom is great, especially during lockdown!

However, I am really paranoid about bike theft. I currently have the bike stored in the house away from windows, but this isn’t feasible long term and I will have to move the bike into the garden shed.

I was just wondering if buckets of cement, chains and locks are still the best way to go?

I am also looking to keep the bike hidden from view within the shed with a compartment door and lock

Thanks!

magicbastarder

it's the old story about strapping on a pair of runners when yourself and your mate are being chased by a bear. the thieves will prefer low hanging fruit. if they can't cycle away on the bike, they might lose interest, so storing the front wheel inside may be an idea. slightly complicates storing the bike though.

ironictoaster

magicbastarder wrote: »

it's the old story about strapping on a pair of runners when yourself and your mate are being chased by a bear. the thieves will prefer low hanging fruit. if they can't cycle away on the bike, they might lose interest, so storing the front wheel inside may be an idea. slightly complicates storing the bike though.

True, I imagine most are opportunistic. I have no issues storing the wheels indoors as they are both quick release.

So you think just storing the frame in the shed would be best?

magicbastarder

I have no actual experience to back it up, but even just making the front wheel inaccessible should deter a thief expecting to cycle away on the bike.

MadYaker

magicbastarder wrote: »

first one is chain maintenance. lube your chain every week or two (you can go longer if you're cycling in dry weather, shorter if cycling in the wet), and importantly, always wipe the excess lube off the chain. if you don't, it attracts grit and grime which will act like an abrasive.
is that a disc brake bike? or rim brakes?

Rim brakes. Ill have to buy chain oil so. Its a 2010 model, aluminium frame with a carbon fork.

saccades

cletus wrote: »

So, being annoyed that the wheels I got don't fit (at least the rear doesn't), I decided to do what any sensible person would, and take the axle apart to see was there any way to Jerry rig it to fit.

Having removed two spacers, the distance between overlocking nuts (o.l.d., I think) is now 125mm. So the axle fits between the dropouts.

I now have two options open to me.

a) run one of the spacers on the outside of the dropout to take up the excess space (less than ideal)

b) cut off enough of the axle to allow the qr skewer to tighten up on the dropouts.

Is there any reason not to go for option b?

125 spacing on the muddyfox?

I thought it might be 130 and you would get the 135 in there, sorry - should have double checked the width.

I'd go for option b.

cletus

saccades wrote: »

125 spacing on the muddyfox?

I thought it might be 130 and you would get the 135 in there, sorry - should have double checked the width.

I'd go for option b.

No apologies necessary. Looks like I'll be able to make it fit. Need to get my hands on a cassette removal tool, and swap spacers from one side to the other to balance things out

8valve

MiskyBoyy wrote: »

I have this saved as a word document on my PC. I copied it from here I think so sorry whoever posted it. I can't remember who, to give you credit.

twas meself!


You're welcome; great to see that it is of use.

mumto1

Hi there I had an issue with squeaky brakes on my daughters bike so I squirted rapeseed oil on them to try and see would that help. The noise is gone but now they won't work at all. My local bike shop is out the door with repairs. Can anyone please advise me on what to do now? thanks

crosstownk

Clean off all the rapeseed oil! :eek:

Brakes work on friction; oil massively reduces friction. By using oil you have effectively rendered the brakes useless and the bike dangerous.

Use a degreaser - your local hardware should have something suitable in stock. Clean the brake pads/blocks thoroughly. Same with the rims. Get rid of ALL that oil. You may even need to replace the brake pads/blocks but clean them first and see if that sorts it.

If you're unsure just wait for the bike shop. This is probably your best bet.

dahat

The conclusion of the noise from my bike.

BB replaced
Headset stripped & greased
New shoes
New cleats
Chain checked
Chainring bolts checked
New pedals axles x 2

A bloody expensive investigation.

The source of the noise was the new look cleats that had grips on them. I tried old shoes with non grip cleats & no noise at all.

While sickened for the spend I've lovely new shoes and now need to spend further cash without arousing suspicion that previous spend wasn't nessecary!!!!!!

Tony04

dahat wrote: »

While sickened for the spend I've lovely new shoes and now need to spend further cash without arousing suspicion that previous spend wasn't nessecary!!!!!!

To be fair you've saved on inevitable bike maintenance. Expenditure on bikes is never unnecessary

mumto1

crosstownk wrote: »

Clean off all the rapeseed oil! :eek:

Brakes work on friction; oil massively reduces friction. By using oil you have effectively rendered the brakes useless and the bike dangerous.

Use a degreaser - your local hardware should have something suitable in stock. Clean the brake pads/blocks thoroughly. Same with the rims. Get rid of ALL that oil. You may even need to replace the brake pads/blocks but clean them first and see if that sorts it.

If you're unsure just wait for the bike shop. This is probably your best bet.

Ah okay. I'll give that a go. Thanks for your help

magicbastarder

dahat wrote: »

BB replaced
Headset stripped & greased
New shoes
New cleats
Chain checked
Chainring bolts checked
New pedals axles x 2

not sure whether dahat's upcoming ads in the cycling adverts forum will feature in the 'bargain alerts' thread.

I was kindly given a CUBE Attention Mtb. I guess 2012 ish. It had one serious issue and all worn out consumable stuff but €250 later most are fixed. I'm OK with that it's a reasonable bike.

Anyway the fork is a RockShox XC28 that was probably never serviced. I went looking for kits but am unsure:

Do I need this Wiper Kit
https://www.bike24.com/p2129554.html

OR
This more involved kit

https://www.bike24.com/p2132791.html

Neither come with fluid. Do I need that?

Any help appreciated. I would like to service it to keep it going rather than have it wear out from lack of maintenance.

CramCycle

Anyone know what brake pads would go with the following brakes: Shimano BR-RS505, Hydr. Disc Brake, Flat Mount (160/160).

Type 17

CramCycle wrote: »

Anyone know what brake pads would go with the following brakes: Shimano BR-RS505, Hydr. Disc Brake, Flat Mount (160/160).

Shimano L02A, with the heat-sink fins

woody33

Broken Spoke again!
My bike is a 10 year old Felt MTB, bought off a friend not long ago. The back tyre started rubbing, I found a broken spoke, buddy who is handy with bikes didn't have the tool to remove cassette, so off to the LBS who repaired it for 20 bucks, much appreciated. A couple of days ago the back tyre started rubbing, buddy trued it up but today I have found another broken spoke. Feck.
Maybe I'm hitting the old speed bumps too hard? The local ones are kind of long and not too sharp, and I get out of the saddle and keep my weight back. Tyres are 26" 2.25 at about 30psi, so reasonable cushiony. Should an MTB be able to cope with that sort of thing? And would I be ok tightening and loosening nearby spokes to get rid of the rubbing until I can get it repaired? Thanks for any ideas.

Type 17

Possibilities:

Overall spoke tension of the wheel is too tight. When trueing a wheel it's important to loosen some spokes as you tighten others, rather than just trying to achieve all desired rim adjustments by tightening (might not be your mate's fault, could have happened that way anytime before you bought it).

Chain has gone down between the biggest sprocket and the spokes at some stage, and has chewed the 9 outer spokes (if it's a 36-spoke wheel) on the right flange, making them weak (if they're mangled / thinned, you can change the others all at once and restore full strength to the wheel).

Wheel had not-brilliant spokes to start with, they've all been in the same wheel for the same time, and now they've all started to fail from fatigue.

woody33

Thanks, all quite plausible. I would have hoped the LBS might have spotted any other spokes that were dodgy. Anyway, I've asked him to book me in again, he's up to his eyes at the moment. I've adjusted the wheel in the dropouts to stop the rubbing as a temp fix.
So a half decent hard tail should be ok with speed bumps? (Maybe I should stop saying "wheee" to myself as I fly over them.)

Type 17

woody33 wrote: »

...So a half decent hard tail should be ok with speed bumps? (Maybe I should stop saying "wheee" to myself as I fly over them.)

Yes, speed bumps / weight shouldn't be an issue unless you're really heavy, or you're carrying a lot of gear (many manufacturers specify a combined total weight limit of about 135kg for the rider/bike/cargo).

saccades

woody33 wrote: »

Thanks, all quite plausible. I would have hoped the LBS might have spotted any other spokes that were dodgy. Anyway, I've asked him to book me in again, he's up to his eyes at the moment. I've adjusted the wheel in the dropouts to stop the rubbing as a temp fix.
So a half decent hard tail should be ok with speed bumps? (Maybe I should stop saying "wheee" to myself as I fly over them.)

Tbf to the bike shop, they will be mad busy and they probably did spot the spokes but forgot to tell you - over half the time replacing one would be enough to fix the problem.

You might need a smoother technique but I too go "whee" over speed bumps so I reckon it's old age/condition of the wheel.

Seth Brundle

I've two noises coming from the bike now.
The first is when I change from the small wheel to the large one, I get a squeak. I assume it's the cable and just needs to be replaced.
The other noise is, I think, from the BB. It's a kind of clicking as I'm moving and the cadence is under a bit of pressure. It's the original so has about 10k kms on It. Would that be normal wear?
I was thinking leaving it into the LBS but that would be 10 days away and I'd be without my road bike for 2 or 3 days (panic!).
Is the BB a diy job on a Shimano 105 setup?