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

magicbastarder

is there a simple list of chemicals which you should not get near disc brake pads? i.e. would even something like a detergent cause issues with contamination; i was wondering as i was cleaning the bike earlier if i can be overcautious in cleaning the bike near the brakes.

any tips on looking after a steel frame? my latest purchase has mountings for racks and also a couple of unthreaded holes - should i tape those up to keep water out, or leave them uncovered to let the water out should it get in?

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cython

mirrormatrix wrote: »

Would it not be a lot easier to just get a lower geared cassette? What are you riding at the minute? Switching 52/36 to 50/34 doesn't seem like its worth the hassle of changing for one ride?

Lower geared cassette may require a new/longer chain and/or new derailleur, though depending on the current slack going 50/34 may require links to be removed. If the poster has a 50/34 lying around though, probably that's the easier option.

smacl

Crocked wrote: »

Signed up to the Mick Byrne. Bike I'll be using has 52/36 which usually is grand in the Wicklow hills but think a compact will be better for the day thats in it. I have a compact I can switch on, the question is will I need to adjust the front derailleur as well?

Possibly need to adjust the height. Normally the clearance between the derailleur cage and top of the big chain ring is about the width of a coin. The smaller diameter of the 54 vs 56 big ring might leave this gap too big.

Crocked

Cheers lads. I'd have to buy a new cassette if wanted to go lower that way, but have the compact anyway.

I have a 28 on the back at the moment with a short cage derailleur.

Only way I'll know for sure is to just try it before the event and see if, as smacl says, the gap is too big. Hopefully it won't require too much messing with the derailleur height or chain length.

CrowdedHouse

smacl wrote: »

Normally the clearance between the derailleur cage and top of the big chain ring is about the width of a coin.

Thanks for that, must take a note of mine for future reference.

68 lost souls

Brakes, my rear brake pads are out of place and nearly clamping the tyre, I always have difficulty aligning them properly. Anyone got any advice? I was tempted to buy the tool that parktools make but I'm sure it can be done well without it.

smacl

68 lost souls wrote: »

Brakes, my rear brake pads are out of place and nearly clamping the tyre, I always have difficulty aligning them properly. Anyone got any advice? I was tempted to buy the tool that parktools make but I'm sure it can be done well without it.

Don't know what others do, but I always positioned the pads with the brake levers lightly squeezed, then squeezed them hard when tightening the bolts. After that it is just a matter of left/right balance. Moved to discs since, which is another story.

gaffmaster

11 Speed >> 9 Speed Chainring/ Front derailleur compatibility...

Can 11 speed Chainrings and Cranks be used with a 9 speed front derailleur? Would probably need an 11 speed chain too?

I read an 11 speed chain can be used on 10 or 9 speed cassettes/chainrings and is recommended as it has better tolerances. Is this true?

68 lost souls

smacl wrote: »

Don't know what others do, but I always positioned the pads with the brake levers lightly squeezed, then squeezed them hard when tightening the bolts. After that it is just a matter of left/right balance. Moved to discs since, which is another story.

Followed that and redid the alignment, set the barrel adjuster back to about halfway point and redid the cable tension. Brakes seem better now will take it for a test spin tomorrow

Is there a recommended torque for the break pad screws? As in the pad holder rather than the grubscrew that keeps the pad in place

cython

gaffmaster wrote: »

11 Speed >> 9 Speed Chainring/ Front derailleur compatibility...

Can 11 speed Chainrings and Cranks be used with a 9 speed front derailleur? Would probably need an 11 speed chain too?

Assuming you have 11 speed shifters also, then I would have my doubts if it's Shimano at the very least, as I believe the cable pull ratio was changed going from 10 to 11 speed to "lighten" the effort of shifting into the big ring. No experience of other brands to comment.

gaffmaster wrote: »

I read an 11 speed chain can be used on 10 or 9 speed cassettes/chainrings and is recommended as it has better tolerances. Is this true?

It can probably be used alright, but I've heard the opposite, to an extent, in that the thinner chain is somehow harder on the cassette, and will wear it out faster. I have no empirical evidence for this though!

gaffmaster

cython wrote: »

Assuming you have 11 speed shifters also, then I would have my doubts if it's Shimano at the very least, as I believe the cable pull ratio was changed going from 10 to 11 speed to "lighten" the effort of shifting into the big ring. No experience of other brands to comment.

I have a 9 speed Sora Groupset (with FSA Vero cranks), and might soon have a spare 11spd FSA Gossamer crankset. I was considering lobbing it onto the bike if it'll work.

cython wrote: »

It can probably be used alright, but I've heard the opposite, to an extent, in that the thinner chain is somehow harder on the cassette, and will wear it out faster. I have no empirical evidence for this though!

Interesting. The thing I read says 11 speed chains don't stretch as readily as 10 speed, so you get better power transfer. Perhaps this indeed does lead to the cassette wearing out quicker.

mirrormatrix

68 lost souls wrote: »

Is there a recommended torque for the break pad screws? As in the pad holder rather than the grubscrew that keeps the pad in place

There probably is, but hand tight is fine. You're not going to do any damage by overtightening it.

magicbastarder

take the existing clamp off, wrap a ribbon of paper or similar around it (with an overlap) and cut through the overlap with a scalpel. divide the length of the remaining piece of paper by 3.14.

Type 17

The inside of the clamp/outside of the seat tube is where the clamp is measured.

If your seat post is a 27.2, then it is likely that the clamp is a 31.8 - this is now a common combination on aluminium frames, especially Treks.
In times past, frame tubing came in various diameters, and wall thicknesses, leading to multiple seat clamp diameters and loads of seat post diameters between 25.0 up to 31.8. Nowadays, with aluminium frames and hydoforming allowing variable diameter tubing, things have settled around 27.2 and one or two larger sizes for ATB's and Folding bikes.

Type 17

As a final check, measure across the inside of the removed seat clamp - the next most popular clamp size is 34.9, so even with a relatively crude method of measurement, like with a ruler, you should be able to see which size it's closest to.

Type 17

Donnybrook Bikes have one in stock, I think (will confirm on here tomorrow morning).

Type 17

Will do.

Type 17

Yes, there's one left - M-wave brand at €11.50.

The shop is open until 6pm.

magicbastarder

mb's 'no such thing as a stupid tip of the day' tip of the day; before you wrestle the pedals off your bike, check the ones you're replacing them with are healthy.

gaffmaster

A question about cross compatibility of brake cartridges and pads:

I have Ultegra 6700 brakes and pads on my bike. Can I buy SwissStop pads and slot them into the cartridge housing, or do I need to buy SwissStop Pads and Holders together? Am I right in assuming all 'Shimano system' pads and cartridges are cross compatible?

68 lost souls

gaffmaster wrote: »

A question about cross compatibility of brake cartridges and pads:

I have Ultegra 6700 brakes and pads on my bike. Can I buy SwissStop pads and slot them into the cartridge housing, or do I need to buy SwissStop Pads and Holders together? Am I right in assuming all 'Shimano system' pads and cartridges are cross compatible?

Yes they should be cross compatible but I did have issues getting the Swissstop pads into my holders, seems not to be a common issue though so must have just been me, got them in with some good old fashioned elbow grease

LollipopJimmy

I've been offered an Ultegra 6800 groupset minus the crank and BB... 2 things, 1st is it's a long cage rear mech, does this have any drawbacks?

2nd is what are my options crankwise? There are FSA cranks on Chainreaction at good prices, ideally I'm going 50/34. What BB would I need, my frame is a Scott Speedster40 (Triggers broom at this stage)

Thanks for any input

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

mb's 'no such thing as a stupid tip of the day' tip of the day; before you wrestle the pedals off your bike, check the ones you're replacing them with are healthy.

anyone know what would be the chances of getting the doohickey mentioned at 1:27 on this video, in an LBS? or should i just maul it with a vice grips and some old inner tube?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVmSrsnVUGI

seamus

I have one, but I don't remember where I got it. It's the kind of thing you can lash in with any other online order;
https://www.bike24.com/p26841.html

A bigger LBS might have them in stock; being plastic, they're kind of consumable and they're cheap, so the shop might actually have a box of them in the shop.

seamus

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

I've been offered an Ultegra 6800 groupset minus the crank and BB... 2 things, 1st is it's a long cage rear mech, does this have any drawbacks?

2nd is what are my options crankwise? There are FSA cranks on Chainreaction at good prices, ideally I'm going 50/34. What BB would I need, my frame is a Scott Speedster40 (Triggers broom at this stage)

Thanks for any input

Long cage rear mechs are designed for situations where you need a wide range of gearing, usually like a triple on the front and 12-32 on the rear.
They can be used on narrower ranges like you'd typically find on a road bike. The drawbacks are that you will have more chain (and therefore slightly more weight), the mech itself is slightly heavier and the combination of a slightly longer chain and a longer cage makes gear changes a little less "snappy" than a short cage. There is a tiny risk that the increased flex can result in the mech getting caught in your rear wheel, but if it's set up correctly this is very unlikely.

In general you won't really notice, and unless you're racing at the A3+ level you won't find yourself in many situations where it poses a disadvantage.

Crankwise you're pretty free to choose what you like. As far as I can tell the stock crankset on the Speedster is Sora, so any crankset that uses a threaded bottom bracket will work. In FSA terms, that looks like any crankset that takes a BB386EVO bottom bracket.

iwillhtfu

Deedsie wrote: »

Has anyone here repainted or sprayed their bikes?

I have a fairly dinged up rear rack that I would like to respray back to its formal glory. It is a black Topeak Super Tourist rear rack.

Is it a big job?

It can't be that big a job.

Run a wire brush over it or a light sanding to remove any loose materials.
Spray with rattle can primer
Spray with gloss/matt rattle can possibly 2 coats
Spray with couple of coats of clear
Voila

If it looks crap rinse and repeat

somefeen

I have an old 10 speed mountain bike. Its a 2 x 5 set up. I'd like a few lower ratios so I want to make it a 3 x 5.
The lowest gear I have at the moment is 38 teeth on the ring and 28 on the cassette so I was gonna get this.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/shimano-acera-m391-square-taper/rp-prod15934
Are all square tapered bottom brackets the same size and is there a way of knowing if the deraileur will be able to keep tension on the chain when using a much smaller ring?

magicbastarder

seamus wrote: »

I have one, but I don't remember where I got it. It's the kind of thing you can lash in with any other online order;
https://www.bike24.com/p26841.html

A bigger LBS might have them in stock; being plastic, they're kind of consumable and they're cheap, so the shop might actually have a box of them in the shop.

i decided to take the pedal apart with just a vice grips, as they're a battered old pair i bought at the car boot sale in balrothery. and i ignored the 'DO NOT COMPLETELY DISASSEMBLE THE PEDAL' warnings i saw online, they're not that complex inside. turns out anyway the only real issue was that the locknut on the assembly was a little too tight.

D13exile

Hi all.

My Trek is now reaching its 3rd birthday and it still has all the original components but post 100km ride yesterday around Killarney, I noticed that the sidewalls of the tyres now have small cracks in them. Time to replace I suppose? Scary discovery considering I was fairly booting it down the mountains.

I was also thinking a lot about the brake blocks when heading downhill for the hair pin bends at "enthusiastic" speeds. Time to replace too methinks. I've heard a lot about Swissstop pads. Can I slot them into the existing holders or should I buy the full set?

Finally, should I replace the gear and brake cables at this point?

Anything else to consider, like chain etc?

Thanks

Type 17

Tyres: minor cracks aren't an issue - just UV in sunlight making the rubber stiffer, so it cracks when pumped instead of stretching - if the cracks are deep, and the nylon ply is exposed to rain/spray, then replace them.

Swisstops are good, they may fit into your own brake shoes - buy them and see. If they don't fit, buy a full set of Swisstops and then you have your first replacement pads already bought too. (I haven't used them, but I have heard good things, too)

No need to replace gear or brake cables unless they are becoming stiff (water ingress). The ones on my hack bike are prefect after 20 years (it lives indoors). If you have drop bars/shifters, check to see if the cable is breaking up in the shifter (tight turns lead to metal fatigue).

Chain and block are the biggest things to check, but you may have too many km done to simply replace the chain and keep the cassette (new chains skip on cassettes that are too worn) - buy a chain checker with your new cassette & chain, then you'll be able to keep an eye on chain wear, and replace the chain before you need to replace the cassette too - on the hack bike, I run a 13-21, 7-speed cassette which is hard to find now, and I have put 5 or 6 chains on it without issue over the last 15 years or so, without issue because I changed them in time.

D13exile

Thanks for the detailed response. How do you know when the chainset needs replacing? I have a Tiagra group set. Is it worthwhile upgrading to say Ultegra or should I just wait another couple of years until I'm eligible for the bike to work scheme again and get a newer lighter frame with a better group set?

I'm also concerned about the pedals. I got Keo Look pedals with the bike but they're mostly plastic. I'm no lightweight and I'm wondering if the years of my weight pressing down on them might have weakened them structurally