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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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triggermortis

48/32 is known as a sub compact, which gives you slightly easier gearing than a compact - easier to get up hills although slightly slower when you pedal flat out.
If you ever did change to a compact then the front derailleur height would probably need to be adjusted as well as the cable tension, and maybe the limit screws. It may also need a different bottom bracket.
If you don’t race and don’t love hills then a sub compact could be a good way to go

[Deleted User]

Wouldn't be too knowledgeable about gear ratios and tyre kicking has begun for Miss Enfildaes bike to work thats due up again in a little while. Most we looked are standard compact but a few that have caught her eye have been 48/32 which is going to give you a lower highest and lowest gear than 50/34. Would there be a massive difference ? I'm assuming the gaps between gears would be less too on say a 9 speed 28/11 cassette and that the higher gears might get more use than on a 50/34 chainring?

Also in the event of wanting to change from a 48/32 to a compact what changes would need to be made to the front derailleur or other areas??

Kind of off topic for this thread but are 48/32 chainrings becoming more common? Used to only see them on Felt bikes I think in the last year or two.

Type 17

A few decades ago, I tried having two sets of wheels for my ATB, so I could have road-slicks or ATB-knobbies at the the flick of a skewer or two.

The issue I ran into was that the rims that I had to hand were of different widths, so the brake pads did not line up with one or other of the wheel-sets. A bike with disc brakes would be ideal in this scenario, but having rims of the same width would be essential if not.

Other compatibility issues might include axle widths, cassette wear, cassette/derailleur capacity, etc

Macy0161

Working on my plans for the second hand cyclocross bike I got over the winter. Going to be dual purpose, commuter and gravel/ cross.

It's caliper braked, and rims that came with it are fairly worn, but will do for commuting for the moment, but I want the the ability to just swap out when I want to go off road. Are cross specific wheels needed, or would road wheels do?

I'm thinking of moving the Giant PR2's off the good bike over, and going for upgrade on that? I haven't have the best experiences with Giant hubs, but have found them otherwise bullet proof - had a couple of broken spokes mid reservoir dog going up Glenmacnass and the stayed true to get me back to Russborough from there!

dahat

Thanks folks!!!

Type 17

I've fitted 6/7/8/9/10 speed sizes of both SRAM and Shimano chains to both SRAM and Shimano cassettes without any issues.

Thinking it over, I can't actually say that I've fitted a SRAM 11-speed to a Shimano cassette, but I doubt you'll have any issues.

CramCycle

dahat wrote: »

Are Sram 1170 chains okay to run on Shimano 11 speed blocks? I assumed they are but just seeking confirmation before I buy a few new bits.

I'm using SRAM 1130 on my Shimano 11-28 without issue. I have heard some say they are not as smooth shifting but I can't notice a difference. So I am going to say yes, your fine.

dahat

Are Sram 1170 chains okay to run on Shimano 11 speed blocks? I assumed they are but just seeking confirmation before I buy a few new bits.

Type 17

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

I put a cage on my new bike, it wound itself loose and fell off. I'd normally put copper grease on the nuts but I'll be putting a bit of threadlock on these now

If you use thread lock with rivnuts, you're guaranteed to have trouble when the time comes to remove them.

It's a common misconception that greased threads come loose - it's not friction in the threads that keeps fasteners tight, it's either the stretching of the bolt, or the compression of the item being held by the fastener (bottle cage in this case).

In general, some lubricant helps to avoid threads getting worn, and enables bolts to be tightened with less effort. (More of the torque applied is converted to stretch, rather than being used to overcome friction.) If torque settings are important (carbon frames, etc), then either avoid lubricating the threads or, if conditions mean seizing is likely, use lubricant/anti-seize and a lower torque setting (~30% less).

triggermortis

Further to my hub problem... took off the chain for a thorough degrease and degreaser all the crank and jockey wheels as everything was gunked up. Removed cassette and cleaned it. Couldn’t see any way to open the freehub but it ran freely so decided to leave it. Put it all back together and freehub was grand before wheel fitted. Fitted wheel and it didn’t really like going in either direction. Sprayed the whole cassette/hub with cleaner and then left to dry out. Lubed it all and refitted the chain. Initially it was not great, but now it feels as good as new.
Not going to think about it anymore, will just clean it better before I lay it up for next winter!

magicbastarder

magicbastarder wrote: »

realised today that my disc brakes were contaminated - bit of a squeal and performance was noticeably off.
so i've just sanded the discs for the first time. i'm used to sanding the pads occasionally, but the circular light score marks on the discs were showing a slight darkness to them, which i guess was the contamination. anyway, a wet sand with 320 grit paper, using degreaser as a lubricating agent seems to have helped - even when wet, they seem to be grippier than they were earlier in the dry.

well, my brakes now appear to be better than they ever were (i bought the bike with about 2k on the clock, so didn't get to experience what the brakes were like when new).

LollipopJimmy

Type 17 wrote: »

Bottle cage bolts are actually rivet nuts (also known by a trademark name, Rivnut) - have a look at them on Google images to understand more about how they work, and how you can re-set them if they've become loose.

Tip: Grease the bottle cage bolts before you fit them (and remove them and do it if now you didn't do it before) - Rivnuts are often made from aluminium, and when road-spray gets into the threads, the steel (or even alloy) bolt & the rivnut sieze together and then the rivnut spins when you try to open the bolt.

I put a cage on my new bike, it wound itself loose and fell off. I'd normally put copper grease on the nuts but I'll be putting a bit of threadlock on these now

joey100

I've paired etap levers with a set of shimano brakes, can't remember what model but definitely below Ultegra, came from my box of parts. They are grand, as good as the brakes ever were. Left it in for some work once and asked about using shimano brakes with the etap, said there is no issue, I had read about a different pull ratio (not related to the gears) but shop said there would be no issues.

Crocked

Has anyone paired etap levers with 105 brakes? Wondering if the performance is horrendous or if they'll work the same as when mated to 105 levers.

Type 17

Bottle cage bolts are actually rivet nuts (also known by a trademark name, Rivnut) - have a look at them on Google images to understand more about how they work, and how you can re-set them if they've become loose.

Tip: Grease the bottle cage bolts before you fit them (and remove them and do it if now you didn't do it before) - Rivnuts are often made from aluminium, and when road-spray gets into the threads, the steel (or even alloy) bolt & the rivnut sieze together and then the rivnut spins when you try to open the bolt.

CramCycle

magicbastarder wrote: »

would a washer do a similar job?

The idea of the nut is you can hold it with a spanner to stop it spinning as the plating above the surface of the frame will spin as well.

68 lost souls

CramCycle wrote: »

Unscrew the bolt and then get a nut about a size bigger and place it over the hole. If the bolt you have is long enough, thread it through again. The nut acts like a brace to stop it spinning and it should pull the other end of the thread back against the frame and tighten it up. Same happened to mine a year ago.

I'll give it a go thanks, I believe the issue is caused by using stiff bottle cages from what I've read, I've carbon cages on mine the last couple of years.

magicbastarder

would a washer do a similar job?

CramCycle

68 lost souls wrote: »

The bottle cage bolts are rattling like mad on my down tube, 2013 trek madone 2.1. I think the encapsulated bolt is loose and shaking in the frame, anything I can do? Whenever I put a bottle in the cage it rattles like mad and is very annoying.

Unscrew the bolt and then get a nut about a size bigger and place it over the hole. If the bolt you have is long enough, thread it through again. The nut acts like a brace to stop it spinning and it should pull the other end of the thread back against the frame and tighten it up. Same happened to mine a year ago.

68 lost souls

The bottle cage bolts are rattling like mad on my down tube, 2013 trek madone 2.1. I think the encapsulated bolt is loose and shaking in the frame, anything I can do? Whenever I put a bottle in the cage it rattles like mad and is very annoying.

triggermortis

07Lapierre wrote: »

Go for a spin on the bike...I'd say it'll free itself. If not, do you have a chain whip and a cassette lock nut tool? (You'll need these to remove the cassette)

I did ride it around the garden a bit and it got slightly better, but not great. I'll have another look at it today and see what I can find. With the wheel off, the hub seemed ok but I'll remove the cassette for a better look

07Lapierre

triggermortis wrote: »

Fitted new brake pads to my good bike today. It’s not been used for a few months and sat in the shed.
The freehub doesn’t run smoothly now, so I obviously didn’t clean it too well after the last time I used it.
I removed the wheel and the hub seemed normal, but with it back on the bike, it doesn’t run if I back pedal. Is there much to cleaning and lubricating this? Not messed with one before.
Wheel is a DT Swiss R23 spline

Go for a spin on the bike...I'd say it'll free itself. If not, do you have a chain whip and a cassette lock nut tool? (You'll need these to remove the cassette)

triggermortis

Fitted new brake pads to my good bike today. It’s not been used for a few months and sat in the shed.
The freehub doesn’t run smoothly now, so I obviously didn’t clean it too well after the last time I used it.
I removed the wheel and the hub seemed normal, but with it back on the bike, it doesn’t run if I back pedal. Is there much to cleaning and lubricating this? Not messed with one before.
Wheel is a DT Swiss R23 spline

07Lapierre

Milk_Tray wrote: »

guys im looking at a set of carbon race wheels but they are tubular. I am a bit old school and only used to clinchers. Ive read a bit that these are a nightmare to change but have its advantages in terms of speed etc. If I was to get a flat mid race would I be goosed? Obviously with clinchers just carrying a tube is easy in the saddle bag, should I avoid these or suck it up and go for it as the advantage of a tubular being worth it?

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057835490

Milk_Tray

guys im looking at a set of carbon race wheels but they are tubular. I am a bit old school and only used to clinchers. Ive read a bit that these are a nightmare to change but have its advantages in terms of speed etc. If I was to get a flat mid race would I be goosed? Obviously with clinchers just carrying a tube is easy in the saddle bag, should I avoid these or suck it up and go for it as the advantage of a tubular being worth it?

magicbastarder

realised today that my disc brakes were contaminated - bit of a squeal and performance was noticeably off.
so i've just sanded the discs for the first time. i'm used to sanding the pads occasionally, but the circular light score marks on the discs were showing a slight darkness to them, which i guess was the contamination. anyway, a wet sand with 320 grit paper, using degreaser as a lubricating agent seems to have helped - even when wet, they seem to be grippier than they were earlier in the dry.

Type 17

Not suitable for bikes - motorbike chains run at much higher speeds, so their lubricants are "anti-fling", and the whole bike runs much faster and generates much more wheel-spray, so they are much thicker and water resistant - however, on a bicycle chain, they act like treacle and attract loads of dirt, and are really hard to clean.

I get them into the shop for service now and again, and it's like dried glue (and the owners think that the chain is still lubricated, because the outside of the links is still encrusted, whereas in fact the inside of the chain, where it counts, is dry and the chain is often worn out).

magicbastarder

i've seen a couple of aldi stores with 3in1 motorbike chain specific products - a cleaner, a lube, and a wax. worth a punt for a bike? or do they have to worry less about crud getting on the chain?

triggermortis

My latest project is to juggle the groupsets on two bikes. My commuter front mech has given up totally (broken spring) and is an old Sora triple, with thumb shifters.
My winter bike has a truvativ crank and tiagra shifters.
I previously replaced the bottom bracket on the triple - easy enough to ID as there was a number stamped on it. The winter bike BB has no markings. Both bikes are hollowtech external bottom brackets, so is a reasonable enough assumption that I can leave each BB where it is?
I intend to put the winter bikes groupset onto the commuter and replace the parts on the winter bike with upgraded Ultegra/105 parts.
I could just see if the cranks I have will physically fit onto the other bike, but this would leave me without a bike short term. I don't have all the parts I need yet, although if the cranks do swap over, I could do 80% of one swap.
I can measure the external width of the bottom brackets tomorrow, which should give me a better idea before I dismantle anything, but was wondering if anyone would have an answer to give me something to think about while I'm in work..

CramCycle

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

I needed a spacer and Eurocycles had them in stock. The guy charged me a euro for a couple

+1 eurocycles are quite good for such things, and one of the few bikeshops that seem to hold such stuff in stock.