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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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Type 17

One of the teeth on one of the front chainrings (take note of which one you’re using when it happens) has a burr on it, and when a narrow link goes down over it, it gets stuck when it should release it at the 6-o’clock position- the chain rides up past 6 and locks the cranks when the derailleur reaches full stretch. It’s random because the burred tooth may sometimes get a wide link over it (this is randomly decided when you shift the FD to the problem ring).
Find the damaged tooth and file off the burr, and you’re all set.
PS: the burr may be tiny, so make sure the chainring is clean and look closely on each side in turn.

Flaccus

Bought a Cannondale Topstone 105 recently which comes with FSA Omega 46/30 rings and 105 HG700 11/34 cassette. As the BB shell is a standard BSA threaded job thinking of changing to a Shimano BBR60 BB and a 105 50/34 r7000 road setup and was wondering if this would be a good move.

I really don't do any gravel riding. I just stick to roads for now and very few hills. The cassette gearing is 11-13-15-17-19-21-23-25-27-30-34. With the 30 ring I only ever use 23, 21, 19 and 17 on flat surfaces and sure I'm in the big ring after that. 34 to 25 is wasted except maybe on the steepest climbs.

I'm thinking with a 34 little ring I would get more usage out of the cogs I am not using currently. Opinions welcome on the pros and cons of changing.

TychoCaine

There's no point changing the inner ring unless you change the big ring too, and there's no point changing the big ring unless you can spin out your biggest gear. You'll just end up with more overlapping gears between the two chainrings. Stick with what you have. You'll need that 30x34 some day....

Flaccus

Guess I better work on maxing out the big ring so

magicbastarder

Flaccus wrote: »

34 to 25 is wasted except maybe on the steepest climbs.

you mean '34 to 25' as in the range of cogs on the cassette, or do you mean 34 on the chainwheel to 25 on the cassette?

if the former, it's not wasted if you're using it where it's intended to be used?

Flaccus

magicbastarder wrote: »

you mean '34 to 25' as in the range of cogs on the cassette, or do you mean 34 on the chainwheel to 25 on the cassette?

if the former, it's not wasted if you're using it where it's intended to be used?

Yeah on the cassette, I never use the 34 or 30 cog with the 30 ring as I dont climb steep enough hills. I mainly use the 27 and 25 cogs with the 30 ring on climbs. Once I get to the 23 cog I move to the 46 ring which I have not spinned out yet.

S_D

If I owned a TT bike but wanted to buy something new (Say an Sworks Shiv) Could the Di2, cranks etc all be transferred over to the new bike?

Plastik

Weepsie wrote: »

Notices a bit of wobble/judder when braking at the front. Thought it was the brakes as I got wider rims and had to adjust them a bit so figured I'd not done a great job on it.

However when I stopped and applied the front brake and rocked it there was some play in the fork. All seems to be as tight as it should be,.

Assuming something wrong with the headset, or maybe worse, something I didn't pick up when I came down in September. Could possibly be the brakes, but shouldn't be play I imagine, however marginal?

Only been out in it once since October and didnt notice anything cycling it in September/October

Headset bearings are first port of call. Take the fork off, check the headset bearings for roughness, pack the bearing races with grease and put it all back together.

Deano12345

S_D wrote: »

If I owned a TT bike but wanted to buy something new (Say an Sworks Shiv) Could the Di2, cranks etc all be transferred over to the new bike?

Once the bottom bracket on the old and new bike are the same; you’ll be fine with swapping the cranks over, everything else like shifters and mechs will be transferable.

I know some TT bikes use specific brake callipers too, so that might be a consideration, but from what I see, anything specific to a bike, say like the Shiv, seems to be sold as part of the frame set!

Plastik

Make sure you're putting it back together in the right order - you tighten the top cap for bearing preload before you do up the stem bolts on the steerer. BTW if the bearings are shot you may never get the play out of them. Roll the bearing between your fingers, it should be silky smooth, if you can feel any roughness it's time to change.

Ray Bloody Purchase

My rear disc brake is honking like a goose when i brake. What is causing this and what can i do to stop it?

magicbastarder

contamination or the pad is not aligned completely flat to the disc.
as it's the rear, i suspect contamination first, cos it gets more crap thrown at it than the front disc does. your best bet it to take the pads out and try cleaning them.

brownian

Alek wrote: »

If it pulls the RD, it may be the freewheel mechanism locking and tensioning the lower part of the chain.

Does it happen exactly when pedalling / applying pressure, or rather when you stop turning cranks for a moment?

When / how does it unblock?

But then it would most likely drop the chain off the front, as the top part of the chain gets loose.

As soon as I get off the bike, it seems ok again.
Locked up the back wheel entirely today - controlled skid. No harm done, but would be ugly at high speed.

Alek

Weird. No further ideas I'm afraid... Long shot - a broken axle? Is there a lateral play in the wheel?

brownian

No...they are oldish wheels (Swisside Gotthards), but are perfect, no wobble or any weird stuff.

Will put on different wheels and see if that fixes the issue. Thanks, Alek!

Plastik

Re the chain, is the chain routed correctly through the jockey wheels? How are the jockey wheel teeth profiles, is the chain slipping off to the side of one and jamming in the cage?

You mentioned previously that the wheel didn't lock and now it has, that's odd alright.

Alek

An incorrectly routed chain would produce a horrible grinding noise straight away. Been there done that

CramCycle

Getting new Jockey wheels for my rear derailleur. Is there a difference between ones for SS and GS cages (Shimano 5800). Not sure why there would be but just wondering.

Type 17

No difference in cage-length, but when you get the replacements, note that there are two different pulleys in the pack - the tension pulley goes at the bottom, the one marked guide or Centron-G goes at the top. They may also have direction arrows, as the teeth have profiles for best shifting, once they've been fitted correctly.

statto25

Ive just started to do some simple maintenance and can index etc but I am having a real headscratcher with my rear derailleur. With the cable detatched I cannot move the derailleur by hand to the highest gear. It sits in the middle of the cassette and wont budge. Hanger isn't bent and the derailleur has no more than 3000k on it so shouldn't be damaged or worn. I can move to the lowest gear by hand without issue.
Any ideas that doesn't involve the LBS as Ive a 122km spin on Saturdayand I'm running out of time to get it in to them. I'm determined to fix it myself anyway!

magicbastarder

check the limit screws on it? one might be screwed in too far.

statto25

magicbastarder wrote: »

check the limit screws on it? one might be screwed in too far.

I did some tweaking on that but I always thought they were for minute adjustments. I'm talking another 5 gears higher that I am unable to move to.

Type 17

I presume that you’re pedalling while you push the derailleur by hand?

statto25

Type 17 wrote: »

I presume that you’re pedalling while you push the derailleur by hand?

Yep I'm not that daft!

Type 17

Don’t be offended, you’d be stunned what people don’t realise that they don’t know about bikes ðŸ˜ðŸ˜‰

If it’s not the limit screws, did the derailleur take a knock recently?

statto25

No offence taken! No it Def didn't and its not so long I did the indexing and it was grand. I've had no knocks or spills since

magicbastarder

have you taken the chain off for the purposes of testing?

statto25

magicbastarder wrote: »

have you taken the chain off for the purposes of testing?

No I havent removed it. I have taken off the derailleur and cleaned and lubed it again

silverharp

not that more gears are better, but if a bike has less than 21 say will the lowest tend to be fairly similar across most ranges of bikes, for example below (Merida)?

Chainset FSA Tempo 53-39 teeth

Derailleurs Shimano Claris, 16 speed

Cassette Sunrace, 8 speed, 12-25 teeth

magicbastarder

that's a fairly tough lowest gear. not a bike you'd be taking up the mountains regularly.