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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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magicbastarder

should not be too difficult to swap over; you'd be looking at parts cost plus whatever the bike shop charges for labour. maybe between €15 and €30 (for labour) if it's just the rear derailleur.

dahat

Creaky press fit BB, can it be regressed or just a new one altogether?

Type 17

Re-greasing should be fine, but clean really well the parts of the BB & frame that touch, before using clean grease.

riclad

Can i use the derailleur from any old mountain bike or does it need
to be very similar or identical to the Sram x4 type derailleur .
i replaced a derailleur before a few years ago ,just using a pliers .,to swap in the derailleur cable .
And it worked .
But it was an older type derailleur .

keane2097

I bought a second hand bike lately that I'm fairly sure was hardly ever used. It's got disk brakes so I'm planning to stick a pair of 30c tyres on it. Should I definitely change the tubes as well or is that a sales pitch?

magicbastarder

keane2097 wrote: »

It's got disk brakes so I'm planning to stick a pair of 30c tyres on it.

just because it's got disk brakes doesn't mean you should stick a pair of tyres costing under a euro in total on it.

(please, can a mod step in here, i can't help myself)

magicbastarder

more seriously, what size are the current tyres?
if they're 25s, sounds like a stretch (pun unintended) to pump them to 30; you may be in that 'probably fine, but is it worth the hassle of one ripping, for the price of two tubes' territory.

keane2097

magicbastarder wrote: »

more seriously, what size are the current tyres?
if they're 25s, sounds like a stretch (pun unintended) to pump them to 30; you may be in that 'probably fine, but is it worth the hassle of one ripping, for the price of two tubes' territory.

Yeah it's 25c at the moment, I gather I ought to get bigger tubes for the new tyres? I'm happy to get new ones if they're needed of course!

Cee-Jay-Cee

riclad wrote: »

Can i use the derailleur from any old mountain bike or does it need
to be very similar or identical to the Sram x4 type derailleur .
i replaced a derailleur before a few years ago ,just using a pliers .,to swap in the derailleur cable .
And it worked .
But it was an older type derailleur .

You need one that is compatible with whatever shifters you have on your bike so for peace of mind your best replacing it with the same one again or look up on SRAMs website for compatible rear derailleurs.

LollipopJimmy

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

You need one that is compatible with whatever shifters you have on your bike so for peace of mind your best replacing it with the same one again or look up on SRAMs website for compatible rear derailleurs.

Also for the love of jaysis use the right tools or you run the risk of butchering it.

riclad

I fitted a new derailleur 4 years ago .i used a small spanner , and a pliers ,but that was an older type derailleur .
Not like the sram derailleur.
I changed my tyre on the back wheel, yesterday ,
it works fine, the new tyre is slightly thicker than the old one.
Now theres a slight metallic like noise if i freewheel, theres no noise at all when i am using the pedals .

I did not move the derailleur or the back brakes .
the new tyre is 26 x 2.0 with slightly raised ridges ,
the old tyre had no bumps or ridges on it,
it was completely flat.
There was no noise at all when i had the older flat type tyre.
I simply put a new tyre and tube on the back wheel, i did not change the wheel .

bsb1971

I need to find out what jockey wheels I need for an sram red 10 speed groupset and an sram force 11 speed groupset. I've bought both second hand as I've decided to switch from shimano. The current jockey wheels look ok, but I want to just swap them out and start fresh. I did look on crc but just confused me, so here I am, humbly begging for assistance!!!

CramCycle

I presume you meant fork? I used a hacksaw and have the tool for installing it, could do it for you if you want to meet up, it's less than 10 minutes work

magicbastarder

derek cut my cork for me (oo-er) for €15.

Fian

Taking the thread title at face value. I need to adjust the limit screws on derailleur this weekend. I can figure out which limits the big end of cassetts and which the small by face value, but is there an easy way to find out straight away.

I guess just put it on stand, move to lowest gear and twiddle the various screws until i see movement?

As it is currently set the chain can fall between the large sprocket and the wheel. Chain keeps coming off on another bike (my son's) as well, though with that one is seems to be on the front rings, I assume that is also likely to be limit screws on the front derailleur this time?

triggermortis

Fian wrote: »

Taking the thread title at face value. I need to adjust the limit screws on derailleur this weekend. I can figure out which limits the big end of cassetts and which the small by face value, but is there an easy way to find out straight away.

I guess just put it on stand, move to lowest gear and twiddle the various screws until i see movement?

As it is currently set the chain can fall between the large sprocket and the wheel. Chain keeps coming off on another bike (my son's) as well, though with that one is seems to be on the front rings, I assume that is also likely to be limit screws on the front derailleur this time?

If you can put the bike in a stand and put the rear gear onto the smallest sprocket and turn the pedals, if you move the derailleur by hand all the way in and the chain stays on the gears, then the limit screws are ok. The way to find which one is which is, like you say, move one until you see movement. You will only see any movement from one screw in one chain position - ie if you put the chain on the biggest gear and move one screw and the derailleur doesn't move, you're moving the wrong screw. Set that screw and then move the chain to the smallest gear and move the other screw.
Park tools and GCN have great videos on youtube for this, and many other maintenance tips

[Deleted User]

^ Saw the question and immediately thought of the GCN and Park Tools videos. They do a great job explaining indexing etc.

Here's one I've used in the past. Loads of other good stuff on their channel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNG7g83lI-s

brownian

Here's mine. I have eTAP on my good bike. Once every 20 times, when I change from the small ring to the big ring at the front, the chain goes too far and drops onto the cranks. Is there an adjustment screw? Am afraid to go breaking what should be a self-managing super-system (said the guy in the shop!)

tuxy

High limit screw not set correctly.

https://youtu.be/XlLwu-SDo5w?t=391

MediaMan

Didn't get any response on this when I posted it on the MTB forum, so asking the broader world - apologies in advance if you've had to read it twice...

Anyone know, or even have a rough idea of, the torque setting for the pivot bolts on recent Trek Fuel or Remedy bikes? The main pivot bolt on my Fuel EX 8 (2019 model) has come loose and I want to tighten it at least roughly to spec. For now I've just tightened it "fairly tight" but I'm worried it will work loose again.

I checked the manual and it gives torque settings for pretty much everything except the rear suspension. Elsewhere in the manual it helpfully suggests to "tighten the bolts to the torque specifications"

.

Any ideas? Even specs for other-model MTBs would give me some idea...

Thanks in advance!

MediaMan

MediaMan wrote: »

Anyone know, or even have a rough idea of, the torque setting for the pivot bolts on recent Trek Fuel or Remedy bikes? The main pivot bolt on my Fuel EX 8 (2019 model) has come loose and I want to tighten it at least roughly to spec.

To answer my own question, in case anyone else hits this problem, I was bemused that every other bolt in the rear suspension linkage had the torque written on it except the one I needed to tighten. Then I noticed that at the opposite end of the bolt (on the drive side) there was a cover, and when I opened that, it revealed the real head of the bolt. Written on it was the torque - 16 Nm. So, mystery solved.

Tightening from the non-drive side had worked up to a point, I could see that even though the drive-side was rotating as I tightened, I was still able to tighten it enough so that it stopped creaking and rattling.

With access to the other end I thought I would be fine, except that the bolt is behind the chainring, and even with a ball-head allen tool, I can't get enough grip on it to tighten it properly. So, end result - the bolt is still just "fairly tight".

I think this means a trip to the bike shop as I don't want to take off the crank when it might not be necessary.

silverharp

where do we stand on WD40 for chain lubrication?, i know it shouldnt be used on bearings as it will melt away the internal lubrication, i have seen a reasonable consensus online in the past that it was ok for the chain

Type 17

WD-40 is great for loads of things - cleaning, protecting (although ACF-50 beats everything for rust protection), freeing of stuck/sticky mechanisms, and is great for lubricating mechanisms that move relatively seldom, and not that fast (eg: locks, hinges, pivots, etc), but is not good for mechanisms that move at high speeds for long periods (chains, bearings, etc)

It might be ok for chains (in dry conditions) if you want minimal drag and are prepared to re-apply on every use (velodrome/time trial/short races, etc).

I'm finding Smoove very good - doesn't attract dirt and so far, provides good protection from chain-wear.

Flaccus

New bike. LBS says this discolouring under stem is due to unidirectional carbon ? Normal ? Should I get ‘K’ layup spacers for better look ?

1st shot taken with flash in lit room. 2nd shot taken in normal daylight.

Type 17

It’s normal on some carbon items. Only reason to change it is aesthetics, but some people like it because shows off the fact that even small bits of the bike are carbon…

CantGetNoSleep

I'm doing a bike build but need to get gear cables - both inner and outer. My main question is about what exactly I need, particularly barrel adjusters

The RD came with a small cable which I assume is sufficient for the outer cable at the rear, and the frame has a small cable under the FD.

If I order something like this, what else do I need to order to get the barrel adjusters? I was planning to get the below but reading the Q&A it suggests there are no barrel adjusters included.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-105-5800-tiagra-4700-gear-cable-set/rp-prod146657

TychoCaine

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

I'm doing a bike build but need to get gear cables - both inner and outer. My main question is about what exactly I need, particularly barrel adjusters

The RD came with a small cable which I assume is sufficient for the outer cable at the rear, and the frame has a small cable under the FD.

If I order something like this, what else do I need to order to get the barrel adjusters? I was planning to get the below but reading the Q&A it suggests there are no barrel adjusters included.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-105-5800-tiagra-4700-gear-cable-set/rp-prod146657

There's a barrel adjuster built into the rear mech. You don't need another one. You will need an inline barrel adjuster for your front mech if it's anything other than current gen 105/Ultegra/Dura Ace. Any one of these will do the job.

CantGetNoSleep

TychoCaine wrote: »

There's a barrel adjuster built into the rear mech. You don't need another one. You will need an inline barrel adjuster for your front mech if it's anything other than current gen 105/Ultegra/Dura Ace. Any one of these will do the job.

Thanks for your reply - both are Ultegra 8000. So if I understand correctly I can just use the cables I linked and nothing else beyond shifters and derailleurs?

rayman1

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

Thanks for your reply - both are Ultegra 8000. So if I understand correctly I can just use the cables I linked and nothing else beyond shifters and derailleurs?

That's correct. I installed an Ultegra R8000 drivetrain recently and both the front and rear derailleurs have built in cable adjusters.

tuxy

Good choice of cables btw. The more expensive dura ace ones with the polymer coating have less friction at first but get all gunked up over time which causes loads of friction! At least that's my experience.