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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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Zen0

I didn’t think 140mm was recommended for a front disc unless you are very light. I may be wrong. My CAADX has 140mm on the back and 160mm on the front, both post mount. If I’m right, you may have a choice in terms of what you do at the back, assuming you can get flat mount adapters. On the front you would need a 160mm adaptor. Whether it is plastic is another matter. Mine looks and feels like alloy, and I’d be very wary of trusting plastic for that purpose. There can be huge strains on a front caliper, and it’s not something that you want to fail.

CantGetNoSleep

Yeah reading up it looks like this adapter will do the job

https://www.bike24.com/p23452.html

Going to give it a try rather than changing rotors.

tnegun

Cleaned the drive train today then checked the chain with the wear tool and its well worn

so need not of bothered clean it! . Swopped it out for a spare that had a couple of hundred kms if even on it. All well except its that quite noisy on the largest 50t chainring - creaking sounds - it feels and sounds fine on the small ring 34t. Bought the bike second hand so no idea of the milage on the large ring but looks a bit worn to my untrained eyes!
The existing is this one FSH but would I get away with replacing with this Shram ?

Type 17

tnegun wrote: »

...The existing is this one FSA but would I get away with replacing with this SRAM
?

Looks like the same spec, so should be fine.

tnegun

Thanks took the plunge and ordered yesterday with free returns from Amazon had nothing to loose really!

EDit

Does the glue used in tubeless tyres always dry white or does some dry clear?

I have a tubeless setup (done by bike shop, so don’t know the type of glue used) and I noticed the other day some clear glue-like residue across the sidewall of my front tyre and on the rims as well. I’ve recently done a couple of events, so it’s possible that this is from someone else’s bike rather than being a leak from my front tyre. I was also was under the impression that the glue used for tubeless tyres would be white.

Thanks

outfox

If it's the sealant you're referring to, I've seen it go yellowish when dry. The sealant that exploded all over my bike, shoes, helmet and glasses from the wheel of the rider next to me certainly went yellow. I've been chipping away slowly at it for the last 12 months. Only about 10 % left. Awful stuff.

silverharp

cheap way to get a replacement front wheel for a standard road bike in Dublin? second hand better as its for a bike that's old and will be replaced soon.

Cee-Jay-Cee

silverharp wrote: »

cheap way to get a replacement front wheel for a standard road bike in Dublin? second hand better as its for a bike that's old and will be replaced soon.

Wanted ad in the classifieds or search ‘bike wheel’ on Adverts and take your pick from plenty.

CantGetNoSleep

I have foolishly rounded out the cable tension adjustment screw on a new Ultegra R8000 front derailleur (tightened too much while trying to get two lines to line up and wasn't looking, now it won't loosen and I ruined the 2mm bolt while trying to do so). This makes it pretty useless. Any ideas on how I can remove it or does it need to go in the bin?

Type 17

Stick a Torx key into it, rather than the 2mm Allen key. Once you get it open, you can adjust it with the Torx key - the torques are not that high on an adjustment screw like that.

In the future, if you screw it all the way in, and that's not enough, you need to back out the cable tension screw all the way, open the cable clamp bolt and pull the cable tighter and go again.

PS: Buy a good quality Allen key set - cheap stuff always damages the bolt at the smaller sizes (anything under 5mm)

CantGetNoSleep

You're a life saver (well a 40e and me being in a bad mood for the day-saver). Torx key from a mobile phone repair kit did the job.

I hear you on the allen keys

Thargor

I have to cycle 20 km tomorrow morning and I just pulled a broken spoke off the back wheel on my roadbike, the other 29 look fine, can I chance it?

cdaly_

Chance it? Probably.

riclad

If I put a 26 inch x 1.5 tube mountain bike into a 24 x 1.5 inch tyre on a front wheel of a mountain bike will it work ?
will it be safe to use at low speed for a few hours ? the wheel is a standard 24 inch type .

cdaly_

Maybe for a few hours if you take care to distribute the wrinkles evenly. It'll chafe a hole over time though.

EDit

I recently had a situation where I was attempting to change my stem and while trying to remove the top cap, I ended up taking out the entire expander plug thingy from the front fork. It seems i probably overtightened the top cap screw at some point and it basically got wedged into the screw part of the expander plug (see top picture below). Anyway, the top cap screw is not coming out, so I ordered a new expander plug (pretty cheap off the internet*) but it has come with what might be an extra part that wasn’t on the one removed from the bike ( see bottom picture below....it’s the thin metal sheath around the outside).

As the bike is only ~5months old and was bought from new, I’m wondering why that part was not used....or should I not be using that sheath and it’s just part of the packaging?

*the downside of this is that the item came with no instructions

cdaly_

I'm gonna say the old sheath is still inside your fork. I presume its purpose is to prevent the expander plug from distorting the steerer.

EDit

cdaly_ wrote: »

I'm gonna say the old sheath is still inside your fork. I presume its purpose is to prevent the expander plug from distorting the steerer.

Thanks...yeah, I thought of that too, but it is definitely not in the fork (shone a torch light down there and it’s dirty and dusty,but definitely no sheath).

Your comment on the purpose of the sheath makes sense

cjt156

Could it be a shim for different diameters of steerer tube? (if such things exist)

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Anybody have any idea what length spoke I need for a 26" Cube Acid (think it's 2011, Lime green grey and black, this color. Thanks.

rayman1

Catalina Poor Speech wrote: »

Anybody have any idea what length spoke I need for a 26" Cube Acid (think it's 2011, Lime green grey and black, this color. Thanks.

Why don't you just measure the spokes you have???

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

rayman1 wrote: »

Why don't you just measure the spokes you have???

Would you believe that there's a specific tool for that? I don't have one.

There are a lot of sizes available and I am unsure which size I will need. Tried searching for the Cube specs but there's no mention of the spoke size. Is every spoke the same length or can they be a mix and match of lengths?

Large bottle small glass

Catalina Poor Speech wrote: »

Would you believe that there's a specific tool for that? I don't have one.

There are a lot of sizes available and I am unsure which size I will need. Tried searching for the Cube specs but there's no mention of the spoke size. Is every spoke the same length or can they be a mix and match of lengths?

Front spoke, rear drive side or rear non drive side?

I have the same era bike wheels sitting on a wall in the way collecting dust if you want donor wheels.

From my fairly good memory they are pretty weak wheels if you are giving the bike a bit of rough off road punishment.

Type 17

Catalina Poor Speech wrote: »

Would you believe that there's a specific tool for that? I don't have one.

There are a lot of sizes available and I am unsure which size I will need. Tried searching for the Cube specs but there's no mention of the spoke size. Is every spoke the same length or can they be a mix and match of lengths?

Just measure from the inside of the hook of the spoke at the hub, to the surface of the rim and add 2-3mm to account for the bit of spoke in the top of the nipple.

Spokes are usually measured in 2mm increments, so just get the closest to your figure - all you want to avoid is a spoke being too short (not enough threads gripping the nipple) or too long (threads bottom out in the nipple before correct tension is reached and/or spoke protrudes through the rim tape).

Spokes are usually the same length on both sides of the wheel, but if there is a deep dish on the rear, the drive side spokes may be a few mm shorter, so measure a spoke on the same side as the broken one.

It's important to get the length right if you're building a whole wheel, but one or two mm isn't going to be an issue with a single replacement.

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Large bottle small glass wrote: »

Front spoke, rear drive side or rear non drive side?

I have the same era bike wheels sitting on a wall in the way collecting dust if you want donor wheels.

From my fairly good memory they are pretty weak wheels if you are giving the bike a bit of rough off road punishment.

Thanks for the offer, i'm located in Germany so I can't take you up on it.
The back wheel is buckled due to the lost spokes, so it may not be repairable but I am going to give it a shot.

Can't tell if they are great wheels but they have a lot of kms on them, mostly road but also a lot of offroad and some downhill slopes.

cloudatlas

Is there any way to stop rust progression if you have to have your bike outside quite a lot and aren't in locations where you would cover the bike?

Type 17

This stuff is pretty good: http://learchem.com/products/acf-50.html

I buy it in a local motorbike shop (Megabikes on Wexford St, Dublin) - amazing stuff - I also use it on our soap shelf in the shower (it's getting old, but fits in the corner just right) and it keeps the rust away for about a year between treatments, despite getting a shower or two almost every day.

flatface

Oh wise boardsies, help a brother out.

I’m building up a dolan preffissio with 11speed 105 5800 from my old bike. All going super but now the rear wheel won’t fit.

It’s a khamsin wheel with an 11 speed cassette on it. It seems to be too wide to fit in between the dropouts. Front one went in perfect!
Any ideas?

Type 17

Google says this is an alu frame (is yours alu?)

What's the difference in spacing?

Assuming that it's alu, if the shortfall is less than about 5mm, you can gently pull the frame open as you put the wheel in, but don't try to over-stretch the stays so that they stay permanently wide enough (AKA cold-setting), as you can over-do it and damage the frame, or else one stay will move more than the other, causing the frame to be mis-aligned.