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

Type 17 · 19-06-2020 09:02PM

Full cable changed? (not just inner wire?)

Jockeys probably worn - 25k can be a lot, if conditions were dirty/wet a lot of the time. Cleaning & lubing is good, but only slows down the wear, they might still be worn.

The top one counts when shifting is poor - it should move a few mm left/right along its spindle, but shouldn't have more than about 5 degrees of wobble. Over about 20 degrees, the shifting will be impacted.

PS: I presume the chain was changed at the same time as the cassette?

padyjoe · 20-06-2020 12:22AM

No, the outer guide is the same, never been changed.
Chain is new, it's time to check the wheel angle. 7 year old Defy 3, much of a shifter wire exposed.
Thank you!

Type 17 · 20-06-2020 07:09AM

padyjoe wrote: »

No, the outer guide is the same, never been changed.
Chain is new, it's time to check the wheel angle. 7 year old Defy 3, much of a shifter wire exposed.
Thank you!

If you can set the indexing so the chain shifts perfectly from the small sprocket to the biggest one, but it then won't shift properly in the other direction, then the cable housing is too dirty and needs changing. (This is because your thumb is always strong enough to overcome the friction of the dirty housing in that direction, but the spring inside the rear derailleur is not, when shifting the other way).

Even if that is the case, and you change it, it's possible that the jockey wheels could be causing issues too, but the cable is more likely, and is easier to change first.

woody33 · 21-06-2020 01:22PM

seamus wrote: »

You'll never replace a spoke without removing the freewheel, you'll end up badly bending it out of shape.

Chain whips are ten a penny, bit the four-pronged yoke seems to be a bit niche.

My experience is that once a spoke has broken on the drive side, they'll all go eventually, the wear is pretty uniform. That's assuming it broke at the elbow and not in the middle. You need to replace all of the spokes on the drive side or you'll be replacing them every couple of weeks.

So I'd be inclined to get a shop to do this work, or if the wheel is pretty cheap you could be better off in the long run getting a new wheel with a freehub.

You can always collect the tools and then you have them forever more;
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/park-tool-freewheel-remover-fr-3
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/bbb-turntable-chain-whip-btl11

But the freewheel remover is so niche that unless you plan on riding fixies, it'll gather dust in your shed for the next 20 years. On the other hand, you should be able to source and entire new wheel + cassette for about €80.

Right so, I've ordered a freewheel tool from Sprockets UK, €5.79 + postage, and got a chain from a bike in a skip around the corner for a diy chain whip. Recycling, eh? A few spokes and a spoke wrench, and I'm all set...wish me luck.

seamus · 22-06-2020 09:36AM

woody33 wrote: »

Ok, thanks for the reply. I bought the bike used off a buddy only a couple of months ago, and this is the second broken spoke. The first one cost €20 to fix at my local shop, I don't want to keep shelling out. Some say I'm being over-enthusiastic on speed bumps, which is possible, but it's supposed to be a mountain bike for feck's sake! And yes, I do get out of the saddle for bumps. You might be right about the new wheel. Anyway, thx again.

Doesn't necessarily need to be anything about going up and down bumps tbh. If you've been doing a lot of urban riding in high gears that can be enough to weaken the spokes on the drive side.

If you enjoy tinkering and fixing, then half-arsed fixes on a cheaper bike is definitely the way to go about it

You can't make it much worse anyway.

secman · 22-06-2020 09:50AM

Saw a disturbing picture on strava yesterday, a lad in Gorey on a 14 month old bike, with aporox 2000km on it, 105 group set, the drive side crank failed and clean broke off leaving about a 1/3 on the drivechain .The lad was blessed no traffic beside him, helmet cracked, lots of bruises and road rash. Only realised from Google that its not just confined to 105 , its been recorded too for Ultegra and DuraAce .
Scary ****

SheroP · 22-06-2020 09:52AM

Hi there
Looking for some advice please on recommended pedals, preferably metal for teenadult hybrid bicycle, looking for something bulletproof without costing the earth
Thanks

Bill74 · 22-06-2020 11:13AM

Hi,
Bike shops nuts busy, so decided to give a go myself. Bought a new rear wheel with sram xdr hub. I've bought a sram XG-1190 cassette but I've no idea how to lock. I assumed the cassette would come in one piece with locktube as part of it. It didn't. All one piece except for 11 ring. And no locktube to screw down. Where did I go wrong? What cassette is compatible?

Type 17 · 22-06-2020 01:43PM

SheroP wrote: »

Hi there
Looking for some advice please on recommended pedals, preferably metal for teenadult hybrid bicycle, looking for something bulletproof without costing the earth
Thanks

Many Irish bike shops stock BBB, and they have a range of decent, metal-bodied pedals for €20 or €30. If you don't see BBB, at least get ones with a metal body (not just a metal cage around the edge).

https://bbbcycling.com/en_en/bpd-45-steadyrest

https://bbbcycling.com/en_en/bpd-17-classicride

https://bbbcycling.com/en_en/bpd-16-bigfeet

Type 17 · 22-06-2020 01:57PM

Bill74 wrote: »

Hi,
Bike shops nuts busy, so decided to give a go myself. Bought a new rear wheel with sram xdr hub. I've bought a sram XG-1190 cassette but I've no idea how to lock. I assumed the cassette would come in one piece with locktube as part of it. It didn't. All one piece except for 11 ring. And no locktube to screw down. Where did I go wrong? What cassette is compatible?

From looking at the SRAM website, it looks like you need an XD or XDR series cassette to fit an XDR hub.
The tools to fit and remove XDR stuff are the same as Shimano and other SRAM stuff, but the cassette & hub interfaces themselves are different.

tomasrojo · 22-06-2020 02:13PM

Type 17 wrote: »

Many Irish bike shops stock BBB, and they have a range of decent, metal-bodied pedals for €20 or €30. If you don't see BBB, at least get ones with a metal body (not just a metal cage around the edge).

I have a set of BBB ones that have carried on for years, though I've mostly used them to temporarily swap in when other pedals need maintenance.

Wellgo do cheap BMX-style pedals with pins, all in metal, that I've found good for everyday use.

This person liked them too:
https://theeverydaycyclist.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/review-wellgo-lu987-flat-pedals/

SheroP · 22-06-2020 02:25PM

Thanks very much everyone
Took a stroll up to local bike shop
Offered union all metal pedals, gonna bring up bike later, fitted for €17.50
Support local too ,thanks again

brownian · 22-06-2020 07:07PM

Here's a question.
I have a threaded bottom bracket. It's aftemarket, but installed by a pro mech in a shop.

Should both ends of the BB be flush with the frame, or is it ok that one side of the BB is about 2 or 3 mm proud of the frame? It is the right BB for the frame/crank combo...but tis not impossible that the BB was installed imperfectly...I don;t have whatever oddball tool it takes to grip those little mini-dimples that run around the outside eddge of the BB...or I probably would have it a twist to see...

The bike runs grand, but it just looks a little odd to me....

Cheers!

Type 17 · 22-06-2020 07:13PM

If it's a square-taper BB and the non-drive side cup is a few mm proud of the frame, and it's not loose, then that's fine.

brownian · 22-06-2020 07:25PM

Type 17 wrote: »

If it's a square-taper BB and the non-drive side cup is a few mm proud of the frame, and it's not loose, then that's fine.

Thank you.

grogi · 22-06-2020 09:09PM

brownian wrote: »

Here's a question.
I have a threaded bottom bracket. It's aftemarket, but installed by a pro mech in a shop.

Should both ends of the BB be flush with the frame, or is it ok that one side of the BB is about 2 or 3 mm proud of the frame? It is the right BB for the frame/crank combo...but tis not impossible that the BB was installed imperfectly...I don;t have whatever oddball tool it takes to grip those little mini-dimples that run around the outside eddge of the BB...or I probably would have it a twist to see...

The bike runs grand, but it just looks a little odd to me....

Cheers!

Take a picture.

brownian · 22-06-2020 09:19PM

Hope that's fairly clear?

Bill74 · 22-06-2020 09:45PM

I can't see a road XD cassette anywhere. Info is very vague on this subject. Looks like I need a locktube which wasn't with the cassette. But no idea where to get that.

mirrormatrix · 23-06-2020 08:41AM

brownian wrote: »

Hope that's fairly clear?

I don't see anything wrong with it, but difficult to tell from the photo.

Type 17 · 23-06-2020 09:30AM

Bill74 wrote: »

I can't see a road XD cassette anywhere. Info is very vague on this subject. Looks like I need a locktube which wasn't with the cassette. But no idea where to get that.

True, SRAM's info does seem vague (no worse than Shimano's though).

Browsing their site and looking at cassettes and sorting by technologies, there are only two XDR cassettes shown (pricey, too)

https://www.sram.com/en/sram/road/products/cassettes?filters=tech|XDR&sort=Relevancy&page=1

Type 17 · 23-06-2020 09:37AM

brownian wrote: »

Hope that's fairly clear?

It's Hollowtech (or similar), rather than square taper, so the collar should be butted up against the frame, but it's hard to see if it is in that pic.

When the cranks are installed, is there any lateral sliding of the spindle/axle?

brownian · 23-06-2020 12:20PM

Sorry for the photo - I'll to get a better one after work.

The BB and crank FEEL stable - there is no lateral movement at all. But the collar is not butted up right against the frame - it's 2-3mm proud of the frame.

The BB is Wheels Mfg's GXP-to-BBRight product; it claims to be created exactly for this (attaching SRAM Red crankset to a Cervelo R3): https://wheelsmfg.com/bbrighttm-outboard-angular-contact-bb-for-24-22mm-sram-cranks-black.html

The installation instructions (https://wheelsmfg.com/tech/PDF/BBRIGHT-OUT-INSTRUCTIONS-WEB.pdf) say to make sure the NDS cup should be flush with the frame...

Plastik · 23-06-2020 12:36PM

The pic you posted is the DS cup though right? It looks perfectly fine in the picture anyway. I can't see any gap between the inner face of the cup and the BB shell. The bearing on that side sits outboard of the frame.

CramCycle · 23-06-2020 01:26PM

That's what is throwing me, the cup that normally sits outside the frame seems to be going into it. Maybe its a frame design thing but it doesn't look right, can you take a pic of the other side.

brownian · 23-06-2020 01:40PM

Need to take the crank off to get a proper picture - not before tonight, with apologies. But Plastik is right - the photo is the Drive Side. The NDS 'thin lip' is flush to the frame; the DS 'fat lip' with its outboard bearing is shown in the photo...there's a couple of mm between the inside edge of that 'fat lip' and the actual carbon of the frame.

Hairy Japanese BASTARDS! · 23-06-2020 03:45PM

What's the purpose of those straps you see on some bike pedals?

They look like a suicidal idea, if you need to take evasive action your feet are wedged in.

cletus · 23-06-2020 03:50PM

Hairy Japanese BASTARDS! wrote: »

What's the purpose of those straps you see on some bike pedals?

They look like a suicidal idea, if you need to take evasive action your feet are wedged in.

They were the precursor to the the 'clipless' pedals we have now, the toe clip and strap no longer being present on the newer spd and SPD-SL pedals

Type 17 · 23-06-2020 04:17PM

Hairy Japanese BASTARDS! wrote: »

What's the purpose of those straps you see on some bike pedals?

They look like a suicidal idea, if you need to take evasive action your feet are wedged in.

They're not wedged in (unless you've yanked the straps up super-tight for a sprint in a race) - once you're used to them, you've learned to flick your foot out the back of them, like you learn to twist your heel outwards to release from clip-in pedal.

Toe-clips and clip-in pedals give you more security for hard/fast riding and for standing up whilst pedalling for a climb or sprint, and also give you a bit more power as you can pull back/up a bit, as opposed to just being able to push down the pedals.

crosstownk · 23-06-2020 09:21PM

While cleaning one of the bikes today, I noticed that there is a small bit of play in the freehub i.e. if I hold the cassette, I can rock it up and down by a small amount - less than 1mm. It's NOT the cups/cones that are loose.

I can't say I've noticed this before but I haven't really checked for it before - I just accidentally noticed it today. Can I just leave it or do I need to nip up the FH a small bit?

Fulcrum Racing 3 with Shimano FH - approx 8,000km.

grogi · 24-06-2020 02:56PM

brownian wrote: »

Sorry for the photo - I'll to get a better one after work.

The BB and crank FEEL stable - there is no lateral movement at all. But the collar is not butted up right against the frame - it's 2-3mm proud of the frame.

The BB is Wheels Mfg's GXP-to-BBRight product; it claims to be created exactly for this (attaching SRAM Red crankset to a Cervelo R3): https://wheelsmfg.com/bbrighttm-outboard-angular-contact-bb-for-24-22mm-sram-cranks-black.html

The installation instructions (https://wheelsmfg.com/tech/PDF/BBRIGHT-OUT-INSTRUCTIONS-WEB.pdf) say to make sure the NDS cup should be flush with the frame...

BBright is not a threaded bottom braket, it is pressed in. Wheelsmfg make them with additional threading of two halfes inside of the tubes, to elliminate squiqs and any additional sound effects.

Anyway, it shouldn't be like that. I guess what happened is the fantastic tolerances of Cervello frames prevented the workshop to rotate the halves further and bring them closer (that's why Hambini makes them in one piece).

If there is no play, I wouldn't worry about it too much tough. You might just have a bit wider stance or slightly off chainline if it is on drive side.

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

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