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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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kevin7

Hi, My brand new gatorskin tyre blew out yesterday after 50km on use. Put in a replacement tube, inflated with compressed CO2 cannister, and it popped about 10 seconds later. At this stage notice the tyre had a 30mm rip between the sidewall and wire. Both tubes has a big hole in almost the same place. Both are the same distance from the valve, the only difference is one is on the rim side and the other on the "road" side.

Any ideas whats causing this?

The wheel seems perfectly "normal" in that location. i.e. no sign of any damage or spokes protruding through the rim tape.

And the reason I have a new tyre is the old tyre went the same way. About a week ago started a ride and only got 1km until blowout. Fixed and cycled another 1km and heard the air coming out pretty quickly, but not quite a blowout.

Called home and got a lift back...when I went to assess the damage the tyre had a rip in exactly the same way the new gatorskin now has a rip.

I dunno - at home I inflate with a track pump to a little below the stated tyre limits, roadside its usually a CO2 cannister.

Really don't know what to do next. It can't be just a string of bad luck????

Any thoughts?

Type 17

How are you using your tyre levers? - some tyres (especially Gatorskins, TBH) aren't that strong around the inside of the bead (metal or kevlar wire in the tyre), and sliding the tyre on or off by with one tyre lever and excessive force at the start if dismounting, or the finish of mounting (rather than using 2 or 3 levers to lift it off/on) can cause damage, leading to the tyre carcass tearing off the bead when the tyre is pumped up hard.

07Lapierre

kevin7 wrote: »

Hi, My brand new gatorskin tyre blew out yesterday after 50km on use. Put in a replacement tube, inflated with compressed CO2 cannister, and it popped about 10 seconds later. At this stage notice the tyre had a 30mm rip between the sidewall and wire. Both tubes has a big hole in almost the same place. Both are the same distance from the valve, the only difference is one is on the rim side and the other on the "road" side.

Any ideas whats causing this?

The wheel seems perfectly "normal" in that location. i.e. no sign of any damage or spokes protruding through the rim tape.

And the reason I have a new tyre is the old tyre went the same way. About a week ago started a ride and only got 1km until blowout. Fixed and cycled another 1km and heard the air coming out pretty quickly, but not quite a blowout.

Called home and got a lift back...when I went to assess the damage the tyre had a rip in exactly the same way the new gatorskin now has a rip.

I dunno - at home I inflate with a track pump to a little below the stated tyre limits, roadside its usually a CO2 cannister.

Really don't know what to do next. It can't be just a string of bad luck????

Any thoughts?

If your bike has rim brakes, make sure the pads are not too high. if too high they rub the tyre and will cause a blowout.

kevin7

thanks for the ideas....on tyre levers and brakes. Both make sense as possible causes.

Yes - its rim brakes and one of the two blocks is a little diagonal and doesn't look like it will rub against the tyre, but you never know. (I just put the wheel with no tyre back on to have a look).

As for tyre levers - hard to know. I'd normally get 3 levers in there and hope to slide the third through to get the tyre off, although its by no means easy. To get the tyre on I usually manage without levers, although again it takes a lot of doing and the thumbs and hands would be well worn out after it.

I guess I thought after the blowouts I'd be able to examine the wheel and immediately see an obvious cause, but nothing like that. :-(

I'll try again - get it back on the road during the week and see if I can go a couple of hours without another incident.

Roberto_gas

Folks this is a pic of tyres of my brand new giant content purchased in feb..went to cyclesuperstore and they said its cosmetic..should i chase for replacement ?

.red.

I didn't want to start a new thread and figured it was (kind of) maintanence related.
I got handed a set of pedals when I bought my bike second hand.
I'm now half thinking of keeping an eye out for a cheap pair of shoes to see how I go with them.
Are these pedals any good for someone who's never used clipless before?

7KcW6mq

cletus

Roberto_gas wrote: »

Folks this is a pic of tyres of my brand new giant content purchased in feb..went to cyclesuperstore and they said its cosmetic..should i chase for replacement ?

They just look like manufacturing marks to me, I'd say they're fine

Type 17

cletus wrote: »

They just look like manufacturing marks to me, I'd say they're fine

True, just the edge of the material that is glued/moulded into the tyre carcass to protect the carcass from excessive wear from the rim.

cletus

.red. wrote: »

I didn't want to start a new thread and figured it was (kind of) maintanence related.
I got handed a set of pedals when I bought my bike second hand.
I'm now half thinking of keeping an eye out for a cheap pair of shoes to see how I go with them.
Are these pedals any good for someone who's never used clipless before?

They are similar to the first clipless pedals I used. I didn't get them because they were better for someone who hadn't used them before, but because they are MTB pedals (spd pedals), and I wanted to be able to walk relatively normally in the shoes.

Short answer, they'll be fine to start out in, just make sure you get spd shoes, not spd-sl shoes

Bluejohn1

If I was to buy a new wheelset (Aksium Disc CL 28" Wheel Set) and I wanted to make it as easy/quick as possible to switch between both sets. Is this everything I need to purchase to do so.

- Wheelset
- 105 cassette
- SM-RT30 Center-Lock Disc Rotor x 2
- Centerlock Adapter SM-RTAD05 x 2
- Additional thru axle x 2

I have a cube nuroad race 2019.

gaffmaster

Bluejohn1 wrote: »

If I was to buy a new wheelset (Aksium Disc CL 28" Wheel Set) and I wanted to make it as easy/quick as possible to switch between both sets. Is this everything I need to purchase to do so.

- Wheelset
- 105 cassette
- SM-RT30 Center-Lock Disc Rotor x 2
- Centerlock Adapter SM-RTAD05 x 2
- Additional thru axle x 2

I have a cube nuroad race 2019.

I'm open to correction but I don't think you'd need either of the following, since the wheels are already the Centre Lock standard.

- Centerlock Adapter SM-RTAD05 x 2
- Additional thru axle x 2

You don't need the additional thru axles because they stay on the bike - it's not like quick releases where it's very handy to have another set as they stay on the wheels at all times. Some things to be sure of:

Get the same diameter rotors as your current wheel set (usually 160mm for road bikes - but double check).

Check thru axle diameter - almost definitely 12mm road standard on both wheels.

You'll need tyres and tubes if the Mavic wheels don't come with them (sometimes they come as a set).

Bluejohn1

gaffmaster wrote: »

I'm open to correction but I don't think you'd need either of the following, since the wheels are already the Centre Lock standard.

- Centerlock Adapter SM-RTAD05 x 2
- Additional thru axle x 2

You don't need the additional thru axles because they stay on the bike - it's not like quick releases where it's very handy to have another set as they stay on the wheels at all times. Some things to be sure of:

Get the same diameter rotors as your current wheel set (usually 160mm for road bikes - but double check).

Check thru axle diameter - almost definitely 12mm road standard on both wheels.

You'll need tyres and tubes if the Mavic wheels don't come with them (sometimes they come as a set).

Forgot about the tubes! Have additional tyres and wanted to keep the trainer tyre on the old set of wheels for indoor use. Yeah the rotors are 160mm from having a quick look at the spec of the bike. Probably don't need the thru axles also.

Think you're right also about not needing the centerlock adapter. Took the wheel off and the rotors seem to come with the lockring.

One other question. I noticed the recommended max tyre size for the Aksium Disc CL is 32mm. the inner width fo the rim is 17mm. While the current wheelset on my cube is 21mm. Would I get away with marathon supremes which are 37-622 or even my g-ones which I think measure on the rim at 40mm once inflated.

Roberto_gas

cletus wrote: »

They just look like manufacturing marks to me, I'd say they're fine

Marks are fine i meant the cracks

Roberto_gas

Type 17 wrote: »

True, just the edge of the material that is glued/moulded into the tyre carcass to protect the carcass from excessive wear from the rim.

I was referring to the hair line cracks on tyres.

cletus

Roberto_gas wrote: »

Marks are fine i meant the cracks

You obviously have a better view of the tyres than me, but they don't look like cracks to me, they look like marks left from the manufacturing process.

If you deflate the tyre and put pressure on the tread so as to deform the sidewall, do the marks/cracks become wider? Can you take a picture of them like that?

gaffmaster

Tyres are probably the most consumable 'consumable' on a bike. The perishability of the tyre is dependant on so many factors including how you store the bike, the surfaces you ride on, the conditions etc, and the mileage.

Most bikes come with cheaper tyres and almost always, you won't get any sort of warranty with tyres since they're so prone to wear and tear.

If I were you, I would take this opportunity to upgrade the tyres to something that suits you and your riding conditions for the next six months or so. Hold on to the ones that came with your bike in case you suffer a bad puncture on your new ones (ripped sidewall or something). Nice tyres can transform the ride quality, too.

wheelo01

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

They're the same as the Fulcrum 6, theyre just OE spec wheel for factory bikes.

If they use the same bearings as the Fulcrum 5 (which they probably do as I believe its the 4 and lower that use cup/cone and all above use cartridge bearings) then the bearings in your wheels will be marked 61903 but they're not, they are actually 18307's with 61903's seals. Don't buy ridiculously expensive fulcrum bearings thinking they're proprietary as they're not, just buy 18307's.

Its very simple to change the front wheel bearings. Watch this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsyYlj9cdcM

I walked into a couple of bike shops today, and they looked at me like I had three heads when I asked for 18307 bearings, and after much searching on the internet, one found them, but could take up to a week to get here.
1. is there an easier option, or is this the norm?
2. Would these be useful to have as spares? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32739268958.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.4b404c4dpQg6io

cletus wrote: »

I have disc brakes. I think they are working right. I can pull skids with them. Can you pull skids?

I had the need to do an emergency stop due to a goon in the traffic lane giving way, but the driver never looked to see if anything was in the Bus/cycle lane (me) - the good news is I stopped with a bit of a skid, the bad news is that the levers were almost touching the bars - is that the normal position, or do I need them adjusted?

Type 17

wheelo01 wrote: »

I walked into a couple of bike shops today, and they looked at me like I had three heads when I asked for 18307 bearings, and after much searching on the internet, one found them, but could take up to a week to get here.
1. is there an easier option, or is this the norm?
2. Would these be useful to have as spares? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32739268958.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.4b404c4dpQg6io

Call Reliance Bearing in west Dublin (or Cork or Limerick), and see if they have them in stock - if you're close to there, you can call out to them, or they'll send them to you for extra cost.

The Chinese bearings are cheap, but bike wheel bearings are a bit of a pain to change, so I'd be more inclined to pay for better quality ones, and have to change them less often. Ask Reliance about the different quality versions that they stock, with the emphasis on ones that keep moisture out best.

Cee-Jay-Cee

wheelo01 wrote: »

I walked into a couple of bike shops today, and they looked at me like I had three heads when I asked for 18307 bearings, and after much searching on the internet, one found them, but could take up to a week to get here.
1. is there an easier option, or is this the norm?
2. Would these be useful to have as spares? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32739268958.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.4b404c4dpQg6io

My LBS had them in stock, they referred to them as Trek bearings but they were Enduro bearings.

I have previously bought bearings from BearingKing.co.uk

https://www.bearing-king.co.uk/products.php?search=18307

The only problem with bearings from AliExpress is that you could be waiting anywhere from. 4 to 12 weeks for them to arrive.

wheelo01

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

My LBS had them in stock, they referred to them as Trek bearings but they were Enduro bearings.

I have previously bought bearings from BearingKing.co.uk

https://www.bearing-king.co.uk/products.php?search=18307

The only problem with bearings from AliExpress is that you could be waiting anywhere from. 4 to 12 weeks for them to arrive.

Thanks again for your patience.
I have searched a crowd from Tullamore too, they have the 61903 listed, not the other 18307, however they seem reasonably priced in comparison, is there one of these that is more/less suitable?

https://www.bearingsonline.ie/index.php?route=product/search&search=61903#/sort=p.sort_order/order=ASC/limit=50

darconio

Hi All
would anybody be able to advise what kind of replacement BB I would need for this bike?

https://www.cube.eu/en/2017/hardtail/ltd/cube-ltd-pro-2x-blackline-2017/

In the specs it says Pressfit BB, but doesn't mention the model
I have a Shimano Deore XT M8000 Crankset if that helps.

Also would I need a removal tool like this to replace the old one?

Is there a corresponding BB that would fit the above bike/crankset but that can be screwed in rather than press-fit?

Thargor

I need something I can use as 20mm black bar end plugs while I wait for replacements to come on the slow boat from China, someone must have had this problem before? Give me a simple solution I havent thought of please, its driving me mad looking at the holes.

Type 17

Wine corks?

cletus

Thargor wrote: »

I need something I can use as 20mm black bar end plugs while I wait for replacements to come on the slow boat from China, someone must have had this problem before? Give me a simple solution I havent thought of please, its driving me mad looking at the holes.

I might have a spare push on plastic set here, if you want them

Thargor

cletus wrote: »

I might have a spare push on plastic set here, if you want them

Ah thanks for that but I wont put you to the trouble, I have 10 generics on the way just wondering about a stopgap, Ill have a look in all the junk drawers at work tomorrow and get something.

cletus

In that case, wine corks seem to be the DIY go to

Cee-Jay-Cee

wheelo01 wrote: »

Thanks again for your patience.
I have searched a crowd from Tullamore too, they have the 61903 listed, not the other 18307, however they seem reasonably priced in comparison, is there one of these that is more/less suitable?

https://www.bearingsonline.ie/index.php?route=product/search&search=61903#/sort=p.sort_order/order=ASC/limit=50

No they’re all 19mm ID which is too big.

LK bikes in Letterkenny have them for €9 each or get them from bearingKing in the UK. Plenty of them on eBay too.

http://www.lkbikes.com/

8valve

Thargor wrote: »

I need something I can use as 20mm black bar end plugs while I wait for replacements to come on the slow boat from China, someone must have had this problem before? Give me a simple solution I havent thought of please, its driving me mad looking at the holes.

Pared down wine corks for the l'eroica vibe.

Personally, I use spent shotgun cartridges*:P

*always check the cartridge is spent before tapping it into the handlebar end with a hammer:cool:

Flaccus

Recently went tubeless. LBS cranked the valve lock nuts as they said tire would leak air otherwise even though every video I've seen says to put them on finger tight. Sure enough they were right as I took one lock nut off tonight as they stripped the finish off it tightening it. Fancy lock nuts indeed. As soon as I loosened it a turn or two air starting gushing. Replaced with a nice new one finger tight, pumped back up and air is holding. Will see in morning.

My question is this. If the lock nut is stopping air leaking doesn't that mean there is an issue somewhere else. Perhaps tire not seated correctly around the base of the valve inside the rim or maybe a shoddy rim tape job where they didn't overlap. Or is the lock nut's purpose to seal the rim ? Is this a problem ? New rims so I'd have to get them to inspect and possibly redo the rim tape job if it is.

CramCycle

Have a Shimano 600 crankset on a friends bike but the BB is shot. I presume a regular square taper Shimano BB will do. I also presume it will be 68 x 113.