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

I'm all for DIY solutions, but in this instance new stem all day long

morning all,

have a sram rival 10 speed med cage derailleur.

looking to max out cassette on rear- front is a 130bcd 53/39 .

can i go to 32T or more?

thanks

J

They can be slow all right but I've used them several times and never had a problem - I haven't had to use their customer service though.

Hi All,

A couple of questions for you;

I need a new Skid Plate for a Tiagra front derailleur. I had to google what the part was called, have never needed to replace one before but the one on my gravel bike has worn through so the chain is rubbing on the metal of the derailleur when shifting up. Have some black masking tape wrapped over it at the minute but expect it'll wear through that in no time. It is a very cheap part, but wondering if anyone can recommend where might be best to order from? It is the delivery charge for the part which is varying so much from the results I've seen on google.

Also, I've a Box Four 8 Speed shifter on my mountain bike, and it has stopped working mid spin last week. Got stuck in lowest gear and will not shift up to bigger rings. I've opened up the shifter and can see that the mechanism is sliding over the cog it needs to engage to shift the gears up into the bigger ring. As it is sliding over the bit it needs to engage, I've tried tightening the inner workings with no luck. I'm not sure with this if it is something that can be fixed or if the shifter is end of life (bike less than a year old and gets least usage by far out of the 3 bikes), and if it can be fixed is something I can DIY or if a job for the local bike shop? It is a cheap enough bit of kit if I was to replace the shifter, but can't see anywhere in Ireland that has is stocked. Appreciate any advice on this also if it is something any of you guys have experienced yourselves.

Thanks.

That's a Praxis crank? Presumably a hollowtech compatible one? I'm fairly certain that your Giant will have a BB86/92 pressfit BB, if you're stuck I have a spare here.

Water inside the axle shouldn't cause the bearing outside the axle to go though?

If it's a standard english threaded 68mm BB then there's no point trying the change the individual bearings, just get the complete package and swap the whole thing, they're not particularly expensive. I doubt you'd get a thirdparty bearing to fit in the cups the same as the factory fitted one.

Definitely not hollowtech compatible so, it's 24mm spindle yours seems to be 30mm.

Your problem will be that you'll have to remove a bearing to measure it, then source one and fit it, much handier to just buy one complete but that conveniennce does lead to waste, it's true.

found this, seems to be what you want?

https://praxiscycles.com/?product=m30-bearing-kit

You don't have to be too gentle taking our the dying bearing, you need to be more careful with the installation of the new one. I just happen to have some tools that might be of help, feel free to message me if you decide to go that way.

You'll only need from roughly the dropout up, so about half the wheel size.

So, I've ordered a torque wrench!

Is there actually any reason to cutting the steerer tube to size other than aesthetics? I've recently lowered my stem and have the spacers sitting on top. Having done a few spins since, I want to leave it that way, but I hate the look with the spacers on top. I'm not confident enough to do it myself and I'm trying to decide if it is worth getting the lbs to do it, or just suck it up and leave it as is.