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

There's videos all over YouTube of people trying various "ghetto" tubeless setups. Some are using gorilla tape, some are using wheelsets not designed to be tubeless, all with varying levels of success.

It's a small enough outlay (if you have the tyres already) to give it a go.

Definitely worth it in my opinion.
Effectively a new set of wheels for the money.
Always handy to have a decent set of spare wheels.
And what’s the alternative? Throw the lot in the skip

I'd be wary of doing it on a road wheelset with the higher pressures involved, but maybe that's just me.

The problem with the Wolftooth (or any of the derailleur mounting point extender) is that while they address the issue of getting the mech to clear the cassette, they do nothing to improve the capacity of the derailleur chain wrap, which is a problem with the wide range cassettes - even more so if the front chainset is a double.

BTW, Shimano ratings tend to be very conservative - if they say that a mech is rated for 30T, in most cases you can push it to 32 or even 34 without issue. Currently running a 34T cassette on a Dura Ace mech rated at 30T and have been for ~ 6 years without a problem.

No need to replace the spokes or nipples, just the rims need replacing. Replace any damaged nipples as necessary but there might not be any

Find a good wheel builder and you should be as good as new to €200, €50 build cost for each wheel plus €100 for new rims.

From previous threads there is some Lukas guy I think up around the Pale/Blackpool area who has a reputation

@Seth Brundle I got dt swiss rims from bike discount for 65 each. very high quality rims... and then built onto my hubs by staggs. labour and spokes for 2 wheels was I think.. 160

I've been using general lithium grease for the longest time, but recently I bought an 850g tub of Motorex 2000 grease. The consistency is definitely different, and lots of suggestions online that it's the same as Shimano's premium grease.

Not saying you need to change, but I like the look of the green grease in my syringe 😁

I might have answered my own question here.

I don't know what the tolerances are in terms of flatness for a derailleur hanger, but when I put it on the surface plate, there would appear to be an issue...

Cheers for that.

I'll likely replace the hanger too, but at least I know I need to order a derailleur

Fair enough, I just figured that pulling on the derailleur would move the hanger before ever moving the cage.

I could always drill and tap a hole in some steel, or otherwise clamp it to try and straighten it

Edit to add- not thinking at all here. I'll take the cage off the derailleur...

Question regarding tyre replacement - Is it OK to swap pre-installed tyres, size 47x622 with 700x38 (40x622 I think) Wondering would there by any issues by moving to a somewhat narrower tyre? Thank you.

Where do you guys get your bolts from? I ordered a selection of

M4,5's and 6's off Amazon but the quality is woefull. Are there shops that

sell a mixed bag, different lenghts too?

(my side stand lost a bolt, I can put a nut and bolt on to fix it but the quality is

abysmal)

TIA