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

Been a while since I asked a stupid question.

Wanted to switch tyres on the new bike, but quickly realised they're set up tubeless from the factory (I thought they came tubeless ready). So, I wanted to ask the hive mind for some recommendations for sealant, and if there are any pitfalls I should try to avoid doing my first swap.

One other thing, I'll be putting the tyres from the new bike on an old bike. Do I need them to be completely sealant free before putting inner tubes in?

Thanks in advance, people

There's loads of relatively expensive bike specific cleaning products out there Muc-Off is probably the best known.

Really, though, soapy water will clean you frame (washing up liquid in warm water will be absolutely fine). For the chain, you can pick up general kitchen degreaser sprays in Lidl, Aldi, Mr. Price, Deals etc for small money, and they'll all work fine

Thanks for that. Any recommendations for sealant?

I've been using Stan's Notubes and it's fine, though I can't confirm whether I've had the opportunity to be thankful for it. It does seem to be well regarded though. It's quite thin, though they have a "race" version as well which is gloopier apparently, and I think will seal bigger holes. I also got a syringe (https://www.alltricks.fr/F-11929-outillage/P-111025-notubes_seringue_d_injection_preventif___embouts) which makes measuring and putting it into the tyre a doddle (this won't work with the race version apparently)

Thanks for that

Adjusting HYRD brakes

I'm almost certain this or a similar question has been answered in the past couple of months, but with the state of the search function on the site, I'm damned if I can find it

I've TRP HYRD cable actuated hydraulic brakes on one of the bikes, The brakes work very well generally, but recently I find I'm having to pull very hard on especially the rear before they'll engage - almost all the way to the bars. They do still stop the bike, but I'm not overly comfortable with the amount of pull required

There's plenty of wear left in the pads, and I gave them a go with sandpaper. There's a couple of things that spring to mind:

1. Adjust cable tension - the cable looks like it's got some slack in it
2. They need bled - this needs done anyway, so I'll need to get a bleed kit and It's a bigger operation as I'll need to take the brakes off the bike, so I'm going to defer it until I get back from the holidays

So going back to option 1 which I can tackle with what I have to hand, there's a lock knob, which is supposed to screw in to the actuator arm to keep it in the correct place while tensioning the cable. Mine doesn't screw in and this document - https://trpcycling.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/TRP-HYRD-Technical-Bulletin-English-Rev-B.pdf - suggests that this means compensation for pad wear won't work, and suggests following the cable installation and adjust instructions in the manual. This is a bit of a chicken and egg situation however as the first thing it says is to lock out the actuator arm.

There's a tech video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcZKtFI8Els&t=381s) which suggests adjusting a couple of adjuster screws for the push rod to align the lock knob, but there's no mention of that in the manual

Not 100% sure the best way to proceed - any thoughts?

Is it a tight cable preventing the actuator from retracting fully, so it doesn't line up with the lock knob? Obviously tightening it further isn't going to help if that's the case; it will need to be slackened off to allow extra fluid in to compensate for wear.

Wouldn't be the first time I've seen cable operated discs set up with too-tight cables, despite clear instructions with all types that full actuator travel is a must.

Lube your front skewer's threads and locking mechanism.

I had a phantom front-end-creak a while back and that's what solved it!

Do people use protective tapes on their carbon frames? If yes any suggestions? thanks

So to update, I slacked off the pinch bolts and despite it looking like there had been some slack in the cable, this allowed the actuator arm move out a bit to engage the lock nut. I also discovered that the rear barrel adjuster was fully screwed out, not in, so changed that. Brakes seem to be slightly better now, but there's still a lot of pull required in the levers before they engage. I suspect therefore that I've got a bleed kit winging its way to me in the near future, and I'll be conservative on the brakes in the meantime - not that that'll be easy as I'm off to Serre Chevalier next week, though I suspect I'll be sticking to the valley floor - I'll use the brakes rather than my lack of fitness as an excuse 😁 (not that that's flat - it still rises 800m in about 25km from Briancon to Col du Lautaret - look at the start of today's stage of Le Tour 😬)

Cheers. I did get the rear to move after slacking off and re-tightening the pinch bolt, but the front refuses to budge in either direction

Aye, it may well do - I'd suspect a bit of stretching anyway. The whole bike needs a bit of TLC as it's the one that gets mainly used for winter/bad weather, and I've done little beyond cleaning, lubing, and a couple of new chains over the past few years. The bottom bracket needs looked at and from looking at it closely while fiddling with the brake yesterday, the cassette is due a change as well. I'll change the cables as well. I think a bit of shopping over the next month or two followed by a big service is on the cards