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

Pdoghue

Paul Kiernan wrote: »

Some of the earlier BH Quartz had QR before they switched to thru-axle. Which is yours? AFAIK they always used 1.125 to 1.5 tapered steerers. This type of carbon fork with thru-axles is the de-facto standard now and on almost every new mid to high level disc brake bike. It should be fairly easy to find, even from BH!

Mine is quick release. The part seems be "Quartz Evo Disc Integrated Tapered Full Carbon 1.5"

BH Bikes themselves don't stock this: https://www.bhbikes.com/en_GB/equipment/cycling-components/forks-mtbs-road-bicycles

Plus they weren't very helpful in trying to help me source the fork. They told me to contact the nearest BH agents. I've emailed about 10 of them so far and none have replied.

Large bottle small glass

MangleBadger wrote: »

Never been changed. Bike is 18 months old. Cable snapped where it joins the hood it appears

There is no point having expensive and precisely engineered Italian or Japanese technology at either end of your bike if you don't properly maintain what connects them.

Regularly changing both inners and outers will ensure better shifting (even with lower end shifters and derailleurs) and give a longer lifespan for your shifters.

Buried gear cables are a backwards step in terms of function and ease of maintenance; 7800 FTW

cletus

Large bottle small glass wrote: »

There is no point having expensive and precisely engineered Italian or Japanese technology at either end of your bike if you don't properly maintain what connects them.

Regularly changing both inners and outers will ensure better shifting (even with lower end shifters and derailleurs) and give a longer lifespan for your shifters.

Buried gear cables are a backwards step in terms of function and ease of maintenance; 7800 FTW

In fairness, I wouldn't think that a bike would need to have inner and outers changed after only 18 months

07Lapierre

cletus wrote: »

In fairness, I wouldn't think that a bike would need to have inner and outers changed after only 18 months

Depends on how much cycling you’ve done in the 18 months?

Large bottle small glass

cletus wrote: »

In fairness, I wouldn't think that a bike would need to have inner and outers changed after only 18 months

Depends on a lot of things; distance covered, riding conditions, storage conditions, mudguards, inner/outer interface location etc.

I have a road bike which is only out in dry weather and has lubed Dura ace cables, that's a very different proposition to my gravel bike which is out in all types of weather.

I've had mtb which saw a lot of muck and sh1t which had inner cables changed and lubed every few spins.

I put 15k km trouble free over 18 montgs on a tiagra equipped bike with zero maintenance and all weathers but it had a single run of Dura ace inners & outers from shifters to derailleurs cable tied to the frame! Even I struggled with the aesthetics of that

Type 17

Given that the rear inner cable has failed, there's a fair few km's on the bike (or the cable was a stainless steel one, which can fail sooner).

If the gears were working well until they began acting up recently (because the cable was failing and loose wire strands were getting stuck in the shifter mechanism), then I'd leave the outers that are under the bar tape for now.
If the part of the failed inner cable that is in the bit of housing that leads to the rear derailleur itself is dirty or rusty, then I would change this piece of housing, as it gets a lot of road-spray, and is the other main cause of issues (as well as the inner failing at the shifter end).

PS: It's not necessary to change the front derailleur inner cable (unless there are issues), as the usage patterns are quite different than the rear derailleur (al lot less on the front, for most people).

MangleBadger

Done just over 7000km to date. So probably about time to replace. What is the benefit in also replacing outers?

CramCycle

MangleBadger wrote: »

Done just over 7000km to date. So probably about time to replace. What is the benefit in also replacing outers?

Cleaner, if there is grit or water or whatever in them, it will increase the lifespan of your new cables. I wouldn't do it that often though, even on a dirty bike, most people I know some just blast through the outers with a spray like GT85. I never maintain them so this advice isn't followed by myself.

magicbastarder

my good weather bike was cabled up over two and a half years ago, but not taken out if rain is forecast; and i've zero plans to re-cable it, it's performing fine.

Type 17

Also the plastic liner inside the housing wears through on the inner radius of curves, so even a clean section of housing up high won’t last forever.

I have (decent quality Shimano SLR) brake and gear cables that are over 25 years old still working fine, although the bike does’t see much rain and the gears are 7-speed (less precision required).

07Lapierre

MangleBadger wrote: »

Done just over 7000km to date. So probably about time to replace. What is the benefit in also replacing outers?

Housings wear out too. they wont break but the inner sleeve will wear excessively where the cable bends.
Are your cables routed internally? if yes...replace the outer housing BEFORE you remove the inner cable from the frame (use the inner cable to guide in the new housing)

MangleBadger

07Lapierre wrote: »

Housings wear out too. they wont break but the inner sleeve will wear excessively where the cable bends.
Are your cables routed internally? if yes...replace the outer housing BEFORE you remove the inner cable from the frame (use the inner cable to guide in the new housing)

Yes cables are internally routed to an extent, just through the down tube.
My main sport is sailing so I've a fair bit of experience in trying to feed cables/ropes through tubes. I'm hoping this will stand by me later on.

Only real issue I have with replacing outers is my current ones are orange and match the bike. Guess I'll have to settle for black.

magicbastarder

you should be able to get orange housings.

MangleBadger

magicbastarder wrote: »

you should be able to get orange housings.

I'm very impatient though. Was planning on popping out to a shop this afternoon to pick up the parts.

What would be a good LBS in Dublin for these sort of parts?

magicbastarder

which side of dublin are you? cycle superstore in tallaght would be one of the biggest, so might have wider stock.

MangleBadger

magicbastarder wrote: »

which side of dublin are you? cycle superstore in tallaght would be one of the biggest, so might have wider stock.

I'm southside, that was where I was thinking of going. Cheers

ironictoaster

Mundo7976 wrote: »

Cal Jones might be able to help you out, thorough video helped me out.
https://youtu.be/UkZxPIZ1ngY

Think I'm sorted. Half turn with the adjuster seemed to fix it. Any noise the bike makes has me paranoid!

Tombo2001

As a matter of interest - which is the largest northside bike shop, best stocked.....

I dont mean city centre, capel street etc. Lets say, beyond the canal?

It might actually be Decathlon, I cant think of any others that are large.

magicbastarder

highest number of bikes on display, might be eurocycles out beside airside shopping centre. but i've never warmed to the place.

MangleBadger

Next stupid question. Only cassette I could get my hands on was 11-36 and my current is 11-34. I presume my old chain won’t fit. Is there a standard number of links to add or do I just measure from scratch?

Type 17

Your chain might fit, but if you can't get it go onto big ring/biggest sprocket, don't ride it like that - I've seen frames destroyed as the rider thought it would be ok, but then forgot/didn't realise what gear they were in on a hill, and went down one more sprocket, pushing hard, as you do on a steep hill, and the (carbon) chainstay collapsed :eek:

If you do need to add links, use the "measure on big/big without the rear derailleur and then add two links" method.

magicbastarder

Would be standard to replace the chain of you're replacing the cassette anyway.

MangleBadger

magicbastarder wrote: »

Would be standard to replace the chain of you're replacing the cassette anyway.

Planning on replacing chain. Last time I just counted links on the old chain and matched that to the new chain.

MangleBadger

So I’ve obviously missed something in routing my new gear cable.
Nothing happens when I shift up or down. As in there is no action from the cable. And no audible click. I just ran it through the hood from the eye on the outside of it and through the existing outers.

Any ideas?

CramCycle

MangleBadger wrote: »

So I’ve obviously missed something in routing my new gear cable.
Nothing happens when I shift up or down. As in there is no action from the cable. And no audible click. I just ran it through the hood from the eye on the outside of it and through the existing outers.

Any ideas?

Depends on the gear you are using but I imagine you have simply not caught it inside the shifter

MangleBadger

CramCycle wrote: »

Depends on the gear you are using but I imagine you have simply not caught it inside the shifter

That is kind of what I thought. How do I force it to catch inside?

07Lapierre

MangleBadger wrote: »

That is kind of what I thought. How do I force it to catch inside?

Watch this:

https://youtu.be/-PBSku77uBI

Rua_ri

Has anybody fitted gp5000 tubeless tyres to mavic kysrium wheels?

I can't even get one side of the tyre over the rim.

MangleBadger

New cable issue fixed. There old end of the cable was still inside and I think it had jammed the barrel from rotating. Took off the cover and it popped out and good as new.
Now i just need to index it. Which I hate.

Thanks for all pointers.

DaveyDave

Dropped the bike into the shop last week, after fitting a new cassette and chain the chain would drop off the big ring. Gears were shifting fine etc. Bike shop says the big ring needs replacing.

I trust them not trying to upsell me parts (especially since the won't have them til next month!) but surprised it's worn. Bike has about 5,000km on it and the new chain is the third one as I try to change at 2,000-2,500km.

Is it common for a big ring to wear that soon? Would it be cross chaining or not cleaning enough? I try to avoid the lowest two gears when in the big ring but I'm sure I've been in the big big combo plenty of times.