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

ridelikeaturtle

riclad wrote: »

I, d like to know is it possible to use a 26 inch rear wheel on a 24 inch
mountain bike ,
if i replace the 24 inch back wheel,
will the gears work as normal if i replace the wheel with a 26 inch mountain rear bike wheel .
My bike works fine , i,d just like to try this and see if it works .

I'd be surprised if the wheel would even mount in the frame.

CormacH94

Not strictly bike maintenance but more bike clothing maintenance (apologies if this is way off topic) - accidentally washed my clothes with fabric softener, only time I've ever done it, should I throw them in a cold wash to try and rinse the softener out or will they be okay if I'm more careful in the future?

LollipopJimmy

CormacH94 wrote: »

Not strictly bike maintenance but more bike clothing maintenance (apologies if this is way off topic) - accidentally washed my clothes with fabric softener, only time I've ever done it, should I throw them in a cold wash to try and rinse the softener out or will they be okay if I'm more careful in the future?

They'll be fine, I use softener the very odd time and mine is all fine.

CormacH94

Cheers, was quite worried I was after ruining my good gear haha

North of 32

I've gotten 4 rear flats in the last 5 weeks. 3 punctures and 1 slow leak today, not sure what the cause is yet. I don't have the patience to assess it right now as I punctured on Wednesday as well.

Am I just unlucky? Is this typical for road bikes?

I'm using 25mm Conti GP4000. There's probably around 1200 - 1500km on them. I've run the rear tyre at 80 - 100psi but it doesn't seem to matter.

Any tips? Is it just part of road biking?

Is it the road or the rim side of the tube that was punctured or was it different ever time, interesting that it's on the same wheel so maybe a spoke?

North of 32

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Is it the road or the rim side of the tube that was punctured or was it different ever time, interesting that it's on the same wheel so maybe a spoke?

First puncture was glass & stone road side
2nd puncture was a pinch flat from a slightly risen kerb
3rd was glass road side
4th, today's, is a slow leak I've yet to investigate

So, different every time. Probably just bad luck.

magicbastarder

that's weirdly bad luck. i probably average a puncture once every 4,000km.

cletus

So, got a pair of Shimano mt3's today. Put the cleats in, but when I walk outside in them, I can hear the cleats on the ground. Now I know I didn't buy them for walking around in, but one of the reasons I did buy them was because the general consensus was they were easier to walk in if you got off the bike.

I assumed this meant the cleat would be far enough into the recess to not touch the ground, but the front and back tabs are touching.

Is this the norm for these types of shoes?

CramCycle

cletus wrote: »

So, got a pair of Shimano mt3's today. Put the cleats in, but when I walk outside in them, I can hear the cleats on the ground. Now I know I didn't buy them for walking around in, but one of the reasons I did buy them was because the general consensus was they were easier to walk in if you got off the bike.

I assumed this meant the cleat would be far enough into the recess to not touch the ground, but the front and back tabs are touching.

Is this the norm for these types of shoes?

Very few of them are recessed enough that you won't get some contact. My GIRO ones are completely recessed but once you are on even slightly uneven ground they can be heard crunching against the ground. I think the consensus is they are easier to walk in than ones without the recess.

magicbastarder

i just checked my (quite ancient) shimano SPD shoes; the cleats are approx 1mm below the level of the sole, i.e. if i walk on a tiled surface for example, i don't get contact with the cleats. but as Cram mentioned, if i walk on ground in any way uneven, i often do get the crunching sound.

cletus

Thanks lads, that's exactly what I'm experiencing. At least I know I didn't make a shïte of putting the cleats on

tuxy

How important is water proofing where the front derailleur calble leaves the frame?
I have a Canyon Ultimate SLX
I have some new gear cables ordered so I removed the old ones.
The rubber grommet that was attached to the plastic cable guide where the front derailleur cable leaves the frame came off, the plastic cable guide is slightly damaged so it won't connect back on



Should I try gluing it back on or just leave it off?
And what would I use to glue it?

magicbastarder

was kinda hard to see till i zoomed in; the rubber grommet is the lower circled item, and the upper circled item is where the derailleur cable leaves the frame?
i suspect they're not for waterproofing, but to protect the frame from cable rub.

magicbastarder

just changed the (caliper) brake pads on one of my bikes; the 'toe in' on the front brakes is a hell of a lot more pronounced than on the rear brakes. is this to be expected?

Dave on a bike

Has anyone used Cycle Superstore in Tallaght for bike servicing and if so were they good?

Usually go somewhere else but this is the only convenient option with work this week...

tuxy

magicbastarder wrote: »

was kinda hard to see till i zoomed in; the rubber grommet is the lower circled item, and the upper circled item is where the derailleur cable leaves the frame?
i suspect they're not for waterproofing, but to protect the frame from cable rub.

Sorry I should have outlined it like you did.
That's right, the upper one is made out of plastic and is glued to the frame from underneath. (above the bottom bracket inside the frame)

It should look like this


The plastic guide protects the frame from cable rub and since there is no way to replace it the rubber boot was to prevent grit getting in and damaging the plastic. I will have to find a way to glue that boot or a replacement to the plastic.
Do you think super glue might work or would I need something more specialised?
There's almost no plastic left for the boot to sit on so I'm worried it will only glue to the paint of the frame which may come off after a while.

CramCycle

magicbastarder wrote: »

just changed the (caliper) brake pads on one of my bikes; the 'toe in' on the front brakes is a hell of a lot more pronounced than on the rear brakes. is this to be expected?

I had the same with my new Shimano brakes, you should be able to adjust them to normal without issue.

Dave on a bike wrote: »

Has anyone used Cycle Superstore in Tallaght for bike servicing and if so were they good?

Usually go somewhere else but this is the only convenient option with work this week...

Only used them twice but found the lads in there quick and good, even took me in to show me what they done.

mirrormatrix

Have a slight issue with my rear brake which is frustrating me. I have Miche Performance long reach brakes on the bike (came with the bike) to allow clearance for mudguards. The rear brake pads (on the drive side only) are about 2-3 mm too short when the pads are at the lowest possible setting. The non drive side pad is hitting the rim square in the middle so no issue there.

Have checked and wheel seems to be fully in the dropouts. Any suggestions on what the issue might be? I changed the pads that came with the bike (Shimano I think) for some Kool Stops, so perhaps the ones that came with the bike were slightly lower, i'm not sure. The fact that only one side is off is very strange to me though!

magicbastarder

that's a bit of a coincidence, the brakes i mentioned a few posts before yours are miche performance long reach brakes too.
on the rear, the minor issue i have is that i have to position the pads at the lowest possible position in the calipers. i'd like to drop them a mm or two lower, but can't. but they're not mismatched hitting the rim like yours.

mirrormatrix

That's interesting. Do you have the cartridge brake pads on yours as well?

I'll have to check this evening that the brakes are centered, but I think they are.

Found this guy with the exact same problem on another website

https://forum.bikeradar.com/viewtopic.php?t=12935545

magicbastarder

the pads that were on it were the ones shipped with them, judging by the photo on the halford's page; i swapped in bigger brake pads yesterday.

riclad

i have a mens mountain bike large with a broken gear set.
The gear set is brand Sram x4 .
how much would it cost to get a new gear set fitted on the bike.
Can i swap in an old gear set from another large mountain bike,
or do i need to get an identical sram x4 gear set .
The wheels on the bike are 26 inch ,standard bike wheels.
i have a wheel that has a hex key type central rod.
like this, https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/hex-key-wheel-skewers-any-good.100687/
how much does a replacement wheel nut cost ?

magicbastarder

which part of the gears are broken? the rear derailleur?

riclad

yes, The rear derailleur is broken ,it has a label on it , Sram x4.

https://www.bikeinn.com/bike/sram-x4-box-large/136002596/p?utm_source=google_products&utm_medium=merchant&id_producte=2714926&country=ie&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_qqqxeGE4wIVyb3tCh1AtQiJEAQYAiABEgJo6_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

magicbastarder

should not be too difficult to swap over; you'd be looking at parts cost plus whatever the bike shop charges for labour. maybe between €15 and €30 (for labour) if it's just the rear derailleur.

dahat

Creaky press fit BB, can it be regressed or just a new one altogether?

Type 17

Re-greasing should be fine, but clean really well the parts of the BB & frame that touch, before using clean grease.

riclad

Can i use the derailleur from any old mountain bike or does it need
to be very similar or identical to the Sram x4 type derailleur .
i replaced a derailleur before a few years ago ,just using a pliers .,to swap in the derailleur cable .
And it worked .
But it was an older type derailleur .

keane2097

I bought a second hand bike lately that I'm fairly sure was hardly ever used. It's got disk brakes so I'm planning to stick a pair of 30c tyres on it. Should I definitely change the tubes as well or is that a sales pitch?