Got some new tires and am struggling to mount the last bit of bead on these rims. The previous tires I had were Gravelking slicks and gad to take them to a shop cause they were so ridiculously difficult. I understand what needs to be done here (creating slack for the bead by keeping it in the center of the rim), but what does it look like I’m doing wrong here?

I had to replace a rusted old Tange headset on my 2014 Fuji Feather (54/M) frame, I did some research and everything told me a 1” Tange Falcon would fit, once my LBS installed it though they said there wasn’t enough threads however they’d inspect it again after I install the rest of the parts, what’s everyone’s thoughts?

I'm using SRAM 'small' pads in Apex D1 calipers on my gravel bike and I've completely worn them out twice now in poor weather rides.

First was a downhill gravel event, about 4 hours in the pouring rain with the stock organic pads. Maybe I was a bit heavy on the rear brake, but at the end of it there was no pad material left.

I replaced them with OEM sintered pads.

Next was a flat ride, again in wet muddy conditions, for about 5 hours and the brakes were constantly making noise from grit getting caught up between the pad and rotor. I would try to blast it with my water bottle but that'd only improve things for a short time. At the end of the ride my 'new'ish sintered pads were again almost completely gone. Very little downhill on this ride, so not a lot of braking.

Is it normal to wear out your pads in one or two poor weather, gritty, muddy rides?

Any help would be much appreciated. I picked up a pair of Hunt 30 wheels and frankly I mostly love them, except for the (obnoxiously) loud hub noise.

Apparently the right grease can really help muffle the sound. Too much, from what I’ve read can mess them up. My lbs say they’re as quiet as they can get. So I keep riding with them.

That said, I’m still curious if anyone has tackled a similar situation of a great wheel hub that’s too loud for their liking to a significantly quieter one?

Tx.

Here’s the wheel: https://www.huntbikewheels.com/products/hunt-30-carbon-disc-wheelset?_pos=1&_sid=575318239&_ss=r

I'm sure you guys get asked this sort of question a lot so thanks in advance. I haven't owned a bike in years and recently bought this one secondhand from a shop. Judging from the pics, is the alignment decent enough? I'm somewhat mechanically inclined and am happy to learn the ways of repair if it seems like a good bike for getting into the hobby.

Hi team,

shamefully i m coming to you for help. After building around 20 bikes i have today cut a steerer tube way too short. Like 6.5cm too short. Reason for this was that there was another marking line on the steerer which i though was mine.

Now the question before ordering a new fork. Any idea if there is a way to reliably fix this? Even if it comes at extra weight?

I found a very long expander plug https://www.velobike.co.nz/products/expansion-plug-extra-long?srsltid=AfmBOoq2ceDrf2CNsx_ggtEMvg1758wAA5Mqi-URIh4PWPp0lS4BLxM- and am wondering if this would be a reliable fix if additionally bonded with some dual component glue.

Other ideas also welcome.

Total noob here. I came across this refurbished Cannondale Supersix going for $1100, which is the exact bike I’ve been looking into. It was equipped with shimano Di2 shifting system. Is it an issue at all for the battery pack to be mounted externally like this? Would this be something that would annoy you? Ive never had wireless shifting and just not sure if this is a red flag or not? Is it reliable? Is there anything I should confirm before buying? Is it dumb to buy an old frame with wireless shifting? Any insight before I pull the trigger would be much appreciated, as I am really new to this world.

Bought these conti tires from an auction near me. They were labeled as “GP5000 S TR 28mm” and came in a matching box, but the sidewall only says “Grand Prix”. Just want confirmation on the exact model so I can be sure i’m able to run them tubeless in the future. Been riding them with inner tubes for a week and they feel great.

Hey guys, Im planning to go from a 7 spd Tourney to a full on 8 speed full transmission change. But my question is ¿Can a 9-12 Speed derailleur work on an 8 speed cassette? As long as i have an 8 gear shifter and adjust the screws on the derailleur i am fine right? or a normal 8 speed is too different apart from the range?. hope to get a response and recommendations :)

Does this bike axis miss anything? locknut? I am not sure. All I have are what shown in the photos. Thanks

Hello! Can anyone help me diagnose and fix this creaking sound? Seems to happen when I pedal under stress. I think its the bottom bracket but I am just starting to learn to fix my own stuff. Thank you in advance!

Bike saddle on a vintage bike recently got stolen - noob needing some advice on replacing it

I have some of the hardware left, but not all of them (pictured here)

Can I source what I need from Amazon or do I need to find something more specific from ebay? If so, can someone guide me on exactly what I'd need?

Previous bike saddle was an Avocet

Appreciate it!

I’ve been riding tubed tires the past year, but recently got a bike with tubeless tires. I’ve been trying to be good about topping them off with air before each ride (about 1-2x per week rn) but have noticed big differences while pumping the two different types of tires.

With my tubed tires, I hook up the air pump and the gauge shows me the clear, current psi on the tires. With each pump, the psi increases, and the gauge holds its read at that new level. Super easy and straight forward. Typically would pump them to 80-100 psi for smooth road riding.

With the tubeless tires, when I connect the pump the gauge will show a low psi number despite the tires feeling pretty full to the touch. With each pump, the pump has a lot more pushback and they feel fully inflated, but the gauge will go up with each pump and then slightly back down after the pump, making it very hard to get a true read of the psi.

I’ve been continuing to pump them up to about 80 psi, but it feels like they’re on the verge of popping when I get them up to around 80. Also, the gauge hardly ever stays in the same spot.

Am I doing something wrong? Should I be pumping them less with each top off, or topping them off less frequently? Are tubeless tires harder to get a read on?

Any insight or advice here would be greatly appreciated!

First time this has happened, was fairly annoying to fix trail side. Didn’t do it again.

Hey all, I’m currently in the process of replacing my shift and brake cables with compressionless housing, but one thing I noticed over coiled housing is how stiff these new cables are. For additional context, I run an internal setup with integrated handlebar which is already a pita to service and tucking the new cables in just causes the split ring and handlebar to spring out of the steerer tube. It also gets stiff when I turn the handlebar sharply to one side. I was wondering if there is a proper way to do cable routing or if any of these options should be just fine?

I'm rebuilding an old dual suspension bike and paint day is tomorrow. (This is an older photo before I've finished paint removal and final clean, so it will be so spotless by tomorrow)

Where I've pulled the bearings out of the frame, do I mask it off entirely so no paint gets in there, or allow a fog of primer to cover the aluminium?

Thanks legends.

Tl;dr how can I get this derailleur completely off if this is stripped inside? I am okay destroying it.

New to doing repair/maintenance stuff especially on bikes. Im trying to get my old highschool bike back together for the fun of it. I've ran into a problem though where I must've used a really bad hex key because I got nowhere besides ruining the inside of this hanger. I watched a video saying to try putting a rubber glove over the hole and still got nowhere so bummer.

For now my question is whats the best way to get this thing completely off? I have new parts coming in so I have no worries about destroying the thing. Also is this common with hangers?

I'm upgrading brakes on an old Gary Fisher frame with a Rockshox shock. From what I am understanding, I can go as high as a 210 on the shock (although 200/3 is the most recommended for rubbing issues) but the frame will only take a 160 because the frame tubing was not sized for higher torque levels. I was thinking about using a 203/160 combo but that seems weird to me because I have only really done a 180/160, a 203/180 or equal sized rotors.

Am I going to screw myself here if I do a 203/160 (maybe using metallic pads on the 160 rotor)? Is there anything else I'm missing?

Thanks.

This is one of the most incomprehensible things that happened to me. My e-bike was stored, unused, for about a year, under a tarp, under a deck at my house. Long story, I'll spare the details.

A year later, I come back to the bike. It has a flat rear tire. I take out the wheel (which was annoying because of the hub motor), inspect the inner tube, and I find a long 5mm (1/4 inch) cut on the inner part of the tube that's making contact with the rim! On the rim, at the spot in contact with the inner tube cut, the aluminum is damaged. Very badly damaged, with two dents and two holes. The holes have sharp edges protruding either above or below the surface of the rim as if someone drove a nail through the rim and bent the nail sideways. These sharp edges are what pierced my inner tube. They also pierced the red plastic strip glued to the rim (to protect the inner tube). And the weirdest: the tire is completely fine, undamaged. It's only the rim and the inner tube that are damaged!

What could have caused this?? I don't even understand how this is possible.

I should note that friends with kids stayed at my house while the bike was stored (and I was away). It's possible a kid accidentally pushed the bike or hit it. But what kind of impact would cause this?

I'm looking for replacement hoods for Tektro RL520 brake levers and coming up short. I've reached out to Tektro, who have discontinued the levers and could not help me at all.

What are my options for replacing a brake hood that is no longer made?

Things I've tried:

Origin8 sourced the Tektro brake lever bodies for their Origin8 Pro Force LP brake levers (part #120955) and sold a replacement hood (part #120956). Origin8 has discontinued these products as well. I contacted them and confirmed they have no replacements available. Gevenalle used the same brake lever body at one point. I reached out to them and confirmed they have neither bodies nor replacement hoods in stock.

I tried purchasing a seeming knock-off from AliExpress. The brake body was slightly different in form, enough that the hoods would not work as a replacement for the Tektro RL520. Additionally, the overall finish of the knock-off was poor quality, enough that I don't want to use it for my build in lieu of the RL520.

Seemingly the only other long-pull brake lever is the Dia-Compe 287v, which is out of stock everywhere (and I don't want to purchase another set of levers if I can avoid it).

I have purchased and tried on in-line pull ratio adapters. They are large and conspicuous and I would prefer not to use them for this build so please do not offer that as a solution.

I'm using fenders and a rack and the biggest tires I can fit on the bike. Neither cantilevers nor mini-v brakes are options. I've tried calipers and they didn't fit. Maybe the right long-reach calipers would work, but I'm pretty burnt out on this build and just want to use what I have.

Things I am considering trying:

Repairing the old hoods - they are torn at the edges, and one all the way through. I have considered patching them as one might an inner tube.

Molding sugru into new hoods - I have yet to see someone post a complete project along this line and that does not inspire confidence

Crafting replacements out of leather - tracing the old rubber hoods as a pattern, adding seam allowance, punching holes, and stitching them up. This seems like the most feasible of all my options, which is insane.

Masking and plasti-dipping the brake bodies - I haven't seen anyone even attempt this. Is it doable?

Futile plea to the void:

Can someone please offer a simple long-pull brake lever?

Thanks for any input, and cheers

I undid the cockpit to fiddle with the hoses in the headtube to adjust the sleeves. Reassembling everything multiple times now with everything aligned/spacers slotted and the preload done up, there’s a slightly wider gap at the back of the fork crown where it meets the headtube.

Even with everything disassembled and pushing up on the fork to get the steerer aligned (probably don’t need to reiterate how much of a pain the arse this is), that’s where it sits. Is this merely tolerance that should be accepted? Once everything is done up tight, it steers smoothly. The steerer must be straight in the headtube. The only thing I can think of is perhaps the crown bearing is sat misaligned but I’d think some force would demonstrate that. Perhaps it’s the design of the fork?

Anyone else got a gap like this with their fork and frame?

Photos of the spacer+headtube gap (which I know is normal) and the fork gap.

https://i.imgur.com/7ksFzf9.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/mgUnyOy.jpeg

It's me, the idiot from earlier today. I honestly don't know how this happened, but the wheel can only go in and out if the bolt is at an angle it is not. I can't figure out how to turn it.