Bike Maintenance for Beginners

You wouldn’t enjoy riding with me :blush:, every pedal stroke the rubber prosthetic foot makes a horribly loud creak against the inside of the shoe as its forced into a motion it doesn’t really want to do.

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:sob::sob::sob:

And, you’re faster than me, so there’s that :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

My cleats, once worn past a certain point, creak.
I hate it.

A couple of wheelsets have minor variances which causes the rear mech to make that sound where it’s not just quite right - like a clicking as if it wants, maybe, to change gear.

It drives me insane.

Like the flap of a mudguard against a tyre.
Or a creaking BB, seat post, headset.

You just know when you ride with people like that they’re going to get a puncture and/or mechanical.

Same for anyone with a dirty bike.
Obvs not checked the spokes, chain, crank bolts etc.

They’re a liability and should be steered well clear of.

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All me!

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Calling @Poet in stock and discounted, R7000 rim brake groupset for 500 notes

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Now find me a 56cm titanium frame, preferably with mounts for guards and a pannier :+1:t3:

Mind you, if it’s TI, someone could weld some on.

Something like this (but in a 56) would be DREAMY :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

(If you can find one of the original PX titanium frames from 10 years ago…made by Lynskey, that’d be awesome)

Also, the link you posted stated that the R7000 will continue to be made for a long time.

But some great used bargains. The cycling marketing department make you believe that you will go super quick on their nice new £10,000 bike…
Bollox, you will go 0.2kph fast at the most. I have tested my 2003 Pinarello (£750) vs my Tarmac Sl6. Really the difference in speed is negligable. I did a 40km TT on a 1983 road bike with friction ln shifters and averaged 40kph. Bike dont make you faster, its the engine

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Yeah I realise that, I’ve been racing bikes for decades and beat lots of folks back in the day on older stuff but my racing days are all but over. I managed a masters podium in Oz at a TT even on a Pinarello TT bike that was pretty old school.

I have a functional bike in the same way I have a functional car. I’m saying if I wanted a new bike, my tipping point is gone. Buying older bikes isn’t the problem, running multiple group set eco-systems and sourcing the parts before an enforced upgrade is and running stand alone different families is tedious for me these days.

Years ago, I have 4 bikes all running Campag Daytona and that was table for bloody years, than over the course of a couple years, it was all over the shop.

BBs are the same. I’m just not interested in keeping up with keeping up anymore.

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Noticed some flaking and bubbling paint on my forks last week. They’re carbon legs with an aluminium steerer so a bit concerned it might be indicative of a more serious problem and having the legs separate from the crown is not something I wish to experience :scream:
Living up to my moniker, I got some steel forks for £25 (to go with my Ti frame, no carbon here) and fitted them yesterday. Glad I did, the old ones fought me all the way and had I left it much longer I’m not sure I’d have got them out at all as the alloy steerer was in a bit of a state.
Anyway, fitted the new forks and now the brakes don’t reach the rim. They’re only a mill or two out but it’s enough, so had to order some longer drop brakes now too, another £25 :grimacing:
Probably should have seen that coming as couldn’t run anything bigger than a 23 tyre with my old forks so almost any replacement was going to be further away.
On the plus side, for £50 I’ve got new forks, new brakes and will now be able to run a much bigger front tyre when the current one needs replacing, and the back has always had a bit more room than the front.

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Bike fettling in the sun. Love it. Got new bars, stem, tape, and Force CX1 chainring to go on. And I need to swap some knobby tyres on ahead of tomorrows gravel ride in Lochnagar estate.

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Nice bike stand :ok_hand:

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Brompton’s been squeaking for the last couple of weeks, assumed it was the BB so stripped it all down and greased everything but it felt fine.
Checked the pedals, drive side (non-folding one) is wobbling about on the spindle like there’s no bearings in it.
Could I get f*cker off though, WD40, blow torch, didn’t want to know. Ended up taking the whole crank off again so could hold the pedal spindle in the vice and use crank arm to undo it.
Oh and when I said it felt like it had no bearings left, it had 3, yes 3 balls left in the whole pedal. I’m amazed it didn’t feel worse than it did.
I’ve now borrowed an MTB pedal whilst I order a new one, only £11 for the non-folding side.

Sorry, me again with the stupid questions. If I was to replace my existing 10 speed Tiagra CS-4600 12-25T cassette with the 11-28T of this: Shimano CS5700 105 10-speed cassette

Would this chain be right? Shimano CN-6701 Ultegra 10-speed chain - 116 links

The description of the casette says “For Super Narrow 10-speed HG chains” but I don’t really know what that means (obviously). A search threw up this one Shimano CN-HG95 10-speed HG-X chain - 116 links but it talks about MTB drivetrains so I’m naturally confused.

I’m still running the FSA Gossamer 50-34 chainset up front after the LBS sorted the crank arm issue earlier in the year, if that makes any difference. Should I be changing that at the same time? If so, can you just replace the chainrings - presumably that’s much cheaper? - or does the full crankset need to be updated?

Any 10 speed chain should be fine and work with the either cassette or chainrings.
Chainrings wear much slower than cassettes so if the teeth still look OK I wouldn’t change it.
You might need to add or change a spacer with the cassette, different ones fit slightly differently and I don’t think Tiagra needs one but the 105 one might. You don;t say what rear mech you have but check it’s ok with 28T, it probably will be as that’s not too big.
The chain length is specific to the bike, chainstay length, gears etc. Sheldon Brown has a good method of setting the length which has always worked for me. Big ring at front, big sprocket at the back, miss out the rear mech and add 2 links.

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That’s an MTB chain and would probably work as the links should be the same thickness.

I think the difference is the way that they change gears and mtb chains move ‘quicker’ down the cassette

If I’m doubt pick up an Ultegra Road chain

Or 105, Kmc, sram. Whatever floats your boat!

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Awesome thanks both. And my incompetence means I’ll be getting my LBS to do it all, in the cause of supporting local small business of course…

I think the Chainring teeth look alright. Rear mech is Shimano 105 RD-5700.

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They do 2 versions, SS & GS, but they’re both OK with 28T by the look of it.

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I found an hour today to drop the stem on my new Scott, trim the steerer, fit new bars, new cages, and a new saddle. I’ll tape the bars once I’m happy with the position of the shifters, and after I’ve internally routed the hoses through the bars. They’re hanging out externally now, and they’re too long, but faffing with hydraulics is a job for another day when I’ve time to watch instructional YouTube videos (I’ve bought all the tools, fluid, grease and connectors).

I love a bit of bike faff.

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Have to say that Addict does look good - stealthy!

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Well, the new Shimano 105 R7000 is very different from the old 105 & Ultegra stuff I’ve been used to. There was a lot of Googling, YouTubing & swearing to put the groupset on my bike this afternoon.

Not had a ride out on it yet, but :crossed_fingers:.

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Bought the eldest a nice bike (Frog) for his 5th birthday. He has bike lessons at school once a week, which is fantastic, but unfortunately all the bike racks are outside, completely exposed.

I’ve not tinkered with it at all since buying it, and unsurprisingly have just noticed the chain is starting to rust. Any tips for the best way to try and rescue it and then protect it given it’s going to be left outside all year round.