Bike Maintenance for Beginners

Forgot what utter b*stards a new pair of Gatorskins are to get on the rims.
Ended up getting Mrs J to hold one tyre lever whilst I worked my way round with two more, the shame of it :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

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Noticed some broken teeth on my MTB chainring. I bought it second hand with these Middleburn cranks on it and it seems I can get a whole new crankset cheaper than a new ring for this one. I’d never heard of them but apparently it was some boutique British manufacturer that went bust and got bought out by another company that’s now making the rings but they’re not compatible with anything else.
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Middleburn Chain Rings - BETD (mountainbikecomponents.co.uk)

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I’m looking for new tyre for 2 road bikes just now.

Tempted by Conti’s but hear so many tales of them being barstewards. Would hate to risk being stranded because I can’t remove them to fix a problem.

Once fitted they’re better.

Aching fingers and thumbs for the first time though

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They’re much easier once they’ve been on a while, it’s when they’re new they’re really tight. (Not as bad as a turbo tyre I bought once, I had to keep checking I’d bought the right size it was that small)
I think the Gators are also hard because of all the extra reinforcement, if you’re going for a different model they’d probably be more flexible.

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Middleburn were proper jizz level bike porn back in the day, But since BETD ‘saved’ them the prices have skyrocketed.

They still have a following though, I e-Bayed a set a couple of years ago for decent money. I suggest you do the same and swap for NOS XT or SLX

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It got more complicated when I got the crank off and found a Royce bottom bracket that needs a special tool (£30/40) to remove.
I couldn’t budge it so phone my local shop who said they had the tool and would undo it for me. Whizzed over there 5mins before they closed but it didn’t fit. Apparently there are two sorts and the other one is in storage somewhere. They’re going to phone me when they have it in the shop and I’ll go back but I’m stuck with the bike in bits at the moment.
The lad in the shop said it’s a really expensive BB and still works OK but I think I’m better off changing to a modern set-up while I have the chance as it’s square taper and my other bike is Octalink.

All this for less than the price of a chainring for the Middleburn crank. Front mech is 3 speed but old crankset was only a dual so back to a triple now too.


Ps. Spot the oversight, looks like a trip to Halfords might be in order tomorrow :face_with_hand_over_mouth:

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Never had issues fitting GP5000 both tubeless and with tubes. 1st time need tire levers, after that they roll on just using fingers

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Racked my bike up for an event that I have to leave overnight. Quick spin of the pedals to set correct gear and rear wheel spinning OK, but pedals continued to turn as well! That’s never happened before :see_no_evil: Tried changing through the gears all seemed OK, spinning pedals back also seems OK. Going to have to leave it until the morning now and hope it’s a non issue. Any ideas what it could be?

Freewheel a bit sticky? Probably won’t even notice it once your feet are on the pedals and there’s a bit more resistance to stop them.

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Thanks, hopefully that’s it. Should I give the hub a spray of gt85?

I wouldn’t unless it becomes an issue. It’s usually the spring loaded pawls (sp) inside the freehub body getting a bit gummed up so not sure the GT85 would get there or be the right stuff if it did and swilled all the grease out.
I’m no expert but I think the right weight of grease is quite important, too thin and it won’t last, too thick and it sticks them in one position.

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Ffs 🤦
Any suggestions as to getting this out? Pliers aren’t getting enough purchase. I have no idea how or why this got fused such that the head of the bolt got sheared off when trying to undo.

It’s not like it’s been in there ages. I replaced the bottle cage only a couple of months ago.

I fly next Thursday

Is there sufficient material showing for you to create a groove in it and unscrew it?

That was my thought but give it a good dose of WD or similar and that soak in before trying to get it out.

I have never used, so am not recommending, but these look good possibly?

Actually thanks, you have reminded me I have the same problem in the bottle cage of my Zwift trainer bike, will buy a set & feed back :+1:

You could try superglueing another nut on top, otherwise carefully use a hacksaw to cut a groove.

I’d be wary of those removers and a power drill on a carbon frame.

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Yeah I guess it would need gentle/ slow use of electric driver. I’m guessing the bolt and housing may be alloy, even though the frame is carbon?

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Yeah it will have a threaded insert but that probably glued, too much torque might rip the insert, or worse.