>>1994513
oops, old: >>1992357

Why is there a bar on that guy's face, it makes the image seem lewd somehow

>>1994518
to protect his identity

is this a ss from that snooker interview where the dude sucks the kids ear?

!dropperfitment

What's the best way to clean contaminated pads and rotor? Cooking them? Alcohol? Nail polish? Sanding? All of the above?

>>1994545
brake cleaner. who'd have thunk?

>>1994547
the shit they sell in auto parts stores for $4, not some fancy bike-specific brand

>>1994545
isopropyl for the rotor
there's not much point in trying to clean dirty pads, just grind through the dirty part and move on with your life

>>1994513
Are brooks saddles actually worth it? I'm gonna go on a tour and need a new saddle anyways cause my current one is from the 70s. Would there be any problem with buying a used one off ebay? I was thinking either b17 or b15.

>>1994557
get a selle anatomica and don't support perfidious albion

>>1994557
yeah, just get a new one since the resale value is up there if you ride it for a bit and decide you don't like it. the whole idea is that it is broken in and has conformed to your ass. obviously don't get a wide saddle if your current one is narrow and you like it.
>>1994558
or this if you really care that much

>>1994523
I saw that clip with Hendry's face, and I got JV's voice in my head.
I might be cursed.
HE PLAYED THAT AB-SOLUTELY PITCH PER-FECT

>>1994558
Yeah, I also like when my "sadds" are made in Cali Wali.

applying to a job i'll have to commute to by bicycle
anyone have experience with daily bicycle commuting? anything I should know?
it's about a 15 minute ride if I'm going at a very leisurely pace and we're heading into winter here in aus (which means no snow but lots of rain and some pretty chilly days cause I'm down south)

>>1994578
you want fenders and a rack.

>>1994578
consider getting a tire with some puncture resistance, flats are a real killer for commuting

>>1994578
I wrote all this other stuff before realising you're just applying, so the short answer Is: You're golden 15 minutes bike commute is the comfiest. You release stress but you don't get tired.
Long answer, in the case you're getting the job: if you're putting fenders and rack, and you have a place to store your bike, maybe you can put some classic rear bags.
Inside you can have something for the rain and wind. a long rain poncho with hoodie in a bright color and a couple of light waterproof gloves should suffice, but if you'll face torrential rain you can also go for a pair of rain trousers with integrated gaiters to put on top of your trousers.
You can also bring a front and back light, something light and rechargeable.
With a couple bags you can also be free to pick some groceries on your way home.
As with any commute you should always think something goes wrong. In this case a punctured tire is the only thing that could stop you, but I've seen real newbies stuck on the side of the road for a simple dropped chain. If your tire setup is smart you'll never have to worry for a puncture, but if you just got some random tires be prepared to replace the tube (a 10 min job) or have an alternative. You could bring some tire levers, a tube, and a pump in your bag. And maybe a rag to clean your hands.
Depending on where you live, and where you keep your bike while you work or at home, you should have to consider a bike lock or other anti theft possibilities.

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anyone have experience with cranksets from aliexpress?
decent for a commuter bike or nah?

>>1994513
Walmart nepos (who already own Rapha) quietly bought a sizable stake in Trek from the founding Burke family.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBxIlLsBlT8&t=2919s

>>1994603
Those look sketch outright

For all things AliExpress, check Trace velo on YouTube he digs deep into chink bike stuff. I recall there's one alloy crankset that was fairly light amd very cheap that passed snuff

How to understand which dropper post good for me? I mean: inner part on my bike (which goes inside the frame) 260 mm. Diameter 30.9. But I can’t figure out which dropper to choose, 125 or 150mm; besides, they don’t write anywhere the length of inner part of the seatpost. I only found information about Fox transfer, it seems to suit my bike. But i'd like to find something cheaper if possible.

>>1994633
The stanchion length is 125 or 150mm, plus the height of the seat clamp itself

>>1994636
That's what i can’t figure out - how long the seat clamp itself is

>>1994578
you still have to go to work if it's raining, so prepare.
I'm middle aged now and have cycle commuted on and off since I was 16 in high school.
in my experience, full fenders and a rain cape are best in rain. the cape is open at the bottom like a poncho but shaped specifically for bike riding. that way, air circulates and it's not a sweat factory like an ordinary raincoat. the fenders keep off the water kicked up by your tires from the nasty ground . you stay completely dry and comfortable, and none of the dirty road spray gets on you , your drivetrain, and bike.
however, 15 minutes is cake, you could probably get away with an "ass saver" and a rain hat and windbreaker if you just want the minimum. if it comes down in buckets, you can always ride under an awning or thick tree cover near the trunk and wait out the worst.
if it makes you late, call the boss and say you caught a flat. rub grime from the rims on your hands for "proof".
speaking of, you need to learn how to change a flat and carry a patch kit and a small pump. it's easy and pretty quick once you've done it a few times.
for cold, your main enemy is the air /"wind" pulling all the warmth off of you as you speed through it (plus any actual wind on top of that.) modest warmth clothing under a windproof layer is all you need. keeping your (high from exercise) body heat inside the wind break will keep you toasty. if you wear winter coats under a wind break, you WILL overheat. wearing a few layers under the windbreaker allows for temperature regulation by removal if you get too hot.
again, 15 minutes is cake, so your body will probably be getting fully warmed up right when you arrive, so you may have more wiggle room for your clothing recipe
have fun! a bike ride always puts you in a good mood to start the day

>>1994614
aaaand Trek goes from reputable brand to BSO trash overnight. reminds me of Mongoose

>>1994614
>over an hour
did you want to give a time stamp for the information you claim is in there somewhere?

>>1994637
They’re normal 2-bolt saddle clamps you can just measure a normal one down to where the stanchion starts and use that chunk as an estimate

>>1994641
The link is timestamped. 48:39 if the video somehow starts at the beginning for you.

>>1994643
I just clicked the embed button, it started at the beginning for me within your post, but thanks

>>1994614
I have no particular love for Rapha but that's too bad about Trek, glad I didn't buy those Bontrager wheels

>>1994592
I'm running panaracer gravelking SK+ Slicks and have never had a puncture in them (2000km ridden so far)
I'm not a newbie to bicycles, but it's only ever been for fitness road/gravel cycling, I have never ridden anywhere with a purpose I'm always just cycling about
I might get a new bike if fenders and paniers are the way to go though, dont wanna put that shit on my actual road bike but i can see how it would be very helpful because otherwise in the worse rains i'm gunna turn up filthy.

I just got a used steel bike that's in "almost ridable but not quite condition." I noticed there's some surface rusting below the bottom bracket shell. What should I do to prevent the rust from damaging the structural integrity of the frame?

Yes, I know the shifting cable is fucked and has slid off the guide and is rubbing against the frame.

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>>1994689
forgot pic

>>1994691
>rust
don't over shift/adjust your front derailleur so the chain doesn't fall off the inner cog and rub the bb. That's what caused the rust in the first place.
Besides that if I had some time I would remove the drive side crank, sand the effected area, and layer it up with some paint. Spray paint if you need it to dry fast. rustoleum if you just want a thick coat for protection.

Or use rust converter if you have that laying around.

Unless you ride in the salt it won't go bad that quick, but it's better for your concious to see whats up in that area, clean, and repaint.
Hope you got it cheap, since she is rough

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>>1994693
I think it was a good deal for US$60.

>>1994691
Pictures like this make me glad to keep all my bike tools in my bedroom within arms reach, I could rip that whole thing apart in 11 minutes and dunk it all in cleany stuff

>>1994694
Oh nice. Yeah it's a good deal with nice tubing and probably nice parts.
What's the plan for this one?

>>1994603
I have the ones pictured
Suprised by the good quality and clever design. You can adjust the play to the bottom bracket with a spacer nut, that can be locked.
One the pedal threads was very tight but I managed to get them in.
It's also a modular system so you can get 130BCD, 110BCD spiders etc
Would buy again

>>1994698
1. Get it to a state where I'm certain rust is contained. I will probably have to strip off all the parts, treat the frame, and reassemble.
2. Ride for a few months.
3. Decide if I want to keep or sell at a markup.

>>1994726
Like Arkansas or Texas?

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>>1994689
high spec steel tubing can be 1/4 of a millimeter in the centre of the tubes, but bottom bracket shells are way chunkier, and they're filled with grease. Not really a problem area for rust aside from a siezed bb.

That doesn't look bad. Just surface rust. You can just clean it off with a solvent, wd40, whatever, and something mildly abrasive. I would strip, clean and wax the frame. Maybe spray internally, or just the chainstays. That's usually where bikes rust out as water can pool there. Also chainstay protectors can cause serious rust issues so check that if there is one.

Paint touch ups aren't hard unless you're precious about the look. Pic rel is an example i did. Basically just scrape the rust off, clean, mask, rust converter primer (dries black) and then spray.

Pic of the whole bike? Must be pretty awesome. I have something with similiar tubeset and it's one of my favorite bikes to ride.

>>1994723
Thats literally the way sram and everyone after them chose to do it because shimano took out a 'patent' on the most obvious way to adjust preload.
Threads being out of spec is a modt badic red flag.
Many current modular cranksets suffer heavily from tolerance and fit issues at the interfaces, especially those designs that require high tolerance and cleanliness because of essentially being designed as a forbidden double fit, like rotor and knock-offs.

>>1994723
0.01c has been deposited into your account, rajesh

>>1994754
you can see from the reviews who buys this kind of stuff. i think mainly south americans. even south east asians prefer shimano.
There's no reason to buy this stuff, at least in europe a basic shimano crankset or cassete is usually cheaper or same price than aliexpress.
I still think that for some road or quirky stuff chinesium is good, but for reliable commuting and urban, as specified by op, I go with branded stuff.

>>1994761
I bought it bc it was the only 165mm 130BCD 5-arm crank I could find

>>1994766
>muh 5mm less
this confirms what I wrote at the end of the post: for quirky stuff chinesium is good
you're quirky

>>1994766
Rotor, croder, TA, INGRID, shimano, ridea, sram, first, suzue, hope, sugino, FSA ...
> what did he mean by this
just to name a few that I am pretty certain all have some sub 170 mm 130 BCD cranksets in their lineup and in most cases at least a little bit more reputation than chinkshit I had to force a pedal axle in.

Whats the general opinion here about motorized bicycles?
The chinese kits on ebay look sketchy and arent all that durable from what ive read, any better ones I could use?
No, i dont want an electric one.

>>1994792
Like, an internal combustion engine? I don’t think you need to ask here, I can tell you live in a third world country. Just go down to your local mechanical guy and ask him.

>>1994792
I'm sorry you got a DUI, ride the bus, and keep your weed whacker engine in the shed.
>>1994632
Trave Velo is a wonderful human being.
Is waxing a chain worth it?

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>>1994740
That's really nice work, and I feel I have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done now thanks to your effort post. I really appreciate that.

I don't want to post the entire bike as the previous owner put on a lot of stickers and thus can probably be narrowed down to exactly one specific bike. Here's another angle showing some drain hole rusting.

>>1994838
>he got the bridgestone mb-0
probably worth 1k to some grant peterson aficionados/bridgestone cultists.
Have fun.

>>1994792
In my locale mopeds are looked down as dui/homeless/etc. Worse then bicycles, and I have a motorcycle since they are so cheap here so I just run that if I need low/no effort riding.
>>1994803
>is chain waxing worth it
depends on who you are. It's nice that it doesn't collect grime as bad, and it's low friction, so I think it's worthwhile if you don't mind the hassle.
I have lots of oil/chain lube and prefer using that.

>>1994838
lewd dirty brake hole

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is 4x10min at 100% FTP too high for intervals?
Zwift rated it at a 4.5/5 for effort, and I had to cheat in a lot of breaks in the second half when I tried it.

The other two workouts felt fine

>>1994855
If you have to cheat it's too hard for you right now.
Maybe go for something that's a 4.25 or 4.0 difficulty first. Then slowly ramp up over the weeks

>>1994775
>I am pretty certain all have some sub 170 mm 130 BCD cranksets
no, they don't. At least not 5-arm 165mm. They're all discontinued.
I've checked Sram, Shimano, FSA, Rotor

>>1994874
wtf.
All the tubers are obsessed with 165mm or below cranks and I would expect others too since many chinese are getting into cycling with possibly short legs.
oh well, at least I am a 175mm enjoyer.

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>>1994875
>I am a 175mm enjoyer.
I am aswell on my road bike.
I needed the short crank for my recumbent, where shorter cranks are the way to go. Velomobile riders have 150-155mm cranks. People literally drill new threads in 175 cranks and chop them off. You also have to dick with huge custom chainrings, hence I'm stuck to 5-arm 130BCD.
Chinks could make good money if they'd offer 150 155 160 5-arm 130BCD cranks.

>>1994876
Guessing recumbents run 20in or smaller wheels, so it makes sense you need big chainrings.
DESU I have some fuckhuge 110bcd chainrings from when my dad and I were on a 26in tandem. I know I have a 56 110bcd and might even have the BFR(big fucking ring) of 60 tooth 110 which looks stupid.
I am genuinely surprised they don't offer it since you would think they have some us media watchers finding out products they can make.

I know white industries and other boutique companies make sub 165's.... but those cost way too much.

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>>1994876
Which the chinese do. Picrel to name an example.
>>1994874
So youre saying the octa link track cranks are discontinued ? I kind of doubt that. I mean fine it's not exactly 130mm I'll give you that. Still, same point, and shimano is just known to phase shit out quick and push the next thing. Andel pretty sure too would have had something and is more of a taiwan name brand compared to chang here.

>>1994889
>it's not exactly 130mm
What is your point then?
Still waiting for you to post a link on exactly 130BCD 5-arm.
That is still the standard size for large affordable custom chainrings

>>1994875
It's an overreaction but the violent backlash against absurdly long cranks being put on all road bikes is completely justified. Everyone seems to have accepted that 11-34 is a good all purpose road cassette so that's progress I guess but somehow we're still stuck on 52t chainrings and 175mm cranks on road bikes for normies, because we're all chris froome apparently. This is why people buy 1x and think it was 1x that fixed the problem and it wasn't just that their last bike was geared for morons

>>1994909
>custom
>standard
kek.
Anyways yes perhaps not the case with shimano anymore. Like I said they phas out shit fast.
You can have 24 and 30 mm, or square taper cranks in 5 arm 165 / 130 at many places still. Moot discussion anyways if the thing holds up and you dont one day experience a catastrophic failure (from experience breaking cranks and pedals, it's always a bummer accident) then I'm glad you're happy with the purchase.

Still can't figure out why pinky toes keep going numb.
>adjust seatpost height
>move foot contact point
>switch between shoes and sandals
Flat pedals by the way. Any suggestions?

>>1994921
probably meds for autism or something

>>1994921
carbon soles

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Anyone here ride fixed gears? Found this State Co bike for 250 here locally.

Not sure if it would be worth it or how quality these are just wondering if anyone has any experience with these. I live in a hilly area. Thanks bros.

>>1994931
I fell for the fixie meme when it was at its peak in the 2000s. At some point a few years in I started to realize I hated cycling and my mileage had gone way down. A few years after, I had basically stopped riding, I sold it to a laggard and bought a bike with gears, and for some weird reason I liked riding again. It took me a while to admit to myself that I had been a fool.

>>1994931
That’s a $99 bike, if you’re looking for fixies why the hell you looking at $200 fixies, they’re designed to be cheap as shit

>>1994931
>hilly area
>fixed gear
you better be strong, or light, or both.
I run single speed in my area and have 2 bikes setup for it. One has easy/peasy gearing and I can climb 99% of my local hills, but end up CROOOZing on the flats due to spinning out.
Other bike has "light" gearing of 46,17 and I only ride it on hard days. Since I basically stand all the big hills and it's freaking hard.
I would recommend having another bike, and a fixed cog if you live in hilly areas.

>>1994931
Fixed is fun in its simplicity (ease of maintenance and no fret riding style). As >>1994944 said, I would get a bike with gears since hills, unless this is n+1 for you.
Anons, I know mechanically it would work, but is there any reason you couldn't/shouldn't mount a front rack/basket to a bike with caliper brakes?

>>1994944
people in this board are really something...

How many times, if ever, have you nearly been hit by a car? Today was my 2nd date out commuting to the city (5 miles each way) and nearly got fucking creamed by some dumb bitch in a 4runner on the fucking sidewalk............. as in she wasn't paying attention, drove up curb, panicked, hit the gas even more, and nearly took me out from behind.

Kind of scared now.

>>1994984
Depending on your definition of "nearly" and "hit", a few times a week. It's usually a sideways kind of deal where they just wrench the wheel to the right as hard as they can and hit the gas without looking. This week I was pulling up to an intersection and someone in a small SUV got impatient and did that sort of sideways lurch thing cagers do, luckily there was space for me to swerve to the right. Last week something similar with a rape van. Luckily relative speeds are pretty low most of the time so there's time to hit the brakes. I've only been actually *hit* like that (as in impact and blood) once. Ruined my favorite gloves. Doorings don't count as that's usually something that should be avoidable.

It helps to remember everyone wants to kill you and they will at the first opportunity, but they don't mean anything by it, they're just dumb animals going on instinct. The only ones that really scare me are the box trucks and construction vehicles because they're big enough to have shit visibility but small enough where any idiot is allowed to drive them in the city.

>>1994984
never.
I ride mostly bike trails, or on the sidewalk at non-commuter hours.
Admittedly I live in a rich suburb with my parents so the general populace may be smarter/have more to lose by killing a random dude. I also avoid shitty roads like the plague. If there is a ton of traffic going 50+mph and I am in the bike lane doing maybe 25 I just don't ride that road again. Freaking asking for trouble since it just takes one mishap and I can be road grime.

I have had closer interactions on my motorcycle.

>>1994984
I don’t believe in bicycles playing in traffic over 25mph, I’m a proud sidewalker (unless there’s zero traffic)

I just bought a Trek FX Sport 4 (it's coming in the mail). The first bike I've bought since 2013 (it was shit). I haven't actively road since 2016.

How good was my purchase?

>>1995002
I hope you got in the dark green color. Not a fan of the 1x but I understand people don't like FD's.
I bet you will like it.

>>1995003
>Dark Green Color

I just looked it up, it's meh. Would definitely get the Black version if I got that one.

To be more specific, I bought a pre-owned white one which I think looks fire.

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Ok so I have the design of my trailer down, but I'm not sure what to do about the hitch/arm system. I am thinking that this quick disconnect ball-joint system is probably going to be the easiest, having a 90 degree arm coming up from the A-frame with the receiver mounted to it, and the ball affixed to the rear rack.

But is 35 degrees of movement going to be enough? I was considering heim joints, but those don't seem to offer any more rotation, maybe less. U-Joints, name brand ones anyway, are insanely fucking expensive. These QA1 ball joints are like 12 bucks shipped off ebay. McMaster Carr doesn't seem to have them anymore.
I'm going to have to weld a plate, or just sandwich two plates on the rack and having the ability to remove the ball would be good. A plate welded with a nut so that it sits flush with the top platform of the rack seems like a good idea, but where should the ball hitch even be in relation to the bike? Should it be over the rear axle or closer like a fifth wheel hitch system?

Also what would be a good location for the rear axle, keeping the wheelbase long enough to be balanced but not so far back that there is too much load on the hitch? I haven't welded anything yet, I just have the main frame cut, and that is going to determine where I put the center brace since that is where the axle and axle tube will mount.

>>1995004
So you got it on sale? nice. I just like vibrant colors, but I understand most people like white/black/gray/brown.

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>>1995007
Yeah and it was the correct size. I have 30 days to try it out, figured why not.

I like vibrant colors too, but it really depends on the color / shade for me.

I would totally buy a bike of this color / share of green.

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>>1995006
if the ball is mounted vertically to the bike, then the trailer will have no angular restriction on the horizontal plane.

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>>1995018
Fore and aft will be a non-issue, but I was worried if 35 deg will offer enough side to side movement for cornering. Speeds will be lower in general so cornering is going to be less aggressive, but I wasn't sure if that would be enough without binding during cornering since I've never really considered what sort of angle cornering at various speeds requires. Like if it does bind isn't it just going to create tension that has to be dispersed somewhere, like through the rest of the bike moving forward...? I dunno.

I'm sure I'm just overthinking this, i know fuck all about physics

>>1995008
That would be cool too. fluoro yellow/neon green ends up being a love/hate color choice for most people.
>>1995022
The slower and sharper the turn the more degrees of angle will be used. At least that is my guess. At speed you won't be turning that far so 35 degrees might be enough, but I suspect you would need to do a bunch of math, which is more annoying then just making the thing.

Also, what if you had the female"socket"in a sleeve that rolled in the hitch? Using something like a delrin bushing or pvc as the slippery material then running a pin/bolt through the whole setup so it would stay attached.The pin/bolt would ride in a slot you made in the hitch.
Just an idea if you need more rotation beyond the 35 degrees and it might allow better leaning.

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>>1995024
>math, which is more annoying then just making the thing
ya lol. i mean the ball joint is 15 bucks and i have enough square tubing to make the arm.

that's a good idea but considering the length of the piece that sits over the rack, i think i would need a long piece of thread rod to hold it kinda like pic rel i guess? I had originally intended on welding it because that would be pretty easy, but this might be better. i have some poly bushings kicking around somewhere, not sure if they're the right size though.
it'd be a lot cheaper just to have the threaded rod spin across the bushings, but i dunno if it would bend within the square tubing or not without a sleeve. meh, worst case shit breaks and it's rebuilt stronger i guess.

>>1995025
Use the threaded rod to guide the nuts as close to the bushings as necessary, it'll all come out at the end.

is there a dynamo hub that only engages when you are coasting?

Which type of anti seize can I get at the hardware store to prevent my aluminium seatpost from sticking to my steel frame? Copper based? Nickel?

>>1995030
either one, or just grease. it's really not a very demanding application. anti-seize is a fucking mess and i hate it.

>>1995030
grease.
Anti-seize should really be used on critical aluminum to steel interface.
I use it on freewheels, stubborn threaded bb's, and bottle cage bolts if the frame is aluminum.

Realistically grease could be used for all of these if you ride your bike more then once a year.

>>1995031
>>1995032
thanks. I unseized mine just a while ago with hot water. I want to ride early this morning but I don't have grease lying around. Surely it won't stick right away or should I use chain lube or something?

>>1995033
just make sure it's all cleaned up. you'll be fine for a ride for sure.

>>1994921
bike fit advice trying to recitfy a singly symptom can very often have greater negative impact somewhere else along the chain.
What type of bicycle is it or if you know, thats the current tread width ? Do your knees either track in towards the top tube or out at the top of the stroke ? Since youre on flats (with no retention !?) where do you instinctively place your foot to contact the pedal, which oart of the foot feels 'right' to you to oush through ?
Also try different shoes.

>>1994931
I live in the alpine area. It's definately 'hilly'. I run 48/17 most of the time and my daily commute is 32 km one way. And I'm not the only one in the area running fixed most of the time.
Anons who think hilly areas and fixed don't match probably shy away from all sorts of challenges, have no ass and no quads.
You can always get a lower ratio if you're not fit. This will not only enable you to climb steeper at acceptable cadence it will also enable you to descend steeper inclines without relying on brakes.
Fixed gear bikes are no different from other bikes, if any a bit simpler. As such you won't have quality issues if you get a reputable brand bike.
Do make sure to run a front brake. One day you'll just be too exhausted to skid after giving it the beans or something and choose to just wing it et voila. First completely avoidable crash.

>>1995043
Is this a copypasta? I can't believe you haven't utterly destroyed your knees and joints. I don't know which alps you are talking about, but there cities are usually in the valley and the flattest you could find. I live in a hilly area where cities are really on hills, and I ride normal modern bikes. I lived in super flat cities, used fixed and 3 speeds and hated it.
So don't listen to this man from 20 years ago. Choose freedom, choose gears.

>>1995056
Towns here tend to be on the hillside, on the slope and you have to go across hills and ridges to go places anyways. Naturally only the fewest roads here are passes and infrastructure has developed to follow the path of least resistance, which usually is next to the streams along the valleys and around the mountains.
My knees used to be chronically hurt for years but that was when I only road derailleur and IGH. Fixed was a thing I tried because of my knees and while fixed was not part of the solution I liked it and stuck with it for daily commuting.
Town in my area are definately not flat.

>>1995043
if you want a challenge, you should still run gears. 11-25 cassette and 54-40+ chainrings and you can challenge yourself all the way.

>>1995043
This is some quality cope

>>1995100
This is a good compromise. Biggest thing is make sure the friction shifter is tight enough. I noticed some chain sounds while standing up big hills since the bike flexes back and forth.
A rider can always experiment single speed/fixed later, or 13 speed electronic shifting later too.

>>1995043
This is your mind on fixie
Riding a geared bike makes hills easier in the same way that mountain biking with suspension makes it easier than rigid, or hiking with a backpack makes it easier than a shopping bad

You're just using the wrong too for the job and think you're tough for it.

>fit issue
I have shoulder pain on my gravel bike. I can't pinpoint the cause. It's imminent pain and soreness when I get up on the bike. My guess is that the bike is too big, even though I'm supposed to be an M or 54cm,

>5'10 / 33'' or 178/83 cm
>current bike is merida silex 400 M
>stack and reach are 625/400 mm, 80mm stem.
>I put on a 70mm stem, same issue
>it's difficult to engage core and lower back on the bike
>I feel like all my weight rests on my shoulders
>shoulders feel "scrunched"

>>1995153
Might wanna check how your levers are angled. Tweaking that will affect the angle your shoulders sit at to bring your arm to the bar.

>>1995153
not an expert, fit and anatomy it's still a mistery to me
-this looks like a nice relaxed bike, but still, you're supposed to get down there. Maybe you're just not used to that.
-try tilting your saddle a bit upwards
-send back that 70mm and get the shortest you can find at 35. then you can see if bike it's too big or not
- >>1995155 nice advice try also that, or tilting a bit your whole handlebar

>>1995153
Try a riser stem, like a serious 25 degree rise and make it short. If you find out that say a 30mm stem fits fine you know either the bike is somehow too long, you have really short arms+torso for your height, or something else.
You can try going nose up with the saddle a little too. Generally that puts a little more pressure on your taint then your hands.

main issue will always be it's hard to convey the exact pain you are having over the internet, and we can't even see you on the bike. You need to try things, and figure out what options you have.

I found when my bars were too low I stayed on the tops only and sat the bar in my fingers, not my hands. When it was too far and low I never went to the hoods and rounded my lower back, extended my shoulders forward, and damn near locked my arms out.

>>1995147
No. No one here thinks they are 'tough' for riding fixed. It appears much rather that you have not understood the appeal of fixed gears, perhaps because for you personally it doesn't do anything, who knows.
On a side note your strawman doesn't hold up too well either. I'd be on a electrically assisted 'bicycle', it would be the right tool for the job, combining absolute ease of use, adequate speed, the best lifetime enviroental impact and so on. But you can always invent and use a newer more optimised tool for any job. But there is reasons why people increasingly refuse to do so. You may not associate with those and ride an 'e-bike' because of purely objective reasons. That's fine with me. But some people simply base their decisions on things that go beyond purely objective reasoning.

>>1995178
You've been called out and your wall of seethe only confirms it

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>>1995181
Not an argument. Try again.

>>1995178
It's better to understand some people just don't like different things. Until they ride one, or get used to accepting things that are harder can be okay they won't change.

has anyone used something like a motorcycle headlight paired with an 18650 battery pack with a 12v controller? it seems like a 12w 12v bulb would just kinda suck them dry pretty quickly.
i just remember someone posting in the light thread about having a lamp with an auxiliary battery pack and having success with it, just no idea which one or what it was.
>dynamo
eventually. they're expensive.

How to remove bitch stickers glue from the frame without scratching it? No, I'm not going to order a sticker removal spray, I need a solution NOW. Thank you anon in advance, I know you have a solution.

>>1995235
what the hell are bitch stickers? the UCI thing on the seat tube? I just leave it there, I didn't think they come off actually

>>1995236
It does not matter if you would leave them on. The stickers have small picture of them being removed hence I'm removing them, they are ugly, there's several of them, and they have best adhesive the world have seen so far.

>>1995236
The picture got lost
https://files.catbox.moe/24mcxc.jpg

>>1995235
New razor blade and go slow. You'll most certainly need sticker removal spray to get the residue off.

>>1995193
>dynamo
get the shimano front hub dynamo, any of those
hook any front and rear light combo by a reputable brand to it
you're golden ever after, occassionally either light may fail and need replacing or fucking with the PCB (needed to replace diodes on the last two rears I had also blew a cap once)

>>1995236
>>1995239
There's also those all over the rims, they are made out of some sort of paper and leave nasty adhesive that I can't remove with water or alcohol https://files.catbox.moe/bf99qh.jpg
I don't know what retard in Cube thought it's a nice touch.

>>1995242
This is common with all but the most generic cheapo disposable junk wheels because it can be next to impossible to tell what wheel you're looking at and bike companies will often swap different wheelsets on the same model, it's easy to remove and it also makes it easier to tell what you're looking at when it's not a prestige wheel like a campy where you can tell from 100 feet away what brand it is even if there's no sticker

Alexrims isn't anything fancy but it's better than the worst junk so of course there's going to be stickers on it announcing that you got a bike that has better than the worst possible wheels

>>1995245
It's Cube Hyde Race in case you wanted to know. I removed the stickers from one side of one wheel, not the adhesive though. Tomorrow I will go and but this fucking adhesive removal spray because it's seems there's no way around it. I also tried gasoline and WD40, both didn't help.

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>>1994513
I’m going from 160/160 to 203/180 and the rear 180 adapter with the included bolts interferes with the caliper
So I used an M6 with no on thread washer and ground it down a little to clear, but these are 10mm bolts instead of the longer normal brake bolts
Is this going to kill me?

Pic is the black original brake bolts and the bolt I’m using on the caliper

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>>1995268
I can’t just use the original bolt and shave that down because of the non removable washer on the bolt, it’s too tall, if I ground one down with that washer there I’d be taking off half the head

>>1995268
>>1995269
I have no idea but I'm monitoring for answers as I have a bike with a 140mm rear rotor that irritates me because it's asymmetrical

>>1994513
want to start ridding bikes again on some local trails/parks. Something ive been intrested in is buying a older road bike for the 100ish dollar range. Never ridden a road bike before, anything i should know.

>>1995235
use wd40 or olive oil for the residue

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Does this saddle angle seem a bit fucked up? All the Brooks C17s I see online either have the nose flat, or level to the tail. If I try either I slip forward constantly. This angle does keep me stable, but causes other discomfort. I'm wondering if my ass is just not well shaped for this saddle.

>>1995281
How old are we talking? The biggest fuckup I've seen with people buying second hand road bikes is buying bikes that don't fit them, with the stem cut far to aggressively for their flexibility/fitness. My first road bike was a low end 80s bike I got from the dump to learn how to rebuild bikes and I really just lucked out on getting a frame that fit me properly.

When you get a bike that's correctly sized and adjusted for you, you may find that the saddle doesn't fit well. Being in a more leant over position for longer periods means that the saddle has to be just right, otherwise your cock and balls goes numb and your ass hurts. The saddle you get with the bike may not fit you, and you may have to go through a few to find one that does. You'll also need knicks (bike shorts) or bike underwear that goes under your shorts, depending on your vibe. Don't fall for the full kit (lycra) meme unless you really want that aesthetic, it's not that important for a casual rider.

>>1995300
yeah, saddles should generally be flat. judging how your bars are angled up, your reach might be a little long which, ime, can attribute to the sliding forward. if you have some shorter reach bars maybe try those (hassle, i know) since the reach on those looks long as hell.

>>1995307
Yeah you might be right there, I was having a lot of arm and shoulder pain, something I didn't have with a different frame. I'll see what options I have. I did previously run the bike with the stem flipped, which would effectively reduce the reach a bit. I'll give that a crack, and look at bar and stem options too. Cheers mate.

>>1995241
yeah, i guess the alfine hubs are on sale for 65 bucks. are there really no external buffer battery systems as opposed to ones that are built into the light itself? a lot of them seem kinda...bad when it comes to flickering even at constant speeds. i know tail lights are pretty low draw, but is 3w even enough to power both a rear and front light that is sufficiently bright enough for pitch black roads?
i was thinking hub to passthrough rechargeable batteries to lights, but it seems like anyone who is doing this is just converting ac to dc and running a higher voltage dc light, which is kind of convoluted. i dunno.

>>1995269
It's fine. As long as you can undo the bolt later, and you have close to the same amount of threads going into your frame, since the threads are what is doing the holding and resisting the caliper adapter yeeting itself out of there.


>>1995281
All I can say is do your research on sizing, and if you are getting a rideable bike(not fixer upper) then ride it around for 10 minutes or so.
It will feel weird to ride compared to a hybrid/mtb. Stick with it, and if something still hurts after 250-500miles the fit needs to be adjusted.
Let us know your height, and inseam to give a rough estimate of what size you will need.

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>>1995300
I bought a C17 recently and it’s not completely flat. I had also had to slightly angle the nose which makes it look a bit strange from the front one.

>>1995312
all the lights I have used so far were completely acceptable regarding flicker. At most they would only ever flicker when slowly pushing the bike after it has been stationary for quite some time. You can always piggyback something on this basic installation that does whatever for you but more often than not it adds ghetto aesthetics. On my daily I have the cheap shimano hub, always some fuxon or similar brand front and rear and currently a Kemo USB charger so I can top up my devices when not needing lights.
Maybe check Scholtens website for inspiration, if you can stand THAT amount of tism.

>>1995300
I'm going to get dunked on for this but it sounds to me like you're outrgrowing brooks. They're training wheels for saddles, once you have a basic idea of what you're doing you realize they seem "forgiving" because it's basically impossible to set them up properly so anything is as good (or bad) as anything else.

>>1994513
Hello people.
I start college next year and want a bike to commute. Do you recommend any particular city (hybrid?) bike around 500 euros? I have used bikes all my life and know basic maintenance/ got tools. However i have no idea about the market.
Thanks in advance.

>>1995370
cross post harder
>>>1995371

>>1995372
will you call the police on me little fucking faggot?

>>1995376
degenerate. Go buy a car.

I'm getting a new do-it-all bike and I'm undecided on GRX 1x vs 2x. I have a 2x system but terrain is so flat here I don't need most gears. Hell I have never used the smaller 30T chainring.
I haven't ridden 1x so I don't know how it feels. I have a fear of missing out I guess.

>>1995437
>Hell I have never used the smaller 30T chainring
>I haven't ridden 1x so I don't know how it feels

Really makes you think. 2x offers smaller tooth jumps and a little higher top end while 1x is nice for its simplicity. Imo it doesn't really matter that much but I'm not autistic with strong opinions

t. Rides and owns both

>>1995437
I would stick with 2x, mostly because 2x has less cross chaining in the big ring+smaller cogs. If it's really flat I suspect you stay in the 46 or large cog, then go from the middle of the cassette to the 12 or 11 cog.
If you mostly ride in the middle of the cassette then 1x would have less cross chaining, but generally those bikes come with wider cassettes which is not what you want for high speed flat riding.

However both work fine.

This probably isn't the best place to ask this but I might as well ask
I'm wanting to get an ebike so I can have a way to travel. I don't really need a car since the town I live in is small and there's no way in hell I can afford a car.
My price range is about 1000-2000 dollars (CAN). I want something that can carry a small amount of groceries, has a long descent battery charge, and can handle drizzles.

>>1995466
slap on a bafang motor to a 90s steel bike and live on the edge

How to remove this fucking nut without paying 40-50€ for the tool? And also how to assemble it back?

https://files.catbox.moe/oeuysz.jpg
https://files.catbox.moe/o61lt0.jpg

>>1995525
3D print a tool
https://m.yeggi.com/q/shimano+center+lock+tool+by/

Done this for my threaded BB and was suprised how much force it can take

>>1995526
So either need to buy a 3D printer or a 40 bucks tool?

>>1995525
>https://files.catbox.moe/oeuysz.jpg
channellocks/vice grip
Or just get a cheap chinese bb tool that fits

>>1995466
there's an ebike thread. check the catalog

>>1995529
>Or just get a cheap chinese bb tool that fits
That's what I just did. A week of waiting and not working on my bicycle...

>>1995531
Oh, thank you

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>>1995525
>>1995533
Dude wait don't strip the thing or your fucked. I suppose you bought a chinese thingy all in one.
Instead buy one like picrel where you can fit both a wrench or 1/2 inch thingy, then you get the longest lever you can apply, be sure to engage the tool well by pushing it thight on the nut, and It should go. YOu can get an ice toolz for 15 euro on amazon, or you can get a chinese one for 5-10 euro, as long as it is for a wrench.
Then once you get it out, I suggest buying an inner centerlock ring, it works better and it uses a normal cassette tool

>>1995437
well just get a 1x crank with the same tooth as your biggest current chainring then

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>>1995574
Well I've already ordered this thingy, it says has to fit TL-FC36 unless it's another chinese trickery and I fucked it up.

>>1995578
that's for a hollowtech bottom brackets, the tool anon posted is for a sealed unit square taper BB.

>>1995578
well that's exactly the kind of tool I was advising you against lol. good luck anyway it could still work just try to press it firmly. but be careful if it's stuck you're not getting anywhere, that thing looks short

>>1995579
it's the same thing, hollowtech II or centerlock (outer ring) is the same tool.
But with the tool I posted you can get better engagement because you can fit a long wrench or socket wrench

you could just wrap an old innertube around the nut and get it off with channelock pliers. spray some penetrating oil on it, smack it with a rubber mallet or piece of wood or something, and let it sit for 24 hours. the bike needs to be firmly mounted for this to work, so you need to straddle it, or have a friend hold it while you torque. dont bother with a bike stand, or vise, as you'll get too much flex.

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>>1995304
not to old, trying to find local options on facebook marketplace. Trying to get this schwin for around 100.

>>1995313
5' 10", 30"
Some of the local listings have people at least confirming their height to be around 5'10"

>>1995525
if you live in a city there's probably a community bike place you can go to and just use their tool for free

when I spin my front wheel i feel a faint vibration but theres no play and it spins forever. its a cup and cone road bike hub, could the cones be too tight or is that fine?

>>1995715
Have you tried with it off the bike? Lay the axle on your outstretched fingers and give it a spin, it’ll be a lot easier to tell if there’s any hitches cause it’ll try to roll forwards. If it only happens on the bike the wheel might be a touch untrue.

>>1995684
Man that’s a beautiful colour, I hope it works out for you.

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Someone please recommend me a crankset and bb for my shimano 1x11 build. My frame needs a 73mm bb and the hub has a 44mm chainline, so something 44-46mm would be optimal I guess, but hard to find.

Been looking at 40-42t chainrings, but doesn’t need to come with one

>>1995737
I don't know this kind of thing make my brain tilt.
Unless someone comes around with a suggestion for a spacer on your cassette, my suggestion is to get a cheaper shimano mt501 rear hub, but I guess you want a iso disc brake...
There's also the possibility that this chainline difference doesn't really matter in a 1x

>>1995684
Schwinn looks fine for 100. Maybe a little large in the stack/headset height but that's fine for a new rider.
At your height and inseam anything from a modern 54-56 will probably fit. Maybe a 58 if you like being on a bigger bike.

For vintage steel 56-58 would be the biggest and you can run smaller frames into the 53 or 52 size most likely, or smaller.

GLHF

>>1995715
If you have never greased it and adjusted it look into that. If you just greased it and it's adjusted right you really have a couple options. Replacing ball bearings, replacing cones after inspection, or leaving it till it gets worse.

>>1995300
I don't see how you could slip forward when the saddle is flat. Have you considered that maybe your saddle is a tad high and you're subconsciously shifting forward to reach round the pedal stroke more easily? Playing with saddle forward/back adjustment might also do something useful.

Can someone explain suspension adjusted forks to me?

I have a hardtail that I would like to get some rigid forks, but have no idea what to look for.

>>1996036
It’s a rigid fork that is as long as an appropriate-size suspension fork, and thus you can swap your suspension fork for this specific-length rigid one and not change geometry (or more like, lock your fork at one arbitrary point of geometry)

>>1995976
I’ve set the height based on the heel technique, it should be good but I might also try an inseam-based calculator and get a second opinion. The saddle is as far forward as it goes, which gets my knee in line with the pedal spindle. I’m going out for a shorter ride tomorrow with a focus on dialing the fit in, so I’ll see how I go. Thanks for the help.

>>1995300
you might be slipping because your hoods are set very low, bring them back and up, then adjust your saddle angle so it's level. Your reach in the drops might also be too low and/or far, you can flip your stem so it points up instead of down to alleviate that. Your fit looks fucked ngl, the photo angle and non-straight fork make the problems seem worse than it should be probably though, still your fit is fucked.

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>>1996065
The position of the hoods isn’t unusual for aero hoods on classic shaped deep drops, plus since they aren’t brifters they don’t have the same shape and that kinda fucks people up. I agree that photo looks pretty fucked up, I’ve also got this one which has a better angle, but the stand raises the rear wheel a few inches, making it harder to tell. If I wasn’t at work I’d take something better.

>>1996069
I can see you
Besides that your setup looks fine, You could roll the bars up/hoods up and see if that helps or maybe move the saddle a little forward to see if you stop wanting to move forward.

>>1995153
I figured it out I think. Handlebars are way too high, which makes me push with my hands and shoulders. I raised my saddle and lowered the handlebars which helped somewhat. I can't lower them anymore. drop is now 5cm, I had handlebars level with the saddle before. I tested a 90mm stem with lowered bars and my shoulders felt great but I got lower back pain immediately.
this is my first dropbar bike and I was memed into making it upright and relaxed.

>>1996105
I kept getting hand pain in my right hand but only in the hoods. kept micro adjusting the clamp. turns out I have permanent pain in my hand there but my bike is the only thing I grip that stresses the area. it's only otherwise noticable when I press it with my left thumb.
oh well, the adjustments helped a lot anyway

>>1996105
>>1996155
>my hoods aren't too low, they need to be lower!
>my hands hurt but it's not because of my hoods
I'm going to tell you again, you're slipping forwards because your bars are too low and your arms aren't long enough for your fit so when your saddle is leveled, you're slipping forward putting all your pressure on that part of your hands. Moving your bars lower against what I suggested is what will lead you to even more permanent wrist damage

>>1996158
you know what, it might not be that your bars are too low but your bars might be too far forward, either or, your fit looks fucked and taking a picture with the bike on the stand to raise the rear doesn't help your case

>>1996155
Don't listen to the unracers and wannabe bike fitters and slam that stem

>>1996158
I'm (>>1996155) not him, I'm just commiserating

>>1996162
Slow down there race-ist! This is NOT a race!

How bad are those? Can't find it being tested on ytube, and also can't find how it's called in english.

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>>1996167

>>1996167
Horrific. So bad the picture can't even be shown on your post.

>>1996168
No joke those are actually bad. Not much better then a generic cable lock.
Would be okay if you are going to a cafe and in for 5-10 minutes in a nice neighborhood.
In the ghetto I would get a shitbike that's nasty and lock that up with 1-2 d locks.

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Good morning ladies. The youtube algo is memeing me hard on frame upgrades, I feel like my whole bike is at a point where the frame is the weakest link, should I fall for it or just transfer everything to my brokerage account except a couple thousand so I don't do something irresponsible. Don't tell me to buy the frame. It would be dumb right?

>>1996168
The problem with those is that they look rather beefy. If you push two of the links apart you'll see that the whole construction is held together and depends on a single strand of really low diameter (maybe 6mm or so) wire cable. That's everything you have to cut through (oh and the plastic cover yeah).

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>>1996158
You’re talking to someone else, there are multiple people here talking about about fit.
I’ve adjusted the stem and leveled the bars off a bit further, and switch to a saddle that I’ve had more experience with. Going on a ride soon, so I’ll see how I go. I’ll probably end up doing the reddit thing and getting a bike fit, trying to do this over photos on 4chan is a bit of a flawed system. Either way, I appreciate everyone’s advice, thank you.

>>1996216
>3 bolt crank
are you the guy who got that from bluelug? you built that frame up? I don't know if VO even sells complete bikes. anyway, it's cool. not wild about the color, but it's a nice bike. the frame is their version of a sport-tourer?

>>1996223
The crankset is a Dia-compe Chainwheel, 48-34. Decent crankset and polishes easily.
The frame is the VO Rando. Meant for rando rides I guess. Takes a front rack and fenders, but only realistically takes a 32c, 25 with fenders. Probably my only real complaint. The colour changes with the light, somewhere between a mustard colour in diffused light all the way to a sparkly gold under direct sunlight. I would have picked a different colour given the option, but I like it. I bought and built it up from parts I had on my old Panasonic frame, with the goal of copying the fit. Didn’t quite work out as planned, but I’m still enjoying riding it so far.

>>1996236
ah, there was a guy here that bought a similar unbranded crank from bluelug, he hypothesized that they had them made by diacompe

Any gear hub and belt enjoyers here? What should I know about it?

>>1996264
I heard those things drip everywhere and the "clean" factor is exaggerated. Personally I'm thrilled over having jumped on the chain wax bandwagon

>>1996237
A lot of velo orange and riv stuff is made by dia compe too, so I think that’s a fair assessment. I got mine from Amazon Japan.

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>>1996265
Can't drip if there's no oil in it. Use grease instead and laugh in Shimano's face.

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>>1996216
Good news, big improvements. While increasing bar height helped, it wasn’t the only fix. I found that in my natural saddle position, my sit bones were at the front on the wing, about the place they should be. Rather than slipping forwards, my thighs were pulling me forward as I peddled. When I’d pull further back, I’d adjust my pelvis angle, moving the part of the sit bones in contact with the saddle. That made me suspicious that I actually needed the saddle back further. So I knocked it back a few milimeters and the difference was substantial. Pain pretty much gone and my core is activating better. Rode with it like that for 2.5hr and it went well, maybe I’ll made some more tweaks in coming rides. Still some aches and pains to work on, I suspect many to do with my lack of fitness.
Thanks to all anons who helped me out.

Spent all day not wanting to ride my bike and then I forced myself to ride my bike but I only lasted 45 minutes before I got all tired so I went home and showered and now it’s 10pm and I do wanna ride my bike

>>1996279
Interesting observation, I need to adjust the setback on my saddle too
>>1996280
I sometimes get in that mood and when I force myself, I'm always glad I do unless it like suddenly rains or something lol

Dumb question but any good info on bike maintenance in terms of cleaning/washing it?

On an old beater bike i would just take it to a car wash and shoot it up with water gun, but now that I got a nicer bike I am super wary of getting water into wrong places.

>>1996264
No gear hub but I sometimes ride a belt bike. It's somehow more quiet then a normal single speed bike which is odd, and cogs/belts have different standards which can be kinda funky.
>>1996314
Just don't use high pressure on areas with grease. Use low pressure unless you got the bike really muddy.

>>1996314
Sponge and bucket with hot water and mild dish soap. Something more brushy for drivetrain and tires. Then a light drizzle with a garden hose gun to wash grime and soap, dry with clean towel.

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>>1996314
picrel on the frame and fork
ISP on the brake calipers and derailleurs
boiling water on the chain followed by a nice simmer in paraffin tungsten disulfide soup
nothing on the gears because they don't get dirty

I bought the wrong cassette for my bike trainer. It is 11-42t while the one on my bike is 11-46t. Is the cassette being smaller on the trainer going to cause issues with the chain? Am I better off exchanging it?

>>1996339
Should be good.

>>1996236
are you going to be able to source 3 bolt replacement rings? presumably dia compe makes them but you'll have to order them from Japan. I've never noticed any on the US market . those are cool cranks at a good price but I'd be wary of replacement rings plus shipping costing like $100

>>1996279
nice one.
I had an opposite experience. I'm pretty tall so without really checking, I went ahead and got a long setback post and put the saddle all the way back because I'm tall, I need reach, right?
as you all reading this are aware, this was totally wrong. rode for years like that, although luckily it didn't put me in any pain. I actually fucked the post up from all the rearward leverage (I had milled some material off to fit my archaic seat tube diameter and I fucking bent it lol) but I ended up replacing it with a cheap, normal setback post and finally started really experimenting with it. turns out -- duh -- I needed the saddle more mid front and the resulting slack in my legs meant I raised it like crazy, maybe more than an inch.
can really feel the difference in power transfer and in handling, more nimble and intuitive body movement .
live and learn.

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>>1996314
thirding just drizzle water from the hose to initially wet it down and then rinse. you get the dirt off by soapy cloth and brush, not blasting it with water. you don't want water getting into anything that falling rainwater wouldn't touch.
mild soap. you can put car wax on it if you want, it'll stay nice longer and be easier to clean thereafter. I even waxed the finish on my brake calipers. they look silver but actually it's a champagne powder coat finish on them. lots of components have similar finishes.
I have a whole separate set of rags and a drivetrain-specific brush I use on the chain and gear clusters. don't forget your pulley wheels on rear derailleur, they're often plastic and accumulate the most gunk. press a rag on one side and reverse the crank, then move the rag, repeat until not leaving gunk marks, then press the other side. do the chainrings the same way. when cassette is gunky I drizzle water, flush with solvent, and use my Park thin, stiff brush between the gears, also there's a hook thing on it that scrapes the innermost surface., drizzle water, repeat if needed. also, pic related every once in a while especially if you ride in rain/puddles/mud.
chain cleaning and lubing is important but there's a million opinions about what is the right way so I'll leave you to that on your own.

>>1996339
worst case scenario you might have to remove one chain link but if you don't notice any issues when shifting I wouldn't fuck with it. if you do notice it, possibly just turning the B screw and/or barrel adjuster could be enough

>>1996368
I’m worried about this too. They have the 36t on Amazon Japan, but that’s it. Probably available somewhere else but I’ll have to figure that out.

>>1996314
>>1996380
you can also "floss" between the cassette gears if it's not heavily gunked up, which is easy and quick, compared with the deep clean . can even do it with the wheel on the bike with chain, if slightly awkward

>>1996407
>floss
*with a rag edge

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How to not get sore arms in aero tuck?

>>1996419
workout your upper body you freaking twig.

What tires would you guys recommend for a MTB that's mainly used for paved roads but hits the occasional loose gravel/off road, no actual MTB courses though.
IIRC I used to see some mentions of Schwalbe green marathon, not sure if these are ideal for my situation but are they a decent choice?
Never had to buy tires before
Picked up a second hand bike and while the tires were okay last year now they're really starting to show their age

>>1996423
Whatever has low tread, or is recommended for gravel riding.
I like solid center tread tires with some knobs on the side for that use case.
Any recommendations are going to be based on tire size too, so tell us if it's 26, 27.5/650b or 29/700c.

>>1996425
I'm like 95% sure it's a 29 but can't check at this exact moment

>>1996426
Solid. Many here like the continental race king in 29.
I like the looks of a continental double fighter in 29 x2.0
Or something like a wtb riddler in 700x45
Another good option would be a panaracer gravelking sk.


FYI 700c=29in so 700c tires that are wide can probably fit your bike.

29in is more of a marketing term for mtb's, so you will find cross country to downhill tires in that size. 700c was originally for road bikes, but you can find gravel bike tires that IMO perfect for what your use case is.

>>1996426
Buy 700c x 40 in literally whatever tread and be done with it, you don’t have 30mm internal width wheels so you can absolutely get away with 40c

>>1996427
>>1996442
I just checked and it's indeed the 29x2.25 Schwalbe Smart Sam, Active that are on there now, with wheelsize 57-622
I'm not sure if this affects any of the recommendations you guys gave

>>1996455
700c and 29” are completely interchangeable assuming the tire width isn’t insanely different. Tires labeled 700c will label width in mm, tires labeled 29” will label width in inches. 2 inches equals 50mm. Good luck

>>1996455
The 622 is the diameter of the bead in mm, it basically is another way to say 700c, which is another way to say 29”, all three labels mean the same thing. The 57 refers to the tire width in mm, should equal 2.25”

>>1996464
>>1996463
I'm guessing the diameter is not to be fucked with, aka I should get 29/700/622, but how lenient would the width be?
The continental race king seems to be 55-622/29*2.2, I'm assuming that's close enough that it should work despite reading somewhere you should replace tires with ones that are equal in width. But how about 45 or 40 or 2"? Would that be pushing it?
The double fighter III seems a lot more available locally (Belgium) than the race king and gravelking ones I looked at (20€ vs 50€) at a glance.

Also, time for a really stupid question, I'm guessing these are sold individually not as a pair?

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>>1996264
belt is pretty nice, i like how silent and maintenance-free it is. as for gear hubs it really depends on the type, nexus 8 is way more efficient than nexus 7 for example, and alfine is generally better than nexus.
personally though i really enjoy going fast and don't mind doing maintenance, and also commute outside of urban areas so ever since i bought a derailleur bike i haven't touched my hub and belt one. but for city or casual use it's pretty great.
>>1996476
please to be consulting the chart saar

>>1996476
>these are sold individually not as a pair?
yeah. usually the rear tire with more of your weight on it wears quicker, so it's unusual for them to wear out together. also, people can damage one tire and the other is fine. or a few people like to run different tires front and rear.
so, yeah, they're sold individually. if you're just getting rid of both because you need a tire for a different use case or upgraded performance is the only time you'd replace both at once

My bike's left brake pad is making contact half a second before the right one. Which way should I turn the screw(s) to unfuck this and how much should I turn them by, given that description? I can never ever seem to remember.

>>1996485
>turn the screw(s) t
so, v-brakes?
cantilevers?
disc?
what?

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>>1996485
this type? tighten the screw to distance the pad, loosen it to bring it closer. turn both in opposite directions, a quarter turn at a time until the pads are equidistant from the rim.

>>1996513
Yeah those, it kinda slipped my mind other brakes even exist. Thanks.

>>1996423
i got the schwalbe marathon almotion in 55mm and they're great. I can reccomend for 29's on paved road especially they're so smooth it's easy to pick up speed and once they get going they roll forever. i got tubes but you can get em tubeless too. they are still super grippy on gravel and wet tarmac, lil bit of mud or on grass, super puncture resistant, and still comparatively light and durable and cheap too. just love em.

>>1996423
>Schwalbe green marathon, not sure if these are ideal for my situation but are they a decent choice
I rode those for many years mostly on road but with frequent gravel and dirt trails, too. mine were 32mm. I liked them. they last forever, too

>>1996480
I'm too stupid for the chart, since I don't know inner rim width, it's apparently "CUBE ZX20, 32H", so is that 20mm inner width? Which would then let me do 25 to 63? That seems a bit too lenient no?
>>1996521
How much did you pay? They seem to be 40+ each here

>>1996556
That chart might be a little too lenient saying 2.5” can go on 20mm (remember mtb had 2.2” and 2.4” on 21 and 23mm) but yeah you usually have quite a bigger compatible tire range than you might think. 20mm (if that’s what it is) is decidedly small though I wouldn’t recommend mtb tires and surely the frame/fork that came with those narrow wheels wouldn’t have a lot of tire clearance

>>1996556
>I'm too stupid for the chart, since I don't know inner rim width
you're not stupid, you're lazy. It's a measurement. You own a ruler or a tape measure right?

>>1996561
I mean I don't feel like taking the tires off just to measure only to then have to put them back on , or am I misunderstanding the inner rim part
I find it odd that this pretty important measurement isn't mentioned anywhere I can find, but maybe I'm just being an idiot
>>1996557
Yeah since it came with 2.25"/57mm tires that would've surprised me

>>1996563
it almost doesn't matter. The only thing is the larger the tire and a small rim the more "lightbulb" the tire gets. Smaller the tire the more "square" the tire tread will appear.
IMO you can probably fit anything from 32mm to 65mm tires(if your frame can handle them that big). Anything smaller then 32mm doesn't make sense anyways for road riding on a mtb, while too big is the same for light off road/mostly road riding.

Also, if you run high pressures the large tire+small rim is fine. It's when you run in the 10's or low 20's(psi) off road that it can be an issue.

>>1996563
Well you’re saying you want road to light gravel range so I think gravel size tires (35-45mm) would be an ideal option for that and will probably fit on whatever inner rim width you do have. Road-correct spec is actually using 25mm rim with 32mm tires so I don’t think 40mm gravel tires would be too narrow even if you had say 27mm width (I’ve ran 40mm tires on 27mm rims actually, the 25mm rim felt better though)

>>1996563
yeah, as i said, you're not being an idiot, you're being lazy. Taking a tire on and off would take you 5 minutes, less time than you've spent online on this by far. The way to work it out is to measure. It's the same as tire clearance for a frameset. Even if you research such things the measurements can change between the same model over different years.

Just saying as we're discussing it. It's actually not that important because the acceptable range is huge, larger than the charts even, and people tend to replace tires with similar tires.

It may come as a shock to you but working on bikes is not something you do with your keyboard.

As for which tires to buy, your preferences and budget are so generic, uninformed and bland that what you choose is practically meaningless and the discussion of it is neither helpful for you or interesting for us.

I do enjoy bickering though

>>1996564
I agree with 32mm minimum, I have a gravel bike with 32’s and a pure road bike with 25’s, and even on road rides the 25’s just don’t make sense anymore. The narrow tires do accelerate better from a stop/slow for sure, they feel less “mushy” maybe, but it’s just not stable enough to really crank out the watts without regard for pebbles or sand

>>1996570
I rode 25s the other day on a new modern road bike with the wide disc rims and the feel of 25s are totally different vs 25s on a 19mm internal rim

>>1996570
Yeah I run some old steel bikes with 25's or 23's, but those bikes are not as stiff, I run more weight on my hands/less on the bum, and I have a comfy seat on one.
I like having the different aspects and experience of different tire sizes. The narrow ones at 100+psi are "zippy" and feel really fast on smooth terrain, while the 32's just ROLL through normal/bumpy stuff.

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>>1996586
>checks rim, 19mm
I’ll have to take your word for it since there’s no way in hell I’m buying modern wheels for my $500 2011 bargain carbon road bike but that is interesting to know, my gravel bike does have top-tier XC MTB carbon rims laced 28h that advertise compliance (frame is stiff as fuck touring steel “gravel” though) so that could be part of why it’s so nice. I do love tubeless though and I’m worried how it would do with narrower than 32mm tires

>>1996556
Yeah 35 yuros each I think. It's cheap dude. these are quality, supple, foldable, durable tires.

Rubber handlegrips on my flat bar tend to move out a little bit every time I ride, probably because instead of regularly gripping it I tend to rest my inner palm on the edges of the bar.
Any easy way to fix the rubber grip without gluing it or using zipties? I tried to change the way I rest my arms but on longer rides I always end up doing the same. I should probably change to drop bar at some stage but whatever.

>>1996624
it's a grip quality/design/installation issue. It really shouldn't be influent how you keep your hands.
There's not much you can do really, hair spray or alcohol are neat solutions but they really work only on good quality grips. I like ESI grips. Before switching to drop bars you could also try some grips with screws.

>>1996568
Sorry you think I'm shitting up the thread but I'm more used to there being good options and bad options, so even if the target is someone generic and uninformed, there often still are better options to recommend.
If everything being sold is good and it's as simple as "buy this diameter with any of these widths and knobs on the side" then fair enough, thanks. I didn't mean to drown out other discussions or questions, I'm just an overthinker when it comes to buying things.
I've never taken off or put on a tire since my dad used to do it and I haven't had a flat on either my old or new bike since i moved out. From what I've seen it looks like quite the ordeal, struggling with tire levers and whatnot. Was it that easy and fast the first time you did it or did you simply get that much better over time?
>>1996565
>>1996564
Alright I'll look for something in that 35-45 range then, thanks.

>>1996624
The handgrips on my old bike had this to a major extent and I simply got in the habit of giving them a tap after a ride or during a rest slot gets back to the middle. Haven't had it at all in the 100h or so I put in on new bike so I'm inclined to believe it's mainly a issue with the grips itself.

>>1996632
> it looks like quite the ordeal, struggling with tire levers
nta but I reread the whole chain to understand the context and while I don't care if you're "shitting up the thread" (this board gets far worse and I seem to be the only one irritated by the bad stuff, cough cough urbanism polspammers cough) you are kind of looking like you're just fishing for (You)s at this point, from the way you're talking one would think you had a set of tubulars or tubeless and were just idly curious but no, you've got normal clinchers, you're looking for new tires, but you cba to take off the current ones (which you're going to have to do anyway). you're lucky you CAN use tire levers, some of us poor oppressed freds have to use our bare hands because levers will damage our expensive carbon rims. grow a pair you sissy, it takes 5 minutes and the worst you can do is damage a $6 inner tube if you don't know what you're doing

>>1996624
>rest my inner palm on the edges of the bar.
you'd probably love some ergon type grips. they support that type of grip and also they have a collar that bolts in place to the bar so it can't move.
I got some cheap imitation ones and they're great

https://www.genesisbikes.co.uk/genesis-equilibrium-vargn21800
Is this for £700 a good deal? (2nd hand) I'm a bit wary buying 2nd hand so I'm half tempted to pick up a Triban RC 120 for £400
it will be my first road bike

>>1996632
>Sorry you think I'm shitting up the thread but I'm more used to there being good options and bad options
Yeah so tires are the most important component of a bicycle, and give you most of your ride quality.
Tire selection is like an RPG stat sheet and various qualities of tires have opposing values which they subtract from. Durability subtracts from ride quality and feel because it means thicker rubber, taken to an extreme where you're riding solid tires which never flat and shake the teeth out of your head.

The worst tires to ride are the super durable ones, like marathons.

Then you come to the 'good' brands, autistic german ones, conti and schwalbe, having a fairly aquired price premium, which pretty much nullifies their superiority in the market.

What you and everyone else who asks this is really doing is not seeking advice but seeking handholding to make a conservative choice and somehow justify it as clever or informed, and you already have all the information that you will pay any heed to before you even ask.

Actually most things in life are like this anon, there's no redpill for you, everything, every action, political value or idea has contrasting negative and positive values, weighted against one another, and thinking you can somehow cheat this without minmaxing and prioritising fun or cool things over ease, well that just means you're yet another voice of a delusional cult, all alike, and with bikes that aren't as fun as my ones.

>>1996648
I just looked it up, the paddle-like surface thing looks like it would be more comfortable yeah. I went from horn grips on my old bike to a regular flat bar and horns lended themselves well to that kind of pinball resting stance. But at the same time I really like the no-nonsense look of a plain flat bar but I will look into these things you suggested, seems inexpensive.

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Is this bike worth 90 dollars?

>>1996653
It's probably super low mileage but it's also incredibly low end and those bikes are usually pretty fucked right out of the box. You'd have to fix the tires to even ride it. That's not hard but it doesn't roll now which is kind of a key quality of a shit bike which someone wants actual money for.

You've got gripshift which is awful and i think plastic body brake levers, i bet a tourney derailer.

$20 would be more fair.

>>1996649
heavily depends on condition but that's a nicer bike than the decathalon shitter for sure.

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>entire bicycle industry suffering
>Shimano just hit 52-week high on significantly better than expected financial results

>>1996653
nishiki used to be a good brand but that looks newer than any I've seen and yeah, very low end.
I'm not saying it's not worth $90, but for that price something much better should be available, but if your market is slow you may have to wait or travel to the nearest city .
also, gripshift is a deal breaker for me, I wouldn't buy a bike with it at all except to immediately replace it with trigger shift

>>1996649
I think it might be good deal, if in good condition and <5 years old. For that price he may have swapped all the components for something cheaper so be sure to check. He may also be just willing to sell this quicly because wife or for something carbon or more modern with discs, so you could also try to lowball him hard for 500, i think it's a fair price.
Anyway these two choices really don't compare, with the triban you could have something more modern with discs and carbon fork, cheap and guaranteed. which I think would be more suitable for a first bike. That genesis is more a "coup de coeur" buy I think.
But in the meantime, you could just go look at the Genesis and see if he's a good dude and if the bike is your size.
>>1996656
Nicer based on what? THe brand? The steel? I bet you the dude is selling the genesis because it's a harsh ride

>>1996651
>What you and everyone else who asks this is really doing is not seeking advice but seeking handholding to make a conservative choice and somehow justify it as clever or informed, and you already have all the information that you will pay any heed to before you even ask.
While that is true to some extent, if there is no "correct" option to buy, I can still learn from the aspects people recommend and the advice they give as to what I can and can't use. Without posting here I likely would have purchased 55-622 again, which seems to be almost exclusively aimed at heavy threads (plus the store I just checked only has 16 in total). Knowing that 35-45mm is not only an option but likely also just better gives me a lot more choices to look into.
I might not know what I want and I might still end up getting shit tires but at least now I know the type I should be looking out for and go from there.
Just from what I've gathered here I'm considering either the Schwalbe Hurricane
42-622 or the Schwalbe CX comp clincher 40-622 that I saw on the store site, in addition to the Schwalbe marathon almotion, continental double fighter and wtb riddler someone recommended.

But yeah I think I do have to come to terms with the fact that I've learned what there is to learn and just have to compare tradeoffs and prices at this point.
Thanks for the help

>Yeah so tires are the most important component of a bicycle, and give you most of your ride quality.
You'd argue they're even more important than the saddle? When I had to replace mine, some of the ones I tried out felt practically unusable. I'm glad the bike I got ended up coming with a saddle I already really enjoyed out of the gate.

>>1994513
My tire constantly looks flat, even when I just blew it up. When I ride I feel every relief of the road, the tiniest imperfections of the asphalt.
I feel I struggle too because of that. Is my innertube too small ? It's a Hutchinson 27" x 7"/8" 622/630. I have a road bike.
Also I often have a flat, every month or two, I feel there is something going on. It's very annoying, I have problems with work because of that.

>>1996663
I'm this anon.
I know there are some inner rigid plastic protections for mountain bikes, but I've never seen some for road bikes tires (less large).

>>1996663
tubes dont hold air indefinitely, my commuter will go from 45psi to 35 after 2 weeks for example. its best to pump up every few rides.
next time you have the tire off, run your fingers through the inside of it slowly and feel for any debris or pokey bits that could be poking your tube and giving you flats. any time you get a flat you should identify why, they aren't random.

if you have a fast rolling tyre on one wheel and a slow rolling tyre on the other, will the total roll be halfway between the two?

>>1996663
The size of the tube has more to do with whether it will fail from a blowout, or fit correctly without pinching, once you have it set at a certain pressure, the "look" from the outside should be about the same. So if it looks flat, that means it is flat. Does your pump have a pressure gauge? What pressure are you pumping it to? What does it say on the sidewall for what it should be?

>>1996667
No, the tire is flat and I feel every imperfections of the asphalt even when I just blew it up 10sec ago. Whenever I hop on it the back tire is flat.

>>1996673
No, weight distribution over your tires are not equal.

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I'm trying to buy a saddle from Aliexpress. They offer either a plastic base or a carbon base. Am I correct in assuming CR-MO Rail 7x7mm under RAIL UD in the image is the plastic base?

>>1996661
There is only 1 picture which has me a little suspicious, the bike was purchased in 2020 so it's at least 4 years old and has breakpads so it does seem a bit on the older end now.
My main reason for wanting it is I love the colour and I like the brand name.
Ahh, now I'm not sure! It's quite far from me so just going to take a look is a bit difficult, 3 hours by train

>>1996680
if it isn't holding air at all you have a puncture or leak somewhere. take it out and visually inspect the tube, if you can't find a leak you could try submerging it in soapy water and applying some pressure around the tube or pumping some air into it and that'll show you where to patch.
if you have a valve tool use it to tighten the valve a bit too just in case

>>1996682
maybe but just write to the shop via the integrated messaging, many are quite fast, especially those with good reviews.

>>1996680
dude the thing you told us about the tube being too small is the only thing that makes sense in a whole lot of nonsense in your post (including your stated tire dimensions). just check the size of the tube.

>>1996683
nah it's not worth it then. yeah it's a lovely frame but it's not something unique nor a good deal and the distance makes you weak on the bargaining.

>>1996686
Here we go, here comes the useless asshole who shouldn't bother posting.
I literally wrote what is written on the box.
Innertube is 700 x 20-25 / 27" x 7/8
622/630.
Tire is 700 x 28C, 28 x 622.
What's crazy is that the innertube got mounted by the clerck himself. He gave me the wrong model.
I'm mad.

>>1996696
that tube should be fine for that tire. you ignored my question about tire pressure. what PSI are you using.

>>1996697
20-25 for 28 sounds bad, no?
I have nothing to measure PSI, I just blow it up until I can't anymore.
I unmounted one side of the tire rn but I can't have the second one off, the tire is so tight I literally bent the iron piece I used.

>>1996701
>I have nothing to measure PSI
i'm a poorfag who rides bso's mostly and one of the best bike investments i made was a floor pump with a gauge

>>1996673
Bike splits in half as you pedal it

>>1996696
>622/630
neat it fits 27in ancient wheels.
>>1996701
You should have a gauge and pump.
I run 80+psi for 28c tires(that don't measure 28mm wide).
For a normal person weight 50-70 would be recommended.
twinks get 40-50.

>>1996701
tubes come in ranges, it's not ideal but slightly too small is usually better than slightly too big, and putting in the "wrong" tube size is routinely done, the size is not your issue here. your issue is not having a pump with a pressure gauge.

>>1996704
Well I didn't think I needed one honestly, also mine was 7$ and is very compact, that's why I chose it. How will a gauge fix my problem? To check if the innertube quickly deflate ?
Also I finally managed to unmount the tire, by doing a weird looping with the iron piece, it's super tight for reasons. And there are a lot of black crumbles, like a LOT, like the pile fills half your hand, I can't take picture my phone is dead. So yeah, it looks like a little piece of rock or something was damaging the innertube.
I'm not heavy I'm like 140lbs.
>>1996708
Yeah some guy told me it sticks better to the road. Honestly, riding my bike doesn't feel like "being a little bit more adhesive", it just feels bad, like constantly riding with a half fulfilled tube and feeling any imperfection of the asphalt, vibing your ass, even so you blew it up 1min ago.

>>1996713
>How will a gauge fix my problem
your problem is low pressure. a gauge will allow you to fill it to the correct pressure. nothing else is directly relevant. yes it's nice to know if your tube is the right size for other reasons, but if your tube is not exploding, then for purposes of your question, the tube is not interesting. neither is your body weight, the color of your bike, or the USD-JPY exchange rate. ALL that matters here is the PSI

let me just say that one more time, the ONLY THING THAT MATTERS is the PSI

is there something about this that I can help clear up?

like how are we still even talking about this, it's like 10 posts later and 5 hours and it's "but it sticks to the road", NO, it's NOT IMPORTANT, you're describing a problem of low pressure, this isn't a mystery, at. all.

>>1996713
my advice about having a good floor pump wasn't toward your issue, just advice overall.
>also mine was 7$ and is very compact
those hand pumps are good and should be part of any kit you carry with you but you'll gain speed and everything by knowing its pumped up to the proper psi from a good floor pump with a gauge
you mentioned a clerk put it on for you, take it back and show them, they'll fix you up

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>>1996714
Alright, I believe you, you're the experienced here. But why is it about the PSI? I just want to understand. What I mean is: if I blow it up until I can't anymore, the tire will be blown enough anyway? No? How do people do? Most of them don't have a gauge and they still can ride their bike without experiencing my weird problem.
I found no rock or glass piece or anything in the little pile of black crumbles. I washed the inner side of the tire to be sure. I checked the tube was intact in water. I'm gonna mount it now.
>>1996715
Picrel.
Also what are the possible reasons for my tube being low pressure even though I just blew it up?

>>1996716
A floor pump? You can't be serious. They're huge, I can't put it in my backpack, even if I could it would take a lot of place. I could say "ok floor pump in the garage and small pump in my backpack when I'm out" but I don't even see the point of buying this if mine already perfectly does it.
What will happen if I just blow it up until I can't? What puttin the exact pressure will change?>>1996716
>take it back and show them, they'll fix you up
Fix what the tube is pierced, they don't care, they will tell me to buy a new one lol.
Also I don't even know how people put a rub on it, everytime I tried it, it instantly flatened. Even though I clipped the tube with a pinch during one hour and all, let it dry, perfectly contains the air etc, no bubble under water. I just buy a new tube each time...
Also, no plastic inner protections for road bikes?

>>1996717
>Alright, I believe you, you're the experienced here. But why is it about the PSI? I just want to understand. What I mean is: if I blow it up until I can't anymore, the tire will be blown enough anyway?
No, because "until I can't anymore" is entirely dependent on the pump, and how strong you are. A fatter tire needs less pressure and "until I can't anymore" may suffice. A 700c road tire may need more than your arm (or the pump) can deliver

>Most of them don't have a gauge and they still can ride their bike without experiencing my weird problem.
Maybe they're riding fatter tires. Maybe they have a better pump or stronger arms. Maybe they really are having problems (hearing people complain about pinch flats on their new bike is a meme that exasperates people who hang out answering noob questions, so that should tell you something)

The tire is probably not leaking. The tire probably needs more pressure. 700x28 is more forgiving than some smaller tires, but with a shitty pump you can still easily approach the limitations of the pump on a tire like that

Look at the sidewalls, there's a PSI/Bar rec on there and it probably says something like "max 115psi" (meaning don't go over that). you probably want something like 90psi in that case. 90psi is a lot if your pump sucks.

>>1996719
portable pumps are for emergencies, not for topping up your tires every day. you use those things so you won't have to walk home, then you fix the problem, and put in the correct amount of air. if I had to use a shitty hand pump for everything I'd kms and I don't even go over 60 PSI because I have bigger tires than you.

>>1996717
You being 140lb and probably 5'8 to 6ft tall means as a twink you can't get much pressure in the tire. Especially with a 7 dollar mini pump. With a floor pump you can use your whole upper body, pecs, triceps, and more to pump that sucker up however high you want.
You might only get 30psi in there, when you really want 60.

Reminds me of the portable pump poster from like 2-3 months ago.

>>1996721
>hand pump
>60psi
thats impressive, the cheap ones i've used start to become a bitch at like 30, at 40lbs i feel like i'm going to shatter the hand grip part. so i always do around 20 then tell people to go find a real pump

>>1996723
oh yeah I would never go that high in a roadside emergency, 40 is enough to get home on 700x32. but technically I think it can do 90 if your arms are up for it and you can manage not to break off the valve core with your angry pumping motions

>>1996723
lift more bitch hands, I've done 90 with a hand pump, it sucked

>>1995527
If you (or anyone else) needs this, I can 3D print it for you (you'll have to pay for shipping and a few dollars for the material).

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so my neighbors whom I am not close or anything was trying to install new tyres into his bike and has been trying to do it for like a half day now, I tought maybe he does not have the levers and was hesitating to reach out after watching him for like half and hour and so I finally took the risk and told him " hey I have some of those levers" and he says " these are foldable tyres " and puts this sour grapes faces, like telling me to fuck off, I have no idea about foldable tyres or whatever but are those supposed to be installed only using your hands ? will using lever fuck them or what ? I am a lil pissed off because I knew something like that was going to happen and as always trying to interact or help someone turned out to be a waste of time and a bad experience , I watched the video from continental on youtube and the guy gives up at the middle of the video and uses some levers, are those foldable tyre specific ? have standards become so stupid that you need specific levers for specific types of tyres ? ?

>>1996759
Foldable tires have a kevlar or aramid bead and thus can be folded up for easy storage and sale. The alternative is steel wire bead tires which Connor be folded and have to be kept as big hoops hanging off the wall. Your neighbor is retarded.

>>1996759
You don't really need levers at all, but traditionally, "folding tires" were a distinct thing (back when people carried a spare tire and not just a spare tube or in most cases now, just a plug/worm thing)

"Folding tires" were clinchers but the beads were shittier and weaker, because they didn't have stuff like kevlar back then. So you had to be extra super duper careful not to use levers.

Your error was to insult his masculinity, nothing more. From his point of view, you might as well have implied he can't satisfy his wife and offered to fuck his wife for him. Testosterone is poison and causes irrational, unhinged behavior.

>>1996761
right, I knew that and cyclist are specially anal on this country so it was a total faux pas, this is the reason why I only rode like two times on the road and gave up, this shit sucks, I may as well just pretend I know nothing about bikes even though I have been building an almost complete tool set and built multiple bikes over the years. thanks for your replies.

>>1996759
>>1996759
Your neighbor has skill issue or incompatible parts. Folding or wire bead has little effect on ease or difficulty, I'd even say folding bead in my experience has been easier to mount. Anyways, yes tire levers help in mounting but they're not needed if you have the right technique, which is squeezing the tire lengthwise so the bead falls into the dip of the middle of the rim which makes the diameter smaller so the bead slip over the lip. Tire levers are more important for dismounting a tire

>>1996765
It mattered a lot in like 1975, his neighbor is just a cantankerous old man

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How fucked am I?

>>1996720
>hearing people complain about pinch flats on their new bike
I got one recently.
>what a noob
You'll say. But I ride for 5 years, changed maybe 10 tires and it never happened to me before. I had some mountain bike before, although, maybe that's why.
Also I literally don't understand how people unmount their tire, maybe mine isn't adapted, I don't know, but I never struggled that much for a bike. I managed to unmount one side, and the second side will never come... I broke two tire irons (made of hard plastic), I just have a iron one left. I have some shitty picrel, it's so weird, they're kinda flexible, they don't break but the tire just doesn't get off. I swear it's not about force, I literally bent iron piece. The tire just DOESN'T COME.
I used the trick with the two tire irons seen at 1:50 to get off the first side but I swear, when forcing to get off the second one it just DOESN'T come. Idky.
Also I don't even know how I will mount the tube and tire without getting the famous pinch flat.
I'm fucked I don't have anything to eat anymore. I can't shop.
But alright I'll buy one with a gauge when I have money (not now, so)
>>1996722
Alright. I'm not him though.

>>1996771
shit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqyWa5jra0o
1:50

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how are people this bad at bike maintenance

>just bought bob trailer
>kinda thinking about pulling it with comfy 29+
>won't fit
There's gotta be a solution for this innit

>>1996775
It's spring

>>1996769
If the bearings are crunchy you can clean and refill, or just get new ones.
To me that's either mud(x) doubt or rust.
>>1996775
Everyone is on a spectrum from mechanically adept to ...... this and worse.
Just means they put all their stats into another section and they can learn, it just takes longer and it's harder.

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>inflate tire
>flat
>clean tire and replace rim tape
>flat
>check where it punctures, ok loosen spoke
>flat in same spot
>out of tubes (they split)
ok what the frick is going on
that was like five punctures

holy fuck I thought that whole "I can feel the road on my 28mm tires" chain was a shitshow, but then came the twinkposter anon

>>1996776
The spirit of 29+ is cobbling some janky shit together yourself because “the man” doesn’t give you any good options

>>1996662
>You'd argue they're even more important than the saddle? When I had to replace mine, some of the ones I tried out felt practically unusable. I'm glad the bike I got ended up coming with a saddle I already really enjoyed out of the gate.

Saddle theory is that a saddle should be supported by the bones of your ass, your sit bones.
When you begin riding a bicycle you will bruise over your sitbones and this happens until you toughen up there.

The instinct of most people is to add padding, but over distance what that padding does is compress around your sit bones, and contact the nerves around your groin, which will eventually cause 'bad pain'.

Good pain is something inevitable which will toughen up your ass, bad pain will injure your benis. It is the 'immediate comfort' that will lead you to a path of long term pain and injury and the immediate pain which will lead you to a path of long term cycling and health.

You also learn to actually ride and support most of your weight with pedaling action, or, on descending, to be slightly off the saddle and hold it between your legs, for more control.

>>1996696
not that guy and no he didn't dude. That's the correct tube.

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>>1996780
every puncture, work out where and why it happened.
Remove the tube, inflate it, find the hole, MARK the corresponding spot on the tire and on the wheel with a pen, get a good idea of where on the tube it is (inside or out).
Always install the tire with the logos aligning in the same place on the rim so as to make this tracing work easier.

Unless you're out on the road in the rain, or there's damage around the valve, patch your tubes, so that this exercise doesn't cost $5-$10 each time.

Also a lot of punctures are due to poor installation.

>>1996788
never mind the stated range, it's correct because I said so

>>1996790
this but 100% unironically

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>>1996780
>>1996771
>>1996759
There is a trick to tires that most people don't use.

The tire bead sits on the hook of the rim. You can push it off into the well, which has a smaller circumference, and this creates slack. Installing or removing tires, this technique of working around the wheel with your hands, constantly pushing the bead off the hook and into the well, should be repeated with every little bit you leverage on or off. Do it over and over and you will get more slack each time.

This allows most tires to be installed without levers, and the rare seemingly impossible tires become possible, with levers.
Many repeated flats are caused by tube damage from levers.

This is what you should have shown the curmudgeonly boomer.

>>1996790
Just read the reply chain, if your tire keeps going flat then there is a hole in it, and thus it will go flat again when you pump it up. Tubes are stretchy and 3mm stated size difference is guaranteed to not be part of your problem whatsoever. You need to solve the hole and/or whatever keeps making a hole it. And you need a pressure gauge or you’re gonna be back complaining that the new tube you bought now makes the bike feel like a shopping cart after you “pumped till I caint pump no more”

>>1996792
Remember deep rim beds are a fairly new thing, a lot of old cheap tube-only wheels will be practically horizontal from side the side and this isn’t an instant fix-everything cheat code in that case

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>>1996790
Have you ever inflated an inner tube outside of a tire? It's like a condom.

A road one will go to the size of a tractor wheel without deforming.
25-28 is a miniscule difference. The smaller inner tube is if anything preferable, and i would choose to buy that for a 28 rather than something which was say 28-35.

You can put a 1" tube in a 2" tire, just fine. You can even put a 26" tube in a 700c wheel although installation is a bit annoying.

Even the stated size of tires commonly has 2-3mm variation and i wouldn't be surprised if your '28' tire is actually 25mm, many are.

>>1996713
>And there are a lot of black crumbles, like a LOT, like the pile fills half your hand,

Your flats are happening because your tire is incredibly old and is fucking disintegrating

>>1996794
I have almost 50 old wheels hanging in my garage and imo it always makes a helpful difference, even if that difference is slow and minor.
I always do it.

It's not instant, it's slow and steady work. It doesn't make changing tires easy, it makes it easier. That easier is always worthwhile.

>>1996796
>wheel hoarder anon has spoken

>>1996792
Thanks anon, I'll try tommorow.

>>1996771
also anon, tire levers do break, but fancy tire levers are way stronger than ordinary ones, the green birzman ones are my fav, pink pedros are nice too although a little thick.
do not use metal tire levers you will damage your rim.

>>1996789
it's at the same spot every time and i've gone over the rim tape and the specific spoke nipple it happens on and it felt fine. i lightly sanded it to ensure there were no burrs whatsoever and it still happened. the spoke isn't protruding past the nipple either, so i dunno.
but yeah, i did patch them but numerous punctures in the same location seems like it caused the tubes to split along the seam, and using the air compressor because i was getting impatient didn't help either.
i guess i can try replacing the spoke nipple and i think there are some more tubes in the shed...maybe...

>>1996799
Ok, nice. Thanks. You do well by warning me about iron levers, I was gonna buy one.
Funnily the clerk from the shop uses one.

>>1996801
Pedro’s for fucking life

>>1996800
God i hate single wall rims. It should be possible though, if you can isolate a spot on the rim causing flats, to fix that area and be confident it's not a problem. Also hope you're using proper cloth velox etc tape, not a rubber/plastic one.

So then it sounds like your patches are failing and that you'd be fine with a new tube.

>>1996800
Take the tire off and wash everything with a soaking rag and put new or re-applied rim tape back on

>>1996802
i got a pair of the yellow ones for $5 and they've been good

>>1996801
Allg
the whole tire installation nightmare is something we all come to sometimes, even the most seasoned mechanics, you think you're a pro and then it will happen again with a nightmare combo (fucking 'tubeless compatible' rim and 'open tubular' tire) and your hands are bleeding again and humility returns.

Just know most nightmare combos do ease up over time so you might imagine a flat would be impossible to fix on the road but it gets easier from now on out.

Leaving the tire in the sun for an hour or so it's warm when you install it helps a little also.

>>1996805
I’m from mountain biking so I’m biased needing extra strong levers, but Pedro’s (and Pedro clones) have been the best tire levers under $20 I’ve used in 15 years. Steel-core ones don’t cut it, full-steel ones are dangerous to your nice rims, and that cushcore buttplug tire lever is like $25+. Pedro’s forever.
Don’t forget that little hook/notch on the opposite side is to hook a lever onto your spokes so you can use a second one too

>>1996807
mtb tires are easy lol the hard ones are the exotic road tires like challenge or the old open paves that aren't even in the fucking shape of tires

>>1996807
yeah i haven't used them on anything strenuous, mostly 20in bmx and older 26in mtb wheels

>>1996809
Was so nice ripping my floppy 10 year old 26” tire off and back on with zero effort that one time on the trail

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>>1996648
Ended up ordering a cheap knockoff pair for $10.

Is there any reason to not use at least drip wax instead of oil-based lubes?

Also, are there any interesting non-carbon saddles to look at at aliexpress?