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Ok. Tonight the thru-axle goes out. I’m slightly worried: had a Giant MTB for over 20years. Did 105k km on it and all kinds of fidgeting and adjusting etc. This being a spanking new one I feel like I need to use white gloves on it…don’t know if I’m explaining myself….
Once you get used to it, you’ll be fine.
Removing the thru-axle and popping the rear wheel out takes less than a minute – I do it most times that I wash my bike.
Adjusting the calipers can be fiddly to get it JUST right, but if you get it wrong you just loosen the bolts and try again.
Once they’re set up correctly they can be left alone for ages.
(When fitting your rear wheel, try not to ram the rotor into the frame – speaking from experience, it leaves a nasty gash on brand new carbon fibre frames)
It shouldn’t make any
It shouldn’t make any difference if the back wheel is on the ground or not. However, the crucial point is that there shouldn’t be any movement in a back wheel (except for the obvious rotation), whereas I suspect that you do have some play in your rear wheel.
When you get a chance, remove the thru-axle, have a look at it and then re-assemble and see if the rear wheel has any play in it.
You probably won’t need to bend the rotor – that’s only required if something has made it go out of true or it’s quite old. I’ve never needed to do mine.
The black lines being on each of the rotor fins sounds like something is causing that, but I can’t think what.
Re-adjusting the position of
Re-adjusting the position of the caliper is an easy enough task and is worth knowing how to do.
Loosen the two hex bolts that hold the caliper to the frame so that there’s some lateral movement of the caliper. Then there’s two methods that can be used:
- Squeeze the brake lever so that the caliper will centre itself over the rotor and tighten up the caliper mounting bolts to keep it in place. (This is what the mechanic did)
- Eyeball the gap between the rotor and the brake pads. A light background makes this easier, so hold some white paper the other side if it helps. Move the caliper so there’s the same gap either side of the rotor (usually it’s only about 1mm or so) and then tighten the caliper mounting bolts.
I’ve found it can be tricky if when tightening the caliper bolts, it shifts the position of the caliper, so watch out for that happening. Once you’re happy with the position make sure you tighten the caliper bolts up to the recommended torque (from memory it’s probably around 5Nm).
I prefer eyeballing the rotor as it also highlights any problems if the rotor is bent when you spin the wheel.
Once the caliper is in the right place, it shouldn’t need re-adjusting often – maybe after replacing pads or a rotor but otherwise the thru-axle should keep everything firmly in place.
Maybe dodgy wheel bearings or
Maybe dodgy wheel bearings or possibly the thru-axle isn’t correctly fitted. Can you feel any side to side wheel movement with your hands when the bike’s off the ground?
The marks on the fins are curious as they shouldn’t be touching anything. Can you eyeball it when spinnng the wheel and see if there’s anything it could be hitting? Also, it’d be worth double checking that the rotor is good and tight.
Sore muscles are one thing,
Sore muscles are one thing, but sore knees aren’t a good sign – I’d recommend getting a bike fit.
Chocolate milk is a good post exercise recovery drink and has a good proportion of protein to carbohydrate.
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How about a cheap Chinese
How about a cheap Chinese laptop: https://www.amazon.co.uk/laptop-display-notebook-ultrabook-computer/dp/B07PJNHYQZ
A&S responses are very poor now. In the past when you upload/report an incident you get a reference number then usually a week later a follow up email saying we are going to send a NIP letter to the owner/driver as the drivng fell below an acceptable standard.Now you get an email for uploading footage and that’s it, no further detaIl of what action is being taken against the driver of the vehicle involved because giving out updates to witness would not be operating in accordance with the GDPR and DPA guidance.
I submitted a close pass a couple of weeks ago and the process seemed the same, but I’m still waiting on a response. Maybe they’re too busy?
I also don’t see how GDPR comes into play when they aren’t identifying an individual.
Avon & Somerset’s portal
Avon & Somerset’s portal gives you a reference and then usually a week or two later you get a response from them. If I remember correctly, they ask if the incident was with the last 7 days and they want 2 minutes before and after. I usually upload front and rear 1080p footage and file sizes are similar to yours.
I think it’s really useful to get feedback – it’s typically either sending the driver a letter, or NIP, or they can disagree with the incident being an offense that they wish to pursue.
That’s helpful, thank you!And it’s fine to switch from 12-26t to 12-25t? What about switching to 13-26t? I only ask because this looks very cheap: https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-sora-hg50-8-speed-road-cassette-108930.html
Without having seen what it looks like, would you say it’s necessary to also replace the chainring?
And are there any other essential parts I should look to replace while I’m at it?
You should be fine with different cassette teeth configuration (unless you go for a big ‘granny’ gear such as 30t), so that one from Merlin should be fine (I only looked at Wiggle so they may not be cheapest though they’re usually quite competitive). I have bought stuff from Merlin before and they’ve always provided good service.
I’s guess that the chainring will probably last a few changes of chains/cassettes, but it depends on how much the chain gets worn before changing it. If you upload a photo of the teeth on the chainring, it should be easy to see if it’s badly worn or not.
You could look at changing the rear derailleur jockey wheels – they can last ages, but they do get worn down over time. Also the inner brake/gear cables are worth replacing every so often but it depends a lot on how much usage they get.
If I were you, I’d go for a new chain and cassette and see how the bike is afterwards.
Edit: In case you don’t know how to change a cassette: https://road.cc/content/feature/173250-bike-maintenance-how-fit-and-remove-sprocket-cassette
This may help with understanding gear combinations: https://road.cc/content/feature/171317-beginners-guide-understanding-gears
Mike, a couple of weeks ago I was doing a 25 mile off road loop around Henley, on my new bike, it’s hedge trimming time, I was pulling out multiple thorns and even a small twig. All sealed quickly. Checked and more thorns the next day. One huge one that took a couple of minutes to seal and I was even looking forward to shoving in one of those anchovy things in there. Now normally I would take out 2 spare tubes on my older bikes, and my mini track pump, so it would have been a disapointing session of pumping and fixing several tubes. With a curtailed fun day out, and much less grinning and smugness. I’m sold, though I will not get my other bikes converted.Orange Endurance Seal I think, 4-6 months and still sealing. Stuck in a top up squirt the other day.
And I’m playing with quite low pressures, so would have probably snake bited a few times by now.
I know, I know, I’m out of step with tubeless. Of course it has advantages, otherwise it would have sunk without trace, which it clearly hasn’t.
But I ride six days a week, something like 4000 miles a year, over the same roads as everyone else. My local hedges get trimmed just like yours. My rain sweeps volumes of flints onto my roads too. And my broken glass is as sharp as yours. And yet, running on my high-quality tubed tyres, I’m averaging a flat a year. (Although to be fair I’m up to two so far this year.) And I’ve never, in sixty years biking, had a snake-bite puncture; a most overrated problem if you ask me.
You see, the thing I like most about cycling is its simplicity. I don’t have a bike-computer, no GPS, no cameras, no electric gears, no ANT, no bluetooth, no hassle. Just a bike and nothing but the basics. I can, and do, take off for a few days at an hour’s notice. I might end up in France or maybe I won’t. But wherever it is I can fix 90% of problems whilst sitting on the grass verge, using my motley collection of old tools.
How would I inflate a problem tubeless tyre under these conditions? What if my gloop had dried out? How would I refit a tight tubeless tyre after slipping a tube into it? What if my valves were bunged up with gloop? The list of potential troubles is too long for my specific needs, the current systems are too fiddly and too uncertain. Like most ex-military men I plan for the ‘least worst’ outcome. And tubes give me just that; the worst I can expect is to fit a new tube in about ten minutes. Tubeless opens up a whole new world of pain however, the worst I might expect would be a flat tyre I can’t inflate or even squeeze a tube into.
No sir, until they come up with tubeless technology fit for a simpleton like me, I’ll keep it simple.
I’m not trying to convert you as you seem happy enough with keeping it nice and simple. However, some of those issues aren’t very likely. If tubeless fails (e.g. a cut more than 5mm in the tyre will probably be too big for the sealant), then putting in an inner tube is the fallback option. Tightness fitting the tyres onto the rim could be an issue, but it depends on the precise combination of tyre and tube and you can have the same issue with non-tubeless. My experience is that tubeless tyres aren’t too much hassle to get on and off the rim – I’ve had more trouble with getting them to ‘ping’ into place after they’re on the rim (usually problems with the rim tape being damaged).
If you need to fit an inner tube, then you’ll be removing the tubeless valve anyway, so even if it is gunked up, it won’t be a factor. Also, when inflating the tube, it’ll push the tyre into place so there won’t be the issue of trying to reseat the tyre with air pressure alone).
Okay, if you’ve got an SRAM
Okay, if you’ve got an SRAM PG850 then you’re bike supports 8 speeds. Unfortunately, you’d need to change the gear levers to be able to take advantage of a 9 speed system, so unless you want to spend quite a bit, you’d be better off sticking to 8-speed.
8-speed cassette £21.99: https://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-sora-hg50-8-speed-road-cassette/
8-speed chain £6.95: https://www.wiggle.co.uk/sram-pc830-78-speed-chain/
8-speed chainring £37.99: https://www.wiggle.co.uk/shimano-fc-r2000-claris-compact-chainset/
Down to you or HP to offer lodgings !!I don’t think we’ve got the room
I’ve signed the petition but the second link is dead.It had some trailing characters and should be: http://www.tiny.cc/TunnelPlans
(That resolves to https://planning.bradford.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=makeComment&keyVal=PRYOLPDHI0W00 )
I’d agree with Siracha – dashed white line bike lanes don’t really have any legal meaning. I’m also more than happy to share bike lanes with mobility vehicles and electric scooters etc (as long as they don’t go quicker than me).Why shouldn’t they go quicker than you? If I’m pootling at 10mph I don’t mind being overtaken by other cyclists, mobility scooters, etc, as long as they don’t pass too close. (Though I think mobility scooters are limited to 8mph, so that wouldn’t actually happen.)
If they go faster than me then I feel duty bound to chase after them and try to overtake them nonchalantly. Of course if I can’t overtake them, then I assume they’ve got an unrestricted motor on their vehicle and are also taking perfomance enhancing drugs. Or it might be that I’m on a rest day and my knee is sore and my other bike is in the wash.
