Hot answers tagged maintenance
22
WD-40 is mostly a solvent with a very light lubricant mixed in. It's great for getting stuck parts moving again. When you spray it on, the solvent dislodges whatever gunk may be causing the part to stick and then evaporates, leaving a light lubricant behind. This will allow the previously stuck part to move again.
The reason it is generally not considered ...
15
WD-40 (original) can be used as a de-greaser on bike parts. It is a bit harsher than other bike specific de-greasers, or common house hold degreasers (like Simple Green) that are often used by bike mechanics but essentially does the same thing.
Keep it mind that it is NOT a lubricant, but a de-greaser. After using any de-greaser you want to wash the ...
13
For the casual rider the simplest approach is to go to a bike shop and get a bottle of "chain oil". Apply the chain oil fairly liberally (drizzle it on while cranking the chain backwards, if the bike has a freewheel), then wipe the chain with a rag (while cranking backwards). If the chain is REALLY dirty, repeat.
For slightly more aggressive cleaning (on ...
12
Like Daniel Hicks says, they are threaded opposite to each other. This ensures the act of you pedaling is constantly tightening them both. If they were both the usual right hand threads then the left pedal would eventually unscrew and fall off.
So, if you're like me and use the right hand rule to constantly assess which direction you should be turning ...
11
Right solution is to use the "tight link removal" position of most chain tools:
Just choose the side where the pin is showing most outwards, and pull it in a tiny bit. This is very subtle, and your link will be released.
An alternate solution is to grab the chain with both hands (dirty!) and force it as if you were to bend it sideways, in both ...
10
Sometimes it can be hard to find a small hole. Sometimes it helps to mix water and dish soap together and either pour that over the partially inflated tire, scanning for leaks or submerging the tire in a bucket of soapy water. The soap will bubble and make holes more apparent. You also probably want to immerse the valve to see if the leak may be ...
10
As a leather saddle wears out, it tends to sink and become softer in the middle while splaying out around the edges. This, naturally, makes the saddle uncomfortable and uneven. Lacing a saddle is a way to revive it and return it to its natural shape, or at least something close. You should lace your saddle if you find that it has become too soft.
And ...
10
From a theoretical point of view, there are some possible methods to take water out of a fabric object, such as a shoe:
"Replacing" the water for another, faster drying liquid and letting it evaporate;
Squeezing the water out directly by compression and twisting (not usually adviseable);
"Force field" like gravity and centrifugation;
Capilary action (which ...
10
The "W" in WD-40 stands for water and the "D" stands for displacement, and the 40 stands for the 40th. attempt at being successful with the product. WD-40 doesn't really lubricate much of anything. It's actually a de-greaser, so it will remove any lubricant from bicycle chains, cables and other pivot joints. If you're cleaning your chain for re-lubrication ...
10
Well I thought we needed an answer to this, so I just phoned the shop. He's a nice fellow (as you can tell from the vid) and said that his mechanic is convinced that this method works to free-up seized and corroded mechs. Apparently dousing it in something like GT85 and lighting it for a very short time boils in the lube, and works.
I assume that the ...
9
Rain, hail, and snow don't hurt a chain. Salt makes it rust, and dirt wears it out.
Salt: You won't get all the salt out without removing the chain from the bike. The chain is doomed. You can, however, easily delay this till spring with regular application of wet chain lube. A bit of rust won't hurt if you ride regularly.
Dirt: Given that the chain only ...
9
I would say that this won't have any effect.
Flipping the chainring on a single speed makes sense as you use the other side of the teeth on the chainring which have not been used before. But with the chain it's a different story: The stretch is independent of directions so reversing its direction won't change anything. Also on the small "rolls" in the chain ...
8
Short answer: No, you shouldn't. Heavy oils attract too much dirt, grit and grime which will damage the useful life of your chain.
You need a light lubricant which will wick it's way into the internals of the chain, rather than simply coating the external portion of the chain.
A good Teflon carrier lube like the Finish Line Teflon works well, lasts a good ...
8
Thin tires do get punctured more easily. They also require that you fill them up more often, as they have a smaller volume of air, and at a much higher pressure, and therefore more quickly drop to a non-optimal pressure. Also, narrow tires will not be able to absorb as much impact as a wider mountain bike style tire, and therefore potholes and other ...
8
This is obviously (from the images) a suspension fork, and a very low-end one. Suspension forks are heavier than their rigid counterparts, but the trade-off is that they absorb shocks. These rust spots MUST MEAN the fork has long ago COMPLETELY LOST its ability to work properly as a suspension. As a result, you are carrying useless extra-weight, are not ...
7
Before each ride I do a quick safety check:
Brakes adjusted correctly
Handlebars correct, wheel in line, headset tight
Saddle/seatpost tight
Pedals and crank look good
Chain looks good
Wheels true (maybe not perfect, but quick spin shouldn't show huge
wobble or brake rub)
Quick Release Tight/Hub Nuts Tight [thanks Kibbee]
Tires inflated
With the ...
7
Your local bike store (LBS) can be an expensive solution in search of problems, if you follow my meaning.
Let me clarify: a few years ago I bought a mid-1980's vintage mountain bike which I intended to use for basically the same purpose the OP described. It cost me $20 at a garage sale. It had been a few years since I had been on a bike, so though I once ...
7
Because you're using a coaster brake, rim diameter is less critical an issue than in most cases. The size 24 x 2.125 is actually a tire size which corresponds to 54-507 in ISO measurements. That means that the bead seat diameter (diameter of the rim) is 507mm and the tire is 54mm wide. If the original wheel is ~24", it will correspond to BSD sizes between ...
7
If it were a steel frame and fork there would be no question -- steel lasts nearly forever, even when moderately rusty, and can take all sorts of abuse.
Aluminum is a bit less robust, but if it only has "a few thousand" miles on it (and not 30,000) and has not been abused (or hit by a car) then it should be good. The problem with aluminum is that it can ...
7
You're right, you want to space it between the shell and cup. You can put spacers on either side to get the chainline right. Most cranksets come with spacers (2.5 mm is probably the most useful size for you) but if yours didn't any LBS should have a few to sell you. Something like this: http://wheelsmfg.com/bottom-bracket-spacer.html (I don't know if ...
6
Take the tube out and pump it up so that it balloons to 2-3 times its normal size. There have been times when the puncture is too small to detect in normal situations, even soapy water, but this has never failed me! Even the smallest puncture, like from a brake cable sliver, will show itself. Listen for the hiss and then mark it with a pen to find it after ...
6
Throw that thing out and get a rigid fork. You don't need suspension unless you're riding off-road, or jumping over cars, or whatever it is the kids do these days. And bad suspension is worse than no suspension.
Rigid forks are pretty durable, so you may be able to find up a used one. Make sure that the crown-to-axle distance is similar to what you have ...
6
As you ride and shift your shifting cables stretch. You can take up some of the slack by turning your barrel adjusters counter clockwise. Eventually, you will reach the limit of what your barrel adjusters can handle. At this point you will need to loosen the bolt that holds your shifter cable to the the derailleur and pull in the slack, then tighten the ...
6
Since that particular Brooks saddle has a cut out in the middle of the saddle seat surface, there is a loss of support across the top side surface. Eventually the sides would begin to curl and sag and that opening on the surface may widen as the leather became more supple. The lacing will ad some rigidty to the saddle to somewhat control the movement of the ...
6
It is absolutely possible to skid the back wheel, but you really need to be deliberate about it to do it. In this case, however, it sounds like you were applying back pressure to slow down and noticed something surprising, so it was not likely to be the tire skidding. It was probably the cog slightly loosening.
If you're going to apply any back-pressure at ...
6
Every two or three days is excessive. Biweekly should serve, even in winter months. The simplest thing would be to buy a chain cleaner and use it when you feel it's needed. Parktool provides excellent instructions as well as a suggested schedule for maintenance.
In addition, you should switch to a heavier synthetic lube in the winter. I've personally had no ...
6
If you're saying that, off the body, the sprockets move slightly relative to each other, that's not a problem. The sprockets are only just "tacked" together so that they remain in the right order and orientation while off the body. The body provides the strength to hold them.
If, on the other hand, you notice that the sprockets slide up and down the body ...
5
Short answer: yes, you can. I've been doing it for years and my chains are lasting very long compared to ancient times when I used other stuff. Only potential caveat is that it is not the cleanest oil you'll ever use, but neither are the similar, much more expensive "wet" oils in the market (namely FinishLine Green). One liter of gearbox will cost a few ...
5
A little bit of variation is normal, yes. If the chain is so loose at the loose point that the chain falls off I'd call that a manufacturing or assembly defect and take the bike back to where you bought it and get them to fix it.
In more detail the issue is exactly centering the chainring on the bottom bracket/crank, where normally the chainring is not ...
5
About "just threaded" vs "something else", the answer is: they are just threaded.
A possible problem, though, is rust or other chemical bonding, which might make significantly difficult to take the pedal off with raw force (a friend of mine recently broke a spanner, even applying the force in the correct direction).
As for the right vs. left rule, if you ...
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