So I got some strange shifting issues with my 105 road shifters (ST-R7020) combined with GRX derailleur (RD-RX812). The cassette is deore CS-M5100-11

Now in theory, and according to Shimano's compatibility chart this should be compatible configuration, despite a little mix-and-match

https://productinfo.shimano.com/en/compatibility/C-454

Now the problems I have screams still for compatibility issues with slightly wrong pull ratios

Going from smallest cog to largest, the first 4 cogs are shifting perfectly. Then the next couple clicks want to over shift and skip cogs, and the largest 3 are shifting perfectly again. In total it takes 9 clicks to go through the 11sp cassette. What fucks my mind over, is the top and bottom cogs that shift perfectly, if the pull ratio was wrong, these would have equal problems?

My 2023 Cannondale Topstone gravel bike has started squeaking in the last week. It sound like a bird chirping and only makes the sound when I pedal.

I used Rock'n'Roll gold to clean the chain and then I applied lube on the chain and Tri-Flow on the jockey wheels on the rear.

Still happens, though now it's intermittent. Shifting is fine in any case.

What else should I check / lube?

Thanks!

I've been biking my whole life, but I've never had a bike that shifted properly. Like I've literally bought a bike, and right from the shop, the shifter's clicks don't line up with the gears properly. And then it's a game of going up two clicks and then back down one to get the chain lined up properly.

So how do I get it just right? The bike I have has Shimano twist shifters all the clicks numbered, but the numbers don't line up with the actual gears.

The closest I've gotten it is where it works perfectly when the bike is on the lift, but as soon as there's weight on it, it goes out of sync again.

I am trying to get back on my bike after about 6 or so years of neglect in my shed. It’s a Schwinn GTX1. I Am decent with working on things, but I know nothing about tools specific for bikes or things that are recommended to keep with you on longer rides. I have some new tires and tubes to put on due to dry rot on the existing tires. I realized I don’t have any idea how to put a bike tire/tube on either. What is the right process? What tools should be kept in a kit with the bike? What parts? (A tube or patches, etc?) What maintenance should I look into? I also have some degreaser to clean the chain and Muk-off chain lube to go on it. The brakes seem ok and most rubber appears to be in good condition, except the tires. Sorry, I know it’s a lot, but I am wanting to get back onto this bike for weight and health reasons.

With most modern 1X cassettes being as large as a dinner plate, you can use another chainring or sprocket to jam a chain when you need to take off a cassette locker

When my girlfriend suggested we take the tubes off an old 27" bike to fix the flats on my 29", I thought she was being crazy and overly cheap. No way it would work. Surely I'd have to go out and buy some 29" tubes.

But fuck me sideways, it did work, and I'm currently riding just fine with 27" tubes in my 29" tires. Wasn't even that hard to get them on.

So I guess that's just a PSA for everybody ... apparently, tube sizes aren't really rules, they're more like guidelines.

I wrecked my RydeANDRA40, probably by using too much pressure on cobblestone and pothole ridden roads.

While not strictly a bike, it is bike adjacent. I am trying to convert an old schwinn kids bike trailer into a dog trailer.

I am hoping to be able to grease the wheels. It looks like there is a ring I need to remove.

Not sure if this is common knowledge or not, but it took me far too long to figure out. So posting in case it helps others.

Old trek dual sport with 8 speed Shimano Acera would skip one gear near the middle of the range, and be very noisy on those cogs.

I assumed I had a bent hanger… nope. Tried numerous other things to figure out what I had done to cause this.

Turned out to be the shift cable was attached on the wrong side of the cable clamp post, causing too sharp an angle for the cable and ever so slightly changing the pull ratio.

The only way I figured it out was that I remembered some obscure web page that talked about doing this on purpose as a hack to get incompatible shifter and derailleur to work together.

HTH someone.

I want to switch to wax. For preparation, I am cleaning my cassette, the gears in the bicycle derailleur (and the derailleur frame), and the bicycle chainring (I don't need to clean the chain because I am getting a new one).
For the job, I got white spirit, isopropyl alcohol, and a brush, and I cleaned them as well as I could, but, for example, on the cassette there are still some black dots left and, when touching them, they are still a little greasy. How clean do the components need to be, and how can I get rid of the leftover grease?

I've got a MTB project and one of the first step I want to take is removing the old frame paint and apply new paint. What's the best way to remove the old paint? Can aircraft paint remover be used? Thanks in advance.

I needed a narrow-wide chainring for a build. After looking around it seems like the prices of chainrings have skyrocketed over the last few years. I've heard of Deckas before but never used one. Got one from Ali, shipped for CAD $26, USD $18.5. I'm pretty impressed by how well made it is. It's a little chunkier than what I'd expect from Wolf Tooth and the likes. Nevertheless incredible value for a functional build that doesn't need the lightest possible components.

I'm planning a future eMTB project and I'm trying to get the tools that I need. What repair stand would guys recommend?

Ideally without hazardous chemicals.

Does dish soap and hot water work?

I picked up some cheap rims but the part that rests in the dropouts is too wide, I haven't measured it but it looks like it would be possible to use percussive coersion. How dangerous would it be to do that or shave it down just a bit? The fork is aluminum.

I'll add photos when I get back home

This tire has about 300mi on it and I am already missing a good chunk of rubber in this spot

I am riding fixed 46x17 so I have plenty of skid patches.

The Ultra Sport III I replaced was pretty evenly worn by the time I removed it

I mainly run Gatorskins but they typically hold up better. Is anyone else noticed a quality issue?

Sorry, might be a stupid question, I have literally no idea about bikes!

What I'm looking to do is figure out whether there are any modern-ish ebike motors on the market that I could swap my current motor with (I'm assuming I'd be swapping all the other innards to fit that motor too, so dw about battery compatibility and the like). All I know about the current Motor is that it's a 250W Panasonic motor from around 2011. I asked the mechanic at my bike shop whether I could just toss one of those Bafang conversion kits on the bike but he said the way that my pedals sit within the motor would be incompatible with that and I'd need to get an actual ebike motor, not a conversion motor.

So now I'm trying to find information on current Panasonic motors and what sort of frames they need to fit, but I'm having a hard time because I have no idea how to even call this kind of spacing on the frame. Does anyone have an idea on what to call it/describe it as? Or is is a proprietary thing that I'd need a welder to rework? (Totally an option if push comes to shove, I know a guy)

Some more pictures from as many angles as I could get into (should I be getting measurements of any of these?):

::: spoiler spoiler :::

I've put off the overhaul of my ebike's Bafang G510 mid-drive motor for so long that it has never actually been serviced since I bought it 3800 km ago. Over the past weeks, I slowly pulled the motor off the bike, carefully disassembled it, and found the rotor shaft gear in a poor state. Metal flecks were visible within the blackened grease, making a mess within the housing.

To get the sprockets off of the motor, I did have to obtain a deep-socket YC-29BB tool to remove the "spider" from the crank shaft. A standard wrench for the Bafang lock ring will not work, because the spider itself is in the way.

This motor has an all-metal gear arrangement, consisting of the primary gear axle which is coaxial with the cranks, a secondary gear axle, and a tertiary gear axle which is driven by the rotor shaft gear. It was the gears where the tertiary axle and rotor shafts meet which were substantially ground down, resulting in play between gears that causes additional wear every time the motor accelerates or decelerates.

Note: some references online say that the G510 pre-2023 had a nylon gear. I could not locate any images of this, and my motor appeared to have all-metal parts. So idk.

Part of the issue is that the tertiary axle used a gear which isn't as deep as the rotor shaft's gear, resulting in wasted gear-to-gear surface area. A newer gear design for both the rotor and tertiary axle came out in 2023, and can be swapped in but requires recalibration of the motor.

So with the motor half disassembled, I figured the only sensible way forward was to order both the new rotor shaft and new tertiary axle, plus the CAN bus-specific Bafang dealer tool to perform the recalibration. I purchased these from greenbikekit.com, which didn't have the most intuitive ordering process but they did deliver in the end.

Perhaps the most arduous process was cleaning out all the old grease, which requires some solvent to shift. And even then, some crevices were unreachable without a very long cotton swab. In any case, I then re-greased using Permatex 80345 white lithium grease, since this has a higher temperature rating than typical white lithium grease, according to its data sheet. I obtained this from the local auto parts store, and this was the best I could get locally; Mobilgrease 28 was not available near me.

For the recalibration procedure, I knew that I wouldn't have -- nor would want to register for -- the Bafang dealer software to use with the programmer tool. Also, I'm a believer in the right-to-repair and having to beg for software is antithetical to this notion. Fortunately, someone has a FOSS project that can control the programmer and issue the recalibration command, among other neat features.

After dealing with a file permissions issue for /dev/usbhid2, the programmer was able to issue the calibration and the motor was set for reinstallation into the frame. This was basically all the earlier steps in reverse.

During testing, it is notable how much the new gears add the characteristic "whirling" sound of an electric motor. However, because the play within the gears was reduced and with new grease added, I found that the overall noise signature of the motor is substantially reduced. Also appreciated is how much less current the motor draws when riding at speed, compared to before the overhaul.

While it did take a while to assemble the parts and procedure for this endeavor, I am pleased with the results and would suggest periodic re-greasing for ebikes in regular service.

I just installed a Connex link to join a KMC X9 chain and I'm noticing that whenever the link goes through the derailleur hanger, it causes it to move a bit, which causes rhythmic noise. Anyone using Connex noticing this? Is it normal?

Hi all,

Wondering if anyone can help me with this question before I spend my money on a different mount for this caliper.

I am going to increase my front rotor size but what is printed on the side of my current mount has me confused. It says 160mm or 180mm implying that this mount can be used for both but surely the pads need to be in a different position for each size of rotor? I can't just bang a 180mm rotor on and change nothing else and expect it to work fine can I?

Can anyone clarify for me what this text on the side of the mount is getting at, am I able to use this mount for the bigger rotor somehow? If so how?

I plan on taking it apart this weekend and trying it out for sizing before I order a different mount but in my mind the caliper would need to be pushed further out to make space for the increase in size for the rotor and was hoping someone could enlighten me on what this text actually means whilst I plan the work in my head :D