robalong

hn3ue3fuijewdfc

robalong

qoierfuioesjdvc

Troul 

some threads may have a compound in them, or the nut is "oval' to be self locking. Those instances may require extra leverage that the fingers dont directly have..

robalong

qeroifhs

robalong

qeriufheqkjfc

robalong

weruiofjk

dedhed

When you work on stuff like this in the rust belt





You need stuff like this. Can't be tight if it's liquid.

drlogik 

To save money for the shop (time is money), pre-stretch the brake and derailleur cables and check the tension of the spokes and adjust if necessary, then true. Fifteen minutes up front saves an hour when they bring it in for a tune-up.

cyccommute 

Corrosion is the process of making a metal into an oxide. The oxide has a different crystalline structure to the crystalline structure of the metal as well as an increased volume. Iron oxide has a lower density than iron but the process that forms it results in an open structure with pores and air pockets. Moving the bolt back and forth grinds that rust into finer particles by getting rid of the pores. Penetrating oil makes the grinding process a bit easier as well as allowing uncorroded material to slip easier against other metal that hasn’t been corroded.

Greasing bolts before installation provides a barrier against water infiltration which reduces the chance of oxidation.

cyccommute 

Although derailer and brake cables are “pre-stretched”, there is still some construction stretch left in the cable. It’s around 0.5 to 1% . That may not seem like much but on a 2300mm cable, that can be 10 to 20mm of stretch. When I install derailer cables, I shift gears several times without moving the derailer then I reachor the cable and do it again as many times as necessary to get the cable so that it doesn’t stretch anymore.

robalong

oiuje24rfd

robalong

ionreiofk

Troul 

I dont 'exercise' a cable thats newly threaded thru a brifter. the act of proactively working out cable stretch expedites the infamous cable fray. Simpler to just use the barrel when lazy shifting occurs.

smd4

Never, ever use tire levers to install a tire.

Cut brake cable housing as short as possible--no loops, thank you very much.

After applying oil to a chain and pedaling/shifting it a few times--WIPE IT ALL OFF!

Never patch a tube--it's a waste of time. Just buy a new one.

Turn all cable adjusters in before installing new cables.

Tape bars from the bottom to the top.

Use a bike stand.

Use the right tool for the job.

When the bike is in the stand, turn the pedals by with your right hand and manually attempt to push the rear derailleur into the spokes with your left hand to check the limit screw adjustment.

When checking headset tightness, don't squeeze both brake levers when rocking the bike back and forth. Just squeeze the front one.

robalong

uiefiudj

robalong

iujeref

cyccommute 

But not too short. You want enough cable to grab when you need to adjust for cable stretch. 1/2” of cable is too little. 2” to 3” is just about right. But, yes, no loops.

It won’t matter. Oil is fluid and flows under gravity. Let it stand for a little while and the oil will flow out of the chain. Turn the chain over by, for example, moving the chain 180°, and the oil will flow back down into the chain and, eventually, out again. Wiping it off constantly is simple removing the oil from the chain.

It’s only a waste of time if you are using the wrong patch kit. There are thousands of wrong patch kits and only a very few (possibly only one) that actually work. If you use a Rema TipTop kit with Rema patches and Rema vulcanizing fluid, patching isn’t a waste of time. It’s also not nearly the waste of money and rubber that constantly replacing a tube is.

Carry both a tube and a patch kit on the road. Fix the tube when you get home.

But not all the way. Having a little adjustment in both ways can be helpful.

Or just use the shift lever. If there is any movement of the derailer past the lowest gear, adjust the limit screws.

And, as I stated in another thread, once adjusted leave the damned limit screws alone!!! Any problems with shifting has nothing…not one thing…nada…zip…zilch…to do with the limit screws after they have been adjusted.

cyccommute 

First…yet again…use the proper patch. In my experience the only one that actually uses chemistry to make new rubber bonds is Rema. Everything else is a poor imitation that uses rubber cement. Rema uses a chemical in the patch and chemicals in the vulcanizing fluid that actually react and does more than just make a poor physical bond that rubber cement does. Second, do not fill the tube to check the patch…at least for a while. Filling the tube immediately after patching…even with the Rema…will pull the patch away from the tube and make for gaps. It won’t make much difference with rubber cement patching but with Rema, a couple of days of curing will ensure that the patch doesn’t pull up.

Patching is not only economical, it is environmentally friendly. Rubber isn’t something that can usually be recycled so just throwing it away after one use is just adding to landfills. Granted, it’s not much but it’s still wasteful. On the economical side, I have tubes with 25+ patches on them…I live in goathead country. At $3 each but usually closer to $8 each, that’s from $75 to $200 worth of single tube use. I can buy patches and fluid in bulk for about $0.25 patch job or about the same cost as a single tube.

robalong

iuedsuij

smd4

I said HOUSING.

I guess in your experience. My chain is perfectly clean AND oiled. And there is no oil on the outside.

Nope. Waste of time.

Um...no. With new cables, all the way in. YMMV.

Nope. Maybe for amateurs. Manually push it if you want to be sure it won't go into the spokes. It's easy. You should try it sometime at the coop.

Yeah, we get it. Good advice for noobs.

robalong

iuhefuiovnxjkmedfdfvchijndafskjfhvjnadjksfbnvcjkmx

robalong

eqskimdv

cyccommute 

Okay, my mistake. But I would still not cut the cable housing too short. If the cable from the shifter to the frame stops on the front is too short, the bike can’t turn properly. If the cable housing on the rear derailer is too tight, the derailer won’t work properly and/or you’ll kink the cable. And, if you have a dual suspension bike with under the bottom bracket routing, a short cable housing will cause shifting problems as the suspension moves. In other words, the housing has to be the right length.

And how often do you have to wipe your chain? Only after application or after each ride? Every oil user that I’ve run across talk ad infinitum about wiping down the chain after ever ride.

By the way, that’s not “my experience”. That’s how oil works. That’s how fluids work. They flow under gravity. It’s not something you can stop unless you cool the fluid to the point where it becomes a solid.

Throwing a tube away after a single puncture is a waste of money and resources.

Um…yes. Having a little bit of adjustment in both directions comes in handy down the road. It may not be needed all the time but it’s nice to have.

How about a bit of respect. I didn’t call you an amateur. On the stand, you can easily shift an untuned derailer so that the derailer doesn’t go into the spokes. Once into the low gear, stop pedaling! Then move the shift lever (again without pedaling) and see if the rear derailer moves. No risk of sending the chain into the spokes because the chain isn’t moving. The small amount of movement using the cable is also easier to see how much the derailer is off than moving it by hand. You are going to have to test the limits during a shift anyway, so why not begin there?

And, yet, I see so many people who start with limit screws to try to “fix” shifting.

smd4

I wrote "as short as possible." Is it really necessary to comment on this over and over again, reiterating my point?

just after application. Most of the "oil users" you've run across probably have no idea on how to properly lube a chain.

This thread is about "wrenching like a pro." Working as a pro mechanic in several shops, we would never, ever even attempt to patch a tube. That would be a colossal waste of time, money and resources.

Um...still no.

Oh, I respect you. Maybe not enough to allow you work on my bike. And I didn't call you an amateur. I said an amateur might do it your way. But anyway, my way is the better method.

Eric F 

The comments about stuck hex nuts got me thinking...I can't remember the last time I turned a hex nut on one of my bikes. On my 3 most current bikes, I don't think there is a single fastener that is a hex nut. Everything is Allen or Torx.