Questions tagged [maintenance]
Tools, parts, techniques, and procedures to keep your bike in working order. MAINTENANCE is not the same as REPAIR, a separate tag. Maintenance is what one does on a regular basis. Repair is what one does only when something is broken.
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Is the framed cracked?
I have noticed this scratch/crack on my canyon exceed cf6 frame. Can I get someone else’s opinion on what they think about it?
I have never overtightened the seatpost bolt to more than specified and ...
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On-bike pump maintenance requirements?
I have a variety of small bike pumps, both mini-pumps like a Topeak Race Rocket and small floor-pumps like the Topeak Road Morph. They live on their bike all the time, and suffer the same vibrations ...
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Cleaning chain a few links at a time
Looking at videos of cleaning bicycle chains online, it seems like an inevitably tedious process. Getting the muck out of the links especially. For example, as described in this video. I'm thinking, ...
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Shimano Ultegra 9500 set rear mech skips 8th gear
I'm riding a stock Schwinn fastback road bike from around 2004 that came with a Shimano Ultegra 9500 set, with 2x9 speeds. I have never messed with the derailleurs as they've always worked fine. The ...
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Is it possible to increase the height of Elops 100 steering column?
I have an Elops 100 bike from Decathlon, and I thought that perhaps it is possible to adjust the height of the steering column. I wanted to do this a few years after buying the bike, so the steering ...
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SRAM MTH 716/746 front/rear wheel hub service manual
I am looking for the service manual for the SRAM MTH 716/746 front/rear wheel hubs. SRAM seems to have removed them from their site. Anyone have a link?
Also, I've looked through YouTube and can't ...
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Is bike tyre pressure info deliberately hard to read?
Inflation pressures for tubes are typically written on the side wall of tyres.
I tend to use my tyres till they are very worn and tube starts to bulge through a tiny bit.
Most of the time I spot this ...
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Rear wheel resistance but moves freely when not biking?
Hi all I'm at a bit of loss trying to trouble shoot my Surly Long Haul Trucker.I recently bought it used about 3 months ago and then had a new chain and cassette installed.
Commuting back from work ...
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Pressure Washing Cassette, Chainrings, Chain
I just took my road bike into the dealer for a tune-up, and told the mechanic that about every 4 months I have been applying Bontrager's degreaser followed by pressure washing the cassette, chainrings,...
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Is it economically advisable to replace cassette and chain to protect the crankset?
My chain and cassette are both pretty worn after 2000 and 5700km respectively. My drivetrain is all steel, and the relative price of my parts chain-cassette-crankset are about 0.7-1-7 and front ...
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Is it possible to use a smaller width tube to fit a significantly larger width tire?
Would a 20"x1.75"x2.25"width tube possibly work on my 20x4.0" fat tire E-Bike???
I was hoping that I could temporarily use this tube just to get up to the store to buy a 20x4.0&...
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Is leaving bicycle outdoors short term okay without signs of decay? [duplicate]
I sometimes leave my bicycle outside and it rains sometimes it is left in the rain for a day or few or ridden in the rain and washed with a hose with soap and water. Is that bad for my bicycle as many ...
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Alright to leave or use electric bicycle in rain
Are electric bicycles waterproof to the extend that we can leave them in the rain for a day or few or ride it in rain or wash it with a standard home hose on normal pressure and soap?
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Shimano 105 thru-axle freehub FH-R7070: freewheel body servicability and separately orderable?
I'm searching for a replacement freewheel body for my bike.
The only marking on my freewheel body is
18-d-3 11S
Internet search did not yield useful results for this string.
Searching for Shimano ...
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Does washing the bike (not the drivetrain) actually prolong the life of any components?
Common wisdom dictates that bikes, especially those used in the rain or in the winter, should be washed frequently to prolong component life, but I honestly cannot see how. I am aware of the following:...
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Changed the disc brake rotor, now wheel doesn't spin?
I have replaced the tire and the disc brake rotor on my rear wheel and since then for some reasons my rear wheel does not spin.
When I take off the disc brake rotor it freely spins:
https://vimeo.com/...
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Recommended wall thickness on rims with caliper brakes
I have caliper brakes on my 700C road bike wheels. I notice that the surface of the rims, both front and back, where the brake pads make contact is starting to look a little worn (after eleven years).
...
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How to adjust rear axle width?
I fixed a puncture on this kid's bike (not mine) but when I went to put the wheel back in I noticed the axle is narrower than the dropouts & the dropout has been significantly bent in before to ...
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Replacing slow to switch Presta/Schrader pump head with dual pump head on a floor pump. Can I go between brands?
I have a Giyo Air Supply floor pump which has one of those Presta/Schrader switchable heads where you have to unscrew the cap, wiggle out the head's innards for half an hour, turn them around then ...
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How to bleed Campagnolo hydraulic disc brakes?
How to bleed Campagnolo hydraulic disc brakes, specifically the Ekar ones?
I'm going to self-answer for future reference.
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1999 Giant Lafree Electrik, Only the diagnostic red light comes on. What is the problem?
When I turn the bike on, the five lights that indicate charge status flash red and then go out with only the red diagnostic light remaining lit. I ran the diagnostic checks and all items in the check ...
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Campagnolo Chorus 10-speed shifters - bad shifter feel
I run an early-2000s Campagnolo Chorus 10-speed groupset on one of my bikes. Shifting is generally OK and the rear mech works fine on the stand, but out on the road it is often hard to get good shifts ...
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How to degrease a ratchet area that is next to (sealed) bearings?
I'd like to re-apply grease in the ratchet mechanism of a Mavic freehub (the design is similar to DT Swiss and possibly other brands).
The mechanism is very simple to unmount, most of the parts that ...
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Do Shimano RS100 wheels have two ratchets inside the freehub?
Can anybody confirm Shimano RS100 wheel rear hubs have two ratchets inside the freehubs? It looks like there are sockets for 3 ratchets but there are only 2 ratchets. Since we bought the bike second ...
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Do higher end road bike require less maintenance?
I bought a entry level road bike CAAD optimo for around $1000 and I've noticed that the bike required a fair bit of maintenance for example creaking noises, chain rubbing, chain skipping etc. I am ...
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Replacing hydraulic brake lever
This is my first time dealing with hydraulic brakes.
The front brake on my bike is Shimano BL-M4100 lever with MT410 caliper. I stripped the lever's clamp thread and going to replace the lever with a ...
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Catastrophic hub failure, can the freewheel and rim be saved?
I am not experienced working on wheel hubs/cassettes or anything related to them. I am also not great at English, so please excuse any dumb questions I might ask.
The obvious problem is that my rear ...
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Does a magic link or Powerlink require removal a regular chain link first?
Pulled a Shimano Ultegra chain off my bike for cleaning and noticed the mechanic had installed it with a pin and not a magic link. Because I have a magic link handy (and, if I'm honest, because I ...
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Is Mean Time To Retune FD and RD a major distinguishing factor between Sora and Ultegra?
Having gained experience riding both Sora and Ultegra, I'm puzzled that 2x9 already provides such narrow gaps that I'm entirely comfortable riding Sora (it helps that the cassette is 12-25), and that, ...
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How to disassemble rear wheel hub with no lock nut?
Please see pictures. My rear wheel has a Deda Elementi hub which has a Thru axle. I have removed my 11-speed cassette and disc rotor. There is no lock nut on the non-drive side. There only appears to ...
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Shigura - Can i use a Shimano XT Lever on A Magura HS33 Hydraulic Rim Brakes
Good day to Everyone,
My Magura HS33 Lever on my ZHI Z3R trials bike broke, and i was wondering if i could replace it with a Shimano Deore XT BL-M775, as i have it stocked on my parts bin.
And if i ...
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Bike chain jumping at lowest and highest gear, fine in the middle
I changed out the shifter housing/cable because I felt some friction, and ever since it seems like I can't get the indexing right. If I set it to work well in the high gears, it doesn't work properly ...
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Drivetrain lubrication for indoor training
Indoor training seasons starts and I'm again about to set up my direct-drive trainer this weekend. Before doing so and after experimenting with different methods of lubrication over the years, I'm ...
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My bike won’t change out of first gear
NoI’ve tried changing the looseness of the H and L screws but my great problem remains the same. It won’t change out of first gear even when I manually put it into another gear. The back derailer is ...
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Replacement for VP-BC73E Bottom Bracket
I cannot find my bottom bracket online anywhere. It's called "VP-BC73E ". However, I can find loads of "VP-BC73" (E is missing). Would it still fit/work?
I found this information ...
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Is it possible to replace/regear the front cog? My easiest gear is too easy and I want to try for a higher resistance
I have a big-box-bicycle that I ride around the neighborhood regularly. After trying to master the highest gear setting I now find it easy on days where there isn't a breeze, and still manageable on ...
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Extractors for Centerlock rotors and Shimano HG cassette
I need to buy some basic tools to do some maintenance on my wheels, but I'm confused about what I need.
I want to perform the following operations:
change the cassette
I have a 11-34 10-speed ...
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Hybrid bike. ride with front suspension always locked: effects on fork durability
I am considering acquiring a hybrid bike with a front suspension, since it is the closest to what I want that I can find. But I do not want a front suspension, so I would always ride with it locked ...
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Tightening drive side bolt for Mavic Cosmic Elite rear wheel
I have a question about this Mavic Cosmic rear wheel. I wanted to remove some play from it, so I took the rear wheel apart for that purpose. Now, when I'm putting it back together, I notice that I'm ...
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Are freewheels compatible if they have the same number of sprockets and teeth?
I'm a novice to the cycling world and am wanting to learn to do my own maintenance, so I'm quite unsure of a few things.
More specifically, I have a Dahon Eco C7 foldable bike that I got used and was ...
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Shallow ring of death
By not servicing the headset for a long time (>10K km), I ended up with the so-called ring of death on the steerer tube. If you have never heard of it, watch this
...
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Sheared off kickstand bolts. Repair shop recommends drilling the chainstay, should I try the bolt extractor first?
Both bolts holding my kickstand suddenly broke off (or maybe one did first a day earlier and I overlooked). It is the aluminum frame after 6000 km.
How to repair this? Is drilling and then re-...
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I need to replace my tyre on my hybrid - 27.5x1.95 on the current tyre but struggling to find this size Is there a range of sizes that might fit? [duplicate]
Complete novice here and not sure if the tyre has to be replaced like for like or if there is some wiggle room on the width (1.95) aspect?
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Unable to tighten the cassette lockring properly, how this could be?
It is an old 12 speed Shimano Deore cassette. I replaced the two smallest sprockets once and worked well for the first time.
After the second replacement that included replacing the 4 smallest ...
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How can I identify which side of my axle needs to be held with a cone spanner?
I need to replace my front axle. I've bought the new axle with bearings and lithium grease, but I obviously need to remove the old axle. I know I need to use a cone spanner on one side, and a socket ...
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LBS won't Service Shimano Dual Control Lever
I have a bike with Shimano 105 dual-brake/control levers. But the right one stopped shifting, so I took it to my LBS to have it serviced. I asked them to take it apart and clean/grease the mechanism. ...
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Creaking sound, stem extender/steerer tube assembly
In the last few weeks a creaking sound has developed somewhere in the stem/stem extender/ steerer tube assembly. I noticed it when going over bumps, but only when my hands are on the handlebar. ...
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How servicable are older e-bikes?
I am considering to purchase a bicycle that includes an electric assist with a Shimano E6100 engine. I have not owned any bicycles with electric assist before, and I'm worried about serviceability. ...
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Safe to remove plastic chainring cover?
I have a bike with a Shimano Tourney 2x chainset (this one) and the plastic cover that sits on top of the outer chainring has started to creak whenever the driveside crank is under load.
Is it safe to ...
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How to get these lower legs off?
Hi I have a fork from a carrera crossfire 2000, the sticker says mg suntour cr 920. I want to full service and overhaul this fork because the suspension is totally stuck and not working!
There are no ...
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