Mechanics and Fixing Any Questions Answered

grinding material off the axle to start vertical play like the Hollowtechs did.

That’s interesting, I hadn’t heard of that mode of failure before with hollowtechs.

I've seen it, but only where the bb has been so neglected that the bearing has seized and the crank spindle starts to spin within the bearing.

Same; this happened to my partner’s old bike that hadn’t been looked at for years. BB and cranks trashed.

At a guess this was on my Shimano BB number four or five, none seized as noticeable as the FSA did after a few hours in the rain.

Derailleur cage length..on a 1x system its pretty much always medium cage?

I'm looking to pair an 11-36 casette with a 36t ring.

Also, I could run a sram mech and shifter with a shimano cassette right? 10 speed stuff.

Lastly, I know think Shimano cable pull is different for road and mtb right? So I can't run a say, 105 derailleur with a deore shifter. Is Sram the same?

You can mix Shimano mtb and road up to 9-speed I believe. 10sp it becomes a bit dodge.
SRAM uses a 1:1 ratio across the board, doesn’t it?

edit Using Shimano shifting/derailleurs with SRAM cassettes is okay.

Yeah, found this handy article that lists all the pulls and spacings so yeah, Shimano 10 speed road and mtb pull is different. With Sram its the same so I could mix road mech with mtb shifter but I don't think any of their road derailleurs will accomodate the 36t cassette.

kind of depends though - many use the combo of 10sp 105 shifters (5700?) and an xt 9-speed rear mech (m772 for example i think, has to be non-shadow). which works perfectly. so depends which way round you're doing i think

I could run a sram mech and shifter with a shimano cassette right? 10 speed stuff.

Yes, the cassette spacing on the Shimano and SRAM 10 speed cassettes are identical. The SRAM cassettes don't need the 1mm spacer that Shimano cassettes do though. The pull ratio is irrelevant if you're using a matching SRAM mech and shifter, obvs. A 10 speed Shimano shifter (other than Tiagra R4700) works perfectly with a 9 speed MTB rear derailleur and a 10 speed cassette. Otherwise, I don't think the road and MTB parts are compatible, except of course for Di2.

In addition to that article, you can also check this:

Transmission Compatibility Datasheet

An open Google docs with loads of information if you are planning to do some gearing experiments.

Does anyone have experience of using a rivet gun to replace a loose bottle boss on an alloy frame? I've done the M5 bolt trick a few times to tighten it up but this time it seems to not work. Otherwise is epoxy a worthwhile alternative option?

A 10 speed Shimano shifter (other than Tiagra R4700) works perfectly with a 9 speed MTB rear derailleur and a 10 speed cassette.

Hmmm, Shimano mtb 10 speed is dynasis though so a different pull ratio to the 9 speed derailleur no?

Yes, sorry, should have clarified - that's a 10 speed road shifter with a 9 speed derailleur.

Ah ok, that makes sense.

What's good in gear cables?

It's for my cargo bike so it's a full run and fairly long. I bought a tandem inner last time but I ended up cutting a fair whack off it so reckon a standard should reach. I have a pack of cable oilers so can join multiple pieces of inner if required.

Does anyone have experience of using a rivet gun to replace a loose bottle boss on an alloy frame?

Do you mean a rivnut/nutsert setting tool?

If so I have done a few on both aluminium and steel frames.

Use aluminium nutserts as they are easier to "pull up" compared to steel.

Biggest problem may be getting the old out out without enlarging the hole too much, the drilling size is 7.1mm for an M5 nutsert.

Jagwire slick the black one.

Yes I do, thanks. I think now I am going to sell the frame (not because of the loose boss) so may just leave for any future owner to do as I do not have the rivnut tool

I’m changing my handlebars, I presume I undo this Allen cap screw to remove the brifters.
It’s Sram rival Hydro I’ve always been a Shimano kind of guy.
I can’t get an Allen key right into it, I don’t like ball ended ones, am I missing something?
As you can see PlanetX chewed it up a bit building the bike?

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Sometimes it's easier to slide the allen key under the rubber hood from the front.

You can buy (or DIY) stubby Allen wrenches. Or just pull more hood up and ram it in

What's wrong with ball-end?

I find they slip in bolts more easily. They probably do some damage when they slip so for me, ball ends are not for torque.

Edit: possibly depends on the quality of the Allen wrench in question. It’s probably entirely possible to get ball ended ones that won’t be anymore likely to slip but ime they slip more than straight ones.

Out maybe the ball shape allows a bit of ‘torque out’?

There is far less contact area on a ball ended one, probably how PlanetX marked was he screw installing.
I’m going with Netakures idea and going to cut down a normal key