Mechanics and Fixing Any Questions Answered

Made a new thread, and realise now I should have just asked here...

Anyone have any insight on what a 10speed GRX shifter will be compatible with from the MTB range of cassettes/shifters?

Am I right in thinking that the cable pull of the GRX 10 speed is the same as 11 speed MTB, and therefore I could remove a sprocket from an 11spd cassette, and use an 11spd XT or SLX rear derailleur? Or am I talking nonsense?

Or am I talking nonsense?

Yeah.

GRX and 4700 tiagra share the same pull as 11 speed road and GRX.
Removing or using an 11 speed cassette doesn't affect things in the way you're thinking anyway. The pull from the shifter matches the derailleur. The spacing on the cassettes is already the exact same across the road/MTB range with cassettes. 10 speed GRX shifters work with any 10 or 11 speed road (or grav) derailleurs and whatever Shimano/SRAM compatible cassette you want that'll fit the capacity of the derailleur, which for GRX is bigger than Shimano claim, you could also pointlessly use an 11 speed cassette and not use the top or bottom cog.

Cheers 👍

quite like this one though...

Aside from demon magic, how does silca’s chain cleaner work? Claims to be paint safe, biodegradable, and take 10 mins to fully prep a chain for waxing. How?!

I have a novatec F482SB hub and I think the bearings might need changing particularly the freehub is a little bit draggy.
I saw some info on the web but it didn’t really cover freehub bearings Mine is 135/QR.

No idea, but I’m tempted.

Hydraulic brake hose then the bh90 isnt stocked by my local shop but they have clarks. So the question is is the clarks any good or exactly the same in width and hole? Plus mineral not dot

Haha, cheers @snottyotter that's super helpful. In your experience how much further than the Shimano claims can you push the rear GRX derailleurs? Is 42T do-able?

There seems to be a worldwide shortage of this little gubbins here that fell off the top of my left GRX shifter blade

Part no. Y0JT98010

Anyone know of a source I could try besides the usual suspects (SJS etc)? Best I can find is £20 imported from Taiwan which seems rich for a £4 part.

Is this it on aliexpress?

Edit: wow I’m bad at this internet stuff

Hopefully you lost the left hand side

Edit: yes you did! I’m also bad at this reading stuff

Is 42T do-able?

Depends on the frame but maybe, I've got a 40 on mine, I know some people who have just about squeezed a 42t in.

Thanks for the tip! The 105 version is actually a glossy finish versus the matt of GRX/Tiagra, but I found the part from another seller on AliX - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004525296021.html

Thanks pal -- will have a play around with some old cassettes before taking a plunge.

Twisted chain links - how do they happen? Presumably it's when a front shift goes bad?

I developed shifting problems on a tour last week. I first noticed that the rear was skipping slightly in the highest couple of gears on a fast descent. Then, I turned a corner in a town and had to change down quickly for a climb.

The front shift worked but, at that point, my Di2 went into crash mode and shifted up at the back, and I had to unclip in a hurry.

I got going again, but, whenever I came to a climb, the pedals would lock and the chain would come off, and I'd have to yank my leg out of the pedal to avoid falling off.

I still didn't realise the problem but, when on the flat, I just couldn't get the Di2 indexed properly at the rear.

Eventually I stopped and had a good look at it, and spotted one link was badly twisted. I had a chain tool and spare quick link so could fix it easily. It then indexed fine and no more issues for a few hundred km home.

But why does this happen? I have had it once before, a good few years ago. This time, when I first noticed the degraded shifting, I'd been riding along for a couple of hours since last stopping with no issues. It seemed to appear from nowhere.

Aliens

Uri Geller

Do I need a thin spacer above the (aluminium) stem on a steel fork/steerer? Or is no spacer at all okay? The stem has two bolts, and the top one is probably just about below the top of the steerer.

I have a bolt which measures at 5.7mm and 1.0mm thread pitch using my (cheap) digital callipers. Is it reasonable to assume that this is m6 with a margin for error either on my or the bolts part (or both)? Is there another close but not quite bolt size that I am unaware of? It’s from a cheap tv wall bracket so unlikely to be anything funky (I think.)

No spacer necessary. If you’re able to preload the bearings and the bolts aren’t clamping into thin air instead of the steerer, then it’s fine.

That’s a bit narrow but it’s not unusual for M6 bolts to be a couple 0.0s of a mm narrower (there’s an ISO somewhere, and it’s probably indicated that the true size can be below 6.0mm; it’s ISO 965, for the curious). I’d guess it’s an M6. Measured an m6 bolt on my desk, it’s 5.84mm.

Thanks! Yeah preloads fine and definitely not clamping into thin air at the top.

Funnily enough I tried a different spacer configuration earlier with a thin one on top and couldn't preload the bearings. The bolt couldn't be tightened any further but the headset was still loose. Now that I think about it I wonder if maybe the spacer on top was too thin and the top cap was hitting the steerer, I guess that might cause that?

maybe the spacer on top was too thin and the top cap was hitting the steerer, I guess that might cause that?

That's definitely a thing (and easier to measure to make sure it doesn't happen if you use one of my top caps #spam )

I did my googling and think ISO965 said 5.794mm as the min for M6 so still under (but <1/10mm feels like it could be reasonably feasible in the absence of anything immediately similar - especially given that 0.1mm is also the increment on the caliper)