Mechanics and Fixing Any Questions Answered

Hiya - Should I be worried about this?

It's a caadx frame which has had 35mm tyres on it. It still has 1cm clearance at the lefthand chain stay but when it gets muddy it seems to be rubbing a bit, only on that side.

Is there anything I can do to help this? Or do I need to trade down to a 32mm (which I don't really want to do as I'm using it as a gravel bike)

Thanks!

2 Attachments

Have you checked frame for flex and skewer/axle integrity? I had similar recently, turned out axle snapped, getting that sweet air had done for it. Edit. And I’ve snapped a couple of drop outs which can present similarly.

Detective fork?

Sounds like the right guy to call.

Calipers coming out later. Will try a new headset lower too.

Is there anything I can do to help this?

Don't ride in mud?

I wouldn't worry, but as has been said, check the axle and skewer. And maybe slap some 3M tape on those areas to lessen the wear in future

FWIW, I'm running 40mm tyres on a 10 year old CaadX and it doesn't rub, even if a bit muddy. So check structural integrity first.

Should I be worried about this?

Yes, in the sense that it's a sign of worse things to come if you don't change your ways. Helicopter tape is only a sticking plaster which you'll have to replace frequently. I've gone clear through steel chainstays in my time, so a bit of elastomer film isn't going to be much of an impediment to the abrasion.

Looking at the frame, it has semi-horizontal rear dropouts, can you move the wheel in the dropouts slightly so that the wheel sits central?

Yup, you're right - and I'm using a hex skewer so there's no real chance of the wheel slipping back out of line.

That being said, you can definitely feel the misalignment in the frame even when the wheel's set up centrally like this - best way to describe is that it feels like the rear wheel is out of true. The frame is wildly unforgiving (90s Italian road bike, who'da thunk?) so the change was immediately noticeable in a way I'd probably have taken longer to figure out on something more relaxed. We live up an allegedly 18% hill so the ride down into town felt way sketchier than it normally does, if that makes any sense.

Again waiting to see what insurance wants me to do here - might be a job for Argos over in Bristol as that's my nearest frame workshop.

Finished building up my bike today. Fitted a new chain, and vgc single speed cog and chainring. New chain tensioner. Same set up I have on my other bikes. Cannot get the tensioner to not skip under load. It's a velo solo tensioner. Chain line is good. It can only be the tensioner is not tensioning enough.
I have the same setup on my MTB so tried swapping tensioners, same result. MTB works fine under load. Not really sure what's going on??

MTB set up, works fine

1 Attachment

New bike, skips under load

1 Attachment

talk to me about caliper brakes. 2 issues.

i have a sram red 10spd groupo and want some cheap calipers that will accommodate 28s on fat rims that will work with the leverage of the sram levers. my fancy planet x brakes do all this but i want something less high maintenance and want to release some cash by selling them. i heard the newer skeletal campag potenza and chorus calipers have good clearance but not sure if that is relative to everything or just campag and if they’d work well with the sram lever. the newer sram and shimano calipers specify extra clearance but when did this start being a feature bc i don’t want to buy new.

the other question is also about clearance, i’m due to buy a caliper braked tracklocross- what long drop calipers, however shit, give the most clearance (ideally for 35mms)
thanks!

Don't ask about caliper rim brakes until you've first checked whether Tektro can help
https://www.tektro.com/en/category/3

^^I changed the tensioner for an old tiagra mech and it's running smoothly now. My guess is the hanger is a bit bent or chain was a touch too long.

Bought a pair of really old, Shimano PD-A515 pedals as they were pennies. The blue-grey paint is coming off and I was wondering if anyone has suggestions on how best/safely I can remove the paint, without damaging any internals or other bits, and then either clear coat them for protection, or just spray them black (assuming a new coat of paint is good for protection).

Thanks.

assuming a new coat of paint is good for protection

The paint is almost entirely decorative, raw aluminium alloy will last decades. It's not worth putting much effort into making them pretty, because they're never going to be 525s🙂

1 Attachment

Haha, didn't know such a thing existed. Yeah it's more to keep it one, neutral colour, and raw alu is fine by me.

This almost looks like a crack to me, might just be the paint though.

1 Attachment

because they're never going to be Time ATACs

True.

I’m looking for some opinions on using an 8 speed shimano shifter with a 9 speed shimano rear derailleur. I haven’t bought the cassette or chain yet. Should I buy an 8 speed cassette and chain or 9 speed (and hope to find a 9 speed matching shifter in the future)?
According to this chart if I route the rear cable in the hubbub style the pull ratio would work 8 speed shifter, 9 speed cassette and derailleur (missing one gear). What would you guys do?

2 Attachments

Modern Shimano 9 speed derailleur will work with modern 8 speed, don’t worry about it.

(We fitted hundreds of 9 speed derailleur with 8 speed shifter and sometime 10 speed shifter like the old 105).

Thanks Ed, appreciate it, decision made.

Nowadays I mostly use Park Tool's quick patches. They're small and convenient, even if they're not super durable they'll fix the issues for hundreds, maybe thousands of kms before they bubble up and fail.

On that note, has anyone used Slime's Skabs?

The lime green things? I found they seem to stick ok and last a while, but they sort of walk off the puncture site and fail. I now only use the PT ones or specialized Flat Boys., which are the same.