Put the Makes on Your Brakes
Bicycle brakes work hard to control your speed and prevent you from hitting things you'd rather avoid, and apart from the occasional squealing fit, they don't complain. But what have you done for your brakes lately? Here are a few quick and easy tips to bring your stopping power back to full blast.
Care for Your Cables: Replace your cables and housing frequently, especially if you ride in wet and nasty conditions. If they don't need to be replaced, at least keep them clean and well-lubed. Also check both ends of the housing for burrs. The opening should be totally clear of metal bits or your brakes will always feel rough at the lever. A grinder will help create this perfect opening, but if one isn't available, trim the ends with sharp cable cutters.
Bring Pads Back to Life: Brake pads are made of glorified rubber, and when the brakes are applied, your energy is transformed into heat which burns the surface of your pads. A hard glazing develops in time and results in diminished braking performance. File off the crusty layer of burnt rubber occasionally and you'll stop better.
Hoop Help: Your brakes are only as good as what they're grabbing -- your rims. Make sure they're straight, and occasionally clean the braking surface with citrus degreaser. Light sanding with emery cloth will remove scratches, dirt and brake pad buildup, but DON'T do this on ceramic wheels. If your wheels don't have machined sidewalls, smooth out the rim joint with more sanding.
Love 'em with Lube: A few drops of chain lube can go a long way towards keeping your components working well. Lube the pivots at the brakes and levers to keep things working smoothly.
Tweaks to Banish Creaks
Has your once-new, sleek and silent bike become a cacophony of evil creaks and other rude noises now that you’ve logged some serious miles? While many of these sounds are harmless, they’re absolutely annoying and some can indicate wearing or maladjusted components. Here are a few common places to look for frustrating noises.
If your bike makes a creaking sound or a slight 'tick' it probably indicates that something is moving slightly and needs a little grease. Handlebars and stems are known for this, but don’t grease the bar surface where it mounts in the stem -- grease the bolt and get it good and snug. If that doesn’t work, try very light sanding on the bar mounting surface and sometimes that will help.
Creaking noises are also known to come from the bottom bracket and seatpost regions. Cartridge bottom brackets, especially once they’ve been wet and muddy a few times, are known as notorious creak magnets. Remove your bottom bracket and clean and grease the threads. And apply amble amounts of grease to the inside of the cup or cups. Thread adhesive can be used for particularly problematic bottom brackets, but use a removable compound and don’t get any on the delicate rubber seals. Make sure your crank bolts are snug when you’re all done.
Seatpost noises are easy to locate -- just check if your bike only makes noise when your seated. If it does, the solution is simple. Take the entire seat system apart and grease everything from the clamp and clamp bolt, the seat rails and even where the seatpost enters the frame. Also put some grease on your seatpost binder bolt threads.
If you can't find and fix your noise with these tips, it might be time to completely overhaul your bike. The rebuild never hurts, and it's a great time to inspect you frame and components for hairline cracks, which can also cause noise.
Keep the Drive Train Chuggin'
Fast and flawless shifting comes from all shifting components working in unison. Here's how to make your bike shift better than new even if you aren't running shiny top-of-the-line parts.
Start at the Business End: The rear derailleur is possibly the most abused part of your shifting system, so first clean it thoroughly and inspect it for damage. If the cage is bent, you can often straighten it back, but it's hard to get it just right. With the sensitivity of modern 8- and 9-speed drivetrains, it might be easier just to replace the whole thing. Also look for worn or shipped pulleys. These bits are cheap and easy to replace and if you ride in the mud and goo a lot or don't religiously lube your chain, they can wear and slow your shifts. Very important -- have a bike shop check the derailleur hanger -- that little tab that your derailleur bolts on to. If it's even slightly bent it can skew your shifting. Most shops will check and straighten it for almost nothing.
How's your Drive Train?: The critical changer element at the southern end of your bike is the cassette and chain. Was grunge the music of moment the last time you replaced -- or even thoroughly cleaned -- your cassette and chain? Many riders neglect this crucial bike maintenance ritual and therefore lose shifting snap. Replace a chain that's over 12 inches long from pin-to-pin and replace the cassette if the teeth look curved and pointy or if the new chain skips or feels rough on the old cassette. Make sure the cassette lock ring is tight. And make a pledge to your bike to keep the drivetrain clean and lubed if you want perfect shifting.
Replace Your Cables and Housing: Unless your bike is brand-new, you could probably use new cables and housing because what you're running now may be slowing things down. New stuff is cheap (about RM5 for a Shimano stainless steel cable and RM2 for housing) and cables and housing are like socks -- sometimes they stay clean forever, but other times they look clean but stink after just a few hours of wear. Don't pop for trendy coated and sealed cable systems unless you ride in a lot of muck or have a swollen bank account. Pay attention when installing new cables. Lube 'em with a wet chainlube for smooth sliding. Make sure all housing cuts are straight and free of burrs in the openings, and run those little metal caps (cable ferrules) on every piece of housing. Housing length should be not too long or short -- each piece that bends should do so smoothly, with no abrupt kinks. Make sure the housing from the frame to the handlebar is long enough to handle complete end-to-end turns with a little extra play.
Your Shifters are Probably Fine: If you haven't crashed and damaged them and they're not packed with grime and dirt, they should click to each gear without any trouble. Follow manufacturers recommendations for cleaning and lubing shifters, but don't take them apart unless you know what you're doing. The exception is twist-grip style mountain bike shifters, which are easy to tear down and clean. Make sure to use the right grease or you could ruin the shifter. It's not too likely, but you could have faulty shifters. And there's not much you can to but warrantee or replace them. Take your shifters or bike to the nearest shop guru for sage advice if you're not sure.
It's Tuning Time: Once you've cleaned, inspected, lubed and replaced all your shifting components, it's time to tune. Once you run the cable, make sure it slides freely in the housing before bolting it to the derailleur -- smooth cable operation is the cornerstone of flawless shifting. Grease the cable anchor bolt -- they're prone to stripping. The easiest way to adjust your shifting is to attach the cable with the barrel adjusters almost all the way in (tightened) and attach the cable with the shifter and chain in the highest (smallest) cog. Then shift up two gears and see how the chain and upper derailleur pulley lines up with the third cog. It should sit directly below it, but some cable tension (loosening of the barrel adjusters) may be required to bring it in line. Keep fiddling with it until it lines up and shifts up and down with equal speed. Expect to repeat this process once things have settled in and stretched.
Still having trouble?: Check the chainrings for wear. While this doesn't usually cause rear shifting trouble, it can definitely wreak havoc on your drivetrain. Replace your rings if the teeth look worn, but first try filing off burrs that could catch on the chain. Note: Most rings have teeth that change shape and special grooves designed to aid shifting. Make sure you compare your suspect parts with new ones of a similar breed.
Chain Pain: Make sure your chain isn't too tight. Adding a link to your chain can often add shifting performance, but don't overdo it. Too long of a chain will flop around and fall off frequently. Most drivetrains work best if you allow just a little bit of pull on the derailleur when the chain is in the smallest ring and cog.
Etc. Etc.: Check to make sure all your parts are compatible. A nine-speed chain on a seven-speed drivetrain (or vice versa) may cause problems, and even running the wrong shifter and derailleur combination can cause shoddy shifting. You can run some non-Shimano nine-speed shifters on Shimano cogs and net adequate shifting, but it's not as fast and flawless as Shimano's full system even though the difference is just a few millimeters. Take a close look at your cogs, chain, derailleur and shifters to make sure they're all speaking the same language.
B-Tension and Chain Slap
The B-Tension screw on the rear derailleur is not for reducing chain slap or eliminating the noise most riders seem to experience, though it may be indirectly related. The purpose of the screw is to balance the tension between the cage pivot spring and the mounting pivot spring so that the upper pulley wheel tracks at the optimal distance below the cogs to achieve good shifting.
To adjust this screw, shift into the inner most gears of the cogset and chainring (your easiest climbing gear). Now, loosen the screw fully. Backpedal and observe whether the pulley wheel is trapping the chain against the innermost rear cog (this will show up as a bumping or grinding between the cog teeth and pulley-wheel teeth). No symptom? Then B-screw is now properly adjusted. Symptom? Then B-screw is too loose and needs to be tightened (typical adjustment is about one to two full turns at a time.
In summary, the correct adjustment is the loosest screw setting that does not create the symptom described above when in the gear combination described above.
Increasing chain tension is another matter, and pursuing it is likely to create a dead end. If the lower pivot (cage pivot) is disassembled, it would be found that there are two hole choices in the cage plate that a spring leg can be engaged in. The stock configuration has the spring in the hole that creates the lesser tension. Changing to the other hole would increase the tension on the chain when the derailleur is reassembled. Once this is done, then it is necessary to readjust the B-screw, but often one finds that at this higher cage-spring tension that the B-screw cannot be tightened enough to balance the two springs and create the correct adjustment described in the paragraph above. If this is the case, then why does Shimano provide the two cage-spring tension choices? Two possible reasons. First, some frames are made with derailleur hanger geometry that is outside Shimano specifications, in which case this option might be useful. Second, when the derailleur gets really old, the spring could go soft (or the pivot could get stiff) and this adjustment could be used to compensate.
So how can you minimize chain slap?
One: Always accelerate -- maximum performance and fitness will be achieved in the minimun ride time [which will be very minimum.
Two: When in a generally coasting situation, try to keep the chain in a gear combination using a larger-diameter chainring and larger-diameter cog; this keeps the chain less slack.
Three: Use a foam-type chain stay guard (Lizard Skins) or wrap the chainstay in roadie's foam handlebar tape or an old inner tube.
Going from 8 to 9
You must have only three things. A 9-speed cassette, a 9-speed chain, and a 9speed shifter. The 8-speed derailleur shifts the same as the 9-speed, and the pulley wheels are the same thickness. If you are changing gear sizes, you need to make sure the derailleur has a suitable capacity. The better Shimano 8-speed derailleurs had a 39 tooth capacity (sum of the rear small/big difference and the front small/big difference), but the 9-speed models have a 45 tooth capacity.
Rumors of 9-speed chains jamming between rings of 8-speed cranks are untrue. The only other change is optional. The 9-speed chain on 8-speed crank and derailleur will shift better in some cases, and worse in others. Testing shows that there may be a slight improvement in the shift from the big to the middle when there is load on the chain, but that there will be a noticeable reduction in the speed and reliablity of the shift from the middle to the small. This problem is definitely reduced by using a 9-speed front derailleur. This problem is not an issue if you tend to shift to the little ring as soon as you need to, instead of waiting until it is really difficult to remain in the middle ring.
Whether it is worth changing is your call. Do you currently feel your lowest gear is not low enough? A 9-speed cassette with a bigger cog can solve that without sacrificing the size of the jumps between the gears you have in the middle of the cassette. Do you currently feel that there is to big an effort change when you change from one cog to the other? A 9-speed cassette with the same overall range as your current 8-speed cassette will solve that.
Hosing Down the Muddy Beast
It's almost impossible to ride and not get your bike covered with all kinds of filth and muck. Cleaning your bike after each ride can quickly become a tedious task. Here are a few tips to help you get your bike clean after dirty riding conditions.
Hose It Off Quick: Right after your ride, hose the muck and dirt off your bike before it has a chance to get dry and crusty. Find an area near the hose that you don't mind getting a little dirty.
Don't Blast Bearings: Water pressure can do a lot of the hard cleaning work for you, but try not to spray directly into bearing areas like your hubs, bottom bracket and headset. Sure, they're sealed against the elements, but high-pressure water will flush the grease out and contaminants in before you can say "complete overhaul". Also be careful around suspension components and shifters.
Use a Cleaner: Contaminants wash off more easily if you use some sort of cleaner just before the hose session. Bike shops carry a litany of bike cleaners and degreasers. Make sure you get one that's biodegradable so you don't spray nasty chemicals all over.
Don't Forget to Brush: Get some soft-bristled brushes for scrubbing the truly tenacious dirt off your rig. Make sure you keep your bike wet when doing this or the dirt and even light scrubbing can harm your paint.
Lube Immediately: Even the coolest chains can rust if you leave them wet after a thorough cleaning. Dry the chain off and apply your favorite chain lube. A few drops on the derailleur, brake pivot points and fork seals (mountain bikes only) will also keep things working well for the next ride.
Clean Regularly: Cleaning a bike is about as much fun as a trip to the dentist, but regular cleaning means will make the task less tedious each time you do it -- and that goes for your bike and your teeth.
Lock Your Baby Down!
If a thief wants your bike bad enough, they're probably going to get it. But there are some things you can do to drastically reduce the chance of donating your bike to crime
Get a Good Lock and Use It: Sure, there are ways to bust through most bike locks. But a thief will usually take the path of least resistance, which means they'll take an unlocked or improperly secured bike first, followed by the bike locked with shoelaces. Then they'll start looking to cut locks. Do you like your bike? Buy a good lock for it -- even if it takes up some of your titanium widget money.
Use Two or More Locks: If you're still worried about someone busting your lock, use two. Get a U-style lock and a cable or chain. It will take a potential thief longer to get through more than one security system. Try to lock it up in a visible place.
Lock It Right: Make sure you secure the frame and both wheels when locking your bike, and make sure the object you're locking it to is substantial and firmly attached. We've heard of thieves pulling parking meters out of the ground so they can easily "unlock" bikes that their owners thought were locked up to an immobile object.
Keep It Safe Indoors: Tons of bikes are swiped out of garages, so lock them up even indoors. To a thief, an expensive bike looks like several thousand dollars on wheels in a light, easy-to-transport package, and breaking into your house or apartment might not be out of the question. Get thee to a hardware store and screw some fat fasteners into some wall studs and lock your bikes up even inside. Let them take the TV instead.
When All Else Fails, Bring It with You: Depending on the store, you may be able to take your bike inside. People will look at you funny, and employees may hassle you, so be careful and polite.
Getting to Grips
Those little rubber things covering the ends of your mountain bike handlebars can be tough to deal with. Either they won't come off, won't stay on or both. Check out these grip secrets for installation, removal and more.
The Air Assist Removal Method: If you happen to have a powerful air compressor, use the blower end to install and remove grips, letting the pressurized air do all the work.
The Liquid Install and Removal Method: Spritz a little water or window cleaner to lube the grips and pull them off. Allow them to dry before reinstalling, and use a modest amount of hair spray to lube them when you want to put them back on. The hair spray will evaporate and leave a sticky coating to keep grips from slipping. You can try using WD-40 but it should be a when-all-else-fails standby.
Stay Put with Safety Wire: Use this technique from the world of motorcycles to keep your grips in place. Get some thin wire at the hardware store and wrap the ends of your grips a few times, finishing the job by twisting the ends of the wire together until the wire tightens around the grips. Cut the excess and tuck it out of the way.
The Monk's Method of Bar End Grip Preparation: With the grips still on the bars, tap the ends of the grips with a hammer. The handlebar will act like a cookie cutter and remove perfectly round, bar-sized bits of grip.
Make Them Pretty Again: Do you have trendy colored grips to match your bike? If so you've probably already learned that colored rubber grips don't stay clean for very long. Use a bit of window cleaner and a rag to get the unsightly muck off them.
(The above articles, which may not necessarily contain accurate information, are compiled from various web sources.)
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