Ask a (former) bicycle mechanic anything
Discussion
Further to the success of similar threads elsewhere in the forum, I thought I'd give it a whirl in here.
I worked in the industry as a mechanic on and off for about 6 years up until 2017, most of which was done at a reasonably well known online retailer that also has a couple of shops. My experience has been mostly on mountain bikes but I have worked with plenty of road, CX, touring, hybrid etc bikes too. I have worked on bikes ranging from Argos BSOs up to 5 figure road and mountain bikes, but our usual fare was somewhere in the middle, £3000 - £5000.
Personally I have been into bikes for over 20 years now, almost exclusively mountain biking of one sort or another (mostly DH), though in the last few years I have been away from the sport somewhat.
so, if there is any interest, ask me anything....
GO
I worked in the industry as a mechanic on and off for about 6 years up until 2017, most of which was done at a reasonably well known online retailer that also has a couple of shops. My experience has been mostly on mountain bikes but I have worked with plenty of road, CX, touring, hybrid etc bikes too. I have worked on bikes ranging from Argos BSOs up to 5 figure road and mountain bikes, but our usual fare was somewhere in the middle, £3000 - £5000.
Personally I have been into bikes for over 20 years now, almost exclusively mountain biking of one sort or another (mostly DH), though in the last few years I have been away from the sport somewhat.
so, if there is any interest, ask me anything....
GO
bmwmike said:
What bottom bracket do you recommend for a cube "reaction tm pro" bike? I cant work out what will fit that frame.
my vote for bottom brackets of any standard is cheap and cheerful shimano, and replace it when it (inevitably) dies, or hope which has replaceable bearings which can be replaced at lower cost than a whole unit when they inevitably die too.This may not work on certain BB types though, my memory is patchy as to which ones it will work for
What a great post !!! So my question =
Just replaced Shimano Ultegra Discs & Pads all round on the road bike... All very simple and perfect except now while on a ride , after getting out the saddle or at the bottom of a hill after use they continue to rub .. Not enough to cause resistance but make a touching noise. Performance is perfect , just need to know who to increase the gap between disc & Pad without loosing brake leaver pull.
Just replaced Shimano Ultegra Discs & Pads all round on the road bike... All very simple and perfect except now while on a ride , after getting out the saddle or at the bottom of a hill after use they continue to rub .. Not enough to cause resistance but make a touching noise. Performance is perfect , just need to know who to increase the gap between disc & Pad without loosing brake leaver pull.
Sandersports said:
What a great post !!! So my question =
Just replaced Shimano Ultegra Discs & Pads all round on the road bike... All very simple and perfect except now while on a ride , after getting out the saddle or at the bottom of a hill after use they continue to rub .. Not enough to cause resistance but make a touching noise. Performance is perfect , just need to know who to increase the gap between disc & Pad without loosing brake leaver pull.
Thanks, I hope I don't disgrace myself and find out that I actually know a lot less than I think I do Just replaced Shimano Ultegra Discs & Pads all round on the road bike... All very simple and perfect except now while on a ride , after getting out the saddle or at the bottom of a hill after use they continue to rub .. Not enough to cause resistance but make a touching noise. Performance is perfect , just need to know who to increase the gap between disc & Pad without loosing brake leaver pull.
is the caliper centred correctly, and are the brake discs warped? This would be the first thing to check and is the cause of probably 90% of scrubbing issues with disc brakes.
it could also be air in the system, but if the brakes are working perfectly then probably not that.
Shimano are usually very good for not touching the disc thanks to the variable rate levers they use (servo wave) that means the overall piston movement is relatively high compared to lever movement when considered over the entire lever stroke, so that when the brakes are off there is a relatively large gap between pad surface and disc surface
adjusting caliper position vs lever pull isn't something I've ever done on road hydraulics I'm afraid, and I'm not sure what adjustments ultegra have, but the generic solution to changing the contact point vs lever free stroke vs zero scrubbing is done by balancing the master cylinder piston position screw, the free stroke adjuster, and if you're feeling really brave by changing the amount of oil in the system (this last one is a bit of voodoo black magic and I've never seen it used other than as a bit of a bodge)
Gecko1978 said:
how much is right for a novice first bike on a scale of 1 to 10 1 being Argos 10 being BMC
Do you mean what sort of quality and what sort of budget for a first bike? And I assume you are referring to road bikes as BMC are almost nonexistent in the MTB worldI can't give you that much help on this one as I have always been MTB rather than road, but when I wanted to do a bit of road cycling I spent £1000 on a Genesis and was really happy with it.
I guess aim for something with a tiagra level groupset but don't get too hung up frame material
Gary29 said:
Best bike park/trail centre you've been to in the UK is?
GlentressS100HP said:
Whats your FTP?
I had to google FTP.I have no idea but apparently 200 is pretty damn good, so I will say....... 6
Donbot said:
What's the worst bodge you've ever seen?
I hate to disappoint but I haven't ever seen any that are stunning enough to have stuck in my mind all this time. Plenty of lower grade bodges like coke cans as seat post shims, mud guards that foul moving parts etc thoughFredClogs said:
My wife's got tekro cable operated disc brakes on her new road/gravel bike. They work OK but when wet make the worst noise, sound like dying bagpipes. What's that about?
that sounds like slight oil contamination of the pads. If not that, then caliper alignment can be a cause. are they single piston or dual piston type?
My mountain bike is 6 years old, it was a great spec at the time but now it’s a bit old hat, it’s not got through axles, it’s 3x10, not tubeless ready....
But, I still enjoy riding it and it doesn’t seem to be causing issues from that ‘lack of’ spec now.
From your experience, would you say those things really matter for someone like me who has had the same bike for that length of time?
Also, it’s never had a proper service, short of new cables and new brakes, it’s all original so all the bearings, grease etc are old, should it be stripped down and given a proper going over, or not if it ‘feels’ ok?
But, I still enjoy riding it and it doesn’t seem to be causing issues from that ‘lack of’ spec now.
From your experience, would you say those things really matter for someone like me who has had the same bike for that length of time?
Also, it’s never had a proper service, short of new cables and new brakes, it’s all original so all the bearings, grease etc are old, should it be stripped down and given a proper going over, or not if it ‘feels’ ok?
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