David Marshall

Must be spring. Gravel wheels are budding! I am busy with the same rims onto DT 240S hubs

There is a reason that I decline to work on wheels with that type of spoke. My experience is that nothing will penetrate between the spoke and nipple - but I would love to be proved wrong. You end up removing them destructively. You can even cut a spoke, bend a portion of it at right angles and use the spoke to loosen the nipple without the bond between spoke and nipple being affected.

I built a 36" wheel once and I am not likely to repeat the experience. 32" falls into the same category. With around R100 000 in wheel building equipment that 'won't fit' I will stick to 29"and under. Should be enough wheels in this category to keep me busy until I retire.

There are a few versions so you need to know your crank model when you order. Chances are that yours is too old and inconvenient for the agent to stock. That said many people are riding around without one or one with the pin missing and are none the wiser. I haven't heard of one saving the day 'so I wouldn't worry about getting one.

If I am not mistaken the hubber Zaheer Malik advertised a selection recently.

You will need to pay Vat on them but as bicycle parts they should be duty free. You may be able to claim some tax back from the Australian side if you have the correct invoice and follow the right procedure.

There is a fine line between "Vintage collectable" and "Vintage old". Alpina bikes were made (or at least assembled) in South Africa and were pretty much run of the mill so I wouldn't put much value on it. A bike of that age needs a bit more to it like a well known frame builder or some history or association to a rider/race. Even then the market in South Africa is limited.

The industry standard is a whopping 40% loss off purchase price after one year and then roughly a further 5 to 7% per year for the next 4 years. After that the sales value tends to flatline. This can be brand dependent and also significantly influenced by technological advances eg the shift from 26"to 29". Upgrades do not significantly affect the selling price, especially as time passes.

Stress relieving the wheel. I use a different (more classical) technique!

Anyone have any experience of cycling with these?

Spokes snap from fatigue. Usually at the thread or near the head. Unfortunately all are affected so if more than one breaks it's time to rebuild. If on the rear drive side just check that it is not damage from the chain coming off and grinding the spokes next to the cassette. With modern spokes, a well built and designed wheel - carrying spare spokes is unnecessary.

What Barry said. If the bike has an 8 speed Sora it is likely somewhat dated and not worth replacing the groupset. I would rather service what you have and keep it running with what you can get. Save the money for the replacement bike - preferably one with disc brakes! Mixing parts can get a little tricky especially with the likes of a tandem. Later parts (like the 8 speed Claris) will not work with the Sora derailleurs. However most 8 speed mountain bike parts will, as well as some Chinese road parts. Before you buy get someone knowledgeable to assess what you need.

Mine is a Schwinn. I removed the chain guard and found that it had a threaded hub like the 6/7 speed cheap bikes. The standard cluster removal tool fitted and the kids bike BMX cog cost around 50 bucks. While it was open I replaced the chain, bearings on the wheel as well as the BB. That was at least 12 years ago and apart from regular washing (sweat is a killer) I've done nothing since.

I bought a basic spinning bike years ago to use as an indoor trainer. Still going strong. Two things I learnt quickly - firstly that the fixed wheel mechanism was not for me. This was quickly rectified with a cheap BMX freehub. Secondly I find it mindlessly boring (I don't have a training program or electronics) so prefer to ride outdoors when I can. Where it comes into its own is when recovering from accidents or illness. The cons I would say is that they are bulky, requiring space and the rider set up options are not great. Pro is that they are cheap (especially second hand) and need very little in the way of servicing.

From a professional mechanic - the above advice. When you buy a bike get someone knowledgeable to check it out first.

We used to have it when you could comment on the classifieds. You wouldn't dare to post a bike add without a couch in the background, let alone making a mistake on your specs or price.

It is not an uncommon problem and usually happens only on the non drive side. This is because of the torque differential between the crank arms. You have a couple of options. You can fit the bb with some paste like epoxy (I use Epidermix 372 - because that is what I have) or else with a gap filling Loctite (like Loctite 638). Neither of these products are cheap as the pack sizes are relatively large. A preferred option is to fit a screw together pressfit bb. Enduro have the full range so you should be able to get from a bike shop. There are other brands (Token, Praxis, Wheels Manufacturing). Also not cheap but they are a once off purchase. The advantage of these is that you can replace the bearings without removing the screw together shell. Back in the day we used to shim loose headset cups with a sliver of aluminium cut from a beer can. It had to be imported beer because the local cans were too thick. Now days any cold drink can will do. You always had some of the shim left protruding which you could remove with a sharp blade. This should work for a bb as well.

I have for the road sti's

Low ball offers do not offend me. In most cases they are a sign of a "legit hubber". You can accept, reject or negotiate further. If you don't know the buyer or seller use Bikehub Pay. I don't have a problem with dealers using the Hub either. Negative feedback usually comes when an item is underpriced to start with and then reappears at the true value under the dealers profile. Would not happen if the original seller had done more research.

The theory of drive train wear (the way I understand it) is not too difficult to comprehend. What does cloud the issue is the wide range of designs available - which leads to very different experiences. Basically what happens is that the chain enters the cassette through the rear derailleur at a low tension (the RD spring tension) and leaves the cassette at a much higher tension (you pushing the pedals). As the chain pins wear the chain effectively becomes longer and wears the front edges of the gear teeth as the chain is pulled through the cassette with increasing tension. The effect of this is widening of the gap between the points of the teeth. This is why when you put a new (shorter) chain on a worn cassette the chain rides on top of the points when entering the cassette (low tension) and then engages with a mighty clunk at some point when the tension increases. Probably only on one or two gears on the cassette will do this. At the other end the chain enters the chainring under high pressure. Within the first couple of teeth the chain is forced into the trough between the teeth and even if it is elongated the wearing effect is much less than on the cassette. This is the reason that chainrings don't need to be changed as often as cassettes. So when do you need new chainrings? On a 1X set up worn teeth will look more hook like than when they were new. The real indicator is when the new chain is very noisy. You may be able to see the chain hooking up on the ring for a moment before dropping off. The start of chain suck. On the 3 X cranks this was usually first noticeable on the middle ring. On 2 X cranks chainring wear is relatively slow. Road 53/39 rings lasted "a lifetime" - not so the cassettes. 50/34 compacts tend to wear the 50 ring while cassette wear is less because people tend to ride 1 X on that ring over the full cassette range. A sure sign that it needs replacement is the occasional unintentional chain drop when riding big - big. No hard and fast rule. Too many variables. Size, materials, service intervals, riding conditions and so on but I think this covers the basics.

I use an ICE ID wristband. You can order online.

A couple of reasons why you only get two types of nipple in this workshop. Silver brass or black brass.

If you are going to stick with 9 speed go for a Sora crank with the offset 4 bolt design. Other speeds may work but with varying degrees of success. If you want to go 10 or 11 speed you will need a complete new groupset. Be advised that if you need to replace any parts apart from the crank on that 9 speed you will need Sora 3500 parts (or equivalent ) and not the newer Sora 3000. Minefield!

Agreed

You are basically between a rock and a hard place. Those rings are 130mm bcd so you are not likely to get a smaller than 39T to fit. Also new rings will cost close to what a new crank will. Your BB is either Octolink or square taper so you will need to change that as well. I would look at a Sora or Claris crank with compact ring set up.