Would you like to see Mark discuss things with us more frequently on the channel? Remember that you can leave your questions using #askgcntech for a chance to have them answered in the next Tech Clinic.
This is the best GCN tech video ever! You answered a few questions that many people have and only one about waxing (which was also interesting). Thanks!
RE: Fixing up an old bike - I am 66 and just got back into riding about 4 months ago. I first tuned up my 1980 Motobecane to see if I was really going to do this. The bike works fine, by my "geometry" had changed enough in the past 40 plus years to make it less comfortable than I remembered. I now have a new Trek Domane that I love, but still can't quite part with the old Motobecane. BTW - the GCN videos on RU-vid have been an enormous help getting me back into this sport. I can't thank you enough! (Still miss Manon though....)
For the 11 spd conversion, you do have to note that Shimano Road HG Freehubs are mostly split into 2 groups, 7/8/9/10 hubs and 9/10/11/12 so if he had the second group he could just slap on an 11 spd cassette
Technically, there are 8...10 speed 35mm long freehubs and 11speed 36,75mm long, for what some of 12 speed cassettes are adapted. Original 7 speed is an even older standart, current 7 speed is either freewheel or 8 speed with one sprocket replaced with a spacer.
Mixing rim and disc brake: Of course you can ! It's easy and effective. On my road bike I have a cable actuated disc brake (TRP) at the front and a rim brake at the rear, both in combination with Ultegra 6800 brifters. By the way, my front wheel is dual purpose with a rim brake rim and a disc brake hub and vice versa on the rear.
I’ve been immersion waxing chains for mine and wife’s bikes for a decade. I always install nickle plated cassettes and chains to show off how clean our drive trains always are. I too have noticed little orange spots of rust sometimes. Not entirely surprising since the grime free drivetrain means the only cleaning our MTBs and expedition bikes need is a hosing. Usually, after hosing I just spin the wheels and bounce the bike to get big drops off. This low effort cleaning is a big motivation for chain waxing. Here’s what I’ve found with the little bit of orange I’ve encountered. If I lift and spin back wheel by fast hand pedaling for half a minute there is very little moisture remaining to initiate the rust. If the bike sits in rack without riding for many days humidity may initiate slight traces of orange. When we ride the bike again the orange quickly disappears. But again, I’m using nickle plated (shiny chromey looking) cassettes and chains. The standard black finishes are likely to have massive amounts of rust without a coating of petroleum based wear inducing grime.
I've had these bright pink RideNow TPU tubes for ~6 months now and they've been perfect, no flats or issues and there have been multiple benefits. Beyond losing ~200g, I have more space in my little storage case, the tires/tubes seemed to make less noise when pedaling hard after swapping from butyl tubes, and on carbon fiber rims they were so easy to install because of the color and low friction between the two materials that I didn't need a tool for installation.
For the question on sealant drying up over the winter, you can also rotate the tires daily. Spin the wheels and then have it stored/stopped a quarter turn from where it was last, that way the sealant won't just settle on one side. It's a bit of a faf, but if you don't, you'll have a lump and should just reset from scratch before the start of the next riding season.
I ran a mountain bike with hydraulic front brake and canti rear brake for a few years and that worked well. Also a cable operated disc brake as a front brake on a cyclocross bike, with a canti rear. Both were improvements on what i had before, improved safety and performance and were easy to adapt to.
Re: gears during storage... one theory was that it reduces stress on the cables/housing, not the chain. The same theory was also used by some mechanics when they installed new cables to "wear-in" the cable/housing, where they'd store it intentionally in big-big and then retune, if necessary, when the customer came to pick up the bike. I personally don't think it mattered that much, but I never really heard much about stress on the chain.
Yes, cable stretch is exactly the reason why. I do pre-stretch new cables so that they don't stretch as much as they're used over time, lengthening the interval for indexing.
Storing your bike over an extended period of time can affect the rear mech, if its left on one if the lower gears/big cassete. I had a specialize with 8sp Ultegra, ehich eas put away for about 3 years. It was left the 2nd smallest gear on the rear. Thr spring got streched and would only shift after every 2/3 shifts.
Great content as always, thanks for sharing! A few unsolicited thoughts from an ancient cyclist follow… 105 Di2 lower gears: switch to 11-36 cassette and/or swap chainrings from 50/34 to 48/32. Disc/rim brake hybrid: cable operated disc and linear-pull (V-brakes) will allow use of same brake levers, but you’ll probably have to use MTB bar and controls. Older bikes are cool, sometimes a fork swap will allow use of larger tires. Tubeless is great for racing, but I prefer flat resistant touring tires and tubes for commuting. Preferred gear selection for long term storage: the chain and derailleurs aren’t affected by which gear you select during storage, but shifting to the smallest cogs leaves the shift cables slack, which will prevent damage to the linings of the cable housings. Long term storage with tension on the shift cables can imboss the housings with the spiral pattern of the cables, and increase shift effort/decrease shift precision. Ditto brake cables, relieve tension on them for long term storage. Addendum: if you’re paying attention to details like these, you’re digging deep into diminishing returns, but you’re exactly the sort of owner I like to buy used bikes from!😁❤️
Re adding a larger cassette ie 11-40: before buying that extra link, try backing all the way off on the B screw to give the derailleur extra space. It worked for me on my GRX derailleur which was only rated for 36. Shimano derailleurs typically have more capacity than they are rated for in the manual.
Informative, as usual. Regarding a disc brake on the front, and rim brake on the rear: a simple solution would be to fit a cable-actuated disc brake on the front, so there'd be no need to replace the brifter for the rear (assuming you already have a pair of such brifters, that is).
Alex, you may want to revisit your answer to the 1st question. The OP is running 105 di2, which means 12 speed. 105 is spec'ed up to 11-36, which is slightly easier than what they are currently running, but I am not aware of anyone offering a 2x12 cassette bigger than 36t. Also, the Roadlink derailleur extensions are 11s, not 12s.
There are plenty of 12s cassettes bigger than 36t, but they are marketed for MTB. They will still work with a road mech so long as you can get the cage low enough. AFAIK there is no practical difference between 11s derailleur and 12s derailleur other than the software. (except for the wheeltop one, which supports everything between 3 and 14 speed) edit: also L-TWOO supports between 10 and 12 speed
They should just use smaller chainrings 🤷♂️ People continuously faff about trying to max out their rear derailleurs (and GCN join them), when they should just shove something like a GRX chainset on and actually climb the hills easier. I doubt this old guy is going to be pushing anything bigger than 46/11 on the flat.
PEAK TORQUE already did it mate. You can buy a hole casette or just the spokets and customize yours. Btw a longer cage is needed to get all that range.
Fun fact: Mavic future proofed their Cosmos wheels from the late 1990s and I was able to fit an 11 speed cassette with no problem. I chose these wheels because they fitted in with my retro steel build. And they were free, just requiring a rebuild.
You can combine disc and rim brakes with either a mechanical disc brake (use compressionless housing only for that) or cable-pulled hydraulic disc brake. That way your levers will remain the same.
About the rusting chains and cassettes, maybe in the future wax manufacturers could add some sort of "anti-rust" additive to the blend. This would be an interesting topic to talk to Josh Portner about. Another thought I had is to buy regular wax and then add tungsten disulphide (or whatever other additive) to it later on... May be manufacturers could sell additives separately. #askgcntech
@@kalijasin An aluminium chain ? Seriously ? It would be worn out before you reached the end of the street. And aluminium cassette sprockets don't last much longer.
1:31- Instead of going to a very large cassette (bigger than 36T), I would suggest getting a GRX 30-46 chainring, which is totally compatible with the 105 rear derailleur, even according to Shimano. This makes a surprisingly big difference on steeper climbs. You'd probably want to get a GRX front derailleur as well, though that isn't necessary; I used a GRX crankset with a mechanical 105 front derailleur for almost two years with no issues. (This was way back in darkest Covid times, when parts were impossible to find.)
commenting on the @seanobb , I have found that modernizing a bike can be a bit pricey depending on the needs but definitely worth the price.. the older duraace drivetrain is still effective and nice to use, if it needs replacing, go 105 but the biggest upgrade would definitely be the new wheelset.. modern hubs, lighter rims and spokes, and the capability to use wider tires and go tubeless would definitely be noticeable
I custom made two road race bikes with mechanical disc brake front and rim brake rear, not faf. You should not discount it until you try it. No need for dumb disc brake power in the rear, better custom set up rear brake power with new Campy dual pivot. Oh, Schwalbe Aerothan tubes are awesome.
In the '70s, I had a bike with a disc brake in the back and rim brake in front - my first 10 speed. I thought it was great. I'm also not convinced the front brake is more important.
I upgraded my front v-brakes to hydro 10 days ago. So far the value is top notch and would have been diluted by including the rear. (Also means I didn't have to mess around with rear adapter mounts.) I might one day upgrade the back, after getting familiar with the maintenance and life cycle on the front. By the time I'm ready to commit I may combine this with a new drive train or possibly even a new frame. So far I'm enjoying the upgrade journey. Choose your own adventure but I'm glad I didn't make it a money shaped hole. As a commuter I've only engaged the rear brakes once. Still if something catastrophic happens at the front, I know how to handle the v-brakes.
I have an old carbon Cannondale System Six, from 2007, with the original Shimano Ultegra (6600???) groupset on, the tires width are 25, an upgrade from 23! It's my first and only racing bike and I'm still using it for racing in triathlon, and it function flawlessly with regular maintenance. Yes - I'm looking for a more modern bike, because I would like disk brakes for my downhill descents, and wireless snifters seems very cool, but the bike have served me so well, so I have no plans to separate me from it, you never know when you need a spare bike. My advice to Seanobb is: keep the "old" bike if it's still rolling, if the old groupset function why change it? Then maybe look around for a modern bike.
I think you might be missing one important point in maxing out the rear cassette, and that is the ability of the derailleur to handle a bigger difference between low and high teeth count for the system - including chain rings.!
Before I knew anything about cycling, I rebuilt an old hybrid bike. I put a disc brake on the front, with a new front fork, and kept the old "V-brake" on the back. No one said I couldn't but I didn't ask (no GCN Tech back then). It works perfectly. There are no issues with differential modulation - you have to do that instinctively front and rear anyway, and nor is there any issue with the brake levers being different, which they are. The rims on both wheels are aluminium and have a brake track and can take a bolt mounted disc - so, they are a compromise w.r.t. weight. I rebuilt the bike to keep it going rather than waste it. I doubt I would do the same to a road bike, but do not see why not, if you wanted to improve the braking of an old rim brake bike - esp if running carbon rims which are daunting with rim brakes?
Shimano has historically underrated the maximum capacity of its rear derailleurs. The GRX 812 11 Speed can only officially support 34 teeth max, but people have put in 11-42 and it has just worked. It might be worth it just throwing one in and seeing if it holds it. I have a feeling it will.
It might work but it's a bit of a compromise when you go to the extreme. If you screw the b-screw all the way in the pulley wheel is pretty far from the cassette on the smaller cogs. So bigger chance of chain slip and less precise shifting.
I used to think the same thing. But if you do a lot of miles you learn that they are rated just right for people who require perfect indexing and perfect shifting. Sure, you can get away with pushing it further, but nothing is for free. And if it was free, believe me, shimano as a profit seeking corporation would gladly rate it accordingly in the name of seeking marketing friendly specs and larger profit margins. I see You Tubers like “path less pedal” push shimano specs all the time, but Path Less Pedal isn’t riding 100+ miles per week. He’s doing more like 25-30. So it really depends on your use case and what you require.
I have GRX 11 speed mechanical with 11-40 in the rear on gravel wheels and 11-34 on road wheels. Shifting performance is 95% of a 11-34 cassette. It does require a bit of dialing in to be optimally indexed. The other thing to be aware of is, cross chaining went from a generally accepted as bad to just don't do it. Basically the smallest two cogs and the little ring in the front as well as the biggest 2 cogs and the big ring should be treated as off limits. Unresolvable grinding noises at best, slipped chain /popping off at worst. I suspect some of the problems could be resolved with a different chain length (currently optimized for the 11-34) That being said, I've put nearly 1,000mi on this set up including some centry+ rides and it works great for me (but 11-36 would be better...or slightlylarger chain rings). But...I don't think I'd recommend this setup to someone who isn't mechanically inclined. P.S. I've heard that Di2 deals with it better than mechanical.
1st question is need to be address for roadbike. Giant manufactories only allow us to use up to 34T. That’s why some people shifting to other brands like LTWOO and Sensah from Chinese brand because they offer higher gears.
To PetersmithCA: I did what you want to do. My 2021 Giant Defy has your same setup, but no Di2. I switched to an 11-42 cassette. Local bike shop, which is the Shimano distributor for this area, said the derailleur could take it, but changed to a slightly longer chain. Sorry, IDK how many more links. I ride a lot of gravel (with cyclocross tires), so really enjoying the greater range of gears.
The task to install an 11-speed cassette on a 10-speed wheelset can differ quite a lot depending on which hub you have. For Campagnolo Ultra-Drive compatible hubs it's dead simple: Just swap the cassette. The hubs are compatible with 9-, 10-, 11- and 12-speed ultra-drive cassettes without any need for spacers. For Shimano and Sram it's more complicated and depend on which type of hub you have. If you're lucky to have a HG 11/12 speed road freehub, it will work with 8- , 9-, 10-, 11- and 12-speed cassettes. 11- and 12-speed are narrower so they don't need any spacers whereas the others do. For other variants, it's usually more complicated.
Small-Small is what you can do when storing your summer roadbike over winter, otherwise whatever. The chain isn‘t actually bending it has a little wiggle room between the rollers and the pins which allow it to make a slight curve. If you would actually bend your chain, you would notice a massive resistance while riding
On the larger cassette question; there's always the option to go to a 1x set up using a SRAM eagle xx1 or similar set up. Paired with a 46T single front ring, you can go up to 50T 10 and still get great top end speed alongside spinning nicely up the steepest of hills - I say this from a POV of having done it myself on my climber
For TPU tubes I tape the spoke holes with 2 layers of Monodirectional Fiberglass Reinforced Filament Tape, to prevent the tubes from stretching over the spoke holes. I also use tire liners, have not had a flat in 3 years on the same tubes.
Regarding what gear to leave your bike in, I always leave mine in a relatively low gear because I live at the bottom of a hill. Grinding up a hill in the wrong gear while trying to change down will wreck your chain far quicker than worrying whether you've left it in the optimal one.
I had an old MTB that only had a front disc brake. I fitted a V-brake to the rear...worked fine. Thorn standard touring bike fit is a front mini-V and a rear mechanical disc brake. They do it so that you have the old-school 531 fork blade on the front with disc brake power on the back. I have one of the Thorn tourers...both brakes work great.
regarding sealant standing, myself i use the valve as a guide, just rotate it every other day, works for me just as long as you leave the valve in the opposite position than when you started &. repeat, when not using my bike i take the chain off the gearing, but as alix said, "don't worry about it...don't stress about it" and he is right, i only do it as easier to spin wheel with sealant in
I run 50/34 with ultegra di2 and switch between 11/36 Shram and 11/40 Shimano XTR mountain bike cassette with zero issues. I have what Shimano calls their mid length cage and other than some adjustment on the B screw they all work perfect.
Re TPU inners. I've heard of a (controlled) double blow-out while descending the Angliru. Now, admittedly they were the Ridenow version, rim brakes, and the Angliru is an extreme example but maybe heat can be an issue for TPU with rim brakes on major descents.
that can happen when you're hard on your rim brakes thoughout a long decent. almost unheard of though if your decending skills are solid and you don't white knuckle the brake levers
Benefits of a narrow tyre clearance: 1. Does it make it stiffer? > It "could". If the frame thickness is the same for the chain stays and the seat stays, then the frame would be stiffer. A. Longer chain and seat stays for more tire clearance will allow more flexibility in the frame because the end point (wheel axle) is further away from the frame B. Shorter chain and seat stays for closer tire clearances will allow less flexibility in the frame because the end point (wheel axle) is closer to the frame. 2. Does it make it more aero? > Yes it does. Because there is less space between the tire and frame (see Canyon Aeroroad rear tire/frame clearance), less turbulence is generated and therefore; lower coefficient of friction equals more aero.
I have 2 bikes for which I put a disc brake on the front and left the rim brake on the rear - a gravel bike and a fixie. I did it because I was using them for rough-road and singletrack exploring and a bit of cyclocross, and I had a few winter rides where the muddy wet front rim brake became purely ornamental. Obviously I had to buy a new fork, but I used TRP HyRd brakes which have an oil reservoir built into the caliper and are cable-actuated so I could continue to use the same old levers. I'd say the HyRd's don't feel as plush as the GRX full hydro brakes on my other bikes, but they feel way better than fully mechanical disc brakes, and of course infinitely better than rim-wipers. I just used odd wheels that I had under the house - they don't look like Bike Vault candidates but they are perfectly functional, and it was a much cheaper solution than buying a new disc brake bike and selling the old one for a pittance. Also, re the TPU for touring question: TPU tubes are great, I've ditched butyl completely for either tubeless or TPU. One thing the inquirer should be aware of is that TPU tubes are sold in different thicknesses - for commuting, for touring, for racing. A 30-40mm racing tube is around 35g, compared to around 70g for a touring one. Get the heavier one (it's still half the weight of a butyl tube!), because they are much more puncture-resistant. As you described, they are as easy to repair as a butyl tube. Thanks for providing these tech advice videos.
I have been running disc brakes in the front and rim brakes in the back on my commuter for many years. works perfectly well no issue with modulation. I use mechanical disc calipers that are meant for short pull brake levers so I use the same levers.
I have a sora 3x9 and I have always left mine in 2/5 because that is an easy take-off for next ride. Conveniently it is also straight for the chain and derailleur isn't stressed but I never considered those issues.
The last question - these days it makes no difference but back in the days of friction shifting, selecting small / small when storing / transporting the bike was normal as it meant the friction levers were no longer under tension. If upi didn't do it the levers could creep which could cause chain jump issues when you set off again and of course it could shorten the life of your shift levers. Once indexed levers came along it was no longer a thing. (unless you have an Eroica bike!)
I've been running mechanical disc on the front and rim brakes in the back on my commuter for the last 10 years. Works fine and helps with stopping in the Portland rain though it would have been cheaper over all to sell the rim brake bike and buy a disc brake setup.
Can see the concern with the TPU valves, a lot that I've seen are plastic and/or don't have a retaining nut like metal presta valves do. In practice though mine (cheap Chinese brand) are held securely by the wheel. Mine also came with repair kits, they said no need to scuff them, just clean with the supplied alcohol wipes and then apply the self adhesive patches.
Cyclami TPU tubes have metal valve stems with a lock ring. I have seen a Ride Now tube valve snapped by someone getting over zealous with a push fit pump. I use a RaceRocket pump whish has an in-built adaptor which gives some 'flex' to the process of pumping up.
I've used TPU tubes from Rene Herse for about 9 months now, and the only puncture in that time was at home, in my workshop, when I mistakenly used a too-long spoke to replace a broken spoke. The spoke end pushed through the rim tape and popped the tube. As Alex said, it's very easy to patch TPU tubes, even easier than butyl tubes.
same. been riding tpu for 2 years, excellent road feel, light, one flat. 10-20 minutes total time spent over two years noodling with tubes. I ride around 3-5k km annually and usually hit around 60kph on the local decents (I live near Monaco and have rim brakes, w carbon rims). how's that compare to tubeless? idk. additionally, my bike weighs in at 7.5 kg (2013 Roubaix frame, carbon wheels, bar, seat, light cassette, ultegra mechanical). I'm also almost 60 years old and am usually in the top 10% on the local Strava routes. imho, unless you're got pro level fitness, you're wasting a lot of money on gear that does not translate into actual performance. imho, there are only two factors affecting the average rider's performance: fitness and fatness. everything else GCN is pumping is pure fluff
My winter bike has a mechanical disc on the front and rim brake on the back, it works fine. TPU tubes are ok although they loose pressure more quickly.
As for tpu tubes. I don't go down mountain roads dragging my rim brakes. I don't have big mountain roads in my area and I'm not racing or don't brake hard. So they work well for me, riding with rim brakes.
Regarding putting different braking system on the front and back - that is going to be a parts and mechanical nightmare. And it definitely doesn't simplify manufacturing.
Remember when discs first came in on mtbs in the 90s. As a young downhill obsessed shop grom I lusted after a set of hope discs, managed to get a rock shox fork with disc mounts but lots of frames back then still had no disc mounts. Running a front disc and a rear v-brake was not uncommon… it was bloody awful though. 😂
12:40 you should set it to the most relaxed (ie no stretch) position for the shifter and its cable. smallest cock in the cassette and whatever it is for the front derailleur (i only drive 1x systems). the derailleur's spring is relaxed then, too. the chain doesnt care, as long as you dont put torque through it in that "parking" state. The chain goes through much worse abuse during 5 shifting procedures. Your cables will last considerably longer and shifting will be more consistant over that long time. Remember: chains are very easy and simple to fix, cables and shifters are not.
A little deeper: the cable connecting the shifter and the derailleur is relaxed at the smallest cock. When you click through the lower gears, the cable is pulled a bit more, to force the derailleur into the next position (laterally and longitudinally). Full tension is in the biggest cock of the cassette, no tension (none at all) in the smallest cock. Hub drivetrains have a relaxed state for the cable as well, like 4th gear in the 7spd shimano Nexus. There, the relaxed/park gear is marked on the shifter to make it easier (to identify) for repair/maintenance work. If something ever happend to the derailleur or the drivetrain (edit: or the wheel/tyre) during parking, you will already be at least one step ahead for any repairs 😊
Regarding the 2012 TCR upgrade question. I think that you may be able to fit 28mm tires. I have a 2012 Trek Madone - originally came with 23mm tires, I was able to fit 28mm conti GP 5000 tires easily. Also, a couple of years ago, I upgraded from the original 105 10 speed rim brake mechanical groupset to 105 11 speed rim brake mechanical groupset, upgraded wheels to a custom build DT Swiss RR411 rims with Chris King hubs. Bike is riding like a dream and it weighs about 7.94 kg.
I have a Trek SLR 2018 and I installed front disk break and it works great. I hardly ever use the rear break. The only reason I install disk in the front was because of the rainy days. Disk is better in the rain, however by installing disk in the front I kept my 2018 SLR.
The older bike question. You can upgrade an oder bike to electronic wireless shifting and keep the rim brake. WheelTop do wireless conversion kits. On a rim brake bike. It's the shifters, front and rear mechs. You keep the reat of the parts already on the bike. The rear mech also works with 3 to 14 speed cassettes.
The mix in brakes is like older cars with disc brakes in the front and drum brakes in the back, when you need it, you’ll want disc brakes in the rear too.
We have a 1970's BMW R75/6 that is an early disc brake motorcycle, interestingly enough it has a disc in the front and a drum brake at the back. Very tempted to try this on a road bike.
In Finland we have a law that kids bikes must have a coaster brake at the back. So there are a lot of mountain bikes with a coaster brake at the back + disc at the front. And some even have a v-brake at the back too so 3 different brakes on one bike.
The solution for people who want a wide range of gears for all situations, from steep downhills to smooth flats to moderate climbs to steep climbs, plus wind and perhaps even bikepacking, is so obvious, yet almost no one recommends it these days because it's seen as uncool, retro and counter to today's less is more aesthetic. Namely, triple chaining crankset, matched to a more sensible and evenly spaced cassette. Problem solved, and the extra weight up front is countered by the lighter cassette in back. Been riding one for over 20 years and couldn't be happier. A 12-23 is plenty for most situations, and if I ever decide to tackle the big climbs or bikepack, I'll swap in a 12-30.
by the way just to add up on 3:00, there exists rim brakes with hydraulic levers made by shimano... so yeah they could still use the same levers... and probably the feel would be kinda similar
1:27 with those double chainrings and their current rear derailleur i think 11-40t is a no go because the chain wrap capacity just isn't enough. would likely need to change front chainrings to make it possible or change to different derailleur. if i was them i would probably just swap the front chainrings for something smaller.
My first road bike, a 2012 Triban 3, has a Wheeltop wireless groupset on it. That along with fresh handlebar tape, new (cheap) wheels and it's riding like new once again.
I like the question on TPU inner tubes. I tried tubeless, but got tired of the 'faff'. I live in a hilly area, and brakes do heat up (but disc brakes, so not heating rims - although the friction of the ground must be passed on to the inner tubes. Is there ANY drawback, apart from price, in riding TPUs AT ALL? Including spoiling them with pinching etc. I'm very careful installing tubes, but I do use levers. I swear I could feel the benefits of tubeless, and I'd like to get some of those back.
Regarding brakes (and keeping old bikes alive), I want to ask GCN if they think there is now a market for hydraulic rim brakes given that hydraulic brake groupsets are far more common these days. This would enable those of us with rim braked bikes to upgrade to new hydraulic groupsets. And also if hydraulic rim brakes would even up any modulation issues if you were to fit a disc brake to the front? Added bonus is the brake levers would match!
#askgcntech Love the show and tech clinic! You often talk about something saving you ‘X’ amount of watts in power, However for those of us who don’t have a power meter, how much is a watt saving in real terms? Is it effort, MPH (kph) , heart rate variance? Are big watt savings like tyres going to be more beneficial than one of Ollie’s aero bra’s….Im sure that’s a wind up even now! 😂
I always leave my bikes so there’s is no tension on the cables so small front and small back chain not moving so surely won’t hurt it but saves the cables being under tension for long periods of time
Rust spots on the cassette may also come from chain pins (that are high carbon steel even on most stainless steel chains), meaning the wax wears off and exposes metal. More often waxing is required
TPU valves are fine for riding. However, since they are plastic instead of metal, they are easier to break when attaching a pump to them and pumping them up if you are not careful.
Yes you can use a 50/34 Crank with an 11-40 cassette ! its how i have my bike ! specially for steep hills ! But you will need to change the rear derailleur to a new Shimano ACERA M3020 long cage ! in my case i use 8s , it supports a max. low sprocket of 40t and total cap of 45t !!! I don't need more , i am either going slow or super slow , normal or normal fast or really fast , super fast ! and still have 2 left jajaja ! ...But the point is not about the # of speeds but of the derailleur to use ! Derailleur extensions work , but its kinda wobbly for the derailleurs so i wouldn't recommend it if u want smooth shifting !
For Me The Gear I Put My Bike On When Storing It For Long Periods Of Time, I Usually Just Put It Where The Chain Is Nice And Straight, Been Using That Kind Of Storage Method On My Bike For As Long As I Can Remember, When I Use It, Its Still The Same As When I Bought It New, Still Shifts Perfectly. I Don't Quite Support The Cross Chaining During Storage Of A Bike Since For Me, The Jockey Wheels Are Under Strain Since The Chain Is Sideways.
In all seriousness, I have wondered if a disc in back and a rim in front would have advantageous re weight and aero and such. And I did buy a low-price 'mountain bike' with a disc in front and a rim in back to use as a townie. And it did the trick for something like 20-bucks brand-new in a clearance blow-out five years ago. 😀
@@yonglingng5640 Cool and really, how much more than a disc in rear do we need on the road, tho' another brake in front is necessary at times, of course. I'd love to see a modern high-performance bike with that rear disc/front rim. And an aside, a friend showed me yesterday an early '90s aluminum-frame Vitus with working Mavic Zap electronic shifting at the rear only. Front was standard manual shifting. And it was honestly cool, that combo of electronic and manual. Let's see that with disc and rim brakes. 😀
The braking issue with different type is similar to cars where they had disc in the front and drums on the back. Also, I have an Emonda ALR from 2016 that is not drilled for Di2, so I put SRAM AXS on it, and got the AXS rim brake shifters, and found I could could fit 30mm tires using the Shimano Ultegra 8100 rim brakes, tight on the front, but it does work and my rim brake bike continues on into the future.
Rear drum brakes do not offer ideal performance compared to disc, but there are no actual issues with that kind of setup when applied correctly. I know it's somewhat common to convert various Hondas to rear disc brakes, but from what I hear it's basically only worth doing if you're going to track it.
@Dreamweaver94 Many cars, when they started moving toward disc, only had disc on the front, it became more prevalent when front wheel drive became more the norm. 4 wheel disc brake was only found on high-priced cars and was advertised to convince people that having the disc on the rear was a massive improvement over the drums. I am aging myself now... 😀
@@justsomedude7556 You're definitely spot on with your automotive disc brake history lol. I was just saying that while they're not as good, they don't really have any issues. Btw it's interesting that you squeezed 30mn tires in, I might have to try that on my bike.
@@Dreamweaver94 oh I agree, I never had any issues with drum brakes, I did not live in a hilly area, so over heating was not a problem. As far as the 30's, I have so much space on the back, I was shocked, it does not even come close to the AXS FD battery. The front, is a little closer than I like, but I had to clip off the little rubber twigs as I call them from the side of the tire moldings, as they were taping the caliper and just making noise that I don't want to hear, I probably have 4mm of clearance on the upper bottom of the caliper on the on the non-drive side. The drive side is maybe 6. I am running Pirelli P Zero Race with TPU's.
LoL...uhhg ! I have also thought of parking gears.. I came up with just dont leave the derailleur all stretched totally out and I tend to park it with the chain at mid-point on cassette. Dunno.. just makes me feel better LoL !
