typically there's two main pedal threads. one is 1/2" threading which mostly only comes on kids bike with one piece cranks. nearly everything else will be 9/16" threading which is im sure what your bike has unless it's a old French bike.

Ok, I'm relieved. It's for my new Batavus, so I imagine then 9/16" threading will work.

Preventing/Arresting frame rust
I have a couple spots where paint has chipped off, some tiny spots, others like a cm or so. What do I do to prevent these areas from rusting (some are already trying to oxydize)? Back in the day we used to put clear nail polish on the spot. Fine for pantyhose, but I'm sure nowadays there has to be something better. I saw Frame Saver, but it sounds like you have to spray it on the inside of the frame? I do NOT want to dismantle my bike to take care of the rust. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Would auto touch-up paint help any?

Bev:

Would auto touch-up paint help any?

yeah, but same as with the nail polish you'll need to remove every single remnant of rust before you do so.

I wanted to get some input from the forum about bike maintenance. I've recently been having problems with my bike, so I took it in to my local shop just to see if they could find something I'm missing. The shop basically is telling me they can't find anything wrong per se, but suggest I upgrade the tires. They've also recommended upgrading the hubs, chainrings, wheels, etc.

My question is should I upgrade these things? If I do all this, I feel like I'll be putting really nice stuff on a bike I'm eventually going to replace. So should I invest in better parts now and for the sake of my ride? Or should I use basic/factory parts, knowing that I'm going to upgrade to a better bike in the future?

Brian-

I got a bell influx about a year ago and have been really happy with it. The fit system they use on it works really well for me (the fit is much more snug and comfy than my last helmet), it's reasonably priced (under 60 bucks I think), and has decent ventilation. I think they market it as a mountain bike helmet, but I use it for everything.

Sounds like a dilemma Thom.
Sometimes at the shop we have to just try a couple tires on hand to find the right one.
We have some regular 26x1 3/4 tires at the shop (not the proprietary Schwinn ones)
Thats what fit on the old Locomotiv our UPS lady found near a dumpster.

Thanks y'all, still doesn't make a lick of sense to me, but I think I know what I need, and I think between the three of us, we managed to cover almost all of the tire-sizing systems! I love how they all claim to "standardize" the process, and yet...

This is a friend's bike that I've adopted as a project, working on it sporadically, so maybe we'll swing down to VC sometime soon and see if those tires you have will work.

Praxis:By the way, the buttons above the comment textarea don't seem to work--the tags they generate come out as plain text

Most likely, you need to click the radio button that says "Html" below the text entry window - yours may be set to "Text".

Just a wild guess!

As you can see formatting works for me.

Asking for opinions:

My beater commuter has a Deep V 36h with a Miche Hub. I hit a curb about two years ago. The rim is true, but the dent is enough to make the brakes grab in certain spots. I'm not romantically attached, but the hub rolls pretty nice. Should I just buy a whole new wheel or get a new rim built with the hub? I'm pretty much going to want a deep V again, pretty stout rim.

brian itzaina:clipped a tree mountain bikeing sunday and dislocated my helmet :face-crying:
time for a new helmet, looking for suggestions. i use it for road biking, commuting, and mtbiking.
thankd in advance.

Brian, for what it's worth (not much) I recently spent a week trying on helmets and ended up with a Fox Flux (with my REI dividend)-- it's an MTB helmet but the visor comes off. It fits my squash better than the other helmets I tried on and I found out that I don't have to put a Fox sticker on the back of my truck and go to Glamis, so I'm okay with it. It's well ventilated and I don't notice it even after 6 hours plus which is the best thing I know to say about it. Also, I look like a douchebag in roadie helmets.

Does anyone have anything bad to say about the Schwalbe Marathon series? The tires on my LHT are going and they are 26" so options are a little more limited than 700. These are for every day, not loaded touring so 1.5" is cool.

Thanks.

<blockquote><cite> brian itzaina:</cite>
trippy. the helmet on the top of my list is the fox flux. im thinking black camo :)</blockquote>

How much does that helmet cost? I hate my current helmet, but not enough to spend a chunk of change or NOT wear one.

This month was new wheel month.

I'm looking into a 43cm Schwinn townie for my mom (yes, she's short, child-short). Thing is it has 24" wheels. Are 24" tubes, tires, etc hard to come by? I think he said that the front tire loses air, so if he doesn't fix it properly I'd like to know that it would be no big deal to sort out.

Brilliant. Thanks!

Thanks for the help! Unfortunately the bike wasn't in any condition for me/Nigel to even try as the tire wouldn't hold any air (DEAD) so I couldn't check out how it rode, gears, brakes. I'm not good enough to eyeball a bike & not talented enough to fix a bike. So the search continues.

anyone use anything to treat brooks bartape?
mines really rough on my hands, almost blistered my skin on a long ride. proofride?

phoenix:

brian itzaina:anyone use anything to treat brooks bartape?
mines really rough on my hands, almost blistered my skin on a long ride. proofride?

I think putting even a little bit of proofhide on the tape would make it greasy and then your hands would smell like animal fat for the next two days. I have no idea if anyone has used this product before, but i’ve used it on leather car seats and it works well. It’s called Lexol, it cleans, conditions and protects leather from cracking and doesn’t leave a residie. I believe you can get it at any auto parts store. I haven’t used it it on leather tape, nor have I heard of anybody doing so, but I would imagine it would be ok.

If treating the tape isn’t recommended you could always ride with gloves until it breaks in and the edges smooth out.

ill look into the lexol stuff. the tape put a little burn spot on the middle of my palm and it felt like a blister, fine now but at the time it stung a bit after a few miles. im gonna shoot an email to brooks and see what they say.

Question on old MTB's. I've got a guy selling some 80-100 dollar used 80's and 90's MTBS. I know to stay away from Murray, and big box brands.. But: I'm looking to aquire a cheap MTB to put slicks on to make into a hauler/psuedo touring bike (to see if I like touring before dumping cash into a touring bike). It wouldn't be anything fancy, but does anyone have a primer on brands/equipment? My main concern is I get a durable, operable bike that I can work with for a few years for fun (put some racks on, etc)... but no knowledge of types/equipement levels.

Hey everyone. I've got an old steel-framed road/touring bike with a persistent problem of creaking cranks. I've spent A LOT of time diagnosing the problem and I am positive it's the cranks.

Somewhere along the line I received a piece of advice that I should try removing the cranks and resetting them. I bought a crank puller and did that and the noise went away... for a few miles. I've sort of learned to live with it, but it's definitely annoying. I would put some grease on those bolts, but I've read that you shouldn't do that for the cranks. Does anyone have any ideas that might help? Thanks!

when it comes to the bottom bracket/crank area there's a whole host of things that could be causing it. my first thought since you did get it to go away for a short time with re-installing the cranks that perhaps your cranks are worn out. the square taper area of your cranks can get worn out especially if it was ever loose. this will cause you to never get the cranks tight enough to have a solid press-fit. or maybe you are just not putting your cranks on quite tight enough? like i said it could be many many different things. could be your chainrings, bottom bracket, and even pedals can be the cause. most of the time a customer comes in saying they have a BB making noises it's not the BB at all and often the seat, seatpost, and even handlebars. all the noises of the bike sound like they are coming from the BB.

Whoa, crap. I'd say Surly owes you a frame.

i gotta say thats a new one for me. odd place for a crack for sure. you may need out assistance since we are a Surly dealer. if you bring that frame to the shop we can do the work to send it back and hopefully get a replacement. i would think they wouldn't think twice about sending out a new frame. they don't like dealing with the public directly though so going through a shop will be your best bet.

@beany:

I'm no mechanic/metallugist, but it looks like somehow the front rack has been smacking the down-tube braze-on a lot from the looks of the worn powdercoat there. Maybe that led to some stress there.

What about the Nitto B135 Randonneur bar. Not to expensive either.