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Went out for a spin yesterday on the road bike, it was the first time riding it in 2021. Half a mile or so from setting off my gears start playing up. Just not shifting properly and the rear mech kind of extends with every pedal stroke.
I stopped at the side of the road to see what the problem was.
A passing cyclist passed me then doubled back to see if I was ok. I mentioned my issue with the gears and he offered to have a look for me.
I said that would be great, thanks.
He then told me that my chain was too long, my gear cable needed replacing, my chain needed oiling, my b-tension screw needed winding in and my jockey wheels needed greasing.
I said I'd just go home and swap bikes and sort it later.
I did mention that the chain was brand new and was exactly the same length as the old one and the gears worked perfectly before changing the chain. So I thought it likely it was either worn jockey wheels or a worn cassette. He kind of just dismissed me like I didn't know what I was talking about. I thanked him and we went our separate ways.
I've been cycling since 2005 and built my road bike along with a fair few more. I do all my own bike mechanical work including rebuilding wheels. So I'm not really new to cycling or bike repairs. Nice of him to stop though (a bus driver also stopped and asked if needed a lift, which I was truly appreciative of, but had to refuse as I was close to home and in the other direction).
Have any of you been treated like a newb when you're not?
Yep but I'm guilty of doing it to others too no doubt.😁
Either way, it's always nice when someone tries to help even if they might not actually be helping.lol
You're not married are you?
Yep, 11 years. Some of them happily 😂
2005? You are a newb 😉
I've been cycling since I was 5 (1982) but only count it from when I got into it proper 😉
The new chain should be shorter than the old one due to lack of stretch. Only a noob wouldn’t know this! It’s the number of links that’s important.
😉
Only a newb would think chains stretch
Welcome to being a female cyclist....
I met a fella pushing a bike with a detached rear mech last weekend. He had snapped it off his new bike in a crash on the ice.
He cheered up a bit when I explained he'd just snapped the mech hanger rather than the mech itself, and told him how to research and buy a replacement - and that his mech looked fine still.
Hopefully he didn't mind being treated like a newb, and he won't need to follow through on his plan of taking it back to the LBS to complain and ask for a new mech.
Idiots everywhere.
How did you sort the indexing issue?
When I was working in Halfords funnily enough.
‘I don’t want a hand finished wheel, I’ve been cycling for 40 years, I know that machine built wheels are much better!’
He was buying the cheapest adult bike we sold, we were offering to replace the wonky (out of the box) wheel with one a mechanic had cast an eye, and spoke wrench, over.
I did mention that the chain was brand new and was exactly the same length as the old one and the gears worked perfectly before changing the chain.
Every cycle mechanic has heard that many many times! 😀
Same amount of links as old chain not exact length 😉
The jockey wheels are all chewed up, everything else looks fine (indexing fine with the chain off, cassette and chainrings look decent enough, mech hanger looks straight, mech looks straight, no tightness in the mech and no stiff links).
Edit:- Chain seems to get stuck between the jockey wheel and mech cage.
It's a fancy KMC titanium nitride chain, in fancy gold don't you know. 😉
It’s a fancy KMC titanium nitride chain, in fancy gold don’t you know. 😉
Less of a noob, more ATGNI then? 😉
“ Welcome to being a female cyclist…”
On a local history Facebook group I just witnessed this happening across an entire century. Photograph of someone’s grandmother during WW1, dressed in what turned out to be the uniform of a telegram messenger, standing next to her bike.
And a man had to comment: “Saddle wants lowering a bit”.
(The saddle height looked perfectly fine for a competent cyclist who wants to pedal efficiently).
FFS.
new chain old sprockets?
Thats probs the real issue...
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Wish I knew how to post a GIF!
Anyone want to mansplain to me?😁
Funnily enough I had gear indexing issues today. Even flipped the bike upside on the side of the trail a couple of times and couldnt figure it out.
Turned out the rear Maxle was loose giving the wheel sideways play and it was throwing out the indexing.
I felt like a noob for not spotting it.
I check my chains regularly and it was only on the cusp of o.5 percent but replaced it anyway as I'd a spare chain.
The rear mech is also a lttle bit sloppy which I think could exacerbate the jockey wheel wear.
I'll keep you all up to date as you are all so interested 😉
I’ve been cycling since 2005
TBH one of the most "Noobish" thing you can do is try to claim you have some knowledge and understanding of bicycles accumulated over 'X' years, while stood by the side of the road, having clearly assembled a faulty drivetrain and gone out for a ride with it...
Nobody knows everything, and we all make the odd cock-up.
When that inevitably happens it's best to let smug gits thing you're a numpty, and look for the learning opportunity...
It’s a fancy KMC titanium nitride chain, in fancy gold don’t you know.
Probably should have sprung for a new cassette as well then 😉
Anyone want to mansplain to me?
Copy the address (ends in .gif) click the IMG button, paste the address in there.
Now go make me a sammich.
Welcome to being a female cyclist….
And a female motorist! Last time I got a flat at the side of the road (I’d just been racing around the corner and the oversteer got the better of me but if my dad asks another motorist swerved and caused me to take evasive manoeuvres) no less than 6 men stopped to ask me if I needed a hand with a wheel change and I politely told each and every one no thank you. Considering it was me that fit the set of coilovers it had on it, I think I was capable of sorting it. I bet if I was a bloke not a single guy would have stopped.
Also burnt out a clutch on a previous car as the gear linkage had busted apart so was trying to get home stuck in 3rd gear and a chap pulled over to inform me that the beautiful smell the car was omitting was ‘my lectrics’ which I politely told him was wrong and that it was a burnt out clutch.
Thankfully I can’t remember a time I’ve been stuck on the side of the trail or road with a bike issue. If that time ever arrives I’m sure I’ll politely tell whoever stops what the problem is too!
I can’t believe a bus driver stopped to ask if you needed a lift, that’s like the best thing I’ve heard in a couple of weeks! Proves not everyone is a selfish wazzock which right now is pretty nice a thing!
I stopped to help a woman change a car wheel a few years back, she had a car full of kids and was doing it in the road with cars passing her about a foot away. I think I’d have done the same for a bloke. Not sure though.
And a female motorist! Last time I got a flat at the side of the road (I’d just been racing around the corner and the oversteer got the better of me but if my dad asks another motorist swerved and caused me to take evasive manoeuvres) no less than 6 men stopped to ask me if I needed a hand with a wheel change and I politely told each and every one no thank you. Considering it was me that fit the set of coilovers it had on it, I think I was capable of sorting it. I bet if I was a bloke not a single guy would have stopped.
Disgraceful when people are helpful and nice isn't it.
Personally I’ve no issues at all at being offered help (and vice versa) - gender doesn’t come into it, as long as the offer is delivered as simply ‘can I help you?’. However too often as a woman it’s ‘do you know what you are doing?’, ‘can you manage, love?’, ‘I wouldn’t do it like that!’. Like you are a total newb just because your a woman. Or unsolicited advice, just while your riding along.
Fortunately woman’s cycling has increased - so there is less, oh a woman! Still get stared at in car parks because I’ve jumped out of a T6 with a decent full sus. Tbh I just laugh, but I don’t stare at everyone else - so why do it at me. Number of times I’d be at a trail centre and people would see a solo female rider and jump down the trail in front of me - only for me to be stuck behind them half way down. Not a newb, and yes not the best - masses of guys and gals are faster than me - but don’t automatically assume I’m shit.
Please note, not all guys are like this at all. But it is too common behaviour, that unlike the OP, it doesn’t stand out as a one off.
Disgraceful when people are helpful and nice isn’t it.
No see because at no point was I saying how disgraceful and utterly preposterous it was that they offered to help. I was merely comparing the likeliness of whether they would stop had I been male and their assumption that I needed help because I had breasts, which considering I already had the jack out n the wheel off was obvious.
With so much bike knowledge, any reason you accepted the strangers offer of help?
Or was it a case of a second pair of eyes/opinion? Or free labour 😀
I was merely comparing the likeliness of whether they would stop had I been male and their assumption
And what is that likeliness and how do you know? Not just them assuming is it.
My assumption is that a lot less people know how to change a wheel these days and I see a lot of people having their wheel changed by rescue services so maybe a lot of people need help.
My wife, mum, sister would never attempt to change a wheel whereas me, my dad, my brother in law would all happily change a wheel.
That clearly doesn't mean that women cannot change a wheel but when talking about likeliness....
Well, this is all going predictably.
I’ve been cycling since 2005
You must be knackered then, no wonder you cocked up yer gears... 😉
On the Damsel in Distress stuff. I try and help people who are stood at the side of the road in extremis. Some of them are cyclists, some women. There is a genre of cyclist that will feign uselessness to avoid fixing a puncture/sorting a mechanical. In our Club, some of these are not even feigning, they're just bloody useless.
Stop and offer to help - treating you like a newbie and his diagnosis was wrong.
Don't stop and offer to - why don't cyclist look after each other.
What is a person supposed to do?
On the Damsel in Distress stuff. I try and help people who are stood at the side of the road in extremis.
I go with something very neutral like "have you got everything you need?" rather than asking if they need help - which sort of implies that they're incapable.
Having worked with paracyclists a fair bit, I'm also very cautious of using the phrase "do you want a hand?" because in at least 3 cases, they'd probably have used the one hand they did have to punch me...
I go with something very neutral like “have you got everything you need?”
Ha! That's precisely the phrase I use.
The most recent times; a lady outside the local shops with a puncture (car), a lady at the top of a very steep hill with a knotted chain after a cack handed gear change (bicycle) and a chap at the side of the road waiting for International Rescue. Empty CO2 bulbs and a (good) spare Presta inner tube with a removable valve core ejected into the hedge - missing presumed dead (bicycle). Just a random sample.
My assumption is that a lot less people know how to change a wheel these days and I see a lot of people having their wheel changed by rescue services so maybe a lot of people need help.
My opposite neighbour was genuinely impressed that I was changing the car's wheel for the spare the other week when it had a flat.
He is a heart surgeon, so it's usually me that has feelings of inadequacy.
And what is that likeliness and how do you know? Not just them assuming is it.
My assumption is that a lot less people know how to change a wheel these days and I see a lot of people having their wheel changed by rescue services so maybe a lot of people need help.
My wife, mum, sister would never attempt to change a wheel whereas me, my dad, my brother in law would all happily change a wheel.
That clearly doesn’t mean that women cannot change a wheel but when talking about likeliness….
Try reading what she said again, actually pay attention like you would to a bloke then tell us again about likelihood.
I go with something very neutral like “have you got everything you need?”
This.
I really appreciated someone asking yesterday (we actually were faffing with suspension rebound!) and I ensure I never pass someone looking like they are fixing something or having a problem without asking that.
You can normally judge fairly accurately if someone knows what they're doing or not. There's a certain glum glassy eyed look that means either I don't know what to do or I don't have the correct tool/spare to fix this. Although when you come across someone with a puncture and no means to fix it I hope they learn a valuable lesson from it.
My assumption is that a lot less people know how to change a wheel these days and I see a lot of people having their wheel changed by rescue services so maybe a lot of people need help.
The one time I've needed a wheel changing roadside, there was no way I was going to attempt it without some backup. Elevated section of a motorway, very limited hardshoulder and besides I was right next to an emergency phone. I have free roadside recovery, I'm going to use it, not get filthy in the rain crouching next to a live motorway lane! If passing motorists thought I was a newb, that's their problem, not mine!
Due to the location, they actually sent a towtruck, they didn't want to be hanging around trying to fix it either. There was also a question as to whether I'd knackered the suspension (the puncture was from hitting debris).
It sounds like you made an error in setting up your bike and now your ego is a tad bruised?
Cyclists love to show off whatever knowledge they have and its rare they get such an opportunity, so suck it up.
ensure I never pass someone looking like they are fixing something or having a problem without asking that.
Very much this, think it comes from years of cycling and motorcycling, it's always nice to be asked 👍 although more recently it seems to be people asking if they should call us an ambulance, the utter bastards as though we don't know how to call one ourselves 😬
Have you got everything you need works well. I've even had to reply "no actually, i forgot my pump and this dickhead here thinks he doesn't need to bring one because i always carry one"
A passing cyclist passed me then doubled back to see if I was ok. I mentioned my issue with the gears and he offered to have a look for me.
I said that would be great, thanks.
Theres your problem right there! You basically said "i have no idea what i'm doing please tell me what the problem is so I can get it fixed".
What you should have said is, "gears are jumping, Jockey wheels look worn so I'm gonna get it home and strip it down and sort it." You could add "what d'you reckon?..."
He'd have known you weren't a newb then....
you have a stiff link in your chain most likely, where it's joined. apologies for trying to help
You had a malfunctioning bike, and accepted help from a stranger. You are a newb.
Only a newb would think chains stretch
Do chains lengthen as they wear? Yes. Is it reasonable to describe this as stretch? Yes.
My mate cycles with his wife ,she carries all the tools and their lights, she mends any roadside punctures and fettles the bikes at home. Recently they went out separately, he phoned me to pick him up in my van - he'd punctured with no tools and no one stopped to help him !
Maybe I didn't get my point across (my title probably didn't help) I felt like I was being treated like a newb. Which is my problem more than the person who offered to help.
Can't remember who it was who mentioned ATGNI, you probably have a point as I was wearing a lot of newish decent branded cycling kit whilst my bike looked like an old steel racer
Never mind all that Newb,did you find out what was wrong with the bike? 🤣😉😊
Do chains lengthen as they wear? Yes. Is it reasonable to describe this as stretch? Yes.
Not sure that’s right. The rollers on the links wear down from contact with the cogs/sprockets meaning the effective spacing between the links increases, thus causing further damage to the cogs/sprockets/chain. There’s no plastic deformation of the chain.
By describing a chain stretching, you’re saying that you’ve put enough energy into it to plastically deform the steel plates, almost to the point of fracture. This isn’t true even when most chains snap as they snap at the links, not the plates.
Got a bike bits delivery today consisting of..... 4 chains! 🤦
Jockey wheels on their way.
By describing a chain stretching, you’re saying that you’ve put enough energy into it to plastically deform the steel plates, almost to the point of fracture.
No I'm not. A chain is made of multiple parts which wear as you describe, making the chain longer. I don't see any problem with describing chain lengthening as stretch, other than the inevitable invitation to pedants.
By describing a chain stretching, you’re saying that you’ve put enough energy into it to plastically deform the steel plates, almost to the point of fracture.
Behave.
A mechanical engineer.
Semantics I suppose. I’d class that as chain wear, not stretch, but I guess it’s describing play in the bushings as allowing more movement, thus a greater overall length under tension, so “stretched”.
Behave.
A mechanical engineer.
I was.
An aerospace engineer.
Can we agree on one thing before this thread goes any further.....
Its noob, not newb.
Stretching is just a word that can be used for something that has increased in length. Doesn't really matter whether the increases is wear or plastically deforms it.
When anybody uses the word chain stretch we all know exactly what they mean.
Eh?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newbie
Newbie, newb, noob, or nub is a slang term for a novice or newcomer, or somebody inexperienced in a profession or activity. Contemporary use can particularly refer to a beginner.
A mechanical engineer.
You only qualify as a Mech Eng if you've stood in a bike shop arguing that it IS a valid warranty and you know this because you're a mechanical engineer. 😉
Ah yes the classic I'm an engineer and that's how I know that the thing I was fixing shouldn't have broken even though I'm not sure how it works and was using the wrong tool, now I demand you fix it for free while I tell you how much better I am at your job.
Why does everything on STW have to descend to this.
You only qualify as a Mech Eng if you’ve stood in a bike shop arguing that it IS a valid warranty and you know this because you’re a mechanical engineer.
Overheard someone list ‘I’m an engineer’ as one of his qualifications to be able to administer an a injection. To a nurse.
5plusn8
Free Member
Why does everything on STW have to descend to this.
Because it's a discussion forum and we're discussing/bickering. It's fun, it doesn't need to be acrimonious.
Because it’s a discussion forum and we’re discussing/bickering. It’s fun, it doesn’t need to be acrimonious.
As long as everyone is having fun then its all good. I feel sorry for OP, he was nursing his wounds and then got salted.
In the last couple of years I've had mtbikers passing me When I'm walking down a gnarly trail) and kindly stopping to give me guidance. It's fine, however what they don't realise I've been previously riding those trails for 20 odd years, but now I'm an old woman with a hip replacement I'm just being extremely cautious.
Tasha - I've had a similar experience to you in Dalby forest, where I was descending a wooded, windy section and 2 youngish blokes must have got tired of me being quite close (yes they were holding me up, but I wasn't buzzing them), so one shouted do you want to pass MATE? Oh how lovely to see their expressions when they realised that I was a lady of a certain age, one of them pronounced 'gosh a woman'.
Anyone I pass who is at the side of the trail/path/road sorting their bike gets a “yer alright? Need a hand?” Regardless of bike quality, sex, age or Lycra cover
I've been caught out and resued by a passing rider, and likewise I've rescued a struggling rider as I happened to have a long 8mm in my pack.
Be good to each other, that's all I will say.
I go with something very neutral like “have you got everything you need?” rather than asking if they need help – which sort of implies that they’re incapable.
Exactly what I do. I got the idea on holiday up in Scotlandshire from another passing cyclist as I was attempting to fettle a friend's mechanical, and being on the receiving end I thought it was a lovely way of offering help without suggesting I was feeble.
As it happened, no I didn't have everything I need. The chain on her BSO had munched itself and whilst I'd manage to untangle it, it was left with a couple of frozen links. I was contemplating whether there was enough surplus in the chain to get away with chopping them out and rejoining it - it was borderline. Our hero had a couple of quick links about him which he donated to us, being fairly new to biking (since I was a kid) I didn't know such a thing existed.
Although when you come across someone with a puncture and no means to fix it I hope they learn a valuable lesson from it.
My on-bike toolkit now contains varying sizes of quick links and a couple of inches of spare chain... (-:
Can we agree on one thing before this thread goes any further…..
Its noob, not newb.
lol n00b kkthxbi
I thought a new was a novice and a n00b, well, just an idiot.
varying sizes of quick links
You carry spares for strangers, just in case.
This a level of community service that should be applauded.
I am community minded, I have spent hours helping strangers who are stuck, I have helped carry strangers off the hills which took hours an was bloody knackering, and have driven miles to help a stranger get home to get the tools and kit to fix their car and do whatever it takes, but I've never thought to bring kit advance in case someone needs it.
I am slightly confused as to how you checked the indexing with the chain off.
You ran the mech through it's range, looking at it to see if it was indexed proper, but all you can do is count clicks and see if you are hitting the limit screws
Not if the chain is running true through the range and not clattering about like a bike thats not indexed properly
I once stopped on a bike ride to help a woman change a tyre but as I pulled up to the car it turns out she was just crouching down for a pi55 by the back wheel. I think I was more mortified than she was, made worse by my I bumbling effort to clip back in and be on my way but struggling to get going again in too high a gear. She must have thought I was a riiiight noob... or a perv... or both, when I am in fact neither!
It’s referred to cycle industry wide as ‘stretch’, rightly or wrongly.
I've maybe browsed in the Edinburgh bike coop looking at a bike I've no intention of buying but up comes a student to tell me this bike is "rad" "mega" etc words I never use but having bought my first Rockhopper in '86 I've been round the block
I felt like telling him I've ridden bikes in Baghdad when you were in your dad's bag but bit my tongue
Maybe that Edinburgh student is on this site now
So someone stopped to help and your unhappy about a possible inferred slight that may not have even happened.
I'd get over yourself. Maybe you just didn't know as much as you thought. If someone helps me I try to be gracious even if they are telling me stuff I know.
No slight inferred you understand. lol.
If someone offers you help and you accept ,I think it’s best to just accept their advice, you don’t have to tell them you don’t agree. If someone offers to fix my bike beside a cold trail I would happily listen to their anecdotes and stand around.
When offering help yourself I agree with the ‘ have you got everything you need’ approach. It’s better to offer help when it’s not needed than not offer when it is. My FIL told me about a guy who worked the lathe next to him in the early sixties, one week he was less chatty than usual and very irritable. Being a man in the sixties my FIL didn’t do anything/ ask questions. The following Monday the boss called my FIL in to his office and said that the guy had hung himself. I get the impression that he really regrets not trying to help get to the bottom of things.
@ahsat - you could take the staring as a compliment, they are looking at a nice looking bike with a nice looking rider who owns a nice looking vehicle😀.
As for the riders cutting in and bunnyhops experience too, I bet that gets old very quickly. See also women in martial arts who are told by opponents with years/ decades less experience that they will go easy on them or offer to correct their technique.
Well the wait is over, my gear woes are fixed.
Guy I rode with today did a major noob error. Brought out a used gas canister and his inner tube he hadn’t repaired...he hadn’t ridden outside since December and completely forgotten he had yet to sort out his repair kit.
Was highly entertaining for me even if he did get a free inner tube out of it!
(I’ve been riding with him for well over 20 years, he was a decent level roadie and XC racer....but he’s absolutely useless at bringing his own gear).
He’s the same guy who had a flat at the top of Rococorba, his tyre properly blew out at about 40mph, he was lucky to end up in bushes. But he had 60mm wheels and only had inner tubes with 40mm valves and no extender. Oh how we laughed at him walking down the mountain in his cleats pushing the bike!!
If it can go wrong it’ll go wrong for him!
Normally people’s poor planning annoys me, in his case it’s pure comedy.