Cycling UK Forum

Best thing to do is restrain the piston that moves and get the stuck side moving using the brake lever. If it moves forward it'll usually move backward. I use two plastic tyre levers with holes drilled in them - tyre lever one goes in the caliper, tyre lever two goes outside the caliper, they get bo...

I've got a 4 year old Sora mech on my 8s hack bike. It replaced a Claris that lasted 2 years. Splash the cash, get a 25 quid Sora

Dia Compe do a fairly good range of spare hoods for their levers,the BL07 hood might fit your lever

Unfortunately my fashion sense is usually 20 years behind the times! What are the advantages of cluster spoke wheels? The only advantage I have heard of is that the staggered gap makes it easier to get a D-lock or thick cable lock through......hardly a major benefit but for a hack bike I think the ...

I can confirm Suntour forks are threaded M6 at the bridge, you need an M6x12mm screw. Or take a longer one and cut it down, chamfer the end, bob's your uncle

It is incredible to me how crap Sturmey Archer/Sunrace/Microshift gear levers are - even the solid looking aluminium bar ends are vastly inferior to Shimano. As Brucey mentioned they often end up mid-gear, an inconvenience for a derailleur but death for a hub...

I guess it was pretty rusty before the respray? It's very hard, bordering on impossible, to remove all of the rust from all of the pitting. A possible explanation is that the previous rust has re-established itself and has started to lift the new paint up. I'd treat it with waxoyl or similar and thi...

No, loads of lugged frames made in 631. 631 can be welded or brazed no problem. I suppose it is slightly unusual in that 631 came out after the heyday of lugged frames, and that the majority of 631 frames are welded.

You really think I'm being 'annoying'? Or is it just that you can't put forward a convincing counter argument? Anyway, in terms of the Deda stuff - lots of manufacturers have 'belt & braces' guidelines like that. Some of them seem to have no basis in fact (much like the Specialized documentatio...

I'm of the opinion that the DMR V8 classic is the king of pedals. Great bearings, grease port for easy maintenance, comfy shape

American bike mechanics absolutely love tri-flow. Anything from sticky STIs to creaky gates, they will tell you to drizzle some Tri-Flow on it!

The top and bottom part of the bung assembly results in a part that's 5-7mm thick almunium. The middle part will vary between 1-3mm thick depending on design, but that's plenty to stop someone from damaging the carbon steerer by overtightening the clamp. So the top and bottom parts of the bung offe...

It's self-evident that it's harder to crush a tube if there is something inside the tube. Think about the way the top wedge and middle sleeve fit together, they make a part that's very thick and pushed very tightly against the inside of the steerer at the top where the risk of crushing is greatest....

Someone on here tipped me off to Carlube 100+, this stuff is amazing for lubricating parts like this.
I reckon the old grease has gummed up, or there is possibly some corrosion on the ratchets.

The bung definitely provides resistance to crushing the steerer. It probably also reduces the stress on the steerer if it is long enough to finish beneath the bottom of the stem Most steerer bungs consist of a couple of expander wedges (one at the top, one at the bottom), surrounded by a thin alumi...

My guess is that the "bang" you heard/felt was the screw in the expander coming loose. Aluminium screws can be bad for this, aluminium SRAM crank screws can make a loud bang when they are loosened, I don't really know why. Do you have any more photos of the outside of the steerer? If it do...