For general questions, I recommend asking on bikeforums.net – the best cycling-related forum in the world. There I actively participate under the “Bike Gremlin” username. Also, many other experts offer help and advice there, so You benefit from getting 2nd opinions. You are also most likely to get a timely response (within a day or two), at least from other knowledgeable members, even if I don’t manage.
If you have any questions regarding a particular article, you can use the comment section below the article. Also, at the bottom of this page, in the comment section, you can ask what you wish to know. With a suggestion to first try a website search – your question may have already been answered:

You can ask a question in the comment section below even anonymously – entering any name you wish.
Rules for posting questions and comments.
In separate articles I explained:
I answer as soon as I can, but depending on my other obligations, it might take over a week sometimes. For urgent questions, or private 1 on 1 consulting, see my consulting page.
A list of the last 100 comments on this website
Tutorial: how can I add an image to a comment?
How to best phrase/ask the bicycle/mechanics/cycling related questions:
Time spent answering questions on the website and YouTube channel, according to Clockify:
Month | hours : minutes |
---|---|
2021 | |
June | 7:14 |
July | 7:06 |
August | 4:56 |
September | 8:21 |
October | 4:08 |
November | 6:55 |
December | 4:56 |
2022 | |
January | 7:59 |
February | 4:50 |
March | 7:39 |
April | 4:34 |
May | 7:43 |
June | 6:31 |
July | 4:25 |
August | 4:58 |
September | 7:20 |
October | 4:07 |
November | 5:38 |
December | 7:48 |
2023 | |
January | 6:50 |
February | 6:39 |
March | 5:48 |
April | 7:08 |
Hello Relja!
I need help !!
I recently bought a hybrid bike bianchi comaleonte, and I am trying to swap it into some sort of gravel bike. 🙂
It was equipped with shimano deore RD and alivio FD M430.
I have bought sora R3000 sti 3×9 shifters. Brakes and rear derailleur works great, but I can’t match FD and left shifter. The cable pull from sora R3030 left sihter is about 13,5mm an the cable pull from alivio shifter is about 20,5mm. Is there anything I can do??
What about purchasing a FD R3030 triple?? Will it works on treking FSA crankset 48/36/26??
Thank you in advance!!
Hi Mikula,
I would expect a triple road FD that’s compatible with the shifter (like the FD R3030) to work better.
Yes, it’s designed for a 50T largest chainring, and has a stated total capacity of only 20T (48-26 is 22), but unless lightning-fast shifting is only acceptable, I’d expect it to work OK.
very many thanks 🙂 regards from Slovenija!
This website (and all the other BikeGremlin websites) has been removed from the Bing search engine!
DuckDuckGo, Yahoo, and Amazon’s Alexa all use the same, Bing’s, search engine – so it’s gone from there too.
I did some Googling and it seems like my website isn’t the only one affected. So, for good search results, it seems like we’re stuck with Google. Google (and Yandex for that matter) work normally.
Full report of the problem:
Websites erased from Bing overnight
For technical reasons, existing notification subscriptions were all re-set (i.e. deleted, cleared).
As far as I know, the subscription system should work fine from now on.
For more information, see the BikeGremlin News & RSS feed page.
Hi Relja,
I am in the process of installing hydraulic brakes on my “2016 Giant ATX 27.5 2” bike.
My plan is to swap out the “Tektro TKB-172, Mechanical disc, 160mm” brakes which it currently has, with new pre-bled brakes from Amazon (I would hope I can leave the original disc/rotor on?? ).
Other than the length of the cables of course, is there anything I should take into account before starting ? And could you potentially recommend a affordable pre- bled set of hydraulic brakes ?
I would be jumping with joy is you replied.
Sincerly,
Rodrick
Hi Rodrick,
With hydraulic brakes, the housing is often too long (intended to be cut to size).
It’s not a complicated procedure, but I’m yet to make a video on how to do it.
I think there is no need to replace the existing discs. Not unless you wish to start using sintered pads, and your current disc is designated for organic pads only.
Regarding the brakes, Shimano Altus (BT200 model, the newest one) are surprisingly good for the price, at least in my experience. While Deore (like BT501) are what I’d call very good, without costing an arm and a leg.
When you buy a new set of shimano caliper+lever, they usually come pre-bled. But, as I said, the hose will most likely be too long.
A good mechanical brake alternative are Avid BB7 brakes. I love those.
Hope that helped. 🙂
Hi Relja just a question before I buy the part question.Saw the SRAM yaw system on a video and am impressed with how well it works.Just wondering if I have a campy escape ergo front shifter which I believe has no trims just up and down would shift a sram yaw derailleur.Would hate to buy the yaw just to find out that it won’t work.
Hi John,
The Yaw system was designed to remove the need for a trim function.
Having said that, I haven’t tried it with Campagnolo shifters, so can’t confirm it will work OK. 🙁
Thank you very much Ralja just wanted to make the front shifting as crisp as possible without going to a full group set. Really frustrated with the campy 50/34 cranks shifts worse than the 80s friction stuff.Even the campy techs are scratching their heads.What did work was swapping out the rings for a set of matching sram 50/34 rings.That being the case I got an excellent deal on a beautiful SRAM red 22 gxp crankset and thought a matching red front mech might work even better.
I have a 2008 [Mongoose XR-75] 21 speed, how do I thighten the crank???
Hi Dannie,
That would depend on the type/model of cranks you have.
If it’s a square taper and it has become loose, that usually means that the interface was damaged.
New cranks and bottom bracket axle will most probably be needed. Here is my video tutorial on how to install a square taper bottom bracket and cranks.
I want to put thicker tyres on my bike, is this possible, at the moment I have 28 x 1 5/8 x 1 3/8, what would you recommend
Thank you
Hi Jackie,
The max tyre width depends on your rim width and on how much space your frame offers, and riding conditions and total bike+rider+luggage weight too of course.
I wrote an article about bicycle tyre sizing and dimension standards. It explains what to look (out) for and what to measure to see if a wider tyre will fit.
Generally, for off road, you could go as wide as 55-622 mm (if it fits the frame and rims), while for general paved road and dry dirt roads, it usually makes no sense to go wider than 42-622 mm.
Relja