Mountain Cog

130 - 15 Bike Maintenance Skills All Riders Should Know

• Josh Anderson & Dane Higgins • Episode 130

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Fifteen skills. One episode. Zero excuses for getting stuck with a long walk out when your bike breaks down. Dane and Josh take on the basic mountain bike maintenance every rider should know... the stuff that turns "I have no idea what's wrong" into a "quick fix in your own garage".

From dialing in tire pressure to spotting the bent derailleur hanger that causes half the shifting problems they see in Dane's shop, this one's built for anyone tired of feeling helpless when their bike starts acting up. You don't need to be a pro mechanic, you just need to know the basics, and the guys make a strong case that a little maintenance knowledge saves you money, time, and a long walk home. Real-world advice from two guys who've been riding and wrenching in the Tucson desert for decades.

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Sunday Night Shop Banter

Host - Josh Anderson

All right, man. In the shop on a Sunday night.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yes. Just back from San Diego. How was it? It was good. Uh six hour drive back. So I'm a little tired, but um I had some pretzels. Like a I found that I it'll keep me awake if I have something to munch on.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, no, no, no. I do that with MMs, like one MM at a time. One MM will last me like 15 minutes.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, you like suck on it until like the cover comes off. Um the uh the best thing that I used to do is uh baby carrots.

Host - Josh Anderson

Oh yeah, it's way better than MMs.

Host - Dane Higgins

It's start except that you start pooping like orange. Yeah, it's kind of weird. But I I think they're better for you anyway. So oh Jesus.

Host - Josh Anderson

Okay, well, and you got a good ride in with our our good friend uh Sunglass Rob.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, he uh took me to this place called Black Mountain and uh he's a trail steward there.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

And uh I think he said that on his last so this by the way, this is uh the the CEO of Sport RX. Sport RX, yeah. And so I got to ride all these cool trails that he actually has a say in what happens. Right. And he was killing it, man. I was really like, I I got to ride behind him. He kept wanting me to go in front. Yeah, and I'm like, no, I don't know the trail. Yeah, but then I get to ride behind him and watch how he does, and he was like ready, yeah. But I also just get to see how he rides. Yeah, and he's like ready position. He was like he was crushing it, yeah. He was doing great.

Host - Josh Anderson

Well, shout out to Rob, that's awesome. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, I've been uh let's see, since you've been gone, I've been working on the van. Yeah, and we got it just about done. So we're pretty excited. First triple beat this weekend. We're gonna take it to Mount Graham, which is uh one of the Sky Islands.

Host - Dane Higgins

We touched on it a little bit on the last episode because we were talking about um man, I just spaced the company because we sell it to Oh uh Freedom Coast. Freedom Coast and their bike fork mounts.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, that's actually what I did this morning is I mounted their L track to a piece of plywood and then the Freedom Coast uh bike mounts on there and got it all ready to go.

Host - Dane Higgins

It'll be cool to hear how that does on an actual trip.

Host - Josh Anderson

We'll see. I mean, that's where that's what this weekend's about is to test it out. So we'll uh we'll see. Well, I guess I guess next weekend. All right, so I got a little dad joke here. Okay. Uh I don't know if it'll be funny. All right. And you said last time that we recorded you didn't want to do jazz jokes anymore, but I'm still doing it. That's fine.

Host - Dane Higgins

There's just never funny.

Host - Josh Anderson

I just don't want the expectation that they're well, the whole thing is that it's a dad joke, it's not supposed to be funny.

Host - Dane Higgins

It's supposed to be funny to like at least kids. To kids. This one won't be funny to kids. Okay. Okay. It might be funny to you.

Host - Josh Anderson

Okay. All right. Got a new guy at the shop, new, a new maintainer. Uh, and he asked me, uh, how can you tell if a tire is tubeless? I said, that's easy. Uh you set it up once, you ride it, and then you spend the rest of your life cleaning up sealant off the floor.

Host - Dane Higgins

You left. Yeah, all right. Only because I've had to do that.

Host - Josh Anderson

So that's a good segue in today's episode. So we've been studying a little bit about our past episodes, what you guys are liking. I think we've got a bunch of new customers. Uh actually a bunch of new listeners. Yeah. Um, no customers because we don't make any money at this podcast.

Host - Dane Higgins

Although you know everybody wants hats.

Host - Josh Anderson

We have them. Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

Do we? We have them. We need to have a way for people to get them.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, so we're gonna bring them in the we're gonna bring them in the shop.

Host - Dane Higgins

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

And sell them out of the shop. And then uh, yeah, I guess if you want a hat, maybe I'll do a uh Instagram post on the hats. We did a we did a limited run. Yeah. So they're limited edition, and uh we'll I think as we do these, we'll probably just do limited editions, so they'll be one-offs. I think we made 60 total hats. Okay. Um, so there's the white ones? No. Uh there are black and gray. Okay. With in the Richardson hats with a leather patch.

Host - Dane Higgins

So you said 59? $59? No, 59 hats.

Host - Josh Anderson

Oh, yeah. I already gave you one, didn't I? I know.

Host - Dane Higgins

I haven't gotten one.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, well, we made 60.

Host - Dane Higgins

We may not sell all 60. Uh, we'll give a couple away. Yes. All I'm saying is you have one less than you thought you did.

Host - Josh Anderson

I have two less because you probably want a black one and a gray one. Probably. Yeah, we can sell those. But uh, yeah, they got a leather patch and and they're sweet, man. Yeah, nice. Um, and actually it was the guys from uh uh Oh, Mud Um Orange Mud. Orange Mud. Yeah. What's this other Seven Clay? Seven Clay. Yeah, we actually had him make them for us. So uh and they turned out really good. And it was uh a nice um negotiation and it was a very timely response, and the hats look really good. Nice. So uh awesome. So he put his money where his mouth was, and the products look good.

Host - Dane Higgins

That's and he was priding himself on that.

Host - Josh Anderson

He definitely was. We also have whiskey glasses too.

Host - Dane Higgins

Oh, yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah. So we'll we'll have a little bit of swag if people want swag.

Host - Dane Higgins

But uh oh, and if you're going to Sedona Mountain Bike Fest, we'll be up there. We'll be there and we'll bring some swag.

Host - Josh Anderson

We'll bring some stuff, yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, for sure. I got some stuff. I always got a box of swag.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, and we're doing a design, we're doing the

Van Build And Limited Hats

Host - Josh Anderson

design, a mountain cog design on the van.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

And it's gonna be really unique. Just say that. I'm I'm excited. It's gonna be it's gonna be unique. Uh, but welcome to our new listeners.

Host - Dane Higgins

Okay.

Host - Josh Anderson

Um, you know, we uh we kind of have just to kind of, you know, Dane is a owner of uh guru bikes here in Tucson, Arizona. He has um been in the bike industry for a hundred million years. We also refer to Dane as the suspension guru, so he's also got guru suspension. Um fantastic uh resource um and and uh and subject matter expert in the industry, uh all things mountain bikes, all things bikes basically, and and most notably around suspension. Uh I am a uh you know just a just a novice, um, an advocate. I've had mountain bike teams that I've run in the past, large mountain bike teams that I've run in the past, and and a and a prior business um called Audio Cyclist uh in the in the cycling uh in the cycling world. And then you know, three, four years ago, whatever we started this podcast. Um but welcome. Uh, you know, we uh we really appreciate you new listeners. Yeah. It's pretty cool. Yeah. Uh today we're gonna talk about maintenance. Yes. And uh at the beginning of the year, we did uh episode um that we weren't sure how it was gonna do.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

And it was like, hey, if you want for beginners. Yeah, the beginner episode. Like, do you want to get into mountain biking? And uh and the episode actually did really well. Yeah, yeah. Um, and kind of when we when we when we talked about it with our listeners, we said, hey, listen, this probably isn't for you, the season mountain biker, but this is something that you could give to your buddy who might want to get into it, and like, hey, here's a quick one hour listen if you want to get into the the sport, here's some things to think about.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

And along those lines, last week I was riding with uh with my week, I got a weekly night ride that I do. Uh we call fight club. And uh, oh, I'm not supposed to talk about fight club. Yeah, don't what's the first rule? First rule of fight club is you don't talk about fight club. Shoot. You keep talking about it. I know. I mean, I think this is the first time I've referenced it on the podcast. Yeah, you're not supposed to talk about it. Okay, so we won't talk about it anymore.

Host - Dane Higgins

Um so just so everybody realizes, first rule is we don't talk about whatever we just talked about. Yeah, so just don't talk about it, listeners. You guys are now in the fight club with us, anyways.

Host - Josh Anderson

Uh, I was with one of the one of the guys out there, I won't say his name, but he knows who he is, and he's an avid listener, so he will he will he will get this. Thanks for the cookies, by the way, my friend. Nice. Yeah, the the cookie monster, the cookie baker. But uh he was like, Hey, my my brakes squishy. I'm like, well, bleed your brakes. He's like, I don't know how to do that. And I was like, Well, come over, you know, bring me some cookies and we'll I'll show you how to bleed brakes. It's not hard.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

Um, but it got me thinking that um, and he's an experienced rider, been riding a long time, and got me thinking to like how I developed the basic maintenance skills that I have was I just got sick of bringing my bike to the shop. Not for the price or anything like that, but more just like the the time. Yeah. So I was like, I need to know how to do some basic stuff.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, and it's good, it's good to have a good basic knowledge. Uh when I started mountain biking, it was really new, and I think it was Norba had kind of a rule where you had to maintain your own in during a race, you had to do your own. Yeah, you couldn't have someone else help you. Yeah, yeah, you couldn't have anyone help you. So you had to know all this stuff. You had to change a flat, you had to be able to get yourself out of there.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

And in general, that that concept of like you're gonna go out in the middle of nowhere, you should be able to know how to get back, you know. Whereas on a road bike, you have a problem, you can call Uber or Cab or your friend or whatever. Uh it's really hard to do that on a mountain bike, so you should have some basic.

Host - Josh Anderson

You can't call Uber the middle of the desert or the middle of the mountains or the forest. But um, but anyway, so today's episode um 15 bike maintenance tasks that all mountain bikers should know. And uh the thought here is that we'll go through it. And I was, you know, I was I was planning to put links in the show

Why Every Rider Needs Maintenance

Host - Josh Anderson

notes, but you know what? The internet is such an amazing thing. So like just go to YouTube. Yeah, and like if there's one of these things we talk about you want to know how to do.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, there'll be some videos.

Host - Josh Anderson

There'll be videos. Yeah. And if you're not sure which one to click on, if there's a one that's from Park Tools, yeah, click on that one. Yeah, because those are pretty rad. Yeah, they are and and and and funny. So um, but uh we got it broken down to a bunch of different categories. Uh, and so we'll just take it start starting with tires.

Host - Dane Higgins

Okay.

Host - Josh Anderson

Starting with tires, I think there's five things that you should know how to do with your tires. First is to check and adjust your tire pressure.

Host - Dane Higgins

What do you think? Absolutely. It it customers still are sometimes surprised when I tell them every time you ride, you should check your tire pressure. Uh, one, mountain bikes tend to hold their pressure longer and kind of feel compared to road bikes. Compared to road bikes, yeah. And road bikes tend to have like a 28 or a 30 C tire, so they're so close to the rim. If you're off on the pressure, you can crush the tire into the rim and either cut the tube or maybe cut the tire.

Host - Josh Anderson

Oh, I didn't even know that.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, pinch flat. That's that's what that's okay. Okay. Yeah, yeah. And they can go down, you know, from 100. So this is an old statement when we used to run 23 C tires. I've lost most of the mountain bikers, but this is the width of the tire. Um, or or and actually the height. But uh, when you put it to 120, you could set it overnight and it'd be down to 90.

Host - Josh Anderson

Next thing. When you say 120 and 90, you're talking about PSI, yeah. Pounds per square. Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

And so that small air volume losing those molecules out of the sidewall of the tire and the tube, um, that that percentage of loss was huge, and you could easily get flats. And so we just always were in a habit, check your pressure. Mountain bikes have so much more volume, they lose the same amount of molecules through that barrier for the most part. Yeah. So it's a much smaller uh amount versus the PSI because it's not because the volume is because there's so much so many more molecules in there. Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

So you just got all sciencey.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, that's so well, it's it's funny because when you're talking about tire pressure, a lot of people uh get confused on the pressure versus the firmness. If that makes sense. It does. So if you uh have a big tire, um it has maybe really low pressure, but it can be the same firmness as a smaller tire uh with a high pressure. Yep. Uh and so like uh plus tires, 27.5 plus, we would run those at like 15 PSI, like super low, and they would feel pretty hard. And if you were three PSI off, it was really a big difference. Uh whereas if you're running a 2.4, you may be running 28 to 30 psi. Yep.

Host - Josh Anderson

So and really all you need is uh some type of bike pump that's got a gauge on it. Yep, yeah, um, or some type of inflation tool, there's lots of different ones out there. Um and and I would advocate that you should know what pressures you like for your trails. To start, they're on the side of the tire the

Tire Pressure Without Guesswork

Host - Josh Anderson

minimum and maximum ranges are on the side of the tire.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, so that gives you a range so you don't go crazy. Yeah. We had a newbie in the shop one time just keep inflating a tire to where it blew up and cracked a carbon rim. Oh, Jesus. Because he's like, I don't I didn't hear the pop. Oh. And he didn't realize it it was seated and he's waiting for a locking sound. Yeah, it was just a much bigger pop shotgun pop. Big pop. In fact, one of the shop dogs had trauma for a while after. Oh no, like fireworks. Yeah, big time. So so yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

So is there is there a like is there a rule of thumb? Some like 25 PSI, maybe that some some someone should start with.

Host - Dane Higgins

I that's the hardest one in the shop. I and I get really adversarial. No, it's not a good word. I get really fidgety.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

Like I don't like answering what pressure should I run? Because it all depends on, like I said, the width of the tire will change the pressure that's in there, the size of the tire, the size of the rider, how you're gonna use it, you know, the trim. Yeah, everything. And so you can be safe, you know. Like before tubeless, we were running, I would tell our team guys to run 45 to 50 psi on their practice run and then air down five psi at a time uh to make sure that they're not gonna pinch flat. Uh, because that's with tubes, that's back in the day. Yeah, remember that's back in the day. And with tubes, you'd run a higher pressure because it's a smaller area, so less molecules. Um, and so when you do uh uh tubeless, it dropped quite a bit. And but everybody got really into this thing where they were like, oh yeah, um it's tubeless, so now I can run 10 psi. I can run low pressure, you know, because it's tubeless and I'm not gonna pinch flat.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

And that's not the case. They were running 25 to 30 psi because there was just more volume of air in there to support the rider. And that is a tricky way to explain it because there's gonna be people that are like, what is he talking about?

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, so just so find the find the PSI that works for you.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, start out high and then slowly back off five, usually about five PSI at a time until you're you know, you're safe. It's it's better to be a little on the firm side because it in where we're at, we have a lot of sharp, jagged square edge rocks. Yep. And so if you're too low, you can easily dent or crack a rim. Yep. Um, if you're in an area where you're never, you know, pinch flatting, you can get away with a lot more. Yeah, and then if you're too low, the tire gets squirmy, or you can even burp if it's a uh tubeless.

Host - Josh Anderson

And burp means that the sidewall or the uh the bead pops up. The bead just pops up a little bit and a little bit, you'll actually see a little bit of you'll drop quite a bit of pressure. And you'll see some stands or ceiling, you know, squirt out.

Host - Dane Higgins

Usually on a corner or something like that. When you're roosting. Yeah, right. Yeah. So if you start out a little on the high side and then kind of back off to as you get to know, you know. If you have a similar-sized friend, that's a good way. You know, you can't yeah, if you're both roughly the same weight, have roughly the same type of bike and ride in the same conditions, they'll be pretty close.

Host - Josh Anderson

So if you're a big boy in the southwest, give me a call.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, like if you're 220 and you're riding with your significant and they're 120, you're not gonna ride the same pressure. Different pressures. Yeah. So all right.

Host - Josh Anderson

So sticking with tires, I I believe that you should also one of the one of the 15 basic things that everyone should know how to do is to actually change your tire.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yes.

Host - Josh Anderson

Whether it's to repair flat, um, and actually that's one of them as well.

Host - Dane Higgins

So yeah, so changing your tire, um, again, I think we're gonna focus on tubeless. Yeah. And I hope everybody understands that's because most mountain bikes, for the most part, are tubeless, or you're gonna kind of want to work towards being tubeless because they seem to work much better.

Host - Josh Anderson

Right.

Host - Dane Higgins

Um, so changing tires, when you change them, you want to inspect your tubeless tape. Yep. Make sure it's not uh torn or wrinkled or or messed up, because that can when you put the tire back together, it can leak.

Host - Josh Anderson

And so just simply like the the uh the rims typically have uh holes in them all along. Yeah, and those holes are covered up by uh like a tubeless tape.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, usually some sort of waterproof or resistant tape, plastic in most cases. Yeah. Gorilla tape. There's there's live lively. I used gorilla tape. Like I don't hate it, but there's lively

Tubeless Tape And Valve Leaks

Host - Dane Higgins

debates because it does have its drawbacks for sure. It leaves a resume. In a pinch on a Friday night before a Saturday race. Hell yeah. Gorilla tape all day long. I'll gorilla tape all day long. But but in the shop, we try not to use it unless we really, really have to.

Host - Josh Anderson

So um, yes, you want to inspect that, and and basically you're just kind of cleaning it, cleaning off all the sealant so you can actually look at it, and then just looking really clo closely to see if there's any slits in it, any holes in it, any gaps in the side where air could slip through, get into those holes, and then you got a yeah, a flat tire that you'll hear basically at the valve stem, honestly, because it's a channel inside that rim, and you a lot of times hear the air coming out of the valve stem.

Host - Dane Higgins

Valve stem uh or spoke holes. Yep. Most often the valve stem. And sometimes when it's coming out of the the valve stem, it can actually be the valve stem, but a lot of people misunderstand the little um rubber o-ring on tubeless valve stems. They think that seals. It's not. It's not, it's uh just seats it. It's a well, it's a a thread locker, it keeps the thing from coming off, it keeps friction.

Host - Josh Anderson

That's what I meant. Yeah, yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

But they'll they'll come in. Well, I need that because my my valve's leaking. I'm like, nope. That's not what's not gonna solve it. It's probably something else, probably your tape. And your tape can leak on the other side of the valve, and it can go into the channel of the rim, and it'll go out where it can. And sometimes if you've been riding that for a while, the little sealant will get in there and plug all your uh spoke holes, and it'll only come out the valve. So it's very deceiving.

Host - Josh Anderson

So you need to know how to check and check and adjust your pressure. We need to know how to change your tire. Yep. You need to know how to check your rim tape for tears. At the same time, you should be refilling your sealant. Or or checking it, yeah. Checking it. And there's a process with a dipstick you can use. Yep, you can visually. You can visually use, you can actually like hit listen to it too. If you put your ear, you can hear it squashing around or slashing around in there.

Host - Dane Higgins

One of the bike shop secrets is if you're putting a new tire on, we usually put twice as much sealant. And because the sealant needs to coat that new tire, the tires themselves don't actually hold air in.

Host - Josh Anderson

Let me make sure I understand what you're saying. So for a so I I believe, tell me if I got this wrong, but for like a stands. I'm sorry, for like a standard uh 29-inch tire, I believe that stands, which is the sealant I use, recommends four ounces. Yeah. So we would put eight ounces, no shit, eight ounces.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah. And so the inside casing of a new a new tire is not uh airtight. And so the latex sealant that you're usually using, or whatever sealant.

Host - Josh Anderson

Actually seals that tire.

Host - Dane Higgins

Seals the tire, but that uses it all up. And then there's not a little puddle in there for when you have a thorn. And you want that little puddle in there. And so the second time you do it, you just use the recommended amount. And so that just that extra bit just coats. Yeah, it makes sense. Because uh it's often that we see dry tires uh a month after, you know.

Host - Josh Anderson

And you're like, how is that possible?

Host - Dane Higgins

And it really hasn't been enough time, and it's because it just was a new tire.

Host - Josh Anderson

So it sucks in. Okay, well, hey, shit, I don't do that, so I've learned something new. And then uh the final thing here on tires, I think, uh, and this makes up five of our 15,

Sealant Refill And Tire Plugs

Host - Josh Anderson

is to be able to plug a tire if you get uh a flat on the trail. Yeah, right. And there's uh there's there's several different ways to do it. We've talked about some of them. There's the standard bacon strip uh method. There's I I I like the stand darts because it has a chemical reaction with the stand. If you stands, it has a chemical reaction with stands. Um I got a tire of the one of those Victoria's that Lacey put a hole in, and we've had that thing with a stands dart for like four or five months. Oh, yeah, yeah. I keep thinking I should change the tire, but I'm like, uh it still works.

Host - Dane Higgins

I want to say I rode one of mine for two years, I think it was. Oh, with a and this was um a trail that we call 50 year, which is a lot of slabs. Yeah, and so those knobs were just almost gone. I was riding those tires pretty much bald, and the the plug was still working because it was kind of on the side, not in the middle.

Host - Josh Anderson

Right.

Host - Dane Higgins

And you know, I had plenty of grip that they were uh schwalby, so they were super grippy.

Host - Josh Anderson

Right.

Host - Dane Higgins

And uh I just remember somebody going, Why aren't you getting I I had no money at the time. It was a long time ago. I had no money at the time, and and um the uh I'm like, you know, tires are too expensive, and I don't have any problems on the slabs. It was like ride riding a slick tire. Yeah. So so yeah, I kept that tire way past its long life. So I got my I got my money out of it.

Host - Josh Anderson

Okay, so uh yeah, so that's all the tire stuff. Just the pressure, yeah, change the tire, refill the sealant, plug the tire if it gets rip, and make sure if once it's off that you're checking that rim tape for tears.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, and and I would check the side of the tire. Um sidewalls. Yeah, just because you can get a cut that's not quite all the way through. So if it's bulging at all, that can really strand you, you know. As you ride and you take a G out or something, you're gonna put a lot more pressure on that tire and it's gonna increase the pressure, and it could pop that uh that seam open or whatever you know, cut that just barely abrazed it. Yeah. And uh it it can pop it open and and strand you. Sidewall cuts are really tough.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah. Uh we found it.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

We talked about in the last episode. Last episode, yeah. And I found a tool a product.

Host - Dane Higgins

Are you gonna try it?

Host - Josh Anderson

I already ordered it, and I ordered one for you too.

Host - Dane Higgins

Oh, nice. So we can both try it. So this is uh uh an external patch. External patch. Is it four bikes or is it it is?

Host - Josh Anderson

It's uh it's an off road four-wheel drive company okay that makes like their primary products are like for you know for for wheelers, for four wheelers, right? Yeah, and you're way out there and you get a cut and you gotta you know fix it on the but but so it's so funny because I was like drafting them an email like you guys should make a product for bikes. Yeah, and I just started searching and then their Website came up and they have a product for bikes. Nice. I was like, Oh, sweet. I don't have to send this email, they've already got it. So it was 10 bucks. Nice. So I ordered four of them. One for Lacey, one for me, one for us to test, and one for you.

Host - Dane Higgins

Nice. I was gonna say Lacey's gonna end up using yours and hers.

Host - Josh Anderson

She will use them all. It comes with a two-inch by four-inch patch.

Host - Dane Higgins

And you cut it to size?

Host - Josh Anderson

You can, yeah. But I don't know if you're on the trail, you were not gonna have anything to cut. Yeah. So I don't know if we would cut it maybe before we we keep it.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, I would probably have like three sizes.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

You know, do like a big one, a medium, and then a small.

Host - Josh Anderson

Okay.

Host - Dane Higgins

Right? Do you glue it? Yes. You do?

Host - Josh Anderson

And it's a it's a 60-second. This is interesting. 60 second soft seal, uh-huh, 10-minute final seal is what it says.

Host - Dane Higgins

So it can be aired up and it's still all right.

Host - Josh Anderson

I'm I can't.

Host - Dane Higgins

I mean, we'll see.

Host - Josh Anderson

We'll see if it works. I don't know. They got their own special formulation or whatever. It's you know, some different chemical bond that no one else has. Uh who knows? I'm sure. Yeah, we'll see. We'll let you know. Could be smoke and mirrors, could be a miracle. Could could be. So uh one more thing on tires as you were talking about it. Um, one of the habits that I got into when I pull my tire off, anytime I run the my my hand around the inside, yeah. And I I very gingerly am looking for for thorns.

Host - Dane Higgins

Embedded thorns.

Host - Josh Anderson

And I in very you know, almost every time find one or two.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

I pull them out. Do you pull them out? Yeah. This is uh this is a uh contested answer here.

Host - Dane Higgins

You can break them off. So like back well, it just depends. So like we have two types of thorns here. We have a cactus needle, which is so small that you can just break it off. It's it's pretty on a tubeless system. Yeah. Keep that in mind. Um, things change if it's got a tube. So for instance, if you're putting a tube in and a slash tire or something that that you're trying to get back out, you need to do that. You need to check it. You can't because it'll immediately go flat. Because it'll pop your tube if you don't. So you do need to break them off or push them out. Um, sometimes you can't push them out, you break them off. Yeah, we also have Palo Verde needles, which are huge. They're like an inch long, and they can be stuck in there. And I've I've had those where in fact the stands will build like a little pyramid over the top of them. Like it's pretty funny. Um, and so like I usually those have such a big diameter by the time they're in there. Sometimes you want to leave those because they'll leave almost a hole big enough to be plugged. So interesting. So those are the ones I'd say I'd probably leave off. Yeah, you know. Um, hopefully you're not getting a lot of this stuff, you know, in your tires if you stay on the trail.

Host - Josh Anderson

But I'm not that good. You've ridden with me.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah. But but you do, if you're gonna put a tube in, you definitely gotta check it. Yeah, uh, otherwise you're gonna go through that tube immediately. And then uh sealant, you know, if you break them off or you leave them in there, the sealant's gonna seal it. Yeah, you just don't want to create a bigger hole.

Host - Josh Anderson

That's the sealant that's bigger than the seal can.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, yeah. So I don't think leaving them in there is a big deal. But they

Sidewall Cuts And Hidden Thorns

Host - Dane Higgins

can it, you know, if they can accidentally come out while you're riding, then it may strand you. So sometimes it's better to know if you need to plug it right away or not. Yep.

Host - Josh Anderson

So all right, that's all things tires. If you spend enough time on tires, but uh next one's pedals, and uh, I think you should be able to install and remove pedals. Yep. And I'll tell you a story like for whatever reason, so so your right side and your left side of your cranks are reverse threaded. Yeah, one of the reverse, yeah, opposite threaded. Yeah. And so I taught myself to remove pedals with the bike upside down. Yeah. That's just how I taught myself.

Host - Dane Higgins

I did too.

Host - Josh Anderson

So and now with the van, we're gonna be storing the bikes in the van with the with and you taught me this with the pedals off. Because when you go on long trips, a lot of times if you have a lot of bikes, you take the pedals off just so it doesn't damage the frames.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yep, yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

Uh so I'm gonna do the same thing in my van and take the pedals off. So I'm like, all right, I'm gonna teach myself how to do this with the bike not upside down. And I did that this morning.

Host - Dane Higgins

Okay. So how do you describe it? Because I'll tell you how I describe it.

Host - Josh Anderson

Okay, so I so front on, back off, basically.

Host - Dane Higgins

Okay, I just always pull to the back of the bike.

Host - Josh Anderson

Pull to the back of the bike.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah. I don't I don't get it. So if you put it put it on the drive side and pull it to the back of the bike, it'll unthread it.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, so back off.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah. Front on. And then if you put it on the non-drive side and pull to the back of the bike.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, yeah, it's uh so the front on back off works on either side.

Host - Dane Higgins

Front on. I don't understand your front on, so teach me.

Host - Josh Anderson

So you say pull to the back. Yeah. So I would say back off. Okay. So if I go back, it comes off. Okay. If I go front, it goes on.

Host - Dane Higgins

Oh, yeah, yeah. No, okay, now I get it. Front on, back off. Front on, back off. Okay, yeah, yeah. So back of the bike.

Host - Josh Anderson

Just remember back off. Okay, yeah. You can you and then front and then the other ones front on.

Host - Dane Higgins

Nice. So I I kind of like yours better. So, but when I'm telling somebody, if I say just pull to the back of the bike, it's way easier to process. Yeah. If you say front on, back off, I feel like you're mad at me. I'm not sure.

Host - Josh Anderson

Whatever. I now know how to do it. And I think you should know how to do it too.

Host - Dane Higgins

Uh, two other things about pedals, real quick. Go for it. Um, one, some pedals or cranks, not really pedals, but cranks come with pedal washers. So you should be aware of those. Um well, let me ask you about that.

Host - Josh Anderson

Like, because I put them on. I bought like a bulk set of pedal washers that I put on every bike and every set of cranks, no matter whether or not the pedals came with washers. Is that okay?

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, it's fine. Uh, it's not gonna really do anything. The the main reason for pedal washers is in some cases the metal that the crank is made out of is not always um the strongest metal. Uh and when you combine that with a pedal that has flattened sides, like the cheap pedals that you get at the Walmart bikes, yeah, they don't have a circular surface that is is interfacing with that pedal.

Host - Josh Anderson

Oh, so it just creates a little barrier to protect the that that interface.

Host - Dane Higgins

It just it moves that pressure point out so that it doesn't kind of take your body weight, which is significant, and be able to cock it sideways as you're pedaling and dig into that and and strip out the threads.

Host - Josh Anderson

And just for the record, Dane wasn't saying that my personal body weight was significant.

Host - Dane Higgins

Any person's body hundred to two hundred pounds of pressure on a pedal that's significant. And so, so uh just so I can visualize this for people, when you're looking at your pedal, if it's got a very substantial circular surface that's gonna butt up against the crank, you're much safer than if it's got two flat edges that are carved out because those two edges can create a fulcrum and a pivot point.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah. Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

Uh so the pedal washers are really important for that. If you're if your crank came with them, it's a good idea to use them, but don't panic if you've got good shoulders on your on your pedals. Shimano is pretty well known for having really good shoulders. Um Shimano's so good. I know. I know. I knew you'd love that. Uh I want to say crank brothers in most cases. A lot of the brands

Pedals Off Without Stripping Threads

Host - Dane Higgins

will do a good job, but I still have pedals every once in a while that that I have to watch out for.

Host - Josh Anderson

So um I grease my pedal every time I clean them and grease them. Yeah. Not with a lot, but just a little layer of grease. What do you think about that?

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, they I I mean the worst is when they're so tight that they don't want to come off. Uh, so interesting thing is some pedals will let you use an allen wrench and some will let you use flat uh 15 millimeter wrench, and some will let you both um Shimano's. If you want me to dig on Shimano a little bit, on a lot of their pedals, they would be an eight millimeter. And if they're so tight, they would actually crack because there's not enough distance between that eight millimeter and the hole. What's cracking the tool or the pedal? Oh, interesting. Okay. Yeah, and so um you also don't need to go like monkey tight on those things. They they self-tighten as they ride. You don't want them loose, but uh, we usually do like four to five degrees. So once you hit a stop, you you do about probably four or five degrees more.

Host - Josh Anderson

You want to hear something funny? What the first Shimano pedal I will have ever used are the Saints ones that I got from you. I've never used Shimano pedals. Really? No, didn't use SPDs, you always use egg beaters. Crazy. Never use Shimano flats.

Host - Dane Higgins

Oh well, I got one more thing about pedals. Go for it. If you grab your pedal and it wiggles wiggles, you know, pull it in and out towards the bike, or it's got a lot of play, you need to service it or replace it. Or have it serviced. Yeah, because one, you can break a spindle, that sucks. And two, it can just lose the end cap and the nut and bolt. And then the pedal comes. And then the pedal just flies off.

Host - Josh Anderson

And then you're left with the stub.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, which is super fun to try and get away.

Host - Josh Anderson

I've had that happen after l usually happens when you land.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah. But jump. I've had people on like a 25-mile ride that's all downhill, and they start like five miles in and they lose their pedal. And it's like such a five-mile climb up to the top and no car waiting because we got dropped off.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

Or they got to do 20 miles with no pedal. It sucks. So yeah, it is not a not a good thing to have happen. So take care of your pedals. Take care of your pedals.

Host - Josh Anderson

All right. Um, know how to take them on and off and some basic inspection to make sure that they're good. Um the next one is your cockpit. So your grips, your uh shifter, your uh dropper cable or your dropper lever, your brakes, your um your stem, your handlebars, like those are all really simple connections. You know, it's just an Allen different size Allen wrenches, basically, right? And you'll want to get that thing set up to work for you. Um, so make sure you know how to do that. I'll tell you, like, I am, especially if you have a carbon bar, I am really particular about torque. Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

Because you you don't want to over torque your uh your cockpit, right? Even without carbon, some of these things are kind of dainty. So you don't want to go crazy. Most of the time, if it's dainty, it's got uh like a torque setting on it, uh, and it'll tell you. Some of the things that people don't know because a lot of people don't read instructions, including me, um, is uh a lot of brake clamps have a um have a direction to them. So they have the the outside clamp, not the brake side, but the outside clamp will have arrows on it, and those are usually pointing up, and then the upper bolt usually gets bottomed out, and then you tension it with the lower bolt. Uh if there's two bolts on the if there's two bolts, yeah. Not all of them have two bolts. No, no. Um, but that is something that a lot of people, including mechanics that I see, don't realize. I didn't know that. Yeah, you'll see the the arrows upside down. And you know what? If the arrows are upside down, nobody cares if you tighten the top one and then tension the bottom one. So um, but uh, but that's something a lot of people don't know.

Host - Josh Anderson

So that's super interesting. So a question for you. Um, my my good friends from Homegrown MTB, which actually shut their doors this year, unfortunately. Yeah, uh great guiding and instruction service that was based out of Tucson here. They taught me that they keep their brakes a little loose, not like loose so it moves, but

Cockpit Setup Torque And Clamp Tips

Host - Josh Anderson

loose so that if they crash, it'll just twist versus break off.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, we used to put we we've said this exact conversation. Have we had this conversation already? Uh and what I said was exactly this. What back in the day the downhillers used to use Teflon tape. And moto riders will do that too, and put it underneath so that they can move. Um, but you don't have to use Teflon, you can just leave them a little, little on the a loose. I have to hit it with my palm fairly. To be able to move it, yeah. Yeah, you don't want it floppy or moving around.

Host - Josh Anderson

Um you don't want to pull on your brake and have the lever twist.

Host - Dane Higgins

Honestly, you're not really supporting your weight with your brake.

Host - Josh Anderson

If you are, you're not riding correctly.

Host - Dane Higgins

Something wrong, yeah. But uh, but you don't want it floppy. So, and then um, yeah, I mean that just saves a possible brake lever.

Host - Josh Anderson

So move on to the chain. Okay. So that was cockpit. Yep. Uh move on to the chain. I believe that uh everyone needs to know how to clean and lube their chain. Yep. And uh you've heard us talk about before. After much negotiation, debate, and and shit giving back and forth. Dane has had me convert to wax and um squirt. I uh and actually I've gone a step farther than Dane at this point because I'm you're not dipping. I'm doing I'm doing hot wax for the first wax, and then I'm How's your bikini line? My bikini line looks good. Looks horrible. Looks absolutely horrible. I mean, nobody got time for that. I promise you that. But uh yeah, yeah. So um, but whatever lube you're using, um, know the proper uh thing to clean that chain with and to keep that thing nice and lube.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, um just a little little bit of info. Paraffin or wax-based lubes don't play well with wet lubes. They don't like each other and they get really gunky. So if you're getting a gunky mess, it could be that if you're taking it to your local bike shop, they may be putting one type of lube on when you're putting a different.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, make sure you're using the same type of lube on the chain.

Host - Dane Higgins

Let them know. It doesn't have to be the same brand always. With the same base type. Yeah, yeah. You want to kind of keep them wet, dry, or wet. Exactly. Yeah. And then um when you're cleaning it, if you take it off and take the quick link out, in most cases they have a quick link. Yep. If they don't, you can usually get one for most chains now. Depends on how old your drivetrain is and how they're ridiculously expensive though.

Host - Josh Anderson

They're like 10 bucks.

Host - Dane Higgins

I know it's kind of for a quick link. That's well, not only that's a ridiculous thing. Now most of them are calling them one-time use. I know, I saw that. And so do you subscribe to that? I take issue with it. I I don't want anyone to ever break a chain because they used it twice. And so on my own bike, I will see how much it seats, and if I feel a good pop into place, I haven't had one break on me after reusing them.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

Um, I just don't want somebody to be like, no, it broke on me and you are full of crap. Um, so I the idea is that the the manufacturer has made it kind of lock into place, it kind of deforms the metal when it does that.

Host - Josh Anderson

After you lock it.

Host - Dane Higgins

And then when you unlock it, especially deforms it, and it may deform it enough to where it can come off while you're riding. And so that's why they say that. So if you decide as an adult who makes their own decisions um to reuse your links, just make sure you can feel a solid contact or tight, yeah. Um make sure it's good for um, you know, like I'll keep those in my pack for emergencies. So if I break a chain, I'll I'll use that to get out.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, so so is so a used one,

Chain Cleaning Wax Lube Basics

Host - Josh Anderson

maybe a good backup, yeah, but maybe not your primary.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, well, yeah, you just kind of want to, I mean, it is only $10, you know, so it's not that much. I know, I know.

Host - Josh Anderson

For this little tiny thing.

Host - Dane Higgins

It is true. But that that can tell you that sometimes getting one of those chain boxes cleaners, which some people love, some people don't, uh, and leaving the chain on the bike may be better for you at home.

Host - Josh Anderson

So yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

Uh so it's it's one of those where it's you know, it's something to think about. But if you understand what's going on and you can feel that positive engagement and it clicks, I think most of us can make a good decision.

Host - Josh Anderson

That was my second thing on chains. I only had two. One was to clean and lube it, and the second one was to remove and install a master link.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

Um, so you covered it, man.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, yeah. There's there's so much more, but just doing a quick pre-flight, checking your bike and and kind of being aware of stuff, that's a good thing to do. The only thing I'll tell you is my pet peeve is that the chain and cassette wear together. So if you are home mechanicking and you're constantly changing your chain and and for some reason nothing shifts right or it's constantly having problems, uh, they don't like it when you when you switch one and not the other. Yeah, yeah. After a certain amount of use, they they kind of how do I explain it? They're um they elongate uh at the same time.

Host - Josh Anderson

They wear consistently.

Host - Dane Higgins

They wear at the same time, yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

That wear is matched. And if you put a fresh one on, you get the cassette that's or vice versa, that's not worn at the same rate, they're gonna they're gonna have a sloppy connection.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, so if you ride for a week on a brand new bike and your chain breaks and you put a new chain on, you're probably pretty safe. But if it's been three years and you put that new chain on, you may run into where it's worse.

Host - Josh Anderson

And right, Nick, I think I might know what's going on with your bike.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah. Since he's broke like five chains in the last like month. Yeah, I told him that.

Host - Josh Anderson

Did you? Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

Are you just putting new chains on or are you checking your cassette? Because a lot of people guarantee he said he's just putting new chains on. Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Uh the you can't, it's very difficult.

Host - Josh Anderson

He's like, God damn it, what are you talking about? Me on the podcast. We didn't say your last name, bro.

Host - Dane Higgins

No, no. I mean, you're ginger, you should be okay. Oh, now you're giving away details. So, no wait. Um, so what I was gonna say though is uh cassettes, uh a lot of people come in the shop and they want to know how to tell if their cassettes are worn. It's very difficult to tell unless it's extremely worn, like and it's really obvious. But when it's in that no man's land, it's really hard to tell. And if you put a new chain on and it gets worse, we know it was broke it was the chain. It was the chain. Or I'm sorry, it was the cassette. Yeah, and and you need both. And so um it's it's a long story that we can do a whole episode on on drivetrain maintenance, so which we probably will.

Host - Josh Anderson

All right, so the next one's brakes. Okay, and this might be a little controversial, but I feel strongly at least I feel very strongly in the first two. I feel kind of strongly in the third one. Third one's hard just because I know it's it's unique. Yeah. So, but you can you can tell me I'm wrong, but yeah. Um the first thing is you need to be able to adjust your brake caliper. Yeah, right. So you'll hear that ding ding ding ding ding. Or you'll hear it's no, that's a bell.

Host - Dane Higgins

There you go. Yeah, it's it's wait, wait, let me do it. It's yeah, there you go. There you go. Or or it'll just be a rubbing kind of thing. Yeah, there's no dinging. So Okay.

Host - Josh Anderson

Well, yeah. No, there's no dinging. All right. On my saints, they ding. Oh, they they zing. They go zing, zing, zing, zing. Ding, ding, zing. That's different.

Host - Dane Higgins

It's different. It's a different note.

Host - Josh Anderson

It's an ing. It's an ing, either way. All right. So you need to be able to adjust your brake calipers because for all kinds of reasons, they can get out of true. And uh uh your disc uh rotor can get out of true, all kinds of issues there. So you need to be able to adjust those so you can deal with have a bike that's not gonna drive you crazy while you're riding it.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, and most most of the time the calipers don't move, they stay in the same place. So if they worked great and then they started making noise, something else changed.

Host - Josh Anderson

The rotor change or the pads change.

Host - Dane Higgins

The rotor, the pads, uh most common is what's called sticky piston, which is where one piston moves more than the other one, and it starts to kind of overwhelm the other one, and then it pushes up against the rotor when it didn't used to, and that can be pretty annoying. It's really hard to find uh to get that. So the the tilt and stuff once the bike's set up is pretty good. But when you break in brakes, they can sometimes settle weird. Or again, you can have one piston that that moves more than the other one, and so that may need something else. Um, and then uh you know, brake pad height is an issue.

Host - Josh Anderson

So that leads me to my next one, okay, which is all this exactly. All right. I think you need to be able to replace and reseat your brake pads. Yeah. And if you're replacing and reseating your brake pads, you know how to push in your pistons, which is what you would do if you're trying to I would think so.

Host - Dane Higgins

Do you? What do you do? So what do I do? Yeah. So you've got you've worn out your brake pads.

Host - Josh Anderson

Worn out my brake pads, take the tire off. Okay. Uh we'll take the wheel off. Take the wheel off, wheel and tire off.

Host - Dane Higgins

Uh you don't have to take the tire off.

Host - Josh Anderson

Fair enough. Take the wheel off that has a tire still mounted to it to get specific. Um sorry. And then I will take the pads out. Yep. And then I will spread the pistons.

Host - Dane Higgins

Wrong.

Host - Josh Anderson

Uh-oh.

Host - Dane Higgins

Okay. So here's why it's wrong. You have to be careful. Uh when you push those pistons back, one, you should clean them first. Just uh a little isopropyl or even uh soapy water, but as long as you get it off of it when you're done. But um I know what you're gonna say. What am I gonna say?

Host - Josh Anderson

You're saying you open up the channel, yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

So so the the one of the things that can hurt Shimano brakes, especially is if you push those pistons back and there's too much fluid, they will you can sometimes

Master Links And Wear Pairing

Host - Dane Higgins

crack some of the old pistons. For sure. And there's a little bladder in the lever that you can sometimes pop. Um and so you've got to be really careful. So what we do is we have to crack open and put a bleed cup in the Shimano brakes or at the lever. At the lever, at some you know, type of relief in the system. So if it's SRAM, we have a different way, there's a syringe that goes on, haze, there's a syringe that goes on. Uh, there's a a a in with hope, there's often a uh a whole reservoir you can expose. But you gotta allow that fluid to be able to be pushed back up. Yep, exactly. And the reason this is a big deal is if the system has never ever ever been maintained and you've worn out your brake pads, you're probably pretty safe because the amount of fluid is probably the same.

Host - Josh Anderson

It's if someone's done your bled your brakes when the pads were half held.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, it's it's really when you get too much fluid in there because somebody has kind of done a quick bleed or some sort of bleed on your bike. If you took it in for a tune-up, you don't always know that. So we have a rule of thumb, you always open it because you never know, you know. For us. Now you know your bike, so you may have a better knowledge. Yeah. Um, but for us, we have to be real careful. Uh, cracked pistons are no joke in Shimano's, they can cause all kinds of problems. Well, uh, even a full replacement.

Host - Josh Anderson

So so here's the thing. So adjusted brake calipers, that's simple. Yeah. This like replacing the pads, that little is bleeding the brakes. Yeah. Maybe just a lever bleed, maybe a full bleed. This is a little bit more advanced stuff, but I firmly and it's and it's like probably a hundred dollar kit, bleed kit, you think.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, depending on the brake, yeah. It's it's surprisingly more than you think. Like everybody comes in and they're like, they think it's like 10 bucks, and we're like, no, it's like a hundred dollar kit or maybe maybe fit, maybe seventy-five, but it's expensive. But I like I I you know, I have probably six bikes with haze brakes on them. So I have a haze kit. One kit. Yeah, and you have a ton of Shimano brakes, so you have one kit. Yeah. Yep. And knowing your fluids, you know, if you take it on, you you you need to know how to do it, and that's the probably the thing. You need the right tools and know how to do it.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, so it's it's not that many tools.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

And there's great videos out there. Park's got great videos. Actually, every I think every one of the brake companies has their own videos out there.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

And it's a little bit more advanced, but I will tell you, when you get a soft lever, it sucks balls. Yep. And and it's honestly, once you know how to do it and you have the gear, it's actually a really quick thing to do. Yeah, it doesn't take long, 10-15 minutes to bleed brakes. And so I contest that this is an area, and when when my wife saw this list, she was like, Oh, no one knows how to bleed brakes. I don't know how to know you don't know how to bleed brakes, Lacey.

Host - Dane Higgins

I bleed them for you. I would say that this is one of those more advanced levels. Yeah. When all of this other stuff is super easy and not a big deal, the next level. So

Brake Rub Calipers Pads Pistons

Host - Dane Higgins

this would be like if we if we had like a first level knowledge, second level, and then and when I'm so first level, know how to adjust your calipers. Yeah, just kind of try and be able to look down and make sure it's even that there's you know, sight on each side. That when I what I mean is where you can see on both sides of the rotor between the uh pads and the rotor, yeah, so that you're not rubbing as much.

Host - Josh Anderson

And I'm loving my Sumart tool, which you make fun of me about.

Host - Dane Higgins

Is that the little spreader?

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, and I got a new one that works with double piston brakes. With four piston brakes. Yeah. Yeah, two four piston brakes. Yeah. And I've seen a couple other bigger companies come out with them now.

Host - Dane Higgins

So kudos to Sumart. I think they're I I think those are cool, yeah, but they can give you a mechanical advantage. And if you don't crack the brake open, you can do a lot of damage.

Host - Josh Anderson

So make sure you crack the and when he says crack the brake open, he's saying open the b open the port at the lever so that the if there's too much fluid, it's got somewhere to get it.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, stick a bucket under it if you don't have a bleed cup, and then just kind of push the the it usually will level, you know. So like let's say you're working at home at on a bike stand or even just you know, the bike sitting on the floor, I'll take the lever and level it. Level it out. Yeah. Yep. So that if I open it, it doesn't just try and dump fluid out. And then I will sometimes I'll look at it. If I open it up and it's just, you know, there's fluid right there, I know it's really full. But if there's no fluid there, don't panic, but just slowly push those pistons back. And if you get a little bit out, don't panic, you know. Um, but then you know, close it back off once you get the pistons reset. So the next one Oh, hey, so for you auto mechanics out there, the reason that you have to do this versus um like a car, cars have uh so I could be wrong on this. I'm not an auto mechanic, but on cars you have to push the pistons back too when you do the pads. And from what I understand, they have a big reservoir, like a big one, like a big cup already. So when we put those Shimano bleed cups on there, it it's kind of what a car has mimicking the cup. Yeah, it's mimicking that big reservoir that uh that the car has. And so it's much more important on the bike because the reservoir, there is a reservoir, is so small.

Host - Josh Anderson

So I just turned around and I saw your your mannequin back there, scared the shit out of me for a second. I was like, what in the hell? Is there someone standing back? Because you looked over there and had this weird look on your face. I alright, all right, we're off.

Host - Dane Higgins

All right, or creeped out.

Host - Josh Anderson

So the next one is surprisingly simple, but also surprisingly super hard, and most people don't do it. And we did a whole episode on this, and we said it in that episode, but Jesus Christ, you spent all this money on this amazing bike with this amazing suspension. Yep, it's got three basic things to adjust sag, rebound, and compression. Yep. You know, some others in and some nuances depending on the actual uh product, but damn it, take the time. And we've got an episode. Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

So go back. Go back and look at look at that. This is an episode. SAG's number one, and and then you rebounds next and then compression after that. Yeah. So uh, and that's really important. And take the time. Because a lot of times people will buy a bike, maybe they bought it off of marketplace or they got it from a buddy, or they're borrowing it, or something like that, or the bike shop just didn't take the time. Yeah. Uh sometimes the bike shop's not doing you disservice, they maybe think that you know how to do it. Yeah. And a lot of times, if you get a nice bike, the bike shop may think that you know what you're doing. If you're spending this much money on a bike, you probably are gonna know how to tune your suspension. And if you're not asking, they are not necessarily doing it. Or it could be like a big box situation where they just don't have a clue. So who knows? Oh, Zark Trail. Uh dude, those things have no adjustments.

Host - Josh Anderson

I didn't even see what suspension is it spinners or something. No, I think they had they had uh sun tours on them, I think. Yeah, I can't remember.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, I don't remember.

Host - Josh Anderson

All right, uh, last section here is shifting. Oh gosh. And and I know this this might be so the first one's simple, second one's maybe more advanced, right? So the simple one, fine-tune shifting. Can you like just give a quick audio tutorial on how to use your barrel adjusters while you're riding?

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, so you if you have mechanical shifting and not electronic, you have a little bit of electronic, this isn't a problem because it auto adjusts. Most of the time you have a little um barrel adjuster is what we call it at the at the shift lever where the cable goes in.

Host - Josh Anderson

So it's right where the cable comes into the lever.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yep, yeah. And what that does is it's got it basically as you unscrew it, it will tension the cable more. And as you screw it in, it'll loosen the cable. Yep. And in most cases, if your suspend or if your um uh derailler was set up properly, it's not all the way one or the other. It's kind of a little in between.

Host - Josh Anderson

They give you room to go loose or room to go tight.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yep, yeah. Usually not as much loose because the cables will settle and they'll need to be tightened. Because they stretch over to most cases. Now, if it's already been tightened, it may be out all the way. Yep. So and they usually have some way to click uh some sort of mechanical thing that will give you indents. Like a easily like a quarter turn is like one click. Yeah, it's I have no idea. But uh but you'll be able to hear those. And then so I usually tell people do one or two clicks and see if it shifts better. And don't just wait for it to shift, like uh when you're clicking the barrel. So as you're so so primarily, let's say you're shifting from your uh so this is kind of weird terminology. If if you're in your 11th tooth cog. Oh Jesus. Yeah, so that's your hardest gear in the back. Yep. Okay. Smallest. So yeah, that would be your if it's eleven teeth, it's maybe your twelfth gear. Is that right? If you got a 12 speed, if you count from big to small. So that's the thing is sometimes they have indicators on them and they actually tell you numbers, but the high-end stuff doesn't give you numbers,

Brake Bleeds And Fluid Overflow

Host - Dane Higgins

which I thought was hilarious. Yeah. So uh as a as a new rider, I would notice that the cheap stuff gives you what number?

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

But as you got to the nice stuff, there was no numbers. Because at that point they figured you could you know that. Yeah, they assume you just can figure it out or or knew it already. So anyway, um, when you're going from one cog to another, uh-huh, if you're pushing the lever to go easier with modern bikes, you're tensioning the cable. If it does not move up but makes a bunch of clicking noises, you need more tension to get to the next cog.

Host - Josh Anderson

So that's then you need to tighten.

Host - Dane Higgins

You uh you undo it. You uh like you're unscrewing it.

Host - Josh Anderson

Unscrewing it, which is the thing, which is tension it's just tensioning it, tightening the cable.

Host - Dane Higgins

That's why it's hard to say tightening and loosening, because you're not screwing it in, you're unscrewing it to tension the cable.

Host - Josh Anderson

So while you're riding, while you're pedaling, your bike's not shifting, you can actually use that little barrel adjuster to tension a little bit or loosen a little bit your cable, which then may actually fine-tune and fix your shifting problem right there live while you're riding.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yep, while you're riding, and that may get rid of it. It may not. Um of the things to watch out for is if you're on a ride and it was fine and then it starts acting up, uh-huh, uh be careful uh because you may have bent your derailleur hanger. And that's a really, really common. So, in other words, if your bike was fine and then it just started doing it, especially if it's on a ride and it's noticeable, there's a good chance you hit that derailler on something and it could be bent inward. And so you want to be careful uh when your system isn't shifting correctly, that you don't go into your easiest gear, especially in a panic situation. Uh your easiest gear is your biggest gear. Uh if your hanger is bent, your derailler can accidentally go into the spokes.

Host - Josh Anderson

And you can throw your chain into the spokes.

Host - Dane Higgins

You can throw the whole back of the bike off. So like it can break stuff bad. Uh so if you have you done that, Dane. Yes. Yeah. Once. And I I'm not kidding when I say once.

Host - Josh Anderson

So like I learned real I've thrown my chain into my my spokes probably a dozen times.

Host - Dane Higgins

I I had a customer who bought a brand new road bike uh Cervello and went out and rode it, and somehow he had a bent hanger. Uh and we found out these Cervellos, uh, he was an electronic uh drivetrain. It was when uh DI2 Shimano first came out. Right. We figured out that he was bending the hanger because the derailleur he was shifting faster than he was pedaling.

Host - Josh Anderson

And so interesting.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, and so what would happen is the chain wouldn't move, the derailler was trying to yank it, and it was trying to go two or three steps, yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

It wasn't designed for that.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yep, and the uh derailleur hanger would bend, and then it went into the spokes, the derailleur wraps around as he's riding, breaks off the hanger, which it's meant to. The derailler hangers are supposed to break.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, it's a sacrificial part.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yep, but it came around, hit his stay, which was like a pencil, and broke it in half on the brand new bike. Yeah, so he broke his he broke his carbon frame. He broke his carbon frame, yeah. And so uh so yeah, you if if the So did that get warrantied then? No, it's not a warranty.

Host - Josh Anderson

Oh, so he just ate that whole thing, man.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, and and and and that was a tricky one because we didn't even know what was going on. We figured out what was going on later. Uh but this is one of the first generations of DI2, and we figured out and we started teaching people when they're using these shifting systems to be uh to wait for the shift. Yeah, you know.

Host - Josh Anderson

But since then they've updated the software, so the software now is like it won't let you overload it later.

Host - Dane Higgins

Then you combine it with uh that particular bike had really soft hangers, and so uh so the They can bend easy. Yes, they can bend easy, and so that that's an issue. Uh another hanger thing, hangers are meant to break, you know, and we have a whole shifting system that got rid of the hangers for a reason.

Host - Josh Anderson

Transmission, yeah.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yes, yeah. But um, I remember working on a local pros bike and it was a Cannondale, and it was a Friday before tour of the California, yeah, which he had to go out to you got a lot of you got a lot of these Friday stories the day before the race. It's it's what it happens all the time. It's it's the scars that leaps, they're the deepest scars. Um, but uh this pro uh has his shifting was off, and I'm like, your hanger's bent. And so I went to adjust it and it snapped.

Suspension Setup Sag Rebound Compression

Host - Dane Higgins

And we didn't have the race. We we weren't even Cannondale dealers. So the day before tour to California, and I snap a pro's derailer hanger, and he's like panicking, I'm panicking, I don't know what to do. I found out uh that the the Cannondale hangers are super brittle, like really, really brittle.

Host - Josh Anderson

And or at least were at that time.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, yeah. And so I found that out and I learned that lesson. And so any did he race? Yes. He luckily he took his bike broken, and his team mechanic at the race was they have an extra hanger, which which honestly they should, you know, if you've got a team and you've got team bikes.

Host - Josh Anderson

If you're racing and your bike's got hangers, you should have an extra hanger.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah. But uh, we weren't a cannondale dealer, so it was we he just we were we were actually good mechanics, but we just didn't know that product. So um, but yeah, that was a deep scar. I've had that, I've carried that gourd. I'm sorry, again. Very sorry that happened if you're listening right now.

Host - Josh Anderson

So um all right, so so fun the fine-tune with the barrel adjusters was the simple one, and then I think the next thing up is to actually know how to reset.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah, or or hook up a cable.

Host - Josh Anderson

Hook up a cable, but just like reset your shifting.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

And like there's a whole process, there's lots of great videos. I actually just watched a reel that was like literally two minutes. They went, it was kind of fast forward in some areas, but they went through every step in two minutes. Um, so take the time. It's a little complicated. I'm not gonna try to explain it. You can, but I think we'll lose them if we try to explain it here.

Host - Dane Higgins

The big thing I want to drive home is that hanger is very often bent. Yes. Uh and it's really, really common. It I used to say that a three-way, which is uh three um hex wrenches, not the kind you're thinking.

Host - Josh Anderson

Um I'm like, where are we going with this, Dave?

Host - Dane Higgins

That one. Where are we going? My four, five, and six uh wrench uh and uh and a derailler hanger alignment tool, or my two most used tools. And uh the hanger alignment tool, you take the derailler off, you put it on the hanger, and you align it to the bike.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, you I bought one after you told me this.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah. And so the key with that is a lot of people are like, I'll just buy a new hanger and then I won't need that tool. Nope. Uh that would be great if the bike industry worked that way, but it doesn't. That hanger is just machined with no idea of what your bike's angles are. And so when you put it on, you have to align it. And now sometimes if the company is really, really good

Shifting Fixes And Bent Hanger Risks

Host - Dane Higgins

at what they do and they've taken the time, it may be a perfect fit, but most often we have to align it, which means it's off. When that hanger is bent, your derailer is at a different angle, and the parallelogram moves the pulley at different rate and it can overshift into your spokes. And that causes a lot of shifting issues. So that hanger being bent can cause one of the most common things, which is you're not getting the right. So are we really telling all of our listeners to go out and buy a different thing? I'm gonna give them a little secret. A little secret is if you're adjusting your your derailer in at home and you're like frustrated because you can get it to work on the first half of the cassette, but not the second half. It's probably a bent hanger. It's probably a bent hanger. And then if you go adjust it and you get the second half working and then it doesn't work on the first half, it's probably a bent hanger. And so at that point, take it into a shop, get it adjusted. And and if you do have to ride it, like it's you know, you're going on a ride the next day, it's a Sunday morning and you're you've got to go out, stay out of the easy gear. Like you can even use the limit screws to lock it out, but don't let that thing get close to the spokes. So your granny gear is gone. Yeah, you just get rid of that.

Host - Josh Anderson

Stand up and grind up that hill.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah. Uh it's it's one of those things where you know, if you have to panic, or if you're in a ride and you crash and your hanger's bent and you can't adjust it. So be careful if you try and use your hand to that you don't bend the derailleur itself. Like a lot of people bend the cages, and that can kind of ruin or make that alignment thing really, really hard to where sometimes you're buying a new derailleur, and it's just the hanger. So the the derailleur, if it's off on every single gear, it's probably not bent. But if it's off on half, it's a good chance it's bent.

Host - Josh Anderson

So uh so yeah, that's that that's our list. I uh I have one final thing to mention here, which is not related to our list. So that those are the 15 things we think that all bikes should a biker should be able to use. Anything you think we missed?

Host - Dane Higgins

I that's what I was thinking is I would love it if somebody thought there was something they let us know.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, let us know if if you think there's like some basic thing that all cyclists should know.

Host - Dane Higgins

And uh talk about tires. You know, I do a bolt check.

Host - Josh Anderson

Bolt check?

Host - Dane Higgins

Not every ride, yeah. Except on the downhill bike, but um I do it when I clean my bike.

Host - Josh Anderson

Anytime I clean my bike. Yeah, uh I'm trying to think what else.

Host - Dane Higgins

Do a bolt check. And then the only thing on the tires is just making sure you're not like missing knobs and stuff.

Host - Josh Anderson

Yeah, checking the tread on your tires.

Host - Dane Higgins

Yeah.

Host - Josh Anderson

Um I got a cool story to tell you. Okay. And she's gonna contest this and she's gonna have lots of reasons why. Is this lacy? Yep. Okay, but it doesn't change the fact that this week, Friday, I passed her on an extremely technical uphill climb.

Host - Dane Higgins

No way. No way, really. Yeah, holy crap, man.

Host - Josh Anderson

It's happened once.

Host - Dane Higgins

Was she was she drunk and you were sober?

Host - Josh Anderson

No, no, we were both sober. No, and she's got a lot of reasons why.

Host - Dane Higgins

Okay.

Host - Josh Anderson

She's got a lot of stories and a lot of reasons, and bike isn't this, and bike's not that, bike's not whatever. All those that may have been the reason why. Yeah. Doesn't change the fact that I passed her.

Host - Dane Higgins

Oh man, did you get videotape?

Host - Josh Anderson

I didn't, but I got to the top, and then after I passed her in that one section, I railed it. Yeah. So I could get to the top, get off my bike, lay it down, sit down on a rock, and be like completely

Bolt Check Listener Ideas And Outro

Host - Josh Anderson

rested with my helmet off when she finally got up there. Now, 40 other times on that ride, she was waiting for me. But that one time, yeah, I passed her. Nice.

Host - Dane Higgins

Nice. Even if she let you have that. She didn't. But even if she did. She wouldn't. But even if she did.

Host - Josh Anderson

If she did, I'd still feel good.

Host - Dane Higgins

It still feels good. I love you, baby. All right, man. I'll take see you later.

Host - Josh Anderson

I wasn't talking to you, but that's okay.

Host - Dane Higgins

All right. Why you gotta make it weird? I don't know. I thought you did.

Head Shot

Dane "Suspension Guru" Higgins

Host
Head Shot

Josh "Magellan" Anderson

Host