eloy said:

Most pro teams have one brand of hubs, so most rotors are likely aligned close enough... but if recent races are an indication, changing the full bike (vs just a wheel) is the pro peloton preferred way. Precisely 'cause of this. 

THere are a few reasons for this.  one is alignment.  Another is speed--sometimes it's hard and or slow to swap wheels.  Another is the 'bed in' issue--fresh rotors will not stop well, and I don't know how well they'd prepare the rotors on the spare wheels with any sort of guarantee that there's enough material on them.

PSA for those of us who just got the Lazer G1 helmets. There is a slide to lower the rear retention system so it sits lower down on the back of your head. TO move this you need to loosen a screw on the back side of the slider, move it, then retighten the screw. Not sure why Lazer doesn't even mention this anywhere I've been able to find, but Reddit was a godsend. The link below helps give the visual of it. You'll need to bend the retention system and the mips layer back but once you're there, its a quick and easy screw to tighten/loosen.

https://i.imgur.com/7GIOATf.jpeg

Awesome, good tip! I was going to scan the QR code on the box that came with the box or papers but honestly who the hell wants to do that?

I started there and it just brings you to Lazer’s website🤦‍♂️

Not sure if the following is obvious to new G1 helmet owners, but Matt's suggestion above is meant to move the retention system up and down as opposed to loosening/tightening the retention system. There is a roller on top of the helmet that does the former.

Greetings All,

So, a few years back I was able to get my very first CX bike back, a Specialized TriCross maybe a 2008? The white red one with Cantis.  Anyway I stripped it down and cleaned it up and put it all back together with some new brakes, saddle, cables, chain, tires, etc for Amy. She never ended up racing CX with it, but she's been using it as a city bike and loves it for that.

For the tires, the Vittoria Terreno Dry would be kinda perfect, similarly, the Challenge Chicane also kinda perfect. There's a more expensive version of the chicane, with tan walls.

Links above are 33s but 35s or 38s would likely work fine, even with the Roval wheels.

For the rack: Tailfin, famously makes racks exactly for what you describe: they don't need rack mounts, and attach to the rear of any thru axle or quick release bike. However, they are not cheap.

https://youtu.be/y-OhG6kKy1w?t=290

Hope this helps.

Cool thanks @eloy !

FWIW 
 I use the Vittoria Zero's 35 mm , tubeless set up on my commuter 

@AndrewJohnson

If she's riding almost entirely road, and her off-roading is fairly gentle, with little of that gravel/dirt time high-speed turns, I'd go with something even smoother than what Eloy recommends.  More along the line of what Mark recommends.

Part of my thinking is that the only time she'll be turning fast is on pavement, and side knobs lose some traction on paved turns.  But if she's rarely venturing off-road, then she won't likely be turning fast on dirt, which is the only place side knobs help.

Something like Rene Herse 35mm tires, or maybe Ritchey's Alpine JB tire.  The former is more "performance" oriented, IMO.

https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop/components/tires/700c/700cx35-bon-jon-pass/

https://ritcheylogic.com/bike/tires/alpine-jb-tire

eloy said:

This is on a disc brake? Because they are actually notorious for this.

Most new disc calipers and frames come come with alloy bolts (cheap and light) that, well, wont last more than a few adjustments -- the tricky piece is that any time you change disc brake wheels you probably need to adjust the calipers. 

Two solutions:

1. Get disc rotors spacers. Align all your rotors be super close to each other, and that way re-adjusting the caliper is not needed
2. Buy new titanium bolts replacements for your caliper to frame bolt (these are expensive, usually in the $20~$40 per set) sizes vary, so take out your current one, measure, then buy.

Ask me how I know

Funny thing about the above.

I'm FB friends with a few bike product managers.  One posted a pic of himself tossing SRAM disc brake Torx bolts in the trash--he hates Torx and wishes they'd stick with Allen heads.  A second emphatically agreed: "SRAM Torx Bolts suck!"  

mugwump said:

@AndrewJohnson

If she's riding almost entirely road, and her off-roading is fairly gentle, with little of that gravel/dirt time high-speed turns, I'd go with something even smoother than what Eloy recommends.  More along the line of what Mark recommends.

Part of my thinking is that the only time she'll be turning fast is on pavement, and side knobs lose some traction on paved turns.  But if she's rarely venturing off-road, then she won't likely be turning fast on dirt, which is the only place side knobs help.

Something like Rene Herse 35mm tires, or maybe Ritchey's Alpine JB tire.  The former is more "performance" oriented, IMO.

https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop/components/tires/700c/700cx35-bon-jon-pass/

https://ritcheylogic.com/bike/tires/alpine-jb-tire

The Rene Herse are nice , but a bit pricy , I have a pair of XTRA light for sale on ebay 

I ended up ordering the Vittorias for now. She has been running full cx knobby tired so this will def be an upgrade more suited for street use. Pending how she gets on, we can then decide how we want proceed in the future. I suspect she'll wear these down in about 12 months or so... 

Got the CX bike cleaned up and ready for some gravel action on Tuesday. I put my Open Tubulars Chicanes on, with out the latex tubes, just standard butyl.
Amy and I are going to do a Rail-To-Trail in CT Tuesday since we have to go up towards Hartford for some business. What's the consensus about tire pressure? I'm so used to dialing in 23 psi on my tubulars for mud conditions in CX that I'm not sure what packed dirt/gravel calls for?

-Andrew

Andrew,
    Go to Silca.cc and find their tire pressure calculator.  Base you numbers off of that.

     When I'm riding on mixed surfaces and am not pushing limits in turns, I typically run what I deem to be a tiny bit lower than I'd ride the same tires on a 100% road ride.  

@mugwump Crap! I HAVE to put my weight in?? LOL

I'm a ham fisted idiot and need your help

I stripped a screw head

Since i wasn't able to go to Rasputitsa, I took advantage of the rainy day to bleed my SRAM hydraulic brakes on the CX bike. This went pretty well.

My problem is that I overtightened the (aluminum) brake caliper retainer bolt. 

The 2mm hex bolt is stripped inside. I tried inserting the 2mm allen with a rubber band on it (tip from Bob Villa), tried to see if a 2.5 mm allen would work and tried to grab the outside of the head with needle nose pliers. Can't get the bolt to budge. 

Any suggestions?

I might try to attach an allen key to the bolt head with glue and hope it adheres enough to allow me to turn it. Any other suggestions or recommendations for good glue for metal surfaces?

My go to is a torx wrench.  It needs to be large enough that it can bite into the sides of the stripped bolt head.  For extra grip, you can even hammer the torx key in place (this will likely ruin the torx key though).

Edit - as for glue, my derailleur hanger is still going strong with loctite expoxy.  

https://www.amazon.com/Loctite-Instant-0-47-Fluid-Syringe-1365868/dp/B0044F9KFI/ref=asc_df_B0044F9KFI/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=194918515178&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12764821198755074357&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9004405&hvtargid=pla-311721580921&psc=1

You can also try a dollop of superglue WITH CAUTION on the end of an allen key you don't mind sacrificing.

@PatrickGrehan

There are drill bits designed for this.  They're called Speed Out.  I've got a set that you can borrow if you can make it over.  Considering the time frame, I'd check hardware stores.

https://www.buyspeedout.com/?mid=11448792

as a last resort if the above doesn’t get you to where you need, you can always use a dremmel or similar cutting toll and cut a notch into screw head so you can use a flat head screwdriver. Obviously need to be very careful not to hit anything else

I have tried those drill bits without success 

Depending on the space you have to operate, you can try to drill the head off of the bolt. Remove the caliper. Hope you have enough of the shaft exposed. Drop some light weight oil in there or similar, and then try to extract with pliers grabbing what's left of the exposed shaft and turning.... Also risky....

Is it this that goes through the top of the pads ?

If I understand, it is the little mini bolt in the caliper that closes/opens the fluid reservoir. i.e. the "bleed bolt"? Almost completely sure that is supposed to be a torx bolt, which could explain the predicament.

If that's the bolt, it is gonna be rough, the only solution I can think of, is gluing something to the bolt that allows you to turn it -- the really tricky bit is you can't get the glue/epoxy/whatever anywhere else, including the mini bolt threads.

Worst case, you'll need to replace the caliper. 

As a reply to the comments above I have had good results with the drill bits and Matt's dremel idea. In both cases the bolts were dramatically bigger (4 or 5 mm allen) and in much sturdier things (like my shoes) I would not expect these ideas to work on 2mm. Also, if it is the way I remember, this particular bolt doesn't actually have a head.

Yes, this is the bolt

It is a 2.5mm (not 2mm as in my original post). I didn't have luck with the hammer and torx wrench method, but otherwise plan on hitting Home Depot this week as I didn't have a chance to get epoxy, a self extracting bolt nor do I have a blade small enough to make a groove for a screwdriver without damaging the caliper. 

I'll update with my progress (or lack thereof)

Mark Taylor said:

Is it this that goes through the top of the pads ?

good luck Patrick, that bolt, that holds the bake pads, while still challenging, should be easier to extract than what I suggested above 😅

Wonder if there’s a way to try to grab the body of the bolt with needle nose pliers around the pads and turn it that way…

keep us updated 

Bolt removal update:

Initially I planned on turning the bolt into a screw head by cutting a slit into the head using a mini-hacksaw from my boys’ Cub Scout pinewood derby cars days.  However the area around the bolt was too tight.

In the end I was able to use the end of a hacksaw blade (about 1cm) to cut a groove into the head. It was messy, but after about 10 minutes I was able to get a screwdriver to unscrew the bolt. 

mission accomplished 

Now if only you had gotten your bike blessed Patrick...

https://ilovetheupperwestside.com/hundreds-of-cyclists-to-attend-blessing-of-the-bicycles-at-cathedral-of-st-john-the-divine/