How to Shift Your Gears

Hello everyone and thank you so much for having me! I have an older Columbia 3 wheeler adult tricycle and she has a differential, somewhat like a car. I wanted to open up the differential for cleaning and oiling but cannot find any info on her, as to how much oil to add, and where the oil fill point is. Can anyone help me in this endeavor? I'd really love to get her going but don't want to ris...

Hi, I been upgrading my old bike with new brake and shift cables. I got my brakes working and now trying to get my shift cables working. I was able to install new shift cable, I made sure to hold the cable tight and tighten the Bolt to keep in place. But it doesn't move the derailer at all when shifting. I have a feeling it's a simple fix that I'm missing something. I thought it might be the new ...

I live 5 km from the ocean (not sure if that's relevant), and I pretty much only mountain bike. After every ride, I hose down and clean my bike. I wipe them down with a cloth. After a few days, the ones not ridden have what looks like surface rust appear on the chain. Do you have any cost-effective remedies to solve this issue?...

The best thing is not to let your chain get rusty in the first place. Chains for most 6,7,8 speed bikes can be had for $15 to $20 all day long. For me my first choice is to just replace it and the reason is simple. If finished it does not meet the level of 95%+ perfect it will get replaced. If the chain you are trying to save does not have a quik link then that is an extra cost to figure...

Hi everyone, I'm new here and I've been trying to avoid taking my bike to a mechanic and save some money. I succesfully fixed my front but struggle with the rear, I got new brakes for the rear. I notice i think it might be the housing causing the noodle to be off centered and making the left brake pad to close to the rim. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!! My next project is to attemp...

Hello, Not sure if I should post this in buying advice or repairs, but here we are. I recently bought Schwinn cruiser an old one and I can't find the rear dropout bracket replacement. So I decided to try out a custom bike part manufacturer. Still waiting for my part, so if anyone has tried out a custom on demand manufacturer, please share your experience....

I have a Gazelle Esprit belt drive bike with hub gears which has a rear puncture. Can someone advise me on how to remove and refit the wheel? I'm aware that it can be quite complicated, but I have no option other than tackling it myself. The photos were taken with the bike upside down.   IMG_20250122_105320.jpg (Size: 77.51 KB / Downloads: 54)   IMG_20250122_105428.jpg (...

Hi everyone! I hope you're enjoying a great start to 2023. I'm curious to hear your go-to method for getting a chain truly clean. I don't mean, just looks shiny or is good enough for a quick clean after a ride. I want to know what you do when you want to get every last morsel of ground-up, link-destroying, roller-eating, tooth-gnashing crud out of your chain. The Best Chain-Cleaning Recipe Ever?...

Can anyone advise what type of replacement jockey wheel I need for a 10 speed Red rear mech (it's got 11 teeth)? Bonus points if it's a link to a cheap (ish) one! Thanks...

Currently renovating a child's bike. It has 24 inch wheels and is a suitable size for a 7-10 year old. Anyway it has grip shifters. it is a six speed with three chain rings on the front derailleur. On the rear derailleur the shifter does not appear to move the gear cable at all when shifting from 6 to 5 and 5 to 4. I am actually holding the cable with my finger and thumb against the cable cas...

All of my bikes are 7 or 8 speed and sometime in the past I bought a 9 speed chain for some unremembered reason. is there any reason not to use it on an 8 speed bike?...

Hello - new owner with an How to Operate the bike question. Hopefully, this is easily answered I Bought this bike a few weeks ago - Tested many bikes and finally landed on this particular Santa Monica. However, got busy with Christmas shopping, Life, and not so great weather days distracted me from riding. I also test drove so many that I forgot how to operate it.... I "thought" I remembered, ...

  My Trike.jpg (Size: 57.65 KB / Downloads: 53)   Wife Trike.jpg (Size: 60.74 KB / Downloads: 53) Although I have ridden bikes on and off since a kid (75 years old now), I have very little experience with anything other than a single speed bike. I recently purchased a new 7-speed Gospel adult tike, which needed assembly. My wife has the same model trike but older and p...

I'm curious—how often or after how many miles do people typically check or change their mechanical disc brake pads? I've been bikepacking for a while but never really followed a maintenance schedule. A few weeks ago, I took my bike to a mechanic because I heard some noise. The mechanic did a quick overhaul, and I was sent on my way. However, a few weeks later, while descending steep hills, I s...

My wife's road bike has Shimano Sora shifters with a triple front derailleur (stock). The thumb switch on the front shifter is VERY hard to use and she can't do it when she's riding. I did a full adjustment of the front derailleur but it didn't change anything. One thing that I noticed is that the shifter works smoothly when the shifter cable is unattached from the derailleur, suggesting that the ...