(beat with sharp metal sound)
- Welcome to this week's GCN Tech Clinic
where I answer and solve your bike related tech problems
that you leave down there in the comments section below.
So let's crack on with the first question this week,
and it comes in from Gustavo Munoz
who says, "Hi Jon, can I upgrade to Shimano Di2
"keeping my 105 cassette and crankset?"
So they just wanna buy
the electronic derailleurs and leavers.
Yes you can,
providing that all of the components
are the same number of speed then yep,
it's gonna work absolutely fine.
With regards to the chainset,
I in fact do use a 10 speed chainset
with an 11 speed group set and it works absolutely fine.
And all those Shimano Di2 components are interchangeable
with one another
other than the original 7950 Di2 Dura-Ace range.
And there are also some sprint shifters
which I believe are only compatible
with certain models of Dura-Ace levers too.
But other than that, you are good to go,
go ahead, get yourself some Di2.
Paulius wants to know,
"Can I use the Ultegra RX rear clutch derailleur with
"105 5800 levers?"
Right then Paulius, you fancy some one play action do you?
I don't blame you, it's quite a nice little setup to have
anyway, the good news is, that new rear derailleur
will work absolutely fine with a 5800 levers,
using cable operated gears.
Obviously Shimano 105 doesn't quite come with Di2 yet,
and who knows if it will for the future.
And, with that rear mech,
that new one, that Ultegra RX that you talk about,
you will be able to use a 34 tooth bottom sprocket too,
helping you spin to win.
Jorge Hernandez says, "Jon, watch your show religiously,
"thanks for all the advice.
"I use an 11 to 23 cassette exclusively.
"Being in Florida in the U.S.
"Is there a performance benefit in changing the cage
"of the Ultegra Di2 derailleur from medium to a short?"
Right then Jorge Florida, hey?
I've always fancied going there
if you fancy accommodating me, sounds nice.
Now, I do understand that it's very very flat there
in Florida,
so an 1123 is probably absolutely spot on.
As for the performance gains, well,
with a medium cage rear derailleur,
that longer length of cage is kinda acting as a lever
against the spring in your rear derailleur.
So it's kind of giving it a little bit more bounce
if that makes sense,
and releasing the chain tension.
So essentially making the chain not quite as in tension
as it could be or should be in fact.
Now you're also gonna get benefits
of better gear changing
as well as slightly more precise gear changing too
with a shorter cage rear mech.
Or at least,
that's certainly from my own experiences using them.
Next question comes in from MatDe92.
He asks, "Which front wheel is faster?
"Deep section, tri-spoke, or five spoke?"
Now, this has such a huge variation depending on brand
and model and also the conditions
that you would be riding in.
So for this case,
I've actually put it forward to Xavier Disley
who is an expert in aerodynamics with cyclists.
So let's have a look to see actually what his answer was.
And he said, "Hi Jon - as with many things, it depends.
"There are some really horrendous wheels out there,
"however the Pro tri-spoke,
"so the expensive one that the Tour de France riders use,
"is one of the best wheels out there.
"So a blanket statement on tri-spoke versus deep section
"is tricky to make.
"With deep sections you can get some good ones."
Such as one that he actually sells himself,
a hundred millimeters deep.
And then he reckoned it's one of the fastest wheels
they've ever tested, so there we are.
"But however, there's also some really poor ones available.
"Now 5 spokes on the track are used mainly
"for stiffness purposes,
"the trick here is to look at the spokes
"and make sure they're directional
"as that normally indicates that it's a good one.
"Out on the road people tend not to ride the 5 spokes
"because they can be difficult to handle
"and also in high sidewind conditions
"which they're not designed for,
"they can be a lot slower than a correctly designed wheel."
So there we are, I hope that kind of clarifies it,
but I'm sure you can imagine there is a huge variety
of wheels out there.
And unfortunately we can't put our finger
on the exact one for your needs.
Jellybins would like to know,
"What's the best way to clean a matte finish bike?"
Right then, Jelly, first of all I would say
try and do this with a hose pipe
so with just some plain water
just try and rinse off any dirt or grime.
Not using a sponge straight away
as you could scratch the paintwork with any tiny bits
of grit that are stuck to your bike.
Once you've rinsed off
then that initial bit of dirt and grime,
get yourself some hot soapy water,
and wash the bike as normal.
If you have got some oily stains on matte paint work,
it can be an absolute pain to get rid of.
Therefore, one of the best products I've ever used for this
is WD-40 bike wash.
It comes in a container, kind of thing which you'd get some
window cleaner in, that sort of thing.
Simply spray that on,
give it some good old fashioned Jon Cannings elbow grease,
and it should come off.
Then, something really important remember,
is to not polish the bike.
Because, you've got to imagine a matte finish paintwork,
if you magnified it close up,
it would look like this,
so it would look like contours of a mountain.
If you start rubbing polish or wax into it,
those contours disappear and they become flat.
And therefore they give you a totally different appearance
than what you want.
So you can actually get
some matte detailing products out there
so go to a specialist bike shop or a car shop,
that kind of thing
and you'll be able to get something so your bike still looks
absolutely spot on.
Tyler Bybee has a question now relating to shoes.
"My feet go numb when I ride and I'm pretty sure it's due
"to shoe width.
"I don't wear wide shoes normally,
"but I do wear shoes with a more open toe box.
"Do you have any recommendations
for bike shoes that might work for me?"
Right then, I can relate to this,
because I love a wide toe box of shoes.
There was a period actually for about three or four weeks
where I was getting numb toes when I was cycling as well.
And it turned out
that actually my position was not quite right,
and it wasn't the cleat position or anything like that,
it was actually my handlebars, a fraction too low,
and for some reason,
the blood flow wasn't going through to my toes.
Something also worth considering,
is how tight you're doing up the straps,
if you're actually restricting that blood flow too.
As regards to specific shoes,
I'm an absolute nightmare at this,
both with casual shoes as well as cycling shoes.
Cycling shoes I've probably upwards of 15 pairs,
casual shoes probably upwards of 20.
Some people call it obsessive,
I just call it , I don't know, shopper.
Anyway, what I would consider doing
is having a look at two brands which have worked for me.
Northwave and also Physique.
'Cause I like to have just a little bit of wiggle room
for my toes in the end of the shoes.
There are some brands out there that I just can't use,
I put them on and immediately I know
they're not going to work for me when I'm out riding.
So if you can, try and check out those two brands of shoes.
Juarno Zondag is next up, and asks,
"When I'm cleaning my bike, I often take the wheels out
"to clean them a bit easier.
"But I always struggle to place them back in straight
"the first try.
"Any tips on doing this a bit better, faster, and easier?"
First of all, Juarno,
it's great that you're taking them out of the bike,
because yep, you can clean them easier,
as well as better, not to mention cleaning the bike too,
because you can get in all those nooks and crannies.
So, what we gonna advise you on this.
First of all, make sure that your brake calipers
are in the open position.
'Cause it's gonna make the wheel going in and out
much much easier.
Also, ensure that you've got those two little
conical springs on your quick release skewer.
Therefore, meaning the quick release skewer is going
to sit in the correct place when lining it all up.
And now a good habit to get into as well,
is to put your chain into the smallest sprocket,
so the one with the smallest number of teeth
as opposed to the biggest number,
so it could be an 11 or a 12 or 13 sprocket.
Therefore, when you're putting the wheel back in,
it's actually easier to line it up
'cause you know exactly which sprocket
it's going to go on to.
As well as the chain will have
a little bit less tension there.
And finally, when you're actually putting the wheels
back into the bike,
don't have the bike in a work stand.
Instead,
have it so that gravity is help pushing it downwards
and essentially finding the right place.
So, that should,
hopefully speed things up for you a little bit.
Final question this week comes from Alex Davies who says,
"Hi Jon, always enjoy the show."
Well that's a relief.
"I ride a fixed gear to get to university
"and am currently on my second chain
"after the first one wore to the point
"where it was getting close to coming out of the fork end
"as I pulled it back to get the right tension.
"The new chain is starting to wear too,
"and I was wondering
"if I could just remove a few links
"when I get enough tension just by pulling it back,
"so I can get more distance out of it before replacing it.
Right then Alex.
So for a temporary solution,
you could remove a pair of chain links.
The only problem with doing that is,
the chain is obviously already worn
or certainly wearing out at quite an alarming rate.
So in turn, it's going to be wearing out your sprocket
as well as your chainring
which could well land you with a fairly hefty
repair bill.
Instead I would go out and buy yourself a new chain.
Those fixed wheel chains, they're not a lot of money,
generally they do last a long time.
Particularly if you take good care of it,
so make sure you're doing that.
Give it a good clean, degrease,
and only put enough oil on it than what is necessary.
Don't go covering it, don't go crazy with the lube,
just enough.
So there we are, the end of another GCN Tech Clinic.
I do hope that I've been able to help answer
your technical question, problem, query, conundrum,
whatever you've got.
If not, make sure you leave it for me down there
in the comments section below,
because I do love to help answer and solve your problems
so you can go bike riding again!
Now remember as well to like and share this video
with your friends, give it a big thumbs up.
Also remember to check out the GCN shop
at shop.globalcyclingnetwork.com.
And now, for another great video,
this one, how to get your paintwork looking A-OK,
spot on, flashy,
people wanna stop you in the street for a selfie,
click just down here.