Great thread!! I agree with all the topics to be discussed. I think Bicycling mag does an article on This is Your (insert bike part). Then does a short discussion.

I think that would be very helpful.

This is your ____
This is what it does
These are the different brands/sizes/types
This is what happens if it breaks/dies on you
This is how you repair it
This is when you should replace it
These are the misconceptions about it

I know that sounds basic, but jumping to advanced topics without the basics will lose me.

We could even have a bike maintenance/repair challenge if the people with all the knowledge would be able to give us a topic a week to work on.

Just my .02

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Come crawling faster

This is your HANDLEBAR TAPE

This is what it does:
It wraps the handlebars on your road bike, and the base and aero bars on your tri bike. It covers and tidies the shift and brake cables, and gives something nicer than bare metal to grip when riding.

These are the different brands/sizes/types:
Widely available from many different brands, including handlebar manufacturers such as ITM, FSA, and Cinelli, and in a myriad of colors. Comes in a couple of different materials, including cork and gel padded for comfort. Cinelli do a glow in the dark tape for commuting purposes.

This is what happens if it breaks/dies on you:
You replace it.

This is how you replace it:
Things you will need to change bar tape: Scissors, electrical tape in suitable color, bar tape and end plugs.

• Ensure the bar is as clean as possible, and that you have removed as much of the debris/glue of the old tape as possible.
• Ensure that the cables running along the bar are secure. Small strips of electrical tape are ideal for this.
• Start the roll at the end of the bar. Begin the tape with an overlap of the end of the bar. This overlap will be stuffed in the bar later, and the bar plug wedged in to secure it.
• The right bar should be wrapped counter-clockwise and the left bar clockwise, when looking from the back of the bike. This is because you naturally pull backwards on the top of the bar, and this wrapping style prevents the tape unwinding.
• If the tape has an adhesive backing, overlap so the adhesive is on the bar.
• It helps maintain a tight bar wrap by pulling the tape as you wrap, but too much force in pulling may break the tape. You often need to work the tape by pulling and backing up until it lies down nicely on the bar, especially at the corners. Inspect as you go.
• There is often a small piece of tape included with the roll, which is used for the brake lever. Pull the lever cover away from the bar and place the tape over the back of the lever, covering the metal securing band. Continue to wrap up and around the small piece and the lever. Replace the lever hood and inspect the tape.
• Continue to wrap until you reach the point you want to end at. Wrap slightly past this point, and mark the tape where you want the end. Unwrap and cut the tape at your mark. Secure tape to bar with electrical tape, or small strip of securing tape often included in the roll.
  
• Push extra material into bar end, and secure using plug, ensuing that the logo is the correct way up.
• Repeat this procedure with the other side of the bar. Remember to wrap the opposite way.

The Park Tool how-to guide for taping bars is here:

This is when you should replace it:
If it rips, or gets dirty, or you get bored with it, or you re-cable the bike. Whenever you want basically.

These are the misconceptions about it :
Hand comfort can be improved by simple changes to the bar tape. By using gel padded tape, strips of foam under the tape, two layers of tape, or a different tape material, you can tune the feel of your handlebars to your preferences.
It is easy to replace, but takes time to be neat. There is a strange sense of satisfaction about completing a new tape install.
It doesn't have to match the bike.
Soap and water will clean it a treat, and creme cleaner is also good, especially for white tape.

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"Here's how you run a marathon. Step 1: You start running. Step 2: There is no step 2." - Barney (How I Met Your Mother)

Thank you! That is absolutely perfect.

I'll be printing this out, and if we get more of these going I might just have a little book to refer to!

Thanks again!

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Come crawling faster

Have you seen any of my sad, pathetic attempts to ask questions about fit and then trying to understand stack and reach? Ha! Wow. I knew what to expect when I posted there...but I guess the ego bruising still hurts. :p

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mmm-mmm-Momo Charms
Handmade beverage charms, jewelry, and miscellanea
http://momocharms.wordpress.com

No problem.

What would you like to know about next?

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"Here's how you run a marathon. Step 1: You start running. Step 2: There is no step 2." - Barney (How I Met Your Mother)

This is your rear derailleur.

This is what it does:
Its primary purpose is to guide the chain on to the rear gears (cogs) so that you can change between them without having to reach down and manually put the chain on a new gear with your hand. Its secondary purpose is to maintain tension on the chain so that when you switch between the small and large chainrings (front gears), the chain doesn't go completely slack and fall off.

These are the different brands/sizes/types:
There are Shimano, Campagnolo and Sram. Each brand typically only works with the same brand shifter because the shifters pull a different amount of cable for each push of the shifter lever. 9 and 10 speed rear derailleurs can be used more or less interchangeably within brands, depending on how fussy you are.

The primary differences between the various levels (e.g. 105, Ultegra, Dura Ace) are the weight and the materials used to cut the weight. Otherwise they perform very similarly and there is little difference in how they feel.

Brits call derailleurs “mechs”.

This is what happens if it breaks/dies on you:
If it happens on a ride you are more or less out of luck. It's very hard to find a gear that allows you to cut the chain down so that you're running a singlespeed. Also, that assumes you’re carrying a chain tool with you on the ride. Typically one gear will be too tight, the other too slack, which will allow the chain to fall off. The best thing to do, if the derailleur is still attached to the bike, is manually bend it so that it lines up with one gear and ride that gear home.

Should your derailleur cable break you can use the limit adjustment screws (the screws on the back of the derailleur labeled H and L on Shimano, on Campy they’re on the bottom of the parallelogram) to fix the derailleur in a gear that is in the middle of the cog so that you don't have to ride home in your 12 (or 11, or whatever your smallest cog is). You can still use the front derailleur in this instance.


This is how you repair it:
There's not much to repair. It works or it doesn't. Here is how to adjust it, starting from scratch.
Thread derailleur into hanger.
Stand behind the bike and turn the screw labeled H till the highest (smallest size) cog and the two pulleys are all in a vertical line.
Install chain. The easiest method is to leave the rear derailleur where it is, thread the chain thru it and over the small ring in the front. Cut the chain so that it is the longest it can be without the chain rubbing the front of the rear derailleur cage.
Thread the cable thru. Grab the very end with pliers and pull with a bit of tension, just enough to take the slack out.
Tighten the bolt down on the cable.
Shift to the middle of the cassette.
Stand behind the bike and see how the derailleur lines up with the gear just above it. If it's to the right of that cog turn the barrel adjuster to the left till it lines up. Do this in quarter turn increments
You should be in the ball park at this point. Shift all the way to the lowest gear. Put your thumb on the part of the derailleur that has the model name on it (called the cage) and push. It should not bang against the spokes or go into them! If it does, tighten (turn clockwise) the screw labeled L till it no longer does that while you push with your thumb.
At this point just run thru the gears (up and down) and make adjustments as needed. If it won't shift up (easier gears) turn the barrel adjust counterclockwise (eg the direction it is having trouble shifting). If it won't shift down (harder gears) turn the barrel adjust clockwise (e.g. the direction it is having trouble shifting)

There is a small screw near the derailleur hanger bolt that is called the B tension screw. The best thing to do is screw it all the way in if you have a small cassette (eg 21 or 23 as your top gear), screw it half way if you have a 25 or 26 and screw it all the way out if you have anything bigger.


This is when you should replace it:

Other than a stick or getting caught in a wheel derailleur tend to die a slow death as they get more and more worn which allows play in them. You can wiggle the bottom of the derailleur back and forth to and away from the bike to see how much play there is. There should be virtually none. The more there is, the less precise your shifting is.

These are the misconceptions about it:
That the limit screws have anything to do with shifting. The limit screws simply set the boundaries for how far the derailleur can go. It in no way affects the derailleur as it changes gears.
A quarter turn is the most you should turn the barrel adjuster for any given adjustment. Turn it, try it and repeat. Small changes.

SRAM'S web site http://www.willyoumaketheleap.com has some excellent videos on how to install and set up all of their components. Just click on the "service" tab on the upper right hand of the screen to view the vids.

The "repair and how to" section of Park tools web site has a ton of info as well, but no videos. http://www.parktool.com

I used both sites for repair info when I bulit up my first bike with fantastic results.

Youtube is a gold mine when it comes to bike build up vids as well.

Slowman posted a decent article on chain length recently. Basically, you would want your chain to span the range of gears on your bike. The chain should be probably two links longer than needed to work on the large chainring (outermost) and largest sprocket in the cassette (innermost). It should also be short enough that when you are in the smallest chainring and smallest sprocket in the cassette, there is enough tension on the derailleur cage (the part of the rear derailleur with the two pulleys) to prevent the chain from riding on itself (ie. the cage would be pointing directly back and/or up instead of angled slightly down).

It gets a little more complicated when you are changing wheels or cassettes, with regard to the length of the derailleur cage. There are different derailleur cage lengths which accommodate different gear combinations. Rear derailleur capacity tells you what sort of gearing you can use based on the formula: (teeth of largest chainring - teeth of smallest chainring) + (teeth of largest sprocket - teeth of smallest sprocket). For example if you're running a 53-39 crankset and a 11-23 cassette, you would get (53-39) + (23-11) = 26. I don't remember what the recommended limit for a short cage derailleur, but mine works ok up to (53-39) + (27-12) = 29. The small chainring and smallest sprocket do not work optimally, but I don't use this combo since it is "cross-chaining." The longer the rear derailleur cage, the greater the gear range which is why you usually see medium and long cages on triple cranksets. If you don't know what cross-chaining means, it's a condition where you're either using the large chaining and large sprocket or small chainring and small sprocket. It results in a less than optimal chain line which means the chain is excessively skewed relative to the chainrings/sprockets which will prematurely wear the chain, cassette and chainrings. I hope this helps and that I didn't go wildly out of control. There is a lot to know about chain length and which cassettes can be swapped in or out.

I started by knowing nothing about bikes. This blissful ignorance did not deter me from building bikes (2 road, one tri, starting with the bare frame each time) using Sheldon Brown's website, rec.bicycles.tech, and Lennard Zinn's book. They run, mostly.

Zinn and Sheldon both write well and amusingly, so quite easy to read. Zinn now has one on tri bikes as well, with an entire chapter on how to travel with your bike.

rec.bicycles.tech is a bit superannuated, but searching its archives can find answers to the most recondite of bike questions. Of course you'll have to read critically as there's a lot of unhinged ranting as well; but anyone from slowtwitch.com is used to that ;-)

I've been considering trying to build a bike on my own, just as a learning experience. I guess if I could do it on the cheap I would try.

here's how I went about building the bikes:
frame from ebay or the classifieds here or the roadbikereview classifieds or Chuck's bikes
I got a Trek 2500 frame/fork for $200, a Paramount PDG steel frame/fork for $175 - actually this was an entire bike, but it had been ridden hard and put away wet, so had to be rebuilt.
parts similarly can be had from those sites. Also, keep an eye on the Nashbar sales, everything you need to build a bike will go on sale there at some point in the year. For the last build, reincarnating the Trek as a road bike instead of a tri race bike:
Nashbar:
compact crank $50 and Isis BB $18
1" threaded Modulo stem $10 and lightweight Modulu bars $14
JensonUSA:
105 FD $18, 105 drillium cassette 9sp $28
ebay:
Ultegra RD $20
DuraAce barends 9sp $40
wheels - I've heard nothing but good things about Performance's Titan wheelset, usually $100-150, wait for the sale as usual: or scrounge around in the classifieds etc for the 'handbuilt' wheels already mentioned, typically with Mavic or Velocity rims and Shimano hubs.

If you have time to wait for the deals to show up on sales or ebay, it needn't be expensive at all. Kinda fun if you like tinkering, too.

Thank you Doug! This is great. My husband said he would help me (I'd build it, he'd just help when needed - he's a car guy, so even though he has not built a bike, he's quite capable with tools), and a good friend has built several and said he'd help too. This is so great! I've been thinking about it, I guess I just needed a push and with winter coming and a few more free hours on the weekends, it would be a great project for me to learn from - plus I get a new bike out of it!

Cheryl

Ditch the husband, keep the friend. My experience as a mechanic is that guys who think they are handy are not. I'd say 30-50% of my job was to dig those guys out.

You should definitely try it! I built up my first bike about 5 years ago, and it was such a worthwhile experience! I made tons of (minor) mistakes, it took forever, I had to do a few things two or three times to get it right, but once it was finished, it was great! Now there's very little work I can't do on my bike, given enough time. That first build gave me the confidence that I can maintain my bikes. I remind myself that bikes are simple machines, and if I could maintain an x-ray diffractometer, certainly I can maintain a bike!

I've been thinking about rebuilding my Cervelo RS over the weekend -- I've realized that I'm not a big fan of SRAM (heresy, I know) -- and this thread has inspired me to do it! Thanks, OP!

Give it a go, it's easier than you think.
Single speed or fixed gears are by far and away the easiest type of bike to build.
Tri bikes are next, as the separate gear and brake levers make setup a doddle.
Anything with STI or similar is the hardest, but only because it looks complicated. In reality it is no different to a tri bike.

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"Here's how you run a marathon. Step 1: You start running. Step 2: There is no step 2." - Barney (How I Met Your Mother)

For those that are complete beginners to bike maintenance I suggest you start by learning to wash and lube your bike. It sounds like a pretty basic task but when done correctly it will keep your bike running well for most of the season.
As a shop owner I find that my and my wife's bikes are the last to get serviced, but I do make sure they are cleaned and lube on a regular basis. This is not an ideal maintenance schedule but it keeps our machines running smoothly for most of the season.
The bikes will require the odd small tweak here and there which is what I would suggest you learn next. This is often in the form of a cable tension adjustment of either the brakes or gears. On most bikes this is done by simply turning a barrel adjuster one of two directions.
Both the brakes and gears of your bike operate using cables under tension. Think about an elastic band stretched between your fingers. Turning the barrel adjuster is like moving your fingers closer or farther apart. Once you learn which direction has which effect you can start to tweak your own cable tension.
You can see this quite easily when adjusting your brakes. Begin by turning the barrel adjuster on the brake caliper one direction and watch how the pads move closer or farther away from your rims. That is all there is to tightening your brakes as your cables stretch.
Your gears are a little more complicated and would be better described using pictures. The brakes will get you started though.
Other than that make sure you find an LBS that you trust and take your bike in on a yearly basis for a complete servicing. Not just a basic tune up "A FULL SERVICE".
I hope this helps.

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Owner of Gears and Grinds - Bike/Tri Shop
http://www.gearsandgrinds.com