Tech Tips

Ever find the limit screws of your derailleur or centering screws of your brake hard to adjust with your Phillips (+) screwdriver? If you've ever volunteered at BikeX over the last 28 years, we're confident that's a big "YES!"

At BikeX, we pride ourselves on having the right tool for the job, but sometimes we find we're missing the right tool for an unusual project. Usually, it's because of newer technologies that aren't quite commonplace in our shop. For example, we don't always have the right hydraulic bleed kit for the latest disc brakes, nor all the Campagnolo EPS connection tools. Just last month, we bought our first hydraulic hose cutter and barb driver. But screwdrivers? We have plenty. Twenty-eight years' worth, to be sure. But are they the right ones?

Read more: Bicycle Exchange Tech Tip: JIS Screws and Phillips Screwdrivers - Don't Do It

At the Bicycle Exchange, we end up replacing a lot of tires on our bikes. It's a big portion of the expense in refurbishing the hundreds of bikes we donate each year. We replace tires on kid's bikes, mountain bikes, hybrids, cruisers, vintage 3-speeds and road bikes. At times, we also have to replace wheels as well, to get these bikes rolling again.

Read more: Bicycle Exchange Tech Tip: ETRTO - Three Important Digits and Five Letters in Tire Sizing

Have you found a bike with a set of brifters that just don’t shift like they once did? We have come across countless sets of shifters and brifters (also called trigger shifters, Shimano Rapidfire shifters and Shimano STI shifters) that get stuck and cannot reach the full range of gears at the shop.

Read more: Bicycle Exchange Tech Tip: Freeing up Stuck Shifters / Brifters