To grease or not to grease...
Dear Lennard,
At the risk of re-opening the 'greasing the Campagnolo BB spindle taper'debate, do you recommend greasing the hirth joint teeth on the new CampagnoloUltra-Torque cranks? The instructions are a bit vague on that topic.
NedDear Ned,
According to Campagnolo: “No grease at all. The instructions don'tspeak about it because it's not useful to grease the teeth of the Ultra-Torquecrankset.”
LennardThe sounds of suffering
Dear Lennard,
I own a set of Mavic SL wheels with about 4000 miles on them. Todayfor the first time when I was riding over train tracks, just when I gotover them, I heard this loud screeching noise coming from the wheels whileI was gliding. I stopped thinking I had a flat. When I started again itwas fine. Until about 20 minutes later I was traveling down a hill andwhen I applied the brakes, same thing. It sounds like a bearing to me butwhen I spin the wheels up on the stand they seem fine. How will I knowif I have a bearing problem? They are cartridge bearings by the way.
DavidDear David,
It sounds like your bearings are shot. They just don’t squeal whenthey’re not under load. They are easy to pop out. Push the new ones inwith the old ones tapping on them with a wooden or rubber mallet.
LennardNaked Ti'
Dear Lennard,
You've probably answered this many times before, so feel free to pointme to a reliable resource. I've recently acquired an older Ti frame,my first experience with this material. It has what I think is calleda brushed finish. Many of the decals are cracked and partially missing.I'd like to strip the whole frame and ride it au naturel.What the best way to remove the remaining decals and buff out shallow scratches?Steel wool? Emery cloth/paper? (wet or dry?) Any finish youwould recommend applying afterwards?
BernardDear Bernard,
Remove the decals with solvent, protecting your hands with rubber glovesand wearing a respirator. Lacquer thinner or acetone works. Sand or steelwool the deeper scratches. Buff out the shallow scratches and revitalizethe brushed finish with ScotchBrite pads.
LennardChain issues
Dear Lennard,
I am a huge fan of your “Zinnand The Art of Road Bike Maintenance” book and use it like it ismy bike bible.I have recently upgraded to Shimano compact cranks on my Giant TCR-C3from the TruVativ’s that were on before – for the two fewer teeth on thesmall ring. So my setup now is Shimano Compact in the front witha SRAM pg950 9-speed cassette. I’ve noticed that the smaller innerring is causing some issues when I am in the small ring and the small cassettesprocket.I know that one should never be in this gear – but sometimes I shiftwithout thinking about what ring I am in and end up in this configurationaccidentally. I thought that maybe a 10-speed chain would fix thisbut my local bike shop said that the 9-speed cassette and the 10-speedchain are not compatible…. So here comes the rub – am I already havinga compatibility issue with the “10-speed” Shimano compact cranks and a 9-speed cassette, using a Shimano 9-speed chain?
BobDear Bob,
My guess is you're running up against the chain angle issue rampantwith compacts, namely that the chain hits the big ring when crossed fromthe small ring to the small cog. It’s not because of chain incompatibility.
LennardGears and 29-ers?
Dear Lennard,
I saw a 29-inch wheel bike at a shop, and it looked pretty nifty. Ijust read your article online. Seems like the overall gearing would berather high (by 11 percent?) for a 29-inch mountain bike since the gearratios are designed to work on 26-inch drive trains. Does that bother people?
KhalilDear Khalil,
Strangely enough, it does not seem to. You get more traction with thebigger wheel, so you can maintain grip in a higher gear. And you can ridein a more centered position when riding steep stuff, rather than shiftingyour weight from far back to get traction and then forward to keep thefront wheel down. Maybe that’s why.I ride both wheel sizes frequently, and I find I am in my lowest gearon the same steep climbs around here on my 29er and on my 26er, namely22 X 34, but of course the 727mm wheel diameter of the 29er makes for,indeed, an 11 percent bigger gear than with the 657mm tire diameter ofthe 26er. I keep expecting it to bother me, but it has not yet. I’m notentirely sure why.
I have tried 20-30-42 chainring combos on the 29er, but the chainringsavailable in those sizes do not have shifting ramps nearly as effectiveas, say, Shimano LX, XT or XTR chainrings, and I have so much shiftingtrouble that I never noticed any improvement from the gear ratio – justthe extra hassle. None of my customers buying my 29er bikes have yet complainedabout lacking a low enough gear, and I’ve heard nothing of it from anyother 29er riders, either.Eventually, I imagine larger rear cogs or smaller, effective chainringswill come, if the 29er idea catches on enough.
LennardTweaking that front derailleur
Dear Lennard,
I am writing to you to get the bottom line on the proper alignment of the new Campagnolo Ultra -Drive (champagne colored) front derailleur.

I am talking double here and with 53/39 rings and 12/25 in back.First off, I have the height dialed in and (this is a clamp-on) its difficult to make micro adjustments in angle without affecting the height but definitely doable. I try and get the inside cage to be parallel to the big-ring and still keep the "penny distance." In your experience do Campagnolo front derailleurs work better with the tail slightly out away from the frame, or slightly in? And what actually stops an over-shift (overthe big-ring), is it the front of the outer cage or a little further back on the outer cage?

I am asking because it appears that the new carbon cranks have less clearance to the derailleur as the alloy ones. So when I have the tail of the cage out just a hair more the crank arm comes too close for comfort with the limit screw set to its tightest. But when I bring it in to more parallel the shifting isn't as crisp but may be better for protecting an over-shift.What is the secret here? Tail in or tail out or parallel lookingfrom above? Or maybe its best to gauge from the outer cage platelooking for the 1mm parallel to the chain on the big-ring like Campagnolo asksfor. I mean away from what Campagnolo actually puts in the instructions. What'sbeen your experience?Well, I think you get the gist of my inquiry. Just a bit frustrated.And just so you know I have tried these adjustments with and withoutdrinking espresso beforehand.
PeteDear Pete,
I'm a bit baffled, because I have no problems with them. I just linethem up parallel and find they work great on compact or standard double.I don't ever find it necessary to rotate it tail in or tail out. On mountainbike front derailleurs, paralleling the chin in high gear (slightly tailout) often improves shifting and prevents over-shift, but I’ve never seenit necessary with Campagnolo.
Lennard

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Technical writer Lennard Zinn is a frame builder (www.zinncycles.com), a former U.S. national team rider and author of several books on bikes and bike maintenance including the pair of successful maintenance guides " Zinn & the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance" and "Zinn & the Art of Road Bike Maintenance."Zinn's regular column is devoted to addressing readers' technical questions about bikes, their care and feeding and how we as riders can use them as comfortably and efficiently as possible. Readers can send brief technical questions directly to Zinn. Zinn’s column appears here each Tuesday.