Thread To Tell Everyone What Fettling You've Just Done

wolfsbane2k

Unbox & Build a bike maintenance stand at work, followed by using said stand to hold bike while I tried work out why I was struggling to drop down on the crankset after fixing a visitation from the PF.

The FD just doesn't want to return to it's resting place, even with the cable released. Must be something caught in the mech, ran out of time to fix that so the ride home is in 1x10 gearing - that's going to hurt.

UndercoverElephant

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Unbox & Build a bike maintenance stand at work, followed by using said stand to hold bike while I tried work out why I was struggling to drop down on the crankset after fixing a visitation from the PF.

The FD just doesn't want to return to it's resting place, even with the cable released. Must be something caught in the mech, ran out of time to fix that so the ride home is in 1x10 gearing - that's going to hurt.

I think the most technical way of putting this is: WD40 the shite out of it.

imatfaal

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Unbox & Build a bike maintenance stand at work, followed by using said stand to hold bike while I tried work out why I was struggling to drop down on the crankset after fixing a visitation from the PF.

The FD just doesn't want to return to it's resting place, even with the cable released. Must be something caught in the mech, ran out of time to fix that so the ride home is in 1x10 gearing - that's going to hurt.

I think the most technical way of putting this is: WD40 the shite out of it.

exactly - the second wing of the engineers maxim

if it moves and it shouldn't - duct tape
if it should move and it doesn't - wd40

itboffin

never forget the if neither of those work, bash it bash it hard

UndercoverElephant

itboffin wrote:

never forget the if neither of those work, bash it bash it hard

But don't force it - get a bigger hammer.

tgotb

Sorted out 3 sets of CX shoes with seized cleat bolts (1 pair) and studs (2 pairs):
- Soaked liberally with WD40 (above conversation reminded me) over the course of a week
- All but one cleat bolt came free; rounded off hole in remaining bolt sufficiently that even the "bang in a Torx key" method wouldn't work
- Used drill press to drill a 3mm pilot hole down the centre of the bolt
- Freed and removed bolt using screw extractor
- Fitted new cleats with lashings of copper grease to avoid a recurrence
- Unscrewed two studs; remaining 6 broke off flush with the sole
- Another couple of hours with the drill press and screw extractor, bit of swearing
- New studs fitted with more copper grease :-)

First job for this weekend is to see what state the actual bikes are in :oops:

itboffin

UndercoverElephant wrote:

itboffin wrote:

never forget the if neither of those work, bash it bash it hard

But don't force it - get a bigger hammer.

a couple of weeks ago i spent 2 hours trying to get the chain on my chainsaw in the end i chopped it into little bits with an axe, in hindsight not one of the wisest decisions but very satisfying at the time

:roll:

secretsam

drlodge wrote:

fitted the Potenza 11-32 cassette with Road Fairy link and new chain to extend it. Should be just the job for Mont Ventoux in a few weeks

Tell me more. 32 on a standard Campagnolo mech? "Fairy link"??

oldbazza

Ridley Icarus prepped ready for future sale,Planet X XLS partly done for the same.

Zondas off the Ridley now on other half's Liv with new cassette;still have to fit 11-spd chain and 50-34 chainrings though.

Deda superleggera bars and longer superzero stem fitted on to Helium,couldn't be arsed(and didn't have time)to route the cables through the bars though so doesn't look as good as it should;will probably do it when I get the C-Bear bb fitted.

oldbazza

oldbazza wrote:

Ridley Icarus prepped ready for future sale,Planet X XLS partly done for the same.

Zondas off the Ridley now on other half's Liv with new cassette;still have to fit 11-spd chain and 50-34 chainrings though.

Deda superleggera bars and longer superzero stem fitted on to Helium,couldn't be arsed(and didn't have time)to route the cables through the bars though so doesn't look as good as it should;will probably do it when I get the C-Bear bb fitted.

jgsi

Very Old Wheel re laced as every spoke nipple seized and owner had foobarred to a very great extent... a favour done as he excepts in lieu of petrol money to races.
Wheel good for about 2567kms before the brake track explodes

MisterMuncher

Transferred tyres from new wheels to old, as new are going back to superstar for repair (slack spokes and general weakness). Either Schwalbe make slightly bigger tyres now, or my technique has got better, but got them moved over with minimal cursing and without spilling any sealant out at all. Pacenti Sl23 are still rather tricky to mount a tyre on.

Whilst taking the cassette off the new wheels, my park lock ring remover split cleanly in two, though. Still functional, but I was very annoyed.

Thick Mike

Changed the gearing on my Giant TCX. 46/36 and 11-28 was just too stiff for me on the steeper hills in the Chilterns (especially off road). So I changed out the 36t for a 34t chainring and put a 11-32 on the back which meant a long cage Ultegra derailleur too.

Just taken it out for a quick spin and it's much better up the steep stuff. I have a bail out gear or two to spare now.

wolfsbane2k

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Wolfsbane2k wrote:

Unbox & Build a bike maintenance stand at work, followed by using said stand to hold bike while I tried work out why I was struggling to drop down on the crankset after fixing a visitation from the PF.

The FD just doesn't want to return to it's resting place, even with the cable released. Must be something caught in the mech, ran out of time to fix that so the ride home is in 1x10 gearing - that's going to hurt.

I think the most technical way of putting this is: WD40 the shite out of it.

Yep! Soaked the crap out of it tonght, letting that all work in.

Lolling at all the WD40/Hammer/Duct tape statements. Couldn't agree more.

veronese68

My old turntable started making a noise, the plate was hitting the spindle of the motor. Thought it was probably out of warranty at about 30 years old so decided to investigate myself. A plastic cap supporting the main spindle had failed allowing it to drop. Fixed it with the bracket off an SKS mudguard screwed on to support it. So bicycle related fettling done.

asprilla

Been having wobbly fork issues with the Fuji on since I cut down the steerer. Decided it was about 2mm too long so it wasn't pre-loading correctly.

Rather than cut again I put on the dust kit on and took the detail sander to it with fine grit. 5 minutes and it looks perfect. Reassembled and its solid as a rock.

Wanted to take advantage of the fine weather to strip and clean the CX, which is filthy. Used the weather to drink cider by the river instead.

veronese68

Asprilla wrote:

Wanted to take advantage of the fine weather to strip and clean the CX, which is filthy. Used the weather to drink cider by the river instead.

Wise move, it's going to be cold next week as it is. Don't need you aggravating the rain gods as well.

keyser__soze

First ride in about a month the other day as my wife had a day off and took over baby care for three hours so I could get out, so I naturally spent one of those hours faffing with the bike. Headset's always been a bit loose so check it and lower bearing is shot. Ride out anyway, take a look at it this morning and as I take the fork out the lower bearing is stuck to it . Try to pull it off and it pretty much explodes, sending ball bearings everywhere. Can't find the exact bearing type anywhere to replace like with like. The last time the LBS changed the headset and they replaced the Ritchey one with a BBB which google suggests has different internal bearing angles (36 vs 45) but I don't think they changed the crown race which seems to be 45 (tho difficult to tell) which could explain the ongoing slight play unless the headset was tightened too tight to let it rotate without a fair bit of force. Ordered a new Ritchey WCS lower complete housing/bearing and a headset cup remover as I'm not sure they changed the cups over either. Now to remove the crown race so I can be sure to have a correct one on there but it seems pretty stuck on there and a quick go with a sharp blade hasn't managed to lift it one nanometre.

tgotb

Veronese68 wrote:

Asprilla wrote:

Wanted to take advantage of the fine weather to strip and clean the CX, which is filthy. Used the weather to drink cider by the river instead.

Wise move, it's going to be cold next week as it is. Don't need you aggravating the rain gods as well.

Sorry, that was me. Stripped and cleaned both CX bikes on Sunday; between the two of them there were just about enough bits to assemble into one good bike. Spent the next half hour ordering bearings, cables, pedals, jockey wheels, brake pads, bar tape etc.

Had to swap Junior's road bike over from Keos to SPDs, for cycling proficiency week at school. Despite her classmates presumably all turning up on Halfords BSOs, her CX bike apparently has insufficient pose value...

pastryboy

Fork steerer cut. Looks bang on and a whopping 11g saved.

Man Of Lard

On the Turbo bike: new cassette & chain - bit of penetrating lubricant in the front & rear derailleur mechanisms and in a certain (ok, pitch black) light it all looks showroom again (apart from the fact it's a 7 year old mountain bike with 4½ years of a heavy lump pedalling it hard, often carelessly)

veronese68

Spent some time dicking about with wheels yesterday. Fitted the new wheels I'd built up for the MTB, very pleased with how they turned out. The wheels that were on it have now been fitted to the Kinesis. Used the same hubs as they have interchangeable end caps so front can be swapped between 15mm for the MTB and quick release. Front wheel wouldn't turn when fitted to the Kinesis. Thought the disc may have move a fraction so re-aligned it, wheel still wouldn't turn. Couldn't see anything else wrong. Undid the QR and it turned. Turns out the QR end caps supplied 2 years ago are a slightly different depth to the ones supplied now. Fitted the 2 year old end caps and it works a treat. Irritating but all sorted now.

rhodrich

Gave the Carlton its AGF (Annual General Fettle) over the weekend, to bring it back up to standard following the winter and badger crash.

Replaced headset: previous one was indexed, and on removing it, I found that someone had bodged in a JIS one rather than an ISO one - the crown race had been shimmed with a coke can. Used a spare headset that I pulled off the Mercian, which was replaced on the Mercian as it was black, and I wanted chrome.

Replaced front and rear brakes. GB Coureur brakes look nice, but they have the durability of cheese. I could never get the front one to tighten up properly. I'm pretty sure the badger collision caused one of the arms to bend when the pringled wheel went round too. Brakes replaced by Weinmann 730's from the spares box. I don't like them, but they do the job. Will look out for something a bit nicer in due course.

Chain replaced.

Rear cog replaced. Cheap chrome ones are false economy. They don't last. Replacement is a quality Villiers one from Ripley Cycle Jumble that cost £2.50

'New' wheelset built to replace the badger destroyed front and spoke snapping rear. Picked up some Ambrosio 'Mr Martin' rims from the Ripley Cycle jumble on Saturday for £20, in near perfect condition. Used a spare set of spokes that I had kicking about that are from a pair of wheels that I stripped for the rims for the Mercian. They're about 1mm too long, but seem to tighten up OK, and you don't see the spoke sticking out of the nipples once the rim tape is on. Re-used existing hubs which were fine.

Replaced wheel wingnuts that had been broken by the phantom bike toppler from my work garage. £5 for the set from Ripley. Job done.

Bike seems to ride so much better this morning on decent wheels with a decent headset, and decent brakes. No doubt by this time next year, it'll all be trashed again......

keyser__soze

Managed to get the crown race off, new bearing in and tightened back up but fork was rubbing before the steerer cap bolt was remotely tight. Changed the lower headset cup which prised out of the headtube easily enough - I was worried it was epoxied in there but fortunately not, and binding went away. Rode it for the first time today and it felt like a brand new bike, can't believe the difference it's made. The old bearing had pretty much totally disintegrated mind, so not really surprising there was a difference. Now I know the cups, crown race and bearing dimensions I'll be able to simply replace just the bearings next time.

Also resurrected my dead Garmin 800 with a replacement rear cover/battery pack from ebay for something like £10 from China - the charging was dodgy before and it wouldn't connect to a PC but after not having used it for a month it'd totally packed up. The new rear cover is for a touring version but other than colour identical to the regular 800 back. Saved a packet there.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

By some miracle, I managed to get both Time ATAC XS Carbon pedals off the Felt, fitted ~11 years ago... Without swearing or losing any skin! :shock:

They've now gone on the new bike that arrived earlier, which has had its vital hex bolt torques double-checked and the seatpost/headset/bars adjusted.

... Going to let the rush hour traffic die down and go for a test ride, I feel a bit like a kid at Xmas time!

ugo.santalucia

Rhodrich wrote:

Gave the Carlton its AGF (Annual General Fettle) over the weekend, to bring it back up to standard following the winter and badger crash.

Replaced headset: previous one was indexed, and on removing it, I found that someone had bodged in a JIS one rather than an ISO one - the crown race had been shimmed with a coke can. Used a spare headset that I pulled off the Mercian, which was replaced on the Mercian as it was black, and I wanted chrome.

Replaced front and rear brakes. GB Coureur brakes look nice, but they have the durability of cheese. I could never get the front one to tighten up properly. I'm pretty sure the badger collision caused one of the arms to bend when the pringled wheel went round too. Brakes replaced by Weinmann 730's from the spares box. I don't like them, but they do the job. Will look out for something a bit nicer in due course.

Chain replaced.

Rear cog replaced. Cheap chrome ones are false economy. They don't last. Replacement is a quality Villiers one from Ripley Cycle Jumble that cost £2.50

'New' wheelset built to replace the badger destroyed front and spoke snapping rear. Picked up some Ambrosio 'Mr Martin' rims from the Ripley Cycle jumble on Saturday for £20, in near perfect condition. Used a spare set of spokes that I had kicking about that are from a pair of wheels that I stripped for the rims for the Mercian. They're about 1mm too long, but seem to tighten up OK, and you don't see the spoke sticking out of the nipples once the rim tape is on. Re-used existing hubs which were fine.

Replaced wheel wingnuts that had been broken by the phantom bike toppler from my work garage. £5 for the set from Ripley. Job done.

Bike seems to ride so much better this morning on decent wheels with a decent headset, and decent brakes. No doubt by this time next year, it'll all be trashed again......

You don't happen to need a Campagnolo rear hub for 120 mm dropouts and freewheel? They are quite rare, but it seems to generate little interest on Ebay, for some reason... normally people fight for any vintage bit with a Campagnolo logo

rhodrich

ugo.santalucia wrote:

You don't happen to need a Campagnolo rear hub for 120 mm dropouts and freewheel? They are quite rare, but it seems to generate little interest on Ebay, for some reason... normally people fight for any vintage bit with a Campagnolo logo

I do actually have a QR 36H large flange Campag Record front hub in my spares box that's looking for a friend. That said, I don't have any bikes with 120mm rear spacing I'm afraid. Now if it could be re-spaced to 126mm......

milemuncher1

I finally got round to sorting out the new rear wheel on my old MX Comp. The brake disc came off without a fight, and fitted the new hub perfectly. The Cassette on the old freehub has still got loads of life left in it, so that's a bonus. The Mavic Cross One 29'er wheel and freehub fits straight on, with no adaptors required, but I forgot how tough Schwalbe M+ tyres can be, and wrecked the inner tube in the attemp. Oh well, try again.

MrSweary

Pulled the Paddy Wagon apart at the weekend. Headset dismantled, cleaned and re-greased but ideally it needs replacing for which the tools are on order (!). Fitted new brakes (Shimano r650) and callipers then decided I actually wanted some narrower bars so stopped there. Removed cranks and upon taking off the chainring to give it a proper clean a bolt head sheared off (metal fatigue) which clarified my thinking re entirely replacing the crankset. Current one is an FSA Gossamer and properly battered. Will probably go for a Miche Primato and will replace the BB at the same time although original still seems solid (RPM 7420). Finally, tried again to get the freewheel off without luck. LBS awaits.

Also - fitted new derailleur hanger on the Kinesis, re-cabled and indexed and now silent again.

Very satisfying weekends work. Next weekend time to get the 'wagon back on the road.

hopkinb

New bottom bracket, cassette, chain, indexed rear shifting. Good old clean and grease of everything else. New front brake pads. Wondering whether I need new chainrings. Ditto new gear cables. Hydraulics seem fine, though they've never been bled. Bike maintenance is never ending once you start....