Thread To Tell Everyone What Fettling You've Just Done

drhaggis

Cleaned the bike, fit the new Aksiums, with a new Michelin Pro4 Endurance v2 on the rear. Tightened the headset, as it was oh so slightly loose, while loosened the seatclamp screws (one of them what scarily tight!), and made sure the post could still be moved.

Good. Now, it'll all get undone by the salt, grit and weather from monday morning.

prawny

I finally got round to putting the rotors on that came with my HyRds last year. I was using the old 140mm disc that came with my Tenet but the Hack is supposed to be 160mm anyway, probably because it weighs a tonne.

Happy benefit along with better braking is that I can now hot swap between my everyday wheels and a pair fitted with Conti Nordic Spikes. Might come in handy this week...

prawny

I finally got round to putting the rotors on that came with my HyRds last year. I was using the old 140mm disc that came with my Tenet but the Hack is supposed to be 160mm anyway, probably because it weighs a tonne.

Happy benefit along with better braking is that I can now hot swap between my everyday wheels and a pair fitted with Conti Nordic Spikes. Might come in handy this week...

roger_merriman

Some minor fettling to the old commute bike, it had eaten its brake pads though I suppose 2500 miles isn’t bad! And tighten up various bolts which I seem to,be going though at a rate of knots at moment combination of miles, and age seem to be killing bolts!

I also noticed the inner tube valve had snapped oddly still inflated, so I swapped that out.

rhodrich

Fitted new tyres to the Carlton. The old Schwalbe Duranos had done over 7000 miles, and were full of cuts, whilst the rear one was fully squared off. A visit from the PF last night was the final straw, with a 5mm cut in the rear tyre leading to a nice bulge in the tread.

New tyres are Continental Grand Prix, in 28c flavour that I got given for being a Ride Safety Captain in the Ride London last year. Not sure how suitable they are for commuting, but can't argue with free

rower63

Rhodrich wrote:

Fitted new tyres to the Carlton. The old Schwalbe Duranos had done over 7000 miles, and were full of cuts, whilst the rear one was fully squared off. A visit from the PF last night was the final straw, with a 5mm cut in the rear tyre leading to a nice bulge in the tread.
New tyres are Continental Grand Prix, in 28c flavour that I got given for being a Ride Safety Captain in the Ride London last year. Not sure how suitable they are for commuting, but can't argue with free

My rear Durano Plus is at 7118 miles (1630 wet), and also squared off with multiple "gapers" - it's only a matter of time before a lucky shard finds its way directly into one of those. I'll probably replace tonight. The front though I expect to last a lot longer, the last one I replaced at over 17k miles.

tgotb

rower63 wrote:

Rhodrich wrote:

Fitted new tyres to the Carlton. The old Schwalbe Duranos had done over 7000 miles, and were full of cuts, whilst the rear one was fully squared off. A visit from the PF last night was the final straw, with a 5mm cut in the rear tyre leading to a nice bulge in the tread.
New tyres are Continental Grand Prix, in 28c flavour that I got given for being a Ride Safety Captain in the Ride London last year. Not sure how suitable they are for commuting, but can't argue with free

My rear Durano Plus is at 7118 miles (1630 wet), and also squared off with multiple "gapers" - it's only a matter of time before a lucky shard finds its way directly into one of those. I'll probably replace tonight. The front though I expect to last a lot longer, the last one I replaced at over 17k miles.

Why not rotate the used front onto the back, and put the new tyre on the front? That way, you always have the better tyre on the front...

rhodrich

TGOTB wrote:

rower63 wrote:

Rhodrich wrote:

Fitted new tyres to the Carlton. The old Schwalbe Duranos had done over 7000 miles, and were full of cuts, whilst the rear one was fully squared off. A visit from the PF last night was the final straw, with a 5mm cut in the rear tyre leading to a nice bulge in the tread.
New tyres are Continental Grand Prix, in 28c flavour that I got given for being a Ride Safety Captain in the Ride London last year. Not sure how suitable they are for commuting, but can't argue with free

My rear Durano Plus is at 7118 miles (1630 wet), and also squared off with multiple "gapers" - it's only a matter of time before a lucky shard finds its way directly into one of those. I'll probably replace tonight. The front though I expect to last a lot longer, the last one I replaced at over 17k miles.

Why not rotate the used front onto the back, and put the new tyre on the front? That way, you always have the better tyre on the front...

I generally find that the front tyre lasts about the same time as the back. It may not get so worn down as the back, but the 'death by 1000 cuts' happens at the same rate as the rear. My front tyre had a slightly worrying bulge in it from a cut, so I changed it at the same time, despite the tread wear indicators still being visible.

I do have a spare 'Lifeline Essential Commuter' tyre that I was planning on trying out, and I'm tempted to fit it to the rear. That said, life's too short for dead feeling ultra puncture resistant tyres. The odd visit from the fairy (on average every couple of months or so) is not the end of the world.

rower63

TGOTB wrote:

rower63 wrote:

Rhodrich wrote:

Fitted new tyres to the Carlton. The old Schwalbe Duranos had done over 7000 miles, and were full of cuts, whilst the rear one was fully squared off. A visit from the PF last night was the final straw, with a 5mm cut in the rear tyre leading to a nice bulge in the tread.
New tyres are Continental Grand Prix, in 28c flavour that I got given for being a Ride Safety Captain in the Ride London last year. Not sure how suitable they are for commuting, but can't argue with free

My rear Durano Plus is at 7118 miles (1630 wet), and also squared off with multiple "gapers" - it's only a matter of time before a lucky shard finds its way directly into one of those. I'll probably replace tonight. The front though I expect to last a lot longer, the last one I replaced at over 17k miles.

Why not rotate the used front onto the back, and put the new tyre on the front? That way, you always have the better tyre on the front...

I could do, but I only ever get punctures in my rear and I like the feeling of starting off a puncture-prone tyre in absolutely pristine condition; also the front even though it's done 3728 miles has only recently shed the last of its sprue

rhodrich

rower63 wrote:

I could do, but I only ever get punctures in my rear and I like the feeling of starting off a puncture-prone tyre in absolutely pristine condition; also the front even though it's done 3728 miles has only recently shed the last of its sprue

Sprue... nice word! I just had to look it up. Who'd have thought that the 'hair' you get on new tyres has a name......

veronese68

Only a man as obsessive as Rower would know that word, must try to remember it.

roger_merriman

Rhodrich wrote:

TGOTB wrote:

rower63 wrote:

Rhodrich wrote:

Fitted new tyres to the Carlton. The old Schwalbe Duranos had done over 7000 miles, and were full of cuts, whilst the rear one was fully squared off. A visit from the PF last night was the final straw, with a 5mm cut in the rear tyre leading to a nice bulge in the tread.
New tyres are Continental Grand Prix, in 28c flavour that I got given for being a Ride Safety Captain in the Ride London last year. Not sure how suitable they are for commuting, but can't argue with free

My rear Durano Plus is at 7118 miles (1630 wet), and also squared off with multiple "gapers" - it's only a matter of time before a lucky shard finds its way directly into one of those. I'll probably replace tonight. The front though I expect to last a lot longer, the last one I replaced at over 17k miles.

Why not rotate the used front onto the back, and put the new tyre on the front? That way, you always have the better tyre on the front...

I generally find that the front tyre lasts about the same time as the back. It may not get so worn down as the back, but the 'death by 1000 cuts' happens at the same rate as the rear. My front tyre had a slightly worrying bulge in it from a cut, so I changed it at the same time, despite the tread wear indicators still being visible.

I do have a spare 'Lifeline Essential Commuter' tyre that I was planning on trying out, and I'm tempted to fit it to the rear. That said, life's too short for dead feeling ultra puncture resistant tyres. The odd visit from the fairy (on average every couple of months or so) is not the end of the world.

Used to find that as well, that the front might not wear as fast but it still took slashes etc, my previous commute was across Bushy Park so tarmac and gravel paths which seemed to knackered them by 2000 miles.

Since I'm now rumbling up to the wastelands of Heathrow, which has a liberal spray of broken glass, i've resigned myself. to the marathon pluses, though Tour versions which with just under 2000 miles look pristine. so hopefully will soak up the miles.

tgotb

Veronese68 wrote:

Only a man as obsessive as Rower would know that word, must try to remember it.

Did you not make Airfix models as a kid?

rower63

TGOTB wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Only a man as obsessive as Rower would know that word, must try to remember it.

Did you not make Airfix models as a kid?

My dad was/is a manufacturing jeweller, so there was a lot of casting (and hence sprues) going on throughout my formative years. And fairly predictably I was also well into Airfix, Tamiya etc models as well...

Being into vintage cars, their repairs and spares I'm surprised you haven't come across it before V68

itboffin

turbo bike fettling for me this weekend, replaced the totally worn to the canvas rear vittoria CX for a schwalbe ZX bad move as it squeaked loads so replaced it with a rubino pro III, during the process i punctured the innertube the snapped gear cable head off in the shifter, which took an hour to fish out, i had to remove the shifter and bar tape then couldnt get the shifter body reattached to the band, Q another hour wasted.

Seriously WTAF

veronese68

rower63 wrote:

Being into vintage cars, their repairs and spares I'm surprised you haven't come across it before V68

No, never come across sprue. I don't get involved in the manufacturing and sourcing much so it may be thatI've just missed it. Did loads of Airfix models and that as well, but don't remember having a name for the annoying plastic tags. Unless I managed to stab myself in the finger with one of course.

elbowloh

I studied mechanical engineering at Uni so i'm sprued up.

greenamex2

Swapped the Marathon Winters over to Marathon Mondials...that is a kilo saved!

and noted how crunchy the wheel bearings are. Just looked up the diagram...NO SEALS!

and the wheels are really heavy.

Hmm. A cunning plan is forrming.

Jimny14

Just pumped up tyres and tweaked saddle position again. I swear one day I'll find my confident comfortable saddle position. Its helping that I'm riding 5 days a week these days.

Sportiveman

Properly adjusted my hubs with my new cone spanner’s can now ride it if it doesn’t rain at the weekend.

greenamex2

Not quite fettling but...

After six months of scouring special offers and sales, numerous installation issues and parts compatibility problems...

Bike finally upgraded to Di2


Not totally happy with the fine tuning of the front derailleur, got it working better but will be testing/getting used to it over the next week.

Already had to "turn it off and on again" once, it seems a bit susceptible to applications not being closed completely before moving on to the next one.
Integration with the Garmin 520 is pretty neat. My dashboard now includes front and rear gear positions, battery level and shift mode. I can also control the Garmin with the extra shifter buttons. When you do anything on the Di2, a message pops on the Garmin.
I have it set up as sequential, flick left lever for a lower gear, flick right lever a higher gear...the system just sorts out which derailleur goes where. Should work well with winter gloves and when my nervous system system decides to pack up in my hands.

Looking forward to not causing myself pain trying to shift the front derailleur!

mtb-idle

So last weekend saw me manage to fall off my bike and bust the rear mech hanger (but fortunately not the mech) and totally total (is that a valid phrase) my rear wheel, a Mavix Ksyrium Elite.

I picked up a second hand pair of Fulcrum Racing Quattro LG alu wheels second hand for sixty quid during the week and a new hanger and after a good clean and degrease (it's amazing how bad the bike looks after a few winter rides) plus new rubber (Continental GP4000sii's) in 28mm for the forthcoming RVV/Flanders sportive at the end of the month and I'm feeling a lot better now.

As someone once said on here (before), I feel I use too many brackets...

asprilla

Brakes burped, 40mm WTB Nanos on, Ritchey SPD pedals on and a change of bar tape. Tomorrow's off road commute attempt is on.



Very excited.

greenamex2

greenamex2 wrote:

Not quite fettling but...

After six months of scouring special offers and sales, numerous installation issues and parts compatibility problems...

Bike finally upgraded to Di2


Not totally happy with the fine tuning of the front derailleur, got it working better but will be testing/getting used to it over the next week.

Already had to "turn it off and on again" once, it seems a bit susceptible to applications not being closed completely before moving on to the next one.
Integration with the Garmin 520 is pretty neat. My dashboard now includes front and rear gear positions, battery level and shift mode. I can also control the Garmin with the extra shifter buttons. When you do anything on the Di2, a message pops on the Garmin.
I have it set up as sequential, flick left lever for a lower gear, flick right lever a higher gear...the system just sorts out which derailleur goes where. Should work well with winter gloves and when my nervous system system decides to pack up in my hands.

Looking forward to not causing myself pain trying to shift the front derailleur!

Rode it properly today. Di2 is absolutely awesome. Not really worth the money to replace a good working mechanical setup, but if buying a new bike or replacing/upgrading and you can bag some bargains, worth considering.

Just need Shimano to bring out a "105" version to make the cost more reasonable!

secretsam

London bike had an acute chain separation incident last week, so new chain, plus new rear brake cable and tyres. Plus a good wash

bikegangster

Bought a terminal or connector block from the electrical side of Halfords. The holes are bigger than 3mm which is exactly what I need. Perfect. My mudguards are sliding down the stays so I use the brass parts from the terminal block and use them to hold up the mudguard so it can't touch the wheel anymore. Get out your screwdriver and tighten it. There. I discarded the outside plastic part of the terminal block as I don't need them anymore.

The mudguard themselves can't hold itself to the stays because the thread inside the holes were made of plastic and its rubbish. Its so easy to ruin the thread. The guards are called Giant Speed Shields.

greenamex2

Uprated my seatpost to a better carbon one, saved 45 grams! More importantly, bike notably better over the bumpy bits.

Fitted my old carbon one to the daughters hybrid, saved 75 grams! And drew up plans to fit my old wheels to her bike, should save her over a half a kilo with tubeless tyres.

milemuncher1

Replaced the Avid Elixir brake pads on the MX Comp. I decided to go for O.E.M. numbers. The best part of 30 quid for the pair :shock:. There’s another good reason to not go for a disc braked road bike, IMO.

veronese68

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Replaced the Avid Elixir brake pads on the MX Comp. I decided to go for O.E.M. numbers. The best part of 30 quid for the pair :shock:. There’s another good reason to not go for a disc braked road bike, IMO.

What is it they say about a fool and his money?
Retail is £22, CRC and Wiggle have them for £14.99 and you can get pattern ones for less than half that. You don't like discs on road bikes because you are too inept to fix a puncture at the roadside on a disc braked road bike, we get that. :roll:

redvee

BikeGangster wrote:

Bought a terminal or connector block from the electrical side of Halfords. The holes are bigger than 3mm which is exactly what I need. Perfect. My mudguards are sliding down the stays so I use the brass parts from the terminal block and use them to hold up the mudguard so it can't touch the wheel anymore. Get out your screwdriver and tighten it. There. I discarded the outside plastic part of the terminal block as I don't need them anymore.

The mudguard themselves can't hold itself to the stays because the thread inside the holes were made of plastic and its rubbish. Its so easy to ruin the thread. The guards are called Giant Speed Shields.

In a similar style I use a 3 amp connector in my locker in work as I wanted to thread a cable through the vent holes to hang pens etc from in the door and didn't want to damage the door.