What Have You Fettled Today?

[Greasy Gilbert]

Fitted a pair of Marathons this morning. Is it just me, or is there something strangely satisfying about the noise thats made when the last bit of tyre plops over the rim?

 

[Punkawallah]

I've got a bike in the stand with centre pull brakes which is a nice change and something of a learning experience.

A third hand helps ;-)
I have Weinmann centre pull brakes on my Galaxy. Get them as close to the rim as possible before tightening the cable securing screw, and leave yourself plenty of play on the adjustment screw.
Good luck!

 

[Andy in Germany]

A third hand helps ;-)
I have Weinmann centre pull brakes on my Galaxy. Get them as close to the rim as possible before tightening the cable securing screw, and leave yourself plenty of play on the adjustment screw.
Good luck!

Thanks @Punkawallah; I'm trying to deal with Weinmann brakes as well. I've spent much of the day off and on trying to get them to work as I wanted, but I'm doing this as a learning exercise as we have several bikes with side and centre pull brakes so I want to get proficient in their maintenance.
I see the point on the Third Hand and I'll probably order one for this type of brake. As I didn't have one today I had to improvise, so I borrowed a clamp from the wood workshop and clamped the brakes to the wheels before I fastened the cable bolt. I still had to wind up the tensioning bolt a lot on the rear brake but I think that's also because of the long cable and continuous outside. I think I can safely trim off another five centimetres when I resume maintenance next week.
I like the Weinmann brakes though: they look smarter than V's and seem to work fairly well.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Fitted a pair of Marathons this morning. Is it just me, or is there something strangely satisfying about the noise thats made when the last bit of tyre plops over the rim?

Indeed. It's even more satisfying when demonstrating to a client who was clearly convinced I'd need a tyre lever; it has happened several times over the last year.

 

[Punkawallah]

Thanks @Punkawallah; I'm trying to deal with Weinmann brakes as well. I've spent much of the day off and on trying to get them to work as I wanted, but I'm doing this as a learning exercise as we have several bikes with side and centre pull brakes so I want to get proficient in their maintenance.
I see the point on the Third Hand and I'll probably order one for this type of brake. As I didn't have one today I had to improvise, so I borrowed a clamp from the wood workshop and clamped the brakes to the wheels before I fastened the cable bolt. I still had to wind up the tensioning bolt a lot on the rear brake but I think that's also because of the long cable and continuous outside. I think I can safely trim off another five centimetres when I resume maintenance next week.
I like the Weinmann brakes though: they look smarter than V's and seem to work fairly well.

Now that you know the amount of adjustment screw you need, try shortening the cable at the securing screw by the same amount. You will need the work from a ‘base line’ adjustment screw again.
I don’t know about their braking performance compared to others, but I’ve replaced the original ‘road’ block with ‘mountain bike’ blocks for better stopping when loaded.

 

[DCLane]

The Viner Mitus I've been using as a winter bike has brake hoods that are well past their best. This evening it got new lime green brake hoods to match the paintwork; warmed them first, then on with hand sanitiser (rubbing alcohol) lubricating the inside. Both went on nicely, even with the levers and cables in situ.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Fully charged battery back in car. Here’s hoping MOT this afternoon goes well.

Yay, car passed MOT with no advisories. Not bad for a 14 year old car.

 

[DCLane]

Yay, car passed MOT with no advisories. Not bad for a 14 year old car.

SWMBO's Honda Jazz passed as well. That's also 14 years old. Nothing's ever gone wrong with it, despite her driving like Miss Daisy and treating it like a personal pigsty.

The only minor advisories were for misted headlamp lenses and the garage dealt with those quickly.

 

[Jenkins]

New brake pads front & read for the main commuter. I was hoping that the old ones would last another couple of months until commuting duties finish, but the pad holders were getting very close to the rims. The rear tyre has a visibly squared off profile and both rims a very concave shape, but these should last until March when they will get replaced.

 

[Gunk]

SWMBO's Honda Jazz passed as well. That's also 14 years old. Nothing's ever gone wrong with it, despite her driving like Miss Daisy and treating it like a personal pigsty.

The only minor advisories were for misted headlamp lenses and the garage dealt with those quickly.

nothing will go wrong with a Jazz, it’s a Honda!

 

[HLaB]

First fettle was a failure, the shifter on my commuter / winter bike failed. I stripped back the bar tape and got into the shifter and removed the side plate. I didn't see anything obvious stopping the ratchet from rotating down.

I found a spare shifter but decided the quickest way to get prepped for tomorrow's ride was to prep the summer bike. I changed the carbon wheels out and transferred the cassette to the winter aluminium wheels. That necessitated changing the brake blocks. The wheels are also tubeless and really they need the old sealant cleaned out but they were still seated so I topped them up instead.

Hopefully that'll see me by for a few rides whilst I put the commuter into the shop. Although it desperately needs new bar tape. Most folk sit on my wheel usually but I doubt they'll want to tomorrow. I never had time to dig out the QR eyelets for guards. It might spur me to rebuild the ti Kinesis. 🤔

 

[Andy in Germany]

The current learning experience on the bike stand:

This will go for a fairly low price; I'm learning how to set up this kind of bike because we have a stack of older bikes with centre pull brakes so I need to work out how to fix them. As I don't have a Third Hand tool, I clamped the brakes shut with a woodworking clamp and pulled them straight with a mole wrench, which was moderately successful.

The rear brake isn't great, but after a few useful tips here, I'll have another crack at it on Monday.

 

[bikingdad90]

Ingenious little hack/fettle today. Didn’t want to splash out for a screw in top tube bag so instead I took a Halfords essentials frame bag for £10 , took the Velcro straps out, poked a hole through the top of the bag in the appropriate places, added a washer underneath the screw and screwed it in place. Looks good, does the job and hopefully secure.

 

[Gillstay]

The current learning experience on the bike stand:

View attachment 718665

This will go for a fairly low price; I'm learning how to set up this kind of bike because we have a stack of older bikes with centre pull brakes so I need to work out how to fix them. As I don't have a Third Hand tool, I clamped the brakes shut with a woodworking clamp and pulled them straight with a mole wrench, which was moderately successful.

View attachment 718666

The rear brake isn't great, but after a few useful tips here, I'll have another crack at it on Monday.

I have taken them completely to bits before now and I do realise you will not have time.
It did then make adjustment so much easier, as well as the better brakes I was after. Before that as long as they moved easily I always considered the pivots to not matter much as there was a lot of leverage.

 

[HLaB]

First fettle was a failure, the shifter on my commuter / winter bike failed. I stripped back the bar tape and got into the shifter and removed the side plate. I didn't see anything obvious stopping the ratchet from rotating down.

I found a spare shifter but decided the quickest way to get prepped for tomorrow's ride was to prep the summer bike. I changed the carbon wheels out and transferred the cassette to the winter aluminium wheels. That necessitated changing the brake blocks. The wheels are also tubeless and really they need the old sealant cleaned out but they were still seated so I topped them up instead.

Hopefully that'll see me by for a few rides whilst I put the commuter into the shop. Although it desperately needs new bar tape. Most folk sit on my wheel usually but I doubt they'll want to tomorrow. I never had time to dig out the QR eyelets for guards. It might spur me to rebuild the ti Kinesis. 🤔

Changed that lever this afternoon and whilst I was at it I put new pads in the rear brake holder. Lol, the retention screws came out easy and I thought I was on to a good thing but the pads themselves took a bit of persuading.

Edit now I am fettling tea.