What Have You Fettled Today?

[ColinJ]

I've been mostly offline since Thursday when I woke up to a dead PC. Pulling the hard drive out of the old Zwift PC showed that was also dead, rather than the motherboard being faulty.

So ... new hard drives for both arrived and I'm back online, but have lost quite a few files that I hadn't backed up recently.

It's very odd that the same fairly rare fault occurred on different machines at the same time!

(I have had hard drives fail, but it tends to be a 1-day-in-2,000-plus-days-of-use type fault!)

 

[DCLane]

@ColinJ - the old Zwift PC broke in the summer, probably because I've had it sat in a hot conservatory. I pinched the new micro-PC we bought for SWMBO to use instead.

 

[Jameshow]

I've been mostly offline since Thursday when I woke up to a dead PC. Pulling the hard drive out of the old Zwift PC showed that was also dead, rather than the motherboard being faulty.

So ... new hard drives for both arrived and I'm back online, but have lost quite a few files that I hadn't backed up recently.

Bike wise I've been working on the Merida Cyclo-Cross; it's had a new chain and a crankset change along with a major clean. The Shimano original was 105-grade but 46/36 and I've been spinning out, so an old Ultegra 50/34 was installed with an adjustment to the front derailleur. All working, hopefully, and back to commuting next week.

Also, I've a nice pair of Spesh Elite shoes but the buckle broke a while back. I've been searching for an unobtainable buckle for a while without finding one, so this week bought a cheap pair of Spesh Elite shoes with the same buckle. The hardly used second-hand shoes in size 44 arrived for £9 and I've got a replacement buckle fitted. I'll put these back on sale for a fiver or so.

SPD shoes if so I'd happily have them?

 

[DCLane]

SPD shoes if so I'd happily have them?

They're 3-bolt I'm afraid. And I've tried to get the cleats off but can't, so the bolts are soaking.

Edited: I got violent with the cleat bolts and they're now off. If you'd like them they're yours for free.

 

[cyberknight]

more work on the new project
installed cassette, BB, chainset , cabled the derailliers and brakes and adjusted it all
Just a few bits to do to get it on the road now and next time i will make the rear brake cable shorter from the shifter to the entry point into the frame but im not going to muck about with it now , push comes to shove i will cable tie it to the frame if it touches my knee and next time make it shorter as it was a right PITA to get the internal routing set up from scratch involving string , the hoover and superglue !

 

[DCLane]

The last thing I've done this evening, given I'm waiting on / working out how to access my files on a network drive that's not compatible with Windows 10 (but worked on Wednesday) was to have a look at a wheel given to me last year by a CC member when I picked up a load of old parts, a nice saddle bag plus a Carlton frame.

It's an old 27 1/4" Dunlop rim with a Bayliss-Wiley hub, probably from about 1956 which is the date of the Carlton frameset. The hub was stuck, but once the axle was off it was evident the bearings had fused with the hub and axle. Rusty rim polished as best I could and the hub was cleaned with new bearings and grease. It's all been well looked after previously, just clearly stored for a long time, so is in decent condition. Now I've got to decide what to do with it.

 

[EckyH]

Got the rear disc brake on the gravel bike trued, made one 9speed cassette 14-30 out of a 14-25 and a 11-30 cassette and got the old 2x10 Ultegra derailleurs to cooperate with the 10speed Campagnolo brifters for that cassette.

E.

 

[dimrub]

Hang a bike wall mount on the wall in the cellar, and the Gary Fisher went on it. I have two more to hang, for the total of 3, plus 2 more in my home office, plus two spots in the shed in the garden - that's space for 7 bikes!

 

[Andy in Germany]

Hang a bike wall mount on the wall in the cellar, and the Gary Fisher went on it. I have two more to hang, for the total of 3, plus 2 more in my home office, plus two spots in the shed in the garden - that's space for 7 bikes!

That's not nearly enough, you need at least one more.

 

[dimrub]

Replaced the chain on my Brompton. It was squeaking like crazy these past couple of days, so before lubing it, I decided to measure the chain, which I last did pretty much never. The marks on the gauge go 50%, 75%, replace the chain. In my case it was something like "150% replace immediately, you fool!" So I did, taking the chain that just got in for the Favorit - there's plenty of time before it is going to be ready to receive a chain.

 

[Gunk]

Replaced the chain on my Brompton. It was squeaking like crazy these past couple of days, so before lubing it, I decided to measure the chain, which I last did pretty much never. The marks on the gauge go 50%, 75%, replace the chain. In my case it was something like "150% replace immediately, you fool!" So I did, taking the chain that just got in for the Favorit - there's plenty of time before it is going to be ready to receive a chain.

Did you replace the rear sprocket at the same time, they’re not expensive and worth doing.

 

[dimrub]

Did you replace the rear sprocket at the same time, they’re not expensive and worth doing.

It's not a single sprocket, but two - it's a 2x3 model. I took a good look - they do not appear to be worn, surprisingly. I don't have a spare anyway. Perhaps it might be a good idea to order a new set.

 

[dimrub]

It's not a single sprocket, but two - it's a 2x3 model. I took a good look - they do not appear to be worn, surprisingly. I don't have a spare anyway. Perhaps it might be a good idea to order a new set.

I was too hasty. Once I tried riding, the chain skipped like crazy - on the lower gear, but not at all on the higher. I guess I'll need to replace the sprockets after all - and ride low gear in the meanwhile (so I'm down to 3 gears from 6, not too bad).

 

[dimrub]

Bought the sprockets today and replaced them. There's a bit of play there. I believe the old small sprocket was dished, whereas the new one isn't. The guy who sold me the sprockets was not a mechanic, he asked someone on the phone what to give me - perhaps that other person would have realized I need a different sprocket, or a spacer. I'll be on the phone with the store tomorrow.

 

[Gwylan]

Some removable pedals came into my possession.

Should I use them?
Using them makes the bike difficult to cycle away. This assumes I actually remove the pedals when I leave the bike.
Still have to lock it up anyway.

Never heard of any jolly joker removing pedals from a bike.
Unless that's what secretly happens to stolen bikes.

A dilemma.