What Have You Fettled Today?

[Andy in Germany]

Finally stopped procrastinating and completed stage one of the long overdue Great Touring Bike Refurbishment. this was supposed to be swapping the front wheel but it ended up being a bit more involved...

The front wheel was very old; I'd bought is second hand several years ago when it was the best I could afford, and wasn't very good quality to begin with. Since then it had managed several thousand kilometres and was beginning to show it, so about a month ago I bought a new, better quality wheel and tried to fit it.

The Brakes didn't work. It turns out that the bike frame is rather old and designed for cantilever brakes, and the brake bosses (?) were a good 5mm further apart than on newer bikes. The new wheel, by contrast, was about 3mm thinner than the old one, and I'd had to put extra spacers on the brakes to get that to work.

This meant that long term I either had to change to canti brakes, or get a new set of forks. I opted for the forks.

The forks then needed a new crown race, so I ordered that.

On Friday I tried to fit the crown race on the forks; YouTube videos advocate a PVC pipe and a rubber hammer, and then show the mechanic tapping the pipe a couple of times before announcing the crown race was tight. It took a metal pipe and a good ten minutes of pounding with a lump hammer to get mine to fit, maybe German made parts are just more solid. Fortunately I had a metalworker alongside me who assured me this wouldn't damage the crown race; equally fortunately, he was correct.

Yesterday I snuck into work, measured the forks, nervously cut the top off, which turned out to be a lot easier than suggested, and filed it off. To my astonishment not only did the bearing screw on without issue, it also fitted the bike.

After straightening the wheel so the brakes worked, I got on the bike only to hear a "ping, ping, ping" of the spokes settling. I should have expected that.

The bike looks a bit odd with black forks on a red bike but bike-specific paint is on the way so I'll be able to sort that in a few weeks...

 

[biggs682]

Just picked up this MBK Colardo of market place for a very good price.

Within ten minutes of being home a pr of pre used marathons, new tubes , some lubricant, gentle manipulation of the chain and it was good enough to ride , next task is to work out why the front mechanism won't stay on outside ring .

 

[ColinJ]

Just picked up this MBK Colardo of market place for a very good price.

Within ten minutes of being home a pr of pre used marathons, new tubes , some lubricant, gentle manipulation of the chain and it was good enough to ride , next task is to work out why the front mechanism won't stay on outside ring .

View attachment 727650

You are a quick worker if you can sort out an awful old chain and change tubes and tyres on both wheels in 10 minutes!

As for my fettling today... I brought my CAAD5 out of hibernation to be used on exciting hilly rides until the clocks go back at the end of the autumn.

• First things first... I had noticed that the SPD cleat on my R shoe was slightly out of alignment. My R heel was being pushed back in slightly from the position that I wanted. To let the heel move out meant moving the back of the cleat in. Sorted and now much better.
• The tyres had gone soft over the winter. I pumped them back up. My post-fettling ride soon revealed that I had slightly overdone that so I stopped and let a few PSI out front and back, which felt much more comfortable. The CAAD5 has a very stiff frame/fork combination which doesn't feel good with hard tyres on rough Yorkshire tarmac!
• My back isn't as flexible as it once was so I moved the last remaining spacer from above the stem to below it. It is a subtle difference, but every little helps!
• It turned out on the test ride that I hadn't tightened the headset enough after moving that spacer so the front of the bike was rattling when I went over bumps. I had done the 'rock bike back and forth with front brake on' test, but I had forgotten to do the 'raise the front wheel off the ground, then drop it and listen for rattles/clunks' test. I stopped and adjusted it properly.
• I lubed/cleaned the chain.
• I washed the bike, paying particular attention to scrubbing the braking surfaces on the wheelrims which were greasy from rides on mucky roads last autumn.
• I checked the tyre clearances on the bike. I have always had 25C tyres on the CAAD5 but (bearing in mind the comfort issues raised above) I wondered if I could fit 28C. After a good look, I am 100% sure that I could at the front, and 90% sure that I could at the rear. My plan is to bring the four 28C tyres that I have in Devon back here for the CAAD5. I would use the 25C tyres from the CAAD5 on my 6-speed bike when its current 25C tyres wear out. (That bike definitely can't take bigger tyres.) I would fit 32C tyres to the Devon bike, which would make that much more comfortable on rough Devon lanes.
• I took a redundant second Garmin mount off. I will fit a Wahoo mount when I can remember where I left it! (I used to use 2 small Garmins on the bike - one for data and one for navigation. I will switch to Wahoo for navigation and some data, and a Garmin for other data.)

 

[Fredo76]

Fitted the tire-savers given to me by a generous member of another forum, or as he calls them, 'Sticker Flickers':





Rounded off the corners of my bottle cage bracket so I could get the angle I wanted without cutting into the brake cable:



Also rode shirtless today; it was 77 degrees. No photo, however. ;-)

 

[Jameshow]

You are a quick worker if you can sort out an awful old chain and change tubes and tyres on both wheels in 10 minutes!

As for my fettling today... I brought my CAAD5 out of hibernation to be used on exciting hilly rides until the clocks go back at the end of the autumn.

• First things first... I had noticed that the SPD cleat on my R shoe was slightly out of alignment. My R heel was being pushed back in slightly from the position that I wanted. To let the heel move out meant moving the back of the cleat in. Sorted and now much better.
• The tyres had gone soft over the winter. I pumped them back up. My post-fettling ride soon revealed that I had slightly overdone that so I stopped and let a few PSI out front and back, which felt much more comfortable. The CAAD5 has a very stiff frame/fork combination which doesn't feel good with hard tyres on rough Yorkshire tarmac!
• My back isn't as flexible as it once was so I moved the last remaining spacer from above the stem to below it. It is a subtle difference, but every little helps!
• It turned out on the test ride that I hadn't tightened the headset enough after moving that spacer so the front of the bike was rattling when I went over bumps. I had done the 'rock bike back and forth with front brake on' test, but I had forgotten to do the 'raise the front wheel off the ground, then drop it and listen for rattles/clunks' test. I stopped and adjusted it properly.
• I lubed/cleaned the chain.
• I washed the bike, paying particular attention to scrubbing the braking surfaces on the wheelrims which were greasy from rides on mucky roads last autumn.
• I checked the tyre clearances on the bike. I have always had 25C tyres on the CAAD5 but (bearing in mind the comfort issues raised above) I wondered if I could fit 28C. After a good look, I am 100% sure that I could at the front, and 90% sure that I could at the rear. My plan is to bring the four 28C tyres that I have in Devon back here for the CAAD5. I would use the 25C tyres from the CAAD5 on my 6-speed bike when its current 25C tyres wear out. (That bike definitely can't take bigger tyres.) I would fit 32C tyres to the Devon bike, which would make that much more comfortable on rough Devon lanes.
• I took a redundant second Garmin mount off. I will fit a Wahoo mount when I can remember where I left it! (I used to use 2 small Garmins on the bike - one for data and one for navigation. I will switch to Wahoo for navigation and some data, and a Garmin for other data.)

Sounds like my Cannondale tbh
needs some tlc before I ride it next!!!

 

[biggs682]

You are a quick worker if you can sort out an awful old chain and change tubes and tyres on both wheels in 10 minutes!

As for my fettling today... I brought my CAAD5 out of hibernation to be used on exciting hilly rides until the clocks go back at the end of the autumn.

• First things first... I had noticed that the SPD cleat on my R shoe was slightly out of alignment. My R heel was being pushed back in slightly from the position that I wanted. To let the heel move out meant moving the back of the cleat in. Sorted and now much better.
• The tyres had gone soft over the winter. I pumped them back up. My post-fettling ride soon revealed that I had slightly overdone that so I stopped and let a few PSI out front and back, which felt much more comfortable. The CAAD5 has a very stiff frame/fork combination which doesn't feel good with hard tyres on rough Yorkshire tarmac!
• My back isn't as flexible as it once was so I moved the last remaining spacer from above the stem to below it. It is a subtle difference, but every little helps!
• It turned out on the test ride that I hadn't tightened the headset enough after moving that spacer so the front of the bike was rattling when I went over bumps. I had done the 'rock bike back and forth with front brake on' test, but I had forgotten to do the 'raise the front wheel off the ground, then drop it and listen for rattles/clunks' test. I stopped and adjusted it properly.
• I lubed/cleaned the chain.
• I washed the bike, paying particular attention to scrubbing the braking surfaces on the wheelrims which were greasy from rides on mucky roads last autumn.
• I checked the tyre clearances on the bike. I have always had 25C tyres on the CAAD5 but (bearing in mind the comfort issues raised above) I wondered if I could fit 28C. After a good look, I am 100% sure that I could at the front, and 90% sure that I could at the rear. My plan is to bring the four 28C tyres that I have in Devon back here for the CAAD5. I would use the 25C tyres from the CAAD5 on my 6-speed bike when its current 25C tyres wear out. (That bike definitely can't take bigger tyres.) I would fit 32C tyres to the Devon bike, which would make that much more comfortable on rough Devon lanes.
• I took a redundant second Garmin mount off. I will fit a Wahoo mount when I can remember where I left it! (I used to use 2 small Garmins on the bike - one for data and one for navigation. I will switch to Wahoo for navigation and some data, and a Garmin for other data.)

The old tyres were only touching the rims as innertubes had rotted away so didn't take much getting off . A few revolutions of the chain and all the stiff links were obvious and easily dealt with.

This morning a new front gear cable has been replaced and mechanism lubed and is easier to operate, rear mudguard securing screw has been fitted so that bit is rattle free .
Oh and a quick road test ride to see what it's like, apart from a very uncomfortable saddle all is good.

 

[Chislenko]

Being someone with an abject fear of technology I was made up that yesterday I managed to programme one of those One For All remotes to work the TV on my garage wall. Original remote lost.

(TV in garage is for turbo trainer by the way)

 

[youngoldbloke]

Fitted the tire-savers given to me by a generous member of another forum, or as he calls them, 'Sticker Flickers':

View attachment 727711

View attachment 727712

Rounded off the corners of my bottle cage bracket so I could get the angle I wanted without cutting into the brake cable:

View attachment 727713

Also rode shirtless today; it was 77 degrees. No photo, however. ;-)

May be wrong but when we used these 'tub savers' in the 50's and 60's we fitted them the other way round -- resting on the tyre with the flow as it were - to avoid the possibility of the device getting dragged into the tyre and causing problems.

 

[Gunk]

You are a quick worker if you can sort out an awful old chain and change tubes and tyres on both wheels in 10 minutes!

I can usually strip a bike back to a bare frame in under an hour.

 

[ColinJ]

I can usually strip a bike back to a bare frame in under an hour.

I have never done that so I don't know how long it would take me.

I did (slowly!) build a bike up from a bare frame but it was donated to me naked!

 

[Punkawallah]

I can usually strip a bike back to a bare frame in under an hour.

Strangely, have just done that! Stripped down to take it to the painters - technically an hour and a half, but the half hour was waiting with a cuppa for the WD40 and the BB to fight it out.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

On Wednesday I got a text from a friend saying she thought her brakes could do with looking at. Last time I got a message like that the brakes didn't work at all so I went over to take a look the next day.

It's an older electric bike with rear hub motor and Dia-Comp hub brake so is always interesting to work on. On this occasion it seemed that the winter had taken its toll (the bike is her main means of transport) and I found the rear brake all but seized. I started with some fettling of the brake lever return spring - this was a replacement that I had to bodge some time back as the only spare I could find wasn't an exact match, then moved on to the rear brake which needed plenty of lubrication of the moving parts to get it operating again. A new inner and outer cable were also needed then I turned to the chain which was rusty and needed a few links freeing up and the gear cable which was stick so a new inner and outer were fitted here too.

The front brake was fine and just needed adjustment. Tyres had hardly any pressure in them. I had to warn her to be careful with the brakes now as it stops rather more easily than it did.

 

[Tom B]

Fitted the tire-savers given to me by a generous member of another forum, or as he calls them, 'Sticker Flickers':

View attachment 727711

View attachment 727712

I've never heard of these, what are they for / how to they work?

 

[ColinJ]

I've never heard of these, what are they for..

Scraping detritus off tyres to reduce punctures.

how to they work?

By scraping detritus off tyres!

 

[youngoldbloke]

Flint catchers, tyre savers, tub savers take your choice. They came in numerous forms:

https://luciobici.blogspot.com/2015/05/collection-of-rare-1930s-1940s-1950s.html

I used the Carlton ones. Did they work? No idea, but if you didn't fit them you were bound to get a puncture