What Have You Fettled Today?

[FrankCrank]

I've got some spare SA hubs, so decided to sacrifice one for spares, one of the dynohubs

Easy enough to strip down. As the shell was quite rusty, thought the innards were going to be a bit gunky, but all looks surprisingly good

This tub of parts might be needed when I do a proper service and rebuild of a hub. The pawl springs are particularly tiny - can just see them pinging off somewhere into oblivion, so these spares may come in handy. The bearings also look to be in good order.
Does anyone know how to get the plastic oil filler cap thingy out of the shell? Tried to unscrew it, but no joy.

 

[Andy in Germany]

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

Glad I'm not the only one

 

[Fredo76]

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.

That would be my inclination, too. A caught thorn on the rear would pull on the wire; on the front it would push, but I've never seen them fitted any other way. Was your front one mounted in front of the brake?

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

They are for pulling thorns out of the tire, hopefully before they have gone deep enough to puncture it. Probably less effective on flints, glass, or wires, but around here, goatheads (Puncture-Vine) are the biggest problem by far. Goatheads are evil.

They're almost set right, but I need to adjust the front one a bit, by bending the wires near the brake bolt, so that it just clears the tire and doesn't make noise. Not for knobbies, obviously.

Tub-savers is probably another proper term; I've never seen them used on anything but tubulars. They were somewhat popular in the '70s, before light clinchers became available, when many cyclists rode tubulars, or 'sew-ups', as we called them in Arizona. I don't see why they wouldn't work with smooth-tread clinchers.

 

[youngoldbloke]

That would be my inclination, too. A caught thorn on the rear would pull on the wire; on the front it would push, but I've never seen them fitted any other way. Was your front one mounted in front of the brake?


They are for pulling thorns out of the tire, hopefully before they have gone deep enough to puncture it. Probably less effective on flints, glass, or wires, but around here, goatheads (Puncture-Vine) are the biggest problem by far. Goatheads are evil.

They're almost set right, but I need to adjust the front one a bit, by bending the wires near the brake bolt, so that it just clears the tire and doesn't make noise. Not for knobbies, obviously.

Tub-savers is probably another proper term; I've never seen them used on anything but tubulars. They were somewhat popular in the '70s, before light clinchers became available, when many cyclists rode tubulars, or 'sew-ups', as we called them in Arizona. I don't see why they wouldn't work with smooth-tread clinchers.

I had Mafac Racer centre pulls on my Gerrard. The flint catchers were fitted on the brake bolt, between the the brake and the front of the fork. I never saw them fitted any other way.

 

[Gunk]

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.

You need one of these

 

[EckyH]

You need one of these

Reminds me of Frank Klausz: "If it's too tight, don't force it. Just take a bigger hammer."

E.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

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

But that’s mostly just unbolting or undoing stuff with not much thought required. Actually fixing something can take much longer, especially if you have to diagnose exactly what the problem is in that time.

 

[Andy in Germany]

You need one of these

View attachment 727833

I have used one of these on occasion, which was mightily satisfying, as I'd been fighting the BB for some time...

 

[FrankCrank]

Put a newer replacement gear shifter on my recently acquired Stowaway, the old one was really quite hopeless.

Then a jaunt round the Uni to make sure all was OK. A world of difference to the old one. Will do till I get a trigger shifter.

The Bluebells are putting on a good show

 

[Punkawallah]

You need one of these

View attachment 727833

Ah! The Mark 1 Persuader. Been a while since I’ve seen one. I use the Mark 2

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Put a newer replacement gear shifter on my recently acquired Stowaway, the old one was really quite hopeless.
View attachment 727854

Then a jaunt round the Uni to make sure all was OK. A world of difference to the old one. Will do till I get a trigger shifter.

The Bluebells are putting on a good show
View attachment 727857

Is that the new Grip Shift electronic sturmey 3 speed offering?

 

[FrankCrank]

Is that the new Grip Shift electronic sturmey 3 speed offering?

Nay Mr Ming, tis not.

 

[EckyH]

Does remote fettling count?

A very helpful colleague collected a second hand 2013 Ridley X-Bow for me and will send it to me, because the seller wouldn't.
Having basic knowledge how to use a hex wrench and dismantling a bicycle are two different things. Fortunately he managed it quite well (or "good"?) with help from me via telephone.
Now the crank set, fork, handlebar with stem, seat post with saddle and the rear derailleur are all separated without damage or a missing part.
Well done, colleague!

E.

 

[AndyRM]

Not mine, but I noticed this fun bit of jiggery pokery earlier:

 

[HLaB]

After being dry and sunny it greyed over and eventually rained when I was meant to be TT'ing. I don't do cold and wet well since chemo wrecked my circulation so I gave it a miss. My commuter's headset has been a bit stiff after a few days of non use, so I used the time to strip it clean it and re-lube it. The brake/gear cables are pretty short so I had to take the stem completely apart to get to the headset. It's all back together now.