Managed a fettling session yesterday - which resulted in two of the four bikes currently on the fleet being no less broken than when I started and a third also broken
Gas Pipe Hybrid got the back wheel removed and stripped down enough to remove a spoke, so I could measure and order correct size replacements. This involves removing the rear axle on account my cassette removal tool is desined to slow into a QR axle and this bike has solid axles. Hopefully, I'll find the time next weekend to install new spokes and recommission the bike.
Next on the list was fixing the front derailleur shifting on the MTB I'd bought from
@Buck of this parish. This bike otherwise works perfectly and I think anyone could be excused for not noticing how frayed that cable was as the routing well obscures it. I went to replace the cable, thinking that was the cause of the poor shifting but as I did I put the shifter through it's paces and realised there was something wrong with the ratchet mechanism which is why the chain wouldn't stay on the big ring unless you attempted to shift 3/4/5 times. That could have broken on my watch given that I've been using the bike a lot the last few weeks.
Finally bike for a once over was a B'twin Riverside 120 I'd bought for £20. First cursory look at it; headset was loose. Managed to rectify that, but will go back and clean/re-grease it another day. It's been a while since I've used my old headset spanners! The brakes on this thing are terrible. The bits on the Vee-brakes that retain the noodles are quite well deformed and scarely retain the noodles anymore. The levers are plastic, which means that when you brake they bend. Not ideal. Best course of action here I think is to replace the brakes and levers with some half decent ones.
The front wheel is worn down the wear indicator, so I'll source a cheap new wheel for it. The bearings seem shot too. The rear wheel has plenty of life left in it so that hub will get a strip/regrease. The tyres are severely dry rotted so they will have to be replaced too.
After that, I looked at the drive train. The chain is rusty. I'm not sure about the rear cassette, that might be salvageable. The bottom bracket seems okay but the chainset is a bit special. It has plastic cranks with a horribly wide Q-factor that I know will cause me knee pain. Not only that, but the 1-by chain ring is somehow pressed on and doesn't look easily replaceable. Oh, it's horrendously bent.
The challenge is to get this Riverside safe to ride and usable as cheaply as possible. So I'll be trawling
eBay for good serviceable parts in the near future.
) and my inner Adrian Monk can calm down. Additionally the new rims (Mavic A319) are wider than the current rims, so the old trekking bike will become more gravely than cyclocrossy.
. I took the tyre off last night to fettle it..... I wonder if this is the problem? (The thorn not the beer bottle top).
. Hopefully the Bontrager one will be OK.
