What Have You Fettled Today?

[EckyH]

Noticed yesterday that the right pedal (PD-M505) of the Enik Makalu didn't spin as it should, so today I adjusted the bearing.

Already on Friday: put new tyres onto the wheels of the Langschenkelrenner. The old 28mm Vittoria Rubino Pro were good, but on the Rigida DP18 they are only 25.5mm wide. The new 32mm Vittoria Corsa next are 27.5mm wide. The ride is remarkably different. Rode the Corsa next yesterday and today and they are by far the best road tyres I've ever ridden: very comfortable, very supple, low rolling resistance and in dry conditions very grippy (there was no rain here in the last days, so I can't rate the tyres in wet conditions yet).

E.

 

[Fredo76]

Swapped out my SMP Well saddle for an SMP Avant. The Well was too narrow for me.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

The saddle on the CGR Ti came loose again. Hopefully addressed this time with some thread lock and careful application of torque.

Took a cheap trunk bag and attached an Basil MIK adapter plate (BAS70171) to it. This involved using a heated bradawl to make holes in the bottom of the trunk bag through which the adapter plate could be screwed. Just to make it that bit more secure, I cut a piece out of a plastic 5L container approximately the same size as the adapter plate, placed it on the inside of the back and ran the bolts through that. I'd of ideally used something a bit thicker, but owt is better than nowt. Worth noting, I had to move the 'feet' on the bottom of the plate to make it fit the rack supplied on the Trek District 4.

It saved me a few quid on an MIK ready trunk bag at least - and if the bag stops doing bag things, I can re-use the adapter plate.

I'm a bit tempted now to get an MIK rack plate adapter thingummy so I can quickly swap the trunk bag between the two hybrid bikes, but I'm not sure I really want to get too heavily invested in what seems to be quite an expensive eco-system.

 

[Gunk]

I bought some cheap drawer dividers this afternoon and thought I would sort out my chaotic tool chest.

The top drawer stores my most used tools and was a mess.

now much better

I also organised the other drawers, however the spanner drawer is still far too cluttered and all my socket set stuff needs properly organising with the sockets put back in size order on the rails, but it’s a step in the right direction.

A strangely satisfying job, I did however struggle to get rid of anything!

 

[Andy in Germany]

I did refuse to repair something yesterday. A regular customer came in wanting help with his bike. Being a "charity shop" we get a lot of interesting customers, many of whom are under the influence of something. This particular customer seems a little unhinged at the best of times and doesn't always make a lot of sense. He can also be a bit aggressive.

Yesterday he wanted help with the gears on his bike; from what I could work out the rear mech was broken and he thought the chain was too short. Or something. He waved a battered LX rear mech minus jockey wheels and rear cage at me and asked if I had a replacement.
Then he talked about his shoes for a bit.

Eventually I got him to show me his bike. It had a 12 speed cassette coupled with a three speed chain wheel of unknown heritage, an elderly STX shifter at the rear. He reported that the broken mech had snapped because his chain was too short and he couldn't understand why?

I tried to explain but he knew I was totally wrong and he knew better because it had worked perfectly well for 500k before. Presumably 'before' was up to the point the the rear mech exploded.

I told him I couldn't help and didn't have any parts and left him to it.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Fitted a new bar end shifter after old one got damaged when I came off on some gravel on a bend. Great thing about friction, setting the cable (once lever in place) is all you do, and you’re good to go. No messing around with indexing. Gears working nicely.

 

[avecReynolds531]

1. New bearings in an old Formula rear hub (9 on each side,1/4"), cones were lightly pitted, not enough to be a hassle.
Adjusted to spin fine: it took 3rd time lucky with the cone spanners, but I don't mind at all the time & patience it takes for c & c hubs. A magnetic screwdriver & bearing scale makes things easier.

2. The drive-side bearing cup has two cut-outs for freehub maintenance - so that got some care too
3. Various stone chips were cleaned with tinfoil and sealed with varnish - a frameset that is now probably 50% stone chips & original paint

 

[dimrub]

Did something that was long overdue: completed the conversion of my Kona Sutra from a touring bike into a gravel one. I've stripped it of its mudguards and racks a while ago, I put on SPD pedals recently, and now I finally replaced the tires - the original Schwalbe Mondials went off, and the Terra Speed I had lying around for quite some time went on. It's a perfect commuter now.

 

[EckyH]

Laced up two front wheels yesterday evening. One is for the Ridley X-Bow, with a Novatec hub and a DT Swiss X470 rim I found in the fund.
The other one for the Langschenkelrenner is some kind of "the early 90s called and made me an offer I couldn't resist": years ago someone sold me a pair of red anodised Rigida DP18. Recently I got a set of Shimano Ultegra 6500 hubs in very good condition - a real good match for the rims, imho.
The remaining question is: Why are there much more parts for front wheels in every fund than parts for rear wheels? The same question applys to complete wheels...

E.

 

[fossyant]

Rear mech on the commuter suddenly started to shift badly this week - wouldn't index.

But it's not the mech, it's not the cables people shout.

Removed cable loop at the mech (most of the rest of the cable run is 'exposed' as this is on an old MTB). Sure enough, rather a lot of crud in the cable outer. Binned it. New PTFE outer fitted, cable checked - fine as it's stainless. Re-indexed and shifting perfectly, although spotted the BBB Jockey wheel's bearings had loads of play, so they've been replaced.

Shifting perfect, but on cleaning the bike last night, noticed the rear rim is about to collapse as it's rather worn - there is a crease showing alone the whole rim where it's worn thin. New rim ordered from SJS (postage isn't cheap), but I need it ASAP, otherwise the CX bike will be doing the commutes.

Remember kids, if your bike starts shifting badly, it's 99.9% of the time, the cables, or you've dropped it and bent a hanger. Even more essential to change them on full cable runs. Oh and one area where you shouldn't skimp on the cheap stuff.

 

[buzz22]

I popped a new Claris rear derailleur on my old Raleigh, shifting is much nicer.

 

[CXRAndy]

Fixed my brand new 3D printer.

After doing a firmware update, it screwed all the settings and operating system. I tried to load an earlier version firmware which actually loaded, but created mismatch in systems. The latest version refused to work and crashed the printer completely

After a few emails to technical, they agreed to send me a new pre-programmed EMMC chip. Not difficult to install. This restored some operation and allowed firmware to be installed.

I then had to do the firmware setup again for UI and printer functions. It worked this time. However, I noticed when I did it the first time, the file had a different suffix compared to the latest version I was directed to. I suspect the software engineers published the wrong file, then corrected it when I and others likely complained.

Anyhow, Its working again, I've now got network linked printing with observation camera, so I can check my live prints from another room on my laptop.

Time to learn Fusion 360 CAD

 

[EckyH]

After doing a firmware update, it screwed all the settings and operating system. I tried to load an earlier version firmware which actually loaded, but created mismatch in systems. The latest version refused to work and crashed the printer completely

At least since 1998 (!) proofs exist that mankind knows how to circumvent that: put in a chip that can contain two versions of the firmware. One operational copy and one copy for testing. The proof was in form of commercially available workstations and servers from Sun Microsystems. Twentysix years ago.

Sorry for that rant, but it is enough to drive one to despair. We (in this case the printer manufacturer) know what to do, but we don't do it...

At least you have a working 3D printer now and that's good.

E.

 

[CXRAndy]

I'm hoping the manufacturer will update to the point with over the air firmware updates, with failsafe feature in case the operation crashes, so not to brick the device.

All is working good now, I've sent some simple shapes via wifi and its printed them ok

I don't think I will be doing any updates until I've seen many others say it was seamless operation

 

[Jenkins]

Swapped the 42t chainring on the Spa Elan for a 44t. The replacement didn't have the 'hidden bolt' insert fitted which made it a bit of a faff as this chainring bolt is behind the crank arm so you can't get an allen key in to hold it in place while tightening the other side.