What Have You Fettled Today?

[ColinJ]

I heard a faint rubbing noise coming from my front wheel on today's ride. It sounded like a leaf was trapped between the wheel and the fork but it turned out to be grunge build-up from the gritted roads.

While I was scraping that out I noticed that the wheel was not quite perfectly seated in the fork - it was closer to one side of the fork than the other. I fixed a front wheel puncture before the previous ride so I must have failed to align the wheel properly when refitting it. I am amazed that I managed to ride over 40 km without it slipping back into place by itself. It shows how tightly quick releases can grip!

I loosened the QR, realigned the wheel, then reclamped the QR. No more rubbing noises!

 

[Jenkins]

Another day of this on all seven bikes...

All frames & wheels cleaned and chains cleaned and lubed. It's so much quicker and easier to do now I'm not working so not commuting in all weathers.

That was back in July and I must have done them since, but I can't remember when! Certainly needs doing a lot less often without the all weather riding.

 

[Gunk]

My son’s commuter bike back on the stand this afternoon for a quick check, clean and service. I greased both hubs, adjusted front and rear brakes and sorted out the indexing which wasn’t quite right. I also went all over it with a torque wrench. It has a very hard life, lives under an open porch and is ridden every day. The next job will be to replace the BB and head bearings, plus change inner and outer cables, might do that over Christmas, considering I paid £15 for it a few years ago and was going to be chucked away, it’s done well.

 

[DCLane]

I've continued working on the Principia over the past few days. First big job was the headset: I knew it wouldn't all be perfect but there was headset movement when I tried a short test ride.

The bike has clearly been stored somewhere damp and/or been wet when put away as the top bearing was rusty. Unfortunately these are unobtainable due to being Shimano-specific so the headset was dismantled, cleaned top and bottom, de-rusted and put in the ultrasonic parts washer. It's all back together with lots of grease and is much better.

Bar tape is off and the bars were polished - the difference is below with all the old tape residue cleaned off:

New inner/outer gear and brake cables were installed; the reason the brakes weren't great was that the brake cables, and gear cables, were also rusted inside. I've also swapped the black seatpost for a chrome silver one and the pedals for a carbon lightweight SPD-SL pair recommended by Trace Velo - I'll be giving these a test. Finally new blue/black bar tape was fitted.

I've still got to change the chain, which I'll do after it's been used for a few weeks whilst doing a winter bike component swap from the Viner Mitus to a recently-acquired Ridley Fenix frameset. No paint as yet either. Also the front wheel has an issue with the rim: either I can fix a bulge or it'll be a different wheel/wheelset that goes on.

 

[fossyant]

Unfortunately these are unobtainable due to being Shimano-specific so the headset was dismantled, cleaned top and bottom, de-rusted and put in the ultrasonic parts washer. It's all back together with lots of grease and is much better.

Ah yes, the old cartridge bearing ones that used a specific cartridge. A great idea at the time, but they are Shimano specific. I had three bikes with them. On refurbing my commuter, I moved back to a standard headset and it's just needed new bearings as the race is still fine. I do have spare cartridges, and you can at least strip them down, clean up and replace the bearings. Won't be perfect. Both vintage road bikes take the same. I have a brand new Dura Ace headset in reserve, as well as a number of spare cartridges bought via ebay. Should keep these bikes running until I'm in a coffin.

 

[fossyant]

Unfortunately these are unobtainable due to being Shimano-specific so the headset was dismantled, cleaned top and bottom, de-rusted and put in the ultrasonic parts washer. It's all back together with lots of grease and is much better.

Ah yes, the old cartridge bearing ones that used a specific cartridge. A great idea at the time, but they are Shimano specific. I had three bikes with them. On refurbing my commuter, I moved back to a standard headset and it's just needed new bearings as the race is still fine. I do have spare cartridges, and you can at least strip them down, clean up and replace the bearings. Won't be perfect. Both vintage road bikes take the same. I have a brand new Dura Ace headset in reserve, as well as a number of spare cartridges bought via ebay. Should keep these bikes running until I'm in a coffin.

 

[fossyant]

Needed a quick fix to the commuter last night. The freehub was clunking and skipping a little - initially put it down to a worn cassette, but it got quite bad on the way home last night. On removing the wheel, I was able to get the cassette to 'skip' the pawls by hand. It's a vintage XT hub. Removed axel and drive side bearings (left non drive side in (splodged more clean grease on the bearings to gold in place). Removed freehub and popped the seal off the hub side. Dropped in a little WD40, followed by some thick lube. All working fine. Regreased bearings and all fine again this morning. The grease in the hub was still clean.

 

[avecReynolds531]

 

[sevenfourate]

I fettled some new (cheap) wheels onto the Winter beater. Along with new Discs and QR Skewers. Can’t wait to try them Fri, Sat and Sunday hopefully……

 

[sevenfourate]

This rusty little sucker has bugged me for a while. But after noticing when cleaning - I’ve always then managed to forget……🤦‍♂️

One effort with a normal screwdriver told me all I was likely to achieve: was mashing up the head. So I came to the fight proper - armed correctly:

After checking the impact driver was set to undo - not tighten 🤣 - one swift blow dispatched said stuck fixing without any fuss. New bolt and lubrication sourced;

And the World was soon a shinier place once again:

 

[Jameshow]

This rusty little sucker has bugged me for a while. But after noticing when cleaning - I’ve always then managed to forget……🤦‍♂️

View attachment 754285

One effort with a normal screwdriver told me all I was likely to achieve: was mashing up the head. So I came to the fight proper - armed correctly:

View attachment 754286

After checking the impact driver was set to undo - not tighten 🤣 - one swift blow dispatched said stuck fixing without any fuss. New bolt and lubrication sourced;

View attachment 754287

And the World was soon a shinier place once again:

View attachment 754288

Winter beater my.......🤣

 

[Gillstay]

Narrow nosed mole grips are good for getting those out.

 

[HLaB]

A quick fettle from me before I go to bed. I p'tured on the ride today and the tubeless tyre sealed and I pumped it up but I removed the valve core and put another 30ml of sealant in the tyre tonight. Before reinserting the valve core and pumping the tyre up. A 2 minute job or less.

 

[fossyant]

Washed the commuter. Avoided it last week due to cold (freezing cables etc as the bike lives in a detached garage, and in the car park at work).

 

[Ian H]

I replaced a worn-out tyre on the Black Hallett yesterday (I could have patched the hole but it was so worn that replacement was in order). As they are big (38mm) thin and floppy tyres I mounted the new one on an old rim overnight so that it assumed its proper shape. The old one came off easily with virtually no mess.

I added a layer of tape as it was looking a bit ragged, fitted a new valve. The new tyre went on without recourse to levers. A blast from the air-shock inflator popped it straight on to the rim. Then I injected sealant, inflated it and spun it on the wheel jig until I couldn't hear any air escaping, and put the wheel back on the bike.

I also refitted the mudflap which I'd torn off by standing on it whilst wheeling it into the garage.