What Have You Fettled Today?

[sevenfourate]

Making a “Bicycle Jetwash Stand” this Morning. So I can get the bike upright; and get all around it. Sick of laying them on the floor / up against a wall and then trying to fall over when you’re blasting them………🙄

I’m making it from some incredibly heavy / hard wood I got from a Cargo ship - where it was used for bearers. Doesn’t look like Green or Purple-heart. But it’s literally like Granite 😳 Should be super sturdy 👌

So - fattest tyre I’ve got - on the MTB - is 2.3 inches. Or 58.5mm in theory. I checked with a vernier and currently mounted; and at the right pressure that tyre is 58mm at its widest point.

I therefore made up 60mm worth of spacers:

And started drilling some pilot holes. And then coach screwing the thing together (Pictured upside down here):

Looks like it’s been treated. But I’ll likely slap something on to help prolong its life; bearing in mind it will live outside and get wet in use…….

 

[fossyant]

Jet wash and bike, oh nooooo. I have a wash station on the side of the garage - it's an old wall mounted bike hanger - two arms fold down so can pop the bike on it - usually only used for the filthy MTB.

That's a nice heavy bit of wood, so the bikes won't go anywhere.

 

[fossyant]

Nothing here yet, awaiting Santa to bring some SP41 Optislick for the commuter, and Colnago bar tape for the 'Colnago'.

 

[sevenfourate]

Jet wash and bike, oh nooooo. I have a wash station on the side of the garage - it's an old wall mounted bike hanger - two arms fold down so can pop the bike on it - usually only used for the filthy MTB.

That's a nice heavy bit of wood, so the bikes won't go anywhere.

Yours sounds good 😁 *Not sure why Ive never mounted a flexi water lead, power point etc where it would be ideal……🤨

I’m an Engineer by day. So bearings, headset, crank…. and forcing water into those important little crevices is a big fat NO ! But equally really handy for getting thick mud off tyres, out of gears, front mech etc.

Should just make the ‘de-brief’ afterwards a bit easier 👌

 

[Gwylan]

I've persuaded a tracker into life and a meaning ful existence.
It was free, complicated.

Now wonder what I might do with it. Somewhere to hide it on my bike, maybe.

 

[Big John]

Strictly speaking I'm a day late - I fettled this yesterday. I'm the wheel man for a local bike charity (truing, spoke replacements, building, hub problems, etc) and yesterday I was asked to build a wheel for a customer who'd been knocked off his bike by a car. His wheel was the perfect 'pringle' shape but the hub/spokes were still usable so I used one of our endless pile of scrap rims and built it up in my garage at home. Took a couple of hours. I just hope the customer's happy with it. He wasn't injured, by the way. Seemed his bike wheel was the only casualty 👍

 

[HLaB]

I went to pump up my tyre today on my commuter which has not been used in over a week as the tyre was a bit spongy. It seems tubeless had done its job. Pumped to 80psi it didn't quite seal so for the first time since I bought it several years ago I had to use a DynaPlug.

 

[EckyH]

Worked on the bicycle for the missus: installed bottom bracket, cranks, pedals, rear derailleur, V-brakes and the rear mudguard.

E.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Cleaned the chain on the Brompton and my goodness I should have done that a lot sooner: I have the 6 gear version which has a two-speed derailleur system, and it took a bit of work with a screwdriver to get the crud out. Suddenly the gears change when asked, instead of taking this as a suggestion.

After this, I did what I was supposed to do and looked at the customers bikes. First was this one:

This belonged to a student from the frozen flatlands of north Germany, so having three gears isn't a drawback. Such bikes aren't as common here because we have things called hills.

On the card, it said the tyres and tubes needed replacing, as did the front brake. The enclosed chain guard and chain tensioner caused a fair bit of faffing about, as they usually do because the various parts all seem to want to occupy the same position; I have a similar bike, so after a fair bit of time and swearing I was able to get it to work.

As I finished the brake off, a colleague came into work, and told me the mechanic had called the customer because we have to charge more for bikes with enclosed chain guards. On hearing that the total would be somewhere in the region of 160€ she cancelled the repair.

Unfortunately, this wasn't written on the card...

 

[cyberknight]

Changed the saddle on the winter bike and the summer bike from the charge spoon i have got on with for ages to another brand to see if it helps with my discomfort .I then decided to change the brake pads on the winter bike as they were a bit past it but the rear pad i had to drill out as the bolt head was seized and i rounded it off trying to get it out , luckily the remains of the pad stopped the drill going into anything nasty as the bolt let go .

 

[HLaB]

A minor fettle this evening. I took the spd spacer (leg length discrepancy) off an old pair of shoes and put the spacer, its longer bolts and new cleats on a new pair of boots.

 

[ColinJ]

The two new CR2032 batteries had come from a strip of 5 bought cheap from a local market stall. Was it possible that they were all useless?

I swapped the batteries around and retested them... Final score: 2/5 batteries are flat from 'new', 1/5 half flat from 'new', 2/5 actually good as new!

Jet wash and bike, oh nooooo. I have a wash station on the side of the garage - it's an old wall mounted bike hanger - two arms fold down so can pop the bike on it - usually only used for the filthy MTB.

That's a nice heavy bit of wood, so the bikes won't go anywhere.

That's a good idea. I faff about cleaning bikes in my back yard. A wash stand would be much more convenient!

A minor fettle this evening. I took the spd spacer (leg length discrepancy) off an old pair of shoes and put the spacer, its longer bolts and new cleats on a new pair of boots.

Road SPDs?

I have a shorter left leg and used to shim my left-side Look cleats. These days I only use MTB SPDs and they are more of a problem. If I used a shim on those shoes the cleat would be sticking out, which would not be great.

 

[CXRAndy]

As I finished the brake off, a colleague came into work, and told me the mechanic had called the customer because we have to charge more for bikes with enclosed chain guards. On hearing that the total would be somewhere in the region of 160€ she cancelled the repair.

Well she should do the repairs herself. Unfortunately labour rates are the problem. She must be saving a fortune in not running a vehicle is she commutes/shops with her bike.

That reminds me, I've got to build my wife's front dynamo wheel back up before boxing day, we are going out to meet friends .

 

[sevenfourate]

Ronseal instructions says “One coat is sufficient”.

I’m about to give the new bicycle Jet-Wash Stand its 3rd. Just incase they don’t know what they’re talking about 🤣

 

[Gwylan]

Christmas visitors expected, human near relatives. Now, today, now, immediately I have to deal with the loo seat in the guest bathroom.
It's mostly cosmetic and does not affect function argument did not work.
Refuse to cycle to town to return with a new seat. It's not that bad.
So condemned to shed to restore it.
Make noise and sawdust. Look, even better sound, busy. Must look for a Spotify "Busy shed" theme.

Make note to install one of those diesel van heaters soon.