What Have You Fettled Today?

[Andy in Germany]

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 .

Apparently she's a medical school student from north Germany, hence the Dutch bike (and lack of money). Tübingen is a major university town so we get a lot of students, in fact my manager is quite pleased to have an English speaker on the team to deal with international students.

 

[EckyH]

Could do a few small things on the bike for the spouse: shortened the chain, installed the brake cables and the basket holder, adjusted the kickstand.

E.

 

[Gunk]

One of my bikes hangs off the shelving in the garage to save space and it also keeps it up out of harms way. However it was set up for a mountain bike so it wasn’t quite fitting properly, so this morning I lowered the hook and moved the two steel cups closer together and it now holds the bike nice and secure. Simple job but one I’ve been meaning to do for a while.

 

[cyberknight]

new tyres put on the winter bike last night

 

[CXRAndy]

Apparently she's a medical school student from north Germany, hence the Dutch bike (and lack of money). Tübingen is a major university town so we get a lot of students, in fact my manager is quite pleased to have an English speaker on the team to deal with international students.

But she wont be able to get as nice a bike for the repair cost. Medical student eh, bet she's in the pub spending a sum of Euros on beer

 

[chriswoody]

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...

Frozen flatlands indeed, it's not that cold here! As you say though, those bikes are ten a penny here.

But she wont be able to get as nice a bike for the repair cost. Medical student eh, bet she's in the pub spending a sum of Euros on beer

A quick glance on Kleinanzeigen, (Our version of Gumtree) reveals an identical bike for €50 near to me. Spend up to €150 and you will get a really nice condition dutch bike. I actually bought a lovely one for my wife a couple of years ago for about €180. They are cheap as chips around here.

 

[sevenfourate]

Some prep / tinkering / cleaning: ready for our Boxing Day ride:

Also installed a couple of Titanium jockey wheel bolts on the Winter hack:

And cut 4 bands from an old inner tube: and stuck them on the Hydraulic braked MTB and Hybrid: pulling the lever in reasonably firmly.

This is an old ‘trick’ I learnt from motorbikes - when sitting over Winter - and squeezes any air out the lines, past the Master Cylinder and keeps brakes feeling fresh and strong. If you’ve got a bike with Hydraulic brakes that sits - literally do this for 48 hours or more and the feel will be rejuvenated 👍

 

[Gwylan]

Some prep / tinkering / cleaning: ready for our Boxing Day ride:

View attachment 756462

Also installed a couple of Titanium jockey wheel bolts on the Winter hack:

View attachment 756463

And cut 4 bands from an old inner tube: and stuck them on the Hydraulic braked MTB and Hybrid: pulling the lever in reasonably firmly.

This is an old ‘trick’ I learnt from motorbikes - when sitting over Winter - and squeezes any air out the lines, past the Master Cylinder and keeps brakes feeling fresh and strong. If you’ve got a bike with Hydraulic brakes that sits - literally do this for 48 hours or more and the feel will be rejuvenated 👍

View attachment 756464

Interesting.....

 

[sevenfourate]

Interesting.....

……the brakes part ? Can do same on you car too with a piece of wood etc jamming the pedal down and wedged into the front of the seat / rail.

 

[Gunk]

Titanium jockey wheel bolts on the Winter hack

 

[sevenfourate]

Took exactly 10 days to my door from China:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/29282215...C0nOHPhReS&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[EckyH]

Despite the missus returned few hours earlier than I expected (she told me before, but my two brain cells muddled that), I could install the bell and the front mudguard and basically adjusted the brakes on her bike. So it was rideable - and she had fun on the first test ride around the block.
Fortunately she likes her new bike and also the colour scheme. Phew.

E.

 

[8mph]

FC M 732 chainring (32t) successfully bodged on to an old LX octalink Crankset, which involved a bit of filing. I decided to file the crank rather than the chainring.

I also reversed the B limit screw on the 105 rear mech and replaced the chain.

The old bike has taken a battering this winter and I suspect the rear dropouts and mech hanger need re-aligning, a job for another day

 

[sevenfourate]

I fettled some suds onto the bike after today’s ride.

Really should have followed-up on doing the car afterwards: but icba…..

 

[Gunk]

I fettled some suds onto the bike after today’s ride.

Really should have followed-up on doing the car afterwards: but icba…..

View attachment 756669

They must have run out of bricks on the house opposite!