What Have You Fettled Today?

[Butty1972]

This is going to sound pathetic... but I'm very proud of myself in that I managed to fit crud catcher mudguards last night and adjust the brakes on my hybrid... Always nervous I'll end up carrying load of bike bit to my LBS whenever I think about anything involving allen keys...

 

[Ian H]

Last time I had a bike shop do work for me was when I bought components to build up a new bike in 2002 and Mr LBS insisted he'd build it for free because it was such a nice frame. A couple of weeks later I was rebuilding the wheels. Over the next weeks I redid almost everything. (Probably) never again.

 

[ColinJ]

Do you inflate your tubes before fitting? I find a slight amount of pressure helps in getting them seated and helps avoid pinches. I then reduce the pressure as needed while working the tyre on to the rim.

I normally do, but the latex tubes are so stretchy that at first I didn't, fearing that I would stretch the tube that I was fitting. I soon discovered that it was way too easy to pinch the tube, so I blew air into it by mouth to avoid excessive pressure. No further problems, but it looks like the damage was already done.

I am toying with the idea of sticking a butyl patch on the latex tube ... It seems wrong to do it but I have read that a lot of people do. I will take a look at the tube and see what the damage is. If it isn't too bad, I will patch it and reuse it.

I had better go and do it now or this ride will never happen!

 

[ColinJ]

Blimey - what a faff!

TOP TIP: Latex tubes are incredibly stretchy, so if you get the tiniest of tiny holes in the tube, the hole can stretch when the tube is pumped up. When the tube is not under pressure, the hole can close back up again. You don't really want to put a lot of pressure in the tube when it is not being held back by a tyre, for fear of over-stretching it. Therefore, such a closed-up tiny hole can be very hard to find. I blew a little air into my punctured tube by mouth and held the whole tube underwater. I waited for 5 minutes and not a single bubble emerged!

It finally dawned on me what was happening so I went round the tube, taking a 3 inch section at a time and stretching that underwater. Eventually a stream of bubbles emerged. Stop stretching, the bubbles stopped. It was impossible to see the hole when the tube was not being stretched so I marked it with a biro before getting my puncture kit out.

I patched the hole with a standard patch. Yes, that will introduce a stiffer section on the otherwise super-flexible tube, but I don't think it will be a problem. We'll see ...

Anyway, I am having a mug of tea now before going out on my ride. If the damn tyre is flat again by the time that I am ready to leave, I will use my other bike instead!

 

[numbnuts]

I just cleaned the car it had cobwebs on it

 

[ColinJ]

I just cleaned the car it had cobwebs on it

That suggests to me that you don't really need it!

If you use it so infrequently, it would probably be cheaper to hire a car or use a taxi on the few times that you need 4-wheeled transport?

 

[Globalti]

Yes you can patch latex tubes! And no, it won't affect the ride. And yes, it was exactly that kind of faff that persuaded me to go back to butyl or lightweight butyl.

 

[marknotgeorge]

That suggests to me that you don't really need it!

If you use it so infrequently, it would probably be cheaper to hire a car or use a taxi on the few times that you need 4-wheeled transport?

That suggests to me that you don't really need it!

If you use it so infrequently, it would probably be cheaper to hire a car or use a taxi on the few times that you need 4-wheeled transport?

I use my car practically every day, and I still get intrepid arachnids setting up home in the lee of my door mirrors. And yes, I do use the door mirrors...

My fettling? Spent a couple of minutes fitting the stay kit to the Velo 55 Kids mudguards on the Mad Scientist's Cuda Mayhem. It doesn't really need the stay, but I figured it would protect the main bracket by damping vibrations. I was going to fit the trigger shifters to the Drama Queen's bike, but it's a bit dark over Bill's Mother's, as they say raand ere, so that'll wait till later.

SKS Velo stays by marknotgeorge, on Flickr

 

[cosmicbike]

Sat in the afternoon sunshine with a cup of tea and fitted an AXA Defender lock to my hybrid, which is starting to look more like a tourer with all the bits being bolted to it. Whilst probably not the best lock in the world, combined with the cable it will do nicely for cafe stops.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

tried to take the sprocket off my OH's rohloff hub and failed. not strong enough... round 2 comes later on after tea, with my OH's assistance!

Anyone who has read enough of my 'fettlin' will know that this is a re-occurring theme! Oh well... can't win them all.

 

[toptom]

Fitted a new seat and seat post to my cadd 10 and replaced the the bearings in the rear wheel

 

[ColinJ]

Fitted a new seat and seat post to my cadd 10 and replaced the the bearings in the rear wheel View attachment 53882

You have rather a lot of tilt on your saddle! I have experimented with that setup in the past, and it always ended up with discomfort on long rides.

I have a Fizik saddle on my Cannondale too, and I find that the fore-aft position of the bike is critical to comfort. I have a hint of downward tilt to take pressure off the nose of the saddle, but the main thing is to make sure that I am sitting on the wide part of the saddle. That is slightly raised relative to the front and is enough to keep one's 'nads out of harms way, which I assume is why you have tilted your saddle down?

I moved my saddle forward by 8 mm a few days ago and that helped a lot.

 

[I like Skol]

Phew, that was close! After a beer last night I got tempted to give the old girl a wash down with some soapy water

Luckily I hesitated (and drank another beer) and decided it would be enough to remove and store the front pannier rack until it is needed again and take off the hideous yellow/pink bottle cage that also doesn't get used. The commuter hybrid looks ever so slightly more racy now

It's a good job I changed my mind, that one moment of madness could have undone 2-3 years of hard work

 

[potsy]

Phew, that was close! After a beer last night I got tempted to give the old girl a wash down with some soapy water

Luckily I hesitated (and drank another beer) and decided it would be enough to remove and store the front pannier rack until it is needed again and take off the hideous yellow/pink bottle cage that also doesn't get used. The commuter hybrid looks ever so slightly more racy now

It's a good job I changed my mind, that one moment of madness could have undone 2-3 years of hard work

Even I am slightly disgusted (but also a little bit proud too)

Went to change the pads on my disc braked CX yesterday (or day before, my memory is going) but they had some life left in them so they were just cleaned up a bit, couldn't work out how to get the front ones off so will attempt that once I've had a look on You tube

 

[martint235]

Put new gear cables onto the MTB commuter. Also fitted a new front mudguard. Was going to do the brakes too but work called

Later I'll be putting flat pedals onto the SS and a new saddle.