What Have You Fettled Today?

[DCLane]

After a morning in the sleet and rain I needed to do some fettling:

• Hosed down, cleaned & lubricated the Whyte 805 I'd used this morning.
• Spent more time on the Raleigh Clubman; fitted a Rubino Pro Slick rear tyre and cleaned/trued the rear wheel. Fitted a new chain and replacement Tioga saddle after cleaning the seatpost/bracket. It just needs new brake levers (en route) with cables and tape added when the levers arrive.
• The GT Timberline got new Vavert black/white grips. Getting the 25 year-old ones off wasn't easy but spraying with GT85 always helps.
• The Carrera Vengeance received a replacement crankset; I wasn't too happy with the Shimano 300EX 52/42 one I'd fitted so it got a Shimano 105 53/39 old square taper one.
• Also the Raleigh RSP150 retro MTB got some new RSP 281 forks in matching orange which I'd sourced. Hopefully that'll solve the fork problem it has.

A busy afternoon!

 

[howdenbiker]

Bike got absolutely covered in mud on a tow path so it needed a good hosing down when I got back.
Then I put it on the stand and brushed out the remaining mud. Cleaned the chain and oiled.
Thought the back disc brake wasn't working but discovered I'd trapped the cable in the stand clamp!!!
Will be fettling the brakes soon as they have taken a bit of a bashing over the last couple of months.

 

[Psycolist]

Neighbours son popped in with a MESH ?? jump bike he had got at the local booty. Needed a bit of TLC. It was a strange combination of cheap un-branded wheels, brakes, bars and stem, but a nice Shimano chain set and continental vertical tyres A very brief fettle with two loose spokes, fitted two new brake cables along with a general once over the proverbial oily rag and Robert was his fathers brother. Oooooh, forgot the front puncture. Got his self a perfectly acceptable ride, but, yeah gods, it was heavy, I mean proper heavy. It nearly took me with it when I tried to up-end it. I didn't weigh it but I guess it tipped the scales at about 20kg. A big old lump for a 12 year old to heft about. Goodness knows how you would ever "jump" with it. I doubt it would get off the ground at less than 40mph.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Cleaned & mickled the knockabout bike in the rain. It's supposed to freeze again overnight so tyre pressures on the snow studs have been dropped in anticipation of a slippy commute.

 

[Psycolist]

In view of the forecast, I figured today should be a fettle fest. In December my front suspension forks developed a metallic 'clong' when I take to the air. It has been the subject of much surfing and investigation to try and find the cause. Biggest issue was narrowing down the specific model that I should be looking at the diagrams for. They are the Rockshox Duke with U-Turn and Pure Delight insert, being at least 10 years old, Easy enough to find the diagrams, but there seem to be so many variations ! I had already taken the forks apart twice and tried to figure out what could be wrong, looking for worn parts, and comparing build to diagrams. I had also purchased several 'service kits' supposedly suitable for my make and model, and 'up-dated' a couple of the parts, all without any improvement in that metallic 'clong' when at full extension. Today, I stripped the forks, took apart the separate components and let common sense take over. I replaced all the 'o' rings, washers and plates that I had yet to use from the service packs, and looked at what was left over. I figured there could only be two contact points, 1 in each leg, that could come together when fully extended. There were also 2 suitably sized fibre/rubber washers that seemed not to be mentioned in any diagram or service sheet. I installed these washers in the appropriate area, carefully cleaned everything, and re-built the fork. Everything went back on the bike, a quick scrub of hands with Swarfega and a trial outing was taken. Just hopping down the kerb outside my drive was met with a solid 'thud' instead of 'clong'. A couple more trips up and down the kerb and a quick outing in my local woods confirmed that the 'clong' had been banished. Un equalled pleasure with every thud ! The only downside was that it actually turned out to be a nice day, chilly, but bright and sunny for the most part, and I missed out on getting a few miles in the saddle. But when all thing considered, it was a day well spent.

 

[TheDoctor]

Taken the 40T Stronglight chain set off the commuter, and fitted a triple from the spares heap with a 36T (!!) single ring, and a set of PDM324 SPD's.
That gives me gears of 79, 68, 59, 53, 45, 37 and 30. Perfect!

 

[anotherDave]

I decided to fix a niggle on my D lock carrying bracket. My tinkering has made things worse, captive(?!) nuts are now rattling around inside a sealed body.

Superglue to the rescue in the morning!

 

[Dirk]

Adjusted the rear mech on my Giant hybrid as it had decided not to engage top gear for some reason.

 

[howdenbiker]

Used a soft paper towel to wipe the marks from my new purchase, pictures to follow......

 

[jayonabike]

Fitted a new 105 crankset, front & rear derailleur, cassette and brifters to my Dawes Century. Nipped over to the LBS so they could do the cables and fine tune the gears. Once home I wrapped the new bar tape I bought over there.

 

[compo]

Washed my Trek (polishing later). Renewed the disc pads for the front wheel.

 

[Psycolist]

Part of my daily commute has recently become oddly dark, much darker than it ever used to be. Some street lighting seems to have been switched off permanently, or it could be to do with the new hotel being built in that stretch, but I felt I needed something brighter at the front. Took delivery of a Cree XM-L today and had a spin around after fitting it Whoa ! how bright is that, dose the job though, no danger of riding into a pallet some oik has pulled into the road using this beasty.

 

[bpsmith]

Last weeks ride was cold, wet and dirty, so stripped the front and rear mechs off tonight. Front was very gritty and difficult to shift, so decided to do both. Some real crap came out of there!

Got carried away and took the cassette off for a thorough clean too.

New chain ready to fit, so going to get the crank off next to complete the cleaning process of the drivetrain.

Probably going to get the brake callipers off too...to finally clean and Wax the frame!

My parents didn't know what to get me for Christmas, so got me some Muc-Off bike wax.

 

[compo]

I have just updated my video drivers and cured severe flickering on Thunderbird that has been driving me crazy for days since a Windows update.

 

[PeteXXX]

New pads fitted to the front brakes on the SL4. Front and back bled.