What Have You Fettled Today?

[Levo-Lon]

Gave the bikes a good wash down after yesterdays outing.
changed the 42,28 sram chainwheels for the 38,24 as I struggled in the mud with the 42 ,28 more clearance too with the 38..

 

[ColinJ]

Gave the bikes a good wash down after yesterdays outing.

Ooh, good point - it was cold and dark when I got home yesterday and I was tired, so I skipped the usual bike wash.

There had been a lot of salty grit on the roads, which is probably now eating away at the metal bits of the bike. I will clean it this afternoon.

 

[howdenbiker]

Had a morning in the bike shed as other half was giving a lesson on felting. Changed a tyre that I'd given up on previously, cleaned two steel bikes and gave my commute bike a good going over, it's getting filthy every day I use it at the moment.
Put some hangers up to so I can keep the bikes up high and give me some more space.

 

[Psycolist]

After a Sunday morning outing on my hybrid, I decided it was time to change the handle bars on my utility bike. A job I have been promising myself I must do for weeks. I got the new riser bars on flea bay before Christmas, but hadn't had the time or inclination to install them. While I was at it, I started to clean the bike, and thought, as I was going to have to re-cable it, because the new bars were higher and wider, I would switch the rear derailleur to a rapid rise version. I got all the old stuff off the bike, undid the chain link, then with a bowl of soapy water, removed three months worth of road rubbish, and wiped over the other parts with baby wipes, drying/polishing with paper towels as I went. Then I replaced the derailleur, popped on the new bars, put the brake levers and shifters in place. That's as far as I got, but with a bike that's looking a lot cleaner than before. Got Tuesday to myself this week, so hope to finish off then.

 

[ColinJ]

I washed yesterday's grit off the bike. The Crud mudguards had made a big difference to how dirty the bike had got. I'd say that it only had about 10% of the grit on it that a 100 km winter ride would otherwise deposit.

I checked why the Cruds were so noisy yesterday. Sure enough, poor setup and the little felt pads stuck to the tops of the guards had pushed the guards to within about 1 mm of the tyres! I could hear the front tyre rub once per revolution so the wheel is probably at least 1 mm off being round. I took the pads off and pulled the guards up as much as I could and careful adjustment of the stays changed the profile of the guards so they fit better. I think I now have nearly 2 mm clearance. That is still close enough for bits of mud and grit to get trapped and make a noise, but hopefully it will not be doing it for hours at a time now!

The other problem I had on yesterday evening's ride home as it got dark was that bumps in the road were messing with my front light. If the power is flicked on and off, the light advances to the next mode: Bright->Medium->Dim->Flash-SOS-in-Morse code(!)->Make-every-epileptic-within-100-metres-go-into-fits-stupidly-bright-fast-flashing-mode->Bright-> ...

I had a good look inside the light and can see the problem. There is a spring loaded contact connecting to one end of the battery pack. I need to put something like a rubber grommet round this contact to act as a spacer which will prevent the battery pack bouncing to and fro every time I hit a bump and causing power glitches. I'll do that tomorrow.

 

[slowmotion]

The bike's still filthy. I spent the time I should have been washing it getting a coax cable from the nest box camera into the sitting room. No tits yet, but somebody has been in there. There's a smudge on the nest box floor.

 

[Elybazza61]

Over the week-end got the front mech adjusted on the Helium and finished(sort-of) this;

Also got some digging and tidying done in the garden,got a Tivo upgrade from Virgin and ordered some nice new pillows for a good nights sleep.

 

[ColinJ]

The other problem I had on yesterday evening's ride home as it got dark was that bumps in the road were messing with my front light. If the power is flicked on and off, the light advances to the next mode: Bright->Medium->Dim->Flash-SOS-in-Morse code(!)->Make-every-epileptic-within-100-metres-go-into-fits-stupidly-bright-fast-flashing-mode->Bright-> ...

I had a good look inside the light and can see the problem. There is a spring-loaded contact connecting to one end of the battery pack. I need to put something like a rubber grommet round this contact to act as a spacer which will prevent the battery pack bouncing to and fro every time I hit a bump and causing power glitches. I'll do that tomorrow.

I tested the light by throwing it at a pillow. Sure enough, it advanced a mode every time I did that.

I just made a shock absorbent washer out of a piece of pipe-lagging and put that round the spring-loaded battery contact. As a result, I can now hurl the light at the pillows as many times as I like and the light is not affected! I'll check it on a bumpy ride to see if the problem really is cured.

I forgot to do the chain when I cleaned the bike yesterday. The combination of salty grit from Saturday and warm water from washing the bike on Sunday had left me with a seized up chain covered in rust spots this morning. I have lubed it and will give it an hour for the lube to soak in, then I will wipe the chain down.

DON'T LEAVE DAMP, SALTY GRIT ON YOUR BIKE - WASH IT OFF AFTER A WINTER RIDE!

 

[Racing roadkill]

Today I chiseled out the remains of the knackered BB from my winter hack. I ended up using a flat head screwdriver bit from my socket set, and a hammer. It worked a treat. I shall now crack on with getting the new BB cranks and chain rings on.

 

[Justinslow]

Today and the last few days (much to the wife's disgust) refurbed my old Saracen mtb with new freewheel, chain, rear v brake, EZ fire shifters and gear cables (instead of the rubbish gripshifters), wider bars, saddle, headset, BB and took the old poor RST forks off and gave them a clean and some new grease inside. Set up front and back gearing, tried a new crankset that I come across cheap, but that didn't work so got a refund.
Most enjoyable and the first time that I've done a lot of these things, but with some research and "you tube" guides was ok, easily as enjoyable as riding the thing!
And put a new saddle on the roadie and replaced the bar tape but did this inside the house where it was a lot warmer.

The garage was a bit of a mess...

 

[Scotchlovingcylist]

Fitted my charge spoon to my new bike, couldn't get on with the OEM felt one

 

[ColinJ]

Today and the last few days (much to the wife's disgust) refurbed my old Saracen mtb with new freewheel, chain, rear v brake, EZ fire shifters and gear cables (instead of the rubbish gripshifters), wider bars, saddle, headset, BB and took the old poor RST forks off and gave them a clean and some new grease inside. Set up front and back gearing, tried a new crankset that I come across cheap, but that didn't work so got a refund.
Most enjoyable and the first time that I've done a lot of these things, but with some research and "you tube" guides was ok, easily as enjoyable as riding the thing!
And put a new saddle on the roadie and replaced the bar tape but did this inside the house where it was a lot warmer.
View attachment 78008

The garage was a bit of a mess...

Ha ha - I have finally seen somewhere that makes my 'bike shed' (what most people have as a living room) look relatively tidy!

 

[Orville]

It was a snow day in my neck of the woods so lots of shovelling. I did manage to get 45 minutes on the turbo trainer though.

 

[clid61]

Ice bike serviced whilst watching last hobbit lol

 

[fatjel]

Finally got the defy to change into all 16 gears and stay in said gears when I decide. After a few weeks of constant index knob fiddling
I fitted a new rear mech. 10 minutes fitted and adjusted .. No more gear probs.

I've had the thing less than a month and so far it's had a new crank arm and a rear derailieur

It's fair to say we haven't bonded as yet. I saw a skip whilst out earlier and was sorely tempted

I think I probably should have sent it back