What Have You Fettled Today?

[Biff600]

I had my bike serviced and a new BB fitted on the Dogma last week, it rode well before, but now it rides even better.

 

[Heltor Chasca]

‘Project Knobbly’ is now complete. When I have some photos I’ll post a picture of my Surly DT complete with Schwalbe Smart Sams (26x2.1 MTB) and Salsa Cowchippers bars. What a transformation. Very chuffed.

Annoyingly the dynamo tailight stopped working although the headlight was. Through a process of elimination I started at the back and worked forwards, replacing all contacts (spade connectors and shrink wrap) STILL DIDN'T WORK. Checked the entire length of cable. NOTHING. Then tried connecting the battery to the light. THAT WORKED. What the blinkin’ ‘eck was going on. Finally took the ‘lego brick’ apart and found one wire had worn down to nowt through unclipping and clipping it into the hub every time I took the wheel off.

What a process, but I saved myself a few quid.

 

[Elybazza61]

Hope floating discs to the XLS and a R4+ light fitted as well.

 

[PeteXXX]

General check over of the Trek Fuel ex9, prior to tomorrow’s ride, revealed that the P fairy had visited the front tyre and given it a kiss!
A thorny blackthorn thorn was extracted from the tyre, and a patch was applied to the tube..

 

[Heltor Chasca]

Had another play about yesterday evening, trying to reseat it
I even used talcum powder to let the beading slide a bit
It's better, but not perfect

I had this with Schwalbe Marathons (Greenguard) on my tourer. I used Washing up liquid (eco one with no salt) and it finally behaved. I think Schwalbe even sell a spray that lubes the bead and seats the tyre. Probably less messy, but if you are tight, washing up liquid might help.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

A mammoth cleaning session this afternoon.

Firstly the Raleigh after the very wet ride yesterday. The saddle had suffered a little from being soaked but now that it's dried, a bit of proofide has smartened it up again. Cleaning the rest of the bike wasn't too bad as it was so wet that the worst of the mud hadn't stuck, so it was just a good wipe down of what was left (mostly sand).
Next I decided I'd better pull the tyre off the back wheel and check that my repair in the rain had taken properly - to my surprise it had and was a nice neat job, so I'm quite pleased with that. The inside of the tyre was full of water though so I dried it all off and reassembled. Lastly I filed off lips that had worn on the brake blocks and were making them stick on. New ones needed on the rear in the not too distant future.

Next up for cleaning was the knockabout bike which was still plastered in mud and flecks of crushed slate from the Mawddach trail last weekend. That took a bit longer to do.

Doug's Trek followed, which was much the same but also had a rusty chain from having been put away wet. That has cleaned up pretty well though.

 

[bruce1530]

Swapped the current tyres (28mm Gatorskins) for something a bit wider (Schwalbe land cruiser 35mm) to take some of the roughness out of rough tracks. The bigger tyre and lower pressure certainly make the ride a little more comfortable, and wet tracks more passable. Wasn’t significantly slower.
But no room for full mudguards now.

Not sure whether they’ll stay on.

 

[HLaB]

I've started to put new bars on the tt bike. I've got the front derailleur cable threaded through the frame ok but I think I'll do the other cables another night, I've got to about April to do it
Edit: changed my mind, that's the rear derailleur threaded through but I'm off to bed now and the rest will wait

 

[Illaveago]

I sprayed a couple of coats of clear lacquer onto a transfer that I have been making. There was a bit of a disagreement between some of the enamel paint I used and the acrylic lacquer. The Revel gold that I used was okay but the Humbrol paint Pickled. When the paint dried the finish of the transfer wasn't too bad so I decided to go ahead and try to fit it. I will make the writing separately and slide them on later.
I soaked the transfer in some hot water for minutes. I have now discovered that the backing paper that I put the gummed tape on to feed the paper into the copier was now preventing the water from soaking the backing paper. I eventually managed to lift a clear edge of the transfer and carefully eased the transfer off and slid it into place on the frame. The transfer looks alright in place apart from a split which I will touch in.
This is learning process and I'm gradually getting the hang of it.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

This afternoon my Eastway got cleaned, checked, polished and put away until the spring. I've covered 3000 miles on it during the summer and the total mileage since I brought it just over 2 years ago is 6900 miles. I recon I'm due a rear tyre on it, the rear started off on the front and has been on the bike since the beginning and its noticeably squared off. I put a new chain on it at the beginning of summer and I though I haven't measured it I recon its knackered now and I'll need a new one next spring. I also got the fixed out and swapped the luggage over, I had to reposition the computer to get the bar bag on. The fixed was fettled a few weeks ago and has a new tyre, chain and cog on it. So if its dry tomorrow I'm set for my first fixed ride since last spring.

 

[HLaB]

I've started to put new bars on the tt bike. I've got the front derailleur cable threaded through the frame ok but I think I'll do the other cables another night, I've got to about April to do it
Edit: changed my mind, that's the rear derailleur threaded through but I'm off to bed now and the rest will wait

Fitted the rest of the cables to find out my rear derailleur and rear brake cable are too short. The brake cable was the longest MTB style cable (needed for my 3T brakes levers) that the LBS had so a longer one is on order and the don't stock campagnolo gear cables so the longest one I could find on line is on order too. So I put feeder cables in their place so they re cabled quickly when the inners arrive. Good job I've plenty of time before its actually needed

 

[jayonabike]

This morning I fitted new Swissstop brake pads to the single speed.
This afternoon I got the Enigma ready for winter. New Continental Grand Prix GT tyres and also fitted SKS race blade mudguards.

 

[Illaveago]

I finished off the writing on my transfers and slid them in to position on the down tube.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I looked at a candidate for modernization, great frame, but the components may need replacement. Worth the pfaff, as it's a large and rare frame, ultra light.

 

[raleighnut]

I looked at a candidate for modernization, great frame, but the components may need replacement. Worth the pfaff, as it's a large and rare frame, ultra light.

Go for it, everyone needs a 'Garden Gate' in their stable.

531c W serial No Raleigh 'Road Ace' (could be Worksop or maybe the same guys working at Ilkeston/Nottingham)