What Have You Fettled Today?

[Elysian_Roads]

I want to learn, and if things do go wrong, I'm not bollixing up my good bike.

Exactly my thinking. The mechanicals are cheaper on the rat Apollo so any investment is mainly in time and effort, I rarely use it so can take my time, and if I do have an inadvertent breakdown, I won't be far from home!!!!!

 

[Reynard]

That is a good start, does the multitool have a chain splitting tool? You will also need the bike specific things like cone spanners, crank extractor, freewheel, cassette and bb tools. It may be worth getting a bike specific toolkit that has those.

Yes it does have a chain splitter.

I'll be trotting off to Decathlon in the near future - they should have the other relevant bits in there. In the mean time, I'll tackle the bits that don't need specialist tools.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

A change of gear shifter, resetting the gears, adjusting the brakes and a good clean and checkover on an old basic Raleigh ATB that I was given a while back but never really got round to using for the purpose I intended (it's a bit small for me).

A friend dropped in for a chat yesterday and asked my advice on buying a cheap runabout so he could go off riding with his son. On the off-chance I showed him this bike to see if it was any good for what he wanted and he liked it so I've sorted out the faults and we've come to an arrangement.

Nice to see it go to someone who'll get some pleasure out of it.

The saddle has gone down a bit since I took the photo.

 

[Reynard]

Exactly my thinking. The mechanicals are cheaper on the rat Apollo so any investment is mainly in time and effort, I rarely use it so can take my time, and if I do have an inadvertent breakdown, I won't be far from home!!!!!

If I have to be honest, I've only rode the MTB twice since buying the road bike a year and a half ago. When I picked it up to move it earlier, I'd forgotten how *heavy* it is. Which is why I bought the road bike. That and the fact that it's actually a bit too big for me.

It's an Emmelle Leopard 10, btw.

 

[Elysian_Roads]

"That and the fact that it's actually a bit too big for me.

It's an Emmelle Leopard 10, btw."

Had to Google the Emmelle. First example I saw was a 22" frame example on Gumtree. Yup, that looks big!!!!

One purchase I am loving is a bike repair stand. My is a Halfords bike hut one, so nothing special but makes working on the bike so much easier.....

 

[raleighnut]

Been teaching myself some basic bicycle mechanics the practical way this afternoon, using my old (and no longer ridden) MTB as a teaching aid.

Rear brake didn't work, so removed the caliper, took it apart, cleaned it, found that the plastic washer at the pivot point had disintegrated, replaced said washer, reassembled caliper (no, I didn't have any pieces left LOL), refitted to frame, re-tensioned cable and voila, one working rear brake.

Loads of tinkering-type stuff still to be done if I want to move her on, so need to decide what to do next.

I have good socket set, range of spanners, allen keys and my topeak multi-tool. Anything else worth adding to that in terms of useful tools?

Depending on Bottom Bracket a BB extractor is useful although not if that bike has a different BB to others you own.

 

[derrick]

Put the S2 back on the road today, loved riding it again, I know i posted before about putting it back together, but it has now had it's shake down ride, a little tweak on the Di2, all good to go.

 

[jayonabike]

This Specialized Globe town bike has been sitting in the garage gathering dust and rust for the last few years.

Every time I go in the garage I look at it thinking I should get it back on the road. Well today was the day.
Stripped it down, cleaned and re-greased the headset which came up surprisingly clean

Greased the seat tube, and give the whole bike a thorough clean. Adjusted the Nexus 3 speed hub although not entirely happy with it. I can select gears 2 & 3 but not gear 1. Think a new cable might fix this.
It’s going to get new brake Calipers and I’m going to get new levers at the same time, more of an upgrade than anything else. I fitted new sks mudguards which I had in the spares box and added a brooks saddle which I had kicking around. Dusted off a pair of pedals from some other project from years ago.
When I dropped the forks out the thread came out of the star nut when I undid the headset so I need to replace that as well.

Really pleased with the way it’s turned out, haven’t spent a £ on it yet and it will be road worthy and upgraded for less than £100.
A town bike, ideal for trips to the shops, popping round to see mates and even the odd commute to work.

Lovely

 

[gbb]

Following t'other days fettling the Trek 7100fx, the gears were slipping. Not sure if tgis was poor adjustment or perhaps a worn freewheel, given the chain is brand new, it was a distinct possibility.
So wheel back off to visually inspect....hoho..well that'll do it, several teeth missing off a couple of the smaller gears.
Root around my trusty box of bits...i knew i had a 7 speed freewheel I will have robbed off an old wheel. I actually got my chainwhip out, looked at the job and thought...somethings not right ...haha, no chainwhip needed, just the splined tool.
Changed, much better.
Tinkered a bit, it's all working more than well enough. Deliver to my son's tomorrow.
See how long it lasts

 

[biggs682]

Had an hour swapping tyres on the Pollard and the fr tyre on the family tandem tonight leaving just the rear one to do now

 

[C R]

One purchase I am loving is a bike repair stand. My is a Halfords bike hut one, so nothing special but makes working on the bike so much easier.....

A bike stand is really helpful for all sorts of fettling, allowing you to work at which ever height is more comfortable for you. I was given one as a leaving present from my previous job, and it is the best most useful leaving present I have ever had.

 

[Reynard]

"That and the fact that it's actually a bit too big for me.

It's an Emmelle Leopard 10, btw."

Had to Google the Emmelle. First example I saw was a 22" frame example on Gumtree. Yup, that looks big!!!!

One purchase I am loving is a bike repair stand. My is a Halfords bike hut one, so nothing special but makes working on the bike so much easier.....

Mmmm, given I'm only 4ft 11, I really doubt it's quite *that* big Probably a 15 inch frame as a guesstimate. It's running on 24 inch wheels as it's a junior bike.

If it had a slanted top tube as opposed to a horizontal one, it would fit me just fine. But it's just that little bit too tall, so starting / stopping / junctions can get a bit hairy. And painful. DAMHIKT.

And here is the bike in question - photobombing cat included.

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Changed Bontrager R!'s that came with the new Trek to my fave tyres - Marathon Supremes, although these may get swapped soon for some tubeless jobbies.

 

[Reynard]

Depending on Bottom Bracket a BB extractor is useful although not if that bike has a different BB to others you own.

Mmmm, good point. I'm assuming that there are different BB extractors according to type? (sorry if this is an idiot question)

 

[C R]

Mmmm, good point. I'm assuming that there are different BB extractors according to type? (sorry if this is an idiot question)

If it is an old budget MTB it is likely that the bb will be a cup and cone rather than a cartridge one, I am currently dealing with that in my bike. The advantage is that cup and cone are easy to service.