What Have You Fettled Today?

[bpsmith]

I don't get the point of a stealthy black bike. Are you an invisible rider or only ever dress in black including full face balaclava, gloves, black helmet, go out in the dead of night in an unlit area with no lights?

Surely, under normal circumstances, a driver, ped, bystander will see the rider long before the bike so any element of stealth is long gone in the case of drivers that should be a good thing!

It’s Stealth Black, as in paintwork and logo’s, rather than stealth as in not seen!

You could have Stealth White, or any other colour, it’s not specifically black.

Bike has Gumwall tyres and I will be wearing Fluro and White helmet, along with Fluro shoes, so there’s no chance of not seeing me.

With regards to the style of the bike, it’s all about dialling down the logo’s and having subtle branding. It’s all about being a little different, which I know that you understand.

My other bike is bright enough, with plenty going on paint wise, so why would I want another the same?

 

[bpsmith]

I will admit to owning one black bike.................................................but it is a shiny metallic black that is all sparkly in the sunshine (if we ever get any sunshine)

Sparkly!?!

 

[Reynard]

Hey, what's wrong with sparkly?

My bike is mostly red.

So's the old MTB I'm fettling, and my attic project. There seems to be something of a pattern here...

 

[raleighnut]

Sparkly!?!

Metallic Black

 

[bpsmith]

Metallic Black

I am picturing some bike with metal flake flecks in the paint. Tassels too.

 

[raleighnut]

I am picturing some bike with metal flake flecks in the paint. Tassels too.

Distinct lack of tassels.

 

[Illaveago]

I went out and bought a new tyre to replace the perished ( patina ) one on my Criterium. Once I had removed the old tyre I had a go at knocking some of the dents in the rim out . Once they were in shape I went over the repaired areas with a file to remove any burs . I gave some of the spokes a final tweak just to true it up after I had fitted the tyre and fitted the wheel back on the bike .

 

[jayonabike]

Indexed the gears on the Ritte after yesterday’s ride where I wasn’t happy with the gear changing. It’s still not 100% but rideable, almost time for new chain and cassette. The chain is between 50 + 75% and it’ll be the 3rd chain so time for a new cassette as well. I want to change the front from a compact to a double so will do the lot at the same time

Dusted off the cervelo after winter storage. Dropped the forks out, cleaned and re greased the headset, re lubed the drivetrain, seat tube out and more carbon grip applied. Re-torqued everything and indexed the gears.
A quick spin around the block and it’s running sweet.

 

[Reynard]

Need to do a bit of reading up before I tackle the back wheel of the MTB, but took the front wheel off and serviced the hub.

Not exactly plain sailing. One of the lock nuts is stuck, and so I can't get one cone off the axle. Got the other one off though, so pulled the axle through, cleaned both sets of bearings (oh man, they were dirty), re-greased them, cleaned everything else and reassembled the whole shebang. And now I can see why the bearings were so full of crud - the cone flanges are warped and don't sit flush against the wheel.

Question is, do I get replacements or do I simply do a botch job, either by bending the flanges back into place or adding a thin washer? The bearings are held in a cage rather than being loose inside.

 

[raleighnut]

Need to do a bit of reading up before I tackle the back wheel of the MTB, but took the front wheel off and serviced the hub.

Not exactly plain sailing. One of the lock nuts is stuck, and so I can't get one cone off the axle. Got the other one off though, so pulled the axle through, cleaned both sets of bearings (oh man, they were dirty), re-greased them, cleaned everything else and reassembled the whole shebang. And now I can see why the bearings were so full of crud - the cone flanges are warped and don't sit flush against the wheel.

Question is, do I get replacements or do I simply do a botch job, either by bending the flanges back into place or adding a thin washer? The bearings are held in a cage rather than being loose inside.

Just use plenty of grease in there, I would.


EDIT, you only need to take one cone off and slide the axle out, some old Raleigh wheels one cone is fixed anyway (RSW 20 I think is one of em)

 

[C R]

Need to do a bit of reading up before I tackle the back wheel of the MTB, but took the front wheel off and serviced the hub.

Not exactly plain sailing. One of the lock nuts is stuck, and so I can't get one cone off the axle. Got the other one off though, so pulled the axle through, cleaned both sets of bearings (oh man, they were dirty), re-greased them, cleaned everything else and reassembled the whole shebang. And now I can see why the bearings were so full of crud - the cone flanges are warped and don't sit flush against the wheel.

Question is, do I get replacements or do I simply do a botch job, either by bending the flanges back into place or adding a thin washer? The bearings are held in a cage rather than being loose inside.

In my experience replacing the cones is a tricky thing, the cones need to be exactly the same as the ones you are taking out, otherwise they may not fit the same, which leads to the wheel either not fitting back (because the distance from locknut to locknut has increased) or being loose (because the distance from locknut to locknut has decreased). Getting the correct cones can be a tricky business, so unless the cones are definitely damaged, it is probably best to flatten the flanges and carry on as you are.

 

[Reynard]

Just use plenty of grease in there, I would.


EDIT, you only need to take one cone off and slide the axle out, some old Raleigh wheels one cone is fixed anyway (RSW 20 I think is one of em)

Now that you say so, makes me wonder if that's the case. That the cone is fixed, I mean. But if that's the case, why the locknut? Unless it's to keep everything symmetrical...

 

[Reynard]

In my experience replacing the cones is a tricky thing, the cones need to be exactly the same as the ones you are taking out, otherwise they may not fit the same, which leads to the wheel either not fitting back (because the distance from locknut to locknut has increased) or being loose (because the distance from locknut to locknut has decreased). Getting the correct cones can be a tricky business, so unless the cones are definitely damaged, it is probably best to flatten the flanges and carry on as you are.

That's probably what I'm going to do.

If I really tighten the locknuts, I get a good seal, but then the bearings don't run particularly free and vice versa. So guess it's trying to find the best compromise between tightening everything up and getting a nice smooth rotation on the axle.

 

[raleighnut]

That's probably what I'm going to do.

If I really tighten the locknuts, I get a good seal, but then the bearings don't run particularly free and vice versa. So guess it's trying to find the best compromise between tightening everything up and getting a nice smooth rotation on the axle.

That's the 'black art' of cone adjustment, getting that balance.

 

[graham bowers]

Annoyingly, I failed to fettle the indexing on my road bike - been putting it off for a while as I've failed before. A straight edge revealed the RD is not aligned with the cassette, no idea how that happened. Park DAG 2.2 fettling tool on the way.