What Have You Fettled Today?

[Illaveago]

I thought I would fit a new crank and try reassembling my Falcon with what parts I had left over in my spares box.

I may have to borrow wheels off another bike .

 

[BianchiVirgin]

Degreased the chain and bits on the MTB and got them all nice and clean. Then, after letting it all dry in the sun I started applying the Invisiframe kit I bought way back in January but it was too cold to apply. The first few pieces went on nicely so I'll have another go tomorrow on the seat and chain stays. If I knew it existed I'd have done it when I got the bike new instead of when it's a bit scruffy at this stage. Anyway, it'll keep it from getting worse I suppose.

 

[palinurus]

Replaced the rusty wheelnuts on the winter commuter with some nice gold ones. Also removed the rack, I use the Elephant bike for shopping and always commute with the courier bag these days.

Cleaned and lubed the Surly. When getting it into gear to wipe the chain the cable broke at the lever end. Fitted new cable but somehow the nipple slipped out of where it should be and got lodged inside the shifter, took me ages to tease it out. Fixed it eventually.

 

[fossyant]

Fitted new grips to my wifes hybrid. The type with a larger palm rest and integrated bar end. Should help with wrist pain.

Regreased the GXP BB on the MTB. Removed the cups to grease the thread and found out why I was getting a few clicks when putting the power down on hills. The drive side cup didnt need any pressure to undoo. All running quiet.

Shame GXP bearings arent well sealed. At least its a doddle to regrease them.

 

[DCBassman]

Following thread in Mechanics on freewheels (!), got the Trek on the stand and took off the rear wheel. Mucky. Cleaned. As suggested, sprayed in some wd40 and spun. Got smooth real fast. Added some engine oil to keep it oily until such time as I decide what to do next. The hub needs a full overhaul really, new cones and bearings certainly, possibly new axle too. Might get LBS to do hub as difficult at home. And a new Sunrace or Shimano freewheel and chain would probably be a good idea.
Then sell. Would make a bombproof commuter for someone!

 

[the stupid one]

I drove 230 miles there and back today to collect an eBay bike. Triban 500, 4 months old, with Shimano A530 pedals and Fulcrum Racing 7 LG wheelset with Continental 25mm tyres. Plus the original B'Twin wheelset and tyres! I got quite a bargain.
Anyway, a bit of fettling was needed, so . . .
• Straightened the front wheel to stop the brakes rubbing.
• Oiled the chain.
• Cleaned and greased the seatpost and the saddle clamp, roughly set the saddle height and angle.
Then I went out for my first drop-bar bike ride for twenty years. Not too terrible. Braking from the hoods is going to need some practice, and I haven't yet quite got the muscle memory to change gears effectively, but the steering wasn't too twitchy and the ride was fairly comfortable even at a mad 100 p.s.i.
Tomorrow I need to learn how to get the stem cap off so I can fit the spacer bell I bought recently - there's no apparent bolt-head at the top, so I'm a bit puzzled*.
And in the near future there may be cleats and cycling shoes. It's all terribly exciting.


*Edit: Youtube video suggests there's a little rubber cap which needs flipping off first. Excellent.

 

[si_c]

Swapped the cassette from the commuting 12-25 to the really fscking hilly 11-36 this morning before todays ride. Couldn't get it indexed properly, derailleur barrel adjuster is bent!!?! How that has happened I don't know.

Can order a new one from SJS, but will check LBS tomorrow.

Any thoughts? Is that grease just for rust prevention before use, or is it intended to actually lube the chain?)

It's pretty good lube, depending on the weather. I tend to lube it when it starts to make a bit more noise on the sprockets, which last summer was almost 1000km, during the winter it can be as little as 100km.

 

[the stupid one]

Removed handlebars, added bell, flipped stem, replaced bars with a bit more of an angle backwards. Must try it out . . .



. . . more upright means more comfort, but while the brakes are more easily reached from the hoods they seem harder to get to from the drops.

 

[bpsmith]

Removed handlebars, added bell, flipped stem, replaced bars with a bit more of an angle backwards. Must try it out . . .



. . . more upright means more comfort, but while the brakes are more easily reached from the hoods they seem harder to get to from the drops.

Two options, depending on what shifters you have?

1. Adjust the reach via screw adjustment or via Shims that can be fitted.

2. Gently roll back the bar tape and adjust the position of the shifters on the bar itself. Then refit tape if done gently enough.

 

[fossyant]

Hmm the rear Guide RS hydraulic brake leaver is slow to return. Its a known issue in heat. Looks like its a strip down and lightly sand the piston in the leaver body down. Or just wait a few days and we won't have a warm spell like this for a while !

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Moved saddle back by 0.75cm. This will no doubt transform me into a demon rider overnight.

 

[the stupid one]

Two options, depending on what shifters you have?

1. Adjust the reach via screw adjustment or via Shims that can be fitted.

2. Gently roll back the bar tape and adjust the position of the shifters on the bar itself. Then refit tape if done gently enough.

Thank you very much! I shall look into those adjustment screws tomorrow. It's odd that I can't quite get enough of the levers, because I have big hands (size 8 1/2 or 9 in a surgical glove). It may be a perception thing, but I'd like to feel I had more control. What I need is the time to go for a long ride on it with a multi-tool for adjustments, and really get used to it. Even the lightness is quite distracting at the moment.

 

[bpsmith]

Thank you very much! I shall look into those adjustment screws tomorrow. It's odd that I can't quite get enough of the levers, because I have big hands (size 8 1/2 or 9 in a surgical glove). It may be a perception thing, but I'd like to feel I had more control. What I need is the time to go for a long ride on it with a multi-tool for adjustments, and really get used to it. Even the lightness is quite distracting at the moment.

The shifter arms curve away from the bars, towards the bottom especially. As you angle the bars backwards, those end bits get further away as your hands rest on a different part of the drops. The adjustment screws help in this regard, by pushing the top of each lever forwards which results in the bottom getting closer to the bars.

I haven’t needed to use the adjustment myself, as have my bars set with the drops parallel to the floor and then the shifters set up so the hoods are parallel also. I am pretty flexible, so perhaps that’s why it works better for me.

We’re all different, hence the adjustment being built in.

 

[Jenkins]

Test fitted the 37mm versions of the Vittoria Voyager Hyper tyres to the spare set of wheels for the Spa Elan to see if they fitted under the mudguards - they do without any changes needed so are staying on the spare wheels ready for the winter..

The tyres removed (basic wired Schwalbe G-Ones) from the spare wheels were then fitted to the Cube as replacements for the Schwalbe CX Comps which were showing signs of wear. It had nothing to do with them being fractionally lighter at all, honestly! Then the original (leaking Shimano) complete rear brake assembly was removed and replaced with the Clarks M2 set-up purchased a week or so ago and the rear rotor was also replaced as it had become contaminated from the leak. The brakes will be bedded in on a test ride tomorrow or on Friday's commute.

 

[ColinJ]

I have moved my 'spare' bottle cage again. I have 3 cages for 2 bikes. I only need one cage for rides up to about 65 km (40 miles) but I am doing a 200 km ride on Saturday so I need 2 cages on the bike that I will be riding and (naturally!) the second cage is on the wrong bike ... I must buy a matching 4th one next time that I order from Planet X.

The bike in question is my singlespeed. I stripped down a pair of old Campagnolo Ergopower controls for that bike, removing the worn-out gear shifters, but leaving the brake levers in place. The problem was that it left a gaping void behind where the gear levers used to be. I got fed up with the edges of the metalwork digging in to my fingers so tonight I peeled back the rubber hoods and wrapped some spare lengths of bar tape underneath round that metalwork to give me much more comfortable handholds.