What Have You Fettled Today?

[ColinJ]

Hmmm, and I kept being tempted to suggest earplugs as a solution...

At the rate that my hearing is going, I soon won't need them!

(The other solution would be to ride in noisy traffic...)

 

[ColinJ]

I made one final tweak before going out... I hadn't checked the cleats on my shoes, then I remembered why - the hexagonal holes in 3 of the 4 bolt heads are not hexagonal anymore! At some point in the future, I may have to do some serious bodging to get the old bolts out. Nowt to do with them for now though. I did manage to loosen the 4th bolt, and guess what...? Yes, it was corroded and creaked as I undid it! I lubed the thread and then tightened and loosened the bolt a few times, before doing it up as tight as I could without risking damaging that one too.

While I was at it I tried to get some oil under the cleats and also put a thin coat on top of them. If the cleats had been making any noise, that was about all I could do for now to reduce it.

I didn't end up doing a long ride, but 5 km including some short 10% ramps was enough to tell me what I had been dreading finding out...
... Yes - I've finally run out of noises to complain about!

I'm sure that something will go wrong again soon, but for now the bike is beautifully quiet and smooth to ride. The only things left to moan about are the local traffic, the local road surfaces, and the unfitness of the bike's designated rider!

 

[neil_merseyside]

and the unfitness of the bike's designated rider!

Oh come on you can do a 100 mile ride, not that many keen cyclists can do that.

 

[ColinJ]

Oh come on you can do a 100 mile ride, not that many keen cyclists can do that.

I'm not quick though!

 

[FrankCrank]

Microwave decided to pack up. Did the obvious and checked the fuse, which had blown. Replaced, but blew again straight away. A bit of research on the tube revealed a likely culprit was the main capacitor:

A check with the multimeter showed it was indeed shorted, so ordered a new one (three quid).
Fitted, and up and running again. Nice to get a cheap result in these throwaway times

 

[DCLane]

Bits on son's hillclimb bike - and yes, every change got weighed:

• New front spoke and wheel trued
• Replacement Conti Podium TT 19mm tub instead of the Vittoria Evo CX as they only now come with non-removeable valves and the extenders won't go through the valve hole (+20g). On the up-side I've 3 new spare Vittoria Evo CX tubs to sell and the Podium TT tub should last longer than 5 miles.
• Removed the brake hoods (-43g)
• Removed the LH electronic shifting module as a) it's broken and b) we don't use it on a single chainring set-up (-11g)
• Swapped the stem bolts for black titanium ones (-18g) which I'd forgotten I'd bought a couple of months ago

Just under another 50g saved, although I've about 15-20g of heat-shrink plastic to add on as replacement 'brake hoods'. That means it'll still be in the 5.2-5.3kg range with the swappable chainrings (the heaviest 46T is on currently) and I don't think we can do any more with it without changing the frame, but that'd break through the £1000 we've spent to date.

Note that this bike is only used for hillclimb competitions. The low weight and lack of any real padding anywhere makes it too hard-core and twitchy for general riding. Basic photo:

Please don't send me to the WeightWeenies forum. They're obsessives

 

[neil_merseyside]

I'm not quick though!

As my last 3x 10mile laps at Garforth got into the 15+mph range, and I think only a cigarette paper between us timewise
I think not, maybe not as fast as you'd like perhaps. Have you thought of using gears

Lap 8	38:14 lap time	5:54:11 cumulative	80.00	15.7 av
Lap 9	38:48 lap time	6:32:59 cumulative	90.00	15.5 av
Lap 10	39:20 lap time	7:12:18 cumulative	100.00	15.3 av

 

[ColinJ]

As my last 3x 10mile laps at Garforth got into the 15+mph range, and I think only a cigarette paper between us timewise
I think not, maybe not as fast as you'd like perhaps. Have you thought of using gears

Lap 8	38:14 lap time	5:54:11 cumulative	80.00	15.7 av
Lap 9	38:48 lap time	6:32:59 cumulative	90.00	15.5 av
Lap 10	39:20 lap time	7:12:18 cumulative	100.00	15.3 av

That's quite interesting... I didn't save my GPS tracklog so I can't check exactly what I did.

I have my Garmin set to display current speed and overall average speed which includes all stoppage time so the average I saw was more like more like 16 kph/10 mph. I do remember know that I was doing 24 - 25 kph (15.0 - 15.5 mph) on most of that run back towards Garforth.

I'm sure that I am a lot slower than I once was. Mind you, I'm a lot older than I once was too!

 

[jowwy]

Been getting the new trek zwift ready……so fitted new 80mm stem, new inline Pro seatpost and just ordered a new duotrap sensor to connect to the garmin

i like having a new bike to fiddle with

 

[rogerzilla]

I dismantled another Sturmey-Archer AM for overhaul. This one had obviously been apart before, as someone had converted it to take an AW toggle (I always do this too). This morning's café ride was on an old 1930s clubman with an AM hub - I have a few of them! They are good on Bromptons and the mechanism screws straight into the standard shell, with no need to rebuild thd wheel.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Rewired the hedge strimmer after #3 son cut through the cable...

 

[Gunk]

After adjusting the rear wheel bearings last weekend on the Gary Fisher pub bike I noticed that the wheel still had loads of play, so I decided to the job properly today, I removed the spindle cleaned all the horrible nasty grease, threw away the old bearings. I fitted new ball bearings, regreased everything and now as smooth as silk.

 

[Jenkins]

Chains cleaned and lubed and tyre pressures topped up on all 7 bikes. The Planet X Pro-Carbon was then treated to a new set of Brand X compact bars and some decent BBB tape.

 

[JoeyB]

Over the weekend I finished my Di2 upgrade. Todays arrivals include new Dura Ace 140mm rotors. I now need a second set for other wheels and a second cassette for other wheels. Its just never ending...

On the plus side, my winter bike is now better equipped than my old summer bike... which can only mean new summer bike required.

 

[JoeyB]

New rotors fitted.