What Have You Fettled Today?

[Windle]

Having been used to clipless pedals for donkey's years I never feel particularly comfortable with flats (odd, as when I was young and first tried toe clips instead of just plain pedals the opposite was true).
My Marin Bear Valley came with flat pedals. Now, big flat pedals I'm getting a bit better with on my MTB's, but these are smaller. They're OK as I only really use the bike for bike / railway paths, but I fancied putting SPD's on it. The old pedals, bless 'em, were so fond of the pretty basic rivetted chain set that they weren't coming off though. I haven't tried anything drastic as I had in mind to have a look for a replacement chainset the next time I was in Recyke-ye-bike. Last Saturday I had in rake in the parts bins in the Chester-le-Street shop and came out with a very nice Stronglight triple and a pair of Boardman SPD's to go with them. I picked the Boardmans over a pair of Shimano ones as a change, they looked a bit less clunky and seemed a tad lighter. I swapped the chainsets over on Saturday ready for a ride on Sunday. Previous chainset with plastic flats, SR Suntour.

New one with new SPD's, prior to the chainset getting completely dismantled and cleaned up properly. Same big & middle ring sizes as the previous one but with a smaller inner.

What I neglected to do was check whether the front mech was adjusted correctly as the new chainset looked a little different spacing wise, and seemed to sit a bit further in. Sunday's ride highlighted this, I was only able to use the middle ring, with a titchy bit of catching in the highest and lowest sprockets, not a problem for this ride but it needed fettling. Bonus Flying Scotsman photobombing the background.

I sorted it on Sunday evening, having to adjust the cable tension, mech angle and shift stops a bit. Now, other than it just touching the horizontal bottom web of the front mech cage when in the two smallest (outer) sprockets using the granny ring (which is a gear combination I'll never be using anyway) it's spot on. Yes, my workshop is a tip.

My only slight gripe is with the Boardman pedals, I don't have the exact cleats for them, assuming all SPD's are roughly the same, but using either my Shimano cleated shoes or my others with the Rockrider cleats (which came their own Decathlon SPD pedals) the unclipping feels a bit odd, they come loose easy enough but it feels like there's something catching immediately after unclipping ~ a bit like there's something trying to stop your foot as you swing it out to the side. Not a major problem but a bit un-nerving at first. The Shimano cleats are the most suitable and I barely noticed it after a few unclips. I'll try a short ride using the Rockriders to see if I get used to them a bit more. I know there there is a slight difference in shape between the Rockrider cleats and the Shimano ones but I've never seen what the original Boardman cleats for these pedals look like.
Anyway, I'm still enjoying riding this bike, it's perfect for railway & bike paths and is pretty light to boot.
Flippin' 'eck I've gone on a bit .

 

[Punkawallah]

As you say, a bike for the purpose. My 70’s Dawes build is perfect for my commute and pootling around town. Would I go any distance on it? No, even though I spent some of this morning adjusting for stretched gear cables and juggling with bar angle and seat height. Fist, it’s a tad small for me, second, it’s flat bars and bare bones. If there were any less parts on it, it would not qualify as a bike :-)

 

[fossyant]

Minor rear wheel fettle last night. I'd completely re-built it with new rim a few months ago, but this week it developed a slight creak on getting out of the saddle. A quick quarter turn to tighten every spoke and a little 'true' has got the wheel totally silent again. Probably the tension settling over the last month or two.

 

[ColinJ]

I was careful not to over-bend the mech and everything seems to be running ok now. I'll test it out on the road tomorrow.

I did a 19 km lumpy loop and had no further problems with the bike, except that maybe the transmission was still a little noisier than it should be?

The thing is... I am hard of hearing so if I can hear something wrong then it is worse than it sounds like to me!

I had another look back at home... Oops - the chain was not running over the top jockey wheel properly! I am amazed that it worked as well as it did. I hooked the chain over the jockey wheel and all is good now.

 

[Andy in Germany]

It's a beauty: butted joints, zig-zag cutouts, and chromed details. Sadly it has no indexing though, so I can't sell if for much.

The Yellow Mixte sold today, which means I need to lift another bike up into the display tomorrow. Whose daft idea was it to have a tall display?
Oh, yes, I remember now: it was mine...

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

FTFY

Just in case it's not clear, it's gross weight which means almost 600g has been shaved off the bike itself.
Anyway, bike is back up on the stand. I've swapped the pedals (-122g) and stripped off the old bar tape ready to change the bars.

I weighed the front thru axle; it looks to be ~30g. Which is the same weight as the Robert Axle front Thru Axle.
The rear thru axle was ~60g and replacement is ~41g. So that's a very minimal (-19g) gain there then

I swapped out the alu bottle cages (60g each) for some Thorn carbon ones (25g, so -35g or -70g for the pair) and although I think they will hold the bottles securely enough, I suspect there's going to be some rattling which means I might give up on them.

Anyway, that's 211g off the bike with just the handlebars and fork bung to go, which should mean it's a hair under 10kg fully kitted out.

Also shaved another kilo off the rider so I should practically float up the hills on the next club ride.

 

[Jenkins]

Replaced both tyres on the 'best' Van Nicholas as the wear mark on the rear had almost disappeared and it had more nicks, cuts and little pieces missing than I was comfortable with. A little treat as it nears its 10th birthday, but I've now got to get some good spares in as these were the last of the GP4000s I had left.

Then did a check of the derailleur hangar on the Planet X Pro Carbon and a minor tweak was necessary - which snapped the hangar! Never had that happen before and the bike's probably 12+ years old so goodness knows how cheap the metal used in the original was. What looks to be the correct replacement part has been sourced from RearMechHanger.com

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Got the bars swapped on the CGR Ti. And after 6 attempts, so far one side of the bars wrapped 'okayishly'. I royally suck at wrapping handlebar tape, it seems.

I'll get the other side cracked off today, swap the bung, torque everything up and then see what the final weight is.



The old bars weighed in at 290g. New ones were supposed to be 165g, according to the retailers description. They are in fact 200g and the packaging clearly states 'Weight: from 185 grams'. Checking the SKUs, the retailer has sent me the older model, rather than the current model.
I'm not to upset over 40g but I can't find any one that still stocks the previous SKU, let alone with a discount.

 

[cyberknight]

checking the bike over for tomorrow and noticed a paint chip under the seatpost clamp so i pulled the carbon post and noticed the post have a groove in it where the gap in the frame is , eek !
checked the frame and it looks ok but i had to rummage through the spares bin to find a suitable seatpost , all well and good but its too long so i had to saw it down then file and sand the edge smooth.That done i installed the replacement post and set it up making sure the seatpost collar is at the front rather than the back to even out the clamping force .
The frame looks ok but i am going to keep an eye on the carbon frame to ensure nothing untoward happens .

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

Finished fettling the CGR and getting it ready for tomorrow's club ride.

Bar tape installed on t'other half of handle bar. New fork bung installed, and at 24g it is just less than half the weight of the old one. With that, everything I removed was torqued up correctly. Oddly though, after re-installing the front wheel (bike on the stand and bike on the ground with some weight on handle bars), I'm getting dreaded rotor rub.

Shimmed the pads and re-centered the calliper. Seems fine again now - but somewhat annoying I seem to have to go through this process almost every time the front wheel comes out.

Slackened off the tension on the new pedals, practised clipping and unclipping (first time using SPD-SL).

Pumped up the tyres and put the Di2 on charge. A test ride before hand would be ideal, but I guess that'll happen on the way to the rendezvous point.

Bike is coming up at 10.04kg now fully equipped. Not quite as light as anticipated - if it wasn't for the older handlebar model being dispatched to me; it'd be bang on 10kg. Anyway, that makes for < 8.4kg as a manufacturer would put on the spec sheet (deducting pedals, handle bars, computer, lights etc.). Pretty pleased with that; seems on par with mid-range carbon fibre bike. I think it's just about been value for money.

Now all I've got to do is get a good nights sleep!

checking the bike over for tomorrow and noticed a paint chip under the seatpost clamp so i pulled the carbon post and noticed the post have a groove in it where the gap in the frame is , eek !

Fingers crossed for you that it's fine with the replacement seatpost. Sounds like you may have had a lucky escape there (potential snapped post).

 

[cyberknight]

Fingers crossed for you that it's fine with the replacement seatpost. Sounds like you may have had a lucky escape there (potential snapped post).

Not my piccie but it looks like the below , i have read eslewhere its a known issue form slightly overtightening and wondered what other peoples thoughts are on safety? i did sand the bump down and cant see any cracks etc on mine

 

[Windle]

checking the bike over for tomorrow and noticed a paint chip under the seatpost clamp so i pulled the carbon post and noticed the post have a groove in it where the gap in the frame is , eek !
checked the frame and it looks ok but i had to rummage through the spares bin to find a suitable seatpost , all well and good but its too long so i had to saw it down then file and sand the edge smooth.That done i installed the replacement post and set it up making sure the seatpost collar is at the front rather than the back to even out the clamping force .
The frame looks ok but i am going to keep an eye on the carbon frame to ensure nothing untoward happens .

I've got the same issue with my Cannondale Synapse, it's been like that for ages and looks like the outer layer of the carbon post has distorted where the groove in the frame & clamp meet. It's been like that for years to be fair and hasn't..... er, don't tempt fate .

 

[ColinJ]

I rotated the cleat on my right shoe by a few degrees because my lateral foot movement was being impeded. I don't move my heel in and out much when pedalling but when that movement is stopped the foot feels uncomfortable. It was also making the pedal/shoe interface creak and squeak.

While doing that I realised that I hadn't previously tightened the SPD bolts enough (which could explain why the cleat set-up wasn't right!) so I made sure to do them up tight this time. I checked the other cleat. Its set-up was good but again, the bolts needed tightening.

I increased the release tension on the pedals slightly too. I like to be able to get my feet unclipped in a hurry in case of emergency dismounts on ultra-steep ramps, but there is no need for the cleats to be slopping about on the pedals when clipped in.

 

[cyberknight]

I've got the same issue with my Cannondale Synapse, it's been like that for ages and looks like the outer layer of the carbon post has distorted where the groove in the frame & clamp meet. It's been like that for years to be fair and hasn't..... er, don't tempt fate .

i had to put the post back in until i get get a replacement as my spare post was a zero offset and i cant get 4 cm behind BB which is my normal measurement for saddle nose

 

[Punkawallah]

Busy day. Finished a Dawes Discovery 201 refurb (grease bearings; free off rear mech & replace cable; fit 2nd hand brake blocks; ‘true’ wheels; fit rear reflector; lube cables) and add tyres from my ‘rat bike’; tried to replace them with two 27” wheels & tyres to find the rear wheel off-set and no easy way of correcting. Next step Wolber 700c and 37mm tyres, but not today.