What you done t' your bike today

[Rich3rd]

Turned this Spanner bikes frame and bits





Into this

[redefined_cycles]

Just serviced the BrandX ascend dropper. It had a bit of side to side play but mainly wasn't always fully extending, ie. a bit hit and miss. Bottom line was the air pressure must've been a bit low as it required over 300psi post service.

Now its popping up with the satisfactory 'thud'

[chrisjones]

I've been busy building the Stooge Scrambler that the nice postman delivered yesterday.

Scrambler build 01.jpg

(146.4 KiB) Downloaded 940 times

[ozboz]

Today I finally after 9 months got around to replacing the naff h/s bearings I got from Evans , I got some mid range for tapered Exotic forks , sealed FSA ones from Merlin Bikes , what a difference , all made easier by using the correct tools, I went to a Bike Hub near where I live ,

[Mariner]

I saw the weather forecast so took my winter tyres off and put the G-Ones back on.
I need another set of wheels.

[Boab]

Tried to change the bottom bracket and accidentality rounded off one of the crank bolts... idiot.

[thenorthwind]

Tried to change the bottom bracket and accidentality rounded off one of the crank bolts... idiot.

Those Shimano crank bolts seem prone to rounding, especially given they don't need to be torqued right up (10-12Nm IIRC). Maybe I'm just ham-fisted, but don't have the same problem with any other bolts.

[chrisjones]

Tried to change the bottom bracket and accidentality rounded off one of the crank bolts... idiot.

If you get all the crap out of the socket on the bolts & give them both a soak in WD40 you might be able to salvage that.

I'd probably give the bike a clean before hand though, or you're gonna endup with all that mud & grit inside the BB shell.

[RIP]

I feel that pain. Just about to do my BB.

[redefined_cycles]

Tried to change the bottom bracket and accidentality rounded off one of the crank bolts... idiot.

Those Shimano crank bolts seem prone to rounding, especially given they don't need to be torqued right up (10-12Nm IIRC). Maybe I'm just ham-fisted, but don't have the same problem with any other bolts.

Nah... never had that problem for about 6 years (or whenever they came out... probably longer). I have been using a GorillaGrip precision type hex wrench mind which is coming to that 'I'm almost worn' stage so need to sort that out. Plus I try and give the inner hex a good clean prehand aswell as ensuring there's a bit of copper grease on the actual bolt before tightening and using a torque wrench (my dads old one ) to 'drive it right'...

Hope I dont round the next one I do now that I've spoken

[redefined_cycles]

Swapped the gravel 32mm tyre to the cx Campag (who'd have thought) rim yesterday, in my endless quest to make my roadie into the ultimate gravel/roadie machine (for me). Spacing in the front fork is (was... but still is, but just even tighter now... I'll come back to this) pretty tight already and measured the tyre on previous rim and now on the Campag.

tyre width 32.mm before and now 32.5... Yesterday tyre wouldn't hold air on tubeless as it was too baggy. Using a ghetto air multiplier - irn bru bottle cover in gorilla tape - tyre would pop on but then as soon as I tried to remove the multiplier and add the valve it'd just pop off. Thankfully many many many years of this crap had taught me the answer and I know it well (did I say that twice).

This am got up and added an extra layer of the lovely Tesa tape. Only in my excitement that I was almost done, I didn't actually go all the way round. tyre popped straight on so no harm done and in went the sealant. Mounted into forks and the previously, slight skim of the tires 'nose hairs' on each revolution was now a fully blown, 'I don't actually wanna spin in these stupid roadie forks*'.

So out comes my yellow and red Spokey as surely the Italians - Campag handbuilt Italian wheel remember - weren't trying to be that 'different' that they'd not build with spokes that normal keys would fit... Would they! Well, both bloomin keys wouldnt fit but thankfully Shimano on their Dura Ace wheels tried to be just as posh. So out came the Shimano spoke keys as well as the lovely DT (Germans - or is it Swiss... I forget - don't you just love em) bladed spoke holder. A few turns here and reverse turns there and 'voila'.

Now, no-one likes to go through such trouble and have 0.5mm gap between tyre and inner fork and still have a little skim from the tires 'nose hairs'. So out came the scissors to chop em off. That got tedious, so out came a Bic... and a Gillette (I think). Some shaving later and (almost) silent as a bat... Oh, sorry, are we still allowed to talk fondly of bats





Now I'll just have to ensure I dont let it wobble. Lovely solidly built front wheel btw (even came with the signature of the Italian man/woman that build it and true and anything I've seen) so hopefully shouldn't be too much at risk of (too much) skimming in the forks innards.

*They're not stupid.. They're Italian.. Italians are ace and work super hard and their cars don't break down and their very very charming... Even to the muslims

[Edit: oh, I forgot... new (to me) 34 bug ring cassette went on aswell. So now I'll have a 1 - is that how its expressed - ratio to try and ease the knees on the gravel].

[thenorthwind]

Tried to change the bottom bracket and accidentality rounded off one of the crank bolts... idiot.

Those Shimano crank bolts seem prone to rounding, especially given they don't need to be torqued right up (10-12Nm IIRC). Maybe I'm just ham-fisted, but don't have the same problem with any other bolts.

Nah... never had that problem for about 6 years (or whenever they came out... probably longer). I have been using a GorillaGrip precision type hex wrench mind which is coming to that 'I'm almost worn' stage so need to sort that out. Plus I try and give the inner hex a good clean prehand aswell as ensuring there's a bit of copper grease on the actual bolt before tightening and using a torque wrench (my dads old one ) to 'drive it right'...

Hope I dont round the next one I do now that I've spoken

You might have a point there: they do tend to fill up with mud and stop the hex key fitting so snugly - a bit more diligence in cleaning it out before working on it might be the answer.

[redefined_cycles]

I'm glad I got summat right. Have a dremel for them days that it all goes horribly wrong but just thinking through how the dremel would cut a groove in the bolt without knackering the actual crank arm Not sure is the answer.

Bob, I think you might need on of them reverse drill bits then I think you screw a nut/screw into it and once its driven home the rest will be the screw removing the worn bolt with as you turned it...

Many on here know (and will explain) better though

[lune ranger]

Turned this Spanner bikes frame and bits





Into this

Nice.
Is that what you’re bringing to Dartmoor?

[Boab]

Tried to change the bottom bracket and accidentality rounded off one of the crank bolts... idiot.

Those Shimano crank bolts seem prone to rounding, especially given they don't need to be torqued right up (10-12Nm IIRC). Maybe I'm just ham-fisted, but don't have the same problem with any other bolts.

Nah... never had that problem for about 6 years (or whenever they came out... probably longer). I have been using a GorillaGrip precision type hex wrench mind which is coming to that 'I'm almost worn' stage so need to sort that out. Plus I try and give the inner hex a good clean prehand aswell as ensuring there's a bit of copper grease on the actual bolt before tightening and using a torque wrench (my dads old one ) to 'drive it right'...

Hope I dont round the next one I do now that I've spoken

You might have a point there: they do tend to fill up with mud and stop the hex key fitting so snugly - a bit more diligence in cleaning it out before working on it might be the answer.

I was being lazy and just gave them a cursory scrub with a bristle brush. I think I accidentality tightened it, which did the damage. The other bolt came out easy peasy.

Bob, I think you might need on of them reverse drill bits then I think you screw a nut/screw into it and once its driven home the rest will be the screw removing the worn bolt with as you turned it...

It's either batter a torx bit into it, or drill it out from the other side. Might leave it till after my big ride on Thursday/Friday, just in case it goes wrong...

[jameso]

Now, no-one likes to go through such trouble and have 0.5mm gap between tyre and inner fork and still have a little skim from the tires 'nose hairs'.

TBH that fork and tyre combo is worrying me... I've had a front wheel jam at 20mph down a gentle hill and it wasn't nice. Safety and the trimming job aside, I've also ruined a (demo) bike fork by having minimal clearance and the dirt the tyre edge picks up scuffing through the paint and top carbon layer on the inside of the fork. That was with 3-4mm clearance, took most of an autumn and winter to do it.

[Delv4]

TBH that fork and tyre combo is worrying me...

Nowhere near enough clearance there

[redefined_cycles]

Now, no-one likes to go through such trouble and have 0.5mm gap between tyre and inner fork and still have a little skim from the tires 'nose hairs'.

TBH that fork and tyre combo is worrying me... I've had a front wheel jam at 20mph down a gentle hill and it wasn't nice. Safety and the trimming job aside, I've also ruined a (demo) bike fork by having minimal clearance and the dirt the tyre edge picks up scuffing through the paint and top carbon layer on the inside of the fork. That was with 3-4mm clearance, took most of an autumn and winter to do it.

Inside of the fork is already a little scuffed and these wheels were the secondary. Main ones having decent clearance. But now you mention the 'jamming' bit, I think I'll get myself some 28mm of the same tyre afterall (or get a wider gap fork or use the cx one I have and just get the disc brakes to go with.

Good point

[redefined_cycles]

The rear (road) rim was a bit worse for wear on the roadie wheels. Managed to get a 20 hole Kinlin (amazing rims and the one that came through has lived up to the rep).

Didn't fancy spending on more spokes especislly since the ones on the old wheel - Dura Ace c24 with a combined wheelset weight of 1380g - were aero and replacing these beggars isn't cheap. So the rim I got was 26mm deep and only 2mm more than the others. That couple of mm and especially since the Kinlin is a wider rim (almost looks lile a Hed Belgium and had it not been for the joint showing, but still smooth, you could've sold it on as a Belgium Plus) could've played havoc.

First time building a 20H (from scratch with a new rim etc) so was a little worried. Measured it up first for roundness and it was sitting perfectly lateral or whatever the word is. A few hours later and a bit of worrying (that my need to recycle had gotten the beyter of me) and I've emerged at the other end. Even managed to get both sides feeling like their in similar tensions

In fact I enjoyed it so much I might open up (Redefined Cycles) and just concentrate on the wheel building side of things

Next step is to pop some super slick grease (maybe experiment with Olive oil ) into the bearings and see how they go (might not be for too long )...



Taken whilst it spinning... Mind the wallpaper (and the fireplace)... Missus is a weirdo

Hand built Wheels anyone

Disclaimer... It wasn't a few hours. Started at 9am but its faster than my usual 2 days approach as I view it as a work of art... So more time, the better

[Boab]

Was planning on going for a ride tomorrow, and wanted to set the front tyre up tubeless again. This meant removing a tubeless plug from the sidewall, and patching it properly on the inside. I was expecting some more sealant to turn up, but it didn't, so I had to put a tube back in. I have since seen the weather forecast for tomorrow, I think I'll buy some full mudguards, rather than going for a ride...

Pulled a couple of thorns from the tyre while setting up for the sidewall repair. Bit of a near miss...


Yes, the front tyre was flat when I got out to the shed...

[Dean]

Pulled a couple of thorns from the tyre while setting up for the sidewall repair. Bit of a near miss...

Didd you run over a porcupine?

[Alpinum]

Turned this Spanner bikes frame and bits

Lovely looking frame

I've been busy building the Stooge Scrambler that the nice postman delivered yesterday.

Scrambler build 01.jpg

And again... I'd like to give that a go. Looks like loads of fun on the paper.

Gave the Pipedream Moxie a good clean and upped the brakes. Was on SLX 2 pistons, 203 mm front, 180 mm rear, all with Swissstop e-bike pads. The last two days out I once again found the limits of the brake setup and thankfully got a bargain on two 4 pistons XT calipers and two 203 mm rotors.

Was amazed to find the amount of alu debris in the oil when I bled them. Gone is the Shimano oil, welcome Putoline HPX 2.5 wt.

All set and eager to see if I can still smoke the brakes

[jameso]

I don't post on this one as it'd be a full-time job, I work in an office attached to a garage and can't walk past the bikes w/o a tinker most days.

But yesterday was a good tinker, all about how a bike sounds. I like mostly-quiet bikes and I solved the last tick/creak/ping puzzle on my recent audax bike project that I build during this spring's furlough, the bike I rode in Wales. Very happy.
Unsuprisingly (intentionally) a shimmed stem on a 1" steerer, 26.0 bars and beautifully slim forks and main frame tubes all add up to flex that feels nice but add in alu guards, lights etc all mounted off the brakes and there's so many places that distracting sounds can come from.
The very last occasional click-ping was the fork flexing and moving the guard mount slightly. Adjusted it, a rubber bumper fixed in the space created and the bike is now silent apart from a lovely 'ping' from the skinny top tube when the brake cable bounces over a bump. Good sounds rather than 'what is that?' sounds. I've done about 2000 miles on it and only now does it feel fully built.

[RIP]

Mmm, guess we all dislike ticks - of the bike and insect variety . Spent quite a while recently tracing a bad click down below. Could be pedals, cranks, BB, chainrings, even seatpost. Tried all sorts over a couple of weeks rides, incl diff pedals, crank off etc, almost about to change BB when realised it wasn't loose anyway. Aimlessly took crank off again, cleaned it really well - again - including the tab etc. Dejectedly put it back on.

Click gone!

[redefined_cycles]

Mmm, guess we all dislike ticks - of the bike and insect variety . Spent quite a while recently tracing a bad click down below. Could be pedals, cranks, BB, chainrings, even seatpost. Tried all sorts over a couple of weeks rides, incl diff pedals, crank off etc, almost about to change BB when realised it wasn't loose anyway. Aimlessly took crank off again, cleaned it really well - again - including the tab etc. Dejectedly put it back on.

Click gone!

Do you have a full frame bag Reg. My usual click is when I've added something too thick to left pocket and the pedal catches ever so slighlty. Always perplexes (is that a word!) me before I realise it's that again...