What have you fettled today?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Swapped out the worn out Terry saddle (wearing through the leather after 14+ years use, off and on) on HK's Brompton for her test C17S saddle. It looks to be a fair match with the Ti bits on the bike.

Swapped out the too-narrow homemade mudflaps on HK's Roberts for some custom RAW flaps to match the Pantani Bianchi colours. Looks pretty good and should keep it cleaner. The hubs need regreasing though.

Fitted colour-matched RAW mudflaps to my Frezoni, along with a Stronglight 52t ring to replace the worn Campag ring and replacement front brake pads, both from the garage stockpile. Still need to sort out the front barend lever or possibly failing cable housing and wash the bike. Perhaps tomorrow.

Swapped out the homemade mudflaps for colour-matched RAW mudflaps and fitted a new rear mudguard taillight (previous one was pinched to replace a failed light on HK's Roberts) on the audax tandem. Tweaked the rear mudguard to stop a rattle. Both chains need a degunk and the headset bearings might need to be replaced.

Fitted the longest possible RAW mudflaps (in VC167 colours) to HK's Kinesis to compensate for the somewhat short mudguards. Hopefully chain and feet will stay a little cleaner, along with anybody on her wheel. The short VC167 flaps will probably end up on her Moulton when it gets updated in the new year.

Fitted RAW mudflaps to both trikes, replacing homemade jobbies. It looks like I need to replace the front wheel bearings in HK's Trykit and to adjust the headset and gps mount on my trike. Maybe tomorrow.

Replaced batteries in front and rear lights on my fixed (more difficult than it sounds) but damned if I can find the replacement Campag BB that needs to go in it.

Swapped the standard tubes on HK's MTB commuter for goo-filled ones. Hopefully this will keep a certain fairy at bay for winter.

[phantasmagoriana]

Swapped the wheelset on the Pinnacle over to the one with sensible road tyres.

Then fitted a pannier rack and aero bars.

[Cudzoziemiec]

This morning I have hairdried my bike. Wot?! I decided it would be a good idea to wash it before replacing the broken dynamo wiring, so I took it outside, up on the stand, sprayed it with the Fenwick's stuff and made a cup of tea. Drank tea, went out with water and cloth, and of course it had started raining. It'll take forever to dry so having finished the washing, I brought it back inside and pointed the hairdrier at the parts that stay wet longest, frame, rack and rims, while studiously avoiding (I hope) blowing water into any bearings. I don't really like hairdriers, horrid noisy things (and having short hair I have no personal use for them, though I appreciate long hair takes much longer to dry), but sometimes they're useful.

[Kim]

I also dislike hairdriers, though I have been known to make use of them for things like vinyl stickers or heatshrink and even for drying hair (usually because I'm in hospital, or camping in freezing conditions, or something).  There was that one time, as a PSO, where we had to employ one to heat the room on account of the landlord refusing to fix the boiler (on the spurious grounds that we'd been using the central heating too much, rather than anything to do with the famously high mineral content of Canterbury water).

On thing I have observed is that people who don't use hairdriers tend to have nasty little ones that spew hot air at high pressure, whereas committed stylists tend to invest in enormous contraptions that are much less obnoxious in operation.


Ob-Spaceballs:
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/0f5y1w7sZ0s&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/0f5y1w7sZ0s&rel=1</a>
https://youtu.be/0f5y1w7sZ0s

[ElyDave]

Hairdryer last used for helicopter tape for frame protection.

Today, This





Also trying to work out how to upload the video.  Still working on a self-releasing trigger.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I wish I'd asked Santa to bring me lots of that two-strand wire with B&M spade connectors ready attached. The non-proprietary ones always seem to be about half a mm too narrow or wide, just enough to either fall off or be so tight they bend rather than connect. The lack of space in the length of the IQ-X mount doesn't help, it's only just long enough for the connectors to fit within its length.

[Mr Larrington]

A while back, Lt. Col. Larrington (retd.) phoned up.  The cleaning woman had accidentally turned the volume on his amplifier up to 11, such that when he switched it on it made a vulgar farting noise and exploded, or at least ceased to function.  Either the amp or all four squeakers were devoid of magic smoke.  Could I ect ect.

Fortunately it was decided not to start further enriching Mr Richer until a proper SCIENTIFIC diagnosis was undertaken.  Which went thus:

• Switch on amp
• Switch on DAB tuner
• Switch input selector from "phono" to "tuner"
• Listen with inexpressible joy as Radio 3 emerges from all four squeakers

I wouldn't have minded so much had I not squished my finger wrestling a pair of unused squeakers down the stairs of Larrington Towers yesterday 

[Cudzoziemiec]

Well it works. Headlight will need realigning unless I've been very lucky this time, and as it's dark, now would be the time to go out and set it. But it's drizzling in a cold, unpleasant way, so I won't.

[ElyDave]

Hopefully this will work, my first video post

https://youtu.be/hQRpuv0qAkk

[Kim]

Hopefully this will work, my first video post

https://youtu.be/hQRpuv0qAkk

Just needs Father Dougal to provide some ammunition.   

[Wobbly John]

I've just successfully replaced the crumbing, belt driven, pinion gear that opens and closes the tray on my Marantz CD player. I seems to be a common problem so there were 'how to' videos on Youtube. It involves taking the lid, and front panel and removing the cd tray assembly to get at the offending bit. 

While I'm posting, on Monday, on the commute home, my daughter phoned me to say that wife and sister-in-law had got locked out (of sister-in-law's house) while visiting mother-in-law in hospital. I grabbed a few tools, and daughter gave me a lift over there.

It took me under 10 seconds to break in (pry bar to pop the keep of the Yale lock off the frame). 
Under 10 minutes later, it was repaired (double length screws), more secure and virtually no visable damage. 

[chrisbainbridge]

Chose today to re-assemble bike from holiday and flying it back which meant putting the mudguards back on, then fitting the dynamo wheel, light and wiring.

Decided that i would take today as the opportunity to put on the new oval sub-compact rings I bought and a new chain.    That also meant resetting the Di2 FD.

That meant I had to tidy the garage, hoover it and sort everything else out first. 

So a quick simple re-assemble became an all day job

[Tim Hall]

Some Yorkshire Puddings. They were gorgeous.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Hopefully this will work, my first video post

https://youtu.be/hQRpuv0qAkk

Teaching your daughter to be a YACFer. 

[ElyDave]

It's the look on her face when she suddenly realises "man this thing really works! Cool!"

Only problem is she doesn't like bikes...




Yet

[Kim]

It's the look on her face when she suddenly realises "man this thing really works! Cool!"

Only problem is she doesn't like bikes...

That's okay, we take tricyclists too...   

[Wobbly John]

Hopefully this will work, my first video post

https://youtu.be/hQRpuv0qAkk

Teaching your daughter to be a YACFer. 

To be honest, if I had to test a sling type trebuchet, triggered from the rear, I'd get someone else to pull the string, too...

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Sorted the front gears and adjusted the brakes on my Frezoni and gave it a partial clean. The rear hub needs regreasing sometime.

A fair amount of accumulated bike equipment and tools in the house was sorted and shifted to the garage, in the right places for a change. A package of clagged bike stuff to be recycled has been put together for postage. Dug out various tins of Proofide and dosed a few leather saddles.

Rediscovered http://www.reflectalite.com/LEDpage.html and various battery adaptors, so several obsolete bike lights and Maglites are likely to be revived in January for my amusement.

[ElyDave]

Hopefully this will work, my first video post

https://youtu.be/hQRpuv0qAkk

Teaching your daughter to be a YACFer. 

To be honest, if I had to test a sling type trebuchet, triggered from the rear, I'd get someone else to pull the string, too...

That was just testing the trigger, unloaded - we'd already tuned and established range.  Mark 2 trigger now in mind.

[andytheflyer]

Rediscovered http://www.reflectalite.com/LEDpage.html and various battery adaptors, so several obsolete bike lights and Maglites are likely to be revived in January for my amusement.

After our RCD tripped recently when a tungsten bulb blew, generating much fumbling in the dark for a torch, I decided that we needed to be precautionary and put 3 torches where we knew we would find them. We are not getting any younger and the thought of spending weeks in hospital with a broken hip after falling over the dog in the dark did not appeal. I bought a length of oak batten, fettled 3 mounting plates from it, tarted up with the router and waxed them, and added spring clips for 2 old Ever Ready torches and an ancient 3D Maglite that was my father's.  None seemed to give out much light and then I discovered LED bulb replacements.

What a difference - you'd not want to look directly at the light when on.  Didn't know that these LED replacements existed until the need arose. They are not cheap, but they are very effective,

Screwed the Maglite to the wall next to the back door out of the kitchen, one by the front door and one upstairs on the landing.  We now know where to find a working torch in a hurry, in the dark.

[Jurek]

I have a torch in every room for similar reasons.

[orienteer]

Have a couple of "wind-up" torches and lantern. Usually find batteries dead in infrequently used torches.

[andytheflyer]

I have a torch in every room for similar reasons.

Good idea.  I spent several weeks in hospital  a few years ago after spinal surgery, and the number of people coming and going with broken hips or bones after trivial falls was quite alarming. Trouble is, we men of a certain age think we are still 21, and the realisation that you are not any longer comes as a bit of a shock. It eventually dawns on you that you need to be a bit more careful as the consequences become more serious with age.

My dad had 2 falls and broke both hips, the second one was the end really as he went into care on discharge as my mum couldn't look after him and he never came home again.  So his big, old, Maglite torch has been fettled back into useful service.  He would have been pleased at that.  He was always one to fettle something back into use, rather than throwing it away and buying new.  A top fettler and he passed that attitude on to me.

[andytheflyer]

Have a couple of "wind-up" torches and lantern. Usually find batteries dead in infrequently used torches.

Which is partly why I've screwed mine to the walls near a main doorway.  I'm more likely to check them occasionally, rather than hunting for a torch in the dark and hoping it works.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Disposable lithium batteries have a shelf life of at least a decade and an extended run time. For emergency/ occasional lights, the extra cost is worth it.