What have you fettled today?

[hatler]

Fuck fuckity fuck.

It's more what I fucked up today than what I fettled.

Fresh from the delight of replacing the lad's bottom bracket on his mountain bike in double quick time on Sunday morning in time for the late morning ride, I vowed to sort out the BB creak on my road bike.

Sure enough, the bearings are shot, and I had a spare pair of Hollowtech II bearings on an unused chainset.

Bugger bugger bugger. I've just stripped the thread on the starboard bearing and the shell will need to be cleaned up now.

Off to Corridori pronto.

Balls balls balls.

[zigzag]

(yesterday) removed stabiliser wheels off my cousin's son's bike and encouraged him to ride without them - with a bit of initial support he managed just fine!

[Kim]

(Also yesterday) re-attached the rubber band to my eTrex Vista HCx after fettling the internal battery contacts with wire-wrap wire to bypass the worn copper pads.  This involved both adhesives and a sharp knife, but no blood was drawn.

[interzen]

Stripped and regreased the pedals on the 1x1 - digits crossed, I think I've silenced the click. The pedal innards were remarkably clean, for which read 'grease free'

Also put the 180mm disc rotor on Pugsley's front wheel and took the High Latitude for a spin round the block in half-fat mode. It was interesting, let's just leave it at that. Bedding in disc brakes on a fixed is also Fun, for certain values thereof.

[Cudzoziemiec]

We've no hot water coming out of our bath tap.  This situation has persisted for ... a year?  More?

Well the plumber said the washer in our bath tap wasn't replaceable.  Therefore a new mixer tap was necessary.

Now, I wasn't sure I believed him.  It's a washer.  Admittedly a posh newfangled ceramic washer on an unusual tap design.  But that can't be right, can it?

One trip to B+Q later I was armed with a new washer that might or might not have been the right size and design.  But worth a punt at £14 when a new tap is £100+.

Enter my adjustable spanner.  I broke a nail.  But I dismangled said tap far enough to see that, actually, the washer assembly probably isn't replaceable.  Damn.  Never mind.  It was worth a try.

The customer service at B+Q was so appalling I went to Homebase for the new tap, even though it's 20 miles away.  B+Q were just rubbish.

One of the other rubbish things about B+Q is that there's never any bike parking. Ever, in any branch I've been to.

[jsabine]

The way the assembly fits in the tap you would end up damaging the tap body to get it out. If it is possible it's a pig of a job.

Based on never having seen your old tap, I'd guess that if the innards are removable, either there's a grub screw tucked away somewhere to release them, or the cartridge unscrews. It wouldn't remotely surprise me if you have to remove the tap body to get the cartridge out either - by which time you really might as well replace it ...

[spesh]

Stripped down the Subway 8 so that I could give it a good clean prior to putting up for sale...

However, I have found that a crack has manifested itself in the head tube, starting at the top. Which is a bit of a chiz, because were the frame still virgo intacta, the bike would have been viable as a cheap utility/pub bike for someone.

Dang...

[Kim]

One of the other rubbish things about B+Q is that there's never any bike parking. Ever, in any branch I've been to.

Same here.

The local one (which has now closed) has a single solitary lamp post in the middle of the car park.  The only other objects are David Cameron style bollards.

Homebase at least has trolley corrals.

[phantasmagoriana]

My local one has some Sheffield stands. However, they've recently removed half of them to make room for more plant displays.

[Vince]

One of the other rubbish things about B+Q is that there's never any bike parking. Ever, in any branch I've been to.

Just get one of the trolley designed for large sheets of ply/plaster board etc. Pop your bike on it and take it with you.

[Aikon]

Changed a 105 5701 rear mech for a newer 105 5701 as since I changed to a 12-30 for JoGLE it's been lazy shifting off the 30 and the newer one should be 30t compatible, first impressions are good.

[CrinklyLion]

A second hand PC.

That'll be a happy SmallestCub in the morning

[Tim Hall]

One of the other rubbish things about B+Q is that there's never any bike parking. Ever, in any branch I've been to.

Just get one of the trolley designed for large sheets of ply/plaster board etc. Pop your bike on it and take it with you.

Excellent suggestion.  My local one has a ramp leading up to the doors, with handlebar height railing on the off sidet. Hook bars over railing, apply lock, job done.

[CrinklyLion]

A second hand PC.

That'll be a happy SmallestCub in the morning

Mission... accompished!

[Vince]

De-rattled the Spare Parts bike. This involved swapping out the bouncy seat pin and replacing it with a static one and applying some oil to the metal bits under the nose of the saddle.
Installed a speed/cadence sensor for the GPS. Then spend lots of time scratching my head to work out how to match the two.
I have to say current Garmin documentation stinks! The user guide for the Garmin I use on the boat is far more detailed for what is a much simpler device.

[Guy]

I fitted my new Airzound last night. Gods, it's LOUD

[Cudzoziemiec]

One of the other rubbish things about B+Q is that there's never any bike parking. Ever, in any branch I've been to.

Just get one of the trolley designed for large sheets of ply/plaster board etc. Pop your bike on it and take it with you.

Excellent idea! Should be amusing too. 

[loadsabikes]

A floating anti drown ring for the chicken type water feeder that I use for the bees. They will be pleased!

[SJR]

This week I built my my first wheels at the tender age of 48.  Cut my teeth by stripping a 1981 Staral rim from a Claud Butler Coureur.  Reused the Suzue QR hub and bought stainless spokes from spokesave.  Once happy moved on to rear wheel.  3 cross stainless plain gauge, using a Staral rim again but this time with a Sturmey Archer S2C two speed kick shift, coaster brake him.  I now have a seriously cool Handbuilt commuter.  Now looking for more excuses to build wheels!

[Kim]

Just fitted new cleats to my SPD sandals.

The old ones were coming up to 3 years old (several thousand miles of riding, and rather a lot of walking, as they're my do-everything touring footwear).  I'd fitted them using copper grease on the threads and underside of the countersunk head, and hot glue in the bolt heads.

Digging out the glue was a 10-second job with a multimeter probe, and brought all the accumulated gunk with it.  Three of the bolts then unscrewed easily with an allen key.  The remaining one was a bit more stubborn and partially rounded, but succumbed to more careful use of the allen key.  At no point did I have to resort to the socket set and hammer, or (god forbid) a drill and mole grips.

I fitted the new ones in the same way, a recipe I can thoroughly recommend to the panel.

[hulver]

I fitted some cleats at the weekend. My experience was quite different.

I first had to dig out all kinds of mud and crud from the bolt holes using a stanley knife. Eventually I was able to get the Allen key into the hole deep enough to be able to turn it. Turning it required quite some force, and the squeak from the unscrewing dry bolt almost deafened me.

The final bolt in the last shoe was a bit more work. Digging out the hole went ok, but the Allen key just started rounding off the hole. Fortunately a different set of Allen keys had a key which was slightly larger, and managed to turn the bolt (to the same squeaking) and remove it.

I will be buying a glue gun.

[Butterfly]

Just fitted new cleats to my SPD sandals.

The old ones were coming up to 3 years old (several thousand miles of riding, and rather a lot of walking, as they're my do-everything touring footwear).  I'd fitted them using copper grease on the threads and underside of the countersunk head, and hot glue in the bolt heads.

Digging out the glue was a 10-second job with a multimeter probe, and brought all the accumulated gunk with it.  Three of the bolts then unscrewed easily with an allen key.  The remaining one was a bit more stubborn and partially rounded, but succumbed to more careful use of the allen key.  At no point did I have to resort to the socket set and hammer, or (god forbid) a drill and mole grips.

I fitted the new ones in the same way, a recipe I can thoroughly recommend to the panel.

I wish I had .
One of mine is totally stuck and now I can't find the sandal to have another go at it

[drossall]

I've never had to replace SPD cleats. They're made of metal, and the shoes aren't, so the soles wear out first, leaving the cleats projecting.

[mcshroom]

Just fixed the pipes below the bath with a plunger and a release of pent up frustration

[Kim]

I've never had to replace SPD cleats. They're made of metal, and the shoes aren't, so the soles wear out first, leaving the cleats projecting.

Interestingly, that's the case on the pair of shoes I've recently condemned.

Though tbh the wear on these cleats wasn't too bad (they're nowhere near the point of randomly unclipping when I start off, as the other shoes were).   I'm hoping that new ones will stop the incessant clicking with every turn of the pedals, though.