The return of Bicycle Repair Man

[Bicycle Repair Man]

Now then people, after an absence of some years here I am again. I used to get notifications when posts relevant to me appeared but for some reason they stopped then life got in the way and I lost contact. I notice my original thread is still pinned so it must be of some use If I can be of any assistance to anyone feel free to ask. I have more or less retired now, l'm not doing any more framebuilding courses and only doing the odd bit of  building/repair work and painting just to keep myself off the streets although the farm keeps me busy, I seem to spend most of my time cutting grass.

Dave Yates

[Jurek]

Now then people, after an absence of some years here I am again. I used to get notifications when posts relevant to me appeared but for some reason they stopped then life got in the way and I lost contact. I notice my original thread is still pinned so it must be of some use If I can be of any assistance to anyone feel free to ask. I have more or less retired now, l'm not doing any more framebuilding courses and only doing the odd bit of  building/repair work and painting just to keep myself off the streets although the farm keeps me busy, I seem to spend most of my time cutting grass.

Dave Yates

Yay!

[aidan.f]

Dave nice to have you back hope you get some good questions, I'm sure the answers will be.

[nuttycyclist]

Welcome back

[Canardly]

Good to see you back in this place.

[Robh]

Good to see you back in touch Dave.

[Butterfly]

Brilliant! Welcome back.

[eckagain]

Great to see you back Dave, and good to know all is well with you. 
By sheer coincidence (and it being sunny here in Scotlandland today), I had my first spin in ages on my gorgeous Joe Waugh custom 653 wot you built for me in late 1996.
I love that bike. So Thank You. 

[Ian H]

Good afternoon Dave!

[Tim Hall]

Ah, that is good news. Have you still got a stock of M Steel decals? I've got an M Steel frame that you did some work on some time back and could do with repainting.

[yoav]

As one of your frame building course alumni, nice to see you back. The frame I built on your course is still going strong.

[Bicycle Repair Man]

Thank you all for the welcome back. Good to hear that some early frames are still going strong and the course frame is as well
Tim Hall, alas no M Steel transfers left, you can probably get something from H Lloyd Cycles I may have some head badges but will need to delve into the depths of the filing cabinet to confirm. The term  "filing" implies  some order Ha!!! I tend to use the "pilot" system, pile it hear, pile it there 

[Nick H.]

I'm another alumnus! My frame is still beautiful. I'm looking at it right now! I'm sure the course will be much missed, but you have certainly earned a bit of freedom! I hope the livestock are behaving themselves.

[FreddieOxland]

Hi Dave (@Bicycle Repair Man),

Hope you are well.

I just wanted to reach out as I have been gifted a bike that you have built.

Peter Hopkins is a family friend of mine and after being left bikeless due to giving my touring bike away at the end of a tour from Leeds to Dakar. He very kindly offered me his Dave Yates bike. It was extremely exciting for me as I have never had such a fantastic bike before.

In the summer of 2022, I took the bike on a tour from Vancouver, Canada to Anchorage, Alaska over 3 months. There are some photos on my Instagram @The_Earth_Isnt_Flat.

I did however, have a slight issue which I was wondering if I could get advice for. Around 500km from the nearest bike shop, the pedals started to wobble, within the bottom bracket. I realise now that I should have just got a lift to get it fixed.

When I got to the town the bike shop said the thread of the bottom bracket had been ripped out and they could not screw a new one in. They said I would need a new bike. I spent the day in a coffee shop googling options and talking it through with friends. Fortunately, someone overheard and recommended I go speak to an artist with a workshop on the edge of town who is known to fix everything. I described the issue to the artist on the phone and he said he would weld a new bracket in so I could get to my finish line.

Once I arrived at their house, he said he could not possibly weld such a beautifully built bike and would only do it as a last resort. After a few hours of tinkering, he found a spacer which meant that the bracket would still bite on the tread and sent me on my way. The bike worked fine ever since.

I am starting to think about going on another tour and am wondering how long this fix might last. I thought I would reach out to see if there is anything you would recommend I do to ensure longevity of the frame? Is it possible to fix this part with the right tools?

Any help would be great!

Thanks very much,

Freddie

[Paul H]

I am starting to think about going on another tour and am wondering how long this fix might last. I thought I would reach out to see if there is anything you would recommend I do to ensure longevity of the frame? Is it possible to fix this part with the right tools?

Any help would be great!

Thanks very much,

Freddie

I'm not sure that Mr Yates still monitors this thread, I think he has retired.  But he did answer a similar question some years ago and I had a frame repaired in just the way he describes:

For a dodgy thread there is another fix that the purists throw their hands up and run for cover at! This is the cut and weld where a cut is made across the shell with a double hacksaw blade and then vee'd out with an angle grinder. I then TIG weld it from the centre outwards which shrinks the shell enough to cut a new thread. It could be classed as a bodge but it works and is far kinder to the frame. I have succesfully done hundreds of these over the last 30 years and had very few problems.

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=48975.msg979815#msg979815

[robgul]

Unless I'm not understanding there are "threadless bottom brackets" for square taper cranks - for use when the BB shell threads are stripped/damaged.    I fitted a couple when I was managing an LBS about 5 years ago and they worked fine.

[Adam]

Yes, the solution is threadless bottom brackets.  Which aren't actually threadless, but merely 2 narrow halves which screw together rather than onto the frame.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/bottom-brackets/110-yst-threadless-68-mm-sealed-bearing-bottom-bracket-for-frames-with-damaged-threads/

[Bicycle Repair Man]

Now then Freddie
I do indeed get notifications re any attempt to contact me. As suggested a "threadless" bb unit is probably the kindest to the frame solution. I have fitted a fair few of these in the last 30 years and as long as they are installed properly work absolutely fine. The SJS example looks fine. The bb shell needs to be chamfered at 45deg. so you need to find someone with the appropriate cutting tool to do this. I used to have one but disposed of it to another framebuilder who is buying a lot of my kit. The "cut and weld" solution needs someone who knows their way around a TIG welder and can be done with minimum paint loss. Back in the day I used to do it by gas welding but that made a much bigger mess of the paint.
Hope that helps

Cheers

Dave Yates

[bikepacker]

When the bb stripped on my Super Galaxy on a tour in Wales I struggled home and looked for options. My first choice was the most expensive threadless bb that was sold. Fitted it exactly as per instructions including watching the online video, it lasted about 5 weeks before it failed. I then resorted to the much cheaper Acor one. This was far better and although it never let me down it did always have a minimal amount of play. Even chamfering the bb shell and over tightening never cured this play.

Getting fed up with the slight movement, I took the frame to Argos Cycles in Bristol hoping they could find a better solution. They machined out the bb and fitted a new sleeve without marking any of the paintwork. This enabled the fitting of a standard bb which has lasted me for around 5 years and still going strong.

[Bicycle Repair Man]

The ream out and sleeve operation is another option, again you need to find a builder that has the kit. I aquired a cutter and sleeves many years ago from the remnants of the Flying Scot makers, Rattrays. It was hand powered and reqired a huge amount of effort to get it all the way through. I only used it a few times until I perfected the cut and weld technique

[yoav]

I had the 'ream out and sleeve operation' done on an old Italian frame with knackered BB threads. It had the secondary advantage that the new threads were BSA, not Italian.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I fitted a threadless BB to my mercian when the BB shell distorted.
Mercian declined to look at a repair on the grounds that the tubing was very thin, old and likely to rust out or fail. Also, being a wiped braze it would be difficult.

Initially the BB just came loose, even with threadlock. So I put a load of epoxymetal in the shell, and sanded it out until the threadless BB would go in.

That has lasted years (albeit not a huge amount of riding).

[Gattopardo]

Hello

Was wondering about M Steel frames and if the frame numbers started with MJ.

[Tomsk]

I've been using the threadless square taper BBs for years now without problems, on both my Parkes fixie and Holdsworth audax bikes. It's the seals going that I guess eventually does for the bearings, but both are 'summer bikes' - I use something more up-to-date and robust for winter abuse.

[Bicycle Repair Man]

Hello

Was wondering about M Steel frames and if the frame numbers started with MJ.

Now then Lord of the Sith, you should realise that rebuilding the death star is a futile exercise as I, being a Jedi Master will ultimately cause all the joints to fail due to lack of braze 
On a more mundane matter, none of the M Steel frames have a letter prefix other than the ones made for Dales Cycles in Glasgow under the Flying Scot banner. They used our number sequence with the prefix FS