What have you fettled today?

[drossall]

A bike pump (last week, actually).

We'd hired a bike on holiday for me to go out for a ride. It turned out to be a lady's MTBSO. The back tyre was flattish. Two pumps were supplied - one with no hose, and a push-fit pump which didn't get enough of a seal to inflate the tyres.

I took out the washer, and wrapped some thin plastic bag around its perimeter. The aim was to compress the washer slightly more onto the valve stem.

It worked

It was only a short ride, but I enjoyed it.

[Polar Bear]

Had to fettle the bike of a chap who joined us today.   What really pisses me off is that I offer to service their bikes but they insist on 'not' doing it themselves.   Good job I carry tools and basic spares then. 

[BrianI]

Since Robby has had his primer coat, and his ears have been molished, I gave him a dry fit:
   

[Gattopardo]

Danger Brian robinson ?

[CommuteTooFar]

So at last I decided that it would be nice to move the pedals backward without derailing the chain or causing it to suck onto the chain ring.  So I put the bike on the stand and squirted WD40 into the deraileur to soften the globules of hardened dirty oil. I then cleaned the gunk off the jockey wheels. Finally I put a thin bit of cloth between the chain and deraileur plate and moved it along removing a slabs of muck.

Result freely running shiny deraileur. I need to clean the chain next, a lesser man might just fit a new one, then the bike will be clean for the first time in years.

 

[BrianI]

Danger Brian robinson ?

Wrong movie and wrong robot!   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_B-9

[tiermat]

Fixed the Sky+ box so that it now downloads box sets, catch up etc.

It was all to do with port forwarding on port 3700/UDP

[Polar Bear]

Replaced the knackered Spanninga Pixeo mudguard lamp on Mlle PB's Thorn Audax 853 with a working one.

That's 2 that have failed now.   Will be seeking alternatives.

[phantasmagoriana]

Fettled the dynohub wheel and Phillips light on to the not-Tifosi, in preparation for Friday's ride. It appears to work, though the combination of the heavier hub, extra drag and Durano Plus aren't going to make for speedy riding! Will go for a short test ride tomorrow night.

I have no idea what to do with the random cables that a rear light is supposed to attach to. I don't want a dynamo rear light (too much wiring, and battery life in rear lights is pretty decent) so I might just tape them out of the way or something.

[Bledlow]

New back tyre & tube on Brompton. Grrrr!

The 'new' (couple of years old) Marathon failed, taking a tube with it. The bead went! It wasn't spectacular. Not a complete failure, just a gentle easing over the rim, followed by a phut & sudden deflationary event. I reckon it had been doing it for a little while, inconspicuously, but has only just got to the point where the tube fails. The rubber had been abraded on the bulge. Must have been rubbing for a while, but not quite enough to slow me down seriously. Loads of good solid tread left. Terrible waste.

I wonder if I'd damaged it putting it on or taking it off.

The old (really, really old) front tyre is still looking astonishingly good.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Finally got around to removing the metal tab that bolts on to the fork crown from the front mudguard - not the one on my recently mudguarded MTB* but the green bike. I'd been meaning to do this for, ooh, probably a year, in order to increase clearance under the fork crown. The imminent falling leaf season prompted me to obtain the circular tuit. Removing the tab was easy - I thought the rivets might need drilling out but the whole tab just pulled off.

However, that was where the problems began. I then put cable ties through the holes I'd made a long time ago and fastened them round the shoulders of the fork crown. My idea was that without the tab, the mudguard could be snugged tight against the underside of the crown, ensuring free passage for leaves and mud. It turned out there is more clearance under the crown than the brake arms - and this meant the front of the mudguard was forced to bend down from the crown and it dragged on the tyre. The solution was to make new holes in the 'guard so that I could move the whole thing along - as if the tab were fixed to the back of the fork crown, which I think it's what's intended, whereas it had previously been fixed to the front (between crown brake mechanism) due to the design of the brake bolt. I then tied it on with cable ties, but not so tight. This probably hasn't gained any clearance between guard and tyre compared to how it was earlier, but it has put the little mud flap (or 'beaver tail' as I read it described on one website) lower down, so hopefully keeping my bottom bracket nice and clean this winter.

Also, I've saved weight - that tab and rivets must weight at least half an ounce!

For the curious, this mudguard is described as black, but it's one of those SKS chromplastics which look dark brown with stripes in the sun.

*Motor torpedo bike?

[fuzzy]

have no idea what to do with the random cables that a rear light is supposed to attach to. I don't want a dynamo rear light (too much wiring, and battery life in rear lights is pretty decent) so I might just tape them out of the way or something.

Not being wise to the ways of hub generated electrickery I don't know if this would work but, couldn't you connect up a second front light?

[Kim]

have no idea what to do with the random cables that a rear light is supposed to attach to. I don't want a dynamo rear light (too much wiring, and battery life in rear lights is pretty decent) so I might just tape them out of the way or something.

Not being wise to the ways of hub generated electrickery I don't know if this would work but, couldn't you connect up a second front light?

You could, but it would work better wired in series (ie. not via those connections), and only then when you're doing a decent speed (so you'd probably want some way to switch to a single light at lower speeds).  And bear in mind that two lights only gives you slightly more light than one, as the eye is non-linear, so it's only really advantageous if you want more spread for fast descents.

Basically, all that stuff that made sense in the halogen era, but the Luxos does for you.

[Tim Hall]

New chain ring and chain on the fixer. It's not that the old one was worn, oh no. I just started singing "Mack The Knife" when I compared it with the new one.  You know, that bit about the shark and his teeth. Can't think why.

[delthebike]

Dad's mobility buggy had a flat about a mile away in the park. He rode home on the flat! I pumped it up, it's still inflated, but while I went round the other wheels with the foot pump another blew. I thought it was the valve giving out but after removing the wheel and splitting the rim it's where the tube has been rubbing on the rim. Three patches later and it's fine.

[fuzzy]

On the way home on Monday, just as I was about to give it 'full beans' I thought to myself "This neither feels or sounds correct!"-





(phone camera- sorry about the focus)

Christ knows where that came from?

[interzen]

I took a pair of snips and an emery board to my cast.
Not as drastic as it sounds, even if I am sick to death of the bloody thing, merely a slight 'modification' so that the edge doesn't dig into the palm of my hand when I'm lifting weights.

All good, with the added advantage that it's slightly easier to grip other things with my right hand 

[tom_e]

Good stuff.
I misread that as "cat" instead of "cast".  Got all the way through to "so that the edge doesn't dig into the palm of my hand" before I decided this was going a little bit too weird.

[interzen]

Not sure I've got the wrist strength to lift a cat (or indeed swing one)

Yet 

[mcshroom]

It'll come

[interzen]

It'll come

Along with the ability to tie shoelaces - that's surprisingly difficult one-handed (and my only real stumbling block ATM)

[mcshroom]

Ah yes, that, and the usage of loo roll.

I went for slip-on shoes for a while when my arm was out of action.

[interzen]

Ah yes, that, and the usage of loo roll.

I went for slip-on shoes for a while when my arm was out of action.

Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be a problem as I usually wear sandals.

However, if we're being brutally honest then SPD sandals aren't really meant for walking long distances (ie. several miles) in, especially if they've got cleats in them. Since I'm doing a lot of walking (odd, that ...) I've decided that for my comfort and convenience I'm going to use the Merrell walking shoes I bought for hardcore off-road riding involving hike-a-bike sections and the like. Hence laces.

Admittedly, the laces in the Merrells are very good quality but they still have the property of magically untying themselves when you least want them to 

[Tim Hall]

It'll come

Along with the ability to tie shoelaces - that's surprisingly difficult one-handed (and my only real stumbling block ATM)

Ah. fuzzy, it'll be interzen you need to speak to, carelessly littering the highway with untied shoe laces, ready to leap into an unwary cyclist's rear mech.

[interzen]

I resent that!
I wouldn't be seen dead with black shoelaces ...