What have you fettled today?

[L CC]

Like a kilner jar? I find them the worst - I actually do need to find a flat bladed screwdriver to get at my pears.

[Jayjay]

(Yesterday - it was late when finished) pulled both microwave ovens from their perch to fit a s/h front panel to the Morphy Richards as the wheel thing and the start / +30 seconds button had given up. Said panel was bought a-forethought in 2017 for £6.87. The oven was free and trailered back from a friend's house in 2015.
The ancient Toshiba required another replacement (also from 2017) lamp. Very weighty appliance, the Toshiba, made in actual Japan. It even has a circuit diagram of its innards attached inside the cover. Used to belong to my mum, then us, and did a few years duty in the works canteen before coming home again.

[hatler]

Like a kilner jar? I find them the worst - I actually do need to find a flat bladed screwdriver to get at my pears.

Exactly my experience with one of those. Screw bit came off a treat. Had to use a screwdriver to get the lid off, and chipped the jar in the process.

[Tim Hall]

On the topic of plumbing with compression plastic fittings (washing machine connectors, all the sink waste stuff etc)  it seems to me that there's a need for some suitable (perhaps plastic to limit over-exuberance) spanners for tightening the stuff.

They exist:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/NRS-Healthcare-Constrictor-Bottle-Opener/dp/B006H4RJFM

We had a similar gadget and it was useless - threw it away - a rubber glove works just as well.

For jars the limiting factor is usually grip, rather than hand strength.  If your hand strength is limited, you need leverage too.

I don't bother with the strap thing for jars, because I just need a grippy glove (we have a set of builder's gloves that live in the kitchen draw for the purpose).  Barakta generally gets me to do it, or resorts to other jar-opening techniques such as applying heat in my absence.

The strap thing lives in the toolbox with the plumbing tools, as while it's pointless for jars, it's just the thing for washing machine hoses.

A flat bladed screw driver inserted under the rim of the lid and then twisted in order to allow air into the vacuum in the jar, usually renders it easily openable.

And if that doesn't work, Ellen Ripley has some sage words of advice.

[Jurek]

On the topic of plumbing with compression plastic fittings (washing machine connectors, all the sink waste stuff etc)  it seems to me that there's a need for some suitable (perhaps plastic to limit over-exuberance) spanners for tightening the stuff.

They exist:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/NRS-Healthcare-Constrictor-Bottle-Opener/dp/B006H4RJFM

We had a similar gadget and it was useless - threw it away - a rubber glove works just as well.

For jars the limiting factor is usually grip, rather than hand strength.  If your hand strength is limited, you need leverage too.

I don't bother with the strap thing for jars, because I just need a grippy glove (we have a set of builder's gloves that live in the kitchen draw for the purpose).  Barakta generally gets me to do it, or resorts to other jar-opening techniques such as applying heat in my absence.

The strap thing lives in the toolbox with the plumbing tools, as while it's pointless for jars, it's just the thing for washing machine hoses.

A flat bladed screw driver inserted under the rim of the lid and then twisted in order to allow air into the vacuum in the jar, usually renders it easily openable.

And if that doesn't work, Ellen Ripley has some sage words of advice.

I've pair of Global^TM kitchen scissors, the blunt end of which has been fashioned into what I can only describe as a pair of pry bars. Other than defeating the vacuum in jars, I cannot think of another use for said pry bars.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Washed my fixed (absolutely filthy, even by my standards), my trike (almost clean) and my Frezoni (pretty grotty). Charged the mudguard taillight on my fixed.

HK's Trykit needs a new chain and cassette but that can wait for another day.

[MattH]

Got around to rewrapping the somewhat manky white bar tape on my Roubaix. Fittingly enough, using white tape I bought in France when I rode Paris-Roubaix with the intention of rewrapping my bars afterwards, but never did - it survived OK and felt good so I carried on riding with it.

I've got a double wrap - Specialised Bar Phat underneath, then it was Cinelli on top, now Velox as that's what was stocked by the shop my compatriots went into for supplies just before the ride. I've decided that I like it wrapped that way, but together with 46cm bars it does mean normal bar tape isn't long enough so I end up with some extra wide black tape under the tri-bar forearm rest. Looking now, it seems that extra long tape is now a thing for gravel bikes, so next time I'll investigate that.

Also put a dynohub front wheel back on it, so I can use it for commuting on dry days rather than the Audax Mk3. The Roubaix has no mudguards at the moment - they are always hard to get right due to minimal clearances. With bikepacking being a thing, it no longer looks odd to have a fast bike with luggage (SQR Tour) on it!

[trundle]

I spent a little time reducing toe overlap on the Triban.

With cleat and mudguard shuffling it is almost there, but I think the real solution is better fitting SPD shoes. My shimano's shoes are narrow, so I wear a size longer than I need. With less empty toe space - there would be good clearance.

I also fitted a 12-36 cassette. It looks like a dinner plate, but I don't care. Those extra 4 teeth on a compact crankset will make all the difference with tired legs and a nasty hill.

Fortuitously, the Sora medium cage derailleur has plenty of clearance. It doesn't need a goat link. Hurrah.

I bought a fancy chain whip tool - it's more like a monkey wrench with chain to grab: It is superb - I find it really hard not to twist a normal chain whip under force - and that results in blown rivets. This bad boy had the cassette off the salt encrusted Dawes wheel in no time - very impressed.

[The Family Cyclist]

Swapped the disc compatable rack off my rim brake equipped tourer onto the disc equipped tandem as my LBS only had non disc racks and needed one that would go on one of these bikes so annoyingly had to swap things about

Followed up with some swapping of seat posts and saddles to get the saddle as low as possible so the little monkey would fit

Stripped the trail gator bracket and the dolly seat of our Cnoc 16 as its been loaned out

Replaced one filter and cleaned one filter on the Dyson and used a spring out a click pen to replace the one that I lost from inside the switch that helps keep the cylinder on

Not sure how I'm gonna cope once flexi furlough ends

[T42]

Footering about with battery chargers and a recalcitrant car, but nothing works yet so nothing has been fettled.

[trundle]

Replaced the decathlon tyres with Continental GP 4 seasons. I've not used Conti before (on a bicycle) - but they are beautifully made. Fingers crossed they perform as well as they look in terms of grip, confidence, and puncture resistance.

[rogerzilla]

My bars turned out to be 25.4 after all.  They just wouldn't fit into a 25.4 SR stem.  Shitty tolerances.  The stem is shaped so that it can't be spread using a wedge, too.  I hate the differences in bar diameter...all totally unnecessary.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Like a kilner jar? I find them the worst - I actually do need to find a flat bladed screwdriver to get at my pears.

No I don't think so. The lid used the screw action to pull up the cover that is captured by lugs. I was impressed it was so easy to open so I  kept the jar and have just looked at the lid. The label is for Duerrs thick cut seville orange marmalade. I've not seen another.

Of course ease of opening means that if someone had opened it and then put it back on the shelf the subsequent purchaser could not detect that. Perhaps that is why I never saw another like it.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Raised the saddle on my Zwift steed. I'd been getting an ache in the front of my knee so checked against my outdoors bike: 18mm difference. Did a half hour test in Zwift 'Harrogate' - problem solved.

[trundle]

Replaced the 170mm cranks with 165mm and a 4iiii power left crank. I prefer shorter cranks - and the extra 5mm helps avoid toe overlap.

[T42]

Spent the better part of the morning with shears & chainsaw clearing brambles & divers young trees out from behind the barn.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Replaced the chain and cassette on HK’s Trykit, which involves pulling and refitting both half-axles and cleaning and slathering lubricant on numerous small bits. One of the freehub bearings is a bit rumbly, so a full set of SKF replacements for freehub and axles ordered with the dodgy bearing to be replaced in a week or two.

[Mr Larrington]

Reposition the PVR, Blu-Ray player and subsequently the router so's the first two don’t have a Teetering Pile of Crap books blocking the signal from the remotes.  Much undignified rolling around around on the floor swearing and juggling recalcitrant lengths of Anbaric String.  Now the shelves look All Wrong

[rogerzilla]

Reproofed a Carradice Barley.  This is rather easy if you have a wood stove to heat the tin of wax and to help melt it into the fabric.  It is amusingly stiff now.  The bag, I mean.

[trundle]

Carried on stripping the broken Dawes.

I'm doing it slowly so I can think through what bits I would like to improve, and how.

I'm definitely going to fit modern drop bars, and STI levers - they are much more comfortable than the narrow quill bars.

[perpetual dan]

I put some wood filler in the screw holes in a sewing box (the sort where the layers open, so there’s frequent movement) that Mrs Dan has, passed on from my grandmother and originally made by my grandad. I’ll put it back together tomorrow.

[trundle]

New KMC chain on the Triban. Riding on the trainer no longer sounds like a bag of spanners.

Evidently I did something stupid, like run the new chain on a worn turbo cassette, because the bike has only done 400km since new.

There is a new cassette on both trainer and bike - so all should be good for a while.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Put some Proofide on the Brooks and tiled the kitchen floor, wall-to-wall, over a heated floor mat on insulated backing board.   

[peterc]

Failed to fettle a front wheel of an otherwise excellent "skip" bike.
4 punctures trying to get the tyre back on, rim seems unusable narrow, it seems to be branded Viking, looking on the web makes me think BSO.
Will stop trying to fettle it and send it in the way of the recycling.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

New KMC chain on the Triban. Riding on the trainer no longer sounds like a bag of spanners.

Evidently I did something stupid, like run the new chain on a worn turbo cassette, because the bike has only done 400km since new.

There is a new cassette on both trainer and bike - so all should be good for a while.

My turbo trainer has been a very useful test bed for sorting out such issues..