General Category > Freewheeling

Unfettling

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Wowbagger:
I've been fettling this morning, or perhaps that should be unfettling. I've unbuilt a wheel, the one with the cracked rim, to send the rim back to Thorn's. It's been quite difficult and time-consuming.

I have to send them the rim and one drive-side and one non-drive-side spoke so they can tell what they need to send me to build another wheel. They advised me to cut off all the other spokes.

It didn't take long to dawn on me that I'd need to remove the freewheel. That involved finding the freewheel remover. I already had one, which was part of a cheap tool kit, but it had been machined so badly that it did not fit, so I bought another. I searched high an low and much to my surprise I eventually found it in the drawer of my desk. I had already found the adjustable wrench, so I set to work.

I couldn't shift it. This was perhaps not surprising because there's 17 stone of me and I've ridden up White Down on this wheel. I had to wait for Dez to get out of bed because there's 17 stone of him as well, and between us we removed the freewheel. I took a couple of spokes out, then tried snipping through the others. I managed about 3 before giving up: it was painful on the hands to squeeze the pliers so tight and also, I felt, potentially dangerous with bits of metal flying about. Spokes are reassuringly strong. I took to unscrewing each spoke, which was a bit tedious, but less painful and now I have a rim attached to no spokes. I'll wrap it up in a minute and send it off to Bridgewater.

Charlotte:
Bolt cutters are the way to go for permanently unfettling a wheel.  £3.99 from Lidl  :thumbsup:

Sergeant Pluck:
What a palaver  :)

Don't you want them to use the existing hub then?

Save yourself the hassle of getting a box for the rim by cutting out a section of it and just sending that maybe?

ed_o_brain:
I thought unfettling was the art of riding a finely fettled bike until, before you realise it, more fettling is required?

vorsprung:

--- Quote from: ed_o_brain on 18 March, 2009, 03:14:12 pm ---I thought unfettling was the art of riding a finely fettled bike until, before you realise it, more fettling is required?



--- End quote ---

That's defettling
Or defettlization if you are of US origins

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