Author Topic: What have you fettled today? (Read 2188667 times)

rogerzilla · « **Reply #16000 on:** 12 June, 2021, 07:56:17 am »

The only time I had a tricky one of these to do, I kinked the end of the inner so it would pop out of any hole it found.

The 1995 Eddy Merckx has an internal tube to guide the cable. You just push it in and it pops out. Why can't all manufacturers do that?

robgul · « **Reply #16001 on:** 12 June, 2021, 11:33:47 am »

Quote from: hatler on 12 June, 2021, 07:43:50 am

Another technique for a lost guide is to use an old inner bent double dipped into the hole to act as a loop to catch the intended inner cable as you prod it along the tube.

In similar vein I have a 25cm or so length of brake outer with about 3cm of the plastic stripped off and the exposed would inner pulled to open it up and make a sort of fishing hook to capture the approaching inner cable.

I was pleasantly suprised the other day to find a very cheap Chinese carbon frame on a Roux Vercors bike with a two fixed tubes inside the down tube to just thread the cables straight through to the aperture in the BB.

T42 · « **Reply #16002 on:** 12 June, 2021, 01:25:24 pm »

Chain was creaky on the last ride so I gave it a couple of hours' soak in degreaser, washed it in boiling water and now it's in the wax/TPFE slow cooker. >700 km since last lube.

rogerzilla · « **Reply #16003 on:** 12 June, 2021, 04:11:51 pm »

Fitted saddle, seatpost and BB to the Brompton. Trued the wheels. The front one was diabolical, the rear not so bad except for an oddly kinked spoke. Both fine now. Built most of the rear end and injected the open tubes with Dynax S50. Assembled the mudguards, which were an astonishingly cheap* £20 unused from eBay, only missing the front hook and the two small stay-to-mudguards clamping plates, which I recycled from the old bent and rusty set (being plastic and s/s, they were the best bits!).

*RRP £90 for the titanium version, which these are

MattH · « **Reply #16004 on:** 12 June, 2021, 07:07:26 pm »

Campervan fettling. Didn't plan anything for this weekend as I had second vaccine yesterday, so an opportunity to sort stuff out in the sunshine.

Replaced both roof vents, which were getting a bit brittle, but also putting a fan into the one that's above the bed to keep air circulating on hot nights. Bit of a pain of a job, but at least as it's a van I can sit on the roof. Removed the remnants of the broken solar panel it had when I bought it; the panel went a while back as it was shedding bits of glass, but I removed the cable and brackets, then filled and painted the holes that left. Reused the cable to provide power to the fan as it was close and available in the roof space. If I do put solar on it again, it'd be a bigger panel in a different position.

Also fitted the mobile/wifi/gps antenna (diversity on wifi and mobile) to help keep us connected whilst away. That's easier to do when there is access to the roof through the gaping hole left by removing a vent, and whilst the internal roof liner is flopping down a bit as it doesn't have the roof vent clamping it in place. Together with the a travel router and 2g/3g/LTE modem I'll have the best chance of getting some sort of internet without relying on things propped up in windows on the closest side of the van to the tower - and at times losing it altogether once the metallised blinds are drawn at night.

LittleWheelsandBig · « **Reply #16005 on:** 12 June, 2021, 07:16:42 pm »

I scavenged a cheap and nasty Shimano MTB front derailleur out of a bike shop’s junk pile on Monday to ride my trike back from Preston. The chainline was off, so getting the bottom ring was marginal and it was too enthusiastic getting to the big ring but it worked well enough to get me home.

Today the stopgap was replaced with a little-used 1990’s Deore front mech. Lubricated the pivots, tweaked the limit screws and all is good again.

rogerzilla · « **Reply #16006 on:** 15 June, 2021, 12:44:39 pm »

Swapped the 170mm RH XD2 crank from the singlespeed to the S6L Btompton. Gives good chainline and doesn't interfere with folding on a 113mm UN54, but the ring must go on the inside. This is iideal anyway, since a chainguard can go om the outside. The singlespeed needs 165mm cranks really, as the BB is super low.

rogerzilla · « **Reply #16007 on:** 16 June, 2021, 08:45:58 pm »

Mate brought his Brompton round and we swapped his rusty headset for a better example, straghtened the front mudguard and carefully removed, cleaned, lubed and refitted the brake cables, because you can't buy them any more.

SoreTween · « **Reply #16008 on:** 17 June, 2021, 07:11:56 pm »

Refitted the shelves in the beer shed, only taken me 9 years to get around to it. The two shelves were fine but the brackets were folded tinfoil¹, full of empty bottles they'd sproinnnggg alarmingly. Brackets replaced with screwfix finest plus a third shelf added. It's taken all day due to the extreme unevenness of the wall, 12mm was the largest spacer needed.

¹If anyone can use a selection of cheap & nasty shelf brackets do drop me a line. Perfectly suitable for 3mm ply shelves upon which to store polystyrene ornaments (in a shed 'cos they're mostly a bit rusty). PO -2 of this gaff loved the things. Why can't I just throw the useless things out?

Kim · « **Reply #16009 on:** 17 June, 2021, 07:14:40 pm »

Quote from: rogerzilla on 16 June, 2021, 08:45:58 pm

carefully removed, cleaned, lubed and refitted the brake cables, because you can't buy them any more.

Is there something special about them, other than the length?

robgul · « **Reply #16010 on:** 17 June, 2021, 10:02:01 pm »

Quote from: Kim on 17 June, 2021, 07:14:40 pm

Quote from: rogerzilla on 16 June, 2021, 08:45:58 pm
carefully removed, cleaned, lubed and refitted the brake cables, because you can't buy them any more.

Is there something special about them, other than the length?

?? pretty sure I replaced mine with ordinary outer (which I buy by the metre) and inners with, IIRC, barrel ends. I used my Brompton last night, first time for about 18 months, squeaked a bit but OK.

SoreTween · « **Reply #16011 on:** 17 June, 2021, 10:47:31 pm »

Finished fettling a case for a new Riden RD6018 PSU. Either side of my Hugh Mongoose ViewSonic monitor there's still the wall fixed half of monitor brackets from when I had separate monitors on the desktop (2) & server. So I found the rest of one of the brackets & 3D printed a case for the PSU with 75mm Vesa mounts & XT60 connectors.
The ac/dc unit can lurk under the desk until I get around to something more cunning for it.

Speaking of which that was a fettle a week or so back. When it all turned up visible through the slots in the ac/dc unit was a large coil flapping in the breeze. Since the security seal came pre-broken I popped the cover off to investigate. At manufacture one end of the winding for that coil had only been soldered about half a mm, badly at that, resulting it it letting go in transit. I couldn't be arsed to try & complain in the hope of getting a replacement sent out (and thus a spare

)

Tomorrow I shall be RTFMing to find out how to shut up the really loud & screetchy beep that accompanies each button push & knob twiddle.

rogerzilla · « **Reply #16012 on:** 19 June, 2021, 06:51:42 pm »

Quote from: Kim on 17 June, 2021, 07:14:40 pm

Quote from: rogerzilla on 16 June, 2021, 08:45:58 pm
carefully removed, cleaned, lubed and refitted the brake cables, because you can't buy them any more.

Is there something special about them, other than the length?

Google "Brompton open clevis". Another British design snafu.

Today I cabled up the gears on the S6L and adjusted the lower stop disc. I am waiting for brake levers; mine were open clevis too.

Jayjay · « **Reply #16013 on:** 19 June, 2021, 10:06:16 pm »

Fixed the garage 13A metal socket and cable back on the wall instead of it trailing about the floor like it has for the last 30+ years. Oh, and reconnected its earth

nobby · « **Reply #16014 on:** 19 June, 2021, 10:08:13 pm »

Over an hour to file a 5mm thick 11mm open spanner to 2mm thickness to fit onto my modified Moulton pivot bolts.
I used a grinder to remove the chrome before filing.

pcolbeck · « **Reply #16015 on:** 21 June, 2021, 06:46:25 am »

Fitted a new spring box, springs and cables to my up and over garage door.
The springs came pre tensioned which was a god send.
It now opens again after about three years of being bust!

pumpkin · « **Reply #16016 on:** 21 June, 2021, 09:54:41 am »

Some sealant around the front door frame. Relubed the commute bikes chain and yesterday assisted a cyclist stopped at the roadside. New to the game, he had punctured and had just called home to be picked up. No pump, tube(s) or levers. So we had a quick lesson on tube removal/insertion and got him going again. I have enough tubes so he could have that one

Tim Hall · « **Reply #16017 on:** 21 June, 2021, 11:35:47 am »

Quote from: pumpkin on 21 June, 2021, 09:54:41 am

Some sealant around the front door frame. Relubed the commute bikes chain and yesterday assisted a cyclist stopped at the roadside. New to the game, he had punctured and had just called home to be picked up. No pump, tube(s) or levers. So we had a quick lesson on tube removal/insertion and got him going again. I have enough tubes so he could have that one

Good stuff. I remember one jaunt into Brighton, probably chasing the Old Cars, we came across a punctured cyclist on the Horrid Cycle Path by the A23. Adrian, formerly OTP, donated him a tube and refused payment on the grounds that the cyclist was doing him (Adrian) a favour as he'd "only have to fit it himself one day".

trundle · « **Reply #16018 on:** 24 June, 2021, 05:45:41 pm »

Washed the Elan and Triban, and rediscovered my chain and sprockets are silver, not black. I need to keep on top of those - cassettes aren't always available in the ratios I like at the moment.

The LBS replaced the Triban bars with the same type I have on the Elan - 44cm with gel inserts and fancy Jo Burt bar tape: It looks great and I know it will be comfier.

I think the Triban is ready as backup long distance bike if I ever need to take the Elan off the road.

campagman · « **Reply #16019 on:** 24 June, 2021, 08:57:04 pm »

Removed the internals from a Sturmey Archer hub for the first time. Wasn't too hard and after a de-gunk is working much better now.

rogerzilla · « **Reply #16020 on:** 26 June, 2021, 02:09:52 pm »

Chopping the spokes out of a Brompton wheel from which I want the rim. It's currently got an FW hub which I built up and then realised the scrote who sold it to me had used a mismatched spring set (there are two generations of these and the hub depends totally on the relative spring rates being correct), so it won't hold second (low) gear. The rim has done...er...2 miles, a decade ago.

It's going to be reused as part of the 2-speed superlight conversion. 12T and 16T is ridiculous, though*, so I'll go for 13T and 15T like the old 6-speeds.

*I think the idea is to use the 12T most of the time and have a 16T emergency bailout gear, but 12T is too wear-prone and inefficient, and also gives too high a gear unless you run a 44T chainring. I'd rather have two "normal" gears.

ravenbait · « **Reply #16021 on:** 26 June, 2021, 07:04:17 pm »

Replaced the transmission on my ancient Specialized Hardrock. Also unbent the hitch on the Bob Yak.

Sam

rafletcher · « **Reply #16022 on:** 26 June, 2021, 09:59:50 pm »

Bits of the garden, which we are opening for charity tomorrow.

perpetual dan · « **Reply #16023 on:** 27 June, 2021, 04:19:17 pm »

Some more tubeless goo in the rear tyre, as a year after fitting it’s was loosing air a bit. Also, the combined speed / cadence sensor had evidently snapped at some point so a pair of new sensors to replace that.

Gattopardo · « **Reply #16024 on:** 27 June, 2021, 08:51:06 pm »

Repaired the punctures on a few tubes, discovered one tube that had rotted! so let that tube go to patch or use as a strap. It has only taken a little over three or two years...

Took a henry apart as the motor was poping fuses. Washed the plastic bits as it was full of grime. Next stage is to open up the motor and clean that out and see what happens once apart.