What have you fettled today?

[rogerzilla]

Changed the cranks on the Raleigh Twenty and adjusted the BB.  It's easy if you put anti-seize on the cotter pins a few years ago 

Have also identified the chainline problem - I could never get the rear far out enough without the chain fouling the chainstay.  Basically, Raleigh's designers made it so you could never use a bigger sprocket than 15T (stardard gearing is 46 x 15, which is about right on BMX wheels but a bit high on the original 451 wheels).  Now Miss Z the younger is bigger, she'll just need to turn a 60" gear on the flat.  Or 45", if she uses low gear on the AW hub.

The 3/4 chainguard (it was actually a Raleigh Solitaire, but I rebadged it as a Twenty - Twenties are identical but have only a half chainguard) is a right PITA to refit.

The paintwork is still original and looks like new - after 33 years.

[Gattopardo]

Still pedal fettling...how to get the bolt tab and nut sorted.

[Deano]

Replaced the rubber hoods on the Cane Creek brake levers on my Dave Yates. Also, I swapped in the spare rear wheel, as the broken spoke in the other rear wheel needs a proper look.

And I replaced the crank spacer thingie on my Ribble after the left crank came off (twice) during the route check for my 300.

[T42]

^^^Good point. I must lay in a few for my 3x10 STI shifters before they disappear from the market.  The hoods for my 1999 105 shifters are unobtainable.

[rogerzilla]

Been messing about with the old Campag Record hubs that arrived today.  By fitting a 129mm axle to the rear and respacing it to 120mm OLD I can make a dishless singlespeed wheel, or within 1mm of dishless, anyway (I'm constrained by the need to get the chainline just right, as I'm already on the shortest BB available).  Taking the frame down to 120mm was easy enough - just a bit of a squeeze with both hands and it came out right first time when checked with a string.

Then measured the hubs several times and ordered spokes, ironically from Pedal On in Tadley which is half a mile from my parents' house and which I pass quite frequently.  Front will be x2 (I generally do fronts x2 unless there's a compelling reason to do otherwise, like a hub brake) and rear will be x3.  Not totally happy with the spoke/rim angle you get with x3 on a 28h wheel, but should be OK on 700c and I don't really trust x2 for power transmission.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Checked the disc pads on the Sequoia. To do this I had to take the front wheel out and readers might be interested* to hear on this occasion I did this with the bike upright. There was a specific reason for this; the instructions for replacing disc pads say so! In fact, they had to be coaxed out and it would probably have worked just as well with the bike upside down or even on its side, but as I'd not done it before, I didn't know that. For further interest,** I kept the bike upright by resting one handlebar on a convenient piece of furniture and positioning the other pedal downwards. So maybe I'll start carrying a chair round with me. The pads turned out to have more material left than I expected.

That done, I turned my attention to the slow puncture that I've been trying to ignore since November. It's just slow enough to be annoying; requires noticeable pumping every week or so. On this occasion, I found it. Then I found I didn't have any patches left (though I did have an almost full tube of glue) and I didn't want to put my spare tube in then possibly find I only had a leaky tube in time of actual need – so I used an instant patch instead. It seems I've used two already, though I can't remember when, where or on what tubes, which implies they probably worked and are still working, somewhere.

*No, not really.
**This is taking the piss.

[Feanor]

32 toothy goodness and rear mech to match...


20170520_140509 by Ron Lowe, on Flickr

[fuzzy]

I do think modern toilet cisterms are a triumph of form over function.  The normal exposed type with a handle virtually always works, and even if the flush siphon is a bit knackered, with holes in the flapper valve, a few pumps on the handle will usually send the jobbies on their journey to the ocean.

Also flapper valves are easily replaced without having to replace the whole syphon unit.

My parents' numerous chodbins have totally concealed cisterns with no access unless you start chipping off the tiles.  That really is daft, since they WILL go wrong sooner or later, generally sooner in a hard water area.

That's what ours is, and why I was dreading having to deal with it, but in fact the flush valve unit and the fill valve unit are easily accessible/replaceable through the hatch behind the face plate.

You definitely don't get the flush power of a high-level cistern, but considering it's a mere 6L cistern, it's surprisingly effective.

I have a soft spot for the high-level type with a chain, but new ones tend to be matched to fairly standard pans designed for close-coupled cisterns, and not designed to cope with the rush of water from high above.  The result is that (if you're lucky) water splashes over the rim and onto the floor when you flush*.  if you're unlucky you'll be picking up used food from the far end of the bathroom.

 

That lot is nothing.

You should try replacing the toilet seat on a pan where the wing nuts are concealed within the moulding of the pan and where the pan is fixed to a boxed in section with an access panel of 8 inch X 8 inch proportions and, once the panel is removed, you find that the wing nuts are accessed through a further hole, the diameter of which is only 3 inches more than the soil pipe it was cut for.

On more thane occasion I have found myself a) wishing for hands the size of The Donalds or smaller, 2) at leat 4 more elbows and two more wrists and iii) getting a lot more intimate with the knowledge of how poor the aim of smalls is when they are standing to take a piss 

[Torslanda]

BN: ^^^^^^^

GN: Not any more!

[fuzzy]

With 6 weeks to go, you would be surprised how many toilets can be blocked and seats trashed.........

[mcshroom]

I spent most of yesterday afternoon hitting bits of my tourer with a mallet.

It now has an un-stuck seat post, and a shiny new headset¹. Not involving hitting things with mallets, I've also fitted some mini-v's to the front. Between the headset and replacing the canti's, I've cured the brake judder it's had for years

I also switched the Raleigh's fork for the chrome one of an old broken frame, which means I can fit a bigger tyre than 23mm under the guards


¹When you remove the forks to find pitted upper and lower cups, plus the lower bearings cage coming out in two pieces, I think it's means the thing's dead

[rogerzilla]

I spun the rear wheel on the clubman and it has a distinct wobble to it, although it doesn't rub on the brake.  So that's the next job.  I've almost never had to re-true a wheel of mine but this one is almost ten years old, did a lot of commuting, a Dun Run and numerous other long rides and the rim was shite to start with (Rigida, about a fiver, no eyelets), so there's probably some creep of the nipples in the alloy.

The wheel that caused the most problems was one with a Velocity Deep V and an ancient alloy-shell SA hub.  It went out of true just sitting around as the spokes crept in the flanges, which are no thicker than on the steel shells.  It's been fine ever since a day-after retruing, though.

[Jurek]

What are the three Ds of starting a plumbing job on a Sunday afternoon?
Don't. Don't and Don't.

Prodding a slow-draining kitchen sink in the plughole with a long screw driver resulted in the catastrophic failure of the means by which the trap is attached to the sink.

It has taken me just under three hours to replace the trap, overflow and plughole - but that did include an additional trip to B&Q as I'd bought a 32mm fitting instaead of a 40mm one 

It'll be tomorrow before I know whether the job has been a success as I am waiting for silicone to cure before chucking water at it.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Spent some time Saturday afternoon going over a hire bike (well-worn hybrid) to allay my fears that a mechanical breakdown would scupper me finishing an overnight 200 brevet in India. No breakdown, no problems.

[Kim]

Finished epoxy-bodging the damage to the seat of the Baron.  It's no longer shedding glass fibre, and close enough to the original shape as will make no difference.  New edging strip to come (turns out it's a cheap car part^[1], so no expensive Germans involved).

Transplanted a new rim onto the front wheel to replace the damaged one.  Still needs tensioning and truing, but that's the tedious bit done.


_{[1] "Door edge trim" for those playing along at home.}

[Kim]

Finished rebuilding that wheel, and installed new evil folding bastard tyres front and back.

ETA: And discovered that the rear rack is more than a bit loose.  Don't think that has anything to do with the crash though, as it wouldn't have been in contact with the ground.  Possibly being-transported-inna-car related.

[rogerzilla]

Retrued the errant rear wheel, which turned out to be extremely difficult due to the crapness of the rim.  A half-worn through crap rim is even less stiff than a new crap rim, and even 1/8 of a turn with the spoke key makes a massive difference.  On the bright side, the nipples never seize on a wheel with a traditional SA hub because the constant oil seepage keeps them nice and free 

Also gave the hub a tiny shot of fresh oil and changed the front tyre from the hopeless Durano to a Fortezza TriComp Quattro, which is what I should have bought in the first place.  Oh, and the LH rear wheel nut is now a domed nut, which makes more sense as the AM has a hollow axle and it stops water getting into the hub.

[ElyDave]

Installed my new WIn 10 version of my insulin pump software (only a 6+ month wait)

Then downloaded meter number 1, unpaired that from the pump, uloaded the settings to meter number 2 and paired that with the pump.

[Polar Bear]

Nothing yet, just preparation for pedal and / or cleat maintenance tomorrow.

My Crank Bros Candy pedals started clicking yesterday on the ride and the bearings are as wobbly as a wobbly thing.  I have two spare sets of Candy pedals albeit lower spec so I should be able to fit a spare set whilst I order a service kit and repair the ti's once it arrives.

Fallback position is some lush but well tatty looking XT 7?? pedals from the late nineties which are as smooth as butter in spite of sitting the workshop for a decade.   I also have the proper sh52 cleats for them.     

[Canardly]

Put a well used B17 special on the 'Borrowed from 'Bagger' Brompton for the French visit. What a difference. (Tried a brand new Professional first, that did not work at all.)

[Si S]

Well not today and certainly not fettled

[Polar Bear]

Nothing yet, just preparation for pedal and / or cleat maintenance tomorrow.

My Crank Bros Candy pedals started clicking yesterday on the ride and the bearings are as wobbly as a wobbly thing.  I have two spare sets of Candy pedals albeit lower spec so I should be able to fit a spare set whilst I order a service kit and repair the ti's once it arrives.

Fallback position is some lush but well tatty looking XT 7?? pedals from the late nineties which are as smooth as butter in spite of sitting the workshop for a decade.   I also have the proper sh52 cleats for them.     

I took the 'best' pair of secondhand spares, opened them up and gave them a check and grease.   This completed I then swapped them over for the wobbly ti versions.   

Stripping the ti versions the plastic sleeve bearings are again fubar'd.   Service kit required. 

[Gattopardo]

Repaired few tubes with holes.  All my patches were far  too big so I made a few new patches from an old tube.  Then fettled a repaired tube into the bike that had the puncture.  Lets see if they hold.

Finally fettled the second set of crappy pedals so that the bike has pedals that have dust caps and be seals so one up to the pedals on there.

[Jakob W]

After the sparky had been to check over some wiring and fit some lighting track, fettled a couple of light fittings.

Then discovered that the sparky had put an (admittedly tiny) chip into the paint of my bike frame; thankfully it turns out that Humbrol no.3 modelling enamel is a perfect match for Bob Jackson's​ Racing Green, so a successful fettle there as well...

[T42]

Started taking my daughter's busted-neck bass apart. Gawd, it's horrible: hollow nut (fractured) and neck shimmed with a tiny piece of plastic.  The electronics are probably vile as well.  Annoying thing is that a set of bass nut files will run me about 80€ and I'm never likely to use them again.