What have you fettled today?

[CommuteTooFar]

step 1. Go to bike shop to get repaired Z-Control pedals and walk home. Success
step 2. Open shed door grab pedal spanner remove ancient temporary pedals. Success
step 3. Put blob of antisieze on repaired pedal. Success
step 4. Attach Z Control pedals to cranks Success Fail - No pedal washers
step 5. Remove Z Control pedals. Success
step 6. Transfer pedal washers from ye olde pedal to Z-Control. Success.
step 7. Attach Z Control pedals to cranks. Success.

 

[Oscar's dad]

A quick 2 mile spin into town has confirmed that Project Magic Bag Lite ^TM has been successfully completed.

A black and white Carradice Barley has been attached to the seat post of my Ribble courtesy of a SQR mount.  Not only does it work well it also looks in keeping with my black Brooks B17 Imperial.  Son of Oscar is now a proper gentleman's bicycle.

The new rig will be tested in earnest on Wednesday evening when we both venture out with the YACF Pompey crew.  Can't wait!

[rogerzilla]

Shortened the brake hose on the Inbred, then flushed and bled the system.  Then stopped the disc rubbing by...er...bending the disc back into true by hand.  Surprisingly, this works.

Remaining job for tonight is to slap some matt black paint on all those homemade mudguard brackets so they're not as obvious.

[jogler]

In the hope/expectation that both bikes will be used thru' the winter I have this evening applied more proofhide to the Swallow on the fixed & the B17 on the geared bike.

[andygates]

I've been fettling bus timetables, now I know I'm off the bike for a few weeks.

[Wowbagger]

I have been trying to fettle our blocked drain. I am convinced that the blockage is outside the boundary wall so I have asked Anglian Water to sort it out.

Although playing with sewage is a very nasty job, on the few occasions I've been obliged to do so it's been a great success. It's a job with a great deal of satisfaction when it works although I don't think I'd like to do it for a living.

[Oscar's dad]

I have been trying to fettle our blocked drain. I am convinced that the blockage is outside the boundary wall so I have asked Anglian Water to sort it out.

Although playing with sewage is a very nasty job, on the few occasions I've been obliged to do so it's been a great success. It's a job with a great deal of satisfaction when it works although I don't think I'd like to do it for a living.

I'm sat here like a coiled spring waiting for the witty remarks made at your expense ...

[Naggers]

Fitted new tyres and tubes to the bike of one of the Aldgate Station staff who is going to start riding in more often.

[Charlotte]

I have been trying to fettle our blocked drain. I am convinced that the blockage is outside the boundary wall so I have asked Anglian Water to sort it out.

Although playing with sewage is a very nasty job, on the few occasions I've been obliged to do so it's been a great success. It's a job with a great deal of satisfaction when it works although I don't think I'd like to do it for a living.

It's a marvellous feeling when you succeed in shifting the sort of nasty little blockage that's been hanging around for a week or so, isn't it?   

I'm sat here like a coiled spring waiting for the witty remarks made at your expense ...

*takes little bow*

[clarion]

Fitted new tyres and tubes to the bike of one of the Aldgate Station staff who is going to start riding in more often.

Cool.

[Oscar's dad]

I have been trying to fettle our blocked drain. I am convinced that the blockage is outside the boundary wall so I have asked Anglian Water to sort it out.

Although playing with sewage is a very nasty job, on the few occasions I've been obliged to do so it's been a great success. It's a job with a great deal of satisfaction when it works although I don't think I'd like to do it for a living.

It's a marvellous feeling when you succeed in shifting the sort of nasty little blockage that's been hanging around for a week or so, isn't it?   

I'm sat here like a coiled spring waiting for the witty remarks made at your expense ...

*takes little bow*

My high fibre diet has much to recommend it.

[Rig of Jarkness]

Not actually fettled today, I've left it a couple of months before posting to see if it will stand the test of a little time.  I was replacing a bottle dynamo with a Shimano hub dynamo (another fine purchase from Spa Cycles).  The existing light lacks a switch, and it was going to cost £30 to buy a new one. Answer - a £1.15 switch from Maplin, fixed with cable ties to the mudguard stays.  I wasn't convinced it was going to cope with rain but after 2 months of daily commuting its still ok.

I suppose it will break now that I've told the world about it.

[GruB]

Just fettling the front wheel puncture now.

[Butterfly]

Repaired a puncture in the push chair tyre. The other tyre than I repaired last week . It may be time for new tyres.

[perpetual dan]

(yesterday) Mrs Dan's bike has demonstrated an unpleasant ability to break the rubber straps on the car bike rack. So we're experimenting with sharing a bike for the commute (her in, me home, car to do Misses the other way). Hence I swapped the tyres, guards and lights from Mrs Dan's bike to my mountain bike, and changed the pedals back to ones that don't need cleats. I think it worked for both of us.

Apart from that we're redecorating the kitchen, so I've been painting for the last couple of days.

[Adrian]

Rack, mudguards, and tyres.

[rogerzilla]

The Inbred lives!  Oh yes.

The chainring arrived today so it's running 38 x 14 for about 69".  I filled the frame breather holes with mastic last night and also hung it up by its rear wheel and injected the gussets with WD-40, so it's pretty rust-proof now.  I put a rubber sleeve around the (expensive) seatpost to protect it from the Sheffield stand at work, gave it a coat of wax polish and then went out for a ride.

I thought the handling would be twitchy with 445mm Project Two forks (it's designed for 470mm suspension forks) but it's spot on.  The drive is silent - I spent a LOT of time getting the chainline right - and the Goldtec hub doesn't slip although I took it up Kite Hill (about 1:6 at the top).  The disc no longer rubs at all - it just needed a run to remove the high spots, I think.  Not terribly powerful braking yet when pulled hard (the pads aren't bedded in), but a 205mm disc is a marvellous drag brake going down a long hill.  At least until I boil the brake fluid, but I have changed it (the caliper is NOS so the fluid could have been 4-5 years old) and it is DOT 5.1.

Pictures at the weekend, by which time it will probably be filthy.

[TimO]

I unsuccessfully fettled the gears on the Kaffenback.  In the last couple of days, I've managed to jam the chain at both ends of the cassette, which takes some doing!  I think the changer has got progressively over gunged with dirty, which is stopping it cleanly moving.

At the moment I've adjusted the lower endstop so that it doesn't go into the smaller sprocket at all.

I've checked the cassette is mounted OK (it is), and I've looked at the cable to make sure it's not frayed and catching in the outer or levers (it's not).  I really need to take the changer off and clean it, but I don't have time before the last FNRttC tomorrow night, so I'm going to liberally spray it with some light oil when I get home this evening, and hope that clears things up a bit.  Worst case scenario, I just get it to stay in one gear, and use it as a singlespeed.  Last year I cycled every FNRttC on a singlespeed, and it wasn't too difficult, other than Ditchling.

I don't know, you put a bike together, do a measly 6000 miles on it, and things start failing.  Wowbagger's right, derailleurs are a bad idea.

[dasmoth]

Also a fettling failure.  Removed and refitted the BB from the Tempo, but the <unprintable> thing still clicks as much as ever when riding (although, irritatingly, not while on the workstand).

Attention now returns to the pedals...

[jogler]

Fitted mud flap to front & rear mudgaurd on the tourer/audax bike

[hawkeye]

I got a superbly detailed description of the washing machine accepting a coin into the pump, an irregular clicking (as the coin bounced off the vanes), a noise like a distant electric saw (as the coin parked itself and started eating the said vanes) a low humming (as the coin jammed the vanes and the pump motor). By the time I got home yesterday the audience of Mrs H, 20 yo Mr H and 12yo Master H had disbanded an hour previously as the entertinment value had worn off.

But why hadn't anyone the wit to turn the damn machine off? Aaaargh! More entertainment as I had a rant at the family.

Fettled with a new pump and sump hose this morning.  Reminded how very bloody heavy a full washing machine can be as I put it on a sack barrow and let it drain in the yard first.

[Tewdric]

Replaced bottom bracket on neighbour's mountain bike!

[Diver300]

Not, I fear, an economic use of my time, but more satisfying that throwing item out...

Changed the main capacitor in a low energy lightbulb for one from a defunct phone charger.

[Adrian]

I've just cut the racing pack plug off the car battery charger (I used to use it for a SLA battery for bike lights) so I could wrap bared wire ends round a terminal and some other bolt on the car to charge the battery. Water has got in the sun roof and caused the inside light to come on and run it flat.

Next I am going to fettle the sun roofs with gaffer tape.

[Gus]

brakes and  handlebar  changed, rack dismounted and SQR system mounted on the winterbike