What have you fettled today?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Flint-mined a Durano DD and fitted a replacement TA LH crank to HK's Roberts.

Tomorrow will probably be respoking her MTB commuter's rear wheel.

[rogerzilla]

Also got the Duomatic 102 working!  Didn't even have to cannibalise the Duomatic R2110 for a brake cone because I found ir's available as a new part for €10...only the R2110 version of the part, but it can easily be converted to a 102 version by snipping a couple of mm off the two ends of the drag spring to fit the 102's brass brake cylinder.  So I now have two very nice Duomatics.  Might try one on the Brompton...no need for any cables to the rear, and I quite like a decent coaster brake.  Dependsi f there's anywhere to clip the brake arm.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

You might need to fit a stop on the driveside chainstay to support the chain tensioner when using the coaster brake. Apparently the Brompton chain tensioner tends to break otherwise.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

HK has negotiated an Etrex 30x from Garmin as a warranty replacement for a bricked Etrex 35. A big reliability and performance win for our side, I reckon. This evening, instead of wheelbuilding, I'll be going through frankly frankie's guide again http://www.aukadia.net/gps/lw3_0.htm

[Beardy]

Last night I dreamt that I fettled the Grasshopper steering to joystick in a very clever way. Whilst reviewing my dreamy enginnering fixes in the shower this morning I realised that my dream self had moved the steering head a several of the BRITON feet forward of it's actual position and my clever solution wouldn't work on a real installation. Booo.

[ElyDave]

Some Shelves in my office/brewery equipment store.  I'd had a nagging doubt about them since installation this time last year, always thinking there was an unused corner that was better for the brewing stuff and would give me a nice white wall to hang piccies on, and I can finally get my wall map up there as well, once I've got a big enough board to stick it to.

[rogerzilla]

Someone had misassembled the Duomatic R2110 and it was missing a few bits, so I

- managed to undo the LH locknut, whicb was seized in place - it's supposed to have a washer under it to prevent this.  The axle is round so can't be put in a vice, so I tightened two other nuts against each other on the axle to counter the torque on the locknut.  It came off without damage.

- opened up the hub and re-lubed with oil, lithium grease (just the bearings) and very high temperature grease (just the brake cylinder).  It was very clean inside.  Apparently these were lubed throughout with MoS grease from new but it wasn't the usual grey goo. I played safe and used specialist lubes as per the 102.

- replaced the missing ball bearing in the LH race (!)

- reassembled with washers in the right places and adjusted the cones as per the manual (finger tight then loosen 1/5 turn)

- fitted the new dome nuts and washers

It's beautiful now, and for sale...I only bought it to get a brake cone for the 102, then found a new brake cone for sale separately.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Respoked HK's Alfine 11 wheel (rim should last another couple of years) and new taillight batteries for her MTB commuter and fitted a new mudguard taillight to her Condor commuter.

Packed a Son Klassic hub to be posted to Germany for new bearings.

My next turn on the maintenance treadmill is probably Saturday. So many bikes, so little time to fix or ride them.

[Kim]

Rear wheel Brompton punctures are my *favourite*.

Top tip: Do not stare into open CO2 inflator valve with remaining eye.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Fitted four new cups to a set of recent Record hubs and also have three new cones waiting to go in but didn't have replacement Grade 10 5/32" ball bearings in the garage. HK will finally be able to use these wheels on her Roberts, once they arrive!

Fitted VC167 mudflaps to HK's Condor.

Greased my Brompton's squeaky elastomer and pump shaft

[andytheflyer]

Does fixing a puncture count?  On a recumbent?  When you are half way through a gentle 25 miler as part of a programme to recover your 'bent legs after 3 months driving and training around Australia?  When the rural roads are filthy, the bike is filthy, it's drizzling and getting dark?  And it's the rear, and you can only lay the bike on its side in the wet grass at the side of the road, not turn it upside down like a DF bike, so it's a wrestle to get the chain etc. clear of the wheel?  And it's a Marathon Racer?  And it's a bit of wire that refuses to be pushed back out the way it came, and everything's wet, covered in muck, and it's getting dark? But at least it only took me 20 mins: the guy whose house I was outside came out to offer me his garage (which I declined as moving a wheel-less 'bent is not as simple as it sounds), a passing roadie offered help, and as I was clearing up a guy with his family in a car stopped to offer help.  3 offers of help in 20 mins - restores your faith in the human race.

[ElyDave]

BTDT, it definitely counts. In my case a freezing February morning in the middle of nowhere

[Kim]

Brompton punctures also count, even if they happen 5 minutes walk from home and you decide that going back to where there's heat, light, a sink and proper spanners is worth the extra faff.

That was Thursday night.  I patched the tube today (rotating it back onto the front wheel of the bike because I don't like to trust tubes with unproven patches).  And removed the worst of the obligatory Brompton grime.  And replaced the chain which was marginal enough not to be worth cleaning.

Also un-jammed the parking brake on the trike, straightened a mudguard and put the batteries on charge.

[Tim Hall]

A jammed mortise lock with a GBFO disc cutter. It took longer to put the metal cutting disc on than it took to cut the bolt.

[andytheflyer]

BTDT, it definitely counts. In my case a freezing February morning in the middle of nowhere

That's a relief.  I was concerned that "fettling" meant cleaning a cassette, or adjusting brakes in a warm, well-lit shed, c/w all the tools, rather than up to my neck in muck and bullets in the claggy, gathering gloom. I was more concerned, however, that my M Racers (which replaced the M Pluses in the quest for more speed) succumbed to a half inch of 2mm dia wire - but in Schwalbe's mitigation, it did hit the sweet spot between the tread blocks so less tyre to penetrate.

[T42]

Took a chunk off the short bit of my desk extension to allow better access to the radiator under it (I've had a very warm waste-paper basket for the last 25 years) and fitted a fence to stop stuff falling over the back.

[ElyDave]

De-grokked the bike after yesterday's Essex excursion and Wednesdays flit around the fens, the casette was nowhere near as bad as I though, what I was taking as muck was the black plastic spacers.

Preliminary truing of the wheel seems to be going ok, an initial very large wobble is down to a couple of mm. A bit more and I'll start on the radial.

[CAMRAMan]

Fitted a replacement door mirror on the Panda. Not as horrendous a job as I'd anticipated. What I lacked in correct tools was made up for with the use of a screwdriver and force. The residue of the duct tape glue that was holding the old one in place was also easily shifted with white spirit and elbow grease. I can now do motorway speeds without wondering if the mirror will dislodge itself at any second.

[tiermat]

When I returned home on Friday I noticed a strange sludgy substance around the drain by the front door. This morning I looked again and it was worse. I decided to investigate and found that there was a blockage in the chamber, which was causing poop to back up the rain drain. A swift application of a stick cleared the blockage and all is now working as it should. Which is good as I didn't fancy either being up to my elbows in it, nor being reamed from behind by a drain clearing company.

[Tim Hall]

Yesterday evening, fitted Christmas lights to my blue bike, ready for the Tandem Club Christmas lunch ride todsy.

[Jakob]

Replaced the chain on my fixed gear...probably only been used for 5 years.
SRAM's snaplock made it a breeze. Will probably get a fancier chain in spring, but this will do for now.

[clarion]

At the weekend, but I drilled the guards, ran the lighting cables, fitted (all but one of) the spacers, cut the stays to length, and adjusted the gear cable on the New Swiftsure.

Couple of nights ago, I fitted the bar tape.

Need a few crimps, and one bracket now.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Does tidying count? After the Saturday double-puncture and pump collapse, I rearranged the spare tubes and tools in my Barley's side pockets. As a result I now have a more logical arrangement (tyre levers and patches in the same pocket as spare tube) and more items in the same space: managed to get a second spare tube in the other pocket!

And then today I finally got around to replacing the punctured tube and fitting the spare pump I'd found in place of the broken one. And washed the bike!

[citoyen]

Coaxed myself out of the house for a ride this afternoon, despite the appalling weather - gave myself the incentive of checking out the swanky new cyclists' cafe that has just opened near Canterbury. Got the bike out of the garage and saw the mudguards needed a bit of fettling, requiring use of a 2.5mm allen key. Spent the next hour trying to find a sodding 2.5mm allen key. Why is that the one size that's missing from every set of allen keys I own?

Eventually found my multitool which has such a thing in its repertoire and did the necessary, which took all of a few minutes. 

On the plus side, by the time I actually left the house, the rain had more or less stopped. And the coffee and cake were excellent.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Replaced the rear tube and tyre on HK's Condor, due to a vicious thorn.