What have you fettled today?

[trundle]

That image looks it could have come out of a renaissance painting. "Shepherd uses new material for staff... "

[T42]

Belt drive.  3 years, no wear, no attention.  Only on the town bike mind.

Transmission losses?

[T42]

That image looks it could have come out of a renaissance painting. "Shepherd uses new material for staff... "

Aye, it is a bit crook.

[Ashaman42]

I went to B&Q where I procured a circular saw, a jigsaw and two boxes of screws.

Then I came home and chopped to length and drilled holes in the slats off our old bed.

We now have slightly more of the loft boarded.

Though I did learn that one should use the vacuum attachment on the saw even if cutting outside - if you don't then the sawdust shoots out the nozzle and fills your jean's pocket up.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Belt drive.  3 years, no wear, no attention.  Only on the town bike mind.

Transmission losses?

Imagine how far you could ride in the time taken to wax a chain.

[Mrs Pingu]

I took down the huge pile of coats & jackets from the vestibule (1 of which we'd forgotten Pingu even had and another that we have no idea when he last wore it) and then I washed a few, and wondered why I have so many scarves. This was so that I could do some sanding in there as part of the great Pingu Towers tart up.
Took all the shoes out of the shoe tidy thing my brother built for me, only to find that a section of the wallpaper behind it was all damp and mouldy.    FFS, I was only going to be painting the woodwork and the paper and now it's developed complications.....

Stripped the offending section of wallpaper. Went outside and peered into the funny wee gully between the dormer cheek of our door and the granite wallhead between ours and our neighbours doors. Decided there was a bit of grot in there and hoped that removing that would cure the damp issue.

Went looking in the shed for the wrong tool for the job. Came back with a slightly flexible 1m metal rule which worked a treat to get under the bottom row of slates on the cheek and remove some gunk there. Then fished it all out of the gully with a broom handle. Did the same on my neighbours side cos I was already covered in crap and I'm nice like that.

Eventually got to sanding the woodwork, hoovered, washed it all down with sugar soap. While doing that decided to get rid of the several old incandescent bulbs cluttering up the fuse box cupboard, tidied up a bag of shoe polish and some other tat.
Investigated 2 old head torches (the ones that take the GBFO battery). One was working, one was not. Both of them were all covered in battery salty stuff so I took them to bits and cleaned that out.

Having a rest now and waiting for piña colada o'clock.

[Kim]

Investigated 2 old head torches (the ones that take the GBFO battery). One was working, one was not. Both of them were all covered in battery salty stuff so I took them to bits and cleaned that out.

I found my much-loved 1990s head torch (halogen, 4.5V lantern battery) in similar condition a couple of clear-outs ago.  It went.

(I'm keeping the 4xC-cell Maglite with LED retrofit in case I need it for hand-to-hand combat.)

[Feanor]

One of my Petzels of that generation is now a time capsule, waiting to be discovered by future urban archeologists.

It got lost under the floorboards when I was re-wiring my first flat, 30-odd years ago.
I imagine the battery has leaked to death by now.

[Tim Hall]

The best thing about those head torches was going to the relevant shop and asking if they had any flat batteries.

[T42]

One of my Petzels of that generation is now a time capsule, waiting to be discovered by future urban archeologists.

It got lost under the floorboards when I was re-wiring my first flat, 30-odd years ago.
I imagine the battery has leaked to death by now.

Around 30 years ago I built a vast bookcase incorporating three window-surrounds & sills. At one point I used the spare blade for my mitre saw as a ruler.  It's still in there somewhere, along with the Inlaw Paw's 25cm steel rule.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

When raising the huge beam that supported the hayloft in my barn conversion I found a pointed chisel in the space behind it. 



It could only have got there when the barn was built.  No one knows when that was, all the records were destroyed in the French Revolution and so the earliest map that shows it is 1810.

 

[Mr Larrington]

That chisel is starting to make me ponder whether the “railroad spike” on the shelf over there \\\\ as a souvenir of a failed ascent of Mount Lewis NV in 2003 is actually a railroad spike at all.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Swapped on some Corsa CX HPs onto HK’s Powertap and non-dyno wheelset.

Straightened the bent SQR frame and refitted it to the repaired (by Carradice) four decade old Cadet saddlebag. Ready for the next commute and eventually some brevets.

[MattH]

Gave the Roubaix SL2 a bit of TLC. For some reason Specialized didn't seem to think people would want easy routing for dynamo lighting on the S-Works machine, so I taped the cables on the inside of the fork leg, underneath the top tube and down the seat stay where the rear light is mounted. That meant the cables were hidden, rather than having ugly cable ties everywhere.
Over the last decade (! Does that mean this bike is now a classic machine?) that tape has started to peel and lost some stickiness, so I pulled it all off, gave the frame a good clean and polish, then retaped it.

Then got the rear wheel onto the truing stand as it was slightly out. Good to go again now, and with bikepacking being a thing doesn't look as odd as it did having a SQR pack hanging under the seat.

[Tim Hall]

Fitted the new, reassuringly expensive, handlebars to the Pino. Slid them on to the spigoty thing and reattached the tie rod (the bars are behind the stoker, the front forks are beneath the stoker's bum).

Arse. Thee new bars are of a modified design, meaning the tie rod is too long.  It's an aluminium tube, threaded at each end with swivel bearing attached. Unscrew one end and peek inside. The tuber appears to be threaded all the way down. Cut off a bit of tube and screw in swivel. Arse 2, it's not threaded all the way down.  Rummage in tool box for M8 tap. None found.

Do battle with the Screwfix webby SCIENCE, try to place a click and collect order a several of times. Fail. Bang head on desk in frustration. Do slightly less traumatic battle with Toolstation's webby SCIENCE, buy a ten quid tap and die set. Tap out hole just enough to get the swivel in the right place. Hurrah. Job done.

I also fettled some spiced teacakes.

[Canardly]

Not at my best early in the morning. I have had a visitation which only became clear when taking the road bike out for a ride today. Grrrrrrr.

[trundle]

50% fettle
50% feckin div

Replacement Sora FD arrived from Bikester in Germany. Felt quite smug because there is zero stock in the UK.

Of course German translation of bracket = braze on.

Doh!

SJS order already placed for Shimano clamp to braze on adapter - because Sora FD are rocking horse pooh at the moment.

In other news - I can now identify a braze on from a clamp FD when only given a side view picture.

[rogerzilla]

Trial fitted the SA AM/AW frankenhub to the Moulton TSR.  Pretty good axle nut engagement really* - the end of the axle isn't far off the middle of the porthole.

Then did the rear pivot with the grease gun.  Spent much longer wiping up the purged ooze.

*160mm axle, 130mm spacing.  It works.  Just.

[trundle]

The Triban is up and running again. I fitted the new front derailleur.

I also fitted a redshift shock stem to see if that stops numb fingers on long rides.

[CommuteTooFar]

Two weeks ago high winds broke the rotten fence between me and nextdoor.  We pulled the panels (A set of battens and slats) and dumped them in my back yard.  My neighbour Terry, a handyman, rebuilt the fence.

Today I disassembled one of three panels.  Hard work is against my religion. Tomorrow I will separate the other two panels. I have discovered a technique.

[T42]

Re-glued the loose leg on my bedside table.  Thinking that it was tenoned, I had been going to put a hole through the mortise from the hidden side and draw-bore it together, but when I pulled it off I found that, like love, it was splined.  I had a thing about splining back when I made it in 1994 - using loose tenons, if you will.  Anyway, there wasn't enough wood to put a peg through so I've slathered it with Titebond and cramped it up. Should be OK this evening.  I might put a hole or two through it all the same and slide in some cocktail-sticks later on.

Also put the Trek on the workstand and had a close butcher's at the FD, which has been rubbing in certain positions since I re-lubed it.  Cable stretch was the culprit, quickly fixed but why did I only hear it once it was re-lubed? Duh.

[rogerzilla]

I reproofed another Carradice bag and finally got round to putting the Dura-Ace track nuts on the yellow Harry Quinn.  They don't look expensive enough.

[T42]

The bloke at Ozcycle proofs stuff with a solution of silicone - that stuff you use round the shower basin - in white spirit, even on clothes.  WS has a godawful pong, though - he says it fades but I have my doubts.

[hatler]

Mrs hatler's bike is suffering from transmission jump. Following her it looked to me like the freehub was missing a beat or two.

Removed the wheel last night and the cassette looks shot, so I'll swap that out. But then the chain rings too are looking past their prime. Chain is however fine.

One odd thing though. The rear mech was 'sticky' and not retracting all the way.  I noticed that a few weeks ago and gave it a proper going over (though obv not enough) at the end of which is was as smooth and as springy as it should be. I undid the screw holding the fixed plate and the spring was fine. Hmmm. Greased it lightly and re-assembled. It seems that that screw had simply been done up too tight.  Will have to keep an eye on that.

[Snakehips]

My shed extension now has a side wall!