What have you fettled today?

[Gattopardo]

Finally assembled the bso for sale.

New chain and new stainless cables and regrease bottom bracket and headset.

Wonder how long it would take to sell?

Hope to be collecting a new to me french road bike next sunday.

[Gattopardo]

So I installed the BB the wrong way round, now reinstalled. 

Cable end caps fitted, pedal bolt covers and quick wipe with wet wipes and brush.  The bike is ready to go.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Removed 1.5 freehub bearings (6802 2RS)  from HK’s Powertap hub. Now to see if I have a bearing extractor that will remove the outer race from behind a necked-down section supporting the pawls. I don’t like my chances (gave up eventually and ordered a replacement freehub).

[Kim]

Serviced the leaky Fox air shock from the Streetmachine. Astoundingly the kit of seals had all the right bits, in spite of this being a discontinued model in an unobtainium size. I seem to have managed to not fuck anything up in the process, apart from my wrist by applying almost impossible amounts of force to get the bloody thing screwed shut. Why don't they design things to be serviced by normal humans, rather than trained gorillas?

It seemed to hold pressure for the half an hour it took to clean up. Will see what it's like tomorrow...

[Mrs Pingu]

My chemical brothers anchors
2022-08-14_11-00-07 by The Pingus, on Flickr

My not very elegant solution to the problem of the anchors being too big for the holes in the bike hooks.
2022-08-14_11-00-52 by The Pingus, on Flickr

It remains to be seen how long that will last. I expect the point of failure this time will be the wood the hook is bolted to.

I do not recommend that anyone buys these Mottez hooks. The lower fixing hole is through the full diameter of tube while the upper fixing hole the tube is compressed flat but that whole length does not sit flat against the 'wall' (probably putting lots of stress on the top hole). Our bodge for this was to put a thin shim of ply behind the upper fixing hole but I am unconvinced....

[Kim]

It seemed to hold pressure for the half an hour it took to clean up. Will see what it's like tomorrow...

Still fully inflated 24 hours later.  But it was always holding air fine when not in motion, so that just means I didn't break anything.

More promisingly, I fitted it to the bike, and it seemed to hold pressure for a 70km ride this afternoon.

[Feanor]

My chemical brothers anchors
2022-08-14_11-00-07 by The Pingus, on Flickr

My not very elegant solution to the problem of the anchors being too big for the holes in the bike hooks.
2022-08-14_11-00-52 by The Pingus, on Flickr

It remains to be seen how long that will last. I expect the point of failure this time will be the wood the hook is bolted to.

I do not recommend that anyone buys these Mottez hooks. The lower fixing hole is through the full diameter of tube while the upper fixing hole the tube is compressed flat but that whole length does not sit flat against the 'wall' (probably putting lots of stress on the top hole). Our bodge for this was to put a thin shim of ply behind the upper fixing hole but I am unconvinced....

Bit late now, but I'd recommend using Multi Monti anchors for medium-highish load applications into concrete or blockwork of any kind, where a sleeve anchor would be overkill.

These are long bolts with a coarse self-tapping thread that screws directly into the blockwork.
They take a tremendous grip, and need to be screwed in with a decent socket set.
So long as the blockwork is not crumbling, they can take a large load.

I'd say they were the best anchor for that application.

[Tim Hall]

After buying an extra long Philips screwdriver, finding hidden screws, prising and moderate amounts of Bad Swears, I finally got my John Lewis (rebadged Miele) vacuum cleaner apart in search of the intermittent not working-ness. Multimeter deployment showed the fault was with the flex. A great spoinging noise revealed I'd let the tension out of rewinding spring. Arse.
More multimeter deployment and tactical flex jiggling showed there was a break at the plug end. This meant all the disassembly hadn't been needed. Arse again. Chopped the moulded plug off and reassembled it all. No bits left over and managed to retension the rewind spring. Just need to buy a Proper Rewireable Plug tomorrow and all will be good.

[Kim]

It's always worth wiggling the flex at both ends to see if you can induce the fault before screwdrivering anything.  Plugs are easy.  </voice of experience>

[rr]

It's always worth wiggling the flex at both ends to see if you can induce the fault before screwdrivering anything.  Plugs are easy.  </voice of experience>

Had both a lawn mower and a hedge trimmer flex fail not at the ends and had to remove the faulty sections by bisection.

Sent from my motorola edge 20 using Tapatalk

[Mr Larrington]

Had a hedge trimmer fail thus when Lt. Col. Larrington (retd.) trimmed the flex as well as the hedge

[Kim]

Accidental trimmings aside, I suspect those tend to fail from bad cable-coiling habits (exacerbated by cheap nasty cable).  You tend not to yank the cable taught as often with garden tools as you do with a hoover.

[T42]

Moved the front gate bolt up a couple of cm to give a bit of clearance for opening & closing it.  Next project should be a new gate but I'll wait & see how the barn door holds up through the winter.

Speaking whereof, got the first two vertical boards on. The one nearest the hinge was a right bastard (or, as was once said in Scotland and maybe still is, a tory) since it had to be profiled round a stone block at the bottom and a diagonal timber at the top, and then be bolted onto the horizontal through the hinge strap with enough room between board & wall to get two fingers in holding the nut. Aligning it by giving MrsT "up a cm" & "down a cm" directions for the hoist was fraught with marital land-mines.  Second board was a doddle.

Found the impact driver worked a lot better if I started the holes with an auger and squirted oil in first.  Too wobbly otherwise.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Fitted a new freehub to HK’s Powertap hub and installed the wheel back on HK’s Roberts.

Swapped out the lumpy rear Pro One 406 tyre on HK’s Moulton with a non-lumpy Pro One. Tubeless is always a bit of a faff.

And the new non-lumpy tyre was twice as lumpy as the previous one. Removed prior to adding sealant (unlike the previous tyre). Neither tyre has been ridden even 10 metres. Time to hassle SJS for replacements or refunds. HK really likes the tubeless Pro One on her Moulton’s front wheel but I am getting quite annoyed at wasting time fitting pre-bulged tyres.

[rogerzilla]

Had a hedge trimmer fail thus when Lt. Col. Larrington (retd.) trimmed the flex as well as the hedge

This is precisely why I bought a petrol one 

[Kim]

Replaced the gear cable that started to fray on yesterday's DIY.

Pleased to note the rear shock held pressure throughout.

Just need a better knee...

[Mrs Pingu]

I filled the door knob hole with some dowel, and dug some disgusting chewing gum textured stuff out which was just covering the hole in the side.
2022-08-20_05-54-10 by The Pingus, on Flickr

Then I filled it up with more dowel. Just need some wood filler now.
2022-08-20_05-54-30 by The Pingus, on Flickr

[T42]

Lubed the FD on the eBrute.  Seems to need a real dousing about once a month nowadays, whereas 10 years ago it was buttery smooth for months at a time. Natch, when it's new it just works and you rarely think of lubing it, and when it gets sticky you blame the cables. Well, I did. This one has 40 megametres on it and was hardly used between 2015 and this year.

[chrisbainbridge]

parcelled up a bike frame sold on eBay and sorted transport for it.

[Ian H]

Topped up the sealant on the Blue Hallett as the pressures were dropping more quickly.  Ordered new Campag cassette and chain for it.
Peered at the fixed and decided the chain didn't need adjusting.

[Mr Larrington]

Tightened the loose left crank on the Perfectly Good Gentleman’s Mountain Bicycle, though not until the air had turned blue from my failure to find the correct tool for the job in the grimy depths of my toolbox.  Natch said tool was not the oversize Shimano-issue Allen key at all, but rather the 10 mm version from the set hiding in plain sight on the kitchen table.  Anyway, it no longer wobbles or goes “CLUNK”.

[T42]

Got the central horizontal and the RH vertical onto my barn door. Looks coggly here but that's all optical effects*.



This will enable me to put in the first diagonal brace from the lower hinge to the far end of the middle horizontal.

Had some fun with deceptive curves and sticky-out bits on the old door, necessitating emergency aerial surgery. Using a jigsaw a foot from your face when you're at the top of a ladder with the wind blowing the dust into your face is delightful indeed*.

_{* believe it.}

[peterc]

My Bosch drill/driver stopped drilling and emitted magic smoke in the middle of the last hole needed at my MIL's house (so close)

It looks like new motors are available in some places on the webs, but couldn't get the motor off the gearbox.

Eventually managed after #cough# adjusting a clip till it came off.

As the motor is basically dead I had a fun 10 minutes "un-peening" the end plate of the motor and cleaned out the contacts and blew some compressed air down it.
Tested again, turns and no more magic smoke so re-assembled.

Will try against MIL bathroom wall next time I'm there, if not, new motor it is...

[Jurek]

Dragged my three 30(+) year old task lights over my workbench into the 21st Century by replacing them.


With two of these:
 

[chrisbainbridge]

Very nice