What have you fettled today?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Swapped the rear tyres between HK's and my Moultons. I fitted mine at Pocklington SB (so it is nicely run in now), when I found the previous rear tyre was down to the canvas (LEL roads are somewhat wearing). HK has a weeklong tour coming up and I will use up the age-hardened and slightly cut-up Panaracer on day rides. I think HK's tyre may have been old stock as the rubber was noticeably harder than mine and didn't have the screenprinted label. Nothing else seems particularly necessary, except for new handlebar tape, later this week.

Retensioned the chain on my fixed and realigned the rear brake pads to suit.

I need to replace the chain and cassette on my Moulton sometime, so time to pick up a couple of 10sp chains. It hadn't reached 0.75% before LEL but is past 1.0% now. The rear gear cable and handlebar tape are well past due too.

[Feanor]

What does one do with dead electricals these days? Can I stick it in my recycling bin?

I save them up and take them to the 'small electricals' wossname at the tip.

Problem with that is that you can end up coming back with more then you took away.

[Mr Larrington]

Dang, Jurek, had you mentioned this earlier I could have rehomed the Cambridge Audio amp I have generating fluff upstairs after it was usurped by a Denon 5.2 AV receiver-cum-heater.

[Kim]

What does one do with dead electricals these days? Can I stick it in my recycling bin?

I save them up and take them to the 'small electricals' wossname at the tip.

Problem with that is that you can end up coming back with more then you took away.

Our one is arranged to mitigate that risk with extreme gravitational awkwardness.  And a team of burly gnome-collecting binmen who you wouldn't want to incur the wrath of by attempting to recover tqt^[1] from the WEEE bin.

I've had previous 'debates' with them over the lead-acidness of SLA batteries, whether the refrigerant-based principle of an air conditioner justifies filing it with the fridges, and whether I really rode all the way from Silly Oak with a bicycle trailer full of heavy rubbish (as if the sweat didn't serve as a clue, it's up bloody hill).  At no point have they challenged me for accessing the site by bicycle, though, so they're good eggs really.


_{[1] It does make me wonder how the yoof of today are supposed to learn electronics without a steady supply of midly-b0rked through-hole audio kit, mind.  This is probably why they invented Arduinos.}

[Diver300]

[Jurek]

Dang, Jurek, had you mentioned this earlier I could have rehomed the Cambridge Audio amp I have generating fluff upstairs after it was usurped by a Denon 5.2 AV receiver-cum-heater.

That's generous of you, Mr. L - however, my needs were immediate.
Plus, I had  train ride - which I always like (unless it is rush hours)

[David Martin]

What does one do with dead electricals these days? Can I stick it in my recycling bin?

I save them up and take them to the 'small electricals' wossname at the tip.

Problem with that is that you can end up coming back with more then you took away.

Ours has large 'small appliance' skips that are impossible to retrieve stuffs from. I was having a clear out at the weekend and evicted three old router/wireless hubs, a broken Vbox, a freeview box and about n gazillion VCR players. We now have just one VCR player and I am slowly evicting the tapes from the 'Room of Requirements' [1]  with strict instructions that if they are in the way then rip them or bin them.


[1] (TM) my good friend Susie.

[David Martin]

Extracted the 'builders foam' casting from the plaster mould today. Seemed to work quite well all things considered.

The acrylic version will be rather more challenging.

[rogerzilla]

Greased the pivots and put the cantilever arms back on SO's "Oxford" bike.  Need yokes to actually set up the brakes*, and it would help if the rear wheel actually had an axle in it...still waiting for the UG freewheel remover so I can do the bearings, oil the freewheel and true it.

Unexpectedly, the Marathon Plus 700 x 38c tyre went on the finished front wheel with no fight whatsoever.

The final job on this bike will be to smear all the steel parts that don't get touched by the rider (cantilever hardware, yokes, cable roller, wheel nuts, most other nuts and bolts) with Vaseline.  It will attract dirt, but it won't rust solid on salted roads.

*the rims are on the wide side, which is beneficial for straddle angle, as these are low-profile cantilevers.  I don't really like having the pads right out on their studs as Kool-Stop salmons are prone enough to squealing without any extra flex in the system.

[David Martin]

Helping with a project that Barakta was instrumental in pointing me in the right direction for. One of our students is developing new BSL for biology. After many weeks in the lab and several linguistic workshops, he is now committing the new signs to video.

Liam recording new BSL signs for biology. by David Martin, on Flickr

[mcshroom]

I've just switched a stronglight 34t chainring for a shimano one.

I've been having problems with shifting down from the 48t (Spa) ring to the stronglight ring, where the chain seemed to be getting hung up between the rings. The shimano ring has a different profile meaning that the teeth are closer to the spindle, and make the gap smaller.

The shifting worked ok with SL inner and outer rings though.

The new ring seems to shift better in the workstand, so it'll be interesting to see if this has solved my problem.

[Kim]

There's a reason the Red Baron's middle^[1] ring is currently a steel Shimano one from the spares box rather than the alloy Stronglight one I purchased for the purpose.  The Stronglight one just won't shift reliably with an indexed shifter.


_{[1] Recumbent-issue 'taking the piss' 22-36-50 chainset configuration.  Use of the granny ring requires application of The Knack and a high tolerance for horrid grinding noises, so is to be considered an emergency use only option.}

[andytheflyer]

I've just switched a stronglight 34t chainring for a shimano one.

I've been having problems with shifting down from the 48t (Spa) ring to the stronglight ring, where the chain seemed to be getting hung up between the rings. The shimano ring has a different profile meaning that the teeth are closer to the spindle, and make the gap smaller.

The shifting worked ok with SL inner and outer rings though.

The new ring seems to shift better in the workstand, so it'll be interesting to see if this has solved my problem.

IIRC, I have Stronglight middles and grannies (30 and 26T) on both my 'bents and they shift just fine.  But I have got a fang on both, just in case (actually the 20/26 did drop the chain once, on a hill and dumped me off.  That was the first and last time).

[mcshroom]

I've just switched a stronglight 34t chainring for a shimano one.

I've been having problems with shifting down from the 48t (Spa) ring to the stronglight ring, where the chain seemed to be getting hung up between the rings. The shimano ring has a different profile meaning that the teeth are closer to the spindle, and make the gap smaller.

The shifting worked ok with SL inner and outer rings though.

The new ring seems to shift better in the workstand, so it'll be interesting to see if this has solved my problem.

IIRC, I have Stronglight middles and grannies (30 and 26T) on both my 'bents and they shift just fine.  But I have got a fang on both, just in case (actually the 20/26 did drop the chain once, on a hill and dumped me off.  That was the first and last time).

I don't think there's anything wrong with the ring, just with it's compatibility with the Spa cycles one. I've been switching the rings of two compact chainsets because the stronglight rings didn't have a pin behind the crank arm, whereas the spa ring did. The two SL rings worked together, and the two non-SL rings seem to work fine, it was just a compatibility issue between the profiles of the spa and SL rings.

The Spa and Shimano rings are shaped with the teeth offset to the 'right' of the ring when attached to the chainset (outboard from the BB). The SL rings are more symmetrical with less offset. Mixing the two made a bigger gap between rings, and with a 10sp chain, it just didn't quite work.

[T42]

Bestirred myself to twiddle the starboard adjuster knob on the Trek to stop the FD rubbing in the T-trim position.  Annoying, that - I thought I had nailed it last fettle.

[orienteer]

On ride a couple of weeks ago, lost a screw attaching the RH front mudguard stay on the Moulton ATB tandem. Temporarily fixed with a tie wrap. On investigating once home, found the M5 thread was stripped on the dropout, so after wondering how to fix it, I ordered an M5 helicoil fitting kit from China on Fleabay, and it arrived today.

Drilled out the hole and tapped it, then screwed the helicoil in. Actually a bit too long for hole, so snipped the excess off and filed the end smooth. All gone together OK, test will be the next ride.

[zigzag]

i've noticed that my garmin started to lose contact intermittently when being charged and connected to a pc. i've also noticed that the outer part of the female socket moves vertically, which can't be right. upon further inspection i found out that two of the contacts were detached from the board (it must be the charging on the go on bumpy/gravelly roads during the tcr that did it). this took much longer to fix than expected, mainly due to the lack of right tools for the job. it's now however fixed and is more solid than it was from the factory - result!

[ElyDave]

i've noticed that my garmin started to lose contact intermittently when being charged and connected to a pc. i've also noticed that the outer part of the female socket moves vertically, which can't be right. upon further inspection i found out that two of the contacts were detached from the board (it must be the charging on the go on bumpy/gravelly roads during the tcr that did it). this took much longer to fix than expected, mainly due to the lack of right tools for the job. it's now however fixed and is more solid than it was from the factory - result!

I have a loose connector on mine, OK at home, but won't charge on the bike, I might try asn find a replacement female USB socket if I can.  How did you do the un-soldering bit?

For me, mounted new rack on the roadbike yesterday, rode it today.

Changed tyres on the old runabout, gave it a very good clean, and will be changing pedals in prep to put it up for sale.

[Feanor]

i've noticed that my garmin started to lose contact intermittently when being charged and connected to a pc. i've also noticed that the outer part of the female socket moves vertically, which can't be right. upon further inspection i found out that two of the contacts were detached from the board (it must be the charging on the go on bumpy/gravelly roads during the tcr that did it). this took much longer to fix than expected, mainly due to the lack of right tools for the job. it's now however fixed and is more solid than it was from the factory - result!

Out of interest, what model Garmin is that?

It's different from the Edge series which has the USB connectors on a separate daughter-board.

[zigzag]

i've noticed that my garmin started to lose contact intermittently when being charged and connected to a pc. i've also noticed that the outer part of the female socket moves vertically, which can't be right. upon further inspection i found out that two of the contacts were detached from the board (it must be the charging on the go on bumpy/gravelly roads during the tcr that did it). this took much longer to fix than expected, mainly due to the lack of right tools for the job. it's now however fixed and is more solid than it was from the factory - result!

I have a loose connector on mine, OK at home, but won't charge on the bike, I might try asn find a replacement female USB socket if I can.  How did you do the un-soldering bit?

maybe i didn't express myself clearly, but the alloy part of the socket was already detached from the board (by vibration i suppose). then after i've removed it i saw the two contact pins were detached too.. it was very fiddly to get them fixed as they are tiny.

[Kim]

Best way to de-solder something like that is with braid.  This sort of thing:  https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/de-soldering-braid-1mm-width-n47fx

(Practice on something scrap first, there's a bit of a knack to it.  Burnt fingers are pretty much compulsory.)

[zigzag]

i've noticed that my garmin started to lose contact intermittently when being charged and connected to a pc. i've also noticed that the outer part of the female socket moves vertically, which can't be right. upon further inspection i found out that two of the contacts were detached from the board (it must be the charging on the go on bumpy/gravelly roads during the tcr that did it). this took much longer to fix than expected, mainly due to the lack of right tools for the job. it's now however fixed and is more solid than it was from the factory - result!

Out of interest, what model Garmin is that?

It's different from the Edge series which has the USB connectors on a separate daughter-board.

it's an edge 500; i was almost tempted to have a ~20cm usb cable with a female micro-usb socket soldered and fed to the outside and the opening sealed. this would improve the unit for long trips/tours/races.

[Feanor]

Best way to de-solder something like that is with braid.  This sort of thing:  https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/de-soldering-braid-1mm-width-n47fx

(Practice on something scrap first, there's a bit of a knack to it.  Burnt fingers are pretty much compulsory.)

Alternatively, a soldering-grade heat-gun, with the rest of the PCB masked off with thick tin-foil.

[Kim]

Alternatively, a soldering-grade heat-gun, with the rest of the PCB masked off with thick tin-foil.

Yes, or that.  But it's in the league of "if you have to ask how, you probably don't have one".

[Feanor]

i've noticed that my garmin started to lose contact intermittently when being charged and connected to a pc. i've also noticed that the outer part of the female socket moves vertically, which can't be right. upon further inspection i found out that two of the contacts were detached from the board (it must be the charging on the go on bumpy/gravelly roads during the tcr that did it). this took much longer to fix than expected, mainly due to the lack of right tools for the job. it's now however fixed and is more solid than it was from the factory - result!

Out of interest, what model Garmin is that?

It's different from the Edge series which has the USB connectors on a separate daughter-board.

it's an edge 500; i was almost tempted to have a ~20cm usb cable with a female micro-usb socket soldered and fed to the outside and the opening sealed. this would improve the unit for long trips/tours/races.

Yes, I've considered modifying my Edge 800 series units with contact pads on the 1/4-turn mount shoe, and spring contacts on the mount.
Similar to a flashgun hotshoe, or what Garmin do on the running watches with the crocogator clips.

But I've never gotten around to it.