Perils of buying 2nd hand and goings on in my garage

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SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
I see you corrected the orientation of the seatpost qr. It's funny how such details mean nothing to some folk but are intolerable to others.

I hadn't even noticed the QR orientation until you commented on it, so you can work out which camp I am in! The seatpost QR on my old Raleigh Highlander MTB is in the "wrong" position, but I set it the same way as the front wheel QR, which is in the "right" position, parallel with the fork blade.
 
OP
OP
biggs682

biggs682

Touch it up and ride it
Location
Northamptonshire
Bit more progress this morning , removed the fork so I could give it a good close up examination and inspect the headset . Both passed with flying colours and some grease .

IMG_20190618_052929037.jpg
IMG_20190618_052935735.jpg


Whilst removing the fork I also undid the caliper retaining Allen bolt these are always a nightmare to undo because of the amount of crud that flies up on to them and the actual caliper thread , luckily it came out easily and went back in after a clean with some grease on all parts .

IMG_20190618_054339248.jpg


Whilst I had the caliper out I removed the worn out MTB brake pads and refitted some road style ones and adjusted the brake cable .

IMG_20190618_061307820.jpg



Only special tools used so far have been a set of park tools cable cutter's .
 

mustang1

Guru
Location
London, UK
This is a really good idea. Thank you!

If it’s not too much effort, perhaps keep a note of how much time spent sourcing components and amount of time to fix the bike?
 
OP
OP
biggs682

biggs682

Touch it up and ride it
Location
Northamptonshire
This is a really good idea. Thank you!

If it’s not too much effort, perhaps keep a note of how much time spent sourcing components and amount of time to fix the bike?

So far two hours labour in total and all the parts have come out of my previously used garage stock , next is the chain & cassette both will be new items then i need to sort out the headset / stem situation but will wait till it's ride able before doing that so i can set the bars in right for me place .

I was surprised as all the cable seem in good condition so will leave as is unless they feel wrong once all done .
 
OP
OP
biggs682

biggs682

Touch it up and ride it
Location
Northamptonshire
Another 30 minutes tonight moving bikes to access the b Twin and replacing the 9 speed cassette and removing the drive side crank so I can give it all a clean .

IMG_20190619_200904571.jpg



I am using a Planet X tool kit to do the jobs as they have all the tools I need to do the jobs I am doing .

IMG_20190619_201349777.jpg
IMG_20190619_201759350.jpg

Cost of chain and cassette was £35 so that needs to be added to the running total .
 
OP
OP
biggs682

biggs682

Touch it up and ride it
Location
Northamptonshire
An hour this morning has seen the new chain fitted and trialed for 1.5 miles.
IMG_20190621_055705033.jpg


Waiting for some thicker headset spacers to arrive then I can set about sorting final bar height up .

IMG_20190621_055708654.jpg


Rightfully or wrongly I have removed the lower clamp which has helped tidy things up .

Hopefully I will be doing some more testing miles over the weekend .

Still got some tidying up to do so not finished yet by along way .
 
Last edited:
Good morning,

.....Rightfully or wrongly I have removed the lower clamp which has helped tidy things up ......

Only a couple of weeks ago I did my first handlebar adjustment on a threadless headset, so I am like a new rider in that respect and I think that I get the point of the lower clamp from Decathlon's perspective.

My first adjustment left me with a lose headset but I knew that the headset was lose and that I had done something wrong.

By splitting handlebar height and headset adjustment you are adding a level of safety for an inexperienced customer.

Coming from threaded I found the process odd, once understood it all makes sense, but I can see people getting confused and riding with a slightly lose headset.

I do like the look of your jobsworth toolkit as it seems to have a lot of tools, but I think that it has to be classed as a cost if the imaginary person buying the used bike is new or a returner. :-)

Can this thread can become a sticky and added to be others?

Bye

Ian
 
OP
OP
biggs682

biggs682

Touch it up and ride it
Location
Northamptonshire
This is a great thread idea and will help many people who are put off buying second hand.


That said, you seriously need to work on your speed, I mean, an hour to do 1.5 miles!!! :laugh::laugh:

Lol :laugh: that hour included fitting the chain and doing a some workstand gear shifting and adjustments before taking off on my mile and half testing that also include quite a few adjustment stops on the fr mechanism and its operation .

By splitting handlebar height and headset adjustment you are adding a level of safety for an inexperienced customer.

Coming from threaded I found the process odd, once understood it all makes sense, but I can see people getting confused and riding with a slightly lose headset.

I do like the look of your jobsworth toolkit as it seems to have a lot of tools, but I think that it has to be classed as a cost if the imaginary person buying the used bike is new or a returner. :-)

Yeah i can see where you are coming from but it just looked a bit agricultral and bulky to me

The toolkit is ok i have no idea how much they cost as it came to me with a load of other bike related bits , sure Aldi & Lidl have similar every so often at around the £30 mark

Can this thread can become a sticky and added to be others?

Bye

Ian
 
OP
OP
biggs682

biggs682

Touch it up and ride it
Location
Northamptonshire
Or if you want to purchase a used bike, get a Biggs special?

Not sure what i will be doing with this one long term ie after it's been ridden 100+ miles by me , i might even keep it as my winter bike due to the fact that it's got the facility for guards ^_^ .

Next project is to sort out the very lightly used Ribble Audax i have waiting in the wings for some fettling
 

youngoldbloke

The older I get, the faster I used to be ...
Good morning,



Only a couple of weeks ago I did my first handlebar adjustment on a threadless headset, so I am like a new rider in that respect and I think that I get the point of the lower clamp from Decathlon's perspective.

My first adjustment left me with a lose headset but I knew that the headset was lose and that I had done something wrong.

By splitting handlebar height and headset adjustment you are adding a level of safety for an inexperienced customer.

Coming from threaded I found the process odd, once understood it all makes sense, but I can see people getting confused and riding with a slightly lose headset.

I do like the look of your jobsworth toolkit as it seems to have a lot of tools, but I think that it has to be classed as a cost if the imaginary person buying the used bike is new or a returner. :-)

Can this thread can become a sticky and added to be others?

Bye

Ian
The big advantage of the spacer clamp is that it allows removal or turning of the bars without affecting the headset preload setup. There are more complicated two part adjustable versions that allow adjustment of the preload without involving the stem at all . IIRC Canyon use their own version.
 
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