The pitfalls of a second hand bike

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Stevec047

Über Member
Location
Saffron Walden
First things first I can't complain I wanted a bike and with limited funds £85 for a 2 year old carrera was perfect for me.

So its been 5 months and there were things that bugged me about the bike pretty much from the off firstly the frayed and kinked front brake cable and the dirty chain and rear cassette which always felt sticky.

So a day of cleaning yesterday has given me a nice clean drive chain and a less gunky chain that's still black but I think that's what it was like new as I can see a couple of rust spots on the surface that I could never see before.

The biggest issue I have come across is the complete failure of the brakes. I have a full set of replacement pads which I was going to slot straight into the current holders which was fine but having removed them I noticed that they had been fitted backwards which meant the retaining screw had been catching the inner fork. Easy fix. Go to the rear take the pad's and holders off and straight away I can see an issue. One of the holders has a hairline fracture running right the way through it and the other one has had the retaining screw tightened so much that it has near enough punched a screw size hole through the soft metal.

Does anyone know where I can get replacement holders no need for the pad's as I already have these just need the holders for now.

Also does anyone understand how the qr on the calipers work my front one needs rebuilding as it just spins around and has no tension in it which has meant the cable has a kink in it from where it has slipped through the clamp and frayed the end. Easy fixes just need to understand the simple looking qr.

Sorry for the long post.
 

DCLane

Found in the Yorkshire hills ...
This is the challenge of any bike, not just a second-hand one. I'd suggest that you simply get new holders - even basic Clark's ones have replaceable pads.
 

Ajax Bay

Guru
Location
East Devon
Replace front brake cable. If completely stuffed for cash you may be better to replace the rear one and use the old rear brake cable for the front (careful with how you cut it - the cut needs to be real clean). The brakes do not have a 'quick release': they have a cable clamp that needs tightening, in the right place, ideally once only. If the clamp/nut is threaded you need to replace. The little lever just opens the blocks enough to get the wheels out (eg to clean them). Follow @DCLane 's sound advice on blocks.

Clean chain till it gleams and then lube. 'Less gunky' is not good enough seeing this is a once in a 150 day clean.
 

pclay

Veteran
Location
Rugby
You've been riding the bike for 5 months and only just thought of cleaning the chain? I clean my chain every 2 weeks using the mickle method.
 
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Stevec047

Stevec047

Über Member
Location
Saffron Walden
This is the challenge of any bike, not just a second-hand one. I'd suggest that you simply get new holders - even basic Clark's ones have replaceable pads.
Yeah I understand that it's just the the previous owner seemed to be a but heavy handed when it came to general maintenance I think when they tell you to hand tighten and then nip things up he went all out and used his air tools.

They are only little things and I am greatful of the chance to learn and work on the bike myself at least with experience the little things such as brakes chain etc can be done by me.

The chain gets wiped over after every ride and re lubed each time what I thought should of been a silver chain is in fact black links as the rollers are lovely and shiny now but the links even though free of oil deposits and a lot of elbow grease are still black. I think I could of been there all day trying to make them shiny. Anyway just means my next chain will have to be a nice silver one to make it easy to keep looking clean.

The rear cassette wasn't full of gunk more a build up of a couple of weeks of use and the base of what ever oil was used pre me owning it but was never perfectly shiny. Now it should be alot easier to keep it that way and with the lighter muc off wet lube being dripped directly to the rollers and not oil/wd40 or whatever sprayed which I think was what the previous owner used to do i
 
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Stevec047

Stevec047

Über Member
Location
Saffron Walden
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Stevec047

Stevec047

Über Member
Location
Saffron Walden
Oh and in terms of the brake cables just waiting on a set of Clarks stainless steel cables and outers I ordered from chain reaction along with a new pair of cable cutters as my old set I used for car electics have seen better days and probably won't give a clean cut. Will still be using them to crimp the caps in place as the crimp feature was the reason I bought them in the first place. I have also treated the bike and my hands to some new red bar tape as the white one on the bike is cream now even with plenty of cleaning and starting to rip plus there is now padding to them
 
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Stevec047

Stevec047

Über Member
Location
Saffron Walden
You've been riding the bike for 5 months and only just thought of cleaning the chain? I clean my chain every 2 weeks using the mickle method.
No it gets a quick rub over with a cloth or if it's really dirty a baby wipe. Dryed and then re lubed after each run. This is just the first chance I have had to strip the bike down and give it a deep clean other than a quick soapy sponge. It's never left with mud all over it plus it only gets ridden once a week due to work and family commitments.
 

helston90

Eat, sleep, ride, repeat.
Location
Cornwall
No it gets a quick rub over with a cloth or if it's really dirty a baby wipe. Dryed and then re lubed after each run.
It may be just the way you wrote it but this could be part of the problem- you are wiping all the lube back off again yeah? otherwise that just sits on the chain attracting all the dirt and dust and filth to form a chewy black past to eat your components with.
Wipe to remove excess.
Lube.
Spin.
Wipe til dry and nothing comes off on your fingers when you touch your chain.
 
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