What have you bought for the bike today ?

[Salad Dodger]

I have bought a towbar for my new (to me, anyway) car.
Now I will be able to transport our ebikes, using our very sturdy bike carrier.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Bought an absolute beast of a two legged stand for Beautiful Wife's bike. Beautiful Wife carries stuff for lessons on her bike, and like most Japanese she grew up using a front basket which she prefers. Unfortunately the weight of her teaching materials has caused the bike to tip when using a full load and normal stand.

Apparently suggesting she just stop being foreign wasn't considered an adequate solution; as her ancestors were part of the Samurai nobility I decided it was safer to get the stand.

 

[CharleyFarley]

Hmm... The glue doesn’t stick the patches on! I have tried to repair two different tubes and the patches just fell off even after leaving the tubes for 24 hours with the patches held firmly in place.

I have bought some Weldtite glue now. That type has always worked well for me.

Did you let the glue dry for a minute before applying the patches? Patches applied on wet glue won't stick. If it's done right, you should be able to put the tube and tire back on the rim and go riding, immediately.

 

[ColinJ]

Did you let the glue dry for a minute before applying the patches? Patches applied on wet glue won't stick. If it's done right, you should be able to put the tube and tire back on the rim and go riding, immediately.

Yes. I've never had his problem before.

I then took the patch off, cleaned up the tube a bit and reglued the patch using the Weldtite, which has never let me down before, but... that didn't stick the patch either! I think there is something really iffy about the cheap glue which has left a deposit on the tube stopping the good stuff sticking.

I'm going to test the cheap and Weldtite glues sticking patches on a length of clean scrap tube and see what happens.

 

[Elybazza61]

Sim-Works x Nitto Obento rack and Rhonda stem for the new Fairlight project.

 

[DCLane]

New bike day. Or rather 'new to me' and probably ridden 2 miles by the previous owner - a Merida Cyclo-Cross 400. They'd found it too difficult, possibly because the disc brakes were catching badly.

Bought via eBay, with pump / saddlebag / toolkit, this is the second eBay purchase in a fortnight. Following the 'photograph the right-hand side of your bike' and 'add detail' suggestion from the Genesis Volant 30 purchase a fortnight ago I'm going to add 'don't photograph your bike in front of your bins' plus 'add the correct detail'.

Described as 18-speed it had Shimano 105, which hasn't been a 9-speed set-up since 2007, so I took a punt as it looks like they copied it from another incorrect eBay Classified listing. It's got Shimano 105 11-speed shifters/derailleurs, a 105-level crankset, TRP Spyre brakes although the wheels are an off mix of quick-release type on the rear and some wierd quick-release thru-axle 15mm Boost on the front. The full carbon fork wasn't included in the description either.

In perfect condition the pointy-up saddle now isn't and the cross-top brake levers are now level rather than pointing down. I'll sort the disc brakes in the next couple of days. It's got a 46/36 crankset, whereas I will probably swap that for an Ultegra 50/34 rather quickly. The Maxxis Mud Wrestler tyres will also probably be swapped for something faster-rolling.

You'll find the auction on eBay if you're curious/nosey. And the Genesis should be on sale shortly.

 

[Rusty Nails]

Gum coloured Hudz rubber hoods for my Dura Ace 7800 shifters. Could not find black ones anywhere at anything other than stupid prices.


Please don't tell me you know somewhere cheap. It's too late.

 

[Jameshow]

A budget purchase picked up this evening to replace the Raleigh SP Race frameset. That may be carbon but it's had a frame repair and the forks have a worn steerer.

£10.50 bought me this and, although a bottle cage bolt is snapped, it should make a decent turbo-trainer bike which can be used outdoors in an emergency:

View attachment 710753

Watch this space...!

 

[CharleyFarley]

Yes. I've never had his problem before.

I then took the patch off, cleaned up the tube a bit and reglued the patch using the Weldtite, which has never let me down before, but... that didn't stick the patch either! I think there is something really iffy about the cheap glue which has left a deposit on the tube stopping the good stuff sticking.

I'm going to test the cheap and Weldtite glues sticking patches on a length of clean scrap tube and see what happens.

A few years ago I bought a Schwinn 3rd Avenue hybrid. I understood what I was getting into: you don't get much for $199. So I expected to have to do some work on it. Out of the box, after assembling it, I tried to pump up the tires. Couldn't be done. I took the tubes out and saw they were way undersized for the tires, and had split when I tried to inflate them. Also they were made of a kind of gritty substance. I tried to stick patches on them, but despite doing it right, the patches instantly peeled off. Even the tires hadn't been properly formed, having little to no tread pattern, and what looked like rubber hair growing out of them. New tires and tubes got the bike on the road.

I'm thinking that perhaps your tubes didn't go through the manufacturing process properly. Everything is automated and I don't know how much human attention is paid to them. It seems kind of odd that regular glue wouldn't hold on good tubes.

 

[Alex321]

I'm thinking that perhaps your tubes didn't go through the manufacturing process properly. Everything is automated and I don't know how much human attention is paid to them. It seems kind of odd that regular glue wouldn't hold on good tubes.

There are some tubes made from a different material than the most common butyl. I believe latex tubes need a different glue, not sure about TPU.

 

[Jameshow]

I've brought an FSA grosmear chainset for upcoming @DCLane carbon bike! £15 spendy more than the bike!

 

[CharleyFarley]

I bought a new bike a few weeks ago and needed a rear rack for it. I had one but the 'arm' that clamps to the seat tube sloped downward which put the rack right on the top of the tire. So back to the LBS, yesterday and bought a nice MTX Quick Track. I didn't realize that luggage is made for it, and simply slides into the track designed for it. So that will be the next thing. Kind of expensive setup, though. $69 (£57) for the rack, with a 10% discount because I'd bought the bike there. The bag I'd need for it will cost $84 (£69).

As I was attaching the rack, I wondered about my back light because it was mounted to the seat tube which wouldn't work for the end of the rack. Not to worry, though, because the rack came with adapters to fit most kinds of lights.

 

[Jameshow]

A frame thanks to @DCLane !

 

[Alex321]

A new front axle £19.99 plus postage from Merlin. Ordered late Tuesday evening, arrived today.

The flats had worn on the old one so badly I couldn't get it off with a hex key, needed a mole wrench, which really isn't something you want to carry with you in case of puncture

Annoyingly, I couldn't get one of the ones with a lever instead of needing a hex key, because almost all the 12mm x 100 axles are 1.5mm thread pitch, while my Cube uses the Newmen brand one with a 1.0mm thread pitch DAKMHIK.

 

[bikingdad90]

I had a rather let down delivery yesterday. This arrived from Dx freight. They handed it to me upside down and claimed it was a sufficient delivery. Closer inspection revealed parts were missing. Duly rejected and getting returned to Balfes. Oh and this is after they had the cheek to ring me to say can they delay delivery because of route planning issues; glad I pushed back and held my ground!

Balfes bikes have been brilliant with their customer service. Already profusely apologies and set a replacement bike aside ready for dispatch once the damaged one is returned.

Just a shame I will have to wait for a replacement before I can get out and ride.