What Have You Fettled Today?

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DCLane

Found in the Yorkshire hills ...
@N0bodyOfTheGoat - I had a lovely RSLe which I regretted selling as well back in 2018. I've also had a TT2 Light for time-trialling. They're really nice bikes.

This evening I found a bit of time to finish my Ridgeback Platinum upgrade, with the aim of going from 10 to 11 speed and gaining an additional bigger cog: it's a hefty 18kg beast when fully loaded for 600km+ audaxes and I've been running a 52/36 crankset with 11-28 cassette - it just needs a slightly wider cassette, so I've gone for an 11-32, but may move to 11-34. And to think I did Paris-Brest-Paris in 2015 on 53/39 with 11-25, when it weighed a kilo more. I'm getting old :cry:.

As well as Dura-Ace 9000 shifters, 9000 front derailleur and a 9100 rear derailleur I've added a Fizik R1 stem to save a bit of weight and it also matches the Fizik carbon seatpost. The silver Ridgeback-supplied one was lovely, but heavy. There's also some Kranx Stretta Primo-Grip black/blue bar tape to finish off the new inner and outer cables plus a new chain. Wheels have stayed American Classic, but white/blue 11-speed 420's compared to the carbon/aluminium 10-speed set which are now on my fuschia Raleigh. And the all-important 'finished' photo:

PXL_20250526_195113798.jpg


The old parts have already been sold for more than I bought the replacements for ^_^ and finally this is finished after collecting everything 18 months ago. Originally built up on a frameset from @djb1971 (not on here since 2023) plus Pearson handlebars from @vickster (still on the bike) it's done some serious mileage and hopefully will now be OK for a load more.

I've still got one upgrade to finish, which is the NeilPryde Bayamo TT bike, and then a long-term Dawes Kingpin project to complete this summer or sell.
 
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Watching a YouTube video I realised that my Di2 6870 front mech came with an extra positioning bolt which tensions against the frame. I have been riding around for two years quite oblivious to this feature. Needless to say it was jammed solid and needed wd40 to move - so now to find if this makes the slightest bit of difference.

IMG_20250528_121940870.jpg
 

Bristolian

Über Member
Location
Bristol, UK
Today the Specialized Allez got treated to some new, genuine, Shimano outer and inner gear cables and bar tape. The cables have made a huge difference to the front changing (not so much the rear but that was pretty smooth anyway) and the bar tape looks nice if a bit boring black ^_^. Hopefully it's ready for the summer now and I can get on with some jobs on the car :whistle:
 

Jenkins

Legendary Member
Location
Felixstowe
On the go fettling today - replaced the chain's quick link as the old one decided to break and ping off somewhere just as I was going uphill.
 

chriswoody

Legendary Member
Location
Northern Germany
I've ridden nearly 800 km since converting the gravel bike to a wide range mullet drivetrain. Recently though the gear shifting has been giving me issues and my first suspicion was the cable outer leading to the Derailleur body.

With mountain bikes the gear index adjustment is done at the shifter, so MTB derailleurs have no adjuster barrel, this poses an issue with drop bar bikes that have no adjuster at the shifter end. To overcome this I had a special push in cable adjuster on the derailleur body. This then drastically reduced the gap between the cable stop on the frame and the adjuster, the first attempt ended up with an outer cable with too sharp an angle so I cut a new outer a few mm longer which gave far smoother angles. I was also not convinced the static half of the adjuster barrel itself, wasn't moving in the body, so I dabbed a tiny drop of paint onto it to give me a visual reference when adjusting it. So far though it's not moved a fraction.

P1020663.JPG

I then went back to first principles and reset the cable before checking the B Screw gap. I was amazed to see it was miles out, I'm sure I set it properly when first setting things up. So using the checking tool I wound the screw in to the correct position and then re-indexed the gears.

P1020664.JPG

I then took the bike out for a 50 km spin through the forest and we were back to smooth slick gear changes. I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on the B gap Screw going forward. I'm really not sure why it was so far out but it's set properly for now.
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
Sent it away for stuck seatpost removal (The Seatpost Man, Chorley). New seatpost now installed with a good amount of grease.

Decided to do away with the Hollowtech BB so I could replace the Tiagra crankset with a Stronglight, even had a suitable BB in the bits box.

I couldn't screw it in! sure the thread was OK. Maybe I'd have to get it fixed! Then I realised the cable guide was still fitted and the little bolt was a bit long so the BB just wouldn't go in quite straight. All lovely after that. Put the new cassette on the wheel, enough for today.

Finished it almost, to the extent I can ride it. Need to tweak the front mech as it wasn't reliably going into the little ring (triple) so screwed down the low adjuster and made it into a double until I can finish it (which will either be very soon, or never)
 
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