What Have You Fettled Today?

[mikeymustard]

On Friday I replaced my Brooks Swallow saddle for a B17 - I've been struggling with it recently, While I was at it I raised the seatpost by 3 or 4mm. Yesterday on my (5 minute) commute I felt like I was having certain delicate undercarriage parts squished. I couldn't work out why a couple of mil should cause this. but I woke up this morning with the realisation that the B17 is considerably higher than the swallow!

 

[raleighnut]

On Friday I replaced my Brooks Swallow saddle for a B17 - I've been struggling with it recently, While I was at it I raised the seatpost by 3 or 4mm. Yesterday on my (5 minute) commute I felt like I was having certain delicate undercarriage parts squished. I couldn't work out why a couple of mil should cause this. but I woke up this morning with the realisation that the B17 is considerably higher than the swallow!

Wider too.

 

[ColinJ]

Are you just boasting that you have a friend who's a girl?

I've got several!

(We are dealing with small numbers here, but my female friends currently outnumber the male ones. Mind you, I have a lot of CycleChat cycling pals and the men do significantly outnumber the women.)

As for fettling ....

At the start of January:

I went to do up one of the velcro straps on the left shoe before setting out on my ride yesterday but the tab through which the strap passes just tore off the shoe.

View attachment 445594
I limped through the ride with my overshoe holding the cycling shoe on but a more effective solution was required. So, today I cut a small slot either side of the broken tab, threaded a cable tie through, looped that back, and made quite a neat bodged replacement tab out of it.

View attachment 445593

That repair IS lasting but a similar thing happened to the other shoe today so I did a cable tie repair on that one too!

 

[HLaB]

Bizarrely my bike has been shifting well up until the weekend. When on Saturday it got stuck in the big ring got home and it shifted fine again without any fettling. Then on Sunday after about 50 miles it got stuck in the wee ring. When I got home I tightened the cable but it was still stuck. Then I googled the new type derailleur. Tightening wont help you need to fettle the independent limit screws / bolts

 

[Levo-Lon]

Made the new bike tubeless, all of 20 mins..

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Put a new Woods valve in this heavy but very shiny beauty from 1993 (now sold)

 

[derrick]

New mech hanger on a friends bike. Pedals put back on my wifes and mine.

 

[mikeymustard]

Wider too.

coming to work this afto was like riding on a mattress filled with fluff and bubbles (what SWMBO says my head is full of)!
I dunno why the swallow started causing me trouble, it felt like I was trapping a nerve or similar

 

[raleighnut]

coming to work this afto was like riding on a mattress filled with fluff and bubbles (what SWMBO says my head is full of)!
I dunno why the swallow started causing me trouble, it felt like I was trapping a nerve or similar

TBH my Swallow is not my favourite Brooks but then neither is my B17. Top of my list is my B17n (narrow) followed by my B5n and the Swift in joint 2nd.

The Swallow is worth the most though being the 1st iteration of the Limited Edition Titanium models with a numbered 'Certificate of Authenticity' matching the number 'branded' on to the underside. I got it in a sale when 'The Bike Park' in Leicester changed operators.

 

[mikeymustard]

TBH my Swallow is not my favourite Brooks but then neither is my B17. Top of my list is my B17n (narrow) followed by my B5n and the Swift in joint 2nd.

The Swallow is worth the most though being the 1st iteration of the Limited Edition Titanium models with a numbered 'Certificate of Authenticity' matching the number 'branded' on to the underside. I got it in a sale when 'The Bike Park' in Leicester changed operators.

View attachment 453453

I have a B17 on my Raleigh Triathlon and find it v.comfy on there. The Equilibrium has a slightly lower front end so it may yet turn out to be a little on the wide side!
I also have a couple of B17n's, the one is now on SWMBO's flat-barred bike (she was complaining the width of the saddle was reminding her of childbirth anyway ), and the other, someone has tried to lighten by cutting its frame at the rear so there aren't any bag loops on. I've got a B5N which I like, but that's currently on my Raleigh Pro Am, and I also have a Professional, which if they'd made out of wood, couldn't be any harder!

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Finished off fettling @gavgav's bike today which has been rather more drawn out than hoped. On the last ride he did on it he got a grinding noise from the rear disc brake which, when I was able to check, turned out to be the pads having worn down to the metal. I went over to try replacing the pads but it turned out the one caliper piston was seized so I ordered up a new cailper and picked up the bike a few days later.

Caliper went on fine and bleeding is so easy with the proper Shimano tool. Checked disc for thickness and found it's at 1.4mm (minimum is 1.5mm). Drat. The original disc seems to be out of stock everywhere and I suspect it may have been discontinued so I've got hold of a Deore spec one instead.

All fitted. Works nicely on the stand. Could do with a road test when it stops raining.

Edit: Just done a short road test. Brake works well - will be even better when it's bedded in. Also did a tweak of the gears and fixed a really annoying rattle.

 

[chriswoody]

It's half term this week, so I decided that it was about time that I lavished some care and attention on my much neglected folding bike that I use for my daily commute. It's a lovely simple bike, with only a single speed transmission and a coaster brake on the rear. Despite it's simplicity, after nearly three years of faultless commuting with minimal attention, the drive train is feeling distinctly rough and making some interesting noises.

So the first order of the day was to remove the rear wheel and strip the hub down. I laid everything out in order, to help with reassembly later.

Then I gave everything a good clean, before packing it all with new grease and reassembling.

The chain and sprockets were all in good condition so they where just cleaned and oiled, however I stuck a new Bottom Bracket in there.

So with those jobs done, the rest of the bike was given a good scrub and everything reassembled. The front brake was adjusted, the hinge oiled and all the other nuts checked for tightness. Then it was ready for several more years of hopefully, trouble free, commuting duty.

 

[gavgav]

Finished off fettling @gavgav's bike today which has been rather more drawn out than hoped. On the last ride he did on it he got a grinding noise from the rear disc brake which, when I was able to check, turned out to be the pads having worn down to the metal. I went over to try replacing the pads but it turned out the one caliper piston was seized so I ordered up a new cailper and picked up the bike a few days later.

Caliper went on fine and bleeding is so easy with the proper Shimano tool. Checked disc for thickness and found it's at 1.4mm (minimum is 1.5mm). Drat. The original disc seems to be out of stock everywhere and I suspect it may have been discontinued so I've got hold of a Deore spec one instead.

All fitted. Works nicely on the stand. Could do with a road test when it stops raining.

Edit: Just done a short road test. Brake works well - will be even better when it's bedded in. Also did a tweak of the gears and fixed a really annoying rattle.

Thanks!!! Good work on the rattle as well

 

[raleighnut]

It's half term this week, so I decided that it was about time that I lavished some care and attention on my much neglected folding bike that I use for my daily commute. It's a lovely simple bike, with only a single speed transmission and a coaster brake on the rear. Despite it's simplicity, after nearly three years of faultless commuting with minimal attention, the drive train is feeling distinctly rough and making some interesting noises.

So the first order of the day was to remove the rear wheel and strip the hub down. I laid everything out in order, to help with reassembly later.

View attachment 453650

Then I gave everything a good clean, before packing it all with new grease and reassembling.

View attachment 453651

The chain and sprockets were all in good condition so they where just cleaned and oiled, however I stuck a new Bottom Bracket in there.

View attachment 453652

So with those jobs done, the rest of the bike was given a good scrub and everything reassembled. The front brake was adjusted, the hinge oiled and all the other nuts checked for tightness. Then it was ready for several more years of hopefully, trouble free, commuting duty.

View attachment 453653

I'd say that rear sprocket was knackered but it'll still mesh with the worn chain.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I got some Cateye HRM watches and a speedometer, got all of them working and updated, now have to sort the accessories, including a little stand with which you can attach the watch to the bicycle to get wired speedometer function.