What Have You Fettled Today?

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Javabob

Active Member
Managed to get the stuck seat post out of the Schwinn tandem frame.
Achieved with copious amounts of release oil & a bloody big pair of grips
 
Take tension off the front cable, you may be able to do this by selecting the small ring then going for a 'trim click' if there is one or failing that back off the cable adjuster or the cable clamp.
Have a good look at how high the front mech is before loosening the bolt or clamp that retains the mech and then turn it so that the arms are parallel to the rings then tighten the bolt back up now check that the mech is at the same height as before then re-adjust the cable to where it was before.

The bold bits are the most important, the mech needs to sit at a certain height above the chainrings, there is a bit of tolerance (couple of mm) but outside of that it won't work properly so the trick is to turn it without changing the height hence taking the cable tension off so that it's not pulled lower down the seat tube.

OK, that looks reasonably straightforward. :okay: Loosen the cable, loosen the clamp, turn the mech, tighten the clamp and lastly, re-tension the cable.

I'll probably stick some masking tape on the seat tube both above and below the mech clamp to make sure I have a good marker for the right height. It'll probably only want turning clockwise two or three mm, there or thereabouts.
 
I've not used the tubeless disc for nearly a year :ohmy: So I needed to top it up with sealant. My sealant syringe wasn't getting enough through so I ended up taking the tyre of the rim slightly and inserting sealant directly. Hopefully it is a good job as the tyre instantly inflated and is staying up.
 

ColinJ

Puzzle game procrastinator!
I have repaired a punctured tube.

Not normally worth mentioning, but this was a very weird puncture... The back tyre on an old bike that I have parked on my turbo trainer kept going flat but it was taking 1-2 weeks to do so; the slowest of slow punctures!

I had a great deal of difficulty finding the location of the hole in the tube. I inflated the tube and ran the length of it through a bowl of water. No joy. I've had that before and found that stretching the tube underwater is usually enough to get the air to escape so I did that. Still no joy ...

In the end, I was holding the last length of tube underwater and wondering what to do next when I spotted a very tiny air bubble on the side of the tube. I examined it carefully but wasn't convinced that it was getting bigger. Maybe it was just a small pocket of air clinging to the tube? I thought the best way to find out was to brush the bubble from the tube and see what happened. What happened surprised me - a really gentle wipe with a fingertip was immediately followed by a continuous stream of bubbles escaping from the tube!

It was very odd behaviour. All I can think is that there was a small hole in the tube which was almost completely blocked by debris. When I wiped the tube, I must have unplugged the hole. I marked the source of the bubbles and dried the tube. The hole was so small that I couldn't see it, but I knew where it was so I just patched the tube anyway.
 

SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
Cannibalised an old aluminium Ridgeback hybrid I found dumped in bushes last week whilst out on a ride - I'd returned later the same day on foot and collected it and it's been awaiting stripping. The brakes, gear shifters, and tyres were toast, but I got a pair of decent 700c alloys off it, plus the 28/38/48 alloy-arm crankset, a rear mech, and a tatty saddle. Left the frame out for the local Gipsy scrap metal man to collect on his rounds!
Immediately fitted the crankset to my 6-speed Pioneer pub hack to swap out a 24/34/42 one and set it on the 38T middle ring rather than the 42T I'd been using. It gives me a better chainline and gradient-climbing ability.
Then fitted a sprung rear carrier rack to the Pioneer hack, that I'd previously salvaged off a different scrapper. Put some air in the tyres and removed a couple of small stones from the tyre treads. Lubricated the chain and went for a 12 mile ride.
 

Javabob

Active Member
Schwinn Twinn?
Single, 3 speed, or 7 speed?
Sturdy, albeit heavy bicycles. A fellow I work with grew up near the factory in Chicago.
5 speed! Frame number dates it as a 1979 Chicago built model
 

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Gravity Aided

Legendary Member
Location
Land of Lincoln
5 speed! Frame number dates it as a 1979 Chicago built model
Fine bike, one of the last years of the internally lugged frames. Heavy bikes, but built to last. I just saw a 10 speed Varsity the other day at our bike co-op, and it wasn't the only Schwinn from that era present at the co-op.
 
D

Deleted member 1258

Guest
OK, that looks reasonably straightforward. :okay: Loosen the cable, loosen the clamp, turn the mech, tighten the clamp and lastly, re-tension the cable.

I'll probably stick some masking tape on the seat tube both above and below the mech clamp to make sure I have a good marker for the right height. It'll probably only want turning clockwise two or three mm, there or thereabouts.

With a front mech I normally set the height to the thickness of a 2 pence piece between the chainring and the mech
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
I decided to remove the SPD pedals on my 'cross bike today- they work fine but the steel bits are all rusty and I had some better ones in the bits box.

I got them off with my long pedal Allen key thingy and
(1) neither of them were stuck
(2) I didn't chew up my knuckles on the chainring

Haven't touched the chain since the last snow day- some of the links were totally seized. I've got a nice new 9-speed chain so thought of changing it but in the end just massaged motor oil into it and ran it through a rag. That'll do.
 
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