What Have You Fettled Today?

[Justinitus]

Picked up a 2019 Specialized Rockhopper Pro X1 yesterday in very lightly used condition. Pretty grubby and a few storage related marks, but came with all the paperwork etc. Guy had bought it online from a well known supplier and it had been set up very poorly - both disc brakes rubbed, derailleur limit screws not set so you couldn’t use biggest 2 cogs, play in headset. On top of that it was too big for the guy so he’d just left it in the shed. Spent today giving it a really good clean, fixed the gears and brakes, set up the steering and flipped the stem and (surprisingly) had to loosen and grease both hubs - they were almost dry and the cones done up way too tight. What £1k bike still uses cup and cone? Anyway.. now all smooth as butter! Removed seatpost to clean and regrease to find the guy had cut about 8cm off it to try and lower the saddle enough - so new seatpost to be ordered after dinner. Final thing to do was set up the sag on the fork, which I’ve never done before and had to fashion an adaptor so my track pump would fit the valve to pump it up. All done and very pleased with the results!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

. What £1k bike still uses cup and cone?]

Ones designed by real engineers do. Be grateful you don't have crappy modern throwaway bearings fitted.

 

[si_c]

Ones designed by real engineers do. Be grateful you don't have crappy modern throwaway bearings fitted.

Indeed. All Shimano hubs use cup and cone, as do Campagnolo. Easy to service and long lasting, I'd pay for those features.

 

[Justinitus]

Ones designed by real engineers do. Be grateful you don't have crappy modern throwaway bearings fitted.

Indeed. All Shimano hubs use cup and cone, as do Campagnolo. Easy to service and long lasting, I'd pay for those features.

Yes, they’re Shimano hubs on Specialized Stout rims. I always thought of cup and cone as being associated with low end product - as every cheap bike I’ve ever had used them! But I can fix, replace balls and adjust them no problems, as can any bike shop** anywhere in the land... so thank you gents I learnt something today!


**except Tredz, as per above post..

 

[richardfm]

Dismantled our Meile washing machine, suspecting failed drum bearings. Unfortunately its the spider holding the bearing shaft has sheared

Not worth repair, drum alone cost as much as new machine

When the same happened to me I turned the drum in to a fire pit

 

[si_c]

Yes, they’re Shimano hubs on Specialized Stout rims. I always thought of cup and cone as being associated with low end product - as every cheap bike I’ve ever had used them! But I can fix, replace balls and adjust them no problems, as can any bike shop** anywhere in the land... so thank you gents I learnt something today!

Making cup and cone bearings properly is actually a fairly expensive process as it requires forging - which is the reason why few manufacturers use them. It's actually far cheaper to manufacture hubs with cartridge bearings as these are available in large numbers and very cheap and the hub shell can be made in a variety of ways with limited impact on the bearings.

 

[sleuthey]

OK at the weekend I cleaned my bike and did a couple of small jobs, including fitting a new chain, as the one in place was quite worn. Simple enough job.

Thread the chain through. Bring the ends together. Fit the "quick" link. Ping! the chain separates and throws half the quick link across the garage and unthreads itself from the derailleur. After a long search I discover it actually bounced and landed outside the garage. Eventually re-threaded it and joined the chain. But wait. What's that noise? YET AGAIN for the zillionth time I've threaded it incorrectly through the derailleur. Why do I never learn?

Intersperse this with all my tools doing the usual trick of scuttling away and hiding as soon as my back is turned (I think I live in a Toy Story style animated movie featuring cunning tools), and getting oil all over my good-ish shoes (Wife: Haven't you got enough pairs of old trainers for doing stuff like that?)

I won't tell you how long the damn job took in the end.

To stop this from happening I pull the bottom jockey wheel upwards and tie the mech to the frame with a cable tie. Then cut the tie when I have linked the chain. It also makes it easier to link the chain as it's slack.

 

[Dogtrousers]

To stop this from happening I pull the bottom jockey wheel upwards and tie the mech to the frame with a cable tie. Then cut the tie when I have linked the chain. It also makes it easier to link the chain as it's slack.

My secret trick is to use a bit of bent coathanger wire to hook into the chain a few links behind each end. But I didn't have a bit of coathanger wire handy and couldn't be bothered to go and find some. That would have saved a lot of hassle.

 

[Tom B]

Having ridden 8 miles back to Padstow on the Camel Trail then 6 back to the Campsite on a flat (wrong puncture pack in bag). I replaced the the tube and tyre. I also changed the chain and cassette that were overdue but put off due to the anticipated sandy rides.

I then later put the chain on correctly around the RD.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I then later put the chain on correctly around the RD.

I am not alone!

 

[Gravity Aided]

Hmmm... After an incident involving a dented can and a jet of tomato juice right in the eye, I now do messy jobs or jobs that involve small parts with a propensity for escaping inside a plastic bag...

Anyways, I removed the cutting deck from the mower, properly realigned the belt that takes the drive off the engine (rather than in its original botched position), rehung the cutting deck and adjusted the belt tension.

I now have a fully working mower.

Un-botching the botches was the hardest part, and now the whole cutting deck and drive assembly now looks exactly like it does in the manual. All because the cutting deck belt hadn't been fed around both tensioner pulleys rather than just the one, due to a stuck bolt... I mean, all it took was a glug of WD40 and leaving it while I had my lunch to free it. Actually, it's amazing that the botches worked at all (not my workwomanship), but at least it's now working as it *SHOULD*

And the bearings are fine?

 

[KneesUp]

I pumped the tyres up this morning. As a result of the increased speed, I am now considering entering the Vuelta on my commuter.

 

[Leaway2]

Ones designed by real engineers do. Be grateful you don't have crappy modern throwaway bearings fitted.

I have both. the Mavics have sealed bearings. The bonus of the sealed bearings is 1, The cup does not wear/pit making the wheel scrap 2, there is no fiddly adjustment with cone spanners, so it is a quick fix.
<sits back waiting for torrent of abuse/>

 

[Hicky]

Fitted the Spd-sl pedals and the new cleats to my new shoes after watching a youtube a few times as I've been used to the mtb ones so long I didn't want to bork it up....well the ride on was interesting. Muscle memory and daydreaming meant I cocked up the clipping in a few times smashing my shins and holding traffic up a little. No beeps so I suspect they had sympathy.....no funny feelings in the feet/knees/legs so I assume I've setup the cleats correctly. ruined the red edging on my lithions due to mingy chain degreaser off the clip on machine but hey ho, Oh and pumped up the tyres too. Checked strava and I'd done almost 5000 feet of climbing on my commute last week due to diversions from my normal commute, no wonder I felt tired.

 

[Reynard]

And the bearings are fine?

I think so. One seems a little graunchy, but I greased everything prior to reassembling. We'll see how it goes.