What Have You Fettled Today?

[Gravity Aided]

I changed out components on the Trek 400 Elance, from the SunTour Spirit 9000 series stuff to Shimano 600 Accu-shift (indexed) so I can return the Fancy SunTour stuff to the co-op. Bianchi project has not gone so well, and I'm thinking about going with more modern group on that, and dressing the Elance for the local Eroica event. I had decent temperatures over the weekend, so i got in both a ride and fettling over both days. now it is set to turn colder ( 28F for a high temperature) for a few days.

 

[C R]

On the subject of mending, though not bike related. I replaced the pull cord light switch in the bathroom a few days ago, because the mechanism in the old one was sticking.

Mrs CR and mini CRs complained that the new switch is very stiff and noisy, so I opened the old one, cleaned it up, changed the frayed cord, and it's now working like new, ready to go back in.

 

[pawl]

Put a new blade on my lawn mower,in anticipation of spring 😀😀😀😀

 

[palinurus]

Rear wheel on the fixed commuter had developed quite a bit of play. Off work today so went out in the drizzle and wind to take a look at it. Bought the wheel on eBay a few years ago after hitting a big pothole, sort of as a temporary stop-gap until I could get something nicer built. So took it off, sprocket came off easily! (two winters and the anti-seize grease was still looking fresh under the thread). Was going to see about getting something built but figured since the wheel was perfectly serviceable I'd just change the bearings, wouldn't even have to get the tyre off.

Mounted the hub flange on some handy bits of wood and gave the axle a few whacks with the rubber hammer but nothing was budging. Went away and had a cup of tea, went back out, screwed a wheel nut onto the end of the axle to protect it and gave it two whacks with a lump hammer. That one did it, used the axle and hammer to get the other side out. Just got to wait for my new bearings now.

Just put the new ones in, all lovely.

I had no idea how to do it of course, found a tip on LFGSS- use the old ones to drive the new ones in using the wheelnuts. Worked very nicely.

 

[MonsterEnergy]

does anyone out there do mtb, or is it all just road cycling....When i say mtb, i mean partly road biking, but a bit of cross country route?

 

[Spiderweb]

does anyone out there do mtb, or is it all just road cycling....When i say mtb, i mean partly road biking, but a bit of cross country route?

You really need to post this type of question in the ‘Mountain Biking, Trails & BMX’ section.

 

[ColinJ]

It's always satisfying repairing something that has gone wrong that numptys would just stare at blankly before tossing it in the bin. Even better if you salvage something discarded by someone else then resurrect it at minimal cost. I pulled a portable colour TV out of a skip that just needed a plug fuse, it worked perfectly afterwards!

A friend of mine used to buy faulty Apple computers on eBay, strip out any working parts, and resell those. He once got a 'dead' iMac for a pittance and discovered that all it needed was a new fuse!

I bought a faulty reel to reel tape recorder from a junk shop when I was a teenager. The fault turned out to be a loose wire on the tape head. It only took me a couple of minutes to fix it, and most of that time was waiting for the soldering iron to heat up.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Fitted a new battery to the 2012 macbook air that my wife uses. Quite straightforward, the replacement battery came with the required screwdrivers and fitting instructions.

The original battery was showing 67% capacity so I charged it up to 100% and left it playing a continuous stream of YouTube videos from Brilliant Bikes. Original battery lasted 3 1/2 hours.

The logic board in the macbook air is quite compact, most of the space is battery which covers the width of the machine and is shaped to fit.

New battery fitted and the same YouTube test saw the replacement battery lasting over 7 hours.

Although my wife uses the laptop almost exclusively with the charger plugged in and connected, the machine now feels " snappier" and more responsive.

I've suggested that running it off battery alone a couple of times per month might be better for the long term battery life.

 

[carlosfandangus]

We have 3 laptops and one Microsoft surface, I appear to be the only one who runs of battery regularly, I don't know how many times I have told Mrs fandangus and the two girls that they need to run off battery now and again, sick of tripping over leads.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Interesting to see the improvement in battery chemistry over 7+ years.
I shall be keeping an eye on things as it is an aftermarket replacement battery and not an Apple branded one.
It did seem very well made with all the safety certifications and a decent warranty so hopefully it won't start to degrade too quickly.

 

[MonsterEnergy]

can u change the suspension on your forks softer or harder.....Ive got 120ml travel, and it feels like ive got nothing when im jumping of a few small jumps.....

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Received my custom raw mud flaps. Black in middle is 3M reflective so shows up white under lights. The yellow is fluorescent. Going to fit in next few days.

 

[Nibor]

can u change the suspension on your forks softer or harder.....Ive got 120ml travel, and it feels like ive got nothing when im jumping of a few small jumps.....

Depends what make / model of forks you have.

 

[MonsterEnergy]

Depends what make / model of forks you have.

XCM

 

[Spiderweb]

XCM

Suntour XCM are a very basic coil sprung fork and unfortunately offer no adjustment.