What Have You Fettled Today?

[jowwy]

16yo son managed to pull his TT disc out of line on Saturday's TT along with the brakes failing again after 3 miles - the springs had lost their 'spring' and we think it was the rough surface which set them off after we'd spent some time re-greasing everything.

Just how a 53kg child can knock a tightened wheel out I haven't a clue, but ...

So, on Saturday we sourced the only replacement rear brake in the UK for an Argon E-116 TT bike, which we swapped for the old one today. Very fiddly but, along with a new rear skewer set to 'over-tightened', he had a go to try and break it. All good so hopefully this Sunday's TT at Mallory Park won't result in a 3rd mechanical in a row. Croft and Cragg Vale (a hillclimb but ridden on a TT bike) follow next week before a couple more warm-ups and then the GHS youth national's in September.

Oh, and for @Dogtrousers this is the bike from the RH side with the red ceramic jockey wheels. The rear brake's underneath obscured by the outer oval chainring:

View attachment 541600

It may not be as good as some of the ultra-expensive TT bikes a few of the youth have but it's what he's got.

thats a cracking looking machine.....

 

[Dark46]

Today for the first time I changed the discs and pads on my bike today. Okay I've not been on a test run yet because of the wet, but I wish some other jobs were as simple.

 

[DaveReading]

Oh, and for @Dogtrousers this is the bike from the RH side with the red ceramic jockey wheels. The rear brake's underneath obscured by the outer oval chainring:

Thanks !

Yes, photo from the drive side, please !!

 

[Bad Machine]

I've been on brake duty too. Mounted the NOS Magura HS33 rim brake cylinders I've been saving (in the Box of Special Things) on the trike rebuild front fork, in just a few minutes, then spent the next 90 cleaning a pair of Julie calipers ready for the rear. Brief intermission for tea and Torx T7 screwdriver online order (I located T4,T5,T6 in the house, and T8,T9,T10 in the garage - so where was T7 ?).

Much satisfaction had at end result of cleaning process - I used Bilberry alloy wheel cleaner (normally for bringing up a shine on car wheels) and a soft brush to good effect. New pads ordered, as I found uneven wear on one pair, and as the brake levers were still attached, a quick squeeze revealed an almost immobile piston.

edit - here's the finished Julies.

Note to self - keep a pair of used disc pads for when a sticking hydraulic piston needs repeated pressing back into the caliper (because the flat-bladed screwdriver will leave ruts in the braking compound no matter how careful you lever).

 

[IaninSheffield]

Rainy morning, so rebuilt rear 20" wheel for my Dahon Speed TR onto a 'new' SRAM Dual Drive 3-speed hub. New cassette added. New chain to size and fit, then final adjustments of both gear systems - keeping fingers crossed!

 

[JPBoothy]

I've been on brake duty too. Mounted the NOS Magura HS33 rim brake cylinders I've been saving (in the Box of Special Things) on the trike rebuild front fork, in just a few minutes, then spent the next 90 cleaning a pair of Julie calipers ready for the rear. Brief intermission for tea and Torx T7 screwdriver online order (I located T4,T5,T6 in the house, and T8,T9,T10 in the garage - so where was T7 ?).

View attachment 541695

Much satisfaction had at end result of cleaning process - I used Bilberry alloy wheel cleaner (normally for bringing up a shine on car wheels) and a soft brush to good effect. New pads ordered, as I found uneven wear on one pair, and as the brake levers were still attached, a quick squeeze revealed an almost immobile piston.

edit - here's the finished Julies.
View attachment 541937

Note to self - keep a pair of used disc pads for when a sticking hydraulic piston needs repeated pressing back into the caliper (because the flat-bladed screwdriver will leave ruts in the braking compound no matter how careful you lever).

I've never seen those brakes before. Any good? Is there an advantage over standard rim brakes? I can imagine they would be good for anybody with limited strength in their hands though.

 

[Gravity Aided]

I gave my Univega Supra Sport some new bars, trekking bars to be exact, and added new brake cables as I had MTB brake levers on the trekking bars. It rides very nicely.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Next up, Raleigh Sojourn Tourer. Could be the last project. Riding bicycles now being favored over fettling.

 

[JPBoothy]

Finished the Raleigh SP Race last night with new gear cable inner & outers in red, having removed a very stuck inner cable on the RH shifter. Then added a KMC chain and red bar tape.

I'm still waiting for a washer for the LH crank and will then set up the front derailleur. Otherwise it's done. Total spend by me: £8 plus the frameset / parts supplied and parts from the shed. I should get £20-40 selling the supplied crank and bars with a net spend of around £70-80 for a bike that'll hopefully do me as a 'best' bike until March.

View attachment 541286

One issue is the chip on the downtube underside, under the 'A', which concerns me a bit:

View attachment 541287

Have you ridden your Raleigh yet, or are you still waiting on that washer?

 

[DCLane]

Have you ridden your Raleigh yet, or are you still waiting on that washer?

It finally turned up today; went in perfectly and the Raleigh's now finished.

From a first short test ride the SP Race is more of a 'cruiser' than a 'racer' but I'll know more tomorrow on a longer ride. It's a world away from the NeilPryde Nazaré hardcore aero bike that it's temporarily replacing whilst I wait for my son's Cervelo S3.

It's a bit lighter than my Wilier Montegrappa (with broken Ultegra shifter - this evening's job) and is more akin to this than the NeilPryde/Cervelo.

 

[Bad Machine]

I've never seen those brakes before. Any good? Is there an advantage over standard rim brakes? I can imagine they would be good for anybody with limited strength in their hands though.

I'm pretty pleased with the HS33s - as rim brakes they're not difficult to set up correctly (the spherical washer that holds each side's cyclinder in the right position gives you plenty of adjustment to get the pad face flat against the rim, and yet angle the cylinder so that it doesn't foul fat tyres (I've got Crazy Bob 406-54 on the trike at the moment), and the HS33s have a progressive "bite" (is that what they mean by good modulation ?). A quick release on the left side allows for easier removal and fitting of the wheel, and the thing I like the most - there's no cable to freeze in really cold weather.

I first came across them on a Hase Lepus (here's mine, above) , but I think their fan base was originally in MTB. Yes, would agree that they may be worth considering for those who can't squeeze a brake lever really hard.

If you're already having to deal with hydraulics for the rear discs, then having hydraulics for the front isn't extra work.
In the same way, I wouldn't choose to have them if the rear were mechanical disc brakes.

 

[rogerzilla]

Some mysteriously branded "Micronew" 2 x 7 brake/shift levers turned up from Amazon. They appear to be well made and the important bits, like the brake cable anchor, are metal. I suspect they are in fact a Chinese brand name for the slightly more common Microshift. I'd left the cables a bit long on the Eddy Merckx so I could swap the existing controls for these when they arrived, so I carefully changed everything over. Then the left lever wouldn't quite pull enough cable for my 600 tricolour front mech, but I had a later Dura-Ace one kicking around to solve that (I will swap the rear mech for DA when I get round to it - I have a nice 7700 one in the garage).

They weigh EXACTLY the same (to the nearest 2g) as the brake levers and bar-end shifters they replaced, and the indexing is bang on for the ancient HG70 7 speed cassette (which I must swap back for the 13-21 because it has identical sprockets to my 10 speed bike, just missing the 11, 12 and 23!

Then I thought I'd weigh it. 21 1/4 lb without pedals, which is...er...3 1/2 lb heavier than my Boardman Team Carbon with go-faster bits. This is a lot less dull to ride, though.

 

[Vantage]

Replaced the abysmally crap SunRace DT shifters with new Dura Ace ones. Soooooooooo much nicer shifting

 

[Bad Machine]

Gave the wooden workbench a couple of coats of protective oil.
(bled both front and rear hydraulic brakes)

 

[JPBoothy]

Painted the Garage door and fitted the wheels back on the Genesis Day One SS that I bought for my teenage son after having new cones & bearings fitted by a local bike mechanic. I also changed the 'wobbly' 17t Dicta sprocket for a nice solid 16t Sturmey Archer sprocket and the bike now runs nice and smooth