What Have You Fettled Today?

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Changed my rear disc pads on my gravel bike. I maybe could have got a bit more out of them but they've been on the bike more than 1.5years.
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I took it out to bed the brakes in and thought they were great. But I decided I was sick of the noise from the front pads. So despite having plenty of life I decided to change them to. Looking at them despite being a 1/3 of the age of the rear pads there was patches of rust which is perhaps why.
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Any way the new pads are a bit less bitey but a whole lot smoother (more modulation) and after a few pulls of the brake to bed them in, they were 100% quieter 👍
 

Fields Electric

Active Member
Last night I failed to get the front wheel off my Brompton. The skewer for the dynohub feels a bit corroded. I'm going to have to try again at the weekend with Stilsons rather than little pliers.

Did you manage to succeed with this i have just run into the same problem. I am thinking blow torch to break the bond.
 

Tom B

Guru
Location
Lancashire
Finally got around to stripping down the rear wheel that gave up in December. Basically the issue was that for a few weeks there had been a bit of play in the bearing that were over due a strip out and service. Then, during the mini ice age I had the (shimano) freewheel unit quit, one night at -8°C it refused to engage. I poured a cup of boiling water over it and it came back to life, for about 2 miles of my 9 mile commute. I didn't have enough pee to get it going again.

I expected that it would be worn out and need servicing or replacing, though this is only 12 months old and about 5'500 miles and IMX they're usually good for 15-20k.

I am hoping to get myself a Hope Hub or Superstar hub of some description after being impressed with the front hub. So wasn't planning on spending much more than £3 on a bag of bearings.

Having stripped it off the wheel it feels nice and smooth if a bit gummy like its full of thick grease that might get really thick in the cold and stop it operating. The seals all look good and unlike other knackered units it hasn't got any rock or rusty water dripping out. I haven't got a prong tool to open up the freewheel and I couldn't shift it with a drift. I've now cleaned up the bearings, cups and axles and they all look in much better condition than I expected. I found two broken spokes, one I knew about (for 12 months) and one I didnt know about, so will need to source replacement spokes for those.

While I wait I'm a bit undecided as to what to do with the freewheel body. I according to youtube it should have about 50 small ball bearings that should run in a bed of grease. So I am loathed to just soak it in carb cleaner to wash some of the grease out then in oil to relube it. Buying a tool to open it up and 50 new bearings will likely be approaching the £20 replacement cost. Equally walking 7 miles home at minus 8 at 2 am wasn't much fun.... But then the wheel hub is in much better condition than I expected, better than I remembered from the last time i had it to bits. So might be able to kick the replacement 12 months down the road... by spending a total of £30 on bearings, spokes and freewheel body. Its hard work being tight.

Edit: - Had a stiff Drink and ordered 2x sets of brake pads, another can of brake cleaner, 2x gear cables, a cable guide and a freewheel body (£19.40). I'm going to try the grumpy LBS for a couple of spokes tomorrow but failing that I have found an ebay seller selling them in pairs.

Just had a play with the old body in the parts tray, it now it has been sat in the warm kitchen for a few hours. Seems much freer, so I cant help but wonder if the issue is the grease and the cold temps, I havent had it apart so any grease inside is the bog standard - I wonder if shimano spec temperatures of if this is an issue for people riding in cold climates? It is a WH-MT15-R Freehub body which i think is a bit oddball and budget so that probably wont help, but surely people cant be stopping to pee on the freehub body every 2 miles!
 
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Not bike related but car related. Had to do a bit of switch around of the front high and dipped beam light bulbs after one blew. Unfortunately, it’s not just a blown bulb as the left hand side dipped light isn’t working.

I don’t think it’s the fuse as the light turns on then goes off when you turn the ignition, off to the auto electrician for diagnostic; properly a dodgy wiring loom or broken relay.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
trying to source replacement headset bearing for the vanquish but of course a certain place that sells it dont have the information on what it is ;) they suggested pulling the headset apart to check for serial number which i did as there are no brand marking .
Turns out the headset is an unbranded fsa orbit 40/42 acb which is the same as my boardman alloy and i can get a replacement unbranded set of bearings for under a tenner ,
 

Rickshaw Phil

Overconfidentii Vulgaris
Moderator
Mostly brakes the last couple of days. Wednesday I needed to sort out a dragging brake on my brother's bike so I've cleaned and greased all the pivots and replaced the front brake blocks. The brake blocks on my Hawk were getting low too so while I was at it I've replaced both sets and cleaned/greased the pivots on that as well.

Yesterday I had @gavgav's bike to work on - not a full service, just a check over and a look at dragging brakes on that too. I'd looked up how to strip down a Spyre brake caliper and was prepared to do that but, after removing them I found that the mechanisms moved freely and the problem was caused by one of the pad adjusters unscrewing itself. Removing it and refitting with some fresh loctite will hopefully prevent a repeat. If the symptoms reoccur I know what I'm looking for next time.

After that I pulled the rear hub apart to look into a noise that Gav had reported. The bearings on the drive side were orange and are showing they are past their best. New balls have gone in which will keep them going for the time being. A new hub or perhaps a wheel upgrade will be wanted at some point in the future.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Thought I'd better check the main lower pivot bearing on the FS. Yup, one side was seized. Whilst at it, checked the BB, yup same side, seized bearing. The last ride it did was pretty muddy, and I'd previousl done all the bearings bar those four. No rust or damage to the bearing, just stuck. Freed up with brake cleaner and re-greased with marine grease.
 

chriswoody

Legendary Member
Location
Northern Germany
When I converted the Gravel bike to tubeless a few years back I made the decision to use Effetto Mariposa, Caffélatex sealant. It's a fairly thick sealant and one of it's big advantages is the ability to plug fairly large holes in the tire, however, that also means it's pretty adept at plugging valves as well and needs cleaning out every so often.

I broke the seal on the tire and cleaned out the valve body of all of the dried out sealant. I also popped the valve cores into some isopropyl alcohol to try and clean them through. I'll need to get some new ones though, because they are pretty gummed up. When re-filling with sealant I decided to switch to Stans sealant, because the Mountain bike came with it and it's been brilliant on there, no valve problems at all.

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