What Have You Fettled Today?

[Ming the Merciless]

Fixed puncture on wife’s bike

 

[Tom B]

Overall I'm pleased with this one. Spend was low; £1.16 for the bike originally via an eBay bid with the Honda Goldwing seat back being re-sold on eBay for well over the purchase price. We've spent on other bits (tyres / chain / shifters) plus the seatpost / saddle / pedals were from the parts shed but overall spend is about £35.

I think the bit I am most impressed with is the decision to change the flats for spds!

This is sort of the thing I planned when I was a teen, right after I'd tried water filled innertubes and CV /Moly grease as a chain lube

 

[Windle]

I think the bit I am most impressed with is the decision to change the flats for spds!

This is sort of the thing I planned when I was a teen, right after I'd tried water filled innertubes and CV /Moly grease as a chain lube

I'm intrigued by the water filled inner tubes ~ what was the thinking behind that?

You never know though.... if a rumour gets out it could be the next big thing for improved rolling resistance / conservation of momentum, after all, water isn't much heavier than tubeless sealant.
There'll be a feature in the 'comic' about it next summer .

 

[ianrauk]

I'm intrigued by the water filled inner tubes ~ what was the thinking behind that?

Me too.
I can only imagine it would be a very spongy ride with heavy wheels.

 

[raleighnut]

I'm intrigued by the water filled inner tubes ~ what was the thinking behind that?

You never know though.... if a rumour gets out it could be the next big thing for improved rolling resistance / conservation of momentum, after all, water isn't much heavier than tubeless sealant.
There'll be a feature in the 'comic' about it next summer .

I've told this tale before but it is worth another airing,

Back in 76 a group of us went to Thurlaston 'Watersplash' (Ford) and one of our little band who was a bit obnoxious (everything he had was the best) decided to take a walk with a girl of dubious morals from Huncote. Whilst he was away we let his tyres down and filled them with water, 3 of us had pumps so we took it in rotation. After he got back and delighted in recounting his exploits we set off for home (about 4 miles) and his bike was very sluggish so we all crowded around him to cries of "She's worn you out" etc. It took him about a fortnight to work out his inner tubes were full of water and only when he tried to pump his tyres up a bit and unscrewed the valve plunger to find not air coming out but water

 

[Oldhippy]

There's always something to fettle on the boat somewhere.

 

[Windle]

A fettle from a couple of nights ago, the pannier rack on my Checkpoint was a shiny silver colour and didn't match the predominately black hardware on the bike. I cleaned it off with white spirit and gave it a coat of matt black. Although not perfect, I think it blends in so much better.

 

[sevenfourate]

I’ve been working on: Fitting some Odyssey lights to the ‘daily’ 20” rider:

The other 3 hours this Morning I’ve just generally been messing around in the Man-cave; and hiding up from the Mother-in-Law who’s visiting 🤣

 

[ColinJ]

I fettled my kettles! Kettlebells, that is...

I had been given a pair of cheapo vinyl KBs and have been using them for a few weeks now. They had seams on the handles, which made gripping the KBs uncomfortable. I just sandpapered the rough bits off, which has sorted the problem out.

(My upper body was so weedy that 7.5 kg KBs sufficed until now! Aldi are getting 10 & 12 kg vinyl KBs in from January 2nd for £12.99. I will buy one or two of the 12 kg ones and use them until I feel ready for significantly heavier weights, having made sure to smooth off the handles on those too. All being well, I will eventually treat myself to some better quality metal KBs.)

 

[DCLane]

Cleaned the Ridley Fenix SL and adjusted the rear brakes. I'd also noticed the front mudguard catching on the frame; it's started to wear a small groove at one point so I wanted to stop that.

Adjusting the mudguard bracket meant it cleared the frame, but the Conti GP5000 AS 28mm tyre wouldn't fit so I've switched the front tyre to a 25mm Hutchinson Fusion 5 All Season. All working correctly now and I'll do the same with the rear tyre shortly as that's nearly worn out.

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Tandem service today to give plenty of time ahead of major planned tour in Spring for any problems to be sorted.

Brakes: lubed calipers and cable outers, greased threads on adjusters. Kept the inners which seem to last for years. Replaced pads. Measured rotors; no wear at all but both a little warped.

Replaced drive chain and cassette. Maybe not necessary with wear <0.75%, but I think this time we will plan just to keep same chain and cassette and let it wear rather than swap Decided not to replace timing chain, again wear <0.75% and timing chain much less likely to suffer wear.

Lubed gear outers and replaced inners; indexed gears.

Swapped tyres front to rear, checked wheels true and spoke tensions consistent. Thankfully they were as proper wheel truing is beyond my capabilities.

Misc: removed self extracting crank covers and greased threads. Likewise pedals. Checked all rack and other bolts; quite a few loose on front rack to my surprise.

Took pretty much all day; a test ride tomorrow to try some hills and determine if chainrings need replacement - and discover any mistakes I've made!

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Tandem service today to give plenty of time ahead of major planned tour in Spring for any problems to be sorted.

Brakes: lubed calipers and cable outers, greased threads on adjusters. Kept the inners which seem to last for years. Replaced pads. Measured rotors; no wear at all but both a little warped.

Replaced drive chain and cassette. Maybe not necessary with wear <0.75%, but I think this time we will plan just to keep same chain and cassette and let it wear rather than swap Decided not to replace timing chain, again wear <0.75% and timing chain much less likely to suffer wear.

Lubed gear outers and replaced inners; indexed gears.

Swapped tyres front to rear, checked wheels true and spoke tensions consistent. Thankfully they were as proper wheel truing is beyond my capabilities.

Misc: removed self extracting crank covers and greased threads. Likewise pedals. Checked all rack and other bolts; quite a few loose on front rack to my surprise.

Took pretty much all day; a test ride tomorrow to try some hills and determine if chainrings need replacement - and discover any mistakes I've made!

Alas, and somewhat strangely, immediate slipping on middle ring, even under almost no load. Whereas large and small rings were fine even on steep hills. Seems odd, given middle is used least of all.

Anyhow, need to source new chainrings. Everything else seems fine.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Cleaned out masses of mud from rear mudguard. Silence once more.

 

[Bristolian]

Gave the Speccy Allez a long overdue wash and brush up (first one it's had for several months, including recent flooded country lane riding) and then a full service before putting it back on the turbo trainer. It was well dirty but, thankfully, there were no mechanical problems to fix! I have though ordered a new rear derailleur to match the recently fitted front one. The existing RD, which is working okay and could well be the original, will go into the spares box with the old FD ... just in case

I elected to fit a new chain and put the VERY dirty one in the ultrasonic cleaner followed by a smear of oil before sealing it up in a plastic bag until next spring when I'm going to experiment with waxing.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone else put really dirty components into a resealable bag with a suitable amount of degreaser and then put that into the ultrasonic bath? It's a trick I was taught when I started selling industrial cleaners; it cleans the components just as effectively as putting them directly into the bath but reduces the amount of degreaser that gets dirty and has to be disposed of.

 

[the_mikey]

After the break from cycling caused by relentless Christmas social occasions that I couldn't wriggle out of, I managed to remove old sealant and install some fresh sealant in my road bike tyres, and then go for a ride. All went well!