What bike repairs/maintenance have you done today?
Discussion
Rather a lot actually. I've bought an old road bike (90's Giant CFR1) that's in need of a bit of TLC, so today was spent stripping all the bits off and starting to tidy everything up. Next will be a sizeable order from Wiggle for all the consumable items (needs new tyres, chain, cassette, cables, bar tape etc). Should be fun when it's all done...
♫ We all nee-ee-ee-eed a thread resurrection!" ♫
What bike jobs did you get done today?
Me, I started off with just a quick clean and chain lube. This swiftly escalated into a brake pads out clean and lube of caliper pistons, and a new set of pads at the front. Wheels out to do that, so greased the threads on the through-axles.
Then, as I put it all back together and spun the cranks to check indexing etc, the left hand SPD pedal was terribly wobbly. Grrrr! New pedals I can ill-afford, so out with the spanners and hex keys.
I ended up with the pedal disassembled, frantically trying to round up two-dozen of the smallest ball bearings ever. Carefully laid it all out, cleaned it with GT 85 and kitchen towel, put fresh grease in it and put it all back together again. And it seems to work too!
All without resorting to Zinn or the internet. Happy with that. I've just got to give it a test ride tomorrow to make sure that it definitely IS put together properly.
Do any of you use a threadlock liquid? If so, which one, and where do you buy it from? There was a small locking nut on the end of the spindle that had clearly had thread lock applied at the factory, but I had none so took a chance for now. So much for riding the damned bike this morning, too. Id have far preferred to have been riding than spannering, but it was stuff that really couldn't wait until after a ride...
What bike jobs did you get done today?
Me, I started off with just a quick clean and chain lube. This swiftly escalated into a brake pads out clean and lube of caliper pistons, and a new set of pads at the front. Wheels out to do that, so greased the threads on the through-axles.
Then, as I put it all back together and spun the cranks to check indexing etc, the left hand SPD pedal was terribly wobbly. Grrrr! New pedals I can ill-afford, so out with the spanners and hex keys.
I ended up with the pedal disassembled, frantically trying to round up two-dozen of the smallest ball bearings ever. Carefully laid it all out, cleaned it with GT 85 and kitchen towel, put fresh grease in it and put it all back together again. And it seems to work too!
All without resorting to Zinn or the internet. Happy with that. I've just got to give it a test ride tomorrow to make sure that it definitely IS put together properly.
Do any of you use a threadlock liquid? If so, which one, and where do you buy it from? There was a small locking nut on the end of the spindle that had clearly had thread lock applied at the factory, but I had none so took a chance for now. So much for riding the damned bike this morning, too. Id have far preferred to have been riding than spannering, but it was stuff that really couldn't wait until after a ride...
I generally use the blue loctite "lipstick" for nuts I may want to disassemble at some point (anything "bike" related). When I worked on engines, I would use the pink stuff for engine block studs and other nuts & bolts that weren't intended to ever come apart again.
I've tried to disassemble pedals before and failed. The Shimano ones I have appear to have been pressed together and there's no way to open them up. I end up replacing them every couple of years after they develop a click or other noise. I'd love to be able to regrease them.
I've tried to disassemble pedals before and failed. The Shimano ones I have appear to have been pressed together and there's no way to open them up. I end up replacing them every couple of years after they develop a click or other noise. I'd love to be able to regrease them.
Photos of the offending pedal disassembled (in case it help anyone else with pedal trouble)...
...it was "wobbly" which was why I took it apart. Nothing to loose really, as even if I'd failed to get it all back together again I'd have been needing new pedals. The 'inboard' bearing balls seem to have somehow escaped from their proper place, but then the action of disassembly could have given me that impression.
Getting it back together was a bit of a bind. Three attempts to get the inboard bearings to sit properly, I could really have done with a clamp or "third hand" of some kind. The cone nut and lock nut hold the roller bearing to the long threaded bolt, which keeps it all on the axle. Then you simply screw on the pedal body. Just a couple of spanners (and a hex key to get the lot off the crank) was all it took.
I've just got to hope that it functions as intended now, and that I wasn't "speaking too soon" by mouthing off about having done it right...
...it was "wobbly" which was why I took it apart. Nothing to loose really, as even if I'd failed to get it all back together again I'd have been needing new pedals. The 'inboard' bearing balls seem to have somehow escaped from their proper place, but then the action of disassembly could have given me that impression.
Getting it back together was a bit of a bind. Three attempts to get the inboard bearings to sit properly, I could really have done with a clamp or "third hand" of some kind. The cone nut and lock nut hold the roller bearing to the long threaded bolt, which keeps it all on the axle. Then you simply screw on the pedal body. Just a couple of spanners (and a hex key to get the lot off the crank) was all it took.
I've just got to hope that it functions as intended now, and that I wasn't "speaking too soon" by mouthing off about having done it right...
Fluffsri said:
Clean and lube, new brake pads, new jockey wheels, clean and lube dropper and a quick check over ready for the Welsh Enduro on Sunday. I borrow my threadlock from work
Misappropriation of public property eh?If a Chinook falls from the sky onto my house, I shall remember that it's "probably because Fluff used all the threadlock"
Enjoy the Enduro!
yellowjack said:
Fluffsri said:
Clean and lube, new brake pads, new jockey wheels, clean and lube dropper and a quick check over ready for the Welsh Enduro on Sunday. I borrow my threadlock from work
Misappropriation of public property eh?If a Chinook falls from the sky onto my house, I shall remember that it's "probably because Fluff used all the threadlock"
Enjoy the Enduro!
yellowjack said:
...The cone nut and lock nut hold the roller bearing to the long threaded bolt, which keeps it all on the axle.
What sort of spanners or tools did you use to adjust/tighten the cone & locknut?Because the nuts are recessed it's a pain in the butt to get adjusted correctly, last time I reverted to a small blade screwdriver to hold the cone nut whilst tightening the lock nut with a small socket
47p2 said:
What sort of spanners or tools did you use to adjust/tighten the cone & locknut?
Because the nuts are recessed it's a pain in the butt to get adjusted correctly, last time I reverted to a small blade screwdriver to hold the cone nut whilst tightening the lock nut with a small socket
Something along these lines (I have a tonne of mismatched spanners like this from clearing out my FiL's garage when he died) to hold the cone nut...Because the nuts are recessed it's a pain in the butt to get adjusted correctly, last time I reverted to a small blade screwdriver to hold the cone nut whilst tightening the lock nut with a small socket
...and a hex-drive 6mm socket out of a DIY screwdriver bit set to tighten up the lock nut, in a ratchet type screwdriver body. Getting the main (long) threaded bolt torqued correctly to 10nm isn't going to happen though. The only torque wrenches I have are for square drive sockets, and I can't get a socket over the pedal axle. "That'll probably do it" will have to be tight enough. I'll keep a close eye on it all for a wee while to make sure it's OK.
Thanks yellowjack, not sure what the Shimano factory use, I'm guessing a socket within a box-key/backnut spanner type thingy. Problem is the width of the socket wall which makes a very tight/impossible fit into the box-key/backnut spanner. Think I might try and reduce the sidewall thickness of a socket in a lathe
yellowjack said:
Photos of the offending pedal disassembled (in case it help anyone else with pedal trouble)...;)
Thanks for posting those pics. I gather then that the outer bearing outer shell (the one furthest from the crank) is an interference fit with the pedal body, and that you assemble that bearing (and test the bearing fit) entirely outside of the pedal body before sliding it in as a completed assembly?
Not quite 'slammed my stem' today, but lowered by 10mm on fitting s/h lightweight Uno stem from USA. One of the hassles of building a bike from scratch, out of mainly eBay bits, is getting the fit correct (had no 'template' as the old Ribble was stolen two months ago). It's all rather trial and error. Have left scope to lower a further 5mm, if my back is up to it (though some claim a lower stem is actually better for the back). 32tpi hacksaw now blunt after 3 cuts through the carbon steerer!
Perhaps a professional bike fit would make sense, but there's plenty of YouTube videos and I did attend a bike fitting demo last year.
Finished the annual strip and rebuild of my No 1 cyclocross bike today, including dragging it into the Naughties by converting it from a 1 x 9 to a 1 x 10, and prepare it for the summer series. Next job is to strip and rebuild my new No 2 cyclocross bike, followed by the strip and convert of my old No 2 cyclocross bike into my new No 1 single speed cyclocross bike. My old No 1 single speed cyclocross bike will then be for sale. Unless I keep it.
Then I've got a new rim to build into my old Three Peaks Cyclocross back wheel, which won't be used for the Three Peaks again, because my new No 2 cyclocross bike has disc brakes, so my old No 1 Three Peaks (now the old No 2 cyclocross) bike will not be used for the Three Peaks again, as I'll use my new No 2 cyclocross bike, as my No 1 Three Peaks bike, and use my No 1 cyclocross bike as a spare. All clear?
Mountain bike racing starts in a couple of weeks as well, but I like to keep that simple, so it'll be a clean and lube of the rigid single speed race bike, and a check of the muddy condition and dry condition wheel sets, as well as the spare front and rear sprocket combinations.
This is before starting on our youth's cyclocross and MTB race bikes...
:edit: No tubs were glued in the production of this post.
Then I've got a new rim to build into my old Three Peaks Cyclocross back wheel, which won't be used for the Three Peaks again, because my new No 2 cyclocross bike has disc brakes, so my old No 1 Three Peaks (now the old No 2 cyclocross) bike will not be used for the Three Peaks again, as I'll use my new No 2 cyclocross bike, as my No 1 Three Peaks bike, and use my No 1 cyclocross bike as a spare. All clear?
Mountain bike racing starts in a couple of weeks as well, but I like to keep that simple, so it'll be a clean and lube of the rigid single speed race bike, and a check of the muddy condition and dry condition wheel sets, as well as the spare front and rear sprocket combinations.
This is before starting on our youth's cyclocross and MTB race bikes...
:edit: No tubs were glued in the production of this post.
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