What bike repairs/maintenance have you done today?

[finishing touch]

Last week I fitted a new B17 to my Synapse.


Next week for work I have two swivel posts to make for the gun turrets of a B17.



(As this is an old thread I thought that both of these fitted in. )

[IroningMan]

Watchman said:

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?

Up to a point. As is also the case with cup-and-cone wheel hubs, the bearing is compressed by the final stage of re-assembly, so if you set it all up perfectly outside the pedal body you'll likely find that it binds when it's fitted. This can lead to some trial-and-error adjustment as you try to cater for the difference, but it's not too hard unless, of course, you've made a bold choice of locking compound.

The 105 pedals I did the other day also had a dust seal which was a PITA to get to sit in the right place.

[Watchman]

Gotcha. Thanks for for extra pointers. I'm going to to try and pull mine apart for a preventative service because I seem to go through them extraordinarily quickly for some reason.

[shouldbworking]

Rear derailleur slow to drop down the cassette. Probably the cable says brain. Body checks and adjusts everything else before the cable. Cable was of course the problem. Oh well, sorted now.

[greenamex2]

Cleaned all the mud off my brake pads.

[Agent XXX]

I've always been a bit sh*t with maintenance, normally trusting it to my LBS (though they're not that local now I've moved)

However, on saturday I actually made use of my council tax and attended an intermediate level bike maintenance course run by Brighton and Hove City Council............and I have to say it was rather good!

Good tips on emergency repairs as well as regular and preventative maintenance.

[Tom1312]

Fitted my new comedy Fizik saddle.





Then a full clean and lube today.

[Dr Murdoch]

I've taken my chain off to fit a new front mech.

Having now looked at the chain it needs some serious TLC, rust, salt and old lube.

Now its off, whats the best way of cleaning it before putting it back on?

[Tom1312]

Degreaser, hot soapy water, clean, rinse, dry, lube, wipe away excess.

I got the MucOff stuff and really like it.

[yellowjack]

Really cleaning a chain?

Ice cream tub, degreaser (undiluted) to cover the chain, lid on, shake it about and leave it to soak while you get on with fettling the rest of the bike.

Then a cheap toothbrush or something similar to agitate the rollers, soak again. Rinse well.

If you're applying an oil-based lube, use some GT85/WD40 to drive out the water from between the rollers and pins. Again, I'd use the ice cream tub for this (wipe away any degreaser first) by laying the chain in the bottom and spraying a load of solvent into the tub. Putting the lid on and shaking it again will ensure it doesn't evaporate off too quickly. Then clean it down and dry it off with a rag before applying lube directly to each roller. It takes a while but it works. And while it soaks you can get on with other jobs, so in truth it doesn't add that much time to a bit of bike maintenance.

[Dr Murdoch]

Thanks Tom / Jack

[Renn Sport]

I am on my 3rd puncture in 2 weeks.

I had two on the rear and one on the front Glass and flint going through my newish Conti 4 Seasons. I have nice hole in the rear tyre. I patched it and added rubber solution to close.

Flint in the second puncture.

Again flint did my front tyre last night. At least I was at work and could swap out the tube.

Man these Conti's aren't really build for the crappy London roads. I think I need more resilient tyres. Armadillo' or something else required for the commuter.

[TwistingMyMelon]

Renn Sport said:

I am on my 3rd puncture in 2 weeks.

I had two on the rear and one on the front Glass and flint going through my newish Conti 4 Seasons. I have nice hole in the rear tyre. I patched it and added rubber solution to close.

Flint in the second puncture.

Again flint did my front tyre last night. At least I was at work and could swap out the tube.

Man these Conti's aren't really build for the crappy London roads. I think I need more resilient tyres. Armadillo' or something else required for the commuter.

What pressures do you run them at?

I like Vittoria Randomeurs 2 on my commuters, heavy and cheap, very tough

I use 4seasons on my winter road bike for club runs

[yellowjack]

Renn Sport said:

I am on my 3rd puncture in 2 weeks.

I had two on the rear and one on the front Glass and flint going through my newish Conti 4 Seasons. I have nice hole in the rear tyre. I patched it and added rubber solution to close.

Flint in the second puncture.

Again flint did my front tyre last night. At least I was at work and could swap out the tube.

Man these Conti's aren't really build for the crappy London roads. I think I need more resilient tyres. Armadillo' or something else required for the commuter.

Halfords in Farnborough this morning had a couple of pairs of Schwalbe Marathon Plus "Flatless" tyres with reflective sidewalls, and there was a fair bit of money off on the ticket price. They had a pair each of 25c and 28c sizes, of the wire bead type. Lots of their tyres are cheap(er) right now, including about £15 off Continental Grand Prix 4000 SIIs. Lots of commuters seem to use the Marathon Plus tyres - one of my sons has had a 26" pair on his 'adapted for commuting' hard tail MTB without any bother. Apparently heavy, although I've no experience of riding them myself.

[Bobley]

Dr Murdoch said:

I've taken my chain off to fit a new front mech.

Having now looked at the chain it needs some serious TLC, rust, salt and old lube.

Now its off, whats the best way of cleaning it before putting it back on?

If it's got rust coming out and then you intensively clean it then you'll find it's a lot longer than it was and it'll starting jumping and it'll be so bendy (laterally) that it'll never change gear. Maybe give it a waz off with WD40 and put it back on the get through until the weather warms up and then bin it.

[Bobley]

New headset and new freehub bearings today. I need to do some wheelbuilding soon though as the winter snot has almost done for my lads Stans Alphas.

[yellowjack]

So this morning was supposed to be the start of a good day.

I set off to meet a friend, and one of his friends, for a 50km off-road byway/bridleway loop. Seven miles later I was stopped at the side of a canal shouting to my mate that we needed to stop. My legs were spinning round and around, but none of the effort was being transmitted to the chain.

Freehub again! So I scratched from the ride, and headed home (bizarrely setting a new PR on the way ), not wanting to be stranded at the furthest point of the loop. The problem with the freehub was intermittent, but this was the second time in a mile that I'd lost drive.

Back home, it was wheel off, and cassette and chain into an ice-cream tub for a soak while I stripped the hub down. Bearings out, in a drop of GT85 in a jar to clean them. Freehub body whipped out. The freehub was definitely the problem. By now there was no engagement of the pawls at all. So that one went into the scrap bin, and out came the one I took off the last time. Well, I didn't, the bike shop did. Admittedly it was a tad 'grumbly' but it was at least working. I was glad I'd kept it. It does 'push' the pedals round when allowed to freewheel, so I'll need to buy a fresh one pretty soon. But at least I managed to get out later in the afternoon again, and the bike was running alright considering the trouble I had getting the cones adjusted properly.

Annoyingly there was no warning until I was left stranded by a lack of drive at a roundabout. Embarrassing, and potentially dangerous. This is three freehubs in 3,000 miles, which I think is an excessive failure rate. The wheels are the original Giant branded ones, and this is the freehub...



...at £20 a pop (a little less with the shop's loyalty scheme card) I can just about afford to keep up with replacing them, but with my mileage (3,037 miles in exactly one year) we're talking £60 per annum in freehubs alone

It's certainly a weak point in the spec of the bike, and my only disappointment in the year I've had it. I've tried to pack grease into anywhere where it looks like grit and water could get in this time. Fingers crossed now.

Long term I think a new set of wheels is the answer, but sadly funds will not allow this right now. If only these bloody Giant branded freehubs were sealed better!!!


The work was tested with an 11 mile late afternoon ride, and it all functions as intended. I even managed a '3rd Overall' Strava trophy along the way. But I still think a new freehub/cassette/chain is going to be the order of the day prior to the Battle On The Beach at the end of the month, just to be on the safe side...

[uncinqsix]

yellowjack said:

Long term I think a new set of wheels is the answer, but sadly funds will not allow this right now. If only these bloody Giant branded freehubs were sealed better!!!

My experience with Giant hubs is very similar - they are just not well sealed at all. The cups/cones on my commuter were toast within 1500km as they didn't seem to have any ability to keep water out.

[Craikeybaby]

Replaced the bottom bracket on my mountain bike. This will explain the crunching noises and wobbly pedals:


Gave the rest of the drivetrain a thorough clean too.

[mikecassie]

Fitted a Wheels Manufacturing BB to replace the extremely creaky PF30 BB in the SuperSix. It was a doddle but I was a bit apprehensive knocking the bearing cups out of the frame for the first time. It seems a lot better now but until I'm fully healed I'll just have to wait to test it out properly.