Simple jobs that turn not so easy.

[Zigster]

TonyHetherington said:

Kell said:

TonyHetherington said:

Pedals; totally

Best tip I found; always to the rear of the bike to remove.

when the bike is on its wheels or the other way up?

When it's the correct way up

I think of it as opposite direction to the forward rotation of the rear wheel when it's going forward.

[TheInternet]

TheInternet said:

DeuxCentCinq said:

There are certain things that are just not worth my time to fk about with. Brakes (on car and bike) are one of them.

If it's routine maintenance they're one of the easiest jobs on two wheels or four IMO, much more inconvenient to get someone else to do it.

The irony was not lost on me as I destroyed one of my brake calipers yesterday whilst 'fixing it'. The only saving grace is that it wasn't routine maintenance as such. Most annoying bit was finding there was nothing wrong with the caliper at all and that the cable was trapped elsewhere. Muppet.

[bakerstreet]

I have changed the pedals on my bikes a couple of times and every time I do it, I have to resort to checking the same YouTube video every time! Last time I did it, the bike fell on my head. Following that incident, I got Mrs BakerStreet to pick me up a cheap work stand from Aldi

[964Cup]

Bought a set of worn-out Dura Ace C24s to rebuild using RS81 rims. Except the front wheel turned out to be a tubeless rim (Lord knows how the original buyer ended up with a mismatched set). So I had to buy replacement front spokes and nipples (£60! for 16 spokes and nipples) and cut the old ones off, because of course the tubeless nipple is a completely non-standard hex nut, of all things (you get a spoke key with the wheel, but chappie had lost it). Then I had to get a suitable driver for the nipples, which again are a hex nut with no screwdriver slot. Tried a cheap nut driver, but just got blisters. Bought a long thin-wall socket, but had to turn it down so it would fit through the rim hole. Eventually bought the correct driver, which is a fortune, but cheaper than two failed attempts at saving money. By this time it would have been worth it to take them apart using a spoke key - but imagine building them that way - with nyloc nipples - my fingers would fall off. Got the wheels apart, rebuilt the hubs, laced them, put some tension in, bang! Rear spoke goes. Buy a new one (£4!). Doesn't come with a nipple. Can't reuse the old nipple as the spoke failed right at the edge of the nipple, so I can't get it out. Buy a replacement nipple (£2!). Repeat twice more - combination of some level of existing fatigue and these £4 spokes being made of cheese. Finally get the wheels built, taking immense care to tension the spokes up evenly to avoid over-stressing them and being extra-careful to avoid any wind-up. Wheels have even tension and are perfectly true, which is a relief since I was starting to question my own ability (and indeed sanity). Originally planned to use OEM rim strip. Ha! New rims ship without. Only have one old strip (because tubeless rim doesn't need one). Will that go back on cleanly? Of course not. Eventually just use Stans tape for a nifty weight-saving and call it a day. Sold them for pretty well exactly what they owed me in parts, so that's several hours of my life I won't get back. Still, at least I now know how to rebuild C24s, and have all the tools. I'm sure that will turn out to be a worthwhile investment...