The "what bike bits have you just bought" thread Vol 2
Discussion
A couple of pairs of the 5p merino cycling socks that PlanetX had on sale ove the weekend. Over the winter I've been using merino socks, rather than Sealskins waterproof socks, as I found that when water breaches the waterproof socks they don't dry out. At least with merino socks your feet stay warm.
An 8-speed 11-30t SRAM cassette and matching chain for No1 son's commute bike. Nice little earner for me, as I toddled off to a local shop where the owner did me a "£30, seeing as it's you..." deal on the bits, but the price stickers said £39.99 total and my boy gave his old dad the full £40... 
Then I had to sort out No2 son's bike. A "bit of a skip from the gears, dad" turned out to be almost complete loss of drive in the freehub. Basically it was freewheeling in both directions with an occasional pick-up from what felt like one of the pawls. So I stripped that down, and took the wheel to the shop because the freewheel fastener needed an Allen wrench larger than the 11mm adaptor I have as my largest Allen key.
One of the mechanics there sucked his teeth and scratched his head, then apologised but thought that they'd struggle to source the parts. It's a cheap wheel from a low spec bike, so fair play, it wasn't going to be a stock item like a higher quality Shimano freehub body might be. So he quoted me £60 to £80 for a new wheel, if one could be ordered to broadly match the existing one. But he also recommended flushing the old freehub through with an engine degreaser, then driving that out with a 3-in-1 oil to relubricate it. Off to the motor factors up the road I went, and £15 lighter I went home with the recommended engine degreaser, some heavy duty hand cleanser, and a tin of brake disc cleaner. I put the wheel over an old washing-up bowl and duly flushed it through, and my Goodness! What a lot of gritty ginger crud came dribbling out! Carried on flushing, until the gunk dribbling out ran clear, then let it drip dry for a while before using an oil based wet chain lube to drive out the degreaser and relubricate the internals. And it worked too. Not perfect, as it's quite noisy now, but it picks up drive reliably enough and only has to last until Boy finishes Uni this year.
Then I started on his rough and rocking headset bearing. Stripping it down I smacked the top of the steerer with a lump hammer (and a chunk of wood to avoid metal on metal). This had the effect not only of dropping the fork out, but of sending the top bearing and all the sealing cups flying. The caged bearing too hit the deck, causing a couple of the bearings to disappear into joints between the driveway paving slabs. I built the top bearing completely with new bearings, re-used the bottom bearing which wasn't quite as well worn, and reassembled it all as Boy was in a hurry to get back to Uni. Again, it's not perfect, but better than it was, and no longer rocking like crazy under braking.
So another trip to the shop for a £1.50 packet of 5/32" ball bearings (about 50 of 'em) to replace those from my spares stash that I'd used on the rebuild. Good news, though - this bike didn't need a cassette/chain replacement this time, so the whole re-fit cost next to nothing. The degreaser will be used for other jobs, and the bearings were (quite literally) "pocket change".
First time I've done a headset too. I was left wondering what the heck I was so scared of in the end. Although I still lack a press, so refitting new bearing cups might be a little more tricky at short notice.
Then I had to sort out No2 son's bike. A "bit of a skip from the gears, dad" turned out to be almost complete loss of drive in the freehub. Basically it was freewheeling in both directions with an occasional pick-up from what felt like one of the pawls. So I stripped that down, and took the wheel to the shop because the freewheel fastener needed an Allen wrench larger than the 11mm adaptor I have as my largest Allen key.
One of the mechanics there sucked his teeth and scratched his head, then apologised but thought that they'd struggle to source the parts. It's a cheap wheel from a low spec bike, so fair play, it wasn't going to be a stock item like a higher quality Shimano freehub body might be. So he quoted me £60 to £80 for a new wheel, if one could be ordered to broadly match the existing one. But he also recommended flushing the old freehub through with an engine degreaser, then driving that out with a 3-in-1 oil to relubricate it. Off to the motor factors up the road I went, and £15 lighter I went home with the recommended engine degreaser, some heavy duty hand cleanser, and a tin of brake disc cleaner. I put the wheel over an old washing-up bowl and duly flushed it through, and my Goodness! What a lot of gritty ginger crud came dribbling out! Carried on flushing, until the gunk dribbling out ran clear, then let it drip dry for a while before using an oil based wet chain lube to drive out the degreaser and relubricate the internals. And it worked too. Not perfect, as it's quite noisy now, but it picks up drive reliably enough and only has to last until Boy finishes Uni this year.
Then I started on his rough and rocking headset bearing. Stripping it down I smacked the top of the steerer with a lump hammer (and a chunk of wood to avoid metal on metal). This had the effect not only of dropping the fork out, but of sending the top bearing and all the sealing cups flying. The caged bearing too hit the deck, causing a couple of the bearings to disappear into joints between the driveway paving slabs. I built the top bearing completely with new bearings, re-used the bottom bearing which wasn't quite as well worn, and reassembled it all as Boy was in a hurry to get back to Uni. Again, it's not perfect, but better than it was, and no longer rocking like crazy under braking.
So another trip to the shop for a £1.50 packet of 5/32" ball bearings (about 50 of 'em) to replace those from my spares stash that I'd used on the rebuild. Good news, though - this bike didn't need a cassette/chain replacement this time, so the whole re-fit cost next to nothing. The degreaser will be used for other jobs, and the bearings were (quite literally) "pocket change".
First time I've done a headset too. I was left wondering what the heck I was so scared of in the end. Although I still lack a press, so refitting new bearing cups might be a little more tricky at short notice.
JPJPJP said:
You can make a "press" with a couple of big washers and nuts and some threaded bar - long enough to do headsets and bottom brackets
Handy to have one around the place, just in case
Mine cost £2.75 but I reckon it could have been done for less if I hadn't needed it quick
Aye, spot on. I fashioned myself a press out of an old Headlock and some large sockets and washers. Fork race fitted using a bit of plastic water pipe and a rubber mallet.Handy to have one around the place, just in case
Mine cost £2.75 but I reckon it could have been done for less if I hadn't needed it quick
New 105 group set for my Cube to include 105 hydraulic brakes to get rid of the Cube cable callipers which adding to the Mavic Carbon tubeless wheels makes this bike as good as it will probably ever get (and better than I ever need!)
And a new Specialized Allez with the old 9 speed Cube group set added to have a dedicated Zwift bike (because my cassette on my Yahoo Kirk Core was for my 9 speed Cube).
Can’t wait to ride some miles on the Cube
And a new Specialized Allez with the old 9 speed Cube group set added to have a dedicated Zwift bike (because my cassette on my Yahoo Kirk Core was for my 9 speed Cube).
Can’t wait to ride some miles on the Cube
Started the process of migrating my new S5 to eTap and swapping the R8000 bits onto my bargain basement CAAD8.
So I've bought some SRAM Force rim brakes (about 10g heavier than Red and apparently a lot better stopping power as they're a dual-pivot design - I thought it was worth the trade-off). And some bargain FSA K-Force bars and seatpost for the CAAD.
In a way, I'm just as excited about the transformation of the Cannondale (which currently looks rather dowdy) as I am about the magic robot gears on the S5.
And even more excitingly, Wiggle seem to have started including Haribo again - result!
So I've bought some SRAM Force rim brakes (about 10g heavier than Red and apparently a lot better stopping power as they're a dual-pivot design - I thought it was worth the trade-off). And some bargain FSA K-Force bars and seatpost for the CAAD.
In a way, I'm just as excited about the transformation of the Cannondale (which currently looks rather dowdy) as I am about the magic robot gears on the S5.
And even more excitingly, Wiggle seem to have started including Haribo again - result!
Alternatively, bike bits I tried and failed to buy...
Currently in the middle of a silly email ping-pong match with Merlin Cycles. I tried to buy myself a Charge Spoon saddle and some chain lube last week, but despite them taking payment three times, no order was created.
To be fair to them, their response was fast, and they assured me that all three payments would be cancelled, then confirmed they'd taken the action. Despite this, the payments then disappeared from my account. Now this may not be Merlin's fault, it may just be "how the banking system works" if the payment had progressed too far before the cancellation was attempted.
Now awaiting a response to my update on the situation, fingers crossed I get the money back, and soon. Very annoying because I need the items, but money is tight so I can't go firing off any more orders until I get the refund(s) back.
Grrrrrr.
Currently in the middle of a silly email ping-pong match with Merlin Cycles. I tried to buy myself a Charge Spoon saddle and some chain lube last week, but despite them taking payment three times, no order was created.
To be fair to them, their response was fast, and they assured me that all three payments would be cancelled, then confirmed they'd taken the action. Despite this, the payments then disappeared from my account. Now this may not be Merlin's fault, it may just be "how the banking system works" if the payment had progressed too far before the cancellation was attempted.
Now awaiting a response to my update on the situation, fingers crossed I get the money back, and soon. Very annoying because I need the items, but money is tight so I can't go firing off any more orders until I get the refund(s) back.
Grrrrrr.
yellowjack said:
Alternatively, bike bits I tried and failed to buy...
Currently in the middle of a silly email ping-pong match with Merlin Cycles. I tried to buy myself a Charge Spoon saddle and some chain lube last week, but despite them taking payment three times, no order was created.
To be fair to them, their response was fast, and they assured me that all three payments would be cancelled, then confirmed they'd taken the action. Despite this, the payments then disappeared from my account. Now this may not be Merlin's fault, it may just be "how the banking system works" if the payment had progressed too far before the cancellation was attempted.
Now awaiting a response to my update on the situation, fingers crossed I get the money back, and soon. Very annoying because I need the items, but money is tight so I can't go firing off any more orders until I get the refund(s) back.
Grrrrrr.
Happy to report that Merlin Cycles' customer service department have been excellent over this issue. Fast response to my all my communication (by email) and the offer of placing the troubled order by phone too.Currently in the middle of a silly email ping-pong match with Merlin Cycles. I tried to buy myself a Charge Spoon saddle and some chain lube last week, but despite them taking payment three times, no order was created.
To be fair to them, their response was fast, and they assured me that all three payments would be cancelled, then confirmed they'd taken the action. Despite this, the payments then disappeared from my account. Now this may not be Merlin's fault, it may just be "how the banking system works" if the payment had progressed too far before the cancellation was attempted.
Now awaiting a response to my update on the situation, fingers crossed I get the money back, and soon. Very annoying because I need the items, but money is tight so I can't go firing off any more orders until I get the refund(s) back.
Grrrrrr.
They got back to me with pdf copies of the refund orders (x3) when I requested that they look at it again, and true to their word, the day after the payments were taken, they were back in my account.
I've now (successfully!!!
) re-ordered the items I wanted, and within an hour of ordering them I had an email through confirming dispatch and supplying a Royal Mail tracking number. A great response from Merlin throughout the process, especially when it wasn't going as planned. Going to have to wait now to see if the 48 hour delivery comes in good time, but there was no postage charge for that service and I'm not in a particular hurry...
Well, it got here, I fitted it, and did about 40 miles on it today.
Seems very nice. Far better than the awful thing that was on there when i bought the bike. Not much padding, especially compared to the outgoing saddle, but very comfortable. Nicely "sprung" in the centre, but not floppy or droopy. The old seat used to slide me forward, even with the nose slightly up. This one, I can move around comfortably, but my butt stays where I want it to stay.
Bargain too, at £18 and some pence.
If it carries on being as comfortable over the next few weeks, then it looks like it'll be my "go to" saddle for a couple of other bikes too, when i get around to building/rebuilding them. I have a couple of frames that need turning into bikes using components in my parts bin. Components that have either been salvaged from damaged frames or kindly donated by friends upgrading bits on their bikes.
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