What did you do to your bicycle today?

Soldato
Joined
25 Feb 2004
Posts
18,162
Location
Hampshire
Got the tools out last night for some single chainring modifications.

Running a HG50 10 Speed cassette on my Scott, so to fit the expander you've got to remove the 15 or the 17, so had to remove the holding pins, but then thought if I remove either of those I'd have a 4t jump in the gearing so dug out an old dura-ace cassette with a 16t sprocket, and then removed the pins from this, so I'm now running an 11-40 (11-13-16-19-21-24-28-32-36-40) with a 34t Uberbike Narrow-Wide up front.

Although when I put it all together the chain is now too short so ordered a new chain to put on tonight.
 
Soldato
Joined
27 Feb 2003
Posts
7,173
Location
Shropshire
Had been getting some funky creaking noises from the BB (especially on the turbo), so whipped the chainset off last night. Both BB cups out, clean everything, fresh grease and re-assemble. Quick spin tonight to test...
 
Caporegime
Joined
28 Jun 2005
Posts
48,104
Location
On the hoods
Single speed: adjusted the rear wheel position to increase chain tension. Need to strip a whole load of the bike but it'll wait until the end of the month when I get some new pedals and brakes for it.

Cross: took off the road tyres it had on it for holiday and put the cross tyres back on. Should be able to get out for some off-road next weekend.

Summer bike: rode it a bit.

Helmet: washed the straps and pads as it was ronking pretty hard after two years of heavy use.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Jul 2009
Posts
16,234
Location
Newcastle/Aberdeen
Road bike has been sitting outside (under a cover) this year and barely getting any rides in, so it's in need of some TLC. Even some rust one the frame :o Might clean it off and then patch the paintwork with some nail varnish. But for now, I'm planning on regreasing the bearings anyway so I just threw it under the pressure washer. Quite therapeutic.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Jul 2009
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16,234
Location
Newcastle/Aberdeen
Since I stripped out all the grease from the chain rollers anyway I decided to soak it in vinegar to get rid of a little bit of surface rust, then dip it in paraffin wax. Tried it before and spilled wax all over the kitchen, went slightly better this time :p Will see how it goes.

Observation: SRAM quick links are so much easier to undo than KMC.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Feb 2004
Posts
18,162
Location
Hampshire
After being annoyed with the squeak and rattles of my FSA BB failing again on my Pinnacle I decided to swap it over to Shimano stuff. I had an Ultegra BB hanging around so just picked up a Tiagra 4700 170mm 50-34 chainset for £50. Whipped old one off new one on, squeak gone, the FSA chainset I also think had a slight bend to it since my accident earlier in the year.

Slowly trying to make my fleet all exchangeable products so if things fail can swap/upgrade/handmedown as I go.

Also changed the tyres on my GFs bike to the Lifeline Prime Race from her CX tyres as she is currently riding on the road, and then finally started gluing my new Veloflex Record to my Zipp 808, one layer on, final gluing tonight.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 Oct 2006
Posts
5,386
Rear derailleur cable changed. Shifting was terrible over the last two rides and I feared it was going to snap inside the shifter and have me fishing for the cable end again.
Snipped the end off and discovered it actually looked fairly fine but obviously it was now too short so bunged a new one in. Must be getting better as I only required one slight turn of the barrel adjuster and the indexing was perfect :)
 
Permabanned
Joined
12 Feb 2011
Posts
2,546
Location
Middle Earth
Triathlon on Sunday so gave the bike a good clean and lubed the chain, added some bright orange bottle cages and adjusted my saddle height a little bit. Will give it a short test ride tomorrow and make sure the saddle height feels better.
 
Soldato
Joined
7 Jul 2009
Posts
16,234
Location
Newcastle/Aberdeen
Brother drives me crazy sometimes. Went on a ride with him the other day, get out the door and his rear wheel is wobbling all over the place, missing a spoke and has two more just sticking out rattling everywhere. "No, it's fine, we don't need to go and get your spare." Unsurprisingly it got worse during the ride, so I told him to just get it home and not ride it any more and I'd sort it next week. Surprise surprise, I get a text the next day saying "hey, rear mech hangar snapped on a ride to the beach".

Last time this happened I just gave him a chunky metal mtb rear mech so that should be salvageable... the rest of the bike is in a sorry state though. One of his pedals didn't even have any bearings in it. Not sure where he even found such terrible tyres, but they don't have a make printed on them anywhere, just "made in Sri Lanka". They're only about a week old and he's already got a skid patch down to the casing. Can even count the threads, about 12tpi...

Found a good deal on a replacement wheel so I'm going to treat him to a total overhaul, call it an early xmas present :p Might as well get it running like new so he doesn't run into any more issues. Only about £80 all in, including a couple of new tools for myself (sick of ruining cables with dull cable snips). That's including the rear wheel, hanger, chain, cassette, cables, pads and tyres. PlanetX sales are real.

I am giving him the most garish bar tape though :D

XtvcEJLl.jpg

Really just needed the plugs but for 99p why not. Think it could actually suit the bike quite well.
 
Caporegime
Joined
20 Oct 2004
Posts
26,508
Location
....
New cassette, chain.

Slipping in 11T, weird. Can't see any reason why it is, apart from a crap cassette.

Also blew up the rear tyre, which about 5 minutes later seen an explosion of stans all over the garden. New tires en route, think I might need some stans too :p
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2004
Posts
10,646
Went a pedal to Loch Lomond on Sunday with the Mrs on her hybrid. I got a puncture at Glasgow green, literally a tiny sharp stone, changed it and went to Billy Bilslands to use the track pump. Sorted!

On the way back on a cycle path I hit a bit of glass whilst cruising through a group of 6 teenagers having a bevvy. Changed the tube but the tyre was ******, managed to get it usable so I could get home but at nearly 64 miles the Mrs wanted to get a train over the last 6 miles of climbs/on the road.


I'm now back on a GP4000s which to me felt better than the Corsa, who knows! Also fitted a new ultegra chain as at 1700 miles the original FSA one was worn. Cleaned the bike all ready to cycle home in the rain when I finish!

Also my speed/cadence sensor has been playing up so I ended up kicking it into the wheel whilst moving. Now I'm stuck on GPS speed......
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
21,069
New rubber
I swapped Conti Grand Prix 4000S II for Conti Attack and Force - slightly lighter (30g saving) with a little less rolling resistance (Front = 1.2w, rear = 0.5w saving). The downsize being slightly less puncture resistance.

 
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