Today I did something to my bike thread...

68 lost souls

Planet X wrote: »

Lizard Skin DSP bar tape, 3.2mm.
Durable Soft Polymer.
Crickey......holy mackerel. It's nice. :-D

About €30 or so. Not cheap.

Never changed bar tape and I'm thinking its nearly about due, I use white tape and its getting a bit grimey. I'm very confused by the whole thing. Think mine is a Bontrager Gel tape at the moment. What would the different tapes feel like in comparison e.g. DSP/Cork/Gel/Microfiber and what is the advantages of each one?

omri

68 lost souls wrote: »

Never changed bar tape and I'm thinking its nearly about due, I use white tape and its getting a bit grimey. I'm very confused by the whole thing. Think mine is a Bontrager Gel tape at the moment. What would the different tapes feel like in comparison e.g. DSP/Cork/Gel/Microfiber and what is the advantages of each one?

That's pretty easy but you'll need some practice. However tape is quite forgiving so you'll get the hang of it quickly. If you check on youtube, park tool has a very good video on wrapping the bars.

I used DSPs 3.2 and 2.5mm and theyre very nice in terms of comfort, the 3.2 makes bars very thick. Found it quite slippy when it's wet (I'm not using gloves). With DSPs you cannot stretch the tape during wrapping as the top layer will split from the foam after a while. I now switched to SRAM RED tape so will see how this goes.

Alanstrainor

Replaced my single speed freewheel this evening. I was glad I had a huge long breaker bar, the damned thing was fused on. I had been using this one:

Shimano Single Speed Freewheel:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/shimano-single-speed-freewheel/rp-prod7805

And replaced it with:

Halo Clickster Freewheel:
http://www.halowheels.com/products/part/FWHA716K

Hopefully it will be a more resilient freewheel compared to the last. Only had the last freewheel on for a year, and maybe 5 or 6000kms and it was pretty shot, although it hadn't started to skip, it was sounding less than healthy!

The tax man

Upgraded the cable/hydro brakes on the CX bike to a fully hydraulic system.
New to the world of hydraulics but with a bit of reading and a good bleed kit, it was pleasantly straight forward.
Should put an end to the constant need to replace the rear cable after every third race due to water getting into the outer housing and ruining the caliper action. Bad design and everything I tried to seal the housing failed.

smacl

The tax man wrote: »

Upgraded the cable/hydro brakes on the CX bike to a fully hydraulic system.
New to the world of hydraulics but with a bit of reading and a good bleed kit, it was pleasantly straight forward.
Should put an end to the constant need to replace the rear cable after every third race due to water getting into the outer housing and ruining the caliper action. Bad design and everything I tried to seal the housing failed.

Need to bleed mine at some point soon, which bleed kit did you go with?

The tax man

smacl wrote: »

Need to bleed mine at some point soon, which bleed kit did you go with?

I got my kit from epicbleedsolutions

Alanstrainor

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Replaced my single speed freewheel this evening. I was glad I had a huge long breaker bar, the damned thing was fused on. I had been using this one:

Shimano Single Speed Freewheel:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/shimano-single-speed-freewheel/rp-prod7805

And replaced it with:

Halo Clickster Freewheel:
http://www.halowheels.com/products/part/FWHA716K

Hopefully it will be a more resilient freewheel compared to the last. Only had the last freewheel on for a year, and maybe 5 or 6000kms and it was pretty shot, although it hadn't started to skip, it was sounding less than healthy!

First 15km this morning, and I have a feeling that the old freewheel was slowing me down, or binding when coasting. It felt like I had an electric motor in the wheel coming in! It'll take me a while to get used to the clicking, but all is good!

smacl

Did a bleed on my front brake last night which always felt a bit spongey. Took her for a test spin afterwards and not a whole lot of difference, still nothing like as powerful as the rear brake. Checked the reach adjustment and it seems good, so going to try a couple of different pads next (resin / sintered) to see which suits better. Already had the bike down to the LBS in Rathfarnham who reckoned the brakes were fine, and while they're ok they're nowhere near as sharp as the Veloce rim brakes on the other bike. To be fair to the LBS, where you notice the difference is with my 87kgs travelling at 60kph downhill approaching a corner, so not necessarily that obvious.

smacl

Hmmm, reading a bit more into the black art of getting a decent bleed on road brakes, I came across the following;

Okay Shimano said to re-bleed the rear system with the free stroke bolt backed out 3 full turns

I did 4 turns of the free stroke screw and got moderate improvement

Reach adjustment was full in when I did the bleed (came like that from Rose), so will try again with it full out and tighten after the bleed.

Weepsie

Well not me, but the Spokesman as I'm afraid. Changed down from a mid compact to a standard compact 105 crankset. I neglected to give him the matching left crank, so I've one left crank in silver/grey and the right crank is black, luckily both 170 mm so will change later once home.

Also installed an 11-28 cassette in place of the 11-25 as it's a heavy touring bike, and I think this will make the rare drag a bit more easy on the legs.

godtabh

Was going to give it a bash but the LBS said they'd do it for about €80 so they are stripping the groupset down and installing 11 speed Di2 on my Ribble R872. Hopefully ready tomorrow.

smacl

Re-bled the brakes with adjustment screw almost full out and then adjusted back in after the bleed and greatly improved response. Every days a school day. No doubt my next post will relate to road rash after going over the handlebars, ah well....

route66

smacl wrote: »

Re-bled the brakes with adjustment screw almost full out and then adjusted back in after the bleed and greatly improved response. Every days a school day. No doubt my next post will relate to road rash after going over the handlebars, ah well....

You haven't had much luck with those disk brakes on your new bike. Rose issue, general hydraulic brake issue or just unlucky?

smacl

route66 wrote: »

You haven't had much luck with those disk brakes on your new bike. Rose issue, general hydraulic brake issue or just unlucky?

Bad luck and could also be that the setup I'm after is more road and light offroad than cx racing which the bike was built for. I want a light touch without too much travel on the levers for the brake to kick in, same front and back. Not sure if you would want less sensitivity descending on rougher ground. I had the bike down to the lbs in rathfarnham who know their cx better than most and they reckoned the brakes were fine. That said, the bike as delivered had both reach adjustment screws full in leaving no room for adjustment without loosening them during a bleed. Googling shows this is a common enough issue. Hopefully they should be good from here on in.

Weepsie

I successfully attempted to completely strip down a bike the first time. It was possible with the most basic of tool sets, but not a chance i'd be able to put it back together just yet. Have a now relatively clean and shiny Ultegra 6600 groupset and clean Wilier frame to maybe try and build back up someday.

Didn't remove the bottom bracket however. I'm not ready for that.

Idleater

Replaced the chainring on the hacker commuter single speed bike.


Probably about time.

iwillhtfu

Idleater wrote: »

Replaced the chainring on the hacker commuter single speed bike.


Probably about time.

Loads of life left in that

That is a circular saw right :eek:

Idleater

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Loads of life left in that

That is a circular saw right :eek:

That's what you end up with running a 1/8 half-link chain.

I replaced it with a 40T narrow-wide ring that I got on the cheap.

Chain still doesn't sit perfect so I expect the same from that ring.

iwillhtfu

Idleater wrote: »

That's what you end up with running a 1/8 half-link chain.

I replaced it with a 40T narrow-wide ring that I got on the cheap.

Chain still doesn't sit perfect so I expect the same from that ring.

I'm just picturing the chain snapping one day and that weapon opening up your calf :eek:

triggermortis

After the other days disaster with the saddle clamp (which I have since learnt is part of the seat post and not an actual seperate part!) I got a reply from Rose for a replacement.
89 euro + postage is too much for right now, so I joined the broken part with chemical metal (17 euro for a large tub in Halfords) and it's all good to go.
Only rode around the garden so need to test it fully, but seems to be doing the job ok. First use of my shiny new allen key sockets and torque wrench too!

cython

Replaced cable for rear mech after it snapped on the commute home (luckily <1km from home, and all flat between there and home ). Doubly lucky was that while it broke at the shifter end, once I rolled back the hood, the cable end fell straight out, rather than requiring retrieval from within the shifter. Probably should have done the lotto at that rate of going..... :pac:

Unknown Soldier

It's amazing how 7 days off the bike can leave it in dire ways during winter






Little bit (a lot) of elbow grease






My shed is probably next on the list of things needing fixed.

f1000

Yeah, just cleaned my commuter SS. Badly needed with the weather lately. Luckily I did as I'd only noticed that my brake pads were down to the bone and could have caused some serious problems. Had to rob the pads from my road bike while I wait for some new ones. Also noticed my rear wheel bearings have a bit of give. LBS for that as I don't have the tools to sort. Time to lash on the mudguards again. Looks like we might be in for a wet couple of weeks

Cee-Jay-Cee

Took my 'good bike' out of the garage for the first time since Oct 16th last, dusted it with a rag, pumped up both tyres which were completely flat (latex tubes) and put it back in the garage again...too wet/dirty and miserable for it yet :cool:

iwillhtfu

Started another build.

I think the BMC frames and in particular this colour scheme are only go hálainn.

The saddle is there more for storage than anything I have an arione in the post along with pretty much everything else required with the exception of 6870 di2 derailleurs and cabling. If anyone out there is looking to move on some spares I'm all ears.

LollipopJimmy

Unknown Soldier wrote: »

It's amazing how 7 days off the bike can leave it in dire ways during winter


My shed is probably next on the list of things needing fixed.

Nice work on the cleaning. I'm a bit nuts with the cleaning usually but I'm not commuting and won't be commuting on the bike anymore (new workplace is a 5 minute walk from home :pac: ) so I'm not going out in all weathers which means I'm not being as anal as usual.
My plans for tonight are clean the bike thoroughly along with a mini service and then clean my tools, serviced two cars last weekend and didn't clean my tools and it's been bothering me all week that they're dirty.

Unknown Soldier

I finally got around to fitting that 110mm stem that I've had for about 6 months! I am quite the lazy ass sometimes.


https://www.instagram.com/p/BR0f-eRhBga/

CrowdedHouse

Any problem tightening up the headset? (I presume it's the clamp type)

Unknown Soldier

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

Any problem tightening up the headset? (I presume it's the clamp type)

None and I have never had any issues with them. Once you wind the "clamp" screw so it's half hanging out, and then put the stem on/tighten. It's just a matter of winding the screw on the clamp back in until you feel it getting tight. Just a tad past finger tight! There are actually little markers (3) on it too.

I kept the original spacers on so once they are stiff and don't move, you're good to go.

triggermortis

Fitted my new seat post, or the old one (with the battery still in it) with the new clamp. Updated the firmware and gave the bike a bit of a clean