Today I did something to my bike thread...

Mec-a-nic

This is not a sexy post, just a record of something I've been meaning to do for ages, and a reference for others who are googling the same upgrade and its problems.

My commuter bike had a cutting edge lighting system from the 2000's, and after much abuse from winters and vandals, it gave up working last month. Spurred on by a link in this thread to nice components from rose bikes we did the following:

Existing system: a) Shimano hub dynamo (DH-3N30, 6V, 3W), b) wired through SKS mudguards, c) b+m front light and switch (2.4W, 15 lux Halogen) and d) b+m rear LED (0.6W)

Upgraded system: thanks to German bike lighting standards, everything is standard and interoperable, so a) and d) were salvageable and the rest were replaced with new two-core wires and Finland's finest Hermann h-One S. This was chosen for several reasons: good price for a 75lux LED, legal front reflector, accessible connectors, running day-lights and the on-off-auto switch. A switch is important because the dynamo does not have one itself, it is expecting one in the light circuit.

Wiring the new light to the dynamo was simple, just pull the wires through the fork and re-use the original shimano plug. It tested fine, so far so good.
Running new wires to the rear LED was worth it, it was brighter than with the corroded copper strips in the mudguards. However, the front and back lights were now on all time time, irrespective of the switch position. After some fruitless googling, I figured it out - even though everything is wired with the two core (live and neutral) wires, the bike frame itself can act as a third/earth wire, so it needs to be used properly or excluded. I chose the latter by insulating the mounting bolt marked 'earth' on the rear light, and bingo, the switch starts working as advertised.
Result - the properly wired system removed the shudder from the dynamo, the front light is super bright, I can see retroreflection even in brightly lit urban areas, the system is automatic and has standlights front and back that stay lit for 3 mins when I'm not moving.

tl;dr €50 gets me revamped lights that are safer, 5 times brighter and won't blow expensive €5 bulbs anymore.

Iwernia

A few pics from the wild atlantic way in Donegal which is part of their leisure event in April,

https://www.facebook.com/events/658485964213454/permalink/677070679021649/

denbatt

New rubber I hope to only use on nicer days, I use gp4000 on my other wheels.
Also been using my new saddle a week, very happy with the bike now

Pinch Flat

Commuter - fitted a new cassette, chain and front chain rings.

'the good bike' - fitted a new set of Schwalbe luganos - white and black striped - look great on.

Seweryn

I have finally got all the bits and decided to give it a try...











TBC...

cdaly_

Lovely style to those hubs. Clean, slim lines and shiny.

Move this to a thread of its own, it deserves it...

Diggabot

Fitted two pairs of SwissStop FlashPro GHP II today. Gonna give them a spin out on Sunday.

Seweryn

This morning after a quick breakfast I started the rear wheel build .



And after a few hours, here it is, a fully laced set:

wanderer 22

They are beautiful looking chairs. wheels are nice too..

ford2600

Well done. Tidy looking job.

When is the maiden voyage?

Seweryn

ford2600 wrote: »

Well done. Tidy looking job.

When is the maiden voyage?

Thank you!

They still need to be properly dished and tensioned, but sooner rather than later they will hit the road .

Ole Rodrigo

Archetypes ? Snap :pac:. With Halo track hubs though. LBS built them.

ford2600

Seweryn wrote: »

Thank you!

They still need to be properly dished and tensioned, but sooner rather than later they will hit the road .

What will the stress test involve?

Seweryn

ford2600 wrote: »

What will the stress test involve?

A bit of spoke hammering :pac: (that is already done) and some work with tensiometer / sensitive hands (will chose the right tool soon though ). Dishing the rear wheel may be tricky, but will see how it goes. I may actually bring the wheels to an experienced builder for the final phase.

ror_74 wrote: »

Archetypes ? Snap :pac:. With Halo track hubs though. LBS built them.

Wow, that is very nice set up. I do not want to spoil the thread .

Ole Rodrigo

Seweryn wrote: »

Wow, that is very nice set up. I do not want to spoil the thread.

Very nice. Will look lovely with the wheels.

Seweryn

ror_74 wrote: »

Very nice. Will look lovely with the wheels.

Thank you. The wheels are for a different bike though.

However, the holiday bike (the Bianchi) is also getting a new wheelset. I haven't seen them yet, but I have the photos. They are old, but yet unused so just need a rim tape, tubes and tyres. And unfortunately a new set of shifters, as they are 8-speed:

Idleater

As per the "credit card" thread, attached a little bit of Copenhagen style to the commuting bike. In the process making this my first legal non "racing" bike ever.


Also cleaned the brake callipers as described on the talk to joe thread ? a while back.

Next job is a rear dynamo light.

lizzylad84

Started building up my tt bike. Frame is a 2010 giant trinity. I put on the ultegra rear mech. Just waiting on bb, front mech and chain before I finish it.

sonandheir

Started a job today which was seriously overdue. Started to strip down my old hybrid commuter to give it a serious once over. Had this bike in use for about three years up to summer 2013. The only 'servicing' I did to it in those 3 years was spray some wd40 on the chain, the previous owner of bike didn't even do that much.

Took most of the morning to just try and clean the frame as best i could, took off derailluers and soaked them in diesel, cleaned all gear and brake cables and housing. Need to replace a few bits so will pick them up to finish job during week. Will post a pic then, didn't take a before pic (I didn't want any photographic evidence of how bad it was)

dakar

New Miche 707 wheels to replace my fecked old ones, Charge Spoon saddle for comfort and a new 110mm stem to replace the muppety looking stubby riser one that came on the bike when I got it. Also a wee wireless Cateye computer so I know how faaaasssst I'm going on my upgraded wheels.

Seweryn

Finally, got the spokes tensioned, rims dished, centered, and had my first ride on them to work this morning.

They feel great. I like them .

Jabel

I took my mudguards off today....:D

Unknown Soldier

Came home this afternoon after seeing the in laws and taking the missus out to dinner only to find it was raining. Had planned on cleaning my Canyon and stuff.

Raining outside = no

Missus suggested doing the work in the kitchen, if I put newspaper on the floor :eek:

I tested things to see if it was some sort of trap tbh. Apparently not.....

Ended up changing the tyres on the Canyon from 23c Gator skins to Conti Gp 4000s II with 23c at the front and 25c at the back due to a thread I read here.

Learnt how to put on folding tyres.

Cleaned the chain and cassette too. All shiney etc.

Still no idea what price I have to pay to be let do it in the house.

I'll find out soon enough.

triggermortis

Not very exciting, but I replaced my (ripped after a fall on ice) bar tape and fitted new brake blocks.
The bar taping was surprisingly easy and doesn't look too bad (to me)

Scrappy600

Unknown Soldier wrote: »

Came home this afternoon after seeing the in laws and taking the missus out to dinner only to find it was raining. Had planned on cleaning my Canyon and stuff.

Raining outside = no

Missus suggested doing the work in the kitchen, if I put newspaper on the floor :eek:

I tested things to see if it was some sort of trap tbh. Apparently not.....

Ended up changing the tyres on the Canyon from 23c Gator skins to Conti Gp 4000s II with 23c at the front and 25c at the back due to a thread I read here.

Learnt how to put on folding tyres.

Cleaned the chain and cassette too. All shiney etc.

Still no idea what price I have to pay to be let do it in the house.

I'll find out soon enough.

theres a difference? ive never noticed any difference to wired...

Unknown Soldier

Scrappy600 wrote: »

theres a difference? ive never noticed any difference to wired...

They are all bendy and constantly twisting, like handling eels!

To be honest it wasn't much of a learning curve. The first one took about ten minutes to strip and put back together with the new tyre. The second took about 5 minutes once I got the hang of it.

nak

Stuck my new wheels on and a bigger gear for racing on Wednesday.

treborm

nak wrote: »

Stuck my new wheels on and a bigger gear for racing on Wednesday.

Very nice, what rims are they?

Diggabot

nak wrote: »

Stuck my new wheels on and a bigger gear for racing on Wednesday.

Nice 3T cockpit

nak

treborm wrote: »

Very nice, what rims are they?

Thanks, cheap and cheerful build. Rims are from Yishin. Have the road ones too, hand me downs from the husband after 2 cyclocross seasons.