Today I did something to my bike thread...

CantGetNoSleep · 28-11-2020 4:24pm

cletus wrote: »

@can'tgetnosleep: post a link to the screws you need

I finally put the bike on the stand today to index the rear derailleur, accompanied by the dulcet tones of Calvin Jones.

As soon as I moved the bike, I realised the front tyre was completly flat. Ever mindful of the blood, sweat, tears and broken tyre levers that went into mounting these tyres in the first place, I (very sensibly) pumped up the front tyre in the hope that the air magically disappeared from the tube, and the the new air will, just as magically, stay inside the goddamned tube

Got sorted at a DIY shop for about 3€ - standard 12mm M4 bolts did the job. Just had to shop around to find them with hex caps.

Wasn't an easy job though - tried two sets of mudguards and still not happy. SKS Bluemels 35mm seem to fit the frame well but front stays are way too long and the cheap hacksaw I had was no match for them. On the rear the stays are almost too short, I'm sure there is a way of making them fit but I gave up. Installed a set of Bontrager NCS 45mm which are more of a tight fit in a road bike frame but meant to be no-cut. Tried a test ride and they are fine on the flat but bounce around too much with any bumps. Going to try to tighten everything up and maybe use some loctite and see if I can improve them, if not back to the SKS. On the Bontragers, instead of cutting the stays you can adjust them with an allen key but I'm worried that they will never be as stable.

cletus · 28-11-2020 4:44pm

Glad you got sorted (with the hotels anyway)

cletus · 28-11-2020 5:56pm

I decided that banking on a miraculous intervention for my flat tyre was probably not the best solution, especially as I'm planning on going for a spin in the morning. So I decided to check the tube. No puncture. Checked around the valve. No air leaks. Opened the nut on the presta valve core, but didnt press down the core. Stream of bubbles. Slowly closed the nut, the stream reduced until the final nip stopped them altogether. I have a feeling that when I checked the tyres prior to my last spin, I may not have tightened the nut fully, and over the course of the next 5 days it slowly lost air...at least I hope that's what happened

magicbastarder · 28-11-2020 7:32pm

i've had that happen to me once.

f1000 · 29-11-2020 12:09am

patching up tubes that have been sat in the corner, needing some attention

Weepsie · 06-12-2020 11:29pm

Nothing exciting. Finally fit my dynamo light back onto my croix de fer

Alanbt · 21-12-2020 4:37pm

Couple hours free as took half day from work so started overdue work on this build.
Waiting on a few small parts including bar tape but hopefully be done before New Year.
Savine frameset (columbus zona tubing with llwellyn lugs, columbus max fork), Ultegra 8000 groupset, Hed Belgium + rims on CK hubs

Weepsie · 21-12-2020 10:14pm

Did my very best to degrease and regrease a sealed headset bearing as I wait a while for new ones to arrive.

It was having a noticeable impact when I used the brake, lots of judder. Seemed fairly gritty when rotating in my hand and not surprised as I know a load of road spray is getting at it.

Anyway, loats of degreaser, wiping, drying and washing out , drying in rice and on a rad and doing my best to pack it in (double sealed too so not easy) and it's in good nick again. Not perfect, but good.

wersal gummage · 21-12-2020 10:37pm

Alanbt wrote: »

Hed Belgium + rims

That's nice.

Mind me asking where you picked up the rims? I've had a notion for a few years now to build up a set of wheels on these rims, look into it about once a year and always find it next to impossible to find these, or they are crazy money, or only available off ebay from the US

Alanbt · 21-12-2020 11:36pm

wersal gummage wrote: »

That's nice.

Mind me asking where you picked up the rims? I've had a notion for a few years now to build up a set of wheels on these rims, look into it about once a year and always find it next to impossible to find these, or they are crazy money, or only available off ebay from the US

Got them 2nd hand (well 3rd hand really but apparently limited mileage on them, and sure looks that way from the amount of rim wear) on a UK forum. Wouldn’t have been able to afford these new, considering the price of the hubs!
Nice and wide, noticeably more so then c17 rims on other wheels. 25mm tyres more like 28mm wide on them.

sbs2010 · 01-01-2021 7:29pm

New Year - new bar tape

magicbastarder · 01-01-2021 8:21pm

i wanna see the full bike

Fann Linn · 01-01-2021 8:23pm

sbs2010 wrote: »

New Year - new bar tape

Lovely neat looking job. Just waiting for some new gear and brake cables to arrive and I'll do mine.

iwillhtfu · 01-01-2021 8:41pm

sbs2010 wrote: »

New Year - new bar tape

A Colnago master? that doesn't fit perfectly judging by that shocker of a stack under the stem

:D

sbs2010 · 01-01-2021 11:25pm

iwillhtfu wrote: »

A Colnago master? that doesn't fit perfectly judging by that shocker of a stack under the stem :D

Yes ... and probably

randomstuff · 03-01-2021 9:25pm

Finally got this frame built up. Had to visit the local lbs to get the Bb shell chased, was a mess. Still need to find a nice silver seatpost. The frames a bit too big for me, need to change the cockpit for something more upright.

Doesn't look too bad for something from 1976

cletus · 03-01-2021 9:31pm

Nice job, love the colour.

Listen, I'll take it off your hands, no point having a frame that's too big...

randomstuff · 03-01-2021 9:45pm

cletus wrote: »

Nice job, love the colour.

Listen, I'll take it off your hands, no point having a frame that's too big...

Thanks. Yes, color is great indeed. It did manage to wear off the Reynolds sticker from the seat tube. I had it confirmed from Mercian that it has 531 tubing, but not sure what style of sticker is the correct for period. Would anyone here know which is correct?

Is this one correct https://h-lloyd-cycles.myshopify.com/products/reynolds-531-j73-77?

03-01-2021 10:51pm

Finishing restoring old Irish Army Bike circa 1943. Rear hub is a coaster but I need to go at it again since it goes into neutral after braking. I suspect a set of pawls are sticking due to grease being a bit thick.

cletus · 03-01-2021 11:06pm

Photos?

03-01-2021 11:16pm

cletus wrote: »

Photos?

Here goes

03-01-2021 11:24pm

It's one of 3000 BSA Mk5 army bikes built for the Irish Army in the 1940's. Got it in 2001 and only restored it this year. It feels like cycling a very heavy gate. I have another I got in 1991 and used when I wasin school and college which I will restore this summer hopefully.

Info here: https://onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/1942-bsa-military-mk-v-roadster-ex-irish-army/?tax=tour&tid=50

And here:
https://onlinebicyclemuseum.co.uk/1942-bsa-military-mk-v-roadster-with-rifle-clips/

LollipopJimmy · 15-01-2021 1:38pm

Quick trial fit. Just waiting on the tyres to arrive. Opted to fit the tyres myself so will follow the process to the letter.

LollipopJimmy · 15-01-2021 4:14pm

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

Quick trial fit. Just waiting on the tyres to arrive. Opted to fit the tyres myself so will follow the process to the letter.

Cable outers to red or black i think will look better. Lot of colours there tbh and I'm not sure about how it looks. Definitely won't be going tan wall tyres anyway

MojoMaker · 15-01-2021 6:17pm

Cracker :P

Black cables I reckon. Go red and you'll have the same yellow problem, just not yellow.

Beautiful wheels. May we all get an unexpected blast of good weather to enjoy these recent acquisitions!

LollipopJimmy · 15-01-2021 6:37pm

MojoMaker wrote: »

Cracker :P

Black cables I reckon. Go red and you'll have the same yellow problem, just not yellow.

Beautiful wheels. May we all get an unexpected blast of good weather to enjoy these recent acquisitions!

Waiting on that weather alright! I've a couple of other small jobs to do but an hours work at most, brake pads to carbon pads and finally fit the plain black bartape thats been there a long time

magicbastarder · 15-01-2021 7:31pm

one vote here for yellow cables.

fat bloke · 15-01-2021 10:35pm

Yellow looks great.

Beautiful bike and wheels.
Must be one of the most iconic manufacture paint schemes. Up there with Bianchi Celeste.

iwillhtfu · 15-01-2021 11:21pm

The silver jagwire outers might look well on there.

https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/jagwire-universal-sport-brake-cable-set-1030013?varid=1030031

cletus · 16-01-2021 3:38pm

Following on from a suggestion on the "what's in your saddlebag" thread, I decided to put a few wraps of duct tape around my mini pump.

Now anyone can have black duct tape, but I figured mine should match my handlebar tape

ednwireland · 17-01-2021 9:39pm

new year added new front wheel and disc brake to the old mtb not bad for less than 100 euro

iwillhtfu · 17-01-2021 9:48pm

ednwireland wrote: »

new year added new front wheel and disc brake to the old mtb not bad for less than 100 euro

Looks well, you'd typically run the brake line inside the fork just incase they catch on anything.

ednwireland · 17-01-2021 9:55pm

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Looks well, you'd typically run the brake line inside the fork just incase they catch on anything.

yeh was thinking about that but the fork had a cable holder on the fork brace so used it ! dont do much technical !

iwillhtfu · 17-01-2021 10:20pm

ednwireland wrote: »

yeh was thinking about that but the fork had a cable holder on the fork brace so used it ! dont do much technical !

It would be the bit between the cable clamp and the calliper that would run inside the fork leg. It does seem counterintuitive though as it's now closer to the wheel itself.

triggermortis · 17-01-2021 11:08pm

Today I refitted the mudguards that I took off yesterday to clean the bike. Can't set them up without any rubbing now!! If its dry in the morning, I might leave them off for the commute to work (and then probably regret it by the time I come home again) as they drive me nuts!

triggermortis · 19-01-2021 5:28pm

Front brake wouldn't release properly on the ride home from work. Had a look and found the cable fraying inside the outer. Managed to pull it halfway out and then it jammed. More elbow grease added and it came out. Looks like a load of knitting! Only have gear cables in the shed - typical

NeedMoreGears · 20-01-2021 4:00pm

My rear brake jammed over the weekend. It turned out* the rear cable had a small kink in it . As luck would have it, I had a spare. As luck wouldn't have it, the end of the cable had a manufacturing flaw that meant it was bigger than the cable itself - no chance of it fitting the outer cables. So off to the LBS for me.

*only after I had removed the whole thing , cleaned it, took it apart, dropped some tiny bits, swore some, found the tiny bits, re-lubed it and reinstalled the assembly

cletus · 20-01-2021 4:22pm

NeedMoreGears wrote: »

My rear brake jammed over the weekend. It turned out* the rear cable had a small kink in it . As luck would have it, I had a spare. As luck wouldn't have it, the end of the cable had a manufacturing flaw that meant it was bigger than the cable itself - no chance of it fitting the outer cables. So off to the LBS for me.

*only after I had removed the whole thing , cleaned it, took it apart, dropped some tiny bits, swore some, found the tiny bits, re-lubed it and reinstalled the assembly

I know you haven't asked any questions, and the job is already done, but could you not have just snipped of the bit that was too wide?

triggermortis · 20-01-2021 5:24pm

New brake cable fitted. Front mudguard readjusted to not rub and wreck my head (for at least 5 minutes anyway).
2 new bottle cages fitted. A different design to any I’ve used before so will have to see how I get on with them

Weepsie · 20-01-2021 5:26pm

Not my bike, but I cleaned up my spare room which is the de facto bike room. Got myself a 4x4 kallax style cube shelving to organise bike cloths and tools etc as well and have a bit more order to it.

We too delivery of a cat yesterday, who has decided that the shelf is his and I've had to remove some stuff from it as he might get stuck behind. Also can't use the turbo trainer while he's getting used to the place!

NeedMoreGears · 21-01-2021 12:34pm

cletus wrote: »

I know you haven't asked any questions, and the job is already done, but could you not have just snipped of the bit that was too wide?

I was concerned I wouldn’t get a clean cut. It was also getting cold in the shed. Fitted the new one last night. All good.

Just for the craic, I took a small grinder to the defective cable. It worked surprisingly well in the that the individual strands of the cable stayed together while I removed the extra material on the end of the cable. I now have a spare cable again.

I suspect that, during manufacture, they heated the cable end for too much time and that resulted in a bit of a blob of material stuck on the end, which made the diameter too big.

LollipopJimmy · 21-01-2021 12:46pm

A good wire cutter is essential. Cheapo ones make a mess of cables but a good one will go through them like butter

cletus · 21-01-2021 1:02pm

LollipopJimmy wrote: »

A good wire cutter is essential. Cheapo ones make a mess of cables but a good one will go through them like butter

This. Normal wire snips are no good either, they tend to flatten out the cable.

I have cut cables as in the post above, with a small cutting wheel on a Dremel, but the wire cutter is much simpler

Also, with regards to your newly cut, and now spare, cable, I'd put a dab of solder on the top to stop it unraveling. You could probably put an end cap on it too, but it'd annoy me to waste one

cletus · 23-01-2021 5:40pm

Well, there's your problem...

iwillhtfu · 23-01-2021 5:54pm

A bit of lithium grease they'll be grand

secman · 23-01-2021 6:53pm

cletus wrote: »

Well, there's your problem...

A thinly veiled "i'm married " post

cletus · 23-01-2021 7:07pm

secman wrote: »

A thinly veiled "i'm married " post

That's not my wedding ring

Although I am married

magicbastarder · 23-01-2021 7:34pm

yep, i was wondering; a wedding band on the middle finger of the right hand is an unusual position.
i wore my weddng band for three days, i hate wearing any sort of jewellery. watches too, don't wear them.

triggermortis · 24-01-2021 11:20am

I’d soak that whole race and bearing set in some diesel for a day or so and then give it all a clean with something to get the rough surface off. Plenty of grease and it should all be grand

cletus · 24-01-2021 3:28pm

triggermortis wrote: »

I’d soak that whole race and bearing set in some diesel for a day or so and then give it all a clean with something to get the rough surface off. Plenty of grease and it should all be grand

I have them soaking there now, I'll post up a picture when I take them out of that jar

Today I did something to my bike thread...

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