Today I did something to my bike thread...

magicbastarder wrote: »

i tried running the white spirit through a coffee filter but the crud in it just clogged up the filter.

probably to fine a filter a sock over the container or something will work fine.

So, time to remove those crank arms. Had them soaked overnight in WD40


Bought the correct tool, threaded it up...


Stripped the threads


Broke out the big guns...


Did nothing but take the point off the puller

Back to the drawing board. I've seen the puller used in conjunction with a small socket to centre the puller arm on the square taper, but that's for another day

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Not to ask a stupid question but you did just sinch up the main collar which you have the spanner on and use the inner bolt to push off the BB right?

I envisage and angle grinder and heat torch in your near future

As my grandfather used to say, no such thing as a stupid question, only an eejit that asked it

Yep, used the puller as you described. I'm hoping not to take an angle grinder to it, but the heat torch might be on the list all right

I treated myself to R8050 Di2 groupset in the Black Friday sales (from Bike24) and on Sunday started the build and removed all the cable guides for the mechanical cables and fitted all the internal wires for the groupset. Not as simple and straight forward as I was hoping for and took approx. 3 hours in total.

The RD wire was a complete PITA as the entry and exit holes on the chain stay are only as wide as the plug on the Di2 wires and so there was a lot of hoking and poking to get the wire threaded through. In the end up I cut a length of brake cable and managed to fish it through, then tied a piece of fine string to it and pulled it back through and then tied the string to the Di2 wire and pulled it back through. That job alone took almost an hour!

The rest of the wires were simple and took a handful of minutes each. The wires on the handlebars were another PITA and took forever to get the done. I then temporarily taped all the wires to the frame/bars just in case one of them would slip/fall into the hole until i'm ready to plug everything in.

I also fitted the shifters which I spent another 30 minutes tweeking to get them both in the perfect position (there are no markings on the bars and so I had to measure, eyeball them) Lastly I fitted the brakes to the frame but haven't done the cables yet (they'll be the second last part of the build before the handlebar tape goes on)

Hopefully I'll finish it all at the weekend as the rest of the build (chainset, chain, cassette and brake cables) is fairly straight forward but i'll leave the whole plugging in and setting up the FD and RD to the following weekend as I don't want to rush anything and miss something important along the way and also I'm in no rush with it, this is my 'good' bike and so wouldn't be coming out till nearer the summer anyway.

How much did the groupset cost on black friday?

Gave the bike a good wash and oiling before the club ride tomorrow. Was filthy after just getting a quick hose off over xmas

Fitted the garmin 25 and ant+ cadence sensor to the bike yesterday evening. Im not the most tech savvy so it took me ages as i had to update software on the garmin. Class how it immediately updates to strava etc. It also has an option to choose indoor ride, how does that work if i dont have a smart turbo trainer?

theemigrant wrote: »

Fitted the garmin 25 and ant+ cadence sensor to the bike yesterday evening. Im not the most tech savvy so it took me ages as i had to update software on the garmin. Class how it immediately updates to strava etc. It also has an option to choose indoor ride, how does that work if i dont have a smart turbo trainer?

You don't need one but you will need an ANT+ speed sensor on the rear wheel to record speed and distance.

I stripped down half my bike the other day as the front mech wasn't shifting properly. Took it off and cleaned it up and then fitted a new cable. All good for 2 rides, now the left shifter keeps sticking over to the inside after a shift to the small ring. It did it months ago and a good clean and lube sorted it. Its happened twice in as many days now, so could be the start of more expense...

I made a sidecar for my dog. Rode about 25 km today with him in it. I'll paint it black soon.

Strava can be useful sometimes. Rear tire is delaminating (tends to happen with these) - can easily see its done 5K KM from the gear page. Front has similar distance on it but is good for more.

Temp superglue measure applied until Sigma can deliver a replacement.

I took my bike into a local shop to get a brake cable replaced (I'm away from home so have no tools). I had niggles with the headset and the gears and I knew the jockey wheels were worn, but:
New chain
New Cassette
New rear mech
New cables (inc brake)
New headset
Gear adjust.

Chainrings aren't looking too good and the left shifter is needing constant cleaning and lubing.

It's a 10 year old bike and so I need to source something newer I think. I had found a Rose I liked, but it's out of stock now..

Got and fitted new chainrings today. Could have got them cheaper online, but as the LBS took them off a bike in the shop, I realised that you don’t have to remove the crank to replace the rings. I also needed them sooner than delivery would have taken.
Whole new drivetrain now so should last me a while

Seth Brundle wrote: »

Loving the matching DLC chain!
I see they make an orange one which would suit my Orca perfectly. Are they worth the extra cost?

I don't know yet!

The bike still isn't back together, I've not had a minute to myself. Spent most of the weekend just gone in a van, I left Dublin of Friday, sailed to Holyhead, drove to the NE of England and then back, arriving home in Dublin around 2am Sunday with a Honda CBR in the back of the van.

Got a few minutes to myself this morning, chance to bust out the new blowtorch



Judicious use of a hammer and drift pin, et voilà