Today I did something to my bike thread...

OldBean

I installed a Garmin GSC10 and had a few stupid moments doing it, then wore myself out on the turbo trainer after. Next up, a clean, change the brake blocks and find out what's rubbing where on my front wheel/mudguard. Then wear myself out on the trainer again.

crosstownk

Jamari Hollow Prince wrote: »

Nothing earth shattering but I thought I'd throw it in here.. I bought one of those Aldi chain cleaning kits a year or two back but never bothered using it, I think it cost about a fiver, preferring to clean my chain the old fashioned ways.

But the bike was destroyed after last weeks road salting, so I thought it was time to break out the Aldi kit, not expecting it to be up to a whole lot.

Pleasantly surprised, it worked a treat and had the clean stripped of oil and grime, and gleaming in no time

That's it, certainly worth the price of a fiver ~ like I said, not earth shattering but someone might be wondering about the kit next time they're in Aldi's.

I use the same cleaner. It can be a bit fiddly to stop the chain getting jammed but rather than use the arm that holds it to the jockey wheel cage, I just hold with my hand.

I find it does a great job of cleaning the chain. I use it regularly - so much so that a lot of chain dirt/grime/debris has now collected at the bottom of the cleaner. Rather than try to clean it I'll just buy another one when the offer comes around again. I use a Durabond citrus degreaser that I got in the local hardware (works a treat) as the degreaser that came with the kit is only good for one or two cleans.

aFlabbyPanda

New BB7 calipers to replace the CX-Experts on my Cdf. The difference is like night & day. The bike actually stops now.

FirstinLastout

The_Sub wrote: »

New BB7 calipers to replace the CX-Experts on my Cdf. The difference is like night & day. The bike actually stops now.

Awesome brakes!

disco1

Added new ksyrium pro disc wheels to my 2015 defy advanced. Bike is a pound lighter now to compared to stock wheels.
Can't wait to try out....bloody expensive though.

BenEadir

disco1 wrote: »

Added new ksyrium pro disc wheels to my 2015 defy advanced. Bike is a pound lighter now to compared to stock wheels.
Can't wait to try out....bloody expensive though.

Can Disc wheels be retro fitted to a bike designed with Calipers?

iwillhtfu

BenEadir wrote: »

Can Disc wheels be retro fitted to a bike designed with Calipers?

I don't think there's a rim breaking surface on the break disc wheels if that's what you were thinking.

disco1

No road disc frames are 135, mm wide for axle.....wider than standard caliper frames

BenEadir

disco1 wrote: »

No road disc frames are 135, mm wide for axle.....wider than standard caliper frames

Thanks, that's what I thought. Pity, I never feel that happy with my brakes. I'm constantly locking up the back wheel which has led to some hairy moments recently including today when the roads were dry. It seems like I have no feedback from the brakes whatsoever. They go from zero to lock up with very little pressure on the shifters. Frustrating.

Unknown Soldier

disco1 wrote: »

Added new ksyrium pro disc wheels to my 2015 defy advanced. Bike is a pound lighter now to compared to stock wheels.
Can't wait to try out....bloody expensive though.

This may be my eyes or the pics but are both the tyres in "opposite" directions?

disco1

Yep....there front and rear specific. Although factory could have installed on wrong...must check for direction arrows.

iwillhtfu

Unknown Soldier wrote: »

This may be my eyes or the pics but are both the tyres in "opposite" directions?

Good spot. wheels will be specific but tyre thread should be pointing the same direction I'd imagine.

Unknown Soldier

disco1 wrote: »

Yep....there front and rear specific. Although factory could have installed on wrong...must check for direction arrows.

Think you're fine! I found this. Think the rear is a Powerlink and the front a griplink?

disco1

Ha....I checked it too so turns out there on correct....does look little funny though.

iwillhtfu

That's mad Ted

disco1

Yeah.....totally fookin mad.

Eamonnator

I had my front tyre wrong way round. Luckily, I don't have discs.

Thank you.

Unknown Soldier

iwillhtfu wrote: »

That's mad Ted

disco1 wrote: »

Yeah.....totally fookin mad.

Eamonnator wrote: »

I had my front tyre wrong way round. Luckily, I don't have discs.

Thank you.

Even madder, Ted... While tidying up the Attic this morning I came across my Bargain purchased spare Mavics and they have the same tyre configuration. Powerlink on the back and a Griplink on the front. Except my Griplink is going in the same direction as the rear! And they came from 4thebike.de (Mavic?) last July like that

My OCD will be kicking in shortly...

Zyzz

Bought a new cable and finally fixed my rear brake..its going to feel weird having a super powerful rear brake now :pac:

monkeyslayer

Swapped out my 12-27 for a 11-25, found i wasn't really using the 27, mostly the 24 climbing... wondering do i need to remove some chain links??

crosstownk

monkeyslayer wrote: »

Swapped out my 12-27 for a 11-25, found i wasn't really using the 27, mostly the 24 climbing... wondering do i need to remove some chain links??

Probably not. Pop it onto the inner ring and the 11 and see if your RD is still in tension. If it is then you're good to go.

Hmmzis

Changed all cables on the commuter/trainer. There was a layer of salt in the shifter cable outers under the bar tape... how did it get there? Same story with the brake cables, back brake cable was covered in salt and rust, again, under the bar tape.

Also, swapped bars from commuter to racer (52 grams difference) and put new Lizard Skins bar tape on the racer.

iwillhtfu

Hmmzis wrote: »

Changed all cables on the commuter/trainer. There was a layer of salt in the shifter cable outers under the bar tape... how did it get there? Same story with the brake cables, back brake cable was covered in salt and rust, again, under the bar tape.

Also, swapped bars from commuter to racer (52 grams difference) and put new Lizard Skins bar tape on the racer.

Do you use the bike on the turbo a lot?

Your sweat is full of salt. There's a clip here of bars that failed supposedly from sweat.

Hmmzis

iwillhtfu wrote: »

Do you use the bike on the turbo a lot?

Your sweat is full of salt. There's a clip here of bars that failed supposedly from sweat.

Would have used it for a few sessions alright. Might have to keep a towel on the bars from now on.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Fitted new Campag Zondas to my F5 along with Pro4 SC's. Beautiful wheel and they really look well on the bike. Also fitted a Prologo Kappa PAS saddle in hard black. Had the regular black one ( which is now on my winter bike) but it was too busy.

neris

First time doing any remotely mechanical to the bike but thought Id give it a try and if I screwed it up theres always a bike shop nearby. New brake and gear cables fitted (with a little help from the gcn videos), new bar tape and new brake pads. Everything seems ok so far apart from one side of the handle bars having less tape then the other.

Eamonnator

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote: »

Fitted new Campag Zondas to my F5 along with Pro4 SC's. Beautiful wheel and they really look well on the bike. Also fitted a Prologo Kappa PAS saddle in hard black. Had the regular black one ( which is now on my winter bike) but it was too busy.

They do look really well. Excellent colour coordination.

cython

Fitted a new (to me at least, really second hand from AmberGold on here) set of wheels to the bike over the weekend, Mavic Open Pro rims on 105 5700 hubs, seeing as the R501s I had were breaking spokes far too frequently. Also replaced my BB this evening with an Ultegra 6700 one (previous Tiagra one lasted <3000km, so hoping this one might be a bit more durable, for not much price difference). Now just need to hope the weather isn't too crap tomorrow and I might get to use both changes on the commute!

Daroxtar

Finally took the SPD pedals off my road bike and got me some Look Keo ones. Picked them up in Tri and Run, Mullingar, cheaper than CRC!!!
Did a quick spin on the turbo, I have to admit there's a fair difference in how much more secure and stable I feel. Really connected to the bike now.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Hmmzis wrote: »

Changed all cables on the commuter/trainer. There was a layer of salt in the shifter cable outers under the bar tape... how did it get there? Same story with the brake cables, back brake cable was covered in salt and rust, again, under the bar tape.

I posted a few weeks ago about the amount of salt on the roads around Dublin this winter, much more than usual.

Then last week I noticed rust/water coming from my headset so I stripped it out today and found salt and small bits of rust inside, maybe something for those of us who've noticed the extra salting to this year to check and re-grease bearing etc.







Not sure if the salt and grime are visible in this photo, but I'm delighted I took the few minutes to strip, clean and re-grease both top and bottom headset bearings.