Today I did something to my bike thread...

iwillhtfu

Trekker09 wrote: »

I'm about to restore an old frame I have and was looking at all the different options. I'm not too keen on using Nitromors etc. Did you sand down the whole frame? If so, what grades paper did you use?

Cheers

Leave it into a local coatings place and have them chemical dip and blast the frame. I did it with a frame recently and it was only €30 It's the best job as sand paper etc doesn't get the entire frame. The new eco friendly nitromors isn't worth a ****e to be honest.

Plastik

Would agree with that. If you're having the frame powdercoated just give it to the company and they'll do all that work. If you want to go the home spray route give it to someone to strip back like iwillhtfu says. Nitromors that you'll buy these days is absolutely useless and honestly, it's not worth the time of your life that you'll lose sanding by hand. It's mildly entertaining for about the first 30minutes and after that it becomes a complete chore.

BrianHenryIE

Does anyone know where I can order custom stickers in Bianchi celeste with the same font?

triggermortis

Finished spraying the primer on the frame and forks. Would rather have gone out for a spin but had to wait in for DHL to deliver my new wheels anyway. Fulcrum 7s and a few other bits just arrived 😀

Frame could do with a new headset so might sort that before I do any more painting

triggermortis

New headset fitted and paint started. I was going to try a hydro dip paint swirl, but the paint dried on top of the water too fast and just moved into a clump instead of a swirl. Still, I enjoyed cleaning out a spare wheelie bin and filling it with water for no reason...
Going for a fade now...

triggermortis

Pretty much done now. Just need to fit both gear cables and the chain. Mudguards also to go on and new lights (when they arrive).
I'll swap the cadence and speed sensors off of the commuter bike and probably lose my mind getting them to pair with my Garmin...

rollingscone

triggermortis wrote: »

Pretty much done now. Just need to fit both gear cables and the chain. Mudguards also to go on and new lights (when they arrive).
I'll swap the cadence and speed sensors off of the commuter bike and probably lose my mind getting them to pair with my Garmin...

Aren't they already paired with it?

I loaned a colleague my winter roadbike for the Great Dublin Bike ride and my Garmin kept asking to switch to sensors on his bike ;-)

triggermortis

rollingscone wrote: »

Aren't they already paired with it?

I loaned a colleague my winter roadbike for the Great Dublin Bike ride and my Garmin kept asking to switch to sensors on his bike ;-)

They were but my Garmin has forgot about them. I think it's also lost my speed sensor on the good bike for some reason. All I know is it will give me a pain in the hoop to set up

triggermortis

https://ibb.co/jYKzkm

99% finished. Still got to swap the cadence and speed sensors over. Not too sure about the yellow bottle cages, might swap them out for black ones.
Also I can't get the gears to shift as well as I'd like but I suspect the hangar isn't as straight as it needs to be. I moved it as much as I could but I think it needs replacing.

Alanstrainor

Last night at 11pm I decided to check the bike before bed. On Friday I had come out to a flat tyre after work, when removing the valve cap I saw that the valve was loose. Tightened, bumped to 60psi or so and off I went. Made it home, no bother. Pumped to 120psi when I got back and it seemed fine. Checked last night and it was flat again, shoite.

This is my second puncture on my Schwalbe Durano Double Defense in about 2000km. A tiny piece of embedded glass did it. Not too pleased with that so I've popped on a spare new GP4000II. I had to use this guys technique to get the bloody thing on. Works well, no levers needed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XUFVrl0UT4

iwillhtfu

I had the tyre on with my levers and was out for a spin before he had his second toe strap on

Alanstrainor

iwillhtfu wrote: »

I had the tyre on with my levers and was out for a spin before he had his second toe strap on

Main point is pushing the bead to the center of the wheel, no need for straps at all. Only took a minute or two to get the tyre on. I had spent way way more time attempting to get the new gp4000 on with brute force and levers. The technique works really well.

Borderfox

Tubeless rims and a pita, Id be quicker than him with the heel of my hand though

Fighting Tao

New chain, cassette and brake pads. First time doing any of it. Pushed the chain pin through too far. When I broke off the bit I had to try and push it back. It’s flush now but not sure I trust it!

Brake pads were the worst. A little fiddly. Won't get to try the bike tomorrow but might take it to work on monday instead of my commuter.

triggermortis

Fighting Tao wrote: »

Brake pads were the worst. A little fiddly. Won't get to try the bike tomorrow but might take it to work on monday instead of my commuter.

Did you just change just the block or the whole brake pad? If you changed the whole thing, you do know that they can be put in the wrong way round? If there is a small screw to release the block and this needs to be at the rear side of the pad (ie when viewed from the side, the screw is at the back). If you have it at the front and it loosens, the pad can be thrown out of its housing when you brake, and you end up with no brakes!

Fighting Tao

triggermortis wrote: »

Did you just change just the block or the whole brake pad? If you changed the whole thing, you do know that they can be put in the wrong way round? If there is a small screw to release the block and this needs to be at the rear side of the pad (ie when viewed from the side, the screw is at the back). If you have it at the front and it loosens, the pad can be thrown out of its housing when you brake, and you end up with no brakes!

I replaced the block only. It’s quite a simple process. The only issue was getting the new block into the shoe. It was a tight fit but they are working a treat now.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Fighting Tao wrote: »

I replaced the block only. It’s quite a simple process. The only issue was getting the new block into the shoe. It was a tight fit but they are working a treat now.

Small drop of oil/lube works wonders getting them to slide in/out.

Macy0161

New shorter stem on the commuter.

dahat

Have a set of Fulcrum Quattro's that are really rough, rear wheel hub is fooked but front I reckon I can save so I tried to grease the bearings today.
As I'm not the best at bike maintenance I had a look around YouTube which helped but couldn't get the actual bearings out to clean them properly so just sprayed some lube in to wash it out then applied grease to what I could get at.

The wheel doesn't seem any better so it's a wasted hour and wheel is returned to hanging in the shed...

secman

dahat wrote: »

Have a set of Fulcrum Quattro's that are really rough, rear wheel hub is fooked but front I reckon I can save so I tried to grease the bearings today.
As I'm not the best at bike maintenance I had a look around YouTube which helped but couldn't get the actual bearings out to clean them properly so just sprayed some lube in to wash it out then applied grease to what I could get at.

The wheel doesn't seem any better so it's a wasted hour and wheel is returned to hanging in the shed...

Not really a wasted hour, maybe try doing them again, practicing on a fooked wheel makes sense , perfect your skills for when you need to sort a good wheel

ford2600

A very wide front wheel for a bit of off road

hesker

Made some brackets to give more clearance between back tyre and close fitting mudguards. They work perfectly and cost me nothing.

Borderfox

New stem and saddle on the winter bike

triggermortis

Finally got around to adjusting my front mech on the winter bike so it no longer throws the chain off when I change up to the big ring. Mech wasn't properly aligned. Still need to get new batteries and fit garmin sensors...

arybvtcw0eolkf

Today I done nothing to my bike, lol.

Well, I took it out yesterday and noticed a buckle. Checked it and found two broken spokes, went into Jimmy's bike shop in Portmarnock to buy two spokes to replace them at home.

'Sure we'll do that for a score', happy days ~ I don't have to get my hands dirty today and the rim is true as brand new

Weepsie

Put a new chainset onto the touring bike and a new chain. First time doing either and but for my losing half the powerlink for the chain painless.

Need to change cables too very soon I'd say,and play with the brakes.

I'm hopeless with cantis though no matter the number of videos I watch

Alanstrainor

I'm usually pretty good at keeping up on my basic bike maintenance, but I let slip for 3 or more weeks. So this evening I thoroughly cleaned the chain and gears with some degreaser. Then oiled everything, chain, gears, shifters etc. The amount of grime that came off it was unreal. Gritted and salty roads are a nightmare.

Boscoirl

New chain in my bike.

Thank god for the quick release link. Put it on arseways first time round!

nilhg

My rear SKS chromoplastic developed a major crack, a liberal application of duct tape will hopefully see me through the festive season till I get some more

brownian

Yesterday I took my rear hub to bits, as part of investigation of why my cassette lock-ring was rubbing against my rear drop-out. This on the pretty Extralite Cyber-Rear hub in the middle of a pair of hand-builts from 2015.

A few little round metal bits fell out, but I couldn't see from where, and I didn't worry too much. I gave it all a good clean and put it back together, then went for a spin. 8 km in, the cassette is wandering in and out, even though the lockring is well tight. Took it to the Bikerack, where Al shows me that one of the hub bearings is entirely disintegrated (that'll be those wee round bits, so) - shell and all just gone. Left the wheel there; Al lent me a wheel to get me home.

The moral - read your hub manual. Clean and grease your bearings every once in a while (mine were neglected for 2 years and maybe 9,000 km) - it's easy enough to do. If you don't want to do this, don't buy Extralite hubs, but instead get some no-maintenance tractor hub instead. Especially if you use them in winter too.

The up-side - for a few euros, Bikerack Al fitted new bearings throughout. I gave him the matching front wheel to do today, so I'll have a good-as-new set of hubs by the weekend.