I'm a champion bike mechanic...

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g-boaf
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby g-boaf » Tue Oct 24, 2017 8:23 am

Duck! wrote:
g-boaf wrote:Upgraded a Giant TCR Advanced SL1 from mechanical Dura Ace 9000 to SRAM Red E-Tap. Working great, except I now have holes in the frame where the mechanical gear cables used to go.

I know there are rubber caps to go in these three holes (two at the front, one at the back) but I've been unable to locate any of them, not from Giant stores or anywhere else.

Anyone know where I could find them? At the moment I've just got tape over them to stop anything getting inside the frame.

I was given a couple of non Giant ones which didn't end up fitting at all.
I have a collection of assorted grommets and plugs. Ping me some pics of the apprpiate holes & I'll see what I've got.
Hi,

This is at the front:

Image

Didn't get one of the hole at the back (I forgot), but it's the same as for the 2013 TCR Advanced SL3 and the SL0. I'll photograph that tonight.

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bychosis
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby bychosis » Tue Oct 24, 2017 1:07 pm

Time to switch some parts around. "New" shiny wheels were to go from my temporary MTB. Took off the rotor and cassette ready to put it on my SS Trek, replacing some old, rusty nipples and flaky rim paint cheap wheels. Noticed that, while mostly looking new, the drive side spokes had all been trashed, assuming by a chain and cut about half way through. No spokes of suitable length in the parts bin.

Plan B pull the old wheels out of retirement. Looked them over, still good enough. I'd rebuilt with disc hubs several years ago and used them on a commuter bike. Appears that when I built them I got the rear wheel dish out. When installed the tyre was rubbing on the chainstay. Sure enough, when I flipped the rim around it rubbed on the other side. Time to get the spoke key out.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

nezumi
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby nezumi » Fri Nov 03, 2017 8:35 pm

After suffering the perennial problem of a broken rear shifter cable in my 5700 brifter, I finally had a replacement cable arrive today, and fitted it.

I managed to extract the broken cable quite easily by removing the side of the brifter, which made me quite happy. Once I did so, I became curious about the level of grease inside the unit. Should I make an attempt to clean this/flush it out? Is this possibly part of the cause of the cable breaking?

Since I was doing a quick fix on this one, I only replaced the cable inner and kept the same outer (and bar tape). I have known for a long time that the cables were wearing at the fork where they go around the headset to the stops on the underside of the downtube. What I realised today was that the cable outer is also being worn down, to the point that I can see some of the metal inside the outer.

Is it likely that I will be able to prevent this happening next time, or am I screwed? (pictures to follow).

On a happier note, I recently bought a fourth hand/cable stretcher tool, and found it to be awesome for setting up the rear mech for indexing.
2014 Merida Cyclo Cross 4
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Duck!
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby Duck! » Fri Nov 03, 2017 9:27 pm

Cable breakage is not related to the type or quantity of lube in the shifter mechanism. It is entirely due to the fact that stainless steel, used for all quality gear cables, coated or not, work hardens and becomes brittle with repeated bending and straightening, such as around a shifter drum. It will occur, without exception, sooner or later in all models of shifters when stainless steel cables are used. Non-stainless cables are more resilient, but the friction is horrendous, and function exceptionally poorly in shifter designs that have a higher-friction cable route, such as the 7900/6700/5700 family.

Outer cables will also wear, especially with under-tape routing due to the relatively tight curve around the top of the bar. External wear is not particularly critical to shifting performance in most instances, although if it gets too bad the outer can split and then deform under inner cable tension. However by the time the outer layer gets that weak, the internal sleeve is pretty well munted anyway.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

li2099
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby li2099 » Sat Nov 04, 2017 10:45 am

nezumi wrote:
On a happier note, I recently bought a fourth hand/cable stretcher tool, and found it to be awesome for setting up the rear mech for indexing.
You know that could have saved my sore fingers from installing new shift cables and derailleurs this week.
I wonder why I always think I didn't need one.

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g-boaf
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby g-boaf » Sat Nov 11, 2017 5:44 am

Replaced rear brake outer cable with Jagwire Links. And battled to get SRAM Red rear brakes to stay in centre. Job done I think.

The Jagwire Link system is more flexible and doesn't push the brake caliper off centre.

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ValleyForge
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby ValleyForge » Sat Nov 11, 2017 4:04 pm

g-boaf wrote:The Jagwire Link system is more flexible and doesn't push the brake caliper off centre.
I have a similar problem on one frame where the rear brake mount spins. You just have to tweak the length of the outer to get the right amount of "push". And then never touch it. Again. Ever. :shock:
Ha ha ha! Cookies on dowels.

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g-boaf
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby g-boaf » Sat Nov 11, 2017 5:40 pm

ValleyForge wrote:
g-boaf wrote:The Jagwire Link system is more flexible and doesn't push the brake caliper off centre.
I have a similar problem on one frame where the rear brake mount spins. You just have to tweak the length of the outer to get the right amount of "push". And then never touch it. Again. Ever. :shock:
That's annoying when that happens.

My work seems to have done the trick. They are tricky to set up, but very powerful once done. Lucky I've got spare parts around to do this work.

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bychosis
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby bychosis » Thu Nov 16, 2017 9:03 am

Last week on my rough, MTB commute I heard a bit of a rattle noise and found the front QR skewer loose. This morning, same bike, heard a rattle. Stopped to see the back QR skewer in an odd position, because it too was loose.

Considering the rough terrain I'd been riding on, and the (small) jumps and drops it could have gone badly - twice.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

jasonc
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby jasonc » Sat Nov 18, 2017 8:21 am

i serviced the hubs on my wheels a couple of weeks ago. something was odd afterwards. when the wheel in the frame the chain would catch on the cassette when back-pedalling. so thursday a mate had time and we had a look at it. i'd put the axle in via the non-drive side rather than via the drive side. we eventually got the wheel apart and the axle in the right way. all working again

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antigee
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby antigee » Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:14 pm

new touring bike!!! after first ride decided needed saddle back a bit - so did that before today's ride - well after (only) 3hrs or so at 35degs I was hating it - arms aching because I was constantly pushing to the back of the seat - got home - got out tape measure - made no sense - leaned over saddle looked at the markings on the rails and was obvious I'd moved it forward in the morning - dumb stuff but good news!

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bychosis
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby bychosis » Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:22 pm

My wife’s car lost a screw holding the number plate on. Couldn’t find anything the right length in the ‘tub of random screws’. Didn’t want to get the hacksaw out. Raided the bike bits toolbox and refitted the number plate with two Allen key bolts off a bike at some stage.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

CKinnard
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby CKinnard » Thu Nov 30, 2017 10:04 pm

cleaned and lubed my look pedals.
a good thing to do more often than you think.
used loctite to secure them to the cranks, cos have seen pedals come loose too often.

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Duck!
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby Duck! » Thu Nov 30, 2017 11:52 pm

CKinnard wrote: used loctite to secure them to the cranks, cos have seen pedals come loose too often.
I prefer to use a spanner & a lick of grease. Properly used, pedals don't come loose.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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10speedsemiracer
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby 10speedsemiracer » Fri Dec 01, 2017 12:15 am

Duck! wrote: I prefer to use a spanner & a lick of grease. Properly used, pedals don't come loose.
+1 for spanner/grease.
Campagnolo for show, SunTour for go

CKinnard
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby CKinnard » Fri Dec 01, 2017 8:21 am

Duck! wrote:
CKinnard wrote: used loctite to secure them to the cranks, cos have seen pedals come loose too often.
I prefer to use a spanner & a lick of grease. Properly used, pedals don't come loose.
what's improper use?

pedals are also the most common thing to seize

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Duck!
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby Duck! » Fri Dec 01, 2017 8:47 am

I was referring to a properly-used spanner..... With grease, pedals are very unlikely to seize, and with proper use of said spanner, extremely unlikely to come loose.
I had a thought, but it got run over as it crossed my mind.

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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby Philistine » Fri Dec 01, 2017 11:18 am

I thought the OP was being ironic in his choice of a title for the thread, and the idea was to talk about our !! BAN ME NOW FOR SWEARING !!-ups rather than the smart things we did.

Anyway..... I took my roadie on the train to Quakers Hill, intending to ride the M7 Cycleway. For some inexplicable reason the glorious western suburbs scenery failed to exert its magnetic fascination, and I took to examining my bike. To my horror, I found a circular crack on the side of the headstock. I averted my eyes, but when I looked back it was still there. Worse - there were two more cracks on the other side.

I thought about abandoning my ride, but the headstock still felt solid, and, for all I knew, I could have been riding around for days or weeks in blissful ignorance of the developing problem. I decided to ride the cycleway slowly and carefully (is there any other way?), and I gripped the headstock every time I thought about it (probably every 30 seconds) to see if I could feel any movement. I couldn't.

Eventually I made it to the hydration station, where I was able to persuade another cyclist to take a look at my bike. He examined the cracks carefully, before informing me that they were circular stickers placed there to stop the cables from rubbing the paintwork.

Update. The last time I posted a photograph with a comment, the photograph was immediately visible. This time there are only links. Has anyone any idea what I did wrong?

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipN ... 37mroDPkEL

https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipO ... O6s5eMio-5
Last edited by Philistine on Mon Dec 04, 2017 1:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.

CKinnard
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby CKinnard » Fri Dec 01, 2017 11:56 am

Duck! wrote:I was referring to a properly-used spanner..... With grease, pedals are very unlikely to seize, and with proper use of said spanner, extremely unlikely to come loose.
I've also seen many loosening incidents with Look pedals. They have a plastic lockring or jam jar nut = easily thread stripped if you don't know which way they tighten, that firms up the spindle/bearings and housing. I've got into a habit of checking this every few thousand k's.

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bychosis
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby bychosis » Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:13 am

On holidays at the moment. Have bikes with us, but didn’t bring more than a shifting spanner and pump. Sons bike got a flat and a trip to the local small supermarket came up dry for a puncture kit. After a day of him borrowing other bikes I figured I’d better double check my tool box but only came up with electrical tape. No harm in trying that, so removed the tube and eventually found the leak in the valve stem - puncture kit wouldn’t help that much anyway. Couple of wraps of leccy tape on the stem and it’s been holding pressure for a few hours now. I suspect that the tape won’t last, but at least the bike is rideable until we can get home to spare parts.
bychosis (bahy-koh-sis): A mental disorder of delusions indicating impaired contact with a reality of no bicycles.

Kronos
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby Kronos » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:41 pm

bychosis wrote:My wife’s car lost a screw holding the number plate on. Couldn’t find anything the right length in the ‘tub of random screws’. Didn’t want to get the hacksaw out. Raided the bike bits toolbox and refitted the number plate with two Allen key bolts off a bike at some stage.
Oh well at least someone wont steal your number plates...

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g-boaf
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby g-boaf » Thu Jan 18, 2018 10:51 am

E-Tap RD seems to be lightly touching the spokes on the rear wheel when using the 25. I've checked the adjustment screws and they are set for the correct alignment.

The only thing I can think of is the hanger might be slightly out of alignment - but it has had no knocks or impacts- so I'm a bit mystified. Aside from that, the gears shift perfectly and it is absolutely silent running.

nezumi
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby nezumi » Fri Jan 19, 2018 9:10 am

I was donated a mixed 9-speed MTB drivetrain recently so I could resurrect my 1990's era Apollo.

Unfortunately, in my ignorance and haste to get everything connected, I managed to mess up the shifter for the front mech, so now I am watching videos like this on youtube and contemplating the fiddly work that is in my future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qskSMBamxsU
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kb
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby kb » Fri Jan 19, 2018 12:37 pm

g-boaf wrote:E-Tap RD seems to be lightly touching the spokes on the rear wheel when using the 25. I've checked the adjustment screws and they are set for the correct alignment.

The only thing I can think of is the hanger might be slightly out of alignment - but it has had no knocks or impacts- so I'm a bit mystified. Aside from that, the gears shift perfectly and it is absolutely silent running.
You might be able to fix it with a larger rear sprocket. The spokes will angled further in then ;-)
Image

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g-boaf
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Re: I'm a champion bike mechanic...

Postby g-boaf » Sat Jan 20, 2018 9:22 pm

I ended up fixing it by tweaking the limit screw a tiny bit more. The adjustment was small but it solved the problem.

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