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Today's most unsatisfactory and wholly rubbish bicycle maintenance

(216 posts)
  • Started 5 years ago by Arellcat
  • Latest reply from urchaidh

12…8

  1. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Tales of successful wrenching, parts aquisitions, tool envy and the sheer pleasure in a job done well, can all get in the bin. This is a thread in which one may lament the frustration and general velocipedal malaise borne of seized bolts, broken spokes, frayed brake cables and frayed tempers.

    Today I was going to swap the power connectors on the torpedo from Tamiya to Anderson Power Poles, which had arrived in the post in doublequick time. But the brakes on the torpedo really needed reset because I'd run out of thead on the barrel adjusters, so I thought I'd do that first.

    While dropping the suspension, the adjusting nut for the right-hand Macpherson fell out of my hand and dropped down deep inside the transmission tunnel. The radius rod balljoint then needed drifting out because it was seized in its bracket. Then I discovered the cable stop for the brake was also seized; not even Mole grips could deal with it. It took a blowtorch and WD40 to break the corrosion. Then I discovered the brake cable strands were coming to bits, so I had to replace the cable entirely.

    While I had the wheel and strut on my workbench I regreased the actuating arm for the brake shoes, and then discovered all of the spokes on the inside of the wheel side were loose, and worse, I found a broken spoke. Fortunately the only spokes I could find in my box were the correct length; I don't know where anything is anymore because I tidied my garage last weekend. Fixing and truing the wheel, and then replacing the rim tape took an hour.

    I reassembled the brake cable, cable end cap and stop, only to find I'd clamped the cable too far down and split the strands, but couldn't tighten the cable further because it wasn't long enough to reach to the hub.

    By now I was running out of time, with other important stuff to do later, and indeed tomorrow, so I called time on sorting the left-hand brake, reset the barrel adjusters and discovered the brakes were no better tuned than before.

    I still couldn't find the adjusting nut for the strut, but it magically reappeared when I picked up the entire machine and shook it. I put the suspension back together and realised I'd done so without the washer below the adjusting nut. But I couldn't remember losing it in the first place either.

    So for five hours of work my net gain was replacing one spoke.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  2. wingpig
    Member

    For similar reasons, my geared bike spent a couple of months in the shed immediately after getting a nice fresh drivetrain as I ran out of time to replace the front brake, rewire the rear light, reattach the rear mudflap and true the rear wheel, all to which I'd forgotten needed to be done in addition to replacing the geary bits. It was only the arrival of the ice which forced me to fit the spikey tyres which forced me to do the rest.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  3. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    when I picked up the entire machine and shook it

    We've all been there.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  4. sallyhinch
    Member

    This thread feels like my natural home ...

    Posted 5 years ago #

  5. Greenroofer
    Member

    It is somehow reassuring that maintenance disasters even happen to the extremely competent likes of @Arellcat and @wingpig.

    If you can talk nonchalantly about truing a wheel but still have a problem, us normal people should feel much better.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  6. paulmilne
    Member

    Recently my front hydraulic disc brake went wonky, was rubbing pretty constantly. I watched a few YouTube videos and was pretty confident I could loosen a couple of screws to release the calipers, squeeze them shut with the brake handle, tighten the screws, and the calipers would be in realigned correctly. I loosened the screw, squeezed the brake handle, and all the brake fluid came squirting out.

    I took it into EBC where I had bought it, and after fixing it one mechanic told me which screws to loosen next time (I'm sure they were the ones I did loosen) and the other mechanic told me there was no maintenance I could do to the brake, apart from attempting to bend the disk if it got out of alignment.

    I knew I should have stuck with rim brakes.

    Next job: replacing the bar tape on my Ridgeback touring bike.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  7. morepathsplease
    Member

    Swapped rack from abandoned commuter to current commuter thereby doubling the weight of current commuter (ok, slight exaggeration perhaps).

    Posted 5 years ago #

  8. wingpig
    Member

    When fitting new mudguards to the rear of a singlespeed or fixie half-way through the lifetime of the chain, remember to check that you've left enough space at the seat tube end to allow the wheel to still fit when you've fitted a new and unstretched chain with the same number of links.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  9. acsimpson
    Member

    I've been ignoring a noisy chain for a couple of weeks and sure enough when I checked it tonight it's hit 1% wear. I dropped a new chain onto it with minimal fuss but unfortunately I left it too long and now need a new chainring. climbing hills is going to be hard work until that it fitted.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  10. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Working in the bike workshop today. Guy asks me to change his disc brake pads. Both sets? I enquire, glancing down and seeing that the front brake is in fact missing.

    Took out the chewed-up rear pads. Retaining pin and both pistons jammed, more air than fluid in the lines. We didn't have the correct pads and even if we did I wouldn't have fitted them.

    Put the old pads back in, told him it was a death trap but the guy was like 'I have to be somewhere soon' and I was like yes, the forensic morgue.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  11. I were right about that saddle
    Member

    Today was a guy whose rear wheel had 'stopped going round'. I took it apart and I do not even know how to imagine that it had ever 'gone round'. I have never seen metal so tortured.

    Put in a new wheel which rubbed on the mudguard a bit but given the state of the rest of the bike I sent him packing without any residual guilt. I'm not a magician.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  12. wingpig
    Member

    Swapped tyres on the geared bike with a relative lack of fuss whilst there was only one child about - Marathons Winter came off easily enough, replaced by a pre-used Marathon and an Armadillo with almost no thumb-pain and almost no flap getting the additional anti-puncture tape back in place. Partially-inflated, replaced the wheels, checked the lights, tightened the rear shifter cable, oiled the chain, de-inverted everything and started inflating the rear tyre properly only for the valve to let out a pathetic wheeze before it stopped acting like a valve. The rain was just starting and there's lots of laundry to redistribute so the inner tube replacement shall have to wait until tomorrow.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  13. gembo
    Member

    Had a flat last saturday out by Carrington. Probably a pinch flat.

    No apparent thorn or sharp metal. Tyre went on easily with just my.thumbs and seemed a little worn. Back wheel. Bought a new one and popped it on today so now front and back have same tyres Grand Prix 4000. Both quite sticky to the touch, the front one clearly therefore newer than the one I took off the rear which was shiny. Here is where it gets rubbish. Continental have a picture on the box of two little indented circles that indicate wear. .

    I found these on the old tyre Indicating that I could just have left it on. I will keep it and put it back on in a couple of years. If I remember. I hVe two half worn gatorkins it can wait with. They are for winter bike if I remember.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  14. wingpig
    Member

    I have a small selection of worn Armadillos and Gatorskins in the shed, awaiting completion of their lives when it becomes difficult to source fresh tyres in the End Times.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  15. gembo
    Member

    I have a similar stash Wingpig which I find somewhat comforting

    Posted 5 years ago #

  16. urchaidh
    Member

    Changed front disc pads today, managed to get them 'fitted' with the bolt that should hold them in place not actually be through the hole in one of the pads.

    The unsecured pad stayed in place longer than you might expect, though did finally pop out at the most inopportune moment as I approached Portobello cross in traffic.

    I was lucky, could have been nasty. Will remember to check that pads are fully secured in future.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  17. Baldcyclist
    Member

    In prep for starting commuting again I thought I'd get the work bike up to scratch again.

    My brakes with the bullhorns were never that good, and I'd broken the bar end shifters after a crash, so thought I'd return to a more conventional set up.

    Looked at price for full tiagra groupset, and at £280 at the time was very tempted.

    Anyway decided to buy some 4700 shifters cheap of flea bay (£65), fitted them to newly bought handle bars, and thought I was good to go, however I couldn't quite get the indexing right.

    Measure the chain, and it was stretched and thought, Ah so thought new chain and cassette then, that'll sort it. I also see a rear mech cheap, but decide to leave it as the one on the bike was quite new before I stopped cycling, should be good for a few 1000 miles more.

    Order and fit new chain and cassette, and try to index gears. I can either index 1-5, or 5-10 perfectly,but not 1-10.

    When riding the chain is noisy, and shifting is still rubbish, I'd been suffering that for a couple of weeks then went on AL.

    Now getting ready to go.back, and start looking at issue again, still can't index the gears properly.

    Think I'll just change the rear mech after all. Start looking for deals, see a cheap old stock tiagra mech, and look at 4700 to check price difference
    Checking specs notice old and new tiagra ane not compatible with each other, sigh.

    Buy the more expensive 4700 one.

    That should fix the issue, but now I'm in for £150, and can't help thinking instead of trying to save a few quid with the cheap shifters I should have taken the deal on the new groupset as my front chainring isn't that far away from needing replaced too.

    Also after changing all that I discovered my poor brake performance is down to the old Avid BB7 brakes on their last legs, so there will be another £80 there to replace them. That's for next month though.

    At the moment I'm.saving about £80 a month on train fares, but the bike is swallowing the lot, lol! Lucky my wife has the patience of a saint, and is quite relaxed about my component addiction...

    Posted 5 years ago #

  18. Juanito
    Member

    Somewhat unsatisfactory maintenance last night which I'd appreciate some advice with -

    Setting up the indexing on a new bike (new wheel, cassette, derailleur, chain). I've set up the limits and indexing okay, shifts fine. But it's skipping a lot on the small cogs at the back (worst in 11, but skips in 13 and 15 too). I don't think this is indexing as its more like the chain is hopping over the cog instead of the freehub engaging. Hence seems to go away further up the cassette when the tension is increased.

    Cassette - Sunrace (11-40 9 speed)
    Chain - Sram 9 Speed
    Derailleur - Shimano Alivio M4000
    Set up one by

    I've got the b-screw set to that it's just enough to shift to the big cog and no more. And I've shortened the chain as much as I can. Distance between detailleur pully and casseette it's pretty large still. I'm not using a hanger extender.

    I understand that this isn't really an advised set up, so it might just be destined not to work. But interested to see if there might be something I'm missing. Any thoughts?

    Thanks

    Posted 5 years ago #

  19. Blueth
    Member

    If all else is in order then it sounds like a classic cable tension problem. There will be lots on the web about how to perform this simple adjustment.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  20. Murun Buchstansangur
    Member

    "it sounds like a classic cable tension problem"

    It might not be. Alivio M4000 has a manufacturer recommended max of 36T low although the mech's capacity constraint should be helped by running it 1x. Sounds like the poster themself is unsure about whether the derailleur pulley is close enough to the cassette and this could contribute to skipping if not enough of the chain is 'wrapped'.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  21. Juanito
    Member

    Actually think the problem might have been the quick release or the hub. I loosened off the quick release a bit and that seemed to help. This was a halo hex bolt quick release, shifter to a 'normal' halo lever one and went as loose as I dared. This has eased things off a bit and the issue is mostly resolved.

    Never had these issues with the skewer in the previous bike though so don't know if it's a wheel thing.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  22. Juanito
    Member

    Ta for help so far.

    Posted 5 years ago #

  23. Juanito
    Member

    Bit of an update -

    Bearing in the wheel are too tight I think, bit rough. It might have happened because they fit the wrong endcap initially. So the clamping down that happened then might have ruined the bearings. Or it may have been set up that way in the first place.

    Considering returning the wheels for a refund. Does anyone know a good 27.5" wheelset around 23 internal width, quick release (or convertable) for about £150 to £200?

    Thanks

    Posted 5 years ago #

  24. gnr1751
    Member

    Yesterday decided to fit new marathon plus tyres after putting it off for the last week, rear one went on in 5 mins great thinks I , hover the front one was a real b&*%ger.45 mins later after 2 broken tyre levers and lots of swearing was finally on .Fit the wheel only to realise it was on the wrong way ,cue lots more swearing !!!

    Posted 5 years ago #

  25. gembo
    Member

    @gnr1751, i did that once and just lived with it until the next change 4000km later etc

    Posted 5 years ago #

  26. twinspark
    Member

    @gnr1751 - Join the club! Managed to do that myself.... it's probably therapeutic in some (as yet unknown!) way...

    Posted 5 years ago #

  27. Greenroofer
    Member

    Last month I replaced the 11-speed chain on the fancy bike.

    I took it for a 60 mile ride straight after and thought it seemed a bit noisy, but assumed that was likely to be the factory lubrication wearing off. The shifting on the big ring was a bit sluggish too. It's hard to fit a chain wrong, isn't it, and I had carefully followed all the instructions and got all the arrows pointing the right way.

    When I came back from the ride I cleaned the chain and noticed some burrs on the big ring, which didn't seem right. The chain looked as if it was too short, even though it had the same number of links as the one I'd taken off. I couldn't see anything else wrong.

    Two days ago, before yesterday's planned century ride I put the bike back on the stand to investigate the noise and poor shifting. I found that the barrel adjuster on the derailleur was seized (never used, you see), so I fixed that. Then I found that the H limit screw was set wrong, so that in nearly 2,000 miles of riding since I got the bike, I had never accessed the smallest sprocket. Neither of those fixed the noise though: that, it turned out, was because I'd threaded the chain wrong through the jockey wheels. My Ultegra derailleur now has an embarrassing pair of grooves that tell any competent bike mechanic that I rode 60 miles with a chain rubbing on something it shouldn't have been.

    Anyway, with the chain re-threaded competently it now runs silently and shifts crisply.

    The one thing I'd not foreseen from all this was water in the front shifter cable. On yesterday's sub-zero ride the cable froze and I ended up with Shimano's latest Ultegra Di0 functionality (that's the one where you have to lean down to the bottom bracket and physically move the cage by hand if you want to change from one ring to the other).

    Posted 4 years ago #

  28. wingpig
    Member

    I hope the man with weak brakes I lent a spanner to at Craigleith achieved his destination without mishap. He had disc brakes so it wasn't apparent what could be tightened where and if my ancient multi-tool even had the right sort of thing.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  29. ARobComp
    Member

    Chap riding a pinnacle in London last week with the forks fitted the wrong way round. I explained this to him and showed how the mechanic who had fitted it had run the cables etc all very neatly - just with the brake on the wrong side of the fork. Told him to take it to a bike shop ASAP for a fix before he crashes or brakes hard and they snap off.

    Posted 4 years ago #

  30. 14Westfield
    Member

    @wingpig sounds like the guy with the bad brakes has mechanical discs which only move one piston. He would need to dial in the opposite one so it sits far nearer the disc.

    Posted 4 years ago #

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