Better make sure you buy a chain that comes with a quick link.
I like KMX.
CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Stuff
Today's most unsatisfactory and wholly rubbish bicycle maintenance
(222 posts)-
Posted 1 year ago #
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I have a bike that mostly lives on the turbo trainer. Something has felt wrong with the pedals for the past week or two. While it felt odd, when I was riding it I couldn't feel any play in the bottom bracket. I decided the cleats might be worn.
On Saturday, for the first time, I got off the bike before I rocked the cranks back and forth and found a lot of play. Like a lot lot.
Ho hum. Wrestled the bike off the turbo and put it on the stand.
Removed the cranks. Removed the bottom bracket. I had to stand on the spanner to get it to come loose. Replaced bottom bracket with one from my parts drawer. It was a no-name brand ('Prowheel') in a Shimano box, but seemed to be used (and I hadn't written a note on to say why).
I put the new bottom bracket in and replaced the cranks. When I loaded the bearing it either had too much play or it was binding. Clearly, the bottom bracket that I had carefully put back in a Shimano box was also defective.
Removed the cranks. Removed the bottom bracket (didn't have to stand on the spanner this time). Replaced bottom bracket with one from my parts drawer. It was an Ultegra one, but I'd written on the box 'LHS Bearing U/S??'. I seemed to recall that actually when I'd written that in 2022 I thought the bearing was broken after I'd taken it out of my audax bike, but then realised that the weird intermittent ticking noise that started on the Glen Ogle bike path was actually due to a broken mudguard.
I put the new bottom bracket in and replaced the cranks. When I loaded the bearing it seemed OK, which was lucky, as I did have another (brand new) bottom bracket in my spares box, but might have had a sense of humour failure at that point.
Moral of the story. If you are going to retain previously-used parts 'just in case' then take care to label them properly so that, three years later, you know if they actually work or not...
Posted 1 year ago # -
That BB from the parts drawer would have made a great PY Xmas gift.
Posted 1 year ago # -
-1 cursed bottom bracket
My parts box could definitely use a few Scrolls of Enchantment...
Posted 1 year ago # -
On that note can I interest anyone in a Bontrager crankset? Could not possibly comment on the invidious effect it has on the driveside bearings to the point I have returned to square taper
(-2 cursed crankset... to go with the bottom bracket)
Posted 1 year ago # -
Due a miscalculation of scale not seen since the Vl'hurgs, I've just spent the evening fitting a 9 speed chain on a 10 speed cassette/mech and wondering why I can't get it to run smoothly.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Got on my tourer and went to work followed by the Big Shops. While riding, idly wondering why the steering occasionally felt a bit odd and suspected the headset needed a rebuild.
Bought all the things. Full panniers. At the bike racks loading them onto the bike.
Looking at the downtube.
Looking at the GIANT CRACK going almost all the way round the downtube with about 1.5" of aluminium still holding it together.
Bother. Mystery of strange steering solved at least. I am sad to lose this bike as it has many memories attached.
Any recommendations for Old Skool touring frame with canti bosses? The Spa Cycles one looks like it might do very well.
Posted 1 day ago # -
“Any recommendations for Old Skool touring frame with canti bosses?”
Well if it was me I’d spend some time on eBay…
Steel, probably 531 (or similar), whatever size is yours.
Brand, well many options - mass - Dawes, Raleigh, Claud Butler and the like. Generally reliable, that said, I’ve had a Galaxy shear at the head/downtube lug while I was riding along the canal.
Random of course. I ride 70yo steel frames without worrying.
Or a well known or less well know small framebuilding name. Some like Mercian are ‘collectable’, which affects the price.
Other names including F. W. Evans, Condor and many bike shops don’t actually build frames and have had them made, generally, by small producers.
Frames with bosses are necessary for cantilevers, but good quality (mainly Shimano) dual pivots can be as good as or better than some cantis.
If you want ’shiny’ a quality respray and new decals by someone like Argos in Bristol.
Enjoy the hunt.
Posted 1 day ago # -
Also
If you’re looking for an actual “Old Skool touring frame“, anything before mid ‘70’s would probably have had 27” wheels.
Until fairly recently choice of tyres was poor and generally low quality. Now there’s a reasonable number of ‘quality’ 700x32c tyres available as 27” as well.
Alternatively you could fit 700c wheels and have room for fatter tyres (plus mudguards).
Some brakes have enough adjustment for 27” and 700c wheels.
Posted 23 hours ago # -
Not so Old Skool as all that :)
The wheels I'll be reusing are 700C and I use cantilever brakes because of the extra-wide clearance which allows me to adaptively fit ice/trail tyres and mudguards without worrying overmuch about fouling.
V-brakes and dual pivots (even the long drop kind) tend to sit rather closer to the tyre to make this entirely easy.
I do run V-brakes on my fixie but it is touch and go getting the ice tyres running freely sometimes and the cable is veeeery close to the mudguard.
Posted 21 hours ago # -
Anyway, I'll check out eBay - I gave up on it for bike parts some years ago as it got weirdly expensive. But the bike that just broke was largely built up from eBay parts, 24 years ago.
Posted 21 hours ago # -
“I gave up on it for bike parts some years ago as it got weirdly expensive“
Yes
Obviously depends what you want to buy, but for many things it’s become much more of a buyer’s market.
Some things still go for prices I don’t understand.
Another thing is that there seems to be an increase in “Buy It Now” - so if you know what you are looking for, use the “Save this search” option and tick whatever form of notification you want to receive.
Posted 20 hours ago #
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