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Entertaining failures at cycle maintenance

(16 posts)
  • Started 11 years ago by Darkerside
  • Latest reply from Cyclingmollie

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  1. Darkerside
    Member

    Splitting off from the ice thread then...:

    Spent two hours over the last two nights trying to arrange the front mudguard around spikey tyres on the Fuego. Clearances are...tight...and there was a constant rubbery clunking noise on rotation.

    Long story short, it turns out if you haven't secured the hub properly in the fork, the dynohub clunks in a manner which sounds *exactly* like rubber hitting plastic.

    I discovered this at half eleven last night, when I removed the guard completely in a bit of a strop and spun the wheel, only to hear the sound continue.

    Doh...

    Anyone else feel like joining the confessional?

    Posted 11 years ago #

  2. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    There used to be an item on Sheldon's site (I think) which described how to judge various torque settings. It went something like; easy, moderate, tight, really tight, no way this one's coming off, oh b****r. I've done that so many times...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  3. splitshift
    Member

    I did once change the front forks on an old cluncker,they were bent, so i quickly chucked a new pair in, threw some bearings and grease and tightened the whole lot up. All ok untill mucking about at David Marshall lodge in the Trossachs, over a wee bump and the forks fell out the frame ! A bit of grit, or a missing bearing or whatever had actually cut the fork mounting tube in half ! Redneck engineering never looked so wrong, or so sore !

    Posted 11 years ago #

  4. kaputnik
    Moderator

    forgetting to reconnect a cantilever brake after repairing tube, then setting off down a hill...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  5. Snowy
    Member

    @kaputnik Ditto that one, after replacing a tube at the top of Cultins Road on a wet day. Not a mistake you make twice.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  6. Darkerside
    Member

    I failed to fully tighten a stem once on the MTB, which loosened whilst bouncing down some steps. Handlebars stayed in a normal position, the front wheel speared left, and I ended up in a bush.

    Guy behind couldn't work out why I appeared to suddenly decide to go off piste.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  7. Baldcyclist
    Member

    I've often wondered if cycle maintenance is one of the things which makes cycling in-accessible / unattractive to a lot of people. I know one of my pet hates is the hour (sometimes more) that I spend in the garage fettling with my bike every Sunday evening.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  8. Smudge
    Member

    Rushing to finish a job (isn't it always the way?) I fed the chain around the derailleur jockey wheels and connected the soft link only to discover I'd fed it over one of the guides instead of under and around the jockey wheel,

    Take it off and start again...

    Posted 11 years ago #

  9. Baldcyclist
    Member

    Back on topic, In the mid 90s I once 'serviced' my Kona MTB before a Glentress outing. When I say 'service' I mean strip it down to the frame, clean and lube each component individually and build it back up.

    On the way down one of the runs, my front wheel came off sending me over the handle bars, then after sorting all of the allen bolts which hold the spider together popped out 1 by 1 leaving me unable to pedal, and the rear brake didn't work. #SomeThingsBestLeftAlone

    Posted 11 years ago #

  10. Smudge
    Member

    @Baldcyclist, strweth! Your bikes must be gleaming! :-o
    My Surly got a cable adjust after about 100miles, the brakes get adjusted if/when they need it (not often), gets washed when it rains and I degunged the geartrain after last winter, to be fair I give the chain and sprockets a clean with a rag if they're getting really bad... But high maint it isn't, could easily be done by a local shop/mechabic if I didn't choose to do it myself.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  11. crowriver
    Member

    @Baldcyclist. Surely fettling with bikes is one of the attractions of cycling? For me, anyhow.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  12. ARobComp
    Member

    I LOVE fiddling with my bikes.

    I've hacked together bikes in various forms. My favourite was spending 2 hours truing a wheel on tour using the brakes and ended up with a more borked wheel than when I started.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  13. stiltskin
    Member

    When I was a kid I manage d to fit the Lefthand thread side of the BB by tightening the normal way. It stayed in too.( for a while)

    Posted 11 years ago #

  14. Baldcyclist
    Member

    "strweth! Your bikes must be gleaming! "

    Nope, I'm just mechanically incompetent! I do over 100miles most weeks so the commuter needs much fettling especially at this time of year. Wash, or dry wipe to get the worst off, degrease, re-lube every week. Some sort of indexing most weeks, back brake seems to need adjusting most weeks. The mudguard clamp broke, the chain needed replaced, ya de ya de ya, always something.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  15. wee folding bike
    Member

    I can do that much on Bromptons in a normal week but they don't need much time spent on them. The other machines are even more fit and forget.

    They don't gleam though.

    Posted 11 years ago #

  16. Cyclingmollie
    Member

    The cranks on my road bike were creaking so I wrapped PTFE tape around the threads, smeared them with grease for good measure and tightened them up as hard as I could. I asked the Bicycleworks to replace them with a compact set a year or two later and even holding the cranks in the vice and using the bike as a lever they couldn't get them off again.

    Posted 11 years ago #

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