Stuff you learn(t) the hard way by being your own mechanic

[Frosty]

[The Ouzo]

maybe not in the original spirit of the thread, but I learned you can use a monkey wrench and old chain instead of a chain whip.

 

I know, I should buy the right tool. But I normally use an old chain and a vice grip plier as a chain whip when removing the cassette, but yesterday as I put the old chain over the cassette I wondered what would happen if I grip that old chain over the sprocket with a monkey wrench.

It worked a treat. Even better than using a vice grip as I had more leverage.

Have to be careful though so as not to grip other sprockets, so putting the chain over the smallest sprocket is the best bet.

[ChrisF]

On 7/12/2022 at 12:24 PM, Frosty said:

 

THIS is what I felt like after swopping out the front ring on my bike last week 

 

Wednesday night ... nope, something wierd about the ring bolts ... my Parktool wont grab the back of the bolt.  But I cant see in there, so cant figure out what is wrong ...  (learnt much later the Parktool should have worked, had the edges of the ring-nut not been damaged before)

 

Thursday I speak to my LBS.  I end up buying another Parktool, with the intent of grinding it down until it goes in there ....  Three bolts removed.  Notta-dem would the 4th come out ... it turned about two full turns and simply refused to go any further.  Ended up drilling it out

 

Saturday morning ... the new ring bolts use a T25 at the back .... with no space to get it in.  I shorten a T25 bit until it goes in ....  Fit the new ring .... NOPE ... bolts fully tightened there is a smidgen of play .... LBS did sell me spacers just in case this happens .... Now there is even less space to get the T25 in the back.

 

I was seriously contemplating the meaning of life by the time that ring was fitted ....

 

 

Sunday morning I was all smiles about the extra legs of the 38 ring 

Edited August 22, 2022 by ChrisF

[DJR]

5 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

 

THIS is what I felt like after swopping out the front ring on my bike last week 

 

Wednesday night ... nope, something wierd about the ring bolts ... my Parktool wont grab the back of the bolt.  But I cant see in there, so cant figure out what is wrong ...

 

Thursday I speak to my LBS.  I end up buying another Parktool, with the intent of grinding it down until it goes in there ....  Three bolts removed.  Notta-dem would the 4th come out ... it turned about two full turns and simply refused to go any further.  Ended up drilling it out

 

Saturday morning ... the new ring bolts use a T25 at the back .... with no space to get it in.  I shorten a T25 bit until it goes in ....  Fit the new ring .... NOPE ... bolts fully tightened there is a smidgen of play .... LBS did sell me spacers just in case this happens .... Now there is even less space to get the T25 in the back.

 

I was seriously contemplating the meaning of life by the time that ring was fitted ....

 

 

Sunday morning I was all smiles about the extra legs of the 38 ring 

You didn't use "the right words" while you were struggling .......... sorry, I cannot post those words here ........... I was brought up to use hem only in appropriate circumstances .......... but I think yours would have qualified. 😃

[The Ouzo]

7 minutes ago, ChrisF said:

Wednesday night ... nope, something wierd about the ring bolts ... my Parktool wont grab the back of the bolt.  But I cant see in there, so cant figure out what is wrong ...

Sounds like saturday. During the week the wife spots a bunk bed for sale on facebook. I contact the seller, we agree to saturday to go see the bed. In the ad she states buyer must dis-assemble the bed. So I ask the seller what tools will be required. "oh just a philips screwdriver"

So I take an driver drill and bits and a good old manual philips screwdriver. i get there an she also has 2 screw drivers out just in case.

Grab the driver drill, the bit older is to wide to get into the pocket holes on the bed. Grab the normal screwdriver. Strange, it just wont grip the head.

That when i pulled out my phone, activated the torch and took a look see. Nope, not philips heads, those be torx heads.

Had to run off to builders wharehouse and get a set of torx screw drivers.

[ChrisF]

31 minutes ago, DJR said:

You didn't use "the right words" while you were struggling .......... sorry, I cannot post those words here ........... I was brought up to use hem only in appropriate circumstances .......... but I think yours would have qualified. 😃

 

I WAS TEMPED !!! 

 

To add insult to injury I was working against the clock .... 18:03 eksdom did their thing ..... 

 

 

So I rather started up Zwift, from the UPS, and did a proper workout.

[droo]

1 hour ago, ChrisF said:

 

THIS is what I felt like after swopping out the front ring on my bike last week 

 

Wednesday night ... nope, something wierd about the ring bolts ... my Parktool wont grab the back of the bolt.  But I cant see in there, so cant figure out what is wrong ...  (learnt much later the Parktool should have worked, had the edges of the ring-nut not been damaged before)

 

Thursday I speak to my LBS.  I end up buying another Parktool, with the intent of grinding it down until it goes in there ....  Three bolts removed.  Notta-dem would the 4th come out ... it turned about two full turns and simply refused to go any further.  Ended up drilling it out

 

Saturday morning ... the new ring bolts use a T25 at the back .... with no space to get it in.  I shorten a T25 bit until it goes in ....  Fit the new ring .... NOPE ... bolts fully tightened there is a smidgen of play .... LBS did sell me spacers just in case this happens .... Now there is even less space to get the T25 in the back.

 

I was seriously contemplating the meaning of life by the time that ring was fitted ....

 

 

Sunday morning I was all smiles about the extra legs of the 38 ring 

A problem that could easily be solved with the lockring tool so you could take the spider off.

Worth the investment if you plan to do this more than once, and essential if you're fitting a 32 cos it doesn't fit over the spider...

[ChrisF]

2 hours ago, droo said:

A problem that could easily be solved with the lockring tool so you could take the spider off.

Worth the investment if you plan to do this more than once, and essential if you're fitting a 32 cos it doesn't fit over the spider...

 

Uhm .... I actually do have the lock ring tool. 

 

With the bike on the stand, and the wheels already taken off I could not hold the bike steady to use it though .....  in hindsight .... should have re-fitted the wheels and placed the bike on the ground.

 

 

@droo I note a "torque arrow" in the anti-clockwise direction.  Does this ring un-do to the clockwise direction ?

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

13 hours ago, ChrisF said:

 

Uhm .... I actually do have the lock ring tool. 

 

With the bike on the stand, and the wheels already taken off I could not hold the bike steady to use it though .....  in hindsight .... should have re-fitted the wheels and placed the bike on the ground.

 

 

@droo I note a "torque arrow" in the anti-clockwise direction.  Does this ring un-do to the clockwise direction ?

Was servicing some pedals on Sunday while watching the MotoGP and those clockwise/anti-clockwise nuts on the pedals always gets me. Tend to always try to loosen them in the wrong direction before trying the other way. All good with removing pedals, understand the direction and why but once the pedals are off and I don't keep track of which pedal is which side, it all goes to poo!!!

[117]

They should be stamped with an L and R for orientation... And tighten towards the front,  loosen towards the rear for best results 😉

[tubed]

36 minutes ago, 117 said:

They should be stamped with an L and R for orientation... And tighten towards the front,  loosen towards the rear for best results 😉

I always chuckle to myself when I see my boets permanent marker arrows on the inside of his cranks - clearly he learnt the hard way.....

 

[tubed]

On 7/12/2022 at 12:24 PM, Frosty said:

this is me working on my old LR Discovery trying to get the starter motor bolt off - eventually (week later) it did the shameful thing of putting it on a flatbed and having it taken to the mechanic. They just smiled at me and said - dont worry we made a special extension tool to get to that nut - it takes two people to operate, one to guide the tool and the other to crank it. I felt a little better.

 

[stephenplumb]

My son decided to service his forks, which I like. I highly encourage him to service his bike, and many moons back I worked as a bike meccie in a cycle shop in Wembley so I am all about him learning to do things himself. 

The problem is that he broke some nut so I ended up having to send the fork to Robbies Cycle works in PE to complete the service and scavenge their parts bin to find the broken part. 

When I was a road cyclist, I used to strip and clean my bike at least once a month down to frame and regrease and re lube everything. FYI paraffin is the best thing for cleaning the chain and other shiny bits and does not leave it dry and prone to rust like using petrol or other strong solvent. If you have access to a compressor and one of those paraffin spray bottles even better. 

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

1 hour ago, 117 said:

They should be stamped with an L and R for orientation... And tighten towards the front,  loosen towards the rear for best results 😉

Is the L and R from a seated position or standing in front of the bike. Another thing that has always puzzled me........

 

[TheoG]

8 minutes ago, Steven Knoetze (sk27) said:

Is the L and R from a seated position or standing in front of the bike. Another thing that has always puzzled me........

 

It should be from the "operators perspective", iaw rider on the bike.

Edit:  On mining equipment and even you car, this is normally the case.  There is one exception (if you should care), on a dragline bucket, this convention for some reason does not apply.

Edited August 23, 2022 by TheoG

[117]

7 minutes ago, Steven Knoetze (sk27) said:

Is the L and R from a seated position or standing in front of the bike. Another thing that has always puzzled me........

 

L for the bikes left,  R for the bikes right -  which makes no diffs if your hovering around the front end looking back

Left side tighten to the front end (anti clockwise thread) ,  right side tighten to the front end (normal clockwise thread).  It doesn't matter if you use a pedal spanner (on the outside of crank arm) or Allen key (inside of crank arm),  the rotation to loosen or tighten is always the same orientation - tighten towards the front,  loosen toward the rear. 

Pedals of course...